This weekend I held the first ever Southern Ladies MTB social ride. The idea came about when running Girls at Gawton. Girls who weren't into downhill needed a way to meet more girls who ride. It seems easier for girls to meet each other on uplifts and at downhill venues due to the nature of the discipline. Being stood around longer in one place defiantly makes it easier to chat than On the move all day covering large distances on an enduro or xc ride.
My friend Lo suggested starting the Facebook group spurring on the motivation I needed. Since then myself and Lo have been on the journey together holding our own Social rides and getting the group off the ground.
I decided to start nice and simple close to home so decided on Cann for my first venue. At least that way if no one turned up it would be a short ride home! To be honest I was anxious that many people wouldn't turn up as the weather was predicted to be torrential rain on the tail of Americas hurricane Gaston. Full credit to the girls everyone turned up which was amazing.
The day followed the format of easier official trails in the morning and harder off piste trails in the afternoon. We had a great mixed bunch of abilities and a lot of girls who had never met. Despite most people having never met there was certainly no lack of conversation and laughs
Follow us on Facebook for details of our upcoming social rides!
Our group of ladies who all braved the weather to turn upon the Southern ladies MTB ride led by Laura Griffiths
Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to attend one of Jay Williamson's impromptu coaching sessions. Following Jay's unfortunate training injury I jumped at the chance as usually he is completely booked and wouldn't be offering any more until end of the world cup season. The coaching session was aimed at xc and trail riders. Knowing Jay though I knew it wasn't going to be all tame.
The night before I had fitted a new shock on my bike but threw in the rough guide psi for my weight and got going. I was really pleased that The coaching also coincided with my first time riding at Gawton not on a downhill bike. It took my mind off over analysing that I was on less travel than I am used too. As usual though the Altitude took it all in it's stride.
We got started warming up on the first few berms looking at line choice, body movement and pumping. Already within the first 10 minutes he had us thinking differently about how we view entry and exit speed. Moving on to some small steps I was noticing how I didn't have to actively jump anything like I used to as we already had far more speed and our body weight in the correct position to simply ride off and carry more speed into the next section. Watching other riders we could see how over exaggerated their movements were requiring more energy and effort but causing them to stall and loose speed and flow.
As the course progresses the hill gets steeper and the features get bigger. Hitting the biggest rock garden Jay encouraged us to actively pump through to generate more speed. Although hitting it faster than ever before after a couple of goes I did start to feel the timing coming together to know when to pump. It was scary to ride so aggressive but also remain loose enough to allow the bike to work underneath me. I really felt like I was ridding on the edge. Such a shame we hadn't bought the camera out yet!
Anybody who knows or follows me would have seen my recent instagram post that my Trek Session 9.9 was stolen but as one friend put it every cloud has a silver lining!
Whilst we are still hoping to get the Trek back my beloved On One codeine just wasn't cutting it as a do all bike I could race the local downhill series on one week and the UK gravity enduro series the next.
Thankfully the amazing guys at Rocky mountain UK and Greenover distribution have come to my rescue and hooked me up with the amazing Altitude 750 MSL rally edition. Described by Rocky mountain themselves as...
What's in the box? rocky mountain uk #lovetheride
"In short, it’s a berm smashing, trail blasting rocket of a bike that’s ready for the next generation of mountain bike racing."
With 150mm travel up the rear and 160 up the front I have no doubt of the altitudes capabilities to gobble up roots, rocks and everything else in it's path. After watching videos Isabeau Courdurier slaying it down EWS stages I was convinced this is a bike up to the challenge.
Lets just say I can't wait to get the suspension dialled in ready for racing this weekend x
Read Pink bikes take on the Altitude Rally here-
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/rocky-mountain-altitude-770-msl-rally-edition-review-2014.ht
So we've moved and it seem like nobody who lives where we do rides a mountain bike!
In our sleepy little sea side village I have never seen more runners in my life, even if you went out in the middle of the night you would see someone out for a jog!
We've searched high and low in every bit of damp soggy woodland so heading a 10 minute drive to the next town we found prime building ground.
Round 2 was on Gnarkill. I had never ridden the track since it had a new start but I have to say it's one of my new favourites. Much more enjoyable than Scotsman used in round one.
For the first time I choose to ride my new On One codeine, a 29er enduro bike. It suited the course perfectly over the Demo.
