First Season Racing

Its been a strange week really, I felt like though I missed any decent results last weekend (well I suppose I did get 2nd in a TT) I was thinking my legs were coming together. Monday I took it super easy for an hour as I was heading to Palace on Tuesday, I started, and was REALLY finding it tough, thankfully after 3 laps my seat-post slipped down making the bike un-rideable, which was a blessing as I was about to be out the backdoor anyway I reckon. The bike felt like a wet noodle, no responsiveness. I took the wheels into a local guy and he said the back hub was very loose and indicated that this would give the feeling of instability and wobbliness. Anyway, with that sorted I had a test ride yesterday and it felt fine which was a relief as I was lining up some Enve’s 😉

This morning I wasn’t really up for it to be honest, I’d been out quite late last night for a mates birthday and purposefully limited myself to only a few drinks as had this race to do. Early start, got down there with plenty of time, I started to feel more positive about it when I was there. I think part of what gives me the pre-race blues is knowing I have to drive down there on my own for 90 mins, its pretty dull. Today’s race was to be held on one of the circuits near Biddenden, which was in rural Kent, lovely. It was a rolling circuit with a few fast downhills, and a fairly poorly surfaced drag up to the finish maybe half a mile long at 4% or so with a couple of ramps and a drag up to the finish line. I did have the company of Andy Lack today, a previous SERRL winner and a teammate for the stage race in a couple of weeks, he gave me a good heads up on the course and said that it held a rich history for KW as Damien had won here before from a break.

The race got off to a start, there were probably around 50 riders today, a long neutral zone and we were off, the pace was predictably quite high, and for the first lap or so nothing much of note happened. I noted that the best line up the finish hill was probably up the right hand side where the road was bad, but not the worst. A couple of laps passed and Keith Lea of Addiscombe came through and we had a little dig, it was early days and nothing was being allowed to stick just yet so we were brought back. Another lap or so passed with a few little things here and there before we (or I) found ourselves in a familiar position …. Flying down one of the fast bits of the course we come across two horses, as per exactly what happened last time (last year), they went mental at the sight of 50 bikes, a few people went by them and the rest of us stopped, they eventually calmed down and took another route, not sure if more can be done to prevent this because its certainly not an ideal situation and in such areas of the country its going to happen more and more often. Anyway, the front group slowed to let the race come back together again.

Shortly after this with a couple of laps to go an Aprire rider (possible Michael Barnes)got away and nobody seemed to interested in chasing him initially, he must have been out front for a fair time because while he was away I tried to get away another 2 times, once again with Keith which amounted to not a lot, and then again with Paul Sewell and another, which looked more promising and we brought Michael back in sight before we were caught and it all slowed down again for half a lap. This was just before we got the bell lap, so it was now on for him to ride away solo as he had around 35 seconds on us, we went down the fast hill and took the sharp left hander and this is when the decider happened…I was about 10 wheels back on the inside, and Paul Sewell flew up the outside with two riders in tow, by the time I could get anywhere near a position to move out they were up the road. Instead of chase it right away which till that point had always resulted in the bunch reacting and chasing me down, I thought I would chance my arm a bit. My legs felt good, and I was confident that I could ride over to them if needs be, so I waited a minute or two and they were gaining quickly, then two others chipped off the front, a Paragon and another chap, it was at this point that I thought I had to move or I’d be sprinting for 6th, and with good legs, that is not what I wanted. So I nailed it up the road, hard, and only one followed, and we got a gap (hurrah I thought, first time that day!) I took the wide line and we went straight past the Paragon and other and carried on, I was driving the pace, looked down and strangely 400w felt perfectly sustainable, which was proof that my legs were playing the game. I waved the London Phoenix rider through, nothing, I then waved him through with a bit of encouragement and got a 10 second turn, I thought if I let this chap do turns like that then we will not get over, so back on the front and nailed it for all I was worth, we had got a good gap and were closing on the 3 who had now caught Michael Barnes so 4 lead group. Phoenix did another turn and then I carried on and really buried myself up the drag into the headwind and finally with about 3k to go we made the juncture. Paul said afterwards he was quite surprised to see me there!

I looked back and pack was out of sight, so I knew it would be down to this 6, I fancied my chances against Phoenix chap, Michael as he had been out so long, and I wasn’t sure of the others. I knew from previous that Paul has a big kick (he beat me to 1st in our club race if you remember) so I was calculating (insert Sean Kelly joke here) what was my best bet for the win…

We slowed and took the sharp left into the last 0.5 mile drag to the finish, I quickly positioned myself on the right side where it was smooth(ish) and watched, everyone was waiting, it was still early, at that point I thought, do I want to risk a bunch gallop on this surface, or do I make the best of what I’m good at (30-40 sec effort) and gun it from here…Predictably option 2 sounded better to me, so with a clear path I nailed it seated and went clear with nobody on my wheel, I just kept it pinned and tried not to look back, it felt like an age, but in reality was 30 secs, I looked back and I had 20m on Paul who was the closet, I eased off as I approached the line and took the win. A quick look at the numbers shows 1150w peak in the saddle which is one of my better efforts for this, and it works so well as its not as obvious – kind of like a poor mans Cancellara as he attacked Boonen on the Muur, or even Sagan this year – it has its place on crap road surfaces.

I was really pleased with the result and it really bodes well for the Tour of Sussex in 2 weeks time what with most of the would be contenders for that race also racing today.

A pic here courtesy of Dave Hayward – http://www.davehaywardphotos.com/ (I will be purchasing to add to the collection of self indulgent pics I have in the living room 😉 )

And race here – http://app.strava.com/activities/62309731#

I may try Palace again this week, then have a couple of TT’s next weekend as I want to try and put right last weekends outing at the first of the Richmond Park events 🙂 Was starting to doubt whether getting up to 1st cat was going to happen this year as last couple of races I’ve just felt a bit crap – but in hindsight I’ve not arrived fresh at a race since the Div’s, last weekend I’d done a TT just beforehand and as much as I don’t think it makes any odds, today proved that it most certainly does. So a quick bit of maths and I think I’m almost 3/4 of the way there now with a good few races left, so I reckon it could be on the cards if I can get some more strong results in the bag which of course is the main goal.

This weekend brought the Richmond Park TT (1 of three events this year, organized by London Dynamo with Martin Williamson being the main man – who happens to be a pretty quick tester). I’d done it last year in the road bike category and won the event. I was feeling confident that I would be in the running this year, though it was always going to be tough with riders like Martin, and also Steve Irwin in the mix as he has been going very well recently.

The only thing I don’t like about these events is setting my alarm so early on a Sunday, but I shouldn’t moan too much, I live closer than most! I got the TT bike together and trundled up to the start point and used the 4 miles there as my warm up. I had a quick chat with Steve, and learned that a team mate Aaron had won the road bike category as I had done. No surprises from me as he is a strong rider. My legs were feeling ok, I had done a 10 mile TT the day before and was pleased with the power but not so much the time, thankfully it wasn’t too windy today. I was 3rd from last man, and had Stu Spies behind me for 30 secs, and Steve 1 min back, and Gavin Francis (who’s son Jamie put in a strong performance to win the junior category) as my carrot. I set off and was mindful not to go too hard right away, in hindsight this was the right thing to do, but when it came to the steep ramp on Sawyers Hill I took the approach of stay aero and keep going at a steady pace – what Steve did was out of the saddle and batter it up there as quick as possible, as such he took 4-5 secs out of me up there, and for once not because he is more aero!

