Starting the new year as I mean to go on...

It's New Years Eve 2019, just a few hours away from the beginning of a new decade and almost my 50th Birthday! 😳

Social media is filled with posts today about the 10 year challenge, showing pictures of people at the beginning and end of this decade; overweight vs slimmer, more hair vs receding hairline, dark hair vs grey hair, unfit vs fit... well I pretty much cover all of those - apart from the receding hairline!! 🤣

A lot has changed for me over the last 10 years, I've gone from spending every weekend out with my bow shooting at unmarked 3D field archery events, which has taken me all over the UK, as well as abroad shooting at Internationals, to spending all my free time mountain biking. 

I can't get enough of being outdoors and the forest has always been a magical place for me whether it's shooting a bow over unmarked distances at 3D animals or riding my mountain bike, walking my dogs and generally getting muddy!

The biggest difference for me from 2010 to now is my fitness, eating habits and being healthy, inside and out.  I take my fitness and nutrition very seriously these days and am proud of what I have achieved this year with weight loss through the Ketogenic lifestyle, mountain bike training and being more focused, both mentally and physically.

In my job supporting those affected by brain injury, I've run Mindful Meditation and Wellbeing workshops and have tried to change my mindset for the better, removing as much negativity from my life as possible, being more self aware and I will work hard to continue that in 2020 and beyond.

The new year will see me racing Enduro and some Endurance XC for the first time as part of Sherwood Pines Cycles Team and I already have a number of races booked.

1st March - Cannock Winter Classic XC
29th March - PMBA Enduro round 1 at Gisburn
16-17th May - Boltby Bash Enduro 
20-21 June - Mountain Mayhem 12 hour night race (solo)
6th September - PMBA Enduro round 5 Kirroughtree
18th October - Hopetech Womens Enduro Gisburn 


I have a few other 'maybe's on the radar, depending on money and whether I can find someone to share driving with etc.

29-31st May - Tweedlove Enduro, Scotland 

I may try and do some of the Southern Enduro series and some mini downhill events as Forest of Dean etc.

As well as the racing, I will continue to train using the MTB Fitness program, I am currently following the 12 week plan but there is also an Advanced 16 week plan. Training consists of weekly weights sessions, indoor interval sessions on my Proform TDF 5.0 bike using Zwift.

I am returning to commuting to work on my hardtail, which I plan to convert to a singlespeed! It's only 6.5 miles to work with a little bit of elevation but every second in the saddle is time well spent and I'd much rather be riding in than sat in the car in traffic every day 😖

So 2020 is full of exciting stuff, lots of bike time, lots of fun out on the trails with my hubby, lots of focus and hard work.

Happy New Year 🤘

It's been a while...

I am officially rubbish at blogging!

I haven't updated this blog since July 2018 I think? Not because there hasn't been anything interesting happening but because I thought no one was interested in an overweight slightly unfit nearly 50 something woman, mucking about on a mountain bike (falling off quite a lot too) and doing the odd obstacle race.

However, that's changed, considerably actually! 

2019 has been a pretty awesome year, discovering the Ketogenic lifestyle 5 months ago, and in doing so losing a ton of weight (not literally) becoming fat adapted so I have loads of consistent energy on the bike, no more peaks and crashes from sugars and carbs which has made a massive difference to my riding.

Buying a bloody awesome mountain bike in the summer, a 2019 Intense Primer Expert 29er, a huge investment for me and going up a frame size, going over to a carbon frame, it really is the dogs danglies and has taken my riding to a new level, faster, more confident!

Finally biting the bullet this year and entering the Hopetech Women Enduro where I discovered my mojo, which just happened to be hiding in a bush in Gisburn Forest...  

I had soooooo much fun, pushed myself way out of my comfort zone, loved every minute and wanted to do more so off the back of all of that, I've signed up to a few Enduro and XC events in 2020 - more about that soon.

As it happens, I turn 50 in 2 weeks and I decided a few weeks ago that turning 50 warrants me going out in 2020 and giving it a shitload of GNAR 🤘 on my fabulous new bike and newly found fitness and mojo.