The codeine came into its own on the flat turns and sailed over the roots and through tight techy sections. Honestly that bike can jump! whoever said 29er can't jump was obviously on the wrong 29er!
Being my second race back after over a year off I was much more settled and calm.
With a fresh perspective I put down a solid, safe first run putting me in 3rd place. Feeling confident that all of the girls were only a couple of seconds apart I really went for it on my second run. Unfortunately I clipped a tree and my cleat came out and I couldn't get it back in before the big drop. Even though I lost lots of time in the middle section I got a 1:29 again so must have flown through the start and end sections to have made up all the time.
I finished in 4th but was really happy as I was 2 seconds off 3rd place so felt Im getting back on my game with a competitive time.
From this race I learnt new shoes with different position cleats take more time to get used to than I thought!
I've been really happy with my progress doing all of the jumps in both rounds. It's one less advantage that all the 4x girls have.
In downhill I have always found my biggest weakness when ridding with boys to be my strength. Without good core strength and upper body I've always found it hard to hold my lines and muscle the bike over obstacles.
By practising yoga I have noticed a huge difference in my riding. From the humble beginnings of plank to headstand yoga has also taught me patience, perseverance and to focus my mind
In the video below I show my own routine I have built up which focuses on the core and upper body.
I am not a tutor so follow my guidance at your own risk
I haven't posted for a long time! But I've still been riding 3 days a week. I've just not had the time to take interesting photos or do some video but I had a day off so thought I would treat myself to some video time!
We went back again for another year of Falmouth urban downhill at Tremough campus in Cornwall.
The course was completely different, much longer with different stairs and jumps. This year 5 girls took part instead of just me! Is amazing how fast our race scene grows every year.
After an amazing days riding at cafe the day before I was feeling pretty good and there was only one huge gap jump I didn't do, which would have made up the time to second place.
podium maya Atkinson, tyde D'Souza, laura griffiths
Although it was fun I think I'm all urbaned out for now and missed roots and rocks, plus st austell brewery didn't sponsor this year so there was no beer to be won and we all need a good beer after a days riding!
Despite my recent efforts to avoid the mountain bike world one industries mini enduro came to my doorstep and let's face it , it would have been rude not to take part. I have never entered an race so was pretty nervous at the thought of doing it. On Saturday I went with my husband up to practice and the stages were so much fun. The course was well thought out considering haldon was pretty much a forest on the floor with all the trees come down in the storms. Unfortunately having the home advantage didn't mean much as most of the trails had been rebuilt. never the less it felt like riding a whole new place which was pretty exciting!
The course was so much fun, the timed sections were really steep and technical, very downhill style and racing the clock to reach the next stage start was exciting in it's self.
There's an art to enduro racing Compared to Downhill. There's bike set up, dealing with punctures and how much kit to carry, practising 4 stages instead of one and refocusing at every stage start. Dealing with mistakes is different, there's no second run and you have to focus on the next stage.
The competition was fierce, most of the girls had ridden enduro races before and knew each other. I was the odd one out! With no section times at the end like a DH race you never really know how your dong until results are posted. Despite by stage 3 having total jelly legs from exhaustion and holding of for dear life down a steep loose gully I came in 3rd place so got a podium place. I was over the moon as it was totally unexpected!
I will definitely be doing one again, the race style is very intense but so much more for your money than downhill racing.
Last years Southwest Champs was my first ever race.
When I first ever went to Gawton it was to ride downhill for the first time on 'HSD' track.
After riding for a year I decided to race on the new track 'Proper Job' which was quite a step up and this year they upped the game even more holding the race on 'SuperTavi'. SuperTavi is the old dirt 1:04 track and the track that had said to me when I started downhill "If I can ever ride that, then I will be a downhill rider" in my mind it was unobtainable... at the time!
In no way was I expecting it to be easy, I was nervous! I first rolled down it and with the new sections built in they had made the track harder. There was one section I just could not get around at first but got more confident with practice. I had a couple of really hard crashes but nothing could stop me with that feeling that every clean run was taming the beast. I was loving the challenge!
When it came to race day I was tired and now know that 3 days practice before was too much but every race I learn something new.
The pressure was off in someways because so many people had entered but didn't race because the track was so hard. By Sunday there weren't many girls left.
I had one clean super safe run and one terrible pushing it run. I came off twice my second run. I wish I had pushed it more on my first run but without more competition it was hard to risk such big crashes on so many nervous sleeps before!
