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ADDIDAS - TERREX - COAST TO COAST RACE
ADDIDAS - TERREX C2C RACE
Adidas Terrex Coast to Coast Race
Chris Hope competed in the Adidas Terrex Coast to Coast race over the August bank holiday weekend and placed second solo. Here is his account...
The race is a 4 day multi sport stage race covering approximately 200 miles involving, biking, running, kayaking and swimming. Over the 4 days competitors cross the country between Whitehaven and Robin Hood's Bay via a scenic and very strenuous route. Competitors in the C2C can either race solo, or in mixed teams of 3, where two of the team race at any one time with the third moving their support vehicle.
The race starts with a sea kayak section between Whitehaven and St Bees. For me, this was the most daunting section, as I am still very new to kayaking, infact until 3 months ago, I hadn't been in a kayak since school days. However, several sessions of sea kayaking and pool sessions with Copeland Canoe club stood me in good stead and I managed to hold my own and stay in my boat, reaching St Bees in about 8th place. Stuart Lynch was clearly in a different league to everyone else and gained several minutes over the rest of the field. They obviously teach them to paddle well in New Zealand!
The next stage of day 1 was a cycle from St Bees to Crummock, so competitors jumped out of their boats and onto their bikes which were ready and waiting with their support crew. Transitions from one disciple to another was key, so a good support person helped massively. I was supported by Gareth Griffiths over the 4 days and my father in law Tony on the first day. Without those guys it wouldn't be possible so a massive thanks to them.
I hoped to make back any lost time from the kayaking on the biking and running sections, but found the transition from kayak to bike difficult, experiencing dead legs, so I ended up entering the water at Crummock in a similar position to St Bees. The kayak section involved Crummock and Buttermere and those that know the area will realise that there is approximately a kilometre between the lakes. In the spirit of pain, competitors had to carry their kayaks between the lakes which believe me is not something you want to do if you can help it.
At the end of Buttermere, I had lost a further place to Kim Collinson of Inov8, so with a long run section ahead it was time to regain some places. The run took in a very steep ascent of Robinson, followed by Dale Head and the ridge of High Spy, Maiden Moor and Catbells, down to Derwentwater at Nichol End. Kim and I pushed each other on up Robinson reeling in 2 solo competitors by the summit of Robinson. I then managed to pull away from Kim on Dale Head and caught the Adidas Terrex team on the descent and Ant Emmett shortly after. Team Accelerate were setting a very fast pace and couldn't be caught and Stuart Lynch was somewhere in the distance. On arriving at Nichol End, all that remained was a 400m swim across the lake and a 1 km run to the centre of Keswick. Clearly not a swimmer, I battled on and emerged appearing to be drunk and suffering from acute cramp. I quickly put on a pair of trainers which were waiting on the shore and ran into Keswick using good local knowledge of the back streets. There was a great reception and atmosphere in the centre of Keswick and it turned out to be a great start to the race as I was placed second solo and third overall.
Day 2 involved a ride from Keswick to Thirlmere, kayak down Thirlmere, run over Helvellyn to Patterdale, kayak down the length of Ullswater to Pooley Bridge and then a cycle to Kirkby Stephen. Competitors set off in 4 minute staggered intervals with slowest setting of at 6am and the fastest at about 9am. So the aim was to catch as many people as possible and hold of the 2 chasers for as long as possible. With the first section involving kayaking it wasn't until the ascent of Helvellyn that the first person was caught which turned out to be Sally Ozanne the leading female solo and Ant Emmett. I was slowly catching the Adidas Terrex team too but was also getting reeled in by the 2 behind me. The technical and rough decent of Swirral edge worked in my favour as Terrex were quickly passed, with James Cracknell not enjoying the rough descents. Stuart caught me towards the bottom which spurred me on to pick up the pace and run into Patterdale with him. The kayak down Ullswater was long and despite trying to stick with Ant Emmett who caught me, I quickly faded and he disappeared into the distance. John Houlihan caught me and I stuck with him until the end of the paddle.
For the last stage of day 2 the cycle involved about 45 km on the road and 5 km at the start was off road. Due to the significant amount of road I opted to run slick tyres at 100psi, so the first 5 km which involved a rough climb and a fast decent on grass was a little sketchy. Thankfully I didn't have any punctures. I was still with John Houlihan at this stage who was riding a cyclocross bike. I had to try really hard to keep the same pace as him despite the slick tyres. I was tired but I think his gearing, tri bars and 700cc wheels really made a difference on the road. He pulled away from me later into the ride and I was made to feel extremely slow when James Cracknell and Bruce Duncan of Adidas Terrex came past me in time trial mode, Cracknell pushing a big gear and Bruce tucked in neatly behind him. A little demoralised, I dug in, knowing that I had set off later than these guys so had time on them. I finished the day still in second place but had lost a little time to Ant Emmett in 3rd.
With all the kayaking now done, the course was a little more in my favour. Unless Stuart had a disaster I wasn't going to catch him, but I needed to make sure I didn't lose any more time to those behind me. I was only 3 minutes ahead of Ant Emmett and Kim Collinson wasn't far behind in 4th.
Day 3 took in a run over Nine Standards to Keld then a mountain bike section to Castle Bolton followed by about 50km on the road to Northallerton. I set off on the run steady and slowly picked up the pace. I quickly caught Ant Emmett who had set off 3 minutes ahead of me, so I knew I was going OK. The summit of Nine Standards and descent to Keld is a bog fest. The Team Accelerate lads were again going really well and they caught me at the bottom but I managed to keep them fairly close for the rough valley run to Keld. I was really psyched for the Mountain Bike section and after a quick transition with Gareth stuffing a banana in my mouth, I left the transition with Team Accelerate. I climbed the first hill strongly leaving them behind and knew that I should be able to ride any technical sections faster. This proved to be true as I posted the fastest time out of all competitors for the section to Castle Bolton in 1hour 20minutes. On the previous 2 days Stuart Lynch would have passed me by now but no sign yet so a quick wheel change at Castle Bolton from knobbly tyres to slicks and I was off with a strong westerly tail wind. My legs were burning on this section but I knew I had to push as hard as possible. It was about 10km from the finish when Team Accelerate caught me, they had made a clever tactical decision and used Maria Leijerstam with fresh legs and a titanium road bike to set the pace on this stage. She was going extremely strongly with Matt hanging onto her wheel. I arrived in Northallerton pretty spent but for once holding off Stuart Lynch, even though he did arrive only a couple of minutes later. As others arrived at the finish I realised I was still in 2nd place but now Kim had overtaken Ant and was about 20 minutes behind me in 3rd.
