Cyclo Cross Season So Far

After a fairly busy MTB season and a bit of rest I started racing a few cyclocross races to hopefully gain a bit of form to do okay National Trophy level racing, it is also a good effort session which I like more than sitting on the turbo!!! My first race was a low key TLI race, I raced in the senior category which provided some good competition racing, I won this race which was more like a muddy MTB race. I then went about racing a few of the CXNE Series and racing against seniors again provided a test as some more great riders turn out who are really strong, I did 3 rounds getting 2, 3rd places and a 4th! After this it was only 2 weeks to the Nationa Trophy round at South Shields, a fairly local one which I wanted to do well in, I raced the Yorkshire points series as a warm up which was very very muddy, and as I travelled down alone I only had one bike and no assistance this lead to me walking/carrying/trudging round, but i did finish, 12th although I dont think there were many others who finished!!! One week on and i had a new bike, tubular wheels at a brilliant price for Zepnat.com and a borrowed frame all ready to go! Me and ODP buddy Iain Paton were gridded at the back as it was our first National trophy event of the year, but the tough races before paid off as I managed to work my way through to 2nd, a result i did not expect! It was a fast race and as it is only a 40 minute race it is pretty much a sprint from the gun! There was one more race till I could have a bit of time away from cross over christmas, this was the North of England Championships, held at Doncaster and was my hardest race of the cross season, it was a testing course with lots of steep hills and a strong headwind section. My main competition was Jake Womersely who I beat the week before but not by much and he is a great rider finishing 14th in the European Cyclocross Championships! The race was just me versus him with both of us attacking each other, eventually he won but a brilliant race!! Now I have no cross racing till January where I will race the National trophy final round at Derby on the 6th January and the National championships in Bradford the week after! But for now some good miles in my legs and a few mince pies!!!

3 Peaks Race

3 PEAKS 2012 RIDER REPORT + PHOTOS

Sam from Cumbria was in his first 3 Peak race. Little did he know it would be the wettest roughest race in 30 years! Read his report below and a few photos. Sam placed 2nd Junior – well done!
Having a film crew in your kitchen filming you eating porridge at 6:40 in the morning is not exactly a stress free way to start your first attempt at theThreePeaks, but it was what I agreed to when ITV approached me about participating in the making of feature on the Three Peaks Cyclocross. I was the youngest person in the race and they thought it would be interesting to follow my training and race. They had taken me training with Rob Jebb and after I picked up his bike I knew I was at a distinct disadvantage with my 23 lbs bike and if I was going to get a good time in the 3 peaks I was going to have to set about making it a bit lighter. The obvious improvement was lighter wheels but as a mountain biker I knew that I was hard on wheels and they needed to be tough. After some research I discovered Strada and they were able to recommend a combination of Velocity A23 rims, Hope hubs and Sapim spokes which would give a relatively light wheel but which was also strong and gave a comfortable ride. When the wheels arrived the spokes did not have the normal thud when flicked, but rang out with a musical tone. I was impressed, but not as much as when I tried them, the bike felt so much lighter and rolled beautifully and I knew straight away that they were a big improvement on any other wheel I had ever tried. I was really impressed. I began to really look forward to the race.
If the crew were worried about filming in the rain and high winds then they certainly weren’t as worried as I was about riding in it! But they breed us hard in the north and the adrenalin kept me enthusiastic. The drizzle turned to hard rain as we set off and it set the scene for the day. The wind and rain was hard and it was a constant battle to try and keep the bike on my shoulder on Simon Fell and I was glad when I could start the descent to Cold Cotes. This is where a background of mountain biking really made a difference and I managed to overtake a few people on the descent. I was feeling good. Unfortunately Rob Jebb had forgotten to mention the bog at the checkpoint and as my wheel sunk beyond its axle I slowly went over the handle bars. Still the rain meant that the mud was washed off fairly quickly!