Still I tamed the beast and raced SuperTavi and that is an achievement I never thought I would have, that and a Silver Southwest champs medal!
A couple of weeks ago myself and my team of 5 took part in Newnham parks Bontrager twentyfour 12.
I got the idea to do it as a challenge to raise money for hospiscare, Exeter universities campus services charity of the year.
As my last cross country race experience was some what terrifying I was pretty apprehensive about what I'd signed us up too. 24 hours of relay cycling night and day.
On arriving I realised how huge the event was. It was amazing to see so many tents and vans and how big the event arena was. The vibe was really relaxed and it didn't feel like a serious athletic event. obviously no beer or shots but lots of people milling around staying up late and enjoying the live music.
The next day I tried to keep my nerves in check knowing it was going to be a long night and day but it felt different knowing it wasn't once chance all out and your one run counts. In fact with the fun atmosphere of the kids race and relaxed approach of the past racers it was chilled but exciting.
Sue started us off and when it was my turn I was excited to know what the course was like. We didn't pre ride it seen as we were gonna do it about 5 times anyway! The course was awesome it had long slow climbs and short sharp get out the saddle climbs with loose rocky descents but mainly rooty technical single track descents. It sounds like a nightmare for passing but it was really well thought out and everyone was really considerate calling ahead to pass. With all my training I actually was keeping up a good pace every lap and did more over taking than being over taken which really surprised and pleased me!
My first night ride went really good and I was loving it, so much smoother lines that I choose in the dark and it was cooler and the perfect temperature. Just amazing although so different to the day. People were silent but riding in big groups together, almost earie. But the places where the track ran along side the campsite were amazing. So many people cheering and playing music. plenty of banging saucepans!
The second night ride at about 4 am was totally different, by then it was a cold start and there were a lot less people on the track and no one to cheer you on. My lights were both on red so I was nervous I would get stranded in the dark and then my light cleat came loose so I couldn't see in front of me on both lights. I fell off on the fireroad in a stupid place and honestly for the first time thought that it was hard, but I kept going and knew that it would get better when the sun came up.
On my next run it chucked it down on the most exposed part of the course and I got soaked and pedalling was hard going, I'd also only had two hours sleep and was really tired so when I finished I genuinely hoped I would not have to go out again but it looked like I was going to do the last run.
When it got to five past eleven and was chaining over from Emma to do my last run I felt elated and so glad to have a final run, The best I had felt after about 2 am was whenever I was on the bike and I got to finish on high tho I had to race round to get one last person round to count another lap on our total but I did it. I gave it everything I got and pedalled my heart out. When I came back into the area it was ten too and I had five minutes to get Jim out. I over took everyone sprinting through.
It was an amazing feeling to finish. We came 10/19 teams in our category and did 6 laps each. Although you have to dig deep when it gets hard and I'm still tired now! I would definitely do it again. It was a great event and so much fun.
And there was no one else on there with me, Never mind! Although being the only girl out of 77 other entrants it was still great fun and I still pushed myself to get the time I wanted. The course was brilliant and although short crammed in a whole lots of stairs and big jumps. Despite being sceptical about how much joy I could get from riding down stairs all day and the possibility of going splat on a hard floor with the competitiveness of a race atmosphere it was a great way to spend a day and well worth the trip down to Cornwall. I must admit I didn't risk it on the big jump with no need to compete against anyone I decided it was the best idea after watching lots of guys throw themselves at the floor.
Falmouth Urban Downhill from Frazer Waller on Vimeo.
So my first downhill race I was super nervous and had a couple of average runs but really enjoyed it so as soon as I had chance to do another race I couldn't wait.
Second time round I was no where near as nervous.
It was round 3 at Tavi woodlands winter series so not as much pressure as southwest champs but still almost as many entrants.
My husband and I arrived on the saturday and It was wet! As usual when I race its so muddy and the course was man made but built into the hillside with not much texturing so there was a lot of getting side ways. The course was so much fun with roots, drops and jumps. On the saturday there was hailstone so practice was really different to race day. Riding on hailstones was like riding on ball bearings it was so hard to keep control and even harder to push back up!
After a comfy night in our van we had 3 or 4 practice runs but the course was getting really cut up so our tyres were clogging really bad and it was hard to get enough speed for the jumps.
