At the start of Dust and Summer, Mark is stirred from his slumber by his iPhone alarm (other smart phones are available). No doubt he was dreaming of riding as he’s in his kit already. And from there in Dust and Summer takes a different path to the one that most readers will be familiar with …

Do you sleep in your riding kit?

Do you wake up on a sunny, dry day, stumble from a Spanish villa into a pristine workshop, faff with a new disk rotor, load up a van and go for a ride, all the while being filmed?

Didn’t think so.

I think if any of us slept in our riding kit we’d soon be single, or sleeping on the sofa. Or more likely in the garage. Once settled in there we’d probably fix that rotor after giving the bike a clean and maybe checking brake pads before getting some sleep and dreaming of dust, and summer.

No doubt when we awoke, cold and sore from a night in our bike storage, we’d find a phantom flat. A tyre that was inflated the night before that somehow has lost the willingness to hold air overnight. So we’d grab the other bike, the one that wasn’t cleaned the night before where the gears are a bit out and we’re really not sure how old the pads are, and go ride. Or, if the x = n + 1 theory hasn’t been applied we’d curse and find a tube, or worse still work out why the tubeless setup we’re so happy with suddenly let us down.

Then ride.

Dust? You’ll be lucky. Mud, grit, sludge and probably some tarmac or trail center hardcore.

Summer? Maybe, usually in spring or autumn. Brief moments when the rain forgets to fall and trails are dry, our selective memory shielding us from wet summer days when sealskinz and waterproof shorts are pulled from drawers so we can enjoy ‘summer’.

But the result is the same. Smiles. Who needs dusty Spanish singletrack when you’ve got a slippery muddy bridleway. Two wheel dusty drift Vs two wheeled slippery slide. The smiles are the same. As is the post ride beer.

Happy trails.

The post Dust & Summer: Reality Check appeared first on Joyriders.

Here’s to an awesome 2015 too!

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National XC Championships at Richmond: 29th place

“It was a good race, with some some fierce racing as you’d expect. I was gridded almost last out of 60 so could only go forwards from there! I managed to pick up a few places on the first lap. The course had some hard steep climbs and some flowy singletrack that became tricky after monsoon rain in the morning. I worked my way up to the top 40 by the 2nd lap but my left knee started to play up so I had to back off a bit towards the end. I finished up 29th which I’m pretty pleased with as this is was the first time I’d raced against the elites and on a very hard course that was worthy of a national championship race.”

Midland Series (round 3) – Hanchurch Woods: 2nd place.

“This was my favourite course of the year, about 90% singletrack through rooty woodland. Some rain on the first lap made the decents tricky so it was a test of skill and there are some good climbs. I had a good battle with Adam Biggs of Forme Cycles for 2nd place over the first 3 laps and managed to break away from him on the last lap to take 2nd, just over a minutes down on the leader. My legs felt really good which bodes well for this weekend, the National XC Championships at Richmond! I’ll be taking a kicking from Oli and co!”

Manchester Midweek Madness Series: 2nd place

British XC series at Margham: 5th place

Sweet singletrack

Steeply does it!

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Great result Pete

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He finished 5th at Dalby for round 2 of the British series (pic attached of Tom riding “Worry Gill”). Here is what Tom had to say about the day:

“I finished 5th in the sport race, my best result yet. The Dalby course is a real test of fitness and skill, it’s pretty brutal in places with rock features that you’d expect to find on a DH course! The climbs are tough too so you need a bit of everything to do well.”

However Tom’s best result yet has again been beaten.. Coming 1st place at Round 1 of the Nutcracker series. Fantastic result Tom. Here is his report:

“I was racing on Sunday at round 1 of the Nutcracker series at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire. It’s actually held on the MOD training ground. There’s no big hills but plenty of short and steep climbs and a mixture of rocky trails and woodland singletrack and a huge water splash which gave me a good soaking each lap! I rode well and led from the start in the Sport race, building a good gap each lap to take the win. I also passed all but the winner of the Expert cat who set off a couple of minutes ahead of us so pretty chuffed with how my training is going! If I do well enough this year I can get promoted to the expert cat which would be cool but would mean much harder competition!!”

Looking forward to seeing what we can do at this years Sleepless in the Saddle!!

The post Joyriders takes 1st at Nutcrackers: Tom Albutt appeared first on Joyriders.

