Views from a ditch

Brass Monkey Images R3

2012-01-23T13:50:00.001Z

A little bit of action from the closing round of the Merida Brass Monkeys...

Heads up here, to let you know the images are slightly delayed due to the fact that I forgot a vital piece of equipment, which meant I couldn't process the images on my way home like I usually do.... Sorry about that, but we should have all my images on line by close of play today and Dave's images should be trickling online by Wednesday....
Also you may or may not notice that there has been a bit of a change to the price list.... You now have the option to download images straight away when you place your order or opt for a full res image that will be send to you by CD....

Faces, Places and Races 2011

2011-12-28T16:05:00.001Z

It’s been a funny old year and I’m pretty sure I’ll be gladto see the back of it and look forward to welcoming in a fresh new year with fresh challenges. It’s certainly been a year packed with a hugeamount of exciting moments for the sport and with Olympic year just round thecorner that excitement can only build. It’s also been a year of development andevolution, in more ways than one. We as a cycling nation are World leaderswith Cavendish & Garner grabbing rainbow stripes on the road, Danny Hart & Manon Carpenter adding to the illustrious down hill tally and Laura Trott, Wendy Houvenaghel & Danielle King completing the lineup in track. Cycling as a past time is now an everincreasing passion as people discover what many of us have known for years,cycling is ace!

Withthis in mind, I’ve sorted through a selection of images that have shaped myyear and hopefully inspired a few more people to straddle a bike and pedalhappily into the sunset….

Jose Hermida - How cold??

Hermida rocking that World champ look in the mountains near his home.

2011 sort of started in 2010, for me in a way! A commission by new MTB magazine 'Privateer' saw me head to Girona in December to catch up with one of the nicest men in the World Cup circuit. He just so happened to be the 2010 World XC Champion too. Interviewing Jose Hermida was a real hoot, not only is he a top rider but also a class one joker, guaranteed to bring a smile to any face. The photoshoot was hilarious, temperatures of -10 kept the 'just one more time' requests down to a minimum...You can find the full feature in Issue 2 of Privateer

January saw me embark on my '30 in 30'. A cunning plan to get me back on the bike, regularly! The idea being that you ride everyday for 30 days for a minimum of 1 hour. It was challenging, it was ace. Trying to fit a ride in around my work schedule and all that snow we had during January was most daunting, but I did it. Felt great and decided that now would be a good time to set myself a challenge....

That challenge just happened to be the Coast to Coast, done with the aid of Saddle Skedaddle and the able Steve Woods! Now this being me, I couldn't just do the C2C like normal people would, oh no I wanted something to write about.... and so we did it on electric bikes....

Steve gets zipping on the C2C

Now every time I tell people I did this on electric bikes, I get the usual, 'that's cheating!!'. Oh believe me it wasn't!!! The idea was to see if these 'new' fangled machines could take on the challenge of both distance and climbing. Being electric the batteries only last a certain amount of time, so here the challenge was to see how long they lasted and where we could get them charged en-route. It was a real challenge!!! Not something I want to repeat, not on an electric bike anyway!

Team GB get to test out the Olympic MTB course

March gave me with the chance to check out the controversial Olympic MTB course in Hadleigh. Ever since it was announced that Essex would be providing the Olympic dream for MTBers, forums around the UK and further afield have been alight with keyboard warriors dismissing this proposal. On the face of it, they may have had a point. The UK is awash with fabulous places to ride and race mountain bikes, Essex just didn't seem to fit that niche... Or did it?? On paper it didn't look great and to be honest on arrival it looked like a flat field awaited. However as we approached the edge of said field, the ground fell away as we laid eyes on a natural amphitheatre, with the course built to take full impact of the natural contours. Okay it's no Fort William, but what it lacks in impressive mountains it makes up for in impressive visual quality for the thousand of people who will come and watch the gladiators of the sport fight it out for gold. The short and aggressive nature of the track will mean the winner will be worthy, the battle honourable...Olympic Test Event Images

Absalon means business most of the time but watch out in August....

London Prepares... Are you ready??

24 Hours of Exposure - The UK's National & European Championship 24hr Solo race added a sister event for 2011. Now it attracted all those where 24 hours was just a tad bit far, now they could just race for half a day instead. The weather wasn't the kindest. Still they came and rode. I had a little project. Taking portraits of competitors before they started the race and then afterwards. I like the contrasts especially as the weather wasn't the best!

Picture Gallery


Number 55 refused to wash his face for the last couple of laps in his race as he know it would make a cracking after shot. He was right!

Alongside my usual tally of mountain bike events, 2011 saw me shoot at a number of road events. The do say that variety is the spice of life and I like the challenges that road & crit racing provide, especially when they're run in evenings!

This is one of my favourites of the year, shot at Otley part of the National crit series. I'd been thinking about this shot for about a year, having visited the event in 2010. My ever so patient other half is my VAL ( Voice Activated Light stand) here, enabling me to get the image I'd had in my head. The bonus being the rider here being isolated from the race and turning his head at the split second I clicked.... I like it when a plan comes together!!

Here I was able to witness Alex Dowsett as he annihilated the race at the IG Markets Nocturne crit. It was dark. I have a system...

The lighting system I used here is similar to the one used in the Nocturne. I like to isolate the action, freezing a moment in time. Here I particularly like the section of supporters in the background as they cheer on Rapha boys Dean Downing & Dean Windsor as they race for the win at the Stafford GP.

It's been a varied year, with travel outside the UK featuring more and more. They're is a definite Spanish feel to a lot of my work this year that's for sure!


This year I was lucky enough to grab an invite to check out the TransPyr. An 8 day epic traverse across the Pyrenees, Spanish side. 800km with 20,000m of climbing thrown in for good measure. A fab bunch of guys organising a stunning event across some amazing terrain. This photo is a fav from my time spent with the event. Each night riders after a long day in the saddle share a sports hall and bed down for the night! Check it out for yourself - TransPyr

Another Spanish connection, this time thousands of miles from Europe! December this year I had the opportunity to travel to Colombia. A country that has in the past struggled with a huge violent reputation, but it also has a reputation for supplying some of the best Tour de France climbers the world has ever seen. This was my chance to visit this country as it emerges from it's violent past. Its a country full of conflicts in more ways than one. The people are incredibly warm and welcoming, the landscape, is just awesome. This image is just a snippet of what I experienced during my time there. Keep an eye out for a couple of features coming soon on this amazing country.

Travelling again! This time it's in the UK. 8 days on the road following Endura Racing as they competed in the Tour of Britain. This year saw probably the best line up of teams and riders the ToB has ever seen. Jens Voight, Thor Hushovd, Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas to name just a few.... My job was to capture behind the scenes imagery of the team, while capturing the spirit of this tough event.

Rene Mandri as he reflects on a stage1 of the Tour of Britain

Iker Camano preparing for stage 5

Jack Bauer after the TT

Click here for lots more Tour Of Britain images

National XC Championships were held in God's own county of Yorkshire, where riders faced a tough and demanding course devised by those eager guys masterminding the Nutcracker XC Series. This image shows the brooding clouds ready to dump their load on the Elite competitors.

Another image from a great day of competition with Master riders Matt Dennis & Ed Moseley fighting it out for the chance to wear the National champions jersey. Dennis took the win.... More images from the day

Sometimes its the landscape that adds to the image.... I've been shooting at Catton Park for more years than I care to remember. I've always been fascinated by the old wizened tress that dot the park. Races never go that near, but this year at SITS I was able to have a bit of fun, with long exposures. The epic orange colour of the sky comes thanks to the sodium light pollution of Birmingham in the far off distance. Exposure was around 30secs, which is what gives the clouds that dreamy, smooth sort of feel and that trail of riders white lights in the background. It's nice to be able to have a bit of fun with images...

Weddings are certainly places where I can have fun with images. They are extremely hard work but well rewarding in the creative sense. This year I have been lucky to have a number of weddings on the cards of people I know through biking. Although the lycra is at a minimum the sense of fun is always there!! Here are a very small sample of some of the fab weddings I worked on this year...

Fun with shadows...

Natural light in the church

When all the road and mountain bike action starts to dwindle then of course it's time for the cyclo cross boys to get into gear. Time for a hours romp around muddy fields, jumping hurdles, slipping down steep banks, running, pedalling hard... It's an exciting sport, best served cold, along with a beer or two and cow bells....

Steps, more steps and a few more steps...

Young riders after the first round of the National Trophy series


Rapha Super Cross brought another dimension to the sport of cyclo cross this year. Not only did they introduce the team race format for elites but also brought with them 'tequila alley'. Didn't fancy taking that long section round the back? How about a short cut? All you have to do is take a shot or two and you'll be on your way..... Rapha Super Cross Images

The Montane Kielder 100 continues to draw the crowds, inspiring a whole raft of riders to take on what has to be considered one of the hardest events on the mountain biking endurance calendar. On paper, a hundred mile ride around Kielder doesn't sound too awe inspiring, after all it's only another 40 miles more than a 100km... Oh hang on.... It's tough. The organisers insist to start the race you have to have a certain amount of equipment that goes with you. People grumble, some try to leave it behind. It's not until you get out into the wilds of Kielder and Newcastleton that you realise why you might need a whistle and a space blanket. Despite there being over 600 riders on the start line you may not see any of them for hours..... This year was particularly harsh, with the weather playing a huge part. I think it rained and rained hard for virtually all of the race, well until the last rider made it home. Ben Thomas didn't let anything like the toughest conditions to hold him back though with him winning the race in a little over 8 hours... Not many made the full distance, attrition rate was high...

Face of Kielder... It was hard, it was wet and it was muddy...but oh so much fun!!!

The unforgettable marshal Jane and her amazing anti midge mask...

Finally I can end my year almost as I started it.... A photoshoot this time with a rising star. Hannah Barnes is no overnight success, she has an amassed an amazing 18 National titles across 3 cycling disciplines in 8 years. 2012 will see this talented young lady leave home and head overseas as part of a professional team. At just 19 years old she has a great future ahead. The shoot was for an up and coming project dedicated to women cyclists... I'll keep you posted when the emag goes live....

Merida Brass Monkeys Enduro - R1

2011-11-28T14:40:00.001Z

George Budd & Scott Forbes battling through the singletrack

With Christmas just round the corner who’d have thought thatwe’d see hundreds of riders decked in shorts and jersey’s enjoying a warmwinter blast around the cheeky trails at Porridgepot Hill as the opening roundof the popular Merida Brass Monkey’s Enduro series got underway. Despite theovercast skies as the morning light broke, weather forecasters got it rightwhen they said blue skies and unseasonably warm temperatures would be adominant feature of the day and the Gorrick crew also got their predictionsright too when they said you’d have a whole load of fun.

They came from all over the UK, lured by tales of carefullyselected trails and singletrack that would thread them effortlessly around MODland, (which paid careful attention to miss out the firing range!). This coursehad everything you could want for a grin induced romp in the woods, including awhole collection of whoops and drops that encouraged riders to rush around eachlap shouting again, again!!

First out in the sell out event, at the stroke of 10.30amwere the 4hr crew, headed by experienced elite rider Tim Dunford. As they hitthe first singletrack section the race quickly fragmented, leaving pockets ofriders endlessly chasing, jostling for prime positions. Eager to keep theCannondale rider Dunford close in their sights were the chasing pack, includingyoungsters Josh Ibbett and Luke Eggar, but despite all their efforts Dunfordhad the race in the palm of his hand from the off taking the win with 7 lapsunder his belt and a healthy 13min lead. All the action was now unfoldingbehind him as the race was on for the runner up positions. Eggar dropped like astone on lap 5 due to a mechanical leaving Ibbett out alone riding for second,just fending off the advances of Marc Chamberlain, the only other rider to top7 laps. In the ever-competitive vets 4 hr race it was seasoned enduranceathlete Anthony White who took the honours racking up 6 laps, finishing over 12minsahead of Nik Pullen.

Tim Dunford

In the women’s 4 hr there was a tight battle between JoMunden and Vet Jane Cumming. Both ladies racked up an impressive 6 laps, withboth winning their respective categories and both were relieved to finallyfinish 4 hrs and 30 mins after they started.

Jane Cummings

For the senior 2 race, local riders George Budd and ScottForbes locked horns as they went head to head for the win. After 4 fast lapsthe final decision came down to a sprint with Budd narrowly edging out Forbesfor the win. Louise Robinson held off Verity Appleyard over 3 laps to take the2hr women’s race, while in the vets category Katherine Willoughby made thedecisive move on the second lap to move into the lead ahead of Louise Parker,to take the win.

In the men’s vet race it was Dean Morgan who was the man tobeat as he clocked up 4 laps, with just 139 secs separating him from Mark Hutt.Finally junior rider Martin Turton churned out 4 laps to take his race by aclear lap, ahead of William Spiers who decided 3 were enough as he crossed theline just after the cut off.

Thanks for the fantastic continued support of title sponsorMerida UK, who tempted the riders with a whole raft of demo bling. Notforgetting all the brilliant support from Sram, Mule Bar, Nomad, Kenda, Four4thLights & 1^st Gear Cycles, who handed out a cracking selection ofspot prizes, meaning once again everyone was a potential winner!!

Many thanks also to everyone who came and rode and likedwhat they saw, see you again for Round 2 on the 18^th December for theChristmas Cracker at Tunnel Hill!

For lots more info about this cracking series head on overto:

www.meridabrassmonkeys.com

Full event results and information about all the greatGorrick events:

www.gorrick.com

Full gallery of images:

www.joolzedymond.com

Endura Autumn Classic 2 – Crowthorne

2011-11-17T08:27:00.001Z

Youngsters eager to get proceedings under way

If there is one thing that the Gorrick excel in and that’sproviding fun, with a capital F. This weekend’s second of the Endura AutumnClassics XC races proved this point by the bucket loads, with dry trails, blueskies and once again huge smiles being the order of the day, with well over 500riders enjoying many of the Crowthorne delights, where Gorrick started thisbrand of fun nearly 20 years ago.

Features such as the twistastic ‘Corkscrew’ where you mighthave experienced a washing machine cycle effect as you tackled the tight rootstrewn corners, spitting you out at the bottom of a refreshing forest road,time to collect your breath before heading into ‘Battle of Waterloo” where you couldfight your own personal battle of speed over balance. Heading home the warmautumnal sun on your back, the course threaded you through tunnels of tightlypacked trees, plunging you towards the comfort of the finish, until you roundedthe corner to be presented with a root strewn climb away from the tea and baconbutties. A push on over the top then found you heading to the roller coasterride that is ‘Pete’s Plunge’ before finally catching your breath as you cruisepast the Time Laps finish line, ready to do it all again! Crowthorne, a featurepacked, funfair ride of a course!

There's a bacon buttie behind you!!

Early doors, the arena was buzzing with a plethora of eageryoung riders bursting with enthusiasm to get their races under way. Agesranging from the under 10’s to the 16’s and under jostled for position on thestart line keen to be at the front of the action at least for the first 100m ofthe cruel uphill start. First rider to throw down the racing gauntlet was VCJubilee Youth rider Sam Stean, who opened up over 2min advantage on the firstof his two laps to take the win with a comfortable 4 min gap, this win was‘copied’ by younger brother Oliver Stean in the juvenile race who took his racewith a 1 min 14 sec advantage over 2^nd placed Matt Fratesi. Whilstthe youth girl’s race may have been lacing in competitors the juvenile entrywas a bit healthier with Holly MacMahon taking the win.

At the other end of the age scale, fielding a huge fieldwere the vets, super vets & Grand Vets, producing some of the tightestracing all day in these highly competitive categories. This being Remembrance Sunday, withpoppies awash on helmets and number boards, a 2 min silence was observed beforethe vets got their teeth into the racing.

In the Super Vets Lewis King and Mark Hutt made their intentionsclear as they blasted out sub 19 min opening laps. King & Hutt clung toeach other’s wheels lap after lap, being joined by John Veness in lap 3.However by lap 4 Hutt paid the price for the fast pace and dropped off theleading group leaving King and Veness to Duke it out to the line. King took thevictory with Veness just 9 secs adrift, with Hutt just another 35seclater. Vet Steve Farmer had aneasier battle in his race, leading from the start keeping the pressure on totake the win from Dave Brothers over the 3 laps with a nearly 3 min gap. It wasanother close affair in the Grand Vets with just 48 secs separating the top 5,proving once again that age is just a number! Battling it out for top honoursover the 3 laps, were Tim Stowe, Ian Petherbridge, Dennis Dix, Geoff Burke. Atricky start for Robert Jackson saw him starting at a disadvantage, his next 2laps were spent clawing back time lost but despite the fastest last two laps hecould only drag himself back to 4^th. Meanwhile out in front Tim Stowewas the man to beat. A kick on lap 2 saw Stowe open up a gap that took him tothe win, despite valiant efforts by Ian Petherbridge who came in second just 7secs adrift.

For the vet women it was Elaine Burroughs who ruled theroost, leaving the minor positions to be fought over tooth and nail, with just19 secs separating spots 3 – 5. Viv Hazelton was the grand dame of racingtaking yet another win in the Grand vet women’s race.

Underlining the fun aspect of the event was a healthy turnout in that very category. Philip Wellard enjoyed himself all the way to thefinish line in the packed field, as did team mate Ruth Patchett in the funwomen’s race.

Open men packed even more riders into the race with a 90 strongfield contending the win. It was Paul Thomas who proved the strongest in theend after a 2 lap battle with Shaun Hurrell, who plummeted down to 22^ndafter a mechanical put him out of the race for first. Roz Giles took the win inthe women’s Open race.

It was great to see Scott Forbes back in action on theweekend after an enforced break due to an unfortunate accident early in theyear putting paid to his racing. He certainly looked like he was up to speed,winning his race, leaving the rest of the Expert field reeling from his aftershock as he blasted round the trails glad to be back to competition.

singletracking through the trees...

As with every Gorrick the atmosphere was fantastic as ridersof all ages and riding experience, enjoyed a competitive blast round theever-popular Crowthorne trails. Everyone was a potential winner too, thanks tothe generous event sponsor Endura, providing a fantastic selection of excellentproducts that were awarded as spot prizes throughout the day. For those thatwon, a Gorrick trophy added to the warm glow of success.

That’s it for cross country racing this year from theGorrick crew, but don’t worry the Saddle Skedaddle Spring Series is just roundthe corner and for those that want to boost their endurance base, the everpopular Merida Brass Monkeys kick off at the end of November, leaving no timeto let that grass grow under your wheels!

Full results: www.gorrick.com

Full image library: www.joolzedymond.com

ooh it stings....

2011-11-01T08:56:00.001Z

Yes, it's a glamorous life I lead, no really, if I'm not floundering in a damp ditches fighting off hordes of rash inducing ants, whilst rubbing cream into my eternal trench foot I can be found thigh high in a nest of nettles hopping from foot to foot whilst mentioning once or twice..' ooh it stings..'
Well that's where I found myself on the weekend. In the nettles. Not just once mind you. Oh no, in search of the ultimate angle I found myself trampling around in a number of nettle patches, takes your mind off the job in hand I guess.
Which this weekend was... National Trophy of course. Despite the unseasonably dry and warm weather 'cross season is now in full swing. In fact this is round 2 of the point scoring race series which treks across the breadth and depth of the UK, with riders keen to get their hands on those coveted yellow or blue leaders jerseys....
Me, I was there just to take photos. I always figure that anything under 3 hours from home is local and worth a punt to crack open the cameras and have some fun. Plus you get to meet up with other togs and have a good old gossip oh and not forgetting chatting to all the lovely commissionaires and riders of course... and its a great excuse to treat yourself to coffee...
So with the clocks bequeathing an extra hours grace, we headed out the door at the almost respectable time of 8am, with the aim of hitting the race at 10am.
Which worked perfectly.

On the drive down, the weather seemed a bit on the moist side. Thoughts turned of course to great muddy 'cross fun. Slippery corners, rutted tracks, muddy faces and water hoses working full pelt. Unfortunately, despite the car park giving the impression of being under water the course was fine. A bit greasy in one or two corners but no ankle deep mud, nothing a quick rub with a rag couldn't sort out...

