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Cyprus Sunshine Cup.

Firstly my apologies for being a little quiet on the blog front, however since 19th of Feb I’ve been fortunate to tag along with the guys from Orange Monkey Cycling Team, and jet away to Cyprus for three weeks to train and race three UCI early season mountain bike races (Cyprus Sunshine Cup Series).

After an early morning wake up call Friday morning, a drive to Gatwick, and a 4 hour flight, I found myself in a climate where getting up early to train wouldn’t feel like as much of a chore as it have been at times in most parts of the UK lately. Upon arrival at our luxury villa, most of the Friday evening was spent building our bike’s ready for the following day’s training and after getting a bite to eat it was time to get a good nights sleep. Waking up on the Saturday (day before our first race) to clear blue skies and temperatures more than 20′c higher than than back home, I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear and be extremely eager to get out on the bike and practise tomorrow’s course. It feels quite strange to be racing cross country this early in the year, as I only finished the cyclo cross season two weeks previous to this race.

I normally have 5-8 weeks between the end of the cross to the start mountain bike season, which would mean that I’d be able to put in a bulk of base mileage before the season starts, where as now I’ll be doing a lot of miles as well as racing on the weekends. However, I’m sure that the good weather will make this feel easy. A couple of hours on the course, then back to the villa to dangle my feet in our very own private pool seemed like the perfect way to make sure that I’m well relaxed before the race.

Sunday 21st Feb. Race Day. The first race was just outside Larnaca in a little town called Voroklini, which was also where we were staying, meaning that the start line was at the end of our street….convenient!?!? The course itself was really good with steep challenging climbs, technical rocky descents, loose dusty trails and with 2 start loops and 7 laps to get through, it would make a good hard race to kick off the season. Being placed 28th on the grid would mean that I should have a good chance of putting myself up there and mixing it up against some top World Cup riders including World Marathon Champion Roel Paulisson (BEL). Off the start I managed to get inside the top 10 and in the lead group, where I stayed for the until the end of the first lap.

On one of many technicals rocky descents my front wheel scuffed a rock and I ended coming down hard and resulting in a lot of skin loss and a flat tyre. From there I got myself to the pits where I changed wheels and carried on with the race to try and get back in the points, but I’d lost a fair bit of time and as the race progressed I was getting stiffer and stiffer and ending the race feeling extremely sore in 49th position. Needless to say not the best of starts to the trip!

The Following day I woke up with a really sore back as at one point in yesterdays crash I was face down in the dirt with my feet still clipped in and all the time my bike wanted to leap frog my body and I think this must have wrenched it. I was debating whether it might be worth going to find a chiropractor to have it seen to, but when I was doing a few little movements to try and ease it out all my lower back crunched and I felt instant relief so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. By mid week my back was good, and I’d put in a few quality long road rides before getting ready to meet my family (Fiance, Daughter, Mam and Dad) who had come out for a week to watch the next race of the trip, which would be a three day mountain bike stage race (Friday-Sunday). Thursday the weather took a turn and it was pelting down with rain, so we decided that maybe it would be best to ride the course the morning of the first stage hoping that the weather would be better.

Friday 26th Feb. Stage One. The first stage was up in the mountains near Kapedes and was a one lap time trial of the cross country course that would be used in stage three’s cross country race. Unfortunately the weather hadn’t change and a mud fest it was going to be. The course itself was a mix of sharp steep climbs, fast fire roads and some ‘bum on the back tyre’ muddy descents. My start time was 3:05pm in the afternoon and with only having a small breakfast early in the morning my plan was to race light and hope that this would benefit me on the climbs. I’d done a few laps of the course in the morning and with the weather being so wet and cold, my warm up would be to sit under the extremely hot heaters in the car until 5 mins before the off, as I thought this was the only way to line up with warm legs. Off the start I think my warm up worked as I got into the effort quick and was covering ground well. 2/3rd’s of the way into my lap I had chain suck causing my chain to come off and in a fluster I somehow managed to knock the release clip loose on my Lake shoes making my foot flap around in my shoe. After putting my chain back on, then tightening up my shoe I carried on the effort to the finish. In the end my finishing time for the time trial was only 30secs shy of 3rd, which was a bit frustrating as I know I lost 30secs easy, giving me a finish position of 10th. However, positive start for the first stage.

