VeloCake

Velo, cake, be happy

2012-01-29T21:03:00.002Z

Simple advice. Enjoy your bicycles folks, however you choose. Then eat cake.

Are you all sat down? I have some news

2012-01-19T17:02:00.000Z

Hold on to your seats, I've had a small number of VeloCake frame stickers made again.
There are two types, the regular one are £2.00 inc.p+p, in white and the Deluxe, yes Deluxe version are £30 but come with a free pair of V.C. shorts (size XL) .

Mail or use any other means if you'd like a sticker for your bikey.

mullerton@velocake.co.uk

For Our Larger Readers....

2012-01-10T22:12:00.000Z

Who says Christmas is over? If any of you clydesdale teammates fancy a late pressie then I have a spare pair of VeloCake shorts in extra large.
They are wonderful shorts with Endura's top of the range chamois, perfect for all those 24 hour races you're planning. Not only are they some of the comfiest shorts around but some of the best looking too!
Make me an offer, you know you want to.

Here's Nick Wallis modelling the latest in lycra.

Endings and Beginnings

2012-01-04T21:31:00.000Z

Well it's been a bit quiet around here lately hasn't it. It is with good reason, I haven't forgotten about our site here. I'm being time efficient, that's all. Many things in one post.

So first off, the cross team's season has just about drawn to an end, I don't think anyone has entered the nationals this weekend without saying anything have they?

In the Southwest, John and myself have had our best season yet, he was 5th overall in the vets league and I finished 9th in the seniors. Young Benji Pearson was 20th in the under 10s (although he only did one race)
Photographs from the last round here. Snapper chicks photos

Up North, we've been competing on two fronts, the NWCCA and the Yorkshire points league.
Amy, Piers and Steve have all raced in the North West. Amy has also raced in Yorkshire and won a round of the Southwest league. Whilst in Yorkshire Tim, Oli and Tom all kept the flag flying over the other side of the penines in darkest Yorkshire.
One of the seasons highlights has to be Todcross, someone who was there will be writing something about that I'm sure.
The biggest news from Tomorden is that we did have a win! In the under 8's.
Well done Toby Kershaw, here's hoping you can sustain that kind of form for another 15-20 years or so.
Here's a link to the BC site report.. Todcross

If you're a footie fan or nowadays a roadie, you'll be aware of the January transfers.
Now we're not Sky or BMC and we won't be signing Cav or Gilbert and last time I spoke to Sven and Zdenek, they're tied up in contracts 'till next year, but (insert pause or gasp) through one means or another we have managed to add a few new signings to the 'Cake .
Excited? I am. Here's to 2012, VeloCakePro, eh Grant.

Aborted Audax leads to Cyclo-Cross fun

2011-12-20T09:11:00.003Z

On Sunday I was meant to be riding an Audax round the Cheshire Lanes. I was looking forward to the cake stops but Sunday morning came and there was snow and ice, so no Audax. I decided to make the most of it and rolled the two miles down the road to my local Cyclo-Cross Race.

It was muddy, slushy and a tiny bit icy and lots of fun. I rode round somewhere near the back of the field and realised I am rubbish at riding in mud.

Hope you all managed some muddy fun.

Mud

2011-12-11T11:58:00.004Z

modder boue schlamm fango lama blato dynd

MUD.

Saturday night was round 10 of the SWCX in Taunton.
Around a football pitch.
A flat football pitch.
Who cared, it was dark and there was MUD!
All the races so far this year have been pretty much bone dry; no wet, no mud. I've been crying out for some real cross conditions rather, than a grass criterium. Finally we had it.

The mud in the corners was like riding on lard; slippy and slidey. Don't touch the brakes; far too greasy. Pedalling out of the corners sideways like a speedway star. Wonderful stuff.
On the straights, it was a mixture of fudge and porridge, back wheels squirming in every direction. Front wheels doing the same. Just keep pedalling, ride though it.
A great race, hopefully next weeks league finale in Plymouth will be a complete filth fest too.
John was 12th, I was 17th (but I am poorly!).

Big Wheels Rule

2011-11-27T20:26:00.001Z

A nice pedal round Rivi with Simon. Ali was suffering a bit with a sore wrist so I had to feed her lots of food at the cafe. There was so much cake it was hard to choose. But we both had Scones, as otherwise we would have been wanting the other ones treat.

St Helen's CX

2011-11-26T20:34:00.001Z

I seem to have remember that Cyclocross can be fun so I headed over to St Helen's to race in the North West League. I was joined by TimK so Velocake had a good team showing.

The course was a mixture of made gravel trails, singletrack and a muddy mess. It was good fun. I held onto Jenni's wheel from Liverpool Mercury at the start, that girl has brilliant starts. Then tried to hold onto the girl in second. For the first three laps it was a close battle, she pulled away in the mud, I got it back on other sections.

I lost her in the mud though and the next thing I know Tim is running past me, I need to learn to run with my bike! Two laps later and a lot of mud on the bike it was all over.

I was third female, Tim 9th senior. I'm now recovering by eating cake, racing for an hour is tiring!

Bingley CX

2011-11-20T20:38:00.003Z

Not too much to say really apart from 'chapeau' to our newest northern VCer, Olie who rode an awesome race today and beat me. I had a bad race but these things happen, just have to try not to let it happen again. The social element of the CX scene was its usual bubbly self with lots of chat before and after the race and even a mobile coffee van serving proper coffee, bonus :-)
A few days to recover before a visit to the Northwest CX race at St Helens on Saturday, hopefully it will be a better day from the race point of view.
Here's a lovely picture of the two VCers remounting after the step up :-)

Straight outa VeloCake hq.

2011-11-16T21:26:00.000Z

A small bit of news for you all. Many of you will already be aware that VeloCake socks are in the pipeline. We've been looking around various sock makers for the finest foot dressings, from cheapo nylon things to the more discerning end of the market. The first request from most of you was for wool socks, I agree. We've been in touch with both SockGuy and De Feet as the both do custom socks in merino.
SockGuy wanted orders of 150 pairs which seemed a bit steep, where as De Feet have afar more resonable minimum order of 70.
What will they look like you say, well, pretty straight forward. No argyle, no tall boys, just a regular length with black red and white strips.

The other thing I'd like to put to t'comittee is, I'm toying with the idea of selling up to the man and making VeloCake official. Would anyone who has a racing licence want to join British Cycling? Answers on a postcard please

Pignut hill revisited

2011-11-12T15:00:00.001Z

A return to the venue of the big Velocake/tweetup of last year. This year I've bought a cross bike with gears. Went into the thing with tired legs (heavy week, long run in the hills the day before) and low expectations. Excuses in early. Big field, not pushy enough to go for a start position. Finally firing and warmed up after about 10 or 15 minutes, gradually picking off places. The sweet-spot lasted till about 50 minutes in, when I started to flag. Lack of time on the bike was making itself felt. Left knee bleeding from a hashed remount. Another rubbish low speed crash on one of the many grassy corners, all getting less and less navigable as the hour ticked over. Finished about 2/3 down of the 140+ field. Just behind a 70 year old. In my defence, Mick Ives is many times world and British champion in all kinds of disciplines. But still well into pensioner territory. Must try harder. And remember to change gear. Good luck VCers at Otterspool this weekend.

V.C.s 15 Minutes

2011-11-07T21:24:00.000Z

Captain of the cross team Timmy Kershaw had a great result in Huddersfield the other week, finishing in 10th place, from a huge field. It was such a good result he's only gone and made it into the hallowed back pages of Cycling Weekly.
A VeloCake first.

The last batch of wonderful VeloCake jerseys saw a large influx of new members.
I'm sure all of us welcome them with open arms.

Piers Mortimer, Ellis Blackman, Lisa Kershaw, Becs Levell, Saul Bateman, Danoh O'Hara, Dave Haygarth, Jo Burt, Alec MacHenry, Paul Gowshall, Jon Richie, Tom Hill, Aimee Black, Dave and Debbie Dodds, Paul Robinson, Gordon and Belinda Stovin, Lesley Ezard and finally John Walters.

Welcome along all of you, enjoy the cake

Cyclo-Cross South-West Style

2011-10-30T21:32:00.001Z

The last day of mine and Ali's holiday in Cornwall coincided with a cyclo-cross race, I obviously had no intention of racing and didn't even bring a cross bike with me. But then Katie offered her bike (well maybe Mikey did) and I found myself on the start line with a lot of fit looking men. Turns out I was the only female.

The course wound round some playing fields with a couple of bits of interest through some trees. Katies bike was amazing, I suffered. Mikey caught me halfway through the race so I had to make sure he didn't lap me again!

I felt dead at the end after a sprint finish (I think between 2nd to last and 3rd to last). But Velocake were of course winners with me being first female and Mikey must have been up there somewhere!

Autumn Tour of The Woo

2011-10-29T19:03:00.003+01:00

mmmm cake

i did a very pedally ride today, 40 miles and i think out of that only a total of 2 actually freewheeling, no real hills to speak of but pedalling that much on tacky off road terrain takes it's toll. a headwind to the turn around point certainly didn't help either. i had packed a slice of lemon madeira as a treat, but that had gone by mile 20, so i was down to a fake mini Mars bar for the last 20...or so i thought! but to my delight Charlotte had slipped another piece in while i was getting changed, what an awesome surprise! it certainly eased the legs on the last few miles

here's to unexpected cake!
p.s the pic is supposed to be a .gif but doesn't seem to work on my PC, work for anyone else?

Time for Cake

2011-10-27T21:31:00.003+01:00

Ali and I are down in Conwall for a week. We so far have done some pedalling and ate lots of lovely food. But not much cake. Today we sorted that out! Mikey and I pedalled over to Lizard point while Ali and Katie took the sensible option and drove over. We met at the cafe and had lots of food, including cake!