The Joyriders camp was set up on Friday in glorious sunshine – so a great weekend was set in motion! A practice lap of the 12km course gave us some short sharp climbs and some great swoopy singletrack! Berms, roots and rocks – perfect.

After an evening sitting around the BBQ chatting and burning lots of meat we all retreated to bed – preparing for the next days race!

Saturday – Race Day

Mark did the first lap, which had some congestion – but still proved to be good fun. The odd places of mud were already starting to show signs of drying out. Anna then took over, followed by Penny and then Chris. Everyone put in some great lap times.

The second round of laps again saw the course drying out some more and spirits were still high!

The third round it rained! The course getting more and more wet and muddy (oh and dark!). With lights on we all got our third lap in, some enjoying it more than others!

We finished early at about 10:35pm after three laps each, placing 13th overall. A good thing we stopped when we did as bikes and riders started to come in broken and looking very very muddy!!

A few more beers later it was off to bed.

Sunday – still racing for some people!

Glorious sunshine awaited us as we emerged in the morning – perfect for our post ride BBQ watching the 24hr riders finish off. It was sad to wave people off as the Joyriders camp started to become deserted. But what a great weekend. Can’t wait for Sleepless in the Saddle.

See you there!

The Joyriders Race Team.

Special thanks to:

Anna and Chris (who came and raced for Joyriders at fairly short notice)
Penny (who stepped in on Saturday morning to race for us!) – Great effort Penny
Andie (Mark’s mum, for her camper van
Spiuk for the Joyriders race tops and also Mark’s race shoes, shorts and glasses
Richie at Silverfish for some new Race Face baggies

No thanks to:
Rain
Breaking expensive helmets

Setting up camp early!

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Machynlleth, located in the Dyfi Valley and the unofficial “ancient capital of Wales”, was the setting for the annual Dyfi Enduro. The event, organised by local cycle shop Summit Cycles based in Aberystwyth, took its traditional place on the calendar on the first May Bank Holiday.

This was my fourth visit to the event which has taken on a cult status in mountain bikers’ circles and always sells its 700 available places in hours. This year I owed my place in the event due to a mate since work commitments had prevented me getting online when entries were released.

As I took my place on the start line in about mid-field I shivered. A mixture of nerves and a bitter wind. We had been lucky that it wasn’t raining, but there had been a few downpours throughout the week to make the course interesting.

The Dyfi Enduro is not your typical enduro. The 65k route is a mixture of long arduous climbs and steep, technical descents. The slate that has served local industry well in these areas over the generations makes for some “interesting” and at times downright terrifying descents.

The start involved the usual first few miles of ascent on road to split the field and I moved quickly through the pack. By the time we left the road and started the first main off-road climb I was in about 10th position. The advantage of having done this event before meant I knew that this climb went on and on, so I settled in to a steady pace. A few went past me but I knew this was all about endurance. Riders are encouraged by a band on the way up, and then cheer leaders at the top to take your mind of the pain of the climb.

The first slatey descent could not come soon enough, but as I reached the bottom I heard the familiar hiss. Puncture! Back on my bike and within 5 minutes the next climb became more and more difficult. Slow puncture! I quickly changed again and then settled into the up, followed by down, over and over. I was on my carbon hardtail and could not help thinking my Orange 5 would have been better on the downs. As the event went on I started picking off riders as my early season endurance began to pay dividends. The first 200 riders have to do an extra loop near the end just to compound the pain. As I came down the final descent I heard that hiss again. I crossed the line with a flat. I finished 51st out of 711 riders and my best result in the event to date. Every year I scare myself on this one so much I say I will give next year’s a miss… until next year!

HALIFAX SC MTB CHALLENGE – 6TH JUNE 2010

My navigational skills were put to the test just finding the start of this event. The start was Halifax Sailing Club, located somewhere in the Pennines! I got there just in time to sign on, and just in time for when the rain started to fall.

This was a smaller scale event, but with some serious looking riders taking their place on the start line. I knew from the off this was going to be a quick one. After a short road climb, we were quickly off-road. I was in the top ten and positioned well as we went down the first rocky descent, followed by “hisssss”. Puncture!

This was seriously getting on my nerves. I intend to move to tubeless, and to not use Rocket Rons for events from now on!

Following the change I found myself at the back of the field. The riding was really enjoyable on some twisting singletrack. Not great for moving through the field though so I decided to just enjoy myself. The field started to stretch out and by half distance, about 15 miles, I was up to 63rd. I increased my pace for the second half and consistently moved up through the field.