Heading down towards the turn at Kingston Gate after negotiating the latest utterly pointless offering from Royal Parks (2 more hideous speed-bumps) Gavin was in sight, I wanted to get past him before the turn so put in an extra effort to do so. It was at this point where I was starting to panic, Steve was NOT far away at this point and I think was about to pass Stu himself. It gave me a shot in the arm and I dug in and tried to get up the long drag as quick as possible and round the corner (Cancellara corner no less) as quick as possible. As it turns out I was probably a little too hasty, as I passed round the roundabout banked over I started to pedal a little bit too early, and bang, I was on the deck. Pedal had struck the ground and the bike had kicked out from under me and I’d landed quite heavily on my right side (again, the same shoulder I battered in March). I could see blood on my knee, elbow, coming through my skin-suit on my hip but all I could think was to jump up and get on the bike ASAP. In my haste it took an age to clip in, and I was furious with myself, Gavin came by me, and also another chap I’d passed did too, but not Steve or Stu, but they were now NOT fat behind at all. I eventually got clipped back in and began again, I gave it a big effort down the hill (though barely any quicker than Steve if at all who freewheeled most of it haha!) and passed Gavin again, I made the right hand turn into the last straight and made damn sure to do it safely, I caught a glimpse of Steve and knew it was touch and go as to whether he would pass me. I had already accepted that my fall would put paid to winning, but I didn’t want to be passed by him. Though at this point I think he was unaware I’d come off, so must have had his suspicions about catching me so early. The final right hand turn into the finish drag and I could see Steve was now pretty close, I gave it everything I had left and was hurting by this point, I managed to cross the line without him coming by but stopped the clock at 24.29.

Got back to the HQ and surprised to see Martin had done a short 24, Stu Spies came in with almost a dead 24 and Steve had obliterated everybody with 23.31, so I was 4th – not terrible all things considered, but not what I wanted at all. Having looked back at race data I was ahead of Stu by 5 secs at the point I fell, but he did go very well in the second half, and though my power was good for the second half, I had to sit higher up as my shoulder was really hurting, so I think without the fall I could have got ahead of him but it would have been close. Still, that isn’t the way it went, and for Stu to beat Martin showed that he did a good ride, and I think he may have even surprised himself.

http://app.strava.com/activities/60692092

Been a while since I updated this, mainly as I’ve been doing lots of different things, none of which I felt warranted a post of their own, so will just mention them all in one here!

Crystal Palace E12

Firstly, I made my first ever visit to Crystal Palace 3 weeks back, I met a fellow wheeler in town and we cycled through the nice and not so nice parts of South East London down to Palace. I must say, Ed was a bit keen on the way down, and trying to put a brave face on up the big hill near Palace meant I did almost 5 mins at 400w! NOT IDEAL warm up, but that is obviously how Ed likes to do it!

It was sure to be a good night there were lots of in form riders on the startline, Jake Martin, Rob Moore, Will Pratt and the unstoppable Mike Debney probably were the danger men. I’d always been told how hard a circuit this was and that it was like nothing other, and also that the race generally explodes very quickly. I was feeling ok, only thing I’d preferred to have changed was the wheel/tyre combo I had, sticky crap wheel bearing on the rear and two cheap tyres (which I later found were at 70 psi, not idea when you are a big lad)! but other than that it was sure to be a good evenings racing. We got going and the pace was very high, and sprinting out of corners every few seconds really took its toll very quickly. I clung on to the front group for a while, it then split and Rob Moor made a big effort to get over and I just couldn’t, along with about 5 others we formed a group behind the front group of 4 (Debney, Martin, Moore and possibly Pratt?) and got into a rhythm. To give some context as to how hard it was in the opening 10-15 mins, I averaged 370 watts for that period, which is pretty much a TT effort for me, and given that the high power was made up of 1000w+ sprints every 10 seconds it really does take it out of you.

So we had about 30 mins to stay away from the groups behind which to be honest I had no idea on their gap, it was carnage, dropped riders, women, etc all over the track, quite amazing how fractured it was so soon. We worked fairly well together but the inevitable attacks out of the corners came, and a few gaps started appearing, I won’t lie I had to dig very deep to hang on at times (I blame the wheels 😉 )but I did. And into the last couple of laps it was looking like it was going to be a sprint, which I was happy with. We got the bell and reeled back an Aprire rider who had tried to get away, and we rounded the final hairpin, I was 4th wheel I think, out of the corner everybody nailed it as its only about 150m to the line from there. Obviously I nailed it too and came up the outside and passed the rest of the group to take 5th………….Or so I thought, we all slowed right down and it was at this point someone shouted that they thought we may have 1 more lap to go…I saw some of the guys put it back in the big ring and get going again, I was totally spent, I’ve given everything in the sprint and was NOT about to do another lap and sprint again so I turned round and rode back to the finish line to have a word with the comm, he had indeed given us the bell a lap early. At the time I was pretty annoyed as I’d worked hard for that race and I’d have liked some consolation, but there we are. Human error. It happens. I am back there this week with my race bike so hopefully have a bit more luck this time round!

France Trip

Until this trip the biggest/longest hills I’d ridden had been 20-40 min in Mallorca, so it was going to be an eye opener. We were staying in Sainte Foy, which is near Col D’Iseran, Bourg St Maurice etc, so it was a fairly good place to be. My dads friend had a chalet and he was heading over for a walking holiday, so myself and my partner also said we would go, she likes walking and I thought it would be a good chance to get some good riding in. The first thing that struck me about where we were (aside from the beauty of the place) was that we were staying at 1600m at the top of a hill, NOT ideal because every ride you do is capped off with 5 miles at 6% back to the chalet…It really was hard work, and made harder by the fact that I had not bothered to change my gearing, so the smallest gear I had was 40-25, which is fine for 20 min climbs and obviously anything you find in the SE of England, but when you had a 21km climb like La Plagne, it really wasn’t enough. I was suffering with a cold too annoyingly which progressed into a really bad chest over the week, so it wasn’t ideal when I was on my knees!

As you would have seen in the Giro this year, the snow was still lying very late in the year, so much so that most of the Col’s around us were shut, which is very rare for this time of year I understand. That said on my first day I went to tackle Petit St Bernard which is a nice steady climb. On the run in to the summit there was a huge drift of snow that meant I had to get off and walk the bike over the snow, it was quite surreal cycling between the carved snow walls! I eventually got to the top and it was baltic, and there was nothing to see either as it was covered in snow. So I went straight over the border down into Italy for lunch in one of the few things open.

The following day I had earmarked Cormet De Roseland, which again is a LONG old climb from Bourg St Maurice right to the top and then down into Beufort where the most stunning lake sits. This was a hard day out, I was in the hairpins about half way through and the garmin was telling me it was 30 deg! I was stopping at the various mountain streams to douse myself in water in an attempt to cool down. It was tough, and then suddenly you break through and into the open and you see a long winding road that leads you up the valley to the summit. You dare not take your eyes off the road for too long though, as the Marmottes were pretty mad and ran out in front of you if they felt like it! It was an amazing climb, and I went down a little bit the other side and sat and ate my lunch overlooking the lake, it was quite incredible.

