Meet George the Chimp

Recently, after Maddie recommended the book, I have been reading The Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters. Wow! This book has made such a difference to my riding. 

Prof Peters starts the book by talking about the 'human' part of the brain and the 'chimp' part of the brain, his first piece of advice is to name your chimp, so my chimp is now called George. This is of course after 'Curious George' the book, which is about a man with the yellow hat and his pet monkey who is an inquisitive and wonderful creature. In this case I am the man with the yellow hat taming my pet monkey that lives in my brain with a soundtrack of sing-a-longs and lullabies from Jack Johnson playing in the background. 
The book then carries on to how to tame your chimp. George has proved to be quite hard to tame, luckily in the Curious George books he is used as the 'teachable' character, therefore I am now going to 'teach' George how to man up and get on with things! Prof Peters says to manage your chimp by exercising it, boxing it and then giving it a banana. So now before every race or if I have been contemplating riding a techy section I go through the positives and negatives in my head (exercising him), then usually finish by looking like a mad women by telling George to "shut up" as I'm riding along (boxing him)! I then, if he's performed well, reward him by as Jack Johnson would say by giving him a 'Banana Pancake' which in my case is a KFC from a service station if I feel I've done well in a race. 
Two weekends ago it was my first race testing exercising and boxing up George at the BC National at Sherwood. I didn't really know what to expect at this race as last year everything was covered in snow! 
After the 6 hour journey up from Plymouth on Friday, we finally arrived in the french equivalent of a camp site here in the UK! I had spent the majority of this trek of a journey sleeping but also eating, people watching and exercising George. By the time we got to Sherwood, George had well and truly let it all out and I had boxed him away for the time being.
The next day, the remainder of the mavericks that hadn't arrived turned up to pre-ride the course as a group. Today we were going to try out the pre-ride plan that we had been told about at the recent RSR. After our 3 laps George and myself felt great! I was so relaxed, knowing the course like the back of my hand and George hadn't yet stressed me out. The rest of the day was spent socialising and preparing for the race the next day. 
On Sunday it was a 6.45am start ready for my 9.00am race start. A quick sprint to the toilet and two porridge pots later, I started to get my kit and bike ready. Still being half asleep, George wasn't a problem as my brain wasn't prepared for that sort of deep thinking!
The start loop was fast and there was quite a way before the first single track so I knew it was important to get a good start. So off we all went and as we were zooming along the fire road, I was suddenly in 4th place and this I managed to maintain for just over half a lap, which I am pretty happy with! As the race went on I slowly slipped back into 9th and finished the race in this position. My aim for the season was to come top half and this was now achieved! 

Photo by Isla Short

For this race George was tamed pretty well! I now know that I need to work on getting him more motivated as the race goes on. As soon as a few people pass me my chimp starts to think about me dropping places, not trying to keep on their tail. So I now knew what I could practise that the BC National Champs which was last weekend.

With only a week between the two BC National rounds, there was no real point in unpacking all of my clean clothes only to pack them again, so that week was quite relaxed, especially with the lack of work going on at school! All I had to do was prepare myself for another long journey to a race in the van. On Friday, I managed to get the day off school so we wouldn't arrive too late. That evening we stayed with family at Wolverhampton so it was great to fit that in along with the race.
Early(ish!) on Saturday morning we set off for Hopton, accompanied by the interesting sounds of Radio 1 on a Saturday, we got there at about 10.30am. As we had a sit down and chat with everyone the rain started, it kept going and going! Us all being from the South West and used to frequent rain, we were quite excited after pre-riding the course, as it suited us all quite well in the slippery conditions. The course was really enjoyable. Once you got to the top of first hill, it was pretty much all quick fire tracks and fun single track. 
On Sunday morning it was the same routine as the weekend before with toilet runs and excessive porridge. This time the start was uphill, unlike the flat start at Sherwood. After being gridded 7th I was surprised when I was on the front row so I was a bit disappointed starting at the edge in the long grass! 
It must be a Hopton curse, as last year I was in the same position and then also managed to get an awful start. Up the beginning of the first hill I was near the back so I knew I would have to catch people up on the single track to be in a position I was happy with. As there were quite a few crashes on the downhill section before the a-line I managed to go up a few places.

