Team Here Come the Belgians

Glentress Duathalon

2012-01-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

Right then, now for something alittle different – A Duathalon. That’srunning and cycling.

Beardy Belgian Brother Ben

Yes I said running!! Me? For those who’ve met me, you’ll know that I don’t exactly cut the slenderfigure of a runner – “nor cyclist” I hear you cry – so when Beardy BelgianBrother Ben suggested entering the Glentress Duathalon I was a little sceptical,nay worried.

Before I go any further though,please bear in mind that we only entered the short version of the Glentress Duathalon Series, and only had to complete a 5km run and 6km bike. So we aren’t talking massive distances here,but still a little daunting for inexperienced runner me.

That said, once entered, I wasnot going to be beaten by it, and endeavoured to get up to 5km with the use ofa training programme found on the internet. It worked, and after a few weeks jogging about I could quite comfortablyrun my local flat and tarmaced streets.

Whizz forward to race day andwhat greeted us on the beautiful cold crisp morning in Glentress was a runnothing short of a fell race. The flattarmac based training runs of the previous weeks were now looking scantpreparation for what I was about to put my generally unfit and cuddly bodythrough. From the gun we went up!! There was nearly 300m of climbing, beforeturning and hammering down a tuffeted grassy mountain side to transition. It got me blowing a bit, but I think I copedpretty well overall. To my surprisepeople were walking within the first kilometre, so even with my steady progressI picked a few off.

Orange Clockwork

I entered transition somewherenear the back of the field and about 3.5mins behind Brother Ben – Now tounleash Hell… Although not a strongrunner, I am fairly confident, to a certain extent, with my cycling ability and,once straddling old faithful – my Orange Clockwork - I am a fairly formidableproposition. The cycle part wasexcellent fun and utilised the lower sections of both the Blue and Red Glentressruns, so was wonderfully swoopy, bermy, table toppy and single tracky, and Isoon started to catch people.

P7 displaying a broken seat post

Suddenly, on one of the fairlyshort but steep fire road climbs, the unmistakable Red, White and Black HCtBlivery came into my tunnelled view – it was Ben. I mustered what little breath I had remainingin my lungs and hollered a barrage of abuse in his direction - as anyrespectable big brother would/should do. I should have perhaps saved this breath to aid my toil against gravity,but opted instead to maintain the vocal abuse until I did finally manage tohaul myself level. Only now I notice thereason for his slow progress – a snapped seat post! The post had broken just after transition,and poor old Ben had had to do what was now nearly all the cycle standingup!! Whinging and moaning through tearsof pain about “aching calves”, or some such nonsense, soon drifted into thedistance as I sped on.

I gained six places on the nowquite strung out tail enders, and finished in what I consider a fairlyreasonable position for a first timer.

It was an excellent event and Ireally enjoyed myself. I am going to tryand keep the running up and I think attempt other such events in the future.

War of the Roses…

2012-01-17T02:29:00.000-08:00

Photo courtesy of Neil Hendry

Photo courtesy of JoozeD

Sounds and smells akin to a scrabblingteam of liniment smeared horse’s waft through the cobbled enclave, as flounderingfooted racers search for grip. The essentiallysimple task of hooking a stud or cleat into a greasy sett, and levering oneselfinch by inch up the hill, and ahead of your nearest rival, seems insurmountableat times, and an experience I will not forget in a hurry.

I refer to the infamous ‘Chimney’– an approximately 100m long, near vertical (it felt like it to me at least!!)cobbled climb, which was doable for the top boys and girls, but a real test tothe rest. The gruelling course threweverything it could at the riders – I say riders, but for large sectors of thevery muddy loop, terms such as joggers, walkers, sloggers or draggers may bemore fitting. It’s difficult not to usethe old ‘No Man’s Land’ cliché, but I find it difficult to come by words morefitting.

To continue the War theme further,and fully expose my very limited historical knowledge, I understand Todmordento have had a long history of battles between flamboyantly dressed Lancastriansand Yorkshire People and, judging by the turn out the other Sunday this, now thankfully peaceful tradition, is set to continue.

Todmorden provided a brilliantcourse and a brilliant day out, oh and a free Duvel to boot. Roll on next year.

Cheers

Fresh Start

2012-01-03T08:03:00.001-08:00

With the cross season still in full swing I'm already beginning to think of the road season. As the New Year starts many of us think of fresh starts. One of mine is a new regular write up of my return to racing.

http://www.velouk.net/2012/01/03/a-new-start-in-cyclesport-oliver-wright/

Hope it's the start of a good new year for all of us.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.2

Overdue Reports...

2011-12-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

North of England Championship 4/12/11

A new venue to me near Barnard Castle which at first didn't look that interesting going on the preview video posted a few days before. Once there however thing picked up! Firstly it was obviously going to be quite muddy and secondly it had a bit more ascent/descent than appeared from the video. Oh and there was the weather!

Nick over the barriers

Keeping warm before the start was priority number one - the decision was made in consultation with Dave and Nick to ride just the one preview lap and warm up on the road a bit. Firstly though, not to leave the comfort of the warm car until absolutely necessary, as there was no way you were getting back in after a muddy lap out there! The preview lap revealed two areas that were particularly heavy, one regaining some tarmac on the far side of the course and a longer section that was initially ok but got progressively worse (or I got progressively more tired!) coming up past the big tree toward the finish. The start was on the tarmac and nearly proved a disaster with a foot/pedal clipping my wheel (or visa versa) but luckily resulted in just a stall rather than a fall. Lots of effort and a good choice of line through the first heavy section saw me back in roughly the 'right' position. The race definitely felt like a war of attrition with the heavy going sapping energy progressively through the race (unless you were Noel Clough, in which case you sailed on without any fall off in speed!). The final lap and a half were concluded appropriately enough in a semi blizzard. Excellent stuff!

Blizzard to finish

Sheffield Stars Go-Cross 27/11/11

Not the most inspiring of courses but a fun event and a proper 'Go-Cross' that is ideal as an introduction to the sport. Combining the race with a visit to see Lizzy, G and Rex and Winkie, Nats and Annie made the for a fun weekend even Ginger James even made it for the photo call! A twisty turny playing fields course with one section of banking and one wall/barrier meant a fast race. Unfortunately being a little to casual at the start meant not getting on the front row and getting a little caught up to begin with. Not much chance of last years surprise win with this year's field especially with Rob Partridge in as a bit of a ringer! Happy enough with 7th overall and 2nd Vet given the alcohol fuelled preparation the night before with G and his apicultural mentor's mead. Good to see G back racing and a shame that a cold virus prevented Winkie from lining up but hopefully the two Sheffield Belgians will soon be back to regular races and fitness.

Fun for all the family (Photo Liz Walton)

Stuff I Learned this Weekend

2011-12-19T05:41:00.002-08:00

i) I don't need a new bike, I need to get faster. My bike has a single gear, Reynolds 520 steel, dubious geometry, cantis that work when they feel like it and I look upon the Dirty Disco with wonder. But there's a chap who rides my league with the same bike as me, is older than me, and rides faster than me. He rides faster than most of the field in fact. So if he can do it etc etc. Shelling out for the On One, as marvellous as I'm sure it is would feel, well, a bit of a cop out.

ii) My bike handling in real mud is utter rubbish. First race in deep mud and I'm pottering around corners taking wide bends - all over the place. Umpteen people overtaking on the inside on the racing line. The only clincher I know for this is Michelin Mud and that's only because the clue is in the name. May need to look at Griffo's ...and practice more.

iii) What I don't know about herbacious borders isn't worth knowing. My car CD has given up so its Desert Island discs to races, Gardener's Question Time on the way back. Every week.

iv) I have found my level. Take the number of entrants divide by two and that'll be where I finish, to within a place or two. I'm quite happy with this, I don't think I ride to beat other people but to cause as much discomfort as I can to myself. Not sure if this is sensible or deeply Freudian?

v)New road wheels on and a spin for 3 hours the night before Sunday's race. Not the best preparation for sure but they are so completely ace I just kept going. Makes me wonder what I have been riding on. Nothing special Open Pro on Ambrosio hubs, Sapim Race spokes, but they just glide perfectly and are wonderfully stiff.

ps. thanks to crossjunkie for posting pro race coverage. Has kept me sustained these dark nights.

A weekend of new things

2011-12-12T03:37:00.000-08:00

Photo thanks to SportSunday

Saturday Al & I headed over to the National Cycle Centre to race in the Madison event at Clayton Vale.
The course was short with some sharp climbs and tight corners and some proper mud!
The format was one lap each rider with a transition area where you could hand sling, tag or push your team mates arse!
Laps were around the 3 minute mark which meant a full out effort each lap and despair as just as your breathing was coming under control your team mate was coming in to the change over area.
we had a good start and we were in third place after the first lap, Al closed the gap down but we never managed to get passed the team in front. Some unfair changes i.e. 5 meters out shout from some teams so us trying to claw back that distance each lap and on a short lap it wasn't happening.
we placed 3 rd overall after what seemed like hundreds of laps and had big smiles on our faces.
free soup, bread roll, coffee and a bottle of water at the new cafe at cycling centre before prizes were presented outside Evans.
the event was great, well organised and the food and prizes (donated by Evans were excellent).
One to put in your diaries for next year if nothing more it was a fantastic interval session. Just needed better judging in the transition area!
Saturday was the first outing for me on tubs, Al has been steadily pushing me towards them for some time and last week a set of FMB super mud's arrived, expertly stuck by Al they were ready to roll on Saturday.
These FMB's are fantastic the grip was excellent and they shed the mud really well, allowing faster cornering and more confidence on the climbs.
Roll on Sunday

Supercross Cup Round 5: Tymon Park

2011-12-05T02:58:00.000-08:00

Final round of the Supercross and the season wrap up for the Leinster area. As per normal you had to start the last round for points in the series to count with best 4 out of 5 races being considdered for your overall ranking. As I'd been sick I've only ridden 2 rounds previous to this, had to make some sort of effort, even if I was starting from the back of the grid.

Tymon can be wet, the first corner is normally sorta wet...but add in a B race and it got shredded. Running race every lap for about 100m allowed me to pull back a lot of places in the first two laps as people tried to ride it. By the end of the second lap I had pulled myself into 23rd and felt ok. The leaders were gone but there was still racing to be had with Paddy Mc and Sutty from my own club trying to reel me in and Mark McGauly just meters off my front wheel. I spent the next 4 laps catching up to mark on the running and technical sections.

Every time it went straight ahead and became a power race he gapped me. This season has been the first year I've not lost time on the technical sections, but my overall strength and fitness is not there to allow me to ride the hard bits fast. Tymon rewarded us with some excellent technical sections. The hill side twists and the Spiral of Confusion (tm) worked a treat on the first lap and every other lap gave you instant idea where you were placed. No more straight line drag strips, we need this, we need to be able to see who we are leading, who is coming back to us. Put loops in your courses folks.

The technical little step into a run-up was a moot point for some. Many of the road oriented B's were not happy, but if they'd ridden in St Annes they knew what to expect. In the A race it became a point of contention as some riders got a bit elbows out being very lucky to miss a DQ despite several complaints.

Myself, I enjoyed the race. Tymon was where I lost my CX cherry many years ago. It's a venue I love to race in and I think this years course was the best we have every done. The supercross is over for this season, but it will be back next year. Hopefully bigger, hopefully stronger and hopefully with less internal handbags. Race organisation is stressful. Hence after this round we all went out for dinner. Talked, drank, ranted at each other and generally just got together outside of the complexity of racing. For all of us there may be a me in Team, its just jumbled up with excess crap. But never forget it also contains mate if you look hard enough.

This Week I've Been Mostly Thinking About...

2011-12-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

The end of the 'cross season. It does seem a bit weird that it's so short, a few months of intense racing and well, that's your lot until next autumn. Maybe its because it's now December that the end is in sight. It feels like the end of Christmas when you're a kid, or the end of a World Cup - what did I do to fill the time before this? I won't miss mid-week intervals but I will certainly miss weak tea and cake after the races. There's seems to be few outlets for total immersion in something so comletely demanding, no matter how daft. Bring on September.

Kilbroney CX -Ulster CX final round

2011-11-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Every year I look forward to this race. Every year it gets my attention. This year was no different. Normally at this time of the year the ground is frozen solid. Snow is falling. This course with its short grass becomes a drag strip inter-spaced with a few tight hard corners and a run-up. This year was different. Its November and we've not had a single frost all winter. It's warm. Unseasonably so.

An easy drive up with Tim lamenting the season that wasn't for me, and the season that is for Tim. A year ago the boy couldn't take a single corner at speed...now...well he can....mostly. Park up, sign on, watch the muddy MTBers and decide that Rhino's are going on, muds for Tim, muds for everyone. Good choice.

Start was narrow. The first turn for the hole shot narrow. The next section narrow with people who couldn't ride it. Ahh the joys of a shit gridding. The rest of the lap was a mixture of deep rutted mud. Slip-sliding corners. A horrendous fast section along the bottom broken by narrow dead turns. Into the 180's that cost me a great finish last year against Glen Kinning. A run up for many, a ride for few, followed by a long drag to the start.

7 laps. I fell asleep for two and dropped off my bunch. Although I lost focus this is the first race I rode above threshold for the entire race. Both power and heart rate were where they should have been. Not as high as last season. But the highest so far this season. I might make it to Natz this year. Just a matter of playing it safe and staying healthier than the other 19 people who beat me.

Scottish CX; Round 6 Meadowmill, 27th November

2011-11-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

To say the weather has be inclement is an understatement. Gale force winds lashed Western Scotland overnight with a side of torrential rain and temperatures well into low single figures mean ideal conditions for cx! With a heavy head I set out for the East coast where I thought the weather might be better......no.
Ive had some equipment 'problems' namely mud clearance, or lack of. I started out on a Cotic X which I wanted to love but the mudfest that has been this season so far meant I had to change tack. Promptly sold on then as the clearance at the fork was akin to a roadbike. Taking its place a Specializede Crux, adorned with a Belgians sticker to show my colours, far more like it.
So to the start then and a large crash which took down about a dozen bodies within the first couple of hundred metres, I did well to avoid it and to avoid history repeating itself as I was involved in a crash at the start here last year.
The course was a combination of singletrack open grassland, nice and soft too, like pedalling through treacle! Some off camber banks kept things interesting with some off the bike climbs and authentic style Belgian steps. All this and a howling headwind what more could you want?
A test indeed then, no idea where I finished, but it wasn't last. I have sore legs so Im happy that I tried hard enough.
I did see another Belgian today, I shouted to you although you must have thought I was a maniac. I was riding in my club colours, Johnstone Wheelers.
Next stop Auchentoshan, the Scottish Championships. As a provisional licence holder its a no go for me. I have offered to pit crew for some club-mates though, giving something back.
I have never blogged in my life before, I hope this works.