I was still feeling good and as I turned off onto the minor road to Whernside I was in high spirits. It didn’t last long. A deep pot hole hidden within one of the many puddles caught me out and I hit the tarmac at 21 mph. I bounced 3 m along the road pivoting on my shoulder and banging my head on the road. A supporter picked me and my bike up. They kindly straightened my handle bars as I tried to straighten my vision. The pain in my shoulder was huge, my head swam and I realised the vision in my left eye was distinctly strange, blurring and swirling around. I thought it was just the rain to start with, but then I realised the blurred vision was a fixture. This was not good and if I had been able to think straight I would have realised I had slight concussion, but I was being filmed by ITV, I couldn’t just give up!.
I tried to get myself together for a few minutes and find the strength to carry on, unfortunately I felt too removed from reality to be able to warn the next rider who also came a cropper in the obscured pot hole. It was then that I realised just how fantastic my wheels were, they were still true, but the pot hole had buckled the wheel of the next rider. Whoever you are, I am sorry, I wish I had been able to warn you. It was then that I knew I had to continue, my wheels hadn’t failed and neither could I.
Whernside was hard, really hard, the wind and rain lashed against me, trying to rip the bike from my shoulder. My left eye refused to focus, my head felt like it had been run over and the pain in my shoulder and legs was starting to build. I can’t even remember the descent; instinct took over and it’s a miracle I didn’t come off. My worried parents were awaiting me at Ribblehead and had already guessed that something must have gone wrong. I had to be a bit economical with the truth to be allowed to continue and played down the crash but the dents in my helmet and my pale pallor gave it away. A new set of dry warm gloves and some flapjack gave me a new lease of life and I set off again. The road passed without mishap, but the cobbles on the bridleway to Pen Y Ghent really played havoc with my aches and pains and I could feel every bump shuddering through my bruised shoulder and head.
The winds on Pen y Ghent had reached 50 mph as I stumbled and crawled up the summit. I had never known such pain, but adrenalin is a marvellous thing and before too long I was on my final descent. Unfortunately the relief didn’t last long as if to add insult to my injuries, I punctured. It was my slowest tube change ever, my hands shook and the wind whipped the tube out of my hands, painfully slapping it against my face. Eventually I was off, and on another descent that my mind has chosen to forget. I can’t even remember the much photographed deep pond,  all I knew was that I wasn’t going to ride it, if I had fallen in it I would never have got up!

I eventually got back in just under five hours, over an hour later than I aimed for, but for some unknown reason The Three Peaks had already got me hooked and I have shall have to return next year! After all I have the perfect wheels that are raring to do another endless pain ridden lap (but I am going to run them tubeless next time!) All I need now is a light frame to go with them! Looks like I need a Saturday job, it’s just as well the Three Peaks is on a Sunday!
Footnote: after all that, ITV don’t know whether they will be able to use the footage as the cameras kept fogging up!

National MTB Series Finale for TEF MTB Team

Round 5 of the National Mountain Bike Series was held on Sat 25^TH August  at Langdon Hills Country Park near Basildon in Essex.    This was the finale of the National Series and TEF Richardsons Race Team were well up in the Junior Race with Mike Thompson top of the field after 4 races.  Each riders series position would be decided on their 4 best results with points available for the first 40 riders in each category.    With the top 5 riders in the Junior race so close together it would all be down to this final race to decide the series winner.

Despite its name Langdon Hills the 6km course was a flat course and with fast flowing single track.   The team arrived for course practice on Friday and it was soon confirmed that lap times were going to be fast and 15 minutes per lap an average speed of 15 mph.  

The first race was off at 9.30am and Youth rider Frazer Clacherty competing against a field of 30 national standard riders.   Riders are gridded on the start according to their series standings and Frazer was three rows back at 17th.  From the off Frazer moved through the field up the initial slope to the first singletrack.  Frazer rode three laps of the course moving from 13^th place after the first lap to 10^th at the end of the final lap.  A great race and his best race position for the series.  

