Mike Hall has finished the Tour Divide today, in an fantastic 10th place. 2700 miles... incredible stuff. Not an easy ride for him either, he had knee problems that nearly finished off his race but he dug deep and got back out on the road again. He appears to be stuck in New Mexico now, but I guess he will be back home soon.
A big interview with Dave Buchanan this month in What Mountain Bike, the full transcript is here.... Rather pleasingly he name checks Team Tapas stalwart Captain Timmy in it, fame at last.
Thursday 30 June 2011
Saturday 25 June 2011
Mountain Mayhem 2011
This year was the first year that I hadn't ridden at Mayhem for 6 years or so... I kind of had mixed feelings about this: I've nearly always found it hard work in the past but at the same time it felt wierd not being entered. Anyway, I was looking after Luke Morris this year - Luke is one of the UKs top 24hr solo racers who I had previously mothered at the Strathpuffer, where he got third place this year. Along with his very-soon-to-have-a-baby girlfriend Gem I was charged with the task of filling bottles, preparing food, fettling bikes etc on what looked like it was going to be a very muddy race weekend. Mayhem mud has special qualities - it sticks to tyres and frames like no other, so I was expecting lots of cleaning and unclogging of drivetrains throughout the night. Rather unexpectedly the course held up remarkably well... the bikes hardly needed touching, and Luke was calm and chilled out throughout.
Watching dawn break over the campsite was an uplifting moment; Luke had ridden himself from a slow start into 6th place during the night, and kept that place until the finish for his best result at Mayhem to date.
Also competing were the Bikeshed's singlespeed team (one member of which didn't actually own a singlespeed so they borrowed mine), who ended up first in singlespeed class, 3rd in open and 10th overall, meaning they got onto the podium twice. I think the fact that they were 3rd in open on rigid singlespeeds was lost on most of the people there... quite an achievment though.
So good results all round. Other notable sights included Voley swigging out of a bottle of Leffe, a team riding in sumo suits and Liam Kileen, who was on the winning expert team. And in the end I really rather missed being in a team... maybe next year.
Watching dawn break over the campsite was an uplifting moment; Luke had ridden himself from a slow start into 6th place during the night, and kept that place until the finish for his best result at Mayhem to date.
Also competing were the Bikeshed's singlespeed team (one member of which didn't actually own a singlespeed so they borrowed mine), who ended up first in singlespeed class, 3rd in open and 10th overall, meaning they got onto the podium twice. I think the fact that they were 3rd in open on rigid singlespeeds was lost on most of the people there... quite an achievment though.
So good results all round. Other notable sights included Voley swigging out of a bottle of Leffe, a team riding in sumo suits and Liam Kileen, who was on the winning expert team. And in the end I really rather missed being in a team... maybe next year.
Thursday 16 June 2011
What happened?
Due to some changes in my life, I've had a lot more time free in the evenings recently, so I've been getting the miles in... riding three or four times a week instead of once or twice and trying to make an effort to get out whatever the weather. And riding the singlespeed exclusively - my logic for this was that it would be the cheapest one to keep going while riding as much as possible in mostly muddy conditions. I didn't really know what to expect; I was hoping for an increase in stamina that would let me take on longer rides without feeling dreadful at the end. Rather wierdly though I have found myself going significantly faster both up and down hill... I might even be tempted to take on a race or two towards the end of the summer if my fitness keeps on improving like this.
Back in the world of proper bike racers, I will be looking after wee man Luke at Mountain Mayhem; he's racing solo, so I'll be filling bottles and fettling bikes again for him. The weather forecast isn't looking brilliant; another muddy Mayhem ahead, at least I'm not riding this year.
Over in the States, spanky Mike is taking the whole ultra endurance thing to ridiculous levels by racing in the Tour Divide - 2700 miles from Canada to Mexico, self supported, offroad. He's currently 4th, and about 1000 miles or so in, covering 175 miles or so every day. He's a tough little bugger (he won the solo class at the Puffer this year), I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him on the podium at the finish.
Back in the world of proper bike racers, I will be looking after wee man Luke at Mountain Mayhem; he's racing solo, so I'll be filling bottles and fettling bikes again for him. The weather forecast isn't looking brilliant; another muddy Mayhem ahead, at least I'm not riding this year.
Over in the States, spanky Mike is taking the whole ultra endurance thing to ridiculous levels by racing in the Tour Divide - 2700 miles from Canada to Mexico, self supported, offroad. He's currently 4th, and about 1000 miles or so in, covering 175 miles or so every day. He's a tough little bugger (he won the solo class at the Puffer this year), I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him on the podium at the finish.
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