Day 4 was a road ride to Swainby, run over Carlton bank, mountain bike stage to Glaisdale through the North York moors and then a road / cinder track to Robin Hood's Bay. The road ride out of Northallerton was brutal. My legs seemed dead after the previous day's efforts and I kept imagining everyone else having a great day and catching me. It wasn't until on the run that I realised that my pace was still OK compared to others. Team Accelerate caught me as usual but I kept them within my sights for quite some time. Again keen to get on the mountain bike I arrived at the transition with Stuart. He cleared the transition a little faster than me so I set off about 100m behind him and despite all my effort I just couldn't catch him. He stayed within sight for the next hour and 20 minutes which meant that we overtook several others in the process. On arriving at Glaisdale I opted to keep my mountain bike wheels n rather than change to slicks so a quick transition and I was out for the final section. My body was fading but I knew there wasn't far to go. After about 30 minutes I got my first glimpse of the North Sea which was a very welcome sight. The cycleway turned to the south and started to descend to Robin Hoods Bay. With a northerly wind I was in top gear racing towards the finish. Marshalls waved us off the track and onto a field where we dropped our bikes and ran down to the village to an idyllic terrace above the sea where the finish line was set up. There was a great vibe down there with organisers, competitors and supporters all with beaming smiles as everyone arrived.
As fellow competitors arrived it became clear that I had maintained my 2nd place in the solo category with a total time of 20 hours 7 minutes, approximately an hour behind Stuart Lynch who was clearly in a different league. Amazingly the times were significantly faster than the last time the event was run in 2009 where the winning time was approximately 22 hours.
What a fantastic race - thanks to everyone who made it happen and for my support men Gareth Griffiths and Tony Edwards.
Check out the following link to the website for photos, reports and video clips. The race will be broadcast on Channel 4 later in the year.
www.adidas-ar.com
OPEN 12 ADVENTURE CHAMPIONS
Keswick Bikes Team: Open 12 Adventure Champions
Following the success in the winter 'Open 5' adventure race series, Chris Hope ftook up the challenge the longer 'Open 12' which was based from Pickering in North Yorkshire.
As the name suggests, the event involves 12 hours of racing, which is orienteering based. Competitors use a marked up map to navigate around the event area, visiting checkpoints. The winner is the team of 2 who collects the most points. To spice it up a bit, competitors had the option to collect additional points by visiting and completing a number of 'special stages' which included rock climbing, a zip wire and a swim.
Chris teamed up with multiple Polaris winner and Mountain Bike Orienteering star John Houlihan. John is renowned for his excellent navigation skills so the pair made a strong team.
The race started with a 15km way marked trail run over the North York Moors with the bikes waiting at the destination. A quick change of shoes and the pair headed for Dalby forest collecting checkpoints on their way. As the event started at 6pm, the riding in Dalby forest was in darkness with bike lights showing the way. The chosen route took in the classic man made trail of the 'red route'. Chris was riding his Trek Top Fuel 9.8 which ate the trail up, meanwhile John got 7 bells knocked out of him on his hardtail!
The following day, tired legs were tested on a further running circuit, again requiring navigation between checkpoints. One of the checkpoints was located in a limestone quarry where a set of roped climbs greeted competitors. Climbs were graded hard, medium and easy with more points being available for climbing the harder routes. With both Chris and John being ex-climbers maximum points were quickly collected with relative ease and the two continued on the run, heading back to their bikes. A final transition gave the pair just under 2 hours of remaining time to make it back to the finish with only a handful of checkpoints left to collect. Unfortunately, an early decision to not collect a low value control to the north of the map was looking like a bad decision, as there was now no option to get it and the 'clean up' was looking highly likely
As expected we arrived at the finish with 15 minutes to spare having collected all but one of the checkpoints. We could now only wait in anticipation, hoping that no-one else would get them all, or perhaps they wouldn't get maximum climbing points.
Thankfully we came out in top place with Alistair Morris and Tom Hodgkinson dropping 2 checkpoints and climbing a lower grade of route.
A fantastic event, testing endurance, strategy, navigation and requiring multi skills. Highly recommended!
2011 Sam Houghton Challenge
A strong KMB team, composed of Ben Bardsley, Bob Glaister and Chris Hope headed down to Staveley for the annual Sam Houghton Challenge. The event is a fundrasier in memory of Sam who was a keen mountain biker, but sadly lost his life at a tender age to leukaemia.
This course is one of the best one around on the mountainbike circuit, including punishing climbs, rocky descents and sublime singletrack.
Chris Hope suffered an early mechanical and had to retire when his rear hub jammed forcing him to walk back to the start.
Ben and Bob tussled head to head through to Sadgill and then back to Kentmere. Bob took an uncharacteristic spill just before Garburn Pass, which knocked the stuffing out of him for a few minutes. By Troutbeck, Rob had recovered and was chasing hard with Ben firmly within his sights. Bobs second bit of bad luck of the day hit again at Kentmere.... his tyre had been completely sliced open by a slate and he had to retire. Ben battled hard to come in third, behind Wheelbase rider; Rob Jebb.
A cracking event in one of the best areas to moutainbike in the world. Have a go next year, its a blast!
2011 Keswick Mountain Festival
2011 Keswick Mountain Festival Report
The annual Keswick Mountain Festival took place over the period 18th - 22nd May. Unfortunately the weather was a far cry from that of 2010, as the general theme was heavy rain and gale force winds, culminating in virtual destruction of the tents and marquees on the festival village during the Saturday night. The festival once again hosted a wide range of fantastic activities, covering a multitude of sports and encouraging competitors of all abilities to get involved. The events included, trail runs, wild swims in Derwentwater, a two day mountain bike epic, a cycle sportive over the nearby passes and the ever popular Triathlon.
Keswick Bikes once again supported the festival, sponsoring the Cycle Sportive, offering guided tours and the Lakeland Pedlar kept visitors fed and watered. The team were also present, getting involved in some of the events. Chris Hope rode the 6 pass Cycle Sportive, which involved riding approximately 105k in a figure of eight loop taking in the passes of Whinlatter, Newlands and Honister - from both sides! Although there was no rain, the wind was strong and the flat sections between the passes were a battle. Chris rode with Phil Davies of Cyclewise and the two worked together to return with the fastest time of the day in 3hrs 47 minutes. Jonny Hume posted the next fastest time for Keswick Bikes (4hrs 21mins), placing him 15th.
The Keswick Triathlon took place on the Sunday, with approximately 450 competitors gathering on the shore of Derwentwater at 8.00 in the morning, waiting to plunge into uninvitingly cold and choppy water to swim a 750m circuit. Ben Bardsley who has had a number of top 3 finishes in the race lined up in the first wave of competitors. The swim is certainly not a strong discipline for Ben, and the rough conditions didn't make it any easier. Ben came into the transition after the swim in 144th place, some 6 minutes down on the leader. The bike section was a 36km circuit involving St Johns in the vale and a lap of the Derwentwater. Ben completed the ride in the second fastest time, pulling him back into contention with the run being an equally strong discipline. The run involves a 10km circuit over Walla Crag. Again Ben moved further up the field but unfortunately couldn't quite catch the eventual winner, Marc Laithwaite. Nevertheless, Ben finished in 2hrs 14mins, placing him firmly on the podium with a second place.
Lakeland Loop 2011
Lakeland Loop Report:
Another great Sportive event passed through Keswick on Sunday 10th April . With over 70 miles of road riding and some 8000 feet of ascent including the incredibly steep Hardknott Pass, the 600+ riders taking part in the event were lucky enough to have sunny weather. Keswick Bikes riders Robert Glaister and Chris Hope gained the fastest time and Chris's report follows:
Lakeland Loop 2011
Clear blue skies greeted the 600 cyclists who took part in the 2011 Lakeland Loop on the 10th April. Keswick Bikes were represented by Chris Hope and Bob Glaister, a slightly depleted team with usual suspects of Andy and Ben unable to make the event.
