tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31602667465525143252024-02-05T01:13:21.673-08:00MuleBar GIRLDamianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03665673489053042291noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-34043117754152798162015-08-26T12:46:00.002-07:002015-08-26T13:29:45.458-07:00World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships by Natalie Creswick<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Forget navigating my way round a Czech forest, the hardest
part of the World Mountain Bike Orienteering Champs (WMTBOC) is going to be
condensing nearly two weeks of awesomeness into a blog that people might
actually read to the end. There’s too
much to tell<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">!</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">You can read the story of how my MuleBar Girl –Sigma Sport team
mate Adel and I got involved <a href="http://mulebargirl.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/catapulted-into-world-of-elite-mtbo.html">here</a>
but in summary we had just over two months to go from complete beginners at
MTBO to competing on a world stage and orienteering is not easy! </span>I’ll lay off sharing all the times that
I got lost, missed the junction, rode off the map, cycled into trees, glared at the map willing it to make some
kind of sense or cycled up and down the same path convinced where I wanted to
be was about to miraculously materialise when it was actually about 2km away. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Perhaps what I also hadn’t bargained for was exactly how much
amazing fun WMTBOC would be. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The first four days were spent on a lake in Straz Pod Ralkem
at a training camp, a chance to get used to the map style and terrain before
the big races. There was a lot of sand,
a lot of geeking over maps and a lot of much
needed practice time. </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNKdrZ0eqjbpOkhbFwrtAjW21NJeIA-V73E-r2sN3_1Iwyc8D96yxZX-fr-0-So7e5I_RyC4JVUNz7xY8OGW28wOQfpKNL0skXW9CSSNYUHP6s08B2Ks7MO_Vh-8Ik0wXYoobwV2l0jLFB/s1600/Sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNKdrZ0eqjbpOkhbFwrtAjW21NJeIA-V73E-r2sN3_1Iwyc8D96yxZX-fr-0-So7e5I_RyC4JVUNz7xY8OGW28wOQfpKNL0skXW9CSSNYUHP6s08B2Ks7MO_Vh-8Ik0wXYoobwV2l0jLFB/s400/Sunrise.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a bad place to spend a few days</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkRgovfrB_oYjMCv2Nerv7ZMyPYPBJEGCDb51nUkZv6w2Y1__m7k76BLBt3ROPiikYoKHG7Cn_eExYG89837tlq4WMqGQ7qy71IA-j1J70FpsBBvlpeEyhylJwhNHjO0_e-m0i5KXPyWP/s1600/Training+Camp+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkRgovfrB_oYjMCv2Nerv7ZMyPYPBJEGCDb51nUkZv6w2Y1__m7k76BLBt3ROPiikYoKHG7Cn_eExYG89837tlq4WMqGQ7qy71IA-j1J70FpsBBvlpeEyhylJwhNHjO0_e-m0i5KXPyWP/s320/Training+Camp+Map.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men's training camp relay map - did this backwards to get even more training in </td></tr>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Amazingly I actually felt like I’d got a bit better at MTBO
than at our previous race in Pilzen in July. I’d finished bang last in the middle distance
event after spending most of my time riding up and down the same path trying to
make it look like the place I wanted to be on my map. Things felt like they were coming together a
little, I could plan routes ahead, not have to stop at every control to
remind myself where I was and confidently pick the right roads at the junctions. I was feeling the flow<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">!</span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ixntsVX8yUQdI8ducb0cFyAVA5MWFlR6Rh_MrY6IobwKMafU_ZrzZqxevHTdc7Y4XcgNTd5jzxc0sUlB4u_LobYO600W6RYPZyYkgmf6uWYzVhNeLZ7VH4y6-2knw9pma-MROuRvs4IZ/s1600/Training+Camp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ixntsVX8yUQdI8ducb0cFyAVA5MWFlR6Rh_MrY6IobwKMafU_ZrzZqxevHTdc7Y4XcgNTd5jzxc0sUlB4u_LobYO600W6RYPZyYkgmf6uWYzVhNeLZ7VH4y6-2knw9pma-MROuRvs4IZ/s320/Training+Camp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think you'll find it's this way</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E1ieo6YxnMBA_8XhV9sENtAQYkrRZ0qnKImy4fmSQYI3AQRZEjs_myHL05BEJss-_WlmYB2GC1h3j4FaAxBvVBf5SnmLHZpimNpIu4pP8W9kbI0WBt13_rW4-uuZy8PU4VjhKoDSIwXW/s1600/Flat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E1ieo6YxnMBA_8XhV9sENtAQYkrRZ0qnKImy4fmSQYI3AQRZEjs_myHL05BEJss-_WlmYB2GC1h3j4FaAxBvVBf5SnmLHZpimNpIu4pP8W9kbI0WBt13_rW4-uuZy8PU4VjhKoDSIwXW/s640/Flat.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous forests - If only the real racing had been this flat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEyCKZf26sL1Odh88wPY3OHKCSD9A7nmIAZSk6eANXDCWTcrdmpi2hfEJ1AUSKHPpFXEWfKK-zgd8_4LoLy99bYSPvftacGHljHomh4cLVdIkxm3L6zGLBY0hLYGN0PxTSojKTZymP-9t/s1600/Messing+about.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEyCKZf26sL1Odh88wPY3OHKCSD9A7nmIAZSk6eANXDCWTcrdmpi2hfEJ1AUSKHPpFXEWfKK-zgd8_4LoLy99bYSPvftacGHljHomh4cLVdIkxm3L6zGLBY0hLYGN0PxTSojKTZymP-9t/s200/Messing+about.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find stairs will ride down them</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXO4qi3th1MWa6_aCBAQufl5YuV9kj7LPp7IppkCmdDCUdvN7yQOnDj3npHDdVQar4ftfrx0tfhtFNWkW6e2Ykin7SvGjYlmgTU5dx7LBwD_Ezra8KSeevy6hNGYAxNhoV_8cszgBgD9bB/s1600/Wakeboarding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXO4qi3th1MWa6_aCBAQufl5YuV9kj7LPp7IppkCmdDCUdvN7yQOnDj3npHDdVQar4ftfrx0tfhtFNWkW6e2Ykin7SvGjYlmgTU5dx7LBwD_Ezra8KSeevy6hNGYAxNhoV_8cszgBgD9bB/s200/Wakeboarding.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking Pro</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There was also plenty of time to do a little swimming in the
lake, go wakeboarding with our neighbours Team USA and mess about on the bikes
(oops sorry, I meant go training).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Saturday saw Team GB; Adel, Emily Benham, Edwyn Oliver-Evans, super
supporter Keith Dawson and I head over to Liberec for the championships
proper. First up, two more days of
training at the model event...
</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b23jdCzVh8DFGqjKyUbvoHHYAyu1ZGzohy3ojhhJrfkaheOzpHeQ2ZPPcGwYdzQcOTsEyKpNDyxwvaio-fkrQDNXmImjP6oIe8zUAJr8r6IZxYXD-basP7BUEWqHIUdnclWYNi_W5uig/s1600/Model+event.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b23jdCzVh8DFGqjKyUbvoHHYAyu1ZGzohy3ojhhJrfkaheOzpHeQ2ZPPcGwYdzQcOTsEyKpNDyxwvaio-fkrQDNXmImjP6oIe8zUAJr8r6IZxYXD-basP7BUEWqHIUdnclWYNi_W5uig/s400/Model+event.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quick pose at the model event</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoGZ0vgrAt3cfT2MalOFaFazVuNJGYV2-RoMinE7QcdvlEO39MpoCki7XDVNWfDpz0Oqc2JaX53OYs0oR9P3NhGkEmK-NhmXlay-BvEu04tr2DHDMA2CMOYw2iBLZODp6R2A52RuIVARE/s1600/Flag+bearer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoGZ0vgrAt3cfT2MalOFaFazVuNJGYV2-RoMinE7QcdvlEO39MpoCki7XDVNWfDpz0Oqc2JaX53OYs0oR9P3NhGkEmK-NhmXlay-BvEu04tr2DHDMA2CMOYw2iBLZODp6R2A52RuIVARE/s200/Flag+bearer.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't fall up the steps!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...followed by the WMTBOC opening ceremony where I got to carry
the Union Jack... </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...and then the rain started to fall…
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So event one, the middle distance, was going to be a soggy
one. No matter, I like racing in the rain, it just meant I had to wipe the mud
off the mapboard every five seconds.</span></span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTrcoDote4S9YJt22HSBnvS8oXT7DffA0NId0_DgYR1RT_igjWPSRoqofxRToBTvzQMqTRo0eVllalGZNRk_2fqMziLJQpfWPr57a-JK8pRlUm5cAnRbZyYJyFCVs6TjparWZqbztAtO2/s1600/Middle+pose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTrcoDote4S9YJt22HSBnvS8oXT7DffA0NId0_DgYR1RT_igjWPSRoqofxRToBTvzQMqTRo0eVllalGZNRk_2fqMziLJQpfWPr57a-JK8pRlUm5cAnRbZyYJyFCVs6TjparWZqbztAtO2/s400/Middle+pose.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always try to look like you know what you're doing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I was so happy to have a good start to the racing; the first
half seemed to go pretty well. Then the
route went through the spectator control, where everyone watching can see how
the event is panning out, and I seemed to lose the plot a little. You had to swap your map over for the second
half and my good flowing navigation flew away for the next couple of controls. I’d returned to the standing staring at the
map race pose. </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhq1wqt9Hb_h0HuZcgudms-7zY9IjrR5wn5bz6QCISbEvDxycEuU_9iMJ-U0Tup39vzKBlpn8G6MQJvHR2EWdr7IHl-uvmo0950ORXjn7nd2WAAJhxED4SD3iHur3uN6oxwBnKoavejCP/s1600/Stopped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhq1wqt9Hb_h0HuZcgudms-7zY9IjrR5wn5bz6QCISbEvDxycEuU_9iMJ-U0Tup39vzKBlpn8G6MQJvHR2EWdr7IHl-uvmo0950ORXjn7nd2WAAJhxED4SD3iHur3uN6oxwBnKoavejCP/s400/Stopped.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm sure it's around here somewhere</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdUNVV4rmoJF2FGepKRZse-7BerNZTvS6dr29E02YrSdnf7Dhz87u_9RLtG_Wes29hv4mdUQ0gSryfBBb0uM8gXm-PoDlTqXUmW44M9hIeeDlV4cBgnq-nSk7vmleFencWvhU65-tXIGM/s1600/Rain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdUNVV4rmoJF2FGepKRZse-7BerNZTvS6dr29E02YrSdnf7Dhz87u_9RLtG_Wes29hv4mdUQ0gSryfBBb0uM8gXm-PoDlTqXUmW44M9hIeeDlV4cBgnq-nSk7vmleFencWvhU65-tXIGM/s200/Rain.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When in doubt wear every item in your wardrobe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Still, I caught up with myself just fine and was thrilled to
finish in 47<sup>th</sup> place, well above what my beginner status should have
allowed. Plus we got to celebrate Emily’s
bronze medal and Ed’s 6<sup>th</sup> place in the junior men. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Post-race clothing choice was a little lacking though, the long
range forecast had been 35°C
and nothing really resembling warm or waterproof clothing had made it into my
suitcase. </span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlF_wkqjXSN_YfsglChaaCXYSl1ySQk-e0sB8OXKmPxkg5YCQFRrohiax5uRdd1Jh5BLWb1KVi-vu1yThz9L35r2BdCaeXgLVK9yZyK6VfmELp1R3kUNCqRPuEZYzNZ53674i61aAipWM/s1600/Sprint+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlF_wkqjXSN_YfsglChaaCXYSl1ySQk-e0sB8OXKmPxkg5YCQFRrohiax5uRdd1Jh5BLWb1KVi-vu1yThz9L35r2BdCaeXgLVK9yZyK6VfmELp1R3kUNCqRPuEZYzNZ53674i61aAipWM/s200/Sprint+Map.jpg" width="174" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Follow the pink lines</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Next up was the sprint distance. Contrary to what it sounds like the sprint is
about going slower as the controls come up in quick succession in a smaller
area. The map scale is bigger too so
every cm on the map was just 75m on the ground.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Fairly early on I found myself on the floor, typically on a
bit of path I shouldn’t even have been riding on as I overshot the junction I
needed. That kind of put my head out of
action for a few minutes, a disaster in orienteering when you need your head
more than screwed on the whole time so the sprint was not really my race. Still, I loved it all the same and learnt
loads to take on for the next event (most importantly - stay on two wheels).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thursday we were gifted a rest day so Wednesday evening Team
GB hooked up with the teams from USA, Ireland and Australia for the most fun
two games of bowling I’ve ever had. I
love the way the Americans are so enthusiastic about everything and it was
infectious. Our mixed GB/Ireland/USA six
person team even managed to win the second game, no mean feat when they had me
on their side; hand-eye co-ordination is not my thing<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">!</span></span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgci5SGAPMedE3k9zOfDkXDJWtrESHgbUDEoK4ehh_F6dAhmwf3DC8xkzDYedw5Q3sfsInHFzC2RqQifz_vwqCZZAkH-w6mep9QqsB4rkNUhxdKBFiWjMFUMYZFFXAGyvtkCG2GIZ4NJCK2/s1600/Bowling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgci5SGAPMedE3k9zOfDkXDJWtrESHgbUDEoK4ehh_F6dAhmwf3DC8xkzDYedw5Q3sfsInHFzC2RqQifz_vwqCZZAkH-w6mep9QqsB4rkNUhxdKBFiWjMFUMYZFFXAGyvtkCG2GIZ4NJCK2/s400/Bowling.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disembodied bowling head - thanks Abra for the pic!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And what do a load of mountain bikers do on a rest day? Go and find some singletrack of course. More fun times with new friends, lunch by the lake and
another swim.
</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPNa-kQmbxE4jxfWrIZvJTVhXs5NkzB-qab8n715mS8sPVIOShLenpMBTKjdMHfuFw75duyzSd21PMAAbeuGauTw4tp9gBZG9b7gSfVxjT0QsmYypAEwWhjx9_d1oBozOB4oKDxNdSs3I/s1600/SingleTrek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPNa-kQmbxE4jxfWrIZvJTVhXs5NkzB-qab8n715mS8sPVIOShLenpMBTKjdMHfuFw75duyzSd21PMAAbeuGauTw4tp9gBZG9b7gSfVxjT0QsmYypAEwWhjx9_d1oBozOB4oKDxNdSs3I/s640/SingleTrek.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not proficient enough to get a photo on the actual singletrack</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjVgUABq7yeU1oZ-Yqja0N2tO_ZK5Hrh-53ffDm0W152hqEGOqCUHDakWJmWVmKZTB4HF77NyVzEQLFSDcz3UQSQK-MBfudXQGrUonJLxP3iJ41Zf0suQUpQiGk4WNkpEJFSFH3bVetCX/s1600/At+the+lake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjVgUABq7yeU1oZ-Yqja0N2tO_ZK5Hrh-53ffDm0W152hqEGOqCUHDakWJmWVmKZTB4HF77NyVzEQLFSDcz3UQSQK-MBfudXQGrUonJLxP3iJ41Zf0suQUpQiGk4WNkpEJFSFH3bVetCX/s400/At+the+lake.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Days!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKq90p7TKFujxXPO0IRqlh3kVeiIp7jok4mi0590SpHegbKy1Pi9-Dtg9uGfWiSkwuw4VmHidLzvwL6nLsP9Tbi8YbHyCO23AmaQC0ZOvKDxzR0lj0aMDdaxZ_6aifQ9abK0vf8skjU82p/s1600/Long+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKq90p7TKFujxXPO0IRqlh3kVeiIp7jok4mi0590SpHegbKy1Pi9-Dtg9uGfWiSkwuw4VmHidLzvwL6nLsP9Tbi8YbHyCO23AmaQC0ZOvKDxzR0lj0aMDdaxZ_6aifQ9abK0vf8skjU82p/s320/Long+Map.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long map - All sense of flow completely out the window!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then onto Friday’s long course. I would call it hilly but that’s an
understatement, around 3000ft of climbing welcomed us for the final individual
event of the championships, but the climbing didn’t worry me, it was the downhill.
