Newsletter 2 / Spring is in the air

Thankfully spring here up high does not bring much pollen, or none that bothers me, just longer evenings and warm afternoons. The cherry blossom trees have been out in full force to mark the turn of the season and the bees are busy buzzing around pollinating. Spring really is a magical time, and here I’ve really enjoyed feeling it’s warmth deep in my bones after the cold of winter. 

 
 

LIFE

Winter has been a nice period here in the Pyrenees with only a few really brutal weeks - though this brings some issues with Catalunya already in a drought and reservoirs very low, plus there is already little snow left to fill them and no rain falling. Truly scary.  

Climate change aside, with the ground thawing we’ve moved from work in the house to the garden, and have begun preparing the hort (allotment). Thankfully my parents came down for a week to inspire and help us. Half the garden will be for growing, and the other half for relaxing and eating things we’ve grown. The climate here is warm, so I’m looking forward to some beautiful figs! 

 

A trailer load of prime cow poop for the hort 

 

With the coming of spring we’ve been able to get out hiking into the bigger mountains together. Hiking with Lennox is a daily feature for me and really enjoyable, not to mention builds strong legs! 

 

Spending wonderful family time together in the fresh air  

 

And if we’ve enjoyed winter there was definitely one person who enjoyed it the most, Piri! 

 

Piri wasn’t made for the heat of Girona, but the snow of the Pyrenees 

 

But one of the best moments of the past months was Lennox taking to zooming around the terrace on his little balance bike! He’s growing so fast and it’s amazing to be a part of and present in this.

 

My little buddy! 

 

 MOUNTAIN MOVEMENT (training) 

Training this winter hasn’t been as I would have dreamed – when is it! Winter is a time for me to concentrate on building a deep base of fitness. Sadly, I was quite sick at the end of January and went on to have pneumonia – which took nearly all of February to clear up, leaving me with unpleasant post viral fatigue too. The impact, beyond being bored sitting around for 4 weeks as some great weather slipped by was losing a lot of the winter fitness I had built. In this difficult period, I spent a lot of time coming back to and thinking on the concept of life not being fair. It’s fair that being sick as an athlete is a quite a privileged position to be. No matter how sad or annoying, it could be a lot worse!  

Thankfully, things had turned a corner through March. I gave my body a lot of space and time to come back around, not jumping back into a training programme with vigorous intent but letting the fatigue lift and just doing what felt right on a day-to-day basis. As we moved into April I was rewarded for this prudence and patience as my body began to respond well to movement and I once again enjoyed being out and moving in the mountains for longer periods, feeling light. 

 

Thanks to Montse for babysitting me on our Bike Ski Bike day out to Certascan Nord 

 

 With something like 6 weeks until the Highland Trial 550, there is plenty of time to keep building fitness. But these days, being a bit older a wiser I always opt to be a bit less fit than I could, but aim for consistency though limiting overtraining, sickness or injury by doing less than I think I can handle. I think that being quite fit, but hungry and healthy is the best way to turn up to an ultra race, rather than seriously fit but perhaps a bit burnt out or having been ill or picking up overtraining injuries.  

 

In the past I’d live and breathe training; I’d wake up, eat, go training, lay on the sofa, eat, and then go to bed. These days my body and mind can’t handle the monotony of that and so I have expanded my definitions of training – thankfully racing off-road ultra cycling you can get away with some wide ranging training. If we consider that at the Highland Trail 550 I will have to carry my bike up climbs on my back for an hour or so, going hiking with Lennox on my back for periods of this or longer becomes very good and specific training. Or if I might walk with my bike for periods going trail running can become training too – especially as I’ll be up about 2,000m so I get time at altitude. Digging out vegetable beds in the garden and collecting firewood are great core work! Generally, I just try to be as active as possible - I never was one to enjoy sitting around much. 

 

Obviously living in the Pyrenees I got as much ski touring / mountaineering in this winter as I could, going from not skiing to doing some cool stuff. And I can tell you that moving with both arms and legs up mountains on skis is a serious workout – the depth of strength I could feel from this was significant. All of this mixed modality movement has really left me feeling quite fresh mentally. Gone are the days of just slogging out hours on a bike and feeling a bit stifled and in is being more of a mountain athlete – a healthy athlete. 

 

Bikes aren’t just for riding, but for going on adventures too 

 

I owe a big thanks to Lee and Sam of Snowworks for teaching me to Ski, Ferran for giving me some mountain skills, Roger for taking me down my first Couloir and Montse for taking me out and babysitting me in the real mountains! I’ve spent years being outside alone, but quickly learnt that it’s only though friendships you can have fun outside in winter, and I’m really grateful for all the new friends I’ve made.  

 

RACING

The Highland Trail 550 will be my first race of the year. Last years attempt was doomed with a fractured arm 4 days before the start, so this year the biggest aim is to just be on the startline! I’ve begun collecting parts to build up a bike for the event; yes something new and cool is coming! This year I will run a hardtail but with a bit more front travel. I’ve been testing a few things and I feel I will run a SON dynamo and K-Lite headlight. In previous years I haven’t as I wasn’t too sure on how well they would work on such steep terrain, but having tested it over winter I think it will be a good combination with a headlight. I’m still deciding on bags, but I am feeling a framebag and front roll. I’m really trying to keep away from a backpack but stay minimal. 

Pre-dawn rides testing equipment  

Testing new customs framebags from Tailfin 

Tracking time with the Christopher Ward Colchester C63

James HaydenComment