Words: Ali Todd

Photo: Andy Lloyd

Evolution is a simple concept. Things develop for better and for worse, and eventually the least advanced die out, disadvantaged by comparison to their opposable-thumbed counterparts. Simple potted explanation of natural progress.

Banshee’s new Rune caters for 26 or 650b wheels, but let’s not even go down the wheel size debate route… Headsets, chainguides, BBs, steerer tubes. The industry likes to faff with new ‘standards’, or does it?

The same principle applies in economics – unless held up by a subsidy, a substandard product is overshadowed by the better one, and is pushed out of the market because no one buys it. The bloodline dries up. It withers. It dies. Seen no more. Only the best survives.

So why am I sitting here, surrounded by bikes with so many different variations of the same component? Why has this whittling of the supply not happened? Why, when buying a headset, do I feel I need to employ half of Bletchley Park’s crack team? And why do we need all these different variations of an apparently simple product?

Negative Ali Todd: Pointless

S.H.I.S, before you thing I’ve just mis-spelt a very similar word while leaving caps-lock on, is the Standard Headset Identification System. The world of S.H.I.S is a very confusing one, where new “standards” breed like little rabbits. They all have their codes or names, and they serve seemingly just to make life miserable. Ed H (Technical Editor over at Dirt Mag and former mechanic for the Atherton family) tried counting all the different headset standards that have been invented since the introduction of the mountain bike, and got so angry that he had to stop by 25. Yes, 25. And most of those are still in use.

If all these standards came about because of major innovations, offering more stiffness, better functionality, less weight, more compatibility etc., then I could accept it. The painful truth, though, is that a lot of them are within a few mm of each other. So why?! A lot of the more sceptical forum commentators suggest it’s a scam to make us spend more money on new things as our beloved standards, but in truth, it isn’t. It’s because the manufacturers have yet to get together and decide on a handful of sizes, and are instead producing in an unsynchronised way.

Let’s not get stuck on headsets though. Bottom brackets are another version of the same trouble – BB30, 92, 83, 86, and then square taper, octalink, ISIS… And chainguide mounts are pretty bad too. The ISCG mount changes are problematic.

Right up to date, we’re currently on handlebars. 35mm bars are the new thing..

Positive Ali Todd: Let’s not get too wound up

So manufacturers don’t change things without reason. The huge amount of standards we have is a mark of the trail of progress – a relic or monument to the evolution of the bike. Things get wider, stiffer and stronger – like handlebars, or wheels. If we stopped new standards entirely, stupid or not, we wouldn’t move forwards. And if there’s one thing we mountain bikers love, it’s something new and shiny.

Some ideas, like zero stack headsets, are great – they let us run longer forks without having the bars up at chopper height. Clever stuff.

So…?

I’m a sucker for “progress”. I love the marketing buzzwords, and there are few novel ideas I won’t consider carefully. Yet even to my mind the sheer scale of standards in use seems amazing. Can we get all the manufacturers together and agree on a few real “standards” please? Say, three sizes of BB, a few different headsets, and only one chainguide mount… Or is it just me?

Let me know what you think in the comments box below.

Kona’s Al Stock taking some time out at an Italian Super Enduro race in 2012.

1: What motivates you to train?

When you’re laying everything on the line to find hundredths of a second between some trees whilst too tired to make it up the next hill it’s all great fun…until you get stuck mid-pack in a race and you can’t thrash down the hills any more. Wide uphills are easy to pass on but skinny singletracks are near impossible when you’re trying to recover from the last sprint so that’s the kind of thing that motivates me to train. It’s your own fault when your fitness holds you back and now’s the time to get on it and train.

2: If you set yourself goals what are they?

My main training goal is to be consistent, enjoy it and not get bored with it, I find it easy to do too much at once so I try and stick to a structured program that keeps me entertained and guarantees progress. When it’s cold, the fire’s on and your mates are down the pub it can be hard to get out and train, I try and get excited about the stuff I want to do by changing things round whilst maintaining a similar output; I add stuff in like going in the sauna after the gym.

3: What gets you out on the bike in winter?

With XC the adverse weather conditions become natural and the snow’s always a good laugh but when you smoke the washing machine [translation: when you’re bored of using the washing machine multiple times daily] after just a few weeks it can be all about the cross training – hiking etc., it’s good to do something different anyway.

Racing in the 2012 Super Enduro series. Remaining motivated to ride and train during the winter is one of the factors that add up to turn a racer into a great racer.

