Another day another discipline. Tracy’s been racing all sorts recently.
Photo by Doc Ward

Mojo Trail Diaries

Straight after the enduro race in Afan I stayed in South Wales and spent three days filming with the guys from Eyesdown films making the next Mojo trail diary video. That weekend was the one when it snowed like crazy, so the first day filming and riding in the Brecon Beacons was absolutely freezing and somewhat snowy under tyre… Although a very cold three days I got to ride in some great locations around South Wales, all within a very short distance from Mojo’s headquarters in Risca. I spent time at Mojo and got to ride with some amazing riders from all different disciplines. Sam Blake from the dirt jump world, Martyn Ashton the legendary trials rider and Tim Ponting, an amazing DH rider from the late 90s. All lovely guys with so much talent on a bike it was a great privilege to spend some time riding and filming with them. I also got to ride with boss of Mojo Chris Porter and a few local guys and staff from Mojo. It was such a fun few days getting to ride new trails and having a great laugh with a lovely bunch of people.

FOD DH Summer Series

From there I had a few days at home (finally) to recover and get some training in for the fast approaching season. As I was heading out to race at the Sea Otter Classic later in the month I thought I should get a little time in riding downhill, so I went to the first round of the Forest of Dean Summer Series. The forest is such a great location now for riding and the choice of DH tracks is brilliant. The race was on one of the newest tracks called GBU. It’s pretty much a jumps, berms and pedalling track from top to bottom, perfect preparation for the Sea Otter Downhill. I took my Trek Slash and decided to use the day as great training not only on the downhill but also some quality uphill work too. I just put on my (Osprey) pack so I could have food and water and was also able to attach my full face helmet to it on the way up and just spent the morning riding up and then back down the hill. I could do runs quicker than getting an uplift. 10 min pedal to the top and then two back down! I did about 6 runs and then I was ready for racing. I forgot to take my pack off for my first race run, so ended up racing DH with my pack on, which caused a stir amongst the DH crew! I am going to have to race enduros out in Europe like that so I guess it was good practice. I had a good race, taking the women’s win ahead of Jess Stone and recording the ninth fastest time of the day. Happy with that and a great training day done.

Racing DH at the Forest of Dean.

Midlands XC

From DH racing I then went to XC racing to take part in the second round of the Midlands XC series in Chesterfield. It was a pretty fun little course once you got in to the woods, but the first section was just horrendous. A gradual climb on grass that was as soft as a sponge into a massive headwind. It was so hard just to move forward and it was a tough start to each lap. I found myself in second place fairly soon after the start behind Jessie Roberts who won the first midlands race I did a few weeks ago. I really wanted to try and stay in touch with her this week but I just couldn’t seem to close the gap. Every lap ended with some downhill sections and I felt as though I kept making time, but would then lose it on the climb out of the start. At the start of the last lap I really had closed in and I dug deep to try closing the gap. Slowly as the lap went on I was getting closer and closer and it took me almost the entire lap to finally get back to her and I was able to pass her just as we entered the last descent with about 1km to go. I just put my head down and managed to stay away to the finish line to take the win! I was happy as I had worked really hard all race to stay in touch and definitely got a good work out!

Spot of XC racing for good measure, with a win thrown in just to be sure.
Photo by James Richards

Sea Otter

Straight from the race I drove home and quickly packed my bags ready to leave for San Francisco the next morning. The Sea Otter Classic is a season opener bike festival in America and a race I haven’t been to for a few years, so I was excited that Trek wanted me to be there. This year I was doing something a little different and taking on the cross country, the short track and the downhill race… All good training for the upcoming World Enduro Series, that’s what I was telling myself at least.

Not a bad result then in the Sea Otter DH with most of the world’s top racers kicking about.
Photo by Carol Stacy

The short track race was a short 1km loop around the pit area of the venue with some tight turns, a few rocks and a 50m section of sand to try and ride through. It’s a mass start race and you race for 20mins plus 3 laps. I had no idea what to expect from this, as I had never done anything like it. I had a great start and went from the back of the grid to about 10^th place after the first corner, but soon the speed of the girls was too much for me and within half a lap I had already dropped off the front group and just found myself slowly going backwards and trying to stick to the wheel of the next person that came by me on the flat. I felt great around the corners, but as soon as it opened out they just sprinted flat out. I lasted for about 14mins and 21^st position. It was quite an experience and highlighted just how much work I need to do to improve my speed on the flat for XC racing.

XC racing at a world level too. Tracy is mad for it!
Photo by Carol Stacy

Next up was the XC race the following day. This one was just one big lap of around 20miles, so there was no chance of getting lapped or pulled from the race! Again I had a good start and stayed with the front group until it started to climb off-road and then the pace just increased and I found my legs and lungs unable to maintain their pace. I need a downhill section to recover after every few minutes at that speed! I completed the course and finished 33^rd out of around 45 starters, so I was again happy with that as it was a pretty stacked top part of the field with legendary female road and cyclocross racer Marianne Vos taking the win both days. I actually lined up next to her at the start which was pretty amazing. I just wish someone had taken a picture.

My final day of racing was the downhill. What should be back in my comfort zone, but having spent very little time actually riding downhill this winter I felt a bit rusty. I had only done a few runs of practice on the first day I arrived due to my XC races so needed to get a few more in before the race on the Sunday morning. I managed to take 2^nd place behind one very motivated Jill Kintner, who I think will have a great season on the DH World Cup circuit. I definitely did not get the jumps that good at the top of the course so I think lost some valuable time to Jill there but I was happy with a podium to round out my busy weekend of racing.

