Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas all!!

Hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed it as much as I have!

2 races to report on from this week and last week, neither of which went too well. I have been training and working a lot of late, and it has clearly taken it's toll as I felt exhausted both last week and this week. Both races consisted of me hanging on for grim death for an hour... character building I guess... Looking forward to toning down my work again in the new year and focusing 100% on training and resting like a pro!

From the 2nd week of January I am looking to increase my training hours to upwards of 15 hours every week, and probably taking a step back from the winter series racing. 2012 is arriving and it is time to focus 100% on the season ahead and hitting it with a great base of training behind me.

In Febuary I have a 3 week training camp booked in Calpe, Spain. Planning to go with 4 other young full-time cyclists for sun, fun, lots of pain and training. During these 3 weeks I will be looking at ~25 hour training weeks with a mixture of fast rides, slow rides, long cafe rides all gearing towards being race fit on my return at the beginning of March, then all being well after a week of easy riding I will start my proper racing programme for the season.

My race programme is to be based around my new team, Dream Cycling. I have signed for Dream in 2012 looking to race with the support of a Semi-Pro team setup, with a lot of sponsorship, and also riding alongside a young team of like-minded riders.

More to come on the team over the next few weeks.

Have a great new year and all the best for 2012!

Ciao.

Imperial Winter Series @ Hillingdon - 10th December

This weekend was round 2 of the Imperial Winter Series at Hillingdon, this week I had company in the E123 race from clubmates Nick and Andy. Conditions were very cold and there had been a few crashes in the 3rd and 4th category races so we had to start later than usual due to an ambulance on the circuit... I was feeling a bit nervous on the line because of seeing the rider being stretchered into the back of the ambulance, but that's racing so I just put it to the back of my mind!

Once we got going there was an immediate attack from the AW Cycles trio and a Twickenham CC rider, however they only lasted a couple of laps before it all came back together again. Next off the front was Steve Golla of High Wycombe CC, I jumped onto his wheel and we soon had a small gap off the front of the peloton, we stayed out for about 2 laps before Steve dropped off as the peloton closed in. I however kept pushing on and was joined by another HWCC rider and Rory Townsend of Prestige VC, and we stayed out for another 2 laps before being brought back again. A good little stretch of the legs early on for me and I felt fairly strong but with all the strongest riders still in the bunch it was always going to be hard to make the break stick.

2-up Break with Steve Golla

The race continued at varying paces and attacks continued going off the front, including a couple from fellow Zappi rider Nick Baker, none however stayed away for much more than a couple of laps. With about ten minutes to go a break of 3 had pulled out a 10 second gap on the bunch and were maintaining it every lap, I was helping with the workload on the front and steadily the gap was coming down, and with a massive effort from Jamie Pine of London Dynamo the gap came down and we caught 2 of the 3 riders out front...

Driving it on the front

However Rory Townsend had attacked the break with just over a lap to go and had a decent gap, I moved up towards the front and slotted in 2nd wheel behind Nick, however he was quickly running out of gas, so a few guys attacked round the outside. I jumped onto the wheel of Stephen Bradbury as he flew past and I started my sprint with 250 metres to go, I kicked hard and found myself in 5th right up until the line... When I had two guys lunge past me on the line, so I settled for 7th. Slightly annoying, but I was very happy nonetheless to see my sprint training starting to pay off. Steve Golla had taken the win with a last gasp surge past Townsend who was pipped into 2nd place.

SPRINT!

Overall a very good day out, felt strong and got in a few breaks, also managed to get my first points on my 2012 licence and I am now on the way to gaining my 1st category licence. Looking to build on this next weekend with another placing in the top 10.

Until then, Ciao!

Imperial Winter Series @ Hillingdon - 3rd December

Believe it or not, the 2012 season started today!!

I arrived at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit early so I could watch my team mates Nick and Andy in their respective races. There was a lot of anticipation within our club of how Nick would do in the 4th cat race because he had been smashing everybody to pieces on club rides. Low and behold, he looked at ease in this afternoons race, sitting in a good position throughout the race and testing his legs a few times before letting rip with half a lap to go and beating everyone by a good 50 metres. More to come from this boy.

