Day One – Innerleithen, 55 km, 1500m climbing, 4 timed stages

Having ridden 85km in the two days prior to racing in order to practice the course I set off with already tired legs into a 1.5 hour transition to the first stage. The distances were big and the transition timing wasn’t generous, there was no hanging around. The terrain is like Ireland on steroids, the same kind of rooty, pine needle type trails but everything is bigger, steeper and longer. Despite amazing sunny weather on race day, the week leading up to the race had been very wet so today’s stages were not just really steep and long but also wet, muddy and slippy. Apart from some short sections of fast trail centre the tracks were mostly through the forest full of roots, rocks and slippery mud. It was hard to keep the momentum going, dabbing at the wrong moment could cost massive amounts of time.

Stage 1 was wet and greasy with a horrendous uphill fireroad that I couldn’t attack on because my legs were already too full of lactic from the physical first section of trail. I made too many small mistakes but no major disasters. Stage 2 had a long section of very steep, greasy rocks that switchbacked down the mountain. I’d ridden it fine in practice but made a mistake in the race at one of the steepest parts and couldn’t get back on so ended up running a couple of corners and soon after binned it on another. This was nothing short of downhill racing! It was pushing my limits way beond what was comfortable to get down the trails at a half decent pace, I rode far to tensed up and on the brakes leading to more mistakes and lactic filled muscles.

Stage 3 I was dreading, I’d had to practice it alone and chickened out on several steep sections which I knew I’d have to ride on race day. As it turned out it was fine, hitting one near vertical slippery switchback after the next was easier with some flow during the race and even became fun. I got down it all apart from one wipeout on an off camber root at the bottom of a steep chute. Wish I could do the stage again but faster now I have the confidence to know it was rideable. Stage 4 was less steep and scary and more enjoyable with great crowds cheering us on coming into the finish.

Overall I was glad to survive the day, although it felt more like just riding than actually racing for bits of it. The weather and Scottish scenery were amazing and it was fun racing with loads of fast girls. I was totally destroyed afterwards, the mental energy required to concentrate for such a long time on something so challenging cannot be underestimated, I struggled to keep my eyes open all evening.

Day Two – Glentress, 35 km, 1500m climbing, 4 timed stages

I was more confident and less uptight coming into this day.  In practice there had been some really slippery muddy sections but they were slightly less steep and in between there was plenty of pedaling and some trail centre sections where I hoped to dig out my old xc legs and make up some time. The stages blur together a bit but generally things had dried out a lot and each trail left everyone buzzing and full of enthusiasm. Highlights were some incredibly fast and loamy newly cut switchbacks on stage two with supporters cheering like crazy, followed by the longest section of xc type trail centre pedaling you can ever imagine. I had a great time pedaling flat out and throwing the bike around twisty corners until I dropped my chain and easily lost 30 seconds stopping to get it back on. After that I gave it absolutely everything to get to the end with lungs exploding and legs burning. Gutted though, could have had a good stage time on that one. I can’t remember much from stage 3 other than being totally buzzing afterwards!

The last stage was a monster from the top of the mountain all the way back to Peebles village. A flatout 500m stretch across dry rooty moorland felt like the fastest I’ve ever ridden a trail, on the pedals as much as possible hitting the odd unexpected drop at full speed, amazing fun. After that was a section of twisty pedally trail centre where I lost my chain again and wasted more precious time (will be buying a chainguide this week!). Then came the climb. A disgusting 30 second, super steep fireroad that left my eyeballs popping out and my head spinning, worse still it was straight into a slightly downhill fireroad where you had to get the pedals in to get up to speed before it kicked up again for a final uphill killer power sprint. Filled with maximal lactic we dropped into some deadly tight, damp switchbacks through the trees with a few sketchy drops and finally a fast, rooty blast to the finish where I collapsed gasping for breath but full of endorphins. Awesome.

Overall a very challenging but fun weekend, learnt a lot and have a clear idea of where I need to improve. The event was perfectly organised, the scenery beautiful, the people fune and it was extremely impressive to see such a booming mountain bike scene in Scotland. Great to have some family support and to catch up with the Irish crowd, the lads had some top results!