UK Gravity Enduro Innerleithen

From the sun of California it was then back home to the rain/hailstone showers and sunshine of Innerleithen for round 2 of the UK Gravity Enduro series. My busy few weeks of racing and travelling finally got the better of me and I spent the weekend with a sore throat and full-on cold, so not feeling me best. Sadly the on and off rain and some freshly cut tracks also made for some very muddy tough conditions just to make things harder for me. It is always going to be the hardest enduro of the year in the UK as the hill at Innerleithen is a good one, so transitions between stages were 40-plus minutes. I set off at 9am and got the finish at 2pm, so it was a big morning out with five tough stages. I managed to be pretty consistent all day, only making a few mistakes on stage 4 and managed to keep my bike running well all day. Continuous mud removal with a stick was the key I think!

Finally a win at the UK Gravity Enduro series to round off the pre-season training… Now to the Enduro World Series which Tracy will be racing at the end of this week.
Photo by Doc Ward

I was happy to take the win and finish the day knowing I could now take a few days off to get rid of my cold and get ready for my trip to Europe for the first World Enduro Series race in Italy, which takes place at the end of this week.

Read my last blog here.

Tracy Moseley at Gravity Enduro round 1, which she won quite convincingly.
Photo by Sarah Reeve

My race preparation began with a Fox Suspension testing session out in Spain, which was sadly as cold and wet as the UK, but a great opportunity to get loads of DH runs in on my bike. Some great time on my enduro race bike and some good training time to remind my body what multiple rough, rocky 4min plus DH runs feel like. I enjoyed getting back into some more technical riding and getting the Freelap timing system out got the adrenaline flowing again.

From Spain I returned back to the UK on a plane full of elderly Brits who all seemed to be coughing and spluttering and sure enough I had a cold within 24 hours! Perfect start to my race season, but sadly picking up germs on planes comes with the territory of travelling, especially after a tough few days of riding when you are tired and your body is a bit run down. Fortunately after a few days off the bike I was feeling better just in time for my first race. I decided to race the first round of the midlands XC to get some proper tough fitness training in the bank. I have been focusing my efforts more on my endurance and fitness this winter in readiness for the Enduro World Series racing I have planned, so it was going to be a good test to see if the effort had paid off.

There was a great turnout for the first race of the year and also a good showing of women across all categories, which was good to see. I had a good start managing to get to the front of the race just about hanging on to the wheel of the leader. That horrible start interval at an XC race just never ends, and I dug deep to get in front before the first singletrack and pushed really hard for the first lap. It was a pretty tight, twisty singletrack course in places and passing was not an option, so the first lap ended up in a lot of queuing traffic as we caught the back of the vets and master men. I was being hotly pursued by Jessie Roberts who, after a bit of cat and mouse, passed me on the climb on lap two and that was how it stayed. I kept her in my sights for most of the race, but just couldn’t bridge the gap. I ended up just over one minute back at the finish but I was happy with second place out of a decent elite field and to Jessie who was ranked third in the UK in 2012. I had forgotten just how much XC races hurt and my legs ached for the next 48 hours.

Tracy racing XC this time, but still up there and on the podium. Where do her talents end?

I managed to get a few more good training sessions in once the legs had recovered and I then headed to Afan for the first round of the UK Gravity Enduro series. With snow blanketing much of the UK we were really lucky that south wales just missed it. We had a snow-free trail, but still freezing conditions all weekend. On the ride out to the first stage people’s shifters and mechs were freezing up. My water froze in the hose of my Osprey pack and the entire of Stage 1 was entirely frozen which made for pretty rapid trail conditions, just having to avoid the sketchy icy patches along the way!

During the stages you got some warmth into your body and any excuse to help someone fix a puncture was a great chance to use my pump and stay warm! As soon as you had to wait for your next stage time you just got cold instantly. I just tried to keep moving and kept putting layers on and off all day. The first three stages were based on the trail-centre trails around The Wall and Whyte’s Level and conditions were great. They were all pretty physical stages with a good amount of pedalling to keep your speed up. I seeded first so was always last off on the stages and had Helen Gaskell as my 20-second target to aim for on each stage!

Stage 4 was a short one with some trail-centre trail to start and then it dropped into a freshly cut trail that would have been soft and loamy if it had not rained solidly two days before the race… It turned into a mud bath and staying feet up was the only way to get through it. It reminded me of some old-school DH tracks. I quite enjoyed the challenge of keeping your momentum through it and it certainly challenged a different aspect of your bike handling skills. After being thoroughly muddy we then had one final climb back up to stage 5 where the wind was blowing straight into the start and it froze all the mud on my bike. I was really conscious of being gentle with all my shifting on this stage, as I just wanted to get to the finish without any problems. I made it to the finish and slid into the finish arena, pretty happy to have the season underway with a good race and glad to be able to go and get changed and put some warm clothes on.

Gravity Enduro podium.

I took the win in the women’s ahead of Helen Gaskell and I was really pleased with how I felt during the race. The training has definitely put me in a good place going into the season and helped me to a 16^th place overall on the day. I just need to keep it going now.

www.tracymoseley.com

To read Tracy’s previous entry click here.

It’s cold, but you can ride pretty much all year round in the UK.

I have to say that there are many times during the winter when I do wish I was somewhere a little more sunny, with some slightly drier trails and the thought of just being able to wear a pair of shorts and not tights, overshoes, thermals, gloves etc. seeming like a dream! However in the last month I have been back into full training with lots of off-road and have had the chance to answer both of those questions and experience just how much riding the UK has to offer.

We are pretty lucky in that we rarely get enough snow to really stop us riding our bikes for more than a few fays at a time, so we really can ride all year round, unlike many of my race competitors who live in the mountains of Europe and can only ski for many months so have to travel to ride their bikes or spend hours indoors on their turbos. Once you have invested in some good quality biking kit, learnt about layering, waterproofs, windstoppers and got some overshoes or winter boots and some mudguards you are set for a winter of riding in the UK.

