Corsica recce

For the summer of 2012 I was offered a job that was too good to turn down! I was given the opportunity to come over to the French Alps to work for the Alp based cycle training company GPM10. This job offers a lot as it enables me to ride full-time, travel, live overseas, race my normal schedule and get a great tan!! After a quick 2 day turn around post Andalucia Bike Race I was on my way to airport once more, I arrived into Geneva to blue skies and surprisingly warm climate, happy days! I spent a couple of days in Annecy (my base for the summer) getting things sorted out and pedalling around the lake before heading down to Corsica for a 4 day recce of the island for a trip later on this summer. After a late flight into Ajaccico we put our faith in Mrs Sat Nav for the 140km drive across the island, this was one big mistake as she took us the most direct route straight across, instead of the faster main road around the mountains. It's always a game to try and beat the time the sat nav sets down, but in this case it was impossible! As we wound our way up one narrow mountain pass after another the time kept going out and we eventually arrived at the hotel in Porto Vecchio at 0130 a full hour after our original ETA. Not a great start to the trip!

The next day we awoke to clear blue skies, warm sunshine and all we had to do was build and ride our bikes. From here on the trip just got better and better as we discovered some amazing routes that took us along the coast and high up into the mountains and through quaint little villages on deserted roads.  As a bike rider I would thoroughly recommend Corsica as a place to visit and pedal around. The climbs are long and steady and you will be treated to stunning views almost everywhere on the island.

The view as we spin along the costal road.

Mafia dumping ground - there were 5 cars all having been pushed off the side of a cliff!

The car we wished we had hired!

Nice way to end the day.

Corsica has some of the nicest coast line I have ever seen.

I'm now back in Annecy for 24hrs before jumping back in the car to Barcelona to catch a boat to Majorca where I shall be based for the next 5 weeks of riding! I hear the weather isn't to shabby there either :)

The day job!

First test of the year...

After the Red Bull hill Chasers event I stayed over night in Bristol before heading up to Hick’s Lodge Cycle Centre for Round One of the Midlands XC race series. I never know how my form is until I have a number strapped onto the front of my bike and I’m pushing that little bit harder and more consistently than normal. The course was pretty simple and more like a pump track stretched out to a 16minute lap. The race started and I didn’t feel good, I felt sluggish everywhere and there was no real rest on the course due to the flat nature of it. As the first couple of laps ticked by I started to feel a bit more comfortable and I was getting really annoyed with a rider who kept cutting sections out of the course and going the wrong side of the course markings, despite making it clear I wasn’t happy with him doing it he continued so it was time to get rid of him! With teammate Dave Henderson now on my wheel we pushed on opening up a gap on the one short drag of a climb. From here we rode together extending our lead over third place. With the final lap approaching things between Dave and I were twitchy, we both wanted to win the season opener! Luckily for me Dave suffered a mechanical at the end of the penultimate lap giving me an opportunity to go for the win solo.  Very happy to take the win, posting the fastest lap of the race (thanks to MT Zoom for putting up the prize of a tasty set of handlebars) and keeping laps consistently within 15secs of each other. Dave took 2^nd topping off a good weekend for GT Racing UK and the brand new GT Zaskar 29r.

Red Bull Hill Chasers – Park St, Bristol.

Hill Chasers is an event devised by the people at Red Bull in pursuit of finding the fastest type of bicycle up a 170m stretch of Park Street in Bristol. The event is super simple, 32 riders line up 2 riders at a time and race up the street, first one up goes through to the next round. It is far from being a straightforward sprint up a hill though! 2 sets of barriers on the way up mean it is only wide enough for one rider at a time. Go too fast at the start and risk the trailing rider coming out of the slip stream in the final meters or sit in and hope for the best out of the final gate – this is the easier option but with a relaxed outlook at the event and the only rules being no punching the opportunity for ‘leaning‘ on opponents and ‘drifting’ is there and is exploited in some cases as it should be.