4: Do you have a trainer, do you think it makes a difference and do you think general riders should employ one?

Last year I was training with Joe Rafferty and before that Charlie Evans, they have both helped me out no end and I learnt a lot from training with them. They help me work out the areas of my fitness that need attention and to realise where my strengths are. The main thing for me is having a structured plan to make sure I’m well rested for the races and training hard in between.

5: Anything you’re doing differently this winter? 

This winter for a change I’ve been riding DH on a Kona Entourage complete with a coil shock and sticky tyres; a bit more forgiving than my race bike. I also started XC running for the main base of my cardio work just to change things around a bit. Winter training can be a challenge but it is the foundation for the season so I try to always think about how it will make things more exciting during the season when I can push that bit harder towards the end of each race.

Bonus question: What races will we see you at this year?

This year I’m looking forward to racing in the Enduro World Series, the UK Gravity Series and the Megavalanche.

Thanks Al.

Place: San Remo
Country: Italy
Number of trails: 10+
Predominant riding style: Enduro and downhill
Level: Advanced

San Remo is a town on the Italian Riviera and home to some of Italy’s top enduro riders as well as some fantastic trails.

Riding high up above San Remo.
Photo © Andy Lloyd.

Less famous in terms of mountain biking than its counterpart two hours east along this well-known coastline, Finale Ligure, the town of San Remo is best known for its casino and the glamorous clientele that it attracts. In terms of cycling, most tourists only know the town for its prestigious Milan – San Remo road race.

Stretching up from the shores of the Mediterranean to a height of more than one thousand metres, the mountains, which in their lower reaches hold the bustling and often steep back-streets of San Remo, enter an all-together quieter stage once past the perilous and oh-so-very-Italian A10 motorway.

The climb up is lung busting at best but the rewards are worth the effort and within an hour you can be a million miles from the bustle and pace of the town and deep into forest, which clings to the steep sides.

The trails mostly traverse or plummet. That’s to say, this isn’t exactly a cross country riding paradise and you’ll definitely be wanting a bike of at least 140mm travel, a backpack with spares (rocks, stumps and more will be keen to grab at your bike at all times) and some knee pads.

Although the riding is tough – with rocks-a-plenty, drops and jumps – it is also plentiful and much frequented by not only the local riders but also numerous pro riders from all over Europe. These pros flock to the area for its tough, long and physically demanding climbs and descents, and to test products on trails that have the ability to beat up bikes of all kinds.

There are plenty of enduro style trails, which involve bobsled style runs through gulleys filled with rocks and slabs of rock, big exposed sections of tree roots and often sandy terrain.  Trails range from 5 to 15 minutes and several drop you right at the edge of town.

The most famous riding, which is high up in the hills, is at San Romolo – a small and pretty village. Hidden in the trees is a classic downhill track, which has hosted a who’s-who of downhill racing; Nicolas Vouilloz, Danny Hart and Fabien Barel amongst the famous names who have trained and tested here. Be warned though – this one is full-on!

Guiding in the area is more-or-less a must as there is no official trail map and most of the trails are fairly well hidden. Life Cycle Events provide a guiding service with their uplift days and are also very helpful in pointing any visitors in the right direction of the trails. Contact details are below.

Flights to Nice (France) are cheap and frequent, Easyjet fly up to four times per day from London airports. From Nice it’s less than an hour’s drive or a similar length train journey directly from the airport.

Villagio dei Fiori in San Remo is far enough away from the centre of town to be a pleasant retreat and the ‘posh’ campsite is hugely popular with travellers from all over Europe. There are camping pitches (albeit on hard ground), caravan and van pitches and small apartments to rent, all of which lie beneath a canopy of Eucalyptus trees and back directly onto the Mediterranean sea.

Life Cycle Events do not run package trips but they work closely with Villagio dei Fiori and are friendly local Italians who run an uplift and guiding service. These guys often host top riders from France and Italy so if you’re lucky you could be riding with a World Champion too! The company is headed by Manuel Ducci who lives in the centre of San Remo and is one of Italy’s top enduro racers, as well as being a very nice guy and proficient in English.

