Mull

Well, the final two races of the SCX season were crackers. I'd never been to Mull before, and wish that there had been more time to take in the island, and do the races - monday off work next year (and maybe get a weekend babysitter?)

I wouldn't recommend an overnight stay in the carpark in Tobermory though - you can't escape the boy racers, even on a small island!

The car park at Glengorm Castle was much better, if darker!

Although the field was small, it was high quality, as were the courses. Saturday had some tough muddy sections - a long run up to the castle, and climbs which became runs as the bikes got progressively clogged. My top 3 place overall was never going to last long, as JFM, Dan Whitehead and Davie Lines added more races to their tally, but I knew if I could beat Greig Walker both days (not an easy proposition), that 5th place was possible. As expected Greig and myself were locked together in the early laps, before a couple of mistakes and clogged gears allowed me to open up a gap, and press on to the finish - 1 down, 1 to go!

Sunday was a much faster affair, no running except the hurdles (unless your name is Hardie or Lines), but a long, tough climb up to the top of the course. The frozen mud and patchy ice kept you on your toes though (and had me on my backside on lap 1). After a strong 1st half lap, I was sitting 3rd or 4th, and feeling comfortable with the leaders, when I got on the power a bit early on joining to tarmac, and came down. Although I was back up quickly, that put me back in Greig's reach - and Santa soon overhauled me, and built up a 15 second lead. Keeping him in sight helped the motivation, and a wardrobe incident for Greig (cue rapid removal and discarding of Santa over trousers) put us back together. I attacked with 3 to go, and managed to build the magic 10 seconds gap straight away, and hang on to 5th place. Job done. And I beat all the guys in fancy dress - what a hero!

I'm probably not going to ride the Cyclists - v - Harriers this year, think I've used up my competitive credits! The conditions look great for cyclists again this year though, so hopefully Gareth can snatch the win.

So, some time to take it easy, and have fun riding bikes again before thinking about racing again.

Neil Walker

End of Season Blues

Its been an up and down season of Cyclocross this year. A huge up in numbers, quality of races and courses and general good fun, and some downs with cancelled races due to construction, councils and the weather.

Walkers Cycling Club have had superb representation, and excellent results this year, with up to 15 riders at some rounds, and never fewer than 8, and podiums for established riders, and points scores for newbies!

Having to cancel the Championships at Irvine was a blow to the end of season, and has left me struggling with motivation as the final two races on Mull rapidly approach. Getting out on the MTB in the snow has been a good antidote to that though, and hopefully pulling on a skinsuit, pinning on a number, and being called to the starting grid will get me back in the mood on Saturday!

CXross Country - It Hurts

So with the triathlon season being over (at least in this hemisphere) it's time to put string up the spikes and hit the cross country scene. The last two weekends has been the east district relay champs and an east district league event.

The two key things of cross country- no matter what the weather is one must only wear shorts and vest; any other attire will be met with chuckles and murmurs of you being soft. That and when the gun goes you run as fast as you can, too hard, but everyone does it so you go along with it, the winner is the one who slows down the most and makes it round without their legs collapsing charging down the hills; all in shorts and a vest.

However it's all good fun and it gives me something to focus on until the temperature reaches an acceptable weather to dawn a tri suit again.

20th and a Crash

Well that's another race season over with and as always there were some highs (9^th at Euro Champs) and there were lows. Sadly there was no spectacular end of my season as I finished 20^th at World Champs which was disappointed and followed it up with crashing out of National Champs as my front tyre blew half way round a corner. On the plus side it meant my season end rest began 40minutes sooner than anticipated. The negative side was spending the next several days limping around.

So after a week of lazing around the house doing as little as possible reflecting on what I have learnt and coming up with master plans on how I am going to get better it's now time to get back on with the job. There's one thing I know for sure: Its dam difficult to get to the top.

European Championships

Porto was the venue for the 23 and under European Championships this year which I travelled out to last weekend as part of the Great Britain squad. It was my 2^nd major championships and after the disappointment out in Australia last year I was looking to finally post a good result at championship level.

It was a tough race from start to finish with a rough sea swim followed by 8 laps of 5k on the bike which had 3 significant climbs on each lap along with two u-turns to split things up. By the end of the bike leg an elite group of 15 of us had escaped from the main bunch and held a 2minute lead going into the run so it was up to us to battle it out for the top 10. Sadly my legs weren't a match to some of the front runners but I was able to hold on to 9^th.

Not the medal I ultimately wanted but a top 10 result is still a big step forward for me. I still have one year left though to make it happen.

So next up is the World 23 and under champs on the 11^th in Budapest where another top10 will be the first priority. If I achieve that then who knows where I will end up.....