The event is becoming increasingly popular, with many treating it as a good test of fitness in preparation for the Fred Whitton which takes place in early May. Although not as far as the Fred, it still packs a punch with nearly 70 miles and 8000ft of climbing. The route starts from the New Dungeon Ghyll, Langdale and heads north for Keswick taking in Red Bank, Dunmail Raise and the back of Thirlmere. Riders then pass over Whinlatter and head west with some lumpy territory to negotiate including Fangs Brow and Cold Fell. Just when the legs are starting to feel fatigued, the return journey requires an assault of the mighty Hardknott pass and Wrynose pass with a comparatively easy finishing climb past Blea Tarn back to Great Langdale.
With Chris under strict orders to get back home for his kids' birthday party at 2pm, the pair opted for an 8.30 start, which was probably a good move considering the unusually warm weather. The early start however meant that there was little chance of working in a group, as had been the case during 2010.
Despite only the 2 working together, there was no time for hanging around and a fast pace was set. Taking it in turns on the front, the first hour saw them arrive at the bottom of Whinlatter Pass feeling strong. A welcome bottle change at the summit and they were refreshed for the next leg. Bob set the tempo on Cold Fell who was clearly a man on a mission, so much on a mission that they arrived at Calder Bridge 10 minutes earlier than expected which meant they missed their second bottle change. Running a bit low on juice they called in for a pit stop at Santon Bridge.
The pace was sufficiently fast to challenge the record of 3hrs 43mins which Chris had set the previous year, but the finishing climbs can never be underestimated. As the riders started their ascent of Hardknott it was clear who was the stronger on the day. Chris started to get cramp in his thighs and Bob pulled out a steady lead. Bob pushed on hard to the finish, with Chris trying to fend off the cramp and limit the time lost.
The pair ended up with a first and second fastest time of the day, closely followed by Grant Law of Honister 92.
Other Keswick Bikes riders included Jonny Hume, a new comer to the world of cycling who is showing a lot of potential and Ian Hope, completing his first Sportive.
1. Bob Glaister 3hrs : 45mins : 41s
2. Chris Hope 3hrs : 49mins : 10S
3. Grant Law 3hrs : 51mins : 42s
73. Jonny Hume 4hrs : 34mins : 41s
348. Ian Hope 5hrs : 33mins : 40s
2011 Open 5 Adventure Winners Keswick Bikes' Riders Andy & Chris
Open 5 Adventure 2011 Series Win for Chris & Andy
Nail biting finale for Keswick Bikes Team at final round of Open 5 Adventure Race.
The final round of the 2010/11 Open 5 adventure race series took place at Grizedale on the 3rd April. Keswick Bikes duo, Chris Hope and Andy Wrigley, were there in an attempt to hold onto a narrow lead in the league tables, a good result at Grizedale would hand them a 3rd event victory and enough points to win the league. The format for the race is the usual 5hrs duration where the competitors must both run and cycle, however the durations and the order is up to the individual.
The day started well enough with good weather conditions however even as we warmed up disaster struck, we chose a particularly gnarly climb and descent to shake down our legs and the new Trek 9.8 Top Fuel Bikes supplied from Amos at Keswick Bikes. As we flew down the descent I heard Chris shout 'Take it easy. Don't want to break anything just yet!'. I arrived at the bottom of the descent alone. A couple of minutes later Chris arrives unable to pedal his bike - a broken freewheel. Due to the technical trails and sharp rocks in Grizedale we had decided to run an alternative older wheelset in the new bikes, the back axle on Chris' wheel had snapped due to a seized bearing.
Now we were in trouble, 20mins to start and one bike down. For the first time in the series, luckily, we were based right next to a bike shop 'Grizedale Mountain Bikes' the guys at the shop were awesome, lending us a Scott bike and putting us back in the race! - We owe big thanks to these guys.
Eventually we were on the start line with a minute to spare, we had studied the maps well in the morning and had a good idea of our route deciding to play to our strengths and cycle first, fortunately at the start the checkpoint scores favoured our route perfectly and we charged off with only a minute to mark up scores on maps. The cycle went well, we caught and passed our main rivals David Lawrance & Warren Mason pleased that we had a definite speed advantage, and a 2hr 55min route saw us clear all the available checkpoints without further mishap in an area covering Grizedale, Parkamoor, Ickenthwaite and Hawkshead, all superb cycling areas.
The run commenced with 2hrs 5mins remaining and there was a slim chance that it would be possible to clear up this also, checkpoints were located over a much smaller area within Grizedale, although the navigation between them was challenging to say the least. Cross country navigation is allowed in some areas, wall lines can be followed and bearings can be taken and used in place of the indirect footpath approach. It remains a decision of the competitor whether brashing through a forest is quicker than taking the smooth path approach. Due to injuries picked up earlier in the season my running was way off pace and I hobbled round behind Chris, grumbling as I attempted to run up the very step hills whilst he made it all look easy!
After a particularly tough climb to a way out checkpoint we decided to clear up was no longer an option and we picked a route back to the finish clearing up what was possible on the way in, dropping 2 of the 20 available running checkpoints however as these we low scoring 5 pointers it was a relatively easy decision to make. As we approached our final checkpoint we passed our rivals, again, coming in the other direction, they cheerfully commented on how they had been surprised that the clean of all checkpoints had been possible, my heart sank as I realised that this would mean the league victory was theirs, I didn't even dare tell Chris as I knew what this would do to his mood! We arrived at the finish with 2 minutes remaining and could only wait to see our rivals final score.
After a couple of minute in they ran in looking surprisingly fresh and we limped over to check scores, it was a bluff that I'd fallen for, in fact they had dropped a couple of cycle checkpoints and several on the run. Victory was ours!, the final event win had given us the points we required to win the series.
This concludes a superb race series that anyone who enjoys running and cycling should consider, organisation and the route setting of these really makes them stand out. There are several longer individual events over the summer before the next series, anyone looking to take part should visit the Open 5 website for details.
Ben Bardsley Blog from the Alps
Follow Ben's Blog to see what he is getting up to in the Alps right now. Not your typical ski season!
Ben Bardsley's Blog
Open 5 Adventure Series Northern Dales - Keswick Bikes Team Places 1st
Open 5 Report By Chris Hope: The Truth & Nothing But The Truth!
Keswick Bikes' Chris Hope & Andy Wrigley - Open 5 - Northern Dales
The 3rd Open 5 event of the 2010/11 series was held in the Northern Dales (Kirkby Stephen) on the 6th February. As the week leading up to the event progressed, it became increasingly obvious that anyone who had entered would be in for a tough 5 hours (or about 6 if you count riding to and from the start!). The forecast was for heavy rain and gale force winds, and it certainly lived up to expectations. A quick check of the website on Saturday night confirmed that it was all systems go but a few wise words reminded competitors to come prepared - 'there's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing'. I think most people would agree, staying vaguely warm was key to just completing the 5 hours on that day.
