Race Day 4

What a difference a day makes!  After an awful day yesterday, today was just incredibly fantastic.

I don't know whether it was the 3.30am feast of almost a whole packet of muesli and yogurt (I have been suffering with serious insomnia) or whether it was the tape that the physios put on my back to help with the back pain but the moment I started pedalling my legs felt so strong. Stronger than the first day even. How does that happen?  Iwona told me that that happens in stage races but I was not sure if I believed her.

The climbs were brutal: so steep. And the descents were extreme. But I felt in my element loving every minute of it. (Well nearly: trying to force down food and gels was really unpleasant by this stage but if you don't do it, it's game over).

We went North today staying in Poland.  The views,  if you had a chance to take your eyes of the trail for a second, were stunning. We even covered a couple of ski runs. I've been thinking that it would be great to come skiing here in the winter with John, Eve and Charlotte.

I gave it everything I had hammering down the final single track descents to the end.  With the tape, my back pain was bearable provided I was able to change position so pushing up some of the steepest climbs was a bonus. Fortunately the last climb was on road and although initially I was seriously in pain, some chap who was not in the race cycled past me out of the saddle and it occurred to me that if I did that it would release the pressure on the muscles that hurt. It worked a treat.

It was a such a great feeling to finish. I finished in 4th place and only 9 minutes behind Iwona who had been about 30 -40 minutes ahead of me on other days.

As to the others, Anna had a great day  despite a broken chain which she managed to fix in 5 minutes. She came in shortly after me also in 4th place in the under 30 category. Emila has just been getting quicker and stronger each day week and came 7th in her category.  Steph and Tash ended up together for the last half of the race and enjoyed the riding all the more for it. 

And to our podium girl, Iwona, she was second today making her second over the whole race and only narrowly missing the win. What a result.

So then it was time to pack up.  Although it's great to finish we are all really sad it's over.

There is only one way to deal with the risk of falling in to post race depression: plan the next one!!

A final word of thanks to John, my super star of a husband who is always full of encouragement and support for my mountain bike adventures even though it puts so much of an extra load on him holding the fort at home.

Race Day 3

Day 3 and this race is taking its toll on body and bike. It's taking lots of pills and lotions just to keep going but even so the back pain is getting hard to deal with.

Today started out fine although the energy and buzz of the start that was there  on previous days was distinctly lacking.

Disaster struck for me when one of my spokes broke. I knew that could mean the end of the race for me because it weakens the wheel and makes it likely that another spoke will go.  Two spokes gone and the wheel gets so badly out of shape that it stops going round.  So I taped the broken spoke to a good one and rode as carefully as I could down the rocky fire roads to the mechanical assistance point which luckily was not too far.  They were brilliant and replaced the spoke there and the n but it took about 20 mins or so.

I found it  very tough going from then on disappointed to have lost so much time and so many places.  The climbs were hideously steep and most of the descents were covered in lots of sticks,  rocks and had deep ruts with steep sides.

I have never been quite so pleased to see a finish line as I was today.

As to the rest of the girls,  I am glad to say that they had a better day. Iwona took first again on a sprint finish after about 4hrs 50 mins. Anna was  4th in her category(20-30). Steph was 5th, Natasha was 7th  (30-40) and Emila was 8th (20 -30) . I was 8th ( 30 - 40) in the end.

One last day to go!

Will I survive.....?

Race Day 2

Despite it being the toughest day on paper: 88km (54miles) and 3200m of climbing, we had so much fun today. 

We spent most of the day in the Czech Republic. The terrain was noticeably different from yesterday which was all in Poland.  The climbs were not so step and there were more pine forests.

While me, Tash, Steph and Anna all started together we were soon separated in the huge number of riders in the mass start. Happily we all came together again after about 1.5hrs and rode the rest of the day (6hrs 20) together. It was great to be in company and we laughed and chatted our way round the course.

There was some incredible single track which was good enough to rival any Welsh or Scottish trail centre.

We all had our bad moments though. My lower back was very sore from the previous day but was hideously painful after the biggest climb of the day.  Steph had a slow puncture on one of the trickiest steepest descents but managed to come down keeping most of her weight on the front wheel. Goodness only knows how she managed to stay on the bike! Tash had a bad time on the last few km. But being together meant that we were always able to  help eachother keep our spirits up.

We all came over the line together on 5th place.

The big news of the day though was that Iwona was top of the podium!.  Well done Iwona! She was incredibly quick and still looked pretty fresh afterwards.

Two stages down, two to go!