Nest day I had an easy ‘spin’ of around 15 miles over to Villaroger and La pri, and even in that 15 miles by the time I was home I had climbed 2500ft…There was NO easy ride to be had here, no flat at all. Hard work. The next day I was feeling pretty shit, but thought I had to try to get up a few more before I went home, so had planned to tackle La Plagne, which is quite a famous TDF climb which has hosted a fair few mountain top finishes over the years. Now this was a big climb, just under 11 miles from the Macot down in the Valley to the top, taking in the 1992 Winter Olympics Bobsleigh track as you go. I was finding it tough, undergeared, ill and seeing the signs by the side of the road that read ’15km to summit, next 1k 10%’ doesn’t make for great reading if you’re not up to it!

I eventually got to the top and as per everywhere else, it was a ghost town with nothing open and nobody about, so I went straight home. It was the 3rd long ride I had done, all the longer rides were 60 miles with almost 9000ft of climbing in them, I knew I had to have a day off as I was feeling terrible, but I still had got some good climbing in etc. On the last day I attempted to go hard up the hill up to our chalet which is probably a 15 min climb if you go hard, its 3 miles of switch backs at about 7%. But About 5 min in I was struggling with breathing so crawled home pissed off! Bloody lurgy had been hanging over my head for two weeks but was still pleased to se some great sights and ride some famous climbs albeit much slower than I’d like!

Surrey League Handicap

After France and the lurgy I had taken a couple of days to try to get better before I raced again, and it was fair to say I felt about 85% for this, I rode out to the Chertsey circuit with a fair few other KW’ers, also riding was Francis Cade from Pedalheaven so it was going to be an interesting race. When we got there it was clear there were lots of beginners and many groups. The first group was set off and was given a decent gap, and eventually after a few other groups were set off I was put in a group of maybe 8 riders with a couple of other KW 2nd cats. The scratch group was Francis and another chap, it didn’t take them long to get over to us, and it didn’t take us long to absorb the group ahead of us. We were now around 20 strong and gaining all the time, taking in dropped riders and spitting others out the back. I was finding the sprinting out the corners fine, but the top end efforts to come through and close gaps up the drag quite hard, I think my lack of any vo2 stuff in France and the illness had knocked a bit of my top end away, anyway, after a few attempts to get something together Francis went alone and was looking good. Eventually after a few surges he was brought back and it was clear we would not be able to catch the front 8 or so left out there so it would be a sprint for 9th (though I didn’t know it was actually 8, assumed it would be less). We came out of the final corner and up the drag, Colin from KW led it out but blew I think with a bit to go, I could see my gap was to his left, but it wasn’t very wide and I prayed Colin would not veer left, he didn’t and I got the gap and went clear, the only other person challenging was Luke from our club who has a good sprint on him but I managed to keep him at bay and take the gallop for 9th place haha.

Kingston Phoenix 10 TT

I had planned this one in as I have the Richmond Park TT tomorrow so wanted to get the TT bike dialed in ready for that. This TT was being held locally on our club ten course so I thought it was a perfect chance to go and have a spin to make sure the bike is ok etc. And upon seeing the startsheet I thought there was a good chance I could win, I was last man off, too, so always a little bit of pressure!

The weather today as I’m sure many of you will agree has been a bit mad, gusts of heavy wind, lots of torrential rain and just generally not great bike riding weather and CERTAINLY not the best conditions to be riding an aero bike with a disc and 90mm front wheel down a dual carriageway, but that is what I did.

I knew that I would have a nice tailwind so my plan was to bury myself for the first half and then just try to hang on in the last with an assisting wind – I executed my plan well, and with the exception of the foggy visor and dripping sweat I was going ok (power wise) the speed wasn’t the best due to the wind, but got to the turn in OK time and then just buried myself for the last few miles, eventually stopped the clock at 21.41 which is 30 secs down on my best on this course, but with the wind it seemed ok. I’d done just under 380 watts too, which is the best I’ve done for a 10 mile effort so I expected my time to be competitive! I got back to the HQ and there were a few other 21’s, I was just ahead of Nial Digby from La Fuga who I think had a good ride as he was much closer to me than usual, and I was 20 secs behind the eventual winner Steven Kane from Brighton Excelsior who did a great 21.20 on a tough day to take the win. So I didn’t quite get there, but we was 2nd and we took the team prize too, so a nice ride, and I stayed DRY!!

So tomorrow the Park TT and a crit too in the afternoon, should be good!

Cheers for reading, all rides on strava as usual, and a few pics of the snow and conditions on my twitter from France!

After the relative success of last weekend I had in my mind that today maybe I could do a bit better than be pack fodder in a Nat b race. This weekend in May each region (I am SE) has its championships, which are all 85-90 mile road races open to e123 riders. Ours is usually hosted on the Edenbridge course which I’ve not ridden but I think from speaking to people it may have suited me better than the one we eventually raced on. Due to roadworks our race was moved over to a circuit in Challock, Kent, the exact same circuit in fact that the road stage of the Toachim GP was run on. So at least I knew what it was like. A long circuit with a long drag and a very quick downhill.

However upon arriving we were told that we were to do 3 smaller laps which involved doing the finish hill 3 times. The finish hill is a fairly long drag, around 6% average, has a steep bit near the bottom and shallows a bit near the top, its not the worst hill, but it is 1.5 miles long, and upon hearing this my heart sank a bit as I knew deep down that I wouldn’t be able to stick with the smaller guys up something like that. But still, I’d come all this way, and was keen to race so put it to the back of my mind. There were 4 of us from KW today, all Andy’s (Lack, Edwards, and Snook), so at least we would have a presence. The main team that were there in strength were that of Fleet bike shop PedalHeaven, who have a strong roster of riders, including Jake Martin who had been very strong recently, Francis Cade who used to ride with KW who was also going well, and a fair few others that are all strong riders (8 in total) so it seemed reasonable to assume that the race would be animated by them.

We got off to a start and the first time down the steep hill was a little sketchy with the smell of burning rubber and the sights of nervous cornering took hold. I obviously was au-fait with the hill so was quite comfortable, I was actually only telling Andy Lack in the park the previous day that people got dropped on the downhill last year, that is how quick it is. We did a lap and I was trying to keep and eye out for what was going on. Sure enough not long later, and I do mean in the first 20 miles a few guys got away, PH mostly, then one of the strong Felt guys joined, and I saw it going off up the road, I genuinely thought it was quite early and waited to follow the next wheel that went, none went, it was soon pretty clear that was the selection made, early doors. I was pretty annoyed with myself for not being more mindful and having the guts to just go with a wheel and get over to it. Anyway, our group was still pretty large and a lot of teams were still in the group that had nobody up the road, so I was hopeful that maybe something may go of note a little later.

