A round-up of some of my training & racing...

It's taken me some time to post this as I've been quite busy with teaching, training and racing. But I finally managed! Spring is here and we are now racing most weekends but before I share with you some of my racing adventures its worth mentioning training in Sicily. At this stage, I can say that winter training is paying off. Apart from the training rides I do with my training buddies here in Malta I also found time to visit Sicily and make the most of their roads and trails. It is only a 2 hour ferry from Malta so its quite easy to get to. Two of my training camps this year were carried out in Sicily. A 4 day with GB Ladies team and another weekend with Agones SFC club members. The latter training consisted of two days climbing up mount Etna. This was my first road training camp this year and although I did miss being off road I did enjoy myself nearly as much as I do on a mtb! 

Picture taken after climbing up to Rifiugio Sapienza one of the climbs on Mount Etna

Mount Etna erupting by night

Sicily is amazing, great people, scenery, food and riding. We couldn't ask for more! Oh by the way we did meet some dodgy drivers but we survived! While we were staying there we had the honour to watch one of the wonders of earth. In the evening we heard an explosion and saw lava coming out from one of the volcano craters. An amazing experience! 

Volcano ashes being swept away by children so they can play football 

These are the ashes. Looks more like gravel to me!

One of the breath taking views while riding up to one of the peaks.

Back to racing on dirt...

The British MTB XC National Series Round 1 - Sherwood Forest, England

My new RDRitalia Scandium 29er is ready to be tested :-)

Legs were ready and so was my new bike :-) I got accustomed to mild temperatures in Malta and finding myself back in the UK I must admit its freezing! I found it difficult to get away from the lovely heated houses!

Steve scraping off the ice before we set off to Sherwood Forest Brrrrr!

Saturday morning we woke up to a couple of inches of snow. We were a little bit concerned about the road conditions but soon found out that roads weren't as bad as we thought.

Course practice & photo shoot

We got to a snowy winter wonderland, with a 4" of snow which rose to 8" by the evening. Went round the course a couple of times testing my new bike and practising the course. Loved it! Both, the bike and the trail! A fun course and a picturesque view. 

Robin Hood & Maid Marianne

After having camped at Sherwood forest the previous years, we decided to go for a B&B and secure a warm comfortable night. After a good breakfast we drove to the race venue slipping and sliding all the way. 

Warming up :-/

I went through my normal race ritual only that my warm up routine was not enough to warm me up. 

The start

I had a decent start, a little slower then usual as there was not many places where to over take. The race was a total of 4 laps approx 24kms of mostly single trail. 

Staying in the tracks

It was heaps of fun riding through windy, snowy and muddy sections. Kept a steady pace throughout the race and was pleased with my ride. When I finished the race Steve noticed a huge amount of frozen mud stuck to my bike. No wonder my my front changer froze leaving me to a fixed gear. This was also a good explanation why on the last lap my bike felt heavier than usual probably heavier then the next door neighbour's commuting bike! 

Racing hard

Finished 17th out of 27 starters. Pleased with my position and look forward to the next round :)

More dirt...

Sicilian Cup MTB XC Race - San Cataldo, Sicily




Last year in November I did my first MTB race at San Cataldo where I placed 2nd. The race course was challenging and the climbs where tough. So this year I made sure to return to this race. I set off to Sicily on Saturday morning with Justin, a friend of mine who rides for Agones Club. We got on 5am ferry to Pozzallo and at 7am we were off the ferry heading to San Cataldo a village in Caltanisetta. The motorway was quite boring nothing different from any other motorways, but as we got closer the views became amazing. 



Edward from Wheel Wizard bike shop working on my racing wheels  the night before we set off. Thank you Edward!
Beautiful spring scenery. Picture by Justin

In the afternoon we met with some Sicilian friends and went for course practice. The terrain was very dry and loose making the descents very fast. The course was similar to last years with some more single trail sections added in. I was a little bit tiered from the travelling and rode slowly compared to my usual course practice still enjoyed it though.



Our new Sicilian friends riding their Motorino off road! White one is for sale.

The next day we woke up to British weather! Female riders were planned to set us off at 11am but when we got to the racing venue they informed us the race was moved to 10! I panicked a little knowing there was no time for a proper breakfast so I had a Zipvit energy bar which I know my body can digest pretty fast. Soon after a short warm up we were off. There was not enough time for riders to overtake and soon after a fast start we found ourselves stuck in a traffic jam.



Photo courtesy of ASD Team

The riding was interesting conditions totally changed from the previous day. Ground was wet and with a clay based terrain there was little grip. 




I soon realised I was on the wrong tyres. Had to stop several times to clear the mud which was blocking my rear wheel from turning round! Obviously there was no trouble on the descents as the wheels skidded down any ways but as soon as I reached the bottom of the descent and tried to pedal there was no way my bike would move. I wasn't the only one stopping and clearing the mud. There were many riders retiring from the race possibly due to mechanicals. Having a lefty was an advantage of course as my front kept rolling down the technical descents and this was definitely a plus side to stay upright on my bike.



Muddy descents



Sticky mud + summer tyres... definitely not a good combination!



Even got some tape stuck in my derailleur. I'm surprised it still worked!

I enjoyed this race even though the rain made it tougher then expected. Completed 3 laps in 1 hour 11 minutes less then 2 minutes behind the leader who was a male rider and 1st in the female elite category.



Receiving the trophy

We couldn't stay for the presentation as we had a ferry to catch so got the trophy a goody bag and rushed back.

Back on tarmac...

First round of the Road National Championships - San Martin

After the bad luck I experienced on this course during the Tour with a double puncture and not enough wheels in neutral service to keep me going, I was eager to lay the demons on this course.

The previous day I made sure that my new custom built RDRitalia road bike was set to go. I didn't have Steve to check my bike and help me go through the usual bike check routine but luckily Ivan from Express Traders did a great job. Called Steve the day before and asked him for some racing tips. He told me to treat it as a mtb race and go hard.

My new toy :-) Frame from www.rdritalia.com built by Steve Wright 

I was so nervous about the race especially about puncturing again, I must have checked tyre pressure at least 4 times! After a 1 minute silence in respect to a fellow cyclist Ishmael Muscat, they set us off with the men elite and over 40's. There were 7 of us females racing.

The Start

The race was 5 laps of San Martin circuit which is also used during the 2nd stage of the Tour Ta' Malta. The bunch stayed together until we hit the climb. After San Martin climb I found myself riding with the men. After the third lap there was a safe gap between myself and the other female riders so all I needed to do is stay in company and keep the pace up. 

Up San Martin with a background view of Xemxija (Pic courtesy of Raymond Pace)

I was happy to cross the finish line first female with a 6 minutes gap

"Yes! No punctures!..and a win" :-)