Cycle touring is my idea of fun. The more I do it, the less I want to spend a holiday sitting on a beach. A few months ago I fulfilled a lifelong dream, taking my bicycle to Japan for several pedal powered weeks of fun, which included camping out, eating loads of my favourite food and hanging in beautiful spots drinking cold ones after a day on the bike. Awesome doesn’t even begin to describe it! If you’d like to see some more photos from our trip, and read all about our adventure, head on over to Coven Magazine and check out my feature.

I get quite a lot of emails about totally irrelevant stuff for this blog, but a message popped into by inbox this week and I was inspired to share it. Cyclists Mark Beaumont, Donald MacDonald and others are currently planning a 3700+ mile charity cycle in October from John O’ Groats to Gibraltar, and yes, I know that’s been done before, but these guys have a rather incredible aim: raising £2.5 million for 3 European children’s hospitals including Yorkhill in Glasgow and GOSH in London.

The gang have already secured some of that money through corporate funding, but are looking to involve the cycling community to up the money raised, and to boost the profile of what they’re doing and the charities they’re helping. Through crowd funding, they’re offering a whole host of rewards, from signed pictures through to a place on the team making the epic journey.

Donald explains,

“We are looking for one more member of the core team to join us on the cycle….if anyone is crazy, (ahem I mean fit enough) to join us. We are also looking for volunteers to help us and join the support team… and we’re looking for help with corporate sponsorship funding to ensure that as much of the crowdfunding goes direct to the charities. We are also looking for someone who could build and update a Facebook page while we are away. Ultimately, you’ll be helping some very sick kids in the UK and Europe.” 

THE RIDE

• The 5900km epic  will see the team ride a minimum of 209km per day.

• The 2014 Tour de France route ran for a total of 3660.5 km over 21 days with 2 rest days; Lands End to Gibraltar is  2239.5 km longer, and unlike the pros, the team will take no rest days.

• The total ascent is over 47,000, so it’s the equivalent of cycling up Mount Everest 5 times in less than a month.

• The ride will go through 9 countries, including Scotland, England, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Spain and Gibraltar.

Have a look at www.jog2gib.com to find out more about the ride and the charities it’s supporting and be ready with your pennies for when the crowdfunding page goes live on Friday August 22nd. Maybe you want to join them? Sounds super tough, but it would be AMAZING! I’m definitely tempted!

I wrote the title for this piece first, and then thought, ‘if I have to list all the worst, most disgusting sport nutrition products I’ve tried, I’ll be here all day.’ Some of them are so vile they make me grimace and quite frankly, I’d rather go hungry and thirsty, or just get a cake. Maybe if you’re in serious training of some kind, forcing down some chalky bar or chugging a salty drink is ok, but I’ve never been serious about anything in my life.

Anyway, this post is about the good, so which are they and why do they rock?

First up, yer drink. If I’m riding for anything less than an hour, I try to stick to water, as for short periods of exercise, that’s all you need. For anything over an hour, I swear by Nuun, because it tastes really nice, and all the other hydration tabs I’ve tried don’t. The grape flavour is my absolute favourite, I have to try and limit myself to small sips or I’d down the whole lot as soon as I leave the house – that’s how nice it tastes.

If you’re going a litter harder or longer, or if it’s really hot and you’re sweating a lot, these hydration tabs are ideal, as they contain electrolytes that help with all manner of things, from fluid control, to blood pressure and exhaustion. If you’ve depleted all your electrolytes, then all the water in the world won’t help and you will feel totally crap. Nuun’s little tabs are also sugar and carb free, which means all the good stuff goes straight into your system.

Next, gels. Some of these should not be called food. They should have a warning on them, or be used for torture. The ONLY ones that taste nice are Science In Sport’s GO Gels, which are a kind of watery jelly texture, meaning they’re easy to consume. These do have carbs, and are a good pick me up if you start flagging.

The other gel product I like are Clif’s Shot Blocs, because they do a similar thing but they’re like chewy sweets. Yum. I’d steer clear of Clif’s coffee flavoured gel in a tube though, as I still have nightmares about the one I ate.

And finally, the best energy bars. If you’re riding for over an hour, it’s always a good idea to eat something, even if you’re not hungry. Basically, as you cycle you deplete your stores of carbohydrate. You really need to avoid this happening, otherwise you’ll ‘bonk,’ which basically means you’ll start feeling really, really rubbish and struggle to get home.

If I’m going to eat something, I want it to taste nice, whether I’m cycling or not, so that rules out so many energy bars you wouldn’t believe!

The best are Clif Bars, which are really enjoyable; an actual treat. The texture is kind of like a flapjack but with less grease and sticky stuff, but having said that, they’re not dry in any way. My favourite flavours are Peanut Butter, White Chocolate and Macadamia and Oatmeal Raisin Walnut. I could actually live on these, I love them that much. Another good one is Bounce Energy Balls’ Peanut Butter Blast – this is like a big, chewy peanut butter flavoured toffee – tastes brilliant but as it’s so chewy I tend to eat these off the bike in between runs when I’m mountain biking, rather than on the go whilst road cycling.