We rolled around, and it was clear that nothing was going to be let go, a few attacks went, and eventually were caught, thankfully this time I had plenty of gels with me (after struggling through with 1 last time on this circuit!) so was biding my time, after a few other attempts to get away on the big circuit, once where I followed Will Pratt but again it wasn’t allowed to go anywhere. Then again on the last time round Andy Edwards attacked to get over to a move, that came back then another went over the top that I went with, looked good but once more was brought back. So we all just sat in and waited for the 3 small laps (around 15 mins long) up the hill, as it would be sure to split it.

Approaching the hill for the first time there was a small group that had gone up the road, we let them dangle a bit, and hit the hill for the first time, Andy again tried something but it wasn’t to be, he made the pace a bit hot but not enough to split it apart, just yet. The pace up the hill felt pretty quick (though upon further inspection, the front group went up 30 secs faster!!) and I was digging hard to stick with the little guys up the front, and then I attacked over the top to get over to the front group that was looking promising. I got over on the fast downhill and we had a gap, it looked decent for a while but again it was reeled back in. The second time up the hill it was much more sedate, but you could see it had been thinned out a fair bit. Again one or two people went, but I was in no mood to follow and the hill was killing people when they were solo. Up the hill for the final time was much like the first, pace quite high, it was difficult for me, every time I glanced down power was always 400+ which I know is hard work after 85 miles, I stayed near the front and slowly people fell back, it was whittled down to a bunch of maybe 6 with a couple of hundred to go. I actually thought that we were racing for 20th or something so was only really putting effort in for training purposes, so as we came to the line I was right near the front and people started sprinting, I wasn’t interested in sprinting for 20th so just rolled in 3rd or 4th wheel. It was then I learned that the prestigious 14th was up for grabs 😉 and I’d rolled in 19th, had I known that I might have tried to challenge Liam from Twickers who did a good job to take 14th, I think he and I were noticeably the only bigger guys who had managed to stay at the front on the hill.

A good day on the bike as the weather was good and I learned plenty, but I must be more vigilant, and I suppose gutsy, there is nothing to lose by getting in the break, as Andy said, if you blow up, so be it, but at least you were there. I feel I have/had the legs to be up there for the main part of the day, and felt a bit stupid for not making an effort to get over early on.

Couple more races now, Hillingdon, then the East London Velo race which I favoured over the SERRL 3 day, mainly because it was £80 and I actually fancied a bit of time to myself this bank hols, so hopefully the East London race will be good, a strong field of 2nd cat riders should make for a good race.

Race here

Back to the Surrey League to see if I could get a result the day after the Milburys win. I made sure to stretch and get on the roller to try and make sure I made the best of what were always going to be tired legs. And actually on Sunday morning they didn’t feel too bad, it was only a short drive down the A3 to Elstead so it wasn’t such a hardship to race again.

Today was going to be a hybrid course that had a bit of the Cutmill circuit and a bit of the Runfold circuit, either way it was going to be a tough day out. I got there early to the great news that Gareth Thomas of KW had won the 3rds race in the morning, he will be a 2nd cat pretty soon, so looking forward to having him racing with me as he’s a strong rider who knows what he is doing. He said the surface was a bit poor in parts, and that there were a couple of tasty potholes. The weather at this point was lovely, but sadly the forecast was saying it would turn from sunny skies to pouring rain during our race. After cleaning the bike from the Milburys I really wasn’t filled with joy at this prospect.

There were a few strong guys racing, notably from Dynamo, with an on form Mike Debney, Chris Morrison who I’d been told was a strong guy, James Local who is always strong, and certainly a lot of riders from Meudon who were always trying to animate the races. Also Paragon, and Dulwich, Phoenix had a presence. We got going and it was clear this course was indeed harder than Cutmill, and also that my legs were going to get battered all day!

I was keen to watch a few riders as I knew they would likely be the ones making the move, and a couple of early moves did go, one of which looked promising with all the main guys in, but was brought back. The circuit had a lot of fast downhills which meant getting away was tough. At some point a couple of guys chipped off the front, Chris from Dynamo and another chap, I didn’t think much of it as it didn’t seem to be a circuit that would suit a small break, especially as there were so many riders really pushing the pace up the hills. The race was quite fast and only had small places to rest before it was another hill, or another sharp turn that was sprinted out of. I actually didn’t realise until fairly late on that Dynamo had one in the break, but it explains why they shut everything down, the reason it wasn’t that obvious is that they were not shy in attacking the hills. And at one point Mike called James and I onto his wheel as he let rip up the hill (at this point the break had 2 mins, so it was certainly safe to try and get away and we wouldn’t catch them), I clung to his wheel, which was HARD, we got a small gap, but it was never enough. The race kept on going, and slowly the bunch was whittled down as each time up the hill someone set the pace, I tried quite hard to go with something, but my legs were aching, and nothing seemed to stick. Liam Maybank from Twickers had a good go off the front for a lap or so, and looked like he was always able to go with a move, so on the last lap when someone really hit the hill hard, I made sure to go with it, I was literally on the limit here, and I don’t think Mike would disagree when I say I think he was too, he waved me through as we were the back markers in the split, but I couldn’t, we got over just about, legs packed full of lactic, and it looked like we may have done the right thing as we sped down the fast downhill. However it soon ended the way many others had and it all came back together. With about 4 miles to go I knew it was just going to be a gallop up the hill and I sat in to try and save energy and give my legs one last smashing up the hill to try and race for 3rd place.

It was maybe 1 mile to go as we approached the dead turn into the final hill, when I hit the pothole, the one that had killed off many people in the earlier race, initially I thought I’d got away with it, but about 10 seconds later the horrid realisation that I was riding on the rim on my rear wheel took hold, I put my hand up and slowly came to a halt, the noise and feel was horrific, I DID NOT want to be riding on a Zipp wheel with no air in the tyre. I eventually came to a stop and the bunch all went by. I was VERY annoyed, especially as I had missed the hole every other time and the last lap was the one that scuppered me, and so close to the finish too. But one thing I was glad of was to get a proper workout from it, I worked harder in that race by quite a margin than I did in the Milburys road race, and the powermeter tells me as much, 270 watts for 3 hours with numerous sprints out of corners and according to my data 40 minutes spent over 420 mins, which certainly gave my legs a kicking.

It was an annoying outcome, but its been a good weekend of riding, and hopefully can go into the SE divisional champs with a bit of good form, I will need it just to stay in the bunch on that circuit!

Race here

The Tour of the Milburys was a race I had been looking forward to for some time. I would almost go as far to say that it was of my target races, as I thought it would suit me well.

The format of this race was different to the majority I’ve done, it was a 2 stage, 1 day race. The first event was a 6km uphill time-trial, followed by a 70 mile road race later in the afternoon. It was an interesting prospect as I knew that I could put in a fairly decent effort in the TT as despite it being billed as uphill, it was really quite a shallow incline after the initial ramp up, so it was TT bike friendly, and certainly suited me more than a straight hill climb where my weight would hurt me. The rolling nature of the road race wouldn’t be a hindrance to me either as there was nothing really steep, just gradual inclines. There were time bonuses on offer for the Road Stage, 3 seconds for winning the prime each lap, and 30 secs for the winner of the road race, 20 for 2nd, 10 for 3rd, so having looked at last year, the TT was really not the decider and in fact last year a break got away and obviously turned it upside down. Given the circuit it would be likely something similar would happen this year.

