The new toy…..

A spec list:

Some alu frame malarky with a 142mm thru axle rear, DT Swiss XRM 29 15mm thru axle fork, DT Swiss X1800 29er wheels, Formula RX brakes, X0/XT/SLX 2×10 drivetrain, Ritchey cockpit, Sele Italia Q-Bik saddle, Racing Ron up front, Racing Ralph rear.

On paper, it sounds good and for the price paid, a bargain.

How does it ride though? Based on 2 short blasts, a 12 hr race, 2 short blasts and two medium rides, I’d say that it’s some sort of climbing whippet. I made it up short sharp inclines that have beaten me before and breezed up longer drags. Flat out sprints are a strength too – I managed to do my doorstep singletrack loop, which usually takes over 43 minutes (course record – 41.5 minutes) in 37 minutes. Time confirmed by GPS and bike computer too so not some sort of timing glitch.

It’s not perfect though. The saddle is a horrendous brick and getting swapped out ASAP. The grips have already been swapped out for lock-ons and I’m not entirely convinced by the tyres. At the ‘usual’ pressure – rear tyre suffering from multiple deflections off rocks etc. Just under the usual pressure – a sensation of the tyre being about to roll off the rim when cornering.

I’m hoping that the fork beds in over time. It’s pretty good on the bigger hits, a real blast down some of the local descents and great on the doorstep loop. However, it lacks a little something on the smaller impacts. Time will tell. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by my Reba’s, which were plush as hell out of the box and these are a more racey fork. You can feel the stiffness too compared to some forks I’ve used. The 15mm thru axle does make a difference.

The stated 11.2kg/24.7lb weight on the website is a tad optimistic. It was probably the medium they used for that measurement, with helium in the tyres. The reality of the XL is 11.9kg/26.2lb w/o pedals. 26.2lb for a wagon-wheeled, XL sized marathon bike isn’t too bad. Tubeless would trim a bit more off that too.

One last thing. The front mech may be made of cheese-metal and I suspect that the cage had been bent based on some shifting issues going from the 36 to the 22 (cables, adjustment screws etc were all fine). I’ve tweaked it and its functioning again but I’m keeping an eye on it.

So far then, its good but needs tweaks here and there plus a new saddle. Its done about 150 miles/16 hours in the 9 days since I got it and is doing well.

From box to stand to trail.

Another year, another trip to Newcastleton. A different approach this year. A carefully considered use of my training time. Quality over quantity and all that. The bike and camping/weather issues in the run up aside, things were going to plan. A solo 12 is well within my abilities, I just had to make sure that my mind was in the right place and that I did the right things….that I rode my own race and ignored everyone else as much as I could. That I paced myself and didn’t upset my annoying back.

Going back a bit though, things had been looking iffy. The long range weather forecast of stupid-cold had put Team Doig off camping. Sub zero temperatures will have that effect on the resolve of people. The bike issues were detailed elsewhere. CRC failed to send a bit of kit in time (maintaining their 50/50 success/fail rate for orders at the moment by having kit ordered Tuesday pre-order-cuttoff still not arrive by Friday’s post….) However, Wednesday saw a couple of good omens – the successful booking of a B&B 15 minutes down the road and the arrival of my new bike a week before it was expected……

Saturday was a typical Team Doig rush out of the door, 40 minutes late but luckily I had arranged for someone to register me if I wasn’t there in time. We would have been, if there wasn’t a puking-child issue 10 minutes from Newcastleton which delayed us slightly. We rolled in at 10:02 and caught 99% of the rider briefing. My timing chip had been left with friendly faces and collected post-briefing. Time for brief chats then a rush to get kitted up and down to the village centre. The only thing I forgot to do was apply some minty arse lard but I sorted that later.

Back to the present. After a mad rush, I was on the starting line and getting ready to go. All doubts were gone, there was no point to having any as it was too late. Time to ride…………

Keeping all the above in mind, for the first four laps I:

- Rode my own race
- Ignored everyone else as much as I could
- Paced myself
- Kept my back in check (it started to act up but I countered it with on-bike stretching and out-of-the-saddle climbing to extend it)

At some point during lap four, it hit me: this was all going according to plan.

There were minor niggles. My back needed a little tweaking during the first half of each lap and there were a couple of times when I came in to find the pit empty and no Team Doig support but that’s the joys of keeping a kid occupied – the kids event in the village centre went on a bit and the on site swimming pool was only open for limited periods.

All said and done though, things were looking good.

My lap times were consistent and in the region of the mid-table mediocrity I was aiming for – approx 1 hr 30 for each of the first four laps (stoppage time extends them on the actual timesheet but riding time after four laps was 5 hrs 55 or so according to the bike computer) – and I felt strong. Barely any tiredness and powerful climbing as the laps ticked by. I flatted on lap four and lost a chunk of time sorting it, but I kept calm, fixed it and set back off. No histrionics.