So there you have it. Yummy things that will help keep you going, and that taste good not crap. Win!

I’ve always been kind of anti ‘bucket lists.’ For some reason I find the whole concept slightly depressing – to me bucket lists bring your mortality into sharp focus and I don’t like to spend a whole lot of time thinking about dying, strangely enough. But a list of the best places to cycle, or a cyclist’s wishlist… now that’s another matter.

I spend a really large amount of time daydreaming and vaguely planning things, in fact probably way more time that I spend actually doing them. I think that’s a pretty common phenomenon in these days of inspiration overload, we waste time voyeuristically browsing Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr enjoying other people’s adventures from afar and thinking how cool they look.

So in an effort to stop frittering hours dreaming and free up some time for more doing, I’ve decided to get my wishlist down on paper, or the virtual equivalent. I love a list, so let’s begin.

Iceland

I’ve actually been to Iceland, and that’s why I want to go again but with my bike. The last time I was there I was shooting for Tatler wearing a dress and bobbing about in a boat in front of an iceberg (I kind of wish I still had those photos!). The next time I go, there will be no make up artists, simply me, my bike, Dave and all our camping paraphernalia.

Hawaii

I’ve been dreaming of surfing in a bikini off a dreamy white beach fringed with palm trees for more years than I can remember. And then someone told there’s mountain biking in Hawaii and the place moved up a spot on my list.

Japan

I went to Japan last year with Dave and holy CRAP it was everything I thought it would be and ten million times more. When my mind drifts away into bliss, I often find myself careering round the Izu peninsular, panniers filled with onigiri. Sneaky camping in Japan was the nuts, as were the official campsites… well, all except the one where we couldn’t wash because we have tattoos so weren’t allowed into the bath/onsen.

California

Ok, there’s a bit of a theme here – I’ve been to California before too, in fact I lived there for a while. But I never rode my bike there, made it to Big Sur or hung out feeling awesome, hitting up beaches and skateparks in San Diego or Malibu. It’s got to be done.

Morzine, France

Somewhat unbelievably for someone who loves mountain biking but significantly prefers NOT riding up hills on said bikes, I’ve never been to the European mountain bike mecca of Morzine. Getting chairlifts up the hill then riding down what look like excellent trails is pretty much my idea of heaven. I went to Les Arcs to the Mountain Bike Chalet for a similar trip and it was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had. Actually, I’d bloody love to go there again.

India

Here’s a place I’ve never been but really want to visit. I’m just a little worried about cycling there as I’ve heard that the roads are pretty chaotic, and naturally I’d want to travel by bike. But Kerala looks like a rather lovely place, so here’s hoping India happens some day.

Ray’s MTB

Next on the list, Rays MTB indoor mountain bike park, but specifically on the annual women’s weekend if possible. I’ve always wanted to ride this place, as there’s jump after perfect jump. Bliss.

Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown bike park and  Skyline look amazing. And New Zealand, who the hell wouldn’t want to go there?

Mallorca

Every year, just when it’s cold, shitty weather in the UK, everyone sods off to ‘training camp’ in Mallorca to ride road bikes in the sun. It looks like road bike paradise with beautiful routes to ride around the island in the sun, and nothing to think about except cycling and coffee.

Ok, enough daydreaming. I need to go do some work to fund these adventures. Let me know if the comments if you think I’ve missed somewhere.. I did, didn’t I? Norway and Sweden for a start!

Peugeot recently got in touch with me and asked whether I’d like to try out their new 5008 to see how it fits in with a cyclist’s lifestyle. It’s a bit of a random one, though it slots neatly into the ‘And Stuff’ part of the site I suppose. I immediately thought, “why the hell not?” Just because I ride bikes, it doesn’t mean I hate cars – that whole ‘us vs them’ mentality is not for me. I’m a car and a bicycle owner. And I live in the middle of nowhere.

How does a cyclist test a car? Load it up with bikes and drive them somewhere that you want to ride!

Our initial reactions  were good. Although it’s a seven-seater, the 5008 thankfully doesn’t look like a people carrier; it’s lower and looks much more like a big car. Driving it down the very narrow lanes of Devon, I was thankful that they’ve somehow managed to fit a lot of interior space inside a more compact exterior.

Inside, the driver and passenger seat areas are massively roomy and the rear seats all fold down flat to give you lots of space for bikes, or you can put an inflatable mattress in there and camp out, like we did. You can get about four bikes in there next to each other – my only gripe would be that folding all the seats flat eats up a lot of vertical space, so you might have an issue if your bikes are tall, or if your dropper post is broken like Dave’s.

So how does it drive? Well its a 2 litre HDI low emission engine so it’s not bad in terms of oomph, and because it’s not an antique like my own car, driving it felt effortless –  so easy and light and far more relaxing. It’s very quiet too.