Having only started riding a MTB in April
this was the hardest terrain I’d ridden on and it would be a test of my skills
for sure.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All went well to control one. Control two was all the way over the other
side of an A3 map. It looked like a long
way away<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">And it was for me, finally after 45 minutes I punched the second
control, at least 20 minutes longer than it should have taken. I think I panicked at all the navigating I’d
have to do between the two points and my brain shut down, I couldn’t even keep
basic directions in my head. I began to
wonder if I was ever going to get out of the forest alive!</span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Despite the rather shaky start I managed to pull things back together
and did some pretty reasonable riding the rest of the time. Even though my humungous error did it’s best
to give me a slow time I wasn’t last. Reflecting on the event afterwards, the
long distance had given me a lot of new challenges to contend with which I hadn’t met
before. It wasn't too surprising I'd lost the sense of flow I'd felt at the training camp. I had to read contours and make
route choices based on the terrain as well as execute the routes on the downhills
while cycling way outside my comfort zone/half terrified I was about to fly off and on the uphills while I was red lining with effort. At least while getting lost I had ridden most
of the paths on the map, handy when the following day’s relay was in the same
forest.</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2-lFfQ5tX_6oscPUfaVuzE8dHmpmlSCymUZN5rU7MiyKz4mBmfRGxyx1MpgcLDYxPci6n6voIOw7CW9JHaavEXYcS3IUW_TxElX7QxcnA6Q5g0lqj12A9nHDhGsc96xo1ZG8BmymLXer/s1600/Finish+Long.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2-lFfQ5tX_6oscPUfaVuzE8dHmpmlSCymUZN5rU7MiyKz4mBmfRGxyx1MpgcLDYxPci6n6voIOw7CW9JHaavEXYcS3IUW_TxElX7QxcnA6Q5g0lqj12A9nHDhGsc96xo1ZG8BmymLXer/s400/Finish+Long.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long course sprint for the finish - every second counts when you make a 45 minute mistake!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">So the relay, the reason Adel and I were at the World
Championships, so we could form a GB relay team with current European Champion
and World Cup winner Emily Benham. No
pressure there then. </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Adel was off first in the le mans mass start. The relay courses are gaffled. Every rider’s
map is different but will follow a similar path with some common controls and
some controls in similar places. Sounds
confusing but essentially means following other teams is pointless.</span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">It was a nervous wait for Adel to come back in ready for my leg but I had another good start, I knew I just had to ride steady and punch all
the controls so that Emily could pick off the competition in leg three.</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHngmMao-9u7keani_ApZ9_SgODg3lFMR6Q5mfpwv-qRhufEoD_nZskMC8PhUqJNRjfuvanEaVdwostOgmuD15iXhEafrNGSVeapkmm08RwlSCzRZufwMmkMu558scz1J5NdC7FJ-Fiovn/s1600/Riding+Relay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHngmMao-9u7keani_ApZ9_SgODg3lFMR6Q5mfpwv-qRhufEoD_nZskMC8PhUqJNRjfuvanEaVdwostOgmuD15iXhEafrNGSVeapkmm08RwlSCzRZufwMmkMu558scz1J5NdC7FJ-Fiovn/s400/Riding+Relay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool, Calm, Collected</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Unfortunately, Adel and I left Emily with rather a lot of
work to do. After coming through the
spectator control I lost myself on the map a little (I blame all those nice
people cheering putting me off) and it took me probably twice as long to locate
the last few controls than it should have.
I climbed at least two unnecessary hills on my hunt to find control 12.</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtdJ-tN4W9T1IFzHiBvgpAL4uUSFzM8UNXyc8rC2G-R_gsA-HGNtZHuxjs1Iagqw087k242vJDskDsjyzrcgAR0c7NrL-BQdAuLCdicspx_WPU_6IdnYR-cVm-wQXGfJnKqmgKNEq1VLA/s1600/Relay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtdJ-tN4W9T1IFzHiBvgpAL4uUSFzM8UNXyc8rC2G-R_gsA-HGNtZHuxjs1Iagqw087k242vJDskDsjyzrcgAR0c7NrL-BQdAuLCdicspx_WPU_6IdnYR-cVm-wQXGfJnKqmgKNEq1VLA/s320/Relay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the spectator control</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Luckily for us Emily kicks ass at MTBO and raised our team game
far more than we’d managed to. Despite a
nasty crash in the sprint distance event Emily brought us home in 11<sup>th</sup>
place, ahead of Team USA with whom we’d built up a nice bit of friendly rivalry.</span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkmggiPoTOw_I4V_kZhyphenhyphenDWpo9WRzjZ_XWdL-p0PgDQRGzxj3KEsaEHSEi-C_JIkZoT_EEgnG0LqJhV5tBbd061-JuOJQBJkeDKYBj_qvd2_M0FjUIFScF8797t5c9HhiO2S56O2z8FIVP/s1600/Relay+Team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkmggiPoTOw_I4V_kZhyphenhyphenDWpo9WRzjZ_XWdL-p0PgDQRGzxj3KEsaEHSEi-C_JIkZoT_EEgnG0LqJhV5tBbd061-JuOJQBJkeDKYBj_qvd2_M0FjUIFScF8797t5c9HhiO2S56O2z8FIVP/s400/Relay+Team.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dream Team</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0dL9hMXqiUtEjDnySORtsDTTsUFnrUNdHw7GnIH7XhfxeZ6O6h7VEB0-v-EH3MnjKDUGK3_Hp-nq57RpjRX8IpITf3RWW5nZu0jhzt8kFqe55PxL9zjnkyxjwGfMyjD7_TMrRXYSoVSx/s1600/Banquet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0dL9hMXqiUtEjDnySORtsDTTsUFnrUNdHw7GnIH7XhfxeZ6O6h7VEB0-v-EH3MnjKDUGK3_Hp-nq57RpjRX8IpITf3RWW5nZu0jhzt8kFqe55PxL9zjnkyxjwGfMyjD7_TMrRXYSoVSx/s200/Banquet.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many men in hotpants!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And no world championships would be complete without a
pretty decent last night party. WMTBOC was
no exception. A fancy dress banquet with
free alcohol; what could possibly go wrong…? </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">I think I have a lot of unfinished business with MTBO, I’m
determined to crack the sport and cannot wait until next year. I learnt a lot, raced hard, made new friends
and did not stop smiling the entire time.
</span>We were also given such a warm, enthusiastic welcome into the
MTBO community. If I can do one thing in
thanks it would be to get some more people involved in the sport back home. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Huge thanks go to Emily for getting us there in the first
place and being so supportive even with her own races and injured limbs to
worry about, her Dad and brother, Nigel and Jack, for all their help in the UK,
Keith for being such a great team official/post-race counsellor/giver of words
of wisdom/knight in shining armour, Han Jørgen for his support and pre-race pep
talks, Adel, Ed & Bjørnar for their Team GB/Norway comradery and everyone else I met out
there for their new friendships. Thanks
also as always to Nick Metcalfe from <a href="http://www.backandneckpain.co.uk/" target="_blank">New Malden Chiropractic Clinic</a> for fixing my
back as I know without him there’s no way I’d still be cycling let alone
representing GB in the world championships.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33JfEzlIgkf5SPF8jwGdf4kSrZMzvXPg5xBZEPSPcZnAujLZijXR9TFyU_SZbGc1eZ2pv0RL7AipLTimGRhP_p0X6nEWeFjHxit5QdkFO1fbrgT-ASgacYyckIs6Gr_M5vNnynuFZFTxp/s1600/IMAG0874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33JfEzlIgkf5SPF8jwGdf4kSrZMzvXPg5xBZEPSPcZnAujLZijXR9TFyU_SZbGc1eZ2pv0RL7AipLTimGRhP_p0X6nEWeFjHxit5QdkFO1fbrgT-ASgacYyckIs6Gr_M5vNnynuFZFTxp/s400/IMAG0874.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team GB!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">See you in Portugal for WMTBOC 2016!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">(PS- I’m super impressed if you read this far down!)</span></span></span></div>
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Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-67727849680734533822015-07-07T13:30:00.003-07:002015-07-07T13:30:43.098-07:00Catapulted into a world of Elite MTBO<div style="color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">
Apparently it's our restless gene to blame for landing Adel and I in the Czech Republic; to compete at elite world level in a sport we've never done, with people we've never met, a roadie and a trackie on mountain bikes we'd only started riding this year. Perhaps not everyone's idea of a fine way to spend a week in July but it seems a variant of genetic coding known as DRD4-7R is responsible for quite a lot.<br />
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<div style="color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">
I have to admit, I'd never even heard of Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) before meeting Emily Benham at our MuleBar Girl Sigma Sport testing day at The Stable (MuleBar HQ). Mr MuleBar, Jimmy, had met her in the woods (riding mountain bikes I should probably add) found out about her exploits as MTBO world championship silver medallist and cordially invited her to join us.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Hco5IVc7KQD4zY86JtafSPdKZ_yQMOp5pyQrhl0-xAHesGHAFPFpuwgHN3jgkYPKt-fnjqvwriAcO4gyP8k4sQI3o-HT2JIgeZHNlur-PFJsZgpkRIsBlVzzasdbJ96cDDjV2d0Ms-M/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Hco5IVc7KQD4zY86JtafSPdKZ_yQMOp5pyQrhl0-xAHesGHAFPFpuwgHN3jgkYPKt-fnjqvwriAcO4gyP8k4sQI3o-HT2JIgeZHNlur-PFJsZgpkRIsBlVzzasdbJ96cDDjV2d0Ms-M/s320/image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1763186752"></span><span id="goog_1763186753"></span><br />
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MTBO, it turned out, sounded like a lot of fun. You get given a map a minute before you start then have to ride and navigate while riding to a series of checkpoints in the forest in the quickest possible time. Don't stop, that's wasting precious seconds, look at the map, pedal, look where you're going, get yourself to the right place and don't get lost or fall off, all in the same moment. It also sounded impossible!<br />
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Inspired by this alone I signed Adel and I up to the closet thing I could find to MTBO, a Gorrick Trail Trax event. The map and format are different but the general theme is the same, navigate round a map on a bike and do it quickly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYuLYzdprmqdhyphenhyphen9oVBo9xpMEIFysjBvIrP7iICUcAac_uASDgTNi3n6hPrsWcIEPwCI1xEAYPPjMpFj36YznuMCXiusI4PBAvZHUyV7tCMj8hIm6wM22-b1BXtlVEKmylcbmma-2rt1I/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYuLYzdprmqdhyphenhyphen9oVBo9xpMEIFysjBvIrP7iICUcAac_uASDgTNi3n6hPrsWcIEPwCI1xEAYPPjMpFj36YznuMCXiusI4PBAvZHUyV7tCMj8hIm6wM22-b1BXtlVEKmylcbmma-2rt1I/s320/image.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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It was about this point that those restless genes popped in. As I've learnt this week they were responsible for driving our ancestors to take risks, to head out into the unknown in search of new food sources or to discover what lay over in the next valley. With food now in abundance they fuel a sense of adventure instead. "I think I've found my relay team for the MTBO world championships", Emily joked with us on Twitter after our escapades at the Trail Trax event. "This smells like a challenge" said Adel and I, "Where to we sign up...?!".</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-43210223130769732592015-06-26T13:53:00.000-07:002015-06-26T23:54:30.656-07:00Corona Grab Condo by Natalisa Creswick <div class="s4" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">Struggling through Shoreditch with a bike box is definitely not one of the coolest things I've ever done. Especially when it only has three wheels and no handle courtesy of the combined forces of Easyjet and Ryanair and when the trendy people of London are stumbling squinty eyed into the Sunday evening glare to smoke outside daytime clubs.</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">You may wonder what this has to do with a cycling festival in Girona but sometimes things have their cost. Weekend shifts off work are like gold dust so </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">I had to fly straight to the office on Sunday morning, fresh from Girona Gran Fondo </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">if I wanted to</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> spen</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">d a</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> week </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">in the Catalan sunshine</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">. A small price to pay in my opinion, until the box broke and the half mile walk to the bus stop suddenly felt longer than the sportive itself. Most people might catch a taxi but I like to approach all things like an endurance sport.</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">I feel </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">truly</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> honoured to have been part of the second Girona Gran Fondo, organised by the lovely Dave & Saskia from Bike Breaks Girona, it was a very special week. Shop rides every day, a hill climb (10km mountain if you're from the UK, don't let them deceive you, that ain't no hill), urban downhill (to watch, not ride, Dave & Saskia like their riders to go home all limbs intact), night time nocturne through the</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> cobbled</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> old town and if your legs haven't quite taken enough punishment there's a 125km sportive on the last day. Throw in a rooftop pool party, free beer, free sausages and delicious Catalan dinners, what more could you want? Oh, there was wine, wine & cava and a bit more cava to wash it down.</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">The cycling was excellent but it wasn't just about the riding, the atmosphere was like nothing I'd experienced before in a sports event. The love of bikes transcended all languages and people to create a mishmash of lycra clad, enthusiastic cyclists sporting perma-grins and rapidly increasing tan lines. I made loads of new friends and got to hang out in the area's many cafes, restaurants, ice cream parlours, err, these places all seem to revolve around food?! We did go to the beach once!</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">Of course, it helped that Team MuleBar Girl - Sigma Sport did pretty well. I won the hill climb and the </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">nocturne plus</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> was 2nd in the sportive with Adel picking up 4th at the hill climb, 2nd in the nocturne and 4th in the sportive too. </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">I now also know that a</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">m</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">agnum</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> of c</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">ava, won at the nocturne, no matter how many people you share it with is only going to end one way! </span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">We won some pretty cool prizes too. I'm now the proud owner if a Formula 1 Tag Heuer watch (yey!) for winning the hill climb & being 5th overall, only a minute and a half off the overall win. Plus a new helmet, a gorgeous gran fondo bracelet and trophies in the shape of traditional Catalan drinking vessels, </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">porrons. </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">I'm glad no-one weighed my hand luggage on the way home!</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">Adel and I have had wobbly seasons through illness and injury so the feeling of power back in my legs couldn't have come at a better time. In fact, packing to come home I found my trainers and running kit languishing at the back of the wardrobe. I'd completely forgotten my back had been so bad the week before </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">I’</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">d brought them out just in case I couldn't c</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">ycle</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> but still wanted to get out into the mountains. It felt like a world ago but had only been a couple of days.</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">Nothing is better for the soul than a week full of sport, good company, good food and good wine and it was an absolute pleasure to share it with my fellow Fondomentalists (to steal Shane's phrase). Quaffing </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">more</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> winning cava with new friends on a rooftop terrace overlooking the Gironion sunset was a fine way to end the week. Thanks to Dave & Saskia</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">for putting on</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"> something really quite wonderful. I loved every minute. Although I won't miss is autocorrect changing Girona Gran Fondo to Corona Grab Condo every flippin time!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-35728312665481778372015-05-20T01:00:00.001-07:002015-05-20T01:00:38.722-07:00Redditch Tour Series - Round 1<div class="s4" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">Tonight I made a point not to eat any MuleBar caffeine gels. They’re so effective and powerful I was </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">awake half the night after every round of the Tour Series last year. I’ve got work early in the morning </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">and want to avoid any of that 3am tossing and turning malarkey. Except it seems that Tour Series </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">fuelled adrenaline is pretty powerful stuff too, so even after driving home and trying to calm down I’</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">m still too wired and awake to sleep. To wile away 20 minutes or so I thought I’d write a few words </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">about round one of the 2015 Matrix Fitness Tour Series over in Reddicth tonight.</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">My season was cut short bang in the middle of the Tour Series last year with a herniated disc. It’s </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">been a wobbly journey back to fitness which meant I only really started proper bike training in </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">January. I’ve been doing some MTB and TTs so far this year so couldn’t wait to kick off again with </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">some crit racing. I wouldn't be on the start line at all though without the amazing support and </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">treatment from Nick at the New Malden Chiropractic Clinic (www.backandneckpain.co.uk). A huge </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">amount of thanks are owed in his direction.</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">Did I mention the rain? It was really rainy and haily and then rainy again and then the sun came out </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">for a moment and then it rained again and then the wind blew a bit and then it stopped. The roads </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">were wet and then some. So after many practice laps carefully sighting the corners the klaxon went </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">and off we went – all 72 of us. I couldn’t quite believe it either, 72 is an awesome number for a </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">women’s crit. Everyone loves the Tour Series.</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">There was a lot of jostling for position, a lot of elbows out and finding small gaps that didn’t really </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">exist and that was just in the neutralised section. Then bam…slide…barrier…person on top of me…I’d </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">skidded out on one of the corners. It’s off camber with a selection of slick white paint and shiny wet </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">drain covers to choose from and I must have caught one of them just before I skated across the </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">tarmac on my knee. </span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">I was so fired up in race mode and in my fight to want to get back into the thick of the racing I </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">completely didn’t think about the fact that I could have a lap out as I’d crashed. So henceforth came </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">many lonely laps as I smashed it around on my own trying desperately to see anything resembling a </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">bunch come into view. I overtook a lot of other riders, both alone and in little pockets of people and </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">finally with just one measly lap to go I caught the back of group three. Sadly, I had nothing for the </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">finish though, having beasted myself round umpteen times and attacked the hill more times than I </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">cared to count my legs just couldn’t find it. Still, it was an awesome training session if nothing else. </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">35 minutes of crazy high intensity has got to be worth something and the Cannonadale SuperSix </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">absolutely flew up that hill. Much bike love was going on amid the pain. In fact, I can’t have looked </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">too shabby as I overheard some spectators on the climb asking each other if I was off the front – I </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">wish</span></div>
