Dark and White Winter MBO Round 4- Matlock

3rd Place in Category A- I'm Starting to Enjoy MTB Orienteering

I love riding around Matlock. It's a sensible ride out from Nottingham and the roads nearby offer a great gateway into the Peak District National Park. I couldn't honestly count the number of times I've ridden up the Via Gellia over the years although I've only briefly explored the trails nearby so when it was announced that the final round of Dark and White's Winter Mountain Bike Orienteering series was to be based from the town I was pretty happy to have a little bit of area knowledge.

Why Did My Bike Look Dirtier Than Everyone Else?

Santa Cruz Tallboy CC Demo Ride at 18 Bikes Hope

Having recently become increasingly interested in mountain biking the logical progression is to owning a full suspension mountain bike. In honesty there's a huge variety of what's on offer on the marketplace so it makes sense to get a feeling for just what I want before making any big decisions.

When we heard 18 Bikes at Hope in the Peak District were doing a Santa Cruz Demo Day last weekend  it sounded like a great opportunity to try something new.

The Santa Cruz Tallboy at 18 Bikes Hope

As someone who's been a road rider for years and genuinely likes those long winter mileage sessions exploring I suppose the logical progression for me is either going to be into either cross country racing or the longer distances of mtb marathon events. That draws me away from the current Enduro trend and more towards a bike with a sensible amount of travel. Nino Schurters World Championship winning Scott features 120 mm of travel at the rear so something with similar makes sense. Though having never ridden a full suspension bike before one of the big questions was just whether it would make a difference.

Dark and White Winter Mountain Bike Orienteering Round 2- Great Longstone

This Sunday saw the most recent round of the 4 event Dark and White Winter Mountain Bike Orienteering series at Great Longstone a few miles north of the Peak District honeypot of Bakewell. The Headquarters were the impressive Thornbridge Outdoor Centre.

After the previous round at Chapel-en-le-Frith I was really looking forward to the event, particularly after really enjoying the previous round, it had taken me out of my comfort zone and equated to a solid training session towards next years goals whilst keeping me mentally fresh.

I'd even considered doing a Midlands league event down near Northampton between Christmas and New Year however waking up on Boxing Day with an excruciating pain in my ribs, as well as the subsequent inability to sit up straight whilst in bed or sit in comfort riding a bike meant I've needed a couple of weeks downtime to allow the body to heal. I've only just been able to test comfort levels on a spin bike at the gym this last week so the latest round of the Dark and White MBO series was always going to be a test in itself.

Riding up to Thornbridge Outdoors you're hit smack on with the grandeur that would have once bestowed the site.

The entrance to Thornbridge Outdoors with the Radon

Dark and White Winter Mountain Bike Orienteering Event 1 Chapel en le Frith

I thought it would be good to try something different this winter. Wanting to ride many of next years Mountain Marathon MTB Series and other mountain bike events but also adding to winter training I saw an advert a while ago for Dark and White Cycling's Winter Trailquest series which features events all over the Peak District. Now know as Mountain Bike Orienteering the idea of navigation and cycling adds a different element to training.

At the start of my first Mountain Bke Orienteering event. Dark and White Winter MBO Round 1

With event 1 being staged in Chapel en le Frith on the Western side of the Peak District we meandered our way over after an early start. I've only ever done one orienteering event in the past at the Red Bull Robin Hood event so it would be intriguing how well I would actually get on. I didn't have high hopes but it's certainly good to keep things fresh and for a little over £15 an event I can't grumble on pricing.

After picking up my event map I had a generous 3 hours to dob as many checkpoints as possible. After a couple of wrong turns in Chapel en le Frith itself I finally found myself on the right minor road out towards Dove Holes after wasting a good 5 minutes trying to find my way but I had at least my first 10 points in the bag.

When I hit the A6 at Dove Holes a navigational error meant that I followed Doveholes Dale in error by going straight across. Looking for the red and white tape along the road I realised my error when it pulled alongside the railway. A quick right then left would likely have solved this at the A6 but cost me valuable time as I had to go out and back to the checkpoint I was looking for to add another 15 points to my tally.

From here things started to look up for a while and I hit my first cross country section along a bridleway from Smalldale across the side of Lodes Marsh laden with muddy puddles and mountain bikers. More points in the bag before climbing the quarry access route up high above the Donkey Sanctuary to Bee Low to nail another set of points along bridleways I've never before ridden.

