Dog Soldiers

Since my last batch of ramblings I have been very busy. The week after the southern XC my legs were hammered. And so I busied myself by doing nothing! It required a whole week of resting for my legs to finally feel back to normal. I was scheduled to race in the Midlands Xc on the Sunday, but come Saturday morning motivation was lacking and legs were not too keen on turning so I made the wise choice not to race. Instead I went out for my birthday and drank lots of beer for the first time since Christmas, dancing counts as a workout anyway! As it happens I went out for a ride on the Sunday in a slightly hungover state with little sleep and was flying! Maybe alcohol and dancing is good race preparation afterall?

It was then back to the grind stone and my final build up to the national championships. Long rides after work are the order of the day and the legs are certainly feeling stronger after a block of higher intensity training.

This past weekend I have been on a bit of a road trip. I warmed up for it by riding 100miles on Friday nights after work before setting off early the next morning for a ride with Rich ooop north. Being the kind gent he is we headed out into the wilderness through dark werewolf infested woods and up long steep windswept climbs. The werewolf reference is due to the fact that the film ‘Dog Soldiers’ was filmed in one of the valleys where we rode. Fortunately for me there was no full moon so Rich didn’t grow all big and hairy and eat me. He just smashed my head in for 3h instead… cheers Rich!

From Morpeth I headed up for a pre ride of the National championships course at Newcastleton. First impressions are good. Plenty of climbing with some wicked fun single track. Although there I one particular corner which I may be a little more careful on come race day. I managed to get a little to excited and hit a loose corner way to fast. The result was me sliding along on my face for a few meters. After a few minutes lying in a heap my head stopped spinning and I jumped back on my bike and carried on. However I was a little concussed and dazed and it took me 5 minutes to realise that I had headed the wrong way down the trail! Still having a headache stopped my legs hurting so I rode for another 2h in a dazed state, I guess that’s good training for the national 24 where I shall be dazed for most of the second half of the race (if not I’m not trying hard enough)!

After my 5h ride at Newcastleton I then drove down to Pickering. Next riding location Dalby. On a lovely sunny bank holiday morning I began my first of 3 laps at Dalby. I seem to be missing something in the world of cycling fashion however, since when are builders bums, jeans and trackie B’s good for cycling in? They can’t have realised the consequences of riding in jeans in the wet yet! As it happens it did rain and hail, and sleet all interspersed by fine sunshine… cracking. So a little under 6h later I completed my 3 laps of Dalby in all conditions on the mighty Santa Cruz tallboy. I love big wheels, they eat bumps for breakfast!

Now I have a few days of rest before another final block of smashing my self until I can hardly move… fun fun fun