I was doing the race with a clubmate (Aaron) who had been putting in some good results in circuit races but this was his first road race, so we got down there nice and early ready for our 10.45 ~ starts in the TT. The weather in the morning was great, but it was looking ominous for the rest of the day. There were a few riders names I knew, and there were a few clubs that were well represented (Dulwhich, Guernsey Velo, Exeter Un) so it would be a hard one to get right. Anyway, with a quick warm up done we headed round the corner to commence the TT, early reports were saying that the quick times were sub 10.40 (mostly done on TT bikes), so at least I had a goal in mind. Aaron went off shortly before me, and I lined up. I knew that for this sort of duration I could do around 400 watts, so that is about what I set off to do for the first couple of mins to keep it calm, and then just go as hard as I could for the remainder.

I pushed off and quickly got up to speed, the course was nice, but it was a bit blowy up the top, and though it was mostly a tailwind, there were a couple of gusts that didn’t feel great with a disc wheel! I was around 5 mins in and power was looking good, and I felt like I was going well, I overcooked one of the corners slightly, but apart from that I was feeling good, about 8 mins in I could see my minute man ahead, and I kept going hard to try and make the pass, we came round the final bend and a long straight drag to the line, I went by the Peter Hansford rider and dug in hard for the line, stopping the clock at 10.20 or so (10.21 I was given), I was pretty spent initially, 408w was a best for that sort of duration and I felt it. But I was feeling confident about the time as I rolled back down to the HQ I was pondering how I may play it if that was the quickest time, but all that was fairly short lived when I got back and saw Rob Yeatman of Dream Cycling had put 9 or so seconds into me, putting me in 2nd overall. A quick google shows that Rob has some pedigree when it comes to Time Trialing and in fact was a junior national champ, that added to the fact he probably weighs less than 60kg meant that this course was probably pretty well ideal for him, so I wasn’t too upset to be beaten by him!

Photo courtesy of http://www.grahamrobins.net

The other thing about this is that I didn’t have the issue of being marked as much etc as I was 2nd as opposed to first. Aaron came in with a 10.55 I think, which was a strong time on a roadbike, as I reckon a TT bike bought me certainly 20 or so seconds on this course. We scoffed down some food and watched the weather deteriorate slowly as the afternoon approached. Joy.

1pm rolled around and it was line up in the car park time for the road race, we were to do 9 laps of the rolling course around the spectacular Meon Valley, as I said earlier, there were primes each lap with the top 3 riders getting 3 down to 1 seconds for winning each prime, so the potential of 27 seconds, and 30 seconds for winning the stage meant that it was literally open to anyone as even the slowest TT times were only 90 secs down on mine. We rolled out and it started to tip it down – not really an issue for me as when racing I don’t really feel the cold too badly and I am quite a confident descender and cornerer (a new word I’ve just invented) in the wet, but it did makes things a bit dodgy. Sure enough we were only 5 miles in and Wayne of Vicious Velo and another chap slid out on a corner a-la Wiggins in the Giro, they both got back up pretty sharpish, but it was a reminder that although you may be confident in the wet, others may well take you down if they overcook something!

The race went on and I was just going with the moves, watching Rob, and also making note of anyone that looked strong, which is what Chris Zappala of Dulwich looked, he was a powerhouse in that race always driving, always at the front or near it and always looking dangerous. Lots of things tried to go but with no avail, and every time we went up the climb people were losing contact, I felt pretty good. On lap 2 or 3 a crash happened just before one of the corners and sadly Wayne went down pretty hard and ruined his rear mech etc, I think someone came across him, so sadly for him it was race over. It was around this point that a Dulwich rider, Chris Bedson, and Gray Tunnock of Finsbury Park CC got away, they opened up a fairly good lead, and were eventually joined by Andy Bryson of Peter Hansford, this was a fairly dangerous move, but I still thought it was too early, at the most they had a minute on us, but then the well drilled Guernsey boys, Chris Zap, and sometimes myself were doing turns to bring it back, and gradually we did. I was careful not to do too much as there was the lurking thought that it would end in a sprint so I didn’t want to be too ruined for that, especially as I had not managed to get any of the primes, as the sprints for them had been very chaotic and obviously the breakaway was mopping them up for a fair few laps.

We came down to the bell lap and the pace hotted up a bit, it was clear at this point that people were suffering, and the rolling course was taking its toll (my legs felt pretty beat too now). As we headed into the last 4 miles of the lap, we hit the bottom of the long gradual climb (think the second section of Box Hill but for much longer) and 3 guys jumped away, I thought it looked good, but was in a crap position to go with it, and also I think had I gone at that moment I’d have taken the bunch with me and just knackered myself for no real reason. So I waited a bit, and encouraged other riders to do some through and off to bring it back given that only 3 riders were up there and many teams had nobody in it. I went to the front to do a turn and had a quick look back and I had a gap of a few bike lengths…This was not a situation you find yourself in often, so I thought sod it, it was now or never, so I drilled it up the hill and was getting a bigger and bigger gap, excellent I thought, this could be it, I looked back and one of the Guernsey guys had come with me, but was on the limit as far as I could tell, I waved him through, he didn’t, I waved him again, he didn’t. It was now I realized he had someone up the road, but as far as I was concerned we either worked together to improve both of our times, or we got caught and it was up in the air again, so he did give me a quick turn as I think he saw sense, we worked well on the downhills and I could tell I was going better than he was, and we were catching the leading 3.

We passed by the 1km to go board and the 3 were 30 meters ahead, the bunch was maybe 10 seconds back, it was going to be tight, we made the bridge to the front three who started to look round, a bit of gentle encouragement to not look round and ride and we were on our way, I sat on for 25 secs or so and the line was in sight, at this point I came through to do my turn as the bunch were gaining on us, I felt good, and with maybe 200 or so meters to go I opened up a sprint from the front, I knew it was not the best idea to be leading it out, but I dug in and nobody was coming round me, my legs were in agony but I kept going, a quick shoulder check and I could see nobody was going to come round and I crossed the line, arms aloft to take the win! Bloody brilliant feeling, I knew at this point I’d likely won the overall with the 30 sec bonus the win gave me.

Photo again from www.grahamrobbins.net

After a quick chat we rolled back to the HQ (it was freezing by now) and waited around for the result, which took some time, I was careful not to start talking like I had won until it was confirmed, but everyone said it was probably a done deal, including Rob Yeatman who had finished in the bunch. Finally a spreadsheet went up on the projector and it was done, I had won by 32 seconds with Rob finishing in 2nd. I was over the moon! A quick presentation of the prizes, I did well out of this race having pocketed top cash prizes for the overall and the RR and 2nd in the TT, and was presented with the ‘yellow jersey’ courtesy of Team Axiom, who put on a great race and organised it very well.

My best result to date, 48 points netted, and generally a great day that even the turd English weather couldn’t spoil!

Photo from www.grahamrobbins.net

TT here
Road Race here

With the disappointing race of Saturday behind me, and a good pre race ride, I felt up for this TT. The weather was amazing, and the conditions according to those in the know were almost as good as it gets. The course is called F11/10 which is renowned as being one of the fastest 10 mile TT courses in the South, its on the A41 near Tring, and despite its A grade, it isn’t really that busy. The course is fast because it has a big hill in it that you don’t have to go back up, it does have an extra turn however to try and mitigate the ski slope. The first two miles from my recce in the car were going to be a struggle as the surface is really not very good, but after the first turn it gets much better and is pretty smooth the whole way to the end, thankfully the hill was free of hole!

