It's time again...

... to start the racing season. Ryan and I have arrived in Cyprus two days ago to take part again in the Cyprus Sunshine Cup. This is the first mtb race of the season, so we are both very excited. While Ryan has done the Cyclocross season in Ireland, I've practically not raced since the end of last year. The first race of the season is always awaited with great nervousness, you don't know if you have improved since last year and how the legs will react under a full out race effort.

The first race of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup takes place in Voroklini tomorrow, on virtually the same course as the last race of last year's Cyprus Sunshine Cup. Ryan and I have been pre-riding the course yesterday and today. Last year I was quite scared of the steep and technical descents and "locked up" completely when I was on the bike, being reduced to tears on one particularly tricky drop (which was later taken out of the race), but this year I was riding all of them without a bother (OK, they did make some sections a little bit easier). The course now flows really well and I am particularly happy about being able to ride down the riverbed in a controlled and relaxed manner. This part of the course has not been changed, and seeing some guys walking it is an indication that I may actually have improved. I feel a lot more comfortable on steep and technical descents this year, which is strange, since I spent most of my past while on the road bike or on rollers. I am looking forward to tomorrow!

Again, the profile of riders taking part in this prestigious race series is high, owing to the excellent organization and race course design by the race organizers. Taking part in the cup will be title defender and U-23 silver medallist at the world champs Alexandra Engen (Swe), Lisi Osl (Aut) from the central Pro Team, Anja Gradl and junior European champion of 2008, Mona Eiberweiser, Julie Krasniak (Fra/Team Look), Janka Stevkova (Svk/CK Epic Dohnany), Barbara Benko (Hun/Rothaus-Cube) and Alla Boyko (Ukr) in the Elite women's race. I've already seen a few of the names training on the course and with this calibre it's not going to be a soft ease into the new season....

I'll try and put up a little video that I took from the last bit of the riverbed descent later on. Oh, and it's 24 degrees and sunny... ;)

New Toy - Training with Power

WKO+ - I never thought that these 3 letters + could keep me so entranced! For Xmas I got two round things with something very expensive in the middle - one of them was my engagement ring and the other one a PowerTap, kindly partly sponsored by Saris (the tap, not the ring - in both senses). And since I got the PowerTap I have been fascinated with basic physics .... (oh, and I've been looking at wedding dresses too).

Anyhow, a power meter's worth really comes out at data analysis. While last year I was able to swindle my way through a drill because my heart rate stayed up, the PowerTap now tells me exactly (often to my chagrin) when I am slacking off (for my coach to clearly see). Anyhow, apart from instant power and average power, the best you can get out of the PowerTap is by using software called WKO+. I could spend hours analyzing my data (also because I still don't know my way round the software properly and it uses quite advanced training concepts). My favourite analysis is that of TSS points (Training Stress Score, it basically estimates how hard your ride was, taking into account your personal power limits and current fitness level). This means different rides for the same cyclist and the same ride for different cyclists become comparable, by comparing TSS points - so finally Ryan believes me that I had a hard spin when I tell him I had a hard spin. Recording TSS points over time, the software then creates graphs that give you an estimation of the ATL (Acute Training Load), CTL (Critical Training Load) and TSB (Training Stress Balance) (which can be very roughly translated into fitness, form and fatigue)

Here's mine for the last while:


pink = acute training load
blue = critical training load
yellow = training stress balance

Reading the graph from left to right: In the beginning I was very refreshed (yellow high) and not very fit (pink low) (Irish snowy winters apprehended me from training much) and my form (blue) was so la la. Here in Gran Canaria, I was able to put in a few long and hard training sessions, so my fitness, or acute training load (pink line) went up high, but of course it made me more tired (sending the yellow line down), but already the results are showing an increase in my form (blue line). I took two recovery days in a row, which sent the pink line down dramatically.

The long-term aim towards the racing season is to increase form (blue line up), which can only be done by doing lots of training (pink up), but doing lots of training means you become more tired (yellow down). For an actual race you want the acute training load to be low (pink low) and be refreshed (yellow up), which can be achieved by taking it easy before the race, without too much of a decrease in form.

