Plumz at the races

Plumz Buster Enduro

2010-08-29T22:06:00.002+01:00

For full details and entries go HERE

Mountain Mayhem 24 Hr 2010

2010-06-22T21:37:00.002+01:00

Singlespeed - 3 Singulars and the other one.....done good "The Plumz Singlespeederz"

RESULTS

572 Richard Jones 1 00:52:11
569 Dave Loveday 2 01:00:04
571 Jack Peterson 3 00:53:51
570 Dave Gardner 4 01:02:21
572 Richard Jones 5 00:51:13
569 Dave Loveday 6 01:01:11
571 Jack Peterson 7 00:55:06
570 Dave Gardner 8 01:03:07
572 Richard Jones 9 00:53:27
569 Dave Loveday 10 01:04:20
571 Jack Peterson 11 00:59:44
570 Dave Gardner 12 01:09:46
572 Richard Jones 13 00:58:27
569 Dave Loveday 14 01:07:05
571 Jack Peterson 15 01:03:11
570 Dave Gardner 16 01:08:01
572 Richard Jones 17 00:55:48
569 Dave Loveday 18 01:06:53
571 Jack Peterson 19 00:56:11
570 Dave Gardner 20 01:05:51
572 Richard Jones 21 00:49:33
569 Dave Loveday 22 01:04:57
571 Jack Peterson 23 00:55:45
570 Dave Gardner 24 01:11:35

FNSS 2010 Race 5 Kilworth Springs

2010-06-22T21:36:00.001+01:00

Smiffy wins with half a handlebar.

Eastern XC 2

2010-06-13T21:29:00.000+01:00

Eastern XC again at South Brandon circuit.

RESULTS

FNSS 2010 Mallory Park

2010-06-13T21:27:00.000+01:00

wins and Podiums again

FNSS 2010 Race 3 - Delapre Abbey

2010-06-05T12:35:00.000+01:00

i will fill these results in soon honest

British Mtb Champs Round 3

2010-05-30T09:00:00.000+01:00

margam mudfest

Midlands XC Rd 2

2010-05-24T13:29:00.000+01:00

New venue

FNSS Race 2 - bulwick Estates

2010-05-22T10:44:00.001+01:00

Wins for James, Smiffy 2nd and Rich 5th

British MTB Champs Round 2

2010-05-09T22:46:00.001+01:00

Results to follow

FNSS 2010 Race 1 - Borough Hill

2010-05-07T22:45:00.000+01:00

Plumz on the podium resultsand pics to follow

Eastern XC 2010 Round 1 - Tunstall

2010-05-03T11:28:00.002+01:00

What have these guys done to offend the weather gods! Two Winter series races and two Summer events in Two years and all four off them run in a continuous heavy downpour. The mix of continuous sand slop and the long distances just destroys bikes.

Mental race start, 100+ riders into un rideable singletrack afer about 30 seconds, and everyone set off together no mater whta the ability meant a race where you didn't have a clue who you were racing against.

Jack kept it consistent and just plugged on with Russel Rout in close attendance, struggling with a self changing faulty shifter. On the last lap after a crap bottle hand over made up 3 places to grab 3rd on the line in a sprint, Podium result.

7 Laps in 2Hr35:16 3rd place 10 mins behind winner John McAndrew and 5 behind second Andrew Manning,
laps
21:15 - 21:35 - 21:53 - 22:07 - 21:47 - 22:48 - 23:48

Results from Timelaps

Singlespeed Euro Champs 2010

2010-04-20T22:21:00.002+01:00

Dave, Big Dave, Jack, Pilch, Brownie, Mikey and Mark did tons of riding, the odd fast lap and a bit of Rolapaluza spinning

Pics collectiion here. Flickr Group

Midlands XC Rd1 2010 Hanchurch

2010-04-20T22:20:00.001+01:00

Plumz in action.
Results HERE

Glynn Preston wins Fun !!!! 2 laps 25:31 and 23:55

Bob 10th in Older Boys 3 laps at 30:19 - 26:52 - 26:28. If he hadnt hit a tree, jammed his chain and bent his mech and not lost that 2 mins on the first lap could have done better.

Junior female win to Hollie Bettles with just the one lap at 30:32

4th Junior to James Hyde in 21:52 - 21:48 - 22:11 - 22:04

5th Master Lloyd Bettles 22:27 - 21:21 - 21:22 - 21:56 - 22:07

7th open male Tom Wright 27:28 - 26:48 - 26:47

11th Veteran John Smith 23:59 - 23:39 - 23:42 - 24:52

Quattro Sportive

2010-04-06T14:40:00.002+01:00

Local one for us, Jack, Rich and Dave rode to and did the 82 miler with Bob, only splitting up for the last bit, can't stop us trying to murder each other. A very windy cold ride around four counties starting from Woolaston school. Worth looking out for next year.
Our ride time without the two food stops was 4:55:00, as usual with Sportives some of the times are obviously those who have done one of the shorter routes, I'd guess 4:30 was the fast time.

Rich 5:07:21
Jack 5:07:33
Bob 5:07:55
Dave 5:09:05

Steve, Roz, Lou and Brownie did the shorter route, 48 miles. The boys gave the girls a 5 minute head start and didn't catch them...nice one.

Roz 3:27:59
Louise 3:27:58
Steve and Brownie 3:25:32
All the results HERE FROM JUST RACING

Gorrick spring series Round 4

2010-03-29T14:40:00.000+01:00

Super masters male – 4 laps
2nd John Smith - Numplumz 25:03 25:46 27:04 27:58

Masters male – 3 laps

21st Glynn Preston - Numplumz 26:43 27:58 32:18

British Mountainbike XC Round 1 Sherwood Pines.

2010-03-29T14:32:00.002+01:00

Great turnout from team plumz riders and Families at the first round of the National series
Superb dry day meant some fast racing on the tight and lumpy course.
Results
Open 3 laps
Great win for Richard in the all comers race for anyone without a race licence. Brad only 4 secs off the podium as well and solid ride from Tom

1st Richard Jones Numplumz/ Pitsford Cycles - 23:12 23:32 23:22
4th Brad Lovell Numplumz - 24:39 25:07 25:21
15th Tom Wright Numplumz/pitsford cycles - 26:11 27:12 27:36

Veteran 4 laps
Jack fought through traffic from Grid position of 48th to achieve his goal of a top 30 finish despite losing his front brake lever on lap 2 due to mech failure. passed final 2 riders on last lap

29th Jack Peterson Numplumz - 24:35 24:29 24:35 24:25

Grand Veteran 4 laps
12th Bob Mitchell Numplumz - 25:42 26:34 27:24 28:03

Junior Female 3 laps
3rd Hollie Bettles WXC mountainbike team UK - 27:43 28:20 29:08

Junior 4 laps
Superb ride from James in a seriously fast field and showed great potential for some good rides this year. check out those lap times seriously fast start.
8th James Hyde Numplumz 21:56 22:40 23:43 25:15

Masters 5 laps
Lloyd could have done so much better but had problems with his chain jumping off all race
14th Lloyd Bettles Numplumz /KCNC - 21:42 22:23 22:50 24:20 23:56

West Drayton Black Park XC

2010-03-15T13:11:00.002Z

Tight & twisty rooty track and pretty dry apart from the sheep dip!

Jack, Brad, Rich, Tom, Hollie and lloyd in attendance.

Results: HERE

Photos: HERE

Sort these out soon:
Single Speed MalePos...Laps..Time......Int.......Num..Name/Club and Lap Times1.....5.....01:13:42............367..ROB HOLBECHE./.Psyklewerk.co.uk.....................................00:14:14..00:14:28..00:15:11..00:14:51..00:14:582.....5.....01:13:51..00:00:09..372..LEE GOLLOP./.www.progressionfitness.co.uk.....................................00:14:13..00:14:28..00:15:15..00:15:00..00:14:553.....5.....01:15:28..00:01:46..375..JACK PETERSON./.Numplumz.....................................00:14:44..00:15:29..00:15:24..00:15:06..00:14:454.....5.....01:15:39..00:01:57..370..DAN HOWE./.TROG.....................................00:14:42..00:15:33..00:15:23..00:15:07..00:14:54

Fun 16+ MalePos...Laps..Time......Int.......Num..Name/Club and Lap Times1.....4.....01:03:45............569..BEN WATSON./......................................00:15:46..00:15:45..00:16:28..00:15:462.....4.....01:04:05..00:00:20..531..TOM WRIGHT./.Numplumz/Pitsford Cycles.....................................00:15:59..00:15:50..00:16:14..00:16:02

Master/Sports MalePos...Laps..Time......Int.......Num..Name/Club and Lap Times1.....7.....01:38:50............193..CHRIS RATHBONE./.MSC Bikes UK.....................................00:14:51..00:13:41..00:13:39..00:13:49..00:14:08..00:14:12..00:14:302.....7.....01:38:53..00:00:03..197..NEIL RICHARSON./.RAF C.C......................................00:14:54..00:13:40..00:13:38..00:13:46..00:14:11..00:14:10..00:14:343.....7.....01:39:26..00:00:36..192..NICK ONSLOW./.Pedalon.....................................00:14:55..00:13:58..00:14:01..00:14:04..00:14:06..00:14:13..00:14:094.....7.....01:44:11..00:05:21..119..MARC CHAMBERLAIN./......................................00:15:59..00:14:05..00:14:16..00:14:37..00:14:48..00:15:18..00:15:085.....7.....01:44:38..00:05:48..184..MATT STEPHEN./......................................00:16:11..00:14:22..00:14:32..00:14:40..00:14:44..00:15:01..00:15:086.....7.....01:45:31..00:06:41..135..BRIAN MACPHENSON./......................................00:15:47..00:14:18..00:14:27..00:14:57..00:15:10..00:15:30..00:15:227.....7.....01:45:59..00:07:09..183..SIMON LESSER./.Primera Sport.co.uk.....................................00:16:13..00:14:32..00:14:48..00:14:58..00:15:02..00:15:24..00:15:028.....7.....01:46:21..00:07:31..143..MARTIN TURTON./.WDMBC/Beyond/Specialized.....................................00:16:09..00:14:40..00:14:53..00:14:58..00:14:58..00:15:30..00:15:139.....7.....01:47:22..00:08:32..196..RICHARD JONES./......................................00:16:50..00:14:48..00:14:50..00:14:58..00:15:03..00:15:22..00:15:31
15....7.....01:53:30..00:14:40..195..BRAD LOVELL./......................................00:16:58..00:15:31..00:17:20..00:15:44..00:16:02..00:16:12..00:15:43
dnf...4.....00:59:38............191..LLOYD BETTLES./......................................00:16:45..00:14:17..00:14:20..00:14:16

Master/Sports,FemalePos...Laps..Time......Int.......Num..Name/Club and Lap Times1.....6.....01:48:12............404..HOLLIE BETTLES./......................................00:16:49..00:17:07..00:17:54..00:18:12..00:18:47..00:19:232.....6.....02:03:18..00:15:06..401..RACHAEL DENMAN./.Beyond/WDMBC/Specialized.....................................00:18:53..00:20:17..00:20:43..00:20:47..00:20:57..00:21:41

Madawch Goldrush

2010-03-07T10:42:00.002Z

Mikey, Pilch, Bob and Jack took in 3 laps of the old Red Bull trail at Coed-y-Brenin in superb sunshine on wicked dry trails.......was this really Wales.

PHOTOS HERE

Gorrick Spring Series Rd 2

2010-03-07T08:44:00.000Z

Glynn attended.
RESULTS

Glynn 14th in 1Hr 07 with laps of 23.09 - 22.08 - 21.47
Tmes got faster as the crowds of other racers got in the way for the early laps.

Theford winter series 09-10 final

2010-02-28T21:39:00.004Z

Tunstall in the sea RESULTS
With non stop rain and a very sticky course someone described as one big puddle it was a battle of survival for both body, brakes and drivetrains.

2hr
36th Tom Wright 3 laps 02:51:13
Laps 48:01 55:53 67:19

------------------
2hr vets
22nd Paul Morris 3 laps 03:12:35
Laps 52:14 63:14 77:07
John Smith DNF
------------------

4 hr
6th Lloyd Bettles 4 laps 02:58:37
Laps 36:47 46:25 46:34 48:51

8th Richard Jones 4 laps 03:11:59
Laps 38:30 46:45 51:45 54:59
-------------------------------------------
4hr vets
7th Jack Peterson 3 laps 02:18:57
Laps 38:27 46:51 53:39

10th David Loveday 3 laps 02:40:17
Laps 41:39 51:45 66:53
---------------------------
bigup to young ben Morris in fun race
13th Ben Morris 2 laps 02:31:28
Laps 69:26 82:02

And well done to Bradley Burbridge who secured the Junior series win with 3rd

The Series positions for the 11 plumsters that got them is:-
2 Hr:
33rd Tom Wright
2nd John Smith
20th Paul Brown
8th Hollie Bettles
68th Brad Lovell

4Hr:
4th Lloyd Bettles
6th Richard Jones
9th Dave Loveday
13th Mick Pilcher
17th Jack Peterson
19th Dave Gardner

Gorrick Spring Series Round 2 -2010

2010-02-14T20:53:00.005Z

Results HERE

Open male
4TH James Hyde - Over 3 Laps, James held the pack at 2nd for a lap behind runaway leader matt Taylor before dropping back and then just losing out in a sprint for 3rd. fastest lap 23:01

Super Master
6th Lloyd Bettles 4 laps in 1:31:52 Steady start then got going for fastest lap of 22:51

Thetford Winter series Rd 3 -2010

2010-01-24T20:10:00.002Z

WHYTE Winter Series Round 3 RESULTS HERE

2hr Female
3rd Hollie Bettles - 4 laps in 2:20:13 - fastest lap 31:49

2hr Male
52nd Tom Wright - 4 laps in 2:18:28 - fastest lap 33:40

2hr Vets Male
2nd John Smith - 5 laps in 2:28:01 - fastest lap 27:09

19th Paul Brown - 4 laps in 2:09:47 - fastest lap 31:49

71st Bob Mitchell - 3 laps in 1:53:04 - fastest lap in 32:35

4hr Male
7th Lloyd Bettles - 8 laps in 4:11:46 - fastest lap in 27:31

11th Richard Jones - 8 laps in 4:24:05 - fastest lap in 30:48

4Hr Vet male
14th Mick Pilcher - 7 laps in 4:04:49 - fastest lap in 31:44

18th Dave Loveday - 7 laps in 4:19:32 - fastest lap in 33:23

34th Dave Gardner - 5 laps in 2:25 - fastest lap in 33:34

Jack DNS

Wadenhoe run-bike-run Round 2

2010-01-17T21:25:00.004Z

By Glynn:
It was great to see so many make the effort to come over & watch today, so the least I can do is a quick report of what turned out to be a race just as expected!

