Santa Susanna Masters Vuelta 2014 Updates: CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF ENTRIES

• Courses have been revised, but generally kept the same except the 'team time trial' will be only 9kms in length...which will please many!
• The Saturday course now has a fantastic return leg after the long main climb with the smoothest roads I have ever ridden, coupled with some beautiful views of the Pyrenees in the distance...race still 85km!
• Both time trials are pan flat, but do have tricky sections and some road surface issues, but nothing like here at home...again road bikes only!
• The road stages are tough, myself and Marcus Walker, although not race fit and on heavy hire bikes found them difficult...long climbs with some technical descents. **please don't take this event lightly, the stages are longer and more demanding than Majorca, so if you are thinking of riding please make sure you prepare for it**
• The race will be run in three separate categories, 40-49, 50-59 & 60+ 
• Time gaps betwen each group still to be confirmed by police.
• The Aqua Marina Hotel is currently being totally refurbished for 2014, we will be some of the first guests to be staying there and they have offered the Santa Susanna Masters Vuelta room upgrades with an extremely low supplement to any rider/family who would like to take-up this offer.
• All hotel reservations and payments will be made via Poco Loco Cycling, in which, once I receive your notification, including, what type of room, how many in the party & how long you would like  stay will forward you the bank transfer details...this will contain a reference which must be quoted when making payment (Please state if you would like to book your one free session at the Spa as this will need pre-booking!)

• IMPORTANT: Hotel reservations... Within 28 days all individual cancellations will be notified immediately by mail. Cancellations made more than 6 days prior to the client's arrival will result in a NIL cancellation charge. Cancellations made within 5 days prior to the client's arrival and no-show will result in a 100% cancellations.
• Flights can either be booked for Barcelona or Gerona (this is the closest) and depending on numbers asking for transfers, there will be a hotel bus available with a small fee incurred.

• Enter here:
  

Enter

Tour of Cornwall 2014

Back again for it's 4th edition the popular TOUR OF CORNWALL...

Beautiful scenery, quiet roads and some very tough challenges, all the right ingredients for a long weekend of cycling!

Please checkout the camps page on the Poco Loco site for further details...

Mallorca Classic Training Camp 2014

Rider list...

Nick Giles
Malc Giles
Nicola Collins (flight booked)
Stuart  (flight booked)
Matthew Collins
Dave Spencer
Elise Spencer + 2
Rich Whitley
Will Morgan
Sue Seller..tbc
Yvonne Amesbury (flight booked)
Ben Amesbury  (flight booked)
Gilbert Matthew (flight booked)
Paul Sanderson (Physio)
Warren Giddins
Dave Williams
Leah Williams

Mallorca Classic Training Camp 2014

Happy days, the hugely popular Mallorca Classic Training Camp is back for it's 3rd edition, this time offering an extended 10 day camp for all those hardened cyclists who just want to savor the extra miles on this Majestic Island.
Once again the Hotel Dunas Blancas will be looking after us with it's ideal location and friendly staff who helped us so much in previous years.

A similar format to the 2013 camp with a few subtle changes to keep the riders keen and the training fun!

Rider list will be posted on the Blog as they confirm their places....

For all information and prices please follow this link: Mallorca Classic 2014

Thanks

Nick

Post Mallorca Results

The rewards of the Mallorca Training Camp 2013...

With Mallorca over a month gone, the guys are returning some impressive results showing good form gained on the camp:

Dave Spencer - Silver at the TLI National Criterium Champs

Dave Spencer - 13th overall in Brenig Road Race 2/3/4

Dave Williams - 3.56 in Anfield 100 a PB and 3rd overall

Dave Williams - First group in Brenig Road race 2/3/4

Ryan Morley -   Top rider in club t.t. series 

Ryan Morley -   Team prize and 3rd overall in Chester r.c 25m t.t.

Ben Amesbury - Finisher in Anfield 100

Congratulations to all of above and to the others who came on the Mallorca Camp, please let me know your results/achievements.

Mallorca 2013

Mallorca Classic Training Camp 2013

Poco Loco Cycling would like to thank the following people for making the 2nd Mallorca training camp such a huge success...

David Williams - 'bring it on'

Leah Williams - 'the determined one'                                                  

A relaxing and happy group enjoying a well earned drink

David Spencer - 'mr slice'
Susan Seller - 'the adventurer'
Nicola Collins - 'im lovin'it'
Nick Giles - 'the lizard'
Malcolm Giles - 'the teacher'
Richard Whitley - 'tan your dick'
Ben Amesbury - 'never say die'

Yvonne Amesbury - 'the joker'

Ryan Morley - 'man .v. food'

Also, I would like to thank all the staff at the Hotel Dunas Blancas for making our stay so enjoyable...