Another great side effect of the PowerTap is that it can pretty accurately measure how many calories you burn for each ride. In detail, it shows the amount of kiloJoules needed to generate a certain wattage for a certain time (1 Joule = The work required to continuously produce one watt of power for one second; Wikipedia). And since the body looses about 3kJ to heat for each 1kJ put into the pedals (only the latter is measured by the PowerTap), your kJ burned in your ride is 4x the number it shows. BUT, since food is still measured in kiloCalories, and 1kCal is approx 4kJ, you can divide that number again by 4 to get the number of calories burnt - in effect the number of kJ shown corresponds roughly to the number of kCals burnt (which decides if I order icecream for dessert or stick to an orange).

And I finally know how hard I am supposed to really go during any drill (harder), since I've done an abbreviated test of the abbreviated functional threshold power (FTP) test (I ran out of uphill). FTP is defined as the maximum power (threshold) that one can put out over one hour. So to find out your personal FTP you ride as hard as you can for an hour - OR, you do the abbreviated test: ride 20min as hard as you can and then estimate your FTP to be 0.95 of that power number). One of the aims for endurance type sports is to improve this FTP. This number can then be used to determine your training zones by power (Active Recovery (AR), Endurance (E), Tempo (T), Threshold (TH) V02Max (VM) and Anaerobic Capacity (AC)), enabling you to plan your training even more accurately. Supposedly you get most bang for buck doing tempo training.....

Now my eyes aren't glued to the heart rate meter any more, but rather to the wattage meter. In fact, I have almost completely abandoned training by heart rate and replaced it with training by power. Long live the PowerTap!

First training ride in the warmth this year

Yes, Ryan and I decided to go back to Gran Canaria this year for some good winter training in the sun. The weather in Ireland has been so bad with almost 3 weeks of snow and freezing temperatures that it was hard to get good training in. We went back to the same place in Vecindario, Gran Canaria and it's weird how familiar we still are with the place from last year; we are staying in almost the same flat and even the owner from the crepe place recognized us. It's also great to do the same rides as last year and compare. And oh my god, it is so much easier to train in the sun - even just from a preparatory and post-ride perspective, I've reduced the amount of individual items of clothing to wear from 31 in Ireland to 8 here.

I was out for 3.5 hours today with 1800m of climb and could have gone on for a lot longer. I also did a bit of a power test up a hill to see where I am at, but I think I am still not back to full throttle after the travel yesterday and the change in climate (over 20 degrees of difference!!), so at least it's an easy target to beat. The climbs seem shorter than last year and the temperatures are higher too (22 degrees and blue skies). And just to make ye all feel even better, I think I'm already getting a tan line... ;)
Anyhow, I better get back to my PhD work or else! ;)

I'm the little spec in the middle of the photo...

Breaking news!!!!

Snow in the Wicklow Mountains

So many things have been happening since the end of the 2009 season, so here's a little update about what has been going on since then.

After the season I took it easy for the month of October after breaking the female record for cycling the Wicklow Way in one go (and coming dangerously close to the male record broken by Ryan a year beforehand ;)). November and December were very busy months with regards to college work and the crappy weather here in Ireland made it hard to keep training consistent. I have been on the turbo trainer a lot more than usual due to the weather. A broken rear derailleur on my training mountain bike meant it was out or action for a little while too, but Ryan offered me to use his bouncy bike, which is a lot of fun to ride.

We are proud to announce that ZipVit have agreed to come on board as our new nutritional sponsors this year, and a pallet load of ZipVit energy drink, recovery drink, gels and bars arrived on Monday, just in time for our winter training camp in Gran Canaria. In our short time working with ZipVit so far we have been very impressed with their product and professionalism. And of course it feels great to be supported by the same people that sponsor the Cervélo Test Team - my dream road team if I ever became a professional roadie.

ZipVit delivery :)

On a similar note, we are very happy and thankful for our friend Stewart Carr for offering his services as physio therapist to us, which our ever tired legs are gladly accepting.

Another big news was Ryan's and my engagement on the 23rd of December, just in time before xmas when we could announce the news to the family. Team Ryan and Mel are going stronger and stronger :)
Just wondering how I will juggle cycling, PhD AND wedding planning...

I said yes :)

Finally, there has been a lot of snow in Ireland and it was very cold for the last few weeks. Almost every spin I have come home freezing and with hands and feet like iceblocks, so I am glad we are travelling to Gran Canaria soon for our winter training camp. It is a lot easier to do a few hours endurance riding in the sun than in the miserable weather in Ireland, even just from a motivational point of view. We would have left for GC even earlier, only Ryan was supposed to take part in the Irish National Cyclocross champs which were later cancelled due to poor road conditions that would have made it problematic for many to travel to the race.