Supercross Cup Round 4: St Anne’s Park 2011

2011-11-25T04:20:00.000-08:00

What can I say that has not been said by others? A great course. Perfect for spectators. Best course of the year.

It was. It is. It will be.

For me it was a bad day. I was tired, I was stressed, I had to much going on and no way to get it down. Knowing the course only gives you so much when you've been up since 7am getting ready. Spending the morning placing stakes, taping, cutting back corners, borrowing traffic cones off the roads...it all takes its toll on your ability to ride a bike.
I loved to ride the course, I loved the shouts I got even though I was in the bottom 10, I loved the face on people as they got off on our suffering. Humans are odd, odd but great. All the while remembering that I was the cause of this pain, this torture, this masochistic rite that we take on in winter. My course, my pain, my concept.
Thanks to all who helped. Thanks to all who rode. Thanks to all who spectated.

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This Week I've Been Mostly Thinking About...

2011-11-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

New road wheels...open pro or excellights? Ultegra or dura ace hubs, or Hope or push the boat out, Chris Kings? In red? Sapim race or x-rays? Race are cheaper? Where can you get Chris King hubs anyhow? Ceramic open pro or not? I assume clinchers but I like the idea of fettling on with glue but it just has to be clinchers, right? Maybe...and 4 season tyres or those new Roubaix types from Specialized or is that gimmicky branding? Black or silver? 32 or 36h?

Does this happen to everyone else?

Myrtle Park, Bingley

2011-11-23T12:02:00.001-08:00

Rich powering up the banking

A cool and misty afternoon inBingley could not dilute the overwhelmingly warm and prickly feelings of joyand happiness my insides were experiencing, as I lined up with my fellowYorkshire Point Series Brethren and Sistren. Having been away from the CX game for what seemed like too long (gettingon for nearly two months - broken only by a brief blast at Mugdock Park,Scotland), Myrtle Park in Bingley seemed like well and truly the right the time toonce more put rubber to mud, and race around in circles for ~45mins.

Waggo with another solid performance

The popular course amongst bothcompetitors and spectators alike, comprised the usual grassy slogs and singletrack, supplemented with a knee high concrete step, a steep banking, and a longstair climb with banister assist. Allthis variety resulted in three dismounts per lap - for us mere mortals - or twofor those who could bunny hop the concrete step. I witnessed it during a practice lap - it could be done!! The fair(ish) weatherleading up to race day had resulted in the course being, what I would considergood to soft/soft in places. There was no‘slop’ anywhere, but I felt the risk of frame/fork/brake cloggage, due toisolated areas of abundant surface leaf litter, might be a distinctpossibility.

Me tackling some grassy section

Feelings of excitement werefurther whetted, by my anticipation of the next instalment of the fast becominglegendary friendly competition between Belgian John (me) and Chris(WYPCC). For about 6 months now we havegone hammer and tong at it race after race. Although I have had my odd moments of glory, Chris has got the better ofme on the majority of occasions. However, the ‘having someone to race/chase’ aspect to our relationshiphas resulted in a clear PB for me at Temple Newsam. Cheers for that Chris.

On this, our most recent of boutshowever, the unlucky Chris was caught in a pile up during the opening sprint, andwent to ground. Although not injured,and did remount and complete the race, he did not manage to fully close the gapgenerated. However, this didn’t stop me frompeeping over my shoulder every couple on minutes, expecting the familiar figureto be there breathing down my neck.

The debrief

So, essentially the victory goes tome this time, but it’s a somewhat hollow one. I may have won the battle on this occasion, due the misfortunes ofothers, but I doubt I will win the war…….

Photos courtesy of Jo Allen -Thanks

Grange Moor

2011-11-19T03:04:00.001-08:00

IMG_9659, a photo by Hanglebads / Jo Allen on Flickr.

The glamour of the post race clean-up ;-)

Grange Moor Go Cross

2011-11-18T10:32:00.001-08:00

After a week off from races the Grange Moor Go Cross was a change in more ways than one. Finally it seemed that 'real' cross weather had arrived and those of us that had been wishing for a bit of mud were 'rewarded'! The venue was a new one making use of a Moto-X course including table tops and a 'pump' section. Unfortunately the preceding weeks damp weather had turned the course into a quagmire of Somme like proportions (appropriately enough for Remembrance Sunday).

Several racers took a look at the course and decided not to ride for fear of ripping rear mechs off. Having made the effort to get there and being eager to race I decided to give it a go but with a few reservations: one I was going to ride in a single 'mid block' gear and two; at the slightest rear mech rattle I was going to stop and sort it. The racing was in places very entertaining sliding around in a very 'It's a Knockout' fashion but slight variations in line could take you into very clay like mud which clogged the bike something rotten. I was forced to stop twice, once after mistakenly riding through peanut butter/clay requiring an quick unclogging of the fork and once when my rear quick release came undone which was a more extended affair (I've replaced the quick release now as I suspect it wasn't up to the job)

Both Nick and myself finished without mechanical mishap unlike the eight or so riders whose rear mechs were eaten by the mud. I did feel particularly sorry for some of the 'Go Cross' riders as a few of the youngsters were having a miserable time - not an ideal introduction to cross.

A big thanks to the marshals and organisers for their efforts on such a miserable day. The course itself could do with a bit of a rethink, certainly keep some of the muddy mayhem but it would be nice to have some variety - perhaps the upper field etc if it could be made available? As it stands the I wouldn't be rushing back to do it next year.

Update from the Disco

2011-11-11T03:07:00.000-08:00

I reported recently on the arrival of a new kid on the cross block, the full carbon, disc only Dirty Disco from On One.

Available as a frame and fork package or SRAM Rival build, I've been riding and racing the Disco for a bit now and have splashed out on that rarity, for now, carbon tubular disc wheels too. Suffice to say, my initial positive impressions have been reinforced and the party is in full swing now.........

The Disco originally came via the On One test team (aka Dave Haygarth) with a zero lay back seat post and short 100mm stem. It made the handling vivid but slightly ungainly to ride for my lanky 6' 5" frame, especially as the frame is actually a L/56cm rather than the biggest XL/58cm size. That said, with a 120mm stem, and seatpost with average layback, I have recreated the position on my previous Uncle John frames even though they are actually XL in size.

This is in large part due to the pretty tall headtube and relatively long toptube - in other words this is quite a large 56cm frame. If you see what I mean. I fits me fine, even at my height and the smaller frame than i might normally ride, merely sharpens the handling with no trade off in comfort.

Apart from emphasising the stealth, weapons grade impression of the already naked carbon frame, the unbadged rims and Novatec disc hubs that I sourced from Hong Kong and built up for less than £250 have turned it into a full on race machine. More on that in a bit.

That said, I've ridden the Disco on the road quite a bit (mostly with my son) and it makes a great mile eater - stiff, comfortable and agile in hilly terrain. Commuting duties would be dispatched with ease and aplomb on it, with the On One 29er XC QR wheels giving flexibility for road, hybrid and off road tires alike. The lower maintenance and wear of the discs versus caliper or cantilever brakes would be a real boon here during the winter months.

But you still have that option of taking it off road on rougher stuff too, mountain bike trails and the like, as it is supremely capable on really quite rocky terrain with the discs and that massive chunky fork with 1.5" bearings doing the work for you. 3 Peaks training has been put to bed till next year, but I can't wait to get it out on the trails and hills in East Lancs. Double bottle cage mounts add to it's flexibility as long ride off roader too.

But for now it's cross season, and that means 1 hour blasts around muddy parks and fields. With deep section carbon wheels and FMB Super Muds, the Disco is genuinely a real race contender. More than can be said for it's rider....

The first proper test, at the Pignut Hill, Northwich round of the NW Cross League showed up the ease with which the Disco handled deeper section, stiff carbon wheels. Sometimes when I've used carbons, the reduction in braking power on slippy rims and their stiffness can make the bike handle less confidently than when set up with more traditional alloy rims and tubs, particularly on the technical sections.

Discs take that all out of the equation - braking is the same or better than the best alloy rims, and the 2x lacing I chose for the wheels gave stiffness but compliance when it got twisty or bumpy. It was fantastic to have a point and shoot bike that you could throw into corners and descents. Confidence inspiring too for me, as blinding technical skills have never been one of my attributes.

As I reported on twitter the other day, the Disco has become the bike that just makes me giddy to get out and loon around on - off and on road. A great overall package and at £599 for frame and fork or £1499 for SRAM Rival build like the one above, it's a great way to get into carbon for cross, something I must admit I hadn't really expected myself to want to do. Subsequent full builds from On One will no doubt come out next year - expect equally great value from them too.

Slip into something more uncomfortable

2011-11-07T13:11:00.001-08:00

Sundays outing of the newly renamed Evolution Cycles North Wales Cyclocross Series took place at Plas Francon Sports Centre in Bethesda. Having missed the previous round at Bethseda Rugby club, due to spending all day coughing up something that resembled the paint job on an Ibis, I needed some good karma.

The sun shone on a slippery grass course which Barry Davies had designed to be fiendish, it would appear. Planty of steep descents, off camber turns and hurdles, meant that many racers (including yours truly) acquainted their bottoms with the floor ( a few managed the introduction with their heads). The pace was fast and furious with no quarter given by any one. After a few personal battles and an inability to catch a friend on his new bike, I finished 17th out of 25 finishers having completed 12 laps. A bruised left buttock my only trophy of the day

Looking forward to the next outing at Nant Gwytherin, next sunday, the setting looks stunning and has played host to MTB down hill races. Worth a visit if your in the area.

Double Time

2011-11-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

First race of the season. Make mine a double please.

Sickness had conspired to keep me out of any early season races this year. Mentally I had written off any chances of coming close to my result in the Irish CX Nationals of last year. I knew if I was going to pull anything from the season I just had to get on with getting un-sick (??) then getting on the racing wagon.

Supercross Cup Round 3 - Corcaigh Park

A race I have never done well in, one that mentally I loose before I start, a real fast mans course. Terrible gridding at the start as I had no points. Worked my ass off for the first lap to try and get myself up near the top 10. Made it up into 15th then tried to settle in. 5 laps in and things were getting greasy. Rhinos were doing there job more than my fitness and I was making a time back in technical bits from all the fitness sections where I lost it.

Sadly lap 5 was also where I rolled. A poorly glued rear popped off on a clumsy remount at the boards. Popped it back on, twiddle my way back to the pits and swap bikes. 15th -35th in only a minute off the bike. Racing is now so tight in the elite race that you just cannot afford to come down or get a mechanical. Mentally the race was over. I clawed it back up to 31st over the next 4 laps but knew deep down that I needed to work on things tomorrow.

Ulster Cyclocross - Moire

New venue. New motive. Second day to try to see if I could do it all over again. I've raced doubles in the past and historically I've raced much better the second day. Normally though I'd not be coming off a 1 race total for the season. A 2 hour drive up to the race site in Northern Ireland. Bit of banter with the locals then a pre-ride of the course. The MTB race was shredding the course, we were going to do much worse. Another day for the Rhinos with Fango's on the spare.

Another terrible gridding. Another start with people un-familiar to me. What wheel to follow? Who to stay away from? I decided for 'no-one and everyone'. Got to an edge slot and smashed it from the whistle. By the first corner I was 10th wheel, by the 4th corner 2nd wheel. Best start of my life. Drilled it for the first lap but had no chance to get onto Roger Aitken (ex national champ) who is having the season of his life and went on to win two from two this weekend.

Got in a nice fast group and worked wel until they dropped me. I then promptly dropped myself on a flat section and lost my 4th place and ended up in 12th ish with a messed up derauiller and one gear. Pit. New bike. Work like a SOAB to get back in the game. 4 laps later, a few places but no idea how I finished. Form is there, latent, waiting to come back, ready. It just needs a chance to shine.

Chelmsford, Colchester, Hemel Hempstead, Luton...

2011-11-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

"Up to much at the weekend?" Mostly I will be riding around or thinking about riding around a school playing field in Luton, possibly in the rain. On a bike with one gear. I was going to post about the season so far witthout anything greater than a 20t freewheel when I chanced upon this which says everything far more eloquently than I could manage:

http://www.gamjams.net/2011/08/singlespeed-cyclocross-has-hit-the-big-time-and-youd-better-be-ready-for-it-.html?cid=6a00d8341cbd7153ef014e8b1021a5970d

Thus far have finished around the middle of most fields having completed 5 races, which I'm really quite chuffed about. Best result was 50th out of 140 (yep 140 punters charging headlong into singletrack) in the London league around early october. Worst was last week on a hilly course in Colchester, 43 out of 53 starters I think, completely wrong gear for the climbs and ended up running a bit. Well about 5 times a lap. For 7 laps. Still all cross is better than no cross my friends.

And have a look at this Muddy Hell vid.
http://singletrackworld.com/2011/11/midweek-mini-movies-59/

It looks completely ace and I somehow managed to miss it.

Coffee Ride Invitation

2011-11-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

Off the back of arranging to meet up with Crossjunkie for a coffee and a few cobbles, we thought we'd see if anyone else would like to join us? So why not choose the red pill and come out from behind your computer screens/mobile devices...

Meet up at Hebden Bridge, easy ride down to Halifax and back, and try and put some faces to names.

See you there.

Uncle John requires a new home

2011-11-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

I have for sale my Uncle John Frame and forks Large size - no the green muds do not come with it!

the frame has recently been powder coated in gloss white and new HCtB sticker set applied.

It will come with On One seat post and a brand new FSA sealed headset

there are no dents or dings, not a scratch on the frame, the forks are Planet X carbon in red and black.

I was going to keep it as a second bike but it is too large for me

£200.00 buyer collects

if you are interested mail me on mark.turner@sportsartfitness.co.uk

Another Double Header

2011-10-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

So after the excitement and enjoyment of the Rapha Super Cross weekend it was back to relatively normal fare the following week. However both events were new venues and the Doncaster race was billed as a 'Super Cross'.
Doncaster Super Cross 22nd October
Jo was off down south for the weekend so no @Hanglebad pictures (just a quick iPhone snap) and a solo drive to Doncaster Keepmoat stadium - not aided by traffic jams on the A1. Once there the set up was excellent and the course most definitely making a Category A standard, three sets of double barriers and lots of steep climbing. Besides the parking, changing etc facilities provided by the stadium there were also a couple of trade tents and a food hospitality tent - not quite up to the high bar set by the preceding weekends festivities (no beer!) but a definite step up from the norm. The course felt very tough, all rideable by the strong boys but involving a one or two dismounts for most of us, plus the barriers. The final steep slope I managed a couple of times before fatigue made running it a more reliable/faster option. Race wise I ended up a bit in no-mans-land and finished mid field in 18th. As Phil Thackry said it was like a big tough Belgian course - if it had been wet it would have been a monster, especially the steep loamy descent! A brilliant race and setting. The turnout was a bit low considering the quality of the event, perhaps suffering with competing events further south and not being a 'points' race. Thoroughly recommended and hopefully next year will see it grow in stature and popularity.

