The Evolution of MY Gravel Racer for @aggregate100k

Section of Aggregate 100 Route above Rosedale

Following the bitterness I felt after my repeated failed entry into #3peakscxrace (did you know that I have been refused entry two consecutive years now?) I have entered a local gravel race.  Well gravel race in the UK sense of this kind of event.  #Aggregate100 is run by Kinesis Bikes and will involve (surprisingly) 100km of riding, mostly off road, across the North Yorkshire Moors and through forests therein.  It is not going to be to the same scale as Dirty Kanza 200 or others of such grand scale in USA as we are clearly a smaller place with far fewer unmade roads.

Dirty Kanza 200 Gravel Race

The biggest difference though is that most of the event is run as a sportive and the race part is over 4 timed sections.  I guess this is because of our strict laws on racing bikes on public byways that we have in this country.

My take on a Gravel Bike

I have gone for the simplest option with regard a gravel bike.  I have just taken what I have and made it work.

So I start with a Kinesis Pro6 aluminium cx frame - disc brake only, and as seen in the pictures utilising my own weight saving paint job in key areas.  This frame doubles as my winter bike when mudguards and road wheels are added.

Add to this tubeless clincher wheels.  In my case 29er Stans mtb rims built up by Hope, running Vittoria xg pro tubeless tyres.  A combination that I have used on previous 3 Peaks and Scotten 100 rides.

Drivetrain is 10 speed Sram Rival, 44/34 chainrings with 12-32 cassette give plenty range of gears (Too big a range, but fickle UK weather could dictate the whole ride in small chainring or whole ride in large chainring)

Brakes are Avid BB7 cable pull with added "chicken" levers on the bars.

Bar tape is Zipp Service Course CX - works really well in wet and mud and is bit thicker than usual.

Pedals are Time mtb pedals as normal for cx.

Special touches to make it all work better as a gravel bike

From my experience the two most frustrating aspects of off-road riding on a bike like this are forearm/hand comfort and keeping bottles on the bike.

Arm/hand comfort is best addressed using a variety of positions.  When cx racing I stay continuously on the hoods.  For gravel riding I will ride on hoods for climbing and along fast flat sections.  Descents can be taken on tops, hoods or in drops.  If I am carrying speed I will use the drops as this gives the best braking and also the most bump absorption before the hands.

A bit of grip tape on the drop brake levers ensures my fingers do not loose connection whilst bouncing over rocks on the hoods with wet, muddy hands and levers. 
In the past I have used gel pads on the bars, this bar tape is thick enough ridden with padded gloves and varying hand position.

Bottle cages are "reinforced" with strips of inner tube tied between the two halves and more grip tape stuck on the inside to hold those bottles in.

The addition of second set of brake levers gives another possible safe hand position whilst riding.

Tell us about Tyre Pressure

All cx riders love to talk about tyre pressure, preferably whilst squeezing front tyres with knowledgeable nods or frowns.  It is an entirely personal thing, I ride much lower than many of my fellow riders (perhaps due to mtb heritage rather than road) but it works for me.

During my recent test recce of parts of the course I rode with 40psi front and rear, about 15psi more than I would use cx racing these wheels and tyres.  This gave enough solidity for road riding and good grip over gravel.  I might try a little more as some of the bangs I managed to achieve smacking the rims on rocks were a little alarming.  There is a reason that mtb tyre have such large volumes.

How does it feel?

I love riding off-road.  The course is simply old school mountain biking - from a time before Dalby Forest had a bike park when 1.5inch tyres and steel rigid forks ruled.  It can be ridden fast on this bike, stronger riders could ride it even faster.  I have found this setup to be fast up, fast along and as fast as I dare down.

Ride light

Is a phrase that I was told by a good friend many years ago when I rode mtb and he came out on a cx bike.  He managed to keep up with us over rough ground (who am I kidding - he was loads faster) and did not puncture. 

I asked him how?
He replied that he simply rode light.  (Down towards Sheep Wash Mr. Streeton)

I have tried to do this ever since.  My understanding is to encourage the bike to float over rough sections.  Not a full on bunny hop, just ensure that your feet are not pushing down on the pedals and arms are absorbing as much as possible.  Modern mtbs encourage riders to hit most obstacles as forks and big tyres do the work for you.  Each crash from a wheel hitting a rock full on is a potential disaster, yet speed is still your friend.  At speed a 1m lift of the bike becomes a 2m lift and your ride can become nearly silent as you glide over the terrain.

I do suffer with aching legs though.  All that standing whilst barrelling down through rock gardens takes a real strain on the lower legs no longer used to such abuse.  I have worked hard to protect my hands, little I can do for my legs.

I am looking forward to this new event.  It is undoubtedly part of the future of cycling in this country, how it can be made more competitive for longer distances without going to Kielder or Scotland is the question.