For Senior points leader Paul Oldham, Beaumont Leys played him the Raymond Poulidor card yet again. Despite a strong opener, with only Belgian rider Brakman able to hang onto his fetchingly matching wheels and bike combo, a split second mistake on a greasy corner with just 3 laps to go left Oldham nursing a sore leg and gave Brakman the chance to slip away opening up a gap that try as he might Oldham just could not close.
A strong finish to take second ahead of rival Jody Crawforth, leaves Oldham pretty in yellow going into R3.

For the under 23's Luke Gray rode an impressive race to take the win but it was Kenta Gallagher who stole the limelight with his hurdling aerobatics. Gallagher was one of only two riders ( the other being another U23 rider Robert Watson ) who showboated, pleasing the crowds with their ability to jump both hurdles each lap.

Now this may not sound too exciting until you learn that hurdle one was 20cms but hurdle two, further uphill was a massive 40 cms high!! Impressive stuff, well apart from Gallagher nearly joining the crowd after his first leap, ripping off his shoe binding, leaving him unable to sprint it out for 2nd with Steve James!!!

In the Women's race, juniors Hannah Payton finally got her wish for some nearly proper 'cross conditions and she and Beth Crumpton, took the race on, leaving series leader Adela Carter, nursing an injury prone knee on a back foot. Payton kept the pressure on, with Crumpton losing touch, whilst Carter finding confidence ( and the fact the knee wasn't playing up) started her campaign to reel the younger rider back. It wasn't to be. Payton held her own to take the win from a fast finishing Carter. Just 5 secs separated the two at the end.

My day was spent looking at angles, trampling through nettles, admiring the autumnal colours figuring out how best to incorporate them into my shots, hopefully highlighted by an amazing deep steel blue storm leaden sky which threatened but never delivered. My trusty man servant, otherwise known as Mr.Joolze, or more commonly my long suffering husband, very kindly held a light for me on occasions, when the sun decided to play a game of hide and seek behind a series of chasing clouds as well as attended to a bit of gardening for me. He even managed to take a few shots himself. I'd gone with a few shots already outlined in my head but as per usual, the flow of the day unfolded ideas quite differently. Those particular shots can wait another day...
A huge gallery of images can of course be seen at www.joolzedymond.com or pop over to my Flickr site for edited highlights....

Endura Autumn Classic - Number 1

2011-10-17T14:44:00.002+01:00

Jamie Newell owner of pro elbows, rider for Corley Cycles and winner of the super masters

Hundreds of riders took advantage over the weekend of aburst of warm autumnal sun and headed to Tunnel Hill in the first of the twoEndura Autumn Classic XC races hosted by those bastions of grass roots racingGorrick.

The bone drytrails kicked up clouds of dust as the riders pedalled hard testing themselvesagainst their peers over the buff tracks tweaked to perfection by the TunnelHill Trolls, who put their hard work to good use, as after their respectiveraces, members of this popular club took part in a one lap sprint. Winner ofthis fun filled spectacle was Graham Ford with Baz Poff coming second.

That'll be a Tunnel Hill Troll then....

After a 2-year absence from the racing calendar the returnof the Tunnel Hill venue proved incredibly popular with its heady cocktail offast flowing singletrack interspersed with enough climbing and technicalsections to let you push yourself as far as you wanted. As wave after wave ofracing categories set off in pursuit of that elusive podium spot, those eagerracers were quickly replaced with wave after wave of dusty, tired butincredibly happy riders eager to fill those used up calories with steaming mugsof tea and hot bacon butties while they waited to find out if they were thelucky ones, who’d managed to win a fantastic prize from event sponsor Endura.You didn’t have to be a winner in this event just a contender to be in with achance of some classic mountain bike clobber from the UK’s best clothing brand.

Biggest field of the day had to be the open race wherenearly a hundred riders fancied their chances over 3 laps of the race. Top stephonours went to Paul Thomas after an all guns blazing battle with ShaunHurrell, coming home a scant 4 secs ahead of Hurrell to take the win. The funmen category looked pretty healthy with over 60 riders eager to have a go.Their two-lap race was taken by a fast riding Matt Eley.

Matt Eley having it large n Fun

Once again it was great to see an impressive turn out ofwomen contenders, mixing it with the men.

Roz Giles

Ever green Viv Hazelton took the win in the Grand Vets race,with Roz Giles taking a win for Numplumz in the open women’s race wit h acomfortable 3 min 48 sec cushion ahead of Kym Harvey.

Miller & Chamberlain chase Mr.Pro elbows...

In the super masters race it looked like the entirebeautiful pro elbow moves employed by Jamie Newall would pay dividends. Keen toprove this assumption wrong was David Miller and Marc Chamberlain both hot onthe heels of the Corley rider who led from the start. Despite clawing Newallback to within spitting distance Miller and Chamberlain had to concede the win,with just 18 secs separating the 3.

Comprehensive results of all the days’ races can be found at -www.timelaps.co.uk

If you think you missed an epic day in the careful hands ofthe ever-enthusiastic Gorrick crew, then you’d be right! Don’t worry; you’ll bepleased to hear that you’ll get another chance to try out your racing legs andthe chance to grab yourself a fab prize at the second of the Endura AutumnClassics. The date to note in your diary is the 13^th November. Thistime the race heads to Crowthorne. Undamaged trails after the unfortunate fireearlier in the year await you. We can’t guarantee another cracking weekendweather wise but we can guarantee loads of winter XC fun. Why not come out andplay??

For more details head on over to - www.gorrick.com

For images of Gorrick events check out my website - www.joolzedymond.com

Thinking...

2011-09-06T13:37:00.000+01:00

Sat in a very wet ditch this weekend at the Montane Kielder 100 waiting for riders to splash past me, I started thinking. At 6.30am Saturday morning I was in the back of a very wet pick up, while just 7 days ago I was in a plush very dry B&B in West Wales. Fast forward to 9am and this Saturday I was sat in my wet ditch fighting off midges, wondering how long my pocket wizards would last in the rain, while just 7 days ago I was supping tea, watching a bride and her family and bridesmaids getting ready for her big day. By 11am I'd moved on. Back to base. A chance to dry out and think about where to go next in the never deceasing rain. Thinking hard. While the previous weekend, I was faced with a quick run in pouring rain to a church. A quick look round a few choice shots, white levels balanced, ISO selected, position weighed up. A quick chat to the vicar and the groom. A few more shots and a quick run to the front of the church waiting for the bride.

Fast forward 7 days and I'm back in the rain, looking for a ditch that I wont drown in. Selecting ISO, setting up lights, offering Percy Pigs. Hiding in a ditch with a tree, giving me scant shelter and then it's 1pm and time to call it a day. 3 pocket wizards out in the rain sizzling away, a nervous tic developed by me as my lens becomes stiffer and stiffer. Despite using a waterproof camera cover this rain gets everywhere. The view finder mists over, on the inside. I can't see what I'm shooting, just a blurry outline of shifting shapes. It gets brighter, it rains heavier. Luckily I'm covered. Dry, warm. But it's tiring.
1pm last week saw me start to organise the guests, swapping my ditch for the orchestrating of people into suitable groups. Checking white balance, checking ISO, barking instructions. Then we're off to another location. The rain comes with us, pre wedding check now obsolete, ideas selected now replaced, having to think hard and fast to get the shots in time and without rain.
Funny how a week later the rain makes the shots, delivering a set of images that highlight the toughness, the conditions endured, the mud, the grit and more rain. Yet just 7 days ago I have to dodge the rain, wait for a glimpse of sun, if only I could spend every weekend waiting for the sun before I take a shot.
By 3pm and I'm at the end the winner has been through the finish, completing the toughest race to date in just a smidge over 8 hours. I'm waiting in the rain, oh yes its still raining. I'm just using one camera, one lens to minimise any damage. Pocket wizards and flash are just still working. It's stops raining!!! Briefly... for a minute, then it starts again, as relentless as it did before. I make the hard decision not to go to another spot. Another hour could mean a dead camera/lens/photographer. I need warmth/ I need sleep/ coffee/ food in any order, I'm not bothered. I need to get out of this rain. I'm still working.
I was still working 7 days ago. Still shooting, still working out shots. We've moved to the reception. indoors, new lighting levels, it's getting darker, it's getting later, I'm still shooting. Weddings are as relentless as the rain was in Kielder. A non stop whirlwind of shot after shot, posed, non posed, capturing glimpses of emotion, capturing a parade of love. It's nearly 9pm. I've nearly finished. I'm tired, I need sleep. We finish. We drive to another ditch. Just 12 hours later and I'm up getting ready to move into that ditch ready to capture a new set of emotions.
We finished shooting Kielder at 9pm, we're offered a dry warm room, we jump at the chance of soft beds and hot drinks we don't drive to another event. Yet.
In just 7 days time I'll be in a car/ a mini bus/ a motor bike ( all tbc) as I set off on my next photographic journey. This one will take me from Scotland down to London, in a fast moving Lycra clad dash around the UK. 8 Days. The constant click, click, click, the soundtrack to my life for this coming week. I can't wait. Another week. Another ditch. Another set of challenges and memories.

TORQ in Your Sleep

2011-08-31T18:36:00.000+01:00

The start

After weeks of preparations both by the organisers and the competitors it was all over in a matter of 12 hours and nothing, not even a couple hours of very wet rain could spoil the fun that the event provided.

Year on year this friendly event has continued to grow, attracting a huge range of riders from complete novices through to World XC riders and Iron men competitors all rubbing shoulders, bumping along enjoying the compact 8 mile circuit. This year the event saw nearly 800 riders line up, all eager to get to grips with lashings of fast rolling singletrack fun.

Winners were found even before the race kicked off with some lucky riders finding excellent prizes tucked away in their pre race goodie bags!

Waiting to go..

All the organisers hard work over the recent months to improve the course paid dividends as riders after rider came in after their laps with huge grins plastered all over their faces, relating tales to friends and families of fast berms and twisting ribbons of trail that snaked effortlessly around copious amounts of trees, offering you glimpses of other riders, darting in and out of the landscape up ahead.

A little mud...

Even the torrential rain 2 hrs in made little different to the race, with some riders relishing in the slip, sliding nature of the course, as they whipped around the increasing damper trails. Fortunately the ‘upstairs’ tap soon dried up, leaving the course an ever changing collection of lines, that made each lap a guessing game of fast rolling fun.

As the day progressed riders waiting for their next lap coupled with solo riders helpers seemed glued to the ever-changing results screen, eager to find out where they were in the rand scheme of things.

Night...

As night fell so did the mist, with riders eerily lighting up a ghostly landscape as the light faded, then as midnight struck a myriad of fireworks lit up the sky with a burst of welcoming colour signalling the race was over with riders heading to the marquee keen to grab a well earned beer or two and a bacon butties!

Chris Clark

The racing was electric throughout with some real close battles for that ultimate top step throughout the categories.

One of the closest had to be the Vets solo race with Dave Brothers taking an early lead. However as the race progressed, rival Chris Clark, battled furiously behind to try and bridge the gap. In the closing embers of the race, Brothers slowed significantly enough for Clark to edge past to take the win in the closing stages. Both riders clocked up an impressive 14 laps with less than 5 mins separating them.

Rachel Sokal

In the women’s solo race eventual winner Rachel Sokal made her way to the head of the race by lap 2 and didn’t look back racking up 12 laps 2 clear of runner up Ruth Crawford.

Craig Bowles

In the men’s solo race, all eyes were glued on novice soloist Chris Bowles. Inspired by the exploits of older brother Craig, Chris decided to have a go himself. Despite a lack of training leading up to the event his steady start paid dividends as he clawed his way up the leader board to finish just 1 lap in arrears to winner Al Fairbairn.

In the mixed team race, Bob Hope and his friends had their worked cut out keeping the hungry TORQ performance team from their door! After a monumentous 12 hr scrap with female rider Jules Toone clocking up an equal amount of laps as most of her team, just 8 measly minutes separated Bob Hope from TORQ, with Bob H taking the top step in victory!

Event sponsors TORQ were also in action n the Male team event with Boyles brothers Anthony & Sion teaming up with Ben Thomas and Billy Joe Whenman, taking on the might of AWCycles, containing new dad Simon Earnest, Stephen James, Tim Dunford & young whippet Steve James. With both teams rarely dipping under 40 mins a lap the heat was on. 19 laps later and it was TORQ who ruled supreme, with AWCycles racking up 18 laps in second.

Waiting to get on course...

Certainly living up to their name, especially at prize presentations were the Crazy Ladies who took the win with 12 laps in the women’s’ team race 1 lap more than runners up XC Birds.

It was a closer affair in the pairs mixed team race with 15 laps apiece the win went to VC10 keeping their rivals Stowmarket CC off the top step by just over 31 minutes. It was a battle of the lights in the men’s pairs as lighting sponsor Four4th Lights battled with Lumicycle. In the end Lumicycle had the edge taking the win 2 laps further with 17 laps, leaving the Four4th’s honour to be upheld by the women’s team who took their race with 15 laps 2 ahead of rivals MTB Mum’s Ride.

Everyone had fun....

The winners were not just the guys and girls who rode hard to grab their spot on the podium, other competitors were rewarded with excellent prizes thanks to sponsors & supporters TORQ, Saddle Skedaddle, Continental, 1^st Gear Cycles, Sram, Four 4ths in a race number prize draw, meaning that everyone potentially was a winner on the night, rounding up an excellent day out on a bike around some fun packed trails, with a friendly enthusiastic bunch of riders! See you next year!

THE END!

Full results: www.timelaps.co.uk

Photos: www.joolzedymond.com

Organisers: www.gorrick.com

'eh it were a grand day out on t'moors

2011-08-22T16:36:00.002+01:00

Merlin, spotted on the moors, brill!!

Every so often the job takes you to some stunning places. Most people think such places must be abroad but you'll be pleased to hear that UK has a plethora of stunning vistas tucked away here there and everywhere and this weekend we were privileged to be witness to one such scenic delight. Round 4 of the Nutcracker XC series headed for the picturesque venue of Fremington in the Swaledale Valley, home to the Dales Bike Centre and those associated legendary cakes. We were blessed with clear skies ( to start anyway!) crisp views to the end of the valley with hill tops plastered with thick purple heather.
The daunting thought of getting to the top of the hill top was soon outweighed by the stunning views we were rewarded with plus the big bonus we racked up while waiting patiently for the competitors to get to us was the sighting of two Merlins.

It was indeed a fantastic way to end a successful series! Views, sun, tough competition, old school course that certainly offered to put the mountain back into mountain biking and of course beers and burgers! The 4th and final round of the popular Nutcracker XC Series had it all!

It were a long way to the top..

Fremington was almost definitely the place to be this weekend, with hosts Dales Bike Centre providing the Nutcracker crew with an excellent race headquarters while the competitors could fuel up on the legendary cake and coffee available in the café.

Nestled in the magnificent Swaledale valley, North Yorkshire, Fremington offered a technical course with a lung busting amount of climbing with the infamous ‘Grind’ more than living up to its name attracting riders from near and far - the furthest coming from New Zealand!!
The future racing stars started proceedings with the popular Sweat monsters children’s racing kicking off at 12pm. Tons of youngsters enjoyed a competitive blast on their own special course while the more mature competitors had chance to get a taste of North Yorkshire MTB racing at its best.
Come 2.00pm and the entire race headed en mass to the foot of Fremington Edge where they were set of in their respective categories in 1 minute waves. Ahead lay an 8km course packed to the gunnels with enough mountain biking fun that should have ensured a permanent grin. However coming to grips pretty much early on with a tricky slog to the top of the moors, crossing fields over broken sections of dry stone walls across thick carpet like grass which sucked every ounce of strength you may have had in reserve may have not been to everyone’s taste but the views and the sense of achievement when you got to the top had to be immense.

Whichever way you looked at it, it was still steep.

As you bettered the Grind a swift turn right and you were greeted by a swath of dazzling purple heather on a racy, rocky strewn descent that took you around the edge of the Grouse Moor leading to the alien landscape of the old lead works, while bemused sheep looked on.

Lead mine dotted landscape

The old lead working provided a contrast in terrain with the rough tracks replaced by an alien landscape of loose gravel mounds and craters that undulated in a roller coaster way delivering you to the very edge of the world. With the stunning vista of the Swaledale valley laid out before you, you had a split second to appreciate the view before hurtling into the abyss taking you back down to the hill snaking your way back to the beginning to start another lap.

Fremington Edge

The first man to crest the top leading a well strung out field was master rider Tony Fawcett. Taking the climbing in his stride Fawcett held his lead virtually unchallenged for 3 tough laps while the race splintered into its own pockets of race categories behind him.
Female master winner Jane Chadwick suffering from mechanical problems ploughed on using the tough course as useful preparations for the World Singlespeed Champs in Ireland in a week’s time! Elite rider Calum Chamberlain completed 4 laps reviling in the fantastic conditions to take the win, with local elite woman Jess Roberts grinning her way to a well earned and hard raced win in her race.
It was great to see newly crowned junior female champion Beth Crumpton wearing her jersey with pride as she tackled the Yorkshire grit for 2 tough laps with Jack Humphries holding off the tough competition in the junior men’s race to take the win from Richard Johnson.
The whole day saw riders tough it out, racking up the laps in their respective race with one thing on their mind - finishing! Waiting to welcome them was beer and burgers as promised, which were all well deserved and all eagerly consumed while waiting for the results. A truly great end to a great series!
For full results and to check what the Nutcracker boys have up their sleeves for next year check out:
www.nutcrackermtb.co.uk

If you want to experience the stunning Swaledale valley for yourself why not head over to the Dales Bike Centre for a fab weekend of excellent mountain biking and, of course, cake!!!
www.dalesbikecentre.co.uk


Elite woman - Jessie Roberts

Full gallery of images here: www.joolzedymond.com

Elite
1. Calum Chamberlain - MountainTraks
---
1. Jessica Roberts - WCX World Racing

Expert
1. Neil Hayward - sportstest.co.uk
2. Steve Wood - Sherwood Pines Cycles
3. Joe Richards - Wheelbase/Cannondale

Vet
1. Stefan Macina - Team JD Cycles Ilkley
2. Dan Cook - Planet X/Om One
3. John Hick - Holme Valley Wheelers
---
1. Ruth Thompson - Richardsons CC
2. Nicola Hartle - Dirtwheels Cycles
3. Caroline Faircloth - None

Fun
1. David Nickleson - Hamsterley Trail Blazers
2. Gareth Shaw - None
3. Daniel Booth - None
---
1. Sue Dent - None
2. Laura Rhodes - Dirtwheels Cycles
3. Ruth Midgley - Dirtwheels Cycles

Master
1. Tony Fawcett - Blackhawkbikes.com
2. Simon Rodgers - None
3. Alan Nixon - Blackhawkbikes.com
---
1. Jane Chadwick - Dirtwheels Cycles

Super Vet
1. Colin Murley - Dertwentside CC
2. David McClain - Hetton Hawks
3 David Williamson - None

Grand Vet
1. Bruce Rollinson - JD Cycles Race Team Ilkley
2. Duncan Stuart - Keswick Bikes
3. Billy Mathews - Square Wheels

Youth
1. Billy Harding - Paul Milnes / Bradford Olympic
2. Edwyn Oliver-Evans - East Bradford CC
3. Mike Thompson - TEF Richardsons Race Team

Juvenile
1. Scott Woolley - None
2. Tom Pidcock - Valley RT
3. Thamas Mein - MTS Cycle Sport/Inkland
---
1. Amira Mellor - Holme Valley Wheelers
2. Emma Brady - MTS Cycle Sport/Inkland
3. Hannah Savile - North Midlands Youth Squad

Sport
1. Bob Hewitt - None
2. John Hopkinson - Aire Valley Cycles
3. Craig Jarratt - None
---
1. Amber Southern - None

Junior
1. Jack Humphries - Wheelbase Cannondale
2. Richard Johnson - None
3. Jamie Bew - None
---
1. Beth Crumpton - HA & CC

Right, where are we?

2011-08-19T16:58:00.001+01:00

Round about right to center I'd say. Well we have moved past the first half of the year and nights are drawing back in. Squint and you may be lucky enough to glimpse the fading embers of a typical British summer... The Tour de France has blasted through drawing us for 3 weeks into the crazy world of pro riders as they career around European roads in search of that special yellow number. We've sat glued to the screen ohhing and ahhing at the highs and lows as each stage unfolded yet another top cycling drama. This year's race made me think of the Tour's in the 80's when I first became addicted. The racing was electric. We had our favourites but there was everything to play for and the fights went on day after day. I sort of lost interest in the Armstrong/Indurain days of domination and complacency... still I digress!