The London Triathlon

It was my third attempt at the London Triathlon which is known as the World's biggest triathlon with 13,000 participants including an elite field of 70. Last year I finished 8^th and was hoping to do similar if not better this year. I was pretty tired going into the race with no real taper for the two big races of the year European and World Champs coming up soon. However when you're on the start line you give it everything.

The swim was pretty carnage with too big a field being squeezed in too small a starting line. My first 300 was pretty terrible and got worse when I got a punch to the face which has left me with a bruised nose. I made my way through the field on the rest of the swim to leave 6^th.

The bike leg started pretty aggressively but 10ks into the bike section some of the top guys started staring at each other and refused to work which meant we swelled up to a pack of 30. After some gentle spinning around I managed to get off the front with 5ks to go and get a 20second gap on the peloton going onto the run.

I never really had the run legs. It started badly and there was only a slight improvement throughout the run. I managed to get round in 9^th which kept me just inside the money places. A good workout.

Next up is Europeans in 3 weeks and Worlds 2 weeks after that.

Hamburg and European Champs

Last weekend was the latest round in the World Championship Super Series in Hamburg, Germany. The next round is actually tomorrow in London but I won't be on the start line. The event in Hamburg is always a big one in the calendar due in part to the 200,000 plus spectators that line the course each year. The whole event takes place in the middle of the city centre which would be equivalent in of Glasgow swimming in the Clyde and biking and running along the main roads of Buchannan Street and Sauchiehall Street – something that could never take place here in Scotland. So all in all it's a very unique event.

The race itself was pretty successful. I swam well after a bit of carnage round the first boy and left the water in the top 20. The bike leg rather resembles a crit and a big pack quickly formed. This left much of the 40k leg about jockeying for position and reacting to people attacking. So I was where I needed to be going on to the run leg and had a good first 6 or 7k. I began struggling towards the end and lost a few places finally finishing in 29^th.

Performance wise it's the best this season but I still think there's more to come. Thankfully it was good enough to qualify me for European Champs in 4 weeks time. World championships selections take place on Monday.....

Back to Basics

There has been no racing action for the last two weeks and I still have another two weeks until the next one so right now it's been all about getting back to normality training day in, day out trying to move myself on just that little extra bit before the business end of the season begins. Next up is the next leg of the World Championships Series in Hamburg, Germany.

So life has been pretty monotonous as of late with my time only being filled up by training, sleeping and eating. It's a pretty simple lifestyle but an enjoyable one when the training is going well. I did wheel over to the annual Falkirk 10mile time trial championships last Thursday night. It`s a pretty hilly course so a 23.30 was a decent effort by all accounts for my attempt. I have never done a proper time trial before and it hurt.... a lot. I was hurting after two miles, was in more pain at five miles, started losing the rhythm at mile 7 and the last mile was just hell. Roll on the next attempt....

2 Races, 2 Weeks, 2 Continents

The big races of the season have begun with a leg of the World Super Series first in Madrid and then a World Cup Event in Iowa the following week. It was my first attempt at backing up two big races and sadly I was found out in the 2^nd race.

Madrid went well though with a really good swim and bike leg followed by a bit of a struggle on the run in the 35degree heat- my Scottish Nationality showed. It was by far the toughest race I have ever been involved in with constant attacks on the 1500 metre hill climb which we went up 8 times. I ended up 29^th which wasn` t as good as I had hoped but a decent day in the office none the less.

So after Madrid it was straight out to Iowa. Jet lagged and tired I arrived on the Wednesday but despite not racing on the Sunday I never really felt recovered from Madrid and started the race tired. I struggled round though in 45^th place- not a proud moment.

The main excitement in the USA happened on the way home where a delayed flight meant I didn't make my connection from New York so ended up having to stay a day there with no luggage and only being on standbye for the 10pm flight the next day. I spent a day exploring the `big apple` though before going back to the airport to pray that someone wouldn't show up for the flight. Thankfully I made it on and have never felt so relieved to be going home.

ETU Cup Strathclyde

Things I learned from the weekend: Stepping on to the podium in elite racing is fun, Strathclyde park can reach 27 degrees in May, Strathclyde park is also deceptively hilly, There is no such thing as an easy bike leg with French boys in the pack, The first turn buoy in the swim is always going to be violent especially when it comes after only 90 seconds.

Strathclyde Park hosted its first ever ITU race last weekend and I managed to get on the podium in 2^nd spot. As the venue for the Commonwealth Games it was an ideal chance to get use to racing on the course despite the weather being very un-Scottish. There was a good foreign contingent there with two former World Junior Champions in the line up and some of the best swimmers in the sport also present. This combined with an ex pro cyclist and a Commonwealth Games runner made the race very interesting and hard from the start as the good swimmers tried to get away.