Jose Manuel, Charo, Andra and Marianne.

Last but not least Rolando from 'Sportbequi' for supplying the fantastic Wiler and Ridley Carbon Bikes and his excellent customer service.

Now for the week's review, oh where do I start....

With the excitement and anticipation of the Mallorca classic training camp finally arriving everyone was looking forward to the cycling adventure ahead, from the newbies to cycling to the hardened racers.

The various flight arrivals meant that i had to travel out early to make sure everything was in place and check out some of the routes that we were going to ride over the next week. Myself and Malc arrived at L'Arenal three days before our first arrival which was Richard (who was to become known as 'tan your dick').
As with the Newquay camp the weather was on our side, warm, sunny and temperatures ideal for cycling, albeit 15 degrees warmer than Newquay....happy days!

The initial few days it was myself, Malc and Richard riding together and with neither of them knowing the island by bike, i took them on 4-6 hour rides around the south of the island over the mountains and through the rolling hills of central Mallorca with Richard stopping every 10 km for a natural break on each of the rides... hence his nickname!

Myself and Richard with a stunning Mediterranean backdrop

The rest of the gang eventually turned up after some being on time and some being delayed which meant the hotel driver doing some extra shuttles out and back to the airport. Once all rooms were allocated and everyone was settled in, it was a case of meeting in the morning at breakfast and deciding the days 'parcours' for the two groups consisting of mainly the lads in one and the lass' in t'other and collecting the hire bikes pre-booked from 'Sportbequi'. After a few small sizing problems with the bikes we finally made it on the road with Sue Seller taking out Von, Leah and Nicola on a gentle ride up via the coast rode.

The gang all smiles on the first day...not for long!

I decided to take he lads on nice 'break-in' sort of ride, a little of everything, coastal rolling roads mixed with a few gentle climbs and some very fast flat stretches. The riding hours seems to pass so quickly with scenery to die for and weather that was just perfect, warm sun and little wind, no winter kit hear, just shorts and a jersey, happy days!

The evening was a case of fueling up for the next day from the vast buffet in the restaurant, which Ryan certainly made his own! Funny though, one thing I did notice during the week, people were coming down later for breakfast and eating became a little torturous trying to replace all the energy used on each of the rides! Saying that, the Aladins cafe stop, after a day's ride was just fantastic, out of this world cakes and real coffee, It was a place we took over in the late afternoon sunshine, to sit and chat and reminisce on the day's heroics!

This is the life

I must mention how impressed I was with the ladies, no moaning, just grit and determination not to let each other down and just enjoy the experience and see some of the island. Leah, must be given the award for tenacity, as she had hardly turned a pedal before she arrived, (mainly due to the crap weather here in the UK) and with wearing basic running trainers she completed all the rides...hilly ones to-boot! To me the lass' bounced of each other, a little competitive which is nice, but, all supporting each other at the same time, pure magic!

The awesome foursome - Sue, Nicola, Leah & Von

Over the week, I had designed specific 'training segments' to give the riders that something different to their rides and help them prepare for their seasons targets. The rides broke down like this..hard day with segment, easy recovery day with the girls, hard day with segment, easy recovery ride and so on...

These were optional, but the pleasing thing everyone was up for it...BOOM (one of the camps new phrases)

Our first segment came on our 140km trip into the mountains, where after a few shall we say 'ups & downs' performed an 8km team time trial with everyone doing 200m on the front and then swinging off. It was great, good tempo on medium size gears and all of us in team kit, it must of looked like a pro outfit, just a shame we didn't video it!

As last year, I kept the popular 'cut & chase' where the riders team up in pairs (selected at the pub in a draw) and set off for a 5km 'two-up' and given 1 minute before the rest gave chase. If the pair make it to the roundabout (5km) they won a drink courtesy of Poco Loco....trouble is, all pairings made it, no one was caught! :-/

I must give mention to Ben...for drama and the most noise made in a two-up he's reigns supreme, man can he suffer...but valiant he is!

Don't get me wrong, even the recovery days were still fairly hard and on several occasions we were still covering 100kms and with the lass' even pushing on the front! It was great to see the improvement from the ladies as the week went by, more confidence and the capacity to do such long days in the saddle, chapeau!