This will be epic....

Work wise has seen me head for the Essex alps to partake in the wondrous Olympic MTB test event. In less than a year it'll all be over our Olympic champs will be decided and normal life will resume. The event itself was interesting and left me feeling more than happy not to be a part of it. Don't get me wrong, the course if fantastic, despite what the weekend forum warriors may have decided we will be treated to an awesome battle that will truly decide the deserved winner. On TV it'll look fabulous. The lack of undergrowth will enable the TV cameras to pick up just about every move and those fortunate to get their hands on the Willy Wonky Gold ticket to the event will surely soak up the magical atmosphere.

Can Absalon win gold no.3 next year?

Why wont I be there? Well for a start the IOC in their infinite wisdom has granted just 30 specialist press passes for UK togs in a games that has 38 sports. At the test event there were approx 200 accreditation's apparently just for that one event. Come the day itself there will just be 8, the chosen elite which will include no specialist UK pro MTB togs. To be honest as I said I'm not bothered. It's just another race. And after the fun and joy I had at the test event, they are welcome to it.... I will quite happily watch from my armchair and cheer on the riders after all that's what it's all about... I have to admit the experience just left me with the nagging feeling that the Olympics are just about money.... oh and egos. I'm still to be convinced that we will get some sort of MTB legacy. It would be a shame to lose such a fab resource especially in the so called flat lands of Essex. We'll soon find out....

Night Sky, check, tree, check, must be SITS...

In a return to normality and my usual ditch dwelling I headed to the Midlands for a bit of 24 hr racing at good old Catton park. I could ride the course backwards with my eyes closed the number of times I've headed off to that venue. Still it has a nice low key relaxed vibe which is great for chatting to people and giving you time to think about photos oh and more chatting of course. Luckily we were in the middle of chatting when the worse of the weather came. In fact we didn't actually head out to take images until gone 5pm...

Rain? It'll be tea time then..

I knew exactly where I was going. I hadn't realised though how much undergrowth had sprung up since the previous time I used this section which at first was shocking but soon became a good thing as the images took shape as I melted into the undergrowth.

Quite apt at least for those wet laps...

Around about 10pm I decided it was time for a break and a coffee and a rethink about night time images. At night many people think it's great to head to the tech spots and fire of a flash great if you want to cause a crash or two or spend your night with riders swearing at you. I try to be considerate and although you know they might be slightly blinded for a few secs at least you know they aren't heading for a drop off immediately after!!!

You ain't seen me right!

With this in mind I decided to capture some shots of riders in the open as the climbed away from the campsite. On the way I got slightly distracted. Catton has an amazing collection of dead trees. Incredibly sculptural and majestic. That coupled with the ominous orange glow that the skies take on from sodium pollution from surround towns give Catton a unique night time look. I was fascinated.

No riders were harmed in making this....

After a bit of fun we headed to where I originally planned to shoot armed with fairy lights (which unfortunately didn't work) we soon had a couple of great night time shots to round of a sound day. heading to bed at the heady hour of 3.30am time certainly flies when you're having fun!!!

Famous Dave 'throwing shapes' shows the riders how its done

Morning soon followed. A bit more socializing was completed and by 11am we were back out in a fav spot finishing off a few more images of the day. By 2.30pm it was all over and torrential rain once again made it's presence know but by that time we were well away heading home to bluer skies with a pocketful of shots.

Pass the bottle will you love....

Next it's time to swap the combats and get scrubbed up. Switching ditch dwelling for lurking in pews. Every so often I have the delight of taking photos at weddings. More often that not they are of people involved in the cycling community in one way or another.

It's funny seeing everyone you usually see in brightly coloured tight fitting lycra, togged up in sombre suits or bling dresses. Girlfriends/boyfriends that have stood the test of time and shown their love by standing in cold wet fields for hours on end just to hand a bottle over now ready to make that commitment to more fields and more bottles and probably even more mud! It's great.

I love it as I think I've said before it takes me well out of my comfort zone. They don't do laps. You can't ask the to head back and 'just do that one more time'. You have to think fast, you have to herd cats, you have to be polite, you have to be imaginative. Yes it can be stressful and I'm happy not to have to do them every week but I love it, I thrive on the pressure to be creative and produce a fantastic set of memories that will bring a smile to everyone who sees them! That after all is what taking photographs is all about. The creation of memories. Fab.

National XC Championships 2011

2011-07-18T21:28:00.009+01:00


T'moors up t'north

It truly was a championship weekend on epic proportions, with hundreds of riders converging on the Aske Estate in Yorkshire all with the same aim, to go home with a coveted National jersey. The weather was to play a major part, with the wind and the rain combining, changing the face of the course more than once during the day. A new course, carefully crafted by the hardworking Bikelicker Events crew lay in wait, taking in 6.5km of Yorkshire’s finest. From the start the riders were spat out through a gate to start a long, energy-sapping climb before heading off to the first of the many technical sections.


The edge of the abyss...

The omens weren’t good; on the Saturday the heavens truly opened, torrential rain greeting riders as they arrived from all corners of the UK.

For the plucky riders in the fun race it was a very wet experience while the Open race riders conditions improved as they slid, slipped and for some tumbled, as the rain eased and the blue skies outweighed the rain-laden clouds. With racing over for the day it was time for national contenders to hit the course for practice, learning lines and discovering a 101 ways to descend a steep slippery fern lined bank, one of the many delights that lay in wait around the testing course.


Log...

As race day dawn, the rain and wind were back with a vengeance ready to test the future of our sport, with the Youth & Juvenile riders first off at virtually the crack of dawn. Taking the weather into account the commissaries took the decision to shorten the course for the younger riders, taking out the first technical descent and following climb. This meant for the winning youth riders a blast of just under 40 mins settled their race with Stuart Wilcox taking a comfortable win a good 26secs ahead of silver medalist Iain Paton. Scotland scored another gold in the juvenile race where Calum Magowan brought home the jersey ahead of Arthur Green.

Alice Barnes dominated her youth race. Within minutes of the race starting, she led from the front opening up a gap on the first climb. Two laps later and the National title was her’s, while Ffion James continued family winning ways by taking the juvenile title.

Alice Barnes – Youth Ladies National Champion

“I enjoyed that, I was a bit unsure how I would fare in the singletrack as I knew it would change from practice last night, but it seemed to have got better and there were more lines so I didn’t have too many incidents! I had one on my second lap on the corner going up the second climb, which was a bit embarrassing.

The race itself got a bit tricky on my first lap as I was catching the back markers of the youth & juveniles and they didn’t want to let me pass, so I had to needle my way through.

The muddy chute was interesting, in practice I’d spotted a new line, so I tried it and it was pretty fast, but by time the race had got underway lots of others had done it too so I just went straight down and hoped for the best and luckily it was fine!

I’d ridden the Nutcracker event here a couple of weeks ago to get a taste for the terrain and I thought then the course was not going to be great for a National, but the Nutcracker guys, went out and found a whole load of more singletrack and technical sections and the course I think now is pretty good for a National.

I’m pleased to have retained my jersey again but only have a few more races to wear it, the Euro Champs and the last BMBS of the season as next year I go up to juniors, I can’t wait!”

Next up were the women, with master, vet junior and grand vet titles to be decided. Keenest competition was expected from the juniors where Beth Crumpton, eager to get her hands on a National jersey and Katy Winton, defending champion have been locked in constant turmoil at every meeting. Add to the mix Hannah Ferguson, Hollie Bettles to name a few and you knew this was going to be a tough one to decide. Crumpton took the decision to ride her own race from the front, opening a gap between her and Winton and the rest on the opening climb, her only company briefly came in the form of vet rider Isla Rowntree, who caught the junior rider just before the end of the first lap. A bit more training a few more gears for Rowntree saw her better prepared than her previous year where she took her first vet title and it showed as she successfully defended her title by over 13 minutes.

Isla Rowntree – Vets Lady National Champion

“Gears and a proper bike this year helped! I have to admit I was a lot fitter coming into this than last year, I’ve been doing a bit more riding, I haven’t been racing but I’ve been riding more regularly and a bit harder so I was definitely up for it this year, whereas last year it was a bit of a surprise win! I was definitely the joker in the pack last year!

The race itself today, well I was quite surprised to find myself out in front with the juniors, then I just did my own thing and let it take care of itself. The course I think is quite an old fashioned traditional course, which really suits me, it’s tricky in the woods, there are some tricky descents, it’s muddy, its not hardcore surface it’s proper deep loamy mud and luckily I go well on that sort of thing! Once I was in the front, I guessed if I could do my thing in the woods and just hang on, on the climbs then I knew I had a good chance. I caught Beth Crumpton just on that long climb coming back to the arena and rode with her until the first descent where I seemed to roll away and got a gap. I’m riding a 29er and I really think those big wheels just roll that much faster and I think that was all it was that gave me the advantage. I’m so pleased I had the gears this year too, there’s no way I would have got round that on a singlespeed!!

So yeah a good day! It’s always great to win the jersey but to win the overall race as well, I wasn’t expecting that and that was a bonus!”

Meanwhile Crumpton riding smoothly to minimise any possible mechanicals held onto her lead crossing the line in tears delighted that at last everything had gone to plan and the Junior title was hers!

Bethany Crumpton – Junior Lady National Champion

Beth Crumpton

I’m over the moon, I finished the race in tears, tears of joy, it just means so much to me to finally get my hands on a National jersey. I’ve been trying since 2008 and now finally it’s my year! I’ve had a good year, mixed with a few mishaps along the way so it’s great to actually get a race where everything falls into place and I finish it with no incidents and in one piece. I got away on the first climb and got a gap and knew I could just capitalize on that and kept pushing on and riding away. Isla Rowntree caught me up coming to the end of the first lap and it was great to ride on her wheel trough the trees, but she is so technically amazing I just couldn’t keep up with her through the singletrack!

Now I’ve got this jersey, I want be stopping here, I’ll be aiming even higher now!

The race itself was so muddy and was getting really cloggy on the last lap, so you had to be really careful with gear changes, so I didn’t rip my rear mech off, I tried to ride smoothly as I’ve had so many mechanicals this year, I just wanted this one to be perfect and it was, on the day that really mattered it all went to plan. Perfect!

Another rider who had patiently plugged away for 8 long years finally realized her dream as she took the Masters title was Caroline Goward:

“It’s taken me 8 years to finally get my hands on this jersey, I’m so delighted!! I knew it was going to be a tough day, the weather didn’t help but I also knew the climbs were going to be hard work, they are my weakest link really, but I knew I could gain time on the singletrack and it worked perfectly for me. I had a few comedy moments but I knew they were going to happen, that muddy descent through the ferns was tricky and I just entertained the crowds every time, they seemed to be delighted with my comedy dismounts!

I have to say despite the grim weather the course raced a lot better than it did in practice yesterday. The course was excellent, I loved it, it was my kind of course. The first half was very climby, that was 10 – 15 mins of the race but then you could just relax and enjoy the singletrack, which is what I love. That last climb back is a toughie, that headwind was unreal! Just leading the race makes you find that extra bit, though I had a gap I just couldn’t relax at any moment I’d have lost it on the last lap if I’d done that!

So yeah very pleased, especially as this is my first year with the Scott Contessa team!”

Her strong and determined ride showed she was a worthy winner, though special mention has to be made of Emma Birtles, who came running into view on her second lap carrying her bike. A crash early in the lap caused a puncture and caused Emma to lose her gas canister. With outside assistance not allowed, she had two choices. End her race or carry on for one more lap carrying her bike, a true competitor she carried on to be rewarded by a bronze medal. Grand Vet Fiona Paton taking the last title rounded off race two.

As the day unfolded the weather was blowing hot and cold, and despite the inclement conditions the enthusiasm and atmosphere of both spectators and competitors were not dampened.

As race 3 beckoned discussions were heated as to which way the masters race would fall. This was one of the most wide open of races with at least 6 competitors in the frame. But this is mountain biking and anything can and usually does happen!

Juniors were sent off first, followed by masters, vets; grand vets then finally super vets.

In the junior race Matt Sumpton took early control with arch rivals Alex Baker and Ben Sumner in hot pursuit. Sumpton was on fire as he scorched around the muddy course. Baker and Sumner could only catch glimpses of him in the distance as he stretched his lead to finally take the win with a 4 minute cushion ahead of Baker. Meanwhile in the masters Ed Mosley had taken off like a scalded cat, opening up a commanding lead early on, leaving Matt Dennis, Luke Smith, & Geoff Beetham in his wake. Undeterred Dennis dug deeper and chipped away at the tiring Moseley, finally getting back to him on lap 3. Working together then held their lead then Dennis attacked on the last lap, going on to take the win, leaving Mosley to pick up well-earned silver.

Matt Dennis and Ed Mosley locked in competition

Matt Dennis – Masters Men National Champion

“That was really really hard slog out there today, Ed Mosley went off like a rocket and I couldn’t keep up with him on the descents and the singletrack. But I think he tried himself out a bit being out on his own for those first few laps, it was so windy out there. I managed to get back to him on the 3^rd lap and we worked together to stay ahead of the rest of the field. Then on the first climb of the last lap I put a dig in and managed to hold it for the rest of the lap, but yeah that was a really hard race, coupled with the worse start ever!

With Ed out in front I was just thinking to myself, ‘push harder!’ But to be honest if Ed had stayed away and won I would have been delighted for him, he’s a really nice guy and in fact I felt a bit guilty going past him, he put up a good fight.

The course was fun, it would have been so much different in the dry, but in the wet it was really, really techy in the singletrack stuff. The big climbs were hard and the descents were awesome!

Now I’m gonna wear the jersey for as long as I can, well, I might take it off when it starts smelling!!!!”

Paul Hopkins made short work of his vets race rounding off an impressive season successfully defending his title despite being hard pushed by Simon Willats and Lewis King. He’ll probably turn up at his impending wedding wearing said national jersey!

While in the Grand vets ‘cross rider Steve Davies relished the muddy conditions taking an early lead which he held to the end to take the title. Victor Barnett was back to his winning ways, to add yet another jersey to his burgeoning collection, in the super vets, finding the cool conditions much more suited to his liking than the heat and oppressive conditions of the last BMBS round in Margam.

Finally it was just the senior and under 23 titles left to decide.

Rumours that Annie Last would get a sound battle in the senior race from top World Marathon contender Sally Bigham came to nothing as Bigham DNS’d due to mechanical problems. This left Last with just Nikki Harris capable of upsetting the apple cart. Despite the muddy conditions suiting the ‘cross rider, Last had the edge in the technical sections and went on to successfully defend her senior title

Nikki Harris

“Annie Last – Senior Women’s National Champion

I had a really good race and was delighted to retain the jersey for another year. I was pleased to see Nikki (Harris) racing.

On the first climb, the field were lined out behind me and by the second descent I’d managed to shake most of the riders off my wheel and got a gap and I just kept pushing on. It was great having the uder23 guys set off before me as it gave me targets to chase down, otherwise it can get a bit lonely out there on your own. It’s quite hard to race when there aren’t that many people around you. Nikki had a good go, she’s doing great as she’s not really concentrating on mountain biking but it’s good she’s here and having a good race.

I didn’t know what to expect, I’ve not ridden here before, but when we got on the course yesterday in practice I really liked it and today it was a bit drier and raced really well. The sections in the wood were still slippery and you had to work through those carefully so you had no slip ups. I was hoping that although I was catching quite a few of the back markers they wouldn’t hold me up in the singletrack, but there were loads of passing places, which worked well, so overall I thought the course was interesting and hard and thoroughly enjoyable. I always enjoy technical courses and today was challenging and you had to watch your lines not to make silly mistakes.

Celebrations are probably on hold until I manage to catch up on my sleep, I’ve only just got back from America and am suffering a bit from jetlag, so early to bed to night for me!”

Annie Last leads out Nikki

In the under23 women’s race the stage was wide open, and stepping into the limelight to take center stage were WXC World Racing riders Jessie Roberts and Carla Haines. Despite being teammates, there was just one jersey to win and Roberts threw down the gauntlet opening up a gap on the climbs. Haines kept cool, knowing she could claw back any gaps on the technical descents. Her calm tactical approach paid dividends as she took the race with Roberts picking up silver.

“Carla Haines – U23 Women’s National Champion

It was a toughie! I knew that Jessie (Roberts) would be strong on the climbs, but I’ve been working hard on my climbing, so I’m happy with how it went. Jessie actually managed to get a bit of a gap on the climbs on the first lap, but I got back to her on the descents, I could ride everything, while she got off and ran, that’s where I gained my advantage. On the second lap I thought I need to be first going into the singletrack, so made a dig and got the gap and led from there and kept on going.

I was pretty focused on getting the jersey. I’d ridden the course in practise yesterday but thought it would probably be wet, so first thing this morning I went out again to see how it rode in the rain, it had completely changed how it rode, so when my race came around and it rained I knew what to expect. Now I’m over the moon that it worked out and I got the win!!! At the start of my season, my form wasn’t great but I was still top 15, now with a season of racing and a few World Cups under my belt everything has fallen into place. Can’t wait to get back out to the World Cups now for more experience and the chance to wear the jersey!”

In the men’s under 23, Kenta Gallagher showed how much he has matured over the last season, taking a calm approach to his race, despite an early mechanical he rode using his head, thinking through his moves, until he eased himself into the lead, taking a well earned win from Billy Joe Whenman.

“Kenta Gallagher – U23 National Men’s Champion

Feels pretty good to get the win, you can’t complain when you win a stripy jumper, so yeah pretty pleased.

I didn’t have the best of starts, going up the first climb I snapped the stop on my rear mech, so every time I tried to use an easy gear the chain kept jumping, I thought then it’s gonna be a long day out! So I let Billy (Whenman) lead the first lap out and watch what he was doing. I knew if I got into the singletrack first, I’d get too excited and probably blow out and fall off so I rode using my head. On the second lap I just kinda dug in on a few climbs to see if Billy was still with me and then through the woods I got a gap, so I knew If I pressed on I could keep that. It’s a course that suits me; I like technical power courses so this was right up my street. People keep telling me it’s old school, but I’m too young to know what old school is, but if they tell me its old school, well hell yeah I like old school then!! It was hard, proper hard, nit super steep climbs like at World Cups and your not racing the same type of rider, but it was hard and that head wind, I nearly shot myself a few times riding that climb into that wicked headwind, but I just had to get it done, after all it’s my job isn’t?!

Yesterday in practice I enjoyed it, today I enjoyed it, I crossed the line first so of course I really enjoyed it!

To be honest I wish it had rained a bit harder in my race, I prefer it when it’s really slippery, but hey I still won! I still hasn’t really sunk in though, I’ll not really believe it until they give me that stripy jumper then I’ll start celebrating!”


Liam Killeen leads out Oli Beckingsale

Liam Killeen fresh from his disappointment from Windham WC knew he had a potentially hard race ahead in the senior race with Oli Beckingsale and Lee Williams keen to swipe the jersey from his grasp. Killeen and Beckingsale let Williams lead out the race for the first lap. By lap two and it was Killeen and Beckingsale, with Williams charging behind keen not to lose to much contact, whilst Paul Oldham had 3^rd place in his sights and Dave Collins and evergreen Nick Craig spent the race fighting for 5^th.

Lap 3 and Killeen had launched himself into the front opening up a gap and pushing constantly on the gas, battling both competitors as well as weather, he came home in torrential rain his title secured for one more year. Beckingsale rode a strong race but admitted to a gracious defeat as he took silver with Lee Williams picking up a well-deserved bronze.

Your new senior National Champions

“Liam Killeen – Senior Men’s National Champion

I was a little bit nervous coming into the race today as I’m a little bit tried from the travel back from the States. I had a good race over there at Windham, but a puncture mid race, so I lost a bit of time there, so was keen to put that form into action here. Racing is now moving more towards the shorter races, so if you have any mishaps, you can more or less rule yourself out. Losing time with a mechanical is pretty much nigh on impossible to get back into the race again you lose so much time.