Over the last month I have had the opportunity to visit some of the best riding spots we have on offer, from the natural terrain in the Lake District to the purpose built trail centres of North Wales. Both deliver a very different mountain bike experience but both perfect destinations for winter riding.

The Lake District trip – natural riding at its best

The Lake Dsitrict is somewhere I have ridden a few times but I have never spent more than a few days at a time there, so this year to spend a week in the Langdale valley was a great opportunity to really get a feel for the amount of riding the lakes has to offer. We had a true week of winter weather from snow blizzards up on the tops in the Kentmere valley to sunshine around Loughrigg to being snowed into the valley for a day! The rocky nature of most of the Lakes trails means that they are perfect for a winter riding trip as they can still be ridden in all weathers. We barely had to clean any mud off our bikes, but we certainly tested the waterproof capabilities of our shoes and shorts over the week…

Tracy taking a moment’s rest in the Lake District.

Riding natural terrain is also something that I have found myself doing less of over the years, mainly due to the increase in man-made trails and their adoption into the race scene. I recently realised that nearly all the XC races I did last year where on a majority of man-made trails and even a lot of the DH and enduro races in the UK are trail centre based. It reminded me that before we had trail centres this is all we used to ride, natural terrain with no berms, jumps and no arrows to follow! Natural riding, I believe, is a much greater challenge for your skills as the conditions of the trail constantly change and especially as the climbs haven’t been made to gently get you up the hill with a nice series of switchbacks, it’s often just straight up the steepest most direct route. The trails are not a nice 1m width of endless singletrack, they are wide, rock-strewn tracks where you need to pick good lines to keep your flow and avoid punctures on every descent. It really is true mountain biking up there and 3 days of big rides in the Lakes left me feeling thoroughly beaten up, a feeling of a complete body work out.

Antur Stiniog trip – the flipside

In contrast, a few weeks later I spent a few days riding in North Wales, taking in a few of the trail centres along the way. Antur Stiniog for some DH riding, which was great fun, the fastest uplift anywhere and some really fun trails built into the slate quarries of North Wales. Coed-y-brenin, one of the first trail centres to be built still has some of the best man made trails out there. I also rode at the lesser-known trail at Penmachno, which still rates as one of my favourite rides. I think it gets less use than many of the other better-equipped centres and the trails have almost been taken back over by nature. The trail is narrow and almost feels like a natural trail in the woods, just with a great all weather surface.

Antur Stiniog: fast uplift, fun tracks. Combine a trip here with riding in Coed y Brenin and you’re onto a winner.

I also visited the climax trail at Machynlleth on my way home. A great few days again in winter and again I barely needed to wash my bike. The all weather nature of the trail centre not only creates a mud free environment, but its also creates endless singletrack and miles of flowing trails, section after section. You know that there will be no one coming around the corner, that any drops will be indicated and you wont need to look at a map! Trail centres have brought mountain biking to the masses and created places that are really fun to ride for all abilities. You can go as fast or as slow as you like and will generally have no issues riding it all. I love the fact that you know what you are getting and you know that you can have a great workout for 1,2 or 3 hours and will get tonnes of flowing trails. However you do miss out on the feeling of adventure, the journey you get when you plan a route with a map and link up bridleways and you definitely don’t get challenged technically in the same way as a tough natural trail.

Fin.

In my 2 trips I have only touched the surface of the riding we have in the UK and it made me realise just how lucky we are. Within a very short distance we have so much variety of riding. Many of us can ride from our doors out in to the countryside and onto great trails. We have an amazing network of trail centres now all over the country and more natural riding than you could ever explore. So I think that, although we have some horrible weather in the winter and no massive mountains, we still have some of the best riding you can find and we can ride it all year round.

Thanks for reading, Tracy.

My Indian adventure and end of season racing in Spain soon eroded my off season and before I realized it was already November and I had not really stopped. I am not complaining though as the adventures were all so much fun, but I now really needed a break from riding but I also wanted to start training again for next season.

Tracy and boyfriend James Richards at the British Cycling Gala Dinner

I must admit that one of my big faults in my training is not being able to rest. I always like to be busy and I love riding my bike so taking time off is never easy. However this time I really felt as though I needed to. The Indian trip had taken its toll.

Two weeks off the bike flew by pretty quickly with unpacking bags and starting to plan for next season taking up most of my time. I also had an invite to the British Cycling Gala Dinner. It’s a dinner held every four years to mark the success of that year’s Olympics but also the past four years of international success and my World Champs title in 2010 secured my invite.

I have to say it was an honour to be part of this special occasion especially with such a year of success for British sport and in particular cycling and to be among what are now household sporting names such as Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy.

An evening of good food, some great video reviews of the year and some very funny interviews on stage with the big names made for a very enjoyable evening. For me it was also a very inspiring occasion that instilled such a sense of pride and even more desire to get out there and be as successful as I can be in the future.

Social training

From there I then went to the other end of the spectrum to start my training. It was the time of year again for our annual girls weekend get together. A social group of 20+ girls that have been meeting for over 10 years for a fun weekend of eating, laughing and some biking.

Tracy (far right) and the not-at-all monstrous regiment

It’s always so nice to catch up with people I haven’t seen for 12 months and also great to just get out and ride for some fun, with no expectation, pressure or purpose. We just blast around the trails and scare any poor guys that come across our path. The bad taste dress I don’t think helps our intimidating nature either, but its just a fun weekend where we are all brought together by the one common theme, having fun on our bikes.