Andy played a tactical game in the 3rd cat race by saving all his energy hanging in the bunch, unfortunately this meant he missed the decisive break of 6 that stayed away till the end. He did however have a big kick at the end and managed to take (we think) 8th place. Well done!

Since my 2 week break after the summer season I have done mainly base miles on my winter training bike, and it was nice to get back on my Cervelo race bike. I thought I had lost a lot of top end speed and felt I would struggle in the race, I did however surprise myself and felt a lot stronger than I had been in training. The race started with 2 guys shooting off the front and staying away, for the whole race. Bye bye... The bunch experienced lots of little attacks and the pace was going up and down for the whole race, come the final lap I sadly found myself on the front taking the wind, I didn't fancy leading out the other racers so I slowed the bunch right down before popping off the front with 3/4 of a lap to go, probably too early but i stayed away until about 150 metres to go, when almost everyone went past me. Think I may have scratched the top 20... Oh well... generally felt good throughout and looking forward to the rest of the series now and hopefully getting some better results!

Until next week - Ciao!

End of Season

Here is a quick rundown of my results from 2011:

Time Trials:
Junior Best British All-Rounder - 3rd Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project Time Trial Series - 3rd Place
Junior National 10 Mile TT Champs - 15th Place
Junior National 25 Mile TT Champs - 11th Place
British Junior Time Trial Championship - 12th Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project TT Series Round 7 - 2nd Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project TT Series Round 8 - 1st Place

Road Racing:
2 Wins
2 Top 5 Placings
4 Top 10 Placings
2nd Category Licence Achieved

2012 Aims:
1^st Category British Cycling Licence
At least one National B Road Race Win
Top 5 Ras de Cymru Stage Race
Top 5 Under 23 British Time Trial Championship
Top 30 Senior National 10 Mile Time Trial Championship
Top 10 Central Regional Road Race Championship

Update!

I have been neglecting my blog of late, and have a lot to write about! I'm not going to write masses about every event because there are simply too many, and I haven't kept up!

The August bank holiday weekend was the Junior Tour of Wales, 5 hard stages including a hilly prologue, the hardest crit of my life, and two mountain top finishes. Basically my best stages were 1 & 3, however stage 1, the prologue time trial was announced null and void after a screw up with timekeeping. My time would have given me a top 20 finish for the stage in the previous year so I was dissappointed to have the stage cancelled. Stage 2 was fast until the bottom of the mountain, and I paced it well up the climb to finish in the top half of the field. Stage 3 was a super hard criterium that saw two thirds of the peloton shot out the back, I managed to stay in the bunch until the final bend when my back tyre blew with a spectacular bang! I was given the same time as the bunch though so no worries! Stage 4 was an easier flat stage that posed no problems, whilst stage 5 saw me get dropped, chase back on, only to blow at the bottom of a 4 mile climb. Overall it was great fun and riding with the Central Region team was great too.

Next up, British Time Trial Championship... UCI Regs meant a completely different position on a completely different bike, aching legs following a TT the previous day, a steaming up visor, wet conditions and a slipping back wheel... All these things added up meant I was over a minute down on some guys I usually match or beat, so was super dissappointed to have failed in one of my main aims for the season... bad times.

Wet Wet Wet at the BTTC!

Next up were a few time trials to try and improve my placing in the Junior Best British All Rounder. First up, another trip to wales for the Port Talbot Wheelers 25, the wettest and windiest time trial of my life, during which I encountered a 5 minute gail force hailstorm. Managed 54:00, a slight improvement on my 2nd 25 mile time, but not enough to overhaul Josh Teasdale for top spot! Another couple of time trials saw my final BAR times imrove to 19:53, 20:52, 51:28 and 54:00. This gives me a provisional result of 2nd place in the Junior Best British All Rounder competition. A good result for me, although wondering what might have been, having got within 0.2mph of Josh Teasdale in the top spot.