I always feel a bit of pressure at the Nationals, especially as defending champion, I know a few of the guys are pretty motivated. But I had a smooth race. Oli (Beckingsale) had a good opening first lap and I was impressed with how Lee (Williams) rode today, he’s had some ups and downs this season, so good to see him on the podium again, so yeah I’m really pleased that I had a smooth, no mishap race. The course was good; we were lucky with the rain. I rode it yesterday and it would have been a real slog if it had continued to rain. We did get a bit of rain towards the end, which made it greasy, and the wind was a big factor, it just made it harder, if you let of the gas you nearly came to a standstill! If you’d had a wheel to sit on it would have been a big help but I’d thought I needed to ride my own race, get out in front and suck the wind, knowing that the guy behind you is having to take the brunt of the wind as well. It was a good hard race. It did have the feel of an old school course, quite technical in places at race pace, a bit of a longer lap than usual but a truly challenging course, short hard climbs and a good day retaining the jersey. It’s always a bonus knowing you haven’t got to change your kit!!!”

Congratulations to everyone who competed and took on all that Yorkshire could throw at you and well done to everyone who went home newly crowned Champions.

Many thanks to the hardworking Bikelicker crew who spent many long hours creating a venue truly suitable for a championship, it certainly paid off and produced a memorable event and a whole raft of worthy champions!


Raining in Yorkshire...who'd have thought!

British Mountain Bike Series R4 – Margam Park.

2011-06-27T14:42:00.004+01:00

What a difference a day makes!


Nikki Harris

On the run up to race day, things weren’t looking to hot at Margam, with torrential rain on preceding days leaving the going soft to extremely slippery. Riders turning up Saturday may have been fooled into a false sense of security as a constant drizzle rendered visibility of the surrounding hills to nil. To an innocent bystander Margam Park could have looked decidedly flat.

Overnight the rain persisted and it looked as if it was an inevitable rerun of the previous year’s soggy affair. However as bleary-eyed riders started to waken they were greeted with the most welcome of sites. Miles and miles of blue skies accompanied by a rising sun and with it a hit of humidity.

Margam is one of the most popular venues on the cross country calendar, offering challenging climbs coupled with technical descents, crammed into a bijou and compact 6km. With 430m of climbing per lap coupled with rising temperatures and a layer of slick mud to begin with which quickly turned into a wheel grabbing gloop, it was to be a day of survival for many.

With the first set of races due to leave the arena at 9.30am, talk was still about what tyres, as the ground was like an overflowing sponge by this point. The muddy conditions however suited elite woman rider Nikki Harris to a ‘T’. Her extensive couple of years in the worst that World Cup cyclo cross action can throw at you certainly came into good stead, as she seemingly left the field standing. By lap one of the 4-lap race, Harris had opened up a commanding lead of over 1 minute, with Mel Spath on the hunt for a podium position. Close behind were Cait Elliott and Lee Cragie all locked in their own personal battles.

Maddie Horton usually up in the mix had to settle for an apathetic race on a borrowed bike as unfortunately the Margam thieves struck again this year stealing her and husband’s Jay’s bikes on the Friday evening. Harris continued on her way untroubled. Even a puncture did nothing to dent her ever increasing lead, coming home nearly 4 minutes in front of Mel Spath who held her own to take second a further 3 minutes ahead of 3^rd placed Cait Elliott. Mel Alexander and Jane Cumming filled the remaining podium positions in 4^th and 5^th respectively.

Youth rider Ian Paton scorched to the win, catching elite woman leader Nikki Harris early lap two, storming past on his 3 lap race to take victory from William Cheaney.

Amy Roberts

In the Junior Women’s race both pre race favourites, Katy Winton and Beth Crumpton suffered punctures. Winton’s was unrepairable so she was forced to retire, while Crumpton desperately losing time and positions battled to repair hers. Meanwhile out in front and enjoying a rare day mountain bike racing was Amy Roberts, taking the opportunity to race Margam as she headed home after a day of crits in Lichfield. Happily she found herself in a comfortable lead and to the delight of her family took an easy win, with Hollie Bettles picking 2^nd. Crumpton rode a brilliant damage limitation race blasting her way from virtual last position to grab 3^rd.

For Sally Gabriel, Margam is a chance to race on home turf and today turned into a real day to remember as she took her first win in the expert category. Alice Barnes once again made short work of her Youth race, dominating her race, she came perilously close to overtaking the leading junior girl on her way to victory ahead of 2^nd placed Rebecca Hunt.

Alice Barnes

In the girls juvenile ranks Ffion James dominated from the start to take yet another win as did Calum Magowan in the juvenile boys race, his two laps completed in under 55mins taking the win with nearly a 4 min cushion.

Calum Magowan

Helen Macgregor opened up the vet’s women’s race with a 34sec lead on the first lap. In hot pursuit were Nicky Hughes and Ruth Thompson. The fast open lap started to take its toll and Macgregor found herself overhauled by Thompson and Hughes, with Thompson going for gold. Leaving Hughes in 2^nd and Macgregor a consolidating 3^rd., while Master rider Emma Birtles controlled her race from the front taking the win with a 3 min gap from Caroline Goward.

Robin Seymour

As the midday sun inched ever closer, temperatures were rising ever hotter and soon it was time for the elite, expert, junior and sport men to take on the might of the Welsh hills. Heading up the elite field was Oli Beckingsale relishing the chance to get stuck into the gear crunching; lung busting climbs and hopefully grab his fist win of the series along the way. As the race spearheaded up the first of many climbs, Beckingsale paced himself perfectly, smoothly moving through the ranks until he hit the front. Pressing the turbo boost he quickly made a space between him and his rivals, spending the next 4 laps steadily increasing his lead. Barring mechanicals the top podium position was done and dusted. The main battle was now in earnest for the remaining podium positions. Locked in mortal battle behind the increasingly distant Endura Racing rider, were Ireland’s Robin Seymour, a long time contender, with a massive 15 Irish National XC titles to his name, and youngsters Seb Batchelor and Gareth Montgomerie. Seymour let the two younger riders take on the race watching their moves keeping himself in the right place for all attacks, his intelligent riding paid dividends as Montgomerie and Batchelor started to fall apart in the closing stages, leaving Seymour to steal a march and take 2^nd, with Batchelor battling hard to grab 3^rd from Montgomerie.

Hope riders Paul Oldham and Dave Collins aspirations for a good day in the hills, after an extensive bout of training from the previous weekend, where they helped take their team to top spot in the elite category, at the 24hr race Mountain Mayhem, soon hit a wall. For Collins quite literally, with a crash and a puncture ending his race after 1 lap. Teammate Oldham went through the motions, but never showed his usual flair for the hills, settling eventually for 6^th.

Lee Westwood took early control of the expert race leading from the front to take the win with a good 90sec advantage.

Matt Sumpton

In the junior race the battle unfolded between Matt Sumpton, Alex Baker and Alex Peters. Sumpton took an early lead with a blisteringly fast first lap, leaving Baker and Peters in pursuit. Try as they might the chasing duo could not make any inroads into the opening gap that Sumpton achieved. By lap 3 Peters was off the pace leaving Baker to try and get back to Sumpton. It wasn’t to be with Sumpton taking the win with a 44 sec lead from Baker, while Peters lost over 3 mins in the last two laps to take 3^rd.

Closest race of the day had to be the sports men’s race with just 34 seconds separating the first 3. Jason Boutell threw down the gauntlet, his opening gambit a mere 8 sec lead, from Jack Rae. While Boutell eked out a few more seconds over the 3 lap race finally taking the win from Jack Rae with just a 27 second cushion, behind the action was hotting up with Stephen Hodge trying hard to bridge the gap to second, whoever despite his efforts Rae held him off by just 7 seconds to take second.

Finally with the going now decidedly tropical, with temperatures soaring into the 30’s, the course had been battered into submission with just a few patches of sloppy mud on the run in to throw any spanners in the works.

Geoff Beetham

Masters rider Geoff Beetham swapped his natty pinstripe suit that he opened up his Mayhem race with the previous week for regulation lycra.

Obviously the 24 hr race had done little to dampen his speed as he dashed eagerly into the climbs leaving the rest of the field straggling behind him. Luke Smith looking calm and composed mounted his attack on the lead with series leader Matt Dennis closing down the gap in 3^rd. Beetham held onto his lead to take the win, whilst Dennis worked hard to pass Smith to grab second and with it some valuable series points leaving Smith to take 3^rd.

For Paul Hopkins in the vet’s race, it was a case of business as usual, as the Merida rider sharpening his skills ready for the upcoming Nationals. Behind he left a disintegrating field working hard in the increasing humidity to bridge the gap to the leader. Hopkins rode strongly only his 3^rd lap showing any chinks in his armour, whilst the riders behind ebbed and flowed as they fought for every inch of the track. After 4 long laps it was KCNC rider Lloyd Bettles who clawed his way to the front of the chasing group, narrowing the lead by winner Hopkins to just 37secs to take 2^nd.

Paul Hopkins

The Harris family completed the day with two top podium spots, with daughter Nikki winning the elite women’s race earlier in the day, it was now time for dad Pete, who did the business in the Grand Vets race.

Cyclo cross rider Steven Davies stretching his legs in preparation for his assault on the National cross country champs made the opening move in the blistering heat, taking the lead for the first 2 laps. However in the closing stages a surge of power from Harris saw him take the lead and romp home to victory leaving Davies 49 secs behind in 2^nd.

Steve Davies

Victor Barnett took an unusual defeat in the Super Grand Vets as the 72 year old struggled with the punishing climbs in the extreme heat; he looked seriously off his usual commanding style. Rival Colin Murley took no second asking passing Barnett on the second lap to eventually take the win by nearly 5 minutes.

The series now takes a summer break, before heading to the southwest for the final series decider in Plymouth on the 26^th September. The final round promises to go out with a bang, make sure you’re there to enjoy the best XC racing in the UK and join in with the celebrations as they crown the UK’s best riders of the series.

Nutcracker R3 - Camp Hill

2011-06-22T12:18:00.001+01:00

With 2 rounds already done and dusted for this year, a healthy and encouraging attendance were pretty eager to get round 3 under their belts. A return to Camp Hill was on the cards, used extensively last year, this virtually flat and fast course is ideal for those keen to give the sport a go but also leaves no stone unturned for those more experienced. It may not have the rough and tumble of some of the more technical courses but what it lacked in climbs and rocks it soon made up for in berm tastic singletrack.

The first race got underway sharply at 10am with the Youth, Juvenile and Fun riders ready to do the business on the bone dry course. A slight incline at the start gave the riders a quick warm up as they started the procession into the surrounding natural terrain, with bystanders and livestock watching the action unfold. In the Youth race Billy Harding was obviously hungry for the win, devouring the course with an unrelenting appetite leaving the rest of the field to pick up the crumbs, taking the win with a 4 min gap over 2nd placed Ben Pygott. Despite losing her drink bottle early on the first lap Paige Coope kept pushing on to grab a convincing win in the Youth girls race with Libby Greatorex picking up 2nd and Jess O’Brien 3^rd.

It was a much closer affair in the juvenile race, though Chris Barnes threw down the gauntlet early on leading from the start to take the win, despite the efforts of 2^nd placed Thomas Mein, while Amira Mellor rode a strong race in the juvenile girls race to take a commanding win. In the fun race a tricky first lap for Alistair Black left the door wide open for army rider Shaun Dutton. Despite a fast second lap, wiping 4 minutes off his start lap, Black didn’t quite have enough in the tank to get back to Dutton who emerged victorious, with Black and Roper in hot pursuit, just 40 secs separating 1^st from 3^rd. Ruth Midgley ploughed a lonely furrow in the fun women’s event, hopefully round 4 and the thought of cake may encourage more women to come and have a go!

As race two got underway, the weather gods decided to throw a wild card into the mix. Dark rain leaden clouds started empting their contents, thick and fast over the circuit, transforming the once fast flowing singletrack into a fast flowing mud bath for the first couple of laps. As the rain began to ease the riding got harder as the slop turned to thick gear crunching grime that coated everything, rider and machine until one was virtually undistinguishable from the other! While the weather was having it’s fun, the riders battled on. Expert Neil Hayward made short work of his 6 laps taking the win after nearly 149 mins of racing, while sole elite rider Danielle Rider made her way round the 5 laps in just over 21/2hrs. The sports men’s race was better subscribed, but Matt Brown left the competition standing as he carved his way through the thickening mire to take the win with a healthy 4 min lead over 2^nd placed Robert Upton, his haul of prizes supplemented with a probably much needed shower gel sample I just happened to have in my pocket!

By race 3 the weather gods obviously had gone for an afternoon snooze and the sun was soon out mopping up the dampness, leaving the trails a little tacky but not slippery, the going was now decidedly good to firm yet again.

Now it was time for the elder statesmen (and women) of the sport to show their hand. First off were the masters with Tony Fawcett leading the way, 2 mins later in hot pursuit were the vets, with the grand and super vets bringing up the rear.

Fawcett had taken off like a scalded cat and by lap two the rider with him in his sights was vet Noel Clough. ‘Cross rider Clough, looking to take on the might of the XC vets at the upcoming Nationals was keen to catch the fast moving master. With a 2 min advantage Fawcett was looking elusive, but over the 4 laps Clough chipped away at his lead coming in less than a minute behind the winning master Fawcett, to take the vet win.

Meanwhile the race behind continued in earnest for the minor placings. In the masters Ben Hallworth and James Metcalfe duelled for the runners up spot with Hallworth just holding off Metcalfe for that honour. In the Vets Kenny Johnson was happy to hold his own, racking up a creditable 2^nd just under 5mins ahead of 3^rd placed John Hick. Grand Vet Duncan Stuart held onto is fast start to take the win ahead of Ian Robson.

It was a pleasant sight to see a healthy turn out for women riders with Helen Macgregor taking the win in the women’s vet race and Karen Howard picking up first in the grand vets.

As the year unfolds with masses of regional XC races tucked into every corner of the UK, catering for all comers to the sport of cross country racing it’s excellent to see the Northern territory is in the safe hands of the enthusiastic Nutcracker crew. If you fancy sampling some northern delights (and there is rumour there will be cake…) come out and have a go at round 4 on the 20^th August. Situated in the breathtaking venue of Fremigton, Swaledale and brought to you in conjunction with the Dales Bike Centre, the final round of this little cracker of a series is sure to end with a bang! Make sure you’re there.

Details can be found here:

www.nutcrackermtb.co.uk

Full results here: http://www.taptiming.com/results/tqxub/3/

Gallery of race images here: www.joolzedymond.com

National XC Championships 16th-17th July 2011

2011-06-09T12:30:00.002+01:00

Brought to you by Bikelicker Events Ltd in association with Dare2B.

In just a few weeks we will see hundreds of the UK’s mountain bike Cross country competitors head to North Yorkshire ready to do battle. With 17 titles up for grabs, you can expect to experience some outstanding racing as competitors from all four corners of the UK, vie for the right to wear those all important national colours, proving they are the countries best.

In homage to past mountain bike fun, the venue of choice is at Aske Estate, nr Richmond, home of the fabled Krypton Factor assault course. Aske used to be a firm favourite back in the infamous NEMBA days. Now the venue is firmly back on the mountain bike map once again thanks to the guys at Bikelicker Events and their exciting Nutcracker Series and will now be but into use for the National Championships to showcase the best off road XC talent that Great Britain has to offer.

Matt Dennis - Master on a mission

What can competitors expect?

The Vale of York is the glacial flood plain for the melt waters of the glaciers that filled what are now the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors National Parks so you can expect to be surrounded by some pretty spectacular scenery as the 6.5 km course takes full use of the natural terrain, to provide an eventful and challenging championship course.

Starting in a grassy field, you may be lulled into a sense of false security before you dash across to the first feature, “Wood Yard”, a punishing short sharp incline that delivers you to “Jockey Cap” the highest point on the course, from where you’ll experience the first epic descent through “Mike’s Wood” popping out at “Tumbledown House”

View from 'Jockey's Cap' the highest point on the course

Here you’ll find another short climb followed by another descent, before you start to climb again up the “Grind”. Another super steep descent follows taking you through “Adey’s Plantation” where you’ll emerge onto “Quad Field”. A quick sprint across the bumpy field will take you to the first section of wooded singletrack, breaking out onto a short piece of fire road giving you a brief moment of respite before you head back into another fast flowing, singletrack down to “Log Pile”.

Another section of fire road follows giving you another moment to grab a breather before you’ll find yourself back in the woods blasting through the “Troll Trail”. This section of singletrack meanders through the woods throwing up drop offs and berms to keep you on your toes. Emerging at “Lloyd Shorts” you’re on the final section of fire road known as “Head Wind”, this could be your final chance to overtake, wind permitting, before running into ‘Bluebell Woods” for the last singletrack blast before exploding onto the home straight where in that last 100 meters titles could be won or lost in the sprint for the finish line.

You’ll be looking at approx 17-18 mins per lap for the fast boys if it’s dry, if the weather gods throw a rain cloud or two into the mix add another 2 or 3 mins into that equation.

Terrain wise expect at least 122 meters of climbing per lap, over a mixture of grassland and fire road, mixed in with loamy, rooty, rocky, singletrack, mainly through wooded sections. If you’re wondering what tyres to take, forget your heavy-duty mud ones, as the course is pretty mud free. However be warned forget your skinny tyres opt for some mid range 1.9’s at least, otherwise you’ll find yourself slip, sliding all over the place on the loamy singletrack. If it’s wet, it’s the grassland that could prove lethal – it’ll be slippery.

The ones to watch:

With Olympic year just round the corner all the main contenders are upping their game and polishing off any rough edges in the campaign for selection. This means for the senior men at least, the race will more than likely be a duel again between defending champion Liam Killeen and arch rival Oli Beckingsale who’ll be hoping to add another jersey to his already extensive collection.

Liam Killeen - heading for his next national title?

On paper the course seems to be more suited to Killeen, with no major climbs for Beckingsale to play his ace card, but we shall just have to wait and see, as it’ll be no cut and dry race by any means!

Can Oli add jersey number 6 to his collection?

The under 23 men’s race will also be a certain fight to the death with Dave Fletcher looking incredibly odds on favourite to take the jersey, all that stands between him and another year in stripes will be the young pretenders to the crown; Kenta Gallagher and Steve James. Finding their feet at senior level for the first year, will the young blood be a match for the seasoned campaigner? We’ll have to wait and see!

Fletcher has certainly started his season with a bang, but can he fend of the young pretenders to keep his U23 crown for another year?

With Gallagher and James stepping up to senior ranks, this leaves 2^nd year junior Grant Ferguson primed to take that title. With a consistent and strong season at both national and international level boosting the young Scots confidence he certainly will be the man to beat for the junior title, though I’m sure Matt Sumpton, Ben Sumner and quite a few more juniors will be eager to prove us wrong!

Grant Ferguson - looking strong

Matt Dennis will be trying to make it a season to remember for all the right reasons as he takes on the masters. Will dark horse Carl Sturgeon appear on the day to defend his title? Will retro bike lover Geoff Beetham dust down his knobblies and try and thwart Dennis adding the National title to his recently acquired Midlands Masters Champion title or can Phil Morris finally grab that elusive masters gold, or indeed will Ed Moseley throw the spanner in the works, again it’ll be a race that will certainly come down to the wire on the day!


Could Ed Moseley be the dark Masters horse for 2011?

Or can Phil Morris grab that elusive gold?

For the senior women, it looks as if the real battle will be for the runner up spots as undoubtedly defending champion Annie Last, who is currently knocking on the top 10 of the World Cup circuit will be the dominant force to be reckoned with.

Annie Last will be a hard act to beat

Although she won’t be able to rest on her laurels, it is a more or less foregone conclusion she’ll take her second title, illness and mechanicals allowing of course! GB team mate Lily Matthews will be off fighting her own battle defending her under 23’s title, where we might see a bit more of a scrap as Jessie Roberts tries to trade her silver for gold, while there is a welcome return to the dirt for Horizon rider Ruby Miller as she throws her hand into the rink.

Beth Crumpton, hungry for that Junior title

Another close battle is destined for the junior women where defending champion now has to deal with the threat of Beth Crumpton. The season so far has seen a real ding-dong battle between these two with no let up on the horizon in foreseeable future for these two win hungry young ladies.


Katy Winton will be working hard to defend those stripes for another year.

That’s just a snippet of all the exciting action to come, it’s never easy to forsee the winner of any title, as mountain biking is such an unforgiving sport, anything can and usually does happen! What we do know is that each and every competitor is out for gold and the racing will reflect their passion and determination to be the best!

