Northern Downill Hamsterley Trail Bike Championship of the Universe TT 20th September 2015

Northern Downhill Hamsterley Trail Bike Championship of the Universe TT 

20th September 2015

The Championship of the Universe TT was finally upon us, the Northern Downhill events are awesome and the previous three TT events this year had all been fantastic. This promised to be the TT race of all the TT races so excitement was high! 

The format is a one day event, usually down a trail centre track. You are timed on each race run and your best time used to place you. A fun, relaxed day our with your mates and a great opportunity to meet others. 

This track incorporated four quite different sections. They were all so much fun and the changes kept you on your toes! The top was a flat out rooty section with some small drops, this swung into 'Odd Sox' a blue berm trail centre section which was a lot twisty fun. Coming out of this onto the fire road for a few pedal strokes then back into the wood section, dark, rooty, tight turns and a few fun technical sections before popping out onto the fire road again into the final section. This incorporated a couple of technical corners then pedal like crazy to the finish post. An awesome track and something for everyone. 

Driving over in the morning, I was expecting to be really nervous, but I found myself just really excited! There had been lots of interest on MTBChix&Trails and I was looking forward to finally putting some faces to the names on the social media chat. Sign on was quick and easy with the TT family running the event smoothly, even homemade cakes for sale :-) 

Photo thanks to Melissa Pearson

It was great to see so many women there, 23 in total which allowed there to be three actual categories for the women! Brilliant to have such a great turn out and to meet many of them throughout the day, including seeing Lorna who I've not seen for almost a year!

We got ready quickly trying to dodge the midges and headed up to the course. Practice ran very smoothly with no hassle from riders behind. I didn't feel any pressure, other than cheers from the marshalls to try and pull a skid on fire road going into the woods to win 'The Skid of the Day', not something I can intentionally do yet! 

Line choices were made and I felt happy I knew what I was doing (or hoped to do.....)

Photo by Stephen D Brian www.facebook.com/StephenDBrianPhoto

After a quick bite to eat we ladies headed back up for the first race run, stereo typically going to the loo all together on the way! It was so great to chat to all the fabulous ladies and get to know everyone better. Some had come from far, it was others first race and a few had come to the race on their own. I hope that no one felt on their own on the day as we all supported each other. There were no egos to clash with, just a lot of support for each other. 

Photo by Zach Robson check out his work here

The count down came for my first race run and I tried to channel my excitement and nerves. I had been on the podium at all the other TT's this year, but I knew there were some awesome riders there so the pressure was on! My first run felt smooth, although I faltered on the fire road transition. In my mind I had intended to corner properly, but the slippy gravel meant the reality was quite different! I think almost everyone struggled on this transition (well that's what I'm saying to myself anyway!). 

Photo by Annie Bee

The support on the track was awesome, lots of people shouting encouragement all the way down the course, including the line of green Roots MTB shirts which boosted me on for the final push to the finish. The timing is done using chips on your arm so no dibbing or dabbing is required at the start or finish. Easy. 

As soon as you finish, you hand your chip in to be given a print out of your time and you can check your live position. I was amazed to see I'd run a 2.52 which put me in second place! After a debriefing with the ladies and some food we went back up for the second race run.

Photo by JWBT Photography

I tried to catch up the gap with Sarah Newman in first place and maybe tried too hard and made mistakes. I closed the gap by 2 seconds but was still 6 away, but super happy to take second place!! 

• In the 19-29 category Katie Clark took first with a 2.54, Kelly Gott second and Alice Sutcliffe in third. 

• In the 30-39 category Sara Newman took first with a 2.44, me with a 2.50 and Paula Mckenzie in third

• In the 40-49 category Melissa Pearson took first with a 2.49, Beverley Adipura second and Michaela Tiernan third. 

For all the results follow this link

When I first started riding and racing I didn't know any other mums who raced. On Sunday all the women on the podiums for the last two categories were mums. Whoop! All the women there were amazing. Lorna raced despite it only being the 7th time on a bike this year and pulled a great time! Amelia raced despite only having beautiful Phoebe a few weeks ago! Dawn raced despite injuries and bike mechanicals, and pulled a smashing second run! Emily carried on after a bad crash. It was Sarah's first race and she took fourth! For some it was their first race, others had gone for the race on their own, but we were all there for each other, who ever we were. If you are thinking of racing but are nervous or apprehensive for any reason, try a TT event, you will not regret it.

The boys did awesome also, Brocky made his goal of coming in top ten with his 9th place, Dan smashed it and would have been there had he not had two crashes on his last run but still came 15th! Brilliant days racing and awesome atmosphere.....