To get right up to date, today I did an E123 road race near Andover in Hampshire. The circuit was a very tough, attritional loop of 13 miles, which we covered 5 times. The course included one long drag to the finish, and a couple more draggy sections. The starting bunch of 60 was soon whittled down to less than 20, with a break of 7 up the road. I kept trying to break off the front but nothing came of my attacks. I was feeling good on the final lap and reached the bottom of the final climb in second wheel feeling good for a killer sprint to the line... then cramp struck, badly. Starting in my calves then reaching my thighs and quads, meaning I could hardly turn the pedals and lost over a minute to the bunch in the last mile. I collapsed over the line writhing in agony after my last road race of the season.

Sorry for a rubbish blog this time, but I will keep up to date from now on!

Ciao.

Yorkshire Velo 10

Last Sunday I made the long journey up to the V718 course in Hull for an open 10 mile time trial. I took Jake Thomas from Oxford City RC and as we made the 3.5 hour journey north, we found ourselves driving towards sunny but slightly blustery conditions. The wind was in a westerley direction which would mean a 4 mile tailwind section followed by 6 miles into a headwind, this would be a fairly slow day for the course, however I was convinced that there would still be some quick times on this infamously fast course.

We drove the course a couple of times before signing on, and found a gently rolling smooth tarmacced surtface that looked fast, with a slight drag about a mile from the finish. I got ready and eventually rolled out to the start at snails pace with some slightly higher intensity bursts as a warm up, finally I was good to go.

I pushed off hard and soon found myself hitting 35+ mph down the slip road, I maintained this for the first mile before settling into a more comfortable pace at 32-33mph with the wind behind me, I flew out to the turn and by the time I was climbing the slip road to the roundabout, I had my minute man in my sights, I powered round the 2 turn roundabouts and gained about 15 seconds on him by the time we rejoined the carriageway, I soon pushed past him and focussed on the next guy up the road. The headwind saw my moving speed drop to 28-29mph on the flat sections of the course, my main aim at this point was to keep my average speed up above 30mph for as long as possible, and it was working... I passed my 2 minute man with about a mile to go halfway up the draggy section of the course, as the finish came into the distance my computer read 19.20, I put every ounce of my power down for the remainder of the course and crossed the line absolutely shattered. I looked down at my clock, and couldn't believe my eyes.

19.53.

Cue jubilant shouts and screams at the top of my voice all the way back to the race HQ, I felt on top of the world! I got back to the car and gave Jake a cheeky grin to which he responded "not a f**king 19?", I kept smiling and gave him a high 5! I got quickly changed and headed inside to find not only had I won the event, but was also the only rider to go under 20 minutes that day. My first 19, my first open event win, and a lot of hand shakes from other riders!! Jake also did a storming ride to record 20.59 and take 5th in the event, well done mate! We were both super pleased with our results and capped off a good day out with a meal in a local pub!

My ride last weekend puts me in with more than an outside chance of taking the Junior Best British All-Rounder this year, I have now recorded the fastest 10 and 25 time by any junior rider in 2011, and currently have a total average speed of 28.6mph over 2x10s and 2x25s. I now have one more 10 and one more 25 to try and improve this to over 29mph, definately my main target now.

My next race is the Junior Tour of Wales starting this Saturday, I am riding with the BC Central Region team including local VC10 rider Ed Clemens. Should be a fantastic, if not painful weekend, wish me luck!

Ciao!

51.28

Lately I have been feeling super strong, and following a week of hard road racing I was hoping to build on my fitness and set a new personal best for a 25. The road races included my first national b race with elite riders, a taste of the big time, the faster races. It was tough but I didn't feel out of my depth and finished a respectable 34th.

