A New Project - Major Jake 2

Some time ago I wondered "out loud" on twitter about sourcing a spare bike for the next cross season. Ideally I was hoping to find another 2012 Kona Major Jake to partner The Existing Major. The problem with that idea, is, if you remember, that I got that bike at a reduced price due to it being the last in stock... rethink!!!

I then received a message from Helen Wyman saying that she might have one of her old frames available at the end of the season when they have a clear out.

Cut to a few weeks ago and Helen let me know that she did indeed have a 2013 Major Jake frame if I still wanted it. A very brief exchange of DMs ending with "well, that was easy" and the deal was done. Helen said she'd chucked a "few goodies" in with the frame when she posted it.

The plan is to build it up with :
FSA chainset, seatpost, bars and stem,
Shimano Ultegra (10s) shifters and mechs,
Avid Shorty Ultimate cantilever brakes. (all as per the current Major)
And using one of my existing set of CX wheels running Challenge Open Tubulars,


A note regarding sizing, the existing Major is a 59cm frame, though I am right at the bottom of the size range for that and had been considering going for a 56cm frame for the new one regardless of from where it was sourced. So they will look a slightly different next to each other.

The frame arrived yesterday and true to her word, Helen had chucked a few things in there. Primarily a set of TRP EuroX Magnessium brakes (definitely NOT standard fit equipment) and a Selle Italia SL saddle which is, in Helen's words "not the most comfortable but it just matches so perfectly ha ha" (it does).

2013 Major Jake Frame - Slightly Used

TRP EuroX Magnesium Brakes

One previous, careful, lady owner, only ridden at weekends*

The SL Saddle which matches really well.

My plan is to get the bike built up over the next month or so as I get the remaining parts, and to document it here.

I'm definitely leaving Helen's name on the frame, although, as I will be racing this Major, I need to work out where to put my name decals on there too (if that's not too presumptuous)

And Helen did include the following message in with the frame:

I definitely cannot guarantee the winning but I CAN guarantee the second part, I'm very privileged to have access to the bike and will be proud to race him come the new CX season.

Thank you, Helen.

*OK, when I tweeted the "one careful lady owner" comment, I did get some amused replies... Helen followed up with "It was one of 3 so could easily have been one not crashed! Equally it could have won Koppenberg too #winning"

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Coming Soon:

A proper update on my work situation.
An initial review of the SportCrafters Omnium Trainer (with a follow up later in the year).
A few other reviews and hopefully a brief report from stages 1 and 2 of the inaugural Friends Life Women's Tour

Panda
x

The only constant is change

Lots to report in the coming weeks.

Training , Some kit reviews, work news......

stuff....

Be back soon.

Great news for Women's Cyclocross

Now, I'm obviously biased when it comes to my favorite parts of cycle sport, and cyclocross has really moved up there in the last 2 years for me.

As I am, now, a semi regular racer in the discipline, I feel more and more enthused by what I'm seeing at the top and the grass roots of the sport (pun intended)

I'm also a fan, I love to watch the races either streamed from the UCI you tube channel or chasing streams from European broadcasters such as Vier and Sporza. It is great that the UCI World Cup races have the women's race streamed live in it's entirety. This alone is a big step forward in the promotion of women's CX and as it's also the playground of one Marianne Vos, arguably the greatest all round cyclist ever, male OR female, it's a great shop window for the sport. But it's not just about Vos, there is a strong field with riders from the US, the UK and continental Europe. We are seeing great performances from Katie Compton in the World Cup, Eva Lechner getting better and better, leading to second place in the world championships in Hoogerheide, and, with a bit of patriotic glee, the fact that the GB girls, primarily Helen Wyman, Nikki Harris and Gabby Day, are so good that we are the top ranked nation in the world for Women's CX.

All of this is great, even remembering that Helen and Nikki are two of this countries best sportswomen of which the majority of the population have never heard.

It can be better.... and it's getting better.

There are still things that could be so much better. The scheduling of the elite women's races, the treatment of the women's field at some races (no space for parking with the men, etc) and prize fund inequality being some of the key areas.