It’s an automatic with the option of driving it in manual sequential mode, but I chose to drive it in automatic as I’m not used to that kind of gear box. In automatic, it’s super easy to drive but it can be frustrating if you’re impatient –  it doesn’t change gear until the revs are really high. But then it’s not a race car, and other than that it felt very pleasant to drive on the motorway and small lanes.

It has some neat little features that I liked; cubby holes everywhere for all your bits and bobs, and a pop up display in front of the windscreen that shows your speed and directions to where you’re going. It’s a simple addition but added to the relaxing feel of the machine – you could keep your eyes firmly on the road, gauge your speed and not get lost.

In the centre console, there’s a sat nav that also shows the reversing camera. Personally, I prefer to just turn my head and/or use my mirrors, and the alarming beeps are over the top when you’re nowhere near an obstacle. But each to their own!

So the verdict? For a cyclist, I’d say it’s a good fit – low emissions, easy to drive, room for bikes, and you can sleep in it.

But… it’s £26,750, so there’s no way in hell I’m buying one! I can’t see that i’ll ever be able to afford a new car, and even if I could, I’d spend the money on something else. But if I didn’t have to worry about funds, well I’d be more than happy to take the 5008 all over the country for lots of adventures with Dave and my bikes. For a cyclist, I’d say it’s a good fit – low emissions, easy to drive, room for bikes, and you can sleep in it.

I’ve been riding my Goomah Bike for a few months now, and in that time we’ve become firm friends so I thought I’d introduce her to you.

The bikes are designed and developed by the Assos Werkmanschaft, which is Assos’ core team of product testers. The brand is a partnership between the Swiss cycle clothing manufacturers and Goomah SA.

If you didn’t know that Assos actually invented the first carbon frame (back in 1976), I guess it could seem odd that a clothing company created a bike brand rather than the other way round, but once you know that it all starts to make sense.

The bikes are strictly limited in number, and available in two different models, the G731 and the G733, which I have. The G733 is the successor to the 731, so a few things have changed, for instance the seatpost which previously was integrated.
 

The bike is crazily light and really stiff, and feels nippy and responsive which is just the way I like ‘em! The frame is asymmetrical to ‘compensate for the torsional flex that a one-sided powertrain generates under maximum force,’ and whilst I don’t know much about the physics of this, when I crank down hard she leaps forwards enthusiastically. When sprinting on the flat (not often round Devon!) she’s off like the clappers. The BB386 EVO bottom bracket and the crankset help with this feeling of power, adding torsional strength.

When it comes to aesthetics, well she looks incredible.  The soft matte black finish with the full on logo and gold detailing is far from subtle and I absolutely love the full on flashiness! Internal cable routing makes her look even better, and apparently the cabling route has been re-designed to flatten the path for smoother, faster and more precise shifting. She sure does shift smoothly, but whether that’s due to the top of the range Sram RED group set or the path of routing… well I know where my money would be.

Frame set GOOMAH G733
Brakes EXPLOIT LIGHT
Crankset FSA KFORCE 2014 Compact black 50/34
Handlebar FSA K-FORCE 2014 (B/G) 38
Stem DEDA
Shifters SRAM RED 22
Front derailleur SRAM RED 22
Rear derailleur SRAM RED 22
Chain SRAM PC 1190
Cassette SRAM XG 1190
Saddle Prologo Nago Evo Dea Tirox.
Wheels DT Swiss RRC 46T
Pedals Speedplay
 

The past couple of weeks have been rotten! It all started two and a half weeks ago when I work up feeling terrible after drinking three bottles of beer the night before. I thought that I’d reached a new level of alcohol intolerance, and unfairly punished considering I’d hardly drunk anything.

But as it turned out it wasn’t a hangover, it was the beginning of a bout of flu that was needlessly drawn out due to my refusing to really acknowledge it.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but the next week, I finally ‘called in sick’ for one day. Only I didn’t really as I work from home, so all calling in sick meant was I emailed the boss and told her I might be slower than usual replying to emails.

What I should have done, was turn my computer off and stay in bed, but I was still refusing to give in to illness. If you work from home, it’s really hard to justify not doing any work at all – I mean it’s not like you have to brave a commute or anything. The next day, feeling I shouldn’t be such a baby, I just carried on working as normal, and then even tried to go for a ride! What a mistake – I rode about 20 metres then bid a hasty retreat back to the car as I thought I was going to collapse.

Several days later, the megaflu hit and then I was really buggered – delirious, sweating, freezing, pounding heachache, the works. That coincided with some holiday I’d booked, so I finally gave in and just did nothing. The next few days were hellish for me and extremely boring for Dave, but finally the fever subsided, and just in time for a couple of days of sunshine over Easter.

