Litton Christmas Cracker Fell Race

I haven't ran without least one of the dogs since the Stoney Middleton Fell Race during Well Dressing week, before that I can't remember. But I kept seeing banners for the Litton Christmas Cracker Fell Race when walking the dogs to meet Ali and decided to enter as it was close and looked a great route. On the morning Ali dropped me off to register, an easy process as I had pre entered (fortunately as it had sold out two weeks before the race). Then she parked and her and the boys walked back to see me before the start.

The race starts by going up a road climb, I really missed the cybi power at this point but it was a short climb then back down to the main road where Ali and the boys were cheering me on. We were soon in Tideswell Dale before heading up into the hills. Round to Litton Stack and then we dropped to Litton Mill. I knew the next section would be wet as it had been in Wednesday when I went round the route with the boys. Well it was a lot deeper now, I think if George had been there I would have been carrying him! It was quite fun splashing through and as always stunning. Out at Cressbrook Mill and another Road climb, more missing cybi power. Then up up to the trig point where there was a Christmas tree. But from here it was heading back.

The next bit was downhill, on one off camber bit I managed to slide over but it was a soft landing. The steep downhill into Cressbrook Dale I seemed to lose any ability I had to run downhill but knowing the descent meant I caught a few who had passed me by dropping onto the path while they were still contouring. At the bridge at the bottom there were jelly babies, just what was needed for the climb up Litton Dale.

The last bit is hard as you are nearly at the finish but instead of turning right into Litton you go right and along another muddy path to the road we started on. With impeccable timing Ali was at the road crossing with the boys to cheer me on (they'd been for their own walk) and they had time to get to the finish to cheer me across the line.

The race had a lovely atmosphere and I wasn't last, which I was worried about as there were only two behind me at the Stoney Race. I did miss the boys but could be tempted by some more fell races.

Racing at Channock Chase

A couple of car loads headed down from Garage Bikes to race the winter event at Channock Chase. With someone in most races we had a fab day, not sure cake is the best pre-race prep but I did enjoy my race and I finished 11th. Was very odd racing for only 15km!

The day after I got to see more of Cannock, always nice to ride somewhere new.

Thanks to @Rocketdog for the photo.

Mountain Mayhem 2013

A bit of rearranging of my weekend work and the manager at my new work arranging for me to have a couple of days off after the event meant that I could race at Mountain Mayhem this year. I had been meant to ride there solo last year but then broke my collarbone. After last years mud-fest it was at a new venue so I had no idea what the course would be like. We were also were unsure we had everything we needed as we still haven't got everything unpacked and organised after our move but Ali as always was a star and had basically packed everything herself. We arrived on Friday night and got ourselves set up in an ideal spot, tent and Gazebo up just in time for the rain.

The short story is that everything went better than expected, I lasted the 24hours and amazed myself by winning the event. Trophies were presented by HRH Princess Anne as well!

So back to the race, the morning was spent getting everything set up and before I knew it I was lining up ready to start the run, the start was at 12noon which I much prefer as less hanging round but also a 12noon finish the next days. I started near the front of the run and just took it easy on the way round so people were streaming past me but hopefully I didn't lose too much time but also didn't kill my legs off too much! There was some queuing on the first lap and I came over the line in second place, behind the current European Champion. It had started raining at this point so I grabbed a waterproof and headed out again, I was already spending a lot of time pushing as the course was very up and then down. I was finding that it was hard to eat or drink on the lap. It was during this lap the girl in 2nd went past me and I was down to 3rd, it was early in the race though and I was more worried if I would last the 24hours as I haven't done anything apart from my ten miles commutes recently. I also saw a number of crashes, one guy who obviously had concussion and I crashed on the first descent which left me covered in mud.

Fortunately the rain stopped and the course started drying out, I had swapped onto Ali's bike and her tyres seemed to work a bit better in the mud. I had taken to walking the first descent as I had scared myself when I crashed! In the next few laps I moved into first and started pulling out a small gap. I came in to swap bikes, back to mine as it had lights on and it was going to get dark soon. Al and Sarah from Garage Bikes had arrived with more supplies and to help Ali with support.