Timetable:

Racing kicks off on Saturday for all those who fancy a go but don’t want to race the Nationals. The Sweatmonsters Academy starts the proceedings for all riders under 16 invited to participate, for those under 12 entries is free. Then it’s on to the Fun, Open and Sport races. Entries are available on the day for these events but why not save yourself a few quid and get your entries in now.

Championship day is Sunday with a full schedule kicking off at 9.15am with the Juvenile titles first to be decided, ending with senior races at 2.30pm.

As this is a Championship event there are NO entries on the day. Entries for the event close on the 19^th June.

You can enter online at: www.xcnc.nutcrackermtb.co.uk If you prefer to post your entry in please send completed form to: Bikelicker Events Ltd, 48 Frenchgate, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 7AG

Facilities:

There is camping available from Friday 15^th through to Sunday 17^th at a cost of £10 per pitch/camper/caravan. Pre booking is required and all entrants will be sent an essential booking form. Toilets, showers and water points will all be available, along with a bike washing facility.

Please note as Aske Estate is private land, access to the site will not be available before 4pm on the Friday. Course practice kicks off Saturday morning.

MTB regulars, Quaver Catering will be on hand providing an excellent assortment of hot and cold food and beverages all weekend.

For those you want to pre celebrate there will be a full evening of entertainment on the Saturday night with local brewery Black Sheep providing a licensed bar. You may be invited to take part in anything ranging from a slow bike race through to a full on Krypton Factor style assault course!

For more details about the National Championships please visit:

www.xcnc.nutcrackermtb.co.uk

Ryedale GP 2011

2011-06-06T12:41:00.003+01:00

It was rude not too...
Pop over to the Ryedale GP. It was local, it was a sunny day and well how could I resist....
Based squarely in the Howardian Hills, the course took the riders through some stunning scenery, (not that they would have had much chance to check it out!) and whilst it might have skirted some of the bigger climbs still offered an incredibly challenging test of endurance and bike skills over the 8 laps of two circuits ( 4 each), 112.5 miles in total.

Ryedale GP 2011

The attacks came thick and fast right from the start, with the main peleton expanding and contracting in response to the action at the front. Eventually ebb and flow of the racing saw a leading group whittled down to 6 riders, it would be a sprint finish, that was taken by Rapha Condor Sharp rider Jon Tiernan Locke, inching out previous winner Evan Oliphant - Endura Racing, with Dan Fleeman - Raleigh completing the podium line up. Endura Racing took the under 23 category with Scott Thwaites coming home in 7th.
Loads more photos over at -
www.joolzedymond.com


Jon Tiernan Locke - King of the Castle!

The final climb for the 6 contenders

RESULTS
1. Jonathan Tiernan Locke - Rapha Condor Sharp
2. Evan Oliphant – Endura Racing
3. Dan Fleeman - Team Raleigh
4. Rob Sharman - Twenty3C Orbea
5. Stephen Gallagher – Cycle Premier Metaltek
6. James Sharp - York Cycle Works
7. Scott Thwaites - Endura Racing, (under 23)
8. Dan Craven – Rapha Condor Sharp
9. Tom Last - Sigma Sport Specialized
10 .Dale Appleby - Cycle Premier Metaltek
11. Will Bjergfelt - Motorpoint Pro Cycling Team
12. Dave Clark – Endura Racing
13. Ashley Cox - Corley Cycles
14. Richard Handley - Team Raleigh
15. Magnus Backstedt – Team UK Youth
16. Alex Higham - WyndyMilla
17. Ben Greenwood - Rapha Condor Sharp
18. Gael le Bellec - Team Raleigh
19. Steve Lampier - Sigma Sport Specialized
20. James Sampsom - Motorpoint Pro Cycling Team

The army of unsung heroes waiting patiently at the feed zone

For many the course certainly took it's toll

Mid race and we're treated to an old tractor display.

Not quite a tractor....

Grandstand view of the course

24 & 12 Hours Of Exposure – European & UK Solo Championships

2011-05-10T14:24:00.000+01:00

“The men who learn endurance are they who call the whole world, brother.” Charles Dickens

24 and now with added 12ness too!

The weekend saw the return of the successful UK Solo MTB Championships – 24 Hours of Exposure, now including the European title and a little 12 hour brother. After pushing the boundaries of the UK 24 hour scene last year, when the event showcased some of the most exciting endurance racing we’ve seen on UK soil for some time, 2011 promised to bring more thrills along with a few spills and more edge of the seat racing.

This unique event attracted the crème de la crème of UK endurance talent again, whilst also playing host to some European cousins from Portugal, Germany, Ireland and Poland as well as a few Antipodeans gave the event a truly international atmosphere. With numbers trebling from the first year to just over 200, obviously the reputation of the event has spread near and far!

New for this year the course threaded effortlessly through the Rock UK outdoor centre on the edge of Newcastleton village, with riders taking full advantage of all the facilities on offer. Most riders had a trackside seat on one of the most exciting 24 hour courses in the UK, one more than worthy of the Championship status.

The route

As the weekend kicked-off with the traditional Ceilidh and a Pasta Party the event village was awash with the excited chatter of riders about to launch themselves into the unknown, with around half of the field making their first foray into 12 or 24 hour racing. For the top riders the 11 miles of tough terrain, flowing singletrack on 7Stanes trails and a gruelling 1500ft of climbing per lap was all that lay between them and the coveted European and UK jerseys…oh, and 24 hours on a bike.

2010 UK Champion Matt Page was keen to hang onto the title, but last year’s runners-up Anthony White and Josh Ibbett hoped to upset the Welshman’s applecart. Throw in big Rob Dean, a hard training Jason Miles and a few unknown quantities such as Portugal’s Josue Duarte and in a race where anything could happen it was hard to pick a pre-race favourite.

Jason Miles signing on

Once again riders headed into the village of Newcastleton to sign the start board in front of the many local community and race supporters who turned out en masse to give the riders a sound send off. As the clocked edged closer to noon the local Copshaw Common Riders assumed the race head and lead by the local piper set the race underway. A neutral lead out of the village gave supporters time to soak up the size of the 200 strong field and cheer them on.

Copshaw Riders and piper leads the race through Newcastleton

Almost immediately the gloves were off, with Torq rider James Lister setting a blistering pace looking for 12 hour glory. After the first lap Lister had nearly 3 minutes to spare over 24 hour riders Josh Ibbett, Ant White and Matt Page and over 6 minutes advantage over 2^nd placed 12 hour rider Huw Thomas. With the first lap flurry through the timing tent the race settled into its own pace with dozens of races within races as riders pitched themselves against their peers. Most just had the ambition to finish!

James Lister setting the trails alight

At 4pm the weather gods threw in a humid drenching but the downpour did nothing to ease the scorching pace that Lister continued to churn out, finally rounding up his race unchallenged with 11 laps, 1 ahead of rookie Thomas and another rookie endurance rider James Porter chasing for 3^rd just over 6 mins behind. Singlespeeding ‘Dr.Jon’ racked up an impressive 8 laps to take the XCRacer.com singlespeed jersey. In the men’s veteran category Jay Horton held off Michael Powell to take the victory. It was rookie Hannah Welling who managed to fight off some stiff competition to take the open women’s European, UK & Morvelo Rookie titles ahead of experienced riders Jane Chadwick and Amy Baron–Hall.

DrJon singlespeeding to 12hr victory

Special mention has to be made to all the Rock UK staff that took part in their first 12 hour event. Sally Hall took the spot prize as the happiest rider on the trails, riding with a permanent grin she came home 4^th overall with a stunning 6 laps, while the special “Rock UK 12 Hour” trophy went to Jonny Young with an impressive 8 laps.

In the open women’s 24 hour race Australian rider Kate Potter, on her much welcomed return to endurance racing, took control in her headstrong and talented way. Last year’s runaway winner Rickie Cotter tried hard to match the Aussie but had to concede a lap with Potter racking up an impressive 16 in total. As Potter wasn’t eligible for either Championship title, Cotter managed to retain her UK title whilst adding the European jersey. After years of trying to find her cycling niche, Hannah Bowers took her first step onto an International podium, clocking up 15 laps and taking 3^rd overall, second in the European and UK Championships, and receiving the Morvelo Rookie jersey in her first attempt at a 24 hour race.

Kate Potter back in the endurance saddle

In the women’s 24hr veteran race, novice Emma Cutler lead from the start for a convincing win to take the well earned UK and European jerseys. Runner up Anne Dickins took a longer than usual pit stop during the night fighting against early onset of hypothermia. After a 6 hour break she was eager to set out again to keep her second place over Debbie Richardson.

Hannah Bowers finally finds her niche!

Meanwhile all eyes were on the ding-dong battle going on within the open male 24 hour race. For the first half, Page, Ibbett and White all took turns to attack, each forging ahead only to get reeled back in. Punctures, crashes and mechanicals all took their toll on the 3 leaders; it was a crash that finally led to a disappointed Josh Ibbett calling it a day 17 hours and 15 laps in. Despite all his efforts, White could not stay with the incredibly strong Page who steadily pulled away carving a one lap lead to retain his UK title for the second year and becoming the European Solo Champion for the first time. White came home to take yet another 2^nd, with third being picked up by another Welsh rider, rookie Simon Smith. A sprightly Dan Treby clocked up 17 laps to come home in 5^th spot taking the XCracer.com singlespeed jersey for his day in the mud.

Mark Spratt - 24hr European & UK Vet Champion, before and after...

Although Rich Rothwell had quietly eased himself into the veteran category he had hoped to give the youngsters a real run for their money. Riding the lead freight train early on the veteran title was firmly in his sights. Things didn’t quite go to plan and his early pace coupled with a hydration mix up left Rothwell at rookie Mark Spratt’s mercy.

Spratt took no second asking and slowly stretched out his lead. As the race neared its end he even decided to try and squeeze in just one more lap before midday even though he didn’t need to and came home just 30secs too late for the lap to count, collapsing on the ground through the effort and grinning ear to ear, knowing that he’d won the race and the European and UK jerseys! His 18 laps also placed him 3^rd overall and gained him the Morvelo Rookie jersey. Rothwell took his step on the podium in 2^nd with last year’s winner Keith Forsyth picking up 3^rd. Portuguese visitor and current over 50’s Portuguese 24 hour champion Pedro Maia came home in 10^th after what he described as one of the best races he’s ever ridden.

All the winners partake in a little re-hydration

It was certainly a day to be remembered for so many reasons; the trails provided a worthy battle ground for the Championship jerseys, the weather added an extra dimension that makes the sport of mountain bike endurance racing exhilarating and challenging whatever your level.

You might have been hallucinating....

The event, and the camaraderie that was openly shared throughout the event, can be summed up by the great Charles Dickens, who we suspect might have realised the importance endurance racing would make:

“The men who learn endurance are they who call the whole world, brother.”

Many thanks to everyone who helped make the event the special day that it was. Congratulations to all who took part, but thanks to all the behind the scenes people without whom events like this would never happen:

Exposure Lights, Vitesse, Morvelo, Rock UK, Saddle Skedaddle, Juice Lubes, Ergon, Torq, 7Stanes, BikeSeven, XCRacer, Joolze Dymond, Forestry Commission Scotland the people of Newcastleton.

Special mention has to go to the timing team and all our volunteers and Rock UK staff that helped throughout the weekend. Results are available now on www.24hoursolo.co.uk

See you all next year!

Kate Potter – 24 Hours of Exposure open female winner

“Great to be back! I must admit there were a few tough moments of "What was I thinking?!" - out there in the early Sunday morning hours during a rather bitter storm, during a clumsy ‘self to blame' mechanical that meant a rather slow run back to camp and when nausea and back pain set in :).....The rest of the time was full of so many positives that I don't know where to start. I was part of an amazing team of racers and pit crew (Cotic-AQR Holidays Race Team), I was surrounded by other racers who were so friendly and the crowd support was unreal. SIP Events put on a fantastic event and the venue was gorgeous. I love Newcastleton.”

Mark Spratt – European and UK Veteran Solo 24 Hour Champion:

“Firstly a big thank you to Sara and Paul at SIP Events for running the event. This was my first 24 hour solo and I was apprehensive that I'd get bored of the course but I had nothing to fear. Whilst interesting it was undeniably brutal and all told made for the hardest race of my life.

I decided to settle into a rhythm I felt just slightly uncomfortable with and this paid off around dusk when I caught Rich Rothwell. A pit-change overtake put me in the lead and I was able to hold that until the end. My pit-team of Mel and Niall of XCRacer and George of Cycle Coaching Wales were faultless; calling it a solo event underplays the significance of the supporters' role.

Do I regret trying for a 19th lap only to miss it by 30 seconds? Certainly not; I was there to suffer and the 4 bottles of Juice Lubes I received for my effort more than made up for it. Overall, it feels great to come away with 3 Vitesse jerseys plus the prizes from Exposure Lights, Ergon and TORQ.”

Matt Page – European and UK Men’s Solo 24 Hour Champion:

“This years UK Champs ended up being an epic race, not just against the other competitors but against the weather as well. I was quite nervous about defending my title, there was only one way that I could go on the results sheet if things didn't go to plan.

Although I had a less than ideal start to the race, getting caught up in another riders crash on lap 1, a puncture on lap 2 and other on lap 6 I felt strong throughout the whole race and felt in control. I decided to take up the pace early on, not something I have successfully tried before. After the first puncture I lost ground, but turned it around by attacking Josh, Ant & Rich as soon as I got back in contact. I think that move was decisive as it split everyone up. The heavy rain during the early hours was another major factor I guess, although I have to admit it didn't cause me any problems. I have a great pit crew that kept me rolling with clean bikes. The second half of the race is a bit of a blur to be honest, I was glad to see daylight and started counting down the laps from then on. Thankfully everything went smoothly and stayed pretty strong to the finish, even having a bit left in the tank had I needed it.

It was absolutely a team victory not a solo effort, I couldn't have done it without my pit crew: Fiancee Nia, my Mum Catriona and mechanic Ben from Wiggle.”

C2C

2011-05-05T15:28:00.000+01:00

Steve takes a moment to check out the stunning scenery.

Well yes it does say C2C up there, in fact it was Whitehaven to Tynemouth. 3 days on an electric bike under the careful guidance of top Saddle Skedaddle guide Steve Woods.
It was epic, it was brutal, it was anything but easy! The idea of electric biking it up hill and down dale in principle sounds an easy option... Believe me it wasn't!!! Thanks to Giant for letting us borrow the bikes and thanks to Saddle Skedaddle for letting me drive Steve to drink!
Keep an eye out for more details as I write up my epic adventure....

Steve more than happy to be back among non motorised bikes!

The Tour of Britain 2011

2011-04-21T15:37:00.000+01:00

The organisers of the Tour of Britain announced at its launch day that the 2011 event will feature an individual TT for the first time n 6 years. A 10 kilometre test against the clock will feature on the final morning of The Tour of Britain in central London as a part of The TfL London Stage, which will be run as a split-stage in 2011, with the race's traditional closing circuit race taking place in the afternoon. Both stages will start and finish on Whitehall.

The battle for the newly announced IG Markets Gold Jersey will begin in the Scottish Borders at Peebles for the opening 170 kilometre stage to Dumfries on Sunday 11th September. Day Two of The Tour of Britain sees the race return to Kendal in the Lake District for the first time since 2007 for, what is likely to be a sprinters stage, to Blackpool.
Stage Three of The Tour of Britain will take place in and around Stoke-on-Trent, starting at Trentham Gardens and featuring the same uphill finish into the city centre as the previous three editions of Britain's biggest professional cycle race.
The hilly Staffordshire Moorlands stage is followed by two tough days of racing, the first in Wales, from Welshpool to Caerphilly, featuring the Brecon Beacons and Caerphilly Mountain within the final few kilometres of racing, with the second being The Tour's first stage to be held entirely within Devon. Stage Five will see riders racing across Dartmoor, including the climb of Haytor, from Exeter to a seaside finish in Exmouth.
A second South West stage sees The Tour of Britain returning to Somerset for a 145 kilometre stage from Taunton to Wells, featuring the climb of Cheddar Gorge and a finishing circuit through Shepton Mallet, allowing spectators the opportunity to see the race twice.
Stage Seven sees The Tour of Britain visit East Anglia for the second successive year, for the longest stage of the race, starting at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and finishing at Sandringham in Norfolk.
The Transport for London Stage becomes a split-stage in 2011, with riders testing themselves against the clock in the morning, in a stage which is likely to decide the final destination of the IG Markets Gold Jersey, before the traditional circuit race in the afternoon.

The full list of stages is as follows:

Sunday        11th September, Stage One, Peebles to Dumfries
Monday       12th September, Stage Two, Kendal to Blackpool
Tuesday      13th September, Stage Three, The Stoke-on-Trent Stage
Wednesday 14th September, Stage Four, Welshpool to Caerphilly
Thursday     15th September, Stage Five, Exeter to Exmouth
Friday          16th September,  Stage Six, Taunton to Wells
Saturday      17th September, Stage Seven, Bury St Edmunds to Sandringham
Sunday        18th September, Stage Eight a, The TfL Stage, Individual Time Trial
Stage Eight b The TfL Stage, Circuit Race,

Home interest will be provided by the five British UCI Continental teams, Endura Racing, Motorpoint, Rapha Condor Sharp, Sigma Sport - Specialized and Team Raleigh, all of whom will be hoping to become the first British pro team to win a stage of The Tour of Britain.

The list of the 16 competing teams is:

- AN Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team (Ireland)
- Colnago CSF Inox (Italy)
- Endura Racing (Britain)
- Garmin Cervelo (USA)
- Leopard Trek (Luxembourg)
- Motorpoint (Britain)
- Rabobank (Netherlands)
- Rapha Condor Sharp (Britain)
- Sigma Sport - Specialized (Britain)
- Sky Professional Cycling Team (Britain)
- Team Europcar (France)
- Team HTC - Highroad (USA)
- Team NetApp (German)
- Team Raleigh (Britain)
- Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator (Belgium)
- Vacansoleil DCM (Netherlands)

Copyright Infringement

2011-04-21T14:00:00.002+01:00

With more and more photographers, posting more and more images on the net hopeful for an appreciative audience, there seems to be an ever growing misuse of said images. The common misunderstanding is that if an image is posted online, then its free for anyone to use, both for personal and commercial use.
Unfortunately this isn't the case.
The Daily Fail has been guilty of grabbing photographers images without authorisation. In a recent case, where the dispute went to court the judge said: "This may be common newspaper practice and one which newspapers normally get away with. The risk of infringement proceedings may, from a business and circulation point of view, be worth taking. It may be economic to 'publish and be damned', but it is plainly unlawful and the sooner this is recognised the better."
Read more:

Daily Fail

The UK has very strict laws on copyright, which you as the creator of an image, own. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is the principal legislation in this country covering intellectual property rights.
Under this law, the creator of any original work has the right to control the way this work is used. The creator of any piece of original work is known as the 'first owner of copyright', this only changes if the creator is employed by a company when that work is created, the company then owns the copyright.
Freelance or commissioned work usually belongs solely to the author of the work unless an agreement has been reached to the contrary.
You don't have to register your design, artwork, image etc the very fact that you created an original work of art automatically qualifies you for copyright. In the case of photographers, each image has EXIF data tagged directly when taking any image. This can ensure that each image has your contact details and copyright status embedded in each image.

As copyright owner you have the right to make commercial gain from your work and you also have the right to authorise or prohibit usage as you see fit.

This copyright then allows you to protect your original material and stops others from using your work without your permission. If a person or company ignore this, then they ignore it at their peril. Should an individual or company decide to use a piece of your work without seeking your written consent, then your copyright is infringed. By law any one wishing to use a photograph or text or artwork covered by copyright has to seek permission of the copyright owner before they can legally use the material in question. The law gives you the right to take legal action to stop them exploiting your copyright.The excuse that ' Joe Bloggs' said it was okay to use, when 'Joe Bloggs' is not the copyright owner is a flawed argument.
Use of a copyright protected work without it's owner's permission may be a civil infringement and/or criminal offence depending on the circumstances.