The big event was the Merthyr CC 25 mile TT in Wales, on the R25/3L course, a notoriously fast course with a long downhill section after 3 miles. Conditions were overcast but relatively calm, with a slight breeze in the air forming a gentle headwind on the way out to the turn. I was in the overflow event for juniors and women, and with the main event seeing some stonking times, I had high expectations for my ride. There was a strong field in the overflow event, with 2 of the fastest women in the country, Julia Shaw and Wendy Houvenaghel going for top spot amongst the women, while the Junior race boasted the 19 minute man Ed Clemens of VC10 and 6th placed National 10 rider Josh Teasdale. I warmed up for 20 minutes then hit the start line where I was greeted by "fast conditions today, you'll do a quick time", to which I responded, "no pressure". I started gently winding up to speed and soon settled in to a rhythm at 32mph on the small road leading to the dual carriageway, by the time I hit the dual carriageway after 2 miles I already had my minute man in sight and passed him just as we went over the top of 'the bank', the long downhill section, at first it wasn't as fast as I thought, but as it ramped down I gathered momentum and soon hit top speed at over 45mph. Once at the bottom I once again settled into a steady rhythm at around 30mph and held it firm. Interestingly, my 10 mile split time was astonishing, I had covered the first 10 miles in 19.04, with an average speed of 31.5mph!! I had by now reeled in 3 riders, with another in the distance, and as I hit the long sweeping turn I started to feel my legs burning but nevertheless pushed on round the turn, looking to gain time on my main rivals. As I powered back on the homeward leg I had a second wind in my legs and surged on down the road, my average speed never dropped below 29mph, as I made the final bend before the finish I dug in for a huge sprint and crossed the line in 51m28s. I had knocked a massive 2m53s off my PB.

I trundled back up the massive hill to HQ at snails pace, got changed and headed into the hall. As we waited for the last few times to come in, I was up there with the fastest, only for Wendy Houvenaghel to come in with an astonishing 50m18s, a national record for the womens 25, well done Wendy. Turns out that she held the comp record for all of 9 minutes and 43 seconds... Julia Shaw rocked in with a staggering 50m1s, to take the record back and win the event in the process. Those 2 stole the top 2 positions in the event and the battle was on for 3rd, turns out I was fastest Junior in the event, beating Teasdale by 9 seconds and Clemens by 22 seconds, a close run thing but my preference to 25 mile TTs came through and helped me take the win, and 3rd place overall. Also worth mentioning was a storming ride by Jake Thomas to break the long-standing Oxford City RC Junior 25 record, well done mate.

So I left Wales very happy, with a bit of prize money, and starting to think about the Junior Best British All Rounder Competition as a potential target.

Next up is the fast V718 in Hull on Sunday, weather permitting.

Ciao.

Negotiating the turn...

Success!

Good afternoon!

2 events to update you on today, firstly the West London Cycling Association 25 Mile TT on Sunday, and then a circuit race in Portsmouth on Wednesday.

The TT was on the H25/2 course, not a very fast course, but aided by a 1 mile downhill slope at the start. My main aim was to beat my previous PB of 56:48, but knew this should be easy and aimed at going under 55 minutes, as a slightly stretch target. Conditions were extrememly good with the sun shining and only a slight breeze in the air, I started strongly and kept my average speed up above 30mph for the first 4 miles, then I hit the tricky section of the course on badly surfaced roads, I slowed up dramatically, and the average speed was dropping. Nonetheless I reached the turn in good time and had my 2-minute man in sight, I caught him about 2 miles after the turn and powered on down the course. The last 5 miles heads back onto the dual-carriageway section of the course, and I always aim to make up time on this part, which is exactly what happened this time. The last 5 miles my speed didn't drop under 30mph, and as I powered for the home I knew I was on for a good time. After pedalling very slowly back to HQ I found out that I had crossed the line in 54:21, a huge personal best for me and a great success. I ended up coming 5th place out of 80 riders in the event, even putting 2 minutes into Olympic Champion Rower James Cracknell!! Very happy with my performance on Sunday, and hoping to take yet more time off that when I venture to Wales in a couple of weeks.

