Good Fighters

Check out the you tube video of the Orange mOnkey MTB Team taking on what the Pyrenees has to throw at them!

Orange Monkey MTB Team hit the French Pyrenees!!

Last weekend my GF took me to Berlin for what was a great weekend away for my birthday.  Berlin is a super city and definitely worth a visit!  I couldnt resist getting a bit of training in though, I missed my scalpel…..

The third round of the British Series took us back to an old classic venue in South Wales. Margam Park has been on the XC calendar since Mountain Biking began and is a popular circuit and well known as being a hard mans course due to its vicious climbs and rocky descents. The team went into the race on the back of some great results and it was fair to say everyone as in good spirit and good form!

A new and varied course made things interesting and a pre-ride on Friday was met by positive feedback from the team who not only enjoyed the course but the sunshine and dust that was being kicked up around the way. This was to be short lived as during Friday night the heavens opened and turned a dust bowl into a mud bowl. The fun off camber sections were now grit your teeth and hold on sections and the new shoot descent was like a rocky ice rink! 

As we prepared Alex for the start line of the Youth event we were quietly confident that the youngster was going to thrive in these conditions and that his bad luck at National events this year was about to change. A great start saw him leading the race by over 30 seconds by the time he hit the shoot, and this was where it ended as an Elite female he was overtaking became entangled in his wheel costing him four minutes and with it the opportunity to win the race. Alex showed great determination and character to fight back to 4th position as his National curse continues. 

In the Elite race our bad luck continued. A great start by Chris saw him enter the first descent in the top 10 but a nasty crash half way around the first lap left him with stitches in his shin and put an end to his race. Paul thrives in these conditions and took a steady start knowing it was to be a long race in these conditions and bravely opting to stick to a fast rolling Racing Ralph tyre. This approach looked to be paying off as he picked off riders gradually until a mechanical put paid to his effort and left him unable to complete the race much to his frustration.

With bad luck in both the Youth and Elite races it was left to Ben in the Juniors to give us something to cheer about… and that he did. A steady start and then some world class descending on the tricky course gave Ben his, and the teams first National podium of the year. A brilliant third place and a return to form for the talented youngster! 

As evening came, Chris returned from the local hospital just in time to watch the team take part in the Team Relay. Paul took Chris’s place alongside Alex, Ben and our good friend Sue Clarke of Team Cannondale. A bad start (keeping in with the luck for the day) as Bens chain jumped off giving him a very near miss put us in dead last but after a good recovery the team finished a well deserved 3rd and took our second podium of the day!

On Sunday the team took part in a training excercise in the 50km enduro. They were minus Chris due to his injuries sustained the day before but Paul, Ben & Alex took to the long 25km loop around Margam in a light hearted mood but soon got into a quick rythm that saw them challenging for the top spots. The team were in third place working well together before a puncture took them down to 5th near the end of the race but a chase back meant they finished strongly in 4th/5th and 6th position.

After two tough World Cups the team set out on their third race in as many weeks – this time for the second round of the British Series at Wasing Park, just outside Reading.

Ben had taken the trip south just a few short weeks ago for the test event here and won comfortably allowing him to give the rest of the team valuable feed back on what the course would offer.

As we arrived on Saturday morning to cloudy skies and a large cold field the memories of Belgium seemed very distant but it wasn’t long before we were on course and flowing through the endless singletrack surrounded by bluebells giving us a good feeling about the weekend ahead!

After a few laps of the course and a team meeting the riders headed off to their hotel, minus Ben who stayed to help our Manager and Mechanic take part in the team relay with a kind hand from the WXC Team. The race was run in good spirits and after Ben gave us a great start we stayed in third until the final bend when Team Manager Will ran out of steam and was pipped to the post. It was a great event though and gave further publicity for the team who have had various positive comments over the past few weeks. 

Sunday morning came and our early starter, Alex was first to rip up the dust around the Wasing Park estate. An early lead in the youth race saw him go clear of the field by a few bike lengths but this wasn’t to last and an out of sorts Alex was the victim of his own eagerness as he finished in 10th position. A solid performance, if not quite up to his own high expectations.