As I came over the finish line I was informed that I had finished 21st. Not bad considering the problems I had. It wasn’t long after this that the rain eased off. Visibility had been poor but I think on a nice day the views would be as good as the riding which was excellent. I would really recommend this event and I intend to give this another go next year.

MARIN ROUGH RIDE – 13TH JUNE 2010

For various reasons, 2009 was my first attempt on the Marin Rough Ride. It takes place on the English – Welsh borders around Kington in Herefordshire. Anyone doing this event would be well advised to make a full weekend of it. On the Saturday there is a traditional summer fete with wheel barrow racing… it really is a surreal experience!

As I was intending to do 24 hours solo the following weekend I told myself to take things easy. I had finished 17th last year and felt in good shape. The start is actually about a 10 minute ride uphill from the campsite, so riders need to remember to leave themselves plenty of time to get to the start. As I got to the top I saw about 500 riders in front of me and the start line raised. I put the pedal down and started to race through the field. I had opted for the longer 75k route. Riders were greeted by glorious sun, but the rain through the night ensured that the grassy moorland under tyre (which is about 95% of the terrain!) was suitably soft to really drag. There are plenty of route options on this event and overtaking is rarely a problem.

The riding for the whole course is top class. It would make for a great day of riding with your mates. I really pleased myself by getting the better of a really steep climb which had myself last year, and the other riders around me, off the bike and walking. The lactic acid was burning in my legs, and only about a fifth into the ride, but it was worth it!

The route itself follows the traditional climb and descent format which characterises these sort of events. Some of the climbs were particularly testing at times. The last quarter also saw more rain, and this made it slippy and even more draggy. However, I managed to finish feeling really strong. I finished in a time of 5 hours 14 minutes which was about 4 minutes slower than last year so I was a bit disappointed with the overall time. To make things worse it is not possible to find out where I finished in the field – something to do with insurance. However, I think it will have been similar to last year. To sum up, it’s a difficult but rewarding event, although better when dry.

MAYHEM AT MAYHEM – 19TH JUNE 2010

I usually do Mayhem as part of a team, but I could not get anyone to take part this year. In the end I submitted an application to take part solo but heard nothing back from the organisers. I had resigned myself to not taking part, a shame as Mayhem is so much more than just the riding. The enormity of the event makes it a “must be there” event for all mountain bikers.

Luck struck, or so I thought, when trawling the pages of the STW website. I arranged to buy an entry from a guy who was now going in a team. I bought a new six man tent for this event, and my wife was to provide the support. However, on the morning of the event I rang and rang the guy I was buying the entry from but to no avail. I saw he had signed in as himself and once entry had closed the reality hit me – I was not going to be riding Mayhem!

The only high point of the day was test riding a new On-One 456 Carbon. It was sweet, although I have to wait for the 20” frame to come out. I placed my order and shall be getting a custom paint job – must get thinking up a suitable design!

Having set up camp we didn’t want the weekend to be a complete let-down. Aware of the road sportive the following day we did an extra 300 mile round trip to swap bikes and get my road bike. Back at Mayhem we soaked up the atmosphere and got an early night in for the following day.

The Sportive started 8-9am. I rolled up on the line at 8:10am and started off. I was greeted by clear blue skies, rolling hills, and picture postcard villages. I felt strong and was determined to ride off the frustrations of the previous day. I rode much of the event alone, which was uneventful except for my chain falling of the chainring resulting in me veering into some bushes at the side of the road! Doh!

I eventually caught the lead group and then before long rode off the front. I rode with one other rider to the finish.

When the times came out a few days later I found that I finished 4th out of 117 riders, and only 9 seconds behind the third place rider. I was really pleased with this and when I saw all the muddy mountain bikers I felt happy I could sit back, relax, and enjoy the sunshine!

Darren Hartley

Joyriders Race Team 2010

The post DYFI Enduro Race Report: By Darren Hartley appeared first on Joyriders.

The pace was quick off the start and I tried my best to hold on to the top guys but fell back and was 7th at the end of lap 1. I was feeling good though and really enjoying the course, a mixture of smooth flowing berms with the odd jump and some steep rocky chutes, oh and steep climbs too – they don’t do flat at Lee Quarry! The dust made some sections quite tricky but it was very fast and a lot of fun. I had some good little battles throughout the race and I managed to work my way back into 5th by the end of the 7 laps. I’m pretty happy with this result in the heat and it’s an improvement on my result in round 1. I’m already thinking how I can improve for round 3 now!