Photo by Andy Whitehouse

After a long 3 laps, I eventually rolled in to the finish in 7th. I was really happy with this especially as I had gained 2 places since the week before and I had again got my half way aim. Throughout the race I also managed to keep on peoples' tails as they over took me which was my aim from the week before. For this race George wasn't as tamed, on the second and third laps at the top of the hill a little voice in my head kept saying "why are you putting yourself through this?" but as soon as I kept going on to the single track the voice remembered why! 

Well done to everyone that raced and we now have a new National Champ in the SW, Harry! It has been two great weekends and I am now looking forward to the final round. 

Firstly thanks to my dad for driving me up and down the country so much recently! Also, thank you Maddie, Jay, Gary and Jonathon along with the other PYC coaches for helping me improve with each race, also to everyone who supported me over these two races (the horns were very motivating to make me go faster!) and to Silverfish for my wonderful Yeti Arc which yet again worked perfectly!   

National round 1 and Southern XC

After months of training, it was finally time for the first round of the BC National Cross Country MTB series and I was honestly quite scared! Straight after school on friday, we began the long journey up to London to stay the night at relatives, then the next morning travelled over to Essex. When we arrived most of the Mavericks were there and had already pre ridden the course before the saturday race, so I waited until the race had finished then rode with Charles, Max(Hinds) and Tom(Holland). My first impressions of the course were that it was very cyclo cross like with not many hills or much grass! But then we got to the twisty track through the woods and then to the BMX track, which was the best bit of the whole course! Later on, most of the Mavericks retreated to the local travel lodge whilst Maddie and Jay braved the British weather and camped! 

On Sunday morning, I woke up at a time that is usually never on my clock with butterflies in my stomach, thinking about the upcoming race later on. It would be nice to think that all of the racers still in bed were thinking of us all as we warmed up on rollers for our 9 o'clock race start but I think that's unlikely! 

As we all lined up on the start everything went quiet as we all concentrated on getting a good start. Being on the second row, it was going to be hard to get a good start so I knew that I was going to have to try to sprint a lot. During the first part of the first lap, I managed to stay with the second group but then gradually started to go off the back and then I was alone! With people behind me I still tried to push on determined not to be caught up. In the end I managed to finish 8th which I was happy with as I was only 3.30 minutes off the winner but I was also disappointed as I was only 1 place off my top half aim. 

After the my race finished it was the women's race with Maddie and Lucy racing so I convinced my dad to stay and watch it! Maddie came 9th in her elite race and Lucy 7th in the junior race, well done! 

Well done to all the Mavericks that raced and thanks to the organisers for a great race! 

I now realise what I need to work on for the next round at Wheal Maid which I can't wait for!

The next Sunday it was time for the second round of the Southern XC races and after the weekend before I was really hoping to do well. It was a really fun course with a lot of twisty single track and fast straights. Off the start I was quite far back as people started to over take so I pushed forward and managed to get in to second place. With lots of people behind trying to catch up I pushed on hoping to maintain my position. I managed to finish 2nd in the end which I am really happy about and am now looking forward to the road RSR on Tuesday!

Thanks to CSC (custom sports clothing) for the great new Fully Sussed kit to race in and as always to Silverfish for the great bike to race on!

What a difference 2 years makes!

This time two years ago I raced at the Fully Sussed round at Wheal Maid. I was still new to the world of racing bikes then and after having a go at the round at Woodbury I was keen to have another go! In the morning it was the skills test, to determine who started when, and with my dad racing I didn't really know anyone so just quietly joined in, trying my best at the various skills. Having come down to ride the course before the race I was nervous about racing, with all of the steep downs, long ups and other much faster racers it was quite intimidating! I gave it my all and still had fun but at the same time still managed to look out of control going up hill!

Two years later here I am again racing at Wheal Maid, this time with some more experience and a fantastic bike (with great new race face next flat bars and formula brakes, thank you Silverfish!). This time, instead of quietly standing in the corner of the car park getting ready to race, I was straight out of the van talking to numerous people that I have got to know over these last two years. I was riding around with Patsy before the race and warming up on rollers, which I had never even heard of two years ago! After pre-riding the course on Saturday I was feeling much more confident about racing on it and managed to ride all of the a-lines, which was a big step even since the national round there last year. As the raced neared, we all gathered at the start line and I was chatting to Patsy and Ruby, even this was a big change from two years ago when I was just silently stood there waiting for the race to start! When the raced started most of the front line went off up the short steep climb leaving the rest of us behind them, in a pile half way up, after getting caught up with each other! After removing my bike from various parts from other people's bikes I set off again, a lap in to the race I realised that I was ahead of Patsy and Ruby which had not really happened before and at the inter regionals in October I wasn't anywhere near beating them in the xc race! I am so happy with finishing 1st Youth after 3 laps and could have even done another lap just for fun after because the course was so much fun! This has boosted my confidence so much for the first national next weekend and I am really looking forward to it now!