Dropping back down to the A6 I thought I saw a road off to the right on the map that would help cut out part of the journey up to Blackbrook but it was actually the map showing me the edge of the Peak District National Park. Maybe it's time Ordnance Survey change the colour scheme as talking back at HQ at least one other person made the same error and ended up going up someones driveway.

I ended up back in Chapel en le Frith before cutting up to Blackbrook up what is known as Peaslows or I think used as the Sparrowpit Hill Climb. I was starting to need some sugars so used this as an opportunity to back off a little and take in a Clif bar whilst I climbed up to around 400m above sea level. I hadn't quite expected the level of climbing the event would have.

After gathering another 10 points at Blackbrook I dropped down to Sparrowpit and on to Perryfoot for another quick and easy checkpoint before settling off along the narrow road towards Rushup Edge that forms part of the Pennine Bridleway. Having never ridden the Pennine Bridleway I wasn't sure what to expect. It's certainly rough in places but ride able and after bagging another set of points there was the option of carrying on for a long section along the Pennine Bridleway or dropping down towards the small village of Malcoff. The section of the bridleway looked to pass through a lot of the contours on the map so despite being a 20 point checkpoint it looked a risk in terms of time so I opted to drop down to Malcoff down a field which turned into a rather muddy, slippery track with a gate that had seized up and needed me to lift my bike over.

My next checkpoint came on the edge of Bridgeholme Green before carrying on along Charley Lane and making a monumental mistake. At the crossroads atop Carley Lane I misread the map and thought I was heading west towards Eccles Pike, however I was heading northwest to the Village of Whitehough. Whilst I was drastically off the course I wanted I did catch a glimpse of an amazing beer garden at the Old Hall Inn so all wasn't lost. This is winter training after all.

I managed to nab a checkpoint by the Black Brook near Buxworth before climbing up towards a checkpoint on the outskirts of New Horwich. If I'd had my wits about me I'd have nabbed the checkpoint near Shallcross Hall Farm Too but I was now starting to get conscious of time as I climbed Elnur Lane which just seems to go on upwards.

I swung left towards the top of Elnur Lane dropping down a narrow road to be confronted by a tractor. A quick slam on of the brakes I fortunately managed to stop in sensible time before speeding downhill towards a quick left and right in the village of Combs which also had a great looking pub

I nabbed another checkpoint on the edge of Combs Reservoir before arriving at the main B road into Chapel en le Frith with about 5 minutes to get back to HQ within the 3 hour time limit. That should have been straightforward until a bus pulled up at it's stop and I was left waiting behind for an eternity without an opportunity to pass. The seconds ticked by as the bus pulled off only to get held up by a parked car on the high street and yet more oncoming traffic.

In the end I rolled into HQ 41 seconds late, losing a minuscule 1 point off my 180 points gathered. I'll take that for my first event and definitely something to work on for future. There was also a lot of road type riding at the event, In some ways I could have ridden a less trail specific tyre or even a cyclocross bike more successfully.

I learnt a few things in my first Mountain Bike Orienteering event

1. I really need a map board for the next event to save me stuffing my map down my bib tights or simply holding it whilst riding
2. I don't need to rush to hit the first checkpoint. Learning how to best get out of the HQ would be a better idea
3. I need to eat and drink more. I only had a Clif Bar during a 3 hour event. I should be nailing 400 odd calories an hour for strong riding over the winter
4. I carried too much with me. I should really be looking at using the back pockets of a jersey instead of a camelback as it certainly doesn't feel as comfortable for me.

Round 2 is at the Longshaw Estate near Bakewell so a little closer to home and with roads I have some knowledge of which hopefully will work in my favour. I loved the Peak District scenery in the area this weekend and somewhere different keeps things fresh over a long winter.

For more info check out http://darkwhitecycling.co.uk/mountain-bike-events/ 

12.12 Peak District- Time for Liam to Dig Deep

It's hard to believe that it's 8 months since I broke my leg. Having spent the last few months finally starting to build back to a relative level of fitness I still hadn't entered a race event until now. With the Rat Race Coast 2 Coast race just a month away it seemed that I needed a test in August to see where my fitness was at.