Whats next........

• Kidland ND(H)uro 4th October - said to be an intro to the steeper enduro on natural trails, looks like it's going to be much fun. Follow this link

• Kielder ND(H) uro 8th November - entry to enduro and the course is on a red trail centre...get  entered!! I am, hope to see you there!

And looking forward to the dates for next years NDH events!

Massive thanks to  Roots MTB for the coaching and support and the Roots MTB Team who are the best guys to race with, love you guys!!

Thanks also to our sponsors Henry Armer Fitness, DC Cycles, Shape up, Southlakes Motorhomes and J F Hornby & Co

Morzine July 2015

Morzine Adventure July 2015

My first trip to the Alps to ride my bike couldn't come quick enough. I was lucky to have the boys of Roots MTB driving down with all the bikes (15 in a VW transporter!) and gear whilst I leisurely took the plane and made the journey in a few hours. It was lovely to have the time to read without the kids jumping around! Sad not to have them there jumping around too. 

The drive up to Morzine is such a beautiful one and fabulous to see the alpine villages and meadows I am used to seeing covered in snow. I've been skiing in the alps since I was 2 years old and it was so strange to see the riders coming down the ski hill!

I was annoyed and surprised at myself that I struggled on my first day riding. We hit the trails runs in Les Gets and although we stuck to the green and blue I found it really hard and felt quite intimidated by the size of it all and what felt like a line of huge men racing up behind me on the tight trails. I felt so bad I actually spent the afternoon up by the lake swimming! In 40 degrees it wasn't such a bad option, but I knew I only had 3 1/2 days there and I was 1 day down. I had a word with myself went out on day 2 with a fresh head.

Day two we went to Super Morzine on the park and I could feel my confidence building throughout the morning. By the afternoon I rode the Pleney. There was a new 'red' which was my first introduction to this side of the mountain and although it was definitely not a red, it was the steepest most dusty technical ride of my riding life......I absolutely loved it!! We went back up for a ride down the black and I knew my confidence was back in full strength. I even managed the infamous 'chute' of death and to my surprise, loved it!

On day three we rode to Switzerland and back, best days riding of my life!

On my last day I had a few hours left before catching the flight home to pick up my boys from school! I was tired after the previous few days but determined to squeeze as much as I could from the trip. We rode the Pleney again which I loved, but went into the chute on a bad angle from the start and went OTB a few times to the bottom! Ouch. Could not feel my legs for a while, but managed to have one more go before my flight to put knock the confidence back on track.

Will I go back? Can't wait to get back there next summer!! 

 

You can watch my post crash run down Le Pleney following the link below.........

 

 

https://youtu.be/bvybIQyVdT8

 

UCI World Cup Fort William 7th June 2015

UCI World Cup Fort William 7th June 2015

This was my first experience of a world cup, and I hope it is not my last. Such a fabulous day, completely awe inspiring to watch the worlds best riders flying down the hill at Fort William. 

Rachael Athertonn - qualifying run

Emmeline Ragot - qualifying run

After soaking up the atmosphere at the bottom and watching the impressive Danny Macaskill's Drop and Roll tour, we caught the gondola to the top station to where the riders start their journey down the hill. We, along with the other three and a half thousand other spectators embarked on the wonderful walk back down by the side of the track.

 From very top all the way down the track the atmosphere was buzzing, with most of the track sides covered all the way down the hill. Everyone was cheering, blowing horns and banging the inside of rims providing a wave of support for every rider, regardless of their nationality, age, sex or bike.

Manon Carpenter - race run

The women came down for their race run first. I was totally in awe of these inspirational ladies, I always have been, but to see them in action was amazing.  

Rachael Atherton - race run

Tracy Hannah - race run

The woods were thick with mud and the going got a little tricky in places, but we always had the tetrus gang to keep us entertained! Everyone was smiling, whatever the age and it just goes to show how popular the sport is. 

As we walked down you could occasionally hear the roar of the crowd below as the riders entered the finish arena. As we arrived at the motorway section just before the finish you could feel the energy and excitement. Cow bells, chain saws, vuvuzellas, trumpets, shouting, the atmosphere was alive! 

This was the first view of the riders as they came into the finish arena. Every rider that flew into view got a huge roar of support. 

Coming into the final jumps and finish arena the crowd filled the whole area and all seemed to act as one, watching the big screen then to turning to watch the riders enter the finish, all moving their heads and cheering together.

I will never forget the roar of the crowd when Greg Minar crossed the finish line in first place with a 4.47. His fifth win at Fort Willam and his 17th world cup win, to take the joint lead with Steve Peat for the most world cup wins. The whole crowd exploded, it was amazing. 