Interview on Redbull Ireland before the race here

]]> https://www.caitelliott.co.uk/blog/2014/06/03/ews-tweed-valley-scotland/feed/ 0 https://www.caitelliott.co.uk/blog/2014/05/15/bluegrass-enduro-rombach-france/ https://www.caitelliott.co.uk/blog/2014/05/15/bluegrass-enduro-rombach-france/#comments Thu, 15 May 2014 19:35:38 +0000 Cait http://www.caitelliott.co.uk/blog/?p=4068 Continue reading →]]>

Fork unlocked, shock unlocked, gears shifted, saddle down, full face on. Ready. 3, 2, 1, Go! Pedal, look ahead, arghh whats that i cant look up, shit forgot to put goggles on and they’re in the way behind my head, should i stop? faff faff loosing time, ok stop and sort it, panic panic 30 seconds wasted, right forget about it, back on it, focus, corner, on the brakes, look ahead, shit thats steep wasn’t expecting that, yeaow this is fun, drop, watch out for the rocks, off the brakes, more steep corners, legs burning, wheels drifting wow these tyres are amazing thought i was a gonner, flat bit – saddle up, pedal…!

Read at high speed and you have an idea of stage one of the Bluegrass Enduro in Rombach at the weekend.  Another trip to a random little village in the depths of the forest covered hills of Alsace in France and another fun enduro race on awesome trails with cool people. The trail builders in this area have a very definite building style, the courses are always full of tight steep loamy switchbacks and bus stop features. In Rombach the trails were steeper and more technical than Dabo, one section we rode twice finished in the centre of the village with the track switchbacking down what looked like a cliff face when you looked at it from below. In the race there was no time to consider how steep it was you just have to get on and do it, and riding it in a downpour the second time made it even more fun.

The stages were long, 2 of them around 11 minutes and when you’re trying to be 100% focused its a long time to concentrate and also an absolute killer on your legs since you’re standing on the pedals the whole time. I still haven’t get my head around blind racing, I felt like I rode large parts of the race well but lost far too much time making stupid mistakes and finished 6th. Overall a great event, plenty of chance to chat to other riders on the liasons and it was cool to see loads of girls from all over Europe there this time.

Nice video of the race here. Thanks to Bilger Lionel for the photos. 

The next round is in Ireland with a separate race for the girls, will be savage – do it!!

I am excited to be representing Zurich bike shop Velo Elsener  this season on board a Specialized Enduro 29er offroad and occasionally a Specialized Tarmac on the road. I cannot imagine a faster or more fun bike to ride and am grateful for the mechanical assistance from Zurich’s most reliable bike workshop

Check out the team webpage here.  Updates there to follow will be a test of my German skills…!

The area is a biking paradise with a rabbit warren of biking trails running through the forests. Most of the course was through loamy pine trees with plenty of roots, switchbacks and the perfect spring sunshine  on race day even bringing some dust. The organisers had put in a huge amount of trail building work and some of the freshly cut sections switchbacking through deep, soft pine needles and moss were amazing fun to ride. Other sections were more rocky and although in general the trails were more high speed than technical, there was plenty of variety to keep you on your toes.

The transitions between the stages were also great to ride, often passing through tiny villages or farm areas with views of the surrounding hills and lots of little singletrack climbs. Infact there were some positively adventurous sections, we had to do some via ferrata style rock climbing carrying bikes at one point! The time limits were generous so there was plenty of time to chat and enjoy the relaxed friendly atmosphere. After the race oven cooked pizzas were served beside a lake for all the competitors – love the French attitude to making these events so sociable and fun!

I was really looking forward to getting underway with racing and putting the new Enduro 29er to the test but didn’t have the greatest of races. Not a total disaster, I finished 5th, but can do better! I can’t exactly say why, it was just a frustrating day where things didn’t come together and I got to the end of each stage thinking I should have been much faster. Brakes not fully functioning, terrain I’m not used to, a minor crash, head not in high speed gear – all excuses, will ride faster next time!

