Cotic - AQR race team

An extra 3" - the Cotic Solaris 29er

2012-01-21T17:51:00.000Z

Welcome to the first entry for the Cotic-AQR team for 2012. More about the team and our plans for the year soon. In the meantime...

When I tried the first prototype of the new Cotic hardtail - the 29er Solaris 29er - last summer, I wasn't sure what to expect. The hype around those extra 3" was certainly intruiging but would it really make much difference and would this Cotic have the ace handling and fun factor of the Soul?

Thanks to Cotic being the AQR team's main sponsor though, late December saw me building that same prototype frame up with my own parts now that it was going spare at Cotic hq - thanks Cy! N.B. The main differences between it & the production frames is they'll have a 1deg steeper seat tube and 44mm head-tube rather than the tapered one the proto. has.

The bike is built with Reba RLs, Hope hoops (borrowed - thanks Ed!), XTR cranks with a 32t ring and 11-32 cassette, EA70 wide flat bars, 2012 XT brakes, KCNC stem and Maxxis Aspen tyres.

So how has it been so far? Well I've clocked up about 200 miles on it so far, around home (Notts), down in Swinley Forest and over in the Peaks too. In short, it's fantastic!! You may see this quick review as biased given that Cotic are a sponsor, but regardless of who supplies them, bikes have got to deliver the goods these days in such a competitive market - 29ers included. Anyway, basically it's amazing fun to ride, still agile and flickablethrough the singletrack like its 26" Soul brother but very stable and super-fast downhill - point it down a fast descent and it very quickly gets to my comfortable maximumn velocity! The big area I was curious about was cornering, but here it excels too - not just the usual Cotic handling but those bigger-than-normal tyre contact areas seem to let it corner on rails - which is great news for me as it's one of my areas with room for improvement! Even with very the 'summery' Aspens on, it's ace! Finally, climbing - on the first build last summer this wasn't perfect, with a bit of front-end wander on steep stuff. A flipped stem has sorted this though and on production frames the 44mm headtube will lower the front with via the top headset cup.

The next plan is to fit my own wheels which have now arrived thanks to Hope - Stans Crests on Pro2s - which should save over 1/2lb on the borrowed TN719s. Newer XTR cranks will also be fitted once a custom 34t chainring arrives from the US, whilst EC70 wide bars will save another 100g and KCNC rotors another 100g. Target weight is 23lb which I reckon 'aint bad for a steel-framed 29er!

Anyway, enough discussion, I'm off to plan tomorrow's ride on it... :-)

Cotic-AQR at the SW Champs & Circus of Dirt Round 5

2011-09-19T20:16:00.000+01:00

Kirsty reports from her last XC race down south at the beginning of Sept...

“When Jay describes a course as "epic", you know you're gonna need to man up.”

“One of those special courses that has you vowing never to do it again and threatening to give up on the way up, but itching to do another lap by the time you've got to the bottom of the descent!”

“The body count from the XC race was probably the highest in a mountain bike race ever...”

Just a few quotes from this weekend’s final installment in the fantastic South West series. Jay and Maddie (Horton) have been instrumental in revitalising cross-country racing in this part of the world, and if degrees were available in “Course Design” I am certain they would graduate with First Class Honours.

A week’s holiday / training in the Pyrenees was perfect preparation for this race. However, our preparation on the day was less than perfect – two caravans over-turning on the M5 and the ensuing delay meaning that Matt and I arrived somewhat later than planned. I had a suspicion that the course would be pretty technical, so was keen to ride as much of it as possible in the short amount of time we had available before the start; we managed to get round ~ 50% of the course but were unable to check out the main descent which was down the local downhill course.

This race was the series finale, as well as the South West Champs, and attracted a decent field. It was nice to have some competition in my category, especially after taking 1st place in the previous round by default when I was the only rider.

At the gun, I went off hard with Carla and Jane (racing elite), and stayed with them up the first climb. They dropped me pretty soon after, so I was back to my usual race against myself (as there was already a gap back to the other female racers).

The course itself was awesome. A fireroad climb was followed by some off-camber rooty singletrack, then a short steep descent with a sharp right-hander at the bottom that caught a good few people out. I cleaned it every time – whoop whoop! Then it was onto the main climb – nothing technical, but long enough and steep enough to sap your energy. The climb was broken up by a couple of short, undulating singletrack sections, and a particularly annoying ‘up and over’ where I did a comedy backwards dismount in lap 1. (Note to self... practice ‘up and overs’...) I kept myself focused on the climb by picking off riders from the other categories. Then just when you thought you would never reach the top, it was straight into the downhill course. Rocky at the start, then a mixture of steep drops (thankfully with chicken lines where you really needed them) and swoopy berms bundled you back down to the arena with a massive grin and the incentive to do ‘that climb’ all over again.

After lap 1’s comedy mishap, I managed to stay at one with my Cotic Soda, and finished well clear in 1st place – my 3rd of the series. Matt didn’t fare quite so well. He got off to a great start and was up there with the fast boys. However, our failure to pre-ride the course was his downfall – literally – as he followed a Southfork rider down the ‘A-line’ on a particularly steep drop and failed to land it. Result – ‘DNF’, a cracked Catlike helmet and a ‘grade 2 Acronis-clavicular joint subjection (mild)’.

Combe Sydenham proved to be a fitting series finale, and I’m looking forward to more of the same next year. Thanks to:

* Jay and Maddie, and everyone at Shred Events, for putting on the series;

* The Drop Off Cafe for excellent post-race carrot cake

* Catlike for ensuring Matt’s head is intact

* Kate and Ian for all the encouragement (!) and the loan of my lovely Cotic Soda

* Chris for bottling for us ;-)

Torq12... another Cotic AQR podium!

2011-09-13T18:24:00.001+01:00

The Torq12 race was a cracking event again this year with the usual Gorrick-organised smooth running and great singletrack-laden course.

After her fantastic 2nd place at TwentyFour12 the month before there was really only one place Rachel could aim for... and end up on the top step of the podium she did, racking up 12 laps in 12h32m... a stonking 2 laps ahead of 2nd place!

The mixed team of Katie, Iain, Rich and James put in 16 laps in 12h20m finishing a very respectable 4th in the mixed teams category behind teams including elite and other silly fast riders! ;-) Simon Usher also raced in the solo category but after a very brisk first six laps unfortunately had to pull out with stomach issues.

Thanks to Joolze Dymond as usual for the ace photos!

2011-08-03T20:03:00.020+01:00

The Pit and the Podium

Preparation for Bontrager Twentyfour12 was not going well for the Cotic-AQR race team. All 11 of the XC/endurance racers were entered for the event but with two days to go we were down to just six fit (or fit-ish in some cases including my own) riders. Some major changes were required but somehow by Friday evening we managed to have teams and riders organised and we were ready for the event.

Following a fantastic performance at the National 24hr championships back in May we were delighted to secure the services of Carole the mother of all pit mothers. Carole was assisted by Ant who due to injury was unable to race. Between the two of them all the racers were kept warm, fed and watered; the Cotic Sodas, Souls and KP24s were clean and shiny; and everyone in the right place at the right time.

Cotics at the ready

Anne and Simon took the hard option and raced in the 24 hour pairs. This was Simon’s first experience of riding in a 24 hour race but had gained plenty of experience from supporting Anne in the pits on previous occasions. A strong and well-paced performance saw them convincingly take first place, five laps ahead of second. You can read more about their race on Anne's blog.

Anne setting the pace

Kirsty and Ruth were competing in the female 12 hour pairs hoping to build on their impressive race at Bristol Bike Fest last month. Another fine performance saw them complete 12 laps in 12 hours 4 mins, a lap ahead of their nearest opponents making it two years out of two that the team have won this category.

Kirsty & Ruth

Riding in the mixed pairs competition were Ian and Katie. They had already won the prize within the team for the furthest distance travelled to the race racking up a distance of nearly 2000 miles between them. If the travel had made them weary it didn’t show and they completed 13 laps in just over 12 hours, gaining the team another first place.

Ian & Katie

Thanks to our guest riders despite the team’s injuries we were still able to compete in the team 12hr event. An excellent performance saw the Matt, Mat, Eelco and Dan gain fifth place in the male team category against some stiff competition. This was a fantastic performance by the boys who were brought together only hours before the start of the race.

Matt leading the way for the boys

And finally there was me racing in the 12 hour solo. Originally I was due to ride in the team event, a nice way to get some more racing experience following my injury back in March and long lay-off since. But, due to Kate’s injury, I took her place just a day before the race. Now, there are some advantages of only having 24 hours to prepare for your first 12 hour race, namely there is little time to get anxious about it. Unfortunately the advantages are far outweighed by the disadvantages and to say I was slightly unprepared would be somewhat of an understatement. Fortunately for me I had the brilliant support of the rest of the team so managed to make it to the start line ready to go and with plenty of tips and tricks to employ throughout the race. Having never done this time on the bike before my race was largely trial and error with my main objective to use this as a training ride and gain experience rather than to race the event. After a few laps I seemed to get a good rhythm going and started to really enjoy myself. The course was great fun with loads to think about which meant that I never got bored or mentally had to convince myself to keep going. The trouble is I probably got rather carried away and probably went a bit too hard which left me hanging on a bit for the last few hours. At this point I really benefited from my Cotic KP24 which as a super-lightweight full-suss bike didn’t slow me down on the climbs but evened out all the lumps and bumps of the roots and rocks allowing me to save energy to turn the pedals. With the support from the pit crew at the start of each lap and my team mates as they whizzed past me I kept plodding on and was delighted to come home in second place having completed 11 laps in almost 13 hours of riding.

