| Team Cyclewise Altura |
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Round-up of 2010... and looking ahead to 2011Our team riders are gearing up for another action-packed season of cross-country, road, downhill and enduro races and ‘challenges’. We had mixed results last year, including wins for Phil and Charlie in road and cross-country events, the team prize at the Whinlatter Challenge, well-placed finishes for the roadies in the Fred Whitton and Cumberland Challenge, and the MTBers in the Mountain Mayhem and the Fort William DH Enduro. Respect to Joe for finishing 2nd hardtail in the latter event, and to Craig for limiting his injuries to cuts and bruises.... oh, and a cracked cervical vertebra! Thank goodness for full-face helmets, although for this season, Craig has invested in a neck brace. He also now has his hard-hitting Hanzz, the new downhill/freeride beasty from Cube. The protective gear will no doubt get a bashing, right from Craig’s first event – a mini downhill at Innerleithen on February 13th. This is a push-up event, in which riders do as many runs as they can or need to, and the quickest one counts. Follow that with the Kielder ‘Avalanche’, a mass start downhill over the weekend of March 5th and 6th ... and we’re still only a quarter of the way through the year! Hoping to repeat our success of last year, Team Cyclewise Altura will again have a strong presence on home turf at the first of the enduros – the Altura Whinlatter Challenge on Sunday, March 20th. We’ll have riders in both the 30-mile enduro and 15-mile half-enduro – and for entertainment value, look out for Sean and Craig competing on a TANDEM! It makes for a good warm-up to other enduros during the year, including the Sam Houghton Challenge in June (albeit with a diminished presence as it's the same day as Dan and the lovely Genevieve’s wedding!), the Grizedale Challenge and the Tour de Ben Nevis, both in September, and of course the 24-hour Mountain Mayhem in June.
Also in September, we are holding our own ‘team event’ – two whole weeks in Moab, to celebrate some of us turning 40! Happy Days. As always, thanks to Altura for their support and awesome clothing... also thanks to Cube, Buff and Camelbak.
3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross - September 25thIt's billed as the 'toughest and biggest cyclo-cross event in the UK', but that didn't stop our Dan making the 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross his parting challenge for Team Cyclewise Altura. Held towards the end of September each year, the event covers 38 miles within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, comprising 20 offroad miles and 18 miles of road - of which 34 are rideable... if you're Nick Craig maybe!
Dynamic Dan completed the exhausting event in 5 hours 17 minutes and 19 seconds... just a couple of hours (or so) behind winner Nick Craig! A huge 'well done' to Dan - here he is with his 'certificate of merit'.
Cyclewise take podium place at Kirroughtree 10hr on Cube ReactionsTeam riders Phil Davies and Bob Glaister rocked a few boats when they finished an impressive 3rd at the annual 10 at Kirroughtree event in South West Scotland at the start of July. Phil took off on a flying first lap, coming in first after the 50-minute lap to lead the field. Meanwhile, the twisting and technical trail suited Bob who put in six consistently fast laps to secure Cyclewise 3rd place, only 1 minute behind the runners-up after 10 hours of riding. Both Cyclewise riders raved about the route which took in swooping single track, some eyeballs-out fire road climbs and even a rooty section through the woods which required lifting front wheels and careful judgement on the corners.
“The bike was perfect,” says Phil. “Super fast but with a design that isn’t harsh despite its stiffness. It handles like the original HPA Reaction which is why I chose to stick with this model. I’ve now ridden it on 5-hour trips across the Lakes, down some rather gnarly rocky descents and also raced on it. For a hardtail, it doesn't disappoint.”
