MTBBerkhamsted WAGS - Palace to Palace (18^thSep 2011)

 

It seems so long ago, on a rare evening out with the girls, that a certainWAGcame up with the bright idea of doing the Palace to Palace ride, an event not many of us had heard of, and something quite a few of us wouldn't even dream of doing, especially the ones who didn't even own a bicycle! 

 

Several months of training ensued - come rain or shine the WAGS were out riding every Saturday morning, lured by the promise of tea and cake "about halfway round, up that small incline". Some preferred to train alone, some with a partner, some had to wait until they could afford to buy a bike, and others just got out and rode whenever they could fit it in. 

 

 

 

No one was feeling very glamorous when we turned up at "stupid o'clock" on Sunday morning for the minibus to London but once on the Mall the faces brightened as we were given the green light to start the 45 mile ride to Windsor at exactly 7.28am. 

 

 

 

The route took us south then west, along the Embankment through Battersea and Chelsea, then on to Fulham and across the river down toRichmondParkwhere the 1^stwater stop was a welcome opportunity to regroup and refuel.  

 

 

 

We picked up theThamesagain through Teddington and after cutting through Hampton Court Park followed the river again to the 2^ndwater stop at Walton-on-Thames. We crossed the M25 at Chertsey and then meandered around Chertsey Common where Claire (H-T) and Ann looked longingly at all the bridleways shooting off into heaths and birch tree woods to either side (anOrangemoment). Things started getting a bit lumpy so by the time we reached the 3^rdwater stop we really needed some energy food (jelly babies and eccles cakes - thanks Alex!). Then we headed north over the M3 up to Virginia Water, alongsideGreatWindsorParkand up the Long Walk towards the Castle. 

 

 

 

The final leg was a bit bizarre, meandering through the main streets, jostling through the throngs of tourists to get to the final straight, just over the bridge in The Brocas. It was just brilliant to see the Finish and a bunch of familiar faces cheering us across the line. 

 

 

 

So by early afternoon all 14 WAGS had got toWindsor, with no injuries, bike failures, body failures or tears (well, a few tears - of joy!).  It was an amazing achievement and a day long to be remembered (mostly as agoodexperience)!  Where shall we go next year Ladies?!!!

 

We had fantastic support from Steph and Claudia (unwilling spectators), Jeremy, Pierre and Steve (willing bike couriers/van drivers/sweepers), and all theMTBBerko husbands/partners/brothers/friends at home and down the Riser

We raised over £900 for the Princes Trust...so thanks to everyone who sponsored us

click here for more pics

 

Ann

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The WAGs training is going well ....a little trip to Frisden vineyard!!!...

 

 

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Well done to Geni and Sharon for completing the 30 mile Pedal for Peace hospice ride.....

 

 

 

 

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Training photos......

 

 

The WAGs enjoying there ride via vineyard.......

 

 

 

The WAGs enjoying the sunshine brfore there big ride ! ....

 

 

Below is Milly, Mari, Ann Mel & Nicky heading to the Riser after a hard ride.......

 

 

 

Below is Mari, Nicky & Ann being taken up to the woods for a ride with some of MTBberkos finest trainers...

 

 

Mari has been the first WAG to hurt herself...even Neil hasn`t had a wound like that!!!

 

 

Top of  Pitsone hill....well done!!

 

 

To visit the Palace to Place website click here

 

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Dirt Divas - Jumps and Drops - 2^nd May 2011

 

Claudia and I had worked hard to 'psych' ourselves up for the Jumps and Drops course and it looked like our fellow Dirt Divas were in a serious mood too when we arrived at the Crowthorne HQ. Jacqueline and Simon soon broke the ice and we all set off for Crowthorne Woods duly padded-up and with the start of a smile on our faces now we were rolling. 

 

 

We soon discovered that we would learn all of the jump/drop elements in easy increments through the day, starting with simply bouncing the front wheel up and down kerbs to get used to the idea of timing. We then applied this skill to bouncing over roots at the top of increasingly steep slopes, starting with a gentle run off and ending up with vertical drops over 6 foot down (I'm not exaggerating, honest!). There I met my match and received my souvenir bruise of the day, and its not going on the Injuries page!

 

 

After a short interlude lusting at a fire crew tackling one of the many wild fires in the Swinley and Crowthorne area that day we re-grouped at a safer area of forest to master the art of pumping. This was genuinely fun and didn't induce any vertigo or  the look of fear but, as anyone who has ridden pump tracks knows, it was pretty tiring. Small dips led onto larger ones, along with lips and steps so that any of us carrying enough speed were able to lift both wheels clear of the ground, and land the bike with grace! 

 

 

By late afternoon we were too tired to look for more tricky trail obstacles to tackle but were all thinking about our own local spots where we could continue the fun another day. The most bizarre thing, apart from seeing Wellington College swathed in smoke from the fires was that I was still so focussed on the skills I'd learnt that day, I was trying to pump my car all the way home!

 

Ann

 

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Dirt Divas course by Ann

 

Normally I'd agree that life's too short to do the same thing twice, but desperation took over at the thought of our summer Alpine venture, and one way I knew I could build some more sadly lacking confidence was by attending another Dirt Divas 'Singletrack Skills' course. I wasn't alone in the need to get as 'bike fit' as possible before heading to the French Alps, and Nicky booked herself onto their 'Back to Basics' course on the same day.