Paul Oldham on the steep bank

Yorkshire Points Round 6: Brighouse 23rd October
After the tough climbing of the previous day it was, joy of joys, another hilly one! Another new course with two steep climbs and descents. The first climb was ridable by most but the second was a heros only affair. I managed it once on a practice lap at a constant 'stalling' pace and on another attempt fell off by pulling the front wheel off the ground! That decided it, I was going to 'run' it in the race. Good to see another race with more technical climbs and descents. I got a good start and stuck to the game plan of running the second climb, not being at home to 'Mr cock-up' on the descents and mashing it on the flat sections. I gained a couple of places as the race progressed eventually finishing 9th. Waggey had a bit of a nightmare time with his chain jumping off and he eventually abandoned in understandable frustration. I'd dropped my chain a couple of times on both days trying the lazy drop it onto the small ring just as you hit the hill (non) technique with all the rapid transitions from fast down/flat to steep up. As a result I reckon I might fit a Dog Fang as extra insurance against fatigue induced sloppy technique. No photos as @Hanglebad was still away. Hats off to the organisers again for a very good, tough course and a very rapid turn around with the results, unlike myself with the race write-ups which seem to be running a week late - I'll try to have Huddersfield up before the weekend!

2:32:24 Hours in Hell

2011-10-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

Blood Sweat and, in Ben's case, near Tears

2hrs 32mins and 24sec is thetotal time three plucky Belgians endured the Muddy Hell that was MugdockCountry Park – Round 3 of the Scottish Cyclocross Series. See Facebook for photos.

Me exiting the muddy descent

Although not plagued with rain onthe day, the previous days of heavy rain meant that the mainly tree coveredcourse was pretty wet and nasty to say the least! This is

Scotland

after all and they do do‘wet’ well. In addition, theoverwhelming numbers of competitors, prompting the decision to split the V/W/Jrace into a W/J followed by a V, and resulting in an hour delay for both thevets and senior’s races, meant heavy traffic throughout the day.

Ben opting to leg it across one of the muddy sections

The Mugdock round of the SCXSeries is organised and run by a local mountain bike club, and it shows. The interesting and technically demanding lapincluded plenty of twisty, rooty, muddy, locally rutted, single track – someimpassable by bike – with a steep and slippery run up, a tricky decent, and alsodismounts for a log jump, hurdles and rocky step.

My veteran’s race was a veryenjoyable affair and generally went without hitch. I acquired a few small cuts and bruises, butnothing to write home about. I dishedout as much pain and suffering as I could to those around me and battled to 60^thposition (78No. started) and was reasonably pleased.

Andy taking the Rocky Step at speed

The 73No. strong senior race saw bothBelgian Ben and Belgian Andy (competing in his first ever CX race) putting incommendable performances on the now perhaps 30% unrideable course! Belgian Ben took a bit of a heavy tumble but clungon to finish 55^th. Ben is OKand on the mend. Andy achieved 60^th,which is very impressive for a first outing, and considering the rarelyencountered extremes of the Mugdock course.

What doesn’t kill you makes youstronger…..

CSP Hope Cross

2011-10-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

earlier this year at the AGM for Cycle Sport Pendle it was decided to organise a cross race, the silence was audible so I said i would organise it.

We had a contact at West Craven school - Dean the head of PE and he couldn't have been more supportive and really wanted the event to go ahead. the downside we needed the governors stamp of approval which seemed to take an age to get the final nod. In fact we only knew for certain we could use the course in early September.

Alan (Crossjunkie) and myself ventured out one Sunday morning to scope out a potential course on the playing fields available. With some imagination and inventiveness we managed to put together a course that had a lot of grass and a little technical bits in to.

In the meantime Hope had agreed to sponsor coming up with tape, gift vouchers, shit shifter, stickers and water bottles. A night out provided another sponsor as Al and Carl chatted about the event Carl generously stumped up a wad of cash to help us out (many thanks again).

The Sunday before the race the Welsh family, Ian Ashworth and myself went to the school to do a little course prep and found two football games in full swing. We had been assured by the school no one used the fields after early October so we had a free hand. to make matters worse the footballers seemed to think they would be playing on the day of our event! This proved a headache for a few days as I frantically called the school and the organiser of the local football league. It turned out the school didn't know the teams were playing on the pitches and they have never been given permission, the school told us we had booked it so it was ours. Luckily there were no matches planned for the day anyway, but it did give me a few sleepless hours.

Race day and an early start for the CSP team as most of the course needed to be taped, Al and myself made sure it was to plan and made a few last minute changes to give us a longer lap, the off camber sections were a Crossjunkie flash of inspiration and I have to say an evil glint appeared in his eyes!

We had a full day of racing with local pro Ian Wilkinson turning up and not only riding but happily helping with the prize presentation for the kids - true gentleman and he help make the day special.

Pictures and results are on NWCCA website so I'll not repeat them here.

was it worth it??? yes it was we had fantastic help from all the CSP guys and ladies, setting up and clearing the course BBQing when the hog roast failed to show up, getting stakes from various places and returning them to their rightful owners and for cheering on the riders all day.

we had great feedback from riders, spectators and officials with comments such as best event this year and best course.

We already have a few tweaks lined up for next year - no bottle neck at the steps for example and Al has his eye on a couple more sections too!!!

So don't just think about it get it done - Al and I would gladly throw our experiences in to the pot for what they are worth.

Finally it wouldn't have happened without the help and support of the CSP gang, Hope, Carl, Physiofusion, NWCCA, Louise Gore and daughters for lap keeping and riders for taking part.

thank you all and see you all next year

Almost there.

2011-10-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the National Hill Climb Championship and I won't be there. Had my entry returned as not quite good enough to qualify. Although disappointed, I've had a great autumn. I've done a mixture of road races and hill climbs. Apart from York City Centre I've been able to be part of the racing and had a great time. For anyone who's toying with the idea of racing, just dive in and give it a go! You'll love it!! It's certainly given me a taste for it again, so I'll get stuck into a good winter and be back next year.

Scottish Cross - Plean

2011-10-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

The second race in the Scottish series had me visiting Plean for the first time and racing in a true Mudfest of a race. This is the first time I have had to race in such heavy conditions, and I think its fair to say that the mud won on this occasion.

Clearing mud from the bike every few hundred yards had me dreaming of dedicated pit crews, jet washers and spare bikes!

Failing that I could always try pushing a bit harder on the pedals!!

Gin & Trombones

2011-10-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

I've been racing since the Three Peaks on a 2012 Gin and Trombones frame set Van Dessel (the USA based company of former Belgian pro Edwin Bull) which has been kindly supplied at a nice discount by 'The Bearded Man' - an offer he extended to all Here Come The Belgians riders via Duncan. The bike has a definite 'Flandrian' flavour with its black and yellow paint job and Leeuw van Vlaanderen top tube decal. What follows are my impressions of the frame and forks so far and a few mechanical musings thrown in for good measure. I'd count myself as an experienced cyclist - I met @crossjunkie back in the late 80s at an MTB event whilst I was working as a bike courier in Manchester and I've been riding bikes fairly seriously ever since. I'm not an expert (but I do spend my own brass so I'm fairly honest) - I don't get to ride multiple bikes to make direct comparisons so please bear that in mind, other online reviews such as CX Magazines review may be more appropriate if you're after that sort of expertise.

Van Dessel Gin and Trombones

First off from the home mechanics view point the frame built up fairly easily straight out of the box. Two new technologies BB30 and a 1.125 - 1.5" integrated headset meant the purchase of some new tools but the assembly was trouble free. As I had existing 24mm spindle (external BB) cranks I used a Wheels Manufacturing adapter to fit them to the BB30 bottom bracket. I purchased the Park Tool BBT 30.3 tool and used my existing headset press to do this - check out the Park Tools site for more info. I'm not a massive believer in all the new BB technology, yes it does allow lighter stiffer cranksets but some of the arguments are a bit lame for mortals, don't forget that at the last Olympics most of the British track riders including Hoy were still on square taper, if they didn't need the stiffness I'm quite sure I don't! Having said that press fitting the bearings was simplicity itself and they certainly spin freely and replacement will be cheap and easy. The headset required a new, massive, crown race setter and I was a little nervous as I slammed it down on the full carbon fork but there was no need to worry as it seated perfectly. Just pushing the bearings into the frame by hand without cups or a headset press seemed weird to my old school mechanic's senses. Integrated headsets are becoming the norm but I must admit I'm not convinced - there are some serious forces at work there and the fit of the bearings is not 'precision', very easy to replace but I feel they will wear more rapidly (hard steel race soft aluminium frame) and on the supplied headset there is no real sealing which may exacerbate wear in CX conditions. In the end this will mean the frame doesn't last as long, but for a CX frame that will probably be replaced in five years or less it's probably not a huge problem. OK thats the grumpy old git bit out the way. The Seatpin was 27.2, front mech 31.8, all fairly standard and straight swap across for my kit. The frame set was supplied with a neat FSA CX headset, carbon steerer tube bung, seat collar, BB cable guide, spare rear mech hanger, touch up paint and some plastic blanks to use if you remove the canti studs and opt for discs.

What is it like to ride? Light, lively, superb! My previous CX bikes are Planet X Uncle Johns and they are very good bikes - a little weighty maybe but rock solid and great handling - fantastic Three Peaks Bikes. The Gin and Trombones is a LOT lighter. I reckon it saves 750g over the Uncle John, partly down to the full carbon fork but the frame is a good 400g lighter itself. On my inexact scales with a fairly normal 'build' it registers around 18lbs (I'll get an accurate figure soon) In terms of geometry it has a steeper seat tube, shorter chain stays and a lower bottom bracket. The massive BB area also means it is laterally stiffer (yeah yeah laterally stiff and vertically compliant - I'm not going to say it!). Ride wise to me it feels 'snappier' a little more road bike like but still very stable and sure footed. The lower BB may help here but I'm not convinced I can really tell the difference as I could just be imagining it - the new kit placebo effect if you will. I do notice that the bike is marginally easier to remount. To be honest I've not been able to detect any negatives as far as the handling goes, in my view it's all good and that massive head tube really stiffens up the steering adding precision. I have caught a pedal once accelerating out of a corner but whether that was because of the lower BB is moot - it may well just be incompetence or the fact that the planted feeling of the bike allowed me to lean over more. At Brockhole the technical root rocky decent from the house proved no problem for the lower BB so short of full on MTB terrain I can't see an issue. One of the more important selling points for me a are the frame clearances, they are massive. If you're an enthusiastic weekend warrior it is unlikely that you have a dedicated pit crew. In muddy races you'll either be riding the same bike or swapping once (no one will be there to clean the pitted bike). You NEED decent clearances. The clearances on the G & T are fantastic both around the rear wheel (infront of especially and to the sides of the tub) and the fork. At Brockhole on day one of the Rapha Super Cross I didn't need to pit - others suffered severely clogged bikes (Waggey actually quit in frustration on his Focus) or had to swap bikes. The G & T was unaffected. Another muddy selling point to me was the full shifter housing run down the seat stays. I've actually drilled the stops out on my previous bikes to achieve this but the G & T came ready fixed - a sign of a design team that understands muddy cross! Gore cables may be excellent but they're pricey and a fiddle to fit, full cable housing runs at the rear are virtually as good - I used this system all last year never suffering a single cable related problem with shifting. The front shifter cable is routed along the down tube, again my favourite choice. Is it me or does it make little sense to route the front mech cable along the top tube, down the seat tube to a pulley (that can clog) then up the seat tube to the mech? Certainly with Campag the front mech doesn't need the precision shift you need at the rear. As of this year the frame is also disc ready but I'm still on Cantis so can't give any feedback on that front.

In conclusion the Gin and Trombones provides a responsive, snappy yet stable ride, with massive clearances for North of England mud and a cable routing set up that should ensure a reliable ride. Did I mention the gorgeous 'Flandrian Yellow' paint job? The only weak point I can think of is the integrated headset's durability and this is really a reflection current 'fashion' in the bicycle trade. The bottom line is that I intend to spend my own brass and get a another so I can again pretend to look pro with matching bikes! Any Belgians in the Yorkshire area who get a G&T and want to pop over to use the tools just drop me a line. Please feel free to play 'bike review buzzword bingo' in the comment section below

Rapha Super Cross

2011-10-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

Brockhole Windermere
I don't think you can have a truly bad day at Brockhole, a bad race maybe but a bad day no. This was my third outing here having ridden the first event in 2009 which was a sticky mud bath of epic proportions and the North of England Championship last year where deep snow resulted in the vets lining up in sub zero temperatures with bikes shouldered to run the initial 250 yards!

This years event was 'soft' going but not the mud fest a few of us were expecting. Rhinos had been duly glued up during the week and Jo and I spent Friday night at the FRCC hut in Langdale in order to ease the early start on Saturday. Our early arrival allowed a chilled out reconnoitre of the course (similar to last year, no big logs up by the house but a much muddier technical descent) and a second coffee of the morning together shared in glorious sunshine and rapidly warming temperatures. Soon we were meeting up with @crossjunkie (riding in Rapha Candy stripes), @sportsartuk, @ckingimages @DaveHaygarth and a host of other friends including Waggey and Mandy who had made the journey up from York. The supply of Rouler Cowbells were rapidly exhausted with a corresponding increase in spectator noise and soon the kids races were off including Elsie Haygarth racing to victory in the under fours now enshrined in pixels on the Rapha website. The atmosphere was fantastic - great to see what an injection of media/marketing savvy cash and enthusiasm can do allied to the grass roots graft of local clubs so a big thank you to Rapha, Rouler and the Lakes Road Club.

Soon enough it was time for the massive Seniors, Vets and Women's field to line up (140 plus). Al managed to sneak a couple of bike lengths on me before we even started and I spent a few laps getting back on terms. The rest of the race was thoroughly enjoyable, yes it is a technical course and yes it was muddy (not too much) and rooty but it is cyclocross and courses like Brockhole typify an 'old school' Northern course that should be cherished. I had a wonderfully problem free race and the excellent clearances on the Van Dessel G&T meant I didn't even use my pit bike. Others weren't so lucky and Waggey ended up abandoning with terminal clogging around his front fork which was a shame but allowed him to save his legs for Sunday - a cunning move? Check out the great photo of @crossjunkie over on @ckingimages Flickr stream. Once we crossed the line it was off for a quick change and on to the Duvel beer tent which had already claimed its first victim with one of HCtB favourite pro photographers missing the start of the Elite race - ahem, no names no pack drill... Being able to watch the elite field tackle the same course we'd just riden was the icing on the cake and made made it possible to pick up lots of pointers to improvement; get faster, get stronger, improve uphill remounts, improve technical skills... errr the list got a bit long! Mechanicals played a role in the elite event too with both Paul Oldham and Jody Crwaford (joint favourites) being affected with Lee Williams turning out the eventual winner. The weather helped enormously in creating a festival atmosphere which is hopefully a pointer to future 'SuperCross' style events in the UK.

