Hugo rode the first round of the British Mountain Bike Series (BMBS) at Sherwood Pines this Sunday, here’s how he got on.

Sherwood Pines is different from many cross-country courses in that it’s rather flat. However, despite its mild appearance, when the gun goes and the race gets underway long fire road drags become leg busters and any entrance to tight singletrack becomes a fierce battle with fellow competitors and all too quickly you feel the taste of lactic acid and the bloody taste of lung lining. Altogether, not an ideal set of characteristics for my first MTB race of 2011 in the ever competitive junior category.

A pre-ride of the course at Sherwood confirmed the familiar style of courses at Sherwood; long fire road sections broken up with extremely narrow single track which this year featured lots of new trails of varying quality but overall produced a course with no big challenges. Dry conditions and fast running trails meant I ended up using a Fast Fred on the front and leaving my forks locked out for a lot of the course and came away from Saturday feeling confident in my own ability but still a little unsure of how strong any other riders were going to be.

After a night in Mansfield’s finest Travelodge, it was onto Sunday and race day. A slight panic in warm-up when my dad managed to knock a brake pad out of the caliper was the only real issue and before long the nerves kicked in as I lined up for gridding. As a second year junior having raced most of this series last year I was the 6th rider called up and so took a spot on the front row. The start came and I think my lack of MTB racing (none since September 2010) showed as I slipped back through the first chicane to about 10th place and then again some more on the first fire road before getting my head together and going into the singletrack in what must have been 8th place. The rest of the first lap is a bit of a blur, as it seems to be in most races, but I must have worked my way through a couple of riders as I ended up with Ryan Fenwick and Matthew Adair in 4th place.

With not much idea of the gap to the lead riders but in the knowledge that we needed to work together, we took turns on the front and we were soon clear from those chasing behind. A few expert riders (their race started 2 minutes before the juniors) who must have been struggling with the pace of their race got in the way and split our group slightly meaning that I had a tough job of chasing back to Ryan a couple of times, but I kept with him through the singletrack and then suddenly noticed that the elastic had been stretched enough for Matthe Adair to have been dropped. Ryan and I continued to work together although I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to stay strong until the finish, a problem not helped when I missed my bottle with 2 laps to go.

On the bell lap, I was in 4th place but I was feeling the effects of the course with a stiff back and Ryan was still with me, leaving me a bit worried about what tactics to use at the finish. My Dad shouted at me that the gap to third was less than a minute and this must have been enough to make me get my head down for the last effort to the line. Ryan and I pushed on and then suddenly caught sight of 3rd place (Ben Sumner) at the end of one of the many long straights. I gave my all on one of the slight rises through some singletrack and looked round to see I had a gap to Ryan behind me and that I was closing in on Ben. Ben must have been pretty cooked as I passed him quite easily just before the last bit of singletrack before going all out to the finish to claim my first national podium in a while with a pair of tired legs but pleased with what for me felt like a really unexpected result.

Thanks go to my Dad who I think was rather pleased to see me on the podium

So this weekend was the first round of the Junior National Road Race series, the Cadence RR in mid/south Wales, a race full to the brim with Juniors wanting to test their legs over 110km consisting of 7 laps of a mildly hilly circuit.
The race got off to a very nervous and shaky start what with 100 riders all unsure of where to begin and all wanting to be on the front for the slightest of corners or uphills I ended up sharpening the elbows and squeezing through a good few handlebar-wide gaps but it was not enough as I approached the finishing climb towards the back of the bunch. However, the enthusiasm of many of the less experienced riders in front of me quickly turned to gasps of breath and I snaked my way to the front using as much of the right hand side of the road as possible and rejoined the front echelon before speeding down the descent and onto the flatter part of the course. Here the peloton regrouped enough for a couple of riders to touch wheels before that ever familiar crash of carbon on ashphalt was heard and I found myself swerving through the wreckage as riders seized up and smashed into each other, fortunately most people were ok and only superficial damage was done.