Race video here – I’m worse at interviews than I am at riding bikes.

Yes you read it right, a 24 hour race in a Velodrome. Until now I’ve avoided any long distance races like the plague, they go against everything I enjoy about racing and I’d much rather go flat out for a short time. But I have persuasive friends and decided to be open minded and give it a try.

First was the slight issue that I’ve never ridden in a velodrome before so I found myself on Monday evening at the new track in Grenchen to learn the ropes. I had Fiola to teach me and quickly realised I just needed to turn my brain off an follow her so after a few minutes I’d forgotten about having no brakes and we were shooting around at the top of a 45 degree slope at high speed. I finished the evening buzzing and almost looking forward to the 24 hour thing.

I did the race for the Big Machine Club with four others who all happen to work for BMC so I was spoilt with a super pimped out bike for the day. Our strategy was 35 minutes on, 35 break, 35 on again and then a break of 3 hours with a total of 8 times on the track each. So really it was 4 sets of 2 x 35 minute intervals spread over 24 hours. Easy right? I was expecting 24 hour races to be a bit slow and lacking in adrenaline but our team strategy meant we were riding flat out fast for the full time.  Breakaways came and went, sometimes you were on with strong guys and it hurt like hell, legs burning counting down the minutes until a teammate took over.

Riding a few laps following someone you trust is a bit different to jumping into a high speed bunch race but by the time I was up it was a case of sink or swim. It was a bit freaky riding at 40kmph being boxed in front and back with people riding just above my head knowing that i had no brakes but I tried not to think about it and got more comfortable as time went on. It certainly wasn’t boring (maybe because riding the track was still a novelty to me), you had to concentrate hard, stick to the wheel in front, watch for riders flying past above, decide to jump and keep up with faster guys, sprint to close gaps as others lost the pace, bury yourself with a turn on the front.

In the long breaks there was time to shower, eat and get an hour or two of sleep so that you recovered a bit for the next interval. Riding at 4.30am after an hour sleep was the hardest for me mentally but the most painful were the last two intervals to finish of the race at 7pm – there was no winding down at the end, the speed went up and despite burning legs, sore hands and problems with sitting on the saddle it was totally eyeballs out, full gas racing until the end. Luckily I had the loudest spectators in the velodrome cheering for me making it easier to give it all before collapsing at the end!

We finished the 1st mixed team and 2nd overall with an average speed of over 42kmph over the 24 hours (results here). Great event, very well run and I’m surprising myself by saying I would recommend it. Now seriously considering how I can justify getting myself a track bike…

What a weekend! Autumn sunshine, dry dusty super technical trails, a rare chance to swim in the sea, awesome food and coffee – Finale Ligure is a close as you can get to paradise so to have the chance to spend 4 days riding and racing against the best riders in the world was amazing.

Day 1 covered 47km with 1500m of climbing to access the 3 timed stages on a stunning route through the mountains behind Finale often overlooking the sea (unfortunately the 4th stage was cancelled due to a bad crash). The first stage was the shortest of the race and despite being the least technical it included a couple of steep drops and plenty of rocky sections to keep the enthusiastic Italian crowds entertained. I need to learn to chill out at the start of races, rode like a nervous idiot, ignored all the nice lines I’d picked out in practice and generally made things hard for myself.

As I flicked my seatpost up to tackle the long technical climb up to stage 2 my seatpost cable snapped – disaster! I decided to get to the top and try to fix it there when I knew how much time I had. I couldn’t get the snapped cable out to replace it but with seconds to spare I managed to get the seat down so that at least I could ride the technical stage somewhat safely. The stage was quite flowy in the beginning before turning into a steep rocky climb requiring concentration and power. I had to stand up because of the saddle and half way up my legs were exploding and I had to hop off and run – bummer, was planning to use xc skills to my advantage and instead lost time here! After that the course dropped into a long and extremely technical downhill with several rock gardens, drops and sharp steep switchbacks. It took full focus and concentration to remember what was coming up and which line to take. I rode it all, got down cleanly and caught a couple of girls en route but next year I have to make myself take some of the shortcut racing lines for extra speed (big loose drops, head said no!).