Saturday 27th Feb. Stage Two. The second stage was a point to point 50km marathon style race, with the highest point being at altitude before dropping down a 30min decent and ending on 1 lap of stage three’s cross country course (all in dry conditions). The race itself started like a normal cross country race….FLAT OUT! Everyone was shifting positions to try and get on the front of the race. I managed to sit in the top 5 at times but every time I was getting to the front, handful of riders would make their way past leaving me to fight my way back into the same position I was in 2 mins ago. Just before the lowest part of the course before the long climb to the top, not too long after the start I somehow with my current luck, I managed to slice my tyre leaving me to ride on a flat until I could get to the first of two pits. By this time I was very nearly last, but with good legs I managed to catch a lot of riders finishing in 25th.

Sunday 28th Feb. Final Stage. The third stage of the race was just a normal style cross country race, but again the weather had changed and was again pelting down and with a really cold wind. Shocking conditions! My plan today was to stay positive feel good about the whole weather situation and finish the race! Off the start I knew there would be a lot of people going off quick and end up paying for it later in the race, so I just rode my own race. At the end of the first lap I came through in 35th position, but By half way I was still smiling when others clearly wasn’t and I started pulling riders back. I crossed the line in 16th, with my hands and feet completely froze! I have to say though I was well impressed how well my dhb Earnley base layer held out the cold, it was fantastic! I’m not going to say I crossed the line lovely and warm, far from it, but if I didn’t have it on I wouldn’t have been able to finish the race, and for that give it a thumbs up! After three days racing I ended up finishing 16th overall.

After the cold race’s of the weekend, I caught a cold resulting in a few days off training and feeling pretty poor. All I could do now was rest and hope that I would recover in time for the final race on the coming weekend. I did get to spend the days with my family though while I was keeping my distance from the other riders in the villa as I didn’t want to pass on any germs, which I’m sure they were happier with even though they are to nice to admit it! By Thursday I felt like I could manage an easy ride, which my legs really needed as they were starting to stiffen up from just shutting off and not doing anything. I continued my easy rides right up to the day of the race on Sunday where it was a case of ‘kill or cure’.

Sunday 7th March. Race Day. The course was situated on the outskirts of Limassol in the archaeological grounds in Amathous, right on the sea front….quite the picture. The course was very bumpy/rocky single track for 90% of it, with a boardwalk over the sea for good measures. After my warm up, I felt a lot better about the coming race as I didn’t feel like I was in that bad shape, however still a little unsure as you never know until the race starts how good your going to feel in a race even when not coming off a cold. On the fast start loop I managed to make my way into the top 15 and feeling fairly normal and holing my position well. by the end of the second lap I started to feel tired and I continued to go backwards from that point on to the end of the race where I came in a disappointing 32nd. However, not to disappointing considering the week I’ve had, and I’m happy that I got to race and not end up watching from the sidelines.

Overall the trip was superb, cracking bunch of guys an gal (Sue Clarke, Anthony Morris, Paul Beales, Chris Andrews and Ben Roff) to go away racing with. Lots of in house banter made the trip fly by, despite a bit of bad luck at times. I hope they invite me again next year as it was a trip not to be missed and certainly not forgotten! Really looking forward for the season to kick off fully and feel there’s some good races just around the corner!

Race Reports + Gallery’s
www.sunshine.mtbcyprus.com/

Orange Monkey Blog
http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/mtb/article/mtb20100301–Brits-Revel-At-Sunshine-Cup-0

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National Cross Champs

Over the last few weeks I’ve continued to build my training ready for the mountain bike season which for me will start a lot earlier this year as I’ll be heading to Cyprus at the end of February. I’ll be doing 3 UCI races to gain some extra points ready for the the start of the World Cup season. Normally the season starts around the end of March – April, so this will be quite strange as even though I’ll be racing early in the season, I’ll still be putting in some big mileage before the bulk of racing kicks off fully.