Reaching the top

So all in all, despite some last minute changes, it was a fantastic weekend of riding and racing for the Cotic-AQR Race team. Maybe we should approach every race with a half fit team.

Race stats

The Pit

Carole – 11 happy riders, 100s cups of tea, several bacon sandwiches

Ant – At least 55 bikes washes and lube’s, countless energy drinks made

And the Podium

24hr mixed pair – 1^st – Anne and Simon

12hr mixed pair – 1^st – Ian and Katie

12hr female pair – 1^st – Kirsty and Ruth

12hr female solo – 2^nd – Rachel

12hr male team – 5^th – Matt, Mat, Eelco and Dan

Thanks to Snapperchick and Ant Jordan for the photos

TwentyFour12 2011 - Cotic-AQR storm to 4 podiums incl. 3 wins!

2011-07-25T17:26:00.000+01:00

Quick update after the weekend's Bontrager TwentyFour12 down at Newnham Park, Plymouth as the Cotic-AQR teams took the event by storm with 4 podiums including 3 wins...

24hr mixed pairs: Anne & Simon 1st!
12hr mixed pairs: Ian & Katie 1st!
12hr female pairs: Ruth & Kirsty 1st!
12hr female solo: Rachel 2nd!
12hr men's teams - Matt, Mat and guests Dan and Eelco.

More info. & photos soon!

Bristol BikeFest 2011: 3 podiums!

2011-06-20T20:57:00.005+01:00

The Cotic-AQR team had a fantastic weekend at Bristol BikeFest, now in its 10th year, with 3 podiums in the sunday races! Even the rain didn't dampen the spirits and there were smiles all round on Bristol's ace swoopy singletrack :-)

Ruth & Kirsty - 3rd in female (and mixed!!) 6hr pairs!
James & Matt - 3rd in male 6hr pairs!
Rachel - 2nd in 3hr solo!

Rachel reports below on her first race since her big injury back in March...

After over two-months off the bike due to a fractured pelvis this was to be the first race of my debut season racing for Cotic-AQR holidays. In fact, this was less of a race and more of an experiment; I’d only had the go-ahead from Anne Dickins, AQR physio, to get back on the bike a week beforehand. The advice from Kate was to go out and use this as a training ride going steadily over the first couple of hours and then doing some interval training in the last hour so this ‘race’ was much more about riding for 3 hours than it was actually going fast or worrying about the competition. I chose to ride my (well, Kate’s actually) KP24; not only is the bike beautifully light and responsive, it also provided me with much required cushioning for my poorly bits and allowed me to sit down and pedal on some of the rougher stuff when my leg strength didn’t allow me to stand up and power through.

The race didn’t start well. I still can’t walk long distances without limping so running up a hill in bike shoes wasn’t ideal! With Kate’s voice in my head I tried to be sensible I didn’t rush into the race, allowing the traffic in front to pace me. I completed my first lap in a very modest time although my inability to press ‘start’ on my watch meant I didn’t know exactly how long it had taken. I allowed myself a quick stop to remove my waterproof and set out on lap two. With less traffic I got into a better rhythm, and tried to maintain a sensible pace. At this stage the mud was playing havoc with my gears so I stopped to clean and lube my chain as well as change my bottle. Lap 3 went well although my legs were starting to hurt somewhat. I was really pleased how I was riding the course actually managing to catch people on the two long sections of swoopy singletrack. I completed lap 3 knowing that to complete two more laps I would need to lap 3 mins quicker than my current average, even without stopping that would be close. Lap 4 went well, despite the pain from unfit legs and lungs and I squeaked in just in just over time. My final lap would need to be my quickest if I was going to do this, as I’d got a bit held up on some of the singletrack I was fairly confident with a clean run I’d make it. The final lap was great and I hardly got held up at all, until right near the end of the course when another ride veered into me. Desperate that this wouldn’t blow my chances of getting over the line in time, I grabbed my bike to jump back on only to find my saddle at a very odd angle. I quickly yanked the saddle round and hoped it wasn’t going to be too far out of position for the remainder of the lap. Complete with crooked saddle I pedalled as hard as I could up the final two climbs and made it over the line with 40 seconds to spare, phew!

So, I’d made it – over the finish line (achieving my first goal of completing the 3 hours), completing 5 laps and pleasingly onto the podium in second place. I was delighted to finally start, let alone finish, my first race for the Cotic-AQR team and I certainly enjoyed my post-race recovery cheering on my team mates in the 6 hour event.

Erlestoke Twelve: 2011's first team event podium

2011-06-07T18:24:00.005+01:00

Erlestoke12 - 6hr mixed pairs, a photo by James Dymond on Flickr.~Ruth and I only decided to race 6hr pairs at Erlestoke Twelve about 3 weeks before the event when I realised that it was nearly June and I still hadn’t raced yet this year... having a year off from individual xc racing has been great for freeing up weekends but I’ve still got the competitive bug!

Anyway, despite my idea of only entering once we’d seen a definite forecast for the day, I turned up at Ruth’s place the night before the race to find a rather soggy forecast for the next day. It’s probably this that helped her persuade me to have a bit of a lie-in and turn up without enough time for a practice lap... after all, 3hrs of racing each would be plenty to get to know the course.

Or so we thought! ...I can now confirm that taking the long way to get there, rushing to arrive on time and having a virtually empty fuel tank in the car are most definitely not recommended pre-race preparations! Once our camp was set up I had enough time for a few laps of the car park before the race was on!

Being honest, my first lap was dire! Stuck in traffic, not knowing the course and not being warmed up all added to that “what the hell are we doing this for?!” feeling! Being stung 3 times under my jersey on that lap didn’t help either!

Luckily though, there is a ‘but’... the course was fantastic; lovely dry woodsy, natural singletrack, fun bombholes, decent enough grassy climbs and some semi-technical sections to catch riders out at speed. And so as the race went on we settled into a great rhythm, blasting out nice brisk laps and leaving each other pace and timing notes between laps! About 1/3 of the way through we were 2nd started to take notice of our competitors, with 3rd only a few minutes behind and 1st a few ahead: the race was now properly on!

Luckily for us, the pressure eased when Emma Bradley (MXC) in 3rd punctured and lost about 25 minutes but we couldn’t back off if we were going to give the leaders a run for their money. Despite some really consistent lap times and a totally mechanical-free race we couldn’t quite catch them (Progression Fitness) – but were delighted to finish 2nd, just 2m33s down – having reduced it from 6m. Massive credit is due to Ruth’s really speedy laps and mega-consistency and I was really pleased with my own times too which got quicker as the race went on!

Great start to the team-racing season with some valuable lessons learnt... warm up, warm up, warm up!*
* Oh & don’t be late for lap handovers otherwise your team-mate gets rather angry - & rightly so! Sorry Ruth!

Exposure 24 - National & European Solo MTB Champs 2011!

2011-05-11T20:20:00.000+01:00

Wow, what a weekend that was! Newcastleton, Scotland played host to the national and European 12 & 24 hour solo mountain bike championships for 2011 and the Cotic-AQR Holidays race team headed there in force.

The beautiful setting supplied a superb race course from SIP Events but unfortunately the weather didn't play ball and nearly 20 hours of rain aligned itself perfectly with the race!

Never mind though, as the Cotic-AQR team shone through anyway...

Kate Potter: 1st in 24 hour women's race
Anne Dickins: 2nd in 24 hour women's vets race
Anthony Jordan: 15th in the very competitive men's 24 hour race

So a massive congratulations all and huge thanks to sponsors Cotic, KCNC, Magura, Skins, Purple Extreme, Industry Nine and Torq whose kit kept the team going through the race.

To read more, see

...or scroll down for a selection of the photos...

For the full race gallery, see Flickr.

BMBS Round 2 - Ruth's view from the front!

2011-04-27T17:49:00.001+01:00

Ruth's slightly belated write up of my recent experience at the second round of the British Mountain Bike Series at Dalby Forest on 17th April 2011...

Photo by Darren Ciolli-Leach of XCPIX

Initially my goal for the 2011 season in the Expert Women category was to get a podium. I wasn’t too worried about which position on the podium I achieved; I just knew that after putting in some hard work after an unimpressive season for results in 2010 I really wanted to earn myself a national level podium.

At round one of the BMBS I surprised myself by not only achieving a podium, but also achieving 2nd place, just 30seconds behind 1st place! Well, never in a million years did I think I would achieve my goal for the year at the first round.

So, in the run up to the second round of the series, I was apprehensive – to say the least. I knew that I needed to prove that my result at Sherwood wasn’t a one off! So I decided to get up to Dalby nice and early and spent time getting used to the course and the way my new Cotic Soda race bike felt on the terrain. With Kate’s expert coaching and guidance behind me I had my mind in a good place and tried not to put too much pressure on myself and just practiced the lines on the course that I was comfortable with and that I knew I could ride easily during the race itself.

On the morning of the race, I worked hard to keep myself calm and focussed and keep my nerves under control. Dalby is a technically challenging and mentally demanding course and I knew I would need to stay focussed the whole way.