After passing back through the town with a chance to stop in at the pit area where Specialized came to the rescue and fixed my seatpost, we had to tackle another long and at times even more technical climb up to Mani, where stunning sea views awaited. Stage 3 began fast, turned into a very short flat out climb and then descended from the top of the mountain down to the sea. The track got steeper and more rocky towards the bottom with some extremely tight switchbacks followed by a few flights of stairs which popped out in the village square in Noli. Rode ok, problem free and lots of fun.

Sunday began with a steady 14km road climb up to the first stage of the day where we arrived half an hour early. After sitting round chatting I picked up my bike with 2 minutes to go and realised I had a flat tyre – major panic, just got it inflated and legged it to the start. This one started out fast, all downhill but with some chances to pedal before the trail got more technical taking in some big rock gardens, switchbacks and loose drifty corners. Lost some time getting stuck behind some of the girls in front but amazing stage, so much fun to ride.

Having survived that all that was left was another uphill road slog to the top of stage 6, a repeat of the 2nd stage from Saturday. After another deflated tyre and pre-start panic (tubeless not sealed properly!) I hammered the climb this time and caught 2 girls before the top so that I could have a clear run at the descent. I had my lines dialled by this stage and rode it all perfectly until 50m from the end when there was nothing left to do I somehow wiped out and lost time getting tangled up in my bike. Doh. I was not happy with myself but quickly got over it after a short pedal back into the paddock in the centre of town where there was time for swimming in the sea and freshly made pasta. The party afterwards was another story in itself and I’m still feeling wrecked from it!

I finished 23rd overall, happy enough for a first EWS. My times were getting comparatively faster each stage and to survive the course without walking stuff or having an major incidents was a good start. Thanks to Fox for the fork service after Saturday, the difference a bit of suspension makes is amazing.

Can’t wait for next year!

At the weekend I raced the BMC Chauxmont Super D in Neuchatel in the french speaking Swiss Jura. 5 times stages over 16km with 2200m descending connected by 19km/1200m liasons and two uplifts. The weather was pretty wet with on and off downpours all day and although we timed it well to avoid being drowned, the steep ground was very muddy and slippery.

The race was ridden blind with 10-15 minute stages mostly through the forest. In between some lung bursting pedalling sections the trails were pretty steep with lots of rocks, roots and drops. It made a nice mixture and the course was really fun to ride but the mud added a different dimension. The Jura seems to have an ability to make me ride like an idiot and after crashing early on my head went and I spent most of the day crashing down hills. At one point I came hurtling towards the end of a trail and only realising at the last minute that there was a good 80 cm drop onto a fireroad, I panicked and tried to slow down too late so ended up flying off it and landing on my head/elbow (finding a large pebble wedged in my elbow in the showers after). The rest were mostly emergency exits or wiping out and sliding down things tangled up in a bike.

In between times when I managed to ride there were some really cool bits of trail, some fast flowy sections that complimented the technical bits nicely, and a few pedally bits where I could make up some lost time! It was a long day out, by the last descent it was getting dark in the woods making it very difficult to see the trail or judge distances and drops so it was good to reach the finish where a bike wash, hot showers and homemade pizza cooked in an oven in the back of a van made an enjoyable end to a great event. Other than learning to ride I must learn French if I’m going to do more Enduro racing, the last 2 years learning German is proving useless and its rubbish not being able to talk to people!

Nice video of the race here, I’m demonstrating how not to ride at 3 mins (there were far worse moments luckily not on camera, at least I saved this one!). Enduro lesson of the day: do not think, just do. Every time you question yourself, hesitate, dab, run you suddenly loose a minute and the race is over.

Next weekend racing in the Alps with snow forecast…

The Jura is a mountain range running through France and Switzerland towards the Alps and although the mountains are relatively low level, they can be very steep. The area is mostly covered in forest with lots of limestone rocks underneath so the mountain biking is pretty technical. The race was a 30km loop with 1200m climbing, one bus uplift and 7 timed stages of 3-10 minutes.