To book uplift and for help securing accommodation, contact Manuel Ducci of Life Cycle Events on info@life-cycle.eu

Words: Ali Todd
Photo: Andy Lloyd

As I settle down to write some more contentious material (or at least try) from my desk in Bike Magic Towers, all I can see outside is snow. White, cold stuff, about four inches deep, covering everything but the tarmac (only because Big Jim came down with his plough this morning). It’s pretty, but riding in it loses its novelty after an hour or two. Even with spiked mud tyres (Specialized Storms, before you ask) the corners get somewhat lairy, and my mind floats to a different place. A warmer place. A place with dusty trails, a sunny horizon, winding trails through amazing landscape.

OK, it can rain a lot in Britain, but at least the trails aren’t under snow for entire months at a time. And isn’t it great that you could ride a trail centre one day and something like this (in the north of Scotland) the next. But hang on, I could be riding in perma-sun on great trails elsewhere instead. Which is best?
Photo by Andy Lloyd, featured rider Andy McKenna.

It seems a bit too good to be true, looking out of the window. But where, exactly? It’s not quite clear. It’s a bit like Spain, I suppose… Malaga? Maybe New Zealand… I’ll have a think. Back in ten minutes. Where exactly is that riding heaven?

So I’ve been for a spin on the bike, just down to the river and back – usually a good plan when you’ve got a blocked mind. It all came clear as I two-wheel-drifted round a corner with a scared expression on my face – it’s not New Zealand, and it’s not Spain. Much closer. It’s the UK. Give it three or four months, and my riding heaven will be back in view, and I’ll be out there every day.

Is Britain THE perfect riding spot then?

Huge amounts of trails

We may not have the big, mountainous landscapes of France and Italy, but we’ve made up for it with covering what we do have with trails. Centres are everywhere, and seem to be growing exponentially. I know we’re spoilt here in south Wales, but it’s the same story the whole country over. And even if it isn’t, secret tracks live in abundance…

Amazing terrain

So it might not all look like Whistler or Morzine, but the UK hills are more than enough. They’re not all so big that you have to spend the whole day climbing so you end up doing the fun bit in the dark. The soil varies almost by postcode, so there’s a great mix of clay-based trails, rocky challenges, conifer woods… A bit of everything, really.

Weather

We hate it. We moan when it’s hot, we moan when it’s cold, we moan when it rains, and we moan when it snows. In reality, though, the climate over here isn’t at all bad for riding bikes. We don’t have many extremes – it fluctuates around the comfortable temperature mark with a bit of a watering for the trails occasionally, just to keep them healthy. Compare this to Canada, which is snowed under for entire months of the year, and we get a lot more riding time.

And leading on from that, the mud!

I often wonder why there are so many Brits dominating the mountain bike race scene. One answer comes to mind though – we have mud. Nothing teaches you to ride better than going into steep, rooty sections when you have to get loose to get through alive. A good set of mud tyres and a decent jacket and you’re off. Bike control is learned in abundance. Compare this to the guys from Austrailia, California, Spain… And when they meet Champery’s famously steep track when it’s been bucketing with rain, The Fear appears. Embrace the mud, and the UK quickly becomes an amazing location.

The weather, part II

I can’t deny that my enthusiasm to ride can go down when it’s soaking outside. Add a bit of cold and a bit of wind, and only getting a new bike will force me out of the door [Bike Magic note: is he showing off about how many new bikes he gets?]. It’s hard, and sometimes I look at the calendar and consider a trip to New Zealand in November.

It’s not the Alps

The standard pilgrimage of UK riders in the summer months, the Alps have it all. Huge, brake-melting descents, amazing climbs… Chairlifts, entire mountain bike resorts… And neither is the UK any sort of Whistler. No bike-parks the size of a city, no chairlifts (apart from Fort William). There is some mind-blowing riding to be had abroad, and it just isn’t available here.

The mud, part II

So it makes you a better rider. But it also gets everywhere – in your clothes, your eyes, your shoes, the little spaces in your bike… and into your suspension. The seals aren’t perfect, and a lot of suspension is produced in places that see far less rain than we do, meaning their seals only have to stand up to a bit of dust. And then it’s a very expensive servicing session. Full-on UK slop grinds paint off, wears stanchions, and even the rider. I find that the soft sandstone that covers 99% of surfaced trail-centre trails gets in my eyes unless I wear glasses, and refuses to come out for at least two days… Not so good.

Perhaps I should move to the south of Spain after all?

