2012

This year will be my 10th season of racing. I started racing cross country when i was 14 in 2002 and to be honest I was rubbish! I still remember my first race very clearly, it was an round of the Eastern Region series at Thetford Forrest and I was so nervous that I false started so we were all were called back. Then when we finally set off I was pretty pathetic and finished near the back of the field. Fortunately I didn't just give up there and then. Something made me want more so once again I lined up at the next round of the series, this time armed with new SPD pedals. Surely I would be so much quicker this time! I managed not to false start which was progress, however I did managed to miss my pedal, loose my balance and fall off just after the start line while all the other kids laughed at me as they rode away! This experience still didn't dampen my enthusiasm so the following year I entered the first round of the National Points Series this time as a youth. The start was ok and the race satisfactory, I believe I finished 23rd which was ok for me. I even survived the piss taking that my race number attracted. It was 911 and I was adamant that it was good as Porche 911's were fast cars. Everyone else thought it was more amusing to compare it to the American emergency services number though.


So after that first Nationals race the bug truly bit me. My parents then began carting me around the country racing for the rest of my time at school. I progressed steadily and made it consistently into the top 10 as a first year junior as well as spending a few years on the British Cycling Talent Team. Then I blew it. I raced too much, trained too hard, fried my brain at school too much, didn't eat enough and imploded. My second year as a junior was miserable and I pretty much stopped racing for a year. Luckily this coincided with starting university so I was soon able to distract myself from bikes with alcohol and dancing. Gradually my desire to ride and race again returned as did my fitness. I was now living in Cardiff and suddenly had proper mountain bike trails right on my door step, a far cry from flat Cambridgeshire where I grew up. Gradually I developed bike handling skills and confidence and most importantly the love of riding returned. The summer of my 2nd year at uni was the best. People had been nagging me to try and enduro for quite a while so finally I gave in a took part in the Torchbearer 12h at Twentyfour12. I rode those 12hours as hard as I could, it seemed totally effortless and made total sense to me. I won the race which helped and from that moment forward Josh the enduro racer was born.

Since that race I have gradually built my enduro experience and fitness up and have collected a couple of decent results in the process. I won my first solo 24h at Relentless24, then came close to pulling of a shock victory at the National 24hour championships in 2010 (my second 24h race). Ultimately inexperience cost me that day and I faded to 3rd place but now had the confidence that I could become the top UK enduro racer (a goal which I am still working at!). Last year wasn't the greatest for me race wise but I did manage to set a new record for the south downs double which kind of made up for it.

So 2012 is set to be a big year for me. I'm going it alone sponsor wise this year and have managed to put together a great set of sponsors who have committed to support me with product and equipment through out the year. I'm very happy to be officially riding for Santacruz UK. I have ridden the Tallboy to all of my best results and love it to bits. The fact that I will now have a shiny new Tallboy to race on plus a Highball hardtail makes me a very lucky bike rider!

The North Face will also be providing me with their brilliant kit. There will be no excuses for getting out in every type of weather now!

USE and Exposure lights have kindly agreed to provide me finishing kits for my bike and their excellent range of lights so I can see in the dark. They are also very understanding employers and enable me to be flexible with time off so that I am able to train and race. Thanks guys!

I will also be rolling on some pretty cool equipment. Reynolds will be providing me with their new xc29er wheel set, its super stiff, light, looks awesome and makes a satisfying echoey clunk when you shift gears (very important!). No wheel set is complete with out some good tyres and thankfully Schwable will be helping me with the best rubber going.

Nutrition is key for any race and they guys at Torq have agreed to continue supporting me into 2012. I can't wait to pop a caffeine gel at hour 18 of a 24h race... its magic!

Lezyne will be providing me with tools and pumps to keep my shiny new bikes in good working order and to keep those Schwable tyres pumped up.

All bikes need a little bit of bling on them and I am lucky enough to have a bling sponsor too. Mt Zoom will be helping me with some nice shiny light bits. These are the bits that make all the difference as every one know that red things go faster!