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<span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">So back home I have a bit of road rash here and there and some nice looking bruises developing. I’ve </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">never been more glad that I was organised enough to bring dinner with me from home. Not because </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">it meant I had something tasty to eat straight after the race for recovery but because in my cool bag </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">was a very welcome ice pack which worked a treat on my hip the whole drive home. Tonight’s Tour </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">Series was a bit of adventure and I loved it, despite everything that didn’t quite go to plan. A big </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;">smile is exactly why I race my bike, it’s just a shame it’s sometimes accompanied by road rash.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-57741105226628861122015-01-13T05:26:00.001-08:002015-01-13T05:26:25.735-08:00<div class="s2">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Just a little brief on the Belgium cross – I can officially confirm when everyone tells you </span><span class="s2">it</span><span class="s2">’</span><span class="s2">s</span><span class="s2"> cold they are bloody right I was not expecting</span><span class="s2"> the amount of ice </span><span class="s2">and snow</span><span class="s2"> I found. The first race was in </span><span class="s2">D</span><span class="s2">iegem</span><span class="s2"> a nice little town near Brussels, I pre rode the course the day before and felt pretty happy with everything. Washed the bike off and chilled to race day, however the first race morning was a little stressful as I found leaving your bike in the van is not a</span><span class="s2"> wise idea, one of my bikes was</span><span class="s2"> completely frozen. I now realise why everyone was air dry</span><span class="s2">ing their bikes with such precision</span><span class="s2"> out there. However it was t</span><span class="s2">o</span><span class="s2">o late to do much about i</span><span class="s2">t so I one biked it on the first race, which</span><span class="s2"> wasn’t t</span><span class="s2">o</span><span class="s2">o bad really as most of the course was frozen anyway</span><span class="s2">, there were</span><span class="s2"> some muddy patche</span><span class="s2">s that I ran instead of rode </span><span class="s2">just</span><span class="s2"> to</span><span class="s2"> keep the bik</span><span class="s2">e working</span><span class="s2">. Plus my running isn’t t</span><span class="s2">o</span><span class="s2">o bad so I don’t think it massively altered my positioning. I came 35</span><span class="s3" style="vertical-align: super;">th</span><span class="s2"> which I think was a reasonable position considering I was gridded toward the back and it was my first </span><span class="s2">ever world class race. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">There were</span><span class="s2"> area</span><span class="s2">s</span><span class="s2"> I knew I coul</span><span class="s2">d improve on but this was reall</span><span class="s2">y what I was here for the experience top races, and practice on </span><span class="s2">obstacles</span><span class="s2"> we don’t always get in the </span><span class="s2">UK. Ramps, ditches, sand off c</span><span class="s2">amber</span><span class="s2">descents</span><span class="s2"> etc.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">T</span><span class="s2">he second race was </span><span class="s2">Azencross</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s2">Loen</span><span class="s2">hout</span><span class="s2">, this was super icy and snowy and pretty intim</span><span class="s2">id</span><span class="s2">ating due to the weather conditions but really it was more suited to me there was plenty of running, lots of jumps and a nice fast road sections. I was slightly less nervous as I now understood the </span><span class="s2">set up</span><span class="s2"> of Belgium races. So much less stressful no worries regarding pit equipment it is all there for you, people were there willing to help pit for you and generally treated you like royalty. I had a r</span><span class="s2">eally good race, first half, </span><span class="s2">the</span><span class="s2">n</span><span class="s2"> I made a few little mistakes, dropped a chain and slipped on some steps but still really got into the race and love</span><span class="s2">d</span><span class="s2"> it. I would highly recommend the ladies to go out there and give it ago. I have so much to learn still within cross and thanks to MBG I have had a life time experience I will not forget.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Along side</span><span class="s2"> me I had a junior girl that does my local cross league Sarah Lomas that also put in 3 cracking performances. Give her a follow on twitter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">This weekend at Derby I rode a strong race and ended up finishing the National series in 5</span><span class="s3" style="vertical-align: super;">th</span><span class="s2"> position…consistency throughout the series assure me of this position and it has taught me a lot and given me great focus for </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3160266746552514325" name="_GoBack"></a><span class="s2">next CX season…bring it on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">I have</span><span class="s2"> the National Champs </span><span class="s2">next weekend </span><span class="s2">the</span><span class="s2">n I will be turning my hand back into my triathlon training. </span><span class="s2">Thanks to all the sponsors and my wonderful </span><span class="s2">teamies</span><span class="s2"> and pit man Gary</span><span class="s2">McCaffery</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Di Lee </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-12402022274190892852014-11-19T06:35:00.000-08:002014-11-19T06:35:29.556-08:00Into the Cross season<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It's now
well into the season, and nearly all the MBG’s have been doing a bit of
Cyclocross with V and Lou doing the London Leagues and Emily, Phoebe and myself
doing the National Series and our local league races. So far things are going
really well, with the super support form MBG-Sigma Sport I was able to target
the National series as my main events this year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am
currently lying 5</span><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">th</span></sup><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> overall in the series with 3 rounds left to go. Last
weekend was the inter championship at Hardwick hall seriously muddy but a great
course for me. I had a really strong race holding 3</span><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">rd</span></sup><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> place until I had a major
mechanical that left me running a good chunk of the course. I managed to hold
onto 5</span><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">th</span></sup><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> place.
I haven’t raced in quite so many of my local races due to the Nationals but the
participants in the women’s field at Notts and Derby is continually growing,
which is great to see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over
the Xmas period I am going to do some international events in Belgium to gain
some more experience and try to improve my technical skills before the
Nationals Championship. I think the thing I enjoy most about cross is that
every race is so different with such differing condition it makes it such an
exciting sport. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am
really looking forward to the Milton Keynes Nationals as I’m sure the atmosphere
will be buzzing after the World Cup. Once cross finishes I’m straight into the
tri season with my first race being in Portugal - my training will change
significantly, changes by increasing my mileage and regaining my running and
swimming fitness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am
excited about a busy few months ahead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Di xxx<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-40287031109411740522014-08-25T07:01:00.000-07:002014-08-25T07:01:06.204-07:00Euro Trip Challenge: Week One: The Plan, The Views, The Crash<b style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-652822de-0d6b-54eb-dfac-24ce7b0c2f90" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span> </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am writing this from a Cafe in Chamonix. it’s the start of my second week into my Euro Trip Challenge and many things have happened and plans have changed on a daily basis. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The initial plan was to live out of my havebike van, touring the mountains in Europe and undertaking 4 mountain bike races in 4 weeks. I was given the opportunity to make it into a video diary for The Cycle Show and thus, the concept became a reality.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As with most things I do there was no plan, even less of a plan than even I was comfortable with. I left my house on Saturday morning with the van packed and still no clue as to where I was heading!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">First though, I decided to sneak a race in in Brighton, the famous Brighton Big Dog. All my teamies the MuleBar Girls-Sigma Sport were racing and I got an on-the-day entry to do a Onederdog lap, which is a one-lap race that you can start whenever you want. It’s more of a fun category but I was grateful simply to get a ride!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It was an awesome day out, the girls were on form and loving it and totally dominated the podiums, I was so proud to be wearing my team kit and part of the day with them! I still don’t know the time I got but I tried really, really, really hard to the extent that I could taste blood and my lungs were on fire! It felt so good to be back putting that sort of effort into riding, I am not fit enough to be going particularly fast even when I try that hard but there is nothing like a race to force you to push your body to it’s limits and I loved the feeling….</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At night time of course I was peer pressured into staying and partying and was offered a floor to sleep on at race organisers Rory and Sabrine’s house.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On Sunday I took myself to a cafe to book a ferry and have a look at the footage and audio I got from the race. It’s quite a big deal to me to be trying to self-film and record, it’s fiddly, takes organisation and commitment throughout the day and with the support of Rebecca and V I felt like I was happy with what I had got.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I booked a ferry for that evening, got stuck in traffic on the M20 and made it on with 5 minutes to spare. I was just thinking “Is this seriously what my whole trip is gonna be like?!” because, to be honest, that’s what my whole life tends to be like…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On the ferry I set about filing the footage I had got from the race...only to discover it had disappeared!!! I was devastated, my Go-Pro was refusing to work too. I drove a few hours south from the ferry and set up camp in a lay by and as the rain pelted my tent I really felt a lonely feeling of “what the hell am I doing?!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The next morning I made my way down to Chamonix, unable to use sat nav in the van because the lighter plug doesn’t work I had to get on wifi in service stations and memorise the motorways and big town names to head for. Eventually I arrived and hooked up with Nina, a girl I had met at my first and only proper race this year. I had contacted her on Saturday to ask if she wanted to ride with me….and it’s still the best decision I have made this trip!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I was made super welcome in her boyfriends little flat, where they pulled out a bed for me and took me in as if we’d known each other forever. Together we talked about my plan and it started to come together. I knew I had to get to Eurobike in Germany at one point and I contacted a few race organisers that I had come across thanks to a facebook shout-out and as I waited for the replies we could then just concentrate on some local riding.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Riding. That’s what I came out for after all.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I got my Go-Pro fixed at Epic TV in Chamonix and took a ski lift up Brevent with Nina and Spencer to check out the riding on their door step.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From here, it’s really best to look at the pictures on facebook as the words can’t describe the variety and enormity of the riding I have done in the last few days. Chamonix, Le Tour in Switzerland, Pila in Italy and Tignes/Val D’Isere in France. There have been times that my little London brain has felt fit to explode with the views and the magnitude of the mountains, to get to the top and then let loose ride, ride and skitter down the rocks and paths to the bottom is truly an incredible, incredible thing to do.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It has been taking me a while to get back into the flow after a long time off of my mountain bike in the UK, but each run I felt more confident and relaxed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The thing that has really fucked my brain up is the cliff edges. Here it seems to be normal to find tracks away from the main Bike Parks and off the beaten track and no-one seems to bat an eyelid at the mountain drops along the side of the path, shrugging it off with a simple “yeah, you just can’t commit to riding at 100% when you are here as the consequence is too high”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But somehow riding at 90% seems totally fine!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXkNXXfexcdYGCeHSRpi_jGWa1KHkufdlui1PbZkhw66bDi3CIXWipMjYeY-ruXDfxTQij0NctFxbjzuY5vYzdF1sHIBHBMcOZ8LredpJpl_zUbwR0rvNKjMCtwk0Nnw8S5OH3xkppB4/s1600/DAY+2+nina+and+anna+walking+cliff+edge.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXkNXXfexcdYGCeHSRpi_jGWa1KHkufdlui1PbZkhw66bDi3CIXWipMjYeY-ruXDfxTQij0NctFxbjzuY5vYzdF1sHIBHBMcOZ8LredpJpl_zUbwR0rvNKjMCtwk0Nnw8S5OH3xkppB4/s1600/DAY+2+nina+and+anna+walking+cliff+edge.PNG" height="430" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After a few days in Chamonix and no positive response for a race for the first weekend, Nina decided to join me and show me around Val D’Isere and Tigne and it appears that I have picked up a little riding and travelling buddy for the next week or so. It’s AWESOME!!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We had some good days riding, we started with a black run and then moved on to blues and reds. Bit of a backwards decision, but decision making does not seem to be the strong point of this trip!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At one point we came across a big ladder drop, about 2 metres high. Higher than any drop I have ever done before. After looking at it for a long time Nina decided to go for it, her analysis being that it looked fine from the top and she had done bigger drops before. I was unsure, but trusted her judgement and took to the camera to film her.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I was inspired and impressed that she went for it but without having seen someone do it ahead of us she hit it with too much speed and landed miles down the landing. She held on but the speed and rutted landing was too tricky to maintain and she hit the floor a second or two later with a big bruise developing immediately.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I was then even more unsure and after some more deliberating decided not to do it, we had the last ski lift to catch anyway. Which we made with less than 2 minutes to spare!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I went to bed that night feeling really annoyed with myself. I think I have a really strange brain and all I thought about that night was doing the drop. It was annoying me because I felt the only thing holding me back was will power, not ability. I was absolutely determined to do it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So the next day we went to it first thing because it was far away and we needed to make sure we were able to ge the ski lift back, which meant i couldn’t practice on smaller ones first. I was feeling scared but steely determined. Thanks to her crash and general “meh” mood Nina wasn’t up for it again so I couldn’t just copy her (which is a favourite of mine when it comes to new things!)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On the run in my brain said something like this “No, yes, no….oh fuck, yes…”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And then everything slowed down, I heard Nina telling me it was perfect, but I knew it wasn’t, I was dropping the front end and I knew I was gonna crash.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The thing that saved me (aside from my Lazer Helmet) I think was the fact that I am good at relaxing when I crash on an MTB, I rolled pretty far and hard, smashing my helmet and goggles on the way. I sat up and Nina got to me and I was pretty scared as I knew I’d hit my head pretty hard, I was shaking and I wanted to get to the bottom of the mountain straight away in case I started passing out and before the pain kicked in. Nina convinced me to stay still for a bit. I dunno, both choices have their pros and cons, if I had been more badly injured I didn’t want to be stuck in the woods with nobody around. As it was, I was OK, just really, really sore.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I managed the three hour drive back with some singing along to the radio to boot and now it’s time to go and have my bike checked over. I’m hoping it’s A. able to be sorted fast B. Not extortionately expensive.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The best thing of all? it was all caught on camera! Go check it out here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1464416623831896&set=vb.1407513006188925&type=2&theater&notif_t=like">https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1464416623831896&set=vb.1407513006188925&type=2&theater&notif_t=like</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The next stage of my trip starts tomorrow as i head north with Nina to Switzerland and then Germany, with my next race booked in back in France this weekend. Fingers crossed the plan continues to (sort of) stay together…..</span></div>