To this end, it was great to hear in November that the new UCI president, Brian Cookson, had followed up on his promise to include women on each main UCI commission and had appointed Helen Wyman to the CX commision. This is not to say that the commission was not already moving forward. Amongst the members is Geoff Proctor from the US who is instrumental in things like the Euro Cross Camp each year, where young riders, both male and female, are brought across from the US to gain valuable experience in european races during the busiest part of the CX calendar. This is great for the development of young women in the US cross scene.

It is worth noting that the US cross scene is leading the way in many of the areas already mentioned. Equal prize funds and treatment are already commonplace. CX may have it's history in Europe, but the Americans are really showing us a lot of the future of the sport.

It was great to hear Corey Green talking to my friend, Scott Dedenbach, on a recent Bike Shop Show podcast about the fact that the 3rd day of the Cincy3 day CX event next season would be the first "Americas" Continental championship, but for me, the news that they were planning a separate race for the U23 women was the most notable step.

But the final, and most important piece of news in the last week was the, much teased, announcement from Helen Wyman that the iconic KoppenbergCross event , a part of the Bpost Bank Trofee series, is going to have an equal prize fund for both the men's and women's races for the first time at a C1 european CX event. This is massive, and yes, I know it means we are lagging behind the 'mericans. But it shows we are catching up and it's NOT a "top down" thing. this came about with racers and organisers and sponsers simply talking about what could be done. and in the light of recent comments from some quarters of Belgian CX and the SuperPrestige series still refusing to actually have a final classification for the women, it's HUGE that this is a Belgian race, and an iconic one at that.

The full announcement is here on Helen's website. It is worth noting that the title sponsor of the new format event, Twenty20 cycling is a small US business with a couple of bike shops in Baltimore and Columbia,MD but with the commitment of Kris Auer in supporting local CX in Maryland and now sponsoring a Belgian race, it is clear that, once again, we can learn a lot about how CX CAN be from the Americans.

Helen has also given a great interview to Sarah Connolly from Podium Cafe on the background and significance of this announcement and her part in making this happen.

Click through to all the links in this, please, go and read all of the articles, listen to the podcast, support the people who are making the sport a better place for the women that are coming into the sport now. One of the things that I love about MY racing, is the junior and U23 women who I regularly race against, coming out week after week and giving their all in races in all weathers.... I'm a Veteran.. I'm just enjoying myself and my racing, but these girls are the future of the sport, and it is looking like a better and better future.

Postscript:
I also just want to thank Helen Wyman directly. When the announcement was being teased, Helen and Stef Wyman put the word out to podcasters, bloggers, journos, etc to pass details to get the news at the first opportunity. I asked lightly if my little blog counted and got the following response:

Helen Wyman ‏@CXHelen Feb 18

@swordpanda It counts. You counts. Its all important in my eyes. In many ways you are more important than the biggest sites.

This level of care about, and engagement with, the fans of the sport is just one reason why I'm confident about the future of women's CX and, with Stef Wyman and the Matrix Vulpine team, the future of women's cycle sport in general is in great, great hands.

The Planned Plan Update

A fair amount has happened since last we spoke about work.

Holdsworth Cycles has closed it's doors for the last time, and I've moved on. Thankfully, I had already negotiated a new role before the closure announcement so, for those of you who haven't added 2 and 2 together, I'm now working full time as the lead instructor at Cycle Systems Academy. I started in October and have been very busy since. I'm in the middle of teaching my second Level 2 course and have co-led a Level 3 course last year. We also took 6 weeks out to work on a photoshoot to support the new tutorials that we are planning to go online. The pictures, taken by Richard Olivier  are really rather impressive, and it was a pleasure to have some creative input on the shoot. We seemed to work pretty well together.. A tiny bit of Richard's talent must have rubbed off as I spent a bit of time over the Christmas break playing with my own DSLR.. the results follow...( I know, you've seen a couple of these before)

 

I'm enjoying teaching and getting really good feedback from the students so far. There are more tutorial ideas planned in future and I think it's a really interesting time to be a full time part of the CSA family. Sean Lally (boss) and John Galloway are relaunching the Velocast Tech podcast in Feb as the "Cycle Systems Academy" podcast, with the first one being a discussion about Sean's visit to Mallorca to see the Team Sky training camp. (It's worth a look back at the @cyclesystemsAC twitter feed to see his pictures) .