Arriving this morn we were told that the Kyack was off so there would be a bigger run/bike field and they would not let us run the first 100yds by the river as it was too dangerous! This turned out to be not a bad course as u still got some deep water sections to run through.

Checking the rusults from the laps I did on the first race I figured I was about 6th on the first run, so with a quiet confidence for a good start I lined up on the front row and on the gun I went...backwards. I dont know wether it was just that there were more people but I had about 15-20 in front of me by the style & this meant a massive hold up to start things off,as I watched Patric creep off in to the distance.

I persisted to go as fast as I could for a bit, then remind myself to slow down or I would not make the distance, on the second run lap this was not an issue as my back was not allowing me to push hard on the run anymore! I did however finish the run jus

t to see Patrick going down the first slope on the bike.

So a good changeover & on the bike ...settle into a rythem I thought and soak everyone up! Hah, this has to be the toughest bike we have had there, the bottom of the valeys were so water logged u could not carry any speed to assist getting up the other side, which of course we were now going through more times with the new extended course.

I dug in as hard as I could and every rider in front became my new target,I could see

Patrick in his non descreet top from the off and was determined to at least close the gap over the course of the race. I caught Steve on lap 4 without even realising it was him and continued my chase, eventually jostling with patrick for most of lap 5. Patrick spent most of this lap "annoyingly" talking to me, telling me how he would take it easy on the bike to save something for the run, mmm if he, in that case had pushed hard on the bike he would of won by a mile!

Lap 6 I managed to pull a slight gap & was the first bike back in the changeover (wahoo in the lead for at least 5 secs), but had 3 guys out of the changeover before me due to a shoelace incident! Still in front of Steve though I leapt to my feet and got as far as the road before realising that my legs were refusing to perform the motion of running, I had exploded my legs big time and by half way round the first lap was wondering if I could finish, but persist I did as people crawled past me leaving me a reasonable finish, but not as good as it could of been.

With aprox one run a month for the last 6months this was enevitable though so I cant say I am suprised,and everything hurts like hell now unsuprisingly too.....so how long to the next one...9 weeks isnt it? RESULTS HERE , Glynn seems to be down As Glyn Proctor!

Adelade MTB winter series

2009-12-20T21:55:00.002Z

Yes Adelaide in Australia.
The Numplumz International Ex-Pats race team were out in the 25 deg heat..(sic)
EAGLE SHORT COURSE

RESULTS HERE

Ben Loaker wins the B grade (your guess is a good as mine) and Stu Knubley is 2nd in the D Grade, after leading from the gun then apparantly melting ;-) Only 3 secs down on ben for the first lap, good going Stu.

Thetford Winter Series 09-10 Rd 2

2009-12-06T22:12:00.001Z

Santon Down, wet start but dried out making for a sticky slower finish.

Full Results from TIMELAPS and Lap by lap breakdown HERE

Hollie won the 2 Hr Junior female event.

Tom Wright 36th in the 2 Hr seniors

John Smith 2nd in the 2Hr Vets, read his account below, with Paul Brown 22nd & Paul morris 58th.

In the 4Hr lloyd again put in a solid race for 3rd in the Seniors, but Rich and James found out that you need some muscle to slog through for that long in mud, and pulled out.

In the 4Hr vets a fine turnout saw Jack narrowly missout in a sprint to finish 6th, Dave Gardner a brilliant 10th on His Singlespped Cotic, Dave Loveday (pictured) in 11th after a puncture and Mick Pilch in 13th to pack the field.

Smiffys race view:
-----------------------------

In a perfect replica of the first round, the weather was grim at first then promised to improve later. Regardless, it was definitely knobbly tyres and overshoes, at least for the sighting lap. The course was a fine mixture of mud-strewn fire road interspersed with lots of tight and technical single-track in the best Thetford tradition.

As advertised, the weather wasn’t quite so bad at the start-line, but I still stood and shivered. At the gun, I went nowhere fast and watched in despair as the leaders took off up the first fire-road climb leaving me toiling to hold position. The plan had been to get a lightning start and try and take the sting out of chief rival John Mcandrew’s (OTH Ben Hayward) legs. Plan ‘B’ then; just ride around and try not to feel sorry for myself while trying to work out why I couldn’t challenge the leaders for speed from the start. Had I gone too hard on Wednesday night last? Had I drank too much wine on Thursday? Was that pizza on Friday night a wise choice? Had I taken on too much fluid before the race start? Had I cooled down too much after my pre-lap?

All of these questions rattled around inside my addled head as I negotiated the mud and carnage of the first two laps. After the first mile I’d lost sight of McAndrew’s group so I had no gauge as to my position or speed. It was no use trying to push, it just felt like I had lead for legs and it was pulling my lungs apart attempting to make them go faster. What did take my mind off this was coming up behind the various Plumz riders in the 4 hour category, and saying hello etc. if conditions allowed. Jef Sharp (OTH) was trackside on lap two and shouted encouragement but also had time to tell me that McAndrew was well ahead – yeah, thanks mate!

By the start of lap three, after entertaining brief thoughts of climbing off, I was beginning to feel a lot better in myself, and set about salvaging some sort of result from this ‘disaster’ – two things I didn’t know; I was holding second place, and although McAndrew was way ahead, his early flight with the Seniors had taken it’s toll. I arrived behind Jack Peterson about half-way through lap 3 and he asked me what was wrong, McAndrew having passed him many minutes before? I explained I ‘wasn’t at the races today’ and he encouraged me to get on for some good series points. This was top advice, and using senior cat rider Darren Evans (Extreme Sports Therapy/CNN) as a yardstick I moved forward and tried to maximise my pace where I could.

In my mind I imagined eating up the gap between myself and McAndrew ahead, and this spurred me on to better efforts. From the start of lap 3 to early on lap 4 I couldn’t have given more, and by half way through the last lap my poor body was complaining bitterly. The bomb-hole got ever more treacherous (on my 3^rd time through I was lucky to stay on) so on Lap 4 I hesitated a moment ‘on the lip’ of the hole, and eventually rolled in with feet waving about for balance. Up the last fire-road I still couldn’t see McAndrew ahead so mentally relaxed and just rolled through to the finish.

When I got to the finish line I saw McAndrew just rolling his bike out of the way and still panting. “How long have you been finished?” I asked.

“Seconds,” was the breathless reply. Jef Sharp sauntered over, exchanged glances with McAndrew, and asked him, “How did he get here?” pointing at me. It turned out I’d turned a 2 3/4 minute deficit into just 17 seconds at the finish, AND I NEVER KNEW!

John said if I’d have caught him, he’d have ‘rolled over and let me tickle his belly’, so to speak. Apparently he was just surviving on the last lap. To be fair to both him and me, I couldn’t have given an ounce more of effort, so the result is an honest and true reflection of our respective race performances. It’s just amazing that such contrasting ‘strategies’ should end up just 17 seconds from each other after 2h 29m of racing…

John McAndrews laps 32:51 - 35:33 - 38:14 - 42:55

Smiffys 34:10 - 36:56 - 37:46 - 40:57

Lap times compared for the 4 Hr race thanks to Dave L.

Gorrick Autumn Classic

2009-11-09T21:24:00.003Z

Driving down to the circuit, around the M25 I was ‘that’ close to turning around and going home. The demons in my head were arguing that it’s a meaningless race, not part of a series, and look at the weather – its 5 degrees and driving rain! I ignored them and carried on into Surrey, where happily the rain eased somewhat and it started to warm up, after a fashion.

The course at Crowthorne holds happy memories for me, for it was here exactly 6 years ago where I recorded my first ever victory (that’s where and when the accompanying pic was taken). The circuit itself has changed a little over the years, and many more tree roots are exposed nowadays as a result of the thousands of MTB tyres rolling over them.

I got caught short for time at the last Thetford race so I left myself plenty of time to do a pre-lap, and the course was a mixture of very fast fire-road drops and climbs interspersed with miles and miles of interesting/technical single-track. Only one short section was a real bog, but this lent a different challenge and overall the course was entertaining in the best Gorrick tradition.

At the start line I didn’t recognize any of the other competitors, but at the whistle I was soon in a group of four, fighting and jostling for wheels down the first fire-road. Into the first single-track and it was immediately clear that Lewis King (Beeline Bicycles) wasn’t going to give his lead up without a good scrap; it was almost as if he felt the lead was his rightful place and no-one else deserved it. I tried two or three times to get past in some tight sections, only to find King actually leaning on me to stop me getting past – it was an interesting tactic and not one necessarily within the spirit of competition but there you are, it’s what I had to deal with. Darren Blackwell (Specialized/Dee Cycles) enjoyed the spectacle, telling me as much after the race.

The course dropped out of the tight stuff after a short climb, and opened up into a glorious long downhill fire-road with a long sweeping left-hander at the bottom. Here, my Scott Strike’s tall BB and slack angles fell into place, and I ate everyone alive down there, taking the lead into the bog section. I was able to hold the lead until a tight up and down switchback section, where my Strike’s geometry (and my ineptness!) told against me – I slipped off on an exposed root and King rewarded my mistake by running over my back wheel – thanks mate! King extricated himself and took off; I took a little longer to get going and slipped to a halt again a few moments later. By the time I emerged into the next open drop King was just a dot in the distance, and I immediately came under attack from Blackwell in third.

Following Blackwell through to the end of lap one, we could see King up ahead on the open sections, and on lap two we cruised up behind him in exactly the place where I’d tried to attack him first time round. It was obvious he wasn’t enjoying this section, and I stored this snippet of info away for possible later use; I held third for the remainder of the lap, but could make no impression on the leaders at all. I was by now telling myself that ‘third is okay, that’s two podiums on the trot’, and finished the lap just behind Blackwell, with King a little ahead as usual.

Blackwell seemed to fade, so I moved through early on lap three with an encouraging shout from the Dee Cycles

rider, and began to edge up behind King. Now, normally at this point in a race I’m beginning to flag – the early laps ALWAYS take their toll and I have nothing left to give – but this time I felt stronger and had one word on my mind; ‘attack’. I got onto King’s wheel after a steep uphill, and I noticed how he was slow to accelerate and how much he was ‘blowing’ – I knew right there I’d got a chance. I shadowed him for much of the third circulation, and moved into the lead at about 2/3^rd lap distance; King was straight onto my wheel using me as a wind-break on the more open sections. This suited me fine, and I got my head down and attempted to break him by ‘opening the taps’ on the faster sections. Time and again, I attacked and varied the pace, hoping to upset his rhythm and get a gap.

King was still right there as we started lap four, but at the top of the first fire-road climb I had a gap (he said after the race he took a drink and couldn’t get back on my wheel). I simply flew into the first single-track sections and knowing this was where King had struggled previously I threw caution to the wind, crashing through the undergrowth and taking risks where I could to steal those precious seconds. Thinking I might lose some time to King in the switchback section later in the lap I had to keep the pressure on.

As we emerged from the switchback King was there, just 20 or so seconds back – I then got slightly checked by traffic entering the next climbing single-track and I was worried that King would get his tail up. By now I was really ‘blowing’ too, and feeling the effort of trying to keep ahead. Without looking back I reeled off the last sections, and entering the final two climbs I knew I was safe for the victory. King was over the line just 39 seconds later and Blackwell just 20 seconds behind him.

I couldn’t wait to see my lap splits on Timelaps... RESULTS

… and I was absolutely delighted to see my last two laps were quicker than the second lap, and my last lap was only just shy of the first and my fastest lap time. This is a first for me, and points to renewed confidence in conjunction with some good training; it’s probably also as a result of getting some ‘proper’ SR3 isotonic drink and not having to rely on ‘Powerade’!

Speaking to Blackwell after the race I gather he was happy to see me stick it to King, who has a reputation for arrogance...my pleasure dude.

Thetford Winter Series 09-10 Rd 1

2009-11-01T19:49:00.006Z

2hr younguns

24th

Brad Lovell

40:58

:47:00

47:56

40th Tom Wright 43;02 49:08 51:43

2hr Veterans
2nd John Smith 37:23 39:59 42:49
30th Paul Brown 48:16 49:05 49:44
108th Bob Mitchell 44:53

4Hr Solo Male
4th Richard Jones 38:21 43:15 49:37 49:54 48:03 45:23

44th Lloyd Bettles 38:20 45:51

4Hr Vet Male
15th Dave Loveday 42:45 46:00 54:04 1:01:49 01:03:06
26th Mick Pilcher 44:49 48:39 56:17 1:07:08
37th Dave Gardner 44:43

Gorrick Spring Classic

2009-10-19T20:45:00.002+01:00

Smiffy Third in a spin out in Supervets for the extra distance.

RESULTS

Being as I was travelling a distance as well I elected to enter the ‘Super-Vets’ class, which meant I got to do an extra lap (four) over the ‘ordinary’ vet competitors. I lined up alongside 17 other victims, I mean racers, and looked forward to trying to get warm – the pre-lap, in company with Rick Fetherston (more of him in a minute) was followed by some tootsie-thawing action as my feet slowly came back to life.

I squeezed onto the front row and got a good start into about 3^rd place. I soon moved into second and I could see Steven Jones (AW Cycles/Giant UK) just a few seconds ahead. The early part of the lap swooped through a few small coppices followed by a longer section of nicely bermed singletrack. This was nearly my undoing, as I caught an overhanging tree with my head and nearly lost my hat, such was the impact. I tried to settle down but couldn’t find a steady rhythm. Jones was not so fast as me on the open sections but was obviously familiar with the terrain (I’d never seen the place before) and used this to advantage, holding me at bay with ease. Actually, Jones admitted later that both my-self and Rick Fetherston (Mosquito) just behind me were giving Jones the run of his life – excellent stuff.

The course had a series of very tight singletrack together with occasional deep troughs to cross – both are features that give my bike and I a lot of trouble; the Strike’s high BB together with steep angles make the bike very ponderous and/or twitchy. Wrestling with the geography, I still tried to keep Jones honest, and I felt I was safe in second. Not so fast Smith; ’slow’ starting Fetherston now arrived on the scene, and shadowed me through till early on lap three (of four). He sneaked past in some lapped traffic, and took off before I could latch on to his wheel. That really was that, and I watched him ride out of view as he set out to catch Jones.

