IG Nocturne London Bike Show

I signed up to compete in both the Fixie track bike race and the Elite Women's race for the IG Nocturne at the London Bike Show. I didn't realise that they were back to back!!

It was a big night for my team, the MuleBar Girls, it's quite rare that we can actually manage to get all of us together, so I was fully committed. I was already at the show on my AnaNichoola stand and getting two bikes there was a complete logistical nightmare! Luckily the snow wasn't too bad at 8am and Mummy G managed to drive us there with both bikes in the boot.

I was just about to leave to go and sort out my Mongoose Maurice in time for the race, but a big potential customer turned up so I couldn't walk off the stand. After an hour I said my "thank you goodbye" and ran over to my buddies at Madison.

"I need handle bars!!"

"Here you go"

"can you fit them for me please?"

"OK"

Then I ran over to my buddies at Hope

"I have flat tyres"

"I'll fix it you go and get changed"

"Thank you"

Three Mulebar Gels got me buzzing!

I put my skinsuit on for the first time in ages and ages, gutted to see that I'd got fat :-( Holding my tummy in I ran back to get my bike from Hope, ran to get signed on, met our photographer for the night, made him run with me, signed on, ran back to my stand to get my number put on, ran back to the course, did a lap and we were ready do start! I kicked back to stop and SNAP! something happened and my pedals no longer moved the bike forward. I ran away from the start, back to the pits, V ran around shouting for tools, I sat on the floor and said I didn't care anyway, Sarah ran somewhere and came back with a tool and turned my wheel around, I jumped back on my bike, got to the start
3...2....1...go!

Fixing the bike. Remembered to take the wrapping paper and  baubles off pre-race too!

Holy Moly I was in the tiniest gear ever!!!! I was doing rollapaluza, basically spinning my nuts off and going nowhere! My face looked red to explode and I had sympathy cheers the whole way round. That's what kept me going.

Mongoose Maurice

I finished, I was buzzing.

I ran back to my stand, changed my number, ran back to the track centre, changed my pedals onto my mums road bike, ran to find a helmet to borrow, ran to the start line
3...2...1...go!

I'd missed it, I was soooo close! Almost in tears the organiser spotted me

"take your number off, you won't count officially, but jump in"

:-)

I raced my legs off, pulling out with 3 to go because I got cramp. The nice Italian fixie girl helped me stretch it out and then I ran to the finish line to cheer on my team.

Louise was on her cross bike with juddery brakes.

Natalie was on a borrowed bike from Hope.

V was on her Winter bike with mudguards.

The snow had messed things up you see.

Sarah, me and Jimmy stood on the finish line and shouted for Lou until we were nearly sick! A storming ride from High Wycombe CC's Clemence Copie meant first was in the bag and the bunch sprint was for second and third place. Screaming we saw Lou come out of the final corner in third place behind Alice Barnes and she help it until over the line.

It was a wicked evening with the team, I've totally got the bug for crit racing again, can't wait to get fit and do some more races during the season! I loved being with the girls, the support for each other was phenominal.

blah blah blah

A massive thank you to the London Bike Show and IG Nocturne for putting this race on, it showcased the level and commitment of women's racing, all the girls who managed to get there some way or other despite the snow and everything against them. More please!

xx

Cobble Wobble

There was a very steep hill in Frome, that was wet, slippery and cobbled. The race to the top was as much about skill as it was about power.

Photo by Juan Trullis

There was a chicken snowman, a unicycle, a star-studded line up and a festive crowd of spectators. The focus was as much about christmas as it was about getting to the top as fast as you can.

Photo by Juan Trullis

I dunno how I did, different people told me different things. I don't care how I did, I tried my hardest then partied with my best friends and team. The MuleBar Girls.

Photo by Juan Trullis

Photo by Juan Trullis

 I woke up with sore legs and a sore head.

More BMX

So basically, I'm trying to make this blog as something people can follow to see the progression of a beginner on a BMX. I'd love to read about someone starting out and see where they're at a few years on. So this may be interesting in a few months to look back on, and then in a few years...

Last weekend I went to a girls session at Motion Skatepark. I LOVE GIRLS SESSIONS!!! It was totally inspiring to ride with MTB legends Manon Carpenter and Katy Curd who were both ripping it up. 4 cross rider Jess Greaves was dropping in on her first time on a BMX and the other girls were also pushing themselves. There was a bit of a comp. Manon shredded and got first, Katy shredded too and got second, the rest of us rode around awkwardly. I ended up with third place, but honestly, it was just pot luck, I didn't actually do anything! Kara did the wall ride, she was the only girl I saw do it, I was impressed with that.

