Thoughts on Cycling Ireland Offroad Commission Decision To Not Allow Riders To Race Cyclocross World Championships

Thoughts on CI statement

As a young, ambitious rider, it is somewhat dangerous for me to write anything. It may mean fewer racing opportunities for me, I could be rubbing the right people up the wrong way, but hopefully I can write this to be constructive and thought provoking. Hopefully they can be mature enough to understand my perspective, and their decision is strong enough to defend.

I do believe that this could have been handled better, and am prepared to stand up for that. These are my thoughts, I’m not saying they’re right or wrong, I’m not arguing for the sake of arguing, I’m absolutely open to being proven/reasoned wrong, if I’m shot down because I haven’t considered some things, so be it, but if I don’t speak my mind, how will I ever learn or progress it?

No Irish flegs this year

I love Cyclocross, not just because it is incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, but because it offers so much as a sport. In Ireland, we have the perfect terrain and conditions for it, there is no reason why we can’t be as good as Belgium or Holland, and every reason why we should be better than Denmark, Norway, Canada, Japan… the list goes on. Cyclocross is the perfect way to bring youth into cycling no matter what discipline they go on to do. Short, easily supervised races, incredibly safe, spectator friendly, no need for expensive equipment to begin, training can be done anywhere in the country where there’s mud… Compare this to any other discipline. Even if it is about funding and medals at Olympics, how’s that working out so far? We need kids on and enjoying bikes in order to develop them. 

I have so much respect for Martin Grimley, the Offroad Commission and their ‘work’ within Cycling Ireland. ‘Work’, as they’re volunteers, which makes what they do all the more amazing. An incredible amount of time and effort into keeping our sport running. They’re intelligent people, and obviously this is a big decision, and they knew the consequences, so we must respect this.

These people are voted in to these positions to make these decisions, and they are their decisions to make.

However, I think when they’re made, they must be explained fully and rationally, especially when they’re contrary to what most people would like, as evidenced through the reactions across the Cyclocross community.

I disagree with the decision, so I’d like to state my opinion, whether that is right or wrong, we are all entitled to our own, and I believe I have a lot of experience: Being an Irish Champion in CX through U16, Junior and Elite level, winning Championship races by over 10mins, being the first rider in years to race CX internationally, devoting every hour of my life to trying to become a professional cyclist… and still missing the boat. U23 level is over for me. I still have the same passion for the sport, and believe I still can/could reach the highest levels, but honestly, I believe I’m in a better position to try and help those coming after me learn from what I did and didn’t do, and not potentially waste their energy chasing unrealistic dreams.

I couldn’t compete in the Irish CX season this year due to recovering from illness. I’m honestly sorry about that, and I’m really gutted I wasn’t able to race, I tried once or twice but I just was putting myself so far backwards in my recovery process. I could see it was an amazing season, and the Offroad Commission have put in so much work to making this happen. I absolutely acknowledge that they work flat out, do a fantastic job, and don’t get the respect they deserve, but no-one is asking for them to do more right now? Just to allow the riders to go.

If nothing else, we should respect the event of the World Championships. If every country took the same approach, it would only be Belgium and Holland turning up, and that wouldn't be much of an event.

So many people have voiced their opinion, and hopefully the Offroad Commission don’t ignore this feedback. We’re all in it for the same reason, we’ve got to work together for the good of our sport.

http://www.cyclingireland.ie/cycling-news-item/announcement-from-off-road-commission-re-cyclo-cross-world-championships/3365 is the announcement from Cycling Ireland Offroad Commission (ORC).

In essence, they are not permitting any riders to race the Cyclocross World Championships this year, even if they organise it and finance it completely themselves, because…

Honestly, I’ve read the statement multiple times, and I can’t figure out why.

Sorry to the guys at the commission, but I can’t see why someone like David Conroy wouldn’t be sent this year? You mentioned the future plans a lot, but this decision is about the present. David has raced internationally; having solid results for a 1^st year U23, been the best rider of his age category at National Championships even with a mechanical problem, I don’t need to go on about his commitment and talent and what he could bring to the sport in future. As a teenager, he made a very mature and balanced statement on Facebook, it's a shame he's so experienced at dealing with disappointment at this age.

“This development plan that we have considered will need a number of years to bed in and for the talent to come through the ranks” 

Why does that restrict riders this year?

“The long term development of riders is at the core of this decision from the Cycling Ireland Off-road Commission”

With the current number of junior and youth riders, will there be any left by the time this plan ‘beds in’? If the long-term development of riders is indeed at the core of this decision, what are the plans for bringing riders into the sport? Youth and Junior numbers are declining. Maybe because of the lack of opportunities? Maybe they can get on a team in another sport and get support and coaching and the chance to attend international events?

“The plan should outlast the current crop of talented riders we have now. This plan has been shaped over the last two years. The growth in cyclo-cross, both in participants and events, has fuelled a new impetus in creating a development path.”  

If you’ve acknowledged there is a crop of talented riders currently, why is all of this statement based on the future plans, and restricting the present?

So that's that. Thoughts on the present decision.Thoughts on their future aims below.

A team was sent to the European Champs this year. That’s class, that’s progress. I had to make my own way last year (With massive thanks to Donal O’Brien and Martine Verfaillie).

From what I’ve heard, this year the riders were told about this about 2 weeks before the event. Too late in the season to prepare, but got very good results all things considered. It’s great to see the ORC stating that they aim to send a team again in 2017, allowing riders to prepare in advance; progress.

The Euro Champs are at the end of October/start of November. Often the winner isn't the World Champ. Even for the best in the World, it's hard to peak twice within a few months. If not told about this months in advance, Irish riders will be preparing to peak literally months later for National champs, so it's crucial to state these things long beforehand if it is this race you're targeting. If it is, consider how close to their true potential riders will be, when they'll only have been able to do a few races at home in preparation.

“We are planning development days during the summer and then, if funds allow, we will aim to head over to England for one of the National Trophy rounds.”