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<br /></b><br />anna ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16228207400295321087noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-30937500905095688342014-07-21T01:55:00.000-07:002014-07-21T01:55:11.134-07:00A Day in the Lakes .<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1500000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSx2Q4oEXY2F8MX6I2izlyaaN6_0rh5enVKqhnEsgvnuNQbknBs3rmcMFcoyHR1EXiJ3eOIGAXQlly6xtdwh1S40sXYSBZqcV1rOJJEigK3qjkB6C8gFSOAQjWn2QJZPzALhvKw3J3oKI/s1600/open+water+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSx2Q4oEXY2F8MX6I2izlyaaN6_0rh5enVKqhnEsgvnuNQbknBs3rmcMFcoyHR1EXiJ3eOIGAXQlly6xtdwh1S40sXYSBZqcV1rOJJEigK3qjkB6C8gFSOAQjWn2QJZPzALhvKw3J3oKI/s1600/open+water+blog.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well after Texas 70.3 triathlon, I decided to race a little closer to home and enter an half iron distance race in the Lake District - a 1.9k swim 90k bike 20k run. This was the complete opposite end of the spectrum to Texas. The hilly, off road run and pretty god dam brutal. The swim started in Ullswater, a beautiful setting and a great opportunity for me to start the race well. I was the first lady out of the water and 2</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">nd</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> overall behind the lead male, I didn’t really get the lead I was hoping for with two ladies about 1mins behind me, but still a good solid start and on to the bike. It seemed to take me a while to settle into the bike, probably because I started out at the very front of the race and felt that loads of people were overtaking me, however I wasn’t really it was just the top end male riders that were trying to establish their positions in the field. Around 12miles into the ride we hit the first major climb Kirkstone Pass, here I settled into my zone catching a few men up the climb and getting into the feel of the race. The descents were fast and really enjoyable except for the odd sheep getting in the way. The bike route was on some fast country roads with spectacular scenery anyone riding over there I would definitely recommend the route for a general ride the route can be found on the website and map my ride </span><a href="http://www.trihard.co.uk/ADIL/ADIL%20cycle%20route.htm" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.trihard.co.uk/ADIL/ADIL%20cycle%20route.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7i0uu8BRF3zznyDYifiHl0mHxzoHSo4-YHIbnIurX2_aand_b2ZJMOHU8fcNwZAo4YahYHdHrdsy-IbzVAvzxHx4Q-25yW_ecA3qXeM5nr9kkNpAhYRx4N8q5Te3VIV9yTO6QKaaNBDM/s1600/photo+%252814%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7i0uu8BRF3zznyDYifiHl0mHxzoHSo4-YHIbnIurX2_aand_b2ZJMOHU8fcNwZAo4YahYHdHrdsy-IbzVAvzxHx4Q-25yW_ecA3qXeM5nr9kkNpAhYRx4N8q5Te3VIV9yTO6QKaaNBDM/s1600/photo+%252814%2529.JPG" height="229" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I came off the ride with a 7minute lead on the other ladies, which really pleased me. Now it was to the run, it was a fell run with two fells reaching 1500m I knew it was going to be tough but I do enjoy off road running and decided maybe the steepness might help me. At the top everyone was walking / crawling I just kept telling myself to keep going I kept reminding myself I was fine at least it wasn’t the 3 peaks, I didn’t have to carry my bike. Keeping positive at 8mile I was still leading and carefully descending as fast as I could. However downhill running doesn’t come to me as naturally as others. People were catching me, the real fell runners were flying it was amazing to watch they literally fall in style, however I was struggling to keep pace. I was over taken by a lady that literally jumped over me, she was amazing and there is no other way of bigging this up, she just left me for dead. All I could do was push on hard and maintain 2</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">nd</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> place, which I did. I was pleased with 2</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">nd</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and every credit to the winner Jenny Latham she put an exceptional run in. I felt I raced a well-paced consistent race with no major problems. I loved wearing the new kit from Wildoo, I decided to wear my jersey on the bike over my blueseventy trisuit as it gets pretty chilly on the tops in the lakes, also my new lazer helmet was great for my support team to spot. The custom colours are great, especially with the Oakley Radars. So now I am going to take a little bit of recovery time then before we know it the cross season will be upon us.</span></div>
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phoebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789446883582915105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-12995092275763836662014-06-26T08:46:00.000-07:002014-06-26T08:46:33.712-07:00An update from Dr Sneds <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6nlwwaNGM_hTqlH2thsR7oLY8yM14Ufvxkco2VPO_eJKh6DLP3FL35FLuxkj_u5HXZ7ECAkDwkdN8Srs7VJPNeLpgl1f2-rrqf_pe2cbOeLhIsnBDcWYLtO1VQT2IfweI2TPU0-M3uq4/s1600/cambodiatouring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6nlwwaNGM_hTqlH2thsR7oLY8yM14Ufvxkco2VPO_eJKh6DLP3FL35FLuxkj_u5HXZ7ECAkDwkdN8Srs7VJPNeLpgl1f2-rrqf_pe2cbOeLhIsnBDcWYLtO1VQT2IfweI2TPU0-M3uq4/s1600/cambodiatouring.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkD-WcMcYcoGun7GRlxe-aCnuExzze_r-DSj5M1EH_rvhCskY-OjpGkVHJByiYQa1k7IM4NRq-hqM-tiXaXBUZtbm7VbvCXN9ImzTdTUW9FbgGo5u5oUFbOfa-nwo0npbSsBVMIHHCehI/s1600/temples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkD-WcMcYcoGun7GRlxe-aCnuExzze_r-DSj5M1EH_rvhCskY-OjpGkVHJByiYQa1k7IM4NRq-hqM-tiXaXBUZtbm7VbvCXN9ImzTdTUW9FbgGo5u5oUFbOfa-nwo0npbSsBVMIHHCehI/s1600/temples.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>I have been having a superb summer so far. Following on from the mule bar girls training camp I have been riding and training at home in the peak district. I'm not particularly that excited by road racing so I am more than happy to support the other girls whilst they slog themselves round various courses. I particularly enjoyed acting as DS at the Stoke Tour series. It gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling to see the girls gelling so well together as a team and suffering together (especially whilst I sip coffee and cheer from the safety of the roadside). This year I have had a bit of a break from the trials and tribulations of being a full time doctor and have been working part time in A&E. This has allowed me the flexibility to plan an adventure and catch up on the all the events and excitement I had missed out on the past two years when I was working nearly every weekend. This summer I wanted to do something different with my bike and I decided I would try touring. Charge bikes very kindly helped Chris and I get our touring bikes set up ( the super sturdy Plug 5). We looked at a map of the world and decided where we would like to go. We ended up choosing Vietnam and Cambodia. Without much of a clue about what cycle touring would involve - I packed my bikinis in to my panniers and boarded a plane to Ho Chi Minh city, South Vietnam. From there Chris and I pedalled our way across the Mekong delta exploring rural villages, waterways and floating markets.Surviving mainly on noodles in broth with floating mystery meat and mini bananas. Thankfully this part of Vietnam is pan flat we barely needed to change gear all day. It was dammed hot and it soon became to the norm to stop every hour or so for a cold drink and take in the scenery. On reaching the coast (following a few days of sunburn,mild heat stroke and dicing with death with the motos), we boarded a boat to Phu Quoc island and spent a few days relaxing on the beach. After a sunset proposal on the beach and celebrations we then returned to mainland engaged and headed across the border into Cambodia. I absolutely loved Cambodia the people are so friendly, the food is fantastic and the scenery spectacular. we spent a great deal of time learning about their fairly recent genocide and civil war, the country has a tragic pasr but now seems to be thriving. Following a week of risking our necks on various dusty dirt roads we made it to Angkor Wat home to the world's largest religious site (the temples where tomb raider was filmed). It was here in the town of Siem Reap we finished our trip enjoying endless happy hour cocktails and 30p beers with a number of gap year students who had finally "found themselves, got a tattoo (terrible) and discovered Buddhism" This was our final destination before flying home and it made an unforgettable end to our trip.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aline Coaching - they can coach the uncoachable</td></tr>
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Arriving home it was back to work in A&E, like I had never left and back to getting some speed in the legs. This past 12 months I have suffered a couple of nasty crashes one on the road and one breaking my elbow in the 3 peaks. Following these my nerve on the bike off road seemed to be suffering. As many of you will know in mountain biking it is particularly hard to ride with your boyfriend who is far superior and who continues to shout totally unhelpful things like "let the brakes off" until you consider whether or not you have the physical strength to strangle them using a bike chain. I spent quite a few frustrated weeks contemplating what the problem was. When skiing I'm not scared and when I want to improve I have a lesson with an instructor - so why not have a session with someone whom I won't be tempted to murder. I was browsing twitter one day when a tweet came up stating places available for mtb skills in Sheffield - I looked into it, called them up and spoke to John of Aline coaching http://www.alinecoaching.co.uk/. John completely understood what I was talking about. I've had a couple of session with John who previously coached out in Whistler and helps out some of the top DH and enduro riders and it has worked wonders. John breaks things down, fixes the bad habits and constantly encourages (rather than criticise). I am so grateful for him helping me get my mojo back on the mountain bike. Hopefully Chris and I can now ride together without a hint of a murder or nuclear meltdown. I would urge any of you out there wanting to improve on the MTB but not quite sure how to do to check him out. You couldn't find a nicer more supportive chap.<br />
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Last Sunday I took part in the Eroica Britannia - this was a British version of the Italian Eroica on the Peak district's very own Strada Bianca or as we call it disused railway lines. The event is ridden on vintage bikes (pre1987) and in vintage kit. My dad has been building up to this event for the past 18 months and for it to take place on our very own home roads was the cherry on the cake. Thee vent could not have been better. This is the first year they have run it in the UK. The weather was glorious the free festival in Bakewell was a huge success and the ride - well I'm not sure I can put into words the joy of riding around the peak district on my vintage Mercian with 2000 other enthusiasts, the feed stops included free Pimms, beer and sparkling wine. I am already preparing myself for next year.<br />
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As we've passed the summer solstice my attention has turned to preparing for the cross season which always comes round faster than I expect and my bikes are usually still in bits. I have to go back to work full time in August so I'm trying to squeeze every last moment out of my spare time in June and July to ride my bike. Working in medicine makes you realise how short and cruel life can be and why it is paramount to enjoy as much of it as you can doing the things you enjoy with the people you love.<br />
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PS for those people that keep asking - no I will not be riding the cyclocross 3 peaks this year - I promised myself if I crawled to the finish last year I would never make myself do it again. I'm sticking to that promise. However I will be there to cheer on the rest of the riders probably with my running trainers on instead.<br />
For those of you excited by the prospect of a wet and muddy winter filled with cross racing check these teasers out http://vimeo.com/78835311phoebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789446883582915105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-130874895991542062014-06-25T03:04:00.002-07:002014-06-25T03:04:36.639-07:00It's been a while...<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to write a blog. V will no doubt be cursing me in her sleep but I am finally sat in a comfy chair with a cup of tea ready to pen a little about the past couple of months. It’s been a hectic one, with a lot of racing, a lot of driving, a lot of recovering and generally a lot of hanging about with the team eating a lot of MuleBars.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May and June were down to be the busiest months I think I have ever had on my bike. It makes my brain ache to think that far back but the start of May saw the Bedford 3 Day, a gloriously sunny affair where a good TT and a well-timed breakaway placed me in 3rd on GC going in to the final stage. Sadly a badly timed loss of concentration and even worse tactics lost me a few vital seconds on that very stage and I slipped back into 6th. At every race you learn and with my head held bowed low I learnt a lot at that one.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For all that the sun was out for the first bank holiday, May’s second one returned to form and it was cold and rainy. Torrential rain in fact, and we were camping. In prep for the National Championships I trekked over to Wales for the Tour of Carmarthenshire. A race that was hard last year stepped up a notch this time around; 70miles of climbs and undulating roads finishing at the top of the Black Mountain. It was tough going but a fantastic race as always with teeth gritted on the 10km climb to the end. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was actually pretty refreshing to see Commissairres in this race committed to ensuring riders race safely by removing those who repeatedly broke the highway-code from the peleton. Unfortunately, riding on the wrong side of the road is a familiar sight in women’s races which is not only dangerous but also unfair for those who keep to the rules of the road and are disadvantaged as a result. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although the annoyance for anyone who was asked to leave and return to HQ was clear the racing was safe and the problem quickly became self-policing. It would be nice to see this happen elsewhere. We are often told off for racing on the wrong side of the road but as there are never any consequences for those who do the problem persists. I’m certain I’m not alone in my worry that one day it will not end well when a peleton extending across the width of the road goes round a blind bend.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back to May and it was also the start of the eagerly anticipated Tour Series. Last year I learnt to love crits and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in again. I’d been training harder and focussing on the series so was keen to get racing. That is until I woke up in the morning of the first round in Stoke with a sore throat. My boyfriend had brought me home a nice little present from his training camp in Mallorca – a cold (and I bottle of wine I should add but he proceeded to drink that himself. I didn’t get so much as a quaff of it!). I felt pretty ropey so was super pleased to finish in 4th place, missing out on the podium in a sprint for the line from our chase group of 5.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the next round in Peterborough I’d spend a couple of days on the sofa and a couple more persuading myself that I was well again and everything would be fine at the race. A blocked up nose and not able to breathe you say? Just a little sniff I say. I limped home scraping into the top 20 after dangling off the back the whole race but still in 4th place overall.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up was Edinburgh (with the trip to Wales in a wet tent sandwiched in between) a road trip of epic proportions for a 40 minute crit race. It was worth it though, the race was fantastic. The course was brutal with a cobbled climb that went from a drag to a steep kick that seemed to go on forever and the crowds were brilliant. Being in a group with Eileen Roe, Claire Thomas and Charlie Joiner; all Scots, meant they got the cheers but it amused me every time to hear constant shouts of ‘Come on Eileen’. The party sounds of Dexy’s Midnight Runners whirled round in my head for days. I placed 7th in the cobbled sprint from the chase group. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then over to Redditch. I did not enjoy this race. This is totally unlike me as usually I have something to smile about even if I’m not happy with the result. We nearly had a car crash on the way there after a lorry’s load became lose and flew straight in our direction, only a quick reaction to avoid the huge metal plate looming down on us saved our bacon. Then my wheel was broken so I had to use the spare except it had a 10-speed cassette on it, cue frantic changeover in the pits which resulted in me dropping it all. Finally I fell off the rollers in the warm up. It was a little damp and a chap asked me if I found it difficult in the wet to ride them. To which I replied that it simply required a little care and attention and then promptly stacked it. Suffice to say the race went no better than the build-up.