Still it was super good fun. We went for dinner together and then with full stomachs rode with the park to ourselves until 10pm. I hope something like that happens again soon.

Fitting this new hobby into normal life is tricky, but I've been determined to make it possible. Monday I headed to Horsham for a night-ride session, but when we arrived at 9pm the joy of an empty park was soon understood and disappointed by the realisation that no-one was riding because it was so icy.

After a bit of faffing we headed to Crawley where we had an hour until the floodlights turned off. I had to go through the whole process of a new park again: feeling shy, intimdated, self-conscious and not sure what to try and ride. I made my buddy stick with me like glue and we went to session the Box.

THE BOX
I've had experience on a box before, doing a stunt tour in Scotland on a mountain bike. I never, ever felt truly comfortable on it, combine that with a smaller, twitchier and less forgiving bike, I still feel uneasy. I rolled it a few times, getting more confidence each time, not bothering to try and get air. I got used to the roll in and then started having fun. In a chilled and relaxed environment I found it really, really fun and enjoyed the air time, focusing on going slower and trying to pump more. I was clearing it by the end and even tweaking the bike a bit (In my head I was doing badass tabletops)

NOSE MANUALS

On the way back to the top of the roll in each time there was a little flat bank thing and I was told to try nose manualling it. As it was so short you got to the end quite quickly, but it was a nice little move.

AIRING THE COPING

This has been my bug bear for the last few weeks. I've been harping on and on about in, blah blah blah. But I know until I'm confident airing out I'll never get the speed for other stuff in parks that i want to clear or ride. I've been getting the hang of it. Both wheels are definitely coming out a couple of inches, not every time, but it's getting there. On Tuesday night at Bay66 I was just riding the bowl back and forth trying to get higher and higher, but sort of lost concentration. I've been doing it so much I forgot to focus on exactly what I needed to do. So, I think I let my back wheel land on the flat at the top and it bucked me over the bars straight onto my face! I was winded and doing that "huuu huuu huuu" thing you do when you can't breathe, but it was fine really. 

I've spent the rest of the week having polite people tell me there's something on my chin, and impolite people just looking at me funny.

Fitter Further Faster

It's been a busy week over in Anna Land, and as usual i can't really remember what happened.

There was a mad- dash for a train wearing heels and pushing my bike. Everyone on the platform told me I wasn't allowed on, but i ignored them, kept running, twisted my ankle, got my jacket stuck in my back wheel and then was pushed onto the train by one staff guy, who was like "just get on here" into the disabled carriage. The train left, the conductor found me with my bike not in the bike carriage and made me sit with my bike, on the floor all the way to Crewe. As I had a first class ticket she brought me my special treats and tea to consume like a picnic on the floor. It didn't feel very first class.

I was going to Revolution in Manchester, it was a sell-out event, but I managed to blag some tickets in exchange for AnaNichoola goodies, because I had a very special reason for being there...JOANNA ROWSELL Olympic Gold Medallist and World Champion was wearing my gloves. I had a custom gold pair made for her and I was stoked that she wore them at Revolutions and then high-fived me when she rode past!!!
I had my photo taken with her and got all star-struck even though I knew her before a little bit. I honestly was so flustered and so honoured! Thank you Jo!

Joanna Rowsell and her Gold Bow-Peeps and her biggest fan!

Then I went partying with my teamies and got drunk, the usual story. The plan was to then spend a few days in the Lakes riding. On the first road ride we did (35miles taking us about 6 hours) my pedal fell of with 8 miles to go. I put my pedal in my pocket and with Rebecca cheering me on, relentlessly happy, I rode like a hero for 8 miles, and even though my leg was SCREAMING with pain it was actually very, very fun.

We sacked off our MTB ride in the sleety snow the next day and did some bike shop visits. had a really nice time meeting WheelBase and learning about their dedicated women's section.

My friend Steve threw a party last night, he's opened his own shop and it is lushhhh. beautifully designed, thought-out and with welcoming and knowledgable staff I reckon it's one of those shops that's about to revolutionise the future of bike shops. A sort-of drop in store where you could whittle time away with a cake and coffee and get absorbed in cycling and it's world.