This is super. Being part of something greater than yourself, a team, is so important to going the distance in sport. How many other guys in the country were doing what myself or Conroy were trying to do last year? Nobody. Training at this level can be incredibly lonely and defy all ‘normal’ things that a 16-21 year old will be doing at this stage of their life.If any progress is to be made, a ‘team’ needs made, and the riders can feed off eachother and motivate & encourage eachother.
National Trophy rounds are a perfect stepping stone to greater things. Enough to stretch an Irish rider, but not enough to break them. However, they’re pretty tough to organise logistically, because power washing facilities aren’t provided, so you’ve got to travel with mutliple bikes, a pit crew, and a power washer/generator and lots of water. It’s pretty unfair to say young riders should be trying to get to National Trophies on their own, because if their Mum or Dad isn’t interested and wealthy, they won’t make it, through absolutely no fault of their own. Teams need sent. I had to bluff my way into an English University to attend a British National Trophy event. I don’t want others to have to go through that.

‘if funds allow’. Between now and October enough money could be raised to fund a team to a few English races. Fact. How many people race cross in the country? How many people would love to see ambitious riders given the opportunities they deserve? Plenty. But the ball needs to be rolling NOW. Not 2 weeks before the event.

“We believe everyone would understand that sending a rider to a big international event does not make that rider stronger, faster or a better bike handler. Getting to go to the big international events is a motivational tool. Something to aim for. What makes a better cyclist is structured training and skills coaching.”

Absolutely true. However the bigger picture must be considered. World Championships is the very pinnacle of the sport, the highest level of the highest level. A result at this level can allow more funding to be accessed for the rider, better sponsorship negotiations, more support from family and friends, it can be a life-changing opportunity, completely outside of their direct physical development. Anybody who is anybody will be there. In the unlikely case of absolutely nothing else being gained or learned from the event, the fans, contacts and friends made at an event like this can open so many opportunity to a rider(and other riders) in the future, and it’s such a shame to overlook this.

Being the best in Ireland is not good enough to be selected to go to international events.

Why not?

Is it really the rider’s fault that the standard at home isn’t good enough?

This is absolutely not a personal crusade, but I’ll use myself as an example. As a junior, I won races at home by 10 minutes and more. I didn’t have the funds or family support to attend races outside of Ireland. If we aren’t good enough as a nation, isn’t that the federation’s responsibility to be developing us? What if the rider is absolutely incredibly committed to being stronger, faster and a better bike handler? ‘a big international event does not make that rider stronger, faster or a better bike handler’ . You know? Maybe they’re already spending every penny of their own money on training and equipment and travel within Ireland, missing every social event, giving up so many other opportunities at such a pivotal age, 100% committed to being the best rider they can be.

Does living each moment of my life as a professional athlete, learning all I can about training, nutrition, recovery, everything; not show enough commitment? I’m sorry my Dad didn’t own a bike shop or go to the Olympics, but that’s not really my fault, nor a lack of my commitment. I immersed myself in the sport, I learned all I could, I trained up to 3 times a day, and have the training logs and power data to show, and there are so many others with a similar story.

Riders need to show commitment to the sport by competing outside of Ireland e.g. in Britain, up against larger fields of riders. Only then can that rider be judged to see how well they perform. Sending a weak rider to a big international event where he/she can end out well towards the back of the group/race can be a de-motivator and we can risk losing that rider from the sport.

Absolutely, everything has positives and negatives, and getting beaten isn’t an amazing feeling.  Maybe demotivating, maybe incredibly motivating. Is not sending them really the better option? Shattering their hopes and dreams by not even giving them the chance? The experience and memories of attending a World Championship will stand with a rider forever. Junior and U23 riders will get to go to the biggest CX event in the world, race the same course as the Elite riders, and get to watch them afterwards. They’ll get to see the atmosphere, the energy the sheer size of a European cross event, to rub elbows with professional Cyclocross riders and see the extensive pits, equipment set up, mechanic tips and tricks. Surely that’s a much greater oppurtunity for motivation than sitting at home, in Ireland, with the CX season over and 9 months until the next race? I’d safely say there is much more chance of losing riders from the sport if they know that the chances of them ever attending a World Championships is nigh on impossible. Moreso, not even getting riders into the sport in the first place, never mind worrying about losing them.

We cannot fix what has happened in the past. We all know that there were missed opportunities. We all know individuals who could have been international stars. We can’t go back. We can only look forward.

But we cannot ‘only look forward’. We can look to the past to establish exactly why people couldn’t fulfil their potential, and indeed try to address these problems going forward. However, what’s happening in the present regularly seems to be ignored.

Cycling Ireland has decreed that riders are not allowed to self-fund themselves to World Championships. They can do that for World Cups provided they have shown good results.

This is super, and a fantastic opportunity for riders to race at the highest level. It’s not the World Champs, it won’t be as well attended or as big an opportunity to make contacts, showcase talent and learn, but it’s as close as we’ll get.

All in all, not sending riders to World Champs, isn’t the end of the world. However, it does seem to represent a greater attitude within Cycling Ireland. The Offroad Commission have mentioned their aims to develop riders in the future, and have been progressing their development opportunities lately, so all respect to them for that.

My biggest confusion is why a rider like David Conroy wasn’t allowed to go. It’s fantastic that he’s got to go to UCI development camps and race World Cups as a Junior I didn’t have those opportunities so it’s good to see progress there, but what is the logic in not allowing a guy like this not to self fund his way to the World Champs? What are you afraid of? What are your expectations for a self funded, self supported Junior or U23 rider, and why? Expectations must be realistic. For a self supported, self funded Irish rider, being on the start line is an achievement in itself.

Not only David, but Beth McCluskey has been amazing all season, and won National Championships by 2minutes. She would be a real contender for a ‘good’ result at the Worlds.

Myself and David were allowed to go last year, but Glenn Kinning wasn’t. To a guy who lives and breathes the sport, who puts so much in to it at home, who’s supporting other riders on a race team. Yep, he wasn’t going to win, but think about how much experience, passion and motivation he could have returned home with.