At this point my lack of long-range fitness came into play; my first two laps were competitive, lap three less so. On lap four I fell off the planet! I was ‘safe’ in third, and treating this race as a shake down for Thetford in a couple of weeks I was contented to just stroke it round for the finish. As it was, Fetherston caught and passed Jones on the last climb of lap four gaining a fine victory. He was quick to shake my hand at the end, and I was happy just to have rattled these guys’ cages.

Thetford Dusk till dawn 2009

2009-10-04T22:14:00.001+01:00

2 teams and a big solo crew.

RESULTS

Info from Glynn.

Just added old plumz for easy comparison (sorry dont know if your order is correct) a lot steadier than ours & an impressive last lap from Bob, I was struggling to stand up by that point!

Our Results:- B&B Results
James - 50.14 Paul 54.10
James - 52.17 Bob 47.00
Glynn - 46.03 Troy 49.00
Glynn - 49.41 Graham 51.10
Steve - 50.07 Paul 51.23
Steve - 51.30 Bob 48.15
Steve - 103.06 Troy 50.48
James - 50.38 Graham 54.04
Glynn - 50.59 Paul 49.11
James - 55.58 Bob 50.38
Glynn - 51.37 Troy 53.35
Steve - 56.00 Graham 54.45 Aprox
Steve - 103.01 Paul 54.45 Aprox
Glynn - 55.37 Bob 48.03
Interesting.. Well pleased with my first 2 consecutive laps (quicker than James, or perhaps not as his first lap was longer), but this is how not to organise a team, 2 laps each, James missing the changeover & Steve doing 3 (notice where it went bad for us there), but Steve did a great job still..then only one lap rest & straight out for a few times & to top it all off I missed Steve at the last changeover so the poor sod had to do another double, then I bonked on my last lap & struggled with a poor 55.37.
Oh well leson learned we will be back!

TransProvence 2009

2009-09-28T22:15:00.001+01:00

330 km and shedloads of superb trails. 20 racing stages downhill some up to 45 minutes long, mind blowing.

Midlands XC Round 4 Sherwood Pines

2009-09-20T20:19:00.001+01:00

The finale
RESULTS

Bob 7th in Grand Vets

Lloyd a superb 2nd in Masters

Smiffy 3rd in Vets

Hollie cleaned up in Youth Ladies

James a super fast 2nd in Youth Male

Masters World Champs - Pra Loup

2009-09-10T09:31:00.003+01:00

Today a week after the event is the first day I can actually say i have recovered fully from the hell I put my body through during this years World champs in Pra Loup France. I think the French course designer was trying to make a statement to next years hosts (somewhere in Brazil) that no matter how hard they try they will not be able to make it as hard as 09, it was totally brutal.

The Course; well it went up, alot and very steeply. As soon as you left the arena you started climbing luckily the first climb was only about 100 meters but it was one of two climbs on the course that registered 37% on my garmin at the top it spat you out onto a rock strewn twisty near vertical descent which only the brave managed to ride out it then kicked you down a flight of metal steps into another rock and rooty descent that once again had johnny bloody foreigner off his bike and running and that was it the fun was over welcome to hell.

It then climbed almost entirely for the rest of the 6 k that was left.

The conditions; For a start you are at 1700 m altitude it's the middle of a very hot summer so the dust was insufferable, and as I said it is hot as I started my warm up at about 10.45am it was 37 degs. Luckily though during the second half of the race some cloud gave some amount of relief from the intense sun.

The preperation;

I had been in the alps for about a week and had plenty of time to pre ride the course and I was totaly happy with every part, I knew it was going to be super tough and I must admit to feeling a little fearful as all of my practice laps were completed around the 30 min mark it meant for a five lap race it was going to be a long slog. Another thing was playing on my mind, what gears to use, on one bike, my Giant I had a triple chainring setup but on my S-works the one I felt most comfortable on I only had a double which felt fine on the practise laps but for 5 race laps I wasn't sure I would be able to manage. I had plenty of time to change things about but crucially i decided to stick with the double on the S-works.

The Race;

I was gridded second row which was excellent and meant I had quite a clear run to the first corner, as I looked around me I noticed just to the front was Riccardo Milesi two time and current world champion directly to my left was Geoffry Maes current 30-34 world champion top company indeed but I was never in awe and was there to race just like them. I got a good start and up to the first climb I was in touch with the leaders I lost a few places but felt comfortable. As usual with any race you trade positions alot with the riders around you and for the rest of the first lap I could of been at any point as high as 15 but as low as 25, the dust was already causing problems with vision and breathing. The second lap was much the same with all riders jostling for position but for me I was having trouble with breathing, the heat and altitude were making my lungs and throat scream I knew if I was to finish I would have to back off and try to settle in to a more sustainable rhythm.

As I started the third lap I was really starting to suffer and each time I hit a climb, scrabbling around for more gears, I now knew I had made the wrong decision and it was a big one, my legs were starting to hurt my lungs were on fire I still had 2 more laps. Things were starting to pass in a bit of a blurr as the pain from my legs took over and I started to make small mistakes like not making gear shifts when I should and having to get off and run and not be able to tackle technical sections that I was able to cover easily earlier in the race. I was starting to worry about being lapped so I tried to give a push to get round for my final lap which I achieved, but at a price, my breathing was now very ragged and I was virtually riding the whole course in my easiest gear but I also knew I was going to finish. I crossed the line after 2hrs 32 mins and promptly collapsed in a tired heap hoping that if I was suffering so much then others were too.

The support; There was a brilliant gaggle of Brits out there shouting and cheering from what seemed like every corner on the course and it is true what they say about it giving you a lift, without the support I dont know whether I would have finished. A big thanks go to Paul Morris and family for making the journey, your support and company was very much appreciated and to my family who made the whole week very very special.

The aftermath; My legs hurt for two days, I was coughing up dusty slime for five and like I said at the top I think I have only just fully recovered. Without a doubt in my mind it was the toughest course I have ever rode which goes hand in hand with saying it was the toughest race I have ever done made doubly difficult by my choosing gears that are alright for blasting around the Central flatlands of the UK but for the French Alps.. what the hell was I thinking.

Before the race I had the goal of top twenty which at some points of the race I achieved and I honestly think if I had made the right gear choice I would have achieved easily but in the end I finished 24th five places better than last year so a bit happy but...lesson learned!!!

Full results here

Kielder 100 Miler

2009-09-06T15:01:00.003+01:00

KIELDER 100 Mile SITE

Look at the state of me in that picture - and that is after only 25 miles just after the first feed station.

Results now available

Riding 100 miles is hard
When all of those miles are off road its even harder.
When its in an area with shedloads of climbing and after a week of biblical rain:
ITS MENTAL

100 miles over 10 hours and very very tired ;-)

aparently only 25 riders got under 10 hours so must have been quite well up there, posibly could have joined them but I blew big style at the 95 mile mark and really grovelled in that last section with no brakes to add to the fun.

Photos from Joolze

Eastern Series Rd 3 Hinchingbrooke

2009-08-23T22:58:00.005+01:00

Results

James romps home in the youths race. Miles ahead and putting in some lap times that would have been right up there in the senior race.

In the Vets Jack 3rd and more importantly ahead of the series leader Dennis Dix/Chelmer Cycles and other series competitors with one final round to go. Pilch came in 10th with some consistent laps.

Photo Gallery from sarahbrookephotography

Brighton Big Dog 2009

2009-08-16T22:21:00.004+01:00

Results here

Brighton club photos

Poduim Pics here - Spot jack

U-tube Big Dog Video

6 hour solo race round the undulating Stanmor park area on the brighton Coast.

Jack found himself in the lead of the Vets class from the start but probably went off to fast, enjoying the course to much. Trying to maintain a steady pace on the killer 4 climbs per lap then grabbing back time on the fast technical descents was not enough to hold on.
Dropping back to 2nd after 3 hours, after finding the need to stop and rest an aching back for a few minutes while re-fueling.
passed with 2 laps to go and relegated to 3rd but held on for a podium finish.

All the leading riders got back just to late to get another lap in before the 6 hour cut off, so all finished with 7 laps.

1 05:15:41 Paul Hudson Sprockets.uk.com -
44:05 43:13 43:13 43:02 46:43 47:23 47:59

2 05:21:23 James Stone wes kent rc -
44:29 44:54 45:49 46:38 45:37 47:08 46:46

3 05:25:23 Jack Peterson Numplumz -
42:57 43:33 44:38 46:41 49:25 49:35 48:30

Thetford Summer series Round 3

2009-08-16T22:04:00.003+01:00

Full Results here
2 hr
35th Bob Mitchell 4 laps
32.05 31.42 31.43 32.47

4hr
2nd Lloyd Bettles 8 laps 2min24 behind winner Adi Scott
29.22 28.54 30.17 31.19 34.08 30.18 30.23 31.20

6 hr pair
Pitsford boys Rich and Tom 3rd
28.38 35.51 30.33 32.34 31.00 34.21 33.14 36.08 31.47 34.36 30.50

6 hr
12th Dave Gardner 6hr.00 - 9 laps
35.56 39.03 39.05 38.10 39.17 41.36 41.58 43.35 42.05

13th Dave Loveday 6hr04 - 9 laps
35.13 37.13 38.26 41.52 40.12 42.19 43.54 43.20 41.38

Eastern Region Series Rd 2 - Codham

2009-08-10T08:10:00.000+01:00

Great course - results and photos when avail

FNSS 2009 Race 10 Fermyn and Final Standings

2009-08-08T10:59:00.002+01:00

Another mud fest
the results and final standings to tidy up and post here soon.

Tons of Plumz on the Podiums
Congratulatons to:

Rich
James
Smiffy
Bob

Midlands XC Round 3 Cannock Chase.

2009-08-02T21:30:00.004+01:00

Results from TIMELAPS

Bob Mitchell 8th - Grand vet

Lloyd 5th Masters

Stew Knubbly 5th Open

Mick Pilcher 11th Open

Hollie Bettles 2nd Youth

James Hyde 2nd Youth

Pics HOLLIE Smiffy Leads Smiffy2 Bob Sideways Stew Pilch and James

Bontrager 24-12 Newnham Park

2009-07-26T22:34:00.004+01:00

The oldies vs the Pitsford pups
So did brawn win over experience.......and who is who in that title anyway?

early results

9th The Plumz old uns Number 643 15 laps

Going into the last hour we were 11th place which was the highest we had been for all the 12 hours
with a slow relaxed start due to track carnage, then a steady movement up the ranks despite two punctures for jack. Then in the last two laps, solid rides from Bob and finally jack moved them up to 9th place. Well chuffed and even lapped the young uns, believe it or not while tom was in the toilet at the mid race track disco setup in the woods..he he.

Lap times
(1) 01:01:01, (2) 00:31:40, (3) 00:46:19, (4) 00:43:44, (5) 00:47:42
(6) 00:44:54, (7) 00:50:32, (8) 00:44:26, (9) 00:50:53, (10) 00:56:12
(11) 00:44:45, (12) 00:52:13, (13) 00:49:24, (14) 00:52:13, (15) 00:49:33

21st Plumz Pitsford Pups Number 644 14 laps

(1) 01:01:02, (2) 00:37:24, (3) 00:52:45, (4) 00:41:45, (5) 00:56:30
(6) 00:41:59, (7) 00:57:25, (8) 00:40:31, (9) 01:06:49, (10) 00:44:02
(11) 00:43:53, (12) 01:01:53, (13) 00:48:49, (14) 01:28:27

P.s. about those lap times, looks like everyone in the race got an hour lap time given for the first lap, then the second lap corrects this for the time for the two laps....so the second lap time is stupidly fast and not correct which is a shame.

photos from the wonderfull Joolze
Jack floating

Rich climbs

Rich again

Tom in woods

FNSS 2009 Race 9

2009-07-26T22:33:00.001+01:00

results hwen we see them from the slip sliding night of fun.

Thetford Summer Series Round 2

2009-07-20T13:38:00.006+01:00

2 hour event

65th

5laps

02:30:22

Mick Pilcher

00:29:21

00:30:10

00:29:39

00:32:00

Results - TIMELAPS

Photos - http://www.davefranciosy.co.uk/mtb/news.html

Eastern Region Series Rd 1 - Danbury

2009-07-20T13:38:00.005+01:00

2 hour event, fantastic course, think chicksands but more of it with a bit of parkland thrown in.

Mud Sweat and Gears: Essex MTB Endro
Danbury Outdoors, 19th July 2009
Senior
1st Alex Dowsett 2:02:30 11:36 11:46 12:18 12:22 12:18 12:23 12:31 12:24 12:42 12:10
2nd Chris Pedder 2:12:01 12:13 12:44 13:01 12:51 13:11 13:18 13:58 13:35 13:34 13:36
3rd Rob Purcell Male 2:13:22 12:36 13:03 13:13 13:22 13:16 13:08 13:22 13:28 13:44 14:10
Veteran
1st Jack Peterson 2:00:43 12:33 12:58 13:21 13:21 13:32 13:31 13:35 13:46 14:06
2nd Male Veteran 2:02:32 12:36 13:20 13:28 13:32 13:44 13:42 14:02 14:10 13:58
3rd Male Veteran 2:03:18 12:32 13:08 13:42 13:35 13:45 13:50 14:08 14:26 14:12

National Mountain Bike Champs

2009-07-20T13:37:00.002+01:00

The one day National championships in Scotland.

General Results: Course 1 lloyd 0

Full results timings HERE

report here. British Cycling
Congratulations to Vic barnett on yet another championship winners jersey.

FNSS 2009 Round 8 - Delapre

2009-07-17T09:24:00.003+01:00

ready for action...and mud

Southern XC - Earlestoke

2009-07-13T10:05:00.001+01:00

After travelling all the way down to Sailsbury plain Lloyds run of bad luck continued with a snapped chain ruining his chances whilst well up.

13th
4 laps in 01:57:46 Lloyd Bettles
Lap Times 28:00 27:47 27:33 34:23 (snap chain)

Full Results

FNSS race 7 - Desborough

2009-07-13T10:02:00.003+01:00

Full Results
More wins for James and Richard, but Bad luck for Smiffy who had a puncture on lap 1.
Good ride from Steve who gets his highest vets finish so far.