My friend Rebecca has written a book, I'm super proud of her. It's available to order here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fitter-Further-Faster-Sportives-Riding/dp/1408832615/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354885579&sr=8-1
and is a comprehensive guide on how to prepare for your first sportive and mass participation road events. Get fit, get a good time, be confident amongst other riders and go for it!

MuleBar Girls giving a thumbs up to Fitter Further Faster

Meeting the girl in the crowd in the photograph on page 4

Author Rebecca Charlton with a pouting Alex Dowsett signing the book

RedBull FoxHunt

It's been a quieter and more relaxing couple of months since The Cycle Show ended, but suddenly some filming was upon me. The Red Bull FoxHunt was too good an opportunity for us to miss and it sounded right up my street!

Mongoose rushed through the delivery of my new Slayton trail bike, Hope sent some custom coloured parts, Continental set me up with some ideal tyres and Oakley hooked up my 2013 googles and suddenly most of my year's sponsorship was with me in the space of a week! I panicked. How to set up my new bike?! Well, when I got home after watching Twilight 3 with Rebecca (Bella should have picked Jacob, but then again he could do sooo much better) The Elves* had been in and my bike was pretty much set and ready to go!! Magic!

I set my alarm for 3 am Sat morning and flew to Belfast. I hate flying, but as I was working I had to stay off the wine and the valium. On such a short flight the upness and downess of the plane is sickening. I heard my cousin's words of wisdom in my head "It has to go down, or else it'd stay up, then what'd you do? Stay in the sky forever?!" She's clever my cousin. It helped.

I remembered how much I love the TV crew as soon as I arrived, bear hugs, hair ruffling and instant belly laughing, it's really the dream team!

By @Adamheayberd

First up was my interview with MTB heart-throb Gee The Fox Atherton, who is even more lovely in real life. Foxes aren't quite as impressive as warewolves, or vampires for that matter, but if Gee had supernatural powers he'd be right up there in the human/creature sexiest Top 10.
OK I stumbled over my words a couple of times, but I swear to god it wasn't because the camera man was making suggestive eye-contact over Gee's shoulder at me when I was trying so hard to act cool, I just forgot my questions a bit as there were loads of them!

My slayton got put straight to use after that cycling around Belfast City. (The new titanic centre has had over 500,000 visitors since it opened in April!) It was a long but fun day, ruined only by staying in Faulty fucking Towers. Yes, I'll name and shame. The Lansdowne Court was so bad I demanded a taxi and new hotel at 11pm. (Bear in mind, I live in a basement with no heating, no hot water and woodlice for company, I am NOT a diva....imagine how bad it was!)

So feeling pretty tired it was Race Day Sunday...and it was Ace of Spades. It's going to be a really cool feature so I won't give too much away, other than that it was a mudfest. A few things to note:
- Gee started mid field, so I don't really understand why it was called a Foxhunt where the game was to try and not get caught by the Fox. The Fox didn't catch me, nor did I finish ahead...?!...However EVERYONE bloody loved it, and I'm not a stickler for rules, so I'm gonna let it go (ish) and just love the fact that I raced, en-masse, down a super greasy, muddy hill in Northern Ireland. Happy days.

By @Adamheayberd

Also, I was cold at the end but we had more filming to do. Then, as we were scrambling up a hill in the undergrowth the guy ahead of me kicked a wasps nest!!! I freaked the fuck out, squealed and ran back down the hill, tripping on a bramble and tumbling over. Convinced the wasps had swarmed and followed me I threw my hands over my head and waited. They hadn't. This wasn't caught on camera and not only that, No-one believed me as they hadn't seen the wasps. But here's the evidence: I warmed right up. If there hadn't been a wasps nest how would I have had such an adrenaline spike to make me really warm? Huh? Yeah....Exactly.




*Elves = Amazing Big Brother

Learning BMX, week 5

Getting Air....take 2

After thinking I got a little bit of air out the miniramp at corby I went to Bay66 and realised I was still terrified and not really doing it right. I've got to a nice point in the skatepark now where some people know who I am and are friendly and encouraging and understand what I'm trying to do and give tips and advice. I was still struggling and got frustrated.