Thank you so much to Maddie, Jay, Gary and the other PYC coaches for helping me improve over the past two years and to everyone who has supported me and to all the people I have met!

Also, thanks to Silverfish for providing great team bikes that were perfect for this course and to Rockets and Rascals for making them work smoothly.

Finally, thanks to Rich Hobbs for putting on a great race with a really fun course, to Alex Law for the photos and Spike Sports for the timing.  

Dazzling downhill days

After an informative friday evening with Ric Jamieson, it was time for some of the Mavericks to meet up at Gawton Gravity Hub (http://www.gawtongravityhub.co.uk/) with Jay Williamson for a great day of coaching. Through out the day we mastered the two tracks HSD and Proper Job  with Jay showing us all the best lines and how to ride them properly. We pumped over lumps and bumps, flew over jumps (that were massive of course...), glided across roots, sped around berms and watched Kris go in to multiple trees! My race face pads (http://www.silverfish-uk.com/ProductDetail/8917/13323/Women-s-Khyber-Elbow-Guard and http://www.silverfish-uk.com/ProductDetail/8917/13325/Women-s-Khyber-Knee-Guard) helped me out and made me more confident when there were steep bits, thanks Silverfish.It was a brilliant day of coaching from a great rider, when watching Jay all of our jaws dropped! Thank you so so much for coaching us all and I would defiantly recommend it to anyone! On Sunday I was determined to us the skills from the day before in the Circus of Dirt and I think I managed to, a bit! After a day of rain, riding and falling off, my legs are quite battered but to say I didn't have a great day would be a lie! The courses were really fun and exciting and riding it in the rain made it more interesting and unpredictable. Thanks to Shred (http://shred.cc/gravity/) for putting on an exciting day and to Rockets and Rascals (http://rocketsandrascals.com/)for the great food to warm us all up afterwards! The Yeti was great yet again and it just shows that hard tails can be ridden on downhill tracks! Also, thanks to Alex  Law for the photos :)

Soggy 3 on the Yeti Arc Carbon and Stover road race

Leading up to soggy 3 I was really excited about riding my new Yeti that I got for christmas from my parents from Silverfish (http://www.silverfish-uk.com/- they have some really cool gear!). After only have ridden it at trail centres, I couldn't wait to be riding at newnham. As Lucy and I, on our new bikes, went on our practise lap with Patsy, Kris, Rob, Penny and my dad I knew it was going to be a fun race on the action packed course. During the race I felt great on the bike, except from still feeling a bit ill. Swooping through the woods, over bridges, up hills and even managing to fall off in front of everyone, it was m favourite soggy course yet! I was really happy with 2nd place not far after Patsy and it has now got me really excited about the nationals coming up. 

The Yeti Arc C was great, thanks for Silverfish for supplying them for the team!

This weekend I did my first road race, well second if you count the one I did in 2012 with converse and a parachute coat. To be honest I was quite nervous especially when I turned up and there were a load of experienced road racers warming up. During the first 10 minutes of the race, being a mountain biker, I was slightly confused about the whole thing of everyone staying as a bunch and going slower. After that 10 minutes it got more exciting as everything got faster! With one lap to go I though that I might try and go for the win and it worked! Yay! 

Thanks to Russ at Rockets and Rascals (http://rocketsandrascals.com/ - who make a great hot chocolate!) for putting super brakes on my bike! Also, to Gary for the training sessions on tuesday and the PYC coaches for the sessions on thursday :) Bring on 2014!!

A truly Soggy Bottom!