Check out the results here

Wednesday evening saw me re-visit the scene of last weeks victory, Portsmouth. With 3 Zappi riders in the category 3/4 race, Chris, Mike and I were hoping to make something happen in this race by working together. Our tactic was to attack from the start-line, all three of us, which is exactly what we did... only to be told to slow down and wait for the others because it was 'unfair' to attack from the gun. Right. So we tried again, the next 5 minutes saw futile attacks from the 3 of us all coming to nothing as we were immediately chased down by the bunch. But after 5 minutes I attacked hard, immediately pulled out a large gap over the bunch. I was joined by Joe Holloway of VC10 and we worked well together for 3 laps before Joe dropped off, unable to keep the pace high. I was on my own for the next 2 laps before a rider from Hargroves Cycles joined me, he also lasted about 3 laps and soon I was all alone, on the limit, with about half a lap of a lead. The next 20 minutes went by so slowly and I was eeking out a slightly larger advantage every lap, but painfully slowly, and with about two thirds of a laps advantage I began to suffer on the headwind section along the back of the circuit. Nevertheless I kept my speed high and slowly got the bunch into my sights. Mike and Chris had been working hard to stall the chase and not let any attempted breaks get away, doing a sterling job between the two of them, even if Mike ended up being man-marked by a larger than life rider from Southampton Road Club. With the bunch now well within my sights I just kept my rhythm and edged slowly towards the group, with about 50 metres of a gap left, Chris dropped out the back and helped pace me back up to the bunch. We rejoined the bunch and shook hands, knowing that unless I crashed or punctured, I had won the race. I had lapped the peloton on my own after 20 minutes of using every bit of my timetrialling ability! I was so happy, but knew now that the team could get much more out of this, I sat in an recovered for 10 minutes before moving up to the front to try and talk to Mike and Chris about what to do next, Chris soon shot off the front with 3 other guys, whilst me and Mike stalled the bunch by sitting slowly on the front, Chris's group soon had a healthy advantage, and once we knew they would stay away, I sat on the front with Mike in my wheel, setting up for the bunch sprint. with 2 laps to go I wound the pace up high to well over 30mph with Mike sitting comfortably in second wheel, and as we got the bell on the final lap I kicked hard and gave everything I had to this lead out, with a third of a lap left, one guy came past us and Mike surged for the line, taking second in the sprint and 7th overall. Meanwhile up ahead, turns out that Chris had managed to outsprint his 3 breakaway companions to take 2nd place too. A brilliant night and one that I won't forget for a long time. We got a lot of recognition after the race from other riders who had clearly been impressed by how we bossed the race and came away with fantastic results. By winning the race I have also earned my 2nd category racing licence, so next week I will be racing with the elites! Proper racing, hard racing, fun racing!! The results are here

What made this weeks win so much more satisfying than last week was that it was far more emphatic, and the team had worked together to earn it. We got a taste of what can happen when we work together, definately good signs for a strong team in 2012!!

Next up, Neil Gardner Memorial Road Race on Sunday.

Ciao!

3 events - 2 wins and a 2nd place

I have been doing a lot of riding this week, including racing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, amongst some longer rides in the mornings!

Tuesday evening was the annual Bicester Millenium CC 9-up Team Time Trial, held at Weston on the Green airfield. This event is always well attended by the local clubs and is fiercely competitive! We went in to the event as somewhat of a dark horse, the team consisted of a team of road-men who had very little TT experience, apart from myself and a couple of others. We were all on our road bikes, which set us at a slight disadvantage to those boys in full TT kit, however this can be cancelled by good teamwork, and a steady pace that all riders can maintain.

We started the event fast, I led the team out and got us up to speed with Sam Parker following my wheel and setting a high pace for the first half a lap. The whole team looked good and for the first 2 laps we stayed together and worked like a well oiled machine, everyone was digging deep on the front. It was clear that some riders were tiring in lap 3 as a couple of riders dropped out having done their bit to great effect! Our lap splits were looking good and we were on for a fast time, as we rounded the final bend I hit the front and emptied my legs. We had finished with 6 riders and in a time of 21.53, a fantastic time with an average speed of 27.5mph. We had somehow managed to sneak into 2nd place behind VC10 who won with a time about 20 seconds faster then us, in full TT kit. Our whole team was ecstatic with our performance, a great team effort.