Instead, nobody rode in the Elite race for Ireland. Again, why? Were you afraid that he wouldn’t win? Do you imagine the other countries have some grand expectations for our tiny country to appear for the first time in 6 years and ride in the top 10? Are you afraid of ‘looking bad’? I think it looks pretty bad right now that riders aren’t being permitted to self fund themselves. Look at a riders like Angus Edmond from New Zealand, Mark McConnell of Canada, Yu Takenouchi of Japan, not winning or likely to, but bringing so much to the sport.

Yes, development and funding should be prioritised to younger riders, but you can’t simply ignore the elite riders. The sport needs riders like Roger Aiken, Glenn Kinning, Beth McCluskey, Fran Meehan to be acknowledged and praised, something for people to aspire to, to set their sights on, someone for these ‘youth’ riders in the ‘development plan’ to look up to and learn from.

Why should they be restricted from going to World Champs? What if they went and learned so much, and gained so much inspiration and motivation to bring back to Ireland to help develop the sport? On the other hand, what if they didn’t? If they were self funded, self supported, self organised, what has it cost? Unless something else hasn’t been made clear here by the ORC, then, nothing?

I don’t like people talking about things without acting on them. It’s so easy to criticise others when you haven’t walked a mile in their shoes. As I say, I have massive respect for the Offroad Commission and all they do, and they have made the decision they thought was best for the sport. However, I just want to present my view on things. I’d love to help out on the ORC, I really do think I could help younger riders progress and enjoy the sport, and have many good friends within the sport that I’m sure would be happy to assist in areas that they have more experience or knowledge. However, I know I’m young, for example I couldn’t get insurance on a hire van to take a team of riders abroad, I potentially don’t have the experience of some others so maybe I’m not the best man for the position. 
I know Andy Layhe (Team Manager at 2016 World Champs and 2017 Euro Champs) is running for CX Rep and I’d be happy to support him in that. And that’s what it will take, it’s not just down to one person as a CX rep, but the Offroad Commission acknowledging the entire CX community and bringing people together to help.

Moving forwards, my brief thoughts:

• A clear, realistic criteria for riders going to World Championships needs to be discussed with riders and established well in advance of the start of the CX season.
• All youth/junior/u23 riders interested in Cyclocross should be invited to development opportunities, and have the opportunity to voice their opinions.
• A manageable group of young riders should be selected as representing a national development team. These riders should have priority access to mentoring and coaching, with other interested riders having some sort of support network.
• National, British and International races should be marked out, and riders informed that the development team will be attending these races.
• Funds should be gathered to allow the development team to fairly travel to races, whether through a race levy, business sponsorship, selling merchandise, crowd funding, run a sportive; if it is clear that Cycling Ireland don’t have the budget to spread, then other areas must be explored.
• The sport itself needs to be publicised, and accessible to bring riders in to it. Young riders can't be expected to travel with multiple bikes and a pit crew.
• There should be a ‘1 bike’ category within the senior race to make it fair for those who do not have access to a pit crew, washing facilities and multiple bikes.
• Cyclocross needs to be promoted. If it’s kids we’re looking for, then going to schools would be ideal, but I understand school times are also work times for adults, so it could be hard to organise. Hopping barriers, sliding round corners, remounts, etc. all fun and exciting things for kids to see and want to do.

Additional note: Imagine the publicity generated by a rider going to World Championships - local and national newspapers, across the internet etc. If we're trying to promote the sport to young riders, imagine if a young kid could go back to his friends in school and say he went to the World Champs, or talk infront of an assembly? Think of the big picture.

If there is place for me within the commission, then I’d be happy to be a part of it.

If not, then I urge those who are making life changing decisions for others, to really take the time to think about the positives and negatives of these decisions, and back up what they say with good reason and specific plans going forward.

For those wishing to attend the AGM, details @ http://www.offroadcyclingireland.ie/wordpress/2017/01/12/second-notification-of-the-off-road-commissions-agm/  

Cycling Ulster Offroad AGM @ https://www.facebook.com/carl.fullerton.3/posts/10211285488243436

Thanks,

Monty.

Post Fever PBs

Making the most of the extra ‘hour in bed’ on Sunday

A pretty apt picture for the moment.

There’s no bike involved; which was all too much of a theme over the last 6 months. Fortunately, eventually, gratefully, whatever adverb I use/you choose, I’m back.

I’M BACK.

I know.

Stooooooked!

Ok, maybe not quite this stoked... Happy Birthday big Sis!

I’m almost afraid to say it; in case I believe it, get carried away and end up back in a box. But* seriously, for an illness with no antibiotical antidote, predictable timeline, or straightforward recovery, I’ve managed it as well as I could have. I’m confident in how things are progressing now, and I’ve got enough measures in place to be aware of any warning signs & act accordingly.

*Educational aside: “There is a widespread belief—one with no historical or grammatical foundation—that it is an error to begin a sentence with a conjunction such as ‘and’, ’but’ or ‘so’. In fact, a substantial percentage of the sentences in first-rate writing begin with conjunctions” Read it; Weep.

I’ve been pretty silent over the last few months. To a large extent it’s nice to let riding/results do the talking; so words were scarce.

Six months of begrudgingly brutal, soul searching savagery. The Glandular Fever has all the ingredients to make an absolute meal of an athlete’s life. I won’t delve into the details for now, but for sure there has been learning done and lessons applied and it’s class to be back to full time #gainz chasing. Every experience changes us, and it’s our choice whether that’s for better or worse.

I’m back, and I’m at it. It took all the way to October to get back to my ‘old self’; to be confident enough in my health & recovery to be able get two weeks of easy training done back to back.

Sitrep; I set an all time 20min power PB this week as the ‘Winter training’ baselines were set. Post fever PBs. Yes m8.

Pre testing 'do I laugh or cry here?' face

I’ve some more details to come about preparations for next season and what’s happening, but I’ll save that til next time.