It’s crazy how quickly the body can deteriorate and muscles atrophy – two weeks of working from my bed and not riding at all have resulted in a very flat bottom indeed! I’m really looking forward to getting my muscles all fired up again and feeling strong and healthy.

But I’m still weak and extremely tired, and having refused to acknowledge the fact I was ill and hunker down with a bowl of fruit and some warm blankets at the beginning of getting sick, I’m trying to take a sensible approach to recovery and actually listen to my body, rather than dashing out on my road bike.

As a nice gentle way to get some fresh air and ease myself into cycling again, we’ve been riding some of the area’s best cycle paths, including the Exe River Trail and the Granite Way between Oakhampton and Lympstone. Both are pretty much flat, totally traffic free, and offer gorgeous views.

The Granite way takes you along the edge of Dartmoor over viaducts, with plenty of pubs signposted along the route. There’s a small dirt section, but for the most part, it’s hard-packed gravel and totally flat. At the end (or start) in Oakhampton, there’s a pretty cool looking old station, with what my Dad tells me is a good buffet.
The Exe Rive Trail  beings in Dawlish and follows the estuary around to Exmouth with much of it on specially constructed wooden decking put there so the route is rideable year round (I think) as Devon is quite prone to flooding. Some of the sections are not yet finished, but the part that we rode from Topsham to Exmouth is, and was really so nice to see whole families out on their bikes enjoying it. One of the really good things about this route is that you can get an ice-cream and go to the beach at the end!

I’d highly recommend either of these routes, both have helped me rediscover the pleasure of just pottering about on a bike and using cycling as a way of relaxing. So I’ve finally learnt how to take it easy and slow down – just a couple of weeks too late perhaps!

I first met photographer Camille McMillan at Eroica Britannia last year, where he cut a dashing figure swaggering around in a silk scarf shooting images and taking rides on a motorbike under the Brooks England banner. I was immediately curious about him; he appeared to play by his own set of rules with no pussy-footing about. Certainly as a man, he’s intriguing and enigmatic but believe it or not, I was unaware of his serious pedigree as a photographer and cyclist.

Next month’s Bespoked Handmade Bike Show in Bristol, where I will be a judge, will feature an exhibition of Camille’s work, accompanied by the unveiling of his new custom-built ‘demi-porkeur’ hand-crafted by  Hartley Cycles.

Head over to the Brooks blog where I find exactly what a ‘demi-porkeur’ is, and find out more about the project.

I just got back from a whirlwind visit to Switzerland, where I met up with the Assos family to shoot some new images. As I live in the beautiful south west of England, actually getting there took approximately the same amount of time as I was actually in Lugano, but that’s the price you pay for living somewhere nice I suppose!

After a late arrival on Sunday evening, on Monday morning we headed off in the Assos team car, Goomah Bikes strapped to the roof as we drove to our mountain location to gather some images for a catalogue and some advertising.

Once in situ and kitted our in next year’s Spring/Summer collection, we began the really rather lovely task of riding up and down hills in the sun, past clusters of spring flowers emerging from the verges whilst Phil Gale, Assos’s photographer took some snaps of us. Those of you that know me know that I do actually work quite hard at my computer more days than I don’t, so moments like those are a true delight and I thoroughly appreciate them. I spent every second feeling pretty darn stoked at how awesome the cycling part of my job is. Ain’t nothing to beat it!

Shots in the bag, Phil showed quickly showed me the way back to Lugano, then I was left to my own devices to ride and enjoy the first of this year’s lovely weather. It was 30 degrees, and the first time I’d worn cycling shorts rather than tights outdoors this year, in fact it was the first time I’d been on a road bike for a month thanks to a rotten bout of flu! I blasted around the lake as fast as I could before pausing for an ice-cream in the sun – part of my new resolution to actually stop every now and again and just drink in my surroundings, rather than live my entire live at a frenetic pace. Sometimes I’m so busy fitting everything in that I forget to notice where I am.

On the way back to Paradiso, I made an exceptionally wrong turn and somehow ended up on a motorway with angry (and rightly so!) truck drivers honking at me whilst I tried to speed my way out of danger. After an encounter with the police, I rode off red-faced with shame at my stupidity. You live (thank god!) and learn. In case you’re ever in Lugano, make sure you select the right road crossing the lake because it’s embarrassing and dangerous if you take the wrong one. DUR

The next day, I woke bright and early to be whisked off to a studio in Milan to shoot some product photos for some yet to be released items of clothing. I think the last time I was in a studio in Milan, we were shooting the Prada Sport look book, which was an insanely precise job requiring about seven hours for each outfit. Thankfully this shoot was a little more laid back. And in case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t pose like Assos man!

Thanks to the Assos team for taking good care of me and inviting me over to the headquarters once again, it’s always a pleasure.

Now I’m just on the train on the way back to South West catching up on a few things ahead of tomorrow’s MET Helmets shoot in Devon. And the weather’s looking great. How’s your week looking?

