Week 18 of 52 weeks
I'm attempting to compete in the Mega Avalanche in 2010 - It's a journey of 52 weeks till I actually get there and it's gonna be tough! Read on to hear more about my week of cyclo cross, bike drama and mega missions
Inside are the pics, video diary and loads of letters from the alphabet, which form words that will tell you about week 18 in my training for Mega Avalanche in 2010.Week 18:
Monday
Oh my Gosh - this week sucks! 2 races in one weekend and I know the Cyclo cross race I have entered into on the Saturday will Kill me! As a scared downhiller should, I'll not wear lycra or consider getting any, I won't go for a light pathetic road style bike. I'll prepare the way I know best. Head down and train as normal - but maybe do some extra miles in prep for the certain death that awaits me at the SRAM series cyclocross race this Saturday!
Tuesday
After a 5am session on the Turbo trainer and weight's session, the postman rudely disturbs my morning with some bounty from a new bike wash company - PINK - Pink are part of the successful PRO CLEAN Motorcross bike wash and lubricant, and they have released this pink liquid to help cleaning our bikes so much easier. Welcome on board new sponsors - PINK!
![photo]()
Wednesday
Had a great day with Elijah as my assistant mechanic and helping me setup my DH bike for some XC - so we stripped off the 2.3 tyres and chucked on some 1.9 for the cyclo cross race on Saturday. Headed out for a night ride as the light faded and after my 12 mile XC loop I stopped off on the BMX track for a play in the dark. Quite weird jumping doubles in the dark - but thanks to Lumicycle I think it's scarier for people passing bye to see a light flying all over the track like some sort of UFO!!
Thursday
Some great new sponsor kit arrived today from http://www.roofbox.co.uk. Roofbox are supplying and catering for all our bike transportation needs as well as car seat covers, Boot covers and wheel bags! I got some sweet product in the post - so check out the video for more details and see it being assembled!
Friday
Met up with Daniel today for another attempt at BMX riding - we headed up to Nottingham's newest skatepark for a memorable session of learning tricks and what not on a BMX. Dan has been hitting this place fairly regularly on his rigid 24" MTB and had some tips and advice to offer as he was getting fairly gnarly here for a newbie!
We also decided to chuck on some grind pegs today, and as result I attempted and successfully nailed the following tricks...
Double peg Stalls
Disaster Stalls
Double peg grinds
Feeble grinds
1 smith grind (by accident!)
180 airs
Transfers from Bowl to flatbank
mini footjam on flatbank
One footer and No footer over the box
After a good couple of hours of sessioning the concrete jungle, we headed our separate ways for lunch and a drive home.
Saturday
SRAM SERIES CYCLO CROSS
What is cyclocross?? well below is what Wikipedia says...
Cyclo-cross (sometimes cyclocross, CX, CCX, cyclo-X or 'cross') is a form of bicycle racing. Races take place typically in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is September-January), and consists of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5 km or 1.5–2 mile) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount in one motion.[1][2] Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium (and Flanders in particular), The Netherlands and the Czech Republic .
Cyclo-cross has some obvious parallels with cross-country cycling and criterium racing. Many of the best cyclo-cross riders cross train in other cycling disciplines. However, cyclo-cross has reached a size and popularity that racers are specialists and many never race anything but cyclo-cross races[citation needed]. Cyclo-cross bicycles are similar to racing bicycles: lightweight, with narrow tires and drop handlebars. However, they also share characteristics with mountain bicycles in that they utilize knobby tread tires for traction, and cantilever style brakes for clearance needed due to muddy conditions. They have to be lightweight because competitors need to carry their bicycle to overcome barriers or slopes too steep to climb in the saddle. The sight of competitors struggling up a muddy slope with bicycles on their shoulders is the classic image of the sport, although unridable sections are generally a very small fraction of the race distance.
Compared with other forms of cycle racing, tactics are fairly straightforward, and the emphasis is on the rider's aerobic endurance and bike-handling skills. Drafting, where cyclists form a line with the lead cyclist pedaling harder while reducing the wind resistance for other riders, is of much less importance than in road racing where average speeds are much higher than in cyclo-cross.
A cyclo-cross rider is allowed to change bicycles and receive mechanical assistance during a race. While the rider is on the course gumming up one bicycle with mud, his or her pit crew can work quickly to clean, repair and oil the spares. Having a mechanic in the "pits" is more common for professional cyclo-cross racers. The average cyclo-cross racer might have a family member or friend holding their spare bike.