Bisous,

Monty

Update

I haven't said much over the last 2 months so it's about time for an update in the life of Mont.
I'd updated my Facebook page to say what the problem was, but I didn't want to say too much before I knew all the facts.

The short: I was diagnosed with Glandular Fever in early May; I was in a pretty big hole. Far from ideal with such big opportunities this season.

Hard enough to write this without sounding like I'm searching for sympathy or a sob story, but really I'm not, just laying the facts down and keeping anyone interested up to date!

The longer: Well really I'd been feeling & performing pretty sub par for a long time, but never having any health issues before, and doing a few more bigger races than before, I thought it's just fatigue and I'll work my way out of it. I wouldn't be the type to be chasing a doctor with every little niggle and ailment, and most experiences I have with them are a case of 'here's some anti-inflammatories, come back in a few weeks if it's still causing you problems'. Unfortunately the fatigue fighting went on and on, and I was still racing and trying my bestest, but it was only getting worse. It got to the point where a 1h bike ride would leave me feeling like I'd been through 5h race, and with proper muscle soreness the next day. This was along with light headedness, general fuzzy mindedness & blurred vision, headaches, aching muscles, a throat of thorns, real sore glands and struggling to eat anything without pain. I'd say my immune system is pretty solid in general; I haven't had as much as a cold or cough in a long time, but I picked up a pretty bad fever shortly after Tour of Flanders Nations Cup and knew I better get it seen to.

I'm normally extremely motivated, happy to get the training done, chasing goals and striving to improve, but when every time I went out on my bike I felt crap, and then even worse afterwards, it was pretty tough going both physically and mentally; the light at the end of the tunnel was fading  rapidly! When the bike riding's not going well and that's pretty much all your focus is on, then life falls by the wayside and nothing gets done. Not a pleasant place to be! Say no more about that.

Went to the doctor and after a while got the blood test results back, indicating Glandular Fever, so he said best to get home and get to a local doctor to get it confirmed and registered. Got to say finally having an understanding of what was wrong and why I'd been feeling so useless was a pretty big relief at that point!

Got home ASAP and the doctor here gave me the low down on what I was in for. The worst bit is I've no idea how long I'd been dealing with it for. Really, I'd been fighting some major fatigue since January and had some of the tell tale symptoms the whole time, but who knows.

Having it for a while and pushing on through it had put me in a pretty big hole, and it was gonna take a while to recover.

The main issue is that there's no antibiotics to be taken to get it out of the system, just a case of waiting for the immune system to deal with it; however long that takes. Even when seemingly recovered, it lingers in the blood stream, ready to reignite at any moment the stress balance is tipped, so got to be super careful about training again and trying to build up fitness.

It's been class to be home and such a massive thanks to my parents for their care and understanding. Thanks also to the team at An Post- Chain Reaction who've been understanding of the problems and allowed me the time to recover. 

It's taken a solid 6 weeks off the bike to get close to any feeling of normality back. After another check up with the doctor this week I've been told that the virus is no longer showing up positive, but my white blood cells are still elevated, so I'm not fully in the clear yet. The advice is that I'm able to ride again, but nothing long or intense for at least another 2 weeks, and then have to build up very gradually after that to stay on top of it. As the immune system basically needs to be rebuilt, I'll be much more susceptible to little illnesses than normal, so rushing things will only prolong them!

Given that 6 weeks off the bike and another very minimal 2 weeks is longer than most people's off season, I'll be far from able to go straight back into UCI races, so it's going to take a brave bit of training to get back to that level.

That said, after battling with the illness for so long, when I'm finally rid of it, training should be a lot 'easier' and more productive, so it shouldn't take a lifetime to get back to reasonable fitness.

It's going to be pretty tight to get back to Belgium and racing with the team before the end of the season, but I'm confident I'm in good hands with the doctor and there's still a chance. With all the time away from the bike and watching from the sidelines I'm super keen to get back at it! I really am capable of a whole lot more than I'd shown early this season, so I'm determined to prove that and get things on track again!!

There's a nice photo for the sake of a photo.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely hope your lives are more straight-forward at present :)

Monty

#dontcallitacomeback #believe

Guess Who's Back

Monty's back. This blog is back. Maybe we'll change the name. Life Behind Bars was pretty cool in 2012; kind of like Eminem and rad memes with everything, but hey;

This is just to say that I'm still alive. Most of you will know that from various Facebook and Twittering. I joined the Continental team Team 3M at the start of the year and have been racing (mostly) on the road since.
Now; now it's time to get down and dirty in the Cross season. Super dooper excited. So excited I'll do this more in single sentences than a paragraph.

I'll be riding offroad for Chain Reaction Cycles - Vitus Bikes again in 2015/2016.
My season will be starting with the Ulster CX League in Lurgan Park at the start of October. It's not quite Las Vegas, but it'll do.
I have plans to get to the homeland of Cyclocross in Belgium for a stint in November, along with returning for #Crossmas in late December/January, with a view to racing World Championships in Heusden Zolder in Belgium on 31st Jan!
Hopefully we'll get a British National Trophy round or two in as well. I'd gladly drive a van over for anyone else that's keen; but we'd need sponsorship from a bank for rent-a-van insurance for a 20 year old. If anyone else is keen, or owns a bank; get in touch!

Thanks to The Belgian Project for helping out with sorting some accommodation for Belgian adventures.

With a fairly deadly season's riding/racing/raking lined up, I'll be updating the blog a whole lot more.

For now here's a picture of this year's #1 steed in it's stock guise. Pretty nice eh!

If you see the CRC jersey or Irish champion's kit around, don't be afraid to say hi!

To be continued fairly soon,
Monty out!

Tubs. Velo Cafe Magasin

Tubular tyres.

Mythical creatures to some; each hand crafted by the creator, who knows each and every thread per inch; reserved only for those truly in pursuit of the 'Cross.
Those who have wished friend and family farewell, making the dive deep into the Cyclocross realms, never to return to normality. Those bitten by a life-sucking beast, surviving only through the weekly drip of SVENNESS. Those you'll find in Tesco wondering which hand position Sven would use on the trolley.