This was a fairly important event to me as it was one of the few times I had a spare day to do a fast 10 mile time in good weather. What’s more was that the club TT record holder Steve Irwin was riding. Steve has dominated the club records in his time with the club, and holds every distance short of the ultra long distance stuff (12 hr etc). In fact nobody has even really come close to challenging him in the last two seasons, and this is down to a few reasons really – A ) because he is bloody fast, and B) because the others with potential to challenge him had not really followed it up for various reasons, and really I suppose none of those few had gone the whole hog with the bike, pointy hat etc etc. But as you will know I obviously did, and bought most of it from the man himself.

Today was 140 riders, and I was off number 12. Which was good and bad, good that I would be at home before the last guys went off, bad because I’d be at home when all the fast times were coming in. Also no matter how you word it, when you say to the event organizer that should your time end up being on of the fastest and would it be possible to post the prize – you sound like a helmet – so for those reasons I’d rather have gone off a bit later, but I should imagine that won’t be such an issue going forward.

I started warming up, not that I needed to as my garmin was reading 25 deg! Being one of the first off I made my way up there and tried to keep cool. In my head I had worked out the average speed I needed to be at to 1. Go under 20 mins (over 30mph avg) and 2. Break the club record (19.20 set by Steve on v718 last year) which was 31.1 mph avg. I lined up and off I went, the first mile and a half are horrible, ruts and holes everywhere on the left hand side of the lane, I was actually hopping the front wheel every time to avoid hitting it with full impact and pinch flatting, this was almost certainly not the fastest way through, but my avg speed was still good, so at this point I wasn’t too bothered, I got through the first turn without being held up, and I was off down the other side, road still poor but certainly better, and then suddenly it all changes, the road becomes smooth. At this point you have a slight drag up past the finish before the hill, I looked down and my average was 29.5 mph, so I knew I was going well, I hit the downhill and quickly see why its a fast course…Before I know it I’m doing over 40 mph, things are starting to get a bit spinny as I only have a 53-11, then 45mph, and then I see 48mph on the speedo, which looking back at the data had me at 122 rpm, in the extensions, which is not ideal as that sort of cadence creates movement which is the last thing you want at nearly 50 mph. As the hills starts to shallow I settle back into my rhythm and keep it at high speed the whole way to the turn, 6 minutes/3.5 miles at 35mph infact, which feels amazing when you’re doing it. I get to the second turn and my average is 32mph annoyingly I get stuck behind a van who slows me down, but only by a couple of seconds.

I know I am going well, I look down and can see that there is only 2 miles or so left, I start really digging in. But then the power meter cuts out (it has been doing it all race, probably due to the taped on magnet getting knocked about by the surface) again, and instead of back-peddling to try and re-engage it like I had done earlier on I just ignored it and pushed as hard as I could, it was really hurting at this point, I looked down and saw 18 mins, power was back and all I could see was a speed dipping below 30 and 400w, I dug in as hard as I could which was only around 400, it was all I could do, and the last 4 minutes looking at the file were at around 400w, there was a faint hope of doing an 18 but I could see the finish in the distance and knew I wouldn’t be able to make 18, but I was on for beating the club record, so I pushed and pushed and crossed the line in 19.13, shaving 7 secs from Steve’s existing record, I felt horrendous, and my spit was like glue, I put it in the smallest gear I had straight away and crawled back to the HQ.

I did catch up with him before I left, he said he was at least glad to have a carrot, it was about 2 hours later that I got the tweet – he had done 18.58 to win the event and lower the club record again – a herculean effort, and I think helped by the fact I had done the time I had, he said he dug very deep. Clearly I didn’t dig deep enough as I went out and did a few miles when I got home 😉

The meter was messing about but having taken out the drop outs it looks like I did around my usual 20 min power, which is a bit disappointing because I’d done 370 for 21 mins, I’d hoped I could eeek out a bit more for 2 mins less, but the hill does effect that. I will try this course again with a 56t ring and ride nearer the middle on the first bit, I don’t know if I will beat Steve’s time, but I am confident there are more seconds to come off my time. I finished in 4th with 3rd going 1 sec faster, and 2nd going 7 secs faster. All said and done I’m still pleased, this is my 5th TT on the TT bike I think, and I’ve done less than 130 miles on it in total with a few hours on the turbo – there will be more I can do to the position so the tweaking will continue and obviously as the season goes on I hope to be knocking out a bit more power too, so maybe the new goal should be an 18…

http://app.strava.com/activities/52702619

After a recent spate of elite races I was keen to come back to a 2/3 level of race and see if the beating I’d given myself in the likes of the Les Ingman had made a difference. In training rides etc I think it had. I think however I may have overdone it a bit during the week, not on volume as such, but just commuting each day seemed to have left me with dead legs by Friday, which the constant pulling away from lights (not to mention my commuter is stuck in the big ring and 20t – not ideal, must fix that!) and having the day book ended means that it does catch up with you. So actually on Saturday morning after trekking up to Cranfield I didn’t feel great. Still, I thought to myself that I’d felt worse than this before and pulled out a result, so what the hell.

Now when I signed up for this race I thought it was a regular road race, albeit a short one at 40 odd miles. However what it turned out to be was almost a crit, round a 2 or so mile circuit, that had a bit of everything, downhill, cross wind section, and a very fast uphill with a stonking tailwind. We got told that lapped riders would be taken out, which was at least a sensible way of going about it on such a short circuit which was going to be fairly selective.

Over the first couple of laps I tried to get near the front, various people were pinging off the front, I tried to join a couple of moves that got brought back, it seemed hard to get away, and really the best chance of doing so was up the hill, but it was clear that I didn’t have the legs to go full on and then nail it into the crosswind section, which is what it took to get the gap you needed. A few riders had got up the road, I had a chat with a mate and we said we would try something soon to see if we could get over, but I had a feeling he was going much better than me. It was about at this point that a young lad from Arbis started drilling it on the front, I was 3rd wheel behind a big bloke and I was doing 500 watts, this lad was hammering it, I couldn’t believe it, it smashed the group to bits behind, and actually briefly we managed to get get a gap without even realizing But it was all brought back, with 5 laps to go there were a couple of established groups up the road, and I was just wanting to go home, it had also started to rain. With 3 to go Ed came by and called me onto his wheel, we got away for a bit but through the crosswind section it wasn’t happening.

So with two laps to go it was just going to be a normal run in, I was just going to roll in, but I didn’t know how many were up the road, so thought I’d give it a sprint just in case, before I go on I will say that the road was perfectly wide enough, and it was safe to sprint, I do not advocate sprinting for the minor places in most occasions, but this was a smallish bunch now and I had a clear run, we approached the line and I thought people were leaving it a bit late so I just went on the outside and ‘won’ the bunch kick by a few bike lengths, which at least offers some comfort that I can still sprint. Shame it wasn’t from the right group! Ironically my legs felt FAR better the next day after getting a proper nights kip, now I’m improving more slowly the little things are becoming more apparent, things like sleep – I must be getting old!! Results not out yet, but I suppose I’d be in top 20 somewhere, not really worth shouting about, hence its taken me 3 days to muster some enthusiasm to talk about it!