My swim form seems to be coming back to me and I managed to make the lead bunch but we never really made much of an impact on the main peloton behind us. We still had 20 seconds coming into T2 and I was able to make my way up to 2^nd by the end despite a bit of struggle early on in the run where I was back in 5^th.

The race highlights should be broadcast on Channel 4 next weekend with a much better race description than mine. This Thursday I am away to Madrid for the latest leg in the World Championship Series before heading straight out to America for the HyVee World Cup. A lot of cramped plane journeys lie ahead.

Hibernation

Well, the Troon 10km didn't go to plan as I got ill the day before, but having got over that I feel like I am slowly creeping out of hibernation, and getting excited about training again. The Paris Roubaix Sportive is frighteningly close given the lack of training I've got behind me, but at least it will be novel to be coming into June fresh and keen, rather than teetering on the brink of collapse and jaded!

With the SCX dates and venues published, a new cyclocross bike on order, and training beginning to be planned, things are looking up!

BUSA CHAMPS

Last weekend was British University Triathlon Champs all the way down in Wiltshire, Calne which is somewhere near Bath so the sign posts told me. Its the 4th year in a row I have travelled down and the weekend just seems to get longer and longer each year. Driving a van for 16 hours is not fun especially when its gone past midnight and your still not back in Scotland yet. The race itself though is somewhat unique as it doesn't begin until 4pm which at least allows the rarity of a long lie on race day. The format is also strange with a longer than usual bike leg of 25k in a sprint. So a 750metre swim/ 25bike and 5k run was the order of the day.
The swim was a pretty standard affair as it is in all pool based swims. There's no fighting as there is in open water so after 750 metres I left the pool in joint first. The wind on the bike is always a big factor of the race as the exposed country lanes give you nowhere to hide. Nobody else seemed willing or able to take the race on so for the first 15k into the head and side wind I sat at the head of affairs trying to keep the pace strong but not blowing myself to bits. After a sharp 90degree turn I upped the intensity with a tailwind at my bike and quickly opened up a gap. Coming into T2 that had opened up to 40seconds. The 5k run like the swim was pretty unforgettable. I felt pretty average and slightly tired after the bike but managed to grow on my lead to finish almost 90seconds clear.
After 4 years of trying I finally managed to win British Unis. It's a pretty big relief. Now lets just hope Kilmarnock don` t get relegated today.

Race Mornings

Theres somthing strange about waking up the morning of a race. From the moment you wake up your constantly thinking of the day ahead and continually checking for signs that your feeling good. So as I sat eating a bowl of cereal and swallowing early morning coffee on Sunday before the Scottish Duathlon Champs (10k run/38k bike/5k run) I was feeling good if slightly nervous about entering into the somewhat unknown.

I hadn` t raced a duathlon in two years and it was the first time I had ever did the distance in a non drafting format. Being a championship event there was a 300 strong field especially on the cycling front. So the plan was simple run hard from the start and hold on for dear life- better to blow up trying to win than settling for 2^nd.

The start was pretty frantic with 300 guys sprinting the first 100metres as at this point we had to navigate through a gate(tight). I hit the front after 500metres and began establishing a lead which grew to 80seconds going into the bike. The 38k `s was split into 2 laps and being just down the road from me I knew it perfectly. I settled into a great rhythm from the start which is something of a novelty for me and riding scared I started putting more presure down on the peddles than I had planned to do. I was riding well tho probably the best I have ever ridden. Some days it feels so smooth when everything is clicking. So despite the quick glance every so often behind to assure myself I was still clear I spent the 38k`s as aero as possible just turning the peddles over. I knocked out 56minutes for the bike which was the 2^nd fastest of the day and only 8 seconds slower than Ian Grant from Dooleys.

With a big lead of the bike I was able to relax in the 2^nd run leg and cruised home to my first Scottish Duathlon title.

Running - What Next?

Oh dear, I've just entered the Troon 10km in May. This will be interesting. Big heavy cyclist attempts sport for light people!

More to follow once I've done some training!

Cheers

Neil

2010 - Season Begins!

Race season 2010 kicked of last weekend with the Scottish University Championships in Edinburgh. It` s always a strange feeling setting up your bike ready to race, attaching clip on tri bars for the first time in ages and going through the traditional pre race routine when it` s been six months since you did it last. My head struggled to get round the concept that we were about to do a triathlon and it wasn't until 10 seconds before the start that the adrenaline began to kick start my body.

The race itself went pretty smoothly and it was good to be back in action. My swim and run sections were solid but my complete lack of time trialling abilities were evident. I probably only race two or three non drafting races a year and time trialling is an art that takes time. I still managed to record the 2^nd fastest bike split of the day even though I kept on changing from riding on the tri bars, the hoods and the drops. The end result was a victory and my 3^rd Scottish University title.