However, with training progressing well, I had a short term goal to get wound up over first and that was….putting in a quality ride at the National Cyclocross Championships before I could fully excited for the fast approaching mountain bike season. After a pretty disappointing National Trophy Cross season it left me missing out on a few ranking points which I needed for the gridding at the champs. When it came to the gridding I was hoping that I would have been on the second row, but I actually ended up being on the fourth row which was by no means the ideal position to start from, as the start straight was quite short and narrow.

This for me was a bit of a shame as my starts in all the trophies have been very strong when there’s space to move up, but I knew this would be one big scrap to the first turn and onto the course. The course itself was very fast, with a mix of twisting bends through parkland and a few tarmac sections to really stretch it out which would really suit my new Zipp 303 wheels.

Off the start I got boxed in and had to watch riders pass me on the outside until we got onto the course where I was able to move up through the field. However, I wanted to be up with the leaders in the first half lap as I knew they would soon start to make distance between the rest of the field. Unlucky for me I was sitting in about 27th with a big long line of riders all in single file averaging about 25mph, which made it really hard to move up, and by the end of the first lap 6 riders had already broke away from the main bunch and a podium was already slipping away.

I managed to pass riders and get myself up to 7th, but the gap to try and get with the leaders was to much and they were all taking turns at upping the pace at the front leaving it extremely hard to close the gap. For the rest of the race I continued to push hard, ending up finishing just over a minute down on the winner in 7th position. This was quite disappointing for me as I was in pretty good shape coming into this race and I felt that if I’d have been able to get to the front earlier in the race before the lead bunch got away, then I would have been part of the break and had a great chance of winning. Never the less I didn’t……so that’s tough, and that’s just how the racing goes sometimes, even though it can be a bit frustrating at times.

I can now look forward to the mountain bike season where I’m going to get an absolute corker of a Focus bike to race and hopefully get another chance to try and win a National title, this time on an MTB.

Race Report
www.new.britishcycling.org.uk/cyclocross/article/National-Cyclo-Cross-Championships—Day-2-0

Video

30

New Year.

Turbo, turbo, turbo, turbo….everybody’s talking bout it! Yes the start of a new year brings out the best in us all and the commitment to sit on the home trainer for hours on end without loosing their marbles has got to be up there on the new years resolution! For me the start of the new year has continued to be a build towards the National Cyclo Cross Champs which have been postponed until 7th of February because of the weather. Fortunately I found myself in a similar position as team mate Ben Simmons and recovering from a cold at the time the event should have gone ahead, so I’m all too happy to be now fully recovered and on the road to getting in shape for the new date.

Last weekend (17th) saw me racing the final round of the National Trophy series in Rutland Water, where I was hoping I could score a few more well needed points, to better my grid position come the champs. Gridded nearly 66th on the grid, the biggest battle for me, and has been the case for most of the cross season…..getting from the back of the pack and try and put myself in a position where I feel I should be competing. Off the start I worked my way through the field and by the end of the first lap I had managed to come through in 15th. Unfortunately, due to muddy conditions, I had some chain suck coming out of a bend which snapped and twisted my chain, leaving me to loose most of the positions I’d just made up as I ran to the pits.

From then on it was a case of using my spare bike for the remainder of the race (which by the end was completely caked in mud and probably weighed 40lb), and try and pick off as many as I could before the finish. By the end of the race I came across the line in 21st nowhere near the result I wanted but, with getting over colds, bad weather, lack of racing and the elements on race day, it’s got to be a step towards a good race come the Nationals.

This week my training hours are going to start to increase, with a lot more road miles mixed with a couple of strength sessions as part of my base for the mountain bike season. I find that this time of year can be very satisfying. Sometimes riding all day watching the miles clock up on the Garmin, experiencing some breath taking views that not everybody has a chance to see, and at the same time getting a quality session in the bank. Good days work!

Final Trophy Report
http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/sport/

Photos

29

Christmas Period

After going on a run of cyclo cross wins, then getting a chest infection a week before Bradford National Trophy, it’s been a case of recovering and building back up again ready for the National Championships on Jan 10th in Sutton. With getting over illness, lots of snow and ice as well as Christmas craziness, which for me includes 5 family birthdays, I was half expecting it to be a frustrating struggle to get back up to speed. Actually even though my hours are a little bit lower due to weather conditions, my training is slowly coming back on track and the rest has probably done me more good than bad.

