Author: hydey

 

We arrived at ten o’clock on a nice warm sunny day. Present were Phil Saxena from Architrail, Keely and people from the council, Park Rangers, a lady from the Salvation Army, volunteers and the youth members from Hadleigh Mountain Bike Club. The morning was to show us and the other people how to look after the track and surrounding areas when it is open to the public. When it is open, there will be different grades of trail; Green will be multi user, Blue for beginners, Red for more advanced riders and Black will include the features.

Most of the maintenance can be done about once every 3 months. Basically all the tools that will be needed are lots of brooms, shovels/spades, a whacker plate and some different sizes of stones and dust. Where there is lots of surface stone and grit, we would need to sweep it away to leave the hard smooth surface clear underneath. If we needed to redo it, we would re-dust it with some wet dust and rake it over, compacting it down afterwards.

Phil took us around to look at the pump track first. The tarmac is strong on the berms so will last a long time but we should keep an eye out for BMX stunt peg damage and patch up any holes. Loose stones can be swept away so that all users can ride it safely e.g. little kids on balance bikes.

Natural riding lines around the skills area and other trails should be monitored as this is where the erosion will show first. Basically sweep away larger stones to stop riders slipping and encourage less skilled riders to access the correct riding lines.

We should keep an eye on the larger rocks and the three drop-off rock areas because they may become loose as rain may wash away some of the dirt that is keeping them secure in the ground. The bottom of the drop offs need to be kept smooth and rounded to stop your front wheel sitting in a gully and throwing you over the bars when you land.

Cattle grids need to be maintained so that gaps do not appear at the edges joining the path to the metal grid.

The trails will naturally change as they become more bedded in and get used more and more. If lots of loose stone appear get out the broom and sweep it away to show the compact ground underneath. Loose sand stone can be piled at the edge or be removed. Weeds can be kept back using weedkiller or a flamethrower.

The wooden ramps need to be checked for looseness, rotten planks of wood, loose bolts etc. This area is one that Hadleigh MTB club may be asked to modify as we can join up the right and left hand trails and link up the blue parts of the trail. Maybe we could add some features like logs or rocks here?

Oak tree and other tree features like Leap of Faith are also somewhere that the club could be responsible for keeping tidy. Loose leaves and sticks could be cleared up and sweeping should be done to keep a smooth transition at the bottom of the drops.

Drainage will need to be checked so this means making sure pipes are clear of mud or weeds. Gullys can form where water runs off the trails so this will need to be noted. Loose stone material swept up from other areas of the course could be used to fill these holes.

Some areas of the course have had the sandstone cut into and it is still very loose. These banks have been hydra-seeded to allow the grass seed to grow in the sandy soil. This will hopefully bind the soil together making it stronger and stopping landslides and damage to the trails.

The area that has the dual slalom is to be kept as natural as possible so that the impact of the mountain bike trail is less obvious in the surrounding fields although some minor weeding might need to be done.

Basically our job is to keep an eye on water damage to the trails and features following heavy rain. We should also be aware that long periods of hot dry weather can cause the trails to dry out and make things loose.

We should also check that the signs and signposts are where they should be, say what they need to say and haven’t been damaged.

Hopefully we can all do something to help look after this course so that it’s here for a long time for us to enjoy!

 

The weekend started Friday night knowing that we did not have to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready, (like we usually do). There was no aspire in the morning as Steve Manser was setting up the course on Saturday morning so he could then run a short session in the morning.

11:00 am broke before we knew it and it was time for me to get some food down my neck and off to the aspire. We got to the aspire and got ready with Gary and Steve McWhinnie setting up. We started doing a session on our core skills (manuals, power assisted front wheel lifts and rear wheel lifts).

Before we knew it the aspire was over and it was time to head home, the time for practice and training was over. What we needed was a good recovery and plenty of carbohydrates inside of us.

The morning was upon us and it was now important to get up and prepare ourselves with a good breakfast and plenty of fluids as it was going to be a hot day. Gary arrived to pick me up and we then hit the road with an extreme amount of fog. 7:30 was our arrival with no one there at all. We were closely followed by Barry and Steve McWhinnie. We set up our stuff in the club gazebo which proudly shows our sponsors logos and just waited for the others. Once we were all set me and George went out for a warm up with the others closely following to make sure we had plenty of time to do our rollers.

We analysed the course and set about relaxing and taking on some more water and food. Rollers began with me, George and Connor on the rollers with Harry sitting on George’s turbo trainer. It was time to grid…

The nerves kicked in as we all tried to relax and talk to people to keep our calm.