I was also invited to do a spot at a Women's evening at the Specialized Concept Store in Ruislip, the guys at the shop were great, the evening was a success and I really enjoyed chatting to women of all cycling experience levels that night. It would be nice to do this again. Thanks to Paul and the team at the store for a great night.

I'm waiting to see if I am doing any formal support slots for riders this year, but I'm keen to keep doing this and, if nothing else, P is talking about us doing another "bigger" ride. So, I'll be crew for that (and rider)

The Cross season is over for me now, but I'm still getting out on the CX bike most weekends and working on my skills. I have a long way to go.. but I'm enjoying the ride. As you can see in the pictures above, I've fitted both the Major and P's CX bikes with Challenge Grifo Open Tubular tyres. The first mud tests were very promising and I am really impressed with them so far..more to follow.

I'm hoping to be slightly more timely with blog updates (no promises) and I'm also hoping to get some more items recorded for the Bike Shop Show podcast too.

I'm busy, it's mostly about the bikes, and this is a good thing..

Panda

Races 3 and 4 - my CX adventure continues (SEASON REPORT)

I am way behind on updating you all on a few things, so let us start with my continuing adventures in cyclocross

====================

My 3rd race in the Wessex League was the North Hants Club CX at Basingstoke on the 27th October. It was cold and windy but the rain had held off. The circuit itself has a few distinct sections. the start and finish are around the playing fields and "clubhouse" thing in a park, this loops around and then through half of the BMX park (note to self, need to work on pump track training) and then into the woods behind to loop all the way around. The park section- wet grass, BMX track... hardpack with mud at corners and the woods... mostly very wet,slippy mud.

On my 1st recce lap, I was doing OK working out the lines etc until I came to the main obstacle. At the back of the playing field is a big bank, we ride along the top of it... to get there, we ride straight up it and the "ride up" is not even.. lots of chunks out of it. As this was a recce, I could pick my line, attacked into the bottom, got within about a foot of the top and lost speed. As my weight shifted, the front wheel lifted and... Sky/ground/sky/ground/sky/ground/Thud.. All the way back to the bottom, still with my right foot clipped in.. I was a little shaken, but actually, surprisingly OK. I checked the Major out and we resolved that, in the race, we'd run that bit.

I did one more, faster, recce as a warm up (running the hill) and it was time for the off. I got my customary start (not particularly quick) but made up a few spots with good line choices through the switchbacks in the "orchard".. This put me well placed amongst the girls with whom I usually race. The race itself wasn't great.. on the run back from the "start line" we were into the wind and I just didn't have the power. I was also pretty tentative on the wet mud and a couple of off camber drops. I had a good phase in the middle racing directly with one of the Cotswold Veldrijden girls but after a while, couldn't hold her wheel and dropped back. On the second to last lap things were "enlivened" by finding a 5 yr old kid standing mid track as I entered the BMX park section (I may have shouted VERY loudly at this point) and on the last lap, I decided to see if I could "get air" on the first lump in the BMX track (achievement unlocked) .. other than that.. not a great day out, I felt that I got slower and slower. Final position (after a bit of a kerfuffle with results) was 11th out of the 12 women riding. (Season so far 7th, 11th, 11th)

This race also saw the enacting of a pact with a Twitter friend of mine @AccidentoBizarro who is in her 2nd CX season, that we would heckle each other as we were both racing at the same time (at two completely separate venues).. I have started shouting "COME ON AB" in other races/training rides since... pointless really, but it seems to help..

and onwards (I'd put the kettle on and grab a cuppa about now) to my last race of 2013 (and my CX season) at Thruxton on the 24th November.

A grassy hill on the side of the race circuit... a veritable maze of yellow and black tape with switchbacks a plenty and up and down and up and down the bank...  a recce ride showed that there was basically about 20 seconds of "recovery" along the top bank in the whole lap... lots of slippy and steep little climbs and some seriously off camber bits. Oh, and a lot of climbs came after switchbacks to kill any speed..

On the whole, I wasn't mad on the course, but it was sheltered, and dry and the surface wasn't too bad.