Bob got one over Ron in the grand vets, but Ron had done aTriathlon the same day....nutter.
Carl Hulston returned from Copenhagen and showed he's still keeeping the form up with a good 6th place with very consistent laps.
Greggs Yearly appearance in the series resulted in some end of race detonation of form ;-)
Another check on the fastest laps for the gang (not counting the extended first one are here:

[1st] James 08:59
[1st] Richard 09:20
[6th] Carl 09:13 (still a plumster at heart)
[15th] Stew 09:31
[17th] Gregg 09:26
[36th] Dan 10:27
[38th] Tom 10:35
[6th] Steve 09:39
[13th] Troy 09:53
[4th] Bob 10:05
[5th] Ron 10:06
[2nd] Hollie 10:37
[10th] Roz 13:22

NPS race 4 2009 and english maraton champs

2009-07-01T13:30:00.000+01:00

results from timelaps to add

FNSS 2009 Race 5 Kilworth Springs

2009-06-27T11:42:00.003+01:00

Lucky clear spell between some big storms.
Smiffy had to settle for 2nd as Ashby takes a win to heat up the title chase
James gets another win and Ron grabs 2nd from Bob in the super old boys.
Rich with tired Mayhem legs also had to settle for second to a flying Ashby.

James Fastest lap 9.21 (lap 3)
Rich Fastest lap 9.55 (lap 6)
Stew Fastest lap 9.24 (lap 6)
Tom Fastest lap 10.16 (lap 6)
Smiffy Fastest lap 9.02 (lap 3)
Jack Fastest lap 9.12 (lap 4)
Steve Fastest lap 9.35 (lap 5)
Brownie Fastest lap 10.08 (lap 6)
Pilch Fastest lap 10.43 (lap 5)
Paul M Fastest lap 11.04 (lap 5)
Ron Fastest lap 9.33 (lap 6)
Bob Fastest lap 9.43 (lap 3)

Mountain Mayhem 24 Hr 2009

2009-06-22T19:15:00.002+01:00

ich relaxed on the start line.

(photo thanks to Rob Crayton Photos Go buy yours now as a momento. Although Troy might not want reminding of this OUCH)

Singlespeed team of doom and happy 10.

Full results available MOUNTAIN MAYHEM

The team of ten had a chilled/race/boozy weekend which was all the better for the good weather. Thanks to the two Russ's and Mikey who stepped in at short notice to help out with the numbers. A good event for the newbies, Nick and Dan.

Lap times in order of speed, not race order so some are dark laps

2381 Jack Peterson lap 7 00:48:14
2382 Bob Mitchell lap 22 00:50:41 CLICK FOR PHOTO
2390 Nick Wetherell lap 5 00:51:48
2383 Graham Dickens 4 00:52:09
2381 Jack Peterson 16 00:52:44
2382 Bob Mitchell 20 0:52:50
2390 Nick Wetherell 24 00:52:53
2383 Graham Dickens 2 300:53:24
2382 Bob Mitchell 13 00:54:15
2385 Paul Brown 19 00:54:36
2388 Russ Miller 6 00:55:17 (including being late to arrive at changeover)
2388 Russ Miller 3 00:55:34
2389 Dan Rutland 11 00:56:22 CLICK FOR PHOTO
2385 Paul Brown 10 00:56:25
2386 Stewart Knubley 9 00:57:26
2389 Dan Rutland 20 00:57:39
2389 Dan Rutland 25 00:57:51
2386 Stewart Knubley 18 00:58:00
2387 Mikey Reid 21 00:59:01
2390 Nick Wetherell 15 01:01:36
2387 Mikey Reid 12 01:03:27
2384 Russ Stevenson 17 01:05:54
2387 Mikey Reid 10 1:08:20
2383 Graham Dickens 14 01:10:04
2384 Russ Stevenson 8 01:18:28 (including a mile run with bike on shoulder)

Numplumz singlespeeders came in 8th. After agreat start when the boys led the class, unfortunately Troy slid off in a simple crash which had bad consequences...a deep gash to the shin, didnt stop him finishing the lap as he rode 5 miles with what turned out to be a very serious deep cut. 10 sticthes later he was advised to retire to prevent infection and the lads had to carry on with just 3 men. So only one gear, sore legs and less sleep, they dropped down the order dramatically.

1074 Richard Jones 1 00:52:21 (including the run so he was motoring)
1071 Troy Rollason 2 00:53:26
1073 Tom Wright 3 01:03:33
1072 Dave Gardner 4 00:57:52
1074 Richard Jones 5 00:52:21
1073 Tom Wright 6 01:04:38
1072 Dave Gardner 7 01:01:14
1074 Richard Jones 8 00:51:51
1073 Tom Wright 9 01:14:29
1071 Troy Rollason 10 01:02:58
1074 Richard Jones 11 00:54:44
1074 Richard Jones 12 00:58:14
1073 Tom Wright 13 01:29:43
1074 Richard Jones 14 01:51:21
1072 Dave Gardner 15 03:45:56

Photos from the lads

Brownie

Jacks

Nicks

FNSS 2009 Race 5 Cosford1

2009-06-22T19:13:00.003+01:00

Smiffy and James win again

Smiffys Report:
I got out of bed on Friday morning with only one thing on my mind (I’m talking about MTB racing, I promise!), that only a win tonight at Cosford would suffice – anything less would be potential points lost rather than gained. Having looked at the standings so far, I could see myself and Paul Ashby (Fat Birds) on 2 wins and a second place each, with only my 4th at the first round separating us. With good fortune I’d be able to drop this 4th place result later on, but thinking long-term for the championship effectively we’re neck-and-neck. That’s why only a win would do; big words perhaps and it may come across as a bit pretentious to other racers but that was may aim.

With luck, Mountain Mayhem would draw some competition away – something tells me everyone thought this because, but for Ashby himself and Steve Large (unatt), all the usual suspects lined up for the start; namely Phil Roach (Rugby Velo) and both Jef Sharp and John McAndrew (both OTH Ben Heyward). I steeled myself for the start which was in the second wave some 3 minutes behind the seniors, and shot off the front at the whistle. My intention was to take the sting out of the opposition up this first climb abd hopefully get a lead.

It sort of worked; for a start Roach was holding close attendance but he and Sharp swapped positions somewhere just after the start of lap two, because it was Sharp who made a determined attack and passed me going up the long climb next to the woods early on lap two. Such was his speed I didn’t believe I would be able to hang on, but he soon eased as the effort told and I was able to latch back on towards the end of this lap. No disrespect to Jef meant, but he was practically stopping in some of the corners, and I actually hit him negotiating traffic just at the top of the single-track that started lap 3, wrapping a bar-end around a tree and spilling off. The stop was very brief, but sensing his chance Sharp took off at speed. This time up the long fire-road climb he’d gapped me properly, and held me at arms length for the whole of the single-track section at the top of the circuit. On the drop back down towards the farthest corner of the circuit I was able to use my full suspension to advantage, and fairly ate up the gap between us, so once again we finished the lap absolutely together.

This time into the long single-track climb to start the next circulation, Jef didn’t seem to have any firepower and I knew right then I’d got him. I’d got over the early laps efforts and was now feeling really good (if you can ever say that during an all-out fight!). At the top of the climb where I’d had the mishap before I jumped Sharp and made to escape on the very fast downhill single-track section before the long fire-road climb. I held the small gap from him all the way up and sustained the effort for the rest of the lap. This time through to start lap 5 I’d got a definite gap and tried to relax but still stay comfortably ahead. Imagine my horror then when I looked over my shoulder at the highest point on the course to see Sharp not 20 metres behind me and still spoiling for a fight. Does he never give up?

Once more into the open downhill section, and then the new wooded section to end the lap – this time I didn’t look back; it was maximum effort all the way and if I got caught then so be it. The bell to announce the last lap was a relief, but I was unaware I was gaining time from Sharp and the rest of the field. I still would not let up the effort, and my lap times showed a consistency reflecting this. Victory it was; and we’ve got to do it all again in a few weeks! For me the points table is looking a lot healthier but chickens are not to be counted yet – it’s a long season to be sure.

Kona Mashup - Afan trails

2009-06-15T23:19:00.004+01:00

reports to follow

FNSS round 4 - Bulwick

2009-06-15T23:19:00.003+01:00

Midlands XC Round 2 Hanchurch

2009-06-15T23:18:00.002+01:00

Reports from Smiffy:
Results are HERE
(how the others got on to add from results)
It was with not a small amount of apprehension that I approached the Hanchurch course for the first time. A round of the Midlands Series had taken place here last year, and Lloyd Bettles had declared his undying love for the place. I knew this meant one thing, it was a gnarly course – and I wasn’t wrong.

The first climb took riders up to some woods for a quick swoopy descent then more climbing to an open ridge, affording amazing views across the Potteries. No time for sight-seeing; the ridge was covered in bare glass-smooth roots demanding maximum concentration. This was followed by a quick fire-road blast before a mad downhill single-track, then more switch-back action along the valley side (including a wonderful banked downhill course ending in a jump down), before emerging into the most amazing flowing single-track that it’s been my pleasure to ride. More uphill-down dale action and single-track before the final climb to the finish ensured a varied and interesting course. The sheer variety and technical demands frazzled my brains on the practice lap, not helped when a stick tried to modify my rear mech. (see comments on Lloyds blog); I stopped to bend it straight, and once it settled down was better than before, bonus!

To the race itself, I was gridded – wahey! The gun went off, and I was 3rd into the first turn at the bottom of the first ascent. I went up it as fast as I could comfortably without burning myself out, and thus held something like 9th place into the first trees. I didn’t panic for a second; I hadn’t felt 100% at the previous Friday Night race, so I knew not to kill myself. The job now was to recover from the initial effort and start picking off other riders. Pretty soon I was up to 7th and following Paul Moss (unattached) through the fine single-track about 2/3rds through the lap. My Scott Strike was handling like a dream, nothing like the bone-chattering I got on Friday Night, so he couldn’t match the speed I could manage and I was easily able to pass him and set about the top 5. I didn’t get a good run through the ‘roller-coaster’ section before the lap end, so was off pushing – not good!

6th it was through the flag 1st time round, I passed Martin Crocket (unn) and Jonathan Marshall (Belper CC) on the next circulation to get 4th. The course was really coming to me, I was able to nail a lot more sections than earlier and as mentioned above, the Strike was letting me do it. Both Alison and Lloyd shouted encouragement from track-side; lap 3 was a glory of fast climbs and ever more confident descents. I caught and passed a junior rider towards the end of lap 3, but he wasn’t giving up without trying to snatch it back at the roller coaster….I soon left him on the following climb.

No matter what I did I couldn’t make any headway on the podium places, and when grand vet rider Roy Hunt caught and passed me with ease after I’d slipped off briefly on lap 4 I must admit my head sunk a little, not to mention catching traffic at the sandy descent and getting a right tank-slapper on! But what’s this? Previous round winner Geoff Giddings off his bike fixing some sort of mechanical at the side of the track (it turned out he’d crashed then punctured). He looked like he was almost ready to re-mount so I threw the coals on the fire and gave it the lot towards the finish. I needn’t have worried, he got 6th in the end, but I was 3rd over the line. I celebrated so loudly James Hyde thought I’d won it for a second. Inherited or earned, a podium it was – sweet!

Bristol Bike Fest

2009-06-07T22:26:00.003+01:00

The Pitsford crew hit the 6hr and got 4th place. Shane Brad messed up their first lap though...Plonker.

RESULTS

Info to add

NCRA Handicap summer series Race 1 - 2009

2009-06-04T19:14:00.003+01:00

From the Rocko Clubhouse but because of deep gravel on the finish area (has been enough carnage over the years already) the Devils course was used, 3 times up the hill.

Results some time

Brownie rode really well and stayed up the front and we think got 6th or so in the sprint, Graham and Steve flew the plumz flag too. Steves bad luck on the tarmac continued with a puncture.

Photos from Sarah are available, heres some video from the raucous Plumz cheerleaders... especially Burty.

NPS Race 2 Margam Park 2009

2009-05-31T19:30:00.003+01:00

Lloyd, Hollie, James, Tom and Brad in attendance.
British Cycling Report

XC Racing Saturday and The marathon Champs on Sunday all in mega hot sunshine.

XC Results from Saturday HERE

Brad 20th struggling with the hills
Lloyd was looking good but blew big time on the final lap and dropped to 29th.
Hollie 5th
James 14th

Marathon Race Results HERE

37th

Brad Lovell

72nd

Tom Wright

FNSS 2009 race 3 - Daventry

2009-05-28T21:36:00.006+01:00

Smiffy wins again beating all the big guns, a hot night of action.
Bobs report:
Well as a virgin Daventry racer I was mildly supprised what a horribly nice course we were treated to. With some excelent single tack in the woods and lovely short climbs through the trees there was potential for a good ride BUT that would have been without the gravel track drag and the grass field start how horrible was that start well it was for me.
But you have to ride the course that is there and after 45mins of racing I think most people went away happy. Another fine showing for the plumz with loads of riders and another win for smiffy, Jack made it hard work by having a late start forgot his number, Glynn making it even harder with his fully rigid antique god he is hard (or plain stupid) they make suspension for a reason you know Glynn. Still he seemed to enjoy it, a fine time had by all and now a 3 week break till the next thrilling edition

Glynns version:

MTB racing is all about having fun, & after unprecidented amounts of negativity I can honestly say I enjoyed Bourough hill more than I could ever remember! A mass start proved not too bad as the wide field & long drag soon split things up, I had a reasonable off & on the first gravel track crept past Stu, Tom & a few others (using the field on the first run proved a good idea thus avoiding the crowding on the gravel).

Not concidering my fitness to be exactly peak at the mo I found myself in a position I did not expect & adrenilin kicked in & forced me to push harder, we entered the first wood section & ping what I thought was a chain snap turned out to be just a chain off, but I watched as Stu, Tom, Nigel, Bob & just about everyone else went past.

Now it was time for effort,I quickly gobbled up a few rider & found myself jostling with Stu (just like the old days) for most the race, Ron & a guy on an Orange joined our battles & I led for a good lap,but this was a very ameturish mistake! I dug hard on the gravel climb using my rigid set up & super lightweight here, but thinking I had pulled a gap I looked round to see half a dozen riders pinned to my back wheel! Doh...Burned

This just about killed me & I was suffering, Stu & Ron passed & Stu predicted incredibly well where to apply the presure (the rough section on the top field & the fast rough bits along the bottom of the woods) where my rigid forks let him spring huge gaps.

We popped out of the last climb (which incidentally I was riding on my 42t ring) with Stu having a decent gap, but us all believing we had another lap, unfortunatelly the leaders had just passed us on the climb,then to my alarm Steve popped up next to me for a chat, & thinking I had pleanty of time to jostle with him he passed with ease. I was not impressed when they directed us over the finish line for him to beat me by a few seconds!

