Douglas F Shearer

10 Under the Ben 2009

No Fuss yet again put on a sterling event for the 2009 edition of 10 Under the Ben at Fort William. And they got the weather right, with 30C heat beating down on the riders in the middle of the day.

I was riding with Allan ‘The Love Machine’ Love, taking it easy, and generally having some fun. This didn’t stop me having a go at the fastest lap. I thought I had it in the bag, even though on my first and fastest lap my front mech cable slipped leaving me unable to get into the big ring. No worries really, it possibly stopped me from pushing to big a gear. It looked to be in the bag, until Mr Andy Barlow popped in to do solo, and pushed out some of the quickest laps of the day, beating my times be a few minutes. Not to worry, it’s all a bit of fun.

Like last year I felt the event was slightly over-subscribed, with far too many people on the course at any one time. Despite the good humour of those I passed, I did have one crash when someone stopped right in front of me at a water trough. I expect a little inexperience from people, but it was so busy it was feeling almost dangerous at points.

The course was a cracker though, definitely the best so far, with some of the World Champs descent used as a climb, and lots of nice natural stuff thrown in.

I wasn’t on my own for the weekend; Emma came up for a mini-holiday, along with Magnus (who got lost briefly when he went to insect the sausages cooking across the carpark). Murray and Vo were riding solo, with Dawn and Tracey supporting them respectively. Murray did six laps, which was mightily impressive since he underwent brain surgery less than a year ago. Vo beasted it up for eight laps, resplendent in his Molteni top.

Photos from the weekend can be seen on Flickr.

Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge 2009

The Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge is a road sportive based at the wonderful Drumlanrig Castle. The entry is very limited, and unlike other sportives, you don’t pay to enter, you make a donation to Tearfund. With an entry of 300 the event feels very low key and friendly, and everyone seemed to be keen to chat and swap stories before, during and after.

A unique feature of this sportive is the un-timed rest-stop in the middle. Here you can eat cakes to your hearts content, or at least until the final departure time, without this affecting your overall time.

As per Team Macchiato directives, I was there with Vo, resplendent in our matching (well, not so much these days) Bianchis. I was also wearing an Innerleithen MTB Racing top, just so people would know what to expect when we came to the climbs.

The first half was expected to be the hardest, with a big climb up to the UK’s highest village, Wanlockhead, followed by a section back into a headwind. Up the climb I left the group Vo and I had started with behind, and chatted to the Team Colnago team manager, who was wearing a peaked helmet in an effort to show off his roots. Up over the top of the climb I was on my own down the first descent to Elvanfoot. On this descent I was caught by Vo who unfortunately punctured as soon as we turned into the headwind.

The headwind was a bit of a nightmare for me, as I couldn’t see any groups coming up behind, and all the small fragmented groups of riders I caught up with were going slower than me, so much so they couldn’t hold my wheel when I went to the front. After another descent a fast group came past, mostly made up of Ayrodynamic members. I latched onto this group and we chainganged it back to the castle. I was surprised by some of the big guys missing turns at the front, but maybe they were saving themselves for the second half. Vo appeared about 10 minutes later, having been lucky enough to meet a fast group just as he finished fixing his puncture.

After the cake stop, Vo and I set off again. Two of the riders in our group were riding rather pimped-out Storck bikes, carbon spokes, the works. Both guys evidently were aware of the fragility of their steeds, as rough sections were approached at a far slower pace than what I would call normal. At one cattle grid I almost became a human suppository, as both riders on the front failed to warn those behind, and braked rather suddenly and excessively. On the first climb I was glad to leave them behind, with the sound of crumpling carbon and swearing as poor gear adjustment on one of said bikes left the rider to walk back with broken spokes, mech hanger and seatstay.

The second half was a different beast to the first. Wind played little part, and steep climbs (one was 25% for some considerable distance, and resulted in lots of people walking) were followed by rough gravelly descents. Just my cup of tea. I was on my own for the first twenty miles or so, but in the second half I joined up with a lad of similar age and build to myself who superbly fast on the flats. We worked together for the remaining twenty miles, taking turns on the front on the flatter sections, and me driving the pace on the front up the climbs. Having someone to work with made the pain of pushing so hard a lot easier.

I rolled in at four hours and eighteen minutes, I thought comfortably within the ‘gold standard’ time. Unfortunately the event was slightly shorter than last week, and the correction the the times was not made until after the event. I missed out by a minute, but that’s always something to go for next year.