Too much racing for you?

2011-10-25T09:45:00.000+01:00

Some people have been moaning about too many races and not enough cake based articles. I do listen to the little people so as a bit of a return to the original "feel" of VeloCake, here's a kitten in a Crossmax.

Rapha SuperCross

2011-10-19T21:24:00.002+01:00

Fresh from the 3 peaks, VeloCake newboy Piers has been busy again and seemingly cheery picking just the big events, whats next Piers, a pre-race report from Sven Nys trailer?

Perfect weather, ace course and good turnout with 150 on the start line for the masses (them who had not been invited).

A very quick start had everyone going for it. Too many people into a narrow gap. We filed to the first set of boards. As I got to the first one some kind soul stabbed me in the back of the knee with a 46t or 48t chain ring, not to sure at this point.

Oh well, I did one lap before realising my leg was not doing what it should and slowed to a course inspection pace. I finished but not in any style.

I see my wife at the finish and she asks what had being going on as I did not seem to be going very well, I show her my leg and thats it I'm off to A&E, despite my protests that;
1) I have not yet had any beer
2) Where are the frites and mayo?
3) I would like to see how its done properly with the top boys who are on in 25mins.

2 hours spent at A&E picking the crap out the holes in my leg and now not being able to walk. The only consolation was a large latte and bloody big slice of orange and carrot cake at Number 15 cafe in Penrith. Well recommended.
Thats racing!

On the Sunday, VeloCake was racing again at the Rapha Super Cross in Huddersfield, as 'Cross field captain, Tim and Tom both going well in the Yorkshire League. At the bottom end of the country, John and I had another local race in Bodmin. It's always a really good course at Bodmin and this one was no different. It had run ups, singletrack, off camber banks and a wet field that was like riding through treacle. Great fun.
We also picked up a new supporter, as SWCX organiser, Roy Wyle Smith was cheering VeloCake on every lap.

CX trip to t'other side of the Pennines

2011-10-16T21:28:00.003+01:00

There was a gap in my cx calender that needed filling and the North West CX series had a race to fill it at Leverhulme Park, Bolton. I've raced there before and love the courses and usually do fairly well.
The weather was autumnal to say the least, lots of rain the week before and sideways drizzle / rain before and during the race. This lead to a saturated course that i knew would turn into the Somme.
A 100 riders lined up for the start sprint across long soggy grass and this start sprint ended in tears for several riders as i saw a guy go over the bars out of the corner of my eye, followed by the crunch of many bikes but i avoided the pile up.
The race was going at a good pace and i got into a nice battle with Ag, former bike shak rider, we swapped places several times for 2/3rds of the race until a back marker came in useful and slowed Ag down after i got past and gapped him. By this time my nice clean Velocake kit was covered from head to toe in Leverhulme mud, a proper CX race :-)
I was a great race and as a bonus i managed 17th which i was well chuffed with. I'm really getting into this cx lark now, cant get enough :-)

3 Peaks Redux

2011-10-12T11:11:00.000+01:00

Please welcome VeloCake newcomer Piers. He's written his account of the 3 peaks, and a race like that needs more than one report to do it justice, obviously, Steve's is the definitive view but knowledge is power

The Three Peaks Cyclocross race, it comes but once a year so you better be ready, well wash the bike, worry if you have the right tyres and have more Beachams than you should in a desperate attempt to pretend that you don't have stinking cold.

Despite the snot we all line up and as the clock winds round to 9.30 and away we go needless to say I slip to the back easy, no problem.

Simon Fell is steep, riders are slipping all around me, one guy starts picking up speed as he heads back down and is only saved by a fellow plodder.

We all use the fence to drag Man,Woman and bike up the seemingly vertical grass slope however we can. Soon were at the scramble over the fence, queuing up in a very British way, taking turns no pushing in. Back on the bike and away until the final push to the top timing station. No view just mist, Someone is shouting the riders numbers but I have no clue where anything is. I just follow the tape. Diber dibed and back on the bike to the first decent.

People are everywhere the sort out between them who can ride the path over the rocks and those who can't, fortunately it's my only strong point and I start overtaking everyone I come across, shouting out my intention to all just before I pass. Speed does have its problems. Twice I become airborne, sailing over the bars as the front wheel digs deep in to the bog. I grab the bike each time and jump back on. Out of the mist I momentarily glance upwards towards the Lakes and see sunshine, hopefully it will head our way.

Down to Cold Cotes and the second timing station dib, a fresh bottle of carb drink and back to the tarmac. I guzzle it and cram a few gels down knowing that there will be no opportunity to drink when we hit Wernside.

As I plod along, everyone I got past on the decent is now passing me, I rally myself and hook on to someones wheel and head on to Whernside.

Wherside is I find the worst of all the ascents I really suffer as I plod up people passing me again, my legs now feeling the effect of Simon Fell it all feels like its about to unravel here. Anyone want a bike? I don't like this thing hanging around my neck, you can have it for free. I am off home.

On the summit ridge again. I like it now we are moving again at the right pace. Dib again with the Mountain Rescue Team at the top. Here we go full decent mode.

Look out all who passed me on the way up, the descending idiot is on his way. Its all rideable I don't put my foot down once. It's all worth it for just this decent, I pin it, anticipate every stone, ditch, slab and drop. I am in the zone, a happy man again.

Ribbleshead. Fresh drinks bottle and more gels and a chain gang to hide in to the final climb. Mr Hope Technology does far more work than he should on the front I feel bad, I go up and do my thing for a bit.

Left we go and back on the dirt. I'm paying the price for my time making pace on the front as the whole group pass me as the track widens out. I grind up the upwards as the faster riders are now descending, I wish i could go quicker I want to coming down that hill but I creep upwards.

A quick dib and back to down hill mode. I pass some, but the gap is to big and I am too broken to decent at warp 6 now, so stay at a comfortable speed recognising a few spectators on the way. Pop back on the hard stuff and I am on my own.

A lone rider is in the distance, I must catch him or I am toast. Slowly I get on to his wheel, ahh respite, not far now. I won't sprint him for the finish he is doing the work here. He slows and I take the front. We go up the final incline "come to front" I say but he is more broken than me, so over the bridge we go to the finish and its all over. My worst time ever at just under 4 1/2 hours.

I tell myself me and this race are finished, no need to do this again.

I will be back next year.

Race Updates

2011-10-10T11:59:00.000+01:00

A bit of news from the SWCX, the results finally got announced for round 4. Outstanding rides by Team VeloCake, John was 7th in the vets and in some strange symmetry I was 7th in the seniors.

Also, we've found an official photographer. Martin was at the Truro race and has some great photographs. he's on flickr here

Something else I've spotted this week. For those of us who remember '80's indie bands and tend to look into the fanatical crowds at the Belgian spring classics (just me then?) this might make you smile, from Half Man, Half Biscuit.

VeloCake has had another increase in numbers recently, if you one of our new members fear not. I will be doing a new role call soon, so you can have your 15 minutes.

Yorkshire Points CX Rd 4

2011-10-03T20:24:00.005+01:00

I didn't manage to get to Round 3 of the Yorkshire Points CX in North Allerton so that will be one of my two dropped races this season.
Anyway, to Rd 4 we go at Temple Newsome Park on the outskirts of Leeds. It was a humid 22 degrees and the course was bone dry and dusty in the woods. The turn out for these races seems to be getting better and better, we had 105 in the vets and womens race along with 52 in my senior race.
After the vets and women had loosened the dust on the course it was time for an hours blast. Away from the start we go, i had my best start, in the top 10, to the first corner until some geezer in front decided to anchor on the brakes, as did i to avoid him, there goes 20+ places :-(
My first three laps were good but then i really hit the wall on lap 4. Looking at my lap times i was a minute slower for no apparent reason but then managed to pick the pace back up a bit for the final 3 laps. By the end i was 30th/52 and goosed, sweaty, dusty and a bit pissed off but its all part of racing. Lessons can be learned in time for my next outing at Bolton in the Northwest series on Sun 9th Oct.

Here's a picture from the lovely SportSunday photographers www.sportsunday.co.uk

Ding Ding ... Round 4

2011-10-02T22:00:00.000+01:00

Our local race. 20 mins up the road. What a treat!

Passing up a lie in, we volunteered to help out so we were there at 09.30.

Our first responsibility was to marshall for the kids races and guarding a corner from pesky people jumping on the track, whilst those little 'uns were out racing.

A surprise arrival of fellow VeloCaker, Nick the post, brightened our day especially as his lad and his lads friend stormed the course in the kids race and finished near the top

Flip it was a hot day. For the senior race, it was nearly 28 degrees. The course was a treat with twisty uppy downy singletrack as well as the usual end to end of a football pitch. It was a hell of a race.

Being at the bottom end of Cornwall, there was a distinct lack of the usual contentenders. Slackers! .... We have to travel hundreds of miles up country every week but they don't make the effort for ONE! Still, there were plenty of new faces.

Me and John were lapping closely in the top third for most of the race until his back started going. I had a few trips into the bushes that slowed me down but I kept going and finished on the same lap as the winner.

The highlights of the race were the track side MC leading the whole crowd in shouting and cheering my name every time I went through the start/finish. Also the excellent marshaling/cheering by a larger than usual VeloCake support.