Still 12th in the seniors for a Tue night warrior left me well chuffed!

Smiffys Report:

Now here’s a thing. Off the back of my win at the Bowl last week I suppose I was feeling confident of pulling out a good performance, but such is the routine you tend to fall into with race preparation and suchlike, it’s easy to forget why you’re doing this – because it’s bl**dy good fun.

So it was that I lined up after a good couple of pre-laps, only to hear the race organiser call for a bunch start as the course could handle it. I quickly found a front-row start slot and went at 1 second to go (just like everyone else!). Jack was still getting back to the start-line, having forgotten to attach his race number, doh!

A leading group of about 8 riders formed with myself and Paul Ashby (Fatbirds) bringing up the rear. Pretty soon the group fragmented as the leading seniors pulled away, and both Ashby senior and junior (James – Fatbirds) started to gap me too. Nigel Scott shouted encouragement from the sidelines at the top of the first sharp climb, wanting to see me take it to the leader. I was already settled at this point for a long vain chase, much as what happened at Avalanche, but by the start of lap 3 I could see I’d held the gap to Paul, having passed James a little earlier. This was most encouraging and I pressed to keep up.

Going into the downhill/off-camber woods section towards the end of the lap, I hit very heavy traffic. The course by now was eroding very quickly over exposed tree roots and many riders found this more than they could deal with. I navigated through to the bottom of the first sharp climb to find Paul Ashby right I front of me (I’d actually caught some-one in a technical section!). He looked round and the look on his face was priceless – just to reinforce his dismay I said, “Hi Ashby, it’s me!” I passed him at the top of the climb, much to Nigel Scott’s glee, and sped up the lap-finishing climb to start lap 4.

It wasn’t enough to break the tow, and now the two of us were circulating together at top speed. I mentally prepared myself for the attack which was sure to come, and again resigned myself to the possibility of second place, not first. I eased it back slightly up the gravel climb using a gear lower than previously, Ashby was happy to use me as a wind-break and didn’t appear to respond. Once more into the trees, this time behind a gaggle of back markers who seemed intent on crashing into the scenery/each other/lapping riders rather than going forward. One rider crashed right in front of us and we were at a dead stand as he extricated himself and bike from around a tree. I heard a coming together and crashing of missed gears behind me as I got going again and knew that this was my cue to go.

I took off out of there like satan himself was on my wheel, and through the finish line to start the last lap there was no let-up. This time I did have enough of a gap to stay away and got my second win on the bounce. It was a very satisfying victory for a number of reasons. I’d trounced Paul Ashby in a straight fight, I beat all of the riders who beat me in the first round, and thirdly my lap times were absolutely consistent over the course of the race. Now all I’ve got to do is keep this fitness up until we reach Bulwick, hope it rains again!

Jacks bit:
It's sort of fundamental that you line up at the start of a race with a number on your bike, its the number one thing that tells the world you are a racer.......I must remeber that for the next FNSS race. Oh well I had a nice empty start of the lap as Ii started 3 mins after everyone else. Even the course was being taped up to cut off the start loop so I didnt know which way to go. Still I got to suprise lots of people by passing them pretty rapidly, some even thought I was the leader laping them....traffic was a leveller though and I was happy to at least pass a few plumz on the way forward.

FNSS 2009 race 2 - Milton Keynes

2009-05-28T21:18:00.004+01:00

Smiffy gets his first veteran win and takes the overall series lead.
Pilch gets stabbed and lives and the youngsters clean up again Rich and James.

Grahams account:

I must admit, I had no plans on riding this round. I hate getting to Milton Keynes, I dislike the course when I get there and it always rains. Some things never change.

Short warm up this week - should have done more but at least I got the layers right. A bit of start line advice from Jack resulted in a storming start and fewer hold ups in the woods than usual. No Stu or Nigel this week so I was relying on Tom to keep me motivated. Disappointed to see him standing at the side of the course half way through so with nobody to chase and nobody chasing me, there was little motivation to get a shift on. Caught by James who eventually won the youths and Smiffy on his way to a first FNSS vets win. Well done to both. Jack caught me on the last lap but got away when I dropped my chain on the lumps and bumps at the back of the course.

Cruised round to finish 17th after 16th last week. Not too bad. Once again, loads of Plumz about which is good to see. Need to get a few more in the Senior ranks.

Smiffys Account:

“See you next week for the mud at The Bowl”, said Richard Banks who’d arranged the previous week’s race at Avalanche. He wasn’t wrong, but it has been a lot worse; at least this time the course was just about ride-able for the duration of the race.

I’d elected to use Panaracer 1.8 Fire XC’s for this race, as I mentioned elsewhere I was relying on their narrow carcass and reasonably aggressive knob pattern for some mud grip – and so it proved. On my pre-laps (I did two) they gave up amazing grip in the off-camber sections and more than held their own on the grass and tarmac. At the start-line John McAndrew (OTH Ben Heyward) remarked that the top three vets from last week (Ashby, Roach and Sharp) were all missing this week and the race should be mine. He didn’t read his own script though, and he and Jack sprinted off into the lead leaving me trailing in third wondering what was going on.

I needn’t have worried; I pegged them both on the curved tarmac section on the far side of the bowl and set about getting away. This worked, and by the same place on the following lap I could see Jack still coming towards me, zig-zagging in and out of the tree sections. Towards the end of this lap the rain had set in properly again. This I didn’t mind at all, I was hoping it would get worse (am I actually saying this) rather than better so as to make it more difficult for anyone to catch me. It was nearly my own undoing though, as I turned through the gate to head back into the car-park area I lost both front and back tyres in quick succession. The tarmac here was more like wet glass, I saved it but I felt the tyre treads deforming fighting for grip – it was quite a moment. This came not two minutes after a lurid two wheel slide on a wet grass turn just earlier in the lap, careful Smith!

The slides asked for a modified riding style, regardless of soft tyres and suspension the front just would not stick like before so I was obliged to get the bike almost stopped, square off the corner and throw my weight back to get rear-end traction. This worked well, even thought the rear tread was complaining and squirming around. The next time through the gate, a marshal was stationed telling everyone to slow down – “you’re a lap late mate”, I thought. I only hope that anyone who did slide off there didn’t do themselves any damage.

The course really got quite slick on laps 4 and 5. It felt prudent to take a dab in some of the off-camber sections, but I was still holding good speed. I got badly baulked by Ken Bolton (KCC) going into the uphill single-track just before the greasy short drop. He would not move over, no matter how much I screamed ‘race-leader’ at him, then laughed as I eventually passed him, hmmmm!

Anyway, I was comfortable on the last lap and riding well within the limit. Oh yeah, I could see junior rider Bradley Burbridge (Cycling Bargains) just ahead for most of the race, but I was never going to catch him – top ride dude. It was a strange feeling at the finish. The finish area was already very busy with riders, so I wasn’t 100% sure I’d won – it took Troy to look at the results and confirm it for me. Even then, until I got that little brown winners envelope in my hand it didn’t seem real. “Glad to be back?” asked Lloyd Bettles. “You betcha!”

Thetford Summer Enduro

2009-05-17T21:44:00.004+01:00

BC report link

Timelaps results link

Troys Report:

2 hours away....should have checked really, but at least we were entered in the 6 hour race so VFM ..... Dave and i were booked in to do the 6 hr and Lloyd booked in on the line....weather looked pants and after Dave's weather endorsement of "it won't rain".....yeah right..... we hoped for a good ride, anyway....got there to see Tom and Rich there too in the 6 hr pairs.

BANG.....off we went for a 6 hour ride fest.....we rode this circuit in the winter series and it was rubbish when wet.......it started really well and the course was OK.. ish nothing to get too excited about and the bomb holes were more like pot holes, i was spinning well and caught and passed Dave on lap 2 or 3, then caught Gary Wright on the same lap. the weather held till about 3 hrs in and the rain and wind started. It rained for only 20 Min's or so and the wind soon dried out the damp bits..... it was at at this point i was starting to flag a bit and with the Torq bar consumed, jelly babies and a good amount of fluid a carried on......

I got stuck with these 2 guys who were going at about the pace that i wanted to be at, but they were nattering and i was getting a bit grumpy, so at the drinks stop i put in a bit of a spurt to lose them so i was on my own for about 2 laps and was moving well.....

On about lap 6 and Lloyd passed me looking fresh and pushing well.....Ii was going ok but I had possibly pushed a bit too hard early on, but still felt ok to get out the saddle on the lumpy bits..... End of lap 6 and there was Lloyd stopped at the burger van eating a cheese roll and drinking coffee........take it easy mate huh!!!! still I unlapped myself.

It took Lloyd about 3/4 lap to catch me again!!! and i had time for 1 more lap..... as I went through the start/finish line i was 11th and plodding well....i caught up with a guy I knew from Transwales and new he was 6 houring, he then punctured and his mate stopped to help him !!

I must have passed another rider on the last lap and was in 8th and then I saw Gary up ahead to lap him...... anyway last lap and on to the finish and 8th Wahay.

I got to the finish to applause from the other Plumz riders

Lloyd 2nd....even after stopping for a sandwich and a coffee. well done mate, 9 laps

Rich and Tom 3rd.... well done guys, 9 laps

Troy 8 laps

Dave stopped on lap 5 I think

Cannock Nice Price Races

2009-05-17T21:43:00.001+01:00

2 Qualifying races and two finals

Photos HERE

Race Results
Senior Men, NPS B Final
Race Distance: 24.0 km (4laps each 6km)
Position Name Surname Number Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Total
1 Stewart Knubley 45 00:29:16 00:31:36 00:32:56 00:33:31 02:07:19
2 Jonathon Perks 47 00:32:06 00:35:04 00:36:40 00:37:04 02:20:54
3 Ian Grant 83 00:33:43 00:35:17 00:35:46 00:37:53 02:22:39
4 David Parry 48 00:33:47 00:35:16 00:38:38 00:39:29 02:27:10
5 Julian Goodwin 78 00:35:20 00:36:16 00:37:17 00:38:42 02:27:35

Vet Men, NPS B Final
Race Distance: 24.0 km (4laps each 6km)
Position Name Surname Number Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Total
1 Simon Fox 97 00:33:04 00:34:53 00:34:23 00:33:40 02:16:00
2 Rob Thomas 61 00:32:43 00:33:59 00:34:46 00:37:15 02:18:43
3 Dave Lydiard 70 00:33:01 00:34:32 00:35:27 00:38:02 02:21:02
4 Bob Mitchell 18 00:33:31 00:36:31 00:36:49 00:35:39 02:22:30
5 Joe McGhee 32 00:34:32 00:37:09 00:38:07 00:35:53 02:25:41

Bucks Classic 100Km

2009-05-11T13:19:00.001+01:00

Jack did the 121Km ride which was an epic to celebrate the 10th Aniversary of this event.

Ride time 5Hr46.
report to follow.

British MTB Champs Round 2 Dalby Forest

2009-05-11T13:15:00.004+01:00

BC report

Timelaps results

Lloyd a superb 6th in Masters champs. Hollie 4th in Youths.

Both Hollie and I raced at Dalby forest at the weekend in the 2nd round of the National points series, the race was billed as a world cup test event as they are hoping to get a round of the world cup there in 2010 in respect of this the course had been purposley built and was an absolute animal. There were massive drop offs, rock strewn gullys, rooty descents ,huge climbs (3 over 25%) rock gardens, log steps, raised wood sections and a BMX track thrown in at the end just to keep you on your toes, im pretty sure the course will be just as testing for the pros as it was for us.

Hollie raced in the morning and was a little nervous, we had pre rode the course the day before so she knew it was going to be tough, she started well and after the fisrt opening loop came through in 6th place already clearly being pushed to the limits by the extreme nature if the course, at the end of her first lap she was still in 6th place and decided to up her pace a bit and soon moved into 5th place which looked as if it would be her finishing posistion but a mistake and a crash by one of the girls in front elevated Hollie into 4th place at the finish. Hollie was extremely relieved to finish her race this was the most demading course and terrain she had ever rode and as a result of her position she is now ranked #1 youth in the country pretty good for her first year in the top flight.

My race was in the afternoon and after a rain shower the conditions on track were made just a little harder, i was hoping to at least repeat my performace from the first round and make it into the top ten. My start wasnt the best and came through after the first lap in about 15th place, with the field spreading out it gave me an opportunity to start riding a little quicker and i started picking off some of the riders in front i was loving the course and was noticably quicker on the climbs and technical descents by the time i came through to start lap 3 i had moved up to 6th place and could even see 4th place in front, icaught and passed 5th place at the start of lap 4 and started to chase down 4th but on the final climb all the effort hit me hard and i began to tire unfortunately i was caught and a final dig by my rival meant i had to settle for 6th place at the finish. i can honestly say this was as near to faultless peformance i have ever done everything came together on the day perfectly, i only hope it will happen again, can it get better than this, well, i was only 52 seconds away from standing on the podium........ BigRing.

FNSS Round 1 2009 Avalanche

2009-05-08T23:31:00.003+01:00

FNSS starts all over again at a dry and dusty Avalanche adventure track

Adi Scott back from a near pro 2 months of training in the states put the work to good use to
push Matt barrett all the way in the senior race, Matt just got it on the sprint.

Paul ashby secured the vets win with Smiffy chasing 2008 champ Jef Sharpe hard, Jack was 6th after leading out for half a lap through the quarry.

James got the Youth win
Richard was Junior winner from Brad for a plumz 1-2

More results when completed.

Dragon XC Wales Rd 2 2009

2009-05-06T23:32:00.002+01:00

Lloyd and Hollie did this one.
A fantastic techncal course by all accounts.

Results are here TIMELAPS with Lloyd coming in 5th warming up for the NPS 2 next week and Hollie was second but didn't enjoy the course.

Photos here

Midlands XC Round 1 Cosford.

2009-04-20T21:15:00.006+01:00

A FNSS favourite course with a new twist. 3.6 miles long and a heap more climbing than usual. Good dry condtions and some fast riders in attendance.

Results
Big Ring Photos

Thrapstons finest.
Hollie grabs 2nd place still chasing beth Crumpton but much closer.
Megan gets 3rd in her first ever race in the U10's ....something in the water.
James Hyde put in a superb ride with some good lap times for 3rd in the Youth race.

Bob Mitchell 8th in Grand vets, a wheel full of tape didn't help his cause.