The race got off to a good start – I led the pack out into the first corner, with only a couple of Juniors overtaking me initially into the first bit of singletrack. At the end of lap one I was in 3rd place, with 2nd in my sights and legs feeling good.

Unfortunately by the middle of lap two my front mech, which has been on its last legs for a while, finally gave up and I was left to race the remainder of the race with no big ring, which didn’t help for those sprinty sections where time can be easily made up – or lost!

I fought hard during the 2nd lap and came through the arena in 1st place, with 2nd right on my heels and fighting all the way into the first singletrack section.

After some switching around with various overtakes on the nasty uphill sections at the end of the third lap I was back in 3rd place and hot on the heels of both 1st and 2nd place! I knew this was going to be close and I knew I couldn’t let the two riders in front of me get away.

So I gave my last lap all I had left and kept with 1st and 2nd right until the bitter end. We dropped down through Medussa’s drop and up the final big climb. When we dropped back down onto the last fire road I decided to make a go for it and sprinted past both riders into 1st place. I then led into the singletrack passed Worry Gill and up the climb to the final bit of singletrack before the arena and that last drag up to the arena felt like an age with two competitors breathing down my neck! I knew that I just had to keep them behind me through the singletrack and out into the arena and then hope for the best that I could sprint fast enough with just my middle ring to hold onto my win!

As we came into the arena we heard the shouts from our supporters and at the last corner there was nothing in it. I sprinted out of the final corner, giving it everything I could with only my middle ring for power, and could see 2nd place creeping up on me, but thankfully I just held it and took the win with 1 second between me and 2nd place, and only 3 seconds ahead of 3rd place!

I was over the moon to win the second round of the British Series, and it was such a great race – one of the best to watch for a long time according to a friend! My new race bike was amazing, and I am now treating it to some TLC with a new front mech and a fork service to make sure it’s rearing to go for the next round, I just need to make sure my legs are too – and with Kate and Ian Potter and the AQR team behind me, I’ve got all the support I need!

Post-Portugal Sodas & sunsets

2011-04-03T18:18:00.000+01:00

Kirsty sends an update from Bristol...

What could be better then a cheeky post-work ride in the early evening sunshine? How about a cheeky post-work ride, where you find an even cheekier new downhill trail that your husband hasn't spotted first :-)

After a fab week in Portugal - full of sun, Soul (of the Cotic variety) and waist-deep river crossings - I was bursting to get back out on my bike. A quick spin around Ashton Court and the local woods on my Cotic Soda fitted the bill, and I was treated to a beautiful sunset, as well as several deer and squirrels crossing the trail. There is something about these early spring rides, when the trails are dry, the weather is warm and the air is full of anticipation.

I've decided to take a rain-check on the first couple of rounds of the nationals, as I have some fairly major commitments away from mountain biking. As I write this, I'm pretty gutted that I won't be on the start line at Sherwood, but evenings like this serve to remind me that what I really enjoy is simply being out in the fresh air, having fun on my bike.

Here's to a summer full of cheeky new trails :-)

BMBS Round 1: Ruth takes 2nd on board her Soda!

2011-03-30T18:04:00.000+01:00

Sunday saw Round 1 of the 2011 British Mountain Bike Series at Sherwood Pines with just Ruth racing due to other members being tied up elsewhere around the country.

What a great race it was though, with Ruth coming in 2nd just 30 seconds or so down on the winner in the women's Expert race. The first race of the year for her on board her new Cotic Soda and a podium too, so a huge well done from the team!

A week of riding in the Portugal spring sunshine? Count me in!

2011-03-26T08:22:00.005Z

That was the view of 20 riders ready to expose themselves to AQR Holiday’s inaugural training week in the Portuguese spring sunshine. Amongst these dedicated souls were the majority of the new Cotic AQR race team keen to get to leave the cold and wet UK behind for some pre-season riding and skills alongside bike- and body- setup.

This little corner of the Algarve is somewhere the Potters know well but this was the first time that AQR had offered guiding in this area. And what a perfect setting it was us to hone our skills with a combination of fast and loose or techy descents alongside some short and sharp (and long, sharp, leg and lung busting) climbs. And river crossings….

Day one started with a bike-set up session led by Ian Potter. After running through some of the basics in the ‘classroom’ we headed out onto the trails to see the importance of this in action with the first of many ‘climbing challenges’. It was amazing to experience how much a change in stem length or height of the front end changed how well many of us climbed up this steep loose section of trail. I for one have really benefited from Ian’s expertise here; I’ve spent 3 years convinced that the front end of my bike is too low trying longer forks, higher stems and bars to little avail. And now I’m riding flat bars, a flipped stem and minimal stack headset and what a difference it makes both up and down hill. (I won’t dwell on my reaction when Ian first suggested this to be but it’s safe to say that I’ve since retracted my comments!)

We were also introduced to a local café and there range of cakes including the infamous figaloo. A cake, as the name suggests, made of figs, and figs, and more figs. My excuse is that it wasn’t really cake but a natural source of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates which I required after a day’s riding to ensure my body was in tip-top condition for the next day.

For those of us keen / stupid enough day 2 started with a morning run and dip in the pool with Kate Potter. This all sounds rather idyllic until you realise the gradient of the hills and the temperature of the pool! But it was a lovely way to start the day – fresh air, perfect temperatures and a smug feeling of having achieved something when everyone else is lounging in bed. The other plus is that it helped us all justify extra helpings of breakfast, ideal!

The day then properly started with a ‘bikers’-bodies’ session led by Anne Dickins, not only a Cotic AQR racer and 24hr national champion, but also a physiotherapist specialising in core control and how we can use this to improve how our bodies work on the bike. It’s amazing how much time and money we spend looking at how our bike can improve our performance but ignoring how we use our muscles to control ourselves on the bike. Again this session continued out on the trails with Ian and Anne videoing us all on another one of those ‘climbing challenges’. Both Anne and Ian used these videos to help them and us identify what tweaks to bikes and bodies that we might benefit from.

On day 3 the much awaited sunshine appeared and it was definitely worth the wait. The skies were a glorious blue and the trails quickly changed from their fast gritty damp state to super-fast dry and dusty. The overnight rainfall meant for some additional challenges in riding across streams that suddenly appeared on the trails. Apparently this crossing is ride-able…

On our rest day most of us took the opportunity to have a 1 on 1 assessment with Anne who identified which bits of us were working well and which bits not as well (or in my case not at all!) on the bike. By using those videos taken earlier in the week and simple demonstrations on the bike Anne even managed to convinced the most cynical of us (I’d love to mention names here but in the interests of team harmony I won’t, well for now anyway….). Later in the day we headed out with Ian and Kate for more skills practise – skidding, cornering and switch-backs.

The rest of the week followed in a similar vein. More glorious sunshine, more great trails, more tips and tweaks to our bodies and bikes and more figaloo. We also benefited from sessions led by Kate and Ian discussing nutrition, training and race psychology and race preparation.

We all headed after a fantastic week’s riding having learnt loads with a noticeable improvement in our skills. I’ve even started working on my cyclists’ tan line, not bad for March. Now I can’t wait to keep getting back out on the trails to keep working on all those tips and tricks I picked up, even the UK sun has started to come out to help me on my way. All I need to do now is find a recipe for figaloo.

Photos courtesy of James Dymond, Kate Potter and Hannah Reynolds.

2011: Cotic - A Quick Release holidays race team

2011-03-22T23:00:00.000Z

Welcome to the first blog entry for the renamed Cotic - A Quick Release Holidays mountain bike race team!

After a great 2010 season, AQR HOLIDAYS is proud to support a race team again in 2011, alongside COTIC BIKES as the team's other headline sponsor.

The team would also like to thank the following co-sponsors for their support in 2011 –

MAGURA FORKS AND BRAKES

KCNC stems, bars, seatposts, seat clamps, chainsets, chains & jockey wheels from CLEE CYCLES

INDUSTRY NINE wheels

SUNWISE EYEWEAR

A QUALITY RIDE COACHING

SKINS COMPRESSION CLOTHING

661 GLOVES

TORQ ENERGY PRODUCTS

ALIGATOR I-LINK CABLES

CRANK BROTHERS PEDALS & HEAD SETS

FENWICKS BIKE CLEANER

SWINNERTON CYCLES

BIGFOOT BIKE BAGS

PURPLE EXTREME LUBRICATION

JOOLZE DYMOND PHOTOGRAPHY

POWER BALANCE

The 2011 team is...

IAIN COLLINS – XC & Team events.

KATIE COLLINS – XC & Team events.

ANNE DICKINS – 2010 24 Solo World Champs 4th place - 24hr solo and pairs.

JAMES DYMOND – XC & Team events.

ANTHONY JORDAN – 24hr solo and pairs.

RUTH OWEN-EVANS – National & Local XC races (Expert) & Team events.

IAN POTTER – half of AQR Holidays & AQR Coaching- XC & Team events.

KATE POTTER – half of AQR Holidays & AQR Coaching & World Cup XC racer - 12 & 24hr solo events.

KIRSTY EASTWOOD – National & Local XC (Masters) & Team events.

MATT PRIOR – XC & Team events.

ROBBIE RICKMAN – 4X & Endurance downhill events.

RACHEL SOKAL – 12hr solo & Team events.

