Cyclocross Winter 17

So the Cyclocross Scottish Season is over (kind of: There's a postponed race slotted in for February) with the Super Quaich races to come in the new year. I feel I have done a lot better this season. I have moved up at least a good 10-15 places on average. I am placing in the 50's which to the rest of the public must sound poor but with races of over 120 competitors some of which have competed professionally or the Olympics I feel that's not to bad. In all races I have been finishing ahead of those guys I usually find myself racing around so I am pleased.
The races were an unusally slipper Callander Park in Falkirk, Muckfest at Fife College, a greasy Lochore Meadows and my favourite sand storm at Irvine Beach. Irvine was my best performance of the year and my favourite day to as, you can see from the pictures below, my daughter made her cyclocross debut coming 10th in the under 8 category which being only 5 is awesome.
I'd still like to get better though and although I'm never going to win these races I think I can do better.
Anyway check out the stats and a selection of pics below.

New Bike No. 7

So I haven't posted in ages and I will be updating the blog on the last 6 months but latest news is I have went back to my roots and bought a new mountain bike. Hoping to do some XC and MTB Marathons in 2018.
Check it out my new Giant XTC 29er Advanced 1. It is awsome!

Lowther Hill

Last Sunday  a fellwo clubmate and I headed into the Leadhills. Its a loop I have done before but my young clubmate wanted to climb to the Radar unit (The Golf Ball) on Lowther Hill above Wanlockhead. It is a private road to the top but you can lift the bike over the barrier at the bottom and head up the steep climb. It was a tough one which steepens as you near the summit but at the top you are rewarded with views all the way to the Lake District.
The day gave me my biggest day of climbing on the British Isles and my second century ride of the year.

Cycling the Tramuntana Mountains

This year I was holidaying in Peurto De Pollenca in Mallorca. I had been looking forward to my holiday in the sun as I always do but more so for the cycling on offer for which the island is famed.
The hotel I was in, The Villa Concha, was perfect for the family and also for the cyclist.
The hotel had its own bike shop, bike storage, tools, water and washing facilities for guests (see pics) that and rental bikes which were of a high quality. I found myself riding a carbon Bianchi Intenso full Ultegra for the week with fulcrum wheels which was fantastic.

Cap de Formentor

The first of my cycles was a favourite from my last visit to the island. Out to the lighthouse and back along the Cap De Formentor was spectacular and as awesome as always. This time though I added in the small (if rough) climb to the pepper pot which gives great views of Port De Pollensa.

Alcudia and Femenia

The next cycle was a bit of exploration. I headed out along the Cap De Alcudia. It was a nice winding road with some small climbs and switchbacks. There was a lighthouse at the end which I was hoping to get to however I came to a tunnel with giant gates across the front advising that it was a military zone so I turned around. I headed back towards Play De Muro then inland to Sa Pobla. I then truned and enjoyed the rolling hills and the sounds of the crickets as I headed to Pollensa old town before turning on to the Ma10 to climb the Col de Femenia. It was just spectacular. Limstone cliffs and mountains either side of the road gave me stunning scenery as I climbed the switchbacks and at one point I was accompanied in the sky with what could have been an Eagle or a Mallorcan vulture. The decent back in to Pollensa was just as enjoybale bfore heading back along the carpet like road surface to the hotel.

Coll de la Creueta

My next cycle was a small before dinner jaunt up the first climb out of Port De Pollensa called Coll de la Creueta. Its not long 10 mile round trip but the heat saps everything out of you and makes even the smallest of climbs feel like an Alp.

Sa Calobra and Puig Major

This was the biggest day of cycling in distance, climbing and in bucket list stakes. I met up with a fellow Ayrshire cyclist Jim who spotted me on the island on STRAVA and sent a message to go a joint ride.

We drove in his rental to Lluc and then set out early in the morning to take on the Col De Reis before descending the infamous Sa Calobra. Wow. Wow. Wow. Its like someone built a scaletirx track for cyclists. The switchbacks scenery and road itself are breath-taking. We reached the bottom and after a coffee stop started the climb back up which was equally spectacular. I have never cycled anything like it in my life and my words do not do it justice. You will have to go yourself to experience it for yourself.

After completion and with a lot of the day ahead we rehydrated and headed towards Puig Major, the highest peak on the island. While you cannot get to the top as it’s a military road you can reach the Mannibar tunnel which itself is at 900m above sea level. We made the descent into Soller down a twisty serpentine road. We then poured water into our bottles and over our heads (the heat was 38oC) and started the climb back up to the tunnel. The 14km that took us around 20 minutes to come down took us over 2 hours to climb. The heat just sapping all energy and even though its full effort the heat means you can never go fast enough to be out of breath. Once through the tunnel again we made the descent back to Lluc past the beautiful Gorge Blau.