The last week has been hectic. After getting back from Switzerland on Tuesday night, it was straight into a shoot for Met Helmets on Wednesday morning, with Dave joining me on modelling duties. The day was an absolute stunner, so we stayed closed to home to shoot some images for next year’s catalogue on our road bikes and touring bikes, taking photographer Joolze Dymond to Littlehempston for some shots of us climbing hills out of the ever-so-cute village, and then to Staverton Nurseries where I tried to keep my mind on the job despite by burgeoning interest in growing things.
 

 
My legs were still feeling weak after so much time off due to flu, so I made sure to fit in some more riding in the evening, heading up to Dartmoor on my road bike to catch the last of the sun’s rays. I’ve been finding it hard not to get dismayed by how unfit those weeks of inactivity have made me as I had some races in my diary that I’ve had to strike off my list as a result… but cycling Dartmoor on a warm, sunny, spring evening is a sure fire way to raise the spirits. It’s a near physical feeling, that lifting of the heart.

I explored a new corner of the National Park over towards Avon Dam that I’m now delighted I previously neglected as it means I’ve a whole load of new vistas to discover. The whole place is like a nursery at the moment, with lambs gambolling in the fields and freshly hatched butterflies fluttering in the hedgerow.

After a couple of days getting stuck in to some copywriting and marketing issues, I then hot-footed it to Bristol to visit Bespoked handbuilt bike show on Friday evening, where my job was to judge several of the categories with a crew that included Ricky Feather of Feather Cycles, Robert Penn and Tony Farrelly.
 

 
Judging turned out to be quite a tricky process as we all took the decision making extremely seriously, debating for a long time about each and every award with plenty of friendly disagreements. In the end, we presented the ‘Best New Frame Builder Award’ and ‘Best In Show,’ to Rowan Cycles, which of course is a very big deal for a frame builder showing for the very first time at Bespoked.

Another newcomer, Caren Hartley of Hartley Cycles snagged an award for her ‘Demi-Porkeur,’ the utility bike that she built for photographer Camille Macmillan which I recently wrote about for the Brooks blog.

Judging in the bag, I had just enough time for a pint before I called it a night in anticipation of an early wake up call on Saturday for my flight to Dublin. The weekend saw me visit the Irish Cycling Show with Met Helmets and Bluegrass, catching up with a few friends and of course, drinking Guinness.

Sadly there was no time to visit The Forty Foot like I did last time I was in Dublin racing in the Bluegrass Enduro Tour, but it’s probably a little chilly for sea swimming at the moment, in fact last time I had a dip in the sea I got mild hypothermia and couldn’t unlock my car door because my hands wouldn’t work. Roll on summer, when I’ll once again ride to my favourite wild swimming spot on the River Dart, bikini in my saddlebag.

So post flu, I’m still not getting in as much cycling as I want to/need to and my work/life balance seems to be getting a little out of whack. Plenty of beer is being drunk as some kind of a substitute, but ultimately, I need to find more time to get on the bike. Luckily, there are now evenings to fill with cycling, so I made the most of it after work today and went down to Scadson Woods for a shred.

I’m super pleased to report that my lovely bicycles are now covered by cycling insurance specialists Bikmo Plus which is one less thing to worry about.. and I worry a hell of a lot. It always makes me laugh when I read the Guardian Magazine interview each week and they ask the interviewee ‘what keeps you awake at night?’  My answer would be: what doesn’t?

So it’s nice to know that my bikes are covered, as along with my husband, my cats, friends and family, they’re my favourite things in the world.

Take a look at the following video to find out more about what they offer, and see whether they might be able to make you work a bit less too:

The guys at the company are all cyclists themselves so they’re doing things a little differently than some other faceless corporations. It’s easy to get set up, and they offer multi bike savings, cover your kit and even offer emergency bike cover.

Take a look over on their site, and check out the Q & A they’ve posted with me over on their site.

The lovely folks at Velovixen, the female focused cycling website, recently asked me to contribute to their newly relaunched blog. I thought I’d make my opening piece for them really count and write about something that matters to me personally, namely women and their place in the world of cycling and what we can do help encourage ladies to jump on their bicycles.

I’ve recently become involved in TakethestageCC, a women’s cycling initiative established to promote cycling for women through rides, ambassadors, events and even an app for your mobile phone, so I chatted to the lady running the show, Marit Huisman ahead of some new and exciting developments I know of.

Head over to the Velovixen blog to read the feature.

Whilst you’re there, check out the other blogger’s features and the comprehensive range of gear on offer. And be sure to head over to the TakethestageCC Facebook page to give them a ‘like’ so you hear about all the exciting things planned for the summer.

Unashamedly a feminist trying in my small way to redress the balance and to celebrate talented women, when I decided to write something frame building in the run up to Bespoked Handbuilt Bike Show, I purposefully set out to discover whether any women were exhibiting.