After feeling under the weather at Soggy 1,  I definitely wanted to do well in the second round. That feeling of not being smooth and finding yourself not going as fast as usual is horrible! For a few weeks now I have being going out with Gary and Charles on a tuesday for a long road ride and it has being great. It has boosted my endurance so much and when racing I now don't blow out as quickly! Thanks both of you!
On Saturday, my dad, his friend and I drove up to Haldon for a cluster session run by Justin Knox, when we arrived I got my vans on, raring for a morning on flats. My dad and his friend then rushed off to Exeter with some hardcore christmas shopping to do! For the majority of the morning we practised the skills that are at the inter regionals, trying to master the techniques needed for flat pedals. Patsy and I, being the only girls there, were of course trying our best to show the boys up but Harry was there and he had already acquired the techniques needed! After practising and practising we moved on to the 'pump track' where we practising our pumping, Patsy, Harry and I had, of course, already done this at our Maverick away weekend at Portreath, where we went to The Track (which is amazing by the way!) At lunch 5 of us (Max,Harry,Freddy,Patsy and I) piled in to the boot of Max's car to shelter from the gale force winds on Haldon Hill (maybe a little bit of an exaggeration...), we all soon ate up our lunch and then went to swap pedals for the afternoon. After Freddy and I tightening instead of loosening my pedals and strong man Harry coming to sort them out, we all headed out to the little loop that we would be riding around. We practised our starts with Justin giving tips on how to speed off the line. With 8 of us battling to get to the single track first, it was great fun! For the rest of the afternoon we were practising race tactics and just having fun riding! Thank you Justin!
The day of Soggy 2 had finally arrived! My alarm was set for 7 with an aim of leaving the house at 8, this, surprisingly, happened! When we got to Newnham the rain had already started, I signed on and got my second soggy stamp and keyring. It was then time to ride the course so off I set with Lucy, Patsy and Kris. It was such a fun course! With the long climb at the beginning, that was near enough all the climbing done and you weaved your way through speedy single track back down to the car park. It was a really great course to race on and the mud made some parts unpredictable, which brought excitement to it when riding it! After a 3 lap race I was unrecognisable, as I had giving my glasses to my dad after not being able to see and being covered head to toe in mud! I was really happy after taking the win in Juvenile female! Well done to Patsy for carrying on after getting a puncture as well.
Results - http://www.fullysussed.co.uk/results-and-media.html 
Thank you Maddie and Jay for putting on yet another great event!
Also, thanks to the Allan family for putting on a fantastic Maverick christmas gathering!

The Track - https://www.facebook.com/thetrack.portreath

Muddy Mega Minehead Weekend!

Friday night, Lucy and I piled all of our stuff in to Maddie and Jay's trailer and van, and then started our journey to the bunkhouse in Minehead. When we arrived, Patsy, Ruby, Fin and Kris had already explored the many rooms in the house and bagsied their beds. That evening lots of food was consumed and countless cycling videos were watched.
The next day started at 8'oclock as we all prepared for our morning run and Joe and Harry arrived. At 9'oclock we all headed off to the local park and began our first efforts of the day, with star jumps, burpees and piggy backs! We then headed back to the house and started to think about the second part of the day, riding! The crew then zoomed out and we made our way to the longest hill I have ever seen! We next started the pyramid sprinting up the hill,  followed by an individual time trial. It was then I released my cough and cold hadn't actually completely gone and I started to flag. After it was time for one more effects, followed by a gentle ride back up the hill whilst Lucy time trialed up after going the wrong way the previous time! Joe then showed us down some amazing down hill tracks and back to the bunkhouse, ready for fish and chips.. After the fish and chips, there were more cycling videos, vines, biscuits and even truth or dare!
The next day started with orienteering around Minehead! I was lucky and got put in a group with Joe and Ed Welsh, the local knowledge! Not surprisingly, we finished about 10 minutes before the others and got our prize of chocolate croissants! When everyone finished we all got ready for the rest of the day, riding! Ed then took us out on some of the many trails around the area, with some great downhills and long uphills! My new spiuk arm and leg warmers were great and didn't fall down, I would definitely recommend them! After a muddy ride we all headed back to the bunkhouse, washed our bikes, had a shower and then packed all up stuff up ready to go home. As we travell ed home Lucy quickly fell asleep in quite a strange position!
Thank you Maddie and Jay for yet another great weekend! Also, thanks to Joe and Ed for showing us some amazing trails! And thanks to Base Lodge for putting up with us muddy loud mountain bikers!

At the weekend I had a go on Maddie's specialized fate and this week I have got my hands on the medium sized demo one. After a ride on it today it feels great and I can't wait to ride it more next week!