Quite possibly the best race of the season!!

never mind that racing lark, lets get back to basics

2011-10-02T21:15:00.002+01:00

went for a long ride today with a proper VeloCake ethic, 61 miles powered by cheese sarnies and cake

peaches and cream cupcake

in a nod to all the CX stuff here lately you'll notice the tyres on the Swift, which are very inappropriate for both the road and some of the gnarlier trails in the Wyre Forest but a lot of fun, but i digress, there was also

Lemon Crumble

which i have to say was pretty awesome, oh and no ride is complete without some......fire

today was a great ride in the last of the indian summer, new trails, got lost twice, knackered, cake eaten and burnt off and a satisfied grin and proper achy legs as a reward :-)
full story here http://a-pic-a-ride.blogspot.com/

Three Peaks Cyclocross

2011-09-29T07:21:00.001+01:00

It bills itself as the hardest cyclocross race in the country, but personally I think that's just Yorkshire understatement, it's cyclocrossing in the loosest possible sense in that it involves cylocross bikes.

Crossing the tops of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-ghent, the race is 38 miles with some 5000' of climbing, much of it an unrideable carry. It's a bike race as much about endurance, running, carrying and pushing as it is about riding.

Team Pink started the day one down after Amy made the tough call to back out with illness. It's one of those race that gets under your skin so it must have been a difficult decision. And under your toe nails as it happens — three days later I've had a preliminary hose down, a long bath, a few more showers, and I'm starting to get clean again. Muddy? Yes it was muddy. And wet, windy, rocky and really quite tough. But you know everyone around you is suffering the same way. Little things cheer you immensely, like Captain Tim on the slopes of pyg shouting out 'Up the Cake!', that probably kept me in the saddle just a bit longer, before the inevitable push and carry.

The jersey attracted some high quality banter in its new Giro-inspired pink edition. At Ribblehead viaduct one tifosi shouted 'GO ON VeloCake!' ...short pause 'and he's eating cake!' before the group roared with laughter. (Shortbread actually, but we won't quibble.) 'Best shirt of the day' was another.

My own race was could-be-better, could-be-worse, finishing 385 from 598 starters. Went well on the hills, stormed some of the descents, fell back a bit on the road (lack of basic fitness). Crippled by cramp at the foot of Whernside, not quite crippled in a few places elsewhere.

A truly great event, I highly recommend it (if that wasn't immediately clear). More here: http://furiouscycling.blogspot.com/

Round 3 in bullet points and free beer

2011-09-25T21:58:00.000+01:00

Newnham Park, Plymouth
It was dark, there was floodlights, until they broke, then there was marshalls with torches.
It was raining
There were drunk hecklers by the hup hup boards
There were cowbells
There was a live band
There was FREE beer
The crowd were shouting "go Pinky"
Who needs CrossVegas, It's SWCX and it was fan-bloody-tastic

I'll find some results and photographs as and when.

Yorkshire Points CX Rounds 1&2

2011-09-18T22:14:00.001+01:00

The Yorks points cx season started early with the first round on the 4th Sept and boy it was a baptism of fire. Things didn't bode well when the British National Champ, Paul Oldham lining up next to me at the start. The hour of racing that's followed was fast, if I'm honest too fast for me. I settled into my pace once the manic first lap was over and just kept tapping out the laps. The result of 27th / 40 was a little disappointing but I just couldn't compete with the high quality riders in the senior race.
The lesson learnt was, I need to up my ante to be competitive.

Round 2 was held today, 18th, at Tong between Bradford and Leeds. This location hasn't been used for years for CX racing, I don't know why because it was an excellent course, a mix of grass, gravel track and tricky forest descents and climbs. It was a perfect course for trying out my new Rhino tubs, oh and my new Velocake skinsuit, thx Mikey :-)
After the usual mad first lap everything settled down. I had no falls and just one chain drop that lost me a place. As the race progressed I noticed some rather black clouds approaching and with 10 mins racing left the heavens opened. It rained so hard it actually hurt through the skinsuit and it turned parts of the course into rivers. My other problem was vision, I couldn't see out of my glasses so some of the descents were super sketchy. I was lapped by the leader just before the finish which meant I was one of the first to finish, straight back to the car to get dry gear on and head home. The highlight of the race were the Rhino tubs, they were awesome, I don't know how I've managed without them. Result to follow. Managed to find a picture of me looking resplendent in my new skinsuit, thx to Jo Allen.

Results are in........22nd out of 42 finishers, that will do nicely :-)

SW CycloCross - Round 2

2011-09-18T20:57:00.000+01:00

Today was round two of the South West CycloCross season. This time we had a little less travel as it was only over in Devon. Ashburton, to be precise. A mere 85 miles away.

As always it was raining over Ashburton when we arrived, but the skies soon cleared leaving blue.

Team VC have done this course a few times now, but this year the course layout had changed a little. This year, it was reversed and the stretch through the much loved sand section was missing. The rain had left the course very muddy and greasy, leaving some of the corners quite treacherous and riders were falling all over the place. There were a number of victims of some awkward off camber corners, where grass and mud met tarmac, unfortunately some were quite serious, but thankfully most were just dented pride.

Mikey started on the 2nd row of the grid and kept up with the fast boys for the first lap, however todays field included pro-rider Will Bergfelt and former junior national champion, Luke Gray who were already lapping riders by their 2nd lap.

The race quickly settled down into the usual pattern, the two pro riders leaving the usual leaders trailing in their wake.

For the first few laps Mikey and John were quite close but after John took a spill the gap grew, with Mikey just behind the fast lads. Then it was Mikeys turn to fall but with only a grazed knee (and a scrawped shifter) he soldiered on. Awww bless! ;-) (Thankfully there was no damage done to my lovely wheel that I had lent to him due to his own Tub explosion.)

The course appeared much shorter than usual as they were all doing fast laps, I lost count after the 10th lap, so there could have been about 15.

The race finished unsurprisingly with the two pros coming in first and second, shortly followed by the Davies' - a father and son duo who usually monopolise the top ranks. Amazingly, crossing the line with National vet champ Steve Davies (who was in the 4th spot) was Mikey. Does that mean me laddo came in 5th? We'll have to wait and see. ;-)

To top off such a great race... they had a trackside chip van! What better way to stir the cross racer in all of us, than the smell of chips wafting across the race-course.

Who knows next time there may be a waffle van too.

Pink Panda!

2011-09-16T17:59:00.001+01:00

Before Pink became Brown....

50 today (in the style of Scott Walker)

2011-09-15T17:45:00.002+01:00

50 today

not over the moon about that

wasn't in a pink mood today

but I did get out and ride for 2 hours

it made things more bettterer.

I did wear a VC cap today, that made me smile.

inside ;-)

Kinnel, read the previous blog posts you numpty !!!

2011-09-14T18:34:00.004+01:00

A couple of things conspired against me today, my back was playing up again, the wind was horrific, it was getting darker at ten oclock in the morning !, and that damn rain wouldn't stop.

A failed attempt at a road ride did nothing to lighten my mood, it was dangerously windy so I turned home in less than a mile, my enthusiasm gone, a haircut later and I was about to settle in for an afternoon of photo processing and red wine, in fact the DS actually encouraged me to do this !

But, it was not to be, I was sulking and feeling miserable when an old friend popped up on Gmail chat and told me he is going to be a dad, this made me smile a lot, I've long thought that he'll make a grand dad (its RHS for those who know him) and the news lightened my mood instantly, he told me to get out a ride and so I did.

14 miles on local trails, finding old trails that I knew well, now sadly overgrown and disappearing, in fact old trails that the DS knows well as well, those happy days making the most of the flatlands of Cheshire with Mikey and some bloke called Dan :-)

Sometimes, all you need is one thing to change your outlook on the day, or maybe thats just me ?, local trails are still local trails and always worth riding.

When Danger Pandas go wrong

2011-09-13T18:56:00.003+01:00

Well, thanks to the DS and his burd my new jersey's arrived in time for my week off of work, a weekend in Barcelona meant no rides till today, so today was the day of wearing the pinkness, I have to say that I had some admiring glances whilst filling the car up this morning, those petrol station boys obviously know a good thin when they see it :-).

Off to Delamere then, on my own with the fat bike and determined to find some new trails, which I did, in fact two of them.

This short downhill section got sessioned several times so fun it was.

And this trail seemed to go on forever, well as much forever as you can get in the UK, the boggy sections were dealt with by the fat tyres.

Part of the reason for riding today was to take photo's of a helmet I've been testing, and determined to get the cake into print once again I decided that danger pandas were the way forward, as you can see above not all were successful, it was close but I managed to keep hold of the camera and grab the bars before hitting the dog that jumped out at me, I did however get one that fulfilled both briefs ;-)

More Pinkness tomorrow !

Round One - South West CX.

2011-09-11T22:35:00.001+01:00

Today was the opening round of the South West CycloCross season. So this morning we woke early to set off on our 300mile round trip. We picked up fellow VeloCaker, John, en route and continued on our journey. The skies were blue with only white fluffy clouds in sight. I hoped that we could get to our destination without too much of a weather change but with two long counties to pass through into Somerset, I wasn't convinced.

We got there ridiculously early at 11.00 for a 12.00 start. (With such a distance to travel and only one main road out of here, we had to allow plenty of time for hold-ups etc, but today we got a clear run!)

Amazing, when we got there the sun was still out. The lads signed on. Mikey was number two - I hoped that it wasn't going to be an omen. ;-)

There were quite a few familiar faces from last year but a jolly lot of new faces, including a couple of ladies on mountain bikes. (I was very glad that I had decided against this being my first venture into the world of CX racing as there would have been a lot of competition.) The field of riders was HUGE in comparison to the usual numbers. I guess being so far away from Cornwall and practically in mainland Britain more people could get there than usual. There were people from Swindon, the Isle of Wright and even London!

At about 11.45 the pair went out to do a warm up lap and check the course out. The course was set within two fields with a little uppy~downny stuff at the edges. There was some singletrack, but overall it was flattish.

A few laps done before they found out the start was actually 12.30 - Ooops a few more laps necessary to keep warm.