After a shout out on twitter, I found out about Caren Hartley, of Hartley Cycles, who as it happened was in the middle of building a bike for photographer Camille Macmillan, whom I’d met last year at Eroica Britannia.

Caren ended up being the first and only female frame builder at Bespoked.

She also winded up winning an award for the bike she built for Camille. I had a chat with her for the Brooks blog to find out more about her first year in the trade. Click here to have a gander.

As I wrote the title of this blog just now, I got to thinking that I should have done a ‘my first’ series whereby I go and try every kind of bike race and activity and write about my experiences. I guess I’ve done that already, but in a less formalised manner i.e. without getting all Challenge Anneka about it. So if you’re interested in reading what it’s like to do your first road race, first sportive, first enduro, first cyclocross race or first fixed gear crit, click one of the ‘my first’ tags below. If you can’t see the tag, it’s because I haven’t gone through and tagged the posts yet, so bear with me!

But anyway to get back on track… At the weekend I entered my first downhill mountain bike race, Peaty’s Steel City DH up in Sheffield. Bluegrass had sponsored the Men’s Veteran’s category, so as I was going up anyway, I thought I may as well enter.

I had no idea what to expect at all, but having heard the event was not only one of the most fun and friendliest races on the calendar but also had the biggest number of female racers, I was really happy to secure one of the much sought after places.

The morning of the race, Dave and I gave up trying to sleep at about 5.30am – we’d barely slept a wink as we were both massively overexcited about the event. A quick scan of the email we’d been sent revealed that the track opened at 8am for a walk through, so we sped off to Sheffield, collected our race plates and began ‘inspecting’ the course, supposedly so we could choose our lines and stuff like that. What actually happened was I nervously chattered the whole way down not paying any attention, and promptly forgot which jumps and berms came where.

I followed Dave down for the two practice runs which made me feel at ease, and despite thinking ‘oh, I’m just going to take it easy and check out what is where,’ the minute I dropped in I went hell for leather. After rolling down a start ramp and over and around a few lumps, bumps and berms, I hit up the first little gap jump then continued through some tighter little berms before the course split off in a new direction to where it had gone previously. Unbeknownst to me, a lot of people had been up to Sheffield earlier in the week to practice (some with coaches!) and gain the upper hand, so the organisers had chucked in a diversion to confuse everyone. At the bottom, there was a rooty drop before the finish line, which I went off in practice but avoided later on, as I felt it slowed me down too much – I didn’t like hurtling off it full bore.

The course was extremely smooth and fast, with plenty of opportunities to pedal and try and make up for dodgy technique. It was amazing how little peddling the ‘good’ people did, just holding their speed and pumping the berms properly. My riding was a little more haphazard, but it felt good to be able to tackle everything confidently.

Practice runs done, we all queued up at the top for our timed runs. There were 71 women competing, which is astonishing for a downhill race; it just goes to show what can be accomplished with some dedicated, hands-on marketing. It wasn’t by accident that so many women had signed up, it was purely the result of the teams efforts the previous year when they’d personally contacted numerous women (including myself) urging them to sign up and to encourage their friends to do the same. Such a friendly, inclusive approach had encouraged many to try racing and this year they’d come back and brought even more ladies with them.

As I queued up for my race run, I felt a bit nervous when I saw ex BMX World Champion Joey Gough behind me, who I know has recently made the move into mountain biking. Joey is an exceptional rider (check her our riding trails!) so I worried that she’d catch me before I reached the bottom. But in the event, I managed to hold my own and get down in a respectable time, in fact when I got to the bottom I was actually second fastest! Sadly, I didn’t stay in second place for long, because all the faster riders came after me bumping me down to seventh, but I felt absolutely elated anyway – I haven’t felt a buzz like that in ages.

Our second run was an opportunity to set a faster time, but I kind of knew that I wouldn’t be able to as I’d ridden as well as I could the first time, but I gave it a good go. The crowd was absolutely amazing, cheering loudly as I cleared the first gap jump, bellowing advice as I flew off the double and giving me a big old cheer when I cased it in a hilarious manner. I couldn’t stop grinning the whole way down and when I got to the bottom I felt such intense excitement, happiness and exhilaration that I can’t actually describe it without resort to that cliché of feeling ‘high.’

In the end, I slipped down a place to finish 8th out of the 31 women in my category and was totally delighted with that.

Thanks to all the organisers for putting on such a great day, and also screw you, as I had so much fun that there’s no way I’m gonna want to ride any of my other bikes for quite sometime. I’ve only ever done one other mountain bike event (the Bluegrass Enduro Tour in Ireland) so I’ve little to compare Steel City with, but the day blew pretty much every other kind of race I’ve done on any other bike out of the water. I’ll be back for more!

I’m a little obsessed riding mountain biking right now, so you may well see a lot of it on Bikes N Stuff, sandwiched between all the other bikes I still enjoy riding!