Riding in the snow is tiring!

Thanks Everyone

It's the end of the 2009 season and I'm already looking forward to 2010. But before I do, I want to say a few words of thanks.

Ryan and I have both had a very successful year topped off two weeks ago with us winning Cycling Ireland's Male and Female Cyclist of the Year awards. There was a few rocky periods, with Ryan's broken collarbone and me being raced out in the middle of the season, but it all came back together for us to finish the season wanting more - what more can you ask for? While Ryan is now enjoying cyclocross, I will hold off racing until the Cyprus sunshine cup to be fresh.

Stunning Cavan Crystal Vases we won for Male/Female Cyclist of the year

Being unfunded privateer racers with full time job/PhD we really rely on the help of other people and companies to allow us to race and train the way we do. We both put everything from a time, financial and energy point of view into what we are doing and these people allow us to stretch that as much as possible.

First off, and most importantly we would like to thank Cycleways - Shane, Francis and the mechanics Michael and Conrad (well, everyone in there really - it is always nice popping in and getting a cheery "how are you") have helped us time and time again, whether it was sorting us out with the best race bikes out there (our Specialized S-Works Epics), fixing things we couldn't figure out, finding parts that are hard to find or just giving us great advice and encouragement - it is hard for us to say how much we appreciate the help without sounding cheesy! Thanks guys - we owe you a lot!

Specialized - we mostly dealt with Specialized through Cycleways but they were always great at supplying us with all the best race kit available. It is always possible to debate the best XC race bike whether it is a hardtail or full suspension or what type of suspension works best but one thing you can never argue with (if you tried them and if they fit you) is their shoes and helmets - we both love them.

TorQ, for the second year have been a huge support to Ryan and I. For any race we raced in the UK, we always looked forward to meeting Sasha and Matt and catching up. Not only do they make great products, but they are genuinely really nice people too. Ryan and I have always enjoyed being part of the team - especially the BBQs after TwentyFour/12 :)

KCNC/Clee Cycles - Ryan talked about KCNC products earlier in the week which I have also started using since last year. This year was the first year that we got some direct support. Andy from Clee Cycles was great to work with and they also have their own successful shop team too.

Schwalbe Tires - like Ryan I started using them when they came on a bike I bought and have not looked back since. My usual race setup is a Rocket Ron in front and a Racing Ralph on the back - which seems to be a common setup amongst Elite racers. Chris from Schwalbe was always amazing at making sure we had everything we needed and some...

We would also like to thank the following companies who have supported us in some way over the last year: Crankbrothers, Saris (for Ryan), Garmin and Physio Dynamics. Servicing pedals, telling Ryan his power output, pointing us in the right direction or fixing us after an incident - these guys helped make our season roll along smoothly.

Lastly, we would also like to thank everyone in the Irish mountain biking community - it has only been a couple of years since we started (and yes, we were non cyclists when we first met) but we have always been made feel so welcome from day one and encouraged along the way. It means a lot to us - thanks guys, and see you on the trails :)

Cycling the Wicklow Way in one go

Start of the Wicklow Way in Marley Park, Dublin

For one last time I was going to take out my race bike before putting it away for the winter. This is my report about cycling the Wicklow Way in one go.

The Wicklow Way from Dublin to Clonegal

For those who don't know the Wicklow Way, it's a 127km (other sources say 132km, Garmin says somewhere inbetween) walking track that leads from Marley Park in Dublin straight over the Wicklow Mountains all the way down south to Clonegal in Carlow. It goes over or around the likes of 2Rock, Prince Willies, Powerscourt Ridge, Djouce, Glendalough, Mullacor, Glenmalure and Slieve Maan. The total climb you do is about 4,000 meters, with most of it happening over the first half (the last big ascent is Slieve Maan, out of Glenmalure Valley, just after the halfway mark). The Wicklow Way is mainly off-road with a good bit of fire-road, some very hairy and tricky descents (Prince Willies and Powerscourt Ridge) some hike-a-biking (some of Slieve Maan's ascent) and some more tarmac road sections towards the end. The second half is a lot tamer and easier with less climb and more road.