That was the perfect set up for my winter’s training and I enjoyed getting back into some structure. I also wanted to be able to use the winter months to work on some other aspects of my fitness and signed up for an indoor climbing course to bring some regular climbing into my training. It’s great for upper body strength and mobility and also something different and enjoyable to do during the dark winter months.

I also joined a couple of Pilates classes to really work on my flexibility and core strength. It’s amazing as cyclists how tight you get in certain areas always using your muscles in the same direction, so hopefully a winter of Pilates will help even me out a little.

The Olympians

With my plans to focus on enduro entirely next year with hopefully a few cross-country races along the way too, I need to start getting some good rides and work on my fitness for next year. I started off my campaign in the hardest possible way by meeting up with both our Olympic cross-country racers.

Annie Last has had a much deserved break from her training after this season. She was only just getting back into her training so I thought it would be the perfect time to try and keep her in my sights on a ride. Well I did manage to hang on but I definitely worked a lot harder than I would have done on my own.

It was great to catch up with Annie, and we had great fun blasting around the trails at Cannock Chase. It’s great to see that our top female mountain biker really is a great bike handler. It will keep all those people who think cross-country riders can’t ride downhill very quiet if they ever went for a ride with her.

I also met up with Liam Killeen who suffered a nasty break to his ankle at the Olympic games in August and has been hard at work recovering and getting back on his bike. It was good to see him out on the bike and making really good progress, and once again I got a great work out on one of his easy rides.

I have been so lucky to get the opportunity to ride and travel with these guys during 2012 and it has really given me a good insight into what it takes to be successful at cross-country. The dedication and level of fitness they have is incredible.

I have no excuse now, to get my head down and get dragged around on some more rides with them over the winter and increase my fitness ready to take on the Enduro World Series in 2013.

The racing season is slowly coming to an end and last weekend was the final of the Spanish enduro series sponsored by Mondraker Bicycles. This has been the first year of the Mondraker Enduro Series and over the year they have hosted five races – three in Spain, one in Andorra and one in France – with on average 150 participants enjoying some great racing.

The series has been outstanding value for money. An entry fee of just 25 euros includes open training on Saturday, five stages of racing with beam timing on Sunday, free t-shirt, food out on the trail and lunch after the race and a massive raffle of prizes at the prize giving. I’m sure next year will attract even more participants.

Cedric Gracia hits the boards.

The final round ıtook place just an hour north of Alicante at a privately owned bike park called La Fenasosa. It’s a location that has been used for many bike tests and is open every weekend to the public to ride the downhill, freeride trails and jump park, all serviced by uplifts in old army vehicles and accommodation and food is provided by the owner Jean-Philippe at the castle on the grounds of the estate. It’s a perfect set up that can cater for up to 50 riders every weekend.

This was the first Enduro race at La Fenasosa, but with Mondraker Bicycles and additional sponsor for this event Wildwolf both based in Alicante it was the perfect location for a big finish to the season.

With much of Europe experiencing the first cold snap of winter and the Alps getting their first dump of snow, Alicante also had some cold weather over the weekend. At 8am when the first rider left the start it was only just getting above freezing but it wasn’t long before the sun came out and it was then plenty hot enough for me.

The course was a 23km loop with 1000m of climbing, so it was a pretty short sharp loop with some steep loose gravel climbs that really started to take its toll towards the end of the race.

Leaving the start it was around a 20-minute climb up to stage 1, which I was glad of as stage 1 was the most technical and I wanted to make sure I had woken up, and warmed up properly after my 8.08am start. Stage 1 was around four and a half minutes long and had two distinct sections. The top was gnarly jagged rock that was relentless. Carrying speed and conserving your bike was the key to this stage. It would have been so easy to get a puncture or damage a wheel if you pushed too hard at the top. The second half was much smoother bike park style with jumps and berms winding its way to the bottom of the estate. This was probably the most downhill and least pedalling of all the stages.

Tracy tackles a tight section.

Up to stage 2 was a short but pretty brutal transition, almost 20 minutes of rocky steep track that was just that bit too steep to ride up without putting yourself into a painful place. Most people opted to push most of the way. The transition time here was pretty tight and most people only had a few minutes to get ready for the stage.

Stage 2 was fairly short, starting with a fun rocky narrow gully which then joined an uphill fireroad sprint for about 20 seconds and then a flat fireroad which seemed to go on forever to the finish. I did not get a chance to pre ride this stage so the big pedal was a little of a shock to the system. From the finish of stage 2 it was another climb of more than 20 minutes up to the start of stage 3.

Stage 3 was the most physical of the day. It started on the ‘bambi’ trail, which is a beginner trail of jumps and berms. A really fun trail to roll down, but racing it was tough; there was so much sprinting and squashing of jumps it was an exhausting start to the stage. You were already breathing hard before you started the minute-plus climb back up to the finish at the castle. Finishing back at the castle gave us chance to grab some food and cold isotonic drink from the Wildwolf bar before continuing to stage 4.

Stage 4 was the longest of the day with times of over seven minutes for the fast guys. It started off flat out and fast down a rocky gully that just got narrower and narrower, with jumps and north shore. At one point the gully is impassable so a wooden corkscrew has been made to transfer you down to the next level.

The gully slowly opened up again and the trail flattened out into the finish. It was a fun stage but a hard one as it was really hard to keep flow. The only way was to keep pedalling everywhere you could fit a pedal stroke in.

From the finish of stage 4 it was then the toughest and longest climb up to stage 5 which started at the highest point of the estate. It was close to a 40-minute slog up some steep loose fireroad and again there was little time to recover or to try and eat some food.

Stage 5 started with some steeper rocky terrain which then broke out into the open onto a section of jumps and then a flat out pedal along some rocky flat fireroad trail all the way back to the finish at the castle. Returning to the castle after being out for around three and a half hours it really was a tough enduro race with a big focus on pedalling and fitness. It was a hard morning of racing.