Each year, Autumn arrives, the leaves begin to fall and the Cyclocrossers slowly appear from behind the trees. Here they have been hibernating since National Champs; waiting, wondering, watching for the raindrops. The 'off season', precisely periodised. The post Nationals crash; news still trickling in from far and near, memories in blossom; too soon to accept the reality, that the beautiful pain and euphoria of cyclocross racing is over for another year. Then, through turmoil and tribulation, we admit that we can no longer shun reality, and depression devours us. But we are stronger than that. We are made of sterner stuff. If the 'Cross has taught us anything it is that there is hope, there is a redeemer.
Internet browsers are slowly, almost embarrassingly opened. Yes it's only March, but no-one else can see me? Maybe I'll catch a bargain on Ebay now the season's over? Justification. Distorted reality. We are masters.
Ideas are generated, research is gathered; will I go single ring this year? Are disc brakes fashionable yet? Pro bike set-ups scrutinized from valve extension to headset spacer.

April, May, June, July; long summer's nights and grand tours to watch, we find ample distraction, but can't deny the little smile in our brains each time we pass by the 'cross bike in the garage. Before we know it, the road/mtb season hasn't quite gone to plan, injured this, broken that, didn't have enough toast before that race etc. But wait, what's that? Yep, only 3 months til 'cross season!

The nights fall in, summer season wraps up, throws a scarf on and gets its wellies out. Shiny new things ordered and fitted, maybe even new bar tape if we're feeling a good season coming; wearing running shoes dug out of the cupboard under 9 months of more important things; maybe we'll go for a run later? Or tomorrow... maybe the day after.

It was about this time I'd been in to Velo Cafe Magasin in Belfast. Joe Henry was a bit of a hero in finding me a straight pull spoke long enough for a Syncros 29er wheel, no other shop in the country seemed to have one! We got talking Cyclocross; because from 1st September you probably can't escape the topic if you enter into conversation with a 'crosser, and I aired my dreams of riding tubular tyres this year.



The Cyclocross tubular is sheltered from the hopeful attacks of amateurs by the arduous gluing process, the price, the risk of rolling, the risk of puncturing. Indeed the clincher will do. It is black, it is round. But alas, it is not enough for some. Whether in their heads or on the course, some are pushing the boundaries of humanity. Some need that 0.5psi less. Some are pioneering lean-angles seen only previously seen through beer goggles, and rims with walls simply aren't an option.

With no rim walls, and either a thin latex tube inside, or no tube at all, the risk of pinch-flats are eliminated, allowing much lower pressures, and the grip and rolling resistance #GAINZ that follow, with maybe some weight savings too. Indeed, to those who have not tried, it seems a lot of faff, a lot of money and a lot of risk; a big old denominator to balance.

But really, if you're interested in going fast at all, you've taken a risk or two in your time. This one can't wait any longer. Roger is still lapping you and hasn't even started sweating yet. How much more of that can you take?

I made the decision I was gonna go 'tubs', but that meant new wheels, and buying new things takes me about a year of internetting to make sure I'm spending my money as best as I can. I'm actually a bit scared of the thought. There's still an almost completed excel spreadsheet back in my documents from this time last year.

Then came a message from Joe himself; 'Hey Monty, you still looking some carbon wheels for cross?'. Gonna be a goood one. He was up for donating me some handbuilt tubular babies for the season to see how they held up to 'that sort of riding'. Now I don't know exactly what he was implying by 'that sort of riding', but I was sure up for giving them a rattle. Joe is one of the best wheel-builders in the country so I was pretty stoked on getting some great wheels without having to get the spreadsheet fired up again. Cyclocross is pretty brutal on parts; every kind of mud under the clouds, regular powerwashing etc. A visit to a good shop like VCM will keep you right on wiping your rims right and washing your nipples n' stuff.

 

'Ride the shit out of them' he said, and ride the shit out of them I did, and still am. Turned up to my first race like a little kid taking his new toys out for the first time after Christmas. No. Probably more excited actually. Anyway, I won that race, and I was a convert. The practice laps were a little squirmy; adjusting to new feels from the ground, but once the gate dropped and I got hammering, they were incredible. Honestly. Life changing stuff. Grip by the lorry-load. Absolutely transformed the bike from the old Shimano R500s & Maxxis Mudwrestlers! All ye of clinchers; imagine being able to turn in corners rather than slide through them? I know; mental; but believe me; it's possible!

Race win was followed by race win, and race win, and I think they've now won 4 races and been on 6 podiums. I'm not sure I'd ever have got round to buying tub wheels and tyres this season, and would've been plodding round the top 15 wondering where all my Wattz were going, so Joe Henry and Velo Cafe Magasin deserve a massive, massive thank-you! If you too are thinking about making the jump, go for it. Sometimes the roady pro's race clinchers, but there's good reason why you've never seen or heard of the Cyclocross #PROZ on clinchers, ever.

Benefits? You'll probably save a bit of weight over clinchers - obviously depends what you're changing from and to - 30-50mm deep rim will keep a bit more mud on the course rather than your bike, and be pretty strong too. You'll save a few precious watts from less rolling resistance over the equivalent clincher tread. Extra grip from a more flexible casing; better cornering; bet you've never even thought of how heavy that extra mud is when you crash! Extra grip and bump absorption from being able to run lower pressures. Ride up hills. Ride off cambers. Ride off cliffs. Do whatever you want, you look bloody #PRO.

If you're thinking of a new bike, I'd recommend not going for the top model, going a model or 2 down, and heading into VCM to get some tubular wheels built up and some advice on tyres. You never know, you could end up riding a World Cup in the same season!

Monty outttt.

http://www.velocafemagasin.com/
10 Cromac Ave,
Belfast,
County Antrim
BT7 2JD

National Championships 2014 - Fossa Wood, Killarney

The boat was late. Almost 45mins. Somebody tell me how an 8hr boat can be late? Surely you could speed it up like 0.5mph or something to get there on time? After being 48hrs late myself, I didn't exactly have time to throw away, this wasn't great.