I'm hoping not to crash too much but accidents do happen. Kask helmets will be making sure my head doesn't damage the floor too much if I do crash.

I will also be keeping things smooth with Juice lubes chain lube and Chapeau Chamoix cream.

So now that I've announced all these wonderful sponsors what am I going to do?
Well the schedule is pretty full already. Racing kicks off with a couple of stage races. I will be returning to Spain for the week long Andalucia Bike race at the end of February before jetting off to South Africa for the Cape Epic at the end of March. I will be racing these races in a pair with super quick (and fellow Santacruz rider) Ben Thomas. Hopefully I can keep up with him!
Upon my return from South Africa will will once again have a crack at the National 24hour champs. Fingers crossed I can recover, 3rd time lucky! After that I will build up to my first solo attempt at Mountain Mayhem, lets just hope the sun stays out.

So that's enough of my ramblings for now. Next week I head off to Gran Caneria for 10 days hard training. I will report back once I have a sun tan!

Santacruz: http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/home/
The North Face: http://uk.thenorthface.com/tnf-uk-en/hp-uk-en
USE: http://www.use1.com/
Exposrue lights: http://www.exposurelights.com/
Torq: http://www.torqfitness.co.uk/
Reynolds: http://www.reynoldscycling.com/index.php?p_resource=items_wheels_item&p_itm_pk=647
Schwable: http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/
Lezyne: http://www.lezyne.com/
Mt Zoom: http://mtzoom.com/
Kask: http://www.kaskhelmets.com/
Juice Lubes: http://www.juicelubes.co.uk/
Chapeau: http://www.chapeaucycling.co.uk/

Happy new year!

Happy new year everybody!

Things have been busy the past month or so. I've not been getting in as many long rides as I would like. The cold I picked up before the last round of the Brass Monkeys lasted a couple of weeks which meant I had to play things by ear regarding training. I've been fairly consistent though just lacking rides over 4hours.

I went on a road trip up north over the Christmas period. Before you say it know everywhere is up north from Brighton, but I did actually go to the proper up north where they all speak funny and the weather is crap! I visited fellow endurance racer Rich Rothwell for a few days riding. The plan was for Rich to show me a nice long techy ride out in the Northumberland fells.

Unfortunately as usual my visit coincided with horrific weather. Rich assures me that it is nice up north but I am yet to be convinced! The wind was so strong that we struggled to stay on our bikes, let alone ride the technical descents. As we ventured out from the woods and onto the fells the weather turned and pelted up with horizontal rain and hail. We decided to turn back rather than risk riding in such dangerous conditions. I was a shame but it also meant that we could get a curry sooner!

The following day the wind was a little more pleasant, but still damn strong! We headed out on the road bikes for a tough 50mile loop similar to last years national road race championships. As expected the weather was crap for the first 45mins and both Rich and I cursed rain and wind and each other for being stupid enough to ride in it. Eventually the sun did make and appearance... just in time for the big climbs!

Rich is skinny even by my standards and took great pleasure in telling me how much I would 'enjoy' the steep climbs. I wasn't convinced but was up for it anyway. We rode up the climbs pretty hard and I managed not to get dropped, an achievement I was quite happy with (even of it did take riding at 400watts!). It shows that my focus on riding steep climbs is paying off and I am getting stronger which is pleasing.

Since the new year has begun I have fitted in a few long rides but my efforts have been thwarted by yet another cold. Luckily it only lasted a few days so hopefully the big rides will come more often. I have also booked 10 days training in Gran Caneria at the beginning of February which will allow me to get in a nice big block of training and more importantly a good sun tan before the big races begin!

2012 will also see me move on from the Torq Performance team. It was a great year on the team and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the team. However I decided to do my own thing for this season to allow me to focus on my endurance racing/riding goals.
I will make a full announcement later in the month but for now here is a clue to some of my new sponsors...

