Rocky Mountain Bike Marathon - Riva del Garda, Italy

Every year the Euro marathon season begins for many riders this weekend in Riva del Garda, Italy. My first ever race as a Topeak Ergon Racing Team rider began here 3 years ago. If you've been following my blog since the beginning then you'll know that I've been on an incredible journey over the last three years and how much this has changed me as a rider. It's great for me to return here and reflect on how much I've grown in confidence and ability since 2009. Although I still get nervous before races - I'd worry if I didn't - I now know how to manage it and to focus positively on the race.

The race starts at 7.45am tomorrow morning which means an early breakfast at 5am. The one thing that doesn't get easier are the early starts - perhaps they're actually getting more difficult! 

Every rider is able to decide what distance to ride during the race; however I intend to ride the full 105km/3500m course. I like it :) Riva del Garda is a beautiful place and it's so nice to be back. I only wish that it wasn't a flying (3 day) visit. 

Our team mechanic, Peter Felber, is hard at work preparing our bikes - team mates Alban and Robert are also racing tomorrow. Dave Padfield is taking care of race logistics and Anita Reizner is also here to help with Feedzone support. We're in good hands. All that is left to do now is go for coffee and eat some ice cream at the lake. Perfect pre-race preparation :) 

Peter Felber hard at work

Not a bad office for a mechanic ........

............or a rider ;) 

As always, fingers crossed for fun and good luck! 

      

Elete Electrolyte

xcracer.com are now selling Elete Tablytes. They're small but they were an essential part of my daily nutrition during the Cape Epic. Perfect hydration and no muscle cramps is testimony to that.

The Ride Journal

'The Ride Journal' is a unique collection of the personal cycling experiences of a diverse group of people ranging from pros to recreational riders; roadies to BMX riders. It's made even more captivating by the use of stunning photography and illustrations. So needless to say, when I was asked to write a short piece for the 6th edition I was both honoured and eager to put pen to paper. I wrote about my unorthodox journey into professional endurance mountain biking with the aim of inspiring people who dream but don't dare to believe. 

It costs £10.50 and all profits from the journal go to charity which is one more incentive - if needed - to order a copy.

Cape Epic Race Report

Here is a link to my race report on the xcracer.com website.

We did it. We won the Cape Epic :)

We won the final stage and the overall in the GC of the Cape Epic. So happy :) Now it's party time. I'll write more about our adventures in a day or so.......thanks for following us!

Cape Epic: Stages 4, 5, and 6.

It's hard for me to remember each stage now but I do know that stage 4 was really windy and we had to ride alone into the wind for the last 20km. It was pretty tough but the wind in Lanzarote was great training ;) It was a long day and we were thrilled to take another stage win.

We encountered a great deal of bad luck during stage 5. The weather was terrible - very wet and cold - and the attrition on the bikes was high. Within less than 20km we encountered problems with our gears: Esther couldn't change gear at the front and I couldn't change gear at the rear. We were riding on fast district roads and it was important to be in a group but we weren't able to use our gears so we couldn't stay with any of the groups passing us. Fortunately we were able to fix the problems in the tech zone but by then we'd lost at least 20 minutes to the leading ladies. With our bikes back in action we thought that we could make up a little time, but alas the temperature plummeted and we got really cold especially Esther. We both had rain jackets on but we couldn't zip mine up because our hands were so numb. I had to ride into the rain with it open. Brrrr!!!! Then I crashed on a muddy and slippery, off camber, rutted track. I hit my knee on the go-pro camera on my handlebars and then face planted into the mud. Hmmm! OK, so things couldn't get worse. Wrong. Next my brake pads wore out completely and I had to run and dab on all of the downhills to the finish. Amazingly we finished the stage, and in a podium position: 3rd place. We lost about 20-30 minutes to the stage winning ladies (Karien Van Jaarsveld and Jane Nuessli) and only about 2 minutes to the second placed team (Nina Gassler and Theresa Ralph) in the GC. Phew.

Today was much, much better. The sun was shinning the trails were dust free and there was virtually no mud! Hoorah! The climbs were great, the views were breathtaking and the single trails were so much fun. We had a strong ride and took another stage win for our efforts :)

Tomorrow is the last stage. Our aim is simply to ride safe and avoid mechanicals and crashes. So, one more time....fingers crossed for good luck and fun.

Cape Epic photos

Click here to see photos of the Cape Epic....I'll update when I get new ones.