Here’s where I nail my colours to the mast of the Friday Debate ship, and say I reckon we’ve got all we can use, and more, right on our doorsteps. I’m not saying I won’t spend some money kitting a van out and wandering onto the continent for some summer sun and some amazing riding this summer, but I know that I shouldn’t need to. The Alps have some killer descents, but the best places (like Morgins, on the French-Swiss border) are only open for three months a year. Whistler, described by Dirt Magazine’s bike tester Steve Jones as “a bit soul-less and plastic” has some incredible riding out of the bike-park, but how much does it cost to go and ride there?! I’d buy a bike with that kind of money!

If I’m really honest, I know I’ll always come back to the secret trails around here (Monmouthshire) with their loose corners and natural sections and breathe a sigh of happiness. It’s two minutes from the door, and I kick myself every time I miss an opportunity to ride it. The UK? We don’t know how good we’ve got it.*

A for Air. Photo from the Mountain Bike Skills Manual, location Les Arcs, France.

Take it away Clive:

A TO Z OF MOUNTAIN BIKING SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES PART 1

Words: Clive Forth
All photos: http://www.frazerwaller.com/

Welcome to the first instalment of the A to Z of mountain biking skills and techniques. I’m going to take you from A to Z looking at skills on and off the bike. We will also look at mountain bike vocabulary, common slang and biking language.

A is for….

Air:  also referred to as “air time”. To take air involves jumping the bike so as there is “air space” between bike and the trail. We will cover catching air in J for jumping later in the series.

Air Pressure:  shock absorbers and tyres are important components on our bikes; by fine-tuning the air pressure we can increase the performance of our machines. From absorbing hits from the trail to increasing grip in the corners, under braking and while accelerating, keep an eye on air pressure and experiment with different settings. There will be more details on both tyres and shock absorbers later in the series, I will also discuss some points in “B” for Bike Set Up.

Anxiety: Roots are a common problem for riders and can cause you to tense up and slide out, stay relaxed and look for the grip between them.

Today’s key word for discussion is Anxiety, an inhibiting factor that stops many riders achieving their true trail potential.

anxiety |a ng ˈzī-itē|

noun ( pl. -ties)

A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome: he felt a surge of anxiety | anxieties about the moral decline of today’s youth.

• [ with infinitive ] desire to do something, typically accompanied by unease : the housekeeper’s eager anxiety to please.

• Psychiatry a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behaviour or panic attacks.

ORIGIN early 16th cent.: from French anxiété or Latin anxietas, from anxius (see anxious ).

My skills sessions usually follow a similar pattern, I meet my clients for a morning coffee where we sit and take care of the formalities, this gives me a chance to get to know them better, discuss past riding experiences and for those I’ve seen before check up on progress. The meet and greet banter is not just about downing some caffeine and having a chat, there is a deeper meaning to my schedule, the ice breaking tea and coffee gives them a chance to relax while I peer into their sub conscious riding mind set.

All of us have had a near miss or off at some point, this is a common theme in why people go to see skills instructors. The icebreaker meet and greet also helps to ease them into the day, they may have had a long drive or been in a rush to get ready, others are slightly apprehensive about what they are in for.

All of us have had a near miss or off at some point, this is a common theme in why people go to see skills instructors.

To ride efficiently and be in control you need to a have a calm mind, my good friend and fellow instructor Ian Warby calls it “still mind, dancing body”.

If you’re wired up in a similar way to myself then you will be looking for an improvement on the bike one way or another, whether it’s getting fitter, riding smoother or mastering a new skill, many of us strive for improvement, a large factor for the growth of Apps like Strava.

When it comes to skills anxiety, our mental state play a huge roll in our ability to progress.

Have you ever asked yourself any or all of the following?

Why do I freak out at a certain sections of trail?

Why can’t I ride that line?

Why am I afraid of getting air?

Why does that drop-off faze me?

What causes us to crash?

Typically the main reason for the above is your not calm, the mind is an amazing tool and can throw up some very interesting scenarios just when you least need it. If your mind goes haywire and neglects to focus on the task in hand then a successful outcome is less likely. Full concentration and commitment is required to ride technical terrain, if you are anxious for some reason and not relaxed you naturally tense up, this is a problem!

We are capable of riding the most technical features so long as we are supple and relaxed, quite often the bike will do its bit below you and you’ll sail out the other side, remember your limbs are suspension and need to respond to the trail input (that’s the hits and slips coming from below).

Full concentration and commitment is required to ride technical terrain, if you are anxious for some reason and not relaxed you naturally tense up, this is a problem!

