Dusting Off the Cobwebs

So there I was lying next to the poolside ten minutes before the start doing some last minute loosening exercises swallowing some haribo sweets - the teddy bears are a personal preference of mine if anyone out there wishes to send me some when I realised that despite the 5degree
temperature, the howling winds and the lack of attire apart from a tri-suit I was wearing that I was glad to be back after a long spell without racing.

I was racing in Edinburgh which incorporated the Scottish University Championships - a title I was wanting to defend.

The swim portion went well with the usual customary wildly fast first 100 as I tried to break away, not wishing anyone to get a `free ride`on my feet. It worked and after 750metres I left the pool with a nice 15second buffer to my nearest rival. Out into transition and despite a
near fall where I tried to negotiate running round a cone with cold feet I left with the same lead as I came in with.

On to the bike and after veering past a car that had apparently decided to stop on the road to watch the action- yes people sometimes are that stupid - I quickly got onto the tri bars pushing out the big gears with the accompanying tail wind egging me on. A few left turns and hills and 20
minutes later though the wind had turned against me and now appeared to wish to push me back towards the rivals. However with the `stay low, stay in control` method I still held onto my lead after 20kms of bike action.

T2 however wasn't the smooth operation I was executing last summer as my feet- now frozen from the wind on the bike needed some gently persuasion that slipping into race flats was the done thing. A small delay later I left T2 just as second place appeared. The first 1k of the run was a bit of a torturous affair with cold feet but I soon got into strong rhythm which seen me post a respectable sub-16minute 5k to finish of with..

So a comfy victory by 3minutes at the end with the retention of my Scot Unis title and most importantly the body losing some of the cobwebs in its race system. I've got things to work on but there's always next week….. Stirling Aquathlon.

David McNamee, International Triathlete

Moscow or Belgium?

Yesterday's APR on the Moscow Circuit was a right old mix - Moscow temperatures, but Belgian cross-winds on the Grassyards road! Fortunately the huge holes in the road had been filled - thanks EAC! - so we could concentrate on the racing, rather than staying alive - that was until Jim Cuisik caught us!

We (group 3 of 4) were just catching the front 2 groups on the 3rd lap, when Jim went past like a rocket - I thought the whole scratch group were on us, but turns out he had dropped them ages ago! After bridging across, I worked as hard as I could with Jim up to Moscow - I don't think I've ridden that hard in a long time - and we formed a decent sized group at the top of the hill.

As is traditional in Belgian Races, even ones held in East Ayrshire, the cross-winds proved decisive, and it is one situation where working hard with a guy who can rip your legs off at will is the clever thing to do - as you get at least some shelter! The group was whittled down to 7 riders by the time we got to the A77. Triathlete Kerry Lang was extremely impressive - she showed no fear driving the group along, and lasted most of the way up the penultimate climb before dropping back (then holding on the the chasing scratch riders, including pro rider Ross Creber!).

The 4 of us who managed to hang on to Jim were almost glad to get dropped by him on the final climb - he didn't attack as such, he more just didn't slow down when we hit the hill - but then we had a bigger challenge - holding off the chasers!

With 30 secs gap at the top of Grassyards road it was touch and go, but everyone buried themselves, and we held on - just! It wasn't really a sprint from our group - more just a survival battle up the incline to the finish!

Warm Weather Training - In Scotland!

A warm week is a good week in Scotland and it's about time one came around. The highlight of the week has to be Friday's track session of 200`s under the sun with only shorts and a vest on which was a stark contrast to the usual jacket, leggings, hat and glove combination I'm usually sporting.

If the weather continues to improve bike shorts may even make an appearance in the coming days. So weather wise it's looking good for the first competition of the year in Edinburgh next Saturday where I won last year so now it's all up to the body. It's the first competition in nearly 6months due to chest problems caused by asthma which are hopefully all behind me now. Race sharpness does not exist whatsoever for me at the moment but that's what the next month of
racing is all about- `intense training sessions` as my coach refers to them before informing me next Friday's track session will still be getting done.

Training wise everything is ticking over nicely with the more race specific work playing a bigger role now but the longer stuff is still getting done to keep the body guessing. As long as the sun keeps on shining I don't mind what the programme has on it. 6days till race one……

David McNamee, International Triathlete

Racing through Moscow....

No, not that one, Moscow Ayrshire. Despite the best efforts of the rain the weather was significantly more pleasant than its namesake! For the first time in who knows how many years, I was too hot in the Moscow APR - kneewarmers were definately overkill - this may have been due to the workload of riding in the Scratch Group (in probably 8 rides on this course I've never managed to sneak any further forward than the 2nd scratch group!).

Our 11 man group was giving away 7 minutes over 35 miles to a 20 strong lead group, and another 2 groups with some pretty strong riders - so getting up to the front was always going to be a big ask. I was pretty glad to be in a small group though, as the state of the roads following the hard winter made riding in a big bunch a bit sketchy.

I usually get into trouble for not waving, or even smiling at Anna & Fin when I am racing, but this time I really did have to concentrate on not hitting the massive potholes as I passed them - I think I did smile though, as I was having fun!

Our 11 was soon 8, but everyone was working well - the 2 young lads from Glasgow Wheelers were almost too strong though - no-one wanted to be on their wheel on the climb as they accelerated through! The way the wind blew meant only a short cross-wind section on the main road, and then a block headwind all the way to the finish. We caught group 3 on lap 3, and that added a couple of strong riders to the chase (although a few scratch group boys had a rest then!), and with just over a lap to go the gap was down to 55 seconds. It was clear things were going to come back together, but that didn't stop a few riders from jumping across the gap.