THe only thing I would have changed over the weekend was my tyres, I had spikes on but wasn't sure what else to change too, I think next time I will just have the same as my husband because he has a lot more experience.
My first race run I aimed for a safe time and went around a jump which was getting hard to get speed for and then also came off on a tight bend after a really steep stepped section so my first run was less than impressive but I was no where near as nervous as last time I raced so new I could focous and improve on my second run,
My second run was near perfect everything was so clear, calm and methodical, I pedalled in all the right places and hit every line I wanted to, the only thing that could have gone better was if my tyres could have got up to speed and maintained less resistance but they were so clogged and sluggish. Despite that what felt like an slow time was smooth and fast and landed me in a very unexpected second place.
For a change me and my husband decided to do what normal people do for a holiday and catch a plane to somewhere sunny for a winter break. But we thought... that's too normal so we still needed our bikes to come too!
We decided on 10 days staying in a relatives apartment as our base in Benalmadena. In Benal there's a cable car which is bike friendly with the front wheel off and with the help of you tube videos we were convinced there's good downhill riding to be had and were stoked on exploring.
Our Friends came with us too so we decided to try some uplift days and found roost was the best company for getting back to us. They were really flexible and offered us one day to start and more if we wanted too.
On our first days riding we rode with roost who took us to SRAM test track which is probably the most famous track out there, it's really sandy and rocky, it's a baptism of fire intro to Malaga riding.
The rocks are not so much the problem but the sand is if your not used to it. Honestly I was just sliding around all over the place at certain points but its great fun and the roost boys were really supportive and willing to help give advice on line choice and technique.
To get into to town for lunch rather than driving into town we drove further up the mountain to the telecommunication towers and rode a 15 minute downhill trail down with the longest biggest boulder rock garden I've ever seen it was totally amazing! The trail starts off fairly tame and not so much downhill style as it is a walking trail too but once it got going it was amazing with steep long rock slabs to negotiate, super tight steep sandy switch backs and loose off camber exposed sections. I'm not sure how anyone would walk some of it! clearly Spanish hikers like to go big or go home too! One thing i find funny about Spanish trails is they are all unofficial so a lot of them end near peoples back gardens and just pass through residential streets. It was the best trail I've ridden and think it will take something really special to beat it!
After a delicious dirty tasting kebab it was off to ride the trail from the Danny hart winter training in Spain video and to end the day back to the telecoms trail again. I have never rode so much in one day. The SRAM test track and Danny hart trail we rode about 7 times each and with the miles put in on the 15 minute telecoms tower trail twice by the end of the day we were exhausted but had huge beaming smiles on our faces and well and truly made up with riding in Spanish sand.
We enjoyed our first day day so much that we went with roost again for day two. This time it was a long hour and half drive out to Mijas to ride Motril race track. Driving there it was getting
mistier and mistier and once we headed up the foot hills of the sierra Nevada it was pretty bad visibility and the Spanish weather was not the warm sun it was at Benal. The track was amazing though, much more English style building and the ground was mud rather than sand so instantly felt much more at home. It still had the Spanish steepness, length and difficulty tho that we were loving so much. It started with a wooded steep top section with lots of root steps and drops, followed by swooping deep gullies , then into rock gullies and off camber rock sections to negotiate with an excellent middle section with difficult drops which saw us all at some point going over the bars landing on top of each other in the gorse bushes. We decided on four runs before stopping for lunch and on the fourth run coming through the trees it really started to rain and the gully were flowing and when we came out in to the open it turned into a really heavy hail thunder storm. the ride down was amazing sliding around, soaked and covered in mud squinting through the rain and hail to see. Again the trail ends through residential streets where we met trail doggie who sat in the bus shelter with us in the pouring rain while we ate sandwiches filled with grit and mud. The boys went out for more runs but most of us were happy to finish the day after amazing runs on an amazing course which wasn't spoilt by the weather at all.
After a days rest it was time to explore the cable car opportunities. A pass for the week was only €60. By then the weather was back to being warm and sunny. On our first day at the cable car we were lucky to meet an English couple who showed us the two main run although it is actually easy to find the runs it really helped us to work out the knack of getting the bikes in the cable car and quickest way back to the cable car station! The main run we rode was rockadillo which is in the video. It's super sandy again which us girls found a tad easier than the boys with our more gentle gliding approach. It's got everything you could possibly want from a trail with steep technical rocky single track, tight berms, drops and jumps. Each section is great in its own way and so much fun to ride over and over.