This was to be the 3rd Open Adventure race that myself and Andy had competed in. Having done the first two of the series, we were getting addicted. We've done our fair share of Trailquest, Polaris and MTB races, competing as solos or pairs for Keswick Bikes, but never really combined running with biking, so the new challenge has been great for us.
We learnt a lot from the first 2 events, particularly the last one at Sutton Bank, but I don't think using ice tyres was going to help this time. The main thing was don't overdo the bike section. We obviously try and play to our strengths, but it seems important to leave sufficient time for the run section.
We studied the map in the comfort of the registration at Kirkby Stephen school, delaying the inevitable soaking, but with time ticking we were forced to get layered up and make the 5km ride to the event start. I'm sure event organiser Dave Hetherington envisaged a pleasant cycle along the back roads with wintry sunshine and crisp morning air, with the transition area only moist with a bit of dew. Change that for a battle against 50mph gusts, roads which resembled rivers and the transition resembling the Somme and it would be closer to the mark.
Having 'dibbed' at the start, most made use of a barn to shelter from the wind and rain and mark up their maps with checkpoint values. We thought we were being clever by keeping our maps dry in our pockets, so that we could write on them with our permanent markers. This plan failed when water ran from our sleeves and onto the map, soaking it and making it impossible to write on. Another learning point!
Having tried to memorise where the high checkpoints were, we set off on the bike, with a completely different plan to that which we had come up with when studying the map earlier. Our route took us in an anticlockwise direction, climbing above Crosby Garrett for a 30 pointer (No 9). It was a battle of a climb but we were rewarded with a lightening descent down the long farm track heading north, with wind behind and surfing a torrent of water. The next sections on the road proved how hard the next couple of hours would be battling into the wind.
Andy spotted that my back tyre was looking a bit soft. I convinced him it was OK - it wasn't. I had picked up a thorn, so I rode with a soft tyre to Grange Hill farm and sheltered in a barn to mend the puncture. A swift change and we were back out there doing battle with wind and mud for what seemed like a long 'in and out' for checkpoint 2. With time ticking and the going being so tough, it was time to rethink our options. We had originally planned to go to the far west of the map and complete a big circuit but conscious that we didn't want to get too greedy and be out on the bike for much more than 3 hours we cut our route short, descending to Tarn Moor through checkpoint 8. The wind by this point was so strong, Andy was found pedalling downhill in his granny ring! The linking road section was rapid when heading north, but pathetically slow when we turned back south. We eventually reached the low point of the route, to the south of the map. We know it was a low point because it was under 2 feet of water. The positive was, we were now on the final stretch with just Smardale Fell to climb but the wind was behind and we climbed it remarkably quickly.
So far, so good, we came into the transition in 3 hours and managed to collect the highest scoring bike checkpoints. We grabbed our running gear from the transition bags, which we thought were waterproof, but sadly they were far from waterproof and our gear was soaking wet (another learning point!). Not to worry, just 2 hours to go. After a quick look at the map and again working out where the high value checkpoints were, we opted for another anticlockwise circuit. We must have anticlockwise brains. We set off up Crosby Garrett fell picking up checkpoints 26 and 28 before heading north and descending into Potts valley. The route back up the valley into the wind was torturous and it was difficult to keep running at times. However, the checkpoints came quite quickly and there was no difficulty finding them. Things soon changed however, when we approached checkpoint 36 ('west end of pond'). Firstly, we had taken the wrong bridleway which didn't help, but bearing in mind it had just put down about 3 inches of rain, there were hundreds of ponds! We eventually found it after going round in circles and headed out to the next checkpoint by another 'pond', thankfully this one was easier to find. Less than half an hour to go now and our legs were getting tired but we couldn't miss out the top of Nettle Hill, for a crucial 20 pointer. The climb wasn't as bad as expected and we were left with a great decent back to the finish, crossing the line in 4 hours 56 minutes.
Feeling pleased with our efforts, it was back on our bikes for a very cold 5km ride back to Kirkby Stephen school and a well earned brew. Although we felt as though we had had a good event, you never really know how it has gone compared to others but we were delighted to find out that we had clocked up the highest score of the day with 495 points. A cracking day out despite the foul conditions - bring on the next event in the Peak District.
Whinlatter Duathlon: Keswick Bikes 1st Placed Team
The Annual Whinlatter Off road Duathlon took place Sunday 14th November. It proved to be a sell out, following on the success of the 2009 event. Local event organisers; High Terrain Events registered 200 participants signing up to test themselves against a course which had already gained a reputation for it’s difficulty. The format was run (5.5 km), bike (15km), run (5.5km), with the transition between disciplines taking place adjacent to the Whinlatter Visitor Centre.
The course offered steep running on forest tracks and footpaths, ascending to the slopes of Lords Seat with outstanding views (if you had time to look!). The mountain biking took advantage of the fantastic Altura trails with the majority of the course linking section of the technically demanding northern red route.
Keswick Bikes team mates Chris Hope and Andy Wrigley lined up with the other participants to get their first experience of a Duathlon. Despite being a couple of minutes behind the leaders after the first run, they clearly had an advantage on the mountain bike section, passing all but Borrowdale Fell Runner Nick Fish. Although the Keswick Bike duo often compete as a pair, this time it was every man for himself. The two demonstrated that they are well matched as a game of cat and mouse ensued as they repeatedly passed one another but were never more than 30 seconds apart. At the end of the bike section, they were a minute down on Nick Fish but this deficit was inevitably to grow as they transitioned to the last run. Chris and Andy were still neck and neck on the last decent back to the finish, completing the course in joint second position, approximately 4 minutes behind Nick.
A little further down the field Adrian Vaughn, also of Keswick Bikes was having his own battle, coming in with a very strong 12th position which placed Keswick Bikes in the first team position.
Although the majority of participants competed as individuals, there was the option to compete as a pair in the style of a relay. Last years winning pair of Phil Davies and Chris Steel, racing for Cyclewise did not disappoint. They set a blistering pace completing the course in a similar time to last year, approximately 10 minutes ahead of the first individual participant. The womens race was dominated by Victoria Wilkinson who showed she was in a class of her own, finishing in 8th position overall.
The next event in the series will take place at Kielder on the 5th December. Why not give it a go?
KMB Place 31st in 2010 Trans Alp International
KMB Team Riders Ben Bardsley & Chris Hope complete the Trans Alp
Another impressive finish for our relentless team riders as they complete another epic event placing an amazing 31st position out of nearly 1000 competing teams, many with full factory support!
Ben rides the hill
Why is everyone else walking?
Chris Hope flat out
The man with only one speed................quick
PODIUM RESULT FOR KMB TEAM RIDERS IN 10@KIRROUGHTREE EVENT....MORE TO FOLLOW
Northern win for Workington downhill racer Liam Little
WORKINGTON’S Liam Little powered to victory at round three of the Northern Downhill Mountain Biking Series.
The event was based at Alwinton, Northumberland, near the established downhill racetrack at Kiddland.
The track was a challenging route incorporating a few loose turns in the trees straight off the start lump, which led into a grassy section with two very fast loose grassy turns.
Then it was into the first steep rocky shoot which had a couple of drops into the two hardest corners on the track which would test a large number of the competitors.