Just before the race, I met up with another Twitter chum chap, @ChrisBurch but only just enough to say HI and then dash off to the finish, he takes photographs (Foreshadowing)

At the start the commisaires delighted in gridding almost the entire field so I was even closer to the back than usual (saves time) and off we set... full gas.. downhill... max HR... push... up the other side... pushing... switchback...down, up... damn... legs got nothing.. slowing... argh... *looks down*... *notices that stupid panda may have forgot to change OUT of the big ring after the start* .. *changes down* ...and off we go again...ooops... this cost me a few places...but when I got going, I actually had some speed.. I chased down the first women ahead and got past her on a descent (I'd followed one of the seniors down this in the recce and learned where he was braking..it was MUCH later than I would normally, but damn, did it help) and set about the next girl up the circuit..caught and passed her and pushed on  ("COME ON AB"). other than a few slips on the off camber bits and having to run a few of the "ups" as the grass cut up, I was actually going quite quickly (for me) I crossed the line on the bell lap and P shouted a gap to the next rider, a chap , up ahead... 20 seconds... I closed this in a third of the lap, sat behind then passed him, only to get balked unintentionally on one of the final ramps and he edged away, but I think I'd basically used up everything by this point and could not eat into the gap again... It was only as I got close to the finish that I realised that I hadn't been lapped by any of the women yet... and...then the lead woman rider swept past to lap me... as did 2nd place but only as we were crossing the line (I even pulled out a half decent sprint).. That race actually *whispers* felt good !!! Final position....... 6th ! my best result yet , and my strongest race (with no mechanical issues and I didn't even fall over on the recce)

There might be something in this CX lark....

Oh, and in case you needed proof... here are a few of Chris's photos from the day (thanks, Chris)

A Panda, racing (and almost looking like she knows how)

The barriers, Yes, I run them, No , I don't bunny hop (would end badly)

Action shot... (note how short straight bit is since previous corner)

Bell Lap - Eyes on the target ahead (Note: Niels Albert style zip position)

Oh, and the Major? he's brilliant.. it IS all about the bike, y'know... that bike is waaay better at CX than I am.. so much so, I've bought him some Challenge Grifos for Christmas. Well he HAS been good.

I took these yesterday, I rather like them

Final Season Report  -  4 races , no DNFs , results 7th, 11th, 11th, 6th...

I'm quite proud of that for my first "season" of CX

Panda Note:
I didn't affiliate to the league, had I done so and scored points accordingly, I've just looked at the British Cycling national rankings... and it would have placed me joint 117th in the country..... which is only 116 places behind 7 times British Champion and reigning double European champion, the brilliant, Helen Wyman.

So that's not too shabby really.

MORE TO COME... (yes, I know I was going to tell you about my job, but your tea has gone cold...off you go)

A Second Race and a New Bike

Having survived and really rather enjoyed my first foray in to competitive cyclo-cross, I've been missing the races due to work or family commitments for a few weeks.

I've spoken to a lot of people about the race (including another appearance on the Bike Shop Show podcast, seriously, if you are not already listening to this, then go ... now... download... ) It was lovely to be featured in a CX exclusive edition, but sad that this included the news of the tragic death of US CX rider Amy Dombroski whilst out on a training ride.

Among those to whom I spoke was the ever helpful and brilliant Helen Wyman, Current European and multiple British CX champ, who mentioned to someone via Twitter that the bike she raced up till this season, the 2012 version of the Kona Major Jake, was seriously reduced at a particular online retailer. The Major Jake is a full carbon, Shimano Ultegra equipped, serious bit of kit. If I sold my current Cube Cross Race, it was actually rather affordable (£3k worth of bike for half price).... DONE....

The bike arrived last Friday (not cutting it fine for a Saturday race, no, not me) and I stripped and rebuilt it, then took it for a rather wet shakedown ride round the local area. It handled really well, very responsive to both steering and power input. The brakes (Avid Shorty Ultimates) were configured in the "wide" (mud clearing) mode on the front, so on Friday night (not too late, remember) I rebuilt them in the "narrow" (power) mode to improve the front end braking performance.

Fresh out of the box

Built (factory spec)

And Rebuilt (Panda spec, black tape, Selle Italia Diva Saddle) (note: this was before rebuilding front brake assy)

The race was on the Saturday, at Newbury showground. we arrived nice and early, I took the Cube as well as the new bike (henceforth : The Major) to allow for any mechanical problems, it was nice, if only this once, to have a full spare bike for a race, it makes you feel professional (small P) , a feeling that was going to quickly disappear.

Spare bike and Race bike, ready to be loaded on the car.

