Big Update
Many people have been waiting for the arrival of the latest batch of production Swifts and Hummingbirds. I'm glad to say that finally they are here. Unfortunately they arrived at 4.30pm the afternoon before the inaugural Singletrack Classic Weekender which we were sponsoring, and was the start of 8 days away riding then racing again the following weekend at 10 at Kirroughtree for Steve and me. That meant I was unable to ship anything prior to the trip, however this week has been manic with getting frames prepped and out - I've nearly cleared the back log. So to cram all of these happenings in to one blog update...
Picture thanks to Trev.
The Singletrack Classic Weekender
This was probably the event I'd been looking forward to most for the whole season, I wasn't disappointed. Going back to the old days where racing would consist of competition across a variety of mountain bike disciplines, riders were required to complete 'classic' trials, downhill, and cross country to be considered for the overall. The format obviously appealed to many as the first running saw over 200 people entered. It seemed many more were intrigued but a little put off by mention of trials and downhill - they need not have been - it was nothing to concern anyone used to regular mountain biking. That's not to say it wasn't a challenge. I cleared four of the five trials sections and lost 20-something seconds in the DH meaning I would start with a 3 minute handicap in the XC. Steve unfortunately punctured in the downhill early on, though incredibly still ran the course in under 2.30 meaning a 5 minute penalty in the XC. There was a wonderful friendly atmosphere, great barbequing, more than a few beers, and an enormous bonfire - what more could you want? The XC was not easy - both because of the toughness of the course and the state of most of the competitors' heads. Through the first lap I wasn't sure I was going to make it for three, but somehow managed to grit it out and held on for 21st overall (3rd in the 'industry challenge'. Steve (as expected) did significantly better. He pulled back 3 minutes of his 5 handicap, finishing up just off the podium in fourth. A decent DH would have almost certainly got him the win, but that's racing. Thanks to the Singletrack team and all the volunteers who made it all happen.
A week away
Our kindly friends the Forresters (Kirsty had taken the women's category at the Weekender) put us up for a couple of nights to rest, recouperate, and sample some of the riding delights Calderdale has to offer. After going to visit the boys at Singletrack HQ, the impressively hirsute Ed Oxley of Great Rock generously offered to show us around some trails out of Hebden Bridge. We had a lovely few hours out, managing to time our pub stop perfectly with a deluge - thanks Ed! On the way back into Hebden Ed, Steve and Dom took on the steps of death, I was happy to take on filming duties...
The next day we'd planned a big long one heading out from Bingley. It wasn't quite so big as intended due to cumulative tiredness and general ennui, but we still managed 30 miles or so interspersed with pub stops more or less coinciding with intermittent downpours.
Wednesday we headed yet further north, about as north as you can go and still be in England. We stopped in at Rothbury to meet with Tim at Northumberland Bike Breaks and get some guidance and maps to our planned overnight stop at a rescue hut in the wilds a long way from anywhere. We didn't head off until about 6pm, but a few hours riding got us to our target just before sunset. Really wonderful to be such a long way from civilisation, it's been a long time since I've felt that.
10 at Kirroughtree
Thanks to further hospitality from friends we came back to civilisation in Edinburgh where we were able to shower and sort ourselves out before 10 hours of racing at Kirroughtree. Well, 10 hours between three of us - Dom was making the trip up with Dean for some Bongo loving. We didn't really know what to expect in terms of course or competition, so Steve and I headed out for a feel out lap. I also wanted to try out my intended race bike with the new ultra-flash carbon wheels and Dugast tubular tyres (more thoughts on that here) to see if I thought they were up to what was reputed to be a quite rocky course - I decided they were.
Despite predictions of rain beginning anywhere between 10am and 4pm, it dawned bright and sunny and stayed that way the whole day. The organisation was low key but efficient, and there was a good turnout with over 500 competitors. Continuing with our established fastest to slowest running order Steve headed out first. He led proceedings for much of the first lap but unfortunately derailed a chain on the final descent. Nevertheless he came through the first transition in first place in around 45 minutes. Dom then went out and came back 50 minutes later, and I did much the same (something of a surprise as Dom is usually a few minutes quicker than me - the wheels worked! :-) Having the EZ up set up close to the transition area made handovers a breeze, and we kept on churning out quick laps. I unfortunately broke a chain (first time that's happened for years) 2/3rds of the way through my second lap which cost a few minutes, but we were still well placed in third overall (no SS cat) mid-way through the race, less than 10 minutes down on the leaders. Dean and Dr Jon of Velo Club Moulin plus our host of earlier in the week Craig were all riding solo and each put in a fine performance - 5th, 9th, and 15th respectively I believe.
Hummingbird takes 650b
Marty our new North American dealer at The Prairie Peddler being the inquisitive chap he is thought the clearances on the Hummingbird looked quite generous so thought he'd try fitting in some 650b wheels. It's tight but they fit!