After missing a few races, my first race back was a South West Cross League on Dec 27th in Bristol, which I was hoping wouldn’t flair up my chest like it did in Bradford (my own fault for thinking that I was recovered enough to race) and I could get to the finish this time. For most of the race I felt like my legs were a little stiff and I found it hard to push the strain of race pace, but was by no means a race to complain about. From the start I managed to pull away and by the end of the race I nearly lapped the whole field, with second place a couple of bike lengths in front as I crossed the line. This was a pleasing race for me as sometimes you can spend weeks and weeks feeling pretty poor in training, but it only ever takes one good day to turn everything around and feel back on a positive once again.

New Years Eve. Every year (if not ill) I take part in a 5km running race (The Nos Galan) which has been run for over 50 years and is always well supported with this year being 800+ runners and spectators going into the 1000’s. Its quite an event to be part of. Despite only ever doing running in the circuit training sessions I do, I always enter the race to give it a slam and enjoy the fact that the last possible race of the year comes with zero pressure and is purely to enjoy getting knackered! Not only was the race fun, but I’m pleased to be writing that I ended up coming across the line in 2nd only 20 seconds behind the winner. Needless to say I’m very happy with this race as some of the guys there obviously do a lot of running, I’m chuffed I was in the mix for the win and probably had the biggest smile on the podium wearing my dhb Earnley base layer and 2XU Compression tights! Good Day!

Nos Galan Report & Results
www.nosgalan.co.uk/index.htm

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End of Season Lowdown with Team Wiggle

Our Team Wiggle athletes have had a cracking year, standing atop rostrums the world over in road racing, mountain biking and triathlon. Before they put their feet up for the festive break, we caught up with them all as they reflect on 2009 and look ahead to 2010. Cross country mountain biker Lee Williams had a terrific year and showed he has huge potential…

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Team Wiggle 2009 Highlights

Q. Looking back on your 2009 season, are you pleased with how it went?

A. Yes, I’m pretty pleased with it all. Being part of Team Wiggle made one hell of a difference for me. Being part of the team certainly gave me that added edge for the start of the season and I just went on a roll after that. Happy days.

Q. What was the highlight of your year?

A. The highlight for me was my third place at the British Champs. Although it was not my strongest race of the season by any means, it was the result I had targeted before the season and it meant I had achieved my goal, so it was also a relief once the race was over. I felt good about that one.

Q.What was the funniest moment?

A. It has to be on my way to the Torq 12 Enduro where I was due to race with my team mate Matt Page. My dad and I were driving along the motorway at about 60-70mph when suddenly there was a loud bang. The rear wheel of the van had come off and came sailing past us before it hit the verge and rolled into the trees. We pulled over, managed to rescue the wheel with some extreme repairs, fix it back on well enough to return home then load up my car and set off again. In spite of all this, we still managed to take the win in the pairs race!

Q. What was the biggest lesson you learnt?

A. Take a spare bike with you. I arrived at a Midlands race to find my shifter not working which meant I had to borrow a substitute steed for the event – not really ideal.

Q. What are your plans for winter training? How’s it going so far?

A. After a few weeks off in October, I started my winter training plan with renewed enthusiasm. It’s a combination of fitness and base work to begin with, working up to the start of the season with more intense stuff. Apart from my current dose of man flu it has gone well.

Q. What does 2010 have in store for you? What are your major races going to be?

A. I hope I can continue improving. My major races will be the World Cups and, if I’m selected, the World and European Champs. I’ll also add to that the British Champs plus any others where I can race against the best and get a result.

Lee getting all tangled up at the Houffalize World Cup!

27

Welsh National Championships.

With two back to back wins, form and confidence building, I was hoping that I would be able to make this week another, with it being the Welsh Championships held in Crickhowel. Turning up at the venue it was obvious it was going to be a muddy hard race which would be perfect setting for the Welsh Champs.

In recent races I’ve sat in off the start and allowed others to set the pace for the first lap, but this week I wanted to take the front from the gun to allow myself to pick the best lines on the technical course. However, from the start Ben Roach set a quick pace, leaving me to work hard to keep in touch.