And here's the best bit, I've joined the Sherwood Pines Cycles Race Team💚🖤 representing the team in the Grand Veteran Women's class (under British Cycling), which is pretty cool eh!

So given everything that's going to happen in 2020 it made sense to revive this blog and who knows, someone might actually read this now 😊

What am I doing here?

Many a time I've been sat the top of a steep trail looking down into oblivion, asking myself that very question, wondering what on earth possessed me to take up mountain biking in my late forties!

And once I've given myself a little telling off for being so negative, I remind myself I took it up to get fit and loose weight and I do it because it's FUN! 

It's challenging and bloody scary sometimes, and it hurts sometimes (yes I have crashed several times!), and I want to cry sometimes when I get frustrated at my cowardice and then I get to the bottom whooping with delight all the way and then laugh because actually it wasn't anywhere near as scary as my silly little brain told me!

So that's what I'm doing here, having fun, scaring the shit out of myself, trying to push myself way out of my comfort zone, falling off, getting back on and learning new things.

I follow a number of lady mountain bikers on Instagram and blogs, I'm in a couple of women's mountain bike groups on Facebook and I really admire the other ladies who are around the same age as me or older and are out there being Badass and Gnarly! 

Some of them write blogs, and I do love a good blog!  It's a bit like being a nosey neighbour and getting a little insight into what goes on behind closed curtains at the weekend!  I love reading about how they were scared and unsure at the start of an enduro race or 12/24 hour endurance race but by the end of the blog, it's quite apparent they had heaps of fun, there were lots of lovely people at these events helping them, cheering them on, and in fact pretty much everyone was there having fun too.

I'm still a newbie having only been riding a year, I've lost weight and I'm way fitter than I was 12 months ago.  I'm quite confident on the trails and willing to try new things and push myself and I decided that now is the time to up my game a little bit and have a go at some of these events as well.

So last week I booked myself into my first enduro event, the Hopetech Women Enduro at Gisburn Forest in October.  

"Following the huge success of the Hopetech Women rides in 2016, organising a grass-roots Enduro race was a natural step for us. The PMBA race series is one of the most popular amongst racers. Known for being inviting and unimtimidating for first time racers, but also fun and competitive for the more experiences, advanced riders – the PMBA races cater for all. Partnering up with the PMBA at our local Gisburn Forest trails was the perfect combination.
The race is intended to be a grassroots enduro for women only, with emphasis most definitely on fun. Racing for the first, second, third or twentieth time can be a nerve-wracking thought. The idea behind this event is create a fun route, which can be ridden solo or as part of a group – where some of the more down-hill sections of the route are timed. You can cruise down the trail at your own pace, test yourself and push a little harder or really take it seriously and see how you fare against other ladies. The choice is yours, there is no pressure.
We, (Hope Technology) have heavily subsidised the event so the PMBA can pass those savings onto you. The event will run if we have 30 or 300 entries, and part of the “Hopetech Women” 2017 event program.
A shortish lap with 3 stages will give plenty of time to chat to the other women on the day. 3 stages – suitable for novices but fun for the experienced racer too. Morning practice Afternoon race lap."

There's 88 women entered but I'm hoping more will enter nearer the time as word spreads! Quite a few of the gals from MTBChix have entered and I'm relieved that quite a lot of them are veterans as well, so I won't be the only old codger out on the course! 

So now I'm entered into that I decided I needed to do something else as well, not content with a day punishing myself on the Gisburn Forest trails, I've just entered into Gorrick 12:12 'TORQ in your sleep' endurance race, in the solo women's class!

There's actually 2 races; the 12 hour and the 6 hour and as a novice I decided it's probably best to not throw myself in at the deep end, so I've entered the 6 hour race, I've got to be sensible about this, even if I am bonkers for entering.  After all I'm no spring chicken, and rather annoyingly there's no women's veteran class this year so I'll be 'racing' against 18+ not that they'll have anything to worry about with me bimbling round!

So there you have it, my first post, my first 2 races entered... maybe my last? Hopefully not!  I've got to focus on 'training' now and getting as fit as I can, so I don't make a complete tit of myself.