Just moments before the start the sky turned grey. Then there was a torrential downpour. Thankfully it blew over pretty much as quickly as it arrived, leaving blue skies.

Sheltering from the deluge

At the start Mikey found himself a good position and sprinted off with the fast boys; hanging on for as long as he could. A few of the usual favourites passed him later on in the race but he managed to overtake a few others, keeping a good position.

John also did well, particularly as his long standing back problem that kept him away from the whole season last year, started giving him grief after the first lap.

Results have not been posted yet, but as always I predict Mikey won - well he was the first person to finish behind the people in front. ;-) In all seriousness though I think he was probably within the first third and definitely in the top 20 seniors. C'mon guys, we want the results.

(PS more pics on our new VeloCake Flickr account)

IT'S CROSS SEASON!

2011-09-10T22:11:00.001+01:00

Enough talk of all things pink, the cross season has started.
Yorkshire has already started, Southwest starts tomorrow, Northwest next week.
As the team is having more and more members competing around the country myself and Steve Riley have decided we needed some structure. So like many teams these days we now have a road captain or field captain.

May I introduce you to "Captain" Tim Kershaw.
"I'm delighted, and I wish all my team mates the best in the upcoming season" said Tim earlier today.
In other 'cross news, for anyone in the southwest wanting to hone their skills, there's a training camp/evening in Truro next Friday.

P.I.N.K.

2011-09-09T20:30:00.001+01:00

Woops, can't add it as a picture in the comments.....

Ride pic sometime over the weekend.

Pretty in Pink

2011-09-09T19:05:00.002+01:00

It finally happened, the EXCLUSIVE pink jerseys arrived and oh my, they look super fantastic.

Inspired by the Giro's winners jersey they were my own little idea, it was meant to be something a little different for the female VeloCakers. However, you lads demanded them in the dozens. (In fact the numbers of male jerseys more than doubled the orders from the laydeeee's.)

Anyway, they finally arrived and they look better than I could have imagined them from my doodles on the drawing board.

If I'm honest when I took my first peek into the box on its arrival, I was horrified. They were so PINK! But as I opened the box fully to see them in all their glory I was mesmerized by their beauty.

So here they are....

modelled by mullerton

Depending on the speed of your postie yours may already be with you (In which case we want pictures) For those that also ordered some of the tradition black clothing as well, we are waiting that before dispatch (don't panic it should be with us at the beginning of next week. If you can't wait feel free to send the extra P&P. )

For those that didn't order one.... You snooze, you lose. It was a one-off!!!

Geo-caching Velocake style

2011-09-04T16:07:00.000+01:00

Ali and I headed down to Velocake HQ for the bank holiday obviously I had to make everyone go on an adventure. On the Sunday I introduced them to geocaching with a nice walk along the coast. As I like my adventures to involve bikes (as well as cake but Katie provided that as a snake before we left) we set out to Hayle. I was on my cross bike but the others were on more road going machines.

Obviously although we set out on roads, finding the caches involved some off-road tracks. Not so easy to ride. Still the excitement of finding treasure more than made up for it.

One of the caches was guarded by some cute little creastures, who even let us have a stroke.

We had ice-cream once we reached Hayle and then went back via a couple more caches. Once back it was time for warm clothes before going down to the cafe at the beach for pizza. I finished the day with a ride in the sea.

I can't wait to go back, there are loads more geocaches in the area.

The Great Velocake Race........

2011-09-04T11:20:00.002+01:00

Week commencing 5th September.

First to arrive wins.

The competitors:

The Pink Jerseys

Mini-James (due date - 5th September....)

The prize? Something pink and lovely in your arms.

Place your bets people....

Hello Team

2011-08-23T19:43:00.003+01:00

It's been pointed out that if I wish to remain on the 1st team I need to post something. So todays the day.

Super secret cyclocross season training wrapped up as a pretend commute. I might even do a proper commute as it was so much fun.

Sorry for the lack of cake as it was more of an ice cream day. Well it wasn't but Monday had been and I didn't get one :0(

Paris Brest Paris

2011-08-22T22:20:00.000+01:00

May I raise your attention to your VeloCake team mate, John Morse who at present while you're thinking about going to bed or similar, has been riding non stop since Sunday afternoon in the 194th edition of the Paris-Brest-Paris.

For those of you who don't know the PBP (as those who do know call it) is the worlds oldest and longest audax, or slow bicycle race. Riders start in the French capital, ride non-stop-ish to Brest at the western tip of Brittany, have the French equivalent of beans on toast then ride back to Paris non-stop, covering 1200km in total and of course he has got his Velocake shirt on

Being all modern and such a prestigious audax, all the riders have GPS chips on them, so just like the pros, you can follow his progress.

long distance weirdos

He's No. 7034.

Bon chance et Chapeau monsieur moustache

Ice Cream Sunday

2011-08-21T20:36:00.000+01:00

Whilst out for a ride today we made a impromptu visit to Mr B's ice cream parlour in Hayle. Since living in Cornwall many people have recommended it but the queues out the door have always put us off.

As always, the queue spilled onto the pavement today but we didn't let that deter us, it was hot hot hot and an ice cream was a necessity. After a relatively quick wait it was our turn to be served.

One Jaffa Cake ice cream in a waffle cone for me. Mmm dark choc and orange flavoured ice cream and mushed up pieces of real jaffa cakes. Whats not to like? It was the nicest ice cream cone I've ever had.

Mikey he went for a bit of a conservative option. Just pistachio. But he was very happy with it.

We found an empty bench and sat overlooking the estuary whilst eating our ice cream. Mmm ... I think this will be the start of a new love affair.... despite my dairy intolerance. ;-)

Control Yourselves People.

2011-08-14T22:38:00.000+01:00

Prepare to have your minds blown. Heres the artwork for the pink jerseys.

They should only be a few weeks now. Any regrets those of us who didn't order the pink?

Winner.

2011-08-08T22:08:00.000+01:00

For those of us who weren't there or weren't kept informed of events from Ali's drywhite board over the weekend, Amy has gone and won Sleepless in the Saddle for the second year on the trot.
Amy was first in the solo women, beating the second place woman by two whole laps and amassed twenty laps in all.
I think we will all be rather impressed by our team mate and congratulate her.
Well done Amy.

Afternoon tea

2011-07-28T21:37:00.001+01:00

Ali and I have been up at Kielder for a few days. On Wednesday we headed out for a cross border adventure. It started nice and gentle around Kielder Water but then we had to start climbing and climbing and climbing. At the top it was time to head over to Newcastleton.

Around the trails there we dropped down to Newcastleton to the best tea rooms ever, lots and lots of cake. I ordered beans on toast and Ali afternoon tea. I was very jealous when it came. Tea, sandwich, scone, cake and tray bake. Amazingly she got back over the hill.

Only one thing for it and driving back today we stopped off there and had afternoon tea for two!

The Light Side.

2011-07-27T19:13:00.002+01:00

Because someone had to bring some degree of balance to the Force and do something on fat tyres.... :-)

(Yes, its rubbish but I wanted to see if I could remember how to do this after a 5 yr break from shooting vid....)

The Dark Side

2011-07-18T20:57:00.000+01:00

For as long as I remember I've seen myself as young vapour farm boy flying through the trees of Endor on my speedie bike. The years went by, and before you know it I'd turned to the darkside.

My transformation was completed last week and I went along to the local time trial.

Now I'm of that age that when I was around 14-15 we rode road bikes. It was a world of strange men (almost always men) speaking a strange language in hushed voices, whispering in code, J2/11 J3/16 and so on.

My reason for venturing into this slightly occult gathering, I thought, is that it would be good training for the cross season and that's my reason and I'm sticking to it.
It was also a chance to air the new onesy in public without getting any strange looks.
(Because most of them looked weirder in their pointy hats.)

I'm sure you itching to know how I did, well,I don't think we're on J2/10 anymore Toto.
A nice chap held my bike for me at the start and after that I was like Fabian Enchilada and powered my way round the course.
A pair of regular pointy hatted "testers" were my 2 minute men. I most have been doing alright as they only caught me 500metres from the line. Turns out I was quite fast, I was faster than the last 10 I did, 20 years ago. A PB as "they" call it.

How long until the real racing starts in the cross season?

Left the bikes at home and just had cake

2011-07-09T21:11:00.000+01:00

Ali took her mum out to the peaks while she was up last week. Her mum isn't much of a cyclist so they decided to just have cake. Ali had the hugest scone in the world, I was slightly jealous as I was working!

Tales from Scotchland.

2011-07-09T17:38:00.002+01:00

A special post from Velocake rider Jess....

-- -- --

My dad took me to ride my first proper mountain bike trails.

We went to the witches trail near Ben Nevis We started off riding the skills loops. We did the green , blue and i tried the red but it didn’t turn out so good. The loops were called hubble, bubble and toil and there was also a black trail called trouble but we did not try that one. Dad says ha ha ha ha.

We then did the longer blue trail , called the Broomstick Trail. It was quite long but lot’s of fun. On the way back we road we road part of a race course that my dad had ridden and we also road part of the world cup course.

Once we had finished we went up the mountain in the cable car. We went up the second biggest mountain in Brittan we had some lunch and we watched the riders go down it was very cool.

On our way home our holiday we stopped at Laggan and road the green trail it was VERY long but i also road one of the best downhill bits in the universe
And then when we came back we had the most AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cake in my LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Jersey Orders

2011-06-29T20:41:00.000+01:00

I have spoken with Endura today and the limited edition pink jerseys are go!

As well as the exclusive pink I'm taking orders for the full range in the regular black design. (Because Tim needs a skinsuit for the cross season).

Please note the Pink is limited to either long or short sleeved jerseys only.