TEAM SUPPORT – JAMES DYMOND, IAN POTTER, KATE POTTER, SIMON USHER

Iain Collins

Anne Dickins

Ian & Kate Potter

Kate Collins

Kirsty Eastwood

Matt Prior

Rachel Sokal

Ruth Owen-Evans

Robbie Rickman

See you on the race course soon!

Dusk till Dawn 12 Hr - Perth Australia

2010-12-16T23:35:00.010Z

A few months back when Paul suggested that Adrian and I would go pretty well at the local Perth 12 hour race, it sounded like a fun idea. Especially as Paul had offered to be our trusty team manager.

Adrian Middleton is a fellow Canberran who has moved to Perth and regularly rips my legs off in our afternoon training rides. And whilst he's not technically an AQR rider, there really aren't that many of us around down under so I was prepared to mix the team up a little...

It wasn't until a couple of weeks out that Adrian realised the 12 Hr was actually a dusk till dawn. But he took it in his stride and when the weekend arrived and temperatures in the high 30's were forecasted, riding all night suddenly seemed like a good idea.

Team Delta-AQR. Please note: Paul's moustache was for fundraising purposes only and it has thankfully, now gone.

There were 400 entries in the race, many in teams of 4, 3 and 2 and the standard die hard soloists as well. The course was perfect. Plenty of fantastic singletrack, fast flowing descents and just a few climbs but nothing that ripped our lungs out. And straight away, Adrian managed to get us in a fairly decent position. In fact he entered the first section of single track in 5th and finished his first lap of the 17km track in about the same place.

The race leader heading into the singletrack on lap 1 in the late dusk.

When Adrian came sprinting into transition, I grabbed his CO2 canister (yup I'd forgotten mine) whilst Paul transferred the timing chip and velcro strap from one ankle to the other. I think I got out about 20 seconds after Adrian had arrived so Paul was proving his management skills already.

Out on course it was pitch black and at the pointy end of the field, it was actually pretty lonely - I wan't about to catch anyone and strangely, it wasn't until 20 minutes into the lap that someone turned up behind me. I hadn't ridden the trail and felt like I was breaking in all the wrong places and generally riding slowly. But with some reassurance from Paul when I returned and a check of my lap time, I felt better.

Come on, come and eat some dinner!

As the night wore on, Adrian and I settled into pretty consistent lapping. Adrian continued to ride strongly doing laps of around 56 minutes and I was coming in after an hour flat.

A chill out whilst Adrian was out smashing another lap.

Attempting not to blind people whilst looking around in transition

Consulting the official team timing book.... Nobody but Paul was allowed near the pen.

Good times

As the night wore on, our cheer squad of James and Jason hit the road, with Jas taking his camera with him. But the fun out on the trail kept going. The wildlife was out (plenty of spiders, a few possums and at one point, even a family of kangaroos). We managed to get Paul to go to bed at about 1am but when I came in from my double at 4, he was up and back helping by preparing food, drink bottles, timing checks etc. If anyone is looking for a great team manager, his rates are quite competitive...

Anyway, to cut a 12 hour story short, Adrian went very hard when the sun came up and I tried to do the same. We had had the mixed pairs competition sewn up fairly early but it wasn't until the presentation that we knew how we'd done overall. So, out of 164 teams entered, we ended up 7th overall and managed to take out not only the mixed pairs but the pairs in general (27 teams raced). The guys who 'won' the men's pairs didn't look so happy when the presenter reminded them that they'd actually been beaten by team Delta-AQR....

But saying that, I have to put in a special mention for our mate Chris Fisher (said with a kiwi accent). Chris raced and won solo, did the same number of laps as Adrian and I and came in 4 minutes before us. Top effort from a top class rider.

And huge thanks to the race organisers for putting on a brilliant event, our trusty team manager Paul and our photographer Jason Chua.

Tour De Timor - We Made It

2010-09-22T12:47:00.017+01:00

The Tour De Timor has been run and won. Well in fact, it was completed a good few weeks ago. But since the AQR girls from down under put in such an amazing effort, we'll just ignore my laziness....

Saturday - Arrived in Dili from Darwin.

For those of you who may be a little in the dark about the race and why on earth we went there.... East Timor is the world's youngest nation. A Portugeuse outpost for a few centuries, when they withdrew in 1975, East Timor's closest neighbours the Indonesians arrived. With guns. It wasn't until 1999 that the Indonesians relinquished control following a UN sponsored act of self-determination. But their razed earth policy meant that 75% of all buildings in East Timor were destroyed as a result.

The nation is incredibly poor but is attempting to re-build with a very strong focus on peace. The Tour de Timor is aimed at celebrating the country, its culture, and showcasing it as a fabulous adventure travel destination. And it certainly is that....

So anyway.... were welcomed to Timor Leste via the VIP Lounge. The AQR team, left to right was Sue, Libby, Claire and Rachel. I'm the one taking the picture.

Sunset in Dili on Saturday night. We had a relaxing day cruising round Dili and had dinner with our local guide and friend Martin.

Sunday - Dili. We chilled out and waited for our bikes to arrive. Lets just say getting 300 cyclists and bikes from Darwin to Dili wasn't easy for the small regional airline....

Not one to worry, Claire borrowed a bike and had a short foray into the hills. In the end the bikes arrived 15 hours before the race start...

Accommodation in Timor Lodge was basically in shipping containers with air-conditioning... Still the few shrubs came in handy for drying washing.

Monday - Stage 1: Dili to Balibo 125km

The presidential palace in Dili hosted the start.

The stage was fast and furious but long. And those two climbs were killers. But we all made it to the finish ok. It was just afterwards....

Whilst Rach was recovering in the medical tent from over hydrating, I got some local help putting her tent up.

Tuesday - Stage 2: Balibo to Suai 95km

The stage could best be described as EPIC. It took its toll physically and emotionally with the winners finishing in 4 hours but mere mortals taking up to 11 - they cancelled the 'cut off' because there wasn't enough transport to get all the stragglers home. After struggling over the mountains and taking it easy on the descents (Sue was only masquerading as a mountain biker), the AQR girls made it in just over 6.

Over looking Balibo on Tuesday morning

Wednesday - Stage 3: Suai to Ainaro 67km

After a crazy start through Suai's streets, avoiding scuttling pigs and other livestock, we headed out on 50km of pot holed dirt road with rough rocky sections for variety. It was flat and would have been lovely if we hadn't been trying to ride fast. Thankfully after 50km, the potholes ended. It's just that they were traded for a 15km climb... It's never easy in Timor!

Team AQR finished still second in teams classification despite the gap to 3rd narrowing.

Team AQR team made it before the tropical afternoon storm dumped its contents. We found a terrace to camp on which was as dry as it would ever be in a tropical downpour.

Thursday - Stage 4: Ainaro to Aileu 68km

The profile looked a lot like Stage 2 and the team lined up on the start line with trepidation. But the enormous climbs were shaded with dense rainforest on one side and intermittent, amazing views of the valley and mountains on the other. Once over the pass at 1860m it was time for some brilliant descending and even more cheering villagers as the population grew denser. The next couple of climbs were a lot smaller in comparison and the finish came not too many hours after the start.

Unfortunately, we would have like to finish slightly sooner... The AQR girls' main competitors, Trailmix made a massive effort to ride as a team for the first time and managed to take second by a whopping 8 minutes.

Not to be deterred, after the stage, Claire made friends playing football with the locals. Surely she could have had a shower first?!?

Friday - Stage 5: Aileu - Dili 57km

Very early in the stage we passed the entire Trailmix team and two Torq girls (overall leaders) fixing a flat. The race was now on. Raceday Claire arrived and she was stomping. I too was doing ok and very happy to be a good domestique. We all gave it everything to make up time and regain 2nd on the team classification.

Towards the end of the stage there was an exchange between Claire and Rach whilst I pretended I was Jens Voigt. Claire had been encouraging all day but when Rach was strugging with the pace, this is what was said...

Rach: Can I have a hug?

Claire: No, just keep pedalling. Not far now.

Rach: Pleeeease. Come on, just a little hug??

Claire: How about you try eating some cement instead...

Claire was really worried she'd gone too far because Rach was very quiet but as Rach let us know afterwards, it was just what she needed! Lucky, we could have had a mutiny on our hands!!

A few minutes later as the chase group was dwindling

Torq Rider: Its the last day, why don't you guys relax and have fun?

Rach: We are.

With 5km to go Claire rode off the front of the group to secure 7th women on the stage.

Rach and Paul at the finish. Its fair to say that he had turned himself inside out riding for team AQR but it was all worth it. Libby, Claire and Rach had found some great form to secure the women's team stage win for Team AQR. It was great to beat the Torq girls and try a put ourselves back into second.

Bronze medals in the women's team classification was a little disappointing. A "clarification" of the times led to AQR being relegated to third. At least Libby, Sue, Rach and Claire KNOW they did the impossible and clawed back 8 minutes on the last stage. Sue stood on the podium again, taking out the veteran category.

Well, as I said, the race has been run and won. Not by AQR but there's always next year right?
Mmmmmmm, maybe.

Midlands XC4: race season ends.

2010-09-13T20:44:00.004+01:00

Warm & sunny, dry & dusty trails, what more could Sherwood Pines have delivered for the final of the 2010 Midlands Series at Sherwood Pines!

James and Nadine delivered the usual top-notch xc racing again with a Pines course full of twisty turny singletrack fun as well as some steep bursts and loose pitches thrown in for good measure.