Anyway ...
It's been along time since I have woken up and not looked forward to riding my bike. I had arranged previously to ride the track early and before any other riders had arrived. After meeting the event organizer I was quickly directed to the start of my race track around 5 football pitches and a pretty much wet, boggy, flat, soggy, muddy, condom littered, boggy, chav infested field - and did I mention it was boggy?! After my practice lap I felt quite happy with the task ahead of me - so I popped home for lunch and decided to come back just before my race run as it was freezing cold and I was bored of all the laughter my DH bike was getting from the lycra clad clan I was now surrounded by.
After lunch we headed back to discover I would start at the back of the pack behind over 200 riders who were seniors, veterans, junior and women. The official said to me " we have placed you here to give you the best chance of survival! I laughed but cried on the inside - lol!
As the race began with no one being informed by a whistle, bell or anything we sprinted down the field were I overtook around 100 riders and got myself deep in the pack for the first hill and sprinting section. I managed to stay in the pack well on my first lap and then it was a good few laps of constantly being overtook and cheered on by the event organizers with remarks like "this will help you pedal downhill lad!" and the popular "go on son, prove a mountain bike belongs here!"
As the laps grew my pace slowed down and my bike got absolutely clogged full of mud, and some chavy leftovers - at one point there was a condom stuck to my suspension forks for around 20 minutes - lovely eh!
As the laps counted on I noticed many people were getting new clean bikes in the pits, loads of riders falling off everywhere - (like flat corners!) chav militia began arriving to hurl strange abuse like "my mam is faster at getting pregnant again than you are at riding!"
Around lap 5 I was knackered and was actually finding a nice slug like rhythm to continue racing with and on Lap 6 after 59 minutes of racing we all stopped and pulled into the finish line where upon I reflected on the nightmare which had just happened with my family and race organizers!
Thank you to all the officials who looked after me and cheered me on - I really did nearly quit the race at many points! Cheers SRAM cyclocross!
Sunday
I awoke with a grin - No flat field of racing today - today was Racer's Guild timed runs at Cannock!
After loading up super early we headed up to the hill in convoy for a day of wet, muddy, fast, short and sweet DH racing woo hoo ... or would it be a disaster!
![photo]()
After some decent practice runs I was happy and had found my lines for the day - and as I approached my first race run at 12.01 I was fairly confident at getting a good time in today! But my Haro Xeon had different ideas - as I approached the first switch back something was lacking in the braking department - I crashed through the taped off switchback over a log into a bush and into the rock garden. My rear brake was completely smashed in half and was no better than a pint of Tesco`s pricepoint lager.
As I walked back to the top I made an interesting decision. I decided to drive home and back again (98 miles!) and get my Haro steel reserve hardtail and bring it back for my final run at 15.16pm. I loaded up and drove home as fast as the Mondeo would take me.
On arrival at home i realized my Hardtail was still only rocking one brake and some semi slick tyres for BMX racing. After a rushed session of tyre changes and setting up a front brake - it was back off to Cannock with the added bonus of a Pizza Hut, Hawaiian pizza in my belly!
![photo]()
As I arrived back at the top of the hill with my race number slotted into the spokes of my front wheel - I was given a start time and had only 10 minutes to try my 80mm travel hardtail on some DH and hope it would work OK after my rushed mechanical work!
The bike rode sweet and the only thing that let me down was the fear of pedaling my hardtail and having to actually go down the track at any pace! I arrived at the bottom with a pumped arm sensation and a time of 1:39 - I was happy, knackered but happy! - and Haro better appreciate the fact that I am a loyal rider who could have easily borrowed a bike but chose to man up and get his Haro from home!
Thanks to racer's guild for again putting on a cracking day on what I thought was the best track we have raced on to date. And it was quality to see Si Paton "superfly" there representing with his Descent gear stand, supplying the needs of some of the most committed, hardcore DH riders that the midlands has to offer
Great week done again! - thanks to all our sponsors
John Lee aka Jumble
Inside are the pics, video diary and loads of letters from the alphabet, which form words that will tell you about week 18 in my training for Mega Avalanche in 2010.