Onto the second lap and the bunch had clearly calmed down as riders filled both sides of the road. I looked up over the mass of kit to see a mate of mine from the Glendene CC, Josh Hannan, just off the front with another rider. Having had enough of the nervous bunch riding I jumped across to Josh and looked back to see no response from the front of the peloton except for two riders who had joined my wheel. I bridged to Josh and the other rider and the 5 of us worked as a group enough to gain a good advantage and pick up the remnants of a small move which had escaped on the first lap, our group reaching up to 9 riders at on point as Ali Slater (Hargroves) and the super keen Alex Peters (CC Hackney) made their way across. Our group then worked together for the rest of the race as we ‘chainganged’ through and, with an average speed above 37km/h, the gap rose quickly to 2 mins 20 seconds.
For the rest of the race, we worked well but the finishing climb clearly took its toll and riders were dropped to leave our group at 6 with two laps to go and the gap at 1 min 55 seconds. By this point my legs were undoubtedly feeling the strain but I think we all knew that the finish was in sight and we got to the bell lap with 1 min 30 seconds adavantage. Normally at this point in the race riders start to think tactically and maybe miss a turn on the front but we were all 100% committed to getting to the finish and the through and off never stopped, this was until about 2km to go when 3 riders (Oli Rossi (Ciclos Uno) Jon Dibben (Hargroves) and Sam Lowe (Raleigh)) made the junction and tactical riding came to the fore until Jonathan Dibben dived across to the other side of the road in full flight, an attack that lead to his win. Our bunch reached the foot of the finishing climb in pieces and all I could do was uselessly fight the cramps on a finish which I felt suited my style to roll over the line in 8th place with a pair of very dead legs. Of course, I shouldn’t be too disappointed, I made the selection and worked well in the break and certainly feel like a contender for a podium place next time.
Thanks to my Dad for driving me to Wales and nervously standing around in a field for just under 3 hours, as well as all the other stuff he does.

Hugo Humphreys

The prospect of heading down to Brighton on a wet and cold november morning to race cyclocross is not an idea which has me leaping out of bed on a sunday morning. So it is perhaps fortunate that I have a son made of sturdier stuff to remind me of my commitments and get me going.
Leaving home the cloud was breaking and we could almost fool ourselves into believing we might get away with it, but as we approached the South Downs the rain re-appeared and was to be our companion for the rest of the day.
It’s testament to the popularity of cyclocross racing these days that on such a day a field of 80 or so riders should be lining up for the senior event. This wasn’t a day for speed but for resilience as each rider fought their way through the gloopy mud for over an hour. As the race wore on the effect on man and machine became clear as riders stopped at the side of the trail to dig the mud away from brakes, derailleurs and wheels. Somehow my trusty IF Planet Cross survived and carried me over the line in my usual mid-field finishing position. The changing rooms had the unusual luxury of showers but by the time I trailed in these were full of fully clothed rellow riders hosing themselves down in the tepid water!
A spray car-wash on the way home proved a quick and easy way for Thomas and I to wash our bikes down, and re-lube, ready for the next weekend adventure.

Gill Ord (a Mosquito Director along with myself and Roger) last week attended the SICI (Serotta International Cycling Institute) Professional Bike Fitting school. This is the same course Roger did seven years ago (becoming one of the UK’s first pro Bike Fitters) and I took two years ago. It’s great that Gill has taken the course and means that once qualified we will have three pro Bike Fitters at Mosquito allowing us to offer a full time bike fitting service. We believe it’s also a real benefit that all have diferent cycling experiences and histories.
Anyway here’s Gill’s briuef accout of the course.
“Last week was a shock to my system, I went back to school, well ‘Bike Fitter School’

For 3 days I tried to cram my brain with all the information needed to become a Professional Bike Fitter, like Phil and Roger.
The first day was pretty hard mainly because of the medical terms for the bones structure of the legs and feet. On the second day as it became more practical I began to relax and then it started to come together, the bio dynamics and the bike geometry. Understanding the ideals and then working with each individuals physical ability, history and expectation.

Well I passed the exam with flying colours and now I have to do 10 fits that are assessed and by some time next year I will be a qualified Professional Bike Fitter”

Been blowing a storm most of the week and we’ve almost sold out of lights in the shop, a sure sign we’re into the dark days of winter. I seem to have been ordering lights at Mosquito since time began but I still struggle to get it right. We either end up with stock room shelves creaking under the weight of unsold light sets in march or we’re scratching around to find stock in November when the things should be selling themselves. The problem is that the reps come round showing their wares for the coming season in July when I still struggle to come to terms with the prospect of darkness descending by 5pm on a winters evening. Judging by the number of ‘bike light phobic’ cyclists I see speeding down the Essex Road of an evening it seems I’m not the only one struggling to come to terms with the drawing in of the days.
The Autumn can be a great time for riding (it can also be a crap time for riding, as it was on my rain sodden commute in to the shop on tuesday) but only when it’s not blowin a gale and precipitating it down. Last sunday was one such glorious autumnal day - not too cold, bit of sun in the sky and leaves on the road. And what better way to spend it than a couple of hours riding with son, Thomas, in the local Surrey Hills. We decided on a hilly one (not a lot of choice on that one around Dorking) and managed to fit in three decent climbs and a stop for hot chocolate in Peaslake.Almost perfect, only slightly spoiled by the altercation with middle aged man in Lexus assaulting me for holding him up at a roundabout as I tried to show Thomas some basic rules of the road. I think we may have been holding him up on his way to the golf club! Great way to behave in front of an 11 year old I thought, thankfully the women in the car behind saw it all and were on to him before he could get violent, to see him slinking away to the cry of ‘you ignorant pig’ almost made it worthwhile.Welcome to the joys of being a cyclist on British roads Thomas!