New College Huddersfield
Some rapid bike washing and prep, some epic kit washing from @Hanglebad (thanks love) and we were ready to roll for day two in Huddersfield. A very different course, more 'euro' grass crit with some steep bankings so a great compliment/contrast to Brockhole.

Again a big thank you to Rapha, Rouler and Huddersfield Road Club for a fantastic event including Tour legend Brian Robinson and Marsden brass band! The Rouler Cowbells had been replenished and like a big kid I asked @Hanglebad to nab me one. Again we were treated to a Duvel beer tent, crepes, Rapha mobile shop and coffee, trade tents, coconut shy - did I mention the beer? The course was fast and almost dry which meant no rest or let up. Another massive field, 140 plus of just Vets and Women this time! The second day of racing left my legs a little lacking (that's my excuse) and though I got a relatively decent start I couldn't close the gap on Wayne. Waggey had a very good race getting to within 25 seconds of Al at the finish, that clogging excuse was obviously a ruse to save his legs for another PB. Another quick change and off to get a Duvel (to aid recovery and with Jo driving I could have a couple) and watch and heckle the seniors race with Tim (looking very strong) and Tom representing Velocake. Thanks to (Flemish) Nicole and John we now know that Duvel is pronounced Der-vel (Devil) and that its a not a lager - something she felt announcer Anthony McCrossan needed to be made aware of as soon as the elite race finished! Jody Crawford won a close fought sprint with Paul Oldham with Hope Technology securing their series lead in this team based format.

A totally brilliant weekend bringing a little Euro/Belgian/US flavour to the UK!

Rapha Super Cross 15/16 Oct

2011-10-13T04:34:00.000-07:00

Apologies if you have seen this elsewhere but it's worth plugging for those within striking distance of the North of England this weekend......

After a last minute scare with impounded cowbells, final preparations are being made by the respective race organisers and the Rapha Super Cross team for a weekend unlike any other weekend of UK cross, kicking off on 15th October at Brockholes, Windermere.

Belgians will be out in force as Saturday's Brockholes race is a NW League event, a firm favourite on the NW League calendar with the iconic Brockholes course providing contrasting course conditions over the past 2 years, from mudbath to frozen snowy waste, but looking good this year for another mudbath. Expect different faces the day after, as Sunday's race is a dyed in the wool Yorkshire League event, at Huddersfield, on a windswept field-based course that is bound to be a real test.

Both will have the full Rapha Super Cross treatment - elite racing, cowbells, beer, music, lots of spectators, a good dose of silliness and marshmallows.

I am risking being permanently outcast from the Belgians fold having agreed to ride in the support races for both days, in the candy stripe colours of the US based Rapha-Focus cross team. Hey ho, I'm easily pleased...

So come along to either venue if you're not already racing, have a beer and watch the silliness and throw marshmallows at me. Just don't shout 'splitter'.......

A come back like Lance but without the murky allegations

2011-10-10T12:07:00.001-07:00

The first race of the North Wales Cyclo-Cross series saw me putting Chris Carmichael's training approach to it's 4 week test. Over the course of eight laps of the woody, rooty and muddy Glynllifon Country park Course in Caernarfon.
I pushed my self to the limits (hitting 100% hr at one point). After a number of tusssels and two crashes in muddy corners. The checked flag loomed. I had finished 15th out of 23 and beat a couple of people who normally leave me in their wake. Need to do some running practice now as if I had been better I would have made up two places at least. Very pleased with the result, especially as I've just celebrated my 45th year on the planet and it appears that Mr Carmichael (who trained Mr Armstrong) has a point.
I was a little naughty and had a couple of Duvel's last night to celebrate.

Looking forward to round 2 in Bethesda on 23.10.11. Hopefully get some more Duvel in the fridge!

Belgians Time Trial Special

2011-10-09T02:06:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the perspective that I could now start officially at a time trial, I decided to giveit a try. On the continent we do not have a weekly 10 miles TT orsomething like that, but we do have the Stoppomats. A Stoppomat is atiming device for a given distance, having a start box, where thetime is stamped on a piece of paper and a finish box to stamp timeagain. Now comes the problem: this distances are usually uphill.Guess the French expression for TT (contre la montre) was translatedby someone with of similar knowledge of French then myself: Ireferred montre to the Latin mons, montis,which translates to hill. Guess what: I had Latin in school and noFrench.

One of the Stoppomats isinstalled in the Elbe valley, roughly half way between Dresden andMeissen. Distance 4.5 km with an elevation of 187 metres. Maximum12%.Using this service is free of charge, take the card and stamp itwith the time at the start (pictured above) and stamp it again at the top (pictured below).

If one drops the card inthe box at the finish, the time will be published on the website. 15mins and some seconds is actually not a good time. As they said in the old Rom: tempo fugit. I mistimed meeffort, as I lost too much time in the first half. For more excusesfollow the link.

Dresden in the classical Belgian style

Not only can one ride timetrials in Dresden, but also cobbles, lots of them, worst of them between Neustadtand Blaues Wunder on Körnerweg, major problems are the gapes betweenthe stones, so I decided to take it slowly instead of going fullspeed. But also inside the city of Dresden many cobbled streets canbe found.

Round 4 Yorkshire Points : Temple Newsam

2011-10-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

With a mixture of grassland, woods and a beautiful Tudor-Jacobean house the Temple Newsam CX has a fantastic backdrop for the racing. This year the weather was in stark contrast to 2010 when the car park was flooded and the course absolutely sodden. I'd enjoyed a good result there in the adverse conditions but todays event promised fast racing and a patina of dust rather than oozing mud.

This race also saw the debut of the new Gin and Trombones frame from Van Dessel and The Bearded Man, I'll be writing a review of the frame in a few weeks after its been raced a bit more but suffice to say that it put a big smile on my face at Temple Newsam on its first outing. The Belgian 'Flanders black with yellow' colour scheme and De Leeuw van Vlaanderen on the top tube were approved by Vlaanderen Nicole (and John) who were there taking high risk photos at the bottom of one of the single track descents.

The vets race saw (what I think is) a record field with 105 riders which made for a 'busy' opening lap. I had a reasonable start but then nearly got taken out as we entered the first taped section (along with several other riders) as people squeezed in or misjudged the room etc. Some emergency braking and dodging avoided collisions but also lost a bunch of places. I get the feeling that with such big fields there is going to be a need to have longer 'spread the field' sections at the start of the vets events. If you're faster enough to get the hole shot then its a non-issue but further back there are some initially very fast riders who get a bit 'lost' after 400m. The rest of the race was lovely with good woody single track and fast open grass as well as a nice off-camber 180 which was later to do for Paperthin Ben's front tub in the senior race!

I gradually made up places passing a fair few riders and as far as I recall not getting passed (a sign of a slow start), never managed to catch up to Wayne (York Cycle Works) though. I eventually finished in 17th which I'm happy enough with on a new build bike and post 3 Peaks. Waggey had a good race with a PB placing of 38th which is excellent post 3 Peaks. John was creeping up the order too (79th) and it was good to see Tim (Velocake) racing in the seniors and Tom spectating (Velocake & HCtB) recovering from an unfortunate broken finger. SportsSunday were there taking pics along with Jo @Hanglebads so photographic coverage was pretty much sewn up - though I reckon my pic of Ben gets the "un moment decisif".

Hi

2011-10-08T04:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought seeing as I've now received my jersey, I should formally introduce myself.

I'm Tom, and relatively new to this cyclocross lark. I've owned a CX bike for the last year, done a handful of races, and I'm becoming increasingly addicted. Thoughts of tubs, glue, Belgium, mud, bell laps and dismounts fill my mind.

For the time being CX will be an added extra to my mountain biking and running, but I can't think of many ways I'd rather spend an hour or so on a Sunday. I'll try keep you updated with my experiences, as well as writing here and here.

See you at the (mainly Yorkshire series) races!

Tom (@24tom on twitter)

The Final Five...

2011-10-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

As we're rapidly approaching the time of year when our affiliation to British Cycling is renewed and as an alternative to a subscription fee, I have 5 spare team caps available for purchase, to fund our affiliation fee.

Caps are priced at:

£15.00 UK including postage

£20.00 Rest of the world including postage.

As an incentive, this is the last of this design and will be replaced in the next kit order (Feb 2012), so get em while you can.

Scottish Cross - Irvine Beach

2011-10-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

The Scottish cross season kicked of this weekend with a return to the sands of Irvine beach and arguably one of the highlights of the Scottish calender.

The race was brisk from the gun and I quickly made my way to the back of the bunch, where I set about making the most of my poor form by throwing caution to the wind and trying to limit my losses against the pack.

All went well until I was passing through the sand section for the second time and took a rather spectacular and unexpected tumble over the bars. After the fall a quick body scan informed me I was non the worse for my little diversion into the dunes. Sadly my bike did not escape so lightly and brought the race to a premature end and my first DNF.

Hopefully my next outing as a Belgian will go a little smoother.

Ben P

The World Championship

2011-10-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

While most seem to have spend the days on the dirty side of life, I took it upon myself to travel to the east. Crossed the sea and got to: Copenhagen. The place saw the "real" Belgians coming. I mean the guys You can see somewhere back in the picture:

I may assume You may be now know how the race ended, so useless to post a picture of the winner. Never the less we have exclusive material from the start. Yes, I had to cut my breakfast short just to take this picture:

And I managed to sum up most of the race action in just one singular picture:

Oh, good news for the Belgians: Phil Gilbert signed!! The best rider of the classics, the best rider of this year!!

Well, I mean not a contract with us, at least he signed the Jersey. Yeah, but also we paid a lot less to get his signature than the Swiss guy!

For my typical non race related comments, you may wish to follow this link.

4th Vets!

2011-09-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Team Here Come The Belgians; Richard Allen (89), Alan Dorrington (126), Simon Fox (227) placed fourth vets at the peaks - whoopee!

Three Peaks Sub4 (at last!)

2011-09-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Shivering on the start line in the rain the inclement weather was strangely liberating as the the little voice in my head re iterated "There's no way you're going sub4 on a day like today" With expectations of slidey grass off Ingleborough and slippery slabs off Whernside my expectations were conservative if not pessimistic and yet spirits were high. I put this down to the 'If Carlsberg did school re unions' atmosphere of the 'Peaks. Every year so many friends gathered together for the same race; riders, support crews and supporters. Already I'd met up with Al and Mark, Winkie and Mike, Waggey and John, Nick and Sarah, Greg and Pauline, Jonathan and Nicola, Jason, Dave, Dave, Simon and later on Tim, Heather, Mat and Claire... the list is endless!

The damp ascent of Ingleborough went more easily than expected, I was within a minute of last years time despite the soft going on the rideable sections. I seem to have gotten better at remounting at any reasonable opportunity which I think helps. A steady and uneventful descent and I grabbed a bottle and gels from Jo (@Hanglebad) at Cold Cotes but no photos today as dealing with the whole support crew stress - easily worse than just riding! Hammer down the road to catch a couple of riders to work with and a shared effort to Whernside. A personal target is to drink one bottle on this section and I force myself to do it. A few glances over my shoulder trudging up the steps to see if I could spy Al (@crossjunkie) but no sign as yet and I'm hoping he hasn't had a mechanical/puncture - last year he breezed by me on this ascent. Over the top and its onto my bogey section having punctured and mangled mechs here in the past. Each 'Peaks I think I ride more and more of the descent from Whernside but I still run the first section on the left as it seems both quicker and safer - as Clint says "A man's got to know his limitations" ;-)

Coming off Blea moor a couple of sneaky run/ride lines off the main track take me past the Italian Squadra resplendent in matching white kit, bikes and white tyres 'Forza Italia!" They pass me as I grab another bottle from Jo at Ribblehead and I let them go as I stuff gels and drink down on the first road section - in retrospect I should have put the effort in to hook up and then refuelled. after a couple of miles I join up with another rider and later a few riders coalesce and we share the work. Hitting the Pen-Y-Ghent track I still don't think the sub4 is on. Nicky Craig comes belting down in the drops with a massive lead. At the awkward corner I manage to ride the big rubble for the first time ever without a dab spurred on by a shout from Tim and this little triumph fires me up - it's on! Trying to stride up the final rocky track I catch up to the Italian Squadra but see Dave Haygarth descending with his arm tucked into his jersey - disaster, broken clavicle but he still finishes in 4:10!

Turning for home a stupid line choice leads to a tumble but it's a soft landing and nothing hurt on me or the bike just a bit of grass and mud collected in the lever. "Mustn't puncture, mustn't puncture" I daren't glance at my watch until I reach the road and I barely see Jo and Mark at the bottom. Out onto the road and I check the time - I'm going to make it!

Chatting at the finish I realise I've had a better round than expected and improved on last years time despite the conditions. I'm not sure if I was better prepared, I did put in a few long off road rides on the CX bike in August, but I didn't blow up like last year. Looking at the splits I was actually slower everywhere apart from the 'road' legs! Next year Al I reckon we ride together like the Italians but maybe without the all white kit! Then it was onto the beer and Jo's magnificent cakes...

	2010	2011	Difference
Ingleborough	00:59:59	01:00:05	00:00:06
Cold Cotes	00:15:55	00:17:32	00:01:37
Whernside	00:58:21	00:51:39	-00:06:42
Ribblehead	00:23:24	00:24:01	00:00:37
Pen-y-ghent	01:00:15	00:58:46	-00:01:29
Finish	00:22:50	00:23:38	00:00:48
	04:00:44	03:55:41

Belgians...3 peaks...cyclo cross..eh? what?

2011-09-28T12:13:00.001-07:00

Mark Holmes, a photo by Phil Haygarth on Flickr.

I'm visiting the UK from New Zealand with my wife for a few weeks and was press ganged by my fun hungry cousins Phil & Dave Haygarth into putting in an entry for the 3 Peaks Cyclo Cross Race this September. As mountain biker by trade I thought the whole drop handle bar thing a bit odd, and when Dave handed me a a "Here come the Belgians" shirt to wear on race day I certainly felt I had alot to learn about this local psych.

After a couple of anxious short off- road practice rides on Phil's second bike I suddenly found my self lining up in the rain at the Helwith Bridge race start. Lovely - this was shaping up to be the classic English damp slog! Before long it was bike to the shoulder as the ground started sticking to the wheels and up over Ingleborough, down the mad messy descent and onto the road. With all the road and carrying sections I was finally understanding why mountain bikes may not be the most useful tool after all.