Monday
Oh my Gosh - this week sucks! 2 races in one weekend and I know the Cyclo cross race I have entered into on the Saturday will Kill me! As a scared downhiller should, I'll not wear lycra or consider getting any, I won't go for a light pathetic road style bike. I'll prepare the way I know best. Head down and train as normal - but maybe do some extra miles in prep for the certain death that awaits me at the SRAM series cyclocross race this Saturday!
Tuesday
After a 5am session on the Turbo trainer and weight's session, the postman rudely disturbs my morning with some bounty from a new bike wash company - PINK - Pink are part of the successful PRO CLEAN Motorcross bike wash and lubricant, and they have released this pink liquid to help cleaning our bikes so much easier. Welcome on board new sponsors - PINK!
Wednesday
Had a great day with Elijah as my assistant mechanic and helping me setup my DH bike for some XC - so we stripped off the 2.3 tyres and chucked on some 1.9 for the cyclo cross race on Saturday. Headed out for a night ride as the light faded and after my 12 mile XC loop I stopped off on the BMX track for a play in the dark. Quite weird jumping doubles in the dark - but thanks to Lumicycle I think it's scarier for people passing bye to see a light flying all over the track like some sort of UFO!!
Thursday
Some great new sponsor kit arrived today from http://www.roofbox.co.uk. Roofbox are supplying and catering for all our bike transportation needs as well as car seat covers, Boot covers and wheel bags! I got some sweet product in the post - so check out the video for more details and see it being assembled!
Friday
Met up with Daniel today for another attempt at BMX riding - we headed up to Nottingham's newest skatepark for a memorable session of learning tricks and what not on a BMX. Dan has been hitting this place fairly regularly on his rigid 24" MTB and had some tips and advice to offer as he was getting fairly gnarly here for a newbie!
We also decided to chuck on some grind pegs today, and as result I attempted and successfully nailed the following tricks...
Disaster Stalls
Double peg grinds
Feeble grinds
1 smith grind (by accident!)
180 airs
Transfers from Bowl to flatbank
mini footjam on flatbank
One footer and No footer over the box
After a good couple of hours of sessioning the concrete jungle, we headed our separate ways for lunch and a drive home.
Saturday
SRAM SERIES CYCLO CROSS
What is cyclocross?? well below is what Wikipedia says...
Cyclo-cross (sometimes cyclocross, CX, CCX, cyclo-X or 'cross') is a form of bicycle racing. Races take place typically in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is September-January), and consists of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5 km or 1.5–2 mile) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount in one motion.[1][2] Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium (and Flanders in particular), The Netherlands and the Czech Republic .
Cyclo-cross has some obvious parallels with cross-country cycling and criterium racing. Many of the best cyclo-cross riders cross train in other cycling disciplines. However, cyclo-cross has reached a size and popularity that racers are specialists and many never race anything but cyclo-cross races[citation needed]. Cyclo-cross bicycles are similar to racing bicycles: lightweight, with narrow tires and drop handlebars. However, they also share characteristics with mountain bicycles in that they utilize knobby tread tires for traction, and cantilever style brakes for clearance needed due to muddy conditions. They have to be lightweight because competitors need to carry their bicycle to overcome barriers or slopes too steep to climb in the saddle. The sight of competitors struggling up a muddy slope with bicycles on their shoulders is the classic image of the sport, although unridable sections are generally a very small fraction of the race distance.
Compared with other forms of cycle racing, tactics are fairly straightforward, and the emphasis is on the rider's aerobic endurance and bike-handling skills. Drafting, where cyclists form a line with the lead cyclist pedaling harder while reducing the wind resistance for other riders, is of much less importance than in road racing where average speeds are much higher than in cyclo-cross.
A cyclo-cross rider is allowed to change bicycles and receive mechanical assistance during a race. While the rider is on the course gumming up one bicycle with mud, his or her pit crew can work quickly to clean, repair and oil the spares. Having a mechanic in the "pits" is more common for professional cyclo-cross racers. The average cyclo-cross racer might have a family member or friend holding their spare bike.
Anyway ...
It's been along time since I have woken up and not looked forward to riding my bike. I had arranged previously to ride the track early and before any other riders had arrived. After meeting the event organizer I was quickly directed to the start of my race track around 5 football pitches and a pretty much wet, boggy, flat, soggy, muddy, condom littered, boggy, chav infested field - and did I mention it was boggy?! After my practice lap I felt quite happy with the task ahead of me - so I popped home for lunch and decided to come back just before my race run as it was freezing cold and I was bored of all the laughter my DH bike was getting from the lycra clad clan I was now surrounded by.