Garmin profile of Wicklow Way (first half skewed due to rain, only active time shown)

Ryan set a very good target last year - actually almost exactly one year ago - of 8h 17min (read an account of his attempt on his blog, a drama in 3 parts :) - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3).The previously recorded fastest female and male cycling time was 12h 4min achieved together by Beth McCluskey, Peter O'Farrell, Paul Mahon and Eoin Keith - albeit they admit that the offer of culinary delights from their supporters, the lure of cool pints at Glenmalure Lodge and the amazing vistas along the way were the reasons that held them back - although I found another view on this thread... ;)) Last year Ryan wanted to set a strong benchmark with his record for the male time, this year it was my turn to benchmark a fast female time.

Wicklow Way signs

To avoid the dangers of beautiful vistas slowing me down, I decided to do the Wicklow Way on a bad day with little visibility instead, allowing myself a nutrition of gels and bars only and just enough rain to not get lured into the beer garden of the infamous Glenmalure Lodge. Well no, I obviously would have liked to do the Wicklow Way on a sunny, dry, windstill day, and in fact the whole 2 weeks beforehand had been sunny, dry and windstill - which is an anomaly for Irish weather. I was planning to avoid the problems that Ryan had encountered: due to a period of constant rain (summer didn't show up for the whole of last year in Ireland), a lot of the course for Ryan during the 2nd half of the way had become a softened mud pit. Ryan had the unfortunate task of wading through knee-deep mud on flat terrain, which, in the dry, would have been very fast indeed.

Descending down to the tarmac road towards Johnny Fox's

Anyhow, with the recent drought in Ireland I thought I'd be spared from mud and I decided to do it on the Saturday, 3rd of October, the only suitable day really for Ryan and me. However, unfortunately for this only day in the whole week the weather decided to take a turn for the worse. Forecasts predicted strong westerly to north westerly winds and even rain. I kept checking and rechecking and cross checking, but all websites actually agreed on their forecast of strong sideways gusty winds and rain. Pah, I thought, that little bit of wind won't throw me off my way!

On tarmac road towards Johnny Fox's

And so it was that at just before 9am on Saturday morning Ryan and I turned up in Marley Park in unpenetrable mist and strong sideways gusts and a miserable drizzle. I just thought I'd be crazy to do it in this weather. My spirits dropped and I was hoping for Ryan to tell me not to go and to postpone it to another day. But nothing came from him except for a questioning look. Hmmm, I thought, the chance that we'll have another dry spell like this anytime soon is probably nil. So with the weather about to change I thought that this was probably my last chance to do it this year with the daylight getting shorter and the constant Irish rain setting back in. It would also be difficult to find another suitable date for the two of us. And so I made up my mind. I'm doing it. At the strike of 9am I turned on my Garmin and switched into race mode.

Lough Tay after Djouce

For logistical support, Ryan was to drive to the places where the way crosses the tarmac road and give me a new bottle of drink and more food, just as I did for him last year.

Beautiful autumn colours

The first bit after the Park was along the M50 against the wind. This stretch of road at the bottom of the mountains gave me a taster of what to expect on the top of the hill. Against what felt like 100km headwinds I churned my pedals until I turned south up Kilmashogue Lane. I know the Kilmashogue climb well, as it is one of my training and testing hills. Another turn east and I was zigging up the hill. The pleasant surprise was that the climb was well protected from the wind and it was almost windstill until just before the top. I was going fairly well until I hit the top where I had to turn south again and the westerly wind almost blew me off my bike. It was so strong and gusty that it almost took my breath and I constantly veered towards the ditch beside the new Wicklow Way section. It made cycling over the gullies too dangerous, so that I had to get off the bike on almost all of them and push it over. Then, when I turned west again to zag along the rocky path towards Tibradden, I was hit by the brunt of the wind head on with full force. I couldn't go hard enough to maintain speed and had to push my bike over some of the more technical sections that I would usually ride over with closed eyes. And this was going to be the theme for the rest of the way. Each 'zig' was a bit of a tail wind or protected from the mountain, while each 'zag' section brought on a headwind that forced tears in your eyes. I thought I was going backwards on that section! Then I met some encouraging MAD people on the descent to the road - but all I could reply to their cheering was: This is miserable!! I was seriously considering to stop my attempt when I met Ryan on the road towards Johnny Foxes, thinking it would be crazy to continue. But then Ryan said that I was only about 2min behind his split from last year. That was enough to keep me going for a little while longer.