Well earned coffee break with Spenno having the widest grin after seeing  the Cannondale Slice in a nearby bike shop

                                                                                 
Ever wanted to know how to stop Dave W in his tracks...place a fake Euro note in the middle of a mountain road with a bleeding great lorry coming down the opposite way! Nearly wiped out for what turned out to be monopoly money :-(

The hardest day came with two days left, Richard had already departed and his happy go lucky, cheeky wit persona was already being missed by the group! Yeh, this day was a mixture of segments (basically to confuse the body and incur positve muscle reaction). It consisted of 5 x 8 second hard sprints, ride recovery, 2 x 1500m overload mountain climb and finally the cream on top of the bundle, 2 x 4.5km road race with 9km recovery between each effort. Once again, Ben was in his detemined chewing stem mode, while in complete contrast Spenno was never out of level 2. Rymo & DW were showing their strength, with myself...just disguising my age!

The road races were great fun...painful...but fun! The first one going to DW after an awesome attack with 2 km to go and the second one going to Rymo, showing all that eating must go towards his huge turbo!

The man who changed the rule book for tenacity...Ben

                             

I would also, like to mention our kid...Malc was so nervous about the trip and was worried at not being able to keep up on the rides, but give credit where it's due, he rode every day, covering a very hefty 900km in 10 days! When the rides became too hard he joined in the slower group and helped them enormously with encouragement...some say it's the teacher in him, hence his nickname! He also credited with doing the photos which you can see above!

I hope the resume gives a decent read and apologies if I can't recall everything, but events upon my return caused a little melt down for me physically and mentally!

Till next time...

Adios.

N

Santa Susanna 2013

Please checkout the revised price list for the New Santa Susanna training camp for 2013.

We are confident that this location will be the ideal area for all your road & mountain bike holiday training rides.

Pricing now in-line with the best of Majorca, but, with the added bonus of quieter, beautifully surfaced roads  and with some absolutely stunning 'parcours' this will be the perfect location for team, individual and family cycling holidays!

Give it a try, you won't be disappointed....

Tour of Cornwall Review

Tour Of Cornwall 2013


I would like to take this opportunity in thanking the following for their support in making the 2nd TOC a huge success:

Phil Wilkins, Andy Parr, Marcus Walker & Cath, Dave Spencer, Graeme Cummings (Specialized Concept Chester) Malc Giles, Roger Squire & Mandy, Phil Cooper, Andy Hill, Tim & Chloe (support car + spares & feed) - A group, Debbie Cracknell (Support car + spares & feed) - B group
Riders from Newquay Cycling Club
Racheal Tyers
Mel King
Riders from Tri-Logic Team
Tony Rowell
Neil Eddy
Paul Reeve
Jason Lloyd King
Dave Cracknell
Alison Galloway
Mhairi Saville
'Princess' Linda Garbett          

  

We all had an extremely good 3 days of excellent weather which just made all the difference with the routes and enabled the riders to enjoy the beautiful views that were planned.

Saturday was the the first big day with a near 80 mile jaunt down the south coast to St Ives. Split into 2 groups with Tony Rowell from Tri-Logic taking the 'B' on a slightly easier rolling route and myself taking the 'A' group on the severe hilly route. With no incidents to report, everyone was riding superbly, with the B group sticking together all the way to St Ives for the cafe stop, while the A group were digging deep to climb the very steep coastal climbs that seem to come one after the other. Andy Parr (muncher) was giving it beans every time the road went up, showing some impressive early season condition! Roger Squire, Phil Cooper (E cat vet) & Andy Hill were all showing true grit to battle over the climbs and stay in contact...well done to them!

After a short but welcome refreshment break it was time to return to Newquay. The A group had whittled down to 8 riders with several dropping back to the B group to save energy for the next two day's hard rides.

The plan on the return leg was to have a 'training race' segment over the last 5 miles into Newquay, with a finish flag waiting for the winners at the picturesque ganal estuary. Well, with the wind picking up and the last few hills taking it's toll, both groups split into two's & three's, scattered over many minutes. Roger Squire won the B group prize, with Phil Cooper and Andy Hill providing the most exciting sprint (short video to follow...)! Andy Parr won the A group prize after breaking away with Dave Spencer (Spenno) working well together until the 'big dipper' climb where he clipped off for a solo finish!

To show how hard it was Phil Wilkins (one of the best ex pro riders on the UK circuit) was cocooned in his duvet groaning to himself trying to ease the pain away!

*Congrats must go to the ladies, who showed some impressive fitness to complete the long ride*

The evening was spent having relaxing meal and a few drinks at Wetherspoons...just the ticket!