The theft of imagery is not new and with the exposure that the world wide web has given us, it can make it nigh on impossible to keep a track on all your images.
But for those out there who think it's okay to use images without permission, would you pop into your local supermarket grab a few items of the shelf and walk away without paying? Surely that's shoplifting and a criminal offense if you get caught right? But taking images and using them for your own gain, that's okay is it? The law seems to disagree....
So if in doubt, always check your source. If it's a photograph, always check the exif data. And always, get written permission.... or otherwise you might find yourself with a criminal record....

Protecting yourself from copyright infringement

Going the extra mile

2011-04-12T15:39:00.001+01:00

Shooting from the shore was the dry option....

The last couple of days I've been fortunate enough to have been invited over to do the team shots for Torq. This included not only the mountain bike squad but also the triathlon team. When I first got the call to discuss the shots needed, I got pretty excited. Triathletes! Nothing like pushing yourself out of your comfort zone after all! My first thoughts were, wow, swimming shots! Excellent. I already knew what I wanted to do, I just needed to persuade both the client and the team members it would be worth it.
And so a cunning plan was formed which included a dash over to Lake Bala. Luckily it was to be a very warm day!
I don't think they really believed me when I chatted about the photos I wanted. We arrived at Lake Bala mid afternoon, parked up, where the guys not swimming promptly found an ice cream van and tucked in while the others squeezed themselves into their wet suits and I scouted the lake side for a suitable spot.
Having never shot a triathlon event before I was a bit unsure as to the first set of shots that would be suitable for the clients needs. Fortunately the very friendly guys, casually dressed in their tri suits ( boob tubes anyone??) and wet suits, explained the sequence of events as you exit a swim and so we decided that we'd go for the 'water exit shots'. Usually at a tri event they lay on a floating boom which means the exit point if a lot easier on the feet, however we had a shingle laden shore next to a slippery step up, not perfect I grant you but after a couple of " Great, but can you do that one more time", and a fair bit of winging about how cold the water was, I bagged the shots required. Next up it was the "emerging from the water with wetsuit undone" hours of fun again, until we got the shot I thought would be perfect.

Chris 'The Sweetheart' doing that exit just one more time....

Then it was time to get down and get wet, so to speak. Swapping my usual ditch for a dunk in a lake in Wales was a real shock to the system but oh so worth it!
The guys were sceptical that I'd actually get in, but in I got. The plan was to grab some close up swimming shots, dunking both me and the camera in the water, getting petty up close and personal. If you want to do something different you have to sometimes go that extra mile to make that difference, I reckon!
The lens selected for the job had to be the fish eye, firstly as it gave the view I wanted but also because it was the only one of my lens that fitted in the heath Robinson water proof camera bag. I mean come on, I now Nikon's are pretty robust, but not even I would immerse my pride and joy in that much water and expect it to survive. Having never done this sort of thing before it was pretty lucky firstly that long suffering Mr.Joolze happened to have a waterproof camera bag. I never know what he buys on ebay, but obviously occasionally his obscure purchases come in useful! I didn't bother checking it before hand I just figured it was a proper waterproof camera casing. Ah it wasn't.... The camera only just fitted and it had some interesting foibles.....
Anyway I wasn't to be deterred, so cramming the camera in I set off to grab my shots.
Dave my model ( and also UK Iron man Champion for his age group) was getting into his stride, while I waded up to my knees at first, finding the water pleasantly cooling... I needed to go deeper and Dave needed to swim closer and then it was game on.

Getting up close and personal (and wet..)

Of course with Dave kicking past, the bag got quickly showered, which just meant I had to quickly wipe the lens front down before the next set of shots were rattled off. In the heat of excitement of getting some great shots, I completely forgot I was only going to get my shorts wet, soon I found myself getting lower and lower in the water to get the low position I wanted, grabbing the shots before suddenly realising I was a lot wetter than I intended to be! Oh well it was all worth it!!

Thanks guys!

Last but not least there was just enough time to persuade the guys to pose on the Pier wall for a team shot, before I headed back to the van to get dry and they headed off to ride back to base, with us chasing them, camera hanging out the window of the bus grabbing a few more shots to round off an excellent day! Job done.....

Quick 40 mile spin home to dry off...

Jose Hermida

2011-03-02T23:56:00.000Z

Finally, on top of the world!!

Finally, it dropped on my doorstep with a satisfying plop, the mag that is. Which mag? Privateer. Issue two of the newest mountain bike mag on the scene from the makers of the illustrious Rouleur.
Why am I so delighted? Well back in December I was commissioned to pay a visit to the current XC World Champion, Jose Hermida, with a brief to get some images and sit him down for a chat about that awful mustache that he was wearing when he finally won the coveted Senior World Champs title after a decade of trying...
So now if you purchase a copy of this fabulous mag which is crammed with some absolutely inspirational photography as well as copy, you'll find my little 5,000 odd word interview with the top man himself along with a couple of cracking portraits.

It certainly was a hoot. Jose lives up to his name as the most respected rider in the pack as well as the funniest!! Although I only spent a couple of hours with the guy, he was fantastic, not even complaining ( well not too much) about the freezing temperatures we were working in, under the shadows of the Pyrenees as I asked those immortal words..."just one more time..."

Big shout out to Richard from Sumattory, for arranging the meeting as well as providing transport as well as entertainment!

Here are a couple of out takes from the day....

Those famous 'Guns', sadly the mustache was MIA!!!

Jose, his playground behind him...

I've been Pezzed...

2011-02-23T14:40:00.001Z

That'll be me then.... in a ditch as per usual...

It's funny I've been in my current job for over 10 years and nobody has ever really asked me what a nice girl like me is doing in a damp ditch most weekends....until now...
Phil Gale was intrigued enough to find out why I do spend so much time behind a camera, usually in damp and uncomfortable places and asked if I'd like to answer a few questions.
Like, why I swapped the warmth of a glass blowing studio for cold, muddy fields....
The result is now on Pez Cycling....

Pez Cycling Interview

Weddings, Hill Climbs & other important things

2011-02-21T19:23:00.003Z

Paul Hopkins races himself up Gold Hill to see what performs best - MTB or road bike...

What have been getting up to of late? a bit of this a bit of that of of course a bit of the other along with a smidgen of ditch surfing.

But that's not all I do. I ride a bike, I photograph bikes, I talk bikes, I write about bikes in one form or another.

January was taken up largely by riding them. If you read the posts below you'll see I've been spending more time getting muddy, which has just brought a permanent smile to my face and recharged me ready for work.

Work has once again been very varied, stating with a trip down to Gold Hill, land of Hovis and a stonking big hill, slap bang in the middle of the quaint village of Shaftesbury. My only encounter of this place, probably was like many others by means of the bakers boy pushing his bike to the top of THAT hill, ah the medium of TV.

So when the opportunity arose to go and shoot there, well how could I resist. It would be my chance to get up close and personal and check this beast of a hill out for myself. As it turned out I had the joy of checking it out at many levels!

Why Gold Hill?

Well there are plans afoot to run a Sunday of competition there. Starting with a challenging hill climb, followed by those that feel the need with an equally exhilarating down, but in a slightly different spot and not perhaps for the faint hearted...

For the hill climb, expect some nasty surprises. The steepness is just part of the equation....

For our needs young local Paul Hopkins volunteered to be the man, that went up 'Just one more time'. Despite the beautiful light it belies the fact it was freezing and we needed the shots in shorts and short sleeve jersey.... Anyway that 'One more time' turned out to be lots, isn't that always the case... never trust a camera man or woman who says 'Just one more time';0)

What goes up must come down...apparently

But we got the shots... Next we headed to the descending spot. A zigzagged setup launching itself down steps into the park below. Cue another rider with another bike, lots of laughs and thoughts of 'Can it really be done?' apparently it can and it's on!

Keep an eye out for, make a note in your diary for June 12th,if you fancy some cobbled climbing or steep descending... The Shaftesbury Cycle Revival is a goer....

Fast forward from Friday onto Saturday and it's all change. Just 24 hours later and I've swapped cobbles and hills for the grandeur of Richmond Park, combats for posh kit, bikes for a wedding.

3 generations...

As always we had checked out the venue and had a whole list of shots planned. As usual the weather didn't play ball, so that list was turned on it's head and I was shooting from the hip. Trying to get 80 odd guests not to cluster traditionally around the bride & groom outside whilst the temperature drops is akin to herding cats.

'So whats happening in there?'

But it's always best to get the big shots done first and then work your way down to just the happy couple..... Despite the weather, the freezing temperatures, the other wedding and a caff full of visitors that kept wandering past the shoot, it was a doddle... Matt & Katy were a dream to shoot and once again I came away with a bucketful of shots I was proud of and knew they would love.... Time to drive home....

Keeper.....

I think I may have worn my bike out....

2011-02-21T16:23:00.001Z

I think I may have worn the bike out....

30 in 30: Did I complete it?
Well technically no... I sort of failed at the final furlong, not through not wanting to ride, but just because of the sheer volume of work I had lined up in the last couple of days of the month...A drive down south to shoot some images at Gold Hill, followed by a day at Richmond Park shooting a wedding and then home...
It meant that I lost 3 days.. So I did a 27 in 30 if truth be told. But what a month, what an amazing incentive to get myself kick started and back in the grove! I worked it out that January gave me more miles in the saddle than the previous 2 years sandwiched together. To say my endorphins are jumping for joy would be an understatement! I have really benefited from the experience. I can't say it's for everyone, it's a bit like a very low calorie diet, there are highs and lows and tests of faith and determination and ultimately if you cheat you're just cheating yourself and to be honest the thought of riding my bike everyday for at least a month filled with with joy while the thought of depriving myself of food would have just been a hiding to nothing!
I loved the challenge, the pressure to succeed. I pictured people scoffing at the thought that I could even contemplate riding a turbo for an hour, let alone do it on more than one occasion. It was actually more fun than I thought it could be. Turbos may have a bad name but they sure do hit the spot when outside doesn't look like much fun!
And what now? Well you'll be pleased to know I'm still riding regularly, those hills are getting easier and I'm having to find longer and longer routes as my usual ones don't seem to take as long anymore. I'm enjoying most of the rides, I have had a few where I felt like pedaling squares through treacle, but more importantly I was out there and the rides felt great once I'd got home. Plus the fitness means that I now look forward to rushing out on the bike when it's snowing!! Strange but true! Riding in the white stuff as it falls from the sky in big fluffy flakes is incredibly exhilarating and with the right kit not at all cold! It's almost as much fun as getting covered in mud and after all that is one of the big pluses of mountain biking, well for me it is anyway, the chance to ride through puddles and come home covered head to foot in mud, beaming ear to ear, like some deranged 5 year old...
Luckily I've just taken delivery of some of the right kit and it makes a huge difference, well that and a mudguard. Okay it's not quite as fun as a blue sky moment, but it sure beats slaving away under a dull grey day, hands down!
Right I gotta go, I've just spotted some snow that needs playing in and some huge puddles that need splashing through...

30 in 30 - an update

2011-01-14T13:53:00.000Z

A bit wet...

So I guess you're wondering how's it going? I'm now on day 14, so very nearly 1/2 way. It's had it's ups and quite a few downs and I'm, not talking about those blissful descents you get when you finally get to the crest of the hill!
The highlights?
Has to be going out on the bike in some truly grim conditions. Strange but true! last Friday I glanced out and saw it was snowing and decided there and then to go and play on the bike! I was so disappointed that I didn't go out the first time I saw the snow, so this time I had no second thoughts. Apart from the icy canal banks, which gave the ride a real adrenalin surge on times it was a blast!
The second ride I enjoyed involved the canal again but now the ice had gone only to be replaced by sludge filled puddles. And this you will find is why I enjoy riding bikes off road... The only valid reason you have at this age to go splashing through puddles and come back plastered in mud!! Bliss. Mind you I might just pop a rear mudguard on cos having a wet chamois is never that enjoyable. The only downside was the annual hedge trim, which left lethal looking thorns ready and waiting to pounce and pounce they did. Luckily I managed to get home before the little devil could do it's worse.
The lows?
Has to be the turbo. I can't always get out, work sometimes make finding an hour to escape hard and so I have to rely on my trusty (or rusty depending how you look at it..) turbo. The first couple of days were fine, a revelation. I can't remember ever doing an hour on a turbo, now I've lost count. And then it became a chore, and then things hurt, and even a good dose of Father Ted could do nothing to brighten up the prospect of spending time on the infernal beast. But I persevered. One thing the turbo does do is make you look at the weather conditions more favourably and today, day 14 I will be attempting my longest outside ride, hills et all.

How do I feel?
Renewed, revitalised, the passion for riding my bike once again uncovered from years of neglect and to be truthful, completely knackered!!! Roll on the next 14 days;0)

30 in 30

2011-01-06T11:04:00.000Z

Ah a New Year and with it a new project! This time nothing to do with photography, more with me finding my way back to fitness via my much loved bikes! I have a brilliant job but working freelance leaves you forever waiting for 'that' phone call or 'that' email and with it, unless you have a tight group of mates that will drag you out, goes your motivation to get out and ride. I have had good intentions for ages, I have everything you could ever wish for, a bike for every occasion, but a lack of motivation and a surplus of hills has left me pining for the fjords so to speak but not actually doing anything about it.
Until now...
A friend came up with the cunning plan that a group of us, spread to all corners of the UK should unite in a mission to ride our bikes everyday, for at least 1 hour for the next 30 days... and so 30 in 30 was born!
Now I like a challenge, I like nothing more than proving people wrong and have launched myself full pelt into this.
My first 3 day's were on the turbo, following instructions by my great pal Kate Potter. Why the turbo? Can't be that motivational??
Well I'd left it so long to get started on the first day that I had to turbo it, then day 2 I was working, up to my knees in mud and cyclo cross riders but got stuck into my day's ride as soon as I got home, finding out that drinking tea whilst on the turbo is no mean feat! Day 3 had been a planned exterior ride, however I didn't get up in time, so resigned myself to the turbo yet again! Day 4, with the partial eclipse of the sun emerging as I rode I finally made it outside to ride what I call my bit of urban cheeky singletrack. Day 5 and it was wet and cold so I arranged a hot date with Father Ted and spent an hour laughing my head off on the turbo, a definite first!!!
I'm now on day 6, today will be extra challenging as I face an hour's ride, followed by an hour's circuit training, but as they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!!!
It's certainly been interesting. I'm forward planning as we speak, wondering how to fit in my rides around my work, should be entertaining if not tiring, wish me luck just 24 more days to go and a few more dates with Father Ted to come no doubt!!

Looking back

2010-12-31T21:38:00.000Z

It’s been an exciting year for UK cycling with both on and off road with some very memorable moments, I can’t admit to being at all of them but I’ve followed with great interest and cheered, on learning the fabulous results. None more so than Down hiller Tracy Mosley who finally grabbed a well deserved World Championship title. After a long and industrious career where she has certainly been more than influential to many a young riders ambitions to reach the top she finally put the cherry on the top much to the delight of all her loyal friends and supporters!

Another young lady that has reached for the stars and is certainly living up to expectations is mountain biking’s Annie Last. In her first year as a full time rider, finally putting her studies aside to concentrate on cross country racing, Annie delivered up some stunning results, no more thrilling than her exciting World Championship under 23 event where she led for most of the demanding race, leaving us all on the edge of our seats. Unfortunately, despite riding virtually out of her skin she was denied that elusive gold, coming home with a non the less stunning silver, an excellent result that bodes well for the future as her grit and determination that we’ve seen since she was a juvenile rider will drive her on in pursuit of gold!

Photo 1 is Annie in action at the National Championships where she took the senior women’s title

For me 2010 was an incredibly varied year, with a chance to venture out of my muddy ditch and wander over to the ‘dark side’ just to have a peek or two at those fast moving roadies. It was also a chance to witness some incredible racing whilst taking me out of my ‘comfort zone’, pushing me to think fast and come up with some interesting images that would sum up at least a small percentage of the vast number of experiences I encountered throughout the year!

In 2009 I’d gotten the taste of crit racing, with my appointment as the official tog of the exciting Tour Series. In 2010 I got the gig again, my chance to visit 10 very different towns, each providing very different gladiatorial arenas of approx 1.5kms, enabling thousands of spectators to witness ten top teams battle it out for supremacy over the series.

The fast pace and team format meant the racing was electric throughout with some epic battles being played out week after week. It ended up a 3 way battle between the men in black, Rapha Condor Sharp, Endura Racing and Motor Point Marshalls Pasta. It was all to play for in the final round and Motorpoint did the job, just 5 points separated the 3 teams.

Photo 2 is a firm favourite from the series with a Raleigh rider leads the peleton through in Kettering

While Photo 3 shows just one of the many battles for points throughout the series. Here Rob Hayles – Endura Racings fights for the line with Graham Briggs – Rapha Condor Sharp

In-between these epic battles of the tarmac I did slope back to my ‘proper’ job, back in the ditch, to capture many of the endurance and cross-country races taking place across the UK. The racing may seem slower after the fast paced action of the road but it is still packed with intrigue and some of most heartbreaking passion packed battles you could ever wish for. Maybe I am biased after spending so much time watching race after race but take for example the classic battle that unfolded over an epic 24 hours at the new endurance kid on the block, the 24 Hours of Exposure. Open just to soloists, this event attracted the cream of UK endurance racing, from the young pretender Josh Ibbett, through to the seasoned campaigners Rich Rothwell and Anthony White with everybody who’s anybody in endurance terms in-between! Ibbett threw down the opening gauntlet taking an early lead with near cross-country speeds. The seasoned riders wrote the youngster off, figuring he would fade in the hours to come. By Midnight, they started to sit up and take notice, as Ibbett seemed to draw further and further away with no signs of stopping! In the early hours of the morning, one of the pre race favourites Matt Page started to go backwards, his rivals thinking this was the end for his challenge, leaving Rothwell and White fighting to get Ibbett back in their sights. However Page wasn’t done and after a longer than usual pit stop, he was back! 17 hours in Ibbett was still leading, but only just. His fast pace started to wane, the head started to nod, each pedal revolution seemed to be slower and slower and his rivals took full advantage. Breaths were held as the race progressed, could he do it? Had he built up enough of a lead? The answer after 24 gruelling hours was no, Matt Page had surged through to take the win, leaving Ibbett to cling on for 3^rd. Truly the most epic battle of the year.

Photo 4: Matt Page, Anthony White and Rich Rothwell continue the hunt for Josh Ibbett as the sun sets.

Photo 5: Rickie Cotter on her way to win her first ever 24 hour race

Another major highlight of the year had to be the return of World Cup XC racing to English soil. Hundreds of the world’s elite XC riders converging on one point in North Yorkshire to put on a brilliant display in front of thousands of supporters. It was another epic. After years of work Dalby, lived up to the hype, providing a testing technical course that the riders along with the spectators loved so much the event was voted best World Cup of 2010. The crowds were even treated to an awesome display of racing by UK riders with junior Steve James showing his talent grabbing a stunning 3^rd podium spot in the juniors, which Annie Last replicated in the under 23 women’s race the next day.

Photo 6: Junior Steve James taking his well earned spot on the World Cup podium in Dalby

Photo 6a: A thrilling sprint finish at Dalby between Schurter & Absalon

Funnily enough 2010 has also been a year dominated by the weather! Though if truth be told we British are fixated by the stuff. I’d given up a long time ago relying on weather forecasts, just packing everything (including the kitchen sink) in order to be prepared for all eventualities. It always seems to rain in the end, but then those rain sodden images make some of the most emotive of the year and certainly bring back memories. None more so than the 10^th anniversary of Dusk til Dawn. A much loved 12 hour race that for years has basked in it’s own microcosm of weather whilst all around are knee deep in mud, D2D is a dust bowl oasis. Well apart from 2008, oh and 2010…. It was epic. Everything was crossed that the forecast rain would hold off for just 12 hours…. And it did, well until the race began and then so did the rain, gently at first a pitter patter of moisture as the field dispersed with a flash and bang of fireworks, then as the light fizzled out the rain got steadily worse and worse and the battle began. Fast 40 min laps were reduced in some cases to hours as riders pounded, pushed, slid, slithered their way round. Bless’ em they persevered till the very end, well most of them anyway. By 3am, the heavy rain did eventually stop, but by then I’d given up after spending a few rain-drenched hours in the trenches, my job done for another year….

Photo 7: Dusk Til Dawn … it rained!

Photo 8: Steve Webb – solo winner at D2D stuck it out to take the win.

Photo 9: It rained at Twentyfour12 too! This pic just highlights a returning rider greeting another ready to set out!

