More Majorca pics

Another 5km climb from here takes you to the top of the descent into Sa Colabra(sp?). The day we went it was in cloud,which was a shame because you can normally see the road snaking it's way down hairpin after hairpin,over 10k to the bottom. Only problem is it's the only road down so enjoy the descent as you have a 35min slog back to the top.

Looking the other way.


The descent into Soller.


Dell Boy enjoying the cafe stops...a little too much !

Typical town along the many routes.


Daft or Silly ? Birchy acting the fool,although I was the one telling him to stand there...so work out for yourself who is the daftest and silliest "Buger" !

Managed to get a pic of the descent of Sa Colabra from Nick. Impressive

Majorca camp

A chance to feel the warmth of the sun and more importantly a chance to get some good miles in the legs ahead of the coming season. This was a Trismart organised trip and attracted 4 members as well as 4 non members to the delights of Porto Pollenca in Northern Majorca. All attendees were either Ironman veterans (over 40 completions between 5 of them) or road/track specialists of many years for 2 others,leaving me looking slightly inferior in the C.V department. I was however the youngest member of the Salopian travelling clan and intended to use this to my advantage.Majorca has some of the best riding Europe has to offer. In particular at this time of year whilst the Alps and Pyrenees are still snow covered, Majorca offers warm weather training with plenty of climbing to kick the legs into gear after a long winter. In the main the roads are smooth and rider friendly. No impatient yob trying to sneak past on blind corners over in the Balearic's ! Around the island are some typical Spanish towns with all the charm this part of the world offers. Clean and well kept villages with friendly service at the cycle approving cafes.We had no real plan for the week,we had some riders well into there training and some who had to think long and hard where they'd left there bike to hibernate over the winter. We started off as a big group and by the end fractured out into groups of two or three depending how people were fairing. Nick for example is well into his Ironman training with IM Lanzarote coming up(6th year on the trot) in 8 or so weeks time and has been regularly doing 80-100 mile rides. He is an example to all about commitment and discipline and deserves all his rewards,of which the first for the year was to be selected for GB in the European long distance triathlon champs this summer in Spain. His totals for the week are impressive,570 miles/55000' of climb including 3 back to back 100 milers, as well as 2x one hour swims and runs for good measure.For me I managed over 400 miles and 36000' of climb as well a 6m and 9m run post ride. I was pretty happy with my effort spending most of the week on the front and pushing on at all climbs to stretch the legs out. The weather was kind,only one day of light rain and generally in the region of 16c-18c. All in all a top week with good riding and great company.
This will hopefully stand me in good shape for the forth coming World Qualifier as well as a duathlon in the lakes. I've also got the bug for this road riding game and have already checked out the calender to look for future road races.
I've also got a call up for Shropshire for the National inter-counties fell champs in May. Things are pointing to a good year,now where is the summer or spring for that matter !

Late call up

I had a call late on Thursday evening checking my availability to run at the National Intercounties championships. Despite a pretty hard week in terms of training and feeling rather heavy legged I jumped at the chance to run for Shropshire and excepted without hesitation.
Not only was this the Intercounties champs,but the event was also a trial for the World Championships. Anybody wanting to run at the worlds would have to attend and do well at this race in Birmingham. In other words anyone who's anyone nationally was there.
The course was quite hilly,more drags than short sharp climbs and was pretty fast due to the lack of precipitation recently. On the start line were 300 of the countries finest,including 8 representatives from Shropshire about to sprint around four laps totalling 12000m (7.22mile). The start was a steady uphill for about 300m and the pace was even faster than I had feared. The trick is to stick with it,and try and get into some kind of rhythm without being sick. I dug in and began to find a little consistency despite my heavy legs from the weeks training(avoidable if only I was asked the week before). It's so important to know your own pace,if you start running above what is sustainable you will pay big time by the end of the race and lose huge chunks of time.
In the end I finished 181st out of 300 starters,which was quite pleasing giving the field. I beat some decent runners,and was second Shropshire runner home.
To put it into perspective,considering how hilly the course was I managed to run 5.39min miles which is pretty steady on the road let alone an xc course. Good day all in all and a great experience running against Olympians and the nations best for the county. Pleased with my result but always room for improvement.

National Duathlon Champs

Saturday was the national duathlon championships in Clumber park,nr Worksop. It was also one of four qualifiers for the World Championships in Edinburgh. The top four in each category automatically qualify for a GB vest. You do however have to register your intent to qualify with the British tri association (£10). So if you haven't registered,the place then gets passed down to the next placing and so on. As well as that you have 9 fastest losers placings. So 4 events x 4 automatic slots is 16 plus 9 fastest losers. A total of 25 places per age group.
The standard distance for this discipline is 10k run -40k bike -5k run. Over 650 people entered the event which was sold out weeks before. I decided to stay in a travellodge the night before due to the early start of 09.00,they tend to start early to avoid the traffic as much as possible.
I woke up around 06.00 Saturday morning to eat breakfast and was greeted by overcast,cool and drizzly conditions outside. I'm glad I made my way to the event early as the queue to get into the park and for registration was unbelievable. On the line were the best of the best for this kind of event and any poor preparation would be severely punished by such a strong field. I'd love to know what the average price of each bike was worth,well into the 3-4k I would guess.
The pre race music and MC was something more akin to a night club,with the Tim Westwood style commentary coming from a rather over enthusiastic microphone. "This is it,there is no hiding place at the nationals,this is what you've all been waiting for,this is where all those miles of winter training are going to pay off,are you mentally prepared to be a champion...." etc
I certainly wasn't prepared for him,and so was glad to start and get out of his earshot. The first run was a lumpy 10k,pretty much climbing on the way out and descending on the way back. Two laps of fighting for position on a pretty busy course. I ran well,knocking the edge off my pace to save for the bike and final run to follow and entered transition in 34.38. So far so good and onto the bike. Transition went smoothly and I quickly got into a good pace on the 2 laps of 20k around the undulating roads on Nottinghamshire. As mentioned in previous posts my cycling has been the one area I have neglected something terrible over the winter,and compared to the people I want to beat I was seriously under cooked for the bike leading into the event. This is how it proved losing many places on the bike. I thought I rode Ok but this is the national champs and "OK" is not going to cut it at this level. I came over the line in around 64 minutes for the 40k (25m'ish). The final run was tough,the cold weather makes your feet like blocks of ice on the bike and my feet were numb and swollen starting the run. I ran well again to complete the final 5km in 18.20.
Overall finishing time of 1hr 59m with an overall finishing position of 48th out of 650 starters and 10th in my age group. I now have to work out where this gets me in terms of qualification. The results were depressing to say the least. In my age group of the registered entrants I was 5th,20s behind 4th and the last automatic GB qualification slot ! This might still be enough as a fastest loser,but I'd rather make certain,so I've just entered the next qualifier in April in Milton Keynes.
The second picture I've posted is of me chasing down James Cracknell,multi Olympic gold medal winner. He came hounding past me on the bike but I'd have got him on the run if it was another 200m. He was blowing pretty hard over the line.