Having never made a mountain bike edit before, Dave and I thought we’d test out my new GoPro 4 Silver Edition, to see what angles look best. It’s pretty handy as it has a screen so you can see what shots look like, whereas before you’d have to guess!

I strung the resulting clips to make a quick 15 second edit – nothing fancy, but if you’d like a look, voila:

I don’t mean to turn a blog about cycling into some self-help site filled with motivational crap – that kind of thing makes me cringe – but sometimes what begins as an idle thought floating about my head gathers pace and grows into something I want to get down on paper, or more accurately, on a screen. I’m the kind of person who can’t get a moment’s peace for thinking and I suppose sometimes writing gives me closure on a topic I’ve been obsessing over.

So recently I’ve been musing on how my life has changed since I became obsessed with cycling – what have those many hours on the bike have given me, apart from a great deal of pleasure, a career and bigger legs?

Those hours have given me a lot and I worship my bicycles accordingly, but one thing that seems to be really relevant to where I am at the moment is this: bikes have finally taught me to ‘never say never,’ and in doing so, cycling has taught me to leave the door open to the myriad opportunities, possibilities and differing paths my life could take.

It’s taken a pretty funny cycling journey to reach this conclusion, with plenty of mistakes along the way. It began when I rode fixed gear and I was adamant I’d absolutely never wear lycra. I was also sure I’d never race as I’d always been more into the ‘freestyle’ or expressive side of things rather than athletics. I now dabble in racing and I’m frequently found prancing about in lycra, in fact I own way more bib-shorts and jerseys than I do ‘regular’ clothes.

Anyway, after I got into fixed gear, I bought a BMX and immediately removed the pegs and gave them away, as ‘I’d never be able to do a grind.’ A few months later I had to buy some pegs after I actually tried a grind on my friend’s bike and rode it out first time. I also thought I’d never hit a dirt jump with a gap in it or air out of a quarter.

See where I’m going with this?

So next up, lesson totally not learnt, I started riding mountain bikes, heading out on some of the cross country trails around Devon. Of course I thought I’d never ride Downhill, never get a full susser and was extremely sure that I couldn’t do drops or ride anything steep. Even when I got a full susser and started riding enduro style tracks, I thought I’d forever be going around the jumps, taking the ‘chicken line.’ And again, I thought I’d never race.

Of course I was wrong, so have I learnt my lesson? Well yes, I finally have, and it’s really helped! The other day, I was out riding with my husband and we came to a really scary drop off, and instead of getting all freaked out and thinking I’d never be able to do it and getting all wound up about it, I just thought ‘hmm, I might do that when I feel like it.’ In changing my thinking in that way, I left the possibility that I might actually do the scary drop, so I didn’t have to contend with the enormous pressure I sometimes place on myself.

And after a couple of runs, I just felt like it, and off I went.

So it made me think, it’s so important to allow things to happen and to be open to the possibility. Don’t be so sure that you can’t. And most importantly, it’s taught me not to try and predict the future but to let it do it’s thing, so I’ve retired my crystal ball as the future can, and will take care of itself. So never say never, that’s what I reckon.

One of the reasons I write this blog is to share things that I’ve discovered in my journey deeper and deeper into the mysterious world of cycling in the hope that these tips and insights might speed up your own journey. I actually started the blog as the modern equivalent of a diary, someplace to record everything that happened and virtually stick photos, but well, yeah it grew into this.

Anyway, I didn’t grow up cycling (other than in the regular kid messing about sort of way), my parents aren’t cyclists and I came to this game quite late. So I’ve had to figure things out for myself every time I want to explore a new aspect of riding, and as I’m really quite obsessive, I can spend hours/days/weeks researching stuff until I know as much as I possibly can about whatever I’m embarking on. Perhaps I can at least save you a little time!

One of the interests that grew out of my love for fixed gear was road cycling and so of course, I made it my mission to find out as much as I could about it, as well as spending as much time as I could doing it. I became interested in joining a cycling club back then, but it was fairly hard to find out much about them at the time, and what I did find out kind of put me off going. It was all fairly intimidating.

When I moved to Devon I finally took the plunge and joined a club, and not only am I glad I did, I think you should consider joining one too. Of course, not all clubs are created equal – my club, Mid Devon CC is very inclusive as well as having a strong race presence, and they’re very welcoming. If you chance upon one that isn’t, then stuff ‘em – go find another one.

So for more on cycling clubs and why and how to join one, head over to the Velovixen blog to read my latest feature.

Photos: Ashley Kent

Me and the guys at Wideopen Magazine became acquainted over the internet, as you often do these days, but I finally got to put a name to the editor Jamie’s face when I went down to their Local’s Knowledge day at Triscombe.

The whole day out was a pretty neat idea – Wideopen just wanted to meet, hang out and ride with the people that read the magazine, as everything is so hectic on race days when they normally meet folks. They were after a mellow atmosphere with no urgent timescale, plenty of time for chatting and riding and a chance to communicate with the non-racers. Fox had chucked in a a free uplift service and barbecue, so it was kind of like a jam. But not!