This was by far the most spectacular day of cycling I have ever done and has only left me pining  to be back in Mallorca every time I see the rain outside or cycle on Scotland’s diabolical road surfaces.

The Best of the Lot

The only thing left to do was the best cycle of the holiday. A totally different rental bike with child seat and My daughter and I cycled along the coastal cycle track to Alcudia and back singing as we went.

 

Mallorca is a magical place. the Tramuntana mountains typifying this. I cannot fully describe how incredible these island mountains are for cycling but one things for sure, now that we are booked up for next year in the same hotel July 2018 can’t come fast enough.

In Praise of Pilates

To put it simply Pilates has saved my cycling……..but let’s rewind a bit. It requires a bit of history.

In my teenage years I played football…..constantly. I ran and ran and ran some more. I played in a band and thrashed and rocked out with the best of them. I loved being fit. I loved my metabolism (although being in my youth I never appreciated it at the time).

And then?

And then my life changed forever. You’d expect something life changing to be enormous but it was nothing. Absolutely nothing. I sat down on a couch, felt a stab in the buttock, couldn’t lift my left leg without a pain down my calf. I didn’t know it at the time but a prolapsed disc (L4,5) had decided to press against my sciatic nerve giving me sciatica which was to last 2 years.

The following 2 years were hell. From the age of 19 to 21 I became more and more in pain, more and more dependent on prescription painkillers (tramadol, co-codamol), developed a pronounced limp, had a constant dull ache that never let up, I ballooned to just under 20 stone and lost all ability to exercise beyond eating and watching sport.

Multiple visits to the GP, hospital and MRI scans eventually led me to an operation at the Southern General for a microdiscectomy of the L4,5 disc.

What I went through in hospital……. That’s the hardest thing I have physically endured but operated on Monday I was sent home on the Thursday with 18 weeks sick leave. The sciatica went instantly which I will be forever grateful for but the story didn’t end.

I received no physiotherapy from the NHS after spinal surgery which was to have huge implications.

For 14 years I continued to suffer back pain. I managed a full recovery of sorts to play football at university and amateur level (despite unrelated injuries) and I found cycling.

Despite becoming an avid cyclist I was in pain with a stiff back all the time. 2 years favouring my right hand side left my hip totally unbalanced and muscle strength out of balance. I did have manipulation at a physio which worked short term at times but the pain always returned.

I had constant occasions where my back would “go” and I’d be left at the doctors with a prescription for co-codamol and diazepam to stop the spasms. It couldn’t go on. The manipulation at my regular physio did not help. When I was 20-30 miles into any cycle my back would be killing me, I couldn’t sleep some nights, Id be leaning my back into door handles to try and find the spot for relief so I thought “I need to try something else!”

I sought out a new physio who tried other things and I found Physioflexx in Stewarton. They took a whole different holistic approach to my back and medical history. First and foremost this positive approach with regular physio including deep tissue massage, cupping and acupuncture turned my back from a tight knotted mess to something akin to normality.

But when I was cycling (my passion) I was still in agony. In an unrelated attempt to support my back I signed up to Physioflexx’s Pilates. Supported in small groups by a physio, Pilates built muscles where I didn’t know I had them, built a core I didn’t know you could get without some leisure centre core class and completely revolutionised my cycling.

In February I cycled 100 miles. No a sore back once. I finished a season of Cyclocross and for the first time in 7 seasons didn’t get a sore back in any of the races. I am stable and more efficient on my bike and cycling further and faster with more enjoyment than I have ever had in sport even more than when I was 16.

My back will never be perfect but for the first time in 20 years I am pain free and confident in my body’s ability. I am fitter, leaner and stronger in sport than I was at 20 thanks to proper holistic physio and Pilates.

If it isn’t broke don’t fix it is a good maxim and I will continue to do my Pilates, I’d even like to think I was becoming a Pilates zen master and I will be going for my monthly MOT physio as long as I can, in pain or not. I will always have to be more careful than others with my back but I have finally found a routine and plan that works for my back.

I always kind of shrug off the thanks I get as a school teacher when a parent says “ my child thinks the world of you”. I shrug it off because in my head I think “I’m only doing my job”.

So Kate and Kelly, I know you are only doing your job but thank you from the bottom of my core through my spine to my head for all you have done for me. I am deeply appreciative for your professional knowledge, expertise and care. It means a lot.

PILATES IS FOR LIFE!