The Midday race was going to be the largest field with amongst others both Expert and Junior categories racing.  Mike Thompson as Junior series leader was on the front grid and got a good start entering the first corner as second rider.  Disaster for Iain Paton of CNP Orbea who was 2^nd placed rider in the series as he threw his chain at the start and lost 7 places.   Mike finished the first lap in 3^rd place and was riding alone whilst Tom Evans of  Ben Wyvis Bike Club and Alex Welburn of Cycle Shack/Forme Coaching were riding together in 1^st and 2^nd place about 15 seconds ahead.  Thompson had to beat Tom Evans who with a win in this race would take the series win.  Iain Paton was also closing on Thompson as they started lap 2.  Thompson in lap 2 continued to lose time to the leaders and Iain Paton was also unable to catch Thompson as he and crashed badly on the course launching himself over the handlebars but was able to get on his bike to finish the race further down the field.   After 4 laps Thompson was unable to catch the leaders Welburn and Evans and it was all down to the finish and a hope that Evans would take second place and leave Thompson to take the series win.  However the sprint finish showed that Evans had the mosre powerful finish and he took the race win and the series.  Thompson made the podium with third place in round 5 and overall second place in the National Series.  

Meanwhile Bob Hewitt was battling in the expert category and was aiming for a top 15 finish in the 34 rider field.  He started strong with a 12 place position but his tactic was to finish the 6 lap race strong and try to make places up as the race went along the plan worked and on lap 5 he had moved into 8yth place but the last lap was going to be a fast one and he was unable to hold his top 10 and dropped to finish 11^th placed expert rider.         

Final Results:

Mike Thompson  - 3^rd place Junior

Frazer Clacherty – 10^th place Youth

Bob Hewitt – 11^th place  Expert 

TEF Richardsons Race Team Riders Shine at Dales Mountain Bike Race

TEF Richardsons Race Team Riders

 Shine at Dales Mountain Bike Race

The North’s Regional Mountain Bike Series final round was held on Saturday 18th August in the stunning countryside of Swaledale in The Yorkshire Dales.   This was the second year the race was using the course at Fremington on a technically hard 5.6km course which would see the riders climbing over 600 foot each lap.  

TEF/Richardsons Race Team have been targeting this series in 2012 and the riders were on top form for this particular race.   

This was a gridded start depending on series standings.  This was to be a mass start with all categories setting off together and after an initial single track hit ‘the grind’ a steep and rocky twisting ascent up to Fremington Edge before a rocky and fast descent on the dry limestone. 

From the start Junior riders Mike Thompson and Sam Roper got a good start with Mike leading the field and Sam holding 3^rd place on the first lap.   Mike was able to pull away from the field and then came in first after the full 3 laps with a lead of 2 mins 54s ahead of second placed rider James Nixon of mtbmarathon.co.uk.    Mike Thompson showed his class over the course by also beating the Adult Elite riders with his time.   Sam Roper suffered a disappointing crash on the descent and lost 4 places to come in as 7^th placed rider.

Frazer Clacherty  the  race teams newly signed rider youth rider again led from the start and was able to hold off 2^nd placed rider and series leader James Edmond with an attack from the start line.  Frazer held a large lead over Edmond which he maintained until the last section of the course when Edmond started to accelerate and close the gap on Clacherty but  TEF took the win with just a 50 yard lead.   Other TEF rider Scott Woolley came in 4^th placed youth rider.  

1^st place Junior – Mike Thompson TEF/Richardsons RT

1^st  place youth – Frazer Clacherty TEF/Richardsons RT

Other results:

Nick Wilson TEF/Richardsons RT  12^th Veteran

Dan Joyce – Richardsons Cycle Club 26^th Veteran   

Steve Hopper Richardsons Cycle Club 7^th Master

Martin Allanson – Richardsons Cycle Club 1^st in Fun Category

The team will be travelling to Essex on 25^th August to race in the National Mountain Bike Series.  TEF/Richardsons Race Team are a mountain bike race team sponsored in a joint venture by TEF Transport and Richardsons Cycle Club to keep up to date on the team check out the club website www.richardsonscc.co.uk

 

Dalby Training 7th August

Great day in Dalby today with Tef Riders Mike Thompson, Frazer Clacherty and guest rider from Richardsons CC-  Alistair Chalmers.  Day started with some core skills power assisted front wheel lifts, rear wheels lifts and then bunny hops.  All the riders showed god technique although Mike Thompson did not have quite the height that Alistair and Frazer had on the bunny hop.