Nonetheless, when we finally got docked, opening the door into Norn' Irish air was a pretty dreamy feeling after the last 2 days. Fortunately, the Leon started, and I was finally off on the last leg of my journey, into a beautiful Belfast sunset. Seeing a sunrise and sunset in the same day in the middle of Summer isn't something I'd want to be at all to regularly though! Big fan of sleep!

Home!

I knew Sunday's National Champs were in Killarney. I knew Killarney was down south, but til this point (Thursday night, 22:30, leaving in 9hrs) I hadn't checked how far down South it was. I kind of guessed it wouldn't be pleasant news, so was in no rush to find out, but eventually I thought I better check. I took a deep breath and loaded Google maps up on Drumaghadone Rd's finest 0.5mb/sec broadband. About a 5hr drive. Savage -ly horrific.

Thankfully Cameron McIntyre's dad, Graham had offered to give me a lift, not having to drive down myself was epic! We arrived on Friday afternoon at about 1.30pm and met up with James & Simon Curry who were already there to get a tour of the course.

Man. Sherwood Pines it was not! My first lap was an absolute shambles. Coming from racing Sherwood Pines the week before; 14mph avg. proper flat out grassy field, no hills so no descents kind of stuff, I'd completely forgotten how to ride a bike on Irish uppy-downy tight twisty technical stuff... so I just sat around and complained about my tyre choice. :)

In all fairness though, I had a Bontrager 29-0 on the front and Schwalbe Thunderburt on the back. And it was a little damp.

Anyway, lap 2 was better once I roughly knew what to expect, but we decided that was plenty and finished up for the day. I went off and got my Racing Ralph on the front for Saturday's practice.

Things had dried up on Saturday, and after a bit of a lie in and a nice late breakfast I headed out on course for some more practice. I knew I'd plenty of time, so just tried to treat it like a DH race from the good old days and take it bit by bit, finding the 'best' lines and riding them on repeat til I couldn't do them wrong. Whether they were the best lines or not I don't really know. Gareth Mckee could have probably came down and taken one look around and knocked about 30seconds off a lap, but I was content; just knowing where I'm going is half the battle and would hopefully prevent me doing stupid stuff mid-race.

Myself and Matt Adair had taken a run down to Lidl on Friday night to get some food for the weekend. I'd had my hands on the pasta, the usual cyclist go-to for getting the carbs in, but then noticed that I could get twice the amount of rice for the same price. So 1kg of rice I bought, for about £1.50, and set myself the challenge of trying to get through a family's feeding for a week, in 2 days. Sure why not have 750g carbs in ya. So back from Saturday practice, it was rice time... as was basically every time other than sleep time and bike riding time.

Some heavy rain came early Saturday evening, and this would effect the course massively. I didn't reckon it would be any disadvantage to me as I can handle a bicycle ok, but sunshine & no muddy bikes, kit or eyes is always welcome! There were some support races on on Saturday evening, and the rain had just about stopped again, so I took a dander up to check the state of the course and see how messy bikes were getting. Sure enough it was pretty darn muddy! Bikes and riders coming back plastered in mud. Hopefully the rain would stay away, and the ridiculous heat would come in useful to dry the place out a bit... or everyone who'd done their practice on Saturday afternoon on dusty trails in bright sunshine would be a bit nervous on the start!

Sunday morning rice-time came, so I got that down me and headed up to the course to see what was happening. Things had dried out well overnight, and with our race not until 2pm and no rain forecast, conditions looked like they were going to be pretty similar to Saturday afternoon. 

But first, more rice. Lol. Staying at the hostel just a 2min walk from the course made life very easy.

I pulled the fine purple skinsuit on, and got on the bike for a bit of a warmup around 1.30, and soon enough we were being called to the line for gridding. With not doing many Irish NPS rounds this year I was 2nd last on the grid... but with 6 starters and 5 people per row, we managed to fit in all 6 so all was good for everyone. In fact Matt, who was gridded #1, was the furthest from the first corner, I didn't quite understand that one, but I was 2nd closest, so didn't really mind!

Man every time I write a blog I get to this stage and try to remember what was used to start the race. Whistle? Gun? Shout?.. every time I can't remember. I'll leave that to your imagination, rubber duck or something. Anyway, the race was underway. I got clipped in, but not before Sean Feeney and Gavin O'Connell were halfway up the field already. Got chasing and was a comfortable 3rd through the first few downhill corners. The course then looped through the field a bit so I was able to get around everybody on the next uphill.

A good start was crucial as once out of the field it was into tight twisty singletrack with no passing places, you'd be stuck there basically til the course came back into the field again halfway through the lap. 

Once out front, I pushed on, not flat out, but at good pace to try and get the gap to 2nd place growing as rapidly as possible. Out of sight out of mind 'n all that. As U23, we'd started off 1min 20 behind the elites, so by the end of the first lap I was already about halfway through the elite field and had over 1min gap to 2nd place U23. Good times! Kept the pace up, trying to pick off all the elites. Graham Boyd, in 4th was next, then had a bit of a boring lap out on my own, but then caught sight of Sean Prendiville and Ray O'Shaunassey battling it out for 2nd & 3rd elite spot and got chasing. Lost a little time on this lap (4/5) getting held up behind back markers on such a tight track, but imagined I had a good lead in the U23 so tried to give people a bit of time to get out of the road.

Got by Sean & Ray towards the end of lap 4, then it was the final lap, 1st U23 and only 19 times National XC Champion Robin Seymour up ahead in the elite race. Sean stuck with me for the first half of the lap, so it was pretty nice to have someone on my tail to keep me pushing on. Coming through the field halfway through the lap I heard Martin Grimley over on the speakers at the start/finish saying that Matt Adair (2nd U23) was just coming through, so I knew I had half a lap - a good 9mins advantage by this stage - this was a pretty nice feeling to say the least! All was left was to cross the line.