Race Day 1

A tough day but a great day. The climbs were painfully steep and relentless but the downhills were great pay back - rocky steep dry and very fast.

After each fast section with sharp rocks there was always a collection of people mending flat tyres so it became clear that going flat out was not the best strategy but instead to pick the smoothest lines was important.  It seems that stage racing is all about staying consistent and not necessarily going flat out at all times.

As to the results: we had two on the podium: Iwona was second in the 30 plus age category.  Her partner Anthony White was third in 40 plus.

I was 4th in the 30 plus category and 8th female overall.  Natasha was 5th in the 30 plus age category and 9th female overall. 

Anna was 6th in the 20  plus category.

Steph had bad luck got a large stick in her rear mech on the first climb.  She fixed it but then she it got ripped off again a little later and she was forced to withdraw.

The stage took me 4 hrs 39 mins. Tomorrow is far longer and much more climbing.  The forecast is also for rain. So I am a bit scared!!

Pre ride

Poland is beautiful!  The weather is warm and sunny and today we had the luxury of having a spare day to do a bit of a pre ride. The mountains are not high but they are steep. There are loads of beautiful pine forests and rooty rocky trails. The town where we are based (Istebna) is filling up with mountain bikers. We are all looking forward to tomorrow.  Starts 10am.....

Rider Profile : Anna Cipullo

Name : Anna Cipullo
Age: 30
Nationality: English
Team: Orbital Racing Collective
Occupation : Sales Representative for SIS sports nutrition

Anna is passionate about cycling and has risen through the racing ranks to elite level in just a couple of years. She claims not to have been involved in sport at all when she was growing up and until she discovered cycling.

Anna not only does mountain biking but also competes at national level at cyclo cross. She is also talking about getting into track cycling and downhill mountain biking as well.  Basically, show her a bike and she can't resist!

She is not shy of a challenge either: 4 days before this event she did the European mtb championships and the weekend after she is doing another multi day stage race.

Riding with Anna recently has shown me that Anna is caffeine powered.  A couple of coffees and you won't see her for dust.....

Rider Profile: Iwona Symzd

Name: Iwona Symzd
Age:36
Nationality: Polish
Team: Saddle skedaddle holidays
Occupation: Vet

I have only really known Iwona for just over a year but it feels like we've been friends for ages. I think it's because we have been on so many great mtb adventures together over the last year.

Iwona is seriously fast. She is in with a chance of being amongst the top women in this race. She is the current European champion for 24 hr racing and is currently training seriously for the  24 hr world championships with a view to a podium position. She has been placing in the top 10 in British National Cross Country Series this year. 

Iwona is also always great fun to have around. She has a cheeky sense of humour and never takes life too seriously but underneath all that she is a very tough cookie: you have to be if you are prepared to race your bike for 24hrs non stop with all the sleep deprivation , general discomfort and extreme levels of fitness that are involved.

Rider Profile: Emila Zielinska

Name : Emila Zielinska
Age: 32
Nationality : Polish
Team: Saddle skedaddle
Occupation : Project Manager at Friends Life

I got to know Emila when we did mountain mayhem 24 hr race as a team of 4.

Not only is she an accomplished mountain biker with many races under her belt, she is also a runner and has done the london marathon and several adventure races.

Emila is an endless source of positivity and fun. She is always laughing and makes every one else laugh too.

We are all hoping for an invite to the wedding we are certain is on the cards very soon..emila?

Rider Profile: Natasha Barry

Name: Natasha Barry
Age:33
Nationality: English (but grew up in South Africa)
Team: Saddle skedaddle holidays
Occupation: Radiographer

Natasha and I also met through racing at local and national races.  For a long time, all I would see of her would be her disappearing off into the distance. 

Natasha is a gutsy rider who loves a good technical challenge.

Natasha rides Elite category at national level and has also raced in a world cup race. This will be her second stage race having completed the Andalucia bike race last year.

Tash makes friends wherever she goes and has alot to do with us all getting together as a group.  She is also always calm and level headed and very practical so a great person to have around in a crisis.

I have also recently discovered that she normally eats not one, not two  but 3 eggs for breakfast!!! I reckon this is the secret of her speed on the bike....

Rider Profile: Stephania Magri

Name: Stephania Magri
Age:36
Nationality: Malta
Team: GB Cycle
Occupation: Teacher

I have known Steph for the longest out of the whole group of us who are going to Poland for the Beskidy MTB Trophy.  I have been racing against Steph in local and national races for about 5yrs.