Lloyd 13th in masters, just cruising round for training but still lapping faster than any of us.
Stew 36th having a laugh and sticking the distance for a tough 1hr45 race.

Tom 18th in open

Smiffy does his first Vets race and puts in a solid ride for 4th, matching the 2 riders above him for the last laps. Jack struggled to get going then took 3 riders on the final lap to grab 6th, only 7 secs behind 5th. 1 minute faster on the last lap compared to the 3rd means try harder earlier.

Duston Triathlon

2009-04-20T21:14:00.000+01:00

Today was my first attempt of a triathlon, it was a 400meter swim followed by a 20k cycle and a 5k run. after a dissapointing swim time i managed to have a good transition and got onto the bike to lay down some power, 37miutes later i was back into the transition and thats where it started to go wrong. i couldnt find my kit and spent about 2 minutes running around in desperation searching where my designated area was, after a frantik little while i was into my running shoes and out onto the 5k run. Supprisingly i felt very strong and managed to blast around in 19minutes.

much to my amazement i got 2nd place in my age group (15-19) and missed out on 1st by just 30 secounds ( BLOODY TRANSITION !!!!). Out of the 500 entered i came 43rd, very much enjoyed and deffently up for doing these more often.

also a big thanks to tom for lending me his road bike, it made me go extra quick

http://www.justracinguk.com/files/results/2009%20Results.pdf

HONC - The Hell of the North Cotswolds

2009-04-06T13:56:00.006+01:00

HONC 2009

Honc number 3.........
3 of us Plumz riders fancied this, Bob, Dave and myself and we could not have asked for a better day!!! The sunday morning was chilly but glorious and a good days riding ahead of us!!
We all met up at about 8.30am with fresh faces and well up for the ride...Bob nipped off to take a quick pee and that was the last we saw of him til the lunch stop!!!!!!!! 37 miles into the ride...ooops, so dave and I set off after a quick look for Bob......we were both on single speeds and so the first few miles is always quite steady and just getting warmed up!!!
Then came the first climb.....oooooh morning legs.....this dragged on for about 5/6 miles and fairly steady with the odd steep bit, i was loving it, all those geared up boys clanking and clicking and puffin!!.....me, well i was out of the saddle and pumping all the way to the top!! It was mega, and no saturday sore legs!!!!!....Dave, however, decided to get off and walk to conserve energy and save his legs mmm!
So, once that climb was out of the way we got off and running..and all those boys we had overtaken on the climb were nailing it past us.....singlespeeders PAH!!! Until the next climb and here we go again....they span their legs we pumped past them out of the saddle!!!!.......and so it went on, flat riding they came by .....hills we went by!!!!.....the split off for the 50km came and went without either dave or myself noticing and we pushed with the totally awsome Garmin 705 route uploaded and leading us perfectly........37 miles in and we met up with Bob for coffee and cakes!!!! and a top up of bottles....we were all in good spirits and felt really good ready for the final chukka!!!
the last part of the ride was really quiet.....we rode most of the last part mostly on our own until we found a bunch of riders lost......Garmin to the rescue and off we trotted with all the others in tow!!!!
the hills kept coming and the single speeders kept leaving the others.... mmmmm my fave!!! Poor old Bob's legs at this point were tiring but he plugged on regardless.....shouting at us when he got to the top..."you guys are animals"
Dave here missing out the river crossing!

Well some of the riders look like they should not be there!!!!!!! why the hell not it's for all sorts!!!!

The ride meandered nicely for the last 6 miles with a great down hill section towards the finish with bob and me full pelt and slightly out of control at one point....we held it together and the last part of the last descent was bloody swamped....Bob and i pelted through it at mach 2.....and ended up getting caked!!!!!...Dave tootled through and did not have a speck on him.......3 miles to the finish and medals and tea and buns!!
Wicked days riding, weather good and good trails........now i have the start of that cough bug!!!!!!! Bugger

British MTB Champs Round 1 Sherwood Pines

2009-04-06T13:56:00.005+01:00

Sherwood Pines Round 1
BCF Report HERE

Lloyds view from the races:

What a days racing, weather, course, record spectators, results, all brilliant, the BNPS got off to a superb start.

Hollie was fantastic she really mixed it up with the best girls in the country to achieve an amazing result. This was Hollie's first ever National race and she was a little nervous to say the least but as soon as the gun went and she knew she could stay with the leaders her confidence grew with every pedal stroke. The course was pretty flat and very fast but with extremely technical sections in the forested areas including two log jumps and two returns to the arena it made for some real close exciting racing.

There were 12 girls signed on for Hollies race and unbelievably 5 of them were on the Olympic Developement programme so to get any sort of result was going to be hard. After the first lap three girls had got away with Hollie in fourth and chasing hard, the leader Bethany Crumpton was in a league of her own with some fantastic lap times.

Lap two saw 2nd and 3rd place tiring slightly giving Hollie who was feeling stronger all the time the opportunity to close in on them, just as she was about to close the gap another rider crashed in front and Hollie had no choice but to stop, by the the time she got underway again the gap had re-opened but she never gave up and by the finish line was nearly upon them again.

Hollie was over the moon with her result, 4th place and only 19 seconds off the podium (if only). To cap her ride off she was the only one in the top six NOT on the O.D.P. amazing!!.

I also had a great race achieving my best ever result at a National, I'm not a great lover of flat courses but at the start line I felt I was well up for it, the first lap got underway and to my surprise I was able to stay with the leaders ( something I'd trained for over the winter) the pace was real fast but as we all settled down I was pretty comfortable.

As the laps went by we all split into groups and ended up jockying for position amongst a group of 6 or 7 all contesting for a place in the top ten we all took it in turn to test each other but I was easily able to adapt to any change of pace and I became more confident of my own strength the longer the race went on. By the time we hit lap 4 I was pretty sure I was the strongest in the group as every time I put in a little dig I would open a gap, but I didnt feel I could just ride away from everyone as they would take it in turns to pull me back, so as the last lap approached I started to plot where i could make my move to give me enough time to get a gap but not to far from the finish.

Just as I was about to make my move I made a mistake and went off course but luckily I kept my cool and after a miniute or so I was again on the back of the group, there wasnt much time left so I moved to the front and after taking a look at everyone in true Lance style I gave it full beans and immediately got a gap no one could react I gave my all around the last few bends and came across the line in 9th posistion.

Master - Male
1 Matt Barrett K.T.M-Pod - 5 laps in 01:39:43
2 Stephen James Torq - 5 laps in 01:39:44
3 John Veness Pendragon-Kalas - 5 laps in 01:39:45
4 Rob Enslin Aw Cycles / Giant Bikes - 5 laps in 01:39:46
5 Mark Hutt Aw Cycles.Co.Uk/Giant - 5 laps in 01:39:51
6 Andy Plewes Rnrmca - 5 laps in 01:42:05
7 Dan Lewis Raf Ca - 5 laps in 01:42:05
8 Paul Hopkins Offcamber - 5 laps in 01:42:13
9 Lloyd Bettles - 5 laps in 01:42:18

Youth - Female
1 Bethany Crumpton Halesowen A & Cc - 2 laps in 00:47:03
2 Lucy Garner Leicester Rc - 2 laps in 00:49:25
3 Hannah Barnes Pinarello RT - 2 laps in 00:49:28
4 Hollie Bettles Xcracer.Com/Trek - 2 laps in 00:49:45

Open male
20 Tom Wright Numplumz.com / Pitsford Cycles - 4 laps in 01:43:36

Vet Male
81 Jack Peterson Numplumz - 1 laps in 00:31:09 (Slacker ;-) )

Dragon XC Wales Rd 1 2009

2009-03-29T22:03:00.004+01:00

29-03-2009 Dragon XC 1 - Llandegla North Wales.

Hollie Bettles 3rd (youths)
Jack Peterson 4th (vets)
Lloyd Bettles 5th (Masters)

Full Results

both Jack and Lloyd held 2nd at times in very competitive fields but lost out on the last laps

NCRA Handicap spring series 2009 (5 Rounds)

2009-03-25T23:33:00.010Z

Race 5 - Southwick ---- RESULTS

The final round of the series. Full Photo Gallery here

BCF report here.

Same group spacing, Troy and Steve and Graham were off first and joined by Brownie's group on the road. By Lap 3 the fast Gregs group caught Jacks group of 12 up and then it all joined together without the scratch. Strangely no-one tried anything, the wind meant only the brave could, but it worked out well as scratch didn't show, leaving a mass uphill sprint.

Jack couldn't quite get there this time, coming in 11th with Brownie close behind in 21st just pipping Troy next. Steve valliantly stopped to help a crashed rider, and came in 6 mins down. while Graham had a bizare puncture with a safety pin see HERE.

A good group ending end to a great series, bring on the next one.

OVERALL 5 RACE SERIES RESULTS HERE

Race 4 - Old - Lamport

4th Jack Peterson...pretty clearly ;-)
Paul Brown
Troy Rollason
Graham Dickens
Steve
Bob ...ill
BCF Report and Photos More Race 4 Photos

Jacks Race:
With the Dragon XC race in Wales the next day I fully intended to try and minimise effort for this race. Our starting group was big enough to hide in and for most of the time this plan worked. A few efforts every lap to make sure I cornered near the front, some of those guys just corner like grannies at times. Then we caught Troy and Graham on the last lap, just as the 3 fast guys joined us. Luckily they didnt then try and escape and the mass sprint was on.
Initially i wasn't bothered, the roads where covered in crap, which has wrecked my shades and i could hardly see. But as the fast run-in unfolded, it turned out quite safe and it opened up well. I kicked, perhaps just a touch too late and put a few lengths into the "pack" but had let the 3 big hitters get a few ahead. 4th and well chuffed and yes it was the easiest of the 4 so far, bizzare. 10th in the series now as well.
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Race 3 - Gt Gidding
Results
14 Gregg Payne Rockingham Forest Wheelers
17 Jack Peterson Numplumz Mountain Bikers
22 Troy Rollason Numplumz Mountain Bikers
23 Graham Dickens Numplumz Mountain Bikers
25 Bob Mitchell Numplumz Mountain Bikers
26 Ian Dick Rockingham Forest Wheelers
31 Garry Townsend (Mine and Troy's mate) MI Racing
36 Scott McCann Rockingham Forest Wheelers
Full results

Troys race
3rd race and a beautiful days racing ahead...... met JP and Hollie en-route and then Dave palmer and Gregg too just outside Thrapston.....should have been about 17 ish miles to gt gidding and all together less than last weeks 23m to warm up, and it was a nice day so hay ho.

Arrived at gt gidding only to be told sorry lads next village along to sign on....Glatton! still not bothered its not too far...... (19m)

what we didn't know was that the start was in the original location and back up to gidding so once race kit was donned off we trotted..quick warm up(4m) and team pic...nice one brownie....then BANG

race was on....Gra and myself were in the 6.5 min group so all good today, or so we thought.....our group yet again didi not work very well at all and spent the first 2/3 miles in 1 long line and no through and off.....spose that's normal ish.

anyway gra and i got things going and a couple of others started working too and pretty uneventfull till lap 2 when we lost half of our group. It was at this point No 33 was showing his true colours! he would work his way to the front and then shout change direction.....this went on for a while....and oh how he some verbal...Gra and me had a go but to no avail.

End of lap 2 and scratch caught us and we tagged on for a bit and as usual pumped out the back....my bpm went to 101% and 193 just keeping with them up the hill to gidding phew

Lap 3 and after a bit of solo riding with J.P we joined our group again til the last hil again as poor old Graham's chain came off....nooooo he managed to put it back on and carried on...good effort mate.....then jp bolted and so did no 33 ....bob pushed after him and so did gra and me..........no way....no way is that 33 git beating me to the finish so last corner and me m bob and gra caught him and sped to the finish for a photo head down troy win(22nd overall) No no 33 anywhere....yay (30m)

back for tea and cakes and ride home 3m them 19 miles

Long but good day out 73 miles and buzzin
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Race 2 - Old Lamport

BCF Report Here

On the Old-Lamport course in bright but very windy conditions. Brownie, Graham and Steve above chased down Troy who was given some time on them. The Fast (scratch) guys blew through the field using their power to leave samll groups all over the course. Brownie managed to hang on and grabbed a good finish again, while the rest of us trailed in behind. A tough day out there. Even the finishers seperated into two groups of 3 at the finish.

Results:
13th Brownie @ 21 secs
20th Jack @ 1.31
28th Troy @ 1.52
30th Graham @ 2.34
34th Steve @ 3.01
47th Bob @10.09

Troys view:
Properly happy with today's performance.....although, is 25mile too much of a warm up??? i felt strong as anything until lap 3 and got dropped just passed the village hall.... then scratch caught me at Mawdsley and I kept with them until the next junction, only to be caught by Jack's group at the last junction and chased them with vic barnett to the finish
So too much warm up and too much on the front(ish) I endeed up doing 70 miles today with 30 of those at 177 bpm average........;-)
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Race 1 - Rockingham Valley circuit.
A group of 15 riders including our Paul Brown formed and used their handicap to the full and stayed away, in the sprint Brownie managed to Grab 4th to get the first points for the new official plumz team, superb.
Troy, Graham, Bob and Steve all found the pace and Bringhurst hill a bit heavy and were hoovered up by Jacks group (pictured) who worked well and were themselves not caught by scratch but could not do enough

BCF Report and photos

Full results

4 Paul Brown Numplumz Mountain Bikers
18 Jack Peterson Numplumz Mountain Bikers
33 Gregg Payne Rockingham Forest Wheelers
41 Steve Giles Numplumz Mountain Bikers
43 Graham Dickens Numplumz Mountain Bikers
46 Troy Rollason Numplumz Mountain Bikers
DNF Bob Mitchell

Aston Hill Downhill Race

2009-03-25T23:30:00.000Z

well that was hard it turned out to be quite a huge event there there was race teams everywere even from afar as france (stupid Frenchy's and there Tomac sponsored bikes) haha I had a great day after an eventful morning with the car battery flat and no cash machines having cash my dad forgetting the camera so there is no evidence of the day sorry, but when we finally got thre after changin cars, i only managed to get 2 practice runs in also after tryin to set up my bike without testin on the track but as soon as i got my first timed run down with the bike feeling good i put down a 1.57.7 which put me in 7th with ben following behind with a 1.59.4 in 8th, later on after a bit more food and caffiene drinks we set of for our final timed run i had a good start and down into the technical natural feel rooty forest everything just felt so much smoother and sadley it was the final run as i was just getting to enjoy the bone dry dusty track my final time to end the day was a 1.53.3 to take 6th place and ben improved by a 1.56.6 but still in his cat he finished the day with 16th which he isnt happy with but for our first ever downhill race i think we both done quite good and amazing amount of fun...