We were both pretty nervous when we arrived (and not because of the traffic on the M25) but soon felt more at ease once we saw the like-minded type of gals who had also come for the day! After a welcome chat from lovely Jacqueline (Head of Dirt Divas) we split into groups (max 6) and were introduced to our guru/guide/instructor for the day.   I left Nicky with strict instructions to keep smiling and hoped to meet her at lunchtime to check how she was doing.

 

 

While Nicky did some bike-handling, slalom and plank riding with her group, mine went off to find some tricky loose steep hills to grind up, and some fast long corners to speed down and drift around (ha! - still can't do that). With each of us taking turns to negotiate each section or obstacle the morning went very quickly and we all felt we had earned our packed lunch. All the groups rendezvoused at a central point and I was pleased to see that Nicky was laughing and chatting with her new riding mates. Her instructor, Guy, pulled a few track stands and wheelies (on his Litespeed FS for goodness sake!!!), just to keep us amused, and Jacqueline organised some group photos before we split off again for the afternoon session.

 

 

Things definitely got more challenging straight away as we negotiated some lovely flowing sandy singletrack through the pines of Crowthorne Woods. Then we hit a sort of 'corkscrew' skills area, where we almost completely exhausted ourselves trying the clear the steep berms, roots and drop offs around the track. We had a chance to relax on another nice singletrack section, then the Dirt Divas' pro photographer caught up with us just as we were negotiating a slightly scary drop off. Simon, our instructor, urged us over the edge and each time we attempted it he moved the braking point further back up the trail to encourage us to take it faster and faster. I think 'the look of fear' was captured a few times. 

 

Nicky's and my own group passed each other half way through the afternoon at another site of multiple drop offs and ramps, although there wasn't much chance to see how each were progressing as we were all too busy concentrating on simply not falling off in front of everyone! We finished the day coolly descending a nice set of steps on the way back to the Dirt Divas HQ in the grounds of Wellington College. After feedback-form-filling, presentations and farewell speech we packed the bikes back in the car and headed home for Sunday Roast (thank you, Neil!). I don't think anyone would have come away from the day without having gained a bit more bravery, confidence and a sense of fun to go with their future biking adventures.

 

Ann

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Dirt Divas course by Nicky

 

Ann and I set out on our drive for our Dirt Divas day.

Helmet - check

Gloves - check

Bike - check

Enthusiasm - big fat NO

 

Somehow I'd managed to persuade myself that a trip cycling in the Alps would be a good idea, not giving a thought to my complete lack of mountain bike experience and state of massive unfitness. So pure fear had led me to join Ann going to Dirt Divas, not having her experience or anywhere near her ability I'd decided to sign up for the Back to Basics course.

 

 

So the mood in the car on the way there was very unenthusiastic.  Ann tried to pep me up with some encouraging words which unfortunately flew out of my head when she gently warned me that we were likely to be the oldest ones in our respective groups.  Great.When we arrived everyone looked so much that they knew exactly what they were doing that nerves necessitated a trip to the loo.

I ended up in a group of 6 with our instructor Guy who was absolutely amazing and great fun.  It turned out I was actually one of the youngest in the group - hooray, but I was also the unfittest - boo.  It didn't matter though as everyone was lovely and just as nervous as me.

 

We started off learning how to stop.  This sounds ridiculously basic but actually helped me loads as I usually wobble to a stop and try to get both feet on the ground which, when combined with the height of my saddle and the shortness of my pit pony legs, just didn't work.

 We then quickly moved on to tight cornering learning how to move our head to look in the direction we wanted to go and just letting everything else follow on.  We did some slalom learning how to move the bike using our bodies or pressure on the handlebars rather than just turning these.  We had some training in when to use front and back brakes - apparently I'm supposed to be using my front brake 75% of the time, up to now my front brake had been an accessory. 

Part of the morning was spent on learning to trust the front suspension and we did some exercises getting up on and balancing along a very thick plank of wood - we had to keep remembering the mantra that speed is our friend.  We combined this with trying to learn to see the obstacle, determine approach, then look ahead to the next obstacle rather than looking down.  Following on from this we did some exercises to lift the front wheel off the ground and try to hop the front wheel over the lump of wood.  We had mixed success on this as the timing is much harder than it looks. 

 

 

Finally we moved onto 'the attack position', this is how to position yourself on the bike when going down hills.  This was brilliant and was the best lesson I learnt during the day.After stopping some lunch we moved into the woods for single track off-roading with some challenging drops and rises trying to 'cycle light'.  Then the more daring in the group attempted some small drop offs - these were very steep drops of about 10 feet or so.  There was no way I would have ever attempted this before but, putting my attack position to good use, I was very up for these and got a real massive buzz doing them.

 We moved on to rougher, more technical single track and bigger drop offs before finally heading back to base at about 5pm for our goody bags and goodbyes.

 

Driving home with Ann that evening:

Helmet - check

Gloves - check

Bike - check

Enthusiasm - big fat YES

 To my own surprise I absolutely LOVED my day on the Dirt Divas course, I'd done lots of new daring off-road stuff  and  met some lovely people.  Only time will tell whether the lessons will translate to my cycling ability - I still have the unfitness to contend with!   I am certainly very keen  to try some (small) bomb-holes.

To anyone thinking of doing a Back to Basics course, I would give the course 10 out of 10 and recommend it to any novice mountain biker like me.

 

Nicky