We’re now pushing 300 miles / 30 hours of saddle time into this new relationship and things are improving after the slightly shaky start. The fork is slowly getting better after some pressure/rebound tweaks. Running it softer (10-20psi below the recommended pressure) helps but there’s still some mediocre small hit performance. Certainly lots less than a few weeks ago though.

The rear tyre is not the best fit for Fife conditions. In Thursday night’s bone-dry trailgasm, it was spot on most of the time, but on the other 95% of rides where conditions aren’t as perfect, its a sketchy nightmare. Maybe I’ll try and pick up a Nobby Nic or such like or swap over the Ardents from the Scandal.

Still bedding in then. Still getting in some proper saddle time.

Waiting for that moment when it all clicks….

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.

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!! ]

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?

Been a bit quiet recently, so heres some waffle for the three people that read this….

2 weeks until Newcastleton. Is training going to plan? Sort of. Thursday night training rides have worked well, even if dinner at 10:45pm is a little silly. However, long weekend rides has suffered in the face of Real Life commitments. The excellent advice of Phil Moore, aka Phil the Horse, has been put to good use and intensity has been used over duration to sort me out. One of the results – a 41.5 minute lap of the doorstep loop (compared to a Grant/James time of close to an hour). Well, I thought it was reasonably impressive…. The Thursday rides have been fairly intense too – Thursday past was flat out for the first two hours, then slightly more sensible for the rest.

The new bike saga drags on. The Cube has been nixed for various reasons, the main one being their inability to arrange a social function in an alcohol fermentation plant. The bike was looking like a piece of vapourware IMO…..

So, onto plan B and a SC Superlight 29 (with a Plan C from Specialized held in reserve….) Then, a slight financial issue lead to a revision of Plan B and Plan C and the abandonment of FS 29 as a whole, for 2012 at least and the creation of Plan D around a new 29er hardtail (the Scandal is dying….well, sort of. Twice-bent mech hanger hanging on for dear life means its days of being geared are numbered….)

A day spent going through all the various 29er HT options culminated in heading towards one of the smaller manufacturers, not one of the big ones. It’s been a while since I did economics at uni, but I do remember how economies of scale work and some of the bigger manufacturers are charging a couple hundred quid more than their smaller rivals for similar or even lesser specs at certain price points, eg £1700 (?) for bottom end RS fork, mid-top spec drivetrain and in-house cockpit vs £1400 for fox fork and XT/XO drivetrain and Ritchey cockpit. (For the sake of fairness, at others, both above and below my budget, they are more competitive) It looks like its a lottery sometimes TBH….

Well Plan D should arrive in about 3 weeks, too late for Newcastleton but in time for Selkirk. Saga over, thank feck….

This means that the Scandal has had to step up from training/back up bike to racebike. 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.

Its now sitting pretty with a mostly new drivetrain, my favourite brakes and in the main is functioning well. Front mech is sticking a little but its freeing up with the help of some GT85 and its not like the mech hanger is bent that much….. :-$

Once Plan D turns up, its getting singlespeeded again.

It’s all part of a careful program of going against The Equation. I think I’ve found my optimal number of bikes…..and its not B+1.

Ebay has therefore been a little busy as I downsize, step by step. The general move to 29ers has helped too. Same goes for camera kit (bye bye DSLR) and the magazine mountain. The big, squarebound stuff kept on shelves is going (or gone) too.

So, there you go.

Anyway, the last two weeks have seem something akin to a doubling of saddle time and an effort to get in the right kind of riding for a solo 12. I also decided to repeat the Solstice ride to see how I got on. So, I took a day off on the 16th.

However, a few qualifications here: Conditions were slightly different, ie dryer, though not dry per se. . I did it anti-clockwise and I did it on the 1×9 29er, not the 3×9 26er. I got in more singletrack and missed out a tarmac drag. I had a worrying mechanical (a snapped chain) and didn’t bonk horribly half way round.

