Big Ring's Big Site

Thetford again !!!

      After spending the winter racing around Thetford i cant say i was really looking forward to going back there so early in the season especially when its dry and soooo fast.I have trained real hard for this race and with some encouraging results from other races i was going into this race hoping to break into the top 10.

First of all ive just got to say what a brilliant weekend, you guys really are missing out on some fantastic racing at these events but then again i know you have all got to concentrate on the Rocko timetrials.

Racing at Thetford is in my opinion the hardest there is, everyone can go fast, there is no place to rest, the "whoops "constantly punish your whole body, then theres the famous Thetford hills which after 2 hrs of racing balls out seem like the Alps to some .......me well i really enjoyed myself, Coach Carls training regime seems to be paying off ,i cant remember the last time i was able to race this hard for so long if ever.I dont ususally get a good result at Thetford in the Nationals and maybe my 15th place on Saturday doesnt seem too spectacular but the way i done it, the people i beat and how close i was to the ever elusive top 10 (if i didnt crash 3 times on lap 3 id have been even closer) gives me so much cofidence for the rest of the series (if i can drop people on thetford climbs bring on Scotland etc etc).

Carl himself raced aswell saturday in the Experts and was a dissapointed 29th afterwards talking to him i think he felt a little out of place after being away from racing for 4 years and it showed in his riding he knows he can go alot better and maybe with some hills in the next round and some more confidence he'll blast his way up the results sheet.

But the result of the weekend for me goes to my daughter Hollie who decided on saturday night she wanted to ride the 25k womens race on the sunday. i was pretty worried for her as she hasnt really had alot of expierience racing and the course contained a masive bomb hole with a near verticle entry and exit which ithought she wouldn'nt be able to ride as id seen the day before many people getting off and practically having to fall into the hole just to get round. But i took her to see it before the race started and before i could give her any advice she was in, around the technical bit in the middle and out the other side absolutely brilliant. Hollie went on to complete 2 full laps and finished 7th only seconds behind 6th place who was a lady from the RAF and had been following Hollies wheel all the way round only to come past on the last bit (bloody roadies) .At 14 years old Hollies riding skill are fantastic  and if she continues to work on her fitness she will be a star i guarantee...... watch this space .

As for me i tootled round the 100k enduro for a cool down (yeh right) and finished 17th practically dead.Tom was there as well and done the 50 k finished about 40th i think, didnt see him afterwards to ask if i went ok. Some time over the weekend Stu Knubley turned up and screemed round the course for 6th place in the open class.

Must go time to train!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

PRA LOUP FRANCE ..AUG 26-SEP1

I am again doing the world masters champs in France ,this time as of now im going on my own,i will be driving down on the 26th and coming home on the 1st ( the day after the race).Pra Loup is pretty un heard of as far as Mtb but i can assure you there are miles of brilliant trails (with lifts) .If i book soon a chalet in resort will cost about £400 for the week and can sleep up to 8.

I have already entered the race and am definately going .so i have room for two others if anyone is interested let me know .

If someone else can drive and we can fill up the chalet obviously this makes everything cheaper.

 Last year we had a hotel room and spent under £450 for the whole trip including fuel and food.

The racing itself is pretty much top notch with opening and closing ceremonies,  fireworks,discos (or as the french say "dancings")but ANYONE can enter!! 

OK i know its their choice but i want to see the best and most talented riders in the world fight it out  for the best two races in the world.Sadly none will be at either the TOUR or the GIRO .So i'm not interested ..Knobs!!!

9 laps and a world of pain.

I personally think sundays race was the hardest one i've EVER done, what made it so hard,the speed!. From the gun the speed was amazing and if you let up you got dropped or passed, now i'm used to doing flat out for 2 hours but 4.5 hours really hurt mentally as well as physically.

I had an eventful start to the race, after showing off my new steed it then started to fall apart on the way to the start line, first of all the left side crank arm fell off, then as i was trying to get it back on with a bit of hand thumping a spoke broke.Luckily the guys at Salsa racing were able to help in fitting the crank arm back on without a spacer that should not of been there in the first place, the broken spoke was just removed and i limped hesitantly back to the startline.

Whilst waiting for the gun i noticed Luke Smith was not there which meant second place overall was now up for grabs. Billy (wizz) Whenman was for sure going to take first spot so 2nd place was going to be a 3 way fight between myself Adi Scott and John Warnock.      

 The race started exactly as i thought it would with Adi and John leaving me for dead but i didnt panic, it's a four hour race i kept telling myself  just settle down get a rhythm and slowly you will bring them back.With the course being so dry the pace was fast and as early as the second lap i started having doubts about whether i would last at such a high speed, but if i was suffering then i knew a few others would be as well . Then i passed John who had snapped his chain and this lifted my spirits considerably.I upped the pace for a few laps and then settled back to a more comfortable pace thinking i wouldnt see John again my thoughts turned to Adi.I know Adi is damn fast at Thetford only in the last two rounds he was let down by his strength, i could only hope this would happen again as i  was tiring and couldnt lift the pace to chase him down, i was then re-caught by John who must of put in an amazing effort he then passed and then put 200 meters into me, i did panic mentally but i managed to keep it under control and steadily brought him back on the climb to the finish line .The effort he put in to get back to me then started to show as i started to cruise as i was following him so i moved to the front upped the pace and started to pull away .By this time i would usually catch Adi but he ws nowhere to be seen so i just had to go as hard as i could and hope there would not be too many places between us .As the four hour mark approached i was unsure whether i would make it round in time for another lap, i dug deep again and crossed the line with 14 seconds to spare.I knew i couldnt be caught from behind but i had to push on in case i could make up any more positions, the last lap nearly killed me i was totally exhausted and at times i thought i was'nt going to make it round but one last effort and i finished i literally collapsed over the front of my bike. 4th place, was it enough.

