Skiddaw is the 4th highest peak (3054') in England and is one of the classic fell races. The mountain is north of Keswick in Cumbria in the heart of the lake district.
On arriving in Keswick after a rather long drive (2hr45) I was met with pretty rough weather conditions. Heavy rain and strong winds. The registration in Fitz park is in the football ground club house and was an excellent facility with showers and refreshments.
The race itself is 9 miles and about 2700' of climb. A good field was ready for the off which included 4 salopians. One of which was John Nightingale,who I was glad to finally meet,albeit briefly. The route climbs gradually to start and then steepens as you get near the summit. All runnable mind. This year the weather was that severe that the route was cut short. You can't expect Marshall's to stand out in torrential rain and gusting 60-70mph winds. Although we had southerly winds making it quite mild the weather was horrible. So the final 1/2 mile or so to the summit was abandoned. On the way down it was hard to breath whilst running into the wind.
My race was going well on the climb despite a stitch early on,I was 5th to the turning point and felt strong on the initial descent. That was until I went the wrong way at a cairn of stones,I misread the flags which I guessed to mean follow in the line in which they were aiming. About 5mins later and a different valley later I realised I was in completely the wrong area. A sit down and checked the map confirming my fears of being miles away from where I was meant to be. I lost about 15mins,and sent me from 5th to about 60th ! I managed to overtake about a dozen on the final part of the descent to finish just inside the top 50.
Despite the terrible mistake the race was excellent with a friendly atmosphere,decent course and great value with a quiche and cake thrown into the £5 entry fee.
I will be back to register a more respectable finishing position.
Friday, July 16
Wednesday, June 30
Update
A rather embarrassing delay between posts. Where was I ?
May 9th - Did the Darley moor road race with a club mate. 55km of flat fast circuit racing. Ave speed of 26mph. I managed to stay in the pack but slightly missed the boat in terms of the sprint and came home out the points in about 20th. Great experience and training.
May 22nd - Proudly represented the county in the intercounties fell championships in North Wales. I was one of four selected on a very hot day and ran pretty well. I finished 24th and was second counter for Shropshire. Overall the team finished 10th county and beat some good more traditional fell teams.
May 24th-May 31st - Holiday in Corfu
June 2nd - Straight off the beach to do the Shropshire summer series race,Batch Bash. A good field for a mid week race. Ran ok considering the break and finished 4th behind Tim Davies and Steve Cale who both went under the previous course record.
June 9th - Tried my hand at a 5km road race. The Park Hall 5km is a pretty quick course and so gave me a reasonable chance to post a PB. Sure enough the run went ok,despite being rather one paced. Finished second in 16.19.
June 15th - Went to tame the "beast". This little fell race nr Mold called 'The Beast' was great 'till me and Steve Cale,while leading by a distance, got lost ! The beast had gotten away this time,but i will be back !
June 16th - Went to defend my Rodneys Pillar fell race title....and failed ! Not to worry i had a good run finishing 3rd behind Tim Davies and Steve Cale (these 2 are annoying me :-) ) knocking about 11sec off last years time.
June 23rd - Race number 4 in the Shropshire summer series. Pontesbury is a little toughy with 1100' of climb in less than 3 mile. Ran well to finish 2nd behind Steve Cale.
June 27th - Moel-y-gamelin fell race,10mile 2750'. A great race organised by a good friend Pete Norman up the Horse shoe Pass. I have done this race for the past 3 years and fancied my chances as my main trophy blockers Tim Davies and Steve Cale were not in attendance. Sure enough i went off quickly despite the heat and pulled out a good lead,had the luxury of easing back for the last 3 miles to register a pleasing victory.
May 9th - Did the Darley moor road race with a club mate. 55km of flat fast circuit racing. Ave speed of 26mph. I managed to stay in the pack but slightly missed the boat in terms of the sprint and came home out the points in about 20th. Great experience and training.
May 22nd - Proudly represented the county in the intercounties fell championships in North Wales. I was one of four selected on a very hot day and ran pretty well. I finished 24th and was second counter for Shropshire. Overall the team finished 10th county and beat some good more traditional fell teams.
May 24th-May 31st - Holiday in Corfu
June 2nd - Straight off the beach to do the Shropshire summer series race,Batch Bash. A good field for a mid week race. Ran ok considering the break and finished 4th behind Tim Davies and Steve Cale who both went under the previous course record.
