Andalucia Bike Race Summary - by Cait Elliott

After 6 days of hardcore racing covering more than 550km and over 12,000m of climbing the Andalucia Bike Race is complete. Josh and I won the mixed category overall as well as each stage of the race. Spending a week as a pro rider has been a fantastic experience in which I’ve learnt a lot and its made me hungry for more. The importance of preparing for every eventuality in terms of energy, mechanicals and temperatures has become very obvious, especially when riding unsupported in such a long race.

Riding as a pair brings a very different experience to standard racing and it’s something I’ve enjoyed a lot. It gives you a much more accurate understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses, which will be useful for future training. I think we worked very well together as a team and Josh was incredibly patient as it must have been frustrating at times to know that he could go much faster alone.

The mixture of extreme emotions experienced over the 6 days has been amazing and although there were a lot of extremely tough moments it’s the positive things that stand out. We’ve met some great people, ridden some amazing trails, seen some spectacular places, and come away feeling inspired to do more. Now it’s time to recover before the start of the xc season in a few weeks time.

Thank you to everyone involved in organising the race, it’s definitely one for the diary next year. Also to WXC World Racing and the team sponsors – in particular Compressport compression clothing was very useful for recovery between stages and Sportique warm-up oil and chamois cream were essential for staying comfortable during the long days.

Andalucia Bike Race - by Cait Elliott

In a moment of madness a week before the start I agreed to join Josh Ibbett (Torq Performance Team) to race as a mixed pair in a new 6 day mountain bike race in the sunny south of Spain. Based between Córdoba and Jaen, the Andalucía Bike Race covered over 500km and 12,000m of climbing, and attracted a world class field of participants including World Champion Jose Hermida Ramos and Julian Absalon.

Day 1

Today it was important for Josh and I to figure out how best to ride together as a team, where our strengths and weaknesses are and how to manage them. A few pointers from more experienced team riders at breakfast proved very helpful. As the female I quickly had to accept that I was slower and Josh used his extra strength to give me a push on the climbs. If he led on the descents I could push myself to go faster and hold onto his wheel. It didn´t take long to get a good system going and it worked very well.

The race course was absolutely brilliant, a real mixture of terrain and scenery. Tight, twisty singletrack through dusty ground covered in herb plants. Swooping fast trails with fun bombholes and kicker climbs. Tough, technical rocky climbs. Steep, rocky descents with big drops. We went hardish on the climbs but descending was the real place to gain time. The crowds cheering us on were amazing too, I was wearing my Irish national champ jersey so got loads of ´champion, champion´ cheers, and in general they were particularly enthusiastic when a girl went past. 

I enjoyed it all until the last climb which was pretty hellish. Every time you thought it had to be the top it would kick up steeply with loads of technical rocks to negotiate, I was pretty destroyed by the end. We finished the 75km in 4 hours 33 taking first place in the mixed pairs category and beating all but one of the women´s teams. Standing on the podium alongside world champ Jose Hermida was pretty cool and riding in the leaders jersey tomorrow saves washing kit in the sink. Absolutely shattered but very happy!

 

Freeride Spain Training Camp - by Cait Elliott

Having suffered weeks of freezing cold, snow and turbo-training boredom, I had the perfect winter antidote last week with a trip to the Sierra Nevadas for some of the world’s best mountain biking with Freeride Spain

Day 1 began with a 2 hour road climb chasing Eoin and Simon (Freeride Spain guides) at a blistering pace up the mountain, with a reward of coffee and tostadas outside on a terrace in the sun at the top. From there the fun started as we joined up with other guests and hit the local singletrack. The riding here is phenomenal, technical rocky descents on traditional shepherd’s tracks that even in January are bone dry and fast. I resurrected my old bike as a freeride bike equipped with wide riser bars, 120mm forks and fat tyres, and after a bit of adjusting to it, I wasn’t thinking twice about riding big rocky drops that would have seemed scary before. After more climbing we descended through 3 pretty traditional white washed villages, ripping through the steep, narrow cobbled streets and down flights of steps sending locals scattering as we went, before another obligatory coffee stop in a sunny square. Every trail leaves you pumped full of adrenaline and smiling ear to ear, it seems impossible that it could get any better yet it did every time. It’s a good sign when coming to the end of a 5 hour ride today that all I could think of was how much I was looking forward to doing it again tomorrow!