Black Park - West Drayton MBC

2009-03-25T23:28:00.001Z

Myself and tom travelled to Black park country park near slough to race in the open mens catagory today. It was a lovely warm day with some fantastic raceing tacking place. Eight laps of 2.5 miles meant a fast and furious race. It was the first time i used my new carbon giant so i wanted it to be a good one. After a good start myself and tom had a good placeing in the pack and the great conditions meant some fast laps. Sadly tom had a meeting with a tree after the 2nd lap which caused him to stop raceing although he is now okay just fashioning a few cuts. After 2 hours 10minutes i finished 23rd overall. Great race and deffently one to be repeated next year

23....8.....02:10:43..00:24:05..38...RICHARD JONES./.
.....................................00:17:21..00:15:25..00:15:36..00:16:01..00:16:30..00:16:58..00:16:48..00:16:04

dnf...2.....00:35:22............39...TOM WRIGHT./.Numplumz/Pitsford Cycles
.....................................00:19:03..00:16:19

Gorrick Spring Series Rd 1

2009-03-25T23:24:00.011Z

Gorrick Spring Series Rd 2.

Bigring and Miss Medium Ring done good.

It would seem Lloyd led fro a lap then got overhauled for a fine second, supermasters is a tough race cat.

Hollie again showed skills beyond her years, despit some tree hugging for the cameras, and put in a great lap time.

Infact her lap time would have led the open female class, and had her second in the master female class...infact it would have put her 3rd in the fun MALE class to.

Superb.

Full Results

Thetford Winter series Rd 4

2009-03-25T23:24:00.010Z

Full Results

The woods were full of Plumz riders.

Brownie, Stu, Pilch, Dave, Gregg and Jack (pictured) as well as camera shy Rich, Tom, Lloyd, Hollie and Bob all hit the dry trails of Thetford.

Oh the joy of being gridded, holding 3rd in the series I was called up to the line to get a front row start, and dave joined alongside on his Cotic Singlespeed.

The gun went and The first wheel to show was Daves, Yes he lead a winter series race for ohh at least 3 seconds, and was about 3rd into the first corner and about 50th out of it as the pack hit the big gears on the downhill section.

Me I was 3rd behind the 4 hour vet 1st and 2nd overall guys, the chaces of staying with them were remote, so as I eased back before the first singletrack about 10 riders shot past. But one of them wasn't Lloyd as usual. Settling down to a fast but pretty lonely lap, loving the fast singletrack (read and weep 2 hr boys) I got caried away.

Every thetford race BigRing has got the fastest lap of the day.....not this time I was on a mission and went for it. when Gregg came past towards the end of the 2nd lap and pulled a away I started to implode....not the best plan. lloyd finally joined us as i caught Gregg up a few laps later, Gregg then slipped back and Lloyd pulled away, back to a quiet race just hanging on this time, that was tough. (what a crap write up hey!)

Results stuff:

Laps - Position in class - Rider - laps

3 1 02:01:59 Hollie Bettles 00:37:40 00:40:53 00:43:25

4 7th 02:33:44 Richard Jones 00:35:18 00:37:13 00:39:05 00:42:07
4 61st 02:39:21 Tom Wright 00:38:41 00:39:43 00:40:12 00:40:43
3 75th 01:52:29 Stewart Knubley 00:34:54 00:36:47 00:40:46
4 19th 02:31:34 Paul Brown 00:36:44 00:36:57 00:38:26 00:39:24
4 33rd 02:41:26 Bob Mitchell 00:36:44 00:40:18 00:44:26 00:39:56

7 6th 04:04:57 Lloyd Bettles 00:33:38 00:36:27 00:34:23 00:35:09 00:35:20

00:35:20 00:34:38
7 15th 04:22:23 Gregg Payne 00:34:03 00:33:41 00:34:51 00:37:51 00:40:11

00:41:48 00:39:55
7 5th 04:15:11 Jack Peterson 00:32:25 00:34:50 00:35:45 00:37:26 00:37:28

00:38:25 00:38:49
6 17th 03:58:18 Troy Rollason 00:36:05 00:37:39 00:38:39 00:40:39 00:42:48

00:42:26
6 21st 04:05:03 Dave Gardner 00:38:08 00:38:39 00:40:04 00:40:48 00:44:19

00:43:04

Wahay got the fastest lap - But look at that run of consistent lap times after his easy start from Lloyd, thats how to do it. Watch out boys Hollies after you!

Nice Trophy

Final Vets 4Hr series points.

1	1	Paul Ashby	Fat Birds CC	150	150	150		450
2	20	John Fettis	Team F.All	145	145	145		435
3	24	Jack Peterson	Numplumz	130	140		130	400
4	36	Paul West	Shred Magazine / Endura	*	135	140	104	379
5	6	Alan Coldray	Team Milton Keynes	120	130	*	125	375
6	9	Simon LITTLE	Chelmer Cycles	110	120	120		350
7	3	Paul Facer	SWRC	108	106	130		344
8	42	Russell Rout		115	108	*	120	343
9	18	Dave Gardner	Numplumz Singlespeed	98	94	135		327
10	19	Troy Rollason	Numplumz	*	96	125	94	315

Mawddach Goldrush Challenge

2009-03-25T23:24:00.006Z

Jack and me set out for deepest darkest Wales on Sunday to take part in quite a unique event, for a start it is organised by people who have nothing to do with MTB or cycling. But the Rotary club of Mawddach put on this event for its 2nd year and it was run and organised very efficiantly all day from signing on to putting on a bus for spectators, supplying bin bags for dirty washing and goody bags for all competitors.
The course was based around the old Red Bull route which i have "raced" before and havent really enjoyed it but whoever designed this course needs a pat on the back as it raced really well, there were some long stretches of fire road but that made sure all competitors were spaced well out and congestion on the technical bits did not exsist which was the major fault of other races there. All the fire roads led to grin inducing down hills or technical traverses along the side of the valley but saying that the fire roads were a blast as well, most of which pushed the speed up over 25mph and the last one hit nearly 35 mph if your dangly bits were big enough, oh yeah and as it was in Wales there was a bit of climbing involved, over 400m per lap which along with the weather (rain,sleet,hail,and sun) made for a very interesting race.
The start was interesting because when you signed on you were given a timing chip, this allowed you to start when you liked between 10- 10.30 am which meant you were really racing against the clock not the people, like an off road endurance timetrial and the winner is whoever records the fastest time.
My race went well both me and Jack ambled up to the start line about 10.05 and set off up the opening climb and that was the last i see of Jack as i seemed to have good legs and made my way through the early starters, it seemed strange to be in a race with no one to race against the only thing i could do was to concentrate on catching everyone i saw which went to plan for the rest of the race. Rob Oakes kept me company for a couple of laps which also kept the speed up and we were both at our limits on the climbs but as the last lap started i upped the pace a bit more on the first climb and Rob dropped back which gave me a boost because Rob got the better of me for much of last year in the Nationals so it was pleasing to see him dissapearing backwards and with only 4 weeks to the first 2009 National gives me an idea to the form im in.The rest of the lap hurt quite a bit as i tried to keep the pace high hoping that i could reach the finish before 2hrs 30, i knew last years winning time was 2 hrs 41 so to do it would put me high up the leader board, there was a few scary moments on the last rock strewn downhill as i pushed harder still but was rewarded with a time of 2hrs 29m 40s. Jack after nearly completeing 2 solid laps broke his chain on the last downhill (how???only Jack) and by the time he'd found the chain again was too cold to try and fix it to carry on so retreated to the cafe for coffee and CAKE !!.
I finished my race in 1st for my catagorie (30-39) i also recorded the fastest lap but was beaten into 2nd overall by elite racer Jonathon Pugh.
I would like to thank the organisers for a top day out, this event will continue to grow. In the first year it saw 60 competitors this year it was 200, it really is a different approach to racing with its less formal start and laid back approach. I for one will definately return next year.

full results here http://www.blacksheepsports.co.uk/public/results.aspx?raceid=698

Thetford Winter series Rd 2

2009-03-25T23:23:00.005Z

Good race - full results

RESULTS

Fastest laps table again then and difference between fastest and slowest laps.

12 of us out there again was cool , hopefully I didn't miss anyone

	Fastest Lap	Slow-fast
BigRing	37:12	11:11
Jack	38:29	3:33
Stew	42:33	2:41
Rich	41:22	2:23
Brad	42:33	9:05
Troy	43:55	6:34
Dave	44:55	3:57
Brownie	47:43	1:39
Tom	46:02	9:25
Gray	45:04	4:01
Bob	46:31	3:00
Hollie	50:41	6:19

This is listed in the same order as round 1 (except for Troy replacing Gregg) so you can see if you improved from then, BigRing again is Mr speedy although he lost the will to live on the last lap letting the old git go by ;-)

Great ride from young Richard, flying faster than a speeding Stu and keeping it consistent to the line as well. Hollie well she is unbeatable at the moment ;-)

Round 3 will be interesting then , see who eats all the pies over Christmas

BC report and pics will be here:- http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/mtb/EventReports2008/20081207_whyte_enduro_thetford.asp

so how many pictures have you found of us lot then?

Thetford Winter series Rd 3

2009-03-25T23:23:00.004Z

Battle of the Iken Somme

Round 3 at a good new venue, destroyed by a monsoon day of biblical proportions.

But here are the results

Quick results of note: with laps 2 hrs:

1^st Hollie 00:52:57 01:03:01

5^th Richard Jones 00:40:31 00:45:33 00:54:24

27^th Stu Knubley 00:44:27 00:48:04 00:54:49

Vets

16^th Paul Brown 00:49:41 00:50:37 00:55:30

19^th Bob Mitchell 00:48:43 00:52:12 00:56:54

4 Hours

3^rd Lloyd Bettles 00:35:47 00:42:45 00:47:17 00:50:02 00:49:21

9^th Gregg payne 00:39:11 00:47:11 00:53:11 00:55:37 00:56:42

Vets

4^th Dave Gardner 00:40:55 00:52:08 00:56:09 00:57:23 01:00:20

6^th Troy Rollason 00:45:20 00:54:46 01:01:27 01:06:50

Great rides from all those above, I bet Dave and Troy are still smiling today ;-)

Watch out Brownie Bobs catching you.

And me well……

20^th Jack Peterson 00:38:49 00:52:13........gave in

Well I messed that up good and proper didn’t I.

Felt good going into this race, to be honest, decided on the singlespeed because its flatland and knew it would be very muddy.

But then like a twonk had too big a gear on the bike for the conditions. 32-16 can twiddle all day round here, but not in porridge.

Piss poor really, I should have taken a couple of spare sprockets with me, and definitely should have done a pre-lap just to see how bad it was.

Should have taken geared bike? What’s the point in having lots of nice bikes if you can’t be bothered to take them to races is another good point !!

On the face of it, why after coming in at 1hr30 in 3^rd place did I pack in…..

Well I could have walked sections, struggled on but there was no way I was going to put my back through another 2 ½ hours of that hell.

Oh well that’s me lost 3^rd in the series, better watch out, Dave’s after that last podium place.

Thetford Winter series Rd 1

2009-03-25T23:22:00.003Z

resultsfrom Timelaps

Thetford Winter series Rd 1: Well done to all the plumz racers there but especially Hollie who wins again, Lloyd 3^rd , and Singlespeed Dave gets a superb 15^th.

Well it was a pleasure to be out riding on Sunday, 50 miles of fast flowing dry singletrack with as much grip as you liked. You could throw your bike around like it was on rails and there were several sections that were super swoopy. Ace.

Oh yes, the race, knew there was a reason we were all there. Well I let antone else put up there versions but here’s mine.

After 2 mins silence, it was I thought a madder than normal start, even though it was a long section of double track the fact that it was downhill meant there were even more fast starters than usual up front. The girls had been sent of like hares in front and we just caught them at the first tight singletrack. Almost dead stop as me and MrRing eased up.

By the time we got by the track was deserted, Lloyd sped off as I settled into a heart rate I thought I could manage for 4 hrs. It was great just being able to ride the deserted track as fast as you wanted, but unless you see who the riders are up front early on you have no idea where you stand in the race. (looking at lap times I was 7^th for 2 hrs)

2 hours in an it finally got a bit busier as I caught riders but the empty track had meant no real let up and the legs were screaming, the 2hr Vet leaders came by and I tucked in behind them easily I even followed John McAndrew who was 2^nd for ¾ of a lap and passed him on the last climb but then had to force myself to ease off; two hrs to go I kept saying to myself, but this was fun.

I thought I’d blown it, the Lactate was screaming in my legs so I decided to do whole sections in the middle ring to spin a lot more. This seemed to work and after a slower lap, the 2hr racers left the track and it was back to blasting on the clearing super singletrack.

(At this point apparently I’d passed a Milton Keynes rider into 6^th, never saw him though.)

Starting the last lap I lapped Gregg and still felt good, so with nothing to lose I pulled the trigger and gave it everything. You can usually notice riders who you are lapping, they come back to you real easy, but I love the thrill of seeing someone slowly appear; you know they are on your lap just by their speed. First one down was Milton Keynes rider Lee Goodman in the under 40’s he woke up as I got to his back wheel but then shouted some expletives as I kicked the big ring up the climb and left him for dead, feels good ;-)

Then another rider appeared, I shadowed him in the singletrack then again just eased away, this was different though I never knew it at the time. I’d just passed Paul Simmons of Koxx/Thetford racing to grab 5^th and then put another 90 seconds into him. The legendary last push is still there, and if only I’d known as I was only 100 secs behind 3^rd place at the end and my last 3 laps were all faster than theirs.

Bring on Round 2!

Here's each riders fastest lap, just shows you Tuesday night guys that the fast guys on the road don’t mean nothing when it gets twisty and muddy. I also put in the difference between each riders fastest and slowest lap. This shows up riders who go off to fast and then blow, and those that can be consistent. I’m well pleased with my difference for a 4hr blast. Gregg certainly found his limit ;-)

Fastest laps table

	Fastest Lap	Slow-fast
BigRing	31:34	4:00
Jack	33:41	2:45
Stew	35:10	3:23
Rich	35:17	4:56
Brad	35:41	5:13
Gregg	35:44	15:34
Dave	37:10	5:43
Brownie	37:31	1:29
Tom	38:08	2:30
Gray	38:30	2:48
Bob	39:11	3:56
Hollie	41:28	5:59

Results:

Should be loads of pictures out there too.