A lot of people think that they are riding the trail and this is where the problem starts, in actual fact you are riding the bike and the bike is riding the trail. By doing Ian’s funky dance you manoeuvre the bike through the terrain, placing it just where you want it. The bike rides the trail below the tyre. Confidence is everything, if you lack this then you will be tense and every lump and bump the bike is taking you will feel.

By learning the core skills and techniques in a safe environment and in a progressive manner you build muscle memory so the body responds instinctively, this gives you confidence, the confidence will allow you to commit to technical trail features without hesitation. Remember even the professionals get it wrong from time to time; mentally reward yourself for recovery moves and don’t beat yourself up for bailing out and getting it wrong (the ground does a good enough job of that).

Remember, practice makes permanent no one is perfect.

Armchair training: Clive takes a break in his 50 Great British Trail ride project.

A is also for…

Arm pump:  when the muscles are used repeatedly through movement or vibration.

This typically occurs in long rough downhills where high frequency bumps exist.

The muscle burns up all the available oxygen, the ability to remove (flush) lactic acid from the muscle is inhibited and the muscle becomes pumped up and tense. The muscle is basically swollen and movement of the attached limbs becomes reduced while a burning sensation is felt. Solutions to this below in armchair training.

Armchair training:  we can make improvement to our riding without even getting off our butts, from arm workouts, ankle rotations, breathing exercises, playing computer games and stretching it is possible to improve your performance on the bike. You may have a desk job or just loath riding in bad weather! Think about your posture when sat and use various aids like powerballs and Chinese Baoding Iron Balls to help reduce arm pump.

Clive’s book, The Mountain Bike Skills Manual, is available on Amazon and all major book stores, an in depth look into mountain biking.

Clive’s website: www.mtbskills.co.uk

Place: Molini di Triora
Country: Italy
Number of trails: 10+
Predominant riding style: All-mountain/enduro
Level: Intermediate and above

Molini di Triora is a small mountain town only 20kilometres inland from the Italian coastline (the Riviera), but a million miles apart in terms of culture, one of the two main reasons for its popularity among British mountain bikers. The other being the stupendously good trails.

It’s a stunning area and the town of Molini is surrounded by forest-clad peaks.

Famed for its witches, this should give some insight to the town’s deep-rooted history and quirky appeal. People are happy and friendly and life is slow and enjoyable. Food is sublime, cheap and plentiful. Sunshine is abundant in all but the deepest winter months and in summer the many rock pools in the gently flowing river that dissects the valley are enjoyed at all times of day by locals and tourists alike.

The Santo Spirito hotel in Molini is worth a stay for its intriguing past and welcoming hosts alone. Most mountain bike visitors stay here.

‘Quaint’ villages are abundant in the area around Molini, which sits in the Argentina valley.
Photo: Steve Jones

Aside from the beauty and history of the place, the main draw and the reason that so many Brits flock to Molini is for the flowy and fun trails, many of which are hidden from the fierce summer sunshine as they lurk beneath the forest canopy.

For many centuries the area was mainly accessed on foot, and thankfully so as this fact alone has left numerous long and spectacular flowing rides through the trees that end in or near the town. However, there are some trails that have been cut-in by local riders and all the trails have an annual make-over thanks to the work of Adrian Nash and his team from the tour operator, Rivierabike.

Climbs are mostly on sealed roads or taken care of by shuttle services included in package holiday deals and for the most part drop you directly at the trail-head; the riding around town is of an up-then-down nature. Corners are perfectly cambered, rocks litter the trails (but are mostly weathered enough so as not to cause too much of a problem) and the naturally rolling nature of the hills here gives the trails a flow unlike anywhere else in Europe.

The area is best suited to intermediates and above as trails mostly encounter rock sections, small drops and switch-backs.

Easyjet fly regularly from airports across the UK direct to Nice in France. From Nice, transfer times are around one and a half hours.

Adrian Nash runs Rivierabike in Molini di Triora, organising package deals that take in the trails around town and the surrounding mountains and starting at €535.00 for a long weekend.

For more information visit www.rivierabike.co.uk

This insight into her training ‘regime’ throughout her career is not only an interesting read but also one sure-fire way to kick-start your own training schedule – which, if you are akin to 99% of other people, most probably ‘dropped off’ ever-so-slightly roughly one week into 2013…

TRAINING THROUGHOUT MY CAREER

Words: Tracy Moseley

January is always the time of year when we set our New Year’s resolutions and on a sporting level our training plans often become a priority as that first event we have planned to do is now only a few months or even weeks away. Many of my friends and family are still amazed that I have the motivation to keep racing and training year after year, winter after winter. I think if I look back over the last 18 years of my racing career every winter’s training has been slightly different and I think that has kept my motivation and interest high.