So if you want any clothing, please look at the list of whats available and sizing

etc on Endura's site.

clothing

sizing

Can all orders be mailed to me, mullerton@velocake.co.uk rather than the in the comments box, stating product codes and sizes required.

To try and speed things up can all orders be with me by Sunday 10th July, the order's going in on the 11th as I have booked a production slot with Endura.

Thank you for your co-operation.

New Jerseys

2011-06-26T20:15:00.002+01:00

As it is likely that Mullerton will be putting in a new order at Endura soon I have been thinking I would like to make a more girlie version - as I for one would like to move away from wearing all black.

So here it is.... can I interest anyone else in this snazzy little number inspired by the Giro.

artists impression

This is just a mock up. Obviously, I have designed it with our female team mates in mind and also for those of you chaps who want to treat your lovely ladyfriends to something special, but if we get a lot of orders from you fellas we can remove the "Belles" bit. In fact, I expect "Princess James" will definately want one, and possibly Simon, so this may be pretty likely. ;-)

So who's in?

** Obviously black jerseys will also be available. Any other items; skinsuits, gilets, arm warmers etc will stay in the traditional colours. **

A crackly message from Scotchland via an AM radio.....

2011-06-25T16:52:00.003+01:00

Hello.

Other than the odd comment, Princess and I have been quiet recently. It's all his fault - he keeps bloody injuring himself. Never mind.....we're back and we promise to bore you with tales of riding derring-do from the wilds of the Central Belt of Scotchland [1]

Installment one: WE RODE BIKES AND IT WAS ACE.

The end.

[1] Some may say it's 'The Flat Bit' (sandwiched between the southern domain of The PowerRangers and the northern high bits of rugged aceness) but Princess and I know differently....oh yes....

Right then, 24 hour Shower Gel Mountain bike race

2011-06-22T21:54:00.004+01:00

Oh crikey, Mountain Mayhem.... what a great weekend!

I was going to write a whole essay about it for those of you that weren't there, but I'll keep it brief.

The biggest highlight for me was the coming together of the VeloCake clan, obviously many people weren't there, but there were thirteen of us altogether. Not everyone was riding, but thirteen none the less. I am very proud of you all.

It was also great seeing all the old folks from back up North - some of who I haven't seen in three years. Hello Tim, Nick and Kirsty, Dave, Dominique, Bertie, Rob, the Singletrack lot and everyone else that knows me.

Other memorable moments were Nick Craig letting on to me, I don't know why; maybe he recognised the VeloCake jersey and Jo Burt saying hello while over taking me which was nice. One of the RetroBikers stopped and asked if Al was with us, he was disappointed when I said no and asked us to pass on a message..... "Al, you're a big jessie!"

Over the last few years, I'd thought Mayhem had got a bit rubbish so having an ace time was a pleasant suprise.

Anyone fancy it next year?

Here's some photographs.

Amy dropping Chipps

Nick, 3rd in solo singlespeed vets

slick handover

Tim enjoying it

Rocketdog

Nick

Dave cataloging

Kelly's nightlap

In 99th place...

John

Mountain Mayhem

2011-06-20T20:48:00.000+01:00

Where to start, too much to put down, until I get chance to write something here's Tim flying taken by Gary.

Team Velocake at Mountain Mayhem

2011-06-13T07:02:00.002+01:00

Calling any VeloCakers who will be at the 24hr Mountain Mayhem race in Ledbury on the weekend of 18 June. i'd like to take a photo of "the most VeloCake members in one place" so if you are riding or just supporting, bring your team clothing and get ready to show your best side! Meet at 12 noon at the start finish line and bring your best cheesy grins!
hope to see you there.

it's been pointed out that this years race starts earlier than it's normal 2pm and actually starts at the time i suggested meeting which will be chaos (and obviously some of the team will be racing) and i think if you are travelling to Eastnor on saturday morning actually fighting for a space to camp, organising sign in etc will be your priority. the last thing you need is the hassle of finding me and my camera so please note THIS HAS BEEN POSTPONED and i'll see you around and about the course

P.S. looking at the weather forecast, bring wellies, mud tyres and a sense of humour!

WE'RE FAMOUS!

2011-06-11T16:46:00.000+01:00

Never mind Gary's wee bit about a race, I hope everyone has seen the beautifully written piece in the new issue of SINGLETRACK. I can now die happy having reached the international newsstand.
Written by the worlds most beautiful man (not my words) Big Steve and with the added bonus of Simon's photograph, it is a really proud moment for me and I hope for you all too

Appletree Cafe.

2011-05-30T20:26:00.002+01:00

We all apreciate a good cafe and a nice brew. I haven't had much in the way of new cafes to review of late, but then sort of out of the blue, one of our own has taken his love of cafes up a step and opened his own.
Nick Pearson (the one with the big ginger beard and penchant for 29er steel bikes) and family are now the proud owners of the Appletree cafe near Lands End.
They had a "soft opening" yesterday which several of the Southwestern VCers attended.

Good coffee, very nice homemade cakes and all day breakfasts. Splendid! It's like Velocake's spiritual home.

www.theappletreecafe.co.uk

The secret is cake

2011-05-08T20:03:00.000+01:00

So the weekend of 24solo came round way too quickly and I still hadn't recovered from having my tonsils out. I didn't want to miss out though so I made the sensible decision to ride the 12hour event. I had plans, I was going to take it easy and eat lots of cake.

As it turns out it was muffins, christmas cake, cookies and belgain waffles. But it worked and I bagged third!

Intermission

2011-05-08T11:06:00.000+01:00

I've deleted the picture of the kittens so I've been working on a new "mood" shot, so until someone puts up news of Newcastleton, this'll have to do.

No News is Good News...

2011-05-05T23:00:00.000+01:00

Right? Wrong.
Not that nothings going on and you've got to give the new people a chance but now Gary's cut his VC teeth, I'm back and rambling same as always.
So as you may or not be aware, this weekend is the 2nd National 24hr solo championships and our folks are there. So I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing Grant a good ride and also Steve who's taking the sissy 12 hour option. There is a wager going on as to how many laps he'll get.
If Amy is riding too then good luck to you too. Obviously she'll be going for the win in the women's event, so go on Trio.

With more mundane news, Andrew, the old relic and myself paid a visit to a new (to me) cafe last week. Scarlets, dodgy name, I know, but it get better. Not only is it extremely bike friendly as the owners are cyclists or runners or something, but they have exceedingly good cakes and coffee. The best thing though is they also have a very well stocked selection of beer. Le Chouffe, Kwak, Westmalle, Orval and quite a few German and Czech ones. Not only can you take away, you can drink on the premises. There's also a very nice courtyard outside which on a sunny day is the perfect place to enjoy a bottle of pinot grigio.

the tea and cake ride

2011-05-03T08:28:00.001+01:00

the tea and cake ride, a photo by rOcKeTdOgUk on Flickr.

could it get any better? sun, bikes, great company and cake (ok more cake would have made it better obviously) a true VeloCake day
blogged @ http://www.a-pic-a-ride.blogspot.com/

Royal wedding celebrations VeloCake style

2011-04-30T07:37:00.003+01:00

royal wedding day, congrats to Wills and other half etc etc, but never mind that, we got the day off work!! so Matt, Russ, Boz, Ian and i headed for the wyre forest, NW Alpers on tour! and as this was a VeloCake led ride it was going to involve cake! weather was just right, dry and sunny with a cool breeze so not too hot, we met in the usual place and hit the first trail from the car park, it's downhill from the start a winding trail twisting through the trees, over the stream of eternal stench, a few tight dusty turns along a forest track straight to the start of "camber". camber was a bit of an eye opener for the first timers on this trail but everyone was grinning by the end telling tales of near misses and sections they had cleaned. but with every excellent technical downhill there comes a price and the road up to goldilock's cottage was it, after grinding up that, stopping at the top to remove some layers so as not to over heat we did the trail skirting the cottage. there was a couple at the cottage filming or taking pics, she was dressed in a long red robe (little red riding hood??) and it was all very "readers wives" and bizarre. on the trail skirting the cottage came my scariest moment, the trail is very technical, very off camber and very near a long drop into the valley, as Russ reached the end where i was waiting he stalled teetering on the edge of a 7ft drop, still clipped in and leaning ever closer to the drop, i didn't know whether to cover my eyes or run over and try to catch him! but he saved it at the last second! it was a sphincter puckering moment for sure. the day continued in this vein with a circular route using some of the best trails the forest has to offer, conditions under tyre were perfect, Boz whacked his knee on a rock, Matt his testicles on the top tube after an almost over the bars moment but other than that incident free, Ian hasn't ridden for a while due to health probs but once on the trails he proved he hadn't lost any of his skills, popping the bike off any trail feature into the air and beasting the downhills! Russ was on a brand new bike and had some comfort issues with the saddle by the end. he also introduced us to the "mexican bandit" and we were thankful we weren't eating at the time! after riding what all the riders said was the best downhill trail of the day we made our way to the visitor centre where the seemingly always attractive girls (maybe this is delusion brought on by dehydration or lack of calories) served us Tea and Cake (rocky road and raspberry shortcake for me, it didn't last long enough to take a photo!) suitably revived we started the return leg back to the start point managing to avoid most of the fireroads and sticking to singletrack such as "shin ripper". finally we arrived back at the cars after 3.5 hours of great fun. i was relieved all the others seemed to enjoy it as it's always difficult leading a ride to know if the routes that excite me will do the same for others.

no thanks to: GoPro cam mount slipping on all the rooty rocky bits

Getting lost once (all the trees look the same!)

thanks to: Trail Gods for perfect riding conditions

Royal wedding for an empty forest

Great company and smiles

and CAAAKE!!....

so, who's next for a wedding/funeral/50th jubilee?

posted just to show Mullerton it's not all concrete and burnt out cars around here ;-)

Time for Action

2011-04-24T22:10:00.002+01:00

It's under two weeks until the 12/24 hrs of Exposure, which will see the Crack Velocake MTB Race Team (6 ft Plus Division) make a second crack at the Newcastleton course.