I went for a recce lap and the start felt great. Tarmac in to flat fast grass section on the end of the showground, into a gentle climb along a wooded path and a couple of sharp turns.. onto the 4X4 proving track ... rutted, sandy, steep and slippy.. I didn't attack the first ramp, so had to walk up it.. then gingerly roll down the other side..confidence -1, middle of the lap was OK apart from a bit of confusion as to where the Youth track and our track split, but resolved quickly enough, then into the return section.. narrow, twisty and rutted (back on the 4X4 track again) and I wasn't confident turning into a couple of sections which ended with the bike going over (front end tuck) and smacking my ankle on the chain set as I landed ... Confidence -5... remount and pick my way back to P, who was acting as Swanny once more (he's invaluable really)

I felt rubbish, the bike was pretty good (needed to tweak a couple of things, including headset spacing, so really glad I'd taken the Cube as I just swiped a 5mm spacer from that bike) but I wasn't..not a good start to the second race.

I had some food, and warmed up on the turbo, then rolled down to the start. we gridded up and the whistle blew... Race 2 .... GO!

I got a reasonable start and pushed hard on the fast flat section, only to get caught behind a couple of crashes going into the woodland and over that first ramp...damn... into the ruts and another crash in front... then someone stopped on a ramp right in front of me, swerving to avoid without falling. but I had to stop..I'm pretty much at the back of the field now (not good) but with space to ride (bonus) and put in a good push to catch a couple of guys before the last part of the lap.

What I hadn't seen/known was that the recce lap missed out a rather large and steep "sand dune". which came as a bit of a surprise.. never mind.. dismount and run it.. back on and push for the flat again.. I was struggling to clip in again after the sand and mud started to clog my cleat.. banging the shoe on the pedal helped a bit and the flat section was fast.....

In the first part of the second lap, after a couple of dismounts, I pretty much lost the ability to clip in either foot.. so from there to the end I had to ride with just the down stroke and my feet bouncing around on the pedals.. I did OK, I caught and passed a few more riders, aiming at another woman just up the course..but the lack of an "upstroke pull" made cresting the sharp ramps really difficult and I just couldn't catch her. My left cleat did briefly clip in though, just as I was about to dismount to run the big dune, which brought me down. nothing bad, just falling over at almost no speed.. I finished 10th in the women's race, and in front of several guys... looking at my Garmin data, I pushed a lot harder this race and was happy that I'd given my all..despite the worse result than race one.

The Major? he was brilliant.. I'm really impressed with the bike, and Kona have a great brand ambassador in Helen Wyman, who is pretty much the reason I chose their bike. (she is @CXHelen on twitter and well worth following, if you don't already)

Next race should be Basingstoke in a couple of weeks time.

In other news. The shop where I work is closing, I had already sorted out another job BEFORE the announcement... which I start next Monday.....

Can't quite say what yet... so... speak to you all soon....

My first CX race

I've been rather busy recently, so I still haven't written up our holiday in the lake district (where we rode Blaes Tarn (25%) and I "swannied"* for P when he rode Wrynose Pass (30%) )

But since getting back I took the plunge and after faffing about for a bit, I entered the Wessex Cyclo Cross league opener at Newbury.

For the last few weeks, I've been using what spare time I had around work (both at the shop and CycleSystems) and leading Sky Ride Locals to get out on the Cross bike. This included using it on a Sky Ride, a brief foray through the paths of Swinley Forest including the Devils Highway stretch which has sand, gravel, loose rocks and very very steep climbs and descents.

A couple of weeks ago, I upped the challenge a little and rather than just riding through, I took the cross bike out onto the Blue route of the Swinley Forest MTB singletrack trails. Great for confidence, bike handling and getting me to attack the ups and downs of an off road course much more than I've been used to.

My training effort (as it was) culminated last weekend with a half hour warm up of riding on grass, hitting short steep ramps and dismount/remount practice before attacking my CX training loop around Wildmoor Heath. The loop has a 1 mile stretch of technical CX terrain and then a 1.5 mile road section back to the start. The tech bit is as follows:

Ramp (run with bike)
Remount, short ride to stile, dismount/cross/remount then fast compacted gravel path to 90 degree left.
Dusty loose stretch (including gate) then 90 degree right into the last .5 mile which is basically a climb.
First part is a short sharp 13% ramp on loose needles/cones, down then up a 9% section up to gate (dismount/remount) then a steady light gradient through what can be a muddy path depending on weather.
 Sprint to end.
join the road and recover for 1.5 miles back to start - repeat until collapse

Even with being nice and accommodating to the walkers and dog owners, I set some good times.