Next up is the Scottish Duathlon Championships this weekend. 10krun/40k bike/5krun. A hard day in the office. I have been practicing trying to get as aero as possible on my bike so hopefully that will pay of this weekend. Then it is off to Portugal for the first drafting race of the year on the 11^th April where it will give me my first indication of exactly what shape I am in for the upcoming season.

Sun

Strathpuffer 24hr 2010

We say it every year, but that was an epic! As usual, getting there was tough, with the fear of road closures due to the snow, the A9 was pretty slushy, and the access road to the forest was still ice and snow when we arrived on the Thursday (this meant we got to use the snow chains though!). Myself and Drew were riding as a Bionicon UK team, in a pair, on their fantastic Golden Willow adjustable geometry bikes.

We set to work getting the club pit area assembled in the snow, then lent a hand digging snow off the last few hundred metres of singletrack, then off to town for some dinner. On Friday the rest of the club started to arrive, and after an interesting entrance from one of the campervans, we cleared the full pit area of snow (felt like most of the weekend was spent digging!), and everyone took turns helping out with the carpark marshalling (basically pushing cars out of snow banks!).

Race day came, and for the first time in a 24 hour, I wasn't in the Le-Mans start, with Drew doing the honours there! It was odd to be watching the start, but knowing that I'd still be racing.

With the recent thaw, the race course (now largely cleared of snow) had turned into the Somme, 1914, and riders quickly ditched ice tyres (although there were enough icy patches to make the course "interesting") for more suitable treads. Almost all the Walkers CC teams (except the soloists) finished lap 1 in the same, big pack, and stayed remarkably close over the first 7-8 hours. The BBC Adventure Show lost Dougie Vipond (riding in Walkers CC Kit after our support 2 years ago!) early on, crashing on his 2nd lap and earning a trip to A&E with concussion!

We were fairly quickly established into 5th place, occaisionally popping into 4th with changeovers, and going comfortably well. After a few laps the whole course became rideable, with the snow packing down on the final climb, but the fire-road was still a slog, and the final descent a bit slippy in places with the ice-tyres off.

As the night wore on, temperatures dropped, and the now frozen (but grippy) fire roads gave the riders some respite from the mud. The frost made the more technical sections difficult, as each individual rock was now coated in frosty slush! Through the night we made 4th place our own, and were slowly chipping away at 3rd (1st and 2nd places were clear out front). Heading out for my 11th lap, with the dawn slowly breaking, I realised that the overnight rain had frozen on the ground, and the fire-roads were now sheet ice! So my only crash of the day was going uphill, in a straight line! I passed the 3rd placed team at the entrance to the technical stretch at the top of the course, and pushed as hard as I could everywhere it wasn't icy to open up a gap, and as Drew began his 12th and final lap we had 15 minutes advantage.

I got the ice tyres back on for the final lap, and gave it everything, finishing 30 seconds behind my fastest lap from Saturday, and 1 lap clear of the 4th place team to grab a podium spot.

Despite 3 brake pad changes (per bike!), the Golden Willow's performed admirably - surefooted on the technical climbs, efficient on the fire-roads, and plush and confidence inspiring on the descents and technical sections (it was amazing how quickly I reeled riders in on the bumpy stuff, and the energy saved through these sections!).

I can now confirm that Alex Glasgow was right - riding the 'Puffer in a pair is harder than solo, the concentration required due to the higher speed (and to make the most of your laps off), plus you never really get a rest.

Off to bed now.

Neil Walker

Share The Damn Road

Just got an email about these jerseys - cool!

http://www.sharethedamnroad.com/

What a great way to make a statement in a funny way. Just a pity they don't do thermal jackets or waterproofs for our weather!

Neil Walker

The White Stuff

Many people think that snow, ice and bikes don't mix, but with the recent arctic conditions accross the UK we've had to change our ideas!

The snow and ice at Cyclists V Harriers before Christmas provided the ideal conditions for the bikes, and we were able to charge hard and fast round the course (interspersed with running the tarmac sections very, very slowly) to a Walkers CC 1,3,4 & 5. Runner, Davie Miller managed to sneak in for 2nd place. I was really pleased to win the event again - 3rd time now in 17 years!

More ice was to come though, and the big snowfall got the ice tyres out of the garage to go riding round deserted snowy backroads, and icy country parks (even the top few metres of the tide were frozen at Irvine Beachpark!) These conditions proved ideal preparation for this week's Strathpuffer 24 hour, which although a thaw is forecast, is currently being cleared of around a metre of snow to allow the riders easier passage!

It is reasurring that some events manage to go ahead despite the weather, and a belief in the participants common sense, and proper preparations and graft by the organisers (I mean, digging a metre of snow off around 5km of singletrack - hardcore!) keeps the health and safety folk at bay.

Neil Walker