The next day we did ‘adventures of Ryan’, climbing up to 1900m (where it was still warm enough to sit in t-shirt and shorts despite it being January). There were spectacular views of the snow capped mountains one way, and down the valley towards the sea the other. More steep, rocky descents through the terraced fields barely meeting another person until we passed through a tiny village to fill the bottles with chilled water from one of the many ‘fuentes’ that save you carrying loads of water around. The area is really unspoilt and traditional with very few tourists and incredibly friendly locals. The riding is so enjoyable that the training benefit becomes merely a side effect with memories of the brilliant descents at end of the day making you totally forget the hours spent climbing.

‘Google mountain’ – another brilliant ride with lots of spectacular scenery. From a distance the mountain here look like they won’t change much, all dry and dusty, but the variety of terrain we’ve taken in has been amazing. Long hard climbs were rewarded with long descents, and with 5 of us tearing down chasing each other it was exciting stuff. The day ended with a descent through a huge gorge along a dried out river bed. There was no trail as such, but it felt like skiing on a bike, surfing over loose stones at high speed on the verge control – a very weird experience but great fun.

‘Coast ride’ – we began the day with a 1.5 hour road climb to get to the start of the ride – with smooth, wide roads and cars that beep with encouragement rather than to run you off the road, it’s a great spot for road biking if you’re that way inclined. After a quick caffeine fix enjoying the heat and the views, we met the other guys for a great mountain bike ride down to the Mediterranean Sea. With legs beginning to tire it was good to have some tricky technical climbing to mix things up a bit, and the descents included a loose, dusty downhill course as well as some super rocky farm tracks that left me feeling a bit battered riding a hardtail. As we got closer to the sea the temperature increased nicely and biking tan lines have started early this year!

After 23 hours of pedalling with thousands of meters of climbing and descending was an awesome week. The trails are even better than I remember, the weather was perfect, coffee beer and tapas in local bars hit the spot every time, and I must be a lot fitter and faster than before I arrived. A huge thanks to Si and Emma at Freeride Spain, I can’t recommend them enough. Now unfortunately it’s back to the reality of winter, suffering withdrawal symptoms already.

Full set of photos from the week are here

Soggy Bottom Round 2 Race Report by Carla Haines

Soggy Bottom Round 2

Race Report By

Carla Haines-Elite Female

The first race of 2011 had come around so quickly!I was quite excited and nervous to. The week leading up to it I wasn’t really 100%, had quite a chesty cough and very runny nose which didn’t help but I needed a good hard race to sweat it all out to bust my lungs.

I rode over to Newnham park for warm up, then pre rode the course for a lap. It was very very muddy which I liked and good fun to.

The females started together and went off first. The start was a steep gravel climb, so it was important to get out in front. Myself and Jane Cummings, from Southfork, were leading together. She is a very good climber so found it a bit hard to keep up with her. She slowly pulled away, so I tried not to let her get out of sight. My first lap was pretty good. Since I pre rode I knew what to expect.

By lap 2 I seen Cummings had a mechanical, so at this point I could get ahead and keep a good distance away from her. Everybody’s bikes were clogging up so much with mud which did lead to quite a few mechanicals.

Lap 3 I was climbing up the gravel hill and could see Cummings at the bottom. She was about a minute down so my aim was to increase the gap or at least keep it the same. The course was getting more and more churned up and much harder, but in a way I preferred it like that. This was a good test to sort the stronger riders with the weaker riders.

The final lap (4) I was still ahead at this point and Cummings was still a minute down. For this last lap I worked hard on my weaknesses and went even harder on my strong points and targeted other riders on the course to catch up and pass, which worked really well. The last muddy single track section I could feel my legs burning, which was a good sign and I knew I didn’t have far to go.

I kept up that minute gap between myself and Jane which I was pleased with. A win for my first race of 2011 is a great start to the year so I was very happy indeed. I can take away many positives from the race and carry on working on my weaknesses so I become a much stronger and better rider.