However, a stage race in the Tour of Milburys this Saturday has me excited, not least because it has a 4 mile prologue to set the GC, but also because its down where I used to live and also I have a strong teammate coming with me too, should be fun. Then we’re doing a Surrey League 2/3 on the Sunday, so a GOOD night sleep Sat and I should be ready to go again on Sunday. Its only early season but I still worry about my results drying up despite my numbers being better!

http://app.strava.com/activities/52251476

After my foray into the sharp end of amateur racing last week at the Toachim GP, this was more of the same, a tough national b course and a field to match. The race is held on the Bletchingley Course, the exact same one that the Surrey League races are run, which is good as I know it well having been there recently. Only difference being that the finish is down the bottom of the circuit for the Les Ingman rather than at the top of the hill and suits more of a sprinter.

I felt pretty good after last weeks stage race, and I really did feel like it sharpened me up a bit, the sessions I got done in the week were good, and I was going well even managed to get within reach of the club ten club record having beaten the nearest rival by nearly 1 min 30. I was keen to get stuck into this one to see if I could at least stay with it after a rude awakening last week with the wind, holding a wheel and nutrition issues all playing a part in my downfall! I had sorted the nutrition side of things this week as a matter of priority, my pockets were loaded with gels 😀

Thankfully the weather was exceptional this morning, and driving over I knew it wasn’t going to be a bad day weather wise, so that was one box ticked. There was a healthy field, almost full, and plenty of strong riders, many of the riders from last week were present, including a few others. I think this race would have had a stronger field still had it not been for the Rutland Classic also happening today, but I certainly wasn’t complaining!

We got off to a start and the pace was high, I felt comfortable, and I found that I could get a good position on the downhill as I go downhill well being a lump, so for the first lap or so I made sure I was near the front on the climb expecting to slide back a bit and then would make sure I moved up where I could. We were to do 10 laps today, which would make the total race distance around 90 miles. A few laps in the first match was burned, I had picked a poor wheel up the hill, he was going backwards and I noticed a big group were going off up the road, which happened to contain most of the contenders. So a big effort to get back on was made, it hurt, and wasn’t ideal at that stage of the race. My caution would be realized later on, but this time everyone made it back into the main pack on the downhill so I probably needn’t have killed myself to get back on so quick…

The next few laps were just spent keeping position watching what was going on, and if I could, try and be part of something. It was a fair time before anything happened really, at some point a very small group had slipped away, 3 riders I understand, and I also saw that another had gone solo to chase, I certainly knew I didn’t have the legs to be trying anything of that nature, so I watched for a bigger move, and indeed waited near the front to see whether this time up the hill would change anything.

I noticed Steve Calland moving up at the foot of the hill, and he was right to do so, I got his wheel the pace rose up the front, he kept going, and I didn’t, I stayed just about in touch, but knew that if I wasn’t on his wheel ( I think he was last man) by the time we hit the drag up the high-street then it would be VERY hard to get back on. It wasn’t just me who had missed that vital wheel and indeed as I sprinted up the high-street after him, I noticed it was just myself, and 3 or 4 other riders, a large group had been caught unaware and a split had occurred. The 4 of us started to work together, we knew the only chance we had at any kind of race was to work together to try and get back on to that front group. I felt good and was driving the pace for the main part with these other riders, and really pushed it on the downhill, we were always within sight of the lead pack which was around 20 riders, but it seemed that they then would edge out again. I was becoming a bit irritated that we were not working properly and we were slipping back, a bit of gentle encouragement saw us all pull together ;-), in hindsight I think I was suffering less than the other 3 (we had dropped one by this point) so my turns were perhaps a bit strong. As we approached the hill they were not too far ahead, but it took us nearly half a lap from there (so 1.5 laps – 15 miles in total) to finally catch them after the descent. What didn’t help that over the top of the hill the car that was clearing our way had stopped behind another car that was giving way, I slowed down, the others went straight round, this left me with another chase back on!! But thankfully I was able to get back on before we hit the downhill, lucky the legs were just playing ball at this point or I’d be in no mans land!

At this point with two laps left, lots of digs were coming in, but nothing really sticking, everything being jumped on. The course finish really suits a sprinter given the removal of a steep hill on the course due to roadworks, so as long as you go into the last left hander in good shape anyone was in with a shot. So I think perhaps a lot of guys were happy to let it be a sprint for 5th place (the others were well gone by this point). Into the last lap and it was properly slow, we chugged along and when we got into the last couple of k it was really cat and mouse, at one point down to around 10 mph before someone launched, the process was repeated a few times, eventually it was just all together round the last corner, I wasn’t in a great position as my legs were beginning to really ache, but I made sure I did move up a bit, and was in a position to at least go for a minor placing. As I went into the last corner I was a few wheels back, I kicked and passed a couple of guys but really had not been into the corner early enough to get anywhere near the front, so rolled in a few wheels back. Result pending, but apparently 12th in the HQ, but we will see, I’d take 12th though! The race was won by Madison Genesis rider Alex Peters who put in a monster ride to win solo by over two minutes! Impressive.

I was pretty happy with the ride after last week, it was just as hard as the race last week, probably harder, I’d done a bit of everything, and bridge was a nice moment when it finally happened. Its put my nerves at ease a touch, I know I can keep up at this level, and I know that I am capable of a result, though I still think its likely that it will come from a sprint or a break on a slightly more forgiving circuit, had the finish been up the hill today I’d have been gone in that company. But its positive, and makes me wonder why I haven’t managed that illusive win in the Surrey League yet, but I am confident that these hard races are really working.

Possibly get down to Hillingdon Tuesday before a weekend away from the bike due to a stag do, but after that there are plenty of races I’d really like to contest the win for, also got the regional champs to look forward to which will be a hard day out!

Race is here – Strava

Toachim GP Stage Race

This was to be my first stage race, and certainly wasn’t going to be the easiest as rather than give myself an easy in to the world of multi day events, I decided that it would be wise to do a National B race with all that it entails. Lots iof teams of elite riders, the likes of Felt, Corley, Pedalheaven and a few very strong club riders, Rob Moore, Jake Martin, Elliot Porter of Rapha and a fair few other guys who are certainly strong riders and a cut above the field you’d find at a 2/3 race. But this was part of the fun, I’d noticed that the feeling of ‘hanging on’ was gone from my racing, and I could afford to make mistakes in the 2/3 races and it wouldn’t make much difference, I wanted to have the feeling of really having to try to hang in there, and have a bit more risk attached to my racing. And this was certainly the place to do that, as the 2nd and 3rd stages are testament to. The format for those not aware was 3 stages over two days, the first day was an 8 mile TT – 5 laps of the Cyclopark in Kent (great place, really good to see so many kids etc making use of the facilities). This would sort out an order for the GC, a couple of hours later there would be a 90 min crit around the Cyclopark, then the following day there would be a tough road race finishing up a tasty little hill to finalize the overall, this was in deepest Kent with the HQ in Challock.