The post-race festivities. Note freaking huge paella pan.

Live timing was available all day and the results were up within minutes of the finish. After a quick shower it was time to enjoy what the Europeans do best: food at bike races. A big paella dish had been placed above a small log fire in the finish area and everyone sat around having a beer watching the biggest dish of paella you have ever seen being created. Once everyone had been feed the podium took place and the mountain of prizes were given away.

This race was a big one for Cedric Gracia as it was his first race back since shattering his hip at Val Di Sole back in June. Quite remarkable that in four months he is back on his bike and obviously in great shape taking the win on the day ahead of Fabien Barel. Third place went to Spanish rider Jacobo Santana Pastor. I was happy with my race taking the win in the ladies and 19^th overall.

Full results here 

A big thanks to Wildwolf for the invite, to Jean-Phillipe and his family for their hospitality and to the organisation for a great event. 

October is definitely turning into a month of great events to choose from with enduros taking place all across Europe still with great weather.

I had a tough choice to make this year as I wanted to be racing out in Europe but I had also been given the opportunity of a lifetime to go on an adventure MTB holiday with www.mountainbikekerala.com to India with friends and photographer Dan Milner to ride into the foothills of the Himalayas to the base of the Pindari Glacier.

The Cycle Show & the Three Peaks

At the cycle show with Jens Voigt and Gary Fisher.

Before I left I had a busy few days on the Trek stand at the bike show at the NEC. It was great to catch up with many people in the industry and also encouraging to see so many people at the show, really showing that cycling is definitely on the up.

I also took a trip up north to watch one of the hardest and longest standing cycling races, the 50^th edition of the Three Peaks cyclocross race. The weather gods were definitely not happy and helped make the 50^th race one of the toughest yet.

The Three Peaks cyclo-cross was a bit damp this year.

Gale force winds on the tops of the three peaks soon created tales of people getting blown over, and bikes blown out of hands as riders clambered over stone walls. Stream crossings that became chest deep just added to the already challenging race. Even on such a grim day there was something about the sheer challenge of completing a race like this that left me wanting to have a go one day.

With a few more meetings and visits to the physio squeezed into the week I was finally off on my own challenge and trip of a lifetime.

Untouched India

Seriously big mountains in India.

Only a few hours from the quiet civilisation of Birmingham airport was the utter disorganised chaos of New Delhi, India. From the moment I stepped out of the airport the adventure began.

I got straight into a pretty battered little taxi van with my bike bag thrown on the roof and no rope to hold it on and off we went into the centre of Delhi.

No road rules apply in Delhi. Even sticking to driving in the same direction on the same side of the road is rare and the horn seemed mandatory if you wanted to get anywhere.

Bike precariously perched in taxi van, off we went.

After a night in Delhi, time for some sight seeing and the first curry of the trip, it was onto the train for a six hour trip north to Kathgodam. It was only about 150km away but train travel in India is pretty steady.

That’s a good job really as the train line is a pretty busy place for people and animals alike. There was no shortage of cows, dogs, monkeys and people all over the train tracks. That made for a great trip and definitely helped the six hours fly by.

Barely-used trails in the mountains connected tiny villages.

We spent the next 12 days riding our bikes through some of the most amazing untouched parts of India, riding every sort of trail you could imagine. The riding varied from kilometres of cobbled trails up and over mountain passes, to flowing forest singletrack, to concrete northshore paths through houses in tiny villages and some of the finest epic Alpine trails.

It was an amazing journey into the mountains and up to 3600m to the base of the Pindari Glacier with the towering 6800m peak of Nanda Kot above us.

Mike from Mountain Bike Kerela and local riders Pankaj and Vinny were amazing hosts. Mike not only shared his years of trail research with us but also gave us an amazing education into the area and Indian history and life.

Sometimes pushing was the only option.

Mike has been a pioneer in India for mountain biking as all the trails he has spent years finding and linking together to make this trip.

The riding was tough, with some big days in the saddle, relentless steep climbs sitting on the nose of your saddle, some long carries and some 5.30am starts. It was all well worth it as we were treated to some beautiful scenery that very few people have seen.

This summer’s monsoon took its toll on the area. The massive rainfall caused many landslides, destroying jeep tracks and cutting off the mountain village of Katai from the surrounding area. The only remaining access was a 20km cobbled trail over a 3000m mountain pass where donkeys are used to carry any supplies to the village.

Turbo donkey power got Tracy’s luggage around the mountains.

This was the trail we used to access the mountains. We used the donkeys to carry our bags and every day they would beat us to our destination. It was so impressive just how much ground they cover with so much weight on their backs.

Reaching the Pindari Glacier was the highlight of the trip for me. The scenery was just breath-taking and every panting, shuffled footstep at 3600m was worth it as the reward was a two hour singletrack descent back down the valley that felt as if it had been made for mountain bikes.

Photographer Dan Milner was on the trip to capture the pictures, so look out for some amazing photos. I think they will be a little better than my few here. There will also be feature or two over the coming months in the mountain bike press.

It really was an adventure of a lifetime and one that just reinforced how much I love riding my bike on blind, technical trails. Twelve days of riding tough trails has left me ready for some more enduro racing. It’s a shame the season has nearly come to an end.

Nice bike, nice landscape.

Going out to the Alps to race enduros in the summer I thought would spoil the fun I had been having at the UK races and I really expected to come back home and find the races a bit of a disappointment without chairlifts and 10-minute-plus descents, but I didn’t.

On the way to the win in Wales.

