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Had my first race on sunday at SXC round 1, Laggan. My first race ever in Elite so didn't know what to expect really. The organisers decided to up the duration to a brutal 7 laps so I expected a fairly mellow start, only to find once the gun went, everyone shot off the start like sh!t off a shovel! Found myself near the back of the pack into the first climb but clawed my way up to 8th place by the end so quite pleased with that! Very pleased with my fitness, no cramping this year and finished strongly even after nearly 2hrs 30 of racing. I'll probably go with the front group next round as it the pace appeared to settle down after the initial sprint.
On a mission0 -
just got mi race bike sorted for this year with new r7s and new chainset
1st mtb race sxc rnd 2
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Great stuff Will, I haven't raced at Dalbeattie before so not sure the course is like. See you there though!! What category are you racing in?
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just finished the easter four day road event, i won the juniors overall and 3 of the 4 the one i came second in was handicapped and allthough i caught the others i didn't have the right tatics or legs for the sprint. But i knocked 2 mins off my pb for 25mile, and todays race was my best race ever finished in the sprint with the seniors, got forth in the sprint which had 8 people in it well happy:-) hopefully can keep this form up for the first southerns in two weeks
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Woopsy daisy. Nps round one got of to a cracking start at the utter flat course. Me michael butler luke gray and will verney were off the front i was feeling rather good then psttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt mananged to cut the biggest gash in my tire ever of the flint. Changed tube and limped home in 20th position.Feck feck feck! Did the same the next day aswell! Feck feck feck!
<font size="1"><center><font color="black"><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by i owned your jump</i>
cedric gracia is my hero but doddy is 2nd best
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Unlucky magnus! Hopefully your next race will yeild a better result. What tyres were you using, Racing Ralphs aye?
On a mission0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by magnus</i>
Woopsy daisy. Nps round one got of to a cracking start at the utter flat course. Me michael butler luke gray and will verney were off the front i was feeling rather good then psttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt mananged to cut the biggest gash in my tire ever of the flint. Changed tube and limped home in 20th position.Feck feck feck! Did the same the next day aswell! Feck feck feck!
<font size="1"><center><font color="black"><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by i owned your jump</i>
cedric gracia is my hero but doddy is 2nd best
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gutted
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anyone doing the southern divs on 3rd june here? road race, think my tickets and stuff is getting sorted this week
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Most probably Matt. I've decided to concentrate on the road for the rest of the season, hence why i wasn't at the NPS.
That said, it's most likely I'll be at Sherwood and Newham, and maybe Coed.
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by smithy1.0</i>
Unlucky magnus! Hopefully your next race will yeild a better result. What tyres were you using, Racing Ralphs aye?
On a mission
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Yeah! Down at inglisteon on thursday to race a crit then off out to netherlands for a benelux cup so hopefully i will be all good! Nah sliced a python which is now in the bin but the second time it was a nobby nick! Racing ralp was fine!
<font size="1"><center><font color="black"><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by i owned your jump</i>
cedric gracia is my hero but doddy is 2nd best
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plane tickets booked for the southern divs, 50mile race will be longer than i am used to on the road but i race for 2hours on mtb so shouldn't be that bad, i am the only guernsey junior booked to go at the moment hopefully wil get some others to come along aswell though
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well the southern was a shocking turnout only four riders, i was 3rd, on the satuerday when we rode the course we though it was awesome but it didn't seem too great in race bit too twisty could never get proper speed up, think doing nps instead of southerns now to get a better closer race
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Yep due to Houffalize mainly, taking away three top riders, the turnout wasn't going to be too great. That said, both Calum and Jake are doing very well this season, Calum especially has improved dramatically in the past couple of races.
NPS courses have far more fire road and far larger turnouts. Well, well worth it over the Southerns IMO.
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not doing any mtb races in england until national champs now, not enough people can make it to next nps to make it worth the trip, can't wait for southern divs now though will you be there mike?
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I should be. Sold both my bikes today. Spesh Tarmac here I come!
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mental, awesome! they rule i have the tarmac pro sooooo fast and smooth, which one you going for
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no wasn't me sorry, never had scwalbe tyres, may get a set next time need some though get good reviews everywhere
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So, er, does anyone want this stickying? I got no emails about it so I assumed nothing had happened yet...0
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by willbushby</i>
acid was it you who gets the scwalbe tyres from germany
any chance of a link
cheers
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Magnus I think you mean.
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by whyamihere</i>
So, er, does anyone want this stickying? I got no emails about it so I assumed nothing had happened yet...