Finally a series of fast off-camber turns with an inventive tree trunk obstacle, a bridge across a gully and a flat-out shoot into the finish arena would ensure that all the riders were tested to their limits.
Practice day had perfect weather conditions and the track was fast and dusty. Little managed to get a few runs in the morning and felt like he had learned most of the track but he knew other riders were also getting to grips with the tricky course and that it would not be an easy event the following day.
With a delay in the morning due to a back injury to another rider Little, aged 25, had time to think about where he could improve and once the track reopened he took the opportunity to take in a couple of further runs before the competition began.
On the morning of race day it was a lot greyer with a real possibility of rain and just as the competition got started it did start to rain.
The first runs in the wet were okay for Little with track conditions staying relatively similar to practice but after another hour of rain the track had changed dramatically, becoming very slippery.
Little posted a time of one minute 50 seconds which was soon beaten by Ben Hall who recorded 1.46 whilst carrying a rear puncture.
A number of riders were struggling with the ever changing conditions and decided not to risk another run.
After talking to some fellow competitors Little decided to take a second run. With the track staying similar to the first pass a big push resulted in a very entertaining run with Little feeling he didn’t have both feet on the pedals for the majority of the run.
However, setting a time of 1.41, would see him take fastest time of the day, one second quicker than his nearest rival.
Little said: “It has been a really challenging day with the weather making the track extra tough, but I am really happy to come away with a fastest time of the day.”
Little, is sponsored Knox Protection, Keswick Mountain Bikes and Trek. He is now preparing for the national championships later this month.
DOWNHILL STAR KMB'S LIAM LITTLE
..........every race is full of talented riders and people working their guts out to make it in the world of downhill racing.
Name - Liam Little
Age - 25
Race - Downhill in Expert Cat
Bike - Trek Session 8
Career - Engine Technician at M-sport. (Ford world rally team)
Sponsors - Knox, Keswick Mountain Bikes Ltd.-Trek.
Best ever moment in 2008/09 - Marrying Kirsty
Worst ever moment in 2008/09 - Engine blowing up on my van and spending hours in the freezing cold fixing it.
Fave place's to ride - Innerleithen. Fort William
Best Christmas present - Trek Session 8, but I bought that for myself, so Diesel, only the brave.
Worst Christmas present - Homer Simpson socks
In your CD player at the minute - Queens of the stone age- songs for the deaf
Hopes for 2010 - Race Fort William, Schladming and Champery world cups. Win the British National Series in Expert. Qualify for Elite. Gain enough support to carry on racing next season.
Best result in 2009 - Winning the Northern Downhill series.
People you want to say thanks to - My Wife and family including The Ashbridges.
Ten Under The Ben 15th May 2010
Keswick Bikes_Merida_Team_Place_2nd
For 2010 the 10 Under The Ben crew had unveiled a few major changes to the notorious witches trail loop. With 4 new natural technical sections added along with the all-new Le Mans style start giving the regular competitors a little more to think about for this year.
If you’ve never been to 10 Under the Ben, its certainly worth the trip, the atmosphere is fantastic. A packed out venue, happy people on bikes backed up with great sounds and genuinely funny MC . Even the continuing showers and cold temperatures seemed irrelevant in the midst of the festival.
The pairs is always a vigorously fought battle and generally providing the fastest time and most laps of the day. Saturday was no exception, with the two teams of Xracer/SportsPerformance and Keswick Bikes/Merida both managing a lung bursting 12 laps.
Chris & Andrew are back in Keswick this weekend for the Keswick Sportive Event, we are starting to run out of Duracel batteries now 'tho......!!!!!!!! phew................where do they find the energy??
WELL DONE TO ALL THE WHITTON FINISHERS.
PARTICULAR MENTION TO THE MANY KESWICK BIKES TEAM RIDERS INC: Ben Bardsley, Chris Hope & Andrew Wrigley & Cheryl Frost, Les Nicholson, Heather Greening, Theresa Segersby & Karl Clark
TEAM KESWICKBIKES.CO.UK AT KESWICK MOUNTAIN FESTVAL
Team KeswickBikes
Team KeswickBikes.co.uk principle (and tall person) Amos Doron on right with (left to right) team riders Ben Bardsley, Andrew Wrigley and Chris Hope.
TEAM KESWICKBIKES.CO.UK GO TO THE BOARDS
Trackie joins Team KeswickBikes for 2010 season
In a signing move that echoes Bradley Wiggins last minute defection to Team Sky, Scottish ex-pat Gav McDonald has recently joined Team KeswickBikes for the 2010 season in exchange for the promise of a skinsuit, some florescent green paint and a new pointy hat.
Commenting from Keswick Bike Towers earlier today McDonald said "not a lot of people realise that the drag co-efficient of green paint is actually much lower than laquered carbon but the shade has got to be just spot on ..... it's taken a long time to find a team that races in the exactly the right hue of green. I can now expect to go much faster - thank you Team KeswickBikes".
Rumours that he may switch from the track to mountain biking have been played down with McDonald stressing that he once got lost going round a velodrome and doesn't know what all the "funny levers on the handlebars are for".
Team principle Amos Dorito denied that he viewed McDonald's disc wheel as a blank, and cheap, advertising canvas and also denied that a new pointy hat or skinsuit formed any part of the deal. "I deny that a pointy hat or skinsuit was even discussed" he said earlier via his new Dangleberry phone / life in an electonic box.
If anyone's interested in a hurl round the boards at Manchester contact Keswick Bikes or email us on: office@keswickbikes.co.uk and we'll get another trip arranged.
BARDSLEY VICTORIOUS IN UK's TOUGHEST CYCLO SPORTIVE
The Dave Lloyd MEGA Challenge
The Dave Lloyd MEGA Challenge, is held annually in North Wales. The route covers 150 miles and climbs 5000 metres. Cyclists from all over the country come to test themselves against one of the ultimate challenges.
These routes takes in a string of famous climbs: The Shelf, Horse Shoe Pass, Worlds End, Moel Arthur, The Cerrig "Road to Hell",, Bwlch-y-Groes, and the "Stingers"
Ben Bardsley felt strong in the legs after just returning from a cycling holiday in the Dolomites.. Along with an Achilles injury, preventing him from contesting the British fell running championships in Tebay, he put in a last minute entry.
Ben commented that “ I was pretty daunted when I realised that my journey down to North Wales by car was the same distance as the event I was about to compete in”
Without the benefit of any other riders to work with in a group, Ben found the going against headwinds and steep gradients an immense mental challenge. No one was more surprised than Ben when he discovered he had posted the fastest time and brought victory home to Keswick.
TEN UNDER THE BEN
Keswick Bikes come in 2nd at 10 Under Ben race
The last weekend of May saw Keswick Bikes race team, Andy Wrigley of Whitehaven & Chris Hope of Brigham, heading north yet again to compete in one of Scotland's finest MTB endurance races, the '10 Under the Ben'.
Now in its fifth year, '10 Under the Ben' is a must do for all mountain bike enthusiasts. Participants can compete as a solo or in relay teams of two, three or four. The race is an endurance format with the teams and individuals competing to see who can complete the most laps in 10 hours. The course is based on the Nevis Range, the home of the 2007 World Championships and the UK's round of the World Cup in 2008 and 2009.