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That weekend it was on to the London Nocturne, one of my favourite races in the calendar. A twighlight crit in my home town with huge crowds and a fabulous atmosphere. I was really looking forward to it not least because I had a number of demons to put to bed after Redditch. I had a good starting position and was in the top 10 coming out of the first corner, everything was looking up, except that it wasn’t actually. I did not feel myself at all. In a matter of minutes I had dropped back at least 20 riders and was hanging just to hold onto the wheel. After a few laps my back started killing me. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2011 I slipped a disc in my back while I was racing in Germany and low and behold, it had gone again. It was radiating pain all across my lower back and down my legs. It was all I could do not to stop every time I went past the pits. It was the National Masters Road Race Championships the following day where I was hoping to defend my title and I had no choice but to miss them. I knew this injury and I knew a few hours was not going to fix it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A hastily booked trip to the GP & chiropractor on Monday confirmed my fears that my disc had indeed gone again. Not only is it painful but the gel that bulges out of the disc presses onto the nerve of my right leg. This prevents signals being sent to it which means a big loss in strength in that leg. Over the previous few weeks I had been feeling that something wasn’t quite right and I was missing the edge I’d had in previous years. I was worried I had overtrained but didn’t feel burnt out and in fact it had been really stressing me out. I am usually an attacking rider but didn’t have the extra zing to do it. This explained it all. It was no wonder I didn’t feel as competitive when I only had one leg at full strength, my right one was very noticeably weak. It was no wonder I felt so bad at Redditch.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly this means I’ve had to step away from my bike for a few weeks. Not an easy thing to do. Not least as it meant I missed the last round of the Tour Series in Woking when I was sitting in 4th place overall and Woking was worth double points but also as I’d have to miss the National TT & RR championships that I’d been training all year for. Gutted does not describe it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m lucky to have fantastic support from my chiropractor Nick Metcalfe at The Chiropractic Clinic in New Malden www.backandneckpain.co.uk who is doing everything he can to get me back on two wheels as soon as possible and it’s working. It’s already improved loads quicker than in 2011 and I’m itching to get back on the bike. In the meantime it’s been a case of finding other things to keep fit and distract myself. I’ve dusted off my goggles and started swimming again and spent the weekend at the beach walking, sea swimming and canoeing. Things I never get the chance to do usually. Meanwhile my Cannondale is waiting patiently for the day when we can head out again, it won’t come too soon!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natalie x</span><br />
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Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-70643264946830398022014-05-23T08:28:00.001-07:002014-05-23T08:28:15.417-07:00Midweek win for AdelWith only 7 girls signing on for the local midweek race we were set off amongst the 85 3/4 category racers. Now normally I'm the first to be keen to race in with the men but this year I have found the fear and have the jitters bunch racing so the prospect didn't fill me with enthusiasm.<br />
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I decided the front was where I needed to be and actually settled pretty quickly only slipping back through the bunch once which was enough to ensure I didn't do it again! Having said that really there were a few 'hold your lines' and 'whoa's' but with an ave speed of over 25mph the racing was relatively safe and controlled.<br />
<br />
At this point I would just like to say, when someone asks you to hold your line it's because you are veering in a sporadic manner and causing a ripple of sporadic veering behind you but actually not going anywhere, when I then move through the bunch into spaces that have appeared, taking a moment for a quick check over my shoulder to ensure I'm not about to take anyone with me, its not necessary for you to aggressively repeat my previous comment although it did give me a mid race chuckle :-)<br />
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There were, I believe, 3 ladies left in the bunch in the final stages of the race and my nerves got the better of me. I hadn't seen much of the girls during the race so I wasn't sure who was still around, but coming through the chicane to the finish line the bunch got pretty twitchy and I moved myself into the wind and out of it, sure enough a few came down taking youngster and daughter of the race organiser Ruby with them. I know Ruby has a decent sprint on her and seems to getting stronger each year so I am pleased to come away with a win on the night but no one likes a race to finish up this way.<br />
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Best healing wishes to all involved but I think it was just surface wounds.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/107089/Behind-The-Bikeshed-Summer-Series-1#results">https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/107089/Behind-The-Bikeshed-Summer-Series-1#results</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-40569871814580061252014-05-20T12:23:00.002-07:002014-05-20T13:02:59.849-07:00A humbling experienceIt's safe to say that I was really nervous about my first race, the French National Gravity Enduro Series. But not for the reasons I should have been.<br />
<br />
I have been riding more than I have for years and actually had time to think about entering a race season that had lots of races in it. I know I am a pretty decent rider, but I have never been fit enough, nor had the logistical time nor headspace to put it to the test and see where I stood in the real world of racing. The only races I did for the last couple of years I was doing for a TV shoot or I was ill or I was late. So it was pretty cool to arrive in France on the correct day, with the correct bike and definition in my calf muscles!<br />
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The reason I think I'm a pretty good rider is because whenever I ride with other girls who do race, I can keep up (unless it's Manon, obvs!) and, you know, you see pictures and videos of what other people are doing and I am confident I can do them too. People tell me I'm good too, so I let it go to my head. I can get down stuff, sometimes I need to suss it out and think about it and analyse it, I often follow someone into something first too, but, well, I am pretty ballsy and a whole lifetime spent on two wheels has given me the confidence to go for gnarly shit.<br />
<br />
And, I LOVE racing! I love, love, love it!!! I wish I did it more. So yeah, I was feeling pretty confident, and that made me nervous, having something to prove.<br />
<br />
Here is what actually happened.<br />
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I sucked.<br />
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<br />
I have done a few downhill races and done pretty well at the Megavalanche, I went on a 4-day training camp at a rocky DH place in Spain, but I have never, ever experienced ANYTHING as bonkers as the Blausasc Enduro. I know I exaggerate stuff to make things funny, but I tend to downplay big things (oh so British) so please, if you are reading this, understand that I am not exaggerating. I was, and still am, completely shell shocked.<br />
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STAGE ONE<br />
<br />
After a half hour ride/push up to the top of a small mountain in the scorching heat I stood at the top with the other girls (after trying my French on one girl who used to be an Opare and another who's hobbies included VTT and les Sports en general, before realising that they all spoke pretty damn good English and were super friendly. Some weren't even French!) I admired the view and padded up for the first timed downhill section. Around 6 mins after my start I crossed a river at the finish line thinking "Wow! That was rocky and steep as hell! Some of those rocky switchbacks I'd probably not normally have done without looking first if it wasn't a race. Thank God I only crashed twice"<br />
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I was then a bit sick and got left behind and had to race up the hill on my own to stage two.<br />
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STAGE TWO<br />
<br />
Was up a MASSIVE mountain. An hour and fifteen minutes later my legs were screaming and if "Sweat is Fat Crying" is true, my fat was positively in mourning. The view would have been stunning from right up there, if my eyes weren't burning. And BOOM! Off I went. Only this time, the trail was even crazier!! I got knocked off by a cactus and flew off a blind drop that, yeah, OK, was only 2 foot, but, I mean, I'd never do a drop blind. It was bonkers. There were also loads of cyclo-cross style climbing that meant trying to sprint up steep, dusty banks whilst pushing your bike. It was around 8 mins long. It had taken AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES to get to the top ffs!! At the bottom of my run I bumped into my bro Deke, who was just heading up the mountain, his eyes were like saucers "this is freaking bonkers, I crashed three times already!"<br />
( this is a video of someone getting knocked off by the same cactus: http://www.26in.fr/videos/bucheron-blausasc-barelli.html )<br />
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STAGE THREE<br />
<br />
...Was after a lunch break. Lunch appeared after an hour long road climb, up hair pin bends, Tour de France style. On a full suss. We had around half an hour to scoff our faces before heading another 45 mins of climbing to the top of stage three. Feeling like I was starting to get the hang of the place I let loose at the top, over the rocks and swooping down and up these swoopy sections. But then halfway down there was a ravine to the side of the path. I mean, what the hell?! I felt fear pass through my body like a heatwave, starting in my legs, into my gut, up my arms and finally settling in my head, turning everything to jelly on the way. I don't do well at heights generally, but when I spoke to my brother Philip after, who also said he spent pretty much the whole section with one foot unclipped, I knew I was being reasonable. It is NOT reasonable to race a bike next to a ravine. Nope. That is just unreasonable. It's bonkers. I can feel the taste of wet fear back in my mouth just thinking about it now, sat at my computer in South London.<br />
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I got caught up by my twenty second girl too and that was upsetting (not to say that I made her pass on the ravine side of me, obvs!)<br />
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STAGE FOUR<br />
<br />
The good thing about doing a race blind is that you have no idea where the top of the next stage is. Ignorance is bliss. What kept me going was thinking that I was nearly there the whole time, for an hour and a half of brutal climbing. My new friend Nina and I spent the last twenty minutes pissing and moaning about how dumbass all this climbing was and only made it to our start with about ten mins to spare, pad up and go.<br />
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I got off to a flying start, getting in some extra cheeky pedal turns here and there, feeling a bit of confidence now that there was no opportunity to fall off a cliff. Then suddenly, it was like, just so crazy steep and rocky with drops to flat on 90 degree turns it blew my mind. I crashed, couldn't get back on as it was so steep, pulled over to let my twenty second girl pass again and carried my bike down a section. This makes me die to think about. I am not that person who carries my bike down stuff!! It's just too embarrassing! As I turned one corner the girl who had just passed me was stood on her bike facing me. It was really confusing. I think we were all just completely out of control.<br />
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The final section was steep as hell and in reality pretty fun, some of the switchbacks were so steep you could have probably put your hand out and patted the head of the person on the one below. I wasn't relaxed though, I just didn't know what was coming and was more relieved than anything to ride down the village steps through an alleyway and onto the finish line.<br />
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I finished day one in 10th place out of 13. I don't know what that means. Who are these girls? I dunno, I didn't understand the presenter when he called out their names and told us about them. Are they good? Should I be disappointed? I guess I just need to get real.<br />
<br />
That was some crazy ass riding. To do it is a big deal. To do well at it, well, I guess I am just not there yet.<br />
<br />
So it was with the attitude of taking this opportunity for experience and training, and start to just enjoy the really cool company of the other girls and to race up and down some seriously mountainy mountains that I entered day two.<br />
<br />
DAY TWO<br />
<br />
My buddy Nina was one place behind me and I hoped to keep that and maybe, possibly, creep in on the girl in front. My other new friend Sandra was ahead of me which meant we got to ride the transitions together a bit. My legs were already tired from the day before and stopping only meant that starting again made it even harder. Having seen something once is enough to really, seriously give you confidence and I flew down stage one. I tapped my foot down a couple of times, but no crashes and I finished with a massive grin on my face.<br />
But then I was sick again, the medics came and helped out a bit and Sandra stayed with me despite the fact that she then had to steam up to stage two and was battling for a podium spot. I really appreciate that. Girls really do seem to stick together in Enduro, it's lovely.<br />
<br />
After that I was wiped, the hardcore-ness of it all anyway, combined with being sick, just drained me down to nothing. I crawled up to the top of stage two at my own pace, on my own, and missed my start time. They let me in, presumably with a penalty, but I had nothing left, I was wobbly and all over the place, you know, even on the easy bits. I completed the run and started the hour long climb back to lunch, still alone. As I came into the paddock Sandra and Nina were already heading out for stage three. I knew I was finished. I had kind of known earlier, but that sealed the deal. I needed to eat, so would miss my next start and for me, it was <b>Game Over.</b><br />
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<b>CONCLUSION</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The French seriously know how to give you your money's worth. The race entry was 50 euros and we got fed and watered and a full two days of times racing, closed roads, spread all over several mountains. The local council get involved and love showing off by feeding you. For the slight extra money spent on getting to France I think the value for money is amazing.<br />
<br />
I want to do more!! I want to improve. But everything is booked up! What can I do? Suggestions please!<br />
<br />
I need to ride more. Get faster and faster. I really wanna improve. That stuff is FUN. If you're not terrified, I bet it's even funner.<br />
<br />
I loved it hated it loved it. Hated it....Loved it. I dunno. But I wanna do more. So I guess I loved it.<br />
<br />
FOR PICS SEE THE "TEAM MULE BAR GIRL" FACEBOOK PAGE SOONanna ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16228207400295321087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-23253558406746159972014-05-03T14:16:00.001-07:002014-05-03T14:16:31.398-07:00Bedford 3-Day 2014 - Stage <div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Today was the team’s first race in a full set of new kit. It’s a similar design to last year, but a lot better and we love it!! Thanks Wildoo ☺</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stage 1 was a relatively short 55km road race and we were very lucky with the weather. Last year the weather was horrible and started raining as soon as we lined up for the start. We rolled out a bit early with some confusion in the neutralized zone as we had left riders behind. One girl had to sprint from race HQ to catch the bunch as we left 5 mins early. Perhaps not such a bad thing to get the legs warned up but ‘neutralised’ was a heady 23mph and 18mph up the rise! We were all well positioned up the front of the bunch; after the crash on lap 1 last year we were a bit wiser to the course and knew what to look out for.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Epic Scott and Pearl Izumi Sports Tours had a strong through-and-off going at the front of the bunch, trying to keep the pace high and thin out the bunch a bit. Laps 2 and 3 were the sprint laps and Louise did really well and won one of them after coming off Clem’s wheel when she went a bit early and placed 3</span><span style="font-size: 8px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>rd</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> in the other, putting her joint leader in the sprints competition. We were very lucky to have Abbie Dentus guesting for us again and she finished with a really strong sprint, to come 5</span><span style="font-size: 8px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">, after being held up by a crash on the last corner!! It’s her 17</span><span style="font-size: 8px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> birthday today so we definitely think she deserves some cake after that ☺ </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thanks to Sigma Sport for lending us the very swish team car, Natalie had a big smile on her face as she drove in to race HQ ☺</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">At Mulebar Girl, we take our recovery very seriously and as soon as the race had ended, the foam rollers were out…</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-85833415151676919562014-04-27T12:14:00.001-07:002014-04-27T13:16:39.950-07:00Race Report: Cheshire Classic<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Natalie takes a look back at today's Cheshire Classic...</b><br />
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I'm writing this on a very small screen on my
phone in a very packed van being driven by Clem. You'll have to excuse
the typos as I pause to scream at her about her driving. We all have tired legs so tried
to rig up a system where Clem would man the steering wheel with her feet up
and I would lie at her feet operating the accelerator and brake but decided it was
probably safer if I sat by her side and penned this instead :)</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Today saw the iconic Cheshire Classic Road Race.
Round 2 of the National Series. Lengthened this year to 12 laps of the cliff.
92k of windy yet sunny racing. If you've never seen the cliff it's pretty darn steep
and pretty darn sharp. Riders were grinding to a halt left righ and centre. It's
great! Organiser Andy Wood has done a fantastic job with the race bringing in phenomenal
prize money. With a very strong line up and all that cash up for grabs the pace
was bound to be a killer from the start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Race prep had gone well last night with Lou
making use of the restaurant's 2 meals for £10 offer by having both meals to herself.