Riding in the pissing rain

With Ryan's experience and record of 8h 17min from last year and the previous time of 12h 4min, I was being conservative with my estimate and planned on finishing in and around about 10hours - I was secretly hoping to finish just under it, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. 10hours meant with a 9am start I should be at the finish in Clonegal at 7pm, just after sunset. I had no idea what to expect, my previous longest off road cycle was about 6.5hours in a UK 100km off-road marathon. I've had experience with ultra-endurance events, such as the Wicklow 200 cycle sportif on the road or the 24h Rogaine (mountain orienteering event) or 24hour adventure races, but I've never before cycled more than 100km or 6.5hours off-road by myself, so this was entering a bit of nomansland. Nutritionwise I decided to mainly live off TorQ gels and bars and TorQ Energy drink. I threw in a few Nutrigrain bars and some "real" food like jelly babies and savoury bagels and salty nuts, not knowing what my taste buds might demand after 8 hours of riding.

Great view from Glenmalure Valley

Up Prince Willies and along the top were uneventful. Most of it was protected against the wind, so there was only mist and drizzle to keep me company. I had to hike my bike most of the way down the rock slabs of Prince Willies. When I met Ryan at the bottom of Cloon, I heard that I was still only 8min off his time. A quick pee stop and off over Knockree and along the river in the valley before the ascent up Maulin towards Powerscourt Ridge, overlooking the gorgeous Powerscourt Waterfalls. Except that today the beautiful waterfalls were only visible when the layers of drizzle and grey cleared for a few seconds. The wind blew me around again at the top and I carefully hiked my bike over the very slippery and rooty trail and down the rock step descent towards the Dargle River.

Almost half way

Then it was another push-a-bike section back out of the valley. When I hit the top where the path turns east over the turnstile, I had a fantastic push up the slope from the wind - until I turned south again over the next turnstile to cycle up the grassy path along the foot of Djouce. Here the wind was pushing hard sideways in gusty spits and I had trouble pointing my bike into the correct direction. It wasn't getting any better along the single track towards the sleepers and I had to resolve to push my bike over any technical section, just because I didn't have enough control over my bike.

65km done, 65km to go!

Up at the start of the sleepers the mountain is at its most exposed and the wind and drizzle were blowing horizontal with ridiculous force. My eyes were bleeding tears, my breath was shallow and the skin on my face was flapping like on a 100m runner. This part of the mountain tends to be fairly windy even in good weather - there seems to be some weird channeling effect from the surrounding mountains - if there is no wind anywhere in the country, you can still find some here. I wasn't able to even put my bike onto the boardwalk without the wind lifting it back off! What a stupid idea of deciding to ride the way in this weather! The only good thing was that the bog on either side of the sleepers had largely dried out due to the recent dry weather, so that I could push/cycle/fall off/be pushed into the grass sideways/get back off/align bike southwards/repeat my way along the boardwalk.

Hike-a-bike on the top of Slieve Maan

Unfortunately the 2nd boardwalk section just at the top of Ballinastoe did not allow for cycling along the side, so it was another push and hike-a-bike section until I hit the forests of Ballinastoe and the protection of the trees. I was near tears and frozen to the bone when I finally saw Ryan waiting for me at the car park overlooking the beautiful Lough Tay.

Disappearing into yet another forest

I layered up and with my splits still within 10% slower than Ryan's I decided to go on. Djouce would have been the most exposed area and it should get better from now on. The weather forecast had also predicted an improvement of the weather during the day, with wind and rain dying down - I really hoped they were right. The next bit was still fairly wet but less windy. With Lough Tay far below me I ripped down the tarmac road and then right into the fire road. I turned right again into a single trail where a tree branch almost ripped my helmet off my head and then it was down towards Lough Dan. A bit more fire road, field crossings, tarmac and a trail along the top of a mountain and I was entering the forests towards Glendalough. A small mistake along some singletrack due to misleading signage and I was on the last climb up the fireroad before descending into Glendalough Valley. Finally, I arrived at Glendalough car park in good time for another pit stop.

If I did more cyclocross I could have jumped it...

The next bit involved a bit of slaloming around the Glendalough walkers, that have been out in droves despite the bad early weather. Fortunately though, the weather started picking up from here on and I even felt the sun on my face for a bit. I tried to look very unsuspicious when I passed a ranger's car (the Wicklow Way leads through parts of the Wicklow National Park and you are not meant to cycle on it).