Rachel Atherton took the win for the ladies with a 5.31, followed by Tahnee Seagrave, Emmeline Ragot, Manon Carpenter (despite the epic crash) and Katy Curd. Four British women in the top five. 

Can't wait for next year! 

PMBA Enduro - Grizedale 29 April 2015

This race was always going to be a tricky one for me. Last year I entered and I could not complete the third stage because I found it too technical and steep. This year I entered hoping that the same stage wouldn't be in. We had no idea what the stages would be until the day. The day came. It was in. Stage 1.

PMBA hold fantastic grass roots events, this series is enduro. This means three or four stages each race, you are timed on each stage and have as much time as you need to get to the start of each one. It is usually a round trip of 10 miles, which you have to do twice in the day, in the morning for practice, and race in the afternoon. We set off round the course in groups of approximately 10 riders, so happily we could ride together as RootsMTB race team.

We practiced stage two first, a rocky rocky footpath with more rocks and a few boulders thrown in. It was a great stage, but I didn't really enjoy it as my confidence was taking a battering thinking about stage 1. We headed to the top of Caron Crag which was the start to stage 1. Pushing up the path to the was torturous! I knew I was going to make myself ride down it even though I felt really scared. I had a full face helmet on and lots of body armour so that helped with the confidence. I lined up. The marshal blew his whistle. My bike started down the hill.

The stage took a different line than the previous year so I was riding it blind. The first chute into the trees was steep, rooty and muddy, I had never ridden it before and how I stayed on the bike I have no idea! But I made it down, through the woods then out into the open to the start of the chute of death. I knew if I stopped I would never do it because it was this feature that stopped me the previous year. So I didn't stop, I just rolled over the edge and hoped for the best! I wasn't far enough back on my bike and I couldn't slow down, my bike was off the track and into the tree stumps and if I am totally honest my eyes were closed and I was screaming into my helmet! But I stayed on, somehow. I had to stop to get myself together before carrying on. The rest of the practice didn't go well, my confidence was knocked, despite making it round. 

I spent the next couple of hours talking myself out of not driving home. I knew I wanted to race but I knew I couldn't race it, only try to get round. This does not bode well with my competitive nature! However, with some very helpful chats with friends who encouraged me, I realised I was being really negative and decided just get on with it.

Surprisingly, I was not as nervous dropping into stage 1, but the initial chute of rooty ridiculousness filled me full of fear again. I rattled and slipped down the mud and roots and to my total amazement, I cleaned it and not only that, I kind of enjoyed it! Though looking back, I may have misinterpreted that emotion with that of relief. Through the woods was slow but I made it to arrive back at the chute of death. Again, I just didn't think about it and rode into it. I managed to move around on the bike a bit more and I wouldn't go as far as saying I enjoyed it, but I didn't scream this time and even kept my eyes open! The rest of the stage went well though I was slow and tired, but I made it to the end. It was a big step forward for me, I managed to ride the stage that had stopped me the year before. Did I enjoy it? Still not sure to be honest!!

The rest of the stages went ok, but I made lots of mistakes. I just tried to enjoy the rest of the day learn as much as I could from the experience.

Overall I came 11th out of 21 which considering the awesome class of the other women racing, was actually pretty good! But the main thing was that I did it, a big step forward from the previous year.

I love riding my bike immensely and I love racing. I have recently set myself a goal of competing in the UKGE next year and ultimately I would like to attempt an Enduro World Series round (in many years to come!). But to achieve this I have a mountain of a lot of work to do on my confidence, skills on steep rooty trails and fitness. I need to be riding trails like this and loving them instead of letting them full me with fear and drain my confidence.

Perhaps this comes with time and experience, I have only been riding a bike for 2 1/2 years and I haven't really rode many or any steep rooty trails. I usually ride rocks. Or maybe it is part of our nature, do we start riding a bike and from day one love steep muddy rooty trails because we are born that way and love the thrill of it? Or are they something that we all have to learn to love through trial and error and tree hugging? Perhaps it is because I am a single mum of two and the fear of a broken something is fairly prevalent in my mind! Maybe a mix of all of these. But whichever it is, I intend to find out by working as hard as I can within my busy merry go round of being a working mum to see if I can achieve those goals. I will nail the rooty muddy steep or cry whilst trying!

Since writing this I read a post by Tracy Moseley who took first place first in this particular race. She described it as 'fun laid back riding in the sunshine'. I laughed at the total contrast of our experience of the same race. Obviously she is arguably the worlds best female enduro racer and worlds apart from my level, but it gave me hope that, with more experience, I will feel the same when faced with similar stages in my next enduro race.

