Month: September 2014

 

Saturday

As we approached Shouldham Warren we crossed beautiful flat fields full of crops ready to be harvested. The sky was grey with a sun desperate to shine through. I arrived at 1:30pm as pre-arranged by Steve Manser to have a practise on the course ahead of Sunday’s race.

Shouldham Warren is nestled behind tiny Shouldham village, which opens up into this picturesque forest full of pine trees with pine cones covering the floor. The fire road leading to race site was made of very fine powdery sand. I couldn’t wait to get bike off the car and catch up with the others on the Aspire session.

After around 20 minutes of cycling around and trying not to be wiped out on the sandy corners I could hear the sound of squeaky brakes, which told me that soon I would see the Aspire group coming out the forest.

In the distance I could see the group coming around the last corner of the course at the bottom of the final straight. I met up with them at the grid to practice XCE (cross country eliminator) starts, which is 4-5 racers being held up by some-one and after the whistle it was an all-out sprint around a short lap. The last placed rider gets eliminated so the last person standing wins.

After this we when out for a lap of the track with Steve. Where we look at the track and see if we could find anywhere we could shave off time from our laps, around the lap we met the amazing people from Kings Lynn MTB club who made the track for that race which is one of the best tracks of the year so far, because of the spongey  single tracks, fast sandy fire roads and exhilarating steep descents.

After the Aspire session we made our way to nearby Kings Lynn to find our hotel for the night. We had arranged to meet Harry Bates and his parents there and after settling in they arrived and we all sat down for an evening meal together and discussed the forthcoming race at length.

Sunday-Race day

Time 7am breakfast consisting of a lot of pork products to get as many calories for the race. After the short drive from our hotel back to the Warren, the sun was shining. We rushed out on to the track to get warmed up and to show Harry around the track.

After we got back to the gazebo we had a final check of our bikes and a quick clean as the fine dust had covered the gear cassettes. Then off to the gridding line.

When the women had started their race the men started gridding. When everyone had been gridded the commissionaire gives us the two minute warning.

Looking at the starting hill…

Heart racing…

One minute

Silence…

Prepare to start in the next 30 seconds

GO!!!

Gears crunching, your mind set. A frantic dash up the hill from the start, the top riders disappeared into the distance.

For myself the race did not go to well with my rear valve had blown ¾ of the way around my second lap concluding in a long walk to the finish.

On my way down the final straight I see George and Robert racing down the final straight towards the finish line George behind Robert catching the slipstream, George starts to pull past and they collide briefly. Robert pulls away and crosses the line in an amazing adrenaline sprint finish. After a short time Harry crosses the line followed by Cameron. Back at the tent we talk about how the race went and who did the best. After we have had a chat we start to pack up our gear and the tent and begin the long drive back home.

 

Some of may have seen a number of posts put up when we were on our summer holidays in Ibiza, regarding George carrying out training rides, so I thought I would share some information with you all in case you are considering a winter (or summer) break and want to take in personal one to one training, or a bunch going out for a group gathering.

We contacted a number of clubs before going on holiday (as there are quite a few), but Simon Rose (Velo Club Ibiza) was one of the first to respond.

Simon has been on the island for over 18months now and has relocated with his family and is building up a strong clientele including working with some household names (to cyclists) from Team GB and beyond.

After discussing our requirements over the next few days, Simon had put together a tailor made package made up of 4 x 3 hour rides, spread across 10 days and included the hire of an Orbea Carbon Road bike.

He was attentive to what we wanted to get out of the sessions, but flexible to change rides depending on what had already been achieved or whether we wanted to go to the next level.

He collected George on time on the days we specified even though he was located the other side of the island.

Below are the strava routes that he took George out on, which shows a selection of climbs and distance.

ROUTE 1: http://www.strava.com/activities/182834553

ROUTE 2: http://www.strava.com/activities/184116020

ROUTE 3: http://www.strava.com/activities/186907527

ROUTE 4: http://www.strava.com/activities/187267736

The route names are all song lyrics!

He knows the island like the back of his hand and is looking to offer winter breaks that include Villa Accommodation and packages to suit all budgets and group sizes, so if you are thinking of doing such a trip, be it solo or within a group, then please do consider him and his services.

His contact details are as follows:

Simon Rose
V.C Ibiza
IBZ: +34 639 372 089
UK:+44 (0) 7958 364777
www.veloclubibiza.com
@veloclubibiza
https://www.facebook.com/VeloClubIbiza?fref=ts

 

Kieran Mote BSc
Sport Therapist
07880 883836
Www.ResultsSportTherapy.co.uk

Injury prevention is always better than injury treatment. The advice given below is for different target groups on how often to see a therapist to prevent injury in the most ideal way for you. Remember, these are only guidelines for frequency of treatment. Therapy will help you perform in exercise optimally and prevent injury, but it will not make you immune to injury altogether! Always listen to your body; if you feel a complaint spurring up during training, don’t push through it, be sensible about it and realise maybe this time was just too much.

I often get asked in session with clients ‘What would you recommend for regular treatment?’ Well of course I’m inclined to say the more, the better. Obviously this method doesn’t work for the majority so I’ll try to give you an answer that may suit every category of person.

If you’d say you’re quite athletic and like to participate in exercise regularly, it does depend on how intense you train. For example, if you were a competitive sprinter involved in regular races I would say once/twice a week if possible, the same goes for heavy weightlifters. These sessions will always look at areas that may ache more than other areas, or particular niggles that may be felt. When sprinting or lifting, those small problems are going to be where any potential injuries could occur (often suddenly) so we get on top of them before the worst happens.

A more of a cardio lifestyle is less likely to have such an acute onset of injury, more likely a slow gradual increase of pain until an injury occurs fully. A jogger may have pain in the Achilles tendon but could take days or even weeks before it’s a debilitating pain. To these types of athletes I would say once every 2-3 weeks would do the trick.

To the sedentary office worker sessions become more of an ‘as and when’ basis, and by that I mean if you feel some back pain spurring up, call your therapist there and then to get booked in while it’s still fresh in your head. If you think of the pain and ignore it, you will most likely be reminded when it comes to sleeping (not fun!). Clients in the past who work in offices have presented with carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow or just a bit of lower back pain most of the time. Whatever the problem get it fixed to carry on with your daily living efficiently and comfortably.

Of course please bear in mind that these recommendations are for uninjured individuals. If you feel any problems arising or already there as a constant pain, get on top of them ASAP, they will only get worse!