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yep please
btw every1 sxc round 2 was doin alrite
stacked it big time and then just rolled round rest of race(real slow)
still didnt fnish last
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I got a significantly reduced comp, with Roval Fusees at half price. There's sod all difference between the 105 chainset and Ultegra which is the main difference between that and the expert. Will have Keo Carbons added to that before the southerns, riding in new colours aswell. Ain't sponsorship great!
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SXC round 2 was a disaster for me... puncture first lap, so legged it back to the start and fixed it. Decided to go back out 1 lap down for the training, caught up 4th place guy and stayed pretty much there till the end. Got a good start this time which made it even more annoying!
On a mission0 -
my start was not so good i got stuck behind sum1 on the boards as mags group rode away . but as it turned out it didnt make a difference
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Now sticky, enjoy.0
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cool, i go tthe œ90 keo carbons too, southerns should be good can't wait, got downhill race this sunday, 25mile tt monday, road race wednesday then a xc race following sunday to pretty hetic atm<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Mike da Bike</i>
I got a significantly reduced comp, with Roval Fusees at half price. There's sod all difference between the 105 chainset and Ultegra which is the main difference between that and the expert. Will have Keo Carbons added to that before the southerns, riding in new colours aswell. Ain't sponsorship great!
Upgraded Pics Soon...
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Nicked it from my updates on cubes site but it can go here to!
From where i last left off i have been busy with exams and racing! After the Benelux cup i spent a weekend at home out on my mountainbike training on the local trails! Throughout this week i did lots of 2 to 3 hour rides on my mountainbike sometimes doubling these up with a session concentrating purely on technical ridings aswell as school work! On the saturday i travelled down to race a criterium (closed circuit road race) and was active in the race untill about 3/4 of the way through then sat up and chilled out as i was feeling tired after the weeks training.I then hopped into the car and did a lap of the mountainbike course i would be racing on the next day! Lots of singletrack and a few small hills which were nice. A fun course to ride but not really my kind of course to race on. The next day myself and kenta gallagher a fellow scotland teamate and very good friend of mine got a gap and went with it. Unluckily for me kenta is a fantastic downhill rider so despite my efforts i spent the whole of the uphills recoving from the beating he game me on the downhills rather than trying to drop him. My legs were nailed aswell so i couldnt managed to stay with him on the last few kms of technical stuff but a second place was ok bearing in mind my training.
The next weekdays i started my exams and steadily trained through the week and i spent the weekend at home. On the saturday i rode the fortwilliam worlds course as it is only a hour and 45 from my house before travelling through to the demo day at Laggan wolftrax! I was more than happy on my cube so we just went out and rode the trails. On the sunday i went out and did 3 hours or riding on the road on my mountainbike. I sometimes do this instead of on the road bike as it means i get to spend time in my mtb position. It poured with rain the whole time which was nice....
Throughout the next week i trained hard and did exams. These exam things turn out to be very tiring indeed! After an english exam on friday i jumped on a plane down to Birmingham and was picked up by my coach.The next day was the second NPS so i went out in the morning and rode the course at half 8 in the morning. It was Okish but very mundane.No hills and a greasey singletrack once again not my kind of course but it wasnt too bad! I was gridded right at the back of the start due to my puncture at the previous round so it took some work to get up to the leaders. Throughout the race i was with 2 other boys battling for 3rd place as two boys had gotten away. I managed to sick up my breakfast all over the place coming into the feed so on the second lap i blew! I managed 5th place and a spot on the 5 man podium which was good but not good enough for me yet! The next day was the marathon and it rained and rained and rained! On the start line the commisaire warned us of the conditions and that he might have to stop the race. I managed to get mid gridding of about 100 riders. I rode a fantastic first lap really loving the conditions as they made the course more tough.On the second lap i had a less fun time as the mud dried a bit and became very sticky! I managed 6th place out of all age groups which was good though. After the race i stepped out of the toilets nice and clean after washing myself with the bike washing sponges. Much to my dismay i looked over to see one of my Scotland teamates walk out of some Showers! How could have i missed those! We traveled back up the road and stayed the night on sunday. We went out on monday morning at 8 oclock for a recovery ride of a hour and 15 on canal paths. It was a beutiful day and a nice ride. I got the 3 and a half hour train back up north home in the afternoon!