By the end of the first lap I managed to get in front, start picking my lines and gaining time. Going on the way the race went a good few weeks ago at Mallory Park with loads of mechanicals caused by the mud, it was crucial for me to gain as much time as I could (if I could) to give myself some leeway for mechanicals. From the end of the first lap I Managed to slowly increase my lead through the muddy conditions often changing bikes, and by the end of the race I was pleased to win my second Welsh Champs jersey of 2009.

The Welsh Champs is always a race I want to win and will look forward to wearing my white Wiggle Welsh Champs kit in next weeks National Trophy in Bradford, where I hope to get a good result against an international field.

Results
www.cyclocrosswales.co.uk/info/welsh_championships_09.pdf

More Photos

27

Welsh Cyclocross Round 8

After a win in round 7 of the Welsh last week, then on the Monday finding out that not only have I been nominated, but I’m in the final 3 for rider of the year (xcracer.com – home of cross country mountain biking in the uk)! Needless to say that my head have swollen a little this week. Obviously with this in mind, my training has benefited for it, doing hard sessions every day of the week up until the Friday before round 8 of the Welsh series being held Pembrey Country Park on the Sunday.

My pre-race thoughts the day of the race were that my legs were likely to suffer due to the heavy weeks training, but at the same time I was feeling well up for a good race. The course this week was really hard ground which was going to make an extremely fast circuit which would be a pleasant surprise and a nice change considering the amount of rain we’ve had in recent weeks.

Off the start I sat in second position and stayed there for the first lap to see how much my legs were going to scream at race pace, but even though they were a little sore my cycling muscles felt quite efficient and by the end of the first lap I’d started to pull a gap.

This week I was using my Mavic Ksyrium SL Tub Wheels which made a massive difference to the rolling speed and smoothness of the bike and had me smiling the whole way through the race. By the end, I had managed to pull a really good gap over second place and I’m well happy with the way my form is building week on week.

Next weekend is the Welsh Championships, then the following week will be Round 5 of the National Trophy, which I’m sure will test my form that much further.

Report & Results
www.cyclocrosswales.co.uk/leaguereport8.html

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26

Second Win

After an unlucky turn at Mallory Park last week, I was hoping that luck this week would be at least par for this race. I was racing Round 7 of the Welsh Series held in Margam Park, which I semi call home soil, as its only 30 minutes drive away, and me and the old man have designed many courses there in the past, and are quite familiar with the territory. The weather leading up to the weekend wasn’t too pleasant to say the least, with torrential down pours and really high winds, it was obvious that it was going to be yet another mud fest of a race.

The muddiest wettest part of Margam Park was the setting for the start line, and off the start I managed to get myself into the top 3 going into the first bend, which is always good for keeping out of trouble in a mass start on a wet slippery race. However, the first lap drama was caused by none other than my own stupidity, trying to be clever by trying to ride up the steep running sections, allowing me to show how well I go over the handle bars more than a fair share of times.

On the positive side of things, the part of ‘getting dirty’ was out of the way early on in the race. By the end of the first lap, I had managed to get back in touch with the leader and by the end of the second lap (minus the clumsiness) I started to pull a small gap on second place. For the rest of the race I tried to ride safe and not get into a pickle like on the first lap, but at the same time ride hard.

At the finish I was pleased with the gap I managed to get, and overall very satisfied with the way the race went, and to take my second win of the cyclocross season.

Next weeks race will again be another round of the Welsh Series, hopefully better weather, then onto the Welsh Championships the week following.

Race Report
www.cyclocrosswales/leaguereport7

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25

Welsh 5 & Trophy 4

After steadily building form week on week, I had a good hard week training and the weekend (Remembrance Sunday) saw me racing round 5 of the welsh cyclo-cross series in Blackweir Park Cardiff. On the warm up lap my legs felt really heavy and to top it off my crank came loose and fell off, so needless to say I though it was going to be one of those days.

Never the less, My plan was not to set the pace for the first lap unlike previous races, and just sit in behind the leaders to ease my legs into race pace, as in the few previous races I’ve gone off too quick and ended up struggling for the next few laps. By the end of the first lap I managed to gain a small gap on second place, which I saw as my opportunity to try and gain as much time as I could, as the course was quite rocky and technical so if anything was to happen then I’d have a small margin to get to the pits.