Onward over peaks 2 and 3 with shockingly awkward descents, clicking cameras, warm sunshine breaking through, cries of "go the Belgians" and so to the finish still in one piece.
With wincing triceps and sore palms I really knew I'd done something different - like Dave said, the off-road section simply isn't suited to cycling!

My huge thanks go out to all that helped me and roll on the Belgians. I think I'll have to join!

Mark Holmes, Nelson, New Zealand - a guest Belgian for a day.

A Happy Belgian

2011-09-28T11:31:00.001-07:00

3PeaksCX_CX_209, a photo by britishcycling.org.uk photos on Flickr.The Photo is credited to © Ed Rollason Photography

On Sunday I completed my 10th 3 peaks and my first as a HCTB. I did my second worst time ever, but it was my best yet. Why?

On the 26th June I broke my leg after a spell of Tom-Foolery involving the Dent beer and folk festival and Andrew Talbot's stag do. I was laid up all summer and the forced idelenss meant weight gain and no training. The plaster came off in August and apart from some limped training walks to the supermarket on the family holiday in Spain, I did my first proper bike ride on 1 September. I was shocked at how I had lost it, I actually had to get off the bike when ascending 'normal' road hills, because no fitness, a racing pulse and no power. I felt like I was starting from scratch, lugging my even-larger-than-normal body around. Nonetheless I kept training and managed 16 sessions before the big day (accompanied on two memorable ones by friend Richard 'kick my ass coach' Bardgett), fitted around work trips to China and Ireland.

So on the day I was simply delighted to have started and the pressure was off, having no expectations other than to finish. During the race I used my head like never before, keeping the lid on it, never over cooking on the climbs or the descent. I had to be careful not to blow out because my training was limited and so my racing pulse threshold was lower. Additionally, on the descents I could not risk bashing my still weak and sore leg. And funnily enough the whole strategy worked, I did better than I thought, only 25 minutes slower than last year, a fully contained, resilient ride, using 4 gels and 2 bottles (I think the hot pot, sweet potato and beetroot helped on Saturday, recommended). Also, I thoroughly enjoyed the social experience catching up with folk, not least the joy of my first timer cousins Mark (from New Zealand) and Adrian Holmes, also completing the event for the first time.

Of course the big downer during the race was witnessing my brother Dave, coming down Penyghent clutching his broken collar bone. Hang in there Dave, there is light at the end of the tunnel post fracture. I'm coming back. Phil Haygarth

Garmin stats here

In case you're wondering.....

2011-09-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

Always riding, £9, bargain. http://bit.ly/qLROTT

Chapeau!

More 3 Peaks from a Welsh/Belgian perspective

2011-09-28T08:59:00.001-07:00

Hello fellow Belgians. It's been a while since I wrote anything on the site, as my fingers have whittled away to tiny stumps after updating the Odoni blog pages. Anyway......after another failed attempt at 4 hours on the Peaks, I thought it would be a cathartic experience to capture it all on an LCD screen. You can find my race report here: http://bit.ly/n3JGMd

The picture on the left was taken by my mother-in-law at last years race. I felt the same this year. Apologies for the green jersey, I'm undercover at the Peaks, but wear my special flanders socks as a secret sign (and my jacket whilst warming up and cooling down).

A few quick special mentions. Well done Rich Allen for a fine effort. He sped past me on the steep bit at Ingleborough. Well done Alan for another solid effort. Very well done Rich for riding a fixie (I do admire a one cog merchant) and many thanks Jo for another king size slab of cake at the finish. Also best wishes to Dave Haygarth for a speedy recovery (look after that collarbone).

It was nice to catch with some Belgians new and old. See you next year at the Ronde.

The Service Crew

2011-09-27T03:37:00.000-07:00

Service with a smile.....

Below is a link to a few snap shots telling the story of thetrue heroes of t’Peaks – the Support Teams. Attributes include the patience of a saint, the driving skills ofNigel Mansell and the load haling ability a donkey.

3PCX 2011 Support Teams Photos

Oh, and for future reference, this was the plan:

Google Map

Hill Climb

2011-09-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Whilst the real hard core Belgians were racing an epic Three Peaks at the weekend. (Well done guys!) I was plugging a lonely furrow on the Hill Climb scene. For those not familiar the format is simple. Riders off at one minute intervals on a big hill. (In this case the Cat and Fiddle from Macclesfield - 139 starters and a great event.) You then ride as fast as you can up the hill, usually into the wind/rain/clouds, trying to ride right on the limit. Had a great ride, getting a good consistent effort out. Next stop Monsal Head.

A 3 Peaks Finishers Tale.

2011-09-26T03:40:00.000-07:00

Nice to see some of you guys out yesterday.

Here's my story from the day.

http://sometimesridesbikes.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-finished-3-peaks-cyclo-cross-2011.html

Chilli Jam

2011-09-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

Just spotted this at the World Curry Festival and thought itrather fitting – what with this being the eve of the race and all.

Crossing Back Over

2011-09-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Sometime mountain biker (http://vimeo.com/12552028), full time designer (http://www.retrofuzz.com), and spare time photographer (http://flic.kr/s/aHsjsrkrqb). I actually have the camera to thank for my renewed interest in Cross after popping down to Boggart Hole Clough last season to try out a new lens and discovering this stylish looking team of fans of all things Belgian. Fast forward to this season, and after a summer of very little riding due to the time constraints of a first born, the fast frantic world of Cross is the bite size adrenaline rush I need.

Given that it's been a solid decade (and more) since hanging up my racing wheels, quite how I'll react to competitive riding remains to be seen. Still, through rose tinted glasses I can't wait for the Glaxo race, the scene of my only ever podium top step visit as a Junior - although this time around mid-table mediocrity will do me fine. If all else fails, I'll be there behind the lens for y'all.

Introducing Greg

2011-09-20T05:06:00.000-07:00

{witty introduction} Hi my name is Greg May *waves* {/witty introduction}

Irish born, Irish licence, passport well worn. I've been racing cyclocross for about 5 years now and got introduced to the Here Come the Belgians way of life at Hit the North a few years ago. To much time on Twitter stalking various members of the team has me as part-time furniture in Alan Dorringtons spare room in the attic.

Hopefully I can spread the HCTB ideals to Ireland and try not to get beaten for riding outside my club kit (Team WORC)

Notts & Derbys Round 2 - Southglade Park

2011-09-20T01:32:00.000-07:00

After a shocking start to the season at Hilton Fields last week I was hoping that round 2 at Southglade park in Nottingham would be better. It was...but only just. The course was fast flowing with no dismounts required and only a couple of sections of twisty singletrack to slow things down.

For a while I was having a ding dong battle with a group of riders where I would catch them on the technical sections but as soon as the course opened up they would pull away as I didn't have the legs to keep up. Half way through I blew completely and from that point on it was just a matter of riding my own pace and carrying on to the finish.

This week I shall be trying to improve my endurance fitness and then next Saturday it's Round 3 at Thornbridge.

Round 3 Yorkshire Points: Tong

2011-09-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

After a somewhat deflating race last weekend Tong proved to be the perfect antidote. Held at Home Farm the course had a great mix of fast grass and technical woodland. Added to this I had new toys to play with as my Major Tom wheelset from Strada Wheels had arrived earlier in the week and a Typhoon/SSC combo had been glued up ready to roll (review to follow after a few more races) but a word to the wise don't use Fabsil Seam Sealant to 'proof' your tub side walls it flakes off like sunburnt skin :-/

After last weeks debacle I wasn't sure where I stood and apparently missed the call up to the gridded start, later being told I was 20th 'last' to be called. A slowish start from about third row was not a huge problem as the course allowed plenty of room to make up places either through fitness or technique. I found I was making time up through the barriers and through the steep wooded section, @greatrock's skills lessons paying off 'chin up'! On the fast grass sections I definitely lacked true CX speed - time for some short sharp intervals after the Three Peaks. A botched dismount with a foot sticking in the pedal coming into the barriers cost places and time especially as I couldn't immediately see the problem jamming the rear wheel (QR had slipped) but other than that it was a trouble free race.

Mr Wagget had a less succesfull time and a couple of dropped chain incidents let Nick E riding in Dirt Wheels colours (splitter! ;-) get ahead of him this time. John P was looking after daughter Izzy and doing sterling supporter duty whilst @Hanglebad and sister Clunis scurried about supporting and getting the photos. Jo apparently heard the event organiser saying "never again" which would be a great shame as it was a great course and event. As we finished we met @FingersK looking resplendent in his new Velocake skinsuit but we had to leave before the senior race and could only imagine the fun that the torrential downpour visited upon them! We experienced it in the warm and dry of the car driving back through Shiply ;-> All photos are now up on Flickr (see sidebar) and I'm just waiting for the results to see if things truely did improve on last week...

Round 2 Yorkshire Points: Northalleton

2011-09-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Another grass crit which should have been fast and fun but turned out rather differently. After a rather odd start with some weird channeled grid compounded by the odd request "Will the top 8 from last weeks race, you know who you are, come to the front"!

The rest of us waited but that was it and those unlucky enough not to have jumped into a channel early were way back:-/ So a desperate start trying to make up places and going well into the red but almost back to a reasonable position as we come through the finish are for the fist time. Unfortunately with such a big field (103 again) a rider stalled just ahead and the ensuing jam led to me tangling with the heavy duty tape (not the stuff you can rip out of). More time lost and another lap of chasing hard. In one way this was good training, lots of overtaking and no places lost until I wiped out. Twice. Both errors caused by just trying to push it too hard on a corner and later a banking. The second one resulted in the rider I recently overtook running me down, not his fault at all as there was nowhere for him to go. So my worst placing in a CX race (33rd) but lessons learned. In contrast Nick W had his best race and beat Nick E by a few places for good measure and rightly so as Mr Elder is defecting to Dirt Wheels before even joining HCtB! I'll lace his wheels up like a set of Osymetric chainrings ;-) John had a good race too creeping up the order on his new tubs.

Gentlemen...

2011-09-16T06:25:00.001-07:00

... Start your engines.

The wheels of the 2011 cyclocross season are starting to turn both here, in the U.S. and eventually over in mainland Europe* And with this momentum, our latest kit order brought with it a few new names that will be sporting our colours within a couple of weeks as the fresh produce drops through their letter boxes.

So say a big hello to:

Mark Solomon
Darren Holloway
Ian Parkinson
Paul Goulden
Steve Cooper
Tom Hill
Kenny Christie
Nigel Winsper
Matt Kendall
Greg May

Some of these guys write, ride and run and some of the others I don't know anything about. So in an attempt at a fair approach it'll be up to them to introduce themselves should they so wish.

*whilst the seasons finished in the southern hemisphere which is a bizarre concept.

been a while

2011-09-09T02:19:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I blogged so about time I resolved that.

There is a change in the air, Autumn has announced its arrival with heavy rain and high winds and there is a change in the cycling community too.

A noteable scent in the air as glue is applied to rims (and fingers!!) as the cross season approaches with tubs being glued or stretched and smiles appear on faces as the bikes are wheeled out and pointed towards the woods and fields.

The summer (I call it that though this year it failed to appear) road miles seem mearly a warm up for what is the highlight of our cycling year. Now it starts. We have had our first cross session at the club (Cycle Sport Pendle) and Matt and I have ventured into the woods to practice getting mucky, whilst hopping on and off our bikes and throwing in some hill reps. Last night Al and his lad Jack and I were back in the woods just riding new tracks and enjoying a easy session where skills improve without any real thought.

It is great to see Matt and Jack both 10 out enjoying riding their bikes and seeing their confidence grow and skills improve, both want to race again this year which is great to see.

This year has also seen me step up to the plate and organise a cross race for our club, its part of the NW series so I hope we get plenty of HcTB riding the event - 23rd of October. The course Al and I have designed will be very much a European sytle course that should allow the fast boys and girls to ride fast and those new to cross ride at their own pace and enjoy the course. We have a few tweaks still to make but we are hoping that it works well and becomes an annual event on the calender.

Another highlight this year will be the Rapha SuperCross talking to Konrad I really think this will be a fantastic series and set a marker for how a cross race can be run. I am aiming to race the Lakes event and may ride the Huddersfield one if my body allows it. I hope we get a good show from the HcTB - get them in your schedules.

Finally this year I have changed my ride, the Uncle John just felt too big so I have gone for a Specialized CruX and what a difference. last night was the first ride and I was very impressed with the handlig and the speed of the bike so I cannot wait to give it a real test in a race.

So I hope to see some of you at the events over the next few months

Season opener

2011-09-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

To the gentlemen contemplating fixed gear choice, having messed about with every permutation of single speed gear choice from 38 to 44, 18 to 16, THE off road gear has to be 40/18. Do however ensure the chain tension is spot on as dropping your chain mid race is a tad annoying. So I found out during this evening's leg loosener at Herne Hill courtesy of VC Londres.

Weirdly good legs - almost no pain, no matter how hard I rode, no lactic at all. Field of around 70, started at the back moved up 20 or so places pretty quickly. Dropped my chain, lost 20 places but then rode back only for my front wheel to become loose. Think Lance on the Alpe d'Huez (wasn't it when the spectator's bag knocked him off?), bit hacked off so sprinted on the drops from that point, with 20 minutes to go, recovered another dozen places and caught another bunch of a dozen riders and felt really rather pleased.

Confidence 1, bike set up 0.

Round 1 Yorkshire Points: Oakbank

2011-09-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

First race of the winter and I'm lining up with fellow Belgians Nick W and @crossjunkie nervously wondering if I can remember how to do this CX racing lark. Everyone's favourite perennially faux grumpy Yorkshireman Nick E joined us in a very big field (103) of vets and women. Oakbank is one of those classic school playing field grass crits with a bit of added interest. The lack of technical sections suited my lack of technical ability but also punished any mistakes as you had to ride consistently. I got on a good wheel at the start and after the usual shock to the system managed to settle into a steady ride with just one silly mistake. Taptiming's results system allows geeky post race analysis so ignoring the opening 'spread the field' lap can you spot the lap where I wiped out?
Lap 1 : 00:11:50.8
Lap 2 : 00:06:21.7
Lap 3 : 00:06:22.1
Lap 4 : 00:06:23.7
Lap 5 : 00:06:55.7
Lap 6 : 00:06:28.3
Lap 7 : 00:06:28.2
Now if I can just drop about 25 seconds a lap I might be getting somewhere too ;-)

Prior to the Vets race the youngsters of team crossjunkie were in action with Ella wining herself a nice bottle but Jack unfortunately succumbing to a mechanical which surely can be blamed on dad's spannering, 50X34 chainrings on a CX bike come on dad! The rest of the machine is a beauty so don't be too hard on him Jack. Quote of the day goes to Ella when I suggested that she would be the next Marianne Vos resplendent in orange kit and on an orange bike "What's a Marianne Vos?" Answers on a postcard please.
Thanks to Hanglebad for the photos and Nick, Sarah and Max for the tea and scooter biking. See you all for round two?