Sigma Sport had kitted us out with some amazing wheels, Mavic Cosmic Carbones, little
beauties that they are and a perfect addition to our Cannondale SuperSix, or should
I say SuperSexy. I was very glad to have them when the first few laps went off like
a rocket. All eyes were on Laura Trott (WiggleHonda) and it looked like her sister
Emma (Boels Dolmans) was doing a lot of work on the front for her. A dangeous looking
break nipped off the front of Sarah Storey & Katie Archibald (Pearl Izumi Sports
Tours Intertional) and Hannah Walker (Scott Epic) and I was pretty surprised when after a lap they were reeled back in.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit: Andy Mitchell</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">My brain is a bit addled with hard work and
one too many MuleBar Cafe Cortado caffeine gels so it's hard to remember exactly what happened
when. As Lou has just so eloquently put, you know you're knackered when you're eating
a porridge pot made with cold water and using your fingers as a utensil! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She assures me it doesn't taste that bad! It's
always going to taste better than an air freshener. That might sound strange but
believe it or not yesterday on the way up we overtook a man on the M6 who was eating
his Jelly Belly one. Weird. We even had to slow done in the fast lane to make sure
that was really what we saw. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8Ec9sx2pKaM0B7KU738fAD0xHdo7XRoRyyT3V4Na5EmJth1HTMn2VuxEExkPykU7J14AywwWnI6HZwRJNvz3Fueq6gjyvMYLC2Cht2fwx1UHjYDrFBlErFC4VMaP1mKB4If-5mqI6v-M/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-27+at+21.11.58.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8Ec9sx2pKaM0B7KU738fAD0xHdo7XRoRyyT3V4Na5EmJth1HTMn2VuxEExkPykU7J14AywwWnI6HZwRJNvz3Fueq6gjyvMYLC2Cht2fwx1UHjYDrFBlErFC4VMaP1mKB4If-5mqI6v-M/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-27+at+21.11.58.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Credit: Andy Mitchell</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">I had a few digs off the front. I wasn't feeling great on the climb so with the fast pace all through the course I used the stretch up the duel carriage way to attack. The draggy gradient into the wind was suiting me much more. With about 3 laps to go when the eventual winner Katie Archibald and break away companion Hayley Jones were already up the road but still within sight I made a big attack and got a reasonable gap and felt like I was gaining on them. I had a Matrix Fitness Vulpine on my wheel who very frustratingly wouldn't come through. We were equidistant between the break and the bunch but without sharing the work there only so much I could do and eventually the bunch brought us back in.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">I should mention the moment when
I was being swallowed up by the bunch after one<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of my digs off the front and Penny Rowson kindly gave me a shove to get me
back up to speed. This would have been marvellous except she shoved me straight
into Alice Barnes' back wheel. A few doddery moments later I and everyone else was
thankfully still upright. Molly Weaver exclaiming afterwards 'We're all going down!'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I really enjoyed the race, it was fast, attacking
and the riding was good. Sadly I didn't have it when it mattered, the last time over
that white line. Race finishes from a bunch is something I am not great at and this
season changing that is a priority. I had a great position about 500 metres out
from the last corner but found myself there too early. As ever I always learn a
lot from a race and Clem was highest finisher from the team placing 13th in a fast, hard race.
Bring on Bedford I say. Katie Archibald showed her might as a World Champion. Chapeau
to her for being in a fair few breaks. Overheard in the changing room 'That girl
is a monster!'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Right, so it looks like my assistance as co
driver is needed. We've stopped at the M6 toll booths and Clem is struggling with
clutch control. Thanks to her, Lou, Adel and Emily for being such great team mates
another race and road trip of flipping hard cycling and lots of smiles and laughs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<br />
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<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Link to results and British Cycling race report <a href="http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20140427-road-Archibald-wins-2014-Women%E2%80%99s-Cheshire-Classic-0">here</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Natalie xx<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-52999618680798467572014-04-25T04:03:00.001-07:002014-04-25T04:10:06.389-07:00Nigel Measom 2-day<br />
On the 19th/20th April, a reduced team of MBG's took part in a new race for the women's calendar... The Nigel Measom 2-day. Clem, Natalie, Adel and Louise took to the start line while Emily was racing a time trial for her University.<br />
<br />
The team were able to tie this race in with a nice little team, Easter weekend, staying at Phoebe's house, who really looked them! Pasta cooked to make sure Nat wouldn't go hungry and packed lunch for Emily, we headed off to our races.<br />
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<b>Here, Clem looks back on the racing...</b><br />
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<b>Prologue</b><br />
The prologue results speak for themselves - I completed the whole 2.7 miles in the small ring! I wasn't going for GC so wanted to save energy for the Stage 1.<br />
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<b>Stage 1 </b><br />
I spent most of my time hiding in the bunch coming near the front when Lou was on the attack to avoid the peloton chasing. It seemed everyone was working towards a sprint finish with pace going very slow at points. We had anticipated this due to the flat profile and nature of the course, so we wanted to practice a lead-out just after the last corner, which was a blind 90 degree bend some 2km before the finish which left the girls time to position themselves near the front. After 7 laps of the 7.4 miles circuit, Nat and Lou managed to get near the front with me close behind before we hit that last corner when things got hectic with teams looking pretty disorganised. This meant we lost contact with the front by the time we came to the 1km mark, but Lou and I managed our way through to regain contact... only to get blocked before the line and I could only manage 10th or 11th.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nat and Lou enjoying some photo-bombing. Photo: Huw Williams</i></td></tr>
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<b>Stage 2 </b><br />
This was a similar 7.7 miles circuit but with a few hills of 2-4% gradients so still favouring sprinters but with a block headwind on half the route which was mostly uphill, it was going to be testing. The pace started quite slowly, just like the previous day. With 3 laps to go, I decided to get to the front to push the pace and avoid any breaks but after doing most of the headwind stretch on my own and as I was slowing to let some of the other teams share the work, nobody came through and Alexie Shaw cleverly jumped away with Penny Rowson on her wheel. I tried to follow but after my long effort, I just couldn't, so I retreated to the safety of the bunch for a break. With no team chasing, I got to the front and with the help of one VeloSport rider and one Bonito rider, we eventually closed the break and as I was still near the front, Natalie went for it with impeccable timing! To everyone's surprise, nobody chased her down and after a full lap of fighting the wind on her own, Alexie Shaw bridged to Nat for the final few kilometres.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nat' break - Photo courtesy of Huw Williams</i></td></tr>
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As Matrix moved to the front to start a late chase, we could see Nat and Alexie in the distance as we drew closer to the line, so I moved nearer to the front in case the break got caught. Luckily, they didn't and despite slipping on the approach to the line, Nat managed a great 2nd place and I finished with the bunch (top 10 I think).<br />
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Thanks to the organisers for putting on such a great race and looking forward to our next race, Cheshire Classic.<br />
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As always thanks to <a href="http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/">Sigma Sport</a>, <a href="http://www.mulebar.com/">Mulebar</a>, <a href="http://www.cannondale.com/gbr/">Cannondale</a>, Lazer, Oakley, Wildoo and AnaNichoola!<br />
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Oh, and I forgot to mention that Lou crashed, but don't ask her how - it is fairly embarrassing :)<br />
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Clem xWiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-62617649224626337872014-04-23T02:16:00.000-07:002014-04-23T02:16:26.953-07:00The Telford Toothpaste <br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It’s not often I write about things I have to write about for work in a blog, but when I do I think it obviously means it’s made a big impact.<br />After hearing Cannondale were looking at sponsoring us with bikes at Christmas I’m not gonna lie I was rather excited. I’d ridden and reviewed a Cannondale Synapse (one of their more sportivey models of bikes) last year and after being surprisingly impressed with the bikes </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1Mm4O8jahFlQLTD8MfVMd8mlYxTGEwWq17EIeFeaDJgbq298eLAO6zjqHlxs3zmIJ47gnnERASdJZNXTfc9D3IgDVk0y9lWuA4IxIOKjpcltPZ46yhfqxQA8elhEbb9-CSOfE1oPI6Q/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1Mm4O8jahFlQLTD8MfVMd8mlYxTGEwWq17EIeFeaDJgbq298eLAO6zjqHlxs3zmIJ47gnnERASdJZNXTfc9D3IgDVk0y9lWuA4IxIOKjpcltPZ46yhfqxQA8elhEbb9-CSOfE1oPI6Q/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">handling. (</span>I was surprised I like it because it was fitted with a triple…as a racer I don’t think I’d ever ridden a triple ringed road bike before!) <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’d recommended it to people on, and off, the record! So when Cannondale confirmed their interest and offered us the opportunity to ride their Supersix Evo Red for the 2014 season I was delighted.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With the weather as it was this winter I’d barely rode my lovely new Cannondale on the road before my race of the season, but whenever I had it had been awesome. Stiff, responsive and light as a feather meant it made me feel (and hopefully go) faster! Despite riding it all week on our team training camp in Spain I still hadn’t really put the Evo Red through its paces. I’d spent a lot of time ensuring my position was right, as we all know tweaks in stem length and saddle height can make all the difference when it comes to performance.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last weekend I got asked to step in for a colleague and cover a sportive event called the Telford Toothpaste. Not usually my cup of tea I was non-committal at first, however once I heard it was a semi off road event in homage to Paris-Roubaix I couldn’t say no. Right up my street in terms of hard, technical riding and the perfect opportunity to put my still very shiny Cannondale through its paces.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To summ</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">arise the Telford Toothpaste would take some time, but basically it was awesome! I barely stopped grinning the entire ride, never knowing what was round the corner made for an interesting and exciting ride to say the least. However when I rocked up lots of riders were on cross bikes, including the organiser, and I was worried the Evo would maybe not be suitable. From cobbles and rutted paths to sand, full on muddy puddles and even a field, it’s fair to say my Evo was tested to the max. The stiffness meant there was no lack of power transfer, even on the bumpiest terrain, yet it still managed to soak up the worst of the vibrations giving a comfortable ride over the multitude of roads. The Mavic Ksyrium Equipe S wheels were seemingly perfect for all the various conditions thrown at them. Being lightweight and robust they rolled smoothly and got me over everything with ease. No punctures, no mechanicals just one very dirty bike and a super smiley Lou!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All in all I’m one very lucky girl. I get to race an amazing bike thanks to Cannondale, Sigma Sport and CSG and go and sample some of the most exciting cycling events out there!</span></blockquote>
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<br />phoebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789446883582915105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-8222344559343568282014-04-16T06:03:00.001-07:002014-04-16T06:03:24.097-07:00<div class="s4">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="font-weight: bold;">MBG </span><span class="s3" style="font-weight: bold;">in</span><span class="s3" style="font-weight: bold;"> America - Louisville </span><span class="s3" style="font-weight: bold;">Criterium</span><span class="s3" style="font-weight: bold;"> Race Report</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Whilst other </span><span class="s2">Mulebar</span><span class="s2"> Girl teammates were sipping cocktails by the pool in sunny </span><span class="s2">Andalucia</span><span class="s2">, Spain,</span><span class="s2"> for the team’s training camp, Di was busy conquering Half Ironman distance in Texas and I was off to Louisville, near Boulder in Colorado…for work! But who said it had to be all work and no fun?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Considering that I was just back from a week in Nice, France, where I managed to put in some decent hours in the saddle particularly on climbs, I knew I could have a little rest in C</span><span class="s2">olorado and recover</span><span class="s2">. </span><span class="s2">Well, that was before I came across the Louisville </span><span class="s2">Criterium</span><span class="s2"> flyer! The race was happening just 3 miles from my hotel and since I was staying over for the weekend, it seemed too good an opportunity to miss…so here I was just the day before my flight, packing my bike once again!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">On the morning of my departure, I woke up early to get at least 1 hour of spinning on the rollers before leaving for the airport as my legs needed </span><span class="s2">loosening</span><span class="s2"> following the Sunday’s </span><span class="s7">Twickenham CC Dave Peck Memorial Road Race</span><span class="s2"> (part of the National Team Series)</span><span class="s2">. </span><span class="s2">Travelling across time zones and dealing with jet lag is never easy on the body whether you’re an athlete or not. With a 10 hour flight leaving UK late afternoon on Tuesday and arriving in Denver late evening on the same day, I had to make sure not to sleep too much so I could get a full night sleep once in the U.S.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Despite being based in Louisville, I was only 15 miles away from the beautiful and chilled city of Boulder, located at the foothills of The Rockies and at an altitude of 1500 metres. The surrounding mountains along with its numerous sports facilities make Bo</span><span class="s2">ulder one of the healthiest cities</span><span class="s2"> in the United States and a place that many professional athletes call ‘home’. With 3 long days of back-to-back meetings ahead of me</span><span class="s2"> and the most breath-taking views</span><span class="s2"> of T</span><span class="s2">he Rockies from the office, it was important </span><span class="s2">for both my fitness and sanity</span><span class="s2"> that I got to enjoy the outdoors.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Spring weather in Colorado can be very unpredictable as it proved during my visit as the snow fell heavily during the Wednesday night but had already melted by end of the day Thursday under the warm sun. Having crashed on black ice just 2 weeks earlier, I opted for a run to stay safe although the snow didn’t seem to affect the local riders </span><span class="s2">– Colorado is used to snow and by 10am on Thursday morning, snow </span><span class="s2">ploughs</span><span class="s2"> had already cleared the roads and with the air being so dry, the snow rarely freezes. Once the snow cleared and thanks to the long</span><span class="s2"> lunch breaks</span><span class="s2">, I managed </span><span class="s2">to fit 2 </span><span class="s2">rides of</span><span class="s2"> 1 hour</span><span class="s2"> each – every little helps!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">The Louisville </span><span class="s2">Criterium</span><span class="s2"> was not due to start before late afternoon on Saturday so I decided to join some work colleagues on an easy 2 hour spin in the morning to Boulder and back with some </span><span class="s2">visits of the local attractions:</span><span class="s2"> a supercar exhibition and the newly built Valmont Bike Park which will be hosting the U.S. National </span><span class="s2">Cyclocross</span><span class="s2"> Championships in January this year followed by a coffee stop at Vic’s Café. </span><span class="s2">Accompanied by a work</span><span class="s2">colleague,</span><span class="s2"> I got to the </span><span class="s2">race </span><span class="s2">which </span><span class="s2">was held in the middle of a trading estate, on a 0.7 miles rectangular circuit with a 300 yards long 2% climb to the finish. With plenty of time to spare, we decided to watch the supporting races. Aside for the rainbow coloured team kits, </span><span class="s2">criterium</span><span class="s2"> races in the United States seem no different to the British ones except for the women’s races being split by categories with separate 4</span><span class="s9" style="vertical-align: super;">th</span><span class="s2"> cat, 3</span><span class="s9" style="vertical-align: super;">rd</span><span class="s2"> cat and Pro/1/2 cat races which makes for much more a level-playing field. The Women’s Pro/1/2 has 15 riders on the start line and having no idea</span><span class="s2"> of the teams or riders to watch</span><span class="s2">, I have a quick look for anyone riding with teammates and go straight of</span><span class="s2">f</span><span class="s2"> the front full gas</span><span class="s2">,</span><span class="s2"> downhill, through a few corners </span><span class="s2">and up the gentle slope aided by a tail wind to see who is chasing. With </span><span class="s2">the group forming behind me, watching me in the </span><span class="s2">distance, I ease up and decide to sit in for the rest of the race before a rider in red attacks on the climb! I immediately hear the commentator mentioning her name: “Meredith Miller”, I believe I heard that name somewhere before…so I go after her before the group re-joins again until 5 laps to go where a few attacks go unsuccessfully. On the final lap, two teammates are working together to set up their sprinter so I stay as close as possible to them unt</span><span class="s2">il the final k</span><span class="s2">ick up the climb where I lost touch </span><span class="s2">by two bike lengths </span><span class="s2">with the 3 leaders which included Meredith but managed to </span><span class="s2">catch another rider </span><span class="s2">to come to the line in 4</span><span class="s9" style="vertical-align: super;">th</span><span class="s2"> place. With the altitude and the climb to the finish, I wanted to save my legs and launched my sprint</span><span class="s2"> a </span><span class="s2">too late and although I was hoping to win the race, I’m happy to have finished close behind the leaders</span><span class="s2"> and to have had the chance not only race but meet the lovely Meredith Miller.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">On the Sunday following the race, I was invited on a 4-hour ride by some ultra-fit work colleagues to Lyons and Left Hand Canyon with a stop-over at </span><span class="s2">Amante</span><span class="s2"> in Boulder to re-fuel before heading back to Louisville…in pieces!! It was great to be back riding in Boulder after my last visit 2 years ago but also very sad to see the devastation brought by last year’s floods which have left the area destroyed with many mountain passes left inaccessible and</span><span class="s2"> many sections of tarmac gone so my thoughts go to all families and businesses who have been affected by the floods.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Clem</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-75612162749299541282014-04-14T02:43:00.002-07:002014-04-14T02:43:21.077-07:00Team MuleBar Girl – Sigma Sport Training Camp<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>31/03/14-06/04/14 was Team MuleBar Girl – Sigma Sport’s training camp time. Here is a little bit about what we got up to and how much we enjoyed it!! </b></span></b><br />