Apart from the riding we had great nights in the local Irish bar and meals out in restaurants with friendly Spanish owners telling us their stories and plenty other stuff to do with a lush beach, marina and dolphinarium. Its so English friendly with all the ex-pats running bars and a much more relaxed way of life.
The latest jump I've been working up to is over cafe side at Haldon.
its a respectable 4ft2.
Been watching the boys doing it for a while and practicing away at getting faster and landing further on other smaller jumps.
On sunday I had the opportunity to ride there and knew the time had come and I was finally ready to do it.
I followed my husband in for speed and everything was so perfect, the take off, the land, all of it.
So I did it again but our friend paul filmed, I was so over excited by the first one that I messed up a little on my second not concentrating and did come off the land at the edge so yes i do scream "fcuk" in the video!
Two great films by the mixed boys and girls riding group sheGNARnigans. these two are dedicated to the girls. They are totally amazing and I love all of their videos
Last sunday we had another great day at Gawton as usual. We enjoyed the usual mud, slipping and sliding and falling over just pushing up. In practice next season we all rode something new or jumped something higher than we've ever jumped before. For me and my friend Emma we both rode Super tavi. My first ever double black rated track. It was a struggle down in places but nothing that soon we wont be conquering.
Like all of the other tracks we used to not be able to ride. Its always hard to go down the track that has been built up in your mind. It was so exciting to see whats beyond the first jump, it was nothing like how easy the pro's make it look in videos but it was new and exciting. We also rode more of the jumps on old tracks where we would have never dreamed of doing them before. Its amazing to think in the past two years I have developed so much more skill without realising doing something that I love. In downhill I really have found my place to progress and anything I cant do yet I realise now that one day I will succeed in riding it and will have enjoyed the journey so much it won't have felt like a journey at all.
another great memory that I have shared with my best friends at my favourite place
Below is the video of the ladies setting their times on the track for dirt 1:04
For my first downhill race I ended up doing southwest champs because I rode for the bike shed team and it was their first race. The track used was proper job, Gawtons newest trail. This was to make the race accessible to every rider. We got there on the saturday and set up the stand and waited for the track to open and uplift to begin.
I had a surprise when the uplift started and was a tractor pulling those big bucket trailers that hay bales are transported in. All that stopped the last person falling out was a strap. It was my first uplift non gondola style. It was pretty scary but fun. It was a steep bumpy ride with people and bikes bumping all over and it was a good idea to keep your helmet on to avoid the low branches from taking you out! My bike survived the whole weekend with my pedals in a lot of spokes and my gear cable being pulled out, glad I've got my battle bike.
On saturday we had practice runs, it was good weather but where it had rained so much at the start of the week it was pretty messy on parts but most of the track held up well. with over 125 riders it was busy but a great supportive atmosphere.
On Race day I was nervous but after a couple of practice runs was loosened up. Waiting by the start I was really nervous, there were 10 girls in the category and most had more race experience than I did and had been ridding a lot longer. Because of differences in speed we were all given plenty of time to get down before the next person started which was great for those of us that it was their first race. When I waited on the start ramp I felt pretty calm but as soon as I started pedalling my arms went limp like jelly and I was all over the place. I was so nervous and distracted by the people cheering I nearly fell off on every berm and jump. It wasn't till after the rock garden where there were less people that I started to relax. I wasn't that relaxed tho! I was finding it really hard to pedal because I managed to go through all of my gears and was pedalling with the breaks on, which I'm sure I have never done before! Soon as I went past the timing tent I was so relieved to have finished that I stopped concentrating and feel off over the bank into the fire road.
Once at the top it was a lot more tense between the riders because a lot had fallen off on their first run so the pressure was on for them to improve their times. I tried too stay calm and and just hear the positives. On my second run I knew I had to concentrate on the trail and not the crowd. I started a lot calmer and smoother. It felt slower but more enjoyable. I was 8 seconds up on my first run, so calmness defiantly paid off.
I enjoyed the whole weekend so much and met some great new girls to ride with and will defiantly do more races in the future. Unlike the cross country race I entered I felt like I belonged in the downhill race and could see so many ways to improve. The pressure of the race made me confidently jump sections I would have rolled in the past and ride harder and faster than usual.
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