As I came into the field for the final time, I'd done it. No more roots or U-turns to navigate, no more drops or jumps, just a ride up a grass hill and turn into the finish straight. STOKED.

U23 Irish XC Champion by almost 10mins, Irish champ for the 4th year in a row, and 35secs faster over the 5 laps than Elite Champ Robin Seymour. Job's a good'un!

Was only left with about 100g of rice in the end.

Massive thanks to Graham McIntyre for the lift and doing my bottles.

Thanks to Sean Rowe for the use of his great photos!

Next up I'll be travelling back over to England for the last British XC round mid August. With 40 UCI points from the champs I'll hopefully get a more reasonable gridding position and should be able to get a decent race done!

Had planned to stay on in England for Uni in October. But now that I'm in Ireland I realise that another 2 months in England is a bloody long time... so might just come back here after BXC 5, which would allow me to do the Ulster XC Champs at the fantastic venue of Castlewellan. If finances allow!

Monty, out.

Car-nage

As I sit on the Stena Merseyside; or whatever she’s called; we’re not on best terms, I guess I could fit a blog post into the 8hr sailing while I wait for thismorning’s Strava file to upload on the boat’s out of this world WiFi. As in, the satellite must be lost. How often does it take longer to upload the ride than actually do the ride? Think I could get a world first? 30mins in. 10miles in. The race is on.

Yes. 20mph. On me mtb. Years of training culminating in a race to my car. Unfortunately within the first 30mins I’d already taken a wrong turn, or rather not taken the turn at all. It’s like Loughborough just couldn’t bear me leaving. But alas, I was up for a fight, foggy dual carriageway at 5am or not, I’ll just keep going straight and see what happens. Turning back kills ego. Murder is best avoided.

Darn, the ride is uploaded. Beaten. Such has been the pattern for the last 2 days. Get a boat home. Ride some bikes. Enjoy some Northern Irish Summer... or not. Why would the life of Mont ever be that simple? Haha. I was down at the first hurdle. After a quick run into Loughborough to pick up some boxes from Alice, it was home, James, home; for all of 2 miles before one of the Mighty Leon’s dials died, and red lights started flashing. I say the ‘Mighty Leon’, because until it hit English air, we’d owned it for 4 years and it had given no trouble whatsoever. You potentially have to see Mum’s gear changes (or lack thereof) for yourself to understand the achievement of the little motor. Mum & Dad were awesome enough to let myself and sister Alice bring it to Loughborough, so I drove it over at Easter.

And within 2 weeks we had problems, Houston. Dead battery, stuck on a layby on the main road into Loughborough. Great. Safe spot. Tried jumping it, unfortunately this didn’t work. Firmly in battery heaven. Better still, in the process of attempted jumping, bumping, and everything else we could think of, we’d opened the passenger door. Harmless, you’d assume? Ass; u, me. Only the driver door has an outside lock, everything else is electric. Electrics require batteries. Situation update: dead battery, stuck on a layby on the main road into Loughborough, passenger door unlocked, about 10.30pm.

It was bound to get broken into. But at least it wouldn’t be going far without a battery. I visualized Christmas coming early to some Leon fancying opportunist, and then them trying to start it and nothing happening. Someone to share the feels with at least.

As always, if all else fails; cable ties and duct tape. Wrapped around the passenger seat headrest down to the door handle, you’d have to rip the door panel off to open it any more than a centimetre. A couple of bike locks and a duvet cover to cover the DIY door lock and I headed to bed at about 1am with all body parts crossed. This is the first time my parents will hear this. Haha. You chose to read it.

Fort Knox

Somehow it didn’t get broken into, although one night when I went up to check, the road-side chip portakabin thing right beside had been. Butt clenching times. Eventually was able to get a new battery up to it and fitted, and we were Mighty again. Then it needed MOT’d and taxed, In the middle of exams too. Try taxing a NI registered car in England. Or don’t; much better better idea! Trying to get a MOT with no documents was also an ‘experience’. And then it failed MOT. Rear left brake caliper sticking. Bam, more money, less mighty.

For a while we were all good again and I treated it to a few nice trips to races.
Had it died on the way to a race, this obviously wouldn’t be great, but having to miss a race wasn’t really the end of the world. Nah, it would have to die on my way home for Summer, driving to the boat. This was much closer to the world ending. In fact, it kind of did. 48hrs have passed and I’m still where I should’ve been 48hrs ago. Time travel for dummies. Patented.

As I came to the Loughborough/M1 roundabout, about 100m after passing the spot where the battery died, the dial with the funny thermometer looking thing dropped to the bottom, and red lights started flashing. Mothertrucker. With my boat leaving in 2h 30 and a 2h 20 drive ahead, my options were severely limited. Nonetheless, I did a lap of the roundabout and pulled over to have a quick look under the bonnet. Nothing was missing, nothing was on fire, and nothing smelled; nothing was wrong. Simples.

Boat leaving in 2h 20. 2h 20 drive ahead. Sounding more like a Monty day out already. Nothing the Mighty Leon can’t handle, eh.

You’d never realise how busy the A50 outside Blythe Bridge is until you exit the roundabout and your car loses power. But at that point, it will hit you... certainly figuratively, and probably literally. Carrying about 30mph through the roundabout, so I’m not going to get very far on zero power. And there’s no hard shoulder or even grass verge. Faaaack. Fasten your seatbelts.

As I tried to put my foot through the clutch to keep rolling, with massive lorries thundering around me, it was only a matter of time before something came out of the roundabout and inserted itself in my rear end. Clench. But fortunately for me, and in an unfortunate anti-climax for you, an entrance came into sight and managed to roll halfway into it. With a bit of a push I was safe for the time being. Boat leaving in 1h 10, 1h drive, car not starting... Hmmm. Starting to look like a bit more than the Leon can handle.