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<b>Emily: Until last week I had never ventured away for a warm weather training camp... </b><br />
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... So I was really looking forward to some sunny Spanish miles with my teammates for Team MuleBar Girl – Sigma Sport’s first warm weather training camp and what an amazing week it was! We all met up at Gibraltar airport ready to start the camp. Despite the early start and long journey we were all smiling and ready to go! Bikes reassembled and kit on, we headed out for our first ride of the camp in the afternoon sun.<br />
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We had a really good block of training together, with plenty of headwinds, crosswinds, hills, laughter and by the end of it, several pairs of screaming legs! It’s the first opportunity I have had to spend time with the team away from a race environment, so it was great to get to know everyone better. Many hours in the saddle together and some good banter, we are now ready to hit the 2014 race season hard. I have been educated on sports nutrition by Adel and am now only allowed one biscuit for each hand whilst revising, so let’s hope the hills get easier!<br />
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We all owe a huge thank you to Steve at Cycling Espana, Joe our guide, Laila and Havier who were extremely accommodating and excellent hosts. They transported us when and where we wanted, fed us delicious food, gave us excellent routes for our rides and made sure we enjoyed every minute. We would recommend taking a look at www.cyclingespana.com. Whether you fancy a training camp or just a cycling holiday, you won’t be disappointed. Thank you to MuleBar and Sigma Sport for making it possible for our team to have this opportunity!<br />
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<b>Natalie: What an amazing way to spend a week...</b> <br />
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Fresh from the Twickenham CC Dave Peck Memorial Road Race we boarded the plane to Gibraltar for our first warm weather team training camp. Last year we went to Wales, in February and no one except me seemed to like the freezing cold temperatures, relentless steep climbs and ice on the ground. This year we were Spain bound, to Andalucía and the fantastic Steve at Cycling Espana with the promise of sunshine and mountains to climb.<br />
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Now back at home in the cold I know even more than I did before what an amazing bunch of friends I have in Team MuleBar Girls – Sigma Sport. There was never a dull moment from the moment we groggily met at Luton airport at 4am. From riding through torrential rain and block headwinds along the interval road of pain to trawling the beachside cafes for the best milkshake (vital recovery of course!).<br />
Warm weather training has always been really important for me to get through the winter and put in some decent miles and team building. We’re so lucky to have MuleBar and Sigma Sport on board so that the whole team can enjoy the experience and reap the benefits in races to come. Despite what the photos might suggest we had a solid block of very hard training and my aching legs tell the tale better than I can in words.<br />
<br />
<b>Phoebe: MBG Fat camp...</b><br />
<br />
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<br />
In relative terms I am fairly new to cycling. I have never been on a training camp - I've been on cycling holidays but I was assured this was not the same thing. Our team is dripping in talent, expertise and experience when it comes to racing and training so I jumped at the chance to go away with the rest of the girls. Having had a bit of a break after a full season of cross racing I was going to need a fair bit of preparation if I was going to go away training with some of the best legs in the country. Kindly Nat invited me to Spain in February for a pre-training camp training camp. I worked hard on the bike and in the hospital in the weeks leading up to it and packed my bike with some trepidation - would I be able to keep up? Would I manage all the sessions?<br />
<br />
I shouldn't have worried - the girls were fantastic. Yes they ripped my legs off every day, yes we had some horrendous rain and gale force head winds but we cracked on in true MBG style and were rewarded with scorching sunshine, lovely beaches and tasty food. Taking the piss out of each other constantly we made it through living together, riding together and cooking for each other. I would talk about the cycling but I don't want to give away any training secrets other than there was an awful lot of cycling. Other highlights include - Louise suffering some extremely impressive sunburn, which was treated by Nat using cold teabags! Adel turning up with nothing to wear other than a bikini and educating us all on the Adel school of sports nutrition - 2 biscuits per day "1 for each hand". We explained to Emily what the world was like before Internet where we learnt that Nat used to do her homework on a typewriter. Nat enjoyed a great deal of bird watching and managed to complete her RSPB colouring book of birds, whilst waiting for me to catch up. I was so bloody knackered with all the cycling I managed very little else.<br />
<br />
Nat went above and beyond to organize a flawless trip with some fantastic cycling but what made it so good was the company, I don't think I have ever worked so hard on the bike and had so much fun.<br />
<br />
<b>Lou: Anyone that knows me knows I don't particularly like riding my bike...</b><br />
<br />
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<br />
Now don't get me wrong I LOVE racing but I struggle with training and just riding. So when it came to going away on a training camp I knew I'd have to bite the bullet and go out riding beforehand. Ridiculous I know but I trained for a training camp!<br />
<br />
Luckily Nat had done fab job organizing the camp and our lovely hosts from Cycling Espana greeted us at Gibraltar airport. I've never experienced going away with a cycling company before but I'd totally recommend it. Having Steve and Joe on hand to take us out on any route we desired was awesome. Alongside the riding Steve showed us local sights and took us to all the best restaurants, I mean we all know the importance of good food after a hard days riding.<br />
<br />
I grumbled my way through the first few days of riding, but as the week progressed I was having a great time out on the bike. Its a testament to the awesomeness of my teammate that I was loving just riding my bike and even wanted to do extra! Riding through hailstorms and climbing mountains together really made us come together as a team on the bike. The banter and jokes we had off the bike though made going back to the daily grind on Monday that bit harder, it's not often you find a group that are such genuinely nice people and get along so well. I am very lucky to be on such an talented and friendly team that has such supportive sponsors. Without these teammates and sponsors, Sigma Sport and Mule Bars, I would not be loving just riding my bike again and chomping at the bit more than usual to be back racing!<br />
<br />
<b>Adel:</b> <b>One week away, feels like the whole world should have changed... </b><br />
<br />
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<br />
...but I'm home now and things still look the same" Sand in my shoes - Dido. This pretty much sums up my week... In the early hours of Monday morning I finally crawled into bed with a slightly sunburnt body, a decent weeks training in my legs and sandy feet. I set the alarm for 6am and smiled as my mind flicked through some pictures of the fabulous week I had just had.<br />
<br />
We crammed so much into our training camp that it felt a lifetime spent away. Yes we rode bikes; yes we learnt each other's strengths and weaknesses... (for biscuits) we sunbathed by the pool, took a few trips to the beach, ate ice cream and pizza and had the occasional alcoholic beverage. We also had the relentless strong winds renowned in this region of Southern Spain in our faces and sometimes at our backs but importantly we gelled as Mule Bar Girls Sigma Sport Team, a group of girls who all share a passion for outdoor life, laughter and living.<br />
<br />
Our host Steve at Cycling Espana could not have been more accommodating, he welcomed us into his little piece of heaven he calls home. We each wear a little elastic band bracelet full of Spanish luck made by the children of his friend Havier as a momento, even Joe, our fabulous tour guide can be seen sporting one (a hugely masculine one obviously).<br />
<br />
It would be wonderful if these trips never ended but if you don't come home, you can't plan another. Now... Bring on the racing season, we are ready for you.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-27788105464969132482014-04-11T02:18:00.002-07:002014-04-11T02:22:38.963-07:00Di wins Ironman Texas 70.3<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Texas 70.3 for those that don’t know is an Ironman Triathlon
totalling 70.3miles. It consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56mile bike ride and a
13.1 mile run. I initially entered Ironman Texas with the idea to do an early
season tri too see where I was and possibly look at qualifying for the World
Championships in Canada, later in the year. Texas was an unusual choice for me,
it was going to be testing in the fact it was fast and flat, normally, I’d go
for hilly hard courses where this was a total out and out flat speed
course. Living in Derbyshire,
opportunities for perfecting your TT position are not easy, everywhere is a
hill. ! I arrived in Texas thinking ‘OMG
I’m never going to do that well, it’s so flat’. However I had a week to
prepare, I did short rides, focusing on technique and positioning on the bike
and actually felt pretty good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure how many of you know the Ironman protocol but
the night before the race you rack your bikes in transition, it was a course
that was suited for disc wheels, full TT bikes and Aero helmets and expensive
tri accessories. Transition was like a ‘Bling Palace’ of top end TT equipment
and bikes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So race morning arrived, I was very nervous, so i texted Phoebe
for her general get a grip Di and go and kick some arse advice. No one
can really explain the atmosphere of an Ironman event until you have been to
one, it’s a 5am start and everyone is up putting their kit into transition,
pumping up their tyres and generally busy being nervous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first part of the race is the swim, where
2000 people are stood there wearing wetsuits, everyone suddenly looks a pro, I was
pretty nervous, but with good nerves. The race starts off according the your
age group, I started at 7.45, the swim should be where i feel most confident
(being a swimmer) but knowing I should be out of the water first always makes
me even more nervous. The wait to the start seemed to take forever with 100 plus
loud nervous Americans in my age group, I couldn’t wait just to get on with it.
It was a deep water start which suits me best. I was first to react to the cannon
and we were off. It wasn’t going to be an easy swim, it was super choppy and I
had to overtake other age groups that had been set off in the earlier waves and
caught up, to be honest it was a bit like the scene from the titanic, loads of
weak swimmers laying on their backs for a rest or holding on the bouys, the
swim course was super hard even for me and I was a swimmer, so I knew plenty of
others would struggle, this obviously played to my advantage, I just ploughed
on through the busy water, trying not to batter too many others on route. I
came out the swim with no one in my age group around me, so a good start, the
swim time was 28mins not all that impressive on paper but for the conditions a
good solid start. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Transition
went well no problems and I was out on the bike course, firstly you have to get
on at a certain point at the mount line, there was loads of bloody men messing
around in the way so, I ran though them, did a top flying cyclocross style mount
which I got loads of cheering for and some good MuleBar Girl - Sigma Sport attention. After 10miles
on the bike course, the nerves had settled and I was nicely into my pace, the
way out was easy, tail wind and fast. I use a power meter to make sure I didn’t
over cook it, which was so easy to do on such a flat course. I went out hard
but controlled, I knew every second counted, conditions on the bike were not
great, foggy and rainy but warm, to be honest the fog and rain was just normal
to me, but I don’t think the Americans were quite as used to it as me. I rode
well but within myself to the turn around point, from there it was a head wind
all the way back to transition, when I reached 15mile to go, a girl overtook
me, she was in my age, there was no way I was going let her take over me, in my
own head I wanted to be first going into the run, for 2 reasons firstly my
running is my weakest discipline and secondly I knew I had a whole team of
MuleBar Girls at at the airport in Spain tracking me, I had to be back off the bike
first. Previously I have never really had a team that have supported me at
triathlon and it was amazing how powerful it was, all I could think of was being
back first for them. So as the girl over took me it was game on, we battled it
out all the way back, putting attacks in and overtakes, overtaking in triathlon
can be quite tactical, drafting rules mean you have to stay 3m apart and only
30sec to do the overtake, I just keep making her work, I knew I had at least
20watt to play around with too, as I’d paced the way out. I still felt fresh. I
let her get a way at one point where i took on nutrition, then put an effort
into re catch her. I knew fuelling for the run was essential. I crossed the
dismount line for the bike slightly in front of her and with a fast transition I
was out onto the run course in first position.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The run course was compact it was 3 laps with lots of
turnaround points where we could see each other, she quickly over took me, for
me this was no surprise as I’m not the fastest runner, rather strong and
consistent, so I had to think purely of myself now, I had to run at my pace and
let her go, she put at least 40sec into me on the 1<sup>st</sup> lap but to my
surprise I could still see her, so I decided I must keep her in view. On the
second lap she wasn’t getting away and I was actually gaining on her, I
monitored my mile times and keep them consistent, I managed to get within 15sec
of her, so the question was where do I want to go or if? I didn’t want to leave
it to the last minute but if I was going for the over take I needed to make it
count. So on the 3<sup>rd</sup> / final lap, I quietly mixed in with the sea of
runners she was in, I don’t think she really saw me then at a turn round point
I went for it, gained some distances and didn’t look back. This effort did cost
me a little as at 11miles it really started to hurt. However there was no way
she was going to catch me without a really big effort from her. She didn’t respond
and all I had to do was get to the end, I went under the finish line in 4 hours
35. I was first in my age groupers and 20th overall female
and 161 overall (including the men and pro athletes) not too bad at all out of
2000 athletes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This race taught me not to be scared to put yourself in
races that you don’t feel are to your strengths, working at your weaknesses are
what pays off. I was really happy with my overall performance it was my best
run off the bike in a long time. I used my power meter throughout the bike
section working around my threshold power and holding what I knew I could hold.