During the night I had a couple of bad laps where my eyes kept closing, including having to walk a long section of singletrack so I didn't fall into the lake. My support team were fab and kept me going, force feeding me and making sure I kept drinking. Sarah seemed to really involve bossing me around! The gap to 2nd was staying pretty steady but I was struggling, I was glad when dawn came which sped me up a bit. At some point I got myself a lap lead so I was able to lurk at the end although I was keeping an eye out just in case we had got that wrong. I crossed the line just after the 24hours to be met by Ali, another true team effort as once again she worked as hard as me to keep me going.

(c) Joolze Dymond

I couldn't have done it on my own, lots of people to thank:

• Ali who is the other half of this team, I have a lot of respect who do these events self-supported as I'm not sure I could!
• Garage Bikes who not only got my bike ready, help me out with kit etc also came down after a busy day in the shop on the Saturday to look after me and my bike.
• Work for letting me have the Monday and Tuesday off to recover even though others were already off.
• Cooksons Cycles who helped me so much over the years and helped with getting me and Ali the Superfly's I used during the race.
• All my friends for all the support and putting up with me being 'Amy' and all the fun rides.
• The organisers for an amazingly organised race and the marshalls who cheered and encouraged me throughout the race.

Hit the North 2013

Well what is there to say about this race except how much fun it is. I had been looking forward to it as I have been over to Phillip's Park to ride the new trails a few times recently. I however knew I wasn't particularly fit and had rode home over Parbold Hill on friday since it was such a nice evening. So with the excuses out of the way onto the race!

Ali didn't fancy riding over so we drove down, I kindly put her bike on the car so I would have a spare! Once there I was chatting away so much I was nearly late to the start, oops! Lining up with friends it was only as we set off I noticed it said Elite start. We headed uphill and I worked as hard as I could, still a fair few people went past me. Into the Berms and it was hard work with so many people around me but I held my place, then back up the hill to do the Berms again. I couldn't help but smile my whole way round. Even the Field of Despair didn't reduce me to tears as I knew the Berms were straight afterwards. In fact my only problem was the race was too short, I wanted to keep riding.

Thanks guys for an amazing race!

I finished 4th female and 95th overall.

CSP Cyclo-Cross Waddow Hall

I had been looking forward to this race, for the first time I would be lining up on a start line for a women's only race. Not only had the organiser put on a race for us, despite being told by the league that there was no call for it, he had also ran a number of training sessions. Unfortunately I had only been able to make one of these. On the day I had talked Ali into entering as well, although she wasn't happy with me when I signed her up as apparently she hadn't quite decided. We did a quick lap of the course and hilly and slow going was my impression. It wasn't long before it was time to start, 21 of us lined up, then go. A sprint off the line and I was second heading onto the hill where we were all walking/running. But is wasn't long before Ali came past me.

I was then swapping position with another girl, being caught on the first part of the course, huge hill, but making time up on the downhill, while keeping the same distance behind Ali. Having practised my getting on and off my bike skills I was hopefully of not losing as much time as normal. It turns out I need a lot more practice, what is fine in a field near home is near impossible with my heart rate above 180bpm.

The second half of the course had one muddy techy descent and then lots of corners, I was pleased with my cornering and on the whole avoided braking. At some point Pauline came past me on the hill, running as \I stumbled my way up. My corner confidence led to me sliding off my bike trying to go past Emma still it was only mud.

The race finished after 40minutes, how can 40minutes of riding be so hard, with Ali finishing 3rd. I was in 6th and it certainly showed me I have lots to work on.

It was a fantastic race, Ali said if there was one every week she would race every week, praise indeed frrom someone who doesn't really enjoy racing.

So here's to next years race, or any other organisers who fancy putting on a women's only race.