Return to the dark side, I ventured over to watch the National Road Race Champs, as it was just a stones throw from home and well I’d sort of got the bug….

As it turned out I watched in awe as mountain biker turned road rider Simon Richardson, did what I though was the ride of the day. Mixing it with pro continental riders, dominated by Sky riders, with Geraint Thomas taking the win, Richardson coming home in 5^th over a punishing circuit was a sight to see.

Photo 10: Simon Richardson at the head of the race at the National RR Champs.

Photo 11: A spent force

2010 was also a year where I was lucky enough to get the gig as official tog at the Tour of Britain. I’d seen stages over the years and had always been interested but I had enough on my plate working in my ditch. But curiosity got the better of me and working with the team behind the Tour Series fed my obsession to get involved with the Tour of Britain. It was exceeded my expectations, despite the gruelling schedule, lurching from one venue to the next, constantly shooting, processing, evaluating, pursuing, each day the same but oh so different, being privilege to watch some of the worlds road racing masters at work in our country, over what turned out to be the toughest Tour of Britain circuit to date. The organisation of this event is a sight to behold, a never ending cycle (excuse the pun) of erecting start and finish gantries at each end of the stages, bring a little piece of cycling glamour to a select number of towns. The crowds especially the schools that emptied their wards spilling out cheering the passing procession were a heart-warming site to behold. Then there’s the epic number of police outriders ensuring safe passage and the fast moving caravan of team cars and officials on their whistle stop journeys behind a tight packed bunch of elite riders fighting for the ultimate goal. I had a ball. So far removed from my ditch, though I still got soaked and covered in mud (well as they say you can take the girl out of the mud but….)

It was a challenge looking again of ways to rack up images that did each day justice. I found myself on one of the stages, a guest in the Rapha Condor Sharp team car, which turned out to be a fantastic experience. In the careful hands of DS John Herety we sped relentlessly behind the fast moving peleton, watching it split, reform, riders spat out the back fighting to regain ground, handing out food and drink, never stopping. It was a day that will stay with me for a long time and a day when I racked up some incredible images that for me just summed up the race.

Photo 12: Each stage was lined with hundreds of school children cheering the riders through

Photo 13: Constitution Hill – one of the toughest stage finishes of the Tour

Photo 14: View from the back of the race.

Photo 15: Endura mechanic’Wee B’ working on a bike on the move

Photo 16: Rob Partridge best UK finisher on the Tour of Britain coming in at an excellent 8^th

So as you can see it’s been a varied year both for me and the world of cycling, the images provided are just a snapshot of all the action that unfolded making 2010 an epic year for virtually everyone. Dreams were achieved, goals were made and exceeded and here’s hoping that 2011 is just as rewarding on every level for all involved with the sport. I’ll be out there shooting quietly, freezing moments in time that can be relived by all….

Unsung Heros:

Photo 17:– Lee Williams consistently battling hard at the hard of the UK cross country field. Keep an eye out for the young welsh man as he ups another gear for 2011

Photo 18: A wrist band commemorating the short life of talented and much loved rider Lewis Barry, who unexpected passed away in his sleep earlier this year.

Photo 19: Chris & Dan, possibly the best duo of commentators we’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to, bring mirth and merriment as well as entertaining commentary on all major event.

Photo 20: The unsung hero ( or heroine) who took a fall just as the camera snapped away, producing a classic.

Photo 21 & 21a: A picture tells a thousand tales – to all the unsung heros who compete in all conditions in the name of sport – Chapeau!

Photo 22: It’s not always muddy in my ditch….

Photo 23: Night time in the ditch

What next?

2010-12-31T18:18:00.000Z

It's been a rush of ditch dwelling and calendar sorting recently, with plenty of new projects on the horizon. 2011 certainly appears to be fill of eastern promise so to speak. Exciting times lay ahead along with a few new ditches!
Happy New Year to all:0)

and there's more

2010-12-06T01:17:00.000Z

Soda

Well I'm on a roll;0)

Soda detail

Just recently, I was fortunate enough to be asked to do a studio shoot of the new range of Cotic's. A brilliant capsule of bikes, incorporating great British design, offering something for everyone, from steel hard tails, through to full suss, and beyong to the road and back again via some muddy lanes;0)
A fun day was had squeezing ourselves and our kit into Cy's new unit.....

RoadRat

The images from the Soda shoot, especially the closeups just gave me goosebumps. One of these days I'm gonna get one of those images blown up really big ad plaster it on my wall. It's a beaut!

X - Sunday

The results are below..... The pictures just tell one part of the story, if you get a chance to ride a Cotic jump at it, you'll never regret it, they are truly awesome!!!
For more Cotic goodness check out:
www.cotic.co.uk


X- Weekday

and now for something...

2010-12-06T00:54:00.000Z

Lee & Mel + sparklers!

Completely different!
Wedding time again. As I mentioned before, I love doing weddings. They take me away from my ditch, out of my comfort zone and make me spend a day thinking fast on my feet, looking for creative angles with which to capture a couple's most special day.

Mr. & Mrs. Williams

I've done quite a few this year, a refreshing challenge each time everyone different, every one posing it's own fresh approaches.

White Wedding!

I travel throughout the UK, from St. Andrews down to deepest darkest Wales, with my last two jobs taking me to Oxford and lately Wales, where I was privileged to be able to capture the shots of talented XC racer Lee Williams and his now wife Mel. A real white wedding,as the snow hit Wales the day before they got hitched! Fortunately the roads were fine by time we traveled to the ceremony and a brilliant day was had by all!
Below are just a couple of samples from Martyn & Suzy's wedding way back in August, a much warmer affair!

Suzy & Martyn

In Church

Suzy & Martyn

For more images please visit: www.andbob2.co.uk

Tour Of Britain

2010-12-06T00:28:00.001Z

Tour of Britain Press Bus

The crowds

Servicing the bikes on the move

It seems an age ago that I spent a mad week dashing from one part of the UK to the next, humping my camera gear and all the kit needed for 10 days of fast paced lycra clad action. Yep it was the Tour of Britain.

KOM

I've seen it speed past my door a few times, I'd even gone to one of the stages a few years ago, but never did I think I'd get the chance to shoot the whole week, as the official tog for the event. It was epic! A fabulous experience. 10 days of thinking fast and shooting faster, watching the race unfold and looking for those all important shots that would tell the untold stories of each day.
On paper it sounds glamorous, you spend each day being chauffeur driven whilst this huge race charges on around you. You merely have to slip off the press bus take a few snaps and Bob's your uncle, fanny's well you know how that goes...
However the reality was early morning, late nights on a slap dash race around tight narrow lanes looking for suitable spots to grab your shots. Forget about food. A few handfuls of babybells acquired from breakfast along with a hurriedly made sarnie or two was all you could muster in a day of chasing the peleton.

Preparing the bikes

For a couple of days I hijacked fellow tog Cycling Weekly snapper Andy Jones. I guessed, he had 'previous' with thus type of job so he'd be the man to tag along with. It was also sound to be able to chat to fellow shooters. You usually see quite a few in this job but as you're all too busy chasing your scene its never easy to stand around and chat, so it made a real change to have a good long chat to Andy. He's a fascinating guy, with a real passion not only for cycling but also for birds. His shots are truly stunning. Anyway I digress!

Constitution Hill

The rest of the time I spent shacked up on the "Press Party Bus' with our mad cap driver Mr. Paul Hinton! I've known Paul for quite a few years, but never really spoken to him, as it's always a case of he'd be racing and I'd be hiding in a ditch somewhere taking photos.. It was good to catch up with the other togs that had share the fun on the 'Party Bus! It was certainly the place to be and Paul pulled out all the stops to ensure we got some amazing opportunities to grab plenty of images.
In and effort to ring the changes I even managed to blag a day in one of the race cars. many thanks to John Herety of the Rapha Condor Sharp team, who happily agreed to have me along to soak up the atmosphere of being in a team car racing through the peleton and the huge convoy i an effort to keep up with their leading riders. It was an experience that will be with me for a very long time! It was excellent!

Rapha Condor Sharp Team car

John Herety

At first I began to wonder if I'd made the right decision as we sped past some of the best scenery I'd seen all week. Plus it wasn't raining for the first time that week! I began to doubt whether I'd be able to get any worthwhile shots, after all shooting through a windscreen at the rear of a pack isn't the most inspiring. Still I had a whale of a time with John providing a boundless commentary and insightful look at the race. Inbewteen the bouts of laughter I began to see a different aspect of the race and the shots came thick and fast with me bagging some shots that proved to be some of the best from the whole week! I was inspired!
And then just as quickly as it had started it was over. 10 days of road racing, fast living, late night working, coffee drinking, rain sodden, fun was over for another year. I can't wait for it to come round, so I can do it all again!!!
Lots more images can be seen here:
http://www.joolzedymond.com/joolzeD/TourofBritain10.html

and of course here:
www.thetourofbritain.co.uk

Stage 5

Crazy...

2010-10-28T12:54:00.001+01:00

It's been a while. Sorry about that. I've been thinking that I should update my blog on a regular basis and then September happened and with it a whole lotta work.
Since my last blog I've done a couple of weddings, a number photoshoots, The Tour of Britain, Montane Kielder100, the last round of the BMBS, TORQ 12, D2D and the Cycle Show...Phew! Not to mention a whole host of other bits and bobs along the way, no wonder I had to cancel my holiday.. Hopefully now I can try to do a bit of a catch up!

Thanks

2010-08-18T10:33:00.000+01:00

I'm on the phone.....

Gotta thank Ms. Hopkins who dug me out of a hole, when all around were washing their hair, Jenn saved the day!
I've had a brief to get some shots for a phone case company involving mountain bikes. Now it's a quite tricky ask as the cases are quite small and for them to feature in a product shoot invoking mountain biking lifestyle is quite a challenge...
Couple that frenzied activity over the last few months and well it's a brief that fell slightly down the crack in the sofa. Until I got a phone call asking if they could see some images for a forthcoming ad campaign.
Okay, fast thinking, phone dialing I came up with a plan which fortunately the ever patient Jenn agreed to. It involved cake of course.
So armed with cake and a bucket load of cameras I headed for Hebden Bridge, where after scoffing said cake we headed for the hills. It was pretty late in the grand scheme of things, we must have got in situ about 7.45pm and then watched as we saw an on coming storm dance around the surrounding hills, fingers crossed that it didn't rush in our direction.

Looking up cake recipes...probably.

I gotta say I wasn't really in the zone to begin with and I'm sure neither was Jenn as all she had to do was sit around pretending to be on the phone!
Then as the sun began to sink, it got caught up in the amazing clouds that lined the valley and soon we were caught up in a fantastic slide show as the light from the sinking sun, played hide and seek with the rain sodden clouds. Every so often the breaking rays would highlight an otherwise darkened valley and soon I found I was inspired! Looking back I wish I'd grabbed a few shots with Jenn on the bike and not on the phone! But hey hind sight is a wonderful thing! By 9.30pm the light had all but disappeared and I was grinning ear to ear happy knowing that I had some stunning shots in the bag!

Rain clouds, rain, sunset, valleys, what's not to like??

So thanks Jenn you're a star for helping out and sorry the cake wasn't really up to your high standards! next time I'll prepare in advance and bake one myself... Oh did I mention there would be a next time??;0)

..Part 2

2010-08-17T16:49:00.001+01:00

The KMP crew

And now it's August and yet so much happened in July that I just didn't find time to write about it until now!
It's coming up to 4 weeks ago now I had the delight of traveling down to Brighton to catch up with the Kinesis Morvelo Project team members, plus Dom from Upgrade to do a shoot.
It was time tabled to be a full on day with almost military planning, so me and Dave hotfooted it down south the night before so we could arrive at said meeting spot nice and early.
Unfortunately the campsite we thought we were heading to seems to have ceased to be, so after a quick scan of our faithful campsite booklet, we scurried over to another site which as it turned out was most excellent and cheap! Not only did it have hot and cold running water but loads of free range chickens, rabbits, goats and a stuffed owl. I was in my element and as Dave sorted out the bus I started clicking away at my new found friends!

One of my new friends..

If you fancy a no frills but sound campsite with a pub at the end of the road then I heartily recommend you pay a visit: http://bit.ly/bjzt2f
With one eye on the weather as the winds whipped up a storm and the other on ' The Men Who Stare at Goats', we hit the sack dreaming of stark blue skies....

Off road

When we finally met up with everyone, the day went in a daze of 'Can you just' and "oh that's great but can you do that one more time' and 'Think elbows and knees' we bagged a few great shots of the offroad bikes before heading over to Beachy Head and repeating the the scene but now on road bikes.

On road...

When I say jump..

It was a hoot, a great bunch of guys, with a great bunch of images.. now if all jobs were like that!!

The end of the day...

A very varied month.... Part 1

2010-07-26T20:05:00.000+01:00

Wow July has pretty much flown by and yet again I'm lagging as far as the blog goes... Opps. Plenty been happening just not enough time to sit down and chat as well as sort out some images, so before we hit August I thought I'd better have a brief recap so far....

First up was a commission from Honda to shoot some images of Olympian & World Champion cyclist Ed Clancy for use in the upcoming Tour of Britain. The brief was simple, head over to Ed's house get some photos of him in cycling kit and then some of him on his motorcycle.

Great, these were gonna be cut outs and I wasn't using a studio, so had to bring the studio with me hoping that Ed had a biggish back garden!
Luckily, his backyard though compact and bijou was just big enough....phew! All we needed now was for the weather to play ball and the job was in the bag...
So a few hours later with Mel from Blueprint PR hanging on valiantly to my backdrop stand to stop the wind from launching it across the neighbourhood and Ed's car, we got the shots.

Keep an eye out for them if you manage to sneak a view of the Tour as it whizzes round the UK in September. You'll also see me clinging on for dear life on the back of a media bike too as I'll be spending the week capturing images for the event too...

Next up was a wedding. I don't do many, as they're incredibly hard work and time consuming both on the day and the following weeks, but they are intensely satisfying and usually there is no mud or ditches to be found for miles. It was a small family affair set in a beautiful location of Whatley Manor, with plenty of scope for some great images.

Shame we couldn't take any shots during the ceremony, even from afar... Seems togs before have made a nuisance of themselves and we're finding it more and more difficult to get access to the B&G during the ceremony. Even the use of a remote camera is being frowned on... Still we got some great shots, Lucie & Blue and their respective families being a great bunch of people.

And then... My saddest and most moving job of all. I was asked to record the celebration of life of a young cyclist who had unexpectedly died in his sleep.
It's probably the hardest job I have ever agreed to, but I was privileged to attend this fabulous day of celebration and witnessed at first hand the amazing kindred spirit of the cycling community as it pulled together to mark the loss of one so young. Nearly 300 riders of all ages from all over the UK gathered to mark the life of Lewis Barry with a ride to the crematorium to say their final farewells. As the funeral procession arrived, the cyclists all with a wheel in hand formed a tribute arch that saluted the young boy on his final journey.
Then after a poignant and moving service that saw people crammed the building to the rafters and spilled out onto the exterior, everyone headed back to Roundhay Park a place of many memories that was soon awash with the sound of laughter as riders blasted around the grass track and swapped their memories of their lost friend. It was a very long and emotional day that left me moved by the community of people that rallied to make this the finest send off. The laughter as his friends raced a lap in his honour on BMX's, all proudly wearing tshirts emblazoned with an image of Lewis, is still ringing in my ears....

Tick Tock

2010-07-07T10:08:00.002+01:00

Dalby Forest previous home of my little passenger..

Ah yes the game of Russian roulette I get to play every time I head to a ditch. Will I, won't I? Come home with more than I left with....
Usually the answer is no, fortunately, well apart from some good memories and a few more wrinkles through laughter. However this weekend I discovered a little passenger, who'd decided it wanted to see a bit more of the world and had hitched an uninvited ride.
I should have known really, when Ickle Paul became the first casualty, a pair of tweezers, sorting his predicament out. I was hoping my natty combat trousers that boast some sort of insect repellent coating would do the trick. Then I again I had noticed a few itchy bites already so I guess the special formula had got up and moved on.
So come Tuesday as I got dressed my hand casually brushed against my waist and felt a strange presence. Yep, Mr.Tick was having a good old feast. A hard, little blister of blood. He looked like he'd nearly finished with me, a huge body with his little head buried into my waist, little legs waving... sigh... It used to freak me out, but after picking 15 of the little blighters off Dave once, I've sort of got used to them as an occupational hazard. We even carry a tick removal device in the bus now for such eventualities. So grabbing the tweezers that I've done hundreds of times before, I pinched and twisted, but he didn't want to come quietly. Blast. I tried again, pinch, twist, ahhhhh. He'd come away, well part of him had, my technique must be rusty, leaving the mouth parts still attached to me. Oh well, a dab of savalon and now I play the waiting game, hopefully I'll not get the dreaded bull ring rash and will of course live to fight another day and probably feed a few more hundred ticks along the way.... Can't wait....

It's all over...

2010-07-02T15:31:00.003+01:00

Okay so it was all over a week ago really, the Tour Series I mean of course... 5 weeks of 2 nights each of those weeks dedicated to fast action packed town center bike racing, with 10 teams of 5 riders fighting it out for the ultimate team prize. This was no ordinary city center crit , this was whistles and bells and the team element giving it that extra special twist, adding to the drama as each race unfolded. 5 weeks of putting my ditch surfing duties on relative hold as I screeched round the UK to each and every venue to catch the action along with some behind the race scenes.
Working with Craig, Pete and Liz was a blast, I'll miss young Craig as he's now moved onto pastures new, I'm sure though like the old Gypsy I seem to be turning into our paths will cross one day, I just hope he wont be throwing some silver coins into my hands to find out his fortune, though I wouldn't say no to a coffee of course!
The last round of the series pitched up in Woking with everything still to play for. I ended the series as I started it, with an extremely long day! Monday had seen us in Chester where Endura's Jack Bauer saved the day going for a lone victory with team mates Ian Wilkinson and Rob Hayles making it an historic 1, 2, 3 on the night giving the team an almighty boost. A massive crash on the final corner left more than a few riders battered and bruised, with riders literally running for the line to clock up a finish. Worse affected were Pendragon’s Casey Munro and the Rapha duo of Zak Dempster and Lapthorne, fortunately they are all on the mend!

Then it was back home, with two stragglers in tow, Mr.Naegears and IcklePaul. The view was there was no point heading to Woking just yet not when there was a bit more racing to experience in Otley which is just a stones throw from Dymond enterprises.

After a bit of fun, including the hatching of the 'Free Bob' campaign, plus our participation in the local pubs quiz night where we crashed and burnt quite memorably...and a photoshoot for the Prostate Cancer Charity in the foothills of the Peaks.

We made our way to Otley to watch more crit racing. Unable to leave along, I went on a bus mans holiday with camera in hand, whist Paul and Marty soaked up the atmosphere as well as the fish and chips!!
Just before the race kicked off I got the phone call I didn't really want..."can you be in Woking for 9am".

Oh heck it's a good 4 hour drive without the M25 or M1 traffic to think of and I knew it wasn't going to finish early at Otley, especially as Ian Wilkinson Endura Racing finally bagged the win!!

Images from Otley Crits:
Otley Crits

A cunning plan was hatched, with me, Paul and Marty deciding to head to a friends house in Hemel Hempstead, crash out for a few hours and head into Woking... Our heads finally hit pillows at 3am, with the plan to be out the door at 8am.... However we forgot Marty can be a little bit of a princess... bless. Finally hitting the road at 8.30 sorely needing a coffee or two, reaching Woking an hour later.
First things first the boys had to set up their stand while headed to the local fire station to set up a remote camera for a bit of playtime. The reason i was wanted in Woking so early was so I could record the build up of the circuit, a little time lapse project. With the camera set up to snap away every 10 secs I finally went for coffee!!!

The resultant time lapse took over has over 4 hours of footage and nearly 2,000 images crammed into just over 1mins playtime, see it here:
Time Lapse - Tour Series

And then it was all over, Rapha man Dean Windsor grabbed the win on the night but overall honours went to the Motorpoint Marshalls boys.

Images from all ten rounds can be seen here:
Tour Series 2010

Then hoping to wean myself of this road fetish I headed over to the National RR Champs in Pendle to watch 130 riders get whittled down to just 30 in a 5 hour long battle of a harsh 7 mile circuit.