After more exams and some training i jumped on a train down to glasgow on the friday. I spent the day with a good friend of mine with our feet watching a million episodes of the show Scrubs! In the evening i was picked up by my coach and joined by two of my Scotland teamates for the start of an 'Overload' weekend. We stayed the night in a travel inn! Its funny but these travel inns make up a huge part of every weekend. We use them to stay in everywhere we go as there handy and we can allways rely on them.However there are a few downsides! The first is that there is the same picture in every room of every travel inn throughout the whole of the uk.The second is that there toilet seats are not very comfy at all. The third is everywhere is purple! However the toasters they have never fail to make you smile everymorning you get up as they are HUGE! If you master the art you can also wedge a show in the tv turntable so that its at the perfect angle to watch while you sit freezing in a ice bath!
Anyway we got up and were out on our road bikes at 8 o clock in the morning. It was torrential rain and gale force winds as we cycled for a recce of the course we were meant to be racing on at 12. We arrived and rode round the track which was coverd in a slimy wet mess of leaves and branches blown of the trees! My back wheel was drifting round the corners! After that we went onto the tarmac velodrome track in the parc and did some steady riding and then a rather funny exercise where we had to spin at about a million rpm in our smallest gear! Small gears can still hurt! We rode back to the travel inn for 10 giving us two hours in the saddle. The plan was to grab a shower and change into fresh kit before heading back over to the race course. I ate jam sandwiches while in the shower before getting out and trying to hairdry some dryness into my cycling shoes ( stupid me only took one pair) . While i was doing this i got the news that the race had been cancelled due to the weather. So we jumped into the car and made our way up to fortwilliam. Us boys slept for half the journey before discussing the 'distinctive U shaped valleys' , 'the corrie lochens' and many other geographic feautures on the way up! When your together for 3,4 or 5 days a week you soon run out of stuff to talk about! We arrived at fortwilliam where we were due to race the next day. Becuase of missing the race our coach had us doing a roller session in the carpark of the Guest house where we were staying ( no travel inns in fortwilliam!!!) . For those of you who dont know rollers are 3 drums ,two for you back wheel to sit on and one for the front connected by a big elastic band.It means you can cycle on the spot like on a turbo trainer but unlike a turbo you are in full control.Anyway rollers build up alot of static electricity so anyone you touch you give a large electric shock too!I managed to park my rollers next to the garage door so just kept electricuting myself everytime i touched it! After some pasta and some rubbish tv we went to bed!
The next morning we were up early and eating breakfast before cycling up to the race course which was about half an hour away. Once we got there i met up with my parents who had taken my mountainbike down. We rode a lap of the course at 9 in the morning. The new course turned out to be really good! It had a long climb with lots of different sections (steep single track, smooth fire road, twisty single-track ) and a good but easy descent down the hill. After the pre ride i went and sat in the car for a hour. I was to tired to warm up! I lined up on the raceline feeling tired but really on for a race! As soon as the whistle went i was clipped in straight away and managed to get a huge amount of bike lenghts on the boys. I found myself a bit shocked as the boy to my right usually has a total beast of a start but i must of been doing something right as when i climbed someone said to there mate 'Holy ***** look at the gear he's in '! I spent the whole race by myself trying to get past the numerous people they set of before us(they set off behind the juniors,masters,vets and grand vets for both sex's) I couldnt see there logic behind this as us leading youths from the previous rounds had the 3rd fastest lap times out of everyone including the elite riders. It wasnt to bad though as i came in to finish and win! I was really pleased as it was huge event for scotland as it was the tester for the world champs. Alot of overseas guys were over and the british coachs were about! However all was not over i still had another lap to ride of 'pretend race' as set by my coach. We were instructed to still go as hard as we could untill we blew. I did half way up the hill got off and stopped for the toilet. My teamates found this rather funny as they turned the corner having blown aswell to find me in the bushes! We rode the rest of the lap trying trying not to sit in the seat to much as we had sore bums! After the race we all rammed food down us and i put on a extra pair of padded shorts and clean kit!We went out for a hours ride which was savage in the wind the whole time!
On the monday morning i had my last exam which went ok so now i have two weeks to sit and train! Im now just chilling out this week and doing some light training ready for the scottish road champs on saturday. I really dont like the circuit there using as it has no hills so ill just beast it and see how it goes! Then after that i have the next NPS in wales at margam park. I love this course with a passion! Killer climbs so im hoping to make a impression on the top 3! After that i have some chilling out time before nationals prep which includes travelling to Luxembourge for another Benelux cup! Im really exited at the moment as im feeling very fit and form seems to be coming!
Hope everythings going brilliant!
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had a rubbish stomach bug that keeps going away then whenever i push that extra little bit it comes back and puts me out for a few days, got crit tomorrow, hill climb on thursday then its the southern divs road race which should be good, no more mtb races till july:-(
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