We then moved to manuals on the field with the lets see who can go the furthest competition!  Frazer showed the better technique and furthest distance.  A short sesion on linked corners on the red route then we broke for lunch.  After lunch we then moved onto a secton of the world cup course and ran a 3 lap handicap race - Mike of course caught Alistair and Frazer to finish first.  

We moved into the second half of the world cup course but Frazer managed to puncture and demonstrated how not to change a puncture after breaking the valve off.   A long walk back to the van for a quick inner tube change.  We finished the day on the red route and a short debrief on what the riders were taking from the day.

See a short video from the day:

https://vimeo.com/47100586

Photos from National XC

 Mike Thompson riding to 2nd Place

 Mike Thompson takes 2nd place 22secs behind winner Sam Stean

Sam Roper retired from the race

Nationals Weekend 21st to 22nd July.

Yes its the National XC Championship this weekend at Wasing Park Estate Berkshire.  The weather looks to be more settled for the races tomorrow Sunday 22nd July. Mike Thompson is showing great form at the moment and has been doing well in the National Series.  British Cycling are tipping Mike or close rival Iain Paton for the win but the Junior field is strong this year so their are other riders who could get the win.  
Fellow team member Sam Roper is also racing in the Junior field and his form looks good at the moment and had a good ride recently in the CRC Marathon event in Shropshire where he rode the 45km circuit as fastest junior. His goals are to get into the top 20 which are well within his grasp.

Missing this weekend are Scott Woolley who is away in Germany with School.  Scott rode the Clifton CC 13 mile TT on his road bike and came 15th overall and 1st Junior.  Nick Wilson remains out of action due to injury and Bob Hewitt has a new addition to the family.

Closer to home Frazer Clacherty new Youth rider rode in the Pedal Sport Mid week cyclo cross race in leeds last week with Mike Thompson both rode on mountain bikes against the cross riders.   This was purely a warm up for the weekend for Mike and a chance for Frazer to ride to gain race experience.  Both these riders also rode last weekend in the Olivers Mounts Road Races in Scarborough again to get some racing in. 

Frazer is also road racing in Middlesborough on Sunday at the CDNE at Prissick Circuit.  Although we are a MTB team  its still important to gain other race experience as this helps to mentally and physically prepare for racing.  Also can help with perfecting nutrition intake for race days, warm ups and race strategies.

HERE HOPING SAM AND MIKE HAVE A STORMING RIDE AND WE GET A NATIONAL JERSEY IN THE TEAM

 

Hope Series Round 2

Sunday 1st July was round 2 of the Hope Series - we had two team riders at the race after we missed round 1 as this clashed with the British XC Series.   If ayone is familiar with Lee Quarry its an unusual and unique venue.  Its as the name suggest an old working quarry and with some investment and some great local volunteers mtb trails were put into the quarry and there is a maze of single track, descents, ascents, pump tracks and drop offs in just a 1km area.

  

 

The only downside to the venue is that it is on a hilltop and therefore exposed to wind and rain.  Sundays race was no exception and the rain and conditions were harsh for the days racing.   TEF rider Sam Roper was in the Racers category so the field with the most experienced racers.  Sam was also racing alongside our home club Richardsons CC rider - Steve Hopper.   The start was hectic with numerous riders in the start from different categories and even some youths  sneaking into the race (they were later DQ'd)  Sam came 10th in his category and from RCC rider reports going well.  