Sunday was another tough day, albeit slightly shorter at 70 miles. This time the route took us up the north coast to a cafe stop in Post Issac (a little fishing village where the Doc Martin series is filmed) and once again split into two groups with the B group taking the shorter and less hilly route whilst the A group started the hills straight away following the coastal road.
Today the wind was playing a huge factor in the progress of the riders with a cold strong easterly hampering any sort of speed, but hey, determination prevailed and everyone arrived at the cafe, only to find it was at the  bottom of a 3 mile steep climb, which after lunch, was not a nice prospect to climb out of!
Beautiful location as you can see >

The return to Newquay was going to be a rapid one with the wind behind us all the way. With 5 left in the A group and the B group still holding strong with the rest, it was a case to see if the A's could catch up with the B's before arriving back at Newquay?

Once on the A39 heading back to Wadebridge the A's were lined out averaging 45-48kph under the two-up impetus of Andy Parr and Dave Spencer, whilst the B's were splitting under the driving of Graeme Cummings (yes, brother of Stephen of BMC Pro Tour team) who was showing some top form on his newly acquired Specialized Venge bike.
Just after Wadebridge the A's started to split just in sight of a neat formation of the Tri-Logic riders, with Andy Parr once again powering away on his own to eventually catch firstly our kid Malc Giles who was on a very good day, then eventually catching and teaming up the Greame to form a duo all the way back to Newquay, leaving myself clinging onto Spenno with Marcus Walker and Phil Wilkins taking a short breather behind the remnant's of the B group before taking off in pursuit.

Top ride had by all, with once again the sunny weather just adding to the enjoyment!

Tony leading the B group with Phil & Marcus catching a ride







Andy & Graeme forge ahead towards Newquay

Dave Spenno on the chase with Nick & Malc

Monday, once again we were blessed with another stunning day, dry with blue skies, albeit very windy!

After a hearty breakfast we decided to set off on this last day's riding all together...well I say all together, Phil Cooper and Andy Hill, missed the departure and ended up riding the 25 miles to the Eden Project as a 2 up! In my defence the group did leave 15 minutes late, but in reality, I should have done a head count...let's put the blame on a equal footing!

What was meant to be an easy last day leisure ride, turned out to be just as tough as the previous days, with the strong headwind making the progress painfully slow and the last long drag over the disused clay pits was brutal causing the group to split into fragments with everyone just about turning over the pedals!

With a nice downhill to the cafe everyone eventually arrived, looking like they had just rode 50 miles instead of 25, but with the knowledge it was going to be a flyer back, smiles were still abundant. Not so Phil and Andy, they battled all the way together and arrived shortly after us, which, give credit when credit is due, was a superb effort!

We delayed the return to give Phil and Andy time to have a coffee and snack, which also allowed the rest to have a look around this famous landmark in Cornwall.

The initial start out from the cafe was very hard, especially after sitting down for an hour, the steep climbs made the legs hurt, but once over, it was 'pedal to the metal', the gears were rolling nicely and everyone was enjoying the tailwind push home!

The planned 4 mile team time-trial was a cancelled as most were too tired and just wanted to return to the hotel. Only one rider decided to have-a-go...yep, that man Any Parr decided to go solo and this time kick his own ass!

Back at the hotel and before everyone shot off home we (Poco Loco Cycling) had a small prize presentation for the riders who did well in the 'training segments' and generally over the 3 days of very tough riding. The following riders received their prizes from Graeme Cummings of the Specialized Concept Store who kindly donated the products:

Andy Parr - A group segment winner + overall

Roger Squire - B group segment winner

Alison Galloway - B group

'Princess' Linda Garbett - B group

Graeme Cummings - B group segment winner

Phil Cooper & Andy Hill - for their impressive 25 mile 2-up on day 3.

Thank you once again to everyone who supported the 2013 Tour of Cornwall and making it a success. See you next time....

For more photos and some short video clips please follow this link: Tour of Cornwall 2013

Tour of Cornwall

Latest update for the Tour of Cornwall...

The  3 days, 4 stages are now ready for viewing. Please follow each link according to the group you are going to ride with. To view maps in more detail please expand to full screen view!
Training segments for each day appear below each link and finer details of each segment to be explained on the day...
*All training segments are optional, prizes for best performances in each group and ladies prize*


Check out this map on MapMyRide: 85.89 mi Poco Loco Day 1 - Group 1
Distance: 85.89 mi
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/171962212

*Training segment included within ride: depending on numbers Group 1 controlled road race simulation on 53 x 17-15 or 50 x 16-14 max gearing - approx 8 miles*


Check out this map on MapMyRide: 82.07 mi Poco Loco Day 1 -Group 2
Distance: 82.07 mi
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/171958116