Midlands Trailquest - Nice day for a walk

2009-02-13T13:45:00.005Z

Well it was if you were mad enough to go that way (stole this pic from website). This is the bridleway from Wilbarston to Ashley, and thats one steep uphill and everyone who did it had to carry a very heavy mud-laden bike. ha! ha!

Me and Dave took one look, binned it and went round on the road and climbed up from the other way and still beat some riders there, even on singlespeeds. Oh yes we were smug.

It rammed home though why even though this is a very local area to us, we just don't know the tracks......because most of them are just places you don't want to ride for fun. Some good downhills and a few good hard tracks, but mainly poor. We did actully hit another yomp across a field section that must have took us 15 mins to clear,crap choice from me, spirits remained high though, proper teamwork.

Results link is below, it was a good day to be out in the countryside even if Dave was feeling ill. I'm quite suprised how well we did really because we really crawled round at times, and walked several hills, all credit to Dave for keeping going, he was on empty from 15 mins in and I had to physically push him along one-handed at times ;-)

Soup tea and superb cakes back at the clubhouse with the roaring log fire was a good finish reward, nice to see the clubhouse getting used (and dirtied..oops) by mountainbikers for once.

Checking the route we took and how we abandoned early to cruise home we would have picked up at least another 80 easy to get roadside points at our normal speed, so shows that a good route choice can defeat speed in these things, suppose that's why they are very popular with people who don't actually race.

Graham was out there too, and we even finished together in a flurry of spinning legs trying to follow him. you guys should look out for this next year, always a good day out and I'm always suprised how litlle club interest there is!

RESULTS

Destruction 2 Drivetrains - 2008 (D2D)

2009-01-16T13:17:00.005Z

Well that was fun, 6th place for the three amigo's was tough going but then there were some seriously fast boys in the other teams. started 5th thanks to smiffys superb first lap which left me with an almost empty track, and Stew to follow. did 3 of my 4 laps with absolutely no brakes, where else could you actually race like that? did catch me out though when i got faster in the dawn last lap...ouch.

I'll let everyone else comment on their fun/nightmares but here's the results;

RESULTS

Things I learnt this weekend:

Still can't explain why 14 sane guys who know each other rush to throw away £30 each to camp in a field and do this and can't wait for nextime? Put that money to a nice B&B, a saturday night social with riding friends and some great trials, oh yes an a warm bed, sounds 1000 times better to me. Guess we're competitive junkies really.
Old Formula Brakes are shite, so what if they are light, fit for the skip only.
Don't try and use a tree as a brake, see above......boy do I hurt today, spare ribs required.
Mountainbike drivetrains can cope with amazing abuse.
Exposure Big daddy lights are soooooo good, 4 laps full power and still 50% left in battery...Top.
I just can't cut it in this racing lark any more.
Never again, not because of the weather, just the sacrifice we make to get to these events for the return of damaged trails and lack of sleep.

BC site report up from Joolz now

her well below par photos are here, apparantly she had equipment problems, comment of the worst weather at any event ever pretty much sums it up.
PHOTOS

Trans Wales 2008

2009-01-07T20:39:00.004Z

To follow

2009 It's On

2009-01-01T22:00:00.002Z

Sorry - OD'ed on Southpark Lately!

No Goals set for 2008, so guess I met them all then.

2009 - This year starts with the Plumz going mainstream as a proper grown up club and somehow I seem to now be the Chairman of the FNSS committe which by tomorrow will officially exist in the eyes of the bank and have a constitution. The goal has to be stopping all this officialdom changing the fact that at heart we are a bunch of older kids on bikes.

Personally I intend to get back into a bit more racing, but not at the detriment of having fun. Events with quality courses are high on the list.

One plan that keeps re-surfacing is wanting to ride in some new areas, I reckon at least once a month has to be a realistc goal. Last year I deliberately avoided any unnecessay travel, this year I couldn't care less. Lifes for living to the full and the clocks ticking.

Happy new year.

I've found my Mojo

2008-12-29T20:40:00.005Z

What a company policy. Nobody could argue with that advice, and I for one intend to follow it wholeheartedly for 2009; not so much a resolution as a complete change of my present lifestyle.
The change at work is in the pipeline, just waiting for the higher powers to sort out if they actually mean it when they keep telling me how much they want to accommodate my wishes. The ride more bit, well it seems only right to endorse the company moto by riding one of their bikes.

And here it is, in all its naked carbon Glory. Meet the Ibis Mojo SL it's oh so lean and mean, and amazingly clean.

A bit of parts swapping after the purchase secondhand, and it's coming in at a superbly healthy 23.6 lb ready to race. throw some bling at it and sub 23lb is there for the taking.

Who needs 140mm travel to race, I hear you ask, well in truth nobody. But its nice to know that I can ride over the next racer who falls of in front of me ;-)

The only problem now, is that it's sooooo clean and shiny I can't bring myself to get it dirty....madness.

Jumping Jack Frost

2008-12-12T13:49:00.003Z

Riding out of the darkness following yesterdays tyres tracks on the frozen trail, these are all mine this week. The sun starts lighting up the trees and hawfrost in beautifull bright oranges as yet more bunnies and monkjacks run for cover from my speeding wheels.

16 miles of sheer fun, sideways drifts, jumping icy puddles, smashing through others this is fun; for once you can keep your warm duvet.

I love Bikes me!

(and no thats not me there)

Want one of these

2008-12-04T22:33:00.003Z

Sexy anodized alloy
And the bike to attatch it too, so plumz as the cat would say watissit

2008-11-30T23:01:00.003Z

I've come up with a theory. I think the less hair you have the faster you go......well it seems that way as Dave and Troy get stronger each ride, especially the muddy ones, ok all the rides recently.
Thetford round 2 next weekend will reveal all.

Speaking of our polished friends, did you see the clip of old Malverns action on TV burp this week, classic bike carnage location long before the easy access to good digital cameras, I've got some superb crash photos from there somewhere, will have to find them and scan them in.

Another month glides by, 600 miles on the clocks but a few too many cakes in the tank and not enough real training, especially on the weights, means could do better. At least the kit is handling all this crap, the Blur LT is a revelation, it keeps astounding me just how good this bike is, the Intense would have chewed up and spat out a set of bearings by now. I have just taken off the RP2 shock, pressed in another bottom bush (800 miles) when will that slight wear part be sorted?

This was literally a 5 min job and no great hassle with engineering stock DU bushes, the enginnering on the BLT, titanium chuncky fastners, and everything lined up spot on, superb.
Whilst the shock was off I cycled the swinger through all its travel, still fluid and lush, looks like its possible the yanks have finally discovered seals at last.
The Intense would have needed a hammer to do the same task after some winter abuse!

Why the Peaks?

2008-11-19T19:57:00.003Z

Thats why.......smiles all round.

Great weekend with a crowd of guys not generally from a biking background. Just having fun getting covered in crap as it rained quite a lot.

The riding was good, and the BLT was blindingly Leechlike up the Trails. I cleaned more tracks around Hope than ever before, totally staggering and I just cannot believe how good the bike was their, either that or I had so much energy to spare because the raceheads wern't there.

The Post title question is because after 2 days of riding we had to cancel the third, 4 out of 4 bikes totally shredded their brake pads, I had spares but others didn't so we called time and left the hordes of ant like trailquesters to fill the hills on sunday.
Finally found a use for those Superstar components cheapo pads now, fit for a day then throw away in the peaks, perfect.

What tyres for....Swamps

2008-11-12T13:38:00.002Z

Tuesday Night ride and 17 of us set out attempting to avoid the bad bits for our sanity.

This led us to head down "Gerald", bit of Downhill ski-ing (nice save Brownie) for some gravel track laps of Stanwick lakes.

Me and Troy heading the train and we see puddles, riding into them they cover the wheels....the track disappears and we are riding between the reeds. It gets deeper.....and deeper, its getting harder to pedal as the water hits Knee level on the downstoke, we look back and everyone is following, insane laughing ensues.

In the end we did over half a mile of river riding, not really knowing where the banks or edges of the trails were, it was bonkers and how no-one fell in totally I'll never know, the side currents at times were pretty killer, the bikes were covered in drifting debris we were picking up.

Guess a few wheel and crank bearings will be siezed this morning ;-)

Great weekends Riding

2008-11-10T15:52:00.003Z

While most of the Country seemed to fight with the weather, I had two nice days riding that could not have been anymore different, except it was dry all round.

SAT:- A nice 3 hours to meet Smiffy and then we did the plumz loop, very low level and chatting most of the way round, just how a winter base road ride should be; we still were faster than any tuesday time too.

SUN:- Thetford Winter series, fast swoopy dry singletrack that had so much grip it was insane. Legs are crying with pain today but you could not stop pushing it was superb, guess the Nitrous is good for something after all ;-)

Hope Joolze dosent mind me knicking that photo, check more out on her link on Right.

Inspiration for Perspiration

2008-11-06T20:28:00.005Z

Life's a bit messed up at the moment, not in any bad way just has no real direction. I'm a lazy slob fighting to get out of an athletes body, yeah right ;-) I need targets and goals to stop me going off the rails! My Work situation is up in the air so any long term plans are a bit hard too.

Biking Inspiration can come in many forms, a good event, a great ride with mates, a new bike, a sunny holiday biking, or a challenge.

I'm hoping that Thetford this weekend might kickstart the racing bug in me. There's a weekend in the peaks with good riding and boozing in the off, a holiday in the sun to plan and a still fresh BLT to find the limits on.

The whole challenge think is cool, petrols down in price, the mortgage is shrinking and there's alot of trails out there to explore, time to spread the mud around before I become a full fledged homer which has been delayed untill June.

Robs pretty busy on this front, I like the idea of his latest jaunt, all the Afan trails one after the other without stopping - 6hrs plus of ride time with attitude, sounds better than riding round in circles. Fancy it Rich?

30 in 30

2008-11-03T13:57:00.002Z

Last Month of the year with 30 days - 1 hr each day at least on a bike lets roll.

Day 1. Kona 40Km - Starts poor with 14 hr work day but real enthusism as I get on the I-magic and stick in a fun 40km in just over the hour, reckons I'm doing 230 wattts average, might use this as a test ride to check my progress from here.

Day 2. BLT - 25ml. 3hr
Dave and Stew and a shedload of water, great skills morning playing at laps in the woods and quarries. Stumbled on a moto-x trials event and even had a go at a few stages. Superb old skool day out, bikes are ace. If you spent sunday on the couch staring out at the rain, get off your arse and sharpen thoses skills up!

Joe Public thinks we are all mad

2008-10-28T15:03:00.003Z

As the Winter base training phase gets under way, it's loads of riding no matter the weather. Yes you read that right, training not just riding, an actual structure and planning; bring it on.

240 miles of top riding last week, now all I have to do is up that or the intensity a bit for this week, already hampered by a warm bed yesterday and the downturn in the weather.

The Joe 6 Big Macs out there will once again fail to understand what its all about, a bit like the press frenzy over that mountain marathon in the lakes last weekend. Makes interesting reading here Lakes Info. As usual people sensationalise things they can't comprehend.

Mad For It

2008-10-20T22:57:00.003+01:00

What ever happened today I need to bottle it for future use, cant really explain why but coming out of work faced with a vicious headwind and driving rain I was just so up for a ride its not normal.

So I ended up doing the full 17 mile off road route home, getting soaked and plastered, the full strip of kit into the washing machine as I walked in the door.....and loved every slithering minute of it.

Do you think I've been infected by the TransWales, its no fun unless its hard core weather, nahh

Transition period over........lets do shedloads of riding.......Bikes are Ace!

Riding Through The Morph Machine

2008-10-16T20:57:00.005+01:00

The Bacon Lettuce Tomato already needs some garnish......(Blur LT come on keep up).
The frame had any tat thrown on it I could find, much to the disgust of some other bikes, and the near demise of my shoulder at Thetford after stealing the good brakes off the race Turner.

I like it...and it deserves some good kit now its earned a home. The new Fox forks have to go on for this weekend, the Mavericks have popped their clogs for now, and are not damped enough even in top tune. Trouble is as a sucker to marketing...........sorry progress they are the new 15mm QR through axle type that Fox and Shimano have come up with for 09. Good principle guys, quick releases are left over from our flexy roadie friends, but at least sort some hubs out to go with them.

BETD do a 15mm QR hub right now, I phoned them Tuesday and a freshly built hub with a Stans 355 rim arrived in my lap at work Wednesday dinner time.....Brilliant service I'll be using these guys again, check out their site they are engineering bikers.

Now another thing Fox are forcing us into is post mount brakes....bugger need one of them too, cheapo old Hope (boy its ugly) ordered and to the rescue and I'm ready to hit the hills.......just need to sort out my rebound damping, slow speed compression, and lockout blow off......help!!!

The bike now looks like its gone through an upgrading machine and got stuck at the head-tube, so moving on it has to be the bars followed by the cranks.

Looking for my Mojo

2008-10-14T13:00:00.002+01:00

Now that's a whole lot more colourfull.
For some time I've thought that I needed to get my Mojo back for XC racing, what better way than to get a new bike, new bikes are always faster oh yes!

The Turner is just to stunted for me, the TransWales was no fun, I need more bounce for max DH fun when I'm feeling shagged. The dream bike has for some time been a Mojo Ibis, 24lb easily attained, 140mm of travel, and climbs like a goat...gimme...gimme.

Spec lists of dream components have been drawn up many a time and quite frankly the cost is scary, but that's what dreams are made of. But wait, has someone stole my spec list?

That bike there is for sale, built and never used (think his Mrs found out how much it was) and pretty much has a wish list of components and colours (except the wheels) I would go for. How strong is my will to resist, the combination of red wine and empty plastic has to be avoided, who knows where it might end.

mojo....mojo...mojo...mojo.....help!!!!!!!!

Bit Dull - Nightshift Blues

2008-10-12T21:02:00.006+01:00

Just setting up something to play with in future, yep its night shift cover time again. Just realized, is this a reflection of mood looks a bit drab doesn't it. The fact i have to sleep tomorrow while the sun begs to be ridden under has that effect. I definitely need a better picture up there, but it does remind me of the great times and places we spent together; still pains me to think of the toe-rag who has my 5.5 right now.
The plan is a daily ride and life blog, anyone who's interested can pop in without having your in tray filed with tons of multiply posts.
I need to make it look a bit more interesting first though. Blogger has got a bit slicker since the last time I was here.