For the rest of the race I managed to slowly extend my gap to the finish and take my first win of the cross season. With a bit of extra confidence the week after my win, training was going well and I was getting pretty wound up for round 4 of the National Trophy series in Mallory Park Leicestershire. I knew that I’d have a hard race as I’m still gridded down the field which is always a battle to try and get in contention, as your big effort is to get to the leaders rather than to give the leaders a hard time.

However, I picked up my new Focus Mares Pro cross bikes in the week which were absolutely lush, and would make a big difference to my racing as opposed to my older bikes, which have had two many seasons racing two years ago! I got to the venue the day before and done a practise lap, to try out the course and to make small minor adjustments to my bikes on a cross course. The course was very hard pack in most places and was holding up well to the heavy rain which was in constant supply and my first thoughts of it would be ‘that it would be a fast race’.

Arriving at the venue the morning of the race my thoughts of a fast hard pack course was to change after the earlier races had cut up the course to a point where it resembled the motocross course alongside, rather than the cyclo-cross course it was intended to be. Never the less cross is meant to be muddy and a muddy race it was going to be….so get on with I suppose. Off the start I managed to come up alongside the bulk of riders in front of me, but a puncture saw me slowly go backwards and ending up nearly last in about 80th place going into the pits to change bikes.

After this I managed to push hard passing riders everywhere possible and by the end of the second lap I had worked my way up inside the top 12, which was a very good effort. However despite still moving up through the field my rear mech clogged in mud and was ripped clean off leaving me to run more than quarter of a lap to change back to my other bike. By the time I’d got to the pits I’d lost a lot of places, and the chase back began again. Passing riders again where ever I could, only to do another half lap before picking up another puncture and end my race.

I wasn’t the only one of the day to receive bad luck as out of the 80+ starters over 50 snapped rear mechs in the thick mud and countless punctures. One of the craziest races I’ve ever witnessed, and in the end there couldn’t have been more than 20 finishers! Despite the bad luck though, my legs actually felt like they had a bit of zip and I seem to be still gradually improving my form week after week.

Welsh Report & Results
http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/sport/article/cyx20091109-Report-Welsh-League-Round-5-0

National Trophy Report & Results
http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/cyclocross/article/cyx20091115-Cyclo-Cross-National-Trophy—Mallory-0

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24

British Inter Area Team Champs.

This week saw me heading to Leicestershire for the British Inter Area Team Champs, where unlike every other race where you race for yourself, this weeks overall position would be determined on your teams top 4 finishers and the team with the most points scored would be the winners. After waking up to the driving wind and rain the morning of the race, I was expecting the course to be really muddy but arriving at the race venue it had stopped raining and the wind seemed to be drying the course out since the earlier races from the morning. The course was fast rolling with swooping corners in and out of undulating park lands with the odd few tight slippery off camber corners to catch you out.

Our team (Wales) were gridded 7th which allowed us to take up the last spot on the front row, which was lucky, if we didn’t make the front row, it would have meant us being at least six rows back as the whole team were gridded and would line up in single file behind they first man. Off the start my plan was to go quite quick as there were a few of the best cross riders in the country including the current National Trophy leader and I didn’t want to give them an easy time.

I managed to set the pace off the start and by the end of the first lap our top 4 points scorers were in a great position for a top spot (2nd, 4th, 10th, 20th). After the first lap the leader (Paul Oldham) started to put the pressure on and I tried hard to stay on his wheel but he slowly pulled a gap for the rest of the race.

The rest of the race I was in a battle for 2nd with Rob Jebb and Dave Collins who are both top 5 Trophy riders which was good company. After the half way mark, Jebb stared to make a break and got a 20sec gap, leaving me and Collins to try and chase back, however, I was already flat out, so all I could do was hang on. With a few laps to go Collins pulled away nearly catching 2nd leaving me to end up with a finishing position of 4th just over a minute down on the leader and ending in a team result of 4th.

Overall I was quite happy with the race, as I still feel as if I got a lot more space to improve this cross season, as my results are getting better and better every race. Next race for me is round 5 of the Welsh Series this weekend in Cardiff, which is always a tough course.

Race Report
www.new.britishcycling.org.uk/cyclocross/article/Cyclo-Cross-Inter-Area-Championships-0

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