Double Race Weekend

 I’m back once again with another essay of my time riding (racing) my bicycles.

Last week I staged my own 2 Day Stage Race with a 19mile timetrial on Saturday and then a 33mile Circuit Race up at Castle Combe.

It was a shock to the system and hopefully has shifted my fitness up a gear ready for another testing weekend involving a 10mile TT and 100mile sportive.

The timetrial was the 2^nd Round of the WTTA Hardriders series which runs throughout the season over ‘sporting’ courses that generally are on the hilly side of the gradient spectrum. They vary in length from between 19miles to 30+ miles. Everyrider in each event scores points that count towards a season which is calculated using the cumulative score of an individual’s best 6 results. The 1^st place rider at each event gets 120 points 2^nd 119, 3^rd 118 etc. so that all riders receive some points. With this in mind my main season goal is to complete 6 events and aim for a total score of 600. This will require a consistent 20^th place position at each event  throughout the year.

Debuting on my new Cannondale Slice TT bike with the sunlight fighting through the cloud was a pleasant change from the recent cold, damp, freezing weather we have had recently. I have put in some time on my TT bike riding my turbo trainer during the winter and found a relatively comfortable position on it, venturing out onto the road now and again to some tweaking gave me reassurance of going out with some anger during the race without worrying about tumbling off a la Denis Menchov Giro D’Italia 2009.

Warming Up in the Sun :)

I have also developed a stunning warm up routine which almost worked too well on Saturday (contact me if you are interested in my finely tuned warm-up plan, I am sure we can come to some financial arrangement in return for the transfer of my ever growing bike wisdom).

The U303 course starts and finishes in Bruton south of Bath. Organised by the Gillingham and District Wheelers the event began with a 1 mile climb averaging at around 5% straight off the start line. My finely tuned warm up paid dividends and I rocketed off up the hill feeling ace and caught my minute man before the top, surprisingly still feeling ace. The course rolled south over the gentle terrain towards the A303 and roughly followed it before turning North and into a gentle but taxing headwind and a long drag of false flat before turning westwards and a fast 4 mile decent to the finish.  I kept what I thought was sufficient reserves in my tank for the headwind drag but I think my warm up gave me such a confidence boost I slightly over exerted over the first half of the course and began to slow down as the lactate in my legs began to accumulate. By the time I hit the run for home I had lost the red mist from my eyes and coasted in a racing fashion to the finish as I did not know the decent at all and I also slightly bottled it hurtling down at 40+mph still tucked up on the aerobars. I was in hindsight delighted with the performance of the Cannondale at this speed, it was magnificently stable and feel reassured that with a bit more time before the next event I can recce the course and go all out for the duration, hopefully picking a handful more places and improve on the 24^th I achieved, top 20 is a realistic but challenging goal.



Aero.
CharleWhittonPhotography



The weather changed for Sunday, the wind got up and I knew that the Circuit race at Castle Combe, which is renowned for its wind when the rest of the world is still, was going to be tough. Living in Colerne the 6 mile ride to the race track was the perfect warm up, and so wrapped in lasagne of Walcot kit I made my way over. Thankfully I was not alone today as Paul Fergusson, a recent Cat 3 graduate, would be joining me and safety in numbers would be the name of the game.

Our prerace tactics for the 19 lap 33 mile race was to stick together, stay near the front and if it looks like the race was splitting up in the wind work hard to make it happen and make sure we end up on the right side of the split.

The race started as normal with a few guys jumping off the front and being brought back again. Me and Paul where right in the thick of it and tried to bridge to 2 guys after a couple of laps. Stuck in no man’s land and about to head into the headwind I called to Paul ease up and wait, it seemed fruitless. If only we could of made it to those guys, who somehow managed to stay away and take the 1-2, we could have been in on that action and smashed an amazing result. Unfortunately we didn’t make it and continued in the trenches working hard, and far too early in hindsight. I almost got dropped out the back of the peloton after an ill-timed over exuberant effort and only just managed to climb back into the bunch. Seeing Paul tearing it up at the front, once I recovered I moved back up to keep the pace going and try to bring back a couple of small groups up the track. I don’t recall when, where or how, but it did slowly dawn on me that I could no longer see Paul and went looking for him through the group and realised he must of succumbed to the same problem I did earlier in the race and never made it back on. Self-preservation time. Stupidly I anticipated the race lasting no more than an hour with the British Cycling website saying the race lasted 50mins + 3 laps and so didn’t bother with taking a drink or any food for the race. At the start the commissaire said that the race would last 19 laps and not thinking at that point still continued without any refreshments for the journey. In self-preservation mode I started to calculate the maths and realised with the decreased speed because of the brutal easterly wind and 19 laps the race was going to take nearer an hour and a half. Only 50 minutes had gone and I was feeling sick, my blood sugar was low and I was beginning to feel the top end speed dissipate from my legs after the timetrial effort the day before. Hanging in the top 15 or so it became a game of avoiding the wind at all costs digging really deep to hold the wheel in front and not worrying, or able too, inflict that same pain onto the rest of the bunch. Who had given up chasing down the 2 leaders with a gap of nearly 3 minutes. With 5 laps to go I was feeling ok, and was more active at the front but unable to go with any moves that jumped every now and again. With the laps ticking down a small group of 3 went and I still don’t know if they stayed clear. The last 2 laps I was positioned perfectly but I knew full well that sprinting was out of the question. The bell went for the last lap and it was a relief to hear. Still in a good position I managed to avoid a guy go down on the back straight and found myself in a really good position and I began to find some more belief. As the swang around the back corner the speed went through the roof and all I could do was hold on in there. Another crash before the finishing straight meant going onto the grass and watch as the group sprinted to the line.