Back in 1996, when I first started racing, I was just a kid who loved sport; playing netball and hockey at school and helping out on the farm. I used to ride my bike at races at the weekend and not touch it during the week. There was definitely no training plan back then I just did whatever I felt like.

Tracy’s first ever World Cup DH race. She has climbed to, and remained at, the top of the sport and her endless motivation is helped by a steady training regime.
Photo by John Gibson.

Anyone who watched me at a race used to say the same thing, “why didn’t you pedal in that section?” or “you could have gone so much faster if you had pedalled”. I really didn’t like pedalling. I was a chubby kid and used to get dragged out on XC rides by my brother, always at the back of the group, suffering from start to finish. Back then I was lucky to get a little support from British Cycling and Sue Cook was given the task of trying to help the juniors with some training ideas… I was not great at sticking to the plan and I used to get taken out on some XC rides around Sheffield when I was at university and again my memories are just hours of suffering! Looking back now I was in Sheffield with amazing terrain on my doorstep but I just didn’t make the most of it.

Once I finished Uni and starting racing full time on the World Cup circuit I really had no excuses. I did spend loads more time riding my bikes; endless days at the dirt jumps and a little more XC riding. I had some help with my training and planning from a friend, Adrienne Sidford, who was an XC racer and coach. She helped me loads with setting goals, how to keep focus and the psychology of racing. She tried getting me to keep a training diary and work on my fitness but I couldn’t stick to a plan as all I wanted to do was just play on my bike!

In 2003 I spent a lot of time in the US racing and travelling with Tara Llanes and Lisa Sher, two of the best American downhillers at that time, and I got to see how they trained. I had the chance to go to one of Lisa’s gym sessions and wow;I could barely walk for a week afterwards! It really opened my eyes to what these girls were doing and how structured their training was. I was still able to compete against them and often would beat them at races that year, but it made me think, just imagine if I was that fit, how much faster could I be? I think that was the turning point for me as I realized I needed to up my level of training and start to think about my fitness.

Broadening horizons and racing in World Cup XC events.
Photo by Rocky Roads.

I started working with Brian Philpotts; one of the PT instructors at my local gym. He got me doing loads of balance, strength and proprioception work to incorporate my core strength and flexibility and try to apply it directly to the demands of DH racing. I really enjoyed the training, it was interactive and every session was different. Up until about 2007 I worked with Brian and spent hours in the gym and just added some time on the XC bike around the gym work. I definitely got stronger and 2006 was a stand out year for me winning the first 3 world cups. I went on to win the overall series.

Since then I have tried a few different things. One year I did a winter of loads of weights work in the gym and interval based work on the bike. I was definitely stronger but I think the extra muscle bulk didn’t help me. I still got arm pump and I was just too heavy to be quick on my bike.

In 2008/2009 Helen Mortimer (ex-DH racer working for British Cycling) helped get some support from British Cycling for a few of the top DH riders. I learnt a lot from having chance to meet the physios, nutritionists and sport psychologists. I decided I needed to lose weight and spend more time on my bike and also to ride DH more often to build up the strength that way.

‘Cross’ training. Get it?
Photo by James Richards.

Helen offered to help with my training and it was the first time I really had a proper training plan that I followed. I was also enjoying my XC riding more and more and starting to see the benefits of the training and my body shape change, which gave me the motivation to do more. I started to just take every aspect of my exercise more seriously and the one thing Helen really highlighted to me was the need for “rest”. Rest was something I was terrible at doing, I have always been such an active person so sitting doing nothing was hard!

After winning the World Championships in 2010, I had achieved my lifelong goal and I was ready for a change and some new incentives. Most of them were endurance based challenges, the first one being the Cape Epic, then an XC World Cup and following that I was a team relay member at the World Champs in 2011.

All these things helped steer my career in the direction it is heading now – towards a year of enduro racing. My training is now so much more focused on cross country and endurance than it ever has been and I now have the dedication to stick to the plan. I will sit for hours on end on the turbo trainer happily knowing that it will all make me fitter for this summer and help to achieve the goals I have set myself.

Enduro racing is where this has all come to – Tracy’s 2013 will be focused on the discipline as will many other top athletes’.
Photo by Ian Linton.