Half way through the season now and not a too many podium finishes to report! I’ve had some fun though and done a few interesting events:-
La Cantonale - 100km road race just south of Boulogne, we knew we were in trouble when we turned up in our beat up old estate and parked up next to all the smart looking team cars. And so it was to prove, out the back after less than 20 miles I settled into a nice little group of 10 or so and we had quite a pleasant afternoon riding along closed roads in picturesque countryside before sprinting for 140th place!

Rapha Gentlemans TT - A mad event this one, London-Brighton-London in a team of 5, we chose our own route and took just over 7hours placing us 6th on time. This one hurt a lot, by the time we were riding back through the London suburbs I’d had enough and the sense of humour was failing!!

Nocturne - After the previous weekends epic Brighton ride this was at the other extreme, 40 mins at max with some pretty hairy cornering, the best bit was watching the pros do it twice as fast whilst downing some much needed alcoholic refreshment.

Here’s another interesting build I caught on the web, this time a fixed street machine built by Tiziano Zullo. It looks to be based on an Inqubo frameset.

“The idea from the outset was to create a totally unique street cruiser with a novel theme focusing on simplicity and attention to detail. A 3 month project with a custom cr/mo frame and carbon forks from Zullo Italy. The tubing is very unique and varies in shape from end-to-end. All parts are new and were selected to compliment the overall theme. The bike is very clean, great to ride and weighs in at 7kg.”

I just noticed this on the IF site and thought it was worth sharing. For anyone after the ultimate lightweight fixie!

“This bike is a super sturdy and ultra lightweight singlespeed. This is one of our Corvid frame sets with horizontal dropouts and a Gates Carbon Belt Drive. This belt drive requires no lube ever, will get about 10,000 miles of use, is super silent and ridiculously light weight. White, Baby Blue, Evening Blue and clearcoated carbon fiber is the theme.”

For over a year I had wanted to visit Tiziano Zullo in his workshop in Castelnuovo del Garda (on the southern shores of Lake Garda). We had been in email communication for some time but this was our first chance to meet up. Zullo was a name I had been aware of for some time as a quality Italian steel builder still building his own frames and not contracting out which, as we have learnt, is very common.

Tiziano Zullo and his wife Elena (who speaks perfect English, fortunately for us) run a small shop through which they sell their frames to local cyclists. The workshop is to the rear of the shop and it is here where Tiziano and his colleague spends most of his time. In it’s heyday Zullo was producing up to 4000 frames a year and for a few years in the 90’s provided the Dutch TVM team with bikes which were ridden in all the Grand Tours and major Classics of the day. Nowadays production runs at a couple of hundred hand-crafted steel framesets a year. Tiziano builds using both Deddaccia and Columbus tubing (depending on the model). The range includes both contemporary tig-welded steel models such as the Inqubo (Dedacia 16.5) and the Vergine (Columbus XCR) alongside retro-styled lugged models and even a Tour ‘91 replica model, a homage to the Zullo supplied TVM team of the era.
It was easy to agree with Tiziano and Elena to represent their brand in the UK, frames are being built for us right now and will soon be in the shop. The reaction of the journalists with us to the news suggested we had made the right decision.

The early spring trip to visit Dario Pegoretti has become a Mosquito tradition over the last few years, this trip marking our 5th visit to Dario’s Caldonazzo workshop. However this year was a bit different as we also visited the Columbus factory and Tiziano Zullo in his workshop on the edge of Lake Garda.

The Columbus facility sits in an industrial landscape in the Milanese suburbs and is home to not only Columbus tube engineering but also warehousing and R&D for Cinelli. To learn more about Columbus and its’owner Anton Columbo take a look at the the latest issue (17) of Rouleur where you will find a great article and interview by Editor Guy Andrews.
We were shown round the factory by Lodovico (Special Projects Manager!) - lots of shiny tubing, impressive machinery - the usual bike factory stuff. It was interesting to hear how closely Columbus work with Dario Pegoretti on developing tubing, the man is held in great respect.

After the factroy stuf, time for a bike ride. We had brought along a number of journalists and Lodovico kindly supplied us all with carbon Cinelli’s for a quick spin around the local lanes. Very pleasant it was too, early spring sunshine and gentle banter (for the first half hour, after that things got a bit more serious…..).