caitelliott.co.uk » Yorkshire

Happy New Year!

Cait — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 19:56:36 +0000

A belated happy new year / gutes neues Jahr! I thought I was escaping the cold Swiss winter with two weeks in Yorkshire and Scotland over the Christmas break. I was wrong. Scotland is the most cold, wet and windy place you could ever imagine but it made for some fun mountain biking on the steep tracks around Innerliethen and gave me a good excuse to search intensively for the best coffee shops in Edinburgh.

Now back in Switzerland where it should be like living in a freezer at this time of year…

British MBS – Dalby Forest

Cait — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:50:04 +0000

I seem to have hit a period of bad luck the last few weeks, beginning with extremely sore calve muscles as a result (or cause?) of a bad race in Sherwood that limited me to nothing harder than steady riding for 2 full weeks. On Saturday I flew back from Spain for the next round of the British national series but as the day went on I started experiencing stomach ache and feeling feverish. I hoped that a good night sleep would do the job but instead woke up feeling worse and if I hadn’t made such a long trip to come over I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep. Talk about bad timing, I never ever get sick!

I pre-rode the lap to warm up but increasing the intensity made the stomach pain worse, by the time I got to the start line I could barely think of riding around the course let alone racing hard. I tried to concentrate on the task in hand but struggled to put in enough effort to get into a good position approaching the first singletrack. The first half of the course is descending with some nice technical features so I was able distract myself from the pain and move up the field a bit, but each time we got to a climb I had shooting stomach pains that got worse the harder I tried. Not good.

As time went on I had a few battles with different riders but couldn’t hit the extra gear needed to attack and fight for positions. Luckily the course at Dalby is a good one, so there were some fun parts but most of the race was uncomfortable and painful so I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as I should have. The stomach pains got worse as the laps went on, and I started to get fever like sweats. I began to think that I’d love to drop out, but something in my head won’t let me do it. I’d rather suffer like mad than give in completely, at least that way I can at least say I tried my best. I pushed on, only thinking as far as the top of each hill, finally getting to the finish where I doubled over in pain, unable to stand up straight and relieved it was over.

I finished 9th(results here), although very annoyed and frustrated overall, under the circumstances on the day I was glad to survive the race and still pick up a few UCI points. I thought I was better yesterday but had to lie down half an hour into an easy spin, hope I can get it out of my system soon I’ve got work to do before the world cups!

Thanks to the WXC World Racing for all the assistance and the Elliott family support team.

More winter weather

Cait — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:56:54 +0000

Last week deep snow and ice made a return to Dublin causing utter chaos in the city and forcing me to spend more time on a turbo trainer than any sane person would admit to! Training has seemed like more of a test of mental strength and determination than the usual enjoyment, but luckily sanity was somewhat retained with one urban mtb ride where snowy roads in the city could be ridden like trails. It was too cold to stop and take many photos but Phoenix Park was amazing – pristine snow, blue sky, and almost empty except for herds of deer.

Phoenix Park

Christmas Day in Dublin

My flight home to England for Christmas was cancelled and my brother and I got stranded in Dublin. We enjoyed the deep snow and sunny weather and had a second Christmas in York two days later.

This week has been my annual international training camp in Yorkshire. It may be a pro mtb destination for the world cup in May but December is not the best time to come. Although it has been a relief to ride a moving bike since the roads are clear of snow here, the weather has meant more mental strength training to endure the cold and wet. Yesterday I was soaked and feeling like an ice cube after an hour, so by the end of five hours… At least there is proper tea here to warm up afterwards!

Yorkshire Tea

frozen river in York

Two cold rides left before international training camp part two – a week in the Sierra Nevadas in Spain with Freeride Spain. Great hosts, huge climbs, THE best technical descents in the world, rocket fuel Spanish coffee, good weather – excited is an understatement!