At the start line of the Dig Deep 12.12 event in my Muddy Race top

Aside from a few 5-10 km obstacle race within sensible driving time I stumbled across the details for the Dig Deep Peak District running weekend with a couple of Ultra's on the Saturday followed by a tough looking 12.12 mile trail race and 10km. The 12.12 miler had an advertised 632 metres of ascent across the length of the course which sounded like it would create a great challenge to see where I'm at with my training now. I know I'm not really at a race fitness level running wise but just being able to enjoy a long event was key for me despite my usual competitive nature.

Training has been building up now and whilst I hadn't yet gone beyond 10 miles in training I was confident I have the cardiovascular fitness from cycling to get the the finish line. It's been a stressful time since the break and in honesty I was relishing the chance to see what the North-Eastern edges of the Peak District had in store. It's an area I've seen very little of in the past but the course was billed as taking in some of the best trails the area had to offer and for £17 and a T Shirt it beat the obscene amount of money needed for a jolly around a muddy OCR somewhere.

The joy of being a member of the Team Muddy Race OCR community is that you'll often spot someone else in a top and instantly break down barriers as I discovered at the start line.

You never know when you'll see another member of Team Muddy Race at an event

Starting out from the interesting surroundings of Whirlow Hall Farm, a charitable trust on the outskirts of Sheffield which allows access to a great local network of trails that lead into the Peak District we had a briefing in the barn before heading out for the event. The organisers seemed to have put on a nice event village where they'd set up a stage in the barn, there was a bar, a few stalls and Outside outdoor goods shop had bought a selection of the running gear. The shop they'd set up was very professional befitting their place as a sponsor of the event. In comparison to the 2xu shop at the recent Runners World Trailblazer events look piss poor and certainly gave a very good impression of Outside.

Due to the nature of the event and changeable weather conditions mandatory kit included a compass, route map and a windproof jacket which had been downgraded from full waterproof body cover the week before the event. There were a few grumblings heard whether the jacket was really necessary but having been caught out in the Peak District in summer before I was confident that if anything did happen my trusty OMM Kamleika would do the job needed to get me back to base.

The race started pretty much on time from inside the farm and we headed North along a section of byways and footpaths with a few short road links until we turned west along the Porter Valley. The climb up the Porter Valley became a tough slog as I settled into a rhythm as we climbed over 200 metres in less than 4 kilometers before entering the Peak District.

First water staion came aside Lady Cannings Plantation, a favourite spot for local Mountaion Bikers where a trail has just been put in place to encourage their use in the area whilst controlling the areas of the woodland they have an effect on. Climbing up the sandy byway beside the plantation a few mountain bikers ambled past us having a good nosey at what was going on but fortunately as the section was nice and wide we were easy to pass without incident.

From there the course swung right along Houndkirk Road (Dirt road) before sweeping down to skirt the edge of Burbage Rocks. As we got to Fiddlers Elbow we turned South onto the rocky, rugged trail up to Higgar Tor. At this point it had become a case of jumping from rock, to rock, trying to find a suitable route forward as the relentless terrain was starting to take it's toll.

We dropped down from Higgar Tor along a network of paths and through the heather before what seemed like an almighty slog back up to Houndkirk Road. Sections of this became more of a fast power walk than a run as we fought the terrain and our body's requests to shut down on us. Fortunately we all knew that once at the top of this section we'd be on the home run. Back generally downhill to Sheffield for the final 5 kilometers via the Ling Valley at Ringinglow.

By this point I was starting to become a little weary of my ankle. It had stayed relatively strong but I was going past my usual comfort zone. I'd been struggling somewhat on the downhill sections and with the more rugged terrain as my confidence builds back up. Hills weren't an issue and I was often able to re-take people who'd flown past on the downhills. As this was more a test run than a race for me I held back, admiring the impressive views back to industrial Sheffield while generally enjoying the run.

At the finish of the Dig Deep 12.12 Peak District at Whirlow Hall Farm. 

I got back to Whirlow Hall Farm in 1:55:05 which was over 30 mins behind the winner but I was happy with where my body is now at. The distance had started to hurt but I'd initially hoped to get inside the 2 hour mark with a 10 min/ mile pace which I achieved with some time to spare.

All in the Dig Deep 12.12 race for 2015 was a nice event. Tough terrain (which I like) some nice scenery and a good test for my fitness without destroying me. Definitely something I'd come back to although I'm tempted for next years 30 mile Intro Ultra event.

Swag- Tech T shirt and a copy of Trail Running magazine.