After lunch we headed back to discover I would start at the back of the pack behind over 200 riders who were seniors, veterans, junior and women. The official said to me " we have placed you here to give you the best chance of survival! I laughed but cried on the inside - lol!
As the race began with no one being informed by a whistle, bell or anything we sprinted down the field were I overtook around 100 riders and got myself deep in the pack for the first hill and sprinting section. I managed to stay in the pack well on my first lap and then it was a good few laps of constantly being overtook and cheered on by the event organizers with remarks like "this will help you pedal downhill lad!" and the popular "go on son, prove a mountain bike belongs here!"
As the laps grew my pace slowed down and my bike got absolutely clogged full of mud, and some chavy leftovers - at one point there was a condom stuck to my suspension forks for around 20 minutes - lovely eh!
As the laps counted on I noticed many people were getting new clean bikes in the pits, loads of riders falling off everywhere - (like flat corners!) chav militia began arriving to hurl strange abuse like "my mam is faster at getting pregnant again than you are at riding!"
Around lap 5 I was knackered and was actually finding a nice slug like rhythm to continue racing with and on Lap 6 after 59 minutes of racing we all stopped and pulled into the finish line where upon I reflected on the nightmare which had just happened with my family and race organizers!
Thank you to all the officials who looked after me and cheered me on - I really did nearly quit the race at many points! Cheers SRAM cyclocross!
Sunday
I awoke with a grin - No flat field of racing today - today was Racer's Guild timed runs at Cannock!
After loading up super early we headed up to the hill in convoy for a day of wet, muddy, fast, short and sweet DH racing woo hoo ... or would it be a disaster!
After some decent practice runs I was happy and had found my lines for the day - and as I approached my first race run at 12.01 I was fairly confident at getting a good time in today! But my Haro Xeon had different ideas - as I approached the first switch back something was lacking in the braking department - I crashed through the taped off switchback over a log into a bush and into the rock garden. My rear brake was completely smashed in half and was no better than a pint of Tesco`s pricepoint lager.
As I walked back to the top I made an interesting decision. I decided to drive home and back again (98 miles!) and get my Haro steel reserve hardtail and bring it back for my final run at 15.16pm. I loaded up and drove home as fast as the Mondeo would take me.
On arrival at home i realized my Hardtail was still only rocking one brake and some semi slick tyres for BMX racing. After a rushed session of tyre changes and setting up a front brake - it was back off to Cannock with the added bonus of a Pizza Hut, Hawaiian pizza in my belly!
As I arrived back at the top of the hill with my race number slotted into the spokes of my front wheel - I was given a start time and had only 10 minutes to try my 80mm travel hardtail on some DH and hope it would work OK after my rushed mechanical work!
The bike rode sweet and the only thing that let me down was the fear of pedaling my hardtail and having to actually go down the track at any pace! I arrived at the bottom with a pumped arm sensation and a time of 1:39 - I was happy, knackered but happy! - and Haro better appreciate the fact that I am a loyal rider who could have easily borrowed a bike but chose to man up and get his Haro from home!
Thanks to racer's guild for again putting on a cracking day on what I thought was the best track we have raced on to date. And it was quality to see Si Paton "superfly" there representing with his Descent gear stand, supplying the needs of some of the most committed, hardcore DH riders that the midlands has to offer
Great week done again! - thanks to all our sponsors
John Lee aka Jumble
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You wrote in this update that "I'm attempting to compete in the Mega Avalanche in 2010.......... till I actually get there and it's gonna be tough!"
The power of positive thinking is something that I'd suggest you start using and stating in your blog and everyday life all the time. The mind is a very, very powerful thing. If you have a goal of entering and competing in the Mega Avalanche then say it without any doubt in your mind. I'd recommend that you stop saying, thinking, typing or uttering words like 'attempt, try, maybe, could or should'.
You have made huge steps since day one of this 52 week project. Drill it into your head that you will compete in and complete the race. Visualize in your head the start line of the race and the atmosphere. You can do practice runs in your head before you fall asleep or first thing when you wake up in the morning.
There are usually sports psychologists that are used by professional sports teams or universities. I'd recommend looking one up. Trust me when I say they work wonders in boosting confidence and improving performance.