Fred Whitton Challenge - May 13thHere is Sean's report on the gruelling 112-mile sportive challenge ride round the Lake District:
Gary and I set off this winter determined to get as many training passes in and miles as possible. We managed to get over Hardknott and Wrynose early Jan and even dragged poor Dan over the last half of the Fred route (for his first ever time) in the dark after work. All the training seemed to be paying off and in the last couple of weeks the legs were feeling good. The weather leading up to the final couple of days did not look good but hey its the same for everyone. I woke up on the Sunday morning and sure enough the weather was grim - as Chris would say, you can only control the controllable so I made sure I packed some waterproofs and suitably warm clothing and headed down to the start. While Dan headed off as soon as he was ready, I waited for Gary who somehow slept in on the big ride day. We took off nice and steady remembering the years of going hard from the gate only to blow up before Honister. Garry seemed to be struggling a bit up Kirkstone so I eased it up a bit to wait for him. There was no sign of him by the bottom and a couple of handy riders had just passed me so I made the selfish decision to go it alone (I figured it’s what he would have wanted). A large group down the A66 and Borrowdale was a big help, I made sure to be near the front on the climb up Honister so as to not get caught out by someone doing some crazy weaving all over the road. No stopping at the feed station as Jane was waiting at the top of Whinlatter for a super-quick bottle swap and much-needed support. The weather took a bad turn after Whinlatter - a strong head wind with constant rain is the last thing you need at the halfway point. I stayed with the odd person but mostly rode on my own for the remainder of the ride. The passes may be tough but there is still a load of climbs to do until you reach Hardknott. I had just over an hour left at the telephone box to get back and make it under the 7. Slowly but surely I wound my way up the pass, determined to ride the whole thing. I managed to ride the steep S bend and keep the legs ticking over on the remaining drag to the top, super pleased with myself I had to keep on concentrating on the rough descent to keep the rubber side down. Over Wrynose and then into Coniston, there was nothing left in the tank. I was doing all I could to keep the legs ticking over, through the last couple of tight corners then into the finish to find the man with the Dibber. James practically carried me to the timing station, making sure I had some cake to eat. I was so relieved when the lady said my time of 6.48.58 that I nearly fell over. Jane had booked the ferry to Holland for that evening giving me the extra incentive to ride under the 7 as we now had 3 hours to get to Hull. I ate half of my pie before she tracked me down. I was allowed a quick wipe down and change of clothes before putting the bike in the van and hitting the road. We made it to the ferry with a little time to spare, now I could look forward to relaxing for a couple of weeks in the Italian sunshine.
MacAvalanche - April 30thThe UK's version of the Mega Avalanche, run by No Fuss Events, took place on the slopes of Glencoe mountain resort - involving 100-plus riders, a mass start, 700m of descending, snow... and a helicopter uplift.
The concept was simple. Take 100 riders, use a mixture of cable cars and helicopters to get riders and their bikes to the top of a big hill, then say GO!!!! The venue for this was Glencoe ski centre. Thankfully the weather was warm and sunny, a little windy but for Scotland amazing. Bikes were taken up the mountain in the morning then all the riders walked the course, think big open fell with all the features you can imagine and you get an idea of what we were about to ride. After a briefing, we were ferried to the top by helicopter (an event in its own right), for what I can only describe as an interesting flight, especially the landing at the top in the wind. Once all the riders had assembled, we were given our starting orders and off we set, a short run to the bikes then hit the first section of snow which was best taken with a run/fall/slide ... you get the picture. I had a good start getting myself up into the top ten, which I held through the pedalling section toward the last part of the descent. But then a foolish bit of overtaking put me in the dirt, and after I'd straightened my bars, I cruised the last section. 96 riders finished the event and all seemed to really enjoy it, something to do with the laidback feel that the No Fuss team create. Will I be back next year? You bet! More info can be found on www.nofussevents.co.uk And for a video link, go to http://www.mtbcut.tv/News/Article/31/IXS-Macavalanche
RRP Midlands XC Series, Round 1 - Cannock Chase
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On the road, we are gearing up for the gruelling Fred Whitton in May, the Cumberland Challenge in September, and our very own ‘challenge for charity’, the Coast2Coast and back... in a day! Last year, six of us (pictured left at the start in Whitehaven) completed the 280mile C2C2C route in two days back to back, to raise money for the Special Care Baby Unit at the West Cumberland Hospital. This year, we will be doing it in aid of Keswick Mountain Rescue and the Air Ambulance.
Starting at Helwith Bridge near Settle, the route is not for the fainthearted and takes in the three peaks of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent. While he spent a fair bit of time pushing his bike, Dan hammered the last descent from Pen-y-Ghent (pictured right) to the finish in 26 minutes... riding all the way!
Phil’s steed for the race was his carbon Cube Reaction fitted out by our shop manager Sean with some light Olympic ZTR Crest wheels on Hope Hubs, plus Maxxis Crossmark tyres.
Well, Fred has come and gone again. I have been trying for the last 4 years to get under the magic 7 hours, failing dismally each time, and this year I managed to not do anything silly and made it around safely in 6.48.58. Very pleased.
Craig was one of those 'lucky' riders to take part, finishing a very respectable 19th Senior Male. Here's his report...
The race at Cannock provided a great testing ground for the following weekend's National XC Series opener, as Sunday, March 27th, saw Round 1 of the British Mountain Bike Series (BMBS) come to Sherwood Pines.
The weekend of March 5th and 6th saw Craig head north, this time for the inaugural Kielder Avalanche event. Here's his report...
By the end of the day we had put in 7 timed runs, and then just because we were having so much fun decided to finish the day with an additional run on a different course. At the bottom of the hill, we ended the day with a hot bike wash (top tip, fill your Dirtworker Nomad with hot water) and cleaned up before getting our results.