Stage 1 – TT

I was fairly confident that I could turn in a decent TT, not last because I certainly wasn’t wanting in the kit department, I had everything someone would need to go quickly so it was up to my legs to hold up their end of the bargain. A couple of things worth noting that I quickly found out – brakes on Treks Speed Concept are not that great, god knows how Cancellara fly’s round those city streets at 30 mph with the stock brakes, it would have been nice to have ridden the course at least once before having to TT around it!

It was quite warm for once which was nice, to skinsuited up etc, I took to the line, I knew from previous times that TT bikes were proving quicker, despite the corners and high winds, I set off and got into a rhythm truth be told I overcooked a couple of the corners on the first lap (though the first was still the quickest according to the numbers) but I knew I was going ok, the power was decent, and I was passing riders up the long drag without too much hassle (which is probably the section that flattered the TT bikes the most). I was dripping sweat at one point, Giro’s ventilation on the Selector isn’t up to much IMO. I saved a bit in the legs for the last lap and really drove it hard, I crossed the line and paused my garmin (thankfully…) and had 18.17, which if my electronic transponder had not had a dead battery probably would have been rounded down a bit as I started it a few secs early and a few secs after the line. Thankfully the Comm was in a good mood and said he would honour my garmin reading which clearly showed the time, the distance and when it was done etc. Looking up at the board this put me in 11th place with a Corley Rider doing the fastest ride of 17.50, so I was quite pleased with the result 25 seconds over 8 miles sounds like a lot, but this is no dragstrip and I think with a bit of practice I’d have been able to get a bit quicker, but it was a good first result.

Stage 2 – 90min Criterium Cyclopark

This was held the same afternoon as the TT and because I was one of the last off in the TT I didn’t have too long to wait before it was time to line up again for the crit. The weather had turned from fairly pleasant to cold, and raining, not ideal. I made sure to line up near the front, but had a bit of a faff clipping in which saw me near the back of the field, which really wasn’t ideal. The number of corners at the cyclopark that finish with sprints out and uphill doesn’t reward poor positioning. And with the wind absoloutley belting it, it was clear that this wasn’t the time to miss a wheel or not be in a good position. A split happened very early on which smashed the field to bits, and there were two big groups, and later a smaller breakaway group with Jake at the helm. I was in the second group and really struggling with the wind and corners, it must have been around half an hour of hanging in there with this one, gradually slipping back. Eventually the elastic snapped and I was out of that group and into a new one with other riders that had not managed to keep pace with the front lot. We were about 7 strong, and slowly but surely it was whittled down, cornering was an issue, and with it now being wet one person taking a corner a bit too slowly meant a huge sprint every few seconds just to get back on the wheel in front (this was like interval training on acid! Lactic acid!). By the halfway point our group had moved away from a group behind us and a lot of dropped riders, and sat behind the main group and the break. I could see the break was now just two, Jake and George from Felt, impressive riding in those conditions for sure! It was now a case of just minimizing losses and getting round, myself, 2 Pedalheaven riders, Lawrence from AW and a Sigma rider tapped it out for the last half an hour and sadly just about got lapped by the front bunch (and Jake+George). Jake went on to win the stage. There was later an issue with the GC which was due to some people doing a lap less than others, so initially I was placed 8th which I thought sounded a bit too good to be true! When the results were sorted out I was put in my rightful place at 26th, which wasn’t great, but given the amount of people that had packed, and the amount of strong riders around and behind me wasn’t the worst outcome. That 90 min crit taught me a lot about positioning getting the wheel and riding more economically. Upon riding back to the car I noticed that my back brake was rubbing quite a bit (solid excuse 😉 ) which certainly wouldn’t have made it any easier, but even without that I think with the way I rode I’d not have been up the front anyway, so certainly will know how to play that next time! Jake now had a 45 second lead going into day 2.

Stage 3 – Road Race 90 miles (advertised as 75…)

It was a bit of a drive down to Challock, but the one saving grace of getting up at 6.50am on a Sunday is that no other bugger wants to and it meant the roads were clear, also the weather had perked up, and we were due to have the hottest day of the year so far, so I was pleased with that. Sadly as I got deeper into Kent the weather declined and when I arrived it was actually raining again 😦

My main error today in hindsight was fueling I thought it was only going to be a 75 mile race, which I normally would only have a gel and some energy drink, but it actually was just under 90 in the end. I hugely regret this, and it kind of shaped my race to be honest. Nobody to blame but me there, I’ve since been onto the web and bought a TON of gels!!

Race got underway and despite the warnings from the Comm of a big puddle on the first fast downhill the pace was HIGH, I felt ok, and kept in the wheels, and we properly nailed it down that hill, and I think it was the first lap that people got gapped and that was it for them, so it really shows how fast this was. I was pushing on ok today and legs felt fine, I positioned myself quite well, and though I didn’t go with any breaks at this stage I was fine with the pace etc. It was quite a quick pace, and people were pinging off the front all the time trying to get a gap. Jake was very active and without a team it was going to be a hard day for him as every move he made was marked by literally everyone. Eventually a small group got up the road, and went clear, lots of people pinging off the front, and at the 60 mile point I commented to Francis from PH that I should have brought some more food as there was still two 12 mile laps to go (and actually a bit more in the end). We hit the exposed windy section which caused more issues than any of the hills really, and I was running on nearly empty trying to ration my drink, at this point a move went and I just had not a lot to give, it was here that my race was over, had I made that move then I’d have been a lot better off in the overall, but there we are. Lots of others missed this move too of course, and it was clear people were suffering, the last lap came and a chap from PH had the right idea, just tap out a rhythm with everyone taking a turn to get the stage over and done with. But seemingly people still had aspirations of glory and nobody wanted to work, so one by one people pinged off the front to get away on their own, I was spent by this time and couldn’t care less about riding away. I rode in to the finishing hill with a group of about 6 others, the last hill was really hard going, 7 mins or so, and our group split up a bit (not that it mattered at this point) and I finished over the line literally dead on my feet. I later learned that everyone that got into that earlier move did make contact with the front break, and Francis had gone on to take 4th in that stage and give himself a bump up the GC, so it was clear that it was the move that cost me a half decent placing, but I’m happy that I managed to stay the course, LOTS of people DNF yesterday, and my final standing was 22nd overall. Its not the best result but all told its not too bad, plenty of good riders finished behind me, and there were not too many 2nd cats in front of me, perhaps just one actually. So it was a great weekend where I learned a lot about myself and my riding, and it taught me a few hard lessons. The winner in the end way Roy Chamberlain from Corley who took home the £1000 first prize, great ride from him given his standing initially. Will add some pics to this when they come into circulation.

However it has whet my appetite for multiday racing and I may enter the SERRL 3 day which is a proper 4 stage affair, but this one will certainly set me up well for the couple of 2/3 stage races I’ve entered in the next couple of months. I also have reassured myself a bit that as long as I don’t ride like an idiot I can keep pace with these sorts of fields, so the nerves of doing so have been settled somewhat. The Les Ingman next week will be interesting, a tough 85 miler over the Bletchingley Course, that will certainly be a test of the legs!

In the meantime I have a club 10 in the week, so hopefully can do a decent ride there and go after the club course record.

Prologue
Crit
Road Race