It was probably the hardest most intense hour and a half I’ve had on the bike and furthered my racing experience. It was a big step up for Paul too from the Ludgershall series races which last around 40-50 minutes and I think he learned a lot from the cold air. Back to the turbo for both of us, there is a long season ahead.

Mid Shropshire Wheelers Reliability Ride

I have regularly ridden around the Shropshire Hills over the last year since my girlfriends Mum moved to the area and started to run two Holiday Cottages- http://bit.ly/Yzz6yx.  It is fantastic but hard riding countryside, on and offroad from the door, with gradients regularly above 5% where ever you go.



Sundorne Leisure Centre



Having spotted the Mid-Shropshire Wheelers Reliability Ride on the British Cycling website during the week it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss to explore the flatter part of Shropshire to the North of Shrewsbury.

Starting at the Sundorne Leisure Centre in Shrewsbury, which runs and operates a 1km tarmacked cycle circuit. A £3 entry fee is a welcome bonus to a cycling events industry that tends to be heavily overpriced. 2 rides on offer 47miles and 59miles, with 3 groups of varying paces over each distances suited each rider of the 100+ gathered around the heaters in the Leisure Centre Reception.

Starting in the first group (very) fast group to depart for the 59 mile route was good as a slight snow shower rolled in. I soon warmed right up as the only ‘climb’ of the ride was out of Shrewsbury up a gently inclined hill but at a lightning pace I drifted back through the group of 20+ trying not to blow up straight away. I managed to stay in touch a worked hard for the next 40miles, occasionally taking a turn at the front keeping the average speed above 20mph. http://bit.ly/13Q2vUO

One fatally timed turn at the front right into a brisk head wind just before a very short but steepish rise up a stream valley side dropped me out the back of a much depleted leading group. Luckily I wasn’t the only one and managed the last 20 miles in a smaller group of 5 still pushing around 20mph average. All the other groups arrived back on schedule averaging 17mph and 15mph over the two flat courses.

Warming the fingers back up

As entry was only £3 which covered the BC insurance I wasn’t expecting any refreshment stops mid-ride or at the finish. But a willing group of volunteers were located at major turning points to guide us in the right direction and by starting and finishing at a Leisure Centre there was a decent café serving tea and cake to warm the finger tips up before heading home.

As always the cycling fraternity was very welcoming and I thoroughly enjoyed riding new roads and meeting more like minded cyclists. When I am in the area again I hope to go along to Mid Shropshire Wheelers Club ride to explore some more. It was interesting discussing how the circuit at the Leisure Centre built around 6 years ago had impacted the club. As expected a membership of around 70ish had now hit well over 200. With the vast majority of those being children and parents. Unlike the circuit being built in Odd Down the Shrewsbury track is floodlit which enables 2 evening club sessions a week to take place all year round. A new local race team has started up, and by the ease and speed of the (very) fast group I was riding with is no doubt going to be successful this year. The lock up cabin of club bikes, wheels, tools etc coupled with the Junior sections club mini-bus is evidence of the success the circuit has brought the area.

Sundorne Circuit

Cross

Last week was a real mix of fortunes in my world of cyclocross riding. A visit from my cousin Alan from California was a great excuse to go and explore Ashton Court and Leigh Woods in Bristol.

Born in the UK and moving to Santa Cruz just south of San Francisco age 5, he experienced the birth of mountain biking on his doorstep. Has a heavenly surf scene on the pacific coast and grew up witnessing the explosion of the modern computing age in Silicon Valley to the north. He now works for Google. The American Dream.