June 9th - Tried my hand at a 5km road race. The Park Hall 5km is a pretty quick course and so gave me a reasonable chance to post a PB. Sure enough the run went ok,despite being rather one paced. Finished second in 16.19.
June 15th - Went to tame the "beast". This little fell race nr Mold called 'The Beast' was great 'till me and Steve Cale,while leading by a distance, got lost ! The beast had gotten away this time,but i will be back !
June 16th - Went to defend my Rodneys Pillar fell race title....and failed ! Not to worry i had a good run finishing 3rd behind Tim Davies and Steve Cale (these 2 are annoying me :-) ) knocking about 11sec off last years time.
June 23rd - Race number 4 in the Shropshire summer series. Pontesbury is a little toughy with 1100' of climb in less than 3 mile. Ran well to finish 2nd behind Steve Cale.
June 27th - Moel-y-gamelin fell race,10mile 2750'. A great race organised by a good friend Pete Norman up the Horse shoe Pass. I have done this race for the past 3 years and fancied my chances as my main trophy blockers Tim Davies and Steve Cale were not in attendance. Sure enough i went off quickly despite the heat and pulled out a good lead,had the luxury of easing back for the last 3 miles to register a pleasing victory.
Thursday, May 6
Busy busy busy
Been a while since an update,so here it is.
Good news regarding the Great Britain call up. I had a confirmation e-mail from the selectors not long after my last post confirming I've made the squad. The World championships are in Edinburgh at the start of September. The course looks as if it might suit me with plenty of undulations particularly on the bike.
Race wise since Newlands has been pretty quiet. I fully intended to do the Wrekin streak on the Wednesday and the Llantysilio fell race on the Saturday. However my legs were in a seriously bad shape after the duathlon that I thought I'd done some damage. So I rested with some gentle rides that week instead of racing and went into Sunday feeling very heavy legged.
Sunday 25th April was my first ever road race. A cat 4 only 55km race around a business park in Solihull ! Not exactly the Giro d'italia but you have to start somewhere. I have to admit I didn't have a clue what to expect and went into the race with an open mind. Cat 4 is the bottom step of the ladder,your so called novices and I was expecting to see some old bikes and complete amateurs turn up...how wrong I was. It looked like a scene from Le Tour with lads warming up on rollers and team crews with spare wheels etc. I've seen all this before and started with a group of 70 riders preparing for the 35 lap x 1 mile course. The start was steady and I felt very comfortable,often just sitting in with the pack and chatting to Andy my club mate. It soon became obvious that due to the flat course and the strong wind it was almost impossible for anyone to escape in a break away and a last lap sprint was going to decide proceedings. As predicted after 34 laps we were as we were at the start,still in a huge pack waiting for things to happen. Just before the final lap I was sitting pretty in about 10th waiting for the last lap lunge for the line. The final circuit was a replica of the race in general with a rotating of small groups going from front to back and vice versa. So it turned out that with a 3/4 lap to go I was slightly boxed in over half way down in the pack. I went hammering around the outside into the wind over the next half lap to get myself somewhere near striking distance. I was looking good with about 300 yards to go in about 25th only 30 yards back,but with tired legs and using a lot of energy getting myself back into contention I struggled to find anything for the sprint and cruised in with the main pack. Andy made a slightly better fist of it placing some 30 yards and 20 places ahead to just miss out on the points (top10).
All in all a good experience and I'm now looking forward to my next road race this coming Sunday at the Darley moor racing circuit.
Good news regarding the Great Britain call up. I had a confirmation e-mail from the selectors not long after my last post confirming I've made the squad. The World championships are in Edinburgh at the start of September. The course looks as if it might suit me with plenty of undulations particularly on the bike.
Race wise since Newlands has been pretty quiet. I fully intended to do the Wrekin streak on the Wednesday and the Llantysilio fell race on the Saturday. However my legs were in a seriously bad shape after the duathlon that I thought I'd done some damage. So I rested with some gentle rides that week instead of racing and went into Sunday feeling very heavy legged.