When the other girl caught me I knew she would have had to have worked hard so
then I went on the attack and made her suffer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I qualified for the World Championships in Mont Treblonc
Canada, however I declined to accept the opportunity because I have other
events planned and I can’t <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>get the time
off work and its in the middle of Cyclocross season so decided I’d prefer to
represent the team at cyclo-cross and do some more triathlon over the summer within the
UK. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not going to rant about Ironman here because they do provide fantastic
events and opportunities but it is very expensive, it’s a rich man sport. I
have the backing from an amazing team and sponsors. I have so many people to
thank. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The support from the girls even from a distance, was special, the
sponsors we have and the amazing products I have the luxury to use. Thanks, MuleBar, Sigma Sport, Oakley, Lazer, Wildoo, BlueSeventy and Purple Harry. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also best
thanks to my partner and coach Gary McCaffery, anyone out there needing a
triathlon coach all I can say is my results speak for themselves visit <a href="http://www.resultsfitnessandswimming.co.uk/">www.resultsfitnessandswimming.co.uk</a>
for more information.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right time to get some MTB’ing now with Phoebe, bring on
the summer :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Di xxx</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-90811363598276615192014-04-08T03:20:00.000-07:002014-04-08T03:24:47.802-07:00How to get down to Race Weight and other Training Advice From the Spanish MountainsThis year is the first year that I can remember that I have had time to plan a full race calendar and try and get some results with focus and goals. I am not sure what my goals are yet as I am not sure where I stand, but I guess they are somewhere along the lines of win some shit, turn up on time with the correct equipment and have some adventures along the way.<br />
<br />
My awesome team, MuleBarGirls-SigmaSport are being super supportive of my discipline-of-most-focus, Gravity Enduro, and sent me out to Spain to train for a few days. I flew in with the roadie girls and at the airport we went our separate ways, to rejoin at the weekend.<br />
<br />
So there I was, on my own in Gibraltar needing to get to Malaga (yes, I know, wrong airport) and my 27.4KG bike bag and the girlfriend of the guy who runs Roost DH willing to look after me. So Big Up to Sophie, the wild blonde chick who managed to make a trip through "The Boarder" to the bus station feel like a terribly exciting adventure. I resigned to Paddington Bear status as Sophie hailed taxis, bought my ticket and loaded me onto the bus, making sure that the bus driver knew where I was getting off (I didn't) and that Mal would be there at the other side to meet me.<br />
<br />
Mal had kindly saved me a late night plate of food, but I was struggling to eat it, a few hours later once I was in bed I realised why. The potato salad I had had in Gib must have poisoned me and I spent the night with my head down the toilet heaving, spewing, snotting, crying, sweating and trembling...gutted that my week had started out like this!! At 4am I passed out just praying that I could ride the next day.<br />
<br />
At 7.30am I crawled down to breakfast to say hi to my new friends for the week and to see if I could fuel up for the day ahead. I couldn't eat, but I quickly realised that I had got super lucky with my fellow riders; the Swedish world cup lads, Paul who owns his own BMX shop (cool, huh!) The Staff and Awesome Chick # 2, Seraina, my sistafromanothamista.<br />
<br />
I promptly fell asleep in the van on the way to the first trail in the mountains despite the Heavy Metal pouding the insides of the van. When we arrived I wasn't sure what to expect. Everyone else was on DH rigs, whereas I was on my Cannondale Jekyll trail bike. I needn't have worried, the trail was mellow and we had a chilled out ride down it together as a group, stopping to look at tricky sections and to make sure no-one was hitting anything blind. I loved the trail which started pedally, a few berms into a line of hip jumps, a little valley with some "badadadum" rock gardens (the flow of which is apparently the Rhythm of Seraina's life, and a damn good Rhythm to live to IMO) and then a final, fast pedal to the bottom. It was a beautiful 5 minute run at the bottom of which the van would be waiting, music blaring, to take us straight back up.<br />
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Sadly, I felt too rough to do more than a few runs of this lovely trail and pulled out early to go back to sleep in the van. Back at Villa Roost I bailed on the Jacuzzi, pool, TV, beers and impromtu dirt jump trip, ignoring all my Fear-Of-Missing-Out impulses and went to bed, knowing that if I rested and got better it would all be there again tomorrow.<br />
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The next couple of days were dictated by the weather as it started raining. This was a complete shock to me and something I had not prepared for. My suitcase full of bikini's and hot pants just weren't gonna cut it, so Mal lent me a rain coat. It was this sort of nothing is a bother, totally chilled helpfulness that made Roost such a lovely place to stay. Especially for someone as scatty as me!!<br />
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We rode a mix of trails and I hearted the feeling of improving with each repeat run, when your tentativity and precaution gives way to the feeling of flow and playfulness. The scenery was stunning and the mountains were still pretty lush (thanks to the way in which the bark tranfers the water to it's leaves...thanks Tree Geek Andy!) and everyday I did something that scared me being guided through by the super patient and enthusiastic staff.<br />
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For me, I only got 4 days of riding in due to logistics, 4 brilliant days (hampered only perhaps by the fact I forgot to turn my shock onto "descend" mode until the last day!) and felt like with a couple more days then my riding, my rhythm, my Badadadum, would have been truly zoned-in. The season is close and thanks to this trip I feel like in a couple of weeks I will be ready to go get stuck in and give it my best.<br />
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Of course, it all ended with a party.<br />
<br /><br />
With my food poisoning only a faint reminder I was READY to get on it! The night began with Seraina walking into a lamppost and it ended, as all party nights should, with dancing on the tables.<br />
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It was now time to head over to see the rest of the Team who had been training hard over near Cadiz. 6 1/2 hours of buses through Spain, which was actually more enjoyable than it sounds and I found them at night making friendship bracelets with a Spanish family on a patio at the end of a dirt track. They all looked pretty tanned and pretty weary so it was clear they had been spending long hours in he saddle. Luckily I joined them on rest day and we did a gentle pedal down to the beach for coffee, ice-cream and a bit of sun-burning. The girls have clearly really bonded and it makes me think that on top of the serious training, the genuine friendship is gonna make them a formidable force on the road this summer!<br />
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I am gonna end this blog with some heartfelt thank you's.<br />
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Thank you Team <a href="http://mulebar.com/">MuleBar</a> Girl - <a href="http://sigmasport.co.uk/">SigmaSport</a> for supporting this awesome trip!<br />
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Thank you Cannondale for the best bike in the world, I love it like a friend.<br />
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Thank you <a href="http://roostdh.com/">Roost DH</a> for literally offering the best service imaginable, I'm gonna tell everyone how much I salute you!<br />
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Thank you Steve from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CyclingEspana">Cycling Espnan</a>a for the transfers and helping me join the team for a lil while.<br />
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And finally, Thank you Gibraltan potato salad....for getting me down to race weight in 48 hours.<br />
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<br /><!--3--><!--3-->anna ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16228207400295321087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-74363965577551447572014-04-01T13:28:00.000-07:002014-04-01T13:28:42.384-07:00Day 2 at Cycling Espania near JerezAfter waking up late for breakfast (we blamed the time difference) we were presented with yet another fabulous array of food from our hosts at Cycling Espania. Although we sat out it was chilly and the clouds looked a bit ominous. With a 4-5hr day ahead of us we were just hoping the rain held off but true to this part of the world the clouds blew away and the sun was shining in no time.<br />
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Very quickly we realised the wind in this region of Spain was going to make training tough and after 2.5hrs pushing into a head wind with a couple of climbs we welcomed the lunch stop. The local lunch speciality seems to be a Spanish omelet sandwich which, I believe, is about as perfect as you can get for a mid-ride meal :-)<br />
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The route home was a fast descent followed by around 15miles of flat fast road with a tailwind! Perfect to get out legs moving again. Natalie and Lou headed off to do an extra hour accidentally taking the key to our villa which left Phoebe, Emily and I no choice but to spin down to the beach for chocolate 'recovery' milkshakes and a spot of kite surfer watching in the sun... How traumatic<br />
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After spending some time in the pool (ice bath) our awesome host Steve and his lovely girlfriend Layla brought over some home made prawn crackers, spring rolls and Bombay mix which went down beautifully with the delicious chilli expertly made by Lou... Now, to bed!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14953939916596228375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-72044592074933896502014-04-01T03:09:00.003-07:002014-04-01T03:09:35.216-07:00Introducing Abbie Dentus...<br />
We are super excited to welcome the talented Abbie Dentus as a guest rider to the team for the year. Abbie successfully secured herself a spot on the Olympic Development Programme at the end of 2013 and will be racing with us during the Women's Team Series this year. Here she writes about her first race with the team...<br />
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On Saturday 22nd March I raced my first womens team series event, at hog hill. I got given a great opportunity by team MuleBar - Sigma Spor to guest for them for the women's team series. I was really nervous as this was my first big race as a 2nd cat junior as I wasn't sure how I would do, turns out I really enjoyed the racing and even the hill!<br />
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As I am not so good with downhill sections and corners I tried to make up places in the bunch on the hills so that when I slowed down for the corners I would still be in the bunch, otherwise I knew if I was at the back going into the corners I would have a lot of work to do to try and get back up to the front again.<br />
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I felt pretty good during the race and attacked a couple of times, however our attacks got brought back again, the first attack that was made was to try and get myself and a couple of riders to bridge across to my teammate up the road to try and help her out as much as possible, however the bunch pulled all of us back in the end.</div>
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With 5 laps to go I made sure I was positioning myself near the front and on some good wheels so that I didn't need to panic about getting stuck near the back,y teammates Louise, natalie, Emily and Adel helped me throughout the race and getting me to the front of the bunch. Last lap and I was still feeling pretty good, I was starting to get really nervous now as I wanted to keep my position near the front 3rd-4th wheel so that I wouldn't have to try and make up places on the hill. As it came to the hill the pace started to build up and then that's when the sprint started to happen, still at the front I stayed behind the wheel I was on and starting sprinting up the hill, I could feel my legs really starting to hurt but knew I was nearly at the top and didn't want to lose out on places now, as we got to the part of the hill where it kicks up again I gave everything I had left for the sprint and got 6th, which I was so pleased with!!<br />
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Riding with MuleBar - Sigma Sport helped me get this result as they would always be looking out for me in the bunch and helping me out! They all rode fantasticly and I really appreciate the work they did to help me in the race!<br />
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Abbie xxx<br />
Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-87230685774963813542014-03-26T07:17:00.000-07:002014-03-26T07:17:10.147-07:00Training for Texas <br />
After the cross season, I took a bit of down time before starting my triathlon training. It didn’t really go to plan as I suffered a knee injury, I don’t really know how I did it, but i struggled to run and ride for a few weeks, however on the upside I kept my swimming up maintaining a decent fitness level. My knee has almost recovered and I have been putting in some endurance base work on my new team road bike.<br />
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The Cannondale Evo is super smooth and an excellent piece of kit I would highly recommend to any cyclist or triathlete out there. My first tri race is Ironman 70.3 Texas, it’s a really flat windy course on the coast of Galveston. I normally opt for hilly triathlon, but thought Texas will be a great place to practice some of my weakness, I hope the distance on the flat will help increase my power and TT skills. Running training is ticking over nicely now and am looking forward to doing some open water swimming out in Texas.<br />
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Once I’m back me and Phoebe are helping out with some women’s specific coaching sessions for road and circuit racing, it will be great to get involved in increasing participation and hopefully encourage some more events for ladies around the Derbyshire area. I also did a Breeze Leadership the other weekend, so it will be great to get some rides organised to increase participation at grass roots level.<br />
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Di xxx<br />
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Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-71978890421598481582014-03-11T02:33:00.002-07:002014-03-11T02:34:16.913-07:00Introducing New MuleBar Girl... Emily Barnes<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After having a fantastic time guesting for the MuleBar Girls last year, I am on the team for 2014 and really looking to the season ahead - it is sure to be an exciting one! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Saturday both Lou and I lined up to race the women's race at Cyclopark. A strong 20+ women field were there and the wind was going to make sure it would be a tough race. Lou got away in an early break which did a great job of building a strong lead and I finished in the main bunch. </span><br />
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<i>Photo: Dawn Fry</i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up we have a race in Belgium... </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natalie, Louise, Clem, Adel and I will be making our way over there with Daddy Barnes as driver and swanny. I'm not sure how my legs will cope, but hopefully I'll be able to hang on. I'm really looking forward to my first big race on my new Cannondale. Sigma Sport and Cannondale have kindly supported the team with a Cannondale Supersix Evo Red road bike each. They look awesome and ride so well, hopefully we can do them justice and kick off the season well. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we get home from Belgium, we have a couple of weekends of the Women's Team Series, at Hog Hill and the Dave Peck Memorial Road Race in Twickenham... Then we are off to the 2014 MBG TRAINING CAMP!!! 😃 I am really looking forward to a week in sunny Spain ☀️ with my awesome teamies, riding up hills (I might regret saying that), training and chilling. We will be staying with Cycling Espana in Jerez, where we have access to road, track and MTB training, to facilitate the whole team. A week of getting some good, sunny miles and laughter in before it's back to the UK for more racing!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A quick summary of planned racing for the team up until the Road Champs is...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12th April - Tour of Reservoir</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">19/20th April - Nigel Measom 2-day</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">27th April - Cheshire Classic </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4/5th May - Bedford 3-day</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">13th May - Tour Series (Stoke-on-Trent)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">18th May - CiCLE Classic</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">20th May - Tour Series (Peterborough)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">24th May - The Milk Race</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">29th May - Tour Series (Edinburgh)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1st June - Hillingdon GP</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3rd June - Tour Series (Redditch)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7th June - London Nocturne </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10th June - Tour Series (Woking)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">22nd June - Curlew Cup</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">26-29th June - National Road Race Championships</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to all the sponsors and people that support us. With all of the girls in full time jobs or education, it would be difficult to manage without such dedicated support. We are as motivated as ever and can't wait to get pedalling... </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Emily xxx</span>Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160266746552514325.post-9080557967690948752014-02-16T12:59:00.001-08:002014-02-17T08:08:22.802-08:00A week in the sun ...After 3 cancelled holiday's in 2013 and two separated shoulders, I finally made it away with my bike for a week in Fuerteventura - boom!<br />
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My training partner for the week was Rebecca, having both been completely off the bike Dec/Jan due to injury and illness we were eager to head to the sunshine and clock up some well deserved winter miles.</div>
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I was blown away by how beautiful and dramatic the landscape is in Fuerteventura. The weather was between 20 -24 degrees, making it a perfect destination for a winter training camp. We stayed in Costa Calma, which is in the South of the island, although Fuerteventura does not have the large network of roads like Majorca, as soon as we escaped off of the main road airport road we found ourself pedaling up into the mountains with hardly a car in sight.</div>
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Goal for the week - to ride! No set mileage, no set distance to just ride and to try and stay away from the bar! <br />
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As the road network is fairly limited our routes out and back were the same each day, and we would just vary the middle section. You do not have the luxury of cafes in every town, so we had to plan our routes through larger towns to ensure we had somewhere to stop for lunch.<br />
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The first section of our route each day took us from the East to the West of the island where we had to battle the evil Fuerteventua headwind. We were warned by the locals that this section was a battle of the mind as much as the legs and they certainly were right. I don't think we uttered a word to each other in these first few miles as we battled the wind and our own gremlins - at one point after looking down at my speedo I think I cried when I realised we were going 14km/hr. We both reached some pretty dark places and wondered why we hadn't opted to head to the beack and drink mojitos.</div>
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After reaching Pared our route then turned North and headed up into the mountains, although still battling a bit of a headwind the amazing scenery helped lift our spirits. The climbs in the region - although not as longs as you would find in the Alps - were tasty and often enough for it always to be a hard day in the saddle. There were plenty of other cyclist climbing in the mountains and keen to race up the hills, one day we were even joined by an elderly man from Luxembourg who apparently used to coach the Schleck brothers as juniors.<br />
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Our ride home every day was aided by a super strong tail wind which literally took us over the climbs enabling us to pick up the pace and get the legs spinning and leaving us grinning from ear to ear.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYIAnxYg-YZKGhNzOzgVVPDhbPQ9f9S_TIBys_PEi9n_HRdg5mW3Mxs6go3GHiOhkhkHOUCsJaVGh4i9ShHHLfCRhdxqTkIRvKLLk9NBAgIAJVCccKPqvYtezo0GQQEF8Jq88ZZyF2c6r/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-02-07+at+09.20.46.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYIAnxYg-YZKGhNzOzgVVPDhbPQ9f9S_TIBys_PEi9n_HRdg5mW3Mxs6go3GHiOhkhkHOUCsJaVGh4i9ShHHLfCRhdxqTkIRvKLLk9NBAgIAJVCccKPqvYtezo0GQQEF8Jq88ZZyF2c6r/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-02-07+at+09.20.46.png" height="236" width="320" /></a></div>
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We achieved our goal and only got drunk once - impressive I know! The riding was certainly a lot tougher than I expected, but it was amazing and I will definitely head back to Fuerteventura next winter as there is so much more of the island I would like to explore.<br />
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xxx</div>
Wiesiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15125097843180983527noreply@blogger.com0