In case you’re a non mountain biker, an uplift is usually a shuttle bus to the top of all the runs, so that you don’t have to ride up to access the trails. I’ve only ever done two uplifts before, both at Bike Park Wales, because honestly, I just can’t normally afford it, so I usually have to ride up the fire track which is really boring and saps all your energy. For me, the best part of riding a mountain bike is going downhill, and I find riding uphill a bit of an arse because it’s SO slow that sometimes you’re better off walking. So the uplift was a real gift for Dave and I and it was also a great chance to meet all the other riders before we sped off down the trails.

We rode as much as we possibly could, in fact we didn’t stop until nearly everyone except Jamie had gone home and the Fox stand had been dismantled and put away. The uplift driver was so generous that he said he’d keep ferrying us up for as long as we wanted, but eventually we took pity on him and let him go home!

Whilst we were there, Jamie snapped me and the Furtado and posted a bike check over on the Wideopen site, that explains why I love it so much. Click here to have a gander.

Photos: Dave Noakes

Those of you that follow this blog or any of my guest blogs will most likely know my attitude to training. In a nutshell, I don’t do it as I made the decision to focus on riding for pleasure alone rather than committing to schedule of improvement that might take away some of the enjoyment. I also struggle to commit to one kind of cycling and really try hard to succeed in it because I’m having too much fun riding whatever the hell I want, whenever I want to and jumping from bicycle to bicycle. If you told me I couldn’t ride my mountain bike because I needed to do a bunch of intervals on my road bike, I’d tell you to bog off.

BUT the Red Hook Crit is coming to London, and I’d like to race in it. Founded in Brooklyn, the Red Hook Crit is the world’s premier closed circuit track bike race and having followed it for years, been delighted when they added a women’s class and watched from the sidelines in Milan, now I want to race. Gulp.

My motives for doing so are pretty varied but in essence boil down to this – if you’ve got the chance to be a part of something awesome rather than just watch, shouldn’t you just go for it? What better way to really experience an exciting event than to do it from the inside? And plus, I’ve always encouraged women to take a challenge, try something new, get involved in racing etc etc, so even though just writing about the race is giving my butterflies, I need to take this bold and scary step because I want to know whether I can do it. How else can a person know whether it’s for them or not?

Seeing as the race is next month and I have done no absolutely no training whatsoever, I know I’ll not be up front with the fast female racers who regularly compete in these events (and in Elite road races every weekend!) and that’s totally fine by me. But I’d like to be able to ride and race hard, not get lapped immediately or have to pull out wheezing, so I’ve decided to see how fit I can get in a month.

To assist me, James from High Rise Coaching has kindly offered to write me a plan that should help whip me into better shape. He tells me that a month is “not a long period of time, but enough to make a few noticeable gains.” We’ll see! I’ve my first consultation with him this evening, after which I’ll report back and I’ll be posting updates here throughout the month and on my Instagram account, so if you feel like giving me some encouragement when my willpower is slipping, that would be greatly appreciated!

EEK!

And it begins! With no time to spare, James from High Rise Coaching and yours truly have got cracking on what’s to be a pretty intense month of cycling, the aim being to see how much difference you can make to your fitness in such a short time.

To prepare for the challenge, James asked me to complete a functional threshold test, which is a very effective way of figuring out where you are in terms of fitness, and is invaluable in terms of figuring out at what intensity to ride. Though I have decided I’ll be following James’ advice to the T, the first thing I did was disobey his instructions to complete the test on a turbo trainer, because I absolutely detest them. I figured that I’d be able to push myself harder if my head and heart were in it, and that outdoors would be a far better place for me. I suffer quite badly from the heat exhaustion on the turbo too, so I felt that a cooling breeze would be a big help and luckily for me, there’s a fantastic training facility down the road at Torbay Velopark – it’s a closed road, flat, smooth and traffic free circuit, so I headed down there to do the test.

It goes like this: with a heart rate monitor and a cycle computer (I use the Garmin 1000) being by warming up for 5 minutes. Gradually increase the intensity for the next 5 minutes, including some very short sprints, until you’re very warm and working hard. When the ten minute warm-up is over, press start on your Garmin and ride as hard as humanly possible for the next 20 minutes. It’s it’s not totally insanely agonising, you’re not trying hard enough, and I think I looked like a terrifying lunatic to all the other velopark users!

Your result is your average heart rate over the 20 minutes, and in case you’re interested, mine was 170bpm. From that James has figured out heart rate zones that I can ride in depending on what tasks he has set me for the day and I can programme those zones into my user profile on the Garmin so that when I’m cycling I know which zone I’m in. Cool, huh?

So FTP done and out of the way (thank god!), today is my official first day of the challenge, and I’m pretty glad that all I have to do is a nice easy recovery ride to get my legs moving – a pleasant surprise  because I’ve been riding hard all week and need a break!