Without a doubt the Tearfund Challenge is an awesome event, and to make it even better you receive a ‘virtual goody bag’ at the end, being a record of all the things your donation will provide for those in need. I was most glad to see that they will be receiving t-shirts with the image of Che Guevara as a badger, definitely something everyone needs. I wonder how early I can enter next year…

10 Under the Ben 2008

Team Macchiato headed to Fort William a few weekends ago for the 2008 edition of 10 Under the Ben 10 hour endurance race.

Part of the entry for the 2008 race was a ride up the Aonach Mòr Gondola to register at the top station. Unfortunately, the race was rather over-sold this year, so we were denied our Gondola ride. Maybe for next year No-Fuss would like to limit entries, but that would really go against their ethos. Saying that, the member of their team that told us this seemed rather ‘no-fussed’. Not an impressive start.

Luckily we had alternatives available; I nailed some pasta in the “Glen Nevis Campsite”: http://www.glen-nevis.co.uk/, while Vo and Tracey went into town to grab some from a fast-food outlet.

Saturday (race day)

A good sleep, then up early for registration meant we bagged a great spot for our pits, not far from the transition, and close-enough to the course to see people riding the last section of singletrack.

Vo did the first lap, a setup we both enjoy as it takes the pressure off. The course started with the usual hugely boring and draggy fire-road for the first few miles, followed by the railway track, a super steep climb, then the fun bits, full of rocks and marginally tech-stuff. The newly-cut natural section was awesome, I thoroughly enjoyed buzzing through there in the big ring. ‘The Wall’ also featured, one of my favourite course-features, mostly due to it’s mincer-baiting characteristics.

Vo and I had decided we would do 5 laps each, as since we wouldn’t be competing for the podium this year, there was no point in one of us doing a greater number of laps. Anyway, we had a booking at a restaurant to make!

We finished up 16th, the fastest team with 10 laps. Another lap would have put us in seventh, or thereabouts.

Sunday

On the Sunday we (or me, with L plates on!) drove back to Edinburgh, but not before a stop in Glen Etive for some sunbathing and a swim in the river.

Great weekend (apart from the gondola fiasco)!

10 At Kirroughtree

Team Macchiato hit it up at Kirroughtree this weekend past for 10 At Kirroughtree.

Friday night was pretty wet, it rained constantly, making us a little despondent about the next day’s racing. Luckily it had stopped by saturday morning, and we were soon enjoying the muddy car park at Kirroughtree.

The sun came out almost as soon as the riders had set off on the first lap. Vo was going first, with instructions to give it death. He got us round in a good position, leaving me with an almost clear course to blast round in the 5th (As announced anyway) fastest lap of the day.

The course was amazing, and I do not use that lightly. It was so good everybody seemed to want to go back out, even when they were knackered. 10 miles, and just over 600m of climbing on every lap which used most of the red route, with a section of the blue to make up some distance. There was lots of singletrack on offer, with twisty climbs, and smooth rolling descents broken up by small rock gardens and drop-offs. There were 3 natural descents, which were a bit of a mess, but great for passing those who were re-enacting the human tripod as they attempted to stay upright in the mud. Only very near the end was there a horribly short steep climb, but the rest was pretty sweet.

We hovered around 6th position for most of the day, doing lap about. While I was out on my 5th lap, it was decided that if I did a double-lap, we could get in under 10 hours and Vo could get a 12th lap in. I came in, was told I was going out again, and handed a bottle of coke. I was pretty pumped at this point, so I just went with it, knowing it would be my last lap. I got round with 3 minutes to go, meaning Vo was well rested, and could get a final lap in.

We ended up in 6th place, 12 minutes behind the winners (Dave Preston and Euan Thorburn), so something to be proud of before I head off to Poland next week.

Roll on next year, I’ll definitely be there.

Etape Caledonia

Team Macchiato (John, Vo and myself) flew (drove) into Pitlochry for the Etape Caledonia last weekend.

We stayed at The Pitlochry Backpackers Hotel on the saturday evening. This proved to be great accommodation, apart from the taxi rank directly below our window, where what seems like the entirety of the surrounding area’s young people procure their transport home. So that was 2 hours sleep then…

Luckily we had prepared the bikes the night before, so all we had to do in the morning was get up, eat, and collect our bikes from the van (Thanks to Colin of MacDonald Cycles for the loan of it).

Our start was at 0810 (Early or what), so we were off 10 minutes behind the first starters. Vo and I stuck with John until the first decent climb (Pics here and here) where the groups began to splinter. We got with a fast group, but had to stop for a toilet break a bit further on, so lost out on that advantage.

Groups came and went, and some were just too slow for us, so we’d blow off the front. About 35 miles in we got with a really good group which had a Perth RC guy on the front who refused to yield for anyone, so we were happy to sit on wheels.