NDH Hamsterley TT 19th April 2015 - It was all about the ladies

I am starting to write this blog before race day to try and capture my true feelings before the big day. The race is Northern Downhill's Hamsterley TT. This is a huge deal if you are a woman (it may be for the men too, but this blog is all about the women!). There are an unprecedented (for NDH at least) number of girls racing....over 30 of us!! Usually there may be 1 to 10 entering the female category. We range from women who have never raced before to an elite ex World Cup rider, and in age from our teens to somewhere in our 40's.

How do I feel? It is very hard to say exactly as the range of emotions are wild! I'm excited, very nervous, fearful, vaguely confident and most of all just really looking forward to taking part in such a great day with so many wonderful women. I say this, not because I have met them all, but because of a facebook group called MTBChix&Trails and I feel like I know many of them already! The group only started in January this year, but has over 250 members and is the most supportive and encouraging group I have ever been a part of. Regardless of who we are, our level of riding, age or why we ride, we are all there for each other providing support and encouragement. One of the huge positives of social media in the world we are lucky enough to live.

Until a few months ago I had not met my other mums who mountain bike or race and I was desperate to......I knew they must be out there! I had only ever ridden with boys and raced with younger women without kids. I felt old, and I think our experience of riding as women is quite different to the boys. Yes we are competitive and fit, but we don't have the egos and we inject a whole heap of care and support throughout it all. We don't brag about the awesome line we took in our last run or how much "we sent it to flat", we commend each other on how awesome their line choice was and discuss how we can improve together. If one of us is nervous, there is someone there to give us confidence and lift us up. We understand, we care and we love riding together. And as a bonus for me, meeting other mums who ride and race and with whom I can share experiences has been fantastic.

As for the race, the prep hasn't gone according to plan or desires.....broken sleep most nights this week with incidents in the night that most young kids have, illness and too much work have meant I'm not as rested and full of beans as I would hope to be....but lets see how the day goes...nervous!!  I was hoping for another great result given the last two TT races, but having seen a list of the strong women racing today I am not going to hold my breath! I'm just going to try to enjoy the experience and do the best I can. Did I mention I am nervous?!

After a sunny week we arrived at Hamserley at 9am with a bit of rain and cloud but nothing would dampen the day. The sign on que was huge and the fields at the bottom of Nitrous were jammed but the atmosphere was electric with approximately 250 riders!

This was the first day racing as our new team for Roots Mountain Biking, so we threw on the shirts and took our first team shot before heading up for a practice.

Practice run went smoothly, just slowly riding down to see where the track was taped. My only fear from this was the bottom berm which was taped in to jump over. I nearly flew over the bars after nose diving, ahh! I won't go into the details of the track and race format as you probably know it, but for those who don't.....it is a timed run down a red graded trail, we set off with 20 second gaps, best of two runs.

It was lovely to meet up with so many of the girls from the MTBChix&Trails which helped with the pre race nerves! We all rode up to the start together which gave chance to chat and meet other ladies on the way. The que for the start line stretched back up the trail from the famous rock back towards the mast, with everyone chatting and having fun. Lining up however the nerves were getting the best of me and I got that dry mouth thing. The women started setting off and we all cheered each other off the start line.

I made a few mistakes in my first run, I think being too nervous and over thinking the line choices. I didn't think I had done well at all but was surprised to find I clocked 4 minutes 11 seconds, which was enough to put me into 4th place! With three really strong riders were in front of me, Helen Gaskell who is a Downhill National Champ, Lucy who was 2 seconds in front of me and Melissa who was only 1 second in front, but she usually smashes her second run and improves her time massively so I knew I had to step it up if I wanted to get on the podium!

After cheering the rest of the team down we peddled back up for the last race run. This time I felt much more relaxed and remembered to put my goggles on! I had a brilliant run, with spectators cheering me on all the way down the track. I could hardly breathe at the bottom and had no idea what my time would be. To my surprise I had improved by 5 seconds to give me a time of 4.06, Lucy had improved her time by 6 seconds so it left me in third place! Best result I have ever had, 3rd out of 17 women in my category!

Hamsterley sadly saw the last of the TT races for 2015, but there are more Northern Downhill events coming up this this year. The next is Kidland Forest on May 24th, Kielder Enduro on October 4th followed by the Chopwell Enduro. If you are interested you can find out more details and enter here. A few of us ladies are definitely racing Chopwell enduro and the more the merrier.

The TT races by NDH have been such a great experience and I would highly recommend them to any girl, woman, mum or grandma who would like to have a go at racing. Whatever your skills, years of riding on a bike, your style of bike or age, you will fit in and will be made welcome! Find out more details for other events and total female awesomeness on MTBChix&Trails.