Sunday 25th April was my first ever road race. A cat 4 only 55km race around a business park in Solihull ! Not exactly the Giro d'italia but you have to start somewhere. I have to admit I didn't have a clue what to expect and went into the race with an open mind. Cat 4 is the bottom step of the ladder,your so called novices and I was expecting to see some old bikes and complete amateurs turn up...how wrong I was. It looked like a scene from Le Tour with lads warming up on rollers and team crews with spare wheels etc. I've seen all this before and started with a group of 70 riders preparing for the 35 lap x 1 mile course. The start was steady and I felt very comfortable,often just sitting in with the pack and chatting to Andy my club mate. It soon became obvious that due to the flat course and the strong wind it was almost impossible for anyone to escape in a break away and a last lap sprint was going to decide proceedings. As predicted after 34 laps we were as we were at the start,still in a huge pack waiting for things to happen. Just before the final lap I was sitting pretty in about 10th waiting for the last lap lunge for the line. The final circuit was a replica of the race in general with a rotating of small groups going from front to back and vice versa. So it turned out that with a 3/4 lap to go I was slightly boxed in over half way down in the pack. I went hammering around the outside into the wind over the next half lap to get myself somewhere near striking distance. I was looking good with about 300 yards to go in about 25th only 30 yards back,but with tired legs and using a lot of energy getting myself back into contention I struggled to find anything for the sprint and cruised in with the main pack. Andy made a slightly better fist of it placing some 30 yards and 20 places ahead to just miss out on the points (top10).
All in all a good experience and I'm now looking forward to my next road race this coming Sunday at the Darley moor racing circuit.
Monday, April 19
Newlands Duathlon
On Sunday 18th April I decided to drag a fellow Trismart club member and his wife and the next door neighbour up to the lakes for the Newlands Duathlon.
The event looked superb on paper with an off road run,a challenging road bike with a shorter off road run to finish.
I finished work on the Saturday at about 2pm and left for Keswick at 2.30pm. I arrived some 2hr 50 later in the heart of the beautiful Lake district. Weather was stunning for this time of year,pleasantly warm in the sun with a light slightly cooling North easterly breeze. I booked the clan into the Newlands hostel that was the base for the event and also a venue I had previously stayed.
My preparation for the race was far from ideal and after the "big event" buzz of the previous week in Milton Keynes I stupidly let slip some of the pre race disciplines you need to perform well. Thursday saw me down the local boozer for a mini GB call up celebration which although was hardly a "session" was not exactly ideal prep for a race. My day off was Friday,spent at the coast in Borth,very nice it was too. I didn't get to bed until late on Friday,another no-no. Work on Saturday followed by a long trip up to the lakes which left me feeling absolutely drained. Nothing a good nights sleep on Saturday could have fixed ..... the bed I was issued at the hostel was something I can only imagine you'd get in a Moldovan prison during the Iron curtain years ! The springs were almost visible through the mattress,so needless to say I had a somewhat disturbed sleep.
The morning of the race brought decent weather,an average breakfast and a pair of rather fetching black rings under my eyes !
The race started without any warning at all,and took the whole field by surprise. A simple "Go" was the shout as I was preparing for some final boring instructions,so it came as a pleasant surprise.
The first run was a tough fell run,7.5 km long with a steady climb out that turned pretty steep at the top,just below Catbells in the saddle of the two peaks. A descent followed down a rocky path onto the main footpath above the lane that goes alongside Derwentwater(I think).A final run back past a farm and down the lane back to transition saw me arrive back with a comfortable lead of about a minute. All was going well although I felt pretty leggy on the climb up.
The bike was hilly to say the least. 44km in total going over the two passes of Whinlatter and Honister. The second in particular was a challenge and I was glad of my compact chain set and was certainly not embarrassed to make full use of every last gear(many would have walked at the top as it's 25%). I had no energy whatsoever on the bike and felt like falling asleep at times in the pleasant sunshine. I was soon passed by one guy who was a good climber to be fair but nothing I thought was out of my reach on a good day. The bike route was technical in parts and care was needed especially on the descent off Honister. I was glad I drove around the route the day before as one corner in particular caught a few out as it was blind and tightened significantly as you rounded it. One other rider came up to me at the top of Honister,I managed to pull out 300 yards on him on the descent but he caught up with me on the next section and soon pulled away from me with 3-4 miles of the bike left. Despite riding poorly/tired I enjoyed the route,it was hard not too with such stunning scenery.
So into transition again,in third place this time,and onto the final 5km trail run. I was in "lack of motivation/enthusiasm" mode and was glad to get off the bike and enjoy the run to the finish. To say I dragged my heels on the final run was an understatement,but with a large gap back to 4th and 2nd in sight visually if not mentally I strolled in to the finish in 3rd place overall.