Gridded on the front row, I got my best start of the season, leading off the line and at the joint head of the pack through the initial fire-road and singletrack sections. The group soon split before the real twisty stuff though and 4 laps of fast and furious riding in the pack ensued.

To be honest, it was my first race of the year riding in a group for the whole thing and it was ace! Being pressured by those behind as well as pushing those in front meant the pace stayed high and laps 2, 3 and 4 were all within one second of one another!

The place-swapping continued right until the line and gaining a couple more places in the last few hundred metres saw me finish in 7th after 1h37m.

A great end to the season... I'm looking forward to a few weeks of chillout rides now before winter training begins. And roll on the 2011 season!

A start to repeat in 2011!

Tour De Timor - Checklist

2010-09-04T04:06:00.003+01:00

Claire and I are off to Timor next week for some fun and games. We are riding the Tour De Timor, a 5 day stage race in the tropics. The Team AQR ladies team has been formed, I will be joining them and trying to act as domestique.

Below is the preparation checklist

1. New Felt Carbon Hardtails x 2 - Check

2. Learning to ride hardtails in Perth pea gravel - Check

3. New scare as a result of item 2 - Check

4. New MSR light weight tent - Check

5. Procuring bar-ends, semi slicks and other stage race equipment - Check

6. Lots of training - Claire - Check, Paul - kinda

7. New toys for Paul- XX Reba with hydraulic lock out - Check

8. Installing 4 new Maxxis Worm Drive - Check

9. Sending "personal items" and new AQR kit to Darwin via internal mail - Check

10. Wheels look remarkably fast - Check

11. Purchasing excess baggage for Claire- Check

12. Exceeding excess baggage for Claire - Check

13. Paul's evil plan on how to weigh the bike box - Check

14. Executing evil plan - Check - Bike box weighs - 6kg !

15. Sending Claire to Darwin for a week of acclimatisation - Check

16. Getting worried - Check

17. Nearly forgot Passport - Check

18. Multiple trips to Jones at Cycle Bespoke - Check

Stay tuned for some Tour De Timor tales...

Torq12:12... Soda action

2010-09-01T22:06:00.008+01:00

The final race of the year for the AQR team saw 12 hours of fast and furious racing down south at the Gorrick-run Torq12:12 event last Sunday.

[As usual, huge thanks to Joolze Dymond for the superb images]

Blue skies and sunshine for all but one lap combined with the usual classic rooty, twisty Gorrick course design to make for a fantastic event from midday to midnight on Sunday.

All in all a smooth race for the team, including hats off to Iain for getting in 3 laps before his injured back & leg - which originally suggested he wouldn't be racing at all - started to tell. Massive thanks to Kate who travelled all the way from Edinburgh for her 4 laps, whilst Rich took the fastest lap of the team award with a 39m30s sprint round early on. Finally, James racked up the most at 6 laps, including an unplanned double, the 2nd lap of which started at 11.48pm! Unfortunately his legs hadn't planned for it and the team dropped to 6th place by just 2 minutes at the end. A respectable end to the year though in a tough category.

The race itself wasn't the only highlight of the weekend though, as Kate had her freshly built new Cotic Soda out to play for the first time. Complete with Hope/Stans wheels, KCNC chainset, Magura Durin forks and Bontrager finishing kit, it truly is a work of art and she was raving about it every lap - more on her thoughts as it eats up the miles!

And finally, congrats once again to Kate for her win back in early August at Scottish XC Round 5, which she took by a convincing 6 minutes!

Midlands XC3 - Chesterfield

2010-08-23T17:52:00.003+01:00

Unfortunately the photo really doesn't do justice to yet another superb Midlands race put on by James and Nadine at the end of July.

A climbing start around the golf course at the site on the edge of Chesterfield gave way to a steep grassy climb which split the pack well before the woodland singletrack began. And what fantastic singletrack it was! Steep swoopy descents including A and B lines on some sections, along with the super-steep gulley climb to match.

A good start for me at the front of the field saw me settle into a rhythm I was able to maintain for the 4 laps, albeit losing a few places in the early stages as I warmed up. The climbs certainly played to my strengths and let me hold onto a 9th place finish. Roll on the big-ring pain at Sherwood Pines in September!

Next up... AQR newbie Kate Collins at SXC Round 5.

National Champs & TwentyFour12 - AQR podiums!

2010-07-26T11:23:00.014+01:00

Just a quick photo entry today after some fantastic results for AQR teams in the last couple of weeks...

Massive congrats to Kirsty for a fantastic 4th in Masters at the 201o National Champs down at the Pippingford Estate on 18th July - and aboard her newly built Cotic Soda race bike complete with Magura forks and brakes, Hope wheels and KCNC (Clee Cycles) and Bontrager finishing kit - a big thanks to all those sponsors too.

(Thanks as always to Joolze Dymond for the photos above.)

This was closely followed by Bontrager TwentyFour12 down at Newnham Park this weekend where the mixed 12hr team came away with 3rd and the 12hr female pair in 1st! A huge well done again to Kirsty and Kate for the latter. Thanks also to guest riders Verity Appleyard (MSC Bikes) and Andy Robson in the team.

Next up, Midlands XC round 3 and Torq 12hr in August...

Bristol BikeFest 2010

2010-07-06T08:43:00.005+01:00

It seems crazy that this year's Bristol BikeFest 12hr race was a month ago now, there's been so much going on all summer. Better late than never though, here's a quick run-down of how the AQR team got on...

Bristol provided a gorgeous sunny weekend for the race and the usual fast and fun Ashton Court singletrack - with a slightly shorter lap this year. With Iain, Kirsty, Matt and myself making up the AQR mixed-4, things kicked off at 9am with the mass dash & start. Unfortunately not all went to plan from the off with Iain suffering a snapped chain and 2 punctures on his first lap! Not to be deterred we pushed on through, blasting out lap times well around 25 minutes - making for great racing and eager overtaking required!

Despite more punctures (Iain's had his annual allowance now!) we started to move up the rankings from the low teens early on. With some storming laps during the afternoon as things got even dustier, James came in from his last lap with 8 minutes to spare, completing the team's 27 laps for 7th place.

Perhaps not the position we'd hoped for after last year's podium, but a great comeback and truly enjoyable event that really put the fast and furious into xc racing!

British XC3 - AQR's newest recruit & the Margam mudfest!

2010-06-11T15:24:00.005+01:00

Kate Collins, the AQR team's newest recruit tells all about her first National race and first podium of the year in Wales...

After an 11 hour train trek from Edinburgh to Margam Park, I was looking forward to a good night's sleep ahead of a nice dry race the next day. Saturday morning I woke to the pitter-pattering of rain on my tent and thought uh-oh, what have we here! I've only ever raced Margam in the scorching sun. I must admit, at 8 o'clock that morning it was quite difficult to leave my very cosy and warm sleeping bag. I'd packed light in order to cycle to/from the train station at each end - needless to say, I didn't have many layers of warm/water proof clothing...

But after meeting up with James, donning my new AQR kit and downing more Torq bars than I have bikes, I got more into race mode and was rearing to go. Or was I? Where was my number board?! Uh oh, it was a few mins to the start and my tent was, naturally, at the very back of the campsite... So after a quick sprint back to board up, I really was ready, this time!

I'm generally more of a tortoise than a hare when it comes to race starts. This time I was even more out the back than usual as I got tangled up with a rider who must've missed a pedal and seemed to hit the ground right when the gun went off. After the tangled standstill, the rest of the field seemed to disappear into the horizon in mere seconds. So I put the tortoise into full-on mode and passed a few girls by the end of the tarmac. I didn't know whether they were in my category or not but it helped to get my legs going.

We all got stuck behind quite a bit of traffic on the first lap, but as the laps went by the traffic thinned out. I hadn't had time for a practice lap after my trans-UK mission of the day before, so the first lap was a case of seeing how the course differed from the year before and testing out my forks. I was essentially riding rigid too as my good forks were on my good bike (long logistical story of several bikes in several countries). Needless to say, the rocks on the first muddy chute were "interesting", while I descended the second muddy, rooty chute in style using my thigh rather than my forks. Also managed to come a cropper at the end of lap one, where I crashed on the flat (into nothing?!) and went for another mud slide.

Each lap was progressively muddier than the first. I kept pushing hard on the climbs to make up for my less than glamorous descending, where the mud and off-camber trails in the first half of the lap conspired to bring out interesting moves. There was a bit of minor juggling with positions with a few girls, and I tried to keep it as smooth in the rough as my rigid forks would allow (good for skills)! Reaching the summit of the last hill on the last lap, I thought I was somewhere around 5th, so was somewhat surprised when I crossed the finish line to the announcement that I'd finished in 2nd!

All in all, a great fun race. Congrats to Emma Bradley who took the win, Stephania Magri in third and fellow AQR teammate Kirsty who was just seconds off third. Looking forward to my next challenges in the Scottish round at Fort Bill and the pairs race at Bontrager 24/12 on my new Cotic Soda (yes Ian, I am finally laying my '04 Stumpjumper to rest)!

Midlands XC2: The hills of Herefordshire!

2010-05-26T21:56:00.004+01:00

Scorching hot sunshine, super dusty trails and big climbs... who would have thought that the 2nd round of this year's Midlands XC series (& the Midlands champs) would deliver all of these!