Summer Cross Rounds 7, 9 and 10

2011-08-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

I assume Summer Cross to be a dim and distant memory for most people by now, for whom prep’ing for the ‘cross season proper, and 3PCX etc. are probably main foci. However, for the sake of closure, please allow me the indulgence of posting brief résumés of the final three rounds I competed in.

Round 7 – Brooksbank School, Elland

On arrival to site, Belgians Rich and Nick were already in the throes of warming up, but, before even saying hello, the first thing that struck me was the ruddy great hill in the corner! I could see the tiger tape snaking its way across the hillside, suggesting a succession of gruellingly tightly packed ups and downs. The athletic duo assured me that once on the slope, the climbs were not too bad. I hoped they were right, and nodded anxiously in acknowledgement of their recently acquired practice lap knowledge. Although fully trusting their judgment, I felt sure that their experiences of powering a ‘full figured’ gentleman, such as me, around a cyclocross course, maybe somewhat limited?

Anyway, it’s not supposed to be easy, and I soon came to terms with the fact I was going to get a little out of breath on this one?? The course comprised grass playing fields, with the only respite from this surface covering being the thin white lines around the athletics track. Here the lime had scorched the grass and hardened the topsoil, allowing some speed to be achieved, and breath to be caught. Oh how I long for a bit of mud…..

Another massive field of competitors soon filled the course, with the open nature of the lap allowing plenty of room for everyone to go about their business unhindered. I rolled in 91^st place – last on the course, due to the cruel trick of the bell, but with a big smile on my face.

Round 9 – Killinghall Moor Country Park, Harrogate

An excellent evening of pedalling about was on the cards. The sun came out, the venue was

picturesque, and the usual friendly crowd of likeminded individuals were amassed ready for some action.

“My kind of course” was my initial thought, after a quick scoot around prior to the start. The course was long, flattish, pretty easy going on the grass, and with some twisty rooty single track between trees to boot. “My forte – I’ll do well here” I muttered to myself on the start line!

However, for ‘my kind of course’ read ‘everybody’s kind of course’, and boy did I seem to suffer! The whistle went, and everyone buggered off! My usual duelling partners were nowhere to be

seen and, although I set to, attempting to reel them in, my lungs and legs were having none of it.

Round 10 – Newsome High School, Huddersfield

A metaphorical level playing field, amongst Belgians at least, was the story of the final round of the Summer Series at Newsome High School….. Oh and a small splattering of rarely seen mud too to boot!!

Belgians Nick and I - John P - lined up on a windswept and rain battered hillside in ‘CleckHuddersFax’, which resembled, in appearance at least, a mid-winter meet rather than mid-August!! ‘Blowing a hooley’ I believe is the correct meteorological term.

Unlucky Nick punctured on the first lap!! And I understand this resulted in him begging spectators for track pumps on ever other lap – to his credit he persevered and finished.

So, ultimately, Nick, with a slow puncture, and having to stop three times in the race vs a fully fit John P, is a fairly closely matched race pairing…. Poxer still beat me though!!

Roll on the Winter……

No red light!

2011-08-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Broke the loosing habit on Sunday, on a hot, dry day at Alyn Waters Country Park in Wrexham, finished 8th out of 12 starters on a course as rough as the Paris- Roubaix. Lapped 2 people into the bargain. Now standing in 6th overall with the summer series finale on September 8th in Bethesda, my favourite course. Then roll on the winter series starting in October. With the Chris Carmichael "Time Crunched Cyclist" in my bookcase, lets hope for a good one.

Racing

2011-08-23T07:55:00.001-07:00

What a great way to spend an afternoon. Family picnic in the middle of York, followed by a bike race. I reckon it's the first time I've raced in over 15 years and it was great fun. Plenty of cobbles and corners. Team supporter (thanks Ben) and cheering family. Having put off a return to racing for far too long, I'll definitely be back.

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3 Peaks Fixed?

2011-08-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

I posted a few words on the Three Peaks Blog yesterday which featured a bike with a certain lack of gears.

Those on twitter noticed and asked if I was contemplating the 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross on a Single Speed.

My mate Jon Wyatt did the race on his fixed gear Pompino back in 2006. Post race analysis by many decided that Jon was the only person to have ever ridden the course on a fixed wheel bike. So he though very modest, holds a record for the course.

A few years back I was into fixed off road in a big way. I did the occasional CX race, and did lots of 24 hour solo mountain bike races with the legs always turning, inspired by a dude from the USA, Rudi Nadler who rode fixed at my first ever team 24 in an effortless fluid style.

A couple of years ago I entered an off road 100 miler under prepared and even with a lower gear than normal. I blew big time. What followed next was the sale of all my bikes without a plethora of gear choices. A big sulk. Looking back I blamed the bike, and not my pitiful lack of training for the event.

So back to 2011. I need a challenge. There were people who entered this race and didn't get a place. There's a bit of responsibility there for starters. Now in my 45^th year I know that I won't be challenging my fellow villager Nick for the vet's top spot with or without gears. Also I have no chance of beating the youthful John Ross's SS record. So what then? The answer is of course to return to my ways of old and have a go at Jon's record. 3 Peaks on a fixed gear. Oh, and this time I've sold my geared CX bike, so no turning back now.

Some myths dispelled about riding fixed off road for you disbelievers.

“My knees will explode” - No they won't. Cycling on the flat or uphill is no different to riding a geared bike. You train on a single gear, and your legs get used to the low cadence push on the steeper bits. When it gets too steep, you run then walk. You brake with brakes and not your legs, so no problem there either. Oh, and the one gear thing really seems to train those muscles needed for walking up the steeps. Double bubble.

“The technical riding bits will be a nightmare” Not so. Commitment is for sure necessary on some of the sketchier and faster bits though. I've yet to meet anything tech that I can't ride fixed that I could ride on a bike with a freewheel. Amusingly on a training ride this evening, a friend who's usually the better of me by half an hour at least in the race commented that I'd probably beat him with my training this year if it wasn't for the disability that was the fixed wheel downhill on the way up our hill. We now know having raced down the hill, that my so called impediment will not be my reason for not beating him come September.

“You'll only be in the right gear some of the time” I concede. You have a point there. There is no getting away from the fact that a gear to touch 40mph heading down from Cold Cotes and to ride up the approaches to Pen-Y-Ghent at 3mph maybe, are not going to be one and the same. So a compromise has to be made.

“What gear are you going to ride then?” This keeps me awake at nights at the moment. Too big a gear and I'll be on foot for all the off road that points upwards, and too small a gear and I'll be left way behind on the road. I trialled 42:18 and found it unmanageable offroad uphill. Today I've ridden 38:18 and that seems a little bit to easy. So somewhere in between I guess.

Maybe I'll be crafty and have two bikes. Both fixed, but with different gears. Or would that be naughty?

Rich

3 Peaks Cyclocross 2011.......

2011-08-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

We have a bumper Belgians entry for the race this year:

Richard Allen	MV40	Here Come The Belgians
Alan Dorrington	MV40	Here Come the Belgians
Simon Fox	MV40	Here come the Belgians
Philip Haygarth	MV40	Here Come the Belgians
Carl Nelson	MV40	Here Come The Belgians
Simon Nurse	MV40	Cardiff JIF / Here come the Belgians
Richard Seipp	MV40	Here Come The Belgians
Nick Waggett	MV40	Here Come the Belgians
8 Entries

And all veterans I see too.........

Oh and Dave Haygarth who took the pics below of myself and Carl Nelson. Dave is a true Belgian at heart but has to ride for someone else as they give him shiny bikes and stuff. And because he's a bit fast.

How is everyone's training going for this years race? Keep us posted and add your pics/stories on the blog in the run up to Sept 25th.

For my own ramblings check out the crossjunkie blog

Lantern Rouge

2011-08-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

After a season that started with The Wiggle Dragon Ride & Mountain Mayhem, it would appear that 2 weeks in France eating cheese, steak and drinking 3 Monts Beer is bad for the form. At Botwnog in round 4 of the summer North Wales Revolution Cycles Cross Series, I distinguished my self in a field of only six by coming, you guesed it........ sixth. It was a nice day though! It's only not often you get beaten by 3 times 3 Peaks winner and legend Barry Davies. Tried to fake a winning photo, but the good lady wife was too slow on the shutter. Back to the drawing board for Thursday.

Belgians on a Beach.

2011-08-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's sandy, but it's not Koksidje... Happy hols from. The Haygarths

TEAM KIT ORDER - Aug/Sept 2011...

2011-08-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

As promised earlier in the year here's the second of our twice yearly order, so now's your chance to get your winter gear or think about putting the third chocolate digestive down if you're thinking about a skinsuit.

Same process as before so I won't bore you with it (form,tick,pay,receive). If you want to be part of the team - the minimum spend of a short sleeve jersey gets you on, simple as that.

PRICES:
Shortsleeve shirt: £41.00
Longsleeve shirt: £49.00

TechFleece Jersey: £65.50
ThermoShield/TechFleece Jacket: £88.00
ThermoShield Jacket: £90.50

Gilet: £41.00
Wind Jacket: £47.00

Bibshort: £52.00
3/4 Bib Knicker: £62.00
3/4 Fleece Bib Knicker: £70.50
Fleece Bibtight (no pad): £74.50

Skinsuit short sleeve: £79.50
Skinsuit Long sleeve: £83.00
Skinsuit Cylocross (fleece): £102.00

Belgian style winter hat: £23.50
Euro style race cap: £9.50

View and complete the order form here.

We're BC affiliated if you wish to have HCtB on your race licence and I'm happy to ship team kit worldwide.

ORDERS CLOSE TUESDAY 16th AUGUST - NO ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE.

The Finest Beers Available to Humanity + Ebay = ……

2011-07-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well….. In this latest reoccurrence of the seemingly oft visited equation, I’ve ended up with a Wolber Profile 20 tubular wheelset!!

Maybe I want the full cyclocross experience? Maybe I’ve got ideas of grandeur? Maybe, with tubulars in place on the X-Wing, I’ll be able to claw my way through the field to 89th place? Who knows?

Anyway, I have no experience in this department, so a little trip to the forum for advice is needed I feel……

Get Cross - cx skills course

2011-07-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Thinking of riding the Peaks this year? Already riding but want to go faster? Wanting to get into cross? Myself and Dave Haygarth are teaming up with MTB legend Ed Oxley to help you brush up on those cross skills - Get Cross:

Get Cross: A one day course to improve your cyclocross skills

Ed Oxley brings his extensive knowledge from countless mountain bike skills courses to teach betterbike handling. Ed has taught hundreds of riders better bike handling and brings out the best in everyone.

“The best money I’ve spent on a mountain bike was learning to ride it properly. By the end of the morning I was riding stuff properly that I would previously have balked at. Highly recommended”

Alan Dorrington and Dave Haygarth join Ed to look at applying those skills to a race day. Shaving seconds off every bend, climb and descent is not just about being the fittest. This part of the course will look at the recce, the race line, and how to apply Ed’s flowing riding skills when under the pressure of a race. Shaving five or ten seconds per lap in a ten lap race is worth a great deal, so put the turbo down and let’s learn to ride smart.

To book please contact Ed ed@great-rock.co.uk or 07939 205563

Saturday 10th September at Lee Quarry, Bacup

Cost £70

G' day all!

2011-07-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks,

For those members who don't know me, I moved from the UK to Australia (Sydney) late last year as a consequence of the impending recession gloom and as a reaction to general itchy feet. So far I've adapted and of recent months have started to enjoy things.

Riding wise, I've become more of a roady since arriving with cross still in its infancy and MTB enduros (a plenty) being a possible longer term but expensive substitute. I never thought I'd ever race a criterium but thanks to my new local road club I've jumped in head first and with some good support, I seem to have gotten a bit faster thanks to perseverance!

More recently I came across a hardcore cross group from Melbourne who were staging a series over the winter months (May - September here) so decided to part with some cash and fly over to check things out.
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect race wise as the group seemed more focussed on the beer and frites. Further, I'd no idea of the fellow competitors I'd be facing. On the day I was pleasantly surprised to find a well organised event with 3 categories to choose from including open, A category and B category. Having done plenty of cross last season with progressively improving results I decided on A category and joined the remaining field of 50 or so including some national level road and MTB lads.

The race was set at 50 minutes plus a lap and took in a 4 minute lap comprising of a predominantly lumpy, grassy circuit with a far dosing of barriers and off camber sections. Having learned the hard way last season I ensured I'd dialled the right lines during the many practice laps and made sure I was well gridded. The race got under way with a decent start and after what seemed like forever I managed to secure 10th spot which I was happy with having mentally aimed for a top 10 place.

Here's a great little video of the event creatively compiled by the gorgeous Kathryn Feldmaier who I couldn't miss snapping away pre race - props to Dunc for the good looking kit!

http://vimeo.com/25482981

Summer Cross Rounds 5 and 6

2011-07-04T14:26:00.001-07:00

Round 5 – Brigshaw School, Kippax

Considering the afternoon’s torrential downpours that plagued the Leeds area, the blazingly hot sunny evening that greeted Belgians Rich, Waggo and me John P, was actually a pleasant surprise. In addition, the excellent course, which I thought was a return to form, comprised fast open stretches of playing field, some single track through a small wooded embankment, a step climb, and a sandpit, had not suffered from the rain, and remained essentially intact and fast. My race consisted of the now familiar fortnightly tussle for the lower ranked positions – but a good enjoyable race was had across the varied course - finishing 68th - and also within a sizable group of 8 lappers. So overall fairly pleased - but boy was it hot!!

Round 6 – New College, New Hey Road, Huddersfield

How long is New Hey Road? It’s a chuffing long I can tell you. Having spent half an hour asking for directions and doing countless u-turns, I realised that simply setting the Tom Tom to ‘New Hey Road, Huddersfield’, thinking “That’ll get me near enough”, wasn’t going to get me anywhere ‘near enough’. A quick phone call to the Mrs, who found the proper post code for me, confirmed this. A frenziedly mad last minute dash across the outskirts of Huddersfield followed and, thankfully you’ll be pleased to read I’m sure, I made it. I managed a 5min warm up too. The massive 100 competitor field encompassed Belgians Alan, Dave, Rich and me, and also included, for good measure, the Nick Craig’s and Renee Saxton’s of this world. Continued, essentially dry weather resulted in another hard and fast course, and with no dismounts, running sections or hurdles etc. engineered into the lap, the relentless pedalling commenced straight from the hooter. An early entanglement with another rider resulted in a couple of bent spokes and buckled front wheel – which, in all fairness, didn’t really hinder my stately progress all that much, and I rolled in in 89th position. However, who knows, with a fully functioning bike, I may have been able to give Nick Craig more of a run for his money! Next time……

Thanks to Jo Hanglebads for the Photos.