Finally thanks to Dan at Roots Mountain Biking for his coaching and generous support and encouragement. This time last year I could not ride down Transmission at Hamsterley without freaking out, now after lessons and support from the team I am racing it. Looking forward to developing my riding further with the team and all the ladies from the chix!

Also a big thanks to the team sponsors, especially Henry at Henry Armer Fitness for helping my legs peddle that bit faster!!

Kielder TT March 29th 2015

The second Northern Downhill TT race was held in Kielder on 29th March. I'd never been to Kielder, but fortunately we were in the area two weeks before the race so called in. I am so glad we did because at first I felt quite intimidated by the track. We had planned to spend a bit of time practicing but we spent most of the day trying to find it, so by the time we got there light was on it's way out! Ooops. Don't think we were the only ones to make that mistake either! 

I walked the track first and just got the fear at a section with a tricky root. On it's own the root would not have been so bad, but it fed into a steepish muddy chute with a sharp turn and a drop on the exit. The drop would have been fine too, but mixed together I found it really intimidating. I had quite a few attempts trying to nail it, finding I kept going straight into the bank on the other side and shouting about how scared I was!

Eventually after having a word with myself I successfully cleared the root and the sharp turn, 

then I tried again and managed to link it all up, 

I have to admit to doing a little dance of joy!

I then did it another 5 times to make sure I was comfortable with it, but this meant we only had time to do one full run, so I wasn't as ready for race day as I'd hoped.  

I am not sure if it was the root or the fact that it was steeper and more technical than Chopwell, but I was really nervous leading up to the race. I think I also put pressure on myself to do well having taken a 3rd at Chopwell. But actually when I stopped to think about it, I realised I was just so happy to be able to ride down the track after my initial reaction and knowing that this time last year I would not have been able to do it at all.

Photo by Zach Robson

On the day I did two practice runs, both times clearing the root but realising I had been focusing on that small section so much I hadn't really thought about the rest of the track. I did not get on with the jumps at the bottom and need to improve my jumping!

 My second practice was fairly smooth, but for some reason I was holding back and couldn't really go for it. Time for the first race run came around and standing at the top was the first time all the girls had been together, and it was fantastic support and great to see everyone.

Photo by John Latham

My first race run was brilliant because I cleared the root and made it down ok, but I did not feel like I was on race form. Sometimes knowing I'm a single mum with two small boys to look after makes me wonder what I'm doing as the last thing I can do is hurt myself. How would I look after them? But whilst this is a genuine concern, even if I wasn't a mother I think I would still feel the same. Its just the general fear of racing DH, even if it is a mini DH.

The whole thought process is a really negative spiral and often gets hold of me, as I'm sure it does to others. When it does, if I can pluck up the courage to ride, I find that I ride within my comfort zone and always in control without pushing any limits. And whilst I am battling with it inside, my confidence vanishes for a while. Instead of letting the negativity in I try to remember why I'm doing it and that just being there is enough, I just have to be the best I can be and to enjoy the ride without pressure. Easier said than done with my competitive nature!

To help I bought an Evoc Protection vest to help with the confidence and reduce risks and wore it for the first time at Kielder. More about this in my next blog....

The second race run went well and it was fantastic to be cheered on by fellow lady riders who had come to support us, it makes such a difference. Although I didn't know they were there so I wondered who on earth the crowd of ladies were shouting my name!

One of them took this brilliant video clip, thanks Sarah!!

I managed the root section again and thought I had put in a much faster time, but only improved by 1 second. But amazingly it was enough to put me in second place! Amazeballs!

Mellisa who took the win was 6 seconds in front and even if I had been on a full confidence day, I doubt I would have made up that time. And I was just lucky to be able to pull a few seconds in front of the rapid lady Lauren who was hot on my heels.

And being second was perfect because I won an awesome bike pump thanks to NDH and their sponsors, which is a piece of kit I actually really needed! 

The next and final TT for this season is in Hamsterly on 19th April  and a record number of girls have entered which is amazing!! I'm really looking forward to the atmosphere and racing with over 20 ladies! The growing support and community I have entered this year is amazing and I'm loving every minute. If you are thinking of entering but have never raced I would say enter this one! You can enter here at Northern Downhill.com

For lots of girls it will be their first race and the support you will receive from everyone on the day and before via social media is huge. Even if you are on your own, contact the other girls via facebook and you won't be on your own for long!

So for me, I need to work on the confidence.........oh and all the other skills with a bit of help from Roots Mountain Biking!