Returning to an old-skool venue at Mansel Lacy, James & Nadine once again delivered a great course which tested riders on the way up & down - steep descents, off-camber singletrack and a monster fireroad climb half-way through. Oh & what must have been the only mud in the UK on such a hot weekend.

Despite two stops to pump up my slowly deflating rear tyre and a slight lack of power on the climb due to recent heavy training sessions, I was pleased with my 10th place finish... roll on Margam!

Thanks to Roy Bevis for the photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/26069260@N04/

British XC2 - racing down south

2010-05-13T14:41:00.010+01:00

It's only 4 days since the 2nd British XC round last weekend but already feels a way away and Round 3 at Margam is approaching fast... especially with Midlands XC2 in between!

Mainly dry weather - albeit frickin' freezing on practice saturday! - combined with a course in great shape and mainly nicely bedded in after the recent Southern XC made for some fun, fast and furious racing. The singletrack varied between fresh bumpy, loamy trails which were punishing for hardtail riders to the sinuous ribbon of brown that wound its way through the acres of bluebells towards the end of the lap.

A great AQR turn out for the weekend meant a good coverage across the categories with Kirsty bringing home 4th in Masters for the team's best result. Despite a monster race-start tangle and crash (which left one poor guy with his bike in 2 bits!) leaving him dead last, Matt Prior pulled out all the stops in the Open race to finish 7th - some impressive overtaking must have gone on there! Iain was the third AQR team member of the day but unfortunately had to pull out of the Sport race due to back pain. As for myself, I finally broke into the top 20, finishing 18th in the Sport race. Maybe the recent training has started to pay off with much more consistent lap times than at Round 1.... roll on Margam.

And finally, a massive well done to Mrs-AQR, Kate Potter for her 2nd in the Elite women's race... good luck for Offenburg World Cup Kate!

Huge thanks to Joolze Dymond for the photos - http://www.joolzedymond.com/ for the full galleries.

Bikemagic.com: A Pyrenean Paradise

2010-04-27T13:04:00.004+01:00

Just a hint to check out the front page of Bikemagic this week for the low-down on AQR, riding weeks in Luchon and their future plans for coaching. Cotic hire bikes available out in Luchon too by the way ;-)

In more normal AQR blogging news, it's the Gorrick Enduro this weekend which'll be a training race for me following a pretty long week this week... at least the sun's out!

British XC1: A Master's view

2010-04-19T21:56:00.003+01:00

This year I've decided to go for it and challenge myself with the BMBS. Goodbye comfort blanket (the rest of the team at the 12 / 24 hour races); goodbye excuses (no time to train, I'm not sure I can do this etc etc). Just get out there and ride. Sorry, RACE!!! So, here we go... BMBS Round 1, Sherwood Pines. My first race of the 2010 season.

Solid winter training... check
Nice new Bonty tyres...check.
Bike polished and ready to go... check
Weather gods smiling... check

During the week before, I had the usual case of 'pre-race nerves'. However, when I arrived at Sherwood and caught up with the rest of the team, I began to relax and enjoy myself. A couple of warm up laps in the sunshine laid any fears I had to rest, as I found a course that played to my strengths - fast paced and action packed, with enough technical interest to keep my on my toes.

Sunday morning dawned, and I managed to keep the butterflies in my stomach at bay. For the first time in my (short) racing career, I had a proper warm up routine - which I seriously recommend. This was a great way of ensuring I was prepared not only physically, but mentally, for the race.

The Masters line up contained a few names I have raced previously, and a few more I didn't recognise. I'm relatively new to this game, so I didn't really have a race strategy as such - my aim really was to learn from the experience, with the longer term goal of a podium place by the end of the series.

The gun went, and I got a great start, leading the field for the first few hundred yards. A few people came past going into the first main section of singletrack, and I got caught up a little behind some of the blokes who started in front of us(!). With so many categories racing together it's hard to tell where your competition is, so I spent the rest of the race chasing down whoever I could see in front of me, sprinting for the singletrack, and trying to hold off anyone behind me from passing me. I had no real idea where I was placed. I concentrated on powering through the fireroad sections, whilst trying to flow through the singletrack. I was enjoying the course - particularly the dual descent section and the little chute just after the steep climb - and felt that my winter training had paid off. My fitness was good, and I'm beginning to see improvements in my basic skills.

Part way through the 3rd lap, one of the spectators said he thought I was in 4th place - this gave me a real boost and a burst of energy. I was determined not to let anyone past (whatever their category... just in case... although I did make an exception for the top 3 elite women who came through near the end of my last lap...) - but how close was I to that elusive podium place???

As it turned out... not close enough. I continued to work hard through the final lap, but 3rd place was never in my sight. I finished 4th - far better than I had expected, and I feel I have more to give. Well done to Emma Bradley for the win. But watch out girls, I'll be breathing down your necks at Round 2!!

What went well?
* Good warm up
* A great start
* Fitness and power on the fireroads
* Clearing the little log jumps (albeit not very gracefully)
* 4th place...

Where can I improve?
* Cornering... carrying speed through the singletrack
* Confidence in my ability... I can clear those tricky sections, if I get my head round it
* Technique, technique, technique...
* 4th place...

Overall, I really enjoyed the race. Thanks to James Hampshire for an interesting course, and to Ian and Kate for their excellent coaching support. BMBS Round 2... bring it on!!

Kirsty Eastwood, 19th April 2010

British XC Round 1 - Sherwood Pines - 28th March

2010-04-01T12:27:00.008+01:00

A sunny Nottinghamshire weekend kicked the 2010 British XC series off to a cracking start last weekend, with some solid results for the AQR Team too. Top marks to Kirsty for 4th in Masters, whilst Matt rode in AQR colours for the first time and brought home 11th in Open and James started his race season with 23rd in the 69-strong Sport field.

More to follow from Kirsty soon but in the meantime, some photos from the event thanks to Joolze Dymond - http://www.joolzedymond.com/ for the full galleries from the event.

And a huge well done to Mrs AQR herself, Kate Potter (Cotic Bontrager) too for 3rd in women's elite! (Seen her in super focussed pre-race warm-up mode with her trusty Soda!)

Mont24 - Victory Down Under

2010-03-31T07:25:00.005+01:00

It had been a tough week for mountain biking in Australia with the passing of 24hr champion, journalist and good bloke, James Williamson. Whilst James died in South Africa in the middle of the Cape Epic, in Canberra Australia riders were getting set to ride the Mont 24hr. As Willow was well known and loved in the mtb community, the first hour of the race was the Willow Honour Roll, where everyone went for a cruise in his memory.

When the racing started at 1pm AQR's Claire Aubrey set the pace by doing the first lap for her team of Canberra buddies in the boutique category Women's Fours. They rode fast through the day and night, led from start to finish and came away with the victory by a lap. Well Done!

From left to right, Claire Aubrey, Karen Foat, Kim King and Claire Graydon holding the winner's trophy for the MONT 24hr. There was a huge effort all weekend by all the girls and their incredibly wonderful support crew consisting of AQR's Paul Aubrey (lucky for the girls, he was unable to race due to injury). Quote from Claire Graydon: 'Just name your price Paul - we'll have you help out any time!!!'

It was dusty at Sparrow Hill, at least it is better than mud.

Claire off for a hot lap. The team had seamless transitions and made sure to grab every little second possible.

Sunday morning, another beautiful day in Canberra.

Claire won SRAMs Pimp My Mont contest. Her bike was cleaned, and SRAM set a team of 3 on it to make sure it was properly pimped whilst she enjoyed a massage. A new set of Elixir Carbons was included! Thanks SRAM.

Kim King, riding fast. Kim can manage a world championships and win 24hr races as well as enduro multi-sports. I call it versatile.

I'm finished and we won. Claire is interviewed by Stu and Ben following crossing the line on Sunday afternoon.

Next is a sequence of sleeping people, every little bit counts.

Claire Graydon at presentation. Good luck for the Solo 24 this weekend Claire!

Claire's little bro, Luke Graydon on Saturday afternoon

Claire Aubrey on Saturday afternoon

Finished at last!

2010-03-01T20:59:00.004Z

This year's Soda ready to roll... thanks to Cotic, Magura, Bontrager and KCNC / Clee Cycles ! :-)

Hello 2010!

2010-01-18T09:34:00.007Z

Welcome to the first post on the AQR Team blog for 2010!

It still seems a bit strange that we're in 2010, but the evenings are already getting lighter and winter so far has at least been broken up by plenty of riding and playing about in the white stuff!

There's been a fair bit of road riding over the winter too and one of our new sponsors for 2010, Skins, have come up trumps with some ace base-layers and riding gear which has seen me and some of the other team members shrug off the winter cold, on- and off-road. Fantastic shorts and longs too which we hope you'll be seeing the team in throughout 2010.

But anyway, we're looking forward to the 2010 race season now and the diary's rapidly filling up with events, from British XC and Midlands XC races, through to team appearances at some 12hr races and the Kielder 100 enduro...

Before then though, I have the pleasure of building up a new race bike for 2010... :-)

See you on a race course soon!
James

Ian
Iain
Tracy
Warren
Kirsty
Katie

Paul & Claire (our Aussie contingent Down Under!)