Still going the right way

And so I pushed my bike up the steep steps along the waterfall to reach the fireroads ascending from the valley. Here it was less busy and I made good progress. The sun was shining and I was getting warm from the effort. Most of the forest was fairly protected against the wind as well, so I was feeling good. But soon I was starting to feel the climb in my legs. I went into auto-mode and kept churning up the hill. I felt I was going slower and slower. Finally I hit the board walk section contouring around Mullacor. Here the mountain was again fairly exposed, but it was a lot less windy now. I was able to cycle most of the boardwalk until I slipped and face planted into a soft muddy patch. The taste of blood in my mouth wasn't great, but it was just a bit of bleeding inside my lip. I swiped the mud of my face and walked on. I also had to walk down the really technical steep and rocky descent to the fireroad. Once at the bottom I was able to rip down the zig zagging fireroad - only held up by a herd of sheep I ended up chasing down the road - to arrive safe and sound at the half way mark in Glenmalure valley. Ryan was already waiting for me and informed me on my splits: I was now about half an hour behind his time last year. My feelings were confirmed, I really had been crawling up the hill. I filled up on food and also decided to take a ham bagel with me to get some "real" food into me.

A bit of tarmac for a change

Ryan had said the next climb up Slieve Maan will take me about 40min. I thought this was a very optimistic estimate regarding my last crawl speed climb. But this was at least the last substantial climb of the day. Again I went into auto-mode to forget about the pain and concentrated on eating my bagel instead. Real food, eh? It took me almost 40min to eat that bagel! I just couldn't get to chew the bagel properly. I ended up taking bites and swallowing them in whole with the help of my water. Another hike-a-bike section up a particularly steep, tricky and boggy bit and a bit more fireroad and I was finally at the top. Another hike a bike section through some deep bog through the forest towards the road and when I came out of the forest, I could already see Ryan standing down the road with his camera in hand waiting for me.

Country side in south Co. Wicklow

Just as for Ryan, now started that part of the Wicklow Way that I didn't know apart from where it crosses the road and I had given support to Ryan the year before. All of the sections before I had ridden multiple times one time or another. But now it was entering the unknown. Thank god I had Ryan's GPS track - it took away the fear of overlooking a sign and taking a wrong turn.

Last off-road section

The next few sections of the Wicklow Way were generally sections of fireroad up and down a hill in the forest and before hitting an intervening bit of tarmac before the next fireroad section. I was feeling good and the weather had become nice with little winds and the sun shining. Finally I reached the section that almost broke Ryan last year: a section of cattle trails that can turn into knee deep mud in the wet and become completely unrideable. That was one of the reasons why I had decided to do the Wicklow Way on this day: it had been dry for the last two weeks and I hoped that the trail would be dried out for me. And I was lucky! Apart from a few muddy spots the trail was completely rideable and I was able to keep up a good tempo. In fact, it was actually a very nice bit of trail, winding its way through the man high ferns. The only annoying bit were the 20+ cattle gates I had to climb over on this bit. But finally I was so hot I could take off my big jacket.

Vista over the Wicklow Mountains from the south

I had expected to see Ryan at the next tarmac bit, but he had gone on to the next stop. However, due to my exertions and the warmer weather I had almost emptied my bottle and I was starting to get thirsty.
Thank god the next off road section was also mostly dry, in complete contrast to the bog that Ryan had to wade through and I started enjoying myself. I was getting more and more thirsty and then I was getting confused as to how far I was from our next meeting point. So I called him and asked him where the hell he was?? It turned out that I was only about another few kilometers before our designated meeting point where he waiting for me but he drove up from it anyway to meet me further up. This was the last official meeting point and I only had about 20km to go. Soon I was entering the 2nd last off road section, a quick fireroad spin up a hill and down again. Then the bit along the road where Ryan hit the wall - a particularly steep bit of tarmac. Ryan drove behind me and was shouting encouragement at the really steep hill, except that this was a really steep hill before the REALLY REALLY steep hill. I dropped into my smallest gear on the bike to make it up the really really steep hill - I so didn't want to live with the shame of getting off the bike on this bit. Finally I entered the last off-road section. I was only a couple of kilometers from the finish and I was still well under 9hours.