It has been a long road to finally get to the place where I really feel like I am training properly but I think the gradual progress is the reason I am still in the sport and still loving it.  Thanks to everyone who has helped and given me advice along the way. If I had been forced into a structure too soon, yes I may have been more successful earlier in my career but I may not be still riding my bike now and loving it more than ever.

Happy training!

Nick rides all sorts of bikes – his constantly changing/breaking line-up can include anything from rickety 90′s Specialized rigids, to trail bikes, to full-blown downhill sleds. In more recent times though his interests have been in adventuring truly into the thick of it, that is, deep into the Alpine valleys and to inaccessible huts and lodges located as far from the beaten trail as is possible.

Nick will be telling us some of his tales, retrospective and current, in his new regular blog.

Nick Maher isn’t going to let a bit of snow get in the way of bike riding this winter. Why not follow his example and get out there this weekend.

First-up, a motivational snow story for your weekend of powder riding:

Winter has arrived

Words: Nick Maher

People always say that (“winter has arrived”) at the first sign of any inclement weather any time after September, as if anything else was possible? Winter is inevitable. The bitter cold darkness sweeps across one half of the world at a time leaving vitamin D deficiency, heating bills, influenza and general grumpiness in its wake.

At my particular latitude winters can be exceptionally harsh. Up in the hills around these here parts we have metres of snow, bottomed out thermometers and frozen waterfalls.

Doing anything becomes a pain in the ass. You have to dig your car out and try to wake it from its frozen slumber before taking your life in your hands to battle other wayward vehicles just to get to get some milk for your muesli of a morning.

However none of this matters. As soon as the snow comes excitement starts to build as it means the ski season is upon us. Soon I’ll be making those turns that I’ll remember until the next winter, choking on powder and riding that buzz that only snowboarding can give you. My bike is sometimes totally forgotten, stripped down and packed away in the same spot the snowboard lurks all summer long waiting to be rebuilt through a hungover haze after the winter closing parties.

But this Autumn it was the hangover of an incredible summer that was still lingering. I could still taste the dust in my mouth while I picked at the last few scratches on my shins as the cluttered memories of roots and berms start to file themselves away in my head. My forearms and thighs still felt like they were fizzing from a days riding and it didn’t feel right to think about packing away the machine that gave me such good times.

I spent the last few months swapping out tyres and mudguards, battling the changing seasons and fighting that inevitability that it would soon come to an end and it would be time to embrace another love.

But why should this be? These bicycles are called mountain bikes and those things surrounding me are mountains. The MTB has another less used acronym: ATB. An All-Terrain-Bicycle.    So in theory, if does what says on the tin, if a spades a spade etcetera a bit of snow shouldn’t really bother my trusty steed.

So one day early in the season of snowfall a friend and I loaded the bikes on the rack as the first big dump arrived in the Alps and skated our way up the road, my little car scrabbling for grip, to the top of one of our favourite trails. My last time on a pushbike in the snow was at the Megavalanche in Alpe d’ Huez a good few years ago (barring a sorry and unsuccessful attempt at riding home from the pub in a blizzard). The half melted slushy rut-fest at the top of Pic Blanc near Samoens was a very different beast to the hub deep fresh powder we were eyeing as we did up our helmet straps. A tentative sortie around the car park proved that the tyres seemed up to the job although you didn’t want to be getting too aggro with them…

The trail opened with a minute long blast through a meadow.

More experimentation.

Tight turns, long turns, weight forwards, weight off the back, do the brakes do anything at all? And then like anything in mountain biking once you get your head around what you’re trying to do and find the particular chapter of physics that applies it soon clicks and the smile comes back to your face.

Soon the fingers were relaxing on the brake levers, the speed went up and I was taken aback by the amount of snow flying up in my face and ricocheting from my goggles. The capability of modern bike geometry and tyres still blows me away and the bike responds and carves a path through the powder, much less gracefully than ski’s but just as purposefully.

This was not a fish out of water, it didn’t feel out of place to be out in these conditions and neither of us fell once. It wasn’t a hardship or a failed mission, just a whole lot of fun, something new that delivered more than expected. *

We paused as the trail peeled into the woods and laughed at our yin-yang appearances, our riding kit completely white on our fronts with only the bright colours of our jackets showing on our backs.

We descended through the black and white of the forest with the occasional dab as an icy root sought to stop our fun, then as we passed through the snowline the surroundings became more familiar. The lines from the summer came back to the front of our minds as the ground went from white to the harsh orange of the autumn leaves below and finally to the dark mud and black roots as we rolled out of the forest and onto the road back in to town.