Mountain Bikers Get Behind One of Their Own

2009-12-15T21:32:00.003Z

Own a piece of Australian mountain biking history and support Trekky’s cancer treatment. Up for auction on ebay (item 150397647262) is an official Australian national team jersey signed by members of the Australian mountain bike team that raced the world championships at Mt Stromlo in September 2009.

The shirt is a brand new medium sized Santini jersey with MTBA logo as worn by our national team. Most of the team has signed the jersey including Beijing Olympian Dan McConnell, national champions Rowena Fry and Lachlan Norris and many more including AQR guest guide Andy Blair.

All proceeds from this auction will go to assist Brendan “Trekky” Johnston in his fight against cancer. Brendan was diagnosed with cancer just before the World Championships this year; he had urgent surgery to remove the cancer and amazingly was able to get back on the bike to race the championships and finish 50th. He is now at the start of a long road of chemotherapy. You can read more on Trekky’s website at http://www.keepingtrekkyontrack.com/.

So help us help Trekky, and score yourself some unique Aussie sporting memorabilia. Bid now at http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150397647262.

Crossing to the Dark-side

2009-11-29T07:25:00.002Z

It's been a while but I think I have got the racing bug back. Why, I got up early on Sunday morning to do a road race.

The sensations weren't good rolling over to Stromolo, the legs felt rubbish it was really windy and I probably should have worn arm warmers. The ride over double as a warm up which is always good, signed on for C-grade and had a cruised round staying warm. A and B were combined and there were some big hitters in the field, including local MTB star Dylan Cooper.

C-grade had 6 riders in it which proved to be good as the racing was positive from the gun. The wind played a big part, the first quarter was a head wind, second half was cross wind and you guessed it, the last quarter a tail wind. Up to the halfway point I was feeling good, I cruised up the climb and was on the right wheel when my mate Les decided to put everyone in the gutter in true rouleur style. Just after the turn around Les and I had a brief chat at the back, he was going to light it up over one of the the small rises. I saw the move coming and made sure he got a clean jump, the idea being I would bridge to him on the climb. The remaining 4 riders had it strung out trying to chase Les down but his advantage was up to around 500m with 12km remaining. From here we had about 3km of climbing up the Three Sisters. I followed wheels and there were only two of us left over the first sister. I rolled to the front, pretended to chase but backed the pass off to let Les open up an advantage on the flat. Climbing up the second sister I tried to jump across solo as we were down to less than 100m, but had an unwelcome passenger who I couldn't unhitch. Alas I backed things off again. By the top of the third sister, Les's advantage was about 200m, I knew he was a time trailing machine so I pretended to swap off to maintain my podium position. In the last few kilometres a really strong guy caught us and Les's lead was looking in doubt. I got to the front twice to block but the little guy would attack me. The second time the elastic broke :-( Les hung on for the win and I came in 4th. The support in the chase group was appreciated. It turned out to be a nice Sunday morning hit out.

I wish Les all the best for next weekend Tour of Bright (especially the TT), which is one of the biggest road races on the Australian calendar, including the 20 plus kilometre climb up to Mount Hotham.

Thursday Night - Crit Night

2009-11-27T01:14:00.006Z

Once daylight savings is in full swing here in Canberra, our club holds weekly dirt crits. The format is simple 10-15mins on a short lap with juniors up first, then all the way up to A-grade.

So after a crazy week at work, I left at 5 and made a B-line to Mals where I was reunited with my bike, now my forks work! I was back in the car bound for Hackett gate whilst trying to avoid the 6 O'clock rush around Dickson. With the time running out I was on my bike heading up the climb over to Majura Pines (Majura is probably a 20 minute ride from the centre of town and is covered with singletrack.), it was a humid afternoon and you could see the storms rolling in from the mountains.

I arrived just a D-grade was starting, Claire signed my on whilst I did a quick practice lap. As a results of the afternoons thunderstorms there were some muddy spots to keep things interesting. The course was broken into two section on singletrack with the later being into the headwind followed by the start/finish straight climb.

The key to a good race in C-grade is being near the front on the start line. Claire and I were sadly on the second row, I tried to go for the hole-shot and ended up going into the singletrack in 5th. The gap from 1st to 2nd opened up really quickly and there may have been some encouragement to let the brakes off. The Merida kid in 4th was letting the gap open to 3rd after a few hundred metres and wasn't happy when I tried to take advantage of the door he left open coming into a open lefthander. Up the start finish straight on the end of lap 1, everyone was looking at each other so I laid the gas down was led the pursuit of 1st place. By the 2nd of lap 2 I was in no mans lands 20m off first and feeling the effects of the chase. After an incident with the mud it became evident I wasn't going to catch first so I backed it off a little and maintain second place.

Going into the last lap I did all that was required to go into the first section of singletrack in the lead. I accelerated onto the short fireroad to ensure I went into the last section of singletrack in front. I felt the effect of my chase and the headwind so with a group of 3 on my wheel took the tactical decision to back the pace of to let myself recover. I didn't brake check anyone (have been known too) but chose the time and place (tight bend) to lay down it all down for the sprint to the line. I just managed to take out the sprint for 2nd from a member of the recent world champs downhill team. I very unlady like fashion she let loose on my dirty tactics and had a good bitch to everyone about it. I wasn't in a position to defend myself as I was sitting by the track trying to get my breath back.

Claire had an annoying race, she went into the singletrack just behind me but spent 2 laps trying in vein to get past the Merida Kid. He was strong in a straight line up a hill but could ride singletrack to save himself. Eventually Claire stuck past and finished just off my group. The Merida Kid continued his bad form, bring down our mate Karen at the finish.

The best bit of the night was the de-breif with the crew from Mals at Edgars over a few beers.

More woodsy playtime

2009-11-15T17:43:00.004Z

More fun in the woods on the Hemlock this weekend with a trip to the edge of the Peaks for some woodsy sniggletrack and rocky downhills. Blue skies and winter sunshine at last! :-)

Not the usual Cotic

2009-10-23T03:19:00.004+01:00

Popped by Round 1 of the Gorrick autumn series at the weekend and although I wasn't competing, it was great fun to blast round on the Hemlock rather than the Soda which the AQR team usually race on; good to see such a busy XC event at this time of the year too.

Joolze's full report is here but thanks to her also for the photo while I was checking out the course!

Riding not racing...

2009-10-19T20:03:00.009+01:00

Peak District Hemlock-ness
Originally uploaded by James Dymond

So summer's over and with it has come the end of my '09 racing season and all the fun and frolics that go with tearing round the country to rip each other's legs off for a few hours! At the same time autumn's well and truly arrived... but all is not lost and the last couple of sunny weekends have made a nice change to be riding purely for laughs. Taking the Cotic Hemlock out for a blast in the peaks with mate Jimbo was amazing the other weekend; I haven't chuckled as much on a ride for a while as when I was tearing down the Beast to the edge of Ladybower reservoir. The following week I even managed a few hours off work for an afternoon blast round the local race course at Sherwood Pines... check out those shadows from the warm afternoon sunshine! So farewell summer and roll-on autumn :-)

Autumn shadows at the Pines

Originally uploaded by James Dymond

Some 24hr Photos

2009-10-13T10:35:00.009+01:00

As the house is back to normal I felt I can add some photos from the weekend. OK there aren't heaps of racing pics but I will leave that up to the guys at Sportograf (Luke features in the best of). Hopefully the atmosphere of the event comes across.

We were there ready and waiting to hand our Luke his bike for the first lap, in the dog and ready for a fire road drag race. Any cross rider would be pleased with how smooth the hand over was.

24hr racing in Canberra has always featured a 'le mans' start. Luke is some where in the group of 500 runners.

Is Angelo going pig shooting, riding or ready for some strip tease? At least his shoes finally arrived.

The Hemlock coated in a fine layer of Stromlo dust and Angelo's digs know as 'The Shanty.' I wonder why he was cold on Saturday night?

Claire here in action on her last lap. She dragged the four guys in the background around for the last 10km, sadly the favour wasn't returned in the last section.

Two champion Claires.

Claire spending some time on the podium, 3rd in the hot lap TT. As you can see the podiums in Australia are a highly profesional affair.

A special mention must go to our mates Claire and Joel who took the title for the mixed pairs. Well done!

News Flash: AQR gets on podium twice Down-Under

2009-10-11T22:55:00.005+01:00

Hot of the press, the AQR Down-Under crew of Claire and Paul Aubrey made some podium appearences at the Scott 24hr race in Canberra, Australia over the weekend! The Scott 24hr is the biggest and longest running 24hr race in Australia and was run at Stromolo Forest Park which held the world championships only a few weeks ago.

Before the race got started properly, Claire enter the prolouge time trial, with the possibility of being crowned the fastest women at the event. Without much racing under her belt Claire rode sensationally posting a time which let her step onto the third step of the podium. It was close, 13 seconds sepearted both first and second and second and third. During the event, Claire backed up her hot lap with the unoffical fastest night time lap.

The main event start and midday on Saturday and by the time dawn broke on Sunday morning we knew it was going to be really close for the podium positions, 20 minutes separated the first 4 teams. All the members of the Malcontents stepped up and left everything on track to move up into third position in the Mixed 6 category.

The team was Luke Graydon(front right), Angelo De Maria(back middle), Harry Hearn(front left), Stuart McDougall(back right), Claire Aubrey(front middle) and myself (Paul Aubrey (back left)).

Some photo's will follow once the house is back in a livable state.