One gear, many hills

2011-06-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning saw me and the faithful singlespeed 'cross set about the South Downs Way, 73 miles off-road riding from Winchester to sunny Brighton through the green rolling hills of the newest National Park. Ok not the full SDW distance (it stretches to Eastbourne) but far enough to allow an evening train back to the smoke.

A clean new pair of Cinder X tyres, 38x18, were quickly caked in the bog that was the first hill out of town after 3 days of rain. In the mist ahead I could see 3 or 4guys walking - "I can't believe they're walking, its the first hill...eh? oh hang on". These were the worst conditions ever, the mud switched from the treacle-type that sucked the tyres into the thinly-spread-clay-type that acted like ice.

The first part of the downs is largely rolling, but with roots and rocks that meant I had to concentrate to avoid being flicked into a hedge. 3 hours in slipping sliding and lobbing handfuls of clay about and we reached the first and only cafe to contemplate mud and life over cakes. The SDW is a mean ride as there is almost no bailing out point unless you have some local knowledge, although this was the populated south east, no trains or taxis were on hand for miles. It was Brighton or bust. Or sleep in a bush.

Next 30k slipped by a bit easier as the trail moved into the chalk seam that makes up the white cliffs and so provided a bit more drainage. Less mud but the rocky trail is pretty tough (everyone else had suspension) - it's not quite Roubaix tough but the pounding is unrelenting all the same and there's no tarmac sections to recover.

In places there was no option but to porter, hoiked the bike across the shoulder and walk. By now, 60-70km my brakes were pretty worn and I started to have to descend on the drops just to get enough on the levers to keep me under 30kph and moderately in control as I bounced along the steeper sections towards the end. I was starting to be too tired to be too scared by this point and as the food started to run down we wanted gave it some on the descents to recover some average speed.

Then I had the biggest bonk at around 105km. The final 8km were the hardest I have ever experienced on a bike, overwhelmed by a need to sleep and nausea this was suddenly suffering of an epic scale. 9 hours in and I was shot through, absolutley no reserves, nothing. The final climb around 400m, maybe 15% is something I won't forget. At the crest of the hill all that was left was to drop on to the main road into Brighton fuel up on sugar at the first petrol station we saw and dodge the teenagers drinking Strongbow. Truly a hard ride.

[cheers Simon, however there is a apparently a certain cross race up north and the application opens tomorrow...keep ss'ing if that's the correct verb. CG.]

Ride to live

2011-06-27T02:38:00.000-07:00

General guff from me in the current edition (August) of Cycling Active on sale now.......

And then a write up on the Ronde van Oost Lancashire in the next month's mag.

Cobble hunting...

2011-06-25T04:27:00.000-07:00

Felt like I might have been losing my touch......

Cobble balance restored.

Summer Cross Rounds 3 and 4

2011-06-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Round 3 - Colne Valley

Well, having hardly ridden my bike since Round 1, and just getting back from a weeks holiday in Italy, where much pizza, pasta and gelato were eaten, and much wine and Aperol Spritz were drank, I lined up with fellow Belgians Crossjunkie, Dave, Mark and Nick, feeling less than on tip top form. This worrying lack of form manifested itself in a 55min hellish wheeze around the rather heavy going in places course. However, I did have a good tussle with a rider throughout the race, and finally came in in 76th place.

Round 4 – Duncombe Park

Four days later and Belgians Ben, Nick, Rich, and I are back at it again – this time at Duncombe Park, Helmsley. The course was marked out on a shallowly sloping area of country parkland, and split into two distinct sections, linked by longish slogs across grass in one direction, and a concrete road in the other. The first section was the more interesting, as it wound its way through a small area of woodland, and included 3No. log jumps. The second section simply comprised a series of turns, in and out of each other, on grass land. Again, I had a good race with the people around me and came 63rd. This success, I thought, merited the large bottle of Belgian beer I had stowed in the boot of the car. The beer was shared out amongst the Belgians and made a fitting end to a great day.

I can resist anything bar temptation!

2011-06-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

My program at the moment (if you can call it a program) is steady rides building base level fitness with the occasional fun off road session thrown in, no racing.
So when Crossjunkie says "fancy going over to race a summer cross in Yorkshire" I obviously say yes!!
The guys had managed to make the best of the area with some nice off camber sections and a couple of short sharp climbs, no running or carrying required and only a couple of patches of mud.
Was good to see more HCtB strips on the start line.
I am struggling at the moment with my breathing which is a result of hay fever, so riding through the long grass may not have helped matters, my legs felt strong but each time I pushed my lungs tightened up forcing me to ease back (a trip to the docs I think is needed) however I threw caution to the wind on the last lap and passed 4 or 5 riders. The issue with breathing is getting frustrating so I need to sort it out as my legs felt fine.
Al's lad Jack and my lad Matt enjoyed their race though the long jump pit seemed to give them more pleasure, just wish they could have kept their bikes out of it!!!
Anyway feet up today ready for tomorrow nights 100 mile Rapha ride!!!!!!

Theme Tune

2011-05-23T04:37:00.001-07:00

After many hard seconds of work, the official theme tune has been mixed down and released.

Here Come the Belgians by minnellium

CTT Registration

2011-05-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

After much chasing we are now registered as a club with the CTT. This means that we can all take part in Open Time Trials as members of Here Come The Belgians. Whilst dual carriageways might not be everyones idea of a good time, I am looking forward to a good end of season bash at the hill climbs.

Get stickered......

2011-05-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

At last!

I have found a supplier for the fab 3 piece sticker set that Duncan designed a while back, specifically for Planet X Uncle John cross frames (the default frame for most of our cross riders). Cost is £16 incl p+p.

If you have a different frame, road or cross, it may or may not work - use the measurements below to see it you can adapt it.

Additionally Duncan has designed a small single Belgians sticker c 50mm x 20mm. Cost is £0.50 each incl p+p. (Red line is for cutting guide only)

The order sheet is here

Deadline for this order is Tues 31 May

Oakbank Summer CX

2011-05-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well here we go – Round 1 of the Yorkshire CX Summer Series.

I was hoping my first blog as a Belgian would be an account of a storming race - where I dodged and weaved, and ducked and dived, and sped like a maniac, and finally succeeded in my own personal race of ‘not being last’.

Unfortunately, a bad accident on the first lap (not me) ended the race prematurely, and it was eventually abandoned. As an aside, the person in question is fine, by all accounts, and was released from hospital the following morning.

However, some positives can be taken from the evening. Firstly, I met a couple of my new team mates – Nick and Mark – good to meet you chaps. Secondly, it did feel like I was storming along, and a good finish, for me at least, was on the books I’m sure??

So, there we go – roll on Round 2…..

And remember, let’s keep safe out there.

John

Tour of Flanders etc.

2011-05-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here we are again then Chaps. Another post explaining my lengthy absences and my adventures in the interim. I'll major on 2 things, I think...

1) I've now moved to Scotland. For those of you considering it, I can tell you that moving house 120 miles away and job in the course of a weekend with 2 dogs in tow is not easy. It really eats into your blogging time.

2). The Tour of Flanders Sportif ride will, I imagine, be of much more interest to you!

I travelled over with Fraser Kynaston, who's taken some cross photos of Belgians in the past, with the intent that both of us ride. He, however, was claiming an allergy to antibiotics he was taking (or to cycling long distances, I forget which), leaving me to tackle the 260km on my own.

Lining up in Bruges Markt at 0700 on the saturday morning, a number of things struck me. Firstly, pre registration had been a waste of time the queue of people buying entries on the morning was moving at least twice as quickly as my own. Two, that really was Joe Parkin lining up behind me and finally that the fame of the Belgians is spreading. The jersey attracted comments from 2 other British cyclists before the off.

I had typed out an essay on the days cycling but it was waaaay too long and can be summarised thus. Yes, I was directed the wrong way and rode an extra 15km. Yes, I lost my fancy HRM/Computer on some cobbles. Yes, I have total admiration for the Vittoria Paves. Yes, I lost both my bottles on cobbled descents. Yes, I snapped my chain on the Muur. Yes, I ended up looking like this

Yes, it was awesome and I'm going back!

Majoring on tubs...

2011-04-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Day who runs Strada Hand Built Wheels is already signed up as a Belgian and you could do worse than to check out his cross and cobble specific wheelset - the Major Tom.

I'm testing a pair at the moment (and Dave Haygarth has a disc specific pair when I get my gluing act together).

Anyways, if you are thinking of going tubular or getting a purpose designed and built tub wheelset for cross, then I would highly recommend them.

Review here

The day after

2011-04-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

Shaky hands? No clear vision? Probably spend too much time on the kasseien! But not only was yesterday the world pinhole day it also closed the spring classics with L-B-L. Time to recover.

A recovery option would be floating on water - as seen in Berlin:

Or reload energy with some of Belgians finest: (Royal in Aalst)

And afterwards start training for the Retro Ronde. Finally found a nice and BIG wool jersey:

Hello...

2011-04-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

The latest kit order has been received, succesfully netting more willing victims to the way of cross and cobble. So without further a do, here are the guys, some in their own words some not (who can always give us a breakdown to their exploits in the future, at their leisure).

John Parkinson:
"Based in Guiseley, West Yorkshire, nearly 40 and brother (big) of Ben Parkinson. Enjoy all aspects of cycling, but started racing cyclocross (well taking part in cx races), a couple of seasons ago - in both the Scottish and Yorkshire Leagues. Generally not very competitive, with most (read all) races undertaken to date, having been the battle for 'not to be last'!! Occasionally successfully in that quest, I hope to improve my placings over the coming seasons."

Ben Parkinson:
"35 years old and based in Glasgow. Got into competitive riding recently after getting bored with sportives. Now getting by a on a diet of cyclocross and triathlons. Not very fast or fit and carrying more timber than I would like. Enjoy regular racing through the season, although, there is plenty of room for improvement."

Matthew Pixton:
"Bit of an all-rounder ex (crap) road racer, even worse TTer but relative success running(!) the fells at local level. Prepping for a LEJoG later in the year. Three 3 peaks 4:20ish finishes but happily don't have the obsession gene. Probable fave pro cycling moment is Tchmil snapping Museeuw's elastic in the utter hell of 1994 Roubaix. Own a full pint Duval glass."

Nick Waggett:
"Completed first 'cross season this year in the Yorkshire Points Series for Clifton CC (York). Also took part in Hit the North and the RVOL. Aiming to do summer CX series and hopefully Three Peaks as a fully fledged Belgian. Rode the Pyrenean Traverse in 2009 with Belgians' Richard Allen, Mark Bradley and Winkie Thin plus lots of sportives including the Fred Whitton and Etape du Dales. Key contribution to HCTB: knows someone who can get a regular supply of Ghent noses."

Jason Surridge:
"Race cross in north Wales and have a great love of frites and beer (always end up in Belgo when in London)."

Gareth Jones:
An enigma - I don't know anything about Gareth but that's a Welsh name if I can spot one. Hopefully he isn't as good a Geraint Thomas or he'll be tearing our legs off.

Andrew Sinclair:
I know less than half about Andrew as I do about Gareth. So that's not alot :)

David Switzer:
A tiger stripe clad Lune CC rider with a good set of legs and a much appreciated dry sense of humour.

Jarrod Rouhan:
Calls Melbourne, Australia home, so our first fully fledged Australian team member (I stand to be corrected on this). So lets look at the facts, Australian plus Cyclist means we're gonna get smashed in the sprint (I stand to be corrected on this too).

Sean Lester:
I sent his kit to T-Mobile so I have a vision of a mildly freckled, rusty haired individual going by the moniker of 'der kaiser', churning away in the big ring. Oh what am I talking about I haven't got a clue really.

So there we go, all present and correct, welcome to the madness.

RvV voor wielertoeristen 2011...

2011-04-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Riding my first Tourist RVV was an amazing experience. The number of riders, the organisation, road closures, police care, motorbike outriders and feed stop provision is phenomenal. All this to allow us to experience a small part of pro's world. If you were thinking about doing it...go. You'll be glad you did, it's mind blowing.

The actual mechanics of riding were joyous. Temperatures around 25˚C, a light breeze on the flats, dry cobble and most of the Hellingen rideable even if busy. The Koppenberg played it's hand as a bus stop and had us all grinding to a halt , shoulder to shoulder, to gently walk to the top. Even so many pro's have had the same experience and it gives you a tingle to think this (Paul & Bruno managed to ride it arriving later in the day, a fantastic experience).

The cobble is something else, giving it full gas across the flat stretches is adrenalin x 10. Loved it. Smashing it up the Muur gave me a serious bout of giddiness. If only I'd dropped it on the big ring..ah, next time maybe.

The only thing that did give me some consternation was the ever increasing temperature and my rapidly decreasing water. I was nearly out when the final feed stop came into view. It's timing couldn't have been better. The slices of fresh orange where the best tasting I've ever had...and the waffle...and the honey waffle.

Suitably restocked and calmed, knowing I had enough liquids, dispatching the last few hills was a joy. Crossing the finish line was strangely eerie considering the greats that have passed under the golden arch. The last few miles back to the van were spent smiling insanely and I still am. I just can't stop.

A final thanks to my traveling companions/care providers. Paul, Bruno, Rob, Rich, many thanks for putting up with me and allowing me to practise long forgotten social skills. Paul, thanks for instigating my adventure and Bruno, many thanks for your hospitality and great respect to your ride (260km with just a few km in your legs deserves it).

RVV 260km... See you some time soon.

HCTB Forum now online

2011-04-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Right... get it off your chests on the new HERE COME THE BELGIANS Forum - it's a mild, half-hearted attempt to stop loads of emails clogging up the inbox and if forums allow anything it's unlimited rabbitting.

You'll need register on the forum then to be approved as an official HCTB member before you can start posting things. We don't want any old riff raff.

RVOL pics from the road

2011-04-05T03:09:00.000-07:00

My photos from the trusty "eye telephone" here or below

... you can even view these in

Ronde van Oost Lancashire - 2011

2011-04-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

Pic: Andy Waterman

Belgians were out in force for the 2nd running of RVOL up in Lancashire. In no particular order:

Rich Allen
Mark Turner
Simon Nurse
Dave Haygarth
John Elkin
Stef Chandler
Jason Miles
Mark Bradley
Nick Jardine
Alan Dorrington

Last minute apologies were sent by a fair few more too. Duncan and Gavin Long had good excuses though, being over in Flanders for the weekend.

