NPS 2 - Cross Country (Dalby Forest, 10th May)

The second round of the NPS greeted us with a shock. A shock because far from the the neat, fast and clean roadie-like lines of Sherwood Forest last month, Dalby was a 'proper' cross country course - lots of technical sections and lots of climbing.

The NPS XC 2 podium presentation from Rob Enslin on Vimeo.

During the practice session on Saturday both Mark and I were having doubts about two particlulary hazardous sections: the drop-off and the three-tired root descent. The real problem was not our riding ability it was our deep mental analysis - focusing on the what-if too much. We had to abandon a second parctice lap due to rain... further adding to our anxieties.

We enjoyed slightly lavish accommodation (by our standards) - Innkeepers Lodge - organised by Mr Bike Wikipedia - Nick Evans, from Beyond Mountain bikes, which included breakfast. We headed back to the forest park to attempt another practice lap before racing at 3pm. The practice lap was perfect for both of us... just as we'd predicted.

At 3pm, we lined up at the start. Mark on the front line, Tom on second row and me at the back. I stupidly forgot to pre-enter on time so lost a start line seeding. With a big circular field to start the race on there'd be plenty of time to come round some of the riders.

We set off to start 4 laps with Vets (including Steve Jones) shortly after us. I never saw Mark again as he sped off with the front riders (perhaps he could include a short commentary as a comment below?). Meanwhile I was still trying to get through the field and being held up by the traffic - having to come to a standstill to wait my turn to continue. With the climbs taking their toll the field began to spred out. I continued to pick off and pass a rider at a time. The drop-off and three-tier-root sections were fine - in fact I hardly noticed them anymore. By lap two I caught Tom who seemed to be struggling with cramp. He later retired from the race completing two laps.

I continued a fairly good pace till the end. Finally finishing 12th. Speaking to Hoppy (Paul Hopkins) I discovered Mark had won the race. He'd finally managed to achieve what he'd been trying to for so long. Huge congrats to him.

NPS XC2 Winner Mark Hutt from Rob Enslin on Vimeo.

My ride stats:

Time: 01:33

Average HR: 179 bpm

Maximum HR: 203 bpm

The final placings:

1. Mark Hutt AW Cycles 01:28:48

2 Dan Lewis 01:29:35

3 Christopher Rathbone 01:31:12

12 Rob Enslin - AW Cycles 01:33:32

Some weekend photos:

[Speaking to the winner, Mark Hutt, on the way home. George Budd joined in via Facebook]

[Pit stop on the way home]

Twitter feed

A colleague from work approached me this morning to ask how he could have his website articles automatically published to his Twitter account? Firstly, I explained that whilst it's possible, I did not recommend it. Twitter is a social publishing platform IMO so it loses that 'personality' which is counter-intuitive?

Anyway, as an experiment I thought I'd enable automatic Twitter posting from my blog. Confused? The idea is that when I write a blog post (from here) twitterfeed.com will automatically tweet it and include a link to my blog post. Seems simple enough hey?

What I'm curious about is whether you (reading this) think it's a good idea? (assuming you care about twitter). Good idea, bad idea or don't care?

Local North Downs 'legends'

Most people who know me know that I live in one of the most beautiful places in the UK - Beare Green (Dorking). An area of outstanding beauty and also an area that boast a fantastic network of on-/off-road riding trails.

Since moving to the UK (~10 years ago) I've been riding local roads and trails. In the years I've been rendezvousing there I've met a few 'legends' (people and places).

1. Dave Lees (mountain man)

Most Saturday mornings (9.30am) I meet like-minded mountain bikers at Nirvana Cycles, Westcott. There are a few notables including Hugh and Richard but, only a trail companion knows just what a legend Dave is. There's nothing special about is riding, handling ability, fitness, jokes, technical conversations, gold Santa Cruz bike, Assos kit or anything else.... he's just a legend. So, the next time you want a fantastic ride and want to experience a legend, come along to Nirvana Cycles on a Saturday morning make sure you ride in Dave's group. You won't forget it.

