Author Archives Andy

Llandegla MTB Duathlon 2015

Mar 11, 2015

The first race and first win of the season for Andy at the wintry Llandegla Off-road Duathlon

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Llandegla MTB Duathlon 2015

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Nutcracker XC Round 6- Fremington

Aug 11, 2014

Billed as the most technical XC race course in the country, this race high on the ridgeline above Fremington certainly didn’t disappoint!

Nutcracker website

1795691_1509949662573734_2724532733116229427_nEveryone was a bit nervous at the start after the lengthy counselling we recieved prior to the race explaining the difficulty and exposed nature of the course. I didn’t get a chance to pre-ride it due to arriving too late. The first half of the lap is a long difficult climb all the way up on the moor, and for lap one I sat in 2nd-3rd place trying to conserve some energy. As we came around towards the edge, and the inevitable ‘dangerous’ downhill  I could sense the nervosness of the gruop looming. Maybe stupidly, I thought this might be a good time to attack, so I pulled out of the drafting line and accelerated into the downhill.

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Rocky singletrack

Dropping over the skyline, a moonscape landsacpe opened up below, and we took some difficult ridgeline turns down into more rocky singletrack. It was really exciting to ride ‘un-sighted’ and with the added pressure of just having ‘jumped’ off the front of the pack. Swoopy, rocky singletrack continued to the  base of the climb again, and I made an effort over lap 2 to get a good gap on second place. I 10560572_10152241571252116_7745299017239555251_omanaged to hold off the chasing riders on the final lap, and I was able to enjoy the last downhill to the finish, and avoid skidding out on the steep, grassy turns into the finish line.

Big thanks to The Bike Tree, Nucracker and Lisa Metcalfe for Photos

 

 

Parkwood Nutcracker XC 2014

Jun 08, 2014

We love riding in Sheffield, and even better a proper XC race right in the heart of the city!

Being billed as the ‘Steel City Showdown’ it felt that the cross-country little brother to the Steel City Downhill, with a great crowd and amazing support for both events.

Parkwood (2)We started the race at a fast pace, fighting for position into the first singletrack. I managed to somehow keep 3rd place into the woods, and kept close to the leader as we jostled for position around the first lap. I felt the pace slow as we finished our first lap and took the chance to make a jump away from the others on the climb. I carried on attacking on the downhill we know and love, being our local track, and managed to get a good gap as we approached lap three. The highlights of the course were the smooth berms, and tabletops, the slippy off camber singletrack, and the new dual slalom descender section; left or right line?!

I managed to hold the lead through to the finish for the win. Sitting around after the event there was a really friendly atmposhere, chatting, and of course some obligatory heckling of the vets race!

PW Podium

Wearing the New Bike Tree Swag

The Bike Tree, Sheffield

Thanks to Lisa Metcalfe for the first 2 photos, to see all her photos click here

Results page

 

Kirroughtree Hillbilly Duathlon 2014

May 18, 2014

Andy takes his first win of the season at a great race at the amazing Kirroughtree 7stanes trail centre. 

Results and Hillbilly Website

I started the run at a reasonable pace trying hard to hang on to the fast Jim Haworth as we ascended the woodland trails of the Galloway forest. I couldn’t keep with the strong pace of the leader and I started to drop back, leaving me to suffer on my own with some left hamstring pain from a recent fell race. I remember thinking back to last week’s F1-grandprix at this point in the run, as I felt a bit like Lewis Hamilton trying to conserve tyre wear as I desperately tried to rest my left leg on the difficult bits and corners. Before arriving in to transition there were a couple of steep ‘stings in the tail’ hills to really make sure you were thoroughly cooked before moving on to the bike section.

Kirroughtree Mens solo Podium

I had a good transition helped by the consistently brilliant marshaling (who held my bike for me), and went out in 2nd place about 2 minutes back on the solo leader. I really love this trail and the pains soon disappeared as the adrenaline rush hit on the first downhill! I soon got caught by a speedy rider doing the team event, and had a bit of fun trying to hold his wheel for a while down the flowing singletrack. The final descent is the stuff of legends in British mountain bike trails and I was loving it until a puncture about 1 km to the finish. I didn’t even think about stopping (mostly cos I didn’t take a pump!) and bumped my way around the last few corners to take the solo win.

The event was really top class from the organisation, to the courses, to the crowd. A great day topped off by the prize giving of a really nice handmade shield which will be engraved and kept at the visitors centre for subsequent years.

Massive thanks to The Bike Tree in Sheffield for their support.

Even got an interview for BBC Scotland! haha

Even got an interview for BBC Scotland! haha

Kielder Duathlon

Dec 02, 2013

Drink. Sleep. Run. Bike. Run. Sleep.

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On Sunday Round 2 of the High Terrain Events duathlon series took place at Kielder Castle, Northumberland.

At Round One I was lucky enough to win some lovely prizes including a 36 pint Keg from Ennerdale Brewery. Four friends and myself decided in our wisdom, that the best day to drink the keg was the Friday night before the event…

Oh. Dear.

Lets just say that my rice n pasta carb-loading probably wasn’t going to be of much use, given that I’d just puked it all back up!

So, not the best preparation, but my hangover eventually lifted by the Sunday morning, and I was ready to see if my body would still function.

Run 1–> A more laid back starting pace this time as we gradually wound our way up the fire-roads that encircle the emotively named deadwater fell. Everything was so serene until we jumped over the stile and attempted to run down the really technical open fell-side. People were falling, disappearing down holes, twisting ankles, and shouting out all over the place. I managed to keep upright and came out at the bottom in joint 1st place as we ran back towards the transition area.

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Bike –> I gained a few valuable seconds at transition and the two of us headed out together. We competed with each other for the lead up the first climb and I managed to just hit the singletrack in front. I thought now was the time for a big effort to try and get away. I managed to keep extending the lead throughout the adapted ‘blue’ course.

There was some awesome autumnal riding through the gorgeous forest and moorland with some great little features- small kickers, berms, and some flat, fast meandering corners.

Run 2–>This should have been fairly uneventful with a good lead, but I managed to miss a signpost and get lost! Surely my vision was blinded by the low sun?! I’m used to getting lost at races as my MTBO mates will know, but this was without a map! I desperately asked some poor walkers if they’d seen any race arrows, but they didn’t seem to understand my garbled, exhausted, beer-brained nonsense; so I ran back a little way to find my missed marker. Pretty soon we were back at the Castle after traversing a short distance through some sumptuous open woodland.

 

 

High terrain Events really deliver at these events; so well organised, and really fun courses!

Thanks again to The Bike Tree, for their continued support. Everyone should check out their new shiny website Here!

Many thanks to SportSunday for their great photographs and support out on the course.  Be sure to check out their site too.. even if you didn’t race!