Steph races in the Elite category at national level and has been Maltese national mtb champion as well as taking part in several world cup races and many other international races.  She is also an accomplished road racer and is part of a successful women's road team, GB Cycles.

Steph is alot of fun to have around and always looks after every one.

We're Off!

The day has arrived (well just about: its 5.30 am! The logistics of travelling with the bikes seems like a bigger challenge right now than the thought of the race.

Race Food!

This morning I'm busy making my own answer to energy bars for the race.  These are so delicious when you are riding: oats, coconut, peanut butter, cocoa powder, vanilla essence.

South Downs Day 3

Today we got an early start and agreed that we would ride 6hrs then get the train from the nearest station back to Winchester.

It was another beautiful day and the scenery was just stunning.

We set off and held a good pace, with no one seeming to be suffering too much for the previous days' riding.

We were now used to the fact that the hills on the South Downs Way are steep and relentless. Big climb, big descent, big climb, big descent. And that is how it goes for 100 miles. We were getting into our stride though.

There was no pub lunch today but plenty of snack stops en route

And ice cream at Cocking courtesy of Emila who had been having ice cream fantasies for several days..

We left the South Downs Way to head for Cosham where we were getting the train. Tash lead us on the most beautiful route down the valley through shady forest and idyllic English country side.

All fantastic training for our stage race now in only two weeks time! 

Cream crackered and on the way back to Winchester

South Downs Day 2

So the first challenge for Day 2 was to get my bike up and running again.

We knew there was a bike shop in Shoreham, 4 miles down the hill.  So, using Emila's bike (which also needed some mechanical attention, Iwona's shoes (Emila has SPD clips where as my set up and shoes are for Time) and Anna's bag, I attached my wheel to my back and whizzed off down to the bike shop to be there for when it opened.

This all meant a very late start for us so we knew from the outset that we weren't going to make 66 miles today either.  There was considerable enthusiasm to enjoy the day and stop for a nice lunch rather than ride hard with our heads down all day.

Emila takes charge of directions to the pub for lunch. But where are Iwona's bananas?!!

We stopped in a little village called Kingston (near Lewes) for lunch which was rather pleasant!

After lunch, we decided to ride to the end of the South Downs Way in Eastbourne to get the train back from there to the hostel.

 It was about 6pm by the time we reached Eastbourne after a great day's cycling. 

We stopped for a quick dinner in the station before heading back to the hostel.

South Downs Day 1

Last weekend we had set out to do the South Downs Way there and back. 200 miles off road.... Well that was the plan. There were six of us: Tash, Iwona, Anna, Stephania, Emila and me. It all started really well...... great riding weather and a great sense of anticipation for the adventure ahead.

At the start of the South Downs Way

We started off at a relatively leisurely pace with lots of chat.  It became clear quite quickly that if we were going to make 66 miles for the day as we had planned, we would need to keep the pace pretty high.

Then came the first puncture. We used it as a good opportunity for a snack and a chat. I must admit - Iwona's fruit salad was rather delicious - no wonder she needed such a big bag.  

Iwona was also heavily armed with bananas! Is that the secret of her incredible speed??

Then my spoke broke and puncture the tape of my tubeless wheel causing another flat! 

With that fixed we rode on for another 10 minutes only for Iwona to get a flat as well.  Then it was Anna's turn having ripped her tyre on a flinty downhill section just before Cocking.  It was now approaching 5pm and we figured we had another 3hrs riding at least before we reached the hostel where we were staying.  A quick phone call and we discovered that they stopped serving food at 7.30pm - now this was serious! The prospect of no food!!.  It was at that point I realised I had another puncture! Grit had got into the tyre through the hole left by the spoke I had removed and that grit had caused the puncture. This was an incredible tally of flat tyres for one day!

We had all accepted by then that we needed a Plan B. Luckily Tash lives in the area and it is her riding territory so she lead us down the main road to Chichester where we got on the train, a little disappointed about only having made half of our intended distance. Six muddy girls in lycra did seem to attract quite a few funny looks in Chichester and on the train on that Friday evening!

I wonder who Emila is texting? That dirty girl!

It was the right decision though because on the way from the station to the hostel another of my spokes went making the bike unrideable.  I had to push it the last mile to the hostel! Luckily it was a beautiful evening.

a second spoke breaks

Despite all the mechanicals, and not sticking to the original plan, it was a great day.  The girls had even arranged a birthday cake for me as it had been my birthday earlier in the week. And the great thing was that we all had a great excuse to eat loads to fuel for the next two days!

Birthday Cake