Brass Monkeys Rd 2

The past weekend I raced the second round of the Brass Monkeys winter series. After finishing 2nd at the first round I was keen to try for the win this time around. Things started better than the previous round, I could actually keep up with Tim Dunford for almost a whole lap! Things started to go wrong after around 30minutes though. I struggled on the short sharp climbs early on and entering the second lap my legs just gave way. For some reason I just couldn't ride fast. I dropped back and soon the headaches began and I slowed even more. I'm not a fan of abandoning races but I really felt quite rubbish so decided that rest would be a better option.

The decision was justified when I was dropped on the social Tuesday night ride yesterday. I just couldn't keep up so I can only assume that my body is fighting off a cold or virus. Hopefully I'll be better for Christmas and the week after where I shall be visiting Rich Rothwell up north for a few days of pain (and a curry!).

Gorrick Brass Monkeys Rd1

The past weekend I raced in the first round of the Gorrick Brass Monkeys winter series. This was to be my first race since early July as my South Downs Double preparation and a month of illness mean I didn't have much chance to race in the second half of the summer so I was keen to use the race to set a fitness benchmark for my training over the next few months.

The field was pretty strong, although being winter most people are not really race fit, myself included. From the gun it was clear that Tim Dunford was the man to beat. He cruised away on the first lap and I simply didn't have enough speed to get myself across the gap. As the race settled down I found my self riding with Luke Eggar in 2nd/3rd place. We were soon joined by Ian Payne and enjoyed a nice chat as we smashed round the lumpy single track heavy race circuit.

I decided to try and race from the front so set a nice tempo which I knew that I could sustain for the duration of the race but was hopefully wearing down the guys on my wheel. The plan worked and as we reached the half way mark the chatting in the group stopped so I decided that it was now the time to attack! I rode pretty hard for half a lap to establish the gap then once again settled into cruise control mode for the reminder of the race. Towards the end of the race I faded a little, mainly due to the short steep power climbs on the course which required a burst of aerobic energy to get up. I'm well aware that this is my weakness, a side effect of endurance racing, so it served as a good reminder of the aspects of my fitness that require attention over the winter.

I finished second which was quite pleasing, however Tim won by nearly 13minutes in a very convincing manner. I'd have liked to have finished closer, although I know that my enduro legs cant compete with those of a top elite xc racer over the 4h distance. It has certainly given me motivation to train though and finishing closer at the next round is a nice short term aim in the run up to christmas.

Now to step up the training...

Buy my stuff (please!)

I have for sale my special edition Kona Kula Watt carbon hardtail frame in custom Torq team colours. Its had little use as I've ridden my 29er most of the year. Only used in the dry. 20" size (only torq special issue available in this size).
Included are the Fox F32 terra logic fork with 15mm thru axle and tapered steerer.
These are in great condition.
I'll also throw in the kcnc BB, headset, Richey WCS seatpost, bars and stem.
I'm looking for £850 for the lot, I need to sell it to fund my racing season next year so get buying!

Playing with fire!

Training continues at a nice steady rate at the moment. Its fair to say that there has been a 'social bias' towards my training. Mucking about in the woods and riding with mates has been the order of the day so far. I have begun to ride 30mile to and from work a few days a week though over a nice rolling route with plenty of short sharp climbs, exactly what I need as these are my weakness. I've also been rock climbing once a week and am already noticing the improved strength in my little pecker arms!

Last weekend was the 5th of November, bonfire night, and a perfect example of training with a 'social bias'. Check out my video and remember kids... beer, bieks and fireworks are a dangerous mix!

Night rider

November is here and my month of rest is over. I've started 'training' again. I say training but what I really mean is mucking about on my bike in the woods. Here's a video from the weekly Tuesday night ride:

Night riding in Stanmar park, Brighton from Josh Ibbett on Vimeo.

Thanks to exposure lights for providing a sixpack and diablo to light the way. They even etched my south downs double record time on the diablo for me... thanks guys!