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  • Mud Sweat and Gears round 6, Hintlesham

    MS&G Round 6, Hintlesham – Euan Alexander

    Total Distance : 10.5 Miles

    Date : 1-July-2018

    Pre-Race Preparation : My race preparation Started the week before drinking plenty of fluids every day as the predicted weather was 30 degrees. To keep my legs warmed up and turning over I ensured to take a long but easy ride everyday up until the race.

    Pre-Race Thoughts : After riding the corse i was starting to think about my tactics for the best places to drink and overtake during the race.

    Lap Length : 2.64 Miles

    Track Surface : Due to the very hot weather the track was hard , dry and extremely dusty. It also happened to be an all natural course which allowed it to be incredibly bumpy. The track surface also made made myself concentrate considerably harder than on a man made corse as there where little pot holes hidden around.

    Ascent/Descent : 221.0/254.0 Meters

    Start Time : 10:00 AM Finish Time : 10:53 AM Weather : 27 Degrees

    Pre-Race Routine : For me this always starts in the morning about 6 AM where i get my self ready, pack the remaining bits for the car and cook my breakfast. My breakfast consists of porridge with extra large oats and a mixture of seeds on top, over the time i have been racing i have found this to be the best fuel for me as it has a slow release of energy and keeps me going right until the end of my race. It is also quick to make and easy to eat in the on the to the race.

    Shoes : For the race I decided to wear my Shimano XC5 shoes as the are the lightest pair I have and I thought the would be suitable considering the hot weather.

    Fluids taken during the race : Fluids play a key part in my performance on hot days as i pour a bottle of water over myself every lap to help keep my self cool i also have a bottle of water on my bike. I drink at least 500ml of this in a race. This doesn’t sound alot but at race pace and on rough track surfaces it can be very hard to drink. I found at Hintlesham I drank 750ml of water.

    Calories consumed During the race : 765 Sodium

    Electrolytes consumed During the race : 1 Electrolyte gel

    General Observations : One thing I noticed in the race was some riders struggling due to the heat. When we would go past the pits I would grab a bottle of water where as they wouldn’t this started to show on the second lap where riders where dropping back.

    Things that worked for this event : Dropping a few PSI in the tires to take the bumps out of the surface of the track.

    Things that didn’t work well for this event : Clip placement on my shoe caused problems for me on the start line as when the whistle blew I missed the pedal two times.

    Psychological Observations : In racing the worst part for me is sitting on the the start line and the first 20 minutes of the race. Especially at Hintlesham. As we started on a hill it made getting a good start very important. sitting on the the start line waiting for the Whistle to go is absolutely nerve racking as ur mind is trying to predict the unpredictable. Once the whistle did go at Hintlesham I found a comfortable pace and stuck with it for the first lap and a half .I found getting in to a rhythm easy this time around because of the nature of the corse. As I looked down at my Garmin and saw the first 20 minutes was out the way I thought to myself “ the hard bit is out the way “ . Once this is over i like to think about my pace for a minute and either speed it up or slow it down, in this case for Hintlesham i sped up.

    Post-Race Recovery : My recovery was a simple warm down and a protein recovery drink.

    Things to Improve for Next Time : I found my self getting over excited on one of the down hill section of the course. Being a mixture of an “absolute maniac” as my mum likes to call me and a speed demon i pushed the limits going faster every time until I went to fast and low-sided the bike on a corner towards the bottom of the fast section. My Garmin recorded i fell of doing 29.8 MPH and I definitely felt it when I looked over to find no skin on my arm or leg.

    Euan Alexander – 2018 HMTBC Race Team

  • MS&G Round 2 – Phoenix Park – Jake Darragh

    It is the morning of MS&G round 2, windy and slightly warm. Dad and I arrive at Connor May’s house as he needed a lift up to the race. 

    Now arriving at the venue, all ready seeing many cars, I knew at this moment that it was going to be a busy race! Not long after pulling up I decided to go for a course preview walk with Connor, to see what the A and B lines were like. 