Mongoose fixed me up a little meeting with my new teamie, James Ivett. I was a bit like "woah, I'm gonna have to ride in front of a proper rider" But when he turned up with a big grin and even bigger high-5 I was chilled. James is very cool, fun and funny and took me away from the little quarter to the big section of the bowl "yeah, its scarier, but it's easier" He gave me some tips, and, keen to reward my new tutor I tried to absorb what he said and put it into action. When I head little "yay"'s coming from the boys on either side of the bowl I knew I was getting it. I grinned whilst I was riding. Here's what he said:

- don't jump with both wheels at the same time, it's like a vertical bunny hop, front then back
- don't jump too early, wait to feel the bump of the coping with your front wheel and bounce off it
- don't jump too late or you'll travel forward onto the deck and that's when bad things happen
- Muscle memory will eventually kick in so you won't have to think of these things in the future

Here's what I thought of myself:

- if I did it about twice in a row I would suddenly remember what I was doing, panic and put my foot down the next time
- I looked at the coping to make sure my front wheel went over it, and as soon as it did, turned my head back down looking at the ramp. That meant I didn't see how high (or in my case not high) I went. This is weird, it's good because you don't get to be scared but it's strange because you don't feel that you go in the air so you have to rely on people telling you.
- Once I'd had a few good and bad go's I didn't want anyone giving me more advice, I just wanted to be left alone to practice

Little metal bar....I hate you!

I've got this brand new, LUSSSSSHHHHH BMX from Mongoose.
I ride bikes, but I'm not super into them really, as in, as items. I've had an old BMX for ages, but I rarely get it out and for something so small I found it heavy and cumbersome. So when the new one arrived I wasn't sure what it would be like, I couldn't see how something with no gears, no suspension and minimal other variables could feel much different. But it so badly did!!! It felt amazing, it was like, responsive and happy and free.

I was itching to go and went to the skatepark with some guys a couple of times. Even though the bike felt right, something was wrong. Normally when I'm on a bike I'm super playful, confident and don't stop moving, but at the skateparks I was not my normal self, I was shy and needed constant reassurance from my mates. If you have never been to a skatepark, let me explain. They are the most intimidating places In.The.World. Only one person can ride at a time and so everyone who isn't riding is stood around watching and waiting for you to finish so that they can go. Combine an automatic stage with being a beginner and then with being the only girl in the place, it's a recipe for self-conscious overload. I was riding stiffly and way below what I knew I should be capable of.

So, when a friend Juliet invited me to Corby for a session I jumped at the chance. She's a relative beginner too, but competent and keen. Arriving with her and watching her just plough on in and get stuck in gave me sooo much confidence. When a few more girls arrived later I couldn't have been more stoked, I felt I deserved to be there, I wanted to learn, I was inspired and the Old-Anna came back. I rode solidly for 4 hours, I took loads of tumbles, but I could feel myself learning and came up smiling every time.

What did I want to learn? I had a long list that I'd discussed on the train, I wanted to do the rhythm section, the spine, and ultimately....air out of a quarter.
The Rhythm Section
I rode it several times, yeah, I cased every single jump, but fuck it, I rode it and was in control, just need to get a bit better.
The Spine
I had a massive crash on a spine about a year ago, it resulted in me landing on my coccyx, losing my vision for 2 minutes and being terrified, and going to hospital in an ambulance to have my back checked out. I have a big fear of spines, and to be fair, lots of people do, they're very scarey. But I looked at this one and had a stern word inside my head, it's something I know how to do, I went through the motions and told myself to go for it. I crashed a few times, mostly half on purpose as I was too scared to commit and then...I did it!!! and then I did it again and a couple of times more. And it felt so cool. I don't feel like I "own it" yet, but, I will do.
Airing

If you can't air out of stuff in a skatepark you're screwed as you're trapped below the build of it, you can't get speed to link stuff together, you can't do tricks, it's fundamental. I've talked about it a lot, and had a good long chat with Juliet about it too. It was good being with someone who is capable of the thing, but new enough to remember what it felt like to not be able to so it. She could really break it down for me, she watched me, I watched her and then in the end there was nothing else to do but practice. I slowed myself down, took control of my speed and my timing, I could feel the technique coming. So, a few times I looked right at that coping and heard Juliet in my head saying "just go with it" I let my front wheel feel the tiny bump of the metal bar and turned my bike in the air back into the transition. I can't have ever been more than an inch over, and I never felt like "wow, that was a lovely, smooth feeling" I felt awkward, but the barrier is broken and I can't wait to keep going back and trying to get a bit bigger and then a bit bigger again.


So, I had the best day ever, I was broken and battered on the train home but happy as Larry. I feel like it's OK to be in the skatepark now, I wanna spend all the grotty winter days riding my BMX. I think this will give me such good base skills that when it's Summer again it will put me in good stead for bike handling on my MTB. I'm actually really excited about the coming Winter months.....