11.5 miles in length and 550 or so metres of climbing - it's the most singlespeed-unfriendly course I've ever ridden, so in a fit of common sense, that's staying at home and the geared XC bike I've been riding regularly for the last 9 months or so is propoted to Weapon of Choice.

That said, it's a great course and I'm looking forward to it, and have been since I finished the 2010 event. I'm still allowed the odd flash of nervousness though - apparently a solo 24 is a reasonably hefty undertaking... :-)

So, here's to Newcastleton and a gathering of the 'Cake Massive.

Oh, before someone called Mikey asks, the forecast, according to Metcheck, is for sun.........

Race Face Circus of Dirt.

2011-04-12T21:26:00.000+01:00

That right, cross country racing. Whilst just about all the rest of you were riding the Hell of the North Cotswolds sportive ride, those of us in the far flung southwest went really racing at round one of the Circus of Dirt.
It was a fantastic course laid out by the Shred people, in a real forest, with fast swoopy singletrack, tricky bits, big climbs and some great descents and the sun was out and then some.
The day was split between an enduro in the morning and the lycra whippets went out for an hour in the afternoon.
We all opted for the interesting format of the enduro although it was only a two hour-er. Fast and a bit longer.

VeloCake True Slacking

John was first back and "won" the enduro, I came in 3rd spot and Pete was 6th, a pretty resounding result for VC, especially as Pete and I stopped to help a fellow racer with a mechanical. The sod used all my tools then legged it while I was tidying up. We soon caught him and dropped him like a sack of spuds.

A few highlights for you, John got called "south west cross country racing legend" by Steve Toze. Pete rode the last lap with an ice pack from the St'Johns down his shorts after a headset/nether region interface. Due to bruising and swelling Pete's now know as Aubergine Pete.

Le Van Rouge. (clever eh?)

Oh and the caters were great, from an old Citroen van. They even had stripey table cloths.

A BBQ in the hills

2011-04-12T19:29:00.001+01:00

On Sunday Ali came up with an idea to head to the hills for our BBQ. We had been planning one at lunchtime but I would have have then had to head back out to work. If we had it later the sun would have left our backyard.

So I got back at 5pm we jumped on the bikes and headed off up into the hills. A handy trigpoint kept the bbq well off the ground and we ate way too much, Ali was in charge of the food! As the sun set we headed back down off the hills via some lovely singletrack.

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Velocake does the Cobbles

2011-04-04T13:27:00.002+01:00

As it was the weekend of the Tour of Flanders it seemed very appropriate to do the Ronde Van Oust Lancashire as organised by @crossjunkie http://crossjunkie.blogspot.com/2011/04/event-that-isnt-event-rvol.html
What started out as a grey day in East Lancs turned in to a lovely sunny 50mile ride with a few sets of cobbles thrown in for good measure. Team VC had two riders out of the 60 ish, me and Steve R, its always good to meet another VC'er.
The route was somewhat of an unknown until we got over towards Burnley and Hebden Bridge where i knew exactly what was coming, 'The Buttress'. This is a 1 in 5 cobbled climb from Hebden Bridge centre up into Heptonstall, this was the toughy of the day and to be honest i didn't think it was rideable but it was, there was a dry line on the cobbles, it was there for the taking and it was took, cleaned from top to bottom be me and few others but as you can see from the pictures on crossjunkie's blog most walked / tottered there way up in road shoes.
After an awesome cake stop in Heptonstall provided by Sportsunday there were just 15miles to go to the end.
It was a great sight to see a line of riders strung out across the moorland roads as we headed back towards Colne and Barrowford to the finish. Overall an awesome day out with the best mix of social riding and cobbles.

I Love My Bikes.

2011-04-01T21:26:00.001+01:00

I've been riding my bike more of late. I had a lack of enthusiasm at the start of the year for one reason or another. I didn't do much else other than ride to work, heck there was even a few days I didn't ride at all.

What with a bit of nice weather and the trails drying out, I've been busy on my bike. Theres a few nice runs pretty much straight out the door so the old Spot has been given an airing and we've been having a few "blasts" on the local tracks. They started of with the normal pools of mud every hundred metres to almost nothing but doost this week. It's good to be a mountain biker again (even if there are no mountains).

Pete pins it in micro Delamere.

I've dug out the Surly a few times too. Its a fair weather bike, steel, no mudguards and white tyres means it normally only comes out in high summer, especially as we're right by the sea here. The best ride on the Surly was the other night, it was light and almost summery. It was a ride to chippy and offy/petrol station (wrong, isn't it?) wearing my best fixie twat uniform. I'm all show over substance, I went for the right leg of my jeans rolled up, messenger bag checked shirt and I almost went for a retro Del Tongo cap from the eighties. Oh I nearly forgot, being a proper cyclist I had my carbon Sidis on, cleats clacking on the tilled floor of the petrol station.

Finally, and I'm a little embarrassed to say this but, some of the best rides I've had of late have been on my road bike. There really is something very exciting about jumping on a featherweight bit of carbon after riding round on heavy lumps for the last 8 months. It really gets the sap rising. The first couple of miles, sorry kilometres, true roadies use Km, felt like the bike wasn't beneath me. I was riding along chuckling to myself and getting all giddy just over how exhilarating it was. Going back to show over substance, I recently got a Pro Roadie jersey from Endura on the last VC order. It's snug, pro snug. What with the new VC armwarmers (which are also very snug) and matching shorts I was looking super pro style. Jo Burt would have approved. Skintight is sooo sexy.

Been a while.

2011-03-27T22:23:00.000+01:00

Due to various stuff going on and me not having my VC head on lately I've let the cobwebs spread. I'm sorry everyone, I've neglected you. I have no bike news and no kittens to bring out but I do have this.

The Manchester tart. Pudding of many a school dinner in the 1970's.
I do have some writings about bicycles, but that can wait. You're excited aren't you reader?

Velocake at the Velodrome

2011-03-03T23:26:00.000Z

Tonight some of the northern branch of Velocake headed to the Manchester Velodrome.

I think we did a reasonable job of showing them that cake lovers rock!

A late entry...

2011-02-17T20:48:00.000Z

Can we get team kit in jnr. sizes?

Some Stuff.

2011-02-13T20:19:00.000Z

I wanted to keep everyone informed of all the latest PVC news that's going on. So here it is.

The first VeloCake photo comp is drawing to a very exciting climax. I've been umm-ing and arr-ing about who's the winner. One things certain, it won't be that Dan Barham. Firstly, because he is a pro. Secondly, because Steve and I taught he everything him knows and thirdly because he still has my flash that I "lent" him 7 years ago. I want it back Bars, with interest.
VeloCake is a democracy so lets put it to the vote. It'll be quite easy - vote for your favourite; the one that you think best encapsulates the spirit of VeloCake and write your response in the little box for comments. Don't forgot, the winner - and if different, the person in the picture - will receive a creme egg. Just don't vote for Dan's.

Rocketdog's latest imagery

In other news, the latest batch of clothing is finally on the way. Those cheeky Scots at Endura have finally got themselves out of a snowdrift and we can now monitor the progress, "live" online, on their B2B site. Well, I can! They have been printed, heat pressed and are currently being sewed, all ready for dispatch on the 25th of February. You lucky people!

Okay, just one more....

2011-02-10T22:50:00.001Z

No caption needed....

One more for your perusal

2011-02-07T20:37:00.000Z

Gary's been out and busy over the weekend and has managed to capture the spirit, if not the very soul of VeloCake.

My last one....

2011-02-04T14:34:00.001Z

Another entry

2011-02-02T22:15:00.000Z

One more for the competition

2011-02-02T20:39:00.002Z

A fine shot from Kelly, who you may all know better as Nunuboogie, and nice to have a picture from one of our female team mates. If anyone else wants to win Big Steve's creme egg get those entries in quick, as soon as I find a judge, the competition will be over.

To add a bit of balance, here's one of mine.

Another

2011-01-31T18:39:00.003Z

A few more entries

2011-01-30T22:32:00.000Z

Queue the Tony Hart music and, Todays lovely entries come all the way from Gary in the Midlands, showing us some real 'fro riding and hucking.

Also there's a little cheeky entry from Mr.smug git, ooo everybody look at me I'm in Vancouver, Canada himself, and occasional "pro" picture taker for magazines, Dan Barham. I think Dan may have slightly misinterpreted the brief, but never mind Dan, it's a lovely picture non the less. Now stop showing off.

another entry

2011-01-29T17:03:00.000Z

One more

2011-01-29T11:07:00.001Z

Here's one from Pete who is either mundane or mediocre. What it has to do with bicycles or cake I don't know, but well done for trying.

And another :-)

2011-01-28T21:35:00.001Z

P.V.C. Photo comp

2011-01-27T23:31:00.004Z

VeloCake Photography Contest

2011-01-23T20:12:00.000Z

If you've been following the last few blogs you'll have noticed Big Steve's idea for a photo contest.

We're looking for jaw dropping and inspirational photographs to be used for the new VC imagery banks. Send you entries to me at: mullerton@velocake.co.uk or post them on the VeloCake flickr group.

Judging will be put to an unbiased panel and the winner will receive at least a Cadbury's creme egg. Very witty strap lines will also be welcome.

To get the ball rolling ...

Big thanks to Rocketdog for the inspiration to show the beautiful West Midlands in all its natural glory.