    As soon as Myself and Connor got back to the Club gazebos, I get myself ready for a warm up lap with my old man. Just starting off I knew this was going to be a bumpy race. Coming up to the first A line which was the wood steps, I just hit it and hoped for the best, after the first attempt I realised that it wasn’t actually hard and that I could go into the A line and clear all of the steps. 

    After the first A line, there was a small table that you could do some ‘rad’ stuff on. Just look… 

    After an eventful first lap with my Dad, all of the Youth and categories below that were all set to start racing. Well done to all of the 10 o’clock racers! 

    Now its time for a warm up lap with team members, Kieran Devlin and Rob Staines. Nothing much happened on this lap except from me clipping out on one A line. 

    All on the start line now, gridded and ready to race. And were off, I got one of my best starts, I am working with Kieran Jarvis and Travis Pell, the two people I want to beat, I knew I was feeling good. After the first 3 laps, I drop my chain, (this keeps happening, but now I have a new drive train, so hopefully no chain drops). 

    I knew now that I had to make a drastic change to catch Travis And Kieran back up. 

    After trying to recover from the chain drop, the unexpected happened, (I’ve had trouble with my tendons/muscles in my hamstring)  I pull the muscles that are aggravating which sent a huge sharp pain going from the back of my knee, up to the back of my thigh, this caused me to stop for 3 or 4 minutes before I could put any pressure on my leg. 

    I knew from this point on my race was over and all I needed to do was finish. I had this pain for at least 30 minutes, I even had a tear come to my eye as it was that painful. Every pedal stroke was getting more painful. 

    My dad pulled me over to see if i was okay and I explained to him what had happened, he told me to pull out but the last thing i wanted was a DNF, them three letters can mean two things, Did Not Finish or the complete opposite which is; Do Not Fail. I go by the second one.

    In the end I timed the race right so when I come across the line I wouldn’t have to do another lap as I would’ve been two laps down. 

    My Mitas tyres am suited the course well, also the Cyclewrap film protected my bike to its max. The hardnutz helmet kept my head cool during the whole time of warming up and racing. 

    My Carbon Nextie wheels worked superbly, giving me great stiffness round the corners and also making my bike look good! 

    Well done to Elite Team member Rob Staines for getting a 3rd. And also well done to all others who got a podium. 

  • Round 4: MSG @ Lee Valley

    Round 4 of the MSG Eastern region came from the Lee Valley Velopark in Stratford, London. There was a smaller turnout for this event compared to the others in the series due to it being an ‘extra’ event. The course itself was very technical compared to the others in the series, with several A and B lines.

    I set off early for the practice lap, and made sure I was comfortable with all of the A lines as you could gain a significant amount of time by opting for these rather than the slower B lines. The track was very flat, with hardly any uphill sections, almost the opposite of Hadleigh Park. The surface was also very similar to Hadleigh Park, making the fast rolling Mitas Scylla the tyre of choice.

    I was gridded on the front row along with Joe Champness for my race. I got a good start and managed to settle into a rhythm in around 10th place. Traffic was a big issue on this track with it being very narrow, and soon long trains were starting to form behind slower riders. I managed to stay out of trouble to finish 9th, with Joe Champness taking his best finish of the year with a superb 4th place. In the open female Jane Brockman took an excellent 6th place, and in the open male Paul Cavalla finished in a well deserved 3rd  place, with Kevin Darragh and Matt Phillips finishing in 11th and 12th respectively.

    Pic3

    In the under 12’s race Daniel Cavalla put in a great performance to get 12th position, his best yet.

    It was a thoroughly enjoyable event thanks to the superb organising of the Mud Sweat and Gears team, also thank you to our excellent sponsors Mitas UK for the superb Scylla tyres and Hardnutz helmets for the well ventilated helmet on what was a hot day in London.

     

    By Adam Cavalla; Hadleigh MTB Club Youth Race Team Member. 