We stopped at the bottom of Schiehallion for yet another toilet break (Toilet breaks wasted us 6 minutes!). The group of 50 or so guys we were with trundled on. Another 50 guys trundled past. 2/3 of Team Macchiato started the ascent.

We had decided that we should stick together, except on the climbs where we were free to reign terror on those more gravitationally challenged. I passed all 100 guys before the end of the first steep section, spinning freely while others seemed to be pushing silly big gears, and weaving all over the road. I was on my own for the next 5 miles across the top to the feed station. There I filled up my water bottle, and planned to wait on Vo. He was right behind me.

We started the descent, which due to closed roads meant we could use the whole road to get round the corners (Did I mention it was either raining or just wet the whole time?), with the added advantage of having no-one else to get in our way. At the bottom we started to put more effort in than the first half, knowing we only had 25 miles to go. We caught a few people up, got a little group going, then stopped, again, for a toilet stop.

Now we started to chase, for 7 miles we took short turns on the front to keep the speed above 25mph. the carrot of the group just in front of us was too much to resist, and based on it’s previous speed, we had decided to sit in for a few minutes, then go to the front and see who else still had fresh legs. We caught them up, sat in for a minute or two, then got caught by another faster group. Doh! Should have known and just waited.

We sat near the front in case anyone decided to go, but we didn’t get the time. Someone shouted ‘steep climb’, we saw it up to the left, heading up at almost 20%. ‘Time to go’ I said to Vo, and instantly dropped the hammer right from the bottom, dropping everyone. I upped the gears in my usual sequential style as soon as the climb eased for a short distance, keeping my pace high.

I ran over a patch of gravel, and thought I had a puncture, but it turned out to be one of the East Kilbride RC guys, Guto Williams, catching me. He had a little dig on the next steep section, but I wasn’t going to be dropped on a climb, not that day! I chatted with him over the flat top section, speaking about who I knew that was in the EKRC.

A short descent took us to the main street in Pitlochry, where I just span up, not interested in a sprint. So why bother with beasting the climbs? That was just for my own head, to validate my form, and to take revenge on all the bigger guys who give me a hard time on flatter sections.

I finished the route in 4 hours 6 minutes. Vo was a minute behind, and john 30 minutes down. I was 18 minutes down on the winner, so definitely more work to be done for next year.

I’m still on a bit of a high after it, and was super chuffed with Vo’s performance to. And of course John, who finished with a VERY respectable time, despite doing about 4% of the training Vo and I had done.

Roll on next year!

Shiny New Bike!

Yesterday I popped into the shop on my lunchbreak to see if we had any wheel bearings in stock. First thing I saw was a shiny new 53cm black Bianch 1885, partially built up in the middle of the shop. Hey, that’s mine!

Thanks to the kind bods at my real job I took some of the afternoon off to go build it up.

The 2007 Campagnolo kit is amazing, especially the cut out skeleton brakes and the Ultra-Torque cranks. Not much to complain about, except the following…

• White saddle and bartape. The white saddle isn’t so much of a problem, but there was no way I was putting the white bar tape on, it’d be mucky before I even rode on it.

• Non-cartridge brake pads. These are normally a nice touch, especially on a road bike, but I guess I can always fit some when I wear out the current standard pads.

• No pedals. Although it says in the spec there is no pedals, last years bikes came with pedals. Not a problem to buy some, but I did buy a set of Shimano road shoes specially.

Getting It Home

Since I need my Giant OCR to get around town, I didn’t really want to leave it in the shop, so I decided to take both home at the same time, pushing the Bianchi as I rode the Giant. Normally this isn’t a problem, but being dark and rush-hour, I walked until I could cycle on quiet cycle paths, and even then only went as far as Emma’s. I came the rest of the way home early this morning to avoid the traffic.

The Ride

Obviously I couldn’t wait till today to try it out, so I arranged to meet up with Vo to do some laps of Arthur’s Seat. Vo has a Bianchi, identical in all but size, on order, so he was pretty keen to see mine, and he certainly didn’t seem disappointed in how nice it was.

The first lap descent was a little hairy, as I was on a brand new bike that I needed to learn the nuances of. Steering is a lot sharper than the Giant, due to a steeper head angle and a 10mm shorter stem, but this is something I got used to pretty quickly. By the third lap I was pedalling madly down the descents instead of dragging the brakes as I did on the first.

On the climbs the bike is amazing. The 6lbs or so weight difference between it and my Giant was instantly noticable, as was the close ratio (10sp 12-25 as opposed to a 7sp 11-28) block. As soon as you stood up you could feel the bike accelerating.