The times were 33min for the first run,1hr 32 on the bike (18mph) and 23min for the final run for a total of 2hr 32 mins. The winner was 5mins quicker.
Club mate Andy finished 9th overall,with his wife finishing in an excellent 3rd female,well done Claire.
In conclusion I struggled to get myself up for the race during the week leading up and during the race itself. I would certainly return to do the race again as the route was stunning and was almost too good to be a race as you don't quite appreciate the location whilst gurning away head down.
3 more races to go this week !
The event looked superb on paper with an off road run,a challenging road bike with a shorter off road run to finish.
I finished work on the Saturday at about 2pm and left for Keswick at 2.30pm. I arrived some 2hr 50 later in the heart of the beautiful Lake district. Weather was stunning for this time of year,pleasantly warm in the sun with a light slightly cooling North easterly breeze. I booked the clan into the Newlands hostel that was the base for the event and also a venue I had previously stayed.
My preparation for the race was far from ideal and after the "big event" buzz of the previous week in Milton Keynes I stupidly let slip some of the pre race disciplines you need to perform well. Thursday saw me down the local boozer for a mini GB call up celebration which although was hardly a "session" was not exactly ideal prep for a race. My day off was Friday,spent at the coast in Borth,very nice it was too. I didn't get to bed until late on Friday,another no-no. Work on Saturday followed by a long trip up to the lakes which left me feeling absolutely drained. Nothing a good nights sleep on Saturday could have fixed ..... the bed I was issued at the hostel was something I can only imagine you'd get in a Moldovan prison during the Iron curtain years ! The springs were almost visible through the mattress,so needless to say I had a somewhat disturbed sleep.
The morning of the race brought decent weather,an average breakfast and a pair of rather fetching black rings under my eyes !
The race started without any warning at all,and took the whole field by surprise. A simple "Go" was the shout as I was preparing for some final boring instructions,so it came as a pleasant surprise.
The first run was a tough fell run,7.5 km long with a steady climb out that turned pretty steep at the top,just below Catbells in the saddle of the two peaks. A descent followed down a rocky path onto the main footpath above the lane that goes alongside Derwentwater(I think).A final run back past a farm and down the lane back to transition saw me arrive back with a comfortable lead of about a minute. All was going well although I felt pretty leggy on the climb up.
The bike was hilly to say the least. 44km in total going over the two passes of Whinlatter and Honister. The second in particular was a challenge and I was glad of my compact chain set and was certainly not embarrassed to make full use of every last gear(many would have walked at the top as it's 25%). I had no energy whatsoever on the bike and felt like falling asleep at times in the pleasant sunshine. I was soon passed by one guy who was a good climber to be fair but nothing I thought was out of my reach on a good day. The bike route was technical in parts and care was needed especially on the descent off Honister. I was glad I drove around the route the day before as one corner in particular caught a few out as it was blind and tightened significantly as you rounded it. One other rider came up to me at the top of Honister,I managed to pull out 300 yards on him on the descent but he caught up with me on the next section and soon pulled away from me with 3-4 miles of the bike left. Despite riding poorly/tired I enjoyed the route,it was hard not too with such stunning scenery.
So into transition again,in third place this time,and onto the final 5km trail run. I was in "lack of motivation/enthusiasm" mode and was glad to get off the bike and enjoy the run to the finish. To say I dragged my heels on the final run was an understatement,but with a large gap back to 4th and 2nd in sight visually if not mentally I strolled in to the finish in 3rd place overall.
The times were 33min for the first run,1hr 32 on the bike (18mph) and 23min for the final run for a total of 2hr 32 mins. The winner was 5mins quicker.
Club mate Andy finished 9th overall,with his wife finishing in an excellent 3rd female,well done Claire.
In conclusion I struggled to get myself up for the race during the week leading up and during the race itself. I would certainly return to do the race again as the route was stunning and was almost too good to be a race as you don't quite appreciate the location whilst gurning away head down.
3 more races to go this week !
Friday, April 16
Last chance Saloon
Sunday 11th April was my second and final chance to try and gain a Great Britain spot at the World Duathlon championships in Edinburgh.
This time I was off to Emberton near Milton Keynes to see if I could improve on my National champs position which saw me miss out on a spot by 20 seconds ! This event is actually the 3rd of 4 qualifiers,but this will be my last chance as the final qualifier in Cambridge is already sold out,so the pressure's on !