As always, thank you for reading and happy cycling

Sunset over Farndale

Race, Recover, Race again. #3peakscxrace update and Reasons to Love your LBS

Cyclocross

A busy few weeks (strangely) for a cyclocross racer.  Cyclocross, being a winter sport, leaves the summer for other forms of riding.  In Yorkshire we have a summer cx league and smaller local series that squeeze in during spring and autumn as well so that means it is possible to race pretty much all year round.  In recent week I have raced at Nunroyd Park, Leeds and Pateley Bridge, squeezing some quality hard sessions and recovery in between.

Nunroyd Park is another fast course, I averaged over 22kmh which is fast for me (winter speeds can be down to 16kmh).  It was a good race,  I showed good power on a long drag climb and kept good speed although I kept fluffing up a few off camber corners.  I must commit more and be more aggressive with the front tyre.  My finish position of 65 was good in the field of 130, 15th in my age group.

Pateley Bridge was much more to my liking.  A more technical course with lots of off camber tight turns followed by short, sharp steep climbs.  A bit of sand and an even bigger wheel of doom made it a fun (in my eyes) course. 
A little moisture in the ground and in the air meant I opted for mud tyres which gave me plenty of confidence for the corners.  A good choice! 
The nature of the course brought the average speed down (I averaged just over 17kmh) which also played to my strengths.  Don't get excited reading this, I did not win but came in 52nd, 12th in my age group which with an influx of strong "Sunday only" racers was really pleasing.

Recovery between these really hard efforts is really important.  I have worked with coach Tom to try to coordinate three elements:  "Do nothing" rest, active recovery exercise and nutrition.  It seems that we are getting the combination somewhere near effective and I can bounce back from hard efforts much quicker.  If I could make myself behave more during active recovery and ignore Strava bleeping at me on my Garmin I could recover even quicker!

#3peakscxrace

As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been unsuccessful in my entry to #3peakscxrace for the second year running.  I have been in email contact with the event organiser who has explained the selection procedure.  I hope that he does not mind me reproducing it in part below for all readers to understand:

  We check experience from a safety perspective.  There were very few entries removed this way, mainly those who left the experience box blank.

2.       Guaranteed entries are put through.  This includes marshals from the previous year and the top 10 riders from each category.

3.       Rider quotas are established to ensure the field is balanced.  These quota’s are balanced against the number of entries in each category (i.e. if 40% of the registered entry is V40, then 40% of the paces are allocated to V40).

4.       The entry list is then subject to a random sort using Microsoft excel – the resulting sheet forms the list from which entries and reserve list are drawn.

 

The popularity of the race is the problem – particularly since 2012 when numbers surpassed 650 for the first time.  The landowner for P-Y-G allows an entry of 650 which means that one third of applicants are unsuccessful.  This year, there are so many well qualified entries who have a place, such as yourself, and it is also disappointing for us to see these turned away.  An alternative approach would be for us to just select riders we liked from the list although they would clearly be unfair! 

 

As a mathematician I cannot see any aspect of this procedure that is anything other than very fair and I have to live with the disappointment, hoping to get in off the reserve list.  Next year.........

 

I Love my LBS

As you will know, my LBS is York Cycleworks.  There are nearer bike shops to my home, but this is the one for me.  In this time of internet shopping and price matching I would like to share my reasons and my own rules with regard to purchasing bike related stuff.

#yorkcycleworks will always help me out.  If I need a cup of tea during a ride, mechanical assistance or advice they will always provide it.  As an example, I dropped in the other week and top lad Liam fixed my poorly maintained rear road wheel.  It needed some work after 6 years of none.
He could have sold me new freehubs and all sorts, but no.  He stripped it, replaced only what needed replacing (bearings), cleaned it and gave it back nicely greased and as new.  All at a brilliant fair price.
As a clever bunch of chaps and chapesses #yorkcycleworks are fully aware of the internet and the low prices that can be found.  My personal rules are these: 

• I will never ask my LBS to match a ludicrously low price, it is unfair to expect them to sell at a loss.
• I do use internet providers for some stuff just because the price is right and I have the ability to maintain/build my own bike at home.
• Items that may go wrong (Garmin, wheels) I will buy from my LBS as it would be unfair of me to ask for support with an item bought elsewhere.
• If I find a good price I will ask about price matching, if my LBS get close I will go LBS.
• I love the fact that they will help me if I drop in, but fully understand that if they are busy I have to wait and drink tea.
• I will buy them biscuits/cake/beer in gratitude for their help.
• I will always race in their colours (even though I am not very good) because their colours are ace.

I will always be an advocate for #yorkcycleworks as we have built our relationship over nearly 20 years.  I would not enjoy my cycling as much without them.