So a windy and rare dry October weekday I would unleash Bristols' best trails. Not quite Marin County, but it would have to do. It would be better than tackling the Mendips, as we did last time he visited a few years back. That was a day in a real muddy hell.

I was very impressed with the state of the trails at Ashton Court considering the wet weather recently. A few small puddles was about all. This was not dry in California terms, where if a few splots of mud on the rear of your jersey would be the worst it could get. I must go there soon.

Ashton Court, and especially Leigh Woods, is not a particular technical trail. A treat for nailing it around on a cross bike. The winters training might be based around visiting on a frequent basis. Smiling faces all around whilst eating sausage sandwiches in the cafe after an hours blast. Take that Califormia, you may have a lot of things but you don't do Sausages like we do!

Over the weekend a lonely misty Saturday ride along the Canal Path between Bath and Bradford-On-Avon was verging on the magical. Deers, Herrons, rabbits. I think the Autimn is my favourite season to cycle in.

My cross race on Sunday in Stroud was not to so favourable. Highly technical sections, water logged sections, fast descents and steady road climb was going to be an exciting race. I crashed twice in my warm up laps which knocked my confidence some what. I panicked and lowered my front tyre pressure a bit low as a desperate move to find more traction, error. On the first lap I had major issues. On the descent I somehow managed to pull the rear brake cable out of the brakes. Unable to stop going into the woods I hit a stump and punctured. TKO.

I stayed to watch the rest of race and witnessed how to and how not to tackle certain elements of the course. I have a lot to learn. A week off from work ripping up the Shropshire Hills can only improve things. Shame I'm not spending the week in California.

The Snowball Effect

I feel that a large snowball started to roll down a particularly long mountainous slope a few days ago. The USADA report on the doping practices of Lance Armstrong and the US Postal and Discovery Channel cycling teams hasn't totally surprised me with its content on doping practices or indeed the professionalism by which the doping ring was organised. If you could graduate from the Dave Brailsfords School of 'the aggregation of marginal gains' and apply the lessons to planning, running and succeeding (up to last week anyway) in the implementation of a doping ring then Lance, Johan and friends would be top of the class. Their moral compass was largely bearing in the direction of 'The Darkside', with the exception of the Livestrong cancer charity, the whole aura of the US Postal Cycle Team and Lance now seems to be reminiscent of the Rebel Alliance. I half expect Johan Bruneel to be Lance Armstrong's father. Stranger things have happened. 

The snowball has already started to engulf others in the pro cycling world that sat on the periphery of the USADA report and more and more will come I am sure. The current Olympic gold medalist is shown to have paid more than $50,000 to Dr Ferrari. As far as I know new Ferrari's cost a good deal more than $50k so there must be something untoward going on there. How much is an Olympic gold medal worth? I expect you could trade one in for a Ferrari in Kazakhstan, simples.

Further a field, on a rectangular one specifically in Marseilles, not known for its snow, a controversial footballer has implied that 'all you have to do is look'. Not that this surprises me, there has been smoke around football before with Operation Puerto, much like there has always been smoke surrounding Lance in France most July's since 1999. I recall several Dutch footballers pointing the finger at Italian pigs for positive Nandrolone tests. I always thought the Dutch had a drugs problem. 

Maybe this is where the snowball escalates or stops. I have little faith in FIFA and The FA, probably even less than I do in the UCI, so I doubt that the USADA report snowball will transcend into football. But I am sure that there must be illicit training regimes at the highest level around the world. I propose this; If you are a 16 or 17 year old skillful football player in a Barcelona/ Ajax/ Manchester United/ AC Milan youth setup and your coach says to you that they will probably let you go at the end of the season because you are not physically gifted enough. Where would you go maximise your chances of being paid circa £20,000+ a week when you have already dedicated your adolescent life to achieve that very goal . You have already prioritised your life around dedicated training regimes and meticulous attention to your nutrition and not on schooling and socialising in a 'normal' teenage way. At what point does the risk/ reward balance overcome your moral obligation? 

What about the biggest game in football, the Championship play-off final? The very last game of a long football season with a potential for hundreds of millions of pounds to be gained by winning. As a coach you worry about the fitness of your team that has battled away at Norwich in the snow in January to get to this final. What could you possibly do to maximse your chances of making the big time? 

The snowball effect is just gaining its momentum, where will it stop?

Doesn't Lance have a place in Aspen, Colorado? I hear it gets pretty snowy around this time of year.

I have been inspired today to start writing a blog, and so here it is. I am unsure exactly where my ramblings will lead. But I hope that it will provide informative light reading to a few as well as a way to help to improve my writing generally through topics that have a personal resonance with myself.