The UK Gravity Enduro Series has been a huge success for me and I think for the sport in the UK. It hasn’t been without a few problems along the way but I am confident as the years progress and the format of racing takes shape it will become a bigger and better series.

Each race this year has tested your skills and fitness differently; some requiring really good fitness, some more technical skill and the final round at Dyfi Forest in North Wales would be different again. It was a long loop, close to 40km, that took around four hours to complete.

Each stage was entirely natural, varying from rutted loose slate rock, to sets of whoops created by motorbikes, to open grass fields. It was also a really scenic loop with views across to the Cader Idris mountain on the long climb up to stage two.

There’s a line down there somewhere.

Once again we were lucky with the weather and another dry sunny weekend made the long loop very enjoyable. With each stage being fast and with very little line choice or technical sections it was going to be hard to make up time against other riders. It was just about who was brave enough to let go of the brakes the most.

I definitely felt the affects of having had a few weeks without good cross-country training, firstly because of my ribs and then while focusing on downhill for worlds. The long loop was tough and I didn’t have the strength on the pedalling sections that I had felt earlier in the year.

I just tried to carry good speed and push as hard as I could on the flat sections and I managed to avoid any punctures which was a huge advantage. I think half of the girls’ field were repairing punctures after stage two so I was really pleased to get around the loop without any mechanical problems.

On the top step of the podium

It was a great test for the protoytype Bontrager tyres I have been using all year and gave me a lot of confidence in the new casings they have been working on. I finished the day ahead of Helen Gaskell which not only gave me the win on the day and 27th place overall but also the series win which I was really pleased with.

To win the UK series in my first year of enduro racing was a great finish to the year and the perfect start for my career in enduro races.

I am really looking forward to not only the UK series next year but also the possibility of a world series. I now have a much greater understanding of both the physical requirements and the demands on the equipment for enduro races so I feel that I can really prepare well this winter for next season of racing around the world.

Passing on the skills

Over the next few years alongside enduro racing I also want to start doing more skills camps and encourage more women to get into the sport and improve their skills. At present I have not had much time to run many courses as I have been focused on my racing, but earlier in the year friends of mine who run a holiday company out in Switzerland managed to pin me down to keep a week free in September to run a girls all mountain riding skills weeks in Verbier.

Lucy and Phil who run Bike Verbier have become friends and a regular stopping point for me when out in the Alps during the summer. They have introduced me to some of the most amazing natural trail riding and convinced me that the pain of carrying your bike uphill on your back is worth it when you get to ride down some of the most amazing trails for hours on end.

I was excited to combine teaching skills to the girls and also getting the opportunity to take them out onto trails in the mountains and put those skills into practice. I had six pupils all keen to improve their riding and for many of them it was their first trip to ride in the Swiss Alps so there was so much new terrain to encounter as well.

We spent the first two days looking at basic body position and movements and then moved on to basic skills including braking, cornering, front and rear wheel lifts etc and the most useful skill of all for this week, riding switchbacks. It was so good to see so much improvement in all of the girls over the week from learning to ride around cones on the fireroad to tackling some pretty exposed switchbacks high up in the mountains later in the week.

“And this is how we do it again for the camera…”

I really enjoyed challenging myself in teaching people and analysing what they were doing right and wrong and getting the opportunity to share some of the amazing riding that is out there with the girls was also really rewarding. Hopefully this week will become a regular date in the diary alongside some other skills days in the UK which I hope to organise over the coming year.

Teaching mountain biking is a tough assignment.

One of my plans over the next couple of years is to get more involved in coaching, helping inspire the next generation of mountain bikers and put something back into the sport that has given me so much.

Tracy demonstrates pulling up the front wheel. Next, doing it on the bike.

I have over the last few years been on a few different coaching and guiding courses including the Scottish mountain bike leader’s awards and British Cycling’s mountain bike courses and I have really enjoyed learning how to teach people skills and how to lead groups safely.

People often think “why would I need to go on a course as I can ride a bike probably better than many of the people teaching the courses?” but being able to ride a bike is one thing; being able to teach people and explain how you ride a bike is the hard part!

I have never been taught how to ride a bike, so when someone asks you how you do a drop or a corner, it’s often really hard to break down the skill and explain step by step what you need to do to execute the different moves. That’s why I am still keen to take more courses as I really want to be able to teach well and not just be able to do great demonstrations of the skills.

Shaums March was a top downhill racer from the USA when I was first racing World Cups in the late 1990s and back then he was already helping out young riders and running camps. Since retiring he has focused on his coaching and has now set up the International Mountain Bike Instructors Course based out in Whistler, Canada.

I was pretty keen to do the course and see him teaching and also see how a course based out in such a big bike park destination like Whistler would be. Shaums is expanding his courses outside of North America and came across to the Forest of Dean in August to run his first course in the UK.

A big grin from Tracy as Shaums March encourages her to feel the Force.

It was a basic level instructors’ course and only covered basic skills but I really enjoyed the course and learnt a lot. Taking most riders back to the real fundamentals of riding a bike is the best way to improve their riding and Shaums’ experience of teaching and correcting people’s technique was amazing.

I found myself riding around a flat turn on a fire road for ages trying to work out my weight distribution, some physics and feet positions. It was a tiring few days with all the thinking but I really enjoyed, learnt a lot and feel I am a little better equipped to for my future coaching plans.

Alongside the course in the evening we also did some downhill runs at the Forest of Dean on the new jump track which is good fun and all good time on my downhill bike.

Prepping for World’s at Ludlow

Before World’s my plan was to race a national series downhill race at Ludlow, my first of the year. It did feel a little strange being back on the UK downhill scene as it seemed like there were a lot of new faces that I didn’t recognise. It was also great to see so many new girls racing.

On top of the podium in Ludlow.