Team rider down......

2011-01-22T19:03:00.011Z

1/2 of Velocake Scotchland had a tumble today as James went flying near the base of a local singletrack descent.

An ankle sprain has left him a bit bruised and swollen, but I can confirm that his skills in whining were fully functional all the way home.

In all seriousness though, he was actually pretty lucky as that descent is littered with pointed rocks and he could have came off much worse........

So, get well soon James......

Now with bonus panda action pic and purpleness.

The New Corporate Identity

2011-01-20T21:39:00.000Z

The new team image will be leaked to the press over the next few months.

Then nothing will change, much, really.

Tod CX inc 'The Cobbles of Doom'

2011-01-09T20:33:00.003Z

Xmas and New Year celebrations were over and it was time to get dirty at my home CX race on Todmorden Park. This is the third year that the race has been held there as the final round of the Yorkshire Points Series and organised by the one and only Chipps Chippendale of Singletrack Magazine.
On the run up to Xmas the park like the rest of the UK had be in a deep freeze with no chance of any good recce of the course due to the snow and ice but after Boxing Day the thaw came and on the day of the race there was no snow or ice to be seen.
The days racing got off to an early start with my two lads, Harry (8) and Toby(6), racing in the U12 race. The lads ride there bikes like most kids but not so much in the winter so this was a bit of a shock to the system but they were game. The field for the U12's race was so large that it had to be split into two races, U10 & U12. The race was 15mins round the park playing fields with a couple of tricky off camber bits and one get off and push for the kids, both the lads enjoyed it and did great considering the leaders were on proper kids cx bikes and they were on mtbs. Harry finished 19th and Toby 27th out of 46, i was a proud Dad and the lads where chuffed too.

Then it was Dads turn to ride his bike. The course was the same as the first year and included the 'Cobbles of Doom' which is a cobbled climb that is around 1 in 4 or 5. The Vets and Womens race had done a good job of cutting the course up nicely so clogged bikes was the order of the day. I had the loan of a lovely bike for the race from Chipps, his Ibis Hakkalugi carbon fibre thing with carbon wheels and tubs. I had no excuses now, the bike only weights 17.5lbs!! Below is a pic of me on the lovely machine taken by Bolty from Blazing Saddles in Hebden Bridge.

The Senior field was bigger than usual, having 53 riders. We all lined up on the football pitch for the usual sprint around the field to string everybody out. I got a flying start, not getting stuck behind anybody and as we got onto the course I was in about 15th. My first couple of laps were good but i could feel myself getting tired and the culprit were the 'Cobbles of Doom'. The cobbles were un-rideable unless you were one of the few top class riders, so each lap involved a 100m climb up slippy cobbles carrying the bike and this absolutely drained me. I just got my head down and rode as hard as i could but towards the end of the race I was broken and was having problems with a clogging bike. I noticed I had only been lapped by a hand full of riders during the race so was hopeful that I had managed a good ride, I had, 24th.

Here are the British Cycling results, videos showing a lap of the course and general write up for the event that was well organised and run, hats off to Chipps.

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cyclocross/article/cyx20110103--Images-Results-Todmorden--Cross-0

Cross Season Blowout.

2011-01-03T19:18:00.006Z

It was a cold, grey and wet morning when some of Team VeloCake set off towards Plymouth for the South West Cross finale. Numbers were higher than usual, it wasn't just Mikey with me cheerleading... we had been joined by Simon and his soigneur/cheerleader, Nicky.

After a slight detour when our SatNav decided to fail, we arrived at Central Park in Plymouth. Thankfully, we had left the rain in Cornwall and Devon provided us with clear blue skies. Sadly, the wind was fierce and bitterly cold. Many layers of clothing couldn't keep the chill at bay, but our boys are tough and nothing deterred them.

It was a short and compact course, covering two fields. It was tight, fast, twisty, uppy, downy and impossibly greasy in patches. With climbs a plenty the boys were bound to excel.

In accordance with Cornish and Devonian traditions, the race started late, giving plenty of time to warm up. On the start-line Mikey sneaked in behind the fast boys at the front of the field whilst Simon seemed happier nearer the rear. It was a fast start and the first greasy off-camber corner into climb had a few riders immediately off their bikes and into the tape. Not our boys though. Mikeys prior experience of becoming entangled in the tape at the at this point last year gave him an advantage and he positioned himself accordingly whilst Simon picked his way through the mayhem.

By the end of the first lap, the leader (a young whippersnapper from the Hargroves team, had seen off any competition. There was nobody anywhere near him. In fact, within those first few minutes he was practically about to lap the back riders. Kids, eh? Someone obviously doesn't eat enough cake.

Mikey and Simon were also doing well and looking determined. They were on a mission. I have never seen Michael look so focused. It was like he was super glued to the usual front-runners, in fact he was in front of some of them. He continued picking up places and moved up the field and Simon consolidated his position with consistent lap times.

Is it just me or is something missing from Mikeys legs??

On the last lap Mikey had a near miss with a bulldog wandering onto the course and there were a number of similar incidents throughout but Team VC avoided any collisions and they both finished in one piece. Mikey managed to do an outstanding 10 laps and finished 10th in the seniors whilst Simon held on to finish as the 20th senior - which wasn't DFL like he had anticipated. - there were at least 3 others behind him.

Whilst all this was going on, there was more VeloCake action up North at the Tod Cross. Family sensation, "Team Kershaw" were out in force waving the VC banner. Tim finished an impressive 24th and an extra big congratulations goes to our two tiniest members, who finished 19th and 27th in the Under 12 category. I'm sure Tim is composing his blog post as we speak.

Cross season finale

2010-12-29T23:30:00.000Z

The last race of the season is just around the corner and there are two big races going on.
Firstly the Todmordon cross is going on and a truly spectacular it will be. Not only is it just very slightly different to your average cross race, this year it'll be all bier and frites served from the back of a wagen.
Then for those of us in the southwest, the final round is is Plymouth. Although not quite the Todmordon Belge fest, they have organised a buffet for afterwards. (So civilised) Anyone care to join us?

Scotchmen Go Riding in the Snow

2010-12-28T10:04:00.001Z

The Scotchland wing of Velocake have been going a bit stir crazy recently because of a little snow. Well, over a foot of snow, a slight thaw, a freezing of the half-melted snow, two hard frosts then another few inches of snow. There's been a handful of rides but they've either been part-hikes or sketchy attempts at road and lessons in black-ice-avoidance.

However, by the 23rd, the conditions were actually fine so after a couple of exploratory spins on the 23rd and 24th, a ride was planned for the 27th. Cue the immediate jinxing of the 27th ride......

Over the night of the 26th into the 27th, things went a little wrong. The temperature rose, the snow started to melt and rain came, but overnight the temperature dropped again and more snow arrived so James and I were facing a mess of snow, slush and minimal traction.

The slipping started from the top of the hill outside my house and didn't let up. Wheelspins, sliding, stalling, front wheels disappearing into drifts........a loop that would take an hour was taking longer and longer, even though sections were dropped.

After a 'short cut' via the park to avoid the main road, the attempt to ride the initial trail at the back of town was abandoned before we'd even gotten to the main trailhead, a u-turn down the deserted high street replacing it as we headed to the south trail.

We were greeted by a walker, who kindly expressed his surprise and warned us of the impending conditions we faced. We explained that this was better than sitting in the house and, being a likeminded soul, he understood.

From then on it was ride....spin....slip....walk.....remount.... slide...remount....ride....slip....

We eventually reached the turn off to the Pale Ale Trail but based on what we had faced so far, it was judged to be unwise but the recent weather seems to have provided a new entrance as the fence has collapsed. We'll be back with some cutting tools. We also took the opportunity to have a rest stop here and a little drink.

Pressing on, we rode, slipped, walked up to the farm then finally fond some proper traction in the tractor tracks and rode incredibly slowly down the other side of the hill, where we met a couple of people out for a walk.

"Are you two doing this for a bet?"

I think that summed it up.

Missing out another section, we hit the road for a spell, desperate as we were to play russian roulette with drivers who seemed to think that manners, the highway code, the law were suspended because of some snow then a final couple of trail sections.

More slippy slidy nonsense then an ill-advised descent to the railway line....though I'm sure James might disagree as he seemed to enjoy it until this anyway....

Another hike followed but we eventually got to a ridable trail and finally reached the road connection to home.

2 1/2 hours to ride what usually takes under an hour? Must be winter....

Hats off to Team VC.

2010-12-27T22:50:00.001Z

Not content with just team clothing we have outdone ourselves by creating a mock up team lid.

To get your hands on one for yourself, contact us. Alternatively, just visit your nearest Bell Stockist and then ask Mikey nicely for a VeloCake sticker.

A Festive Post

2010-12-23T20:38:00.001Z

I couldn't find a christmas bicycle cake, but as Keith once said, choose two. So here's a christmas cake I stole from a French website. It's from France, so it must have bicycles running though the middle. They call it un gateau noel.

Happy mid winter celebrations everyone.

Another Icy CX Race

2010-12-21T22:37:00.003Z

The time had come for the next Yorkshire Points Series CX race in Wakefield. It was going to be another icy race as the previous few days hadn't been above freezing and the night prior to the race had been -12C.

On arriving at the race there was a definite lack of riders knocking about, this was confirmed by me being No.15 on the Senior signing in sheet. A brief watch of the Vets race conformed that the course was hard and icy with the corners becoming more polished with each lap. I managed a very tentative preview lap of the course and HOLY SHIT it was lethal, i nearly came a cropper at the first corner! The twisty part of the lap through the woods was foot out time to catch the inevitable slides, I've never ridden a course so cautiously.