Pull out the HTC fresh from the 1900’s, but it’s actually semi working today for a change: mild relief. Google > “What to do when your car breaks down”. Search results: contact your breakdown cover provider. The Mighty Leon has never broken down (you know, ignoring the above mishaps..), why would I have that? . “What to do when your car breaks down no breakdown cover” . Search results: you’re fecked; to summarize. A call to Dad just to confirm that we definitely had no breakdown cover... only Mum & Dad are on holidays in goodness knows where. Poland or something the last time I heard. No dial tone to Dad’s phone. Haha. Gooood.

The little HTC has lost about 25% battery in the excitement, not ideal. Hang in there bud. Google maps > “breakdown recovery”. Ok, somewhere 2.8miles away. Wait, where the fudge am I? More Google mapping. Other apps are available. A50, outside Blythe Bridge. “Hey mister, I’ve just broken down, any chance you could come out and take a look?”. “Busy.” ”We don’t do recovery.” “Maybe in a few hours.” “We only do commercial recovery.”, F-A-B. Somewhere 7 miles away could come out for £80. 7 miles. 15mins. Boat leaving in 50mins, 1hr drive.

Down and out.

Time for some breakfast.

A sensory evaluation of what lay under the bonnet revealed too much heat, too much smell, and after a bit more looking; the realisation that there was a container type thing with the same symbol as the dead dash gauge, lying empty, with a ‘MIN’ marking about halfway; nothing more than some gritty residue lying at the bottom. ‘G12 only’it said. Google > G12 = Coolant. Bugger, thought so.

Then Dad rang back. I went for it, “Soz to disturb your holiday, but bad news..”.

Google > Where to buy G12 coolant. There was a Halfords 7 miles away. Always good to have a bike in the car when feceas meets fan. But stuck on a ridiculously busy dual carriageway, with lorries often coming past side by side in both lanes, I was somewhat apprehensive. Probably better to have breakdown cover.
More Google mapping showed if I went the opposite direction I could maybe get onto some back roads quite quickly. What other options did I have? Bike out of car and assembled, Garmin primed to record my fate.

Just about got crossed the carriageway, and got headed the other direction in search of some rideable roads. Coming into Blythe Bridge Dad rings again. Stopped in a filling station forecourt. He was talking to a mechanic back home and I don’t need any magic G12 jungle juice; she’ll run with water - but the coolant shouldn’t just have disappeared. Savage. Have 3L of water in the car, balls was I for buying any on the boat, will go back and throw that in and see what happens.

First up, 2L from an old milk bottle. Straight through, none of it staying in the reservoir. The mechanic did say it could take 5L, so maybe she just needs some more. 600ml water bottle. Straight through. Nah, this couldn’t be right. Indeed a closer look in the engine revealed it pissing right back out again. Boat sailed. Cute.

Updated father. What next? It looked like the balance had finally tipped in Mr ‘pick your car up for £80’s favour. Moneyyyyy.
But then I remembered that the fuel station forecourt I’d stopped in earlier had a sign for a MOT garage up on its side. Worth a try! 

“Hey mister, I’ve just broken down, any chance you could come out and take a look?”. After some more explaining I think he understood how non-existent my other options were and took pity. He didn’t have a recovery vehicle, but said he’d a van at home and he might be able to tow it in, but he’d brought the car into work today so would have to go home to get the van so it would take an hour or two. With the night’s boat not leaving to 22.30, I had time to spare...and well, no alternatives!

On Monday evening, in the last 10mins before the uni library closed, when I was supposed to be meeting Alice to pick up some stuff, amongst a million other ‘need to get out of the way before I go home tomorrow’ jobs, I’d nipped in and grabbed a few books. This proved a worthwhile excursion, because even after 6hrs of sitting around John Rice Motors, the less than mighty Leon was no closer to going anywhere. Evening boat wasn’t looing promising.

The water pump had died, blowing some seals in the engine cooling system, so all the coolant was back on Loughborough tarmac while the engine had been overheating the whole 90mins to her final resting place. Not good. Water pump and timing belt needing replaced, engine potentially damaged from overheating.
Moneyyyy.

Anyway, it wasn’t going to be finished within the day. So I headed home. The wrong home. Loughborough home. FFS. Fortunately there was a nearby train station, so was able to get back to Loughborough relatively handy. Made it through the door at 6.45. Exactly 12hrs after leaving. Should’ve arrived in me proper home in Banbridge at a similar time. Sat down to binge on ice-cream and watch Le Tour highlights to try and find some form of respite.

It was a rest day.

Hahaha. Buggers.

trying to get home. throwing money at trains

Day 2 involved more ice cream and waiting for the phone to ring to see if the water pump had cured it, or if the engine was screwed also. The call came and it seemed that the engine was ok. Which was good to say the least.

The morning boat left at 1030, so I guessed that I would just about be able to make it if I picked the car up at opening at 0900 the morning of Day 3. Then I remembered you have to be there an hour before sailing. Balllls. Rang John to see if the car would be ready to get Day 2 evening boat(+£70!). But it turned out he got to work at 0730 and opened at 0800. Hero!

It couldn’t be that easy though. There were no trains over before 0920.

4am alarm. 4.30am depart upon my one remaining bicycle, the mtb (gathered the willpower to go and do some intervals last night on the road bike. Then at 135rpm, 43mph, in bottom sprocket, chain jumps into frame and rips mech & hanger off. Nice. Much luck), 55miles out to the garage to pick up the car at 7.30-8am and try and make the 9.30 am boat.

Arrived at 9.45 after crazy traffic. Got a bit of a scolding but they let me on. 

And here I am +2300 words -£500 odd quid.
Fingers crossed we get the Leon off the boat in the Belfast air.

Off to stretch my legs but a report of British XC Rd 5 at Sherwood pines Sunday past may be on its way before the boat docks.

Next up is National Champs in Killarney on Sunday. Moar travel! Had a real solid race last weekend though so it should go well! (if I make it!)

Monty, out

(sitrep: made it to Killarney. Yeo! Only getting this posted now. Had all of 11hrs in my house before having to get on the road again!)