The terrain took some getting used to, its unusual to have such a combination of forest trails with roots as well as sharp greasy rocks. The stages somewhat blur into one by the end of the race but there were a few that stood out. Stage two was fairly horrible beginning with a pedally descent before coming into a really technical rocky climb/traverse that seemed to go on forever. I normally love technical climbing but this was aweful, I’d say unrideable! The slippy uneven rock slabs ran along a ridge so that if you slipped there were big consequences and everyone I talked to had to run sections. When I finally came to the descent section my flow and rhythm was gone and ended up running down some of the steep rocky switchbacks there too. Not fun, was glad when it was over.

After that it got a bit better, everything was rideable and I was getting used to the terrain. Then stage 6 came along. The first few minutes were xc style in the forest (good xc though, hard pedaling with lots of rocks and roots!) before a short climb dropped us into an incredible long descent through the forest. This was insane, so much fun that my tired brain suddenly found the energy to focus and ride properly. The ground was damp and the slightly greasy mud full of small stones, the trail was as steep as the horrible one in stage two and if I’d have stopped I might not have ridden it but the momentum was there and it just got better and better. Super tight steep switchbacks one after the other with occasional rock drops took us down the hill, each time I wondered if I could get around the corner, it was a case of weight as far off the back as possible, turn the bars and slide hoping not to land on the next bit of trail 3m below. Each time the corner was perfectly built to catch you as you slid around. Brilliant.

Stage 7 was a slightly downhill flat out 2.5 min sprint back to the starting area with two racers starting alongside each other – a chance to satisfy the rider on rider competition that I miss with Enduros. I lined up against race winner Lorraine Truong (Norco World Enduro Team) and she got the hole shot as we sprinted absolutely flat out across a field before going into the woods. I was on her wheel through a twisty rooty singletrack before we hit a big swampy puddle and I got stuck! I lost 50m there but clawed back to almost close the gap before we finished with exploding lungs and pumped full of adrenaline.

The Race was based at a farm with showers and bike wash provided, and afterwards an evening meal and beer on tap served in a big wooden barn surrounded by hay bales. Its really cool to go to a fairly small local event and see so many passionate people getting involved to put on a cool event. I finished 2nd and am looking forward to another race in the area in a few weeks where I intend to sleep more beforehand!

cool video of the race here.

At the weekend I raced in the Bluegrass Classique Enduro series in the pretty Alsasce region of France. There were 5 timed stages raced within a 30km loop which started at the top of a mountain 800m above the town. Stages were 10-15 minutes long, almost all on loamy forest singletracks full of dusty switchbacks, swoopy bombholes and tree roots. Since there was no practice of the course allowed, everything was ridden blind, a real skill in itself to go full gas when you don’t know whats coming but there was nothing too scary and it was loads of fun to ride.

The higher sections had some nasty little sharp rocks perfectly positioned to deflate your tires as you were in full swing. I flew down one such section on the first stage passing half a dozen guys fixing punctures and thinking to myself ‘be careful or you’ll get a puncture’, sure enough 2 minutes later  my front tyre went pssssstttttt. I chose to ride on the flat, wildly sliding out on the corners to the bottom but in hindsight on such a long stage fixing it would have been better. The race was more or less over, I lost 6-8 minutes.

After that I was there for fun. Stage 2 had a 3 minute uphill pedaling part which I attacked like a maniac so that my lungs were almost popping out of my mouth, xc race skills were not going to go to waste there and I clocked the fastest time on that stage. The race finished with a 40 second sprint in the town centre, jumping wooden pallets and riding skinnys over a pool of water to the finish where a live band, dinner and a dirt jump contest awaited. A great race, well organised with really nice trails and friendly chilled out atmosphere.

Overall I was 7th but some geeky results analysis shows if you discount the puncture stage I was 2nd fastest. Gutted! time to go tubeless.

Love Dublin!

Report on Devil in a dress for the women’s race. Thanks to Action Pictures Ireland and Adrian Van der Lee for the photos.