Midlands XC Round 4: photos

2009-09-28T17:53:00.006+01:00

With thanks to Andy Robson for the photos...

Midlands XC Round 4: Kirsty
Originally uploaded by James Dymond

Midlands XC Round 4, Sherwood Pines
Originally uploaded by James Dymond

Midlands XC Round 4: A lesson in pre-race prep.!

2009-09-27T19:40:00.009+01:00

Last Sunday saw the final round of the 2009 Midlands XC series with my local venue Sherwood Pines playing host in the September sunshine... yes, fast dry and dusty trails were the order of the day!

After over 3 weeks off the bike whilst travelling I was nervous about the race to say the least. A couple of road rides and a quick off-road blast during the week suggested the legs felt ok and I'd been at altitude so that might help too... I hoped!

After catching up with friends and a gentle practice lap around the super-fast and flowy course, 2.30 came all too soon and the race was on. Lined up 5th on the grid thanks to my series position didn't help the nerves but it was too late to worry, the race was on... and some race it was! The flat-out Pines course has never been my favourite for racing as it doesn't exactly favour my climbing preferences but wow was that start and the first lap a shock! It seems that 3 weeks had taken their toll after all and whilst my legs felt strong, the top-end pace I'd found in the last round was gone. Slipping into the teens by the end of the first lap I finally settled down and started to warm up. It wasn't to last though and about halfway through lap 2 I got knocked off-line down a steep dusty chute... thinking I'd held onto it despite being in the bushes, the next thing I knew was sailing over the bars and hearing the hiss of my front tyre as it rapidly lost all its air. Despite a quick fix attempt, it wasn't to be and it was game over!

The day wasn't so bad though with lessons learned & the Series places based on the best 3 results... meaning I finished with a 6th in Sport :)

Also on the AQR front, Kirsty was the team star of the day with a win in her Masters category and 2nd in the series - well done Kirsty!

Photos to follow soon...

Midlands XC Round 3 (Cannock Chase) - more AQR podiums!

2009-08-03T13:20:00.005+01:00

Cannock Chase was the venue for Round 3 of the 2009 Midlands series yesterday and despite recent biblical weather turned out to be a great event, albeit a tough one!

Shortened to just 5.5km this year, we were all sceptical about the course but a practice lap soon showed why the decision had been taken - whilst the fireroad climbs were fine, some of the flatter woodsy singletrack sections resembled sticky bogs... this was going to be partly a running race too!

Claire and Paul Aubrey are our newly recruited Aussie contigents of the AQR team and had taken time out of their hectic European travelling schedule to come & try a UK race. Claire, racing Sport, and Kirsty, in Masters, were off first in the morning race, along with AQR guest and friend Rachel.

Rachel, Claire & Kirsty

The girls looked strong during their races with plenty of cheering from Paul and I while we waited for our afternoon race... with Claire even going on to do an optional 3rd lap to prove that she would have been 2nd in the Expert race (alas her Australian license had run out)! Fantastic results for both of them though with 1st place each and well done to Rachel too for her 2nd in Sport.

Claire

Kirsty

No sooner had podiums finished than it was time for the afternoon race and Paul and I lined ourselves up for 4 really challenging laps, especially as the course was drying and the mud getting even stickier! As the hooter went off I found myself 3rd up the first climb and wondered how long I could stay this far forward... would my recent 'Luchon legs' keep their strength? Forcing my lungs back down at the top of the steep fireroad we dived into the first singletrack and the pace started to settle. The short course length meant it took me at least a lap to warm up and I have to admit it was a pretty hellish first lap - learning lines, which bits to run (too many!) and where to pass (I was loving that long fireroad climb!). Before I knew it, lap 4 came round and I found the energy to keep pushing, past two riders ahead of me and into 5th place. I spent the rest of the lap checking over my shoulder but I needn't have worried and crossed the line well ahead of 6th. Not too long later Paul crossed the line in 17th place, very respectable considering his lack of racing for several months and the chunky full-sus he was riding!

All in all a great day for AQR and once again big thanks to James & Nadine for another quality Midlands XC race. Also cheers to the rest of the AQR team for the mutual support and feed-zone work.

James

Paul

Thanks also to Joolze Dymond for use of and links to her photos.

TwentyFour12 2009 - continued...

2009-07-31T18:51:00.006+01:00

Tracy's now updated her blog too about her race in the AQR female pair at TwentyFour12 - have a read at TwentyFour12: Less is More

Also some more pics from the event, including Tracy & Warren's podium pics and the AQR-Cotic HQ with a rack of lovely Sodas raring to go.

Originally uploaded by Woz & Shelly

Originally uploaded by James Dymond

Some great action pics from Joolze on her website too...
Iain
Kirsty
Ian & also here
Warren

TwentyFour12 2009

2009-07-27T16:17:00.018+01:00

The Bontrager TwentyFour12 2009 has to go down as the endurance event of the year again this year... we're all back in one piece after a fantastic and very succesful weekend for the AQR teams with no less than 2 podiums...

- 2nd place for the 12hr Male Pairs (Ian & Warren), 2nd also for the 12hr Open Mixed team (myself, Ian, Jon & Kirsty) and a very respectable 5th for the 12hr Female Pairs for Abie and Tracy.

So well done all and also a massive thanks to Cy & Paul at Cotic for their mechanical and moral support all weekend!

More detailed report to follow, but in the meantime here's some initial photos thanks to Kelvin.

British MTB Series Round 4, Crow Hill

2009-07-21T22:28:00.004+01:00

Ian Potter, Mr AQR himself, was back in the UK long enough recently to do some racing of his own at Round 4 of the British Mountan Bike Series. Kate's mentioned his race on her blog as well as her own fantastic win of course!

This weekend I wasn’t the only Potter racing. Ian loves racing and was lining up against Britain’s top Vet racers. He was gridded on the last row with over 60 riders out in front. I was in charge of feeding Ian, but luckily for Mr Potter there is no tech support as speedy mechanics are not my speciality. Ian was racing his new Cotic prototype which consists of a Hemlock full suspension triangle and KP prototype back end. Cy didn’t know about this one until Ian had finished building it, so it has been a little bit of an experiment.

Ian had a lot of riders out in front, so when he came through in the top 20 I was lucky somebody in the pit area pointed him out as I was sunbaking! He was looking strong, but I wasn’t too sure if he was enjoying the experience as he wasn’t smiling, but I guess who does smile when they race, in fact Ian’s not known for ever showing a cheesy grin :-) Ian had to race four laps and by the second lap he was begging for a gel. I could tell he was hurting, but he had made up more places and was close to being in the top 10, in fact I think he was around 11th position. I was jumping or should I say hobbling for joy, as my legs had stiffened up. Ian ended up finishing in 14th place. He said he lost a few places in the end from a crash as his brain had fried and he decided to wake himself up by riding into a tree. Perhaps if I told him that his Mrs did faster lap times he would have tried a little bit harder at the end!

See her full blog entry here.

Midlands XC Round 2 & Champs

2009-07-16T16:52:00.004+01:00

14th June saw was a blistering hot, sunny weekend for Round 2 of the Midlands series and the Midlands champs at Hanchurch Woods near Stoke on Trent.

As usual, James and Nadine put on a fantastic event, helped by Martyn Brookes and mates who designed the course on their local patch. A fireroad blast led straight into a loose stony climb, before the awesome singletrack began - rooty lines, steep bombholes and super-fast flowy singletrack through the pines & bracken.

The hot day meant for a tough race and cramp threatened to kick in from lap 2 onwards.... the Torq kept flowing though and kept it at bay just long enough to make up a few places after a less than ideal start. As lap 4 ended I came across the line in 14th place from 48 riders - and 7th in the Midlands Champs. Perhaps not the ideal result after 11th at Round 1 but some good lessons learnt on a great fun and fairly challenging course. Roll on Round 3!

(With thanks to Joolze Dymond for the photo)

Bristol BikeFest 2009

2009-06-11T10:33:00.006+01:00

Bristol BikeFest 2009 was the first event of the year for the A Quick Release holidays team (with guest rider Adam Titley) to get together after a few months of individual racing and proved to be a fantastic event. The just over 6 mile lap of had a great mix of swoopy singletrack, rocky descents and a couple of decent climbs too, the Cotic Soda loving every section. Despite the morning's wet conditions, mud clearance was a non-issue and racing was fast and furious from the off, only getting quicker as the afternoon and trails dried out.

Almost 12hrs and 19 laps later and AQR finished 3rd in the Mixed Open category, still grinning and another race under the Soda's tyres.

Welcome to the AQR team blog!

2009-06-01T18:52:00.000+01:00

The AQR race team
Originally uploaded by James Dymond

Welcome to the AQR team blog for 2009! The A Quick Release Holidays race team is Tracy Miles, Abie Smith, Kirsty Eastwood, Warren Miles, Jon Roberts, Iain Collins and James Dymond and we ride Cotic Sodas, supported by Magura forks, Bontrager components and Torq energy products.

After a great first year in 2008 with a team win at Bontrager TwentyFour12, 3rd place at Dusk Till Dawn and loads of individual events too, we can't wait for 2009 and will post updates here throughout the year. Keep an eye out for us at these races amongst others...

- Bristol BikeFest 2009
- Bontrager TwentyFour12
- Midlands XC
- British XC series
- Dusk Till Dawn 2009