Tom Albutt

The post Brownbacks race report: By Tom Albutt appeared first on Joyriders.

For those who haven’t heard of Mountain Mayhem, it’s a 24hr race around the grounds of Eastnor Castle in the Malverns. Soloists (nutters), teams of 4, mixed 5s or 10s race around a 9 mile lap in a relay style event, the winner being the team who has completed the most laps at the end of the 24 hours. It’s an extremeley popular event with what seems like the whole bike industry turning up. There are 2500 racers entered making up about 500 teams.

But it’s more than just a race, there are demo bikes there, trade stands and plenty of things to look at and have a go at in the main arena. It has a real family friendly atmosphere too with kids races on the Saturday. It’s not just XC racers who do it either, there are all sorts; Scooby Doo was racing, there were guys in unicycles and the retro bike teams who were riding bikes from the dawn of mountain biking! For me, the best part is the atmosphere and how everyone cheers each other on. One group of supporters were giving chocolates to all the soloists going past, and some were even giving out cups of beer! A good motivation to get round for another lap I’m sure!

I was entered in a mixed team of 5 with my biking mates and my girlfriend who were all Mayhem virgins who I’d promised a fun weekend of racing with chilled camping and a festival atmosphere! By the time we’d all done a race lap of the course I’m not sure they were convinced as it was a bit of a killer with over 400m of climbing over the 9 mile lap! There was however some brilliant singletrack as reward and I have to say, I’d go and ride that trail again anyday because at speed it was a lot of fun, helped by being baked dry and dusty.

The race started at 2pm on Saturday with a Le Mans style dash, erm, sprint for 3/4 mile to spread the field out. I got a good start and came through to the bike collection area in amongst some of the pro teams. This could have been an error because it made for a very fast and frantic first lap. I gave it some beans and came in 27th at the end of lap 1. Everyone went for it on their first lap, getting caught up in the atmosphere and with fresh legs. But this is a endurance event so it was now time to settle in for the long haul!

Along came the night laps following an amazing sunset. Racing through the tight twisty woodland singletrack at night was a blast. Getting up at 3am to go and race wasn’t! By day break we were on the homeward straight and despite tired legs we all put in quick laps in the morning. I was dreading my last lap after cramping on the previous but some newfound energy and knowing it was my last meant I could push on the climbs and let it out on the decents. We completed 23 laps in total, coming 20th of 112 teams in the Sport Mixed category. A result we’re pretty proud of considering our laid back approach to the weekend.

Will we enter again next year? I’m not sure, it isn’t easy but as memories of the tiredness and pain fade it leaves those of a festival atmosphere, camping with your mates and riding in the sun. I wouldn’t be suprised if we go back!

Cheers Tom,

Joyriders Race Team 2010

Lined up for the start

And they’re off!

Sweet singletrack

The post Mountain Mayhem 24hr Race: By Tom Albutt appeared first on Joyriders.

There was a high standard of racers there for Sunday’s race with the series now counting towards BC ranking points. High winds also contributed to make the already technical, rocky course even more tricky and we had to fight hard against the wind to keep a line on the narrow rocky singletrack. It’s fair to say I felt battered after an hour and forty minutes pounding round the 5km lap of the quarry.

It’s a great course, with both rocky trails and some fast and flowy singletrack. This year a lot of money has been spent building new trails at the quarry and we got to race on them on Sunday and very impressed I was, well done guys.

I finished 9th overall, a result I’m a bit dissappinted with as I was aiming for better but I had a good battle with Craig Holden, a previous Weekend Warrior category winner, matching lap times for most of the race, unfortunately he just got me on the line with a sprint finish. That’s 2 races in a row I’ve lost out on a sprint finish! Something I need to work on it looks like!

Anyway, there’s still 4 races to go in the series so I will be back and better next time! This racing lark is very addictive!

In the mean time my attention has turned to mountain mayhem which is in 2 weeks, very excited about that so look out for a follow up report in a couple of weeks!

A full race report can be found on Singletrackworld here:http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/06/hope-xc-race-series-race-1-report/

Tom Albutt
Joyriders Race Team 2010

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