Sadly after a nice week of weather the forecast was not looking good for the weekend but I thought some rain would be good practice as Leogang, the venue for World’s, is always wet.

With Pearce Cycles running the uplifts there was never a queue of more than ten minutes and I got six practice runs in before 3pm and before the biggest thunderstorm hit the venue.

Bringewood is always a track I enjoy riding as it’s tight and twisty and feels like a downhill pump track. However when it rains it turns into an ice rink and all weekend it was a pretty slippery affair.

Race day came and the sun did come out and start to dry the track, but it just turned to really sticky porridge. My first run was pretty poor, coming to a near stop on a few occasions at the top.

I definitely felt out of race practice and I was glad on the second run I felt better and managed to go faster, fast enough to take the Elite Women’s win. But my time was not that great compared to the guys, so I knew I would have some work to do at World’s to get up to speed.

World’s: a big bike park

Being part of the GB team for my fifteenth world champs was pretty cool. I always love representing my country and world’s is always such a great race.

Having finally achieved my goal of becoming World Champion in 2010 I really felt as though I could enjoy this year without any pressure and expectation. Having only done a handful of downhill races I knew it was going to be hard to get back to where I was last year but I was keen to see how well I could do.

Practising at the World’s

During the first day of practice I had my reality check. A year of cross-country racing and enduro racing was not going to cut it at the downhill World’s on a track that was a flat out bike park. My first run, just rolling down behind Junior rider Tahnee Seagrave, already felt fast enough for me.

I really struggled to enjoy my riding as I was lacking in confidence and frustrated that I couldn’t just ride like I had been all last year. Thankfully the rain I had predicted came down in full force on Friday, slowed the track down massively and made some interesting holes and ruts, so it felt a lot more natural and less like a bike park. I started to enjoy practice and my confidence gradually improved during the day.

Sadly at the World’s the practice is so limited with only one-hour slots. I really would have loved more time to get up to speed. Every run I did I felt better on my bike and when timed training came along I really enjoyed my run. I ended up seventh and was satisfied with that result. I was still a long way off the top few girls but happy to have enjoyed it and been riding better.

By race day the track was drying out and the holes were growing. By this stage I knew I didn’t have the pace to challenge for a medal and just tried to enjoy my last Downhill World’s watching the juniors and soaking up the amazing atmosphere that only a World Championship can create.

I was excited to go up for my race run and proudly pinned my number on to my GB jersey. World Champs number 15 with race number 15 and all I wanted to do was enjoy it and not disgrace myself.

I put together a decent run, gave it my all and enjoyed the crowd and atmosphere and managed to finish with a tenth place finish. My twelfth top-ten World’s finish in thirteen Elite World Champs.

It was a great day to see a real change in the women’s field, to see myself and Sabrina leaving the sport where we have competed against each other since 1996 and see the next generation of talent from our countries take to the stage.

For Sabrina she saw a young French rider Morgane Charre take the biggest surprise win of the weekend and probably her career to become the new Women’s World Champion and I saw the next British star in the making, Manon Carpenter claim the bronze medal and stamp her place in the top of the women’s field.

I am confident that Manon will go on to a very fine future in the sport and I hope she will get the same enjoyment, success and great experiences I have had over the last 17 years of racing downhill.

Tracy and her dad.

People often ask how I got into mountain biking and they often assume that my mum and dad must have been cyclists. That is definitely not the case.

A few weeks ago I went on my first ever bike ride with my Dad. I bought him a Trek electric assisted bike a few months ago so he has been getting out for a few rides and really enjoying seeing places at a different speed.

It was Dad’s birthday and he has always talked about wanting to ride the canal fromBirminghamtoWorcesterso I decided we should do it. Thirty miles of canal path that at times was a pretty, slippery muddy rut, but I was really impressed; Dad made it with only a couple of head first encounters, luckily into the hedge and not the canal.

I have to say I was pretty anti electric bikes when they first came about, just seeing them as cheating, but now seeing how they have given my Dad that extra little help to get him out on a bike I really do think they have a great place for getting more people to have a go at cycling.

I also got the  chance to help another group of people to have a first go at mountain biking working with one of my sponsors Trixter. Trixter organised a day for staff from one of the big gym chains that have Trixter’s X-Dream bikes in their gyms, to come and have a go at mountain biking for real. It was great to see people enjoying their first off road experience.

Two days of racing and sunshine, cheering on the riders at the Olympic MTB races.

From there I then went to watch mountain biking at its highest level at the Olympic Games. Being home for the two weeks of the Olympics was just amazing. I spent every minute I could either watching the TV or listening to the radio following sports that I would never normally.

It was such an amazing feeling having such a big sporting event going on in our country so finally getting to go and watch an event live was incredible. The atmosphere and support for Annie Last was off the scale but people were not just shouting for Annie they were just getting behind all the athletes.

Half the people probably had never seen a mountain bike race but the Olympic vibe had captured so many people, it was an experience I won’t forget. Annie rode with all she had and gave every person who went to support something to be very proud of, a great eighth place finish in her first Olympics.

Can’t wait to see her in Riobattling for medals.

Sunday was sadly not such a great day for Liam crashing and breaking his ankle, but I am sure he will have felt the support on his first lap and it will be enough to get him back on his bike and battling for the next time he can represent his country in front of a home crowd.

I guess the Commonwealth games in 2014 inGlasgowwill be another amazing stage for any British person to perform on. It was such an inspiring few weeks that just made my even more excited to be putting on my GB jersey in a few weeks at the World Championships !

From the Olympic Games to grassroots racing the following weekend it really was from one level to another but equally as exciting to see the future generations of Olympians. We hosted a local cross-country race and kids’ coaching day at home on the farm with around 50 8 to 18-year-olds trying out their skills and racing around the woods.