Registration opened on the Friday night with participants taking a cable car ride up the mountain, taking in the beautiful sunset on the way up and giving them a chance to grab an aerial view of the 12 mile lap.
Race day dawned, promising temperatures of 26°C, not ideal race weather but a welcome change from the more usual rain. At 9:30 the race began with a mass start on fire roads designed to give the field chance to sort itself out before heading into the technical singletrack. Chris rode the first lap whilst Andy sunbathed in the pits waiting for the first lap to end. After 1hr10mins Chris stormed into the pits in 6th place, an amazing start considering the other 400 people out racing. Andy took up the charge, racing through a course that contained everything from open fire road to twisting singletrack and boulder strewn descents, and managed to gain another place on the lap.
The race progressed throughout the day and into the evening with the Keswick Bikes duo slowly moving up the Leader board. With 1 1/2 hrs to go the boys found themselves in 3rd place by the narrowest of margins, desperately chasing a higher position. Andy went out hot on the heels of the 2nd placed rider and as luck would have it managed to pass him as he punctured on one of the many rocks strewn round the course. Coming into the pits to handover for the last time, and now up to 2nd place, Chris charged out keen to maintain position and was now chasing for 1st place. 55 painful minutes later it was all over, as a sweaty and grimey Chris blasted across the finish line in an amazing 2nd place, just 2 minutes behind the race winner.
THE FRED WHITTON
Whitton Challenge 10th Anniverasry Ride
Keswick Bikes dominate Fred Whitton Challenge.
The Fred Whitton Challenge is the ultimate of a test of cycling endurance and suffering. The event is in memory of Fred Whitton, a Lakes Road Club stalwart. This year was the tenth anniversary ride and attracted over 1000 competitors from all over the country.
Riders complete a circuit of the Lakeland passes, starting in Coniston. The route takes in the relentless Kirkstone, then the mighty trio of Honister, Newlands and Whinlatter, before heading out West over Fang's Brow and Cold Fell. At around 100 miles riders are faced with the cruel gradient of the aptly named Hard Knott, before finally battling with Wrynose then back to Coniston.
After a week of storm force winds and torrential rain, Sunday 10th May dawned with gentle winds and mild temperatures. What a relief!
Last year, Keswick Bikes Team mates Ben Bardsley, Chris Hope and Andy Wrigley had their sights on the team trophy. Their hopes were dashed when Hope and Wrigley unwittingly set off for a warm up just before the peleton departed. The plucky duo, some several minutes down chased hard to catch the group, but the early effort proved too much. To add further misery, Hope suffered a sidewall blowout on Kirkstone. Understandably the lads were turbo charged for success this year.
A large group left Coniston at 08.30 and the Keswickbikes lads sat in the pack to conserve strength. It was not until Honister that any action was seen. International cyclists James Dobbin and Rob Jebb pulled clear at this stage. Bardsley and Hope found themselves in the chasing group of six riders. The small group worked together until Hard Knott Pass, and then the race was on! Bardsley managed to dig the deepest and came home in third spot, followed closely by his team mate Hope in fourth. Meanwhile Wrigley had been chasing hard and put in a valiant effort to pull through in the latter stages to sixth spot. The lads brought the much-coveted Team Honours home to Keswickbikes for the first time, no mean feat, this is the event that Cycling Weekly refers to as "The Daddy of them all".
"It's never over, until its over"…an unexpected hail storm over Wrynose put down over an inch of ice on the road and made descending treacherous…. but the mugs of tea just tasted all that much better once the finish line was reached!
Other locals also did incredibly well. Heather Greening finished in an amazing 7 hours and five minutes and won the lady V 40 category hands down. Eden Valley enthusiast Phil Davies came home in 5th spot and took the Veterans crown. Martin Nicholson and Simon Booth put in solid performances to finish in 6 hours and 13 minutes.
1= Rob Jebb Wheelbase.co.uk 5:46
1= James Dobbin Arctic Premier R T 5:46
3. Ben Bardsley Keswick Bikes .co.uk 6:00
4. Chris Hope Keswick Bikes .co.uk 6.05
5. Phil Davies M40 6.05
6. Andy Wrigley Keswick Bikes .co.uk 6:09
Other Team KMB Rider's Times:
Simon Booth 6:13, Martin Nicholson 6:13, Paul Maine M40 6:13, Richard Houghton 6:25, Heather Greening F40 7:05,
(click on photo above for short U Tube clip of the event)
WHINLATTER MTB CHALLENGE 2009
Whinlatter MTB Challenge
With rare sunshine and blue skies, 470 mountain bikers took part in the first ever Whinlatter Mountain Bike Challenge. Conditions were excellent but the route was very demanding with two loops of 17 miles and ascent of over 6000 feet in total to complete the event.
Quickest rider was Keswick Bike's Chris Hope completing the ride in just over 3 hours whilst some riders took well over 6 hours before crossing the finish line! Forestry staff were delighted with the challenge's success and certainly organiser Richard Staton did an exceptional job with his many volunteers to make the event run smoothly and raise money for Marie Curie Trust.'
STRATHPUFFER 2009
MTB's Toughest Team Challenge
In the darkest deepest north through 24 hours of sub zero winters night, the Strath Puffer 24 hour MTB Challenge is arguably one of mountain bikings tougher team challenges. The Keswick Bikes Team wins it for the second year running in difficult conditions. We are not worthy!
The full story goes like this: The Strathpuffer 24 hour Mountain Bike race is the only 24 hour event to take place in the winter. Not only is it in winter, it is in the North of Scotland, with 17 hours of darkness and guaranteed horrendous weather conditions. The only bonus is there aren't any midges! It has been crowned the hardest 24 hour mountain bike race in the world.
The event started at 10 am on the 17th January at a village called Strathpeffer, about 20 miles north of Inverness.
The event involves completing as many laps of the 6 mile off road course as possible in 24 hours. Typically teams of 4 enter the event and apply a relay system. However, the sadistic and more foolhardy may enter as a pair or even solo. The course is set in beautiful Scottish woodland and involves generally climbing on open forest road with descents on technical singletrack interspersed with exposed rocky sections.
Keswick Bikes put a team forward once again in an attempt to defend their title from 2008. The winning formula from 2008 included Chris Hope (Brigham), Andy Wrigley (Whitehaven), Ben Bardsley (Threlkeld) and Paul Trott (Kendal).
The forecast leading up to the event was horrendous - gale force winds with gusts in exposed parts predicted to exceed 100mph and snow forecast for the early hours of sunday which when combined with the wind would result in blizzard conditions. Not ideal, but that's what makes the Strathpuffer.
The race starts with a 400m run for the bike, so renowned fell runner, Ben Bardsley was the obvious choice for the first lap. He didn't disapoint and completed the first lap in first place with one of the fastest times of the event, however, 2nd and 3rd place were only a few hundred metres behind. Over subsequent laps Keswick Bikes opened up a healthy lead and managed to lap 2nd place after approximately 12 hours of riding. From 4pm onwards laps were done using powerful bike lights to see the tracks.