*Training segment included within ride: depending on numbers Group 2 controlled road race simulation on 53 x 17-15 or 50 x 16-14 max gear - approx 8 miles*


Check out this map on MapMyRide: 77.72 mi PocoLoco Day2 - group 1
Distance: 77.72 mi
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/170171382

*Training segment included within ride: group high/low power/cadence for 5 miles*


Check out this map on MapMyRide: 67.58 mi PocoLoco Day 2 - 2nd group
Distance: 67.58 mi
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/170168254

*Training segment included within ride: group high/low power/cadence for 5 miles*


Check out this map on MapMyRide: 46.37 mi Poco Loco Day 3 - Group 1
Distance: 46.37 mi
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/171967472

*Training Segment: 3 mile 2/3up Team Time Trial*


Check out this map on MapMyRide: 39.65 mi Poco Loco Day 3 - Group 2
Distance: 39.65 mi
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/171966552

*Training Segment: 3 mile 2/3up Team Time Trial*

A big thank you goes to Tony & Mhairi (Tri-Logic) for their help in getting the routes finalised!

Poco Loco Cycling would like to welcome the following list of riders, riders family & support crew;

Andy Parr
Phil Wilkins
Paul Stewart
Pete Free
Graeme Cummings (Specialized Concept Chester)
Nick Giles
Malc Giles
Dave Spencer
Roger Squire & Mandy + 1
Marcus Walker & Cath
Phil Cooper
Andy Hill
Tim & Chloe (support car + spares & feed) - A group
Debbie Cracknell (Support car) + spares & feed) - B group

Riders from Newquay Cycling Club
Racheal Tyers
Mel King

Riders from Tri-Logic Team
Tony Rowell
Neil Eddy
Paul Reeve
Jason Lloyd King
Dave Cracknell
Alison Galloway
Mhairi Saville
'Princess' Linda Garbett

FWRC New Year Blowout

**IMPORTANT POST**

DATE CHANGE FOR THE FWRC NEW YEAR BLOWOUT

Due to the severe winter weather over the last month or so, I have been forced to change the date of this training camp from it's original weekend in January to a later date!

The rearranged date is now the weekend of the 9th & 10th March

Everything else is still the same as stated on the website:  FWRC New Year Blowout

Thanks.

Nick

Bike Factory January Sales

The Bike Factory & Specialized Concept Store in Chester is offering from 12% to 35% discounts on many 2012 items in their HUGE January Sales.

Also, their new 'Bike Fit' room has been fully refurbished with all the latest technology to help make your bike be more comfortable and efficient. A full 2-3 hour Body Geometry FIT from leading technician Graeme Cummings will ensure everything related to your bike comfort will be covered to give you the optimum fit.

Book your FIT now by calling 01244 322 220.

FWRC New Year Blowout

UPDATE:

Due to the very adverse conditions and my concerns for rider safety the FWRC New Year Blowout has been moved back a week to the 26th & 27th January. Hopefully the worst of the snow will be gone and the roads clear of ice.
The routes remain the same covering approx 160m from Warrington - Capel Curig - Warrington!

The following training segments are purely optional depending on riders fitness and their individual period of training!

Saturday:

•  Tail >< Head on climb, each riders will select a low gear (39 x 19) and staying seated, pedal from the tail to head of bunch, next rider repeats until all riders have gone through twice. Then, same format but this time out of the saddle selecting a slightly higher gear (39 x 17). 

Balance, efficiency & technique

• Low - High Cadence, riding in pairs, 1min on small ring 1min on big ring (39 x 14 + 53 x 14) rider in front on big ring rider on back small ring x 10mins.

The goal is to keep your work efforts the same, while alternating muscle fibers with the supporting cadence. 

Sunday:

• Group Bit & Bit x 8km, steady tempo on 53 x 17/16, each rider covering 100 meters on front.

Technique, control, aerobic.

Remember, this is optional, think about where you are in your training and whether you want to build condition for more specific training in the coming months before the season proper?

N 

Mallorca Classic Training Camp 2013

Well the New year is upon us and it's time to start thinking about your warm weather training camps...

Poco Loco Cycling would like to invite you to it's Mallorca spring training camp based in l'Arenal situated 10kms from Palma airport.

After the success of the inaugural camp in 2012, the daily ride format will be similar to last year and hopefully with some decent weather for the week!

Split into two groups dependant on numbers and fitness the rides will vary in 'parcours' with a mixture of flat, rolling and mountains to wet the appetite of the keenest of riders.

Please follow this link for more info: Mallorca Classic Training Camp

Look forward to seeing you in April

Nick