I rode like a god for a change, not a bag of spanners. I moved around the bike more, massaged the bike over, around, up, down, through whatever I came across. I barely heard a squeak out of my back and remembered to remain hydrated for once.

I visited old haunts on the way, stopped to get a pic or two of some landmarks and fate kept the run-ins with idiots to a minimum.

So, pretty much a win, with 5 hrs riding/6 hours door to door, compared with 7 or so in December. Maybe this training malarky is working?

You leave late.

You snap your chain a mile from your front door.

Conditions aren’t…..pleasant.

The trails are blocked.

You end up following a dead end or three.

These aren’t bad things. They just add character, they make things interesting and keep you on your toes.

We’d be bored if it was always perfect and it just means that, if *this* ride was one of the worst, the next ride has the potential to be one of the best.

Lets get that out of the way first. Reading his blog, he planted the seed of an idea (and a great idea….) – a Solstice Ride, leaving in darkness, returning in darkness and squeezing every single drop of riding time from the shortest day. I already had the day off to get in a ride before the festive onslaught, so it all fell into place fairly easily. Same with the route – head east via the usual haunts, loop round at Kirkcaldy, rest/food stop at my folks, back via the coastal path then various options depending on conditions, weather, fatigue. All pretty simple on paper but then these things always are….

After exiting the house at 8:21am in darkness, the first couple of hours were fine as I set out via the back of town trail and the 11 Minuter. The usual issues with woodfall (how can a man made trail with staff on site still have woodfall 2 weeks after a storm and almost every local natural trail be free of woodfall?) and people on foot ignoring the safety signs and walking up/down MTB specific trails but otherwise fine. Eastwards via the ROW network and Sunnyside Plantation. Hitting Kirkcaldy and Middleden, things changed. Things were a mess. Mud, clay, everything started to pack with anything loose. Supposedly armoured lines were anything but and I came off or came to a complete stop more than once. It didn’t make sense that I’d traversed a series of natural trails and only had issues with the man made stuff, but that’s another discussion….

A rest stop then westwards. Snaking through town, a brief encounter with the worst the towns drivers could throw at me then nipping through the old urban trails and onto the coast. The headwind was a bitch but the slimy trail, completely lacking in traction, was worse. The first half of the trail to Kinghorn was a mess and took an age but I got there in the end. A quick blast on the road then onwards to Aberdour and another stop plus food. Well, if the source of food had actually been open…. Time was getting on now and I was getting tired thanks to the wind and sections of tractionless slime. I really needed food now so decided to take a detour in Dalgety Bay and hit a shop, accidentally missing out Letham hill in the process. From there, I decided to head inland as the wind was getting silly and go north via Fordell. Again, unridable slime. Again, walking things I would normally ride easily….

Things were getting beyond a joke now, it was well after 2pm so I decided to head towards home and hit the doorstep loop and see where I ended up. It was nice to ride something where I had traction at last but I was burst. Reaching the end of the lower half of the A92, I noted that the car lights were on, the streetlamps starting to come on and that I was having issues pedaling, so the decision to bail was made. Well, after I had done one final section….

The final section was done and I was done in. 3:30pm, but it wasn’t exactly dark. It was getting that way though so I’m counting it as a valid Solstice Ride. Seven or so hours out, in crappy conditions. I suppose that’s okay.

Now, what should I do for the summer solstice?

Yes, sorry. Busy.

Riding a bit, but not enough. Definitely doing ‘stuff’ next year that needs training but not quite sure what yet. There’s a big internal debate going on at the moment about what to do. Suggestions are welcome.

“Training” has been hobbled by kit issues, motivation eroded by darkness, solitude, sabotage…….maybe “training” should wait until January…….there’s room for opinions in the comments.

Waiting on the new bike arriving, but that said, probably not riding it until winter is gone. Still….NEW BIKE.

Of course, I have the one after that (and one after that) picked out….

(Luckily they’re just framesets and come under a one-in, one out policy but still…. )