All pictures are from @sportsunday

Dusk til Dawn

Back in 2010 I raced D2D as a mixed pair. I always meant to go out and ride it solo but when Ali suggested we ride it as a pair this year I jumped at the chance. We headed down on the Friday night to stay at her mum's, unfortunately I didn't do a great job of sleeping but lots of rest lying round in bed reading was had. We headed over to Thetford and managed to find a spot not too far from the arena and went to register. It turned out we were the only female pair so we decided to see how close we could stay to the female teams.

I lined up for the start in the dark and we were soon off, it was a lot less scary than I was expecting, starts at cross races have probably helped with that and I spent the first lap trying not to lose any places and pass people on the fireroad. Coming in I was calling Ali's name, only for there to be no Ali there (I had said the only thing she had to do was not miss changeover) she was only a couple of minutes late and amazingly I wasn't mad at her! She stormed round her lap and it was my turn again, it was turning out to be a cold night and I had a lot of layers on while I was waiting. She asked if I would double lap next time so I went and shoved loads of food down me and got ready to head out. The double lap worked well as I was only really getting warm halfway round. Ali headed out saying she was struggling to eat so I got ready to head out again, but as she came into changeover she shouted she would go round again.

We carried on with double laps and the lead in the unofficial women's race changing between us and the leading women's team. They changed there order but Ali came in from her last lap in the lead so I just pushed as hard as I could to keep our lead. It had been exciting through the night and really made us push ourselves which was good as it can be hard when there is no-one else racing in your catagory.

I really enjoyed the race and hope to do it again. We didn't argue and were well matched so we may even race as a pair again!

Kielder100....take 4!

After finishing this race three times and a promise of a special prize for those who had completed it all four times if they finished this year I really had to enter. I really wasn't sure about my ability to either do the distance or manage it fast enough to make the cut-offs. Ali had targeted it as her main event of the year and had done some good training towards it, although the Olympics had kind of brought a halt to it. I on the other hand had a background of a stay in a Psychiatric ward followed by breaking my collarbone and being off the bike for two months. I had been riding again for nearly two months and back at work which led to lots of commuting miles but there had been very little off-road miles. Riding the MTL with Ali a week before had given me some confidence as I had finished the ride feeling strong and rode most of the descents, it had hurt though.

I spent the week before being my usual annoying and anxious self. But I did get organised and have most of my stuff packed by Wednesday night, still meant I had lots of Ali's to do. Work fantastically let me finish early on the Friday as numbers were down at the school I was at so I was home before Ali, meaning that once she got home (she had finished early as well) I was able to pack the car and we were on our way. We were staying at the Youth Hostel this year so arrived and made our dinner while catching up with Norn and Hannah. At registration we found out my number plate had not arrive, I was meant to have one with my name on due to having finished the event three times, so I had a temporary one in case they didn't arrive.

Arriving at Kielder my only real aim was to get round within the cutoffs I had secondary aims of trying to be as close to 12hours as possible and maybe just sneak onto the podium. Due to having finished every running of the race so far I got to start at the front. This meant I spent the whole of the neutral section and the first couple of hours of the race feeling like I was going backwards while all the fast guys came past me. Ali caught me up just after the neutral section and stayed in front of me for a while, I also knew there were two other females ahead of me but that at least one was a vet. At the cross-over point on the course I went past Ali as she removed a layer and that was the last I saw of her.

I reached the first cut-off point with an hour in hand and was feeling confident, I was descending reasonably well and although hurting nothing was too bad. Turning left to head to Newcastleton I spent most of the rest of the race slowly passing people which helps with moral. I made the last cutoff with an hour to go and knew then I was going to finish as I only had 22miles to go and it would take something major to stop me! Like last year I felt reasonably strong on this section. I traded place with a few lads but on the whole I rode on my own. Heading towards the last descent I realised I was not only going to break 12hours but I might just set a new PB (my previous being 11:55 in 2010). I really enjoy the final descent, so much so I don't even mind the bit of climbing joing the sections of singletrack. I crossed the line with a big smile on my face and realisation I would have to return next year!