The midday racing saw Paul and Chris take on a strong Elite field and Ben take on Steve James, among others in the Junior race. Chris and Paul both started well and were within a few riders of each other mid pack in the early part of the race. For Chris this would remain as he put in another solid performance, a few places down on his normal form but maybe a little fatigue has set in from the busy race schedule of late. After his positive start, Paul had a mechanical, his rear cassette getting bent and leaving him with very few gears – this in turn forced him into a crash before a wheel change and then a hard chase giving him 25th position, however a positive return to form. 

Talking of returning to form, Ben produced his best ride since Cyprus, finishing 4th in a strong Junior field. A good start and consistent pacing put him in a great position and then a final attack on the last lap left the group of riders he was in trailing behind him. It was the ride of the day from our Welsh National Champion.

In the final races of the day our manager and mechanic were persuaded to take to the trails and through no choice of their own entered into the Open category race. They gave a good account of themselves with Mark taking 5th place and Will in a steady position until a late puncture left him to walk home, still completing the race as he walked across the finish line! Now that’s commitment for you!

So mixed results and mixed feelings from Wasing Park but plenty of encouraging signs and a perfectly run weekend from our team. The riders now take a well deserved rest before the Midlands Championships and next British Series race in a few weeks time.

Its been a busy few weeks for the Orange Monkey Cycling team.  We have taken our star rider (Chris Andrews) to the first WC in Dalby Forest, UK for 10 years, his first WC followed by the madness of Houffalize and then to Wasing Park, UK for the latest round of our National series!  Its been a tough time as we find our feet and gain valuable experience for next year when we will go full on around the European WC’s.

One thing that gave us all huge inspiration was the CFR team set up at Houffalize.  Apart from the fact they have an on board espresso machine the team have the best set up on the circuit and such an amazing team atmosphere about the place.  We watched and learned as we saw them getting ready for their WC races and then coming down after them.  It was inspiring.  I met Manual after his fabuolous ride and as you would expect from a CFR rider he was the ultimate professional… something our team will be emulating next year…

World Cup racing returning to England is no small occasion and the organisers wanted to put on a show and with that in mind they created the Pro Sprint Eliminator! World Cup Professionals going head to head in a 4 cross style race through the streets of Pickering. Orange Monkey were priviledged to have been invited to take part by the organisers and Paul jumped at the chance of competing against the very best in the world in front of a packed crowd in the centre of the Yorkshire town of Pickering.

The course started with a tight left hand turn before shooting up a steep climb and then into a small alleyway which took the riders through the middle of a graveyard before hurtling down some concrete steps, up another climb and then swooping through some loose gravel in somebodies back garden before finally dropping back out onto the road and up the drag to the finish. It was just as exciting to ride as it was to watch with the course taking just under 2 minutes to complete. 

The event started with the 55 riders completeing a time trial around the circuit and the top 28 going through to a knockout eliminator style competition. After a few laps of practicing the course, Paul was in confident mood and was asked for an interview by race commentator Chris Furber.

As the streets around Pickering filled to bursting point, Paul was called from the staging area to prepare for his Time Trial effort. As chants of Bambi (Paul’s nickname) rang around the streets of Pickering, thanks to commentator Dan Jarvis, Paul thrashed around the streets of Pickering in double quick time and amde it through to the knockout phase of the competition. 

Next up it was the Eliminator and Paul was picked to go alongside top Cannondale Factory racer Marco Fontana, the Italian National Champion! A great slingshot off the line was followed by missing his pedal and Paul went into the first corner in last place giving himself no chance of a recovery or progressing through to the next round, a slight disappointment but the occasion was fantastic and the exposure for the team phenomenal.

A great start to the weekend… now onto the World Cup race!

A special thank you must go to Simon Burney for organising a great Pro Sprint Eliminator and inviting Orange Monkey to take part.