Coming out of the last off-road section

Wow, I was calculating in my head, I had about x km to go and about xmin to do it in, does this mean I can finish in less than 9hours? A (not so quick) calculation in my head and I thought, yes, I can do that! And I made it into my aim to finish under 9hours. Ryan waited for me where I came out of the last off road section and shouted at me to go go go! I was really fired up now, knowing I had only 4km of pretty flat tarmac road left and enough time to complete the Wicklow Way in under 9hours. And so I put my head down and time trialled the last section towards Clonegal, to arrive at the Wicklow Way end sign with a time of 8h 55min. I just did all of my weekly amount of exercise in one day :)

Proof!

And here it's time to say a HUGE thanks to Ryan who gave up his day to drive all the way around Wicklow to support me in this endeavour.

Done!

Race Report British NPS Round 5 - Newnham Park

Chilling at the start line before the race :)

I can't believe the season's over!

The last round of the British Mountain Biking Race Series was my last big race this season. And what a race it was! First of all it was a C1 event and attracted a few more than the usual amount of international girls - 12 girls lined up in the Elite Women's Category on Saturday morning just when the sun had dried the morning dew. Of these, 6 were from abroad: we had Aussie rider Kate Potter fresh from a series of international World Cup and World Champs racing, Irish contenders Ciara McManus and Irish National Champ Cait Elliott, Britain based NZ rider Jenn O'Connor, German me, and then of course the biggest star of them all: Norwegian former Olympic, multiple World and European XC and Marathon Champ, Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja, probably the most successful female mountain biker of all times. The other half of the field was made up of the best of what Britain had on offer: National Champ Sue Clarke, former multiple National Champ Jenny Copnall and riders from the British National team, just to name a few. In summary, one of the best fields in the UK since I started racing. No pressure there now....

Famous by proximity ;)

The race was also important to me because it would decide the final overall series podium. First place was most likely going to Kate Potter who only really needed to complete the race to win the overall. However, Jenny Copnall, Jenn O'Connor and I all had equal points on our 3 best races, so this last round was the deciding round and I was definitely up for a fight.

Unfortunately Ryan and I stayed in an awful B&B with a bed so uncomfortable that I couldn't sleep all night (I did try to sleep on the ground) and woke up groggy and and in a foul mood. On the way to the venue I was just hoping that my legs were more awake than I.

The race was 5 laps of a very dry and very fast course. The main features were a little drop, two river crossings, one of which became deeper as the race went on, a very steep descent (the pipeline) followed by a very steep climb (remember this one!), a few bomb hole sections and a few logs and roots, but nothing scary.

The draggy climb at the start of the lap

I was too tired to be nervous and there was good banter going on at the start row before we concentrated on the last 15 seconds before the gun went off. My plan was to stay with the front few people for as long as possible. Surprisingly the pace wasn't too crazy at the start and I found myself with the front few people on the grassy climb out of the arena. While Kate and Annie set the speed during the first lap, Sue, Gunn-Rita and I were close on their heels. Lap by lap, Kate and Annie however increased the gap on us and Sue, Gunn-Rita and I tried our best to chase them down. Sue managed to pull away from Gunn-Rita and me pretty early and I rode a lap with Gunn-Rita. Then, in lap 3, on the super steep climb I dared to attack and managed to open a small gap on Gunn-Rita. Now my plan was to stay away from Gunn-Rita and try to catch up with Sue. At the end of lap 3 I was almost back on Sue's wheel, but she attacked on the grassy climb at the start of lap 4 and I couldn't follow. Finally I finished the race in 4th position, half a minute behind Sue and over 2min ahead of Gunn-Rita.

Overall Series Podium

I was really happy with my result because it meant I came 2nd in the overall series standing. And of course also because this was probably the only chance in my life to ever beat Gunn-Rita and I did :) (in all fairness, she did become a mother only in April, so is not fully back up to speed). It made my day nonetheless. I'm also really happy because I know now that I can race well even with lack of sleep.

Roll on the off-season!

Short Results for Elite Female
1 Annie Last Halfords - 5 laps in 01:53:58
2 Kate Potter Cotic Bontrager Race Team - 5 laps in 01:54:00
3 Sue Clarke Scienceinsport.com - 5 laps in 01:56:10
4 Melanie Späth Cycleways/TorQ/KCNC - 5 laps in 01:56:43
5 Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja Multivan Merida - 5 laps in 01:59:30

Full results available on the timelaps website.

British Cycling Report up here.