I’ll have more to say on the bike once, I’ve ridden it a bit more, and hopefully some better photographs.

Wireless Odometers Suck

So who decided that a wireless odometer is a good idea?

• The only benefit that I can see in them is the time saved by not having to run a cable up the side of the fork – Lazy people.
• They aren’t anymore aesthetically pleasing, as instead of a single cable, you end up with a half brick cable tied to your fork – Builders.
• There is now two things with batteries to die, and twice as much work to troubleshoot – People with too much time.

Last night I was out on the road bike with Vo, doing on of our regular summer loops in the dark with big lights. Was great fun, except the cold meant that my odometer/speedometer/cycle-computer refused to work, so it didn’t log the 30 or so mile we did. Oh, and my water bottle froze!

In other news, photos from last week’s Sports Union Ball have been posted on my Flickr.

There's No Riding Like Snow Riding!

Last night I went out on the bike, up the Pentlands, in the snow! It was brilliant! It wasn’t very deep, but it was falling fast enough to make seeing difficult at times.

A few ice patches under the snow made things interesting, if a little unpredicatble! The picture says it all really. A great night’s riding.
h3. A Note To Spammers

Just to let all you spammers know that I am now automatically deleting comments if Akismet deems them to be spam. I’m fed up of looking through all the spam, and the number of false positives I have had recently has been zero, so I’ve pretty much just been deleting them all without looking.

For Sale: Giant XTC. XT/LX/Marzocchi

This well looked after Giant XTC belongs to my mate Vo. He’s looking to sell it so he can buy a new road bike. The XTC was built up in January, and has only been used on about 10 runs round the Pentlands in the recent dry weather.

Giant XTC 17" 2005 team frame with Marzocchi MX Comp 80mm suspension fork.

Fork 2004 model, new seals fitted when oil changed about 2 months ago. Typical Marzocchi durablility, these forks are still ‘bedding in’ so no bushing wobble.

• 2006 Shimano XT v brakes
• 2006 LX rear mech (rapid rise)
• Deore LX front mech
• XT bottom bracket square taper (UN72)
• Race face prodigy cranks, (bit of paint wear but in perfect condition)
• XTR rear hub / XM 317 rim (rim new, just built)
• STX front hub / 221 rim
• Shimano XT cassette (new)
• PC69 chain
• Sram 9.0 composite brake levers
• Easton EA30 bars/stem
• Truvativ single clamp post
• WTB saddle Speed V

All cables are less than 2 months old, same with chain. Michelin comp rear tyre. Conti vertical 1.9 front tyre/ comes with SPD pedals. Need to make some money so before the bike goes on eBay though id post it here. Don’t know the weight, know the frame is about 1050 grams and it builds up pretty light. Im 5’ 10" and have the saddle just under the max mark for full leg extension. Nice and quick with a good low front end.

£350.00 ONO

Bike is in Edinburgh area, viewings available. Will post nationally for £20.

More Photos

Email him at steve_gray5@yahoo.com if you have any more questions or are interested in buying this. Bike No Longer For Sale

Evening Summer Sunshine

Had a cracking ride up the Pentlands yesterday evening, good to see so many other bikers out enjoying the dry conditions.

Did one of my favourite loops up over Maidens Cleuch (Drainage Ditches/Rocky Mountain 1) from the Ranges Road singletrack, up Back Glen, then down Beach Avenue (Exponential), then down the long woodsy singletrack to Balerno. Near the bottom of this last piece of singletrack there is a muddy patch that is impossible to avoid, and slows your speed down from about 20, to 5mph.

I spied a new line yesterday, so decided to give it a go. Towards the left there is a pile of small rocks and big branches, and I thought I could scoot straight across the top of them. I misjudged it, and having not slowed like I normally wood, I ended up being ejected over the bars to land on my feet. The front wheel was totally stuck in the mud, and the frame had swiveled round so the rear wheel was touching the ground on the non-driveside.

I was laughing, and took a picture to laugh at later. Then I went to move off…the back wheel wouldn’t go round, it was locked solid. I could move it backwards some of the way, but it would always jam at the same point. Turns out that my rear brake rotor had been smashed against one of the aforementioned rocks, and had split on the outer edge (see pic above). Not having a 4mm allen key to remove my pads, I had to bend the rotor back by hand to get it in a rideable state.

All the rubbing was creating lots of extra work for me, so thanks to Murray and Vo who I met at Bonaly, and who gave me a loan of an allen key to remove the pads and allow my wheel to run freely.

I’ve now ordered a pair of Hope floating rotors, so hopefully no more rotor troubles for a while.