An honorary mention too for Andy 'Never mind the Belgians, Here Comes ViCiOUS VELO' Waterman and Ben Spurrier from Rapha Condor who drove up from London to get in amongst the action. Hope we sent you back with sore legs......

Jonathon Day from Strada Wheels, tied up with the birth of their first child, sent a pair of wheels for me to ride instead. Nice touch. Review of the cobble and cross specific handbuilt Major Toms coming soon...

Pics, chat and general nonsense over on crossjunkie blog

Cycletta

2011-03-24T02:19:00.000-07:00

It won't have cobbles - it shouldn't be cold (it's in June) - it won't be hilly - and they have hairdressers on standby to sort out 'helmet hair'... It's a new event for women only and I'm in it. I won't ride in HCTB colours as I'll be lagging a little way behind Vic Pendleton but it's the taking part that counts. My 'training' includes shopping at Waitrose on my single speed 'super-shopper' (Friday parts lovingly assembled by Rich) but at least I've not booked a hair appointment or a massage for the end. Go girlies! :D

The secret training diary of Dr. KO

2011-03-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

And suddenly It was mid of march, the title of the Peloton magazine did remind me of something:

Signing in for the Ronde! But no need to hurry, still three days left:

Sunday, March 13th: "Time trial"

First training just three hours as I had to get to back in time to the bakery. Rear shifting not smooth.

Tuesday, March 15th: "Flying without wings"

I was blinded by car lights and went off-road. Minor damage to myself. A compliment to the wheel builder, wheels did still work, front wheel has 1 mm off set(36 spokes, 3x, Campa Seoul). Never the less signed up for the Ronde in the evening for mental recovery, pain in the shoulder reduced by 50% because of this.

Wednesday, March 16th: "Active recovery"

Got myself some Belgian stuff to enjoy the article in the Peleton:

Thursday, March 17th: "Softie"

Weather turned during the day and in the afternoon it was colder and wet, so gave up after 15 km and sprinted for the train home.

Friday, March 18th: "A split century"

Good training weather: Light mist in the morning, could match the actual race weather.

50,5 km in the morning and 54,3 km in the afternoon. Legs felt like dead, not sure if the 700 m cobbles close to the end worked as a massage.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday March 19th-21th: "Wrong weather"

Too much sunshine, makes no sense to train outside so did some intervals on the trainer. Lost some blood shaving the legs. And looked for the secrets of Tom in Procycling. At least I could copy his three day beard, the mud will come by itself!

Tuesday, March 22th: "Some call it training - some call it shopping"

Went across the border for duathlon: some 20 km cycling, loading up the backpack with energy bars and some 20 km back. Aachen - Eupen is up and down, so the three minutes intervals on the trainers worked. For a healthy eating it is essential to have a selected range of energy bars:

BTW: Did You know that the Raffa back pack perfectly fits a triple pack of 0.7 l Chimay bottles?

Wednesday, March 23th: "Active recovery"

Went down to Freiburg to pay a visit to our member Michael Frank. Received infos why sitting on the trainer gave pain after 40 minutes. Got the essential white bar tape to look professionell! I'm getting mentally ready. I think the smell of tubular glue should give the final kick.

Hell Of The North (London)

2011-03-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Blimey they're like Abba tribute bands!
Raphas offering is the same day as the HONC and of course the Paris Roubaix, to which a hat it tips.
Starts in North London, Pond Square (Tres posh) and heads north to circle the Herts and Essex borders. The route also takes in twenty sections of 'Gravé' basically off road sectors spread out over the 100kms.
The ride ends at a pub in Barnet, where you can securely park your bike and hand in your route card for a free beer and frites.
Last years ride was a cracker, in the social sense. However if the weather turns it'll be a whole different affair.

Got a 200km audax the day before - do I have to hand back my jersey now I've said that?

Hell of the North Cotswolds

2011-02-27T00:49:00.000-08:00

Yep, I know. Sounds like a trip to the organic farmers market to find they are out of quails eggs!

However, those of us in the know, will be flogging around the Cotswold escarpment on the first Sunday of the Easter Holidays on one of the longest running sportive/CX enduros in the country.

We don't have cobbles down here but fortunately we have some very fine potholes, and bridleways that have been churned up by The Pony Club. The main event is 100k and zigzags around Countryfile and Top Gear land with some fine technical descents and muddy slogs.

Any other Belgians riding? I have one spare place as one "mate" has decided to ride to Paris with his sister that weekend.

Hell of North (Cheshire)

2011-02-19T12:20:00.000-08:00

I'll start with an apology / acknowledgement: this is most definitely inspired by Alan's Ronde, Duncan's Floubaix and the Saddleworth Clarion L'enfer du Saddleworth.

Photo by Giles Perkins

Now the main event: over at North Cheshrie Clarion, we run both Saturday and Sunday rides. The Sunday ride is the "typical" club run, and the Saturday is slightly shorter and (supposedly) slower. The Saturday attracts a good crowd who often can't make a Sunday, so we've decided to run a few themed rides on a Saturday to add a few extra challenges. The day before Roubaix we're going to run a 40-mile-ish pavé & gravé ride from North Warrington and heading out into the Cheshire countryside (cobbles sections up to 250m long, unmade roads with significantly longer sections) with a cafe stop at Dunham Massey.

The final details (ride maps and cue sheets) are still a few weeks away, but if anyone would like to join us let me know.

The Kitten of Flanders

2011-02-15T00:53:00.001-08:00

c/o @sloanie

Team Kit Order...

2011-02-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

Click to view larger image

I'm in the process of placing another kit order and thought it only fair to open it up to anyone wishing to get on the team. It will be the only chance you'll have for 6 months, as there will be just 2 orders per year - the next order will be sometime in August or September.

We're BC affiliated if you wish to have HCtB on your race licence and I'm happy to ship team kit worldwide.

PRICES:
Shortsleeve shirt: £41.00
Longsleeve shirt: £49.00

TechFleece Jersey: £65.50
ThermoShield/TechFleece Jacket: £88.00
ThermoShield Jacket: £90.50

Gilet: £41.00
Wind Jacket: £47.00

Bibshort: £52.00
3/4 Bib Knicker: £62.00
3/4 Fleece Bib Knicker: £70.50
Fleece Bibtight (no pad): £74.50

Skinsuit short sleeve: £79.50
Skinsuit Long sleeve: £83.00
Skinsuit Cylocross (fleece): £102.00

Euro style race cap: £9.50

Click here to view and complete an order form if you're interested in becoming a team member.

ORDERS CLOSE SUNDAY 13th FEBRUARY - NO ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE.

2 more events this Spring

2011-01-26T10:52:00.000-08:00

Hot on the heels of Olly and his Spring in the Peak Audax info, and without wishing to detract from what will be a great day out on the bike, can I offer the following events for your delectation?

First up, and also run by one of our own merry band, Jason Miles, comes Hit the North.

Held on 12th February, I am told entries are almost full for this cross/29er/mtb extravaganza. So hurry!

A new course this year, evenly balanced so as not to favour cross nor mtb, this 2 hour ride/social/race (delete as applicable) offers 2 hours of unfeasibly good off-road fun, with a laidback Northern vibe including local delicacies in the form of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls and a full brass band to play you round the venue. Highly recommended and easy to get to using the Manchester motorway network.

Details for Hit the North are here

Secondly, by way of an advance heads up and plug for my own informal ride, back by popular demand - the Ronde van Oost Lancashire. Born out of the frustrations of not being able to get to Flanders every year, this pays homage to the cobbles and feel of the classic Ronde van Vlaanderen, but without the need for a boat (for UK Belgians at least).

This year it is on the same day as the Ronde Sportive, Sat April 2nd. Turn up, ride, and enjoy the pave. Last year we had 35 or so - this year I am expecting considerably more...

Details here

And big thanks to Duncan for the artwork for the Ronde poster. Class.

I have a dream!

2011-01-26T05:43:00.000-08:00

I suppose that riding a bike is all about dreams. It's what gets me out of the door on a cold, damp and dark morning in January. The possibility of improving form as the weather improves. Imagining the sun on my face and the wind on my back. I would imagine most of us have memories of exceptional days and dreams of rides to come.

One dream for me is a ride in the national hill climb championship. This year it is on a relatively local course. Long Hill near Buxton.

http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/training/long-hill-climb-buxton-cc/

One which is not totally unsuited to someone of my build. (Tall, some might say powerfully built, others might just whisper of cake or beer...)

In order to ride I need to be part of a CTT affiliated club. (I've got the paperwork for this and would be happy to stand/share the cost.) Is there anyone else who would like to ride an occasional time trial or hill climb? Is anyone brave/stupid enough to share the dream of riding the national?

Possible Belgian Northern Ride...

2011-01-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

This might be a good chance to meet up and enjoy a ride.

I'm organising an Audax event in March. There's a choice of two routes, both are mostly traffic free lanes, with plenty of climbing. I usually get a whole range of riders, from those looking to race and make it a very hard training ride, to those content to take it steady, enjoy the cafes and make it back before it goes dark. (Mudguards and beards are no longer compulsory for Audax!)

Spring in the Peak Audax events. Saturday 5th March:

A choice of two routes, (please state if you have a preference.) Both are hilly and scenic rides on some of the best roads in the Peak District. Rolling start between 8 and 9am.

Stanage Surprise takes in the climbs of Abney, Longstone Edge, Cressbrook, Peveril and Stanage.
Details at http://www.aukweb.net/cal/calsolo.php?Ride=11-25

Roaches Revenge takes in the climbs of Longstone Edge the Roaches, Crowdicote and Abney.
Details at http://www.aukweb.net/cal/calsolo.php?Ride=11-170

Any one fancy giving it a go?

Here we come.....

2011-01-16T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Carl Nelson and myself had our first 'proper' 'Belgians outing in our new kit a the Lady of the Manor 'Cross race, near St Helens. Both of us were, I guess, quite pleased with our performances - but not half as pleased as we were with out new kit. Here is a shot taken of us - Carl on the left - just before we went to the start and here are a few more pics of my and my family at the event (including my budding, soon to be a 'Belgian, son Angus aged 8) at the event. Here we come Belgians....Phil Haygarth

30 Jan - Something in the Soft South?

2011-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.cxsportive.com/

So, it's the New Year and the 'Cross season is all but over, so what next?

Well, Spring Classics come to mind and this little taster promises to whet your appetites. I guess it'll make a change from the turbo and DVDs.

Halfway between Reading and Oxford, on the edge of the Chilterns, 80km on mixed roads/tracks.
Not too testing, no real Bergs or Muurs but a nice easy leg stretcher on pleasant lanes and tracks. It's my weekday 'patch', the roads are of true Flandrian quality and the off-road sections will be test your bike handing, albeit for only a few 100m at a time. If you squint a bit you could almost be on t'other side of La Manche.

Plenty of flinty gravel on the lanes and if it keeps raining like it is now 'gloopy' would describe the off-road going, along with polished roots to keep you on your toes (or put you on your backside).

Tyre (and tube) choice could make or break the day.

Hope to see some other Belgians there, I'll be in the brand new strip, can't see it staying that way for long.

John

Hannah's Todmorden Video

2011-01-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

Excellent stuff from Hannah - her first time filming cross! Check out her other excellent videos including Paddy doing all that MTB stuff on his Ragley in Lee Quary (which starred on the Ragley Bikes home page for a while) and Wharncliffe Woods

Todmorden Cyclocross 2011 from Maia Media on Vimeo.

National Cyclo-cross Champs - Derby

2011-01-11T04:17:00.000-08:00

Team Here Come the Belgians is for me absolutely all about loving riding, whether it be cross, road, track or mountain bike. And it's definitely not about how fast you ride - there are plenty of elite teams and clubs out there to satisfy that sector of the market.

However, it is worth pointing out that many of us take racing, particularly cross, quite seriously. And some, snuck amongst our midst, are quite good at it.

Both of them are way too modest to post anything themselves - indeed they disguise themselves with other kit whilst racing to draw attention away from from their exploits - but there were two Belgians racing at the forefront of a National Champs last weekend. Whilst they ride officially for other clubs/teams, we will claim them as our own.

Dave Haygarth has been riding at Elite level for many years before succumbing to Vets status this year - top ten 3 Peaks finishes, crit wins in gruff Northern towns, a North West Cyclo-cross League title a few years ago, and long time member of an all conquering Wheelbase Cycles cross team.

Gary Lingard apparently rode for the Gary Fisher mountainbike team in a past life and on a different continent, but of late has been upsetting the established order of Veterans British Cyclocross races in his first season as a Vet.

Dave produced a 'solid' ride on a technical and tricky Nationals course at Derby in the Vets race, just outside the top 10, coming home in 12th.

Gary nearly produced a big upset, spending much of the race in 3rd spot, before a late charge by former professional Chris Young nudged him out to 4th. Too quiet to make a fuss, it is fair to say that the media machine at British Cycling has overlooked Gary all season, favouring the old-guard that have been familiar faces for some time. That will change.

Anyway, congratulations to those two for stellar performances. And we look forward to seeing them off-duty in a Belgians shirt sometime soon.

Tod Cross

2011-01-06T02:46:00.000-08:00

For me Tod cross has a lot to answer for
1. the pain in my thighs from Sunday
2. the cost of a cross bike and sets of wheels
3. the cost of a road bike
4. a turbo trainer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5. a new wardrobe of cycling kit

Of course I cannot blame the above entirely on the Tod cross race - Crossjunkie must accept his role in the above.
Just over two years ago over a few beers Al suggested a gentle race just down the road that would be quiet and ideal to ride my mtb as the organiser was Chipps from Single track. MM as a lined up to sign on with over 100 others I stood behind some guy in full GB kit!!! A lamb to the slaughter.
However there have been some positives
1. a cross bike
2. a road bike
3. a turbo trainer - haha only joking
4. two stone lighter
5. some very nice team kit
6. meeting some great people who like getting muddy
7. Jo's cakes
A viral infection put pay to much of this seasons cross races so it is with a distant gaze my sights are set on next season. My aim is to get a little lighter and to try and do two races per month.
Soon the Uncle John will be stripped down and off for a fresh paint job (the frame is looking a touch battle scarred)and the road bike will be taken down from its hook ready for some Sunday morning rides - mm I can smell the coffee already, though I am getting an urge to try some mtb racing again.
So I hope that 2011 will be a great year for all HCtB members and I look forward to meeting you on the road or cross course.
Oh and if Al ever suggests a quiet race that will be fun you have been warned!!!!!

2011-01-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone missed them... here's the link to the recipe for the 'Tod Brownie'... the long version of the name is 'Baileys Irish Cream and Belgian Chocolate Brownie' - which takes longer to say than they do to make... just click on the name to get baking.