It was such a rewarding experience to see them just loving riding their bikes and racing each other and it was just that push I needed to dust off the cross-country bike. It had been long enough since the last race for me to forget how painful they are, so I was excited to take the start but I was going to have some stiff competition with National XC Junior Champion Beth Crumpton and ex World Cup racer Louise Robinson.

I was really surprised at how I felt having been riding Enduro and downhill for the last couple of months, but I felt strong and led from the start to take the win, with a little home advantage of the course helping me on my way. We had a good turn out for the rest of the races and it felt great to be able to put on an event like this and give something back to the sport. Thanks to everyone that came and helped and to Malvern Cyclesport club for running it.

The Osprey winnebago.

I guess my cross-country form at the race may have been helped by the 100 miles I did in the week leading up to the race across theSouth Downs Way. Osprey backpacks, one of my sponsors, had organised a competition for two lucky people to join me for the trip.

It was a great three days getting looked after by the guys at Osprey and also getting chance to try out the new 2013 bags which I really liked. There are new colours and some great new features which I am excited to be using later in the year in my Enduro races.

Liz and Richard, the competition winners, were great and we covered the ground pretty quickly taking in the beautiful scenery up the endless, long chalky climbs. We came away with a few stitches and a whole load of horrible blisters having been attacked by some local southern savaging hedgerow plant. We were otherwise unscathed and nothing that a quick dip at the finish in the lovelyEastbournesea would not heal. A great few days and yet another different type of riding I have squeezed in over the last two weeks.

Riding the South Downs with competition winners Liz and Richard.

Alongside some downhill runs at some local trails in preparation for the World’s it really has been a great few weeks of varied riding just complementing my year and my bigger focus with my riding. Riding bikes is just so much fun and not being restricted to just one discipline and type of terrain is so refreshing and fulfilling. Roll on the next few weeks, which will be downhill-focused leading up to the World Championships.

Downhill World Cup, Val d’Isere, July 29, 2012

With a solid six weeks of enduro racing done it was now time to take part in my second downhill World Cup race of the season in Val d’Isere, France. I had been keeping an eye on the World Cup series and had been really impressed with the girls. The standard of the girls really does seem to increase year on year and the top five have been pushing each other all season long.

Tracy takes the air at Val d’Isere. Sadly, a crash in qualifying put her out of contention.
Image: Hoshi Yoshida/www.whyex.com

I was pretty excited to get back on the downhill bike as I felt a lot more prepared for this World Cup than I did forFortWilliam! I had just spent six weeks racing down 20-minute tracks at the enduro races so I knew my upper body strength and downhill fitness would be good.

Val d’Isere was a new venue for the World Cup. Although it had been used for a couple of French nationals, it was not a permanent track and the grass had to be cut to reveal a vague goat track which was to be our race course. It was a pretty unique course with some flat drops and a lot of high speed, narrow traverses linked up by some awkward tight corners.

It definitely took me a while to get into the course and get used to my downhill bike again but I was enjoying it.

The Val d’Isere course featured a lot of fast traverses cut into the hillside.
Image: Hoshi Yoshida/www.whyex.com

I also took the opportunity to do a run with my career-long rival, Sabrina Jonnier. Only a few weeks ago Sabrina announced her retirement from World Cup Downhill racing and it was nice to ride with her at what would be her last World Cup race. I have had a great career racing with Sabrina and she has been a true champion of our sport and has pushed me all the way to every win I have had.

Sadly however, my second World Cup of the year did not go to plan as a crash in my qualification race left me with some very sore ribs and no place in the final.

I was disappointed not to make the final but I was really uncomfortable with my ribs, so trying to race at my best would have been impossible. I did take some satisfaction away in knowing that I was sixth at the first split before I crashed so I was still within shout of a podium finish.

Fortunately my ribs will heal and my fifth place atFortWilliamhas given me a place to ride at the World Championships in Leogang in September which will now be my focus for the next five weeks.

UK Gravity Enduro Series, Eastridge, August 4-5

Just before I could fully focus on the World Championships I had the fourth round of the UK Gravity Enduro race to contest. I was unable to ride all week because of my sore ribs, so I was not sure how I would fare trying to race. I managed to do the minimum of practice – just enough to learn the trails – and then just tried to rest as much as possible.

At Eastridge, Tracy got to fly down the same trails where she’d made her downhill début in 1994.
Image: Turnip Towers

Having been racing out in Europe for six weeks I really did think it would be a massive let down coming back to racing in the UK on such short tracks with no chairlifts, but I am pleased to say I really enjoyed the weekend.

Flying through the woods at Eastridge.

Eastridge was also a great place to return to, as I have so many great memories from racing my first ever National Champs there back in 1994! It was a great trip down memory lane to ride those trails again on bikes with so much more travel! Once again there was a great turnout for enduro racing and it’s exciting to see the enthusiasm for these races.

There were five stages spread out throughout the forest and the time schedule set out by organiser Steve Parr meant that on race day we all had our work cut out to make the transition between stages on time. A couple of them were pretty tight and it really did not give you much time to recover between stages, so fitness would be important for this race.

The on and off showers over the weekend had just damped the scattered rocks in the soil at Eastridge and I felt very out of control all day just sliding on the surface of the trails.

I managed to make very few major mistakes, made all the transitions on time and had no mechanical issues over the three hours out on the trails, so a successful day at an enduro race! I finished with a time of 15 minutes 15 seconds for my six timed stages, good enough to take the win by 55 seconds ahead of Helen Gaskell, Sarah Newman and Aimee Dix who were all within a few seconds of each other. It’s now given me the series lead with just one round to go in September.