Sky boys dominated the cause, with Geriant Thomas taking the win, meaning he now gets to wear the national colours on the start line of the Tour De France.

However rider of the day has to go to Simon Richardson of Sigma Sport Specialized.

He's on the form of his life, riding comfortably with the continental based pro's that make up Sky Racing until the last lap, finally coming home for a well earned 5th spot.

Images from the National RR Champs can be found here:
National RR Champs '10

Now this week has been a game of catch up as I find emails I missed while on Tour duty, sorting out images, and slowly getting back into the routine. This weekend the ditch is beckoning, I'm sure it'll take me a while to get back into the mud groove, but I'm sure I will, until September when I head out for a week long epic cataloguing the race that is the Tour of Britain.... Can't wait!

They think it's all over.....

Tour Series 7 - Joolze 1905

2010-06-16T22:01:00.002+01:00

Raleigh lead the bunch through in Kettering

It's the fourth week of the Tour Series, with 70% of the races done and dusted and nearly 2,000 miles covered just in pursuit of the fast Lycra clad riders - I'll catch 'em one day!
Things have looked up since that shaky day in Southport, no more ducklings that I know have been cruelly separated from their mum, no more photo equipment has been liberated, the sun has been mostly shining and the racing itself has been awesome, the only fly in the ointment is the constant runny right nostril, still the headaches have gone...
After that fateful day in Southport we headed over to Kettering, home once of all things cycling ( well British Cycling had their headquarters there once) to a warm welcome and a dancing major. Turn out was good with people packed around the possible crashing points, ie the fast corner heading into the finish straight.
After the fun and games at Southport, the Endura boys made their feelings felt with team captain Rob Hayles sporting a much larger number than usual on his bike, much to everyones amusement. They certainly like to have fun as well as race hard!

Kristian House getting ready for Kettering

On the night there were no real crashes to speak of except the Irish rider who unfortunately got a bit up front and personal with a barrier, a night in hospital and a few stitches and he was right as rain. At the head of the race Simon Richardson - Sigma was doing all he could to unseat Kristian House - Rapha Condor Sharp, but with the result coming down to a seat of the pants sprint, it was House who stole the march and scooped the win, with his team mates wrapping up the team win on the day but not quite unseating the unsmiling race leaders Motorpoint. Never have I seen such miserable people on a podium being awarded the top accolade of series leaders...
After downloading and sorting through pics, I finally hit the road around 10.45, finally getting home around 1am. Friday was then spent sorting, shifting, uploading, answering emails and generally stopping myself from falling asleep.
Dave, my long suffering but not complaining (too much) husband, did the sterling job of recharging all the batteries ready for our sortie back into the world of mountain biking! Destination ditch this weekend was in the New Forest for the third round of the Southern XC. Miles travelled this month does not include my other job, that of finding muddy ditches and ambushing unsuspecting mountain bikers!!!
Pitching up at Crow Hill early evening, we had a pleasant evening in the company of friends and midges ( okay the midges weren't that pleasant).

My ditch in the New Forest, ants and midges not optional..

The next day we woke to be greeted by a beautiful sunny day and loads of eager riders keen to get their competitive kick. The course used in the past by the Nationals, didn't disappoint, combining classic singletrack with energy sapping drags. The whole day featured many close fought races as riders battled the dry dusty conditions. Dave and I had a blast, finding ants in our pants quite literally on times, as we noted the woods were awash with mahousive wood ants and boy do they give a nasty nip as I unfortunately found out. I probably looked quite funny jigging around hoping they wouldn't mistake me for a tree, while I was trying to compose and take my shots... Talk about suffering for your art!! Moving to the ditch didn't help either, I just seemed to have traded the ants for a load of very hungry midges... The annoying little blighters practised their own version of the Blitzkrieg, which I counted with my own version of King Kong, you know that scene where he swipes at the airplanes as he toters off the top of the Empire State Building?? Anyway, the whole day was spent, ducking, diving, swiping and yelping until suddenly it was time to go and find an ice cream and start the long journey home. On the way back I thought I'd escaped quite lightly that onslaught of those hungry little mites... Oh how wrong can one person be!!!

Shooting into the sun.

Monday was a day of photos, sorting, emailing, writing ( there seems to be a common theme to each of my weeks...) and then it was Tuesday, Tour day, round 7, which could only mean one thing, Peterborough. The course was virtually the same as the previous year but run in reverse with the start/finish straight now on the main high street, over looked by the stunning cathedral, which last year was shrouded in scaffolding and plastic. It was indeed a grand setting, the only minor bug was that we were now shooting directly into the sun everytime the riders hit the finishing straight, or were plunged into total shadow... Trying times indeed. Still I made good use of the sun, coming away with a couple of shots I was more than pleased with. Shame about the final sprint between Downing and Wilkes, ruined by the camera bike:0( Luckily I got a stunning shot of Hayles and Briggs fighting for team placings further down the bunch, which sort of made up for it...

Hayles and Briggs sprint for the line in Peterborough.

Then it was the usual mad dash to the media center to download and choose images ready for the press release so expertly put together by Pete and Craig, before dashing off to join the Endura boys for a bite to eat. It was during the dash to eat that I started to feel itchy, trying to negotiate Peterborough, whilst scratching at various itchy lumps that mysteriously started to erupt...Bloomin midges!!! I mean 48 hours later, miles away from home and after shops had closed so I couldn't do anything but scratch myself raw...ah the joys of being a pro tog!!!

Media boys settling down to sort out the press release at Peterborough...

Tomorrow I head to Stoke, ready for round 8 then its all systems go ready for an all important weekend off! I feel a bike ride may be in order plus I might get some time to rediscover my garden which has disappeared under a blanket of weeds... I might even dig myself a little ditch just in case I feel a bit ditchsick so to speak;0)

We was robbed....

2010-06-09T12:37:00.000+01:00

I sort of knew it wasn't gonna be a good day. I was still feeling rough, not much sleep and full of snot, coupled with the headache that the wood glue that's being used at the mo to stick the new living room floor down. I put off as long as possible the drive to Southport for R5 of the Tour Series, the weather was looking shocking as I left, so all in all the omens weren't looking good.
Then on getting to the venue, I find the designated car park is a good 15 min walk out of town, not a great prospect when laden down with loads of camera gear, especially the return journey at night, but then to be told that actually they weren't really letting anyone int the car park as the Gypsy's had got in, but strangely they let me park...
A trip into town and a coffee with friends and well it did seem to be turning the corner and then, well there was the incident with the ducklings.
Why can't people leave alone!!! Mummy duck, with 5 cute ducklings paddling along in the water where ducks and ducklings live. They'd obviously been there before but because the ducklings weren't getting out of the water, some do gooders thought it would be appropriate to net the youngsters and take them away from the mother. It was pitiful listening to the mother duck calling for her ducklings for hours, even dad came along to try and find them. The ducklings weren't in any harm and no separated from mum there's a good chance that some might not make it, all because of some dogooder. For gods sake leave nature alone she knows what she's doing!!!

Then before you knew it, it was time to get ready to shoot some racing action. I went up to the media centre, this time the second floor room in a church and sorted what I needed, leaving the rest behind, knowing that at least only other togs and press went there and it was manned at all times.
It was a great race. Using the same circuit as last year but in reverse was the order of the day meaning the final bend before the finish would be the make or break section of the race.
There were loads of attacks with the big 3, Rapha, Endura and Marshalls getting in some good moves. Nothing stuck until the closing stages which Saw Endura's Alex Blain move clear with Kristian House and Ian Bibby, a couple of laps later and they had some company with Jack Bauer crossing over along with James Stuart, Dean Windsor and Andy Tennant. Then it was down to the final corner and it was the Frenchman Blain that jumped clear, leaving the group napping as he saluted his victory over the line.

Then after a mad flourish round the podiums it was a rush to pack up and get the images downloaded ready for the press releases.... and that's where the day really got crap!
Packing away my gear, I was sure something wasn't right. I'm sure Dave would tell you I'm not the tidiest person around but I know where everything should be and something was missing. Then it dawned on me. I'd been playing around with my Pocket Wizards, sorting out which I'd use and which would work ( they can be intermittent sometimes..) I'd recently bought a set of MultiMaxs for their increased range and consistency but decided not to use them as it was looking damp out there and that's what was missing. Less than a month old with covers and some scally had decided to have them away. I have my suspicions who it was, but proving it could be interesting. Still I have the serial numbers and if they should ever pop up, I'll be waiting...
So I spent a lovely evening in the company of Southport's finest cops, then with the press guys who had to wait for their images until Ii finished with the cops. We headed to the golden arches for a slap up meal of coffee and ice cream while I sorted the days images needed, with me finally getting home at 2.30am, feeling tired, emotionally and just a little pissed off!!!
All I can hope is that Karma pays the little scrotes a visit and gives them what is due. Meanwhile I'll go back to saying my hail Mary's and being kind to little old ladies until my good karma comes back....hope it'll be there waiting for me in Kettering!!!

Out there...Again

2010-06-07T20:00:00.002+01:00

Oh yes I'm definitely out there! It's been yet another hectic couple of weeks, with me wondering when if ever I'd have time to update the blog! Doh. I've been meaning to be organised and post up accounts of all the happens as they happened, or at least just after however the workload has meant that it hasn't been possible so here I am again playing catch up!!!
So where have I been and what have I been up to??

24 Hours of Exposure

Was that really nearly 3 weeks ago now? Heck! It was the start of a mad whirl of travel, photo, write, travel, photo, write and repeat. In fact this will be going on till at least the end of June.
Anyway back to THAT 24 hours. It was the UK's first National SOLO 24 hour Champs, based in Newcastleton the lesser known of the 7Stanes trails but rapidly finding many fans for those who experience all it has to offer. The organisers Sip Events ( those top people behind the ultra popular and ground breaking Kielder100) crafted a cunning 11km course that made the riders look forward to the fire road climbs for a rest! A true championship course that just brought out the best in everybody. Starting in the village center riders signed on in front of the crowds before heading out to the trails to start the race proper. Everyone who was anyone in the enduro field were there all eager to take the first jersey. Ian Leitch, Matt Page, Anthony White, Rich Rothwell, Josh Ibbett and Rob Dean to name a few. All had been honing their skills and fitness ready for this ultimate test, all had their eyes on the ultimate prize.
It turned into the best 24 hour race I have ever had the privilege to stay up for, and I've been to a few over the years!
The pace was hot, and as the race progressed the temperatures themselves started to blast the end off the thermometers, with 30º record at one point! Youngster Josh Ibbett made the first move leaving the older, wiser riders to play cat and mouse as he sped away. Collective thoughts were that he'd blow, but 12hours later and despite a few forages from the chasing group, Ibbett still led the race looking strong. Just a few hours in and the race had already claimed a few top scalps with both Ian Leitch and Rob Dean climbing off and calling it a day due to viruses and food issues.

Still the unrelenting pace continued and at 1am it looked like scalp no.3 was in the offing as Matt page blew big time, resembling a slow moving nodding dog than the usual smooth peddler, they thought it was all over. However after a good pit stop, some tasty vittles and Page was fired up and moving into a new groove. The chase was on.
Ibbett clung to his lead for 17 long hours until his fast pace finally started to tell and the strong youngster was reduced to a painful crawl as he eked out each and every lap. Page cruised past confident of the win and in his wake Ibbett inching his way to a hopeful podium finish, White came past to snatch 2nd, leaving Ibbett clinging onto 3rd, which he just managed to keep, a well deserved ending and proving the young rider will definitely be a force to reckon with in the coming years.

In the women's race it was rookie Rickie Cotter who smoothly and eagerly pedalled herself into the history books by racking up a well paced 16 laps to take the jersey. Winners now have the option to head for the Worlds, free entry await them in OZ for them to represent the UK on the bigger stage.
Over the course of the 24 hours, the 78 riders who took on this challenge racked up an amazing 10, 600 miles and climbed the total of 57 Everest's between them. Truly an epic race!

The Race is on

After a quick drive home and a day sorting processing writing, it was then time to sort out the kit ready for the Tour Series to kick off. For the second year running I'm the official tog which means I get to traipse the length and breadth of the UK chasing men in lycra, no change there then, well except for the lack of mud and the turn of speed! The first round started at Canary Wharf and I had a cunning plan which entailed getting up at 3.30am driving to Hemel Hempstead and getting a lift in... I'm not that keen on London at the best of times and since I first past my driving test and was made to drive there the day after I'm not that keen on driving there...
So a long old day was being lined up.

Strobist hits Leeds
I finally got home at 3am, after a few head nodding miles and lashing of coffee, ready for a quick burst of sleep before being rudely woken at 7am ready to o to Leeds.
Both me and Dave have been fans of David Hobby aka the Strobist, avidly following his website and taking on board all he has to say. he made a trip to London last year but before you had chance to press refresh all the tickets had been sold, so when it was announced he was coming over again and this time would stop off in Leeds it seemed rude not to, even if it did fall slap bang in the middle of the Tour Series meaning little to no sleep!!
So bleary eyed I headed to Leeds, first stop Starbucks to load up on caffeine ready to face the day.
It was blinding. The guy is amazing and so down to earth! He made it look so easy and straightforward I just wish I'd been more awake!! The day flew by and we both came away inspired with Dave more raring to get stuck in and me more ready to go to sleep!
Hopefully when the Tour Series is over I can spend a bit of time putting to practise some of the tips we picked up!

And there's more

Yep another day at the Tour Series, a short haul this time to Durham, a lovely town that I'd never been too, but always wanted too! So that's that box ticked! The course was brutal. Just over a kilometre that took in a steep cobbled climb with a killer corner at the bottom. Needless to say the race was made at that corner with a crash early on turning the race into a procession.

Then a quick drive home before hardly having time to catch my breath before I headed out to South Wales for the 3rd round of the British Mountain Bike Series.

For the past 8 years this event has basked in tropical temperatures, hot dusty trails, mingling with lung busting climbs makes this one of the best loved circuits of the series, plus I have to say I might be slightly biased as it's right on the family doorstep. I grew up virtually in the shadow of Margam, give or take a valley or two and cut my mountain bike teeth at Afan Argoed way before trail centres had even been thought of. In fact my passion for all things cycling began in Wales with my first cycling club being the Port Talbot Wheelers... ah happy days!

However this weekend wasn't to be one to be remembered with rose tinted glasses....
The rain started around 5am, bouncing off the van roof, making me so glad we've given up canvas. The forecast was heavy rain till 10am, great just in time to kick off the racing, however someone forgot to tell the clouds to kick it in and the rain just came down, and down and down... Okay maybe it would clear up for the Elites? Nope. Masters, Nope. It finally stopped raining just in time for the Team relay and the pasta party!
It was a wet day, a very wet day, on a new course with some interesting sections that had riders, sliding, weaving, riding, tumbling but mostly running down. A few came off worse for wear a few lost their shorts;0) Dave held the brolly while I just mused about how much damage I was doing to me, my camera and the lens... Sigh.. Funny we didn't see too many people out with their cameras...Ah the joy of being a pro...

Come Sunday and we woke to a very different day. Blue skies with a gentle warm breeze, it might have been idyllic if it hadn't been for the scumbags who lifted 15 bikes in the night, in what looked like a well planned raid. Locked bikes were taken from the back of racks and from inside tents leaving many riders to wake up to the sickening realisation that their pride and joy had gone.
Thanks to the demo brands on site who came up trumps and sorted out quite a few riders with replacement steeds for the enduro ride, a brief glimmer of goodness in an otherwise crap start to the day.
The enduro itself was brilliant, the weather behaved all day, with both me and Dave looking like we'd been boiled in the water we got dunked in yesterday.

A long drive home later, saw us get back at 1am, leaving Monday a day for catching up with both sleep and work before getting ready to head out the door for week 2 of the Tour.
For images of the 2 days head over to:
BMBS R3

Big Welsh Weekend

Fawlty Towers

And I'm off again. It's week two of the Tour Series and it's right down south, Portsmouth to be precise. That's a good 5 hour drive for me, so no chance of me coming home especially as Exeter is the next on the list.

The weather wasn't looking good, wet in fact which was a shame. My thoughts were perhaps turning too much to action shots of riders coming down, lots of spray, wet camera, wet photographer. As it turned out although the course was a wee bit damp the rain actually gave up for the race itself which was nice. I'd scoped the course before and asked a couple of riders and decided that all the action would unfold in the two corners either end of the finish/start line. How wrong that turned out to be!

Within laps of the race getting underway there was a major pile up in the back corner, it seems the wide circuit got a little narrower when least expected and riders ended up in the barriers and on the floor. As the race sped past, well those that remained upright and huge group stumbled in behind ready for a lap out, to sort out bikes and riders. A couple of laps in and it happened again and yep I was in the wrong place and the wrong time again!!!

Hayles proved he was rock hard by skating down the circuit on his speedplays cracking his top tube as he went, Elliott left quite a lot of his skin on the circuit as did a few others.
A flurry of activity ensued as I rushed to download the images ready to hit the road to join Endura Racing for a fly on the wall invitation to dinner.
In between laughing I managed to grab a few images of the boys at rest and a plan was made to join them on their ride in the morning. Fortunately for me, having no bike this meant a trip in the car with Bernie following them just in case they punctured. A previous day out had left them out of spares.

In contrast to the previous day we were greeted with blazing hot sun and beautiful blue skies a true short and jersey day. Around 10.30 am they rolled out into the surrounding countryside of Horndean, luckily Rob Hayles being a local lad had a route already dialed so it was a brisk 3 hr scoot in the lanes, occasionally pushing a camera in their faces as they bowled along. A brief but welcome stop in Petersfield for much needed coffee plus a photoshoot of Rob's replacement bike ( at this point he was still riding his cracked frame with a bit of tape on it..)

Then I decided it was time to climb into the boot of the car and get up close and personal with the guys as they rode along. All I can say is that if they don't make it as bike riders I'm sure there's a career waiting for them at Hollywood!!! It was a blast, with them all playing up to the camera letting me taking some great shots as they had fun! Jack pulling wheelies up hill was only overshadowed by Alex doing bunny hops at 30 odd miles an hour and having a blow out!

As soon as it started the fun was over and it was time to head to our next port of call Exeter. For me I had a hotel room waiting for me. Ive been to Exeter quite a few times and I love the place, a buzzing city with some great sights and some top but affordable hotels, so off course my hopes were high, especially as glancing at the hotel address it had great in it. Driving up to it though all thoughts of it being great were quickly dismissed... Tired was one thought, close to a train station was my other... Oh heck. Still I battled in up to the second floor with all my gear and no my hopes hadn't been raised. It reminded so much of Fawlty Towers but without Manuel... The attention to details was superb, I mean the rusty towel rain complimented the chipped tiles and set off the mould lovely, however... I guess this is what they mean by living the dream...
The bed didn't look too promising, an inch of solid mattress separated me from the base and the pillows looked less than welcoming... oh and then there was the privilege of paying to park outside the hotel, I mean come on!!!
In homage to my stay I felt I had to go outside and whip my car with a broken tree branch.... sigh...

The race itself was excellent. the best yet. Exeter certainly knows how to welcome cyclists, with a huge amount of activity going on all day and crowds lining the route eager to see the action. Scoping the course I spotted a couple of folk on a roof and asked the centre manager if that could be achieved. Oh yes, they couldn't be more helpful and after a climb around two roofs I had my choice and made my way to roof 2 for the start shots, wielding the cumbersome 300mm.

After reeling off a few shots it was down the stairs and off into the crowds ready to capture the rest of the action.

The highlight of the day after seeing Exeter from the roof was then heading off to have dinner with the Endura boys, heck they sure can put some food away!
Then it was back to Fawlty Towers before it or I turned into a pumpkin. Setting off Friday morning I finally got home at 2pm and promptly started to feel ill. A rare weekend off followed with me snuffling and sneezing my way through lots of sleeps. Obviously the adrenalin of working had kept me together just in time to get me home and then it all came flooding out, with me leaving a trail of soggy tissues as I went. Hopefully tomorrow when I head out to round 5 the runny nose will have at least dried up, mind you with the rain forecast I'm sure no one will notice as I leave a snail trail round the circuit....
If you want some more in depth reports on the actual series of Tour Series races check out:
Tour Series

For more images check out:
Tour Series Images