The final stage of the race was a Cross Country race and it was now left to Ben to fly the Monkey flag with both Chris and Paul not taking to the start line. Chris still had the stomach problem and paul had now had to go to hospital for a pain killing injection two nights in a row leaving him shattered and unable to race. It was immense disappointment and frustration for the two riders who have trained all winter with these races in mind. 

Ben was still feeling some discomfort from his knee although that soon went out of his mind as the gun went and started a cold wet race around the tough circuit. As the rain lashed down ben started to feel the pain and began to drop back in the opening laps but with riders dropping like flies in the tough conditions, Ben showed great character picking off riders and moving back up through the field to finish in an excellent 8th position.

Sue, Lee and Anthony continued there impressive form with 4th, 16th and 2nd respectively.

UK National Champion Sue Clarke

For the two Elite riders it was a disappointing three days after such optimism in the build up to the race but for Ben there was reason to be pleased after showing tremedous character to fight his way through three tough days and come out with a 5th place finish overall. 

Sue battled hard in the final stage and took 5th position overall narrowly missing out on 4th, Anthony was consistent throughout and took 2nd in Masters but Lee showed the class that will surely springboard him into the very top few riders in the UK with a 16th position overall in a field full of International star riders. The riders will now take some rest and then begin preperations for the final race of the series in Amathous next weekend.

Start of the Marathon Stage

With no better news overnight Chris took the bold decision to pull out of the stage race and try to recover so he could continue to train for the final race in Amathous next week. Ben started the slightly shorter course at the earlier time of 9.30am and was quick to get in amongst the leaders and put the pain of his knee to one side. 

The course took in some long fire road climbs before eventually getting onto some tough singletrack climbing and then a knarly descent down onto the cross country course and back to the arena, it was a tough but challenging course and although it was no longer raining the weather was certainly not sunny and the thunder storm the night before had left plenty of water on the ground.

Ben put in a really solid performance and was just seeconds away from placing as high as fourth position. For Paul the toothache and lack of sleep had finally taken its toll and he just couldn’t get up to speed and eventually blew his doors coming home near the back extremely frustrated with the performance.

Sue had a great ride to 4th position in a top quality womens field, Anthony finished 2nd to cment his place in the overall and Lee stormed to 25th in a apcked mens field.

About to Time Trial

After a reasonable set of results from the riders in round 1 of the Sunshine Cup, the focus now turned to the demanding stage race in the Macheras mountains. The format for the race was a one lap Time Trial of the XC course on Friday afternoon followed by a point to point marathon the day after and finally a Cross Country race on the Sunday followed by a huge barbeque… we were looking forward to that the most!

Help flew in on the Wednesday in the form of team manager Will along with Paul’s girlfriend to make sure the riders were fully looked after and could focus on the race in hand. Unfortunately preperation wasn’t going according to plan with all three riders having some midweek problems. Ben hurt his knee in round one last weekend, Paul had sever toothache that had initally started after landing the week before but was now getting worse and Chris had an upset stomach leaving him with little energy. 

Thursday came and the riders went to the race venue for practice only to find it under water as a constant stream of heavy rain flooded the course leaving them to make the decision to pre-ride the course early morning. Friday and the day of the Time Trial – an all out effort over a tough course with three big descents and a lot of climbing! Ben was first off and put in a brave effort fighting the pain in his knee and finishing in a creditable 7th position amongst a strong field dominated by Russians. The rain continued to pour down as both Paul and Chris got ready for their race against the clock. Paul felt good and put in a faultless ride but having not slept much since arriving in Cyprus he suffered on the climbs and his time was not as good as he had hoped for. Chris suffered all the way round and put on a brave face as he tried his best with virtually no food inside him. Paul finished the stage in 67th with Chris in 75th. 

An interview with Cyprus TV

 It was a disastrous start for the two Elite riders with this race being there main focus all winter the disappointment was clear to see. It had been a tough first day in appalling conditions. Rest, food and sleep and tommorrow may be better!

There were some outstanding results from our training partners with Lee Williams getting 10th in the Elite Mens beating World marathon Champion Roel Paulisson, National Champ Sue Clarke took 6th place in the Elite Women and Anthony Morris took a great 2nd place in the Masters.