The last lap was the most important one of the whole series unbeknown to me George Budd had crossed the line with two minutes  to spare in front of me but chose not to do another lap so this meant with me doing the last lap elevated me from 5th to 4th on the day (cheers George) also giving me another 5 points.

So and this now gets tricky, the overall , Billy Joe won no disputing that, but then this happened the organisers announced that me and Adi had tied on 410 points each but because Adi had achieved the best position he was awarded 2nd and me 3rd i was too tired at the time to even think about points and positions but and its a bloody big BUT today i checked out the positions and points and this is what i found

Best three results from four to count

Adi's best 3...... 2nd.....145pt..3rd.....140pt......6th....125pts...total....410pts

My best 3..........3rd......140pt..3rd....140pt......4th.....135pts...total...415pts

Sorry Adi but unless im wrong and i dont think i am you owe me a second place trophy.i have emailed the orgainsers and hopefully they will agree with me and get it sorted out in the mean time please check out the score yourselves and tell me if i'm right or wrong!!

Check this out ,its my freind Neils vineyard in Stellenbosch SA ,for those of you who like wine its the most fantastic place on the planet.

It also makes the best wine in the world the Merlot cabernet franc is wonderful as is the Pinot Noir .For the white wine taste bud the Viognier is a classic.

 If you see anything you fancy once a month i will be placing an order with a secret supplier give me a shout and i can get you some to try most bottles work out to be about £10 each which in my opinion is an absolute steal.

So check out Neils web site www.zorgvliet.co.za  choose some wine (the more i order the cheaper it gets) and let me know what you would like.

You wont be dissapointed!

I met up with Jp this morning (i was up !) and done the club run  during which i went back to sleep again .There is no way i can ride that slow again for 3 hours without being admitted to the genral in a coma. So i think i should start up a satdy morning ride for those who can ride at more than 10 miles an hour .Must be someone out there......... hello ......anyone.....

How are you 

         just a few notes just to say hello and what ive been upto, the weather is hot im not goingto tell you how hot cause itll piss you all off too much just say ive never ever ridden in temperatures like this , my week or so here has been pretty hectic the day after i landed i rod in a 100k road race through the local national park ,the next two days ispent just cruising about for a couple of hours ,then i joined up with 10 others who were doing a 4 day training camp to prep for the cape epic the days went like this ;

day 1  120 km 2550m climbing 6 hrs

day2  100 km  2000m climbing 5 hrs

day3  140km  3500m climbing 7.45 hrs riding (we were actually out for over 11hrs)

day 4 100 km 1500m climbing 4 hrs .

  some days the heat was recorded at 47deg   so this made it pretty difficult  but the rides were all about endurance so there was no fast stuff but i still had to be first up EVERY hill '

 I'll be thinking of you all when im doing the christmas dinner on the braii ( bbq)

     later lloyd

 Folowing on from my last statement it went like this ,

      i was on a real tight schedule hence only doing the masters race that said looking around it was a very competitive field

slowly slowly first lap as always (must try harder) came through in about 8th place but could see all but leader all the time second lap moved easily into 2nd place. 3rd lap is where the fun started ,i caught the leader about half way round on a hill climbing very well now i know this guy from racing in the nationals and other races and i also know that if the track aint flat and straight hes absolute crap so i tailed him very easy for a while,bad mistake should of went straight past him... hey ho . picked my point to overtake on a fast down hill where i knew i would be much faster, as i was pulling along side him he veered violently to the right, into my path only my reactions saved me from a very high speed crash but also sent me flying off course through hedges bushes trees and such, it was all i could do just to hang on untill the undergrowth stopped me .the only way back on to the course was bak along the track id just ploughed through as i was pushing back up the hill 2nd place also went past and then 3rd.i managed to catch 3rd just before the line and set about having words with the twat who won .his only respone was a sarcastic smile........ if only my daughter was not by my side

 I WAS going to win this race as far as im concerned he cheated but looking back now i should of went earlier then he wouldnt of had a chance but you the jury must decide.......

A............... racing incident ....or:

B...............cheating twa* who needs knocking out next time i see him 

when things get a little tough when your on your bike and you want to quit  just remember this man . http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb/2007/oct07/croctrophy07/?id=results/croctrophy0710

right ive got a  full tank of diesel and a whole saturday to ride ....

1.  where shall i go

2. who wants to come ( can accomadate two more in my van three at a push)

3. should Jack shave off his tash ?

Can we trust any of them......,well can we !!!! these guys are peoples heros and this is how they repay them Vinokorov is absolutely worshiped in his home country and all over the world and now its all been destroyed how do we trust any of  them,check out velonews.com for videos Rasmussen looks guilty as hell like a rabbit in the head lights. WANKERS!!!