Turns out I was 3rd female back but 1st senior female as the other two were vets so I made the top step of the podium. Ali had a fantastic race finishing only 20minutes behind me and 2nd in our category. Which made the podium even more exciting. I finished in 11:52:40 so got my PB and was 132nd overall. So next year hopefully I can avoid hospitals for a while!

Thanks to:

• Cooksons Cycles for the help getting such an amazing bike (Both myself and Ali rode Trek Superflys) and always making sure my bike is in top working order.
• Mikey at Velocake for the peptalks.
• Ali for being fab and looking after me as always even though she was racing as well.
• Work for letting me leave early on Friday and the fact that we are encouraged to travel to where we are working by bike as commuting is where I get all my miles in.
• Everyone else who has kept me going this year.

The Border Raid

With Ali wanting to have another go at the Kielder100 in September I thought The Border Raid in Kielder would be an ideal training event. It's about 55km and heads over the border to Newcastleton and back. It would also be Ali's first race on her new bike. First hurdle was getting here and I managed to wash the bikes and pack most of my clothes Thursday night, there still seemed to be a lot fo faffing on the Friday before we left though. (Friday I hadn't been feeling great anyway and struggled through the day). But we did eventually get in the car and head to Kielder, at this point I was unsure if I would even start the race.

Once here Ali asked me my race plan, a brief pause to think about it I replied "I guess when they say Go, I'll probably just Go". A nice sophisicated plan then.

Morning of the race, up, dressed, breakfast and very Anxious. Still sorted tools etc, camelbaks full of water (you had to carry enough water for the race), then sign-on. Back to the hostel to drop down jackets, up to the start....we were the only ones there so back to sign-on and back to the start to waste some time. We even rode the first bit of the route, which suprisingly was some off-piste singletrack and a little tricky.

Lining up I chatted to a few folks from 24solo, then after a race briefing a man said Go, so I went. Took me a little while to get past Ali who had a fab start and then it was into the singletrack. I managed to ride over all the roots, I have a bad habit of stopping because I am scared. At this point I was first female, not for long though as Julie came alongside me chatted for a while and then pushed on. I could keep her in sight but she was stronger than me uphill and looking good on the downs. I did then pass her again as she had a chain issue but she soon re-passed me. At some point a girl in blue flew past me on a hill as if I was standing still!

We went the opposite way over to Newcastleton than the Kielder100 and all my other rides up here. It was great to ride it a different way and the usual long slog of a fireroad was a stick it in big ring and pedal hard downhill.  Riding down I was thinking my bike was throwing up a lot of gravel, then I realised that it was snow/hail, fortunately it didn't last long as I had decided to just carry a showerproof and not a waterproof. As I started climbing again I thought I heard a shout and looked round, decided I was being silly (it sounded like Ali) and carried on, it was only later I found out it had been Ali so she was pretty close behind me at that point.

Once on the trails at Newcastleton I was having fun, shame we did so little over there. Unfortunately I knew the climb back would be tough but just as I started I saw a flash of blue in the distance, just the motivation I needed. Staying in middle ring I pushed hard up the hill, at the start catching her but by the top no sign. Still I kept pushing and on another climb saw her again. I reeled her in and we got into a downhill section of singletrack, pushing I caught her and she sportingly let me past. I knew she was a better climber than me so on the last hill past the observartory I sprinted, into the final singletrack there was no sign but I kept pushing, found out later I had finished a minute ahead.

Back for a quick shower and just as I was heading to the finish to meet Ali she rode up to the hostel, she had finished 18mins behind me. My time was 3:16 which since I was aiming for sub 4hrs I was chuffed with. Although I was 2nd female as Julie is a vet I won my category, Ali finished 3rd. Not bad for someone who wasn't going to race. I enjoyed it and certainly pushed hard. I only used gels and water and it seemed to work. After we finished we got a nice meal as well, a highly recommended event.