The weather wasn't as bad as predicted but snow fell throughout the night which added to the difficulties and excitement as the course turned white. The team tired through the night and at one point it looked as though the 2nd place team were catching us, but fortunately they also tired and shortly after day break we completed our 35th lap, taking the win, approximately one and a half laps clear of 2nd place.
MERIDA MARATHON
Merida Marathon Success
The sun came out and the boys got back from their jaunt in: 1st (CH), 2nd (BB) & 3rd (AW) whilst Emily flew in with a big grin in 3rd place over the 100k, in the last of this year's Merida marathon series at Lowther Park, just off the M6 near Penrith.
Before & After
1st & 2nd at 2008 Mountain Mayhem for Female & Male Team
Cheryl's email something of understatement: "Good Result at the weekend for all lots of mud and madness. Thanks for helping us out with the van and other bits – all led to a good but rather muddy weekend. Bike a bit worse for wear! "
Any way they have all gone off to do the TransAlp now!
Summer Polaris 2008 & Emily is 3rd solo!
Polaris Challenge Summer ‘08
Tweed Valley
KMB Race Team: Emily Brooks 3rd
This two day MTB navigation event was held on 5th/6th July starting from Innerleithen near Peebles. The usual summer format of 7 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday was followed, with Traquair House being used as the base camp. For the first time, the Polaris Challenge was run alongside the well known a.c.e adventure race, which used some of the same checkpoints. It made for a more sociable weekend, which included live music and the usual access to stalls and Wilf’s delicious hot food.
Saturday morning started with glorious sunshine that didn’t last long. As forecast, the heavy rainy and high winds arrived and those who had picked their route with this in mind reaped the benefits. The map covered a large and very hilly area which included the one-way single track at Glentress and Innerleithen, and the high exposed ridges to the southeast of Peebles. It was not uncommon for competitors to have climbed 2500m by the end of the first day. As the rain fell the temperature plummeted, and Wilf’s chilli was a welcome warmer at the end!
Sunday used the same map, although the checkpoint values had changed which meant a whole new route choice was open to competitors. With little road riding available and all the points being high up, it was another hilly day - excellent training for those of us going on to do the Trans Alp race in a couple of weeks! The rain was continuous but those who chose to finish down Caddon Bank singletrack were rewarded with a fun swooping ride to finish.
Emily Brookes 2008 National Trailquest Champion
Emily rode a great two day event to win the points score and the championship!
Cheryl Frost wins Keswick Triathalon
Not only did Cheryl single handedly organise the 2nd Annual Keswick Mountain Festival (well almost!) but she also won the Triathalon, what a girl!
Ben Bardsley 3rd place in Keswick Triathalon
Another great result for our much loved world adventure sport hero.
Team KeswickBikes.co.uk - Team News & Results
Updates from our shop sponsored race team - Team KeswickBikes.co.uk
Chris Hope in Action
Race Report By Keswick Bikes Team Rider: Chris Hope
KeswickBikes.co.uk Female Team Win Sleepless in the Saddle 2007
KeswickBikes.co.uk female race team has won the 2007 Kona Sleepless in the Saddle 24 hour endurance race, one of the toughest team challenges in the mountain bike race calendar.
The all female team was made up of; Emily Brooks, Vicky Ware, Maddy Robinson and Christine Fischer. Team leader Emily Brooks who works at Needle Sports has already got a record of success in mountain bike competition but to achieve an outright win at this prestigious national event which also attracts pro teams from abroad was a brilliant achievement for the four riders.
During the 24 hour competition, which does not even stop once darkness sets in, the team achieved 31 laps of an 11 mile loop over the 24 hours. Even when her lights failed on one of the laps, rider Christine Fischer had to make do by following other riders lights in the pitch black! When the team realized there was a distinct chance of winning, they pulled out all the stops and managed to find the time to ride an extra two laps to their nearest competitors.
- Kielder Not a particularly exciting area to mountain bike but for those wanting to do well in the national trailquest league it was important to turn out and compete. Most of the previous events have taken in a circuit of the reservoir but this year all checkpoints were to the north of the water. Navigation was never too difficult due to the good quality tracks and the well printed map and route choice was also fairly straightforward. That meant it was all down to riding as fast as possible for 4 hours. With the exception of Jimmy Taylor the riders at the top of the league including Neil Atkinson, Chris Hope and Bryan Singleton were present. Andy Wrigley, although not having competed in many of the earlier events also turned out. After 4 hours of hard riding only one check point separated the top 4 riders. Chris Hope and Neil Atkinson were awarded joint first (Chris picked up 25 points more than Neil but then lost them all by being 12 minutes late!). Bryan Singleton was third and Andy Wrigley fourth.
National Trailquest Weekend The National Trailquest weekend was held on the 2nd - 3rd of June at Thornbridge near to Bakewell, Derbyshire. Having had a disappointing result at Glentress and having missed the Nidderdale event due to a clash with the Fred Whitton Challenge, Chris Hope was keen to get a good result and improve his overall position in the national league. The event on the Saturday was the only 5 hour event in the national league, so it was the main opportunity for riders favoring long events to make their mark. The event area covered a lot of road and good bridleways, so despite Chris having never ridden the area, the navigation was not too difficult. After a brief look at the map, Chris thought that the 'clean-up' was on but reserved judgment until approximately 1 hour into the event. It then became evident that providing he didn't have any mechanicals or make any mistakes that it was just a matter of how fast all the check points could be collected, and whether anyone would be faster. Unfortunately Jimmy Taylor was 2 minutes faster but both Chris and Jimmy were awarded a win and gained 100% for the event. A good result. On the 6th of June, Chris Hope and Andy Wrigley made the 5hr journey north to Fort William to compete in the '10 under the Ben' MTB enduro. This was the first in the series of three 10 hour enduro races run by No Fuss events which attracted approximately 750 riders. The rules are simple - ride as many 10 mile laps as you can in 10 hours. Riders could enter as either solo, pairs, trios or quads with teams taking it in turns to do laps. Both Keswick Bikes riders were competing in the solo category, which proved to be extremely demanding as temperatures soared into the mid twenties. The coarse contained a fantastic mixture of forest road, technical single-track, north shore, river crossings and even a section of the World Cup downhill course. Both Andy and Chris had their race heads on and got carried away in the mass start resulting in some quick initial laps, which they paid for later! Both riders opted for hard tails initially as the quicker option, Chris riding a Kona Kula Primo and Andy on a Kula Supreme. Five laps later and the hard tails were exchanged for full suspension bikes as the rough sections of the course were taking their toll. Chris finally completed 10 laps in 10 hours 28 minutes (6th solo) closely followed by Andy who also completed 10 laps in 10 hours 38 minutes (7th solo). 4th Cross Cumbria Trailquest Coniston was the venue for the 4th event in the Cross Cumbria Trailquest series. The event covered an area primarily south of Coniston taking in Walna Scar, the Duddon Valley and the west side of Grisedale. Having achieved two wins in previous events Chris Hope was keen to get a third but knew it would require a clever route choice, and fast riding to beat Bryan Singleton on his home turf. Chris realized shortly after setting off in an anti clockwise direction that it probably wasn't going to be the best way but by that time was committed. The chosen route resulted in a committing 11km loop with 300m of ascent through Grisedale with only 35 minutes to spare. There was no option but to go for it but it meant that Chris finished 13 minutes late incurring 30 penalty points and finishing in second place to Bryan Singleton who had an excellent ride.