The end of lap four saw some hot food consumed, a little stretching to keep the back extended and lap 5 commenced roughly on schedule. On the previous four laps, the initial section of the course had been the cause of any back issues but this time out, it was fine. Maybe the pre-emptive ibuprofen was finally kicking in.

I had spoken too soon. Lap four’s optimism turned into a mess of pain emanating from the base of my back and no amount of stretching and flexing would shift it. The second half of the lap, usually the easy, smooth part, was turning into a mare of pain and discomfort. I rolled in 15 minutes behind my previous pace and slumped into the camping chair.

Deja vu? I was hoping for a glitch in the matrix……

Sums were done – the hoped-for seven laps were now outside the realms of probability as there wasn’t enough time. Still lots of time for a sixth though but that wasn’t the point at this moment.

There was talk, analysis, attempts made to avoid having to write cliche’d nonsense about trying to dig deep and so on but at the end of the day, my back hurt. Lots. Mrs Grant summed it up pretty well – “if you go back out, you’ll probably just make things worse.”

So, I binned it. Shit happens. I got four good laps (and a crap fifth) in and everything generally went to plan until that damn back popped again. I had gained places every lap and climbed slowly up the standings by a handful of riders – 38th, 35th and then 32nd after lap 5. At the end of the race I had only dropped down a little and stood in 34th place in the provisional results.

I’d clearly not got it sorted out enough, but there is a question to be asked here – why does it get so bad here? I can knock seven, eight, nine hour MTB rides out back home and have minimal issues (which made me think it was better) but I come to Newcastleton and boom.

I don’t know.

A year to the next time then, lots of lessons from previous years applied, the right kind of training found at last and applied successfully.

A year to sort my bloody back out, work on this fitness and get even better.

A year to break into that top 30 and maybe just edge that little bit higher.

Shouldn’t be that hard?

[Jinxed!! ]

From my last post:

Luckily any issues have arisen well in advance of Newcastleton, not with a couple of weeks to go (and with a shedload of public holidays in the way) like last year.

Can you see the point where I jinxed it?

So, hammering round on Tuesday in advance of meeting James, I hop a log that I’ve hopped a hundred times since I made that trail but this time I slam the back wheel into the log, at a slight angle too. The result?

A pringled wheel and a snapped skewer.

I start walking home, meet James coming the other way then meet up with the rescue car.

Wednesday night after work is a blur of activity, getting the spare wheel sorted out and fitted, but its done and Thursday’s training ride can still happen. Funny though, the shifting feels slightly off……

Thursday comes and after a run in with an idiot at the top roundabout in a red corsa type car, complete with trophy jailbait in the passenger seat, I hit the trails and the shifting just feels worse and worse. I stop, start tweaking it and it remains crap. After 30 mins of this, I give up and head home.

I stick the bike in the stand and decide to fix it now, to allow me to ride without hassles the next day. A quick scan of the drivetrain in the stand immediately reveales the issue – the rear mech is twisted.

I don’t have a spare SRAM mech, so I have to hit the Shimano pile and retrieve the XT from the Kinesis remains (sold the frame last week). Of course, this needs a corresponding shifter too so I track down the SRAM Attack shifter from the pile. New cable and outer would be a good idea, so I get the new set from the box. I used some for the front mech I fitted days ago, but surely there would be enough for the rear…….

Nope. Its 2 inches too short (full outer….) Damn. The old outer is retrieved, washed out and fitted. I thread the cable through the shifter pod and it goes through first time. Trust me, this is a rarity with SRAM shifter pods….

It’s only 8pm so I decide to head out for a blast to make sure its all working. It appears to be. I manage to relax as I eat dinner.

Friday hits and I’m able to squeeze in a proper ride after the school spring concert. I decide to stick the spare front wheel on the bike too – the wheels need to match you know – and head off.

The first half of the ride, the bike behaves and I’m smiling but suddenly the front mech starts to stick and there’s a bit of chain skipping.

Baws. Its merely annoying though and the rest of the ride is fine. Saturday I ride the road bike.

Saturday night is a flurry of wheel building activity as I stick another rim and new spokes on the trashed wheel.

Sunday, ride with James and the skipping gets worse through the ride and the mech is still sticking in spite of being attached by GT85. I track the skipping down to the rear wheel slipping a little and seem to get it sorted, just in time for the ride to end. Plans are made for a second chain tug on the NDS. The front mech is still sticking…..

So, there you go. One mess after another. Things can only get better from now on.

Has anyone seen the weather forecast for Newcastleton?