Pedalling back towards warmth and the promise of dry socks all I could feel was the urge to keep riding.

Mountain bikes truly are all-terrain and mine won’t be packed away at any timethis winter when there’s that much fun to be had.

*The only glitch we had was that the cassettes got too much snow packed into them a couple of times and the chain just span uselessly on the tops of the sprockets. A quick poke with a stick though and drive was restored.

The Mondraker Gravity Rally is on our list, but will you be there or elsewhere?

We chose the events that in our mind blended fun, competition and good organisation to the best level. That isn’t to say that there aren’t any, or many more events that come extremely close though.

We want to know – in the comments box below – what your own pick of events would be. Are you going to be the enduro king or do you simply fancy some mayhem on the mountain? Let us know below!

Ben Thomas and Tim Dunford have had a storming start to the year, both taking a place on the podium at the third round of the Merida Brass Monkeys race last weekend. But it wasn’t all plain sailing along the way… 

Off to a good start… But the race didn’t go entirely to plan.

Merida Brass Monkeys Round 3 Race Report

After months of preparation the Mountain Trax – Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team took to the start line for their first race on Sunday 13 January. Resplendent in their new Champion Systems kit the riders were keen to put on a good show and secure a solid result. Conditions were cold, especially in the wind which picked up mid race; ground conditions were largely dry allowing Ben and Tim to run dry weather Schwalbe tyres. A good turnout of riders, including the series leader, lined up at the start; with a good result Tim had the chance of winning the series, so securing this was the team’s aim for the day.

Off the start line Ben and Tim led the way up the climb out of the arena, around the start loop and into the first section of singletrack. By the end of the big descent on lap 1 Ben, Tim, and the series leader Al Fairbairn already had a small gap over the other 175 racers riding the 4 hour distance. The team were looking comfortable. However, as they entered the next singletrack section Tim clipped a tree stump sending him to the ground and badly winding him. Ben went back to check Tim was okay. After a few minutes Tim was back on his bike slowly turning the pedals; both riders had lost time and were back in around 20th place following the incident. It seemed as if Tim’s hopes of winning the series had ended and he sent Ben off to chase down the leaders.

Over the next lap and a half Ben had to overhaul a 3 minute deficit. However he never panicked and chipped away the minutes overtaking rider after rider. Once he’d reached the leader Ben composed himself taking on USN gels and energy drink readying himself for the second half of the 4 hour race. Tim had composed himself and was making his way back through the field, each lap taking a few more places. Tim reached 3rd place and it looked as if the chase was still on for 2nd place and the series title. Over the last couple of laps, however, Tim suffered from the early effort he’d had to make and the gap opened again to Al Fairbairn who finished 2nd, leaving Tim in 3rd as he crossed the finish line. Ben won with a comfortable lead taking the team’s first victory of 2013.

Ben Thomas is clearly on good form, having fought his way back to first from way back after attending to Tim following his crash.

The result left Tim with second place overall in the series and he was left to contemplate what might have been, “Sometimes things just don’t work out. I’d just finished a big block of training and despite a few days off, I still felt pretty tired and the pace on the first lap felt pretty uncomfortable as my team mate Ben glided along effortlessly! After about 20 minutes I began to feel better but then I clipped a big fallen log on the inside of the corner, landing elegantly face first. Being the loyal teammate Ben stopped but I persuaded him to go on without me, with a dramatic “leave me!” The great course and beautiful winter sunshine helped motivate me to keep pushing and I’m pretty pleased to have got up to third by the end. Sadly, there was no catching Al for the series win. But third place on the day and second overall is not a bad start to the year so hopefully that’s the bad luck out of the way.”

Ben was happy with how his form is coming along, “It’s still very early in the season but I felt great out there, really enjoying riding the fun trails they have at this venue. The new Scott bike certainly helped propel me to the win – thanks to Mountain Trax for helping me build the bike this week. Tim’s crash on the first lap certainly made the race a lot harder for both of us. It’s really rewarding to take the win and 3rd place despite all the time we lost early on.”

The Mountain Trax – Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team’s next race is the Gorrick Spring Series opener which will be the riders’ final race preparation before heading to Spain for the 6 day event Andalucia Bike Race.

A huge thank you to John from Vermont Images for his help, keeping us well fed and watered as always and to everyone at Mountain Trax and Vauxhall plus all our other sponsors for their very generous support.

More from the team here.