Welsh XC Series Round 3 and Welsh XC Championships: Gimme a brake!

Star date: 18 May 2014
Location: Fforest Fields
Event: Welsh XC Series Round 3/Welsh XC Championships
Weapon of choice: Carbon hardtail 29er with 20 gears
Greatest achievement: Not stomping off home in a strop
Greatest weakness: That pesky little matter of speed
Result: 6th in race, 5th in champs

I seem to be cursed in this year's XC series:

• Round 1: Two flats
• Round 2: One flat

So round 3 was very much last-chance saloon territory. If I didn't have a decent race without mechanicals, that was it. I'd stick to endurance events in future, no more XC for me.

I haven't had much luck in past Welsh XC champs either:

• 2011: Pedal disaster
• 2012: Saddle disaster

Admittedly I still bagged bronze medals in both of those years, at a time when I was, frankly, still a bit crap, but that just made it all the more frustrating last year when I only managed fourth place despite being way fitter and faster and nothing actually going wrong. Anyway, this time I was really fired up and determined to get back on the podium.

So what did round 3 and the 2014 champs bring?

• One brake

Yep, no sooner had I hopped on the bike for a warm-up than the rear brake locked on with the lever dangling uselessly in need of an urgent Viagra infusion. Apparently it was something not readily curable to do with seals and return springs. Likely cause (get this): overheating in the back of the car. All I can say is don't ever let me get a dog! Anyway, big thanks to Gareth Rowlands from Cycle-Tec for the diagnosis and for helping to run round trying, in vain, to find someone with a suitable brake to borrow.

Decision time. Drive straight back home cursing and crying and maybe squeeze in a consolation ride locally on the singlespeed - or man up and race anyway.

• Me: "Do you think I'll be OK with one brake?"
• Consensus: "Not on that course, you'll die."

So I decided to give it a go. Fforest Fields is always a climber's course anyway, and I could always run/abseil the scariest bits. But any chance of a result was gone. I surprised myself by cresting the first big climb in the leading group with relative ease, so I do now wonder what might have been... But then we started to head back down again and that, basically, was that.

Note two-fingered death grip on front brake.

Great photo by Roy Bevis while taking a break from heckling me.

The problem with having only a front brake is three-fold:

1. Brake too hard and you'll fly over the bars, with potentially dire consequences
2. Brake too gently and you just don't slow down, with potentially dire consequences
3. Brake moderately and it still messes with the bike's handling, with, er, potentially dire consequences

And that's before you consider the effects on the mind - and I find descending fearlessly a challenge at the best of times. My initial approach was therefore to creep along at such a low speed that I wouldn't ever need to slow down. Which worked pretty well in terms of keeping me alive but had its disadvantages. Not only is going slowly not the ideal race tactic, but there were spectators and photographers on both descents, making it deeply, horribly, cringingly embarrassing.

Luckily the leafy loam and myriad roots were bone-dry and full of grip, so I was able to speed up somewhat each lap as I grew more proficient at hanging off the saddle to drive weight down behind, rather than over, the front wheel. I only went over the bars the once, and bounced well. The course was more tricky than scary anyway, so in the end I was happy riding everything apart from one short drop on the first descent (having gone arse over tit running down it on the first lap, I opted for riding the longer but easier B-line after that).

I felt really strong on the uphill sections, easily passing people on both climbs every single lap - only to have to let them past again on the descents. Come the last lap, though, I was so fed up with this pattern that I decided to lose the two guys I'd been playing cat-and-mouse with for the last hour by red-lining up the hills and easing off on the brake (sic!) on the descents. I even managed to pass another rider on the final climb and almost, almost caught one more in a lactic-tastic sprint finish (turns out he wasn't in my category anyway, so I was, like, whatever). All this made my last lap as quick as my first, which is unusual and testament to the power of bloodymindedness.

On the first lap I was even scared on the flat bits.

Photo by Roy Bevis.

Sixth in the race and fifth in the champs was disappointing, but looking at the times even with three brakes I don't think I could have stayed with the top three. Even so, I really enjoyed the ride. Dry trails always help, but against expectations it was a gem of a course. I found it a bit dull last year, but a new rooty descent, a carpet of bluebells and a bit of tweaking worked wonders.

So, am I now going to flounce out of XC racing for good? Well, I'm still thinking that 70-80 minutes is just too short. By the time you've driven there, faffed, raced, faffed and driven home, you could've had a whole day's riding from your door - and unlike in longer races it's nigh-on impossible to recover from a puncture or mechanical. On the other hand, a really good course like this one can still make it worthwhile. I also have unfinished business - I'd love to have one clean XC race this year to see what level I'm really at. I feel faster than ever.