The course looked decent with a multi lap run and an undulating 2 lap bike. The weather was set fair and quite mild,a god send seeing as the first wave went off at 07.45.
I went in the first wave and got quickly into a good stride on the first run of a pan flat course. Only complaint is the people who insist on pushing themselves to the front only to get overtaken within 100 yards.Why ?
I ran the 10km in 34.13 which was quicker than the nationals but to be expected due the flatter course. The bike again was my downfall,I can't get used to these tri bar things and spent most of the ride on the drops. I must admit mind that the lads coming past me had wheels worth more than my road bike. It's quite easy to ride at 1-2 mph quicker on a proper time trial bike with aero helmet and top of the range wheels. If you take this into account this can mean losing as much as 5-6 mins over an hour. This was to be the case as I came in at 66min for the 40km on the undulating course. Not a disaster but some lads at the front went sub hour !
So after losing up to 20 places on the bike it was time for me to claw some places back on the 5km run. I went well again on the final run and clocked 18.30 which measured slightly long apparently to gain back some places I had lost on the bike.
So where did this get me ?
Well I was about 40th overall out of the 550 starters and more importantly 12th in my age group. This was actually worse than my 10th at the nationals,panic was starting to set in but I soon dismissed this and just accepted that a) It's too late to worry now I've finished,and b)remember how 10th at the nationals gave me 5th of those who registered.
The only thing I could do was study the results when I got home and see who had beaten me..... and the results suggest that despite a 12th in age I was 3rd registered finisher. All those ahead of me had either already qualified at the other qualifying events or had not registered to be considered.
Great news ! There are 4 qualifiers from each race and so a 3rd will be good enough to get me a slot to the Worlds in September. I must add that this has to be confirmed but I'm 99% certain that I'm in and await an e-mail from the selectors.
In the mean time I have a Duathlon in the lakes on Sunday (18th) followed by a fell race wed,a fell race a week sat (24th) and my first road race (bike) on the sunday. That's 4 races in 8 days !! My legs are already screaming.
This time I was off to Emberton near Milton Keynes to see if I could improve on my National champs position which saw me miss out on a spot by 20 seconds ! This event is actually the 3rd of 4 qualifiers,but this will be my last chance as the final qualifier in Cambridge is already sold out,so the pressure's on !
The course looked decent with a multi lap run and an undulating 2 lap bike. The weather was set fair and quite mild,a god send seeing as the first wave went off at 07.45.
I went in the first wave and got quickly into a good stride on the first run of a pan flat course. Only complaint is the people who insist on pushing themselves to the front only to get overtaken within 100 yards.Why ?
I ran the 10km in 34.13 which was quicker than the nationals but to be expected due the flatter course. The bike again was my downfall,I can't get used to these tri bar things and spent most of the ride on the drops. I must admit mind that the lads coming past me had wheels worth more than my road bike. It's quite easy to ride at 1-2 mph quicker on a proper time trial bike with aero helmet and top of the range wheels. If you take this into account this can mean losing as much as 5-6 mins over an hour. This was to be the case as I came in at 66min for the 40km on the undulating course. Not a disaster but some lads at the front went sub hour !
So after losing up to 20 places on the bike it was time for me to claw some places back on the 5km run. I went well again on the final run and clocked 18.30 which measured slightly long apparently to gain back some places I had lost on the bike.
So where did this get me ?
Well I was about 40th overall out of the 550 starters and more importantly 12th in my age group. This was actually worse than my 10th at the nationals,panic was starting to set in but I soon dismissed this and just accepted that a) It's too late to worry now I've finished,and b)remember how 10th at the nationals gave me 5th of those who registered.
The only thing I could do was study the results when I got home and see who had beaten me..... and the results suggest that despite a 12th in age I was 3rd registered finisher. All those ahead of me had either already qualified at the other qualifying events or had not registered to be considered.
Great news ! There are 4 qualifiers from each race and so a 3rd will be good enough to get me a slot to the Worlds in September. I must add that this has to be confirmed but I'm 99% certain that I'm in and await an e-mail from the selectors.
In the mean time I have a Duathlon in the lakes on Sunday (18th) followed by a fell race wed,a fell race a week sat (24th) and my first road race (bike) on the sunday. That's 4 races in 8 days !! My legs are already screaming.
Wednesday, March 31
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 !
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