I prepped the bike in the week and took it on the commute yesterday as a last shakedown.

Home, early night and get as much sleep as possible..... then....

Race Day (eek)

...........

After soliciting advice from lots of people much more knowledgeable than me (all the way up to the lovely and approachable 7 times British and current European CX champion, Helen Wyman) I actually felt relatively relaxed this morning. Breakfast and packing kit into and bike onto car, we set off with P acting as Swanny* for the day

We got there in plenty of time to park up, change and sign on before I took a slow recce lap of the course.. for a newbie it seemed quite tough and technical... and tiring. With a "playing field" start and finish through tape, a rather stiff hill (max 15-16 %). a short tarmac section onto steps (dismount) then up sharp little grass ramp (remember the training) up to a very loose gravel path curving back down toward the playing field section. The transition from the descent off the hill to the tarmac section dropped through a little gully of hardcore. then a hard 90 left. The gully was difficult as the bike really got loose under me and was capped off with "Beware of the Adders" signs (not just snakebite puncture risk then). The playing field section also included two crossings of the long jump pit (and a hairpin) which some were riding, but I felt faster dismounting and running a very tight line through it.

P had met up with a couple and their son (dad and son were competing, mum is recovering from a knee injury) who we ended up spending most of the day with and chatting too. I took Dave (the dad) on a recce lap (my third in total) and having dropped the pressure on my tyres. This made the snake death gully a little more bearable.

And then.... warm up done, we were being called to the start of the combined Junior/Vet/Women's race, the top riders being called forward and the rest of us forming up behind....

GO....

My start was not great, being near the back of the "grid" anyway, nerves and maybe not quite enough of a warm up meant that I felt that most of the field rode away, but not all..

I settled into a rhythm, trying to keep decent speed on the grass and tape sections, and digging in on the climb. Bizarrely for me (remember that hills are the natural enemy of pandas) the uphill section at the end of the playing field and the actual climb itself seemed to be the place where I was making up the most ground on riders ahead and I started to overtake and catch people. There was a group of three riders ahead, including another girl, that I set my sights on catching. I did catch her, and pass her on what was to be my last lap, but letting the leaders through at the end meant I lost a bit of speed and she passed me back cleanly before the end. I made sure I went straight over to her when we finished and thanked her for the motivation. It really helped.

At this point, the full results have not been posted, so I have no idea where I actually finished (EDIT- They have now...see below) . I was lapped by the leaders, who were all fantastic in calling out their line and passing cleanly without compromising themselves much at all. I will update the post when the results come in.

We watched all the races before and after mine. It was great to see first and third place in the under 12 race being taken by girls. The senior race got hit with rain halfway through, making a couple of points of the course rather treacherous. The tight corner on the tarmac section claimed one rider rather spectacularly, losing the front wheel and sliding through ( didn't see the crash, but P helped him at the end)

It was a friendly, open, well organised event (thanks to Newbury RC who hosted) on a good circuit and for me, it was a great intro to CX racing..

Will I do more ? I hope so, calendar and commitments allowing.

Thanks to everyone on twitter who offered advice and support. I achieved my pre race goals.
1) Finish the race (not everyone did)
2) Don't finish last (I wasn't)
and 2(b) Don't finish last in class....and I THINK I wasn't (Edit - I wasn't)

When I get time, I hope to do a more detailed report for the BikeShopShow podcast.

And professional pride dictates that I should report that the bike performed faultlessly throughout the race. So I have to thank my race mechanic for all the work she did on setting the bike up (yes, yes, I know, it was me) and thank P again for being super Swanny* for the day.

I might add a couple of photos later too....

LATEST EDIT - FULL results and report (with link to some photos) HERE

In summary:

I finished 6th in the Women's race (7th including juniors) 
82nd overall (note- the winner of the women's race was 41st overall) .

Happy with that


*Swanny - anglo corruption of Soigneur, who are assistants responsible for feeding, clothing, massaging, and escorting riders; from the French for the "one who provides care"