2. Surrey Hills roads

There's nothing quite like riding through the 'Surrey Hills' countryside. The roads are quiet and tranquil they're a joy to ride. I use the Surrey Hills lanes for training and have a few standard routes - flattish, hilly and mountain bike routes too. A local sportive, the Legs of Steel Sportive, is held on these lanes and takes in all the hills these Surrey lanes can throw at you. My personal favorite is Barhatch Lane hill.

3. Bike shops

Whilst the bike shops aren't actually legends in their own right, I've included them because they are important to me and have contributed to my love of cycling in the local area.

As you'd expect this area attracts many riders of all disciplines. So naturally the supply/demand ecosystem works nicely with three major bikes shops serving the region. Firstly, there's the roadies shop - Dauphin Cycles - which is located atop Box Hill. Whilst they mainly stock Italian bikes, they do have quite a fantastic range as well as clothing. The only down-side is they're closed Sundays... probably out riding?

At the opposite end is Nirvana Cycles. I've not spent much money there but their servicing and mountain bike specific knowledge is amazing. Simon, who owns the shop, is a jump junkie and swears by their Laprierre full-sussers. I might even convert sometime soon?

Lastly, Head-for-the-Hills, is a new mountain bike shop situated in the old end side of the Dorking High Street. They stock mountain bikes and have a busy servicing schedule so if you ever plan to have your bike serviced there make sure you book it well in advance.

These are my local North Downs legends. Do you have any?

My new Camelbak Daxio backpack

I finally decided to splash out and replace my old Camelbak with the Daxio. The Daxio is a beauty and at 26lt it’s good for commuting. It's good for commuting in that it's well made (good quality) and accommodates my Powerbook. I've only started using it this week so time will tell.

Over at Bikeradar.com the Daxio's was reviewed and it received 4 stars (out of 5).

I managed to record a short video of my Daxio as it arrived in the post - bought from Evans.

Evans Cycles Delivery from Rob Enslin on Vimeo.

Here I share my online shopping delivery experience. What I find when the package arrives and how I feel when I open the package is part of the overall experience.

SL Easter 3-Day

[Photo courtesy of Patron Choufflard]

Despite not winning the race I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it for a couple of reasons:

1. Great weather on the last day
2. Great bunch of riders in the local area
3. Team win (AW Cycles RT) on the final day - by Sam Allen
4. Having my wife (Bridget) and kids (Kate and James) there for support - see video below (turn volume down)
5. Fantastic countryside to ride a bike


SL Easter 3-Day 2009 from Rob Enslin on Vimeo.



[I've not had a chance to write a race report yet.. might not even do it.]

I'd be interested to hear what people think about the number of London Dynamo riders allowed to enter despite many people being turned away from the race (from the reserve list). Please comment below if you have an opinion. Thanks.

Final Result (GC): (photo of winners)

1 Steve Calland
2 Richard Hoult
3 Douglas Dewey
4 Sam Allen awcycles.co.uk
12 Rob Enslin awcycles.co.uk

For full results visit the London Cycle Sport website or British Cycling.

NPS 1 - Cross Country (Sherwood Pines, 5th April)

The master's race was a replay of the Elite race where a huge train of riders hurtled round the course slowly shrugging off riders as it wove relentlessly through the trees. Stephen James with Matt Barrett, John Veness, Rob Enslin and Mark Hutt helped shake this massive train down to just these 5 riders. Barrett playing on his vast experience left a little more in the tank and came past relative newbie James to take the win in a fascinating 4 up sprint. James took second narrowly ahead of Veness, who likewise pipped Enslin to third.
British Cycling website

So another XC season got underway and what a great way to start it. Here are just some of the words I'd use to describe the event : dry, sunny, excitement, results, aw cycles van, travelodge, audi tt, jody crawford, talkative, value, giant bikes, fast course, podium, bike weights, Twitter

Getting there

Our trusty AW Cycles van packed with equipment and bikes transported us to Sherwood Pines - the venue for the first NPS of the season. We arrived in good time and without incident.

Practice Day

Tom's pre-event ramblings of tyre choice didn't seem to matter now - with the course dry there was only one tyre on everyones mind - Racing Ralphs. Some of us were organised & well prepared (Mark Hutt) - donned their practice wheels saving their race wheels for race day, while others watched on (some of us even just scrambled around in search of mis-placed items).