     

    Photo Credit Basil Thornton 

  • Round 5: MSG @ Hadleigh Park

    Round 5 of the MSG Eastern Region was at Hadleigh Park, Hadleigh, Essex. This was also the Regional Championships and it was at our home track!  In total across all the categories there were 27 people racing for Hadleigh Mountain Bike Club, from under 9s to Grand Veterans – which meant there were plenty of familiar faces to spot in the races.

    It was a nice sunny morning and I got to the track early to do a warm up lap of the adult’s track – which was a good start to the day, as it was very hilly with lots of technical features. 

    I took part in the under 12s training which started at 10am.  I was in the same group as Mason and Arthur from the club – we had good fun practicing manuals over the ramps and hill climbing.  Whilst doing the training I could see the morning racers doing triple trouble – I could see that racers taking the ‘A’ line were considerably faster than those taking the ‘B’.

    Pic1

    After the training I had half an hour’s rest in the sunshine, relaxing before my race. 

    I was very nervous waiting to be gridded for the start. Once the race started it was a sprint to the first long downhill section, which had a sharp right hand turn at the bottom.  When I got to oak tree descent there was a slight downhill and then a sharp turn, the person in front of me slowed down so I had to stop, and the person behind me then crashed into me causing me to come off.  I quickly jumped back on my bike and carried on with the race. I think the support from the club marshals and members around the track helped me to move up to 11th place – which is my best of the season!

    It was good to see George and Sue on the podiums – both Eastern Region champions.

    Pic2

    I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the adult races from different places around the track.  Jake’s shoe broke during his race meaning he had to go into the technical zone to change into one of Connors shoes!

    It was a fun day with some great results for the club.

    Thank you to Mitas and Hardnutz for their support.

    by Daniel Cavalla, Hadleigh MTB Club Youth Race Team member. 

     

    -Photo Credit Barry Ablitt.

  • MS&G 3 Thetford 08/05/2016

    MS&G3 – Dads Report

    Early start again for the 100 mile trip to Fire Road 24 at Brandon in deepest Suffolk.

    Journey was however rather pleasant with an early morning warm breeze (which makes a nice change).

    Gazebo’s erected in the usual manner (after a bit of removal work) and those riding the morning race, went off to carry out their personal reccy of the course.

    On returning, the discussion was had around tyre choice and as most had opted for the Rubena / Mitas Scylla and it was decided to remain on this compound, as conditions were dry and demanded a tyre that could grip in the corners and give free rolling straight line speed for the fire road sections

    Lads bikes all looked nice and clean which is thanks to another of our sponsors in the form of Duck Smart.

    So time to get loads of fluids in before the 10:00 guns….and 4 laps of the forest and the terrain in front….

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    Off 1st were the U16 and U14 (Youths and Juvenile) and with around 7 riders all looking rather smart with the majority in another of our sponsors helmets. Thanks to Hardnutz for keeping them safe when they do fall off (as they do on quite a few occasions!!).

    Lap one saw George Crocombe come through in 2nd place, then followed a train of Youths which gets rather hard to distinguish and feed water to when they are bombing past!!

    As the race went on the field spread out and some riders were caught up on the single file tracks, but as this applies to all – its about their race craft at this time to get around those slower.

    After an hour or so, George came through  to take 2nd place in the U16, which now gives him a 1st and 2 second places in the series.

    Following George for Hadleigh were Harry Bates (9th), then Connor May (11th), Matthew Darley (15th) with Harrison having to pull out after 2 laps due to feeling under the weather. Harrison did however place 18th.

    In the U14 category, Joe Champness came in 8th with Adam Cavella taking 18th. Both lads are 1st year U14, so good solid results.

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    I unfortunately left before the afternoon events, so cannot comment on how the race went for the U18 lads, other than looking a the results to see we took 3rd, 4th and 5th positions,. With Jake Darragh claiming the final podium spot.

    http://www.timelaps.co.uk/assets/uploads/EVENTREPORT.aspx?eventid=365FireRoad24Thetford08%2F05%2F2016

    Gary Crocombe.

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