So, one more race, a really good course, let me think... Seems all roads lead to the British Series race at Margam on 15 June!

Before that, though, I have a big wilderness ride lined up in the form of the Red Kite Events Devil's Challenge 130km on 8 June. I probably won't come out of that one complaining it's too short.

1	01:13:23	Roy Davis, Roy Davis Cycles	00:17:39	00:18:26	00:18:19	00:18:59
2	01:14:15	Christopher Kay, Wrexham Roads Club	00:17:27	00:18:24	00:19:06	00:19:18
3	01:14:54	Mark Spratt, Cardiff JIF	00:17:34	00:18:29	00:19:34	00:19:18
4	01:17:37	Timothy Davies, CC Abergavenny/JP Signs	00:18:01	00:21:19	00:19:06	00:19:12
5	01:21:33	David Watt, Team Elite	00:18:19	00:20:25	00:20:54	00:21:55
6	01:28:38	Chris Schroder, Sarn Helen	00:21:06	00:23:11	00:22:39	00:21:43
7	01:29:10	Richard Bowen, Gateway Racing	00:19:48	00:21:47	00:22:42	00:24:53
8	01:30:36	Andrew Gibbs, Cwmcarn Paragon Cycle Club	00:20:37	00:22:29	00:23:08	00:24:22
9	01:33:08	Simon James	00:21:01	00:23:14	00:24:24	00:24:29
10	01:39:29	Jon Howes	00:22:34	00:24:25	00:26:25	00:26:05

No Strava today - stupid Garmint packed in as well!

Welsh XC Series Round 2: Sabotaged!

Star date: 12 April 2014
Location: Builth Wells
Event: Welsh XC Series Round 2
Weapon of choice: Rigid 26" singlespeed
Greatest achievement: Working my way back from last place
Greatest weakness: Letting some oaf slash my tyre!

Result: 12th vet (1st singlespeed)

"So where are you racing today, darling husband?"
"Builth Wells, my dear woman."
"Fabulous wild countryside down that way."
"Well yes, but actually we'll be lapping the carpark at the Royal Welsh Showground."
"Oh."

The view from the arena of row after row of animal pens was rather how I imagine Auschwitz to have looked. (Little bit of politics there. Perhaps I should get sponsorship from the ALF. Then again, I suspect my return to vegetarianism is behind this year's lacklustre results. So watch out, sheepies.)

Didn't sound too promising, did it? In fairness, though, it's not any old carpark, being built on different levels staggered up a hill. It's hosted many a cyclocross race in the past, and the course today was very like cyclocross with the odd bit of added gnarl. Lots of short sharp drops and short sharp climbs, a few sections of rooty singletrack much like Round 1, some narrow off-camber stuff, lots of grass and a fair bit of carpark.

Still not really selling it, am I? All I can say is that it was actually really good fun. Nothing very scary but a fair amount of concentration required. The whole MTB festival thing with events all weekend also meant lots of spectators, and the marshals were mainly of the enthusiastic rather than the sullen community service variety, so the compact course meant a pretty steady stream of encouragement, which always helps. Note, however, that the 29 Gears Seal of Approval is weather-dependent - in last weekend's monsoon conditions it would've been another running course and I would've hated it.

There were two slightly tricky bits. One was a small rock garden on the return to the arena which almost - almost - had me over the bars on lap 3 when a photographer flashed me at a bad time.

Oops, managed to snap the U-rated chicken line by mistake. The PG-rated line through the rock garden was on the right. I guess the X-rated line would've been straight over the top, naked.

The other was a long steep drop down a rough grassy bank of the kind that would've freaked me out last year. OK, I admit it, it still freaked me out, but not until halfway down, which is progress. Thing is, drops are all about what happens when you get to the bottom. We all like a nicely rounded bottom, but more common is a mucky wheel-grabbing hole.

I will now hand over to my glamorous assistant Catrin, who will first ably demonstrate how NOT to roll a drop with a tricky run-out:

Lesson learnt:

Ideally you'd lift the front wheel just before hitting the bottom, what is known in biking circles as a "manual" and to the rest of the world as a "wheelie". Easier said than done, though. Teenage boys spend a lot of time manualling, but sadly when you get to my age it's much harder to get it up.