Alistair Robinson1
Mainly working at the Lakeland Pedlar, Ali can also be found building bikes and drinking tea down at the workshop. When not at work expect to find him on a bike and currently on long term leave riding pro team in Belgium!
Vicky Ware; Fast on a Bike fast on a Computer!
When not training on her road bike, Vicky can be found talking to customers at the Lakeland Pedlar or updating the web site.
Fred Whitton Challenge
Keswick Bikes were represented by a strong team in early May at the Fred Whitton Challenge. This classic Cyclo Sportive covering 112 miles and all the Lakeland passes had gained a lot of hype over the winter as there was much speculation regarding whether or not Rob Jebb's 6 hour record could be broken and if so who would do it. Phil Malcolm was certainly keen and Alistair Robinson, although maybe not quite as focused on this particular event due to other more important road races was clearly very capable. Chris Hope, a recent addition to the Keswick Bikes team as a mountain biker, had never actually ridden a road bike prior to last winter but decided it would be a good challenge, bought himself a Felt F4 and set about training. In addition to the Keswick Bikes team other hot favorites included the Wheelbase riders (Stuart Reid and Lewis Craven) and Honister 92 riders (Andy Wrigley and Damian Smith)
The day was perfect - dry, a light easterly and the 9 o'clock bunch of 30 riders were psyched. The initial pace was quick, primarily set by Alistair and Phil, but settled down to a more realistic pace on Kirkstone. The bunch remained together until Honister, and then Stuart Reid and Lewis Craven really opened it up by setting a blistering pace up the 1 in 4 climb. The only person to see them again was Damian Smith who managed to keep them within his sights until Irton Pike. Meanwhile, Alistair Robinson, Chris Hope and Andy Wrigley tried to maintain the fastest pace allowable to limit the damage done by the Wheelbase rider's injection of speed. Phil Malcolm was unfortunately having trouble with cramp, which plagued him for the rest of the ride. Chris Hope pulled away from Alistair and Andy on Newlands Pass and maintained his position throughout. As the race progressed many of the leading riders were aware that the times at checkpoints were significantly up on previous years and providing that they didn't 'blow-up' the 6 hour barrier could be broken. Sure enough Lewis Carven and Stuart Reid finished together in a remarkable time of 5 hours 45 minutes, Damian Smith in 3rd place in 5 hour 50 minutes. Chris Hope closely behind in 5 hours 51 minutes and Andy Wrigley and Alistair Robinson in 5th and 6th position respectively in 5 hours 57 minutes.
This weekend 21/04/07 saw KeswickBikes.co.uk riders in action on both Saturday and Sunday.
Having placed 4th in three of the previous rounds of the series Alistair finally secured his first podium place in the 2007 Lakes and Lancs Sporting Courses Time Trial series. The Lakeland Landrover Coniston Grandprix, run on a tough 20 mile course and containing the daunting climb of Grizbeck hill, had a start list of more than 40 riders, riding his Felt DA time trial bike Alistair recorded a time of 50 minutes and 32 seconds which remained the fastest time of the day until the final seeded rider, Blair Buss of Team Swift Allsports, clocked a time 47 seconds faster to take the win. With the Shap hill climb next on the time trial agenda Alistair will be looking to go one step higher and depending on conditions will be targeting the course record for the 9 mile climb.
Sunday 22/04/07 saw three KeswickBikes.co.uk riders take to the roads of North Lancashire in round three of the Cycling Development North West road race series. On the pan flat course based on roads around Elswick village the race was always going to be run at a high pace, in the E/1/2 category race Alistair and Philip where caught napping early on a missed the initial break involving 8 riders, and despite the break coming within 14 seconds of being caught midway through the 96km race this proved to be the winning move, in the sprint for the minor placings the Keswick riders paid for chasing hard and slipped well outside the top twenty. In the 3/4 category race Paul Armstrong finished with the bunch and, despite getting boxed in during the sprint finish, finished a respectable twelfth place.
Whinlatter Course Record
Alistair Robinson shatters record at Whinlatter Hill Climb Time Trial by over 1 minute on 17th April 2007.
KeswickBikes.co.uk rider Alistair Robinson rode a time of 18.27 on 17th April to beat the previous record of 19.29 set in 2005 by VC Cumbria rider Adam Powel. This follows Alistair's achievement of the previous week when he broke the course record at a 10 mile Time Trial north of Carlisle event organised by Carlisle cycling club; Border City Wheelers.
Other KeswickBikes.co.uk riders recording great times included Chris Hope on his début time trial event, which followed his stunning victory at Round 2 of National Championship Trail Quest Event from Braithwaite on Sunday 15th April. Additionally ex KeswickBikes.co.uk employee James Taylor managed a third place behind well known Cumbrian rider; Peter Strong.
Sunday 2nd April saw Keswick School's high flying Down Hiller James Scott achieve an excellent third placing in a very competitive Youth category at Round 1 of the RAV 4 Scottish Downhill Championship in Innerleithen against some very stiff competition.
KMB Winning in 2007
Adam Brayton has taken the first victory for KMB in 2007 with an outright Expert class win at the first (Hopton) round of the Pearce Cycles DH Winter series event. Adam posted the second fastest time of the day with his first run and had the fastest run out of every category in his second run taking some notable Elite scalps along the way!
Nice one Ad, we're proud of you.
Adam races on a custom Iron Horse Sunday, with Bergtec pedals and hubs, Sram XO shifters and Rock Shox World Cup boxxers and Maxxis tyres. Want one? give us a call...
Team News
The 2007 bikes are here and the team riders are itching to mix it up in the new team kit.
Alastair Robinson will be hunting scalps for his first category licence on the road for KMB this year on his Cervelo Soloist Road bike & the awesome all new Felt time-trial bike. Joining Alastair on the road is Phil Malcom who will also be riding a Cervelo Soloist.
The Downhill team have chosen to ride the Commencal Supreme DH for this years bike with Paul and James both looking for series wins in their age categories after some early season training. As the exception to the rule, Adam will ride a full custom Iron Horse Sunday colour coded to the KMB Black and Kawasaki Green racing strip!
Come and say hello if you see any of us at an event!
2006 Review
From the shop who have staff who really ride, the 2006 season has been quite a year for KMB's racing teams!
KMB've had riders competing and winning XC and 'cross races at National Level, like John Galway and Duncan Stuart (Kona King Supreme), and even internationally with Jimmy Taylor riding at both the Euro and World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships (Marin Mount Vision).
The Mountain Bike team also took 3rd at the Mountain Mayhem and a team win at perhaps Cumbria's toughest off-road event, the 'Grizedale Mountain Bike Challenge' against strong local teams from Wheelbase and Grizedale MTB.
On the Downhill side of things Liam, Paul Wheldon and Adam Brayton have been flying the KMB flag qualifying and racing at the World Championship series downhill round at Fort William with Adam going on to represent the UK in the European Championsips, all racing their Kona Stab Supreme DH bkes.
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