Meanwhile we had a debut for new signing Frazer Clacherty (14yrs) who was in the lads Category with 10 riders.  Again a confusing start for his race and Frazer thought he had come 2nd but was told he was 3rd - a podium in either case.

Scott Woolley was not racing due to a recent illness. 

Results for the series came out today and we confirmed that Frazer was 2nd after all - a great result for the team though.

Next up for the team will be British XC Series in Essex.  We will also shortly be setting our training dates for the team once the season has finished.  

     

BMBS Round 4 and season so far...

Kirroughtree was a fast and dry track back on April fools day when the Scottish MTB round was there but this weekend it was far from those conditions with a couple of days of heavy rain the track turned into a very muddy and unpredictable affair!
Race day I got up to watch first race of the day at 9.30 to see what the course was riding like and to cheer on a rider who will be joining the team in 2013, Frazer Clacherty who put in a brilliant ride, finishing in 12th place and racing the majority of the race in contention for a top ten place! And for a first year youth in only his second national round it is a result that he should be proud of and one that I think he can definitely improve upon, so a rider to keep an eye on!
My race was at 12.00 and starting on the first row and with the course conditions being sketchy I knew how important it was to get into the first piece of singletrack in a good position, I had a good start and got off the line first and after a long fire road climb I entered the singletrack in 3rd position, after the 1st lap Alex Welburn got away with me and Harry Franklin in pursuit around 20 seconds behind with riders just behind me and Harry so we knew we had to push, as the second lap went on me and Harry were catching Alex and the gap was around 8 seconds, we both knew we could catch him and as we hit the descent to the arena he was at the side of the course with a ripped front tyre, he did manage to get a new wheel and finish the race in a respectable 15th place. It was then down to me and Harry, I had done all the pace making throughout the race and knew at some point Harry would attack, we got close to the finish and he attacked before the final swooping descent, he got in front and couldn't get around him even in the small finishing straight so he took the win by a second, he deserved the win as he rode well from the gun. I was really pleased with the result.
I now have a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the series with one round to go, and with 4 out of the 5 rounds to count to the overall series it is still all to play for with many riders in contention for the overall series title.
This season I have also been very proud of being selected to ride for GB in the junior ranks at 3 rounds of the UCI MTB XCO World Cup Series, I rode in the 2nd round in Houffalize, Belgium which was a shock to the system, starting 105th on a grid of 140 riders, the start is absolute madness, i eventually finished 88th on a challenging course, an experience I loved, just to be riding round in practice along side the best riders in the world! The next two rounds were just a week apart and after finding out I had being selected I was delighted. The 3rd round was Nova Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, voted the best round in the 2011 season and home to the World Champion Jaroslav Kulhavy! The course was truly incredible and the temperature was really hot, Race day I woke up to pouring rain and at breakfast the coaches had to break the news to all the Junior riders that all the bikes had been stolen, we were so shocked! with hours before the race we all had to make do on borrowed bikes that we had never ridden before! Again the race was mad, with over 120 riders, I rode feeling strong to 49th after being gridded 65th. The week after i was racing in France and after a couple of days at home Debbie and Ian at Richardsons were on it, to get a bike ready for me, one which I was familiar to and one that would be up to standard for the race in France and the British round a week later and after hours searching and working for me they could not find a solution within the few days that I was going to fly back out to France. Luckily the owner of Godleys cycles owned a bike which would do the trick for France and would give Debbie and Ian time to get a serious race machine ready for the British series a week after France. The race was mad again, 128 riders took to the start and gridded 78th, with some mad descents and gruelling climbs under such high tempertature under a beating sun I managed to ride up to 54th, again a result I am very happy with!
I know have 2 main objectives left of the shortened MTB season due to the Olympics, Firstly the last round of the national series on the 15th July near Essex and a week later the MTB National Championships at Wasing Hall near Reading, with around a month to these two important events I will now enter a few weeks of very hard training!
I would like to make a special thanks to Debbie and Ian at the shop as otherwise I would be seriously stuck, the bike they have managed to put together is truly a beauty, a very nice bike which I will keep riding to its limit to get the results it deserves! The support from both of them has been more than I would ever have expected and I hope I can do them, the shop and the team proud in the remaining races.
I will write up after the National Championships in July.