We managed two practice laps before heading to our digs - Travelodge. The course was great, dry an fast but a little bumpy too so lots to be happy about. There were no tricky bits and no need to run over the course again on race day.

Race Day

Simon Ernest was the first AW man off in the elite race. Si started the race in a commanding position - first group - up with the country's best. I was feeding/supporting him. By lap 4 (of 7) he flatted and lost touch with the leading group. He'd managed to hold a nice little group till the end finishing a respectable 17th.

In my race - Masters - Mark and I were both gridded while Tom had to settle for tail spots. The start was furious and I loved it. Sidetrack: I just love those aggressive starts when riders are barging and pushing. Even though the start was hectic it was straight forward with a long open (slightly inclined) fire road to spread the riders out before entering the singletrack. By the first singletrack section both Mark and I were in good positions lying in the top 6 places. Mark rode like a man possessed making everyone suffer... including me. The course made its way into the twisty forest sections weiving in and out closed forest singletrack and fire tracks. Then we swung back towards the start/finish area and back out onto the second part of the course (back section) which was really fast - awesome fun!!!!

By the end if the first lap (of 5) our small neat and select group entered the start/finish area with raptuious applause from the spectators. Mark was leading the group with me hanging on. We continued this pace for a couple of laps. By midway we were joined by John Veness who incredibly junctioned... all credit to him - was great effort.

We continued around the course as a group of 5. Graham Warby attacked the group a few of times, but with a strong group on his wheel it was going to be tough to escape.

At the bell lap the pace was hot. Our group still moved along nicely with no sign of any chasers from the rest of the field. In the closing corners I miss-judged the number of laps remaining - thinking we still had one to go - so I found myself off the pace leaving Matt Barrett and Stephen James to take first and second with John (Veness) just ahead of me in third. (I did try to come round him) Mark right behind me, claimed 5th spot.

Result:

1st Matt Barrett
2nd Stephen James
3rd John Veness
4th Rob Enslin (AW Cycles)
5th Mark Hutt (AW Cycles)

Full results
British Cycling report

Mountain bike race: Gorrick #4 (Porridgepot Hill)

I decided to do the fourth round of the Gorrick mtb ahead of the Dengie Marshes Tour or Peter Young Memorial with the first round of the NPS XC racing looming (next weekend). It's probably a good idea since I've not ridden off-road since January. It's been so long since I've been off-road I even had to change my disc pads with them so worn.

What I like about riding the Supermasters event is it's an early start (9.45am) and you get to ride against some great elite-like riders like Sam Gardner.

With no warm up I lined up next to team mate, Mark Hutt at Porridgepot Hill course. We experienced some tricky moments on the first corner after the start. By the first climb ( of 3 steep climbs each lap) we, the riders, found a rhythm and lined out on the singletrack dropping down the first technical - loose, sandy, off-camber - descent.

On the second climb we'd formed the lead group of five - me, Mark Hutt, Nick Onslow, Sam Gardner & Stephen James. Being off the bike for so long showed with my woeful technical riding ability - I was struggling on the technical sections - loosing ground each time. I became increasingly frustrated having to constantly bridge the group (yoyo'ing). At the start of lap 3 I started loosing a little ground with the group (30 secs). I continued to keep riding as hard as possible, keeping the pressure on. I was holding on to the 30sec gap, but as I started the last lap my rhythm kicked in and began to start riding with a lot control.

At the finish I felt strong and delighted to finish in fith place. I was also pleased to learn that Mark won with a sprint, beating Sam Gardner. An impressive result and well deserved Mr Hutt.

Next week we move to Sherwood Forest for the first NPS XC of the season. I'm seriously looking forward to it. (and the Surrey League Easter 3-Day the weekend after that)

Race results

1. Mark Hutt (AW Cycles)
2. Sam Gardner
3. Stephen James
4. Nick Onslow
5. Rob Enslin (AW Cycles)

Race stats

Time: 01:05

Laps: 4
HR: 181/193

Temp: 6 degrees average

Climbing: 400 metres