Fortunately the run-out in Builth wasn't too bad, but it was a far bigger drop than Catrin's so it was hard not to pick up speed and hit the bottom hard. The last time I landed so hard I really should've snapped the forks or the bars or something. Kudos to the bike - tough as old nails (excluding sabotage, see below). Yes, I was back on the singlespeed. And I really enjoyed riding it again! The simplicity is so refreshing: get on, pedal like crazy, finish. I did miss gears on the odd flat section, but grinding up the hills felt soooo good. (Yes, I know. Actually, I think "special" is the word you're looking for.)

Sadly my race was over almost before it started. Within 200 yards and one minute of the start, we all hit the first singletrack at the same time, and in all the pushing and shoving some bugger put a stud or a pedal or a screwdriver or what have you through the sidewall of my rear tyre, which rapidly deflated, squirting white gunk everywhere. To my surprise, it did eventually seal itself and after a couple of minutes I was off again - but by then everyone else was long gone.

Wary of the seal not holding, I went pretty gingerly over the rocky sections for the whole race, costing me more time. I also got held up behind various backmarkers on the singletrack sections, and it was a seriously competitive field in the first place. Lots of excuses there! Anyway, I eventually picked my way past an assortment of masters (bastards in their 30s with hair), vets (fellow 40-something mid-life criseans) and grand vets (think Werther's Originals) to finish 12th vet (or 7th master). The big question, though, is: Was it an accident or was it foul play? Did someone feel so threatened by my lo-tech machismo that they decided to take drastic action? We shall never know...

So, yeah, ideally there could have been some more technical sections and a proper hill, but I really enjoyed myself despite the nightmare start and another disappointing result. Next round is at Fforest Fields, not my favourite course but finally some proper mountain biking and definitely one for the climbers. It's also the Welsh champs, so I really hope the stars finally align. If I get another flat I might just give up XC!!!

Before that, though, are Margam Madness (my favourite race with added World Cup sections this year), the Red Kite Gravity Enduro (bound to be great descents) and the Dyfi Enduro (scores to settle). Phew. It's like busses out there.

1	Anthony White, Xcracer.com/scimitar	01:01:43	00:08:51	00:10:39	00:10:22	00:10:44	00:10:23	00:10:44
2	Christopher Kay, Fibrax Wrexham	01:03:22	00:09:11	00:10:29	00:10:52	00:10:42	00:11:15	00:10:53
3	Lee  Hayward, Southfork Racin	01:04:35	00:09:08	00:11:01	00:10:56	00:11:08	00:11:05	00:11:17
4	Mark Spratt, Cyclopaedia	01:05:12	00:09:10	00:11:00	00:10:53	00:11:07	00:11:28	00:11:34
5	Nicholas Popham, Naked Bikes	01:06:00	00:08:56	00:11:08	00:11:29	00:11:25	00:11:36	00:11:26
6	Darren Compton, Ride 24/7	01:06:56	00:09:56	00:11:13	00:11:36	00:11:33	00:11:12	00:11:26
7	Stuart Skidmore, Worcester Cycle	01:07:25	00:09:24	00:11:35	00:11:29	00:11:45	00:11:40	00:11:32
8	David Watt, Team Elite	01:08:14	00:09:39	00:11:04	00:11:39	00:11:40	00:11:49	00:12:23
9	Matt Worrallo, Racecouk.com	01:08:37	00:09:49	00:11:24	00:11:42	00:11:46	00:12:01	00:11:55
10	Jon Roberts	01:09:21	00:09:53	00:11:22	00:11:49	00:12:05	00:12:05	00:12:07
11	Richard Bowen, Gateway Racing	01:11:06	00:09:34	00:11:11	00:11:20	00:11:46	00:12:27	00:14:48
12	Chris Schroder, Sarn Helen	01:12:15	00:11:40	00:11:38	00:11:55	00:12:12	00:12:07	00:12:43
13	Simon James, Cycle Tec	01:17:02	00:10:28	00:12:36	00:13:03	00:13:09	00:13:41	00:14:05
14	Andy Gibbs, Cwmcarn Paragon	01:18:38	00:10:34	00:12:36	00:14:41	00:13:48	00:13:35	00:13:24
15	Jon Howes	01:22:52	00:11:30	00:13:45	00:14:17	00:14:23	00:14:08	00:14:49
16	Ben Beachell, Rhos On Sea	01:24:44	00:11:57	00:13:49	00:14:09	00:14:33	00:15:01	00:15:15