Mike Thompson

Weekend for Round 3 of the National Series

This weekend is the 3rd round in the National XC Series at a new venue at Hopton Woods in Shropshire. Once again our sponsored riders on the TEF Richardsons RT will be competing.  Unfortunately its not a full team fot his one with Riders Nick Wilson and Bob Hewitt unable to make the journey down due to Nicks family wedding and Bob suffering from illness.

Also the support team is unable to make it with Mark working away in Manchester with British Cycling and team mechanic Alex committed elsewhere.

The venue is not known to any of the riders but with this recent good weather set to remain the team are expecting a dry and fast course however the technicality of the course features is the biggest unknown.   The riders will still be calling Mark on Sat night to discuss their individual race plans and goals.
Mike Thompson is riding to win the Junior race and this is welll within his grasp - he will know be on his brand new 2012 Giant hardtail (thanks to Debbie for sorting this quickly after the theft).
So Good luck to Scott, Sam and Mike for the weekend. 

UCI World Cup

Well done to Mike Thompson 55th in Round 4 of the UCI XC World Cup in La Bresse today.
He was also riding a borrowed bike after his 2012 bike was stolen in Czech Republic.

Nutcracker ASKE Round 2

Sunday 13th May 2012 ASKE Round 2 of the Nutcracker.   Mike Thompson was missing this one for his GB commitment in Czech Republic.  However the rest of the team were present at the event.  The course was a mixture of roots, some deep mud and steep hills.  Added to the course charateristics was the days high winds. 

Scott Woolley was well gridded and started on the front it was a head wind for the start and Scott put in an attack on the first hill and struggled to get into big chainring.  this dropped him to 5th place and lost contact with the front 3.  Scott managed to take 4th place after passing Rob Armstrong. 

Sam Roper had a bad race with a snapped mech hangar in the first lap.  He retired extremely disappointed and decided to ride from Leyburn home on his cross bike with ahead wind all the way - I think this was some self inflicted punishment!

Bob Hewitt in the expert had another good race and held 3rd place until a nasty crash late on in the race and dropped to 4th place.  Still a good result for Bob.

Nick Wilson in the Vets was unable to get into the top 10 as anticipated and he was another TEF rider to crash on the slippy root section.  He snapped a buckle off his shoe and finished 11th.

TEF Team will be riding on 27th May at the next round of the British XC Hopton Woods, Shropshire.  

Mike Thompson in Round 3 World Cup

TEF Rider Mike Thompson has been away this weekend racing as a Junior for GB in round 3 of the World XC Series. The round was being held in Czech Republic.  Mike kept his cool after all the Junior Team Bikes were stolen before the race.  All managed to compete on borrowed bikes and Mike did a good ride finishing 49th.

Report from British Cycling:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/gbcyclingteam/article/gbr20120508-UCI-Mountain-Bike-World-Cup-XCO-Round-3--Nove-Mesto-Na-Morave--Czech-Republic-0

Northern Downhill Trail Bike Downhill 6th May

Only one member of the team raced here (I, Scott Woolley) ,Hamsterley Forest in County Durham.
This was the second Northern Downhill race i have raced and it was a great event on a great track.

Course walk was at  8am so there was an early 6am starrt to the day. First impressions of the course were good as it looked nice and pedally for me as a cross-country rider. 9am was first practice run and i felt fast on the course.

1pm race run. I was the 5th man down the hill and had the current fastest time by more than 35 seconds which was huge. And i held the lead with that time in youth. However as there was small numbers at this race the podiums where just fastest under 18's and fastest man and woman. after all the juniors came down i was in 2nd place 11 seconds ahead of 3rd and 2 seconds behind 1st on the 4 minute track.