When the junction was made in Moscow on the final lap, there was the usual scramble as 40 riders topped the climb and made off into the cross-winds. Despite a split on the main road, everyone came back together, and with the headwind on grassyards road, a sprint was always going to happen. The jockeying for position was entertaining to watch from the back - no way was I getting messed up in that when I knew it would open up at the end!

I'd been cramping on the last couple of laps - so figured I might as well cramp in the sprint when in the lead, so went for it with 100m uphill to go, before the inevitable happened! I managed 8th, and even won some money - which I've been told is going towards a pony for Finlay and No.2, who is due any time now!

Neil Walker

Innerleithen Winter DH Series – Round 2.

The last round of the ‘fun’ winter series was on the 29th and 1st of the February/March weekend. The weather was holding up on the way over to the venue, was looking dry. Once we got there we set up the gazebo and I went for a wonder up the track so I wasn’t riding it totally blind. The first few turns looked super slick, on the edge traction. They were soon changed after many riders were injuring themselves at the beginning of practice. I only walked a small part of the track as it was time to get ready and head on over to the uplift truck. A 1.8 mile cycle each run to get to the truck, by the end of the day you really felt like you had done strathpuffer all over again.

I rode the top section blind on my first run and it was probably one of the worst ideas I have ever done. It was really steep and I was following Matthew Scott who had walked the track. So I didn’t know where I was going, and he was pinning it down. Probably helped me as throughout practice I was able to go flat out on the top section. The lower parts of the track were pretty straight forward, some really fast turn in tight trees. But was all really good fun to ride. I had no crashes in practice which was good, and I got some good lines for my race run. As soon as a drop of rain fell out of the sky, most people were putting on spikes, very bad idea on the roots. So I stuck to my dry tyres. By the end of Saturday the track was pretty badly beaten up. It was a lot more fun to ride. I took 5 runs which was plenty for me.

On the Sunday morning it was super wet on foot. It had rained constantly trough out the night. Leaving a lovely fresh surface of rain water. No way was I to be one of the first riders down. Daniel Carrigan, Robert black, Matthew Scott and me all went up for our last few practice runs. We all went one after each other, all just having a good time riding the track. It was really grippy just very wet. After the first run I got it quite good and was happy with my lines etc, but it was such a fun track to ride we wanted to go up for another run. I was just coasting down this run, so that it would be fun, and a good laugh. I was rolling down the motorway section when my back wheel slid out on the soft mud, sending me face first into a banking, and I wasn’t exactly going slow down the motorway. My finger got snecked under my brake leaver leaving me with a very numb finger. It Was difficult to hold on. My race run went well as i didn’t crash, although I wasn’t carrying speed thro some sections which cost me a lot of time. But that is something to work on for the next races.

Throughout 2009 I will be attending all the national rounds and all the SDA’s. I Hope to do just as good, and I hope to see you track side.

Michael Turnbull

Weathermen

There I was sitting in my living room this morning with my second cup of coffee in my hands looking outside muttering to myself about the look of the sky and saying something along the lines of it being the calm before the storm. However despite the black clouds the BBC weather woman advised me that if I headed east I'd be fine......Tomorrow morning I'm watching ITV weather- enough said. 3 hours later I got home soaked and tired from battling a headwind for the last hour or so.

I have to own up here and say that in a huffy mood I left the trusty steed outside for a good hour whilst I showered, ate and drank some more coffee. With pangs of guilt I finally went outside to dry it of and bring it inside. Hopefully I'll be forgiven before tomorrows ride.

Thankfully it was in slightly better spirits that I went running tonight in the rain for splashing through the puddles is a heck of a lot better than riding through them. The clouds even parted in the last twenty minutes so I was able to tired after my run sit on the front step admiring the calm after the storm. Some days it's just got to be done even if it's not the most enjoyable experience.

The only other interesting event as of late is that I sat a new personal pull up record in the gym of a whopping 5!!!- It was a big moment for me. Was it embarrassing that the rugby boy next to me was doing reps of ten with 15kilos attached to his waist? Yes. Was it even more embarrassing that one of the little tennis chicks managed to do 7pull ups? Definitely, Next time I'll get her though. I've already warned her.

David McNamee, International Triathlete

Busy, Busy, Busy, Snowy

Its been a busy couple of weeks in the shop, our online sales project was rapidly accelerated (from May Launch to March Launch!), which has meant spending inordinate amounts of time populating the site with product images and descriptions - my eyes have gone square and my fingers numb, but it has been well worthwhile - you can see the shop at http://www.walkerscyclingshop.co.uk/ - we've been told that it will take a while for it to work its way into the matrix, so I might be busy again in a couple of weeks!

In the last month both my shop demo bikes (Giant Anthem X and Cove Stiffee) have been sold, so I've been left off-roading on a rigid singlespeed - which has been interesting in the snow at Cathkin Braes - the snow was a little softer than last time, so the club ride last night was largely rideable, but everyone was having "icing" issues - freezing freehubs, cable and even brake pistons! The biggest problem by far though was when you did have to push, your shoes filled up with snow and you couldn't get clipped in - a big problem on a singlespeed!

We should be taking delivery of our first Bionicon next week though, so not only will I have gears available, but on the fly travel and geometry adjustment. We'll be at the big demo day at Glentress on April 5th with Bionicon - so come along and try some fancy bikes!

The clubs "gravity" athletes had a successful weekend at the Innerliethen Winter Series DH last weekend, Michael Turnbull had a traffic free run this time, and moved up to 6th place, and a lot closer to the top few guys, and James Neill made a big improvement to finish 12th (both in the Youth Category, which regularly sees over 50 entrants!) - more to come on the race from Michael soon.

Neil Walker