            So back to the action, first up I was lined up against a qualifying roadie, I was really nervous about this round, as it was the first time starting out of a hydraulic gate and the first outing for my new GT Zaskar 9r. The starting orders were announced and then I was off. I got a good start and made it to the barriers first but the race was far from over, I had a guy on a super light everything carbon road bike and a big gear that he was just starting to wind up towards the end of the 170m course. He was coming up the outside of me and I couldn’t go faster, luckily the line came and I was marginally ahead, although at the time I thought I had driven for 5.5hours and was going home after 20secs.  I made it through the next 2 rounds fairly comfortably despite a close call with the barriers and a ‘pack’ of photographers at the finish line.  Now down to just 4 riders things were getting interesting, after almost being nudged into the barriers in the last round it was time to get a bit more aggressive and close some gaps instead of relying on straight power to progress to the final. I was drawn against Ben Simmonds of team Wiggle, a pretty handy all round rider, riding a bike that was ridiculously light I knew he was going to be tough to beat especially with my first round experience against a road rider. I went fast out the gate so I was in control through the barriers, out of the barriers I could sense him moving up so started to drift slightly in the hope he would panic and slow enough to let me cross the line first – he never so it was back down the hill for the 3^rd place run off.  After a bit of hanging around waiting I was told that Lewis Lacey (2011 Frome Cobble Wobble Champion) was unable to partake in the run-off and I had finished 3^rd and won myself another awesome Charge Plug bicycle! Not a bad way to end the evening especially with a crazy day of bike building and car driving.

Charge bikes video of the event can be viewed here.

The new GT Zaskar 9r custom. Thank you GT Bicycles, Crank Bros, Sram, Rock Shox, Accelerade, Eye wear outlet, Muc-Off, Lezyne.

Only one more needed to complete the set.

Bo'Nes Dig in around the dock - 2012 is underway!

After the Sun, sea and big hills of Gran Canaria it was time once again to get a number pinned on and head for the start line for what already could be the biggest race to happen in Scotland this year! The Dig In crew put some serious effort into this race and it certainly paid off. The course provided some great racing action and for the first time this season it came down to a sprint finish, from my point of view the less said about this the better.

Here is all the action from the event in three parts.

Thanks to Dav Hamill and Jon McComiskey for all their hard work in Bo'Ness and for the entertaining video blogs throughout the season. See you next year!

Gran Canaria Training Camp in Pictures

With Christmas and New Year behind it was time to head off for some winter sun and start final preparations for the upcoming race season. Team mate at GT Racing UK Dave Henderson and I headed of for the small costal town of Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria. Here are a few pictures from our travels around the island.

Dark lenses in and ready to ride.

Sun setting over Puerto Rico in the South of the Island.

When the sun goes down the town comes alive with the sound of bad music.

Mid ride stop to pick up supplies and top up on Accellerade.

One of the funniest descents ever down to Puerto Mogán.

Blue skies and bikes, not bad for January.

Dave scoping out routes for our next visit with MTB tyres.

Day off the bike, time to catch up on domestic duties.

Rest day = No sun (not happy)

Relaxing by the pool.

Venturing offroad on commuting tyres - interesting!

Refuelling

An ice cold beer to finish the camp.

Season Wrap Up

So, with my final race of 2011 done and dusted it's time to say a few thank you's to all the people who have helped make this year happen and be successful. Not everything has gone to plan and that is mainly due to an unfortunate crash in Les Gets which resulted in a broken clavicle and a metal plate being screwed in to hold me together. In spite of this I have thoroughly enjoyed being back mountain bike racing and i'm looking forward to 2012 and the many challenges that will be thrown my way.

These are all the people I owe a huge amount of gratitude for there help and generosity, check out there websites where you will find some of the best cycling products on the market at the moment.

GT Racing UK - Bikes with character and heritage that go really fast.
Rock and Road Cycles - Bridge of Allen - Well stocked and knowledgeable shop kindly supplied me with Giro shoes, helmet and gloves.
Eyewear Outlet - Official Oakley Outlet Store.
Crank Brothers - Wheels, Bars, Seatposts and Pedals - Solid products that do there job extremely well.
muc-off - Kept my bike running smooth in 2011 with their extensive cleaning and maintenance products.
High-Five - Advanced Sports Nutrition for every occasion.

I have managed to get my hands in the air a few times this season and some of the highlights include.

1st place - SXC Series Rounds 1-4 + Overall
1st place - Scottish Cyclo Cross Championships and series
3rd place - Rd 4 UCI C2 NPS Margam Park
2nd - Frome Cobble Wobble
Climbing (with bikes) Ben Nevis at midnight and descending once the sun had risen

So thats it for 2011, see you on the other side of Hogmany.

Season of highs...

... and lows

Scottish CX -The Final Weekend

View from Glengorm Castle, Isle of Mull

To kick off my blog, here is a spot of light hearted action from the final round of the 2011 Scottish CX series which took place at the stunning venue of Glengorm Castle on the Isle of Mull. Second place on saturday saw me wrap up the overall series title with a round to spare. This opened the door to ride and win the Santa Claus CX World Championships on Sunday.

Ready for the off ...

Enjoy the video Dig In! Episode 6, part 2, Check out the rest of the seasons action over at the Dig In Mate!  youtube channel.