“Expect to start in the next 15 seconds,” everyone hunched over controlling the breathing… And GO the sound of the whistle broke and everyone was off heart pumping faster than ever, gears clunking, legs burning…

By the end of the second lap George was in second with him catching Troy the whole time. He eventually made the pass to take the win by six seconds from Troy and win the u14s race which was the first podium for the club’s Youth team. As a result of the win George came third overall in the standings which the club’s second podium of the day. Connor came in a good solid 5th and Harry in joint 8th with Cameron McWhinnie in 12th and me (Robert Staines) coming in 9th in the older category.

We got back to find all the amazing support that everyone from the club who came along was giving the team including the star of the show David Britney and crew for all the amazing food and drinks that he had prepared. A big thank you to Matt and his team for a fantastic Mud Sweat & Gears series this year and we are already looking forward to next season. We would also like to thank Rubena Tyres and Hardnutz Helmets for their support this season.

 

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!

 

Saturday:

The weekend started with a 5:30 wake up call to make sure we had enough time to get a good breakfast for the day ahead then get dressed and load the car with all the bikes and gear for the day, not forgetting our HardnutZ helmets for the training and racing. Once we had left the house it was a short journey to pick up Rob, then a rendezvous with Connor to head down to Thetford in a convoy.

After a two hour drive in the car and a lovely relaxing sleep we arrived but to our surprise we had arrived at an old farm, which the Tom Tom (satnav) had sent us too. So after asking people and going the wrong way a few times we finally arrived at fire road 24, which was the correct place and followed it down to the venue. We arrived and unloaded all that was needed for the day and got ready to be briefed by Steve Manser (Eastern Region Aspire Coach).

We got straight into a quick warm up and we were then put into groups and got on with practicing all of our core skills such as manuals, rear wheel lifts and powered front wheel lifts. This was because later on we had to compete in a duathlon consisting of a short circuit race then a skill for points.

The idea of this was to see who could perform the skills when under pressure and out of breath.

After a great day of perfecting skills and racing we set off to our hotel for the night, it was a short drive back to Mildenhall, a quick shower and then out for a nice steak and chips, then a few games of pool while the food went down, then an early night.

Sunday – Race Day

We arrived at the track at 7:30 to give ourselves plenty of time to finish putting the gazebo up and get our stuff and bikes ready. Soon after we set off for a sighting lap with Paul and made sure we took plenty of time too look at all parts of the course and what would be the best lines and tactics.

One thing we always think about is where and when we will have opportunities to take on gels and water, as this is crucial to race performance.

We returned from the lap and sat and relaxed in the gazebo making sure we had plenty of food and water.

As we did this many looks where received from people admiring our matching kit and helmets.

As it got closer to gridding it was time to start getting kitted up and ready to go, so I put my tube in my pocket, strapped the co2 canister to my saddle and headed over to the grid.

As I was called up I felt the adrenalin start to flow, 15 minutes to start, time to have a gel.

10 minutes to start, check everything.

5 minutes to start, everyone goes quiet.

‘’Expect to start in the next 30 seconds”.

‘’15 seconds”.

Whistle goes… Sprint off the line… Gears clunking… Heart going… Start to get into a rhythm… Control the breathing…

For myself at least the race went very well, I had no problems with my bike and crossed the line in 4^th place, which was my best result of the season and means I obtain a good amount of ranking points.

Connor finished in fifth which was his best result this year and the same goes for Harry who came in 8^th.

Rob had a bit of an incident as at the start of lap two as he dropped his bottle so could not hydrate for two laps and to make things worse it was one of the hottest and driest races. He however managed to finish a respectable 10^th in his category.

 

	Rider 1	Rider 2	Rider 3	Rider 4
Rider Number	292	39	598	150
Rider Name	George Crocombe	Connor May	Harry Bates	Robert Staines
Category	Juvenile Male	Juvenile Male	Juvenile Male	Youth Male
Sponsor	Hadleigh MTB Club –	Hadleigh MTB Club –	Hadleigh MTB Club –	Hadleigh MTB Club –
Finishing Position	4	5	8	10
Race Time	01:18:16	01:21:45	01:08:58	01:29:40
Time +	00:08:39	00:12:08	1 Lap	00:22:36
Average Lap Time	00:19:34	00:20:26	00:22:59	00:22:25
Fastest Lap	00:14:59	00:15:40	00:18:19	00:15:24
Lap1	00:14:59	00:15:40	00:18:19	00:15:24
Lap2	00:20:44	00:21:18	00:25:30	00:21:34
Lap3	00:21:21	00:22:08	00:25:09	00:23:50
Lap4	00:21:12	00:22:39		00:28:52