Anyway, there was a grand total of 20 riders for the Senior race and as usual we all set of like the clappers around the edge of the playing field. I got a fairly good start until the first slippy corner in the woods where i slid wide and lost my chain, i was 20th out of 20. Time to throw caution to the wind and hope my bike handling skills where up to scratch. I managed to get a few places back and latch onto the back of a trio of riders, one being the legend Chris Young. I stuck with these guys for a couple of laps, they gapped me on the flat but i pulled them back on the twisty stuff, roadies are rubbish when it comes to twisty slippy stuff. But then I lost my chain again just at the start of the flat fast section so that was it, the roadie boys had gone. It was just me and my usual battle buddy who was 20 or so metres behind. As usual he closed the gap on me in the middle of the race but he was bottling it on the twisty stuff so i held him off and finished the race on my own in 14th, my best result yet in the Yorkshire Point Series.

The final round of the series is my home race Todmorden Cross on the 2nd Jan, i'm hoping for a larger field in the Senior race to have some good racing.

That's all for now.

Racing ?... racing ????

2010-12-15T19:12:00.002Z

Just riding is enough for me right now, 1st ride today after 3 weeks of inactivity (ok, there's been the odd commute), missing the spin, missing my friends, missing that feeling of riding a bike...

Anyhow, 2 days holiday, a break in the weather, no hangover, could only mean one thing, a ride, a ride on a bike that I built up on Monday evening, my old geared Tinbred, rebuilding the bike was therapy in itself, its been so long since I've wrenched my own bikes I'd almost forgotten how to do it, even so it went together perfectly.

Set off at 1030am, strong sunlight warming my bones, trails in a kind of porridge state after the snow and frost has melted, makes riding sluggish, but its still riding. Legs soon adjust to the demands being put on them, unlike my lungs, tight and sore, the cold air is hurting, but still I soldier on :-).

An hour and a half later and I'm back home, tired but happy, and once again that sinking feeling that I'm at point zero, it can only get better, I'm sure it will.

More riding planned for tomorrow, might even take a photograph or two along the way.

Who needs racing ?

More Northern VC CX

2010-12-15T07:04:00.004Z

Bit of a late race report but never mind. Another trip over the 'wrong' side of the Pennines to race in the Northwest League, along with ex VCer Mr Barnes, in Bolton at Levenshulme Park. I raced here last year and the course was like the 'Somme' but there was no chance of a muddy race this year, the temperature had been well below freezing for several days before, so the ground was like rock!

I made sure I didn't miss the start of this race and in the usual scrum for the first corner seemed to do ok and stay just above mid pack. The first icy rutted descent was 'interesting' and my MTB skills seemed to be useful in keeping the bike going in the right direction. The race was going at a fast pace because of the hard ground and i managed to latch on to a few riders and this helped me work my way up the field a little further. I had a great scrap with another rider for most of the race, i'd pass him on the technical bits, steps and hurdles but he got me on the fast flat bits.

Towards the end of the race i started to get tired and cold, there is only so long you can keep warm when your racing and the temp is -3 but it was a brill race and my result was my best yet, 28th out of 98 and 16th Senior :-)

As here's me with my race head on, picture taken by Whiteflyer Photography

Normal service will be resumed shortly

2010-12-10T13:38:00.001Z

Until then, look at the kitten.

It has a santa hat on!

So bloody cross.

2010-12-05T18:34:00.003Z

(Parental Advisory: the following blog may cause offense to those of a sensitive nature!)

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Shit! Shit! Bollocks! Bollocks! Bollocks!
Bollocks! Bollocks! Bollocks! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Shit! Shit!
Shit! Shit! Shit! Bollocks! Bollocks! Bollocks! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

…. Recurring.

After weeks of training and refraining from drinking much last night I was prepared.

£14 paid upfront for the entry fee. I was excited.Bike prepped. Everything sorted. The weather seemed to be holding out and we made an early start - on the road 4½ hours before the race. What could possibly go wrong?

50miles into our journey (and still this side of the Cornish Border) and we had the chance to admire the flora and fauna of the A30’s hard shoulder for 2 f**king hours. We eventually started crawling forward to be told by a policeman that we had to turn back the way we came. The mother fricking A30 was now closed! There were two options.

Option One - take a detour. At the point of hitting the traffic we had under 60miles to go. But the detour would mean at the very least 90+ miles through the centre of Plymouth with only 1½ hr before the start of the race.

Option two – f**k there was no option two. So much for the South of England Cross Championship…. Instead there were just two very cross people in a yellow car heading back towards Penzance. There was not a cat in hells chance that we would make it.

Fuck Shit Bollocks!

Endura make really nice jerseys, so...

2010-11-24T14:55:00.000Z

I've been having a few requests from folk lately for more VC clothing and also we've had a few new members to the cause. (Including the noted and almost famous photographer, Dan Barham) So despite what I said last time about it being the last time, I'm thinking of putting another order in to Endura, besides I need a new pair of shorts.
So if anyone wants anything, jerseys, jackets, shorts, buffs or other stuff it's here. Endura custom clothing The prices of stuff are on there too.

You want to look this sharp too?
Thanks Steve

Just leave you details in the comments box.

VC Cross Team No.2

2010-11-24T13:23:00.003Z

It was that time again to get a good thrashing by the seniors in the Yorkshire Points Cross Series. This weeks race was at Myrtle Park in Bingley, it's a really good compact course with the best off-camber descent ever!
I didn't get off to a great start, well to be exact I very nearly missed the start because I was gossiping to some bloke about my future CX bike purchase. As the whistle went i was 50 metres or so behind the pack so i had to catch them up on the flying start.

Anyway, once under way I got settled into my mid pack place and had a battle with one of the regulars right until the last lap when I had a couple of slips on the bends and he gapped me and I couldn't get it back, so we are at 2 -1 now, 2 to him unfortunately. But I was content with the finishing position of 23rd.

It's back over to the Northwest League this weekend in Bolton to scrap it out with 100+ riders!

Velocake does MTBing at Gisburn

2010-11-23T13:40:00.002Z

Flexi-days are all about having fun, working up the extra hours to enjoy them and there's nothing more enjoyable that going to ride a bike on a flexi-day. So Novembers day was used to go and ride the red route at Gisburn Forest with my other half, Lisa.
It was a cold foggy day, around 2 degrees, but at least it was dry. We wrapped up well and set off on the 18km forest loop. It's the first time either of us has ridden the red route at Gisburn and i can tell you that it is a really good ride, lots of nice singletrack through the forest, some techy bits, some great board walk sections and no horrible long climbs. Oh and one thing i have to tell you about is Hully Gully, it is a short section of black trail that has HUGE berms, it was awesome!

Check out this you tube video, not by me but it shows Hully Gully really well.

Hully Gully

I even got to have a ride on the little bit of northshore which i usually bottle, but i nailed it, woohoo!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmy_k/5179341733/

Anyway, the day was finished off with a nice pub tea, bonus!

VC Cross Team

2010-11-17T22:39:00.000Z

This may be brief. (Hurray! I hear you cry)

Last Sunday the SW branch was in the stately grounds of Escot Park. The place is so good JLS are playing there next month, apparently.

Despite that, it was a great course, two big climbs, noodley techy bits, axle deep slop on tarmac and a bloody great mound to scrabble up and over.
I thought afterwards how it reminded my of the old xc races at Lyme Park in the earlier 90's. I was having a really good race and ploughed through the mid field and finished in 13th place.

New Velocaker

2010-11-13T10:22:00.006Z

Well here i am, i volunteered myself as Yorkshire rep for Velocake after catching back up with Mikey through twitter. I've been racing a few of the Yorkshire Points CX series this year with the Seniors, averaging about 30 riders in the field and to be honest I've had my arse handed to me on a plate each time i do but it's all good fun having battles with the same people at the mid to rear of the pack at each race.
I seem to have really got the CX bug this season and i am planning my new bike build for next season already, i might even treat myself to some tub wheels etc. :-o

My first race for Velocake was last weekend, Sat 6th Nov, and it was quite a contrast racing in the Northwest league in St Helens compared to the Yorks. Series. The field was huge, a hundred riders rather than the 30ish i'm used to in my usual races but its nice to be in a large field and have people to catch and pass, oh and be caught and passed too.

The course was around Sutton Manor Forestry Area and there seemed to be an awful lot of singletrack that turned to slop as the race went on. I had a crap start, i need to get my elbows out more, and as usual it took me 20mins or so to get warmed up properly. In the last half hour i seemed to pick up quite a few places of people that were slowing. I ended up being 38th out of 100 (20th senior) which i am happy with.

Here's a couple of photos taken by Sport Sunday Photography

http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/photo7443012.html

http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/photo7443070.html

Well that's all for now, I'm out racing next on the Sun 21st Nov on the Yorks. Series in Bingley, cant wait!

If it's so wrong for so many reasons, can it be right?

2010-11-10T09:46:00.001Z

Trek keep making bikes don't they.

This one's the new Cronus CX, to be released in the Americas next year. It's all carbon fibre.

It has a subtle line in graphics, an outline of Trek on the top of the down tube, and one hidden under the downtube. The head badge is just a small badge.

My current Trek cross bike has "Trek" written on it 38 times. Bad form!

It is expensive, but hey, I've been selling Treks for years and they have a wonderful staff purchase "programme". I've been toying with the idea of getting a fancy carbon cross bike one day, but always thought of something more Euro or niche.

There is a downside to all this. This year Trek have ended Fisher bikes as such, and enveloped them into the Trek Gary Fisher collection. For the less main stream shall we say, such as 29ers and that sort of thing. The biggest problem is, it has "The Gary Fisher Collection" on it somewhere and you'd have to grow a ridiculous moustache/goatee combo, and claim to have invented everything ever.