Wednesday evening saw me travel down with Mike 'the climber' Betts and James 'I did not touch that child' Jones. We arrived early and watched the youths racing, it was inspiring to watch two 7-8 year olds riding a very tactical race on their tiny little bikes, after 3 track stands, 2 mini attacks which were brought back by the fast moving 1 man peloton, it came down to the bunch sprint and as they rounded the final bend, one guy took off and took the win, the 2nd place rider didn't even feel it necessary to cross the line! Seriously great to see boys enjoying racing from such a young age!

I was racing the cat 3/4 race, it started slowly with nobody wanting to show their cards too early but after a couple of laps people started attacking, I followed a few breaks and chased them down, not wanting anyone to get away too early. More futile attacks went off the front in the first half an hour, including 4 attacks from me, once gaining about a 3rd of a lap before realising I was getting closed down. Finally with 15 minutes left, I edged off the front of the group to counter attack a break that had just been brought back, I bridged across to the one guy who had attacked 2 laps earlier. We worked well together and soon pulled out a gap of half a lap, and held it consistently by working hard, although I could see that my couterpart was beginning to get tired as the speeds dropped dramatically when he hit the front, nevertheless he gave me a rest and helped us stay away from the bunch. When we got the signal for 3 laps to go, it was clear that we had it in the bag, and as we passed the bell on the final lap I sprinted away from the other rider and took the win by about 50 metres, with the bunch following about 300 metres behind. I crossed the line with my arms aloft and pointed to my Zappi's jersey. I was over the moon with my performance, 10 points in the bag and now only 8 points away from that elusive 2nd cat licence!

Thursday evening was the Didcot Phoenix 2-up time trial and I turned up without a partner, but eventually ended up riding with Mark Cox of Fairly United CT. The course was H10/15, not a fast course by any means. We started steadily down a bumpy road and once we hit the good surface we unloaded our legs, pushing round the 10 mile course fast and working well together, we eventually crossed the line in a time of 21.34, taking the win by some 40 seconds. Another win to top off a succesful week of racing!!

A great week, and I'm very happy with how I rode in my races. This Sunday brings an open 25 mile TT in Marlow, and next week I head back to portsmouth to try and wrap up my 2nd cat licence and/or help Mike Betts get his licence too!!

Ciao!

23rd/24th July

Hey all,

This weekend I had two events planned, the Oxonion CC 10 Mile Time Trial on H10/17R, and the Bath RC Junior Road Race.

The time trial on the Saturday was planned as a potential qualifying ride for the Junior Best British All Rounder competition, this competition takes into account the two fastest 10 and 25 mile time trials in open events during the course of the season, the winner is the rider who has the highest calculated average speed. The H10/17R is one of the faster local courses, but the wind was strong so there were to be no super fast times. Having seen the conditions I set my sights on a sub 22 minute ride, which would be tough given the conditions, but not out of reach. I got to the start line just as my number was called, then with 30 seconds to go... my chain came off, I just managed to slip it back on with about 5 seconds to go, and set off on my way! A blistering tailwind on the way out meant my average speed was sky high, I reached the turn in about 12 minutes, with an average speed of just under 30mph. The shorter return leg was painful and slow, not helped by me feeling a sudden stomach ache for the last 10 minutes of the ride. It was a block headwind back, and my average speed was down to 25-26mph. I finished in a time of 21:48 with an average speed of 27.5mph, taking 9th place out of 80 finishers. The event was won by Tejvan Pettinger in a time of 20:14, a storming ride in hard conditions. Pleased with my performance, another top 10 in an open event, very happy!!

Sunday was the big race of the weekend, the Bath RC Junior Road Race, part of the 2011 Junior National Series. A 71 mile road race around the Stewkeley circuit, which consisted of a long drag up to the finish and a couple of other draggy climbs on the circuit. It was a glorious day which meant no arm warmers for the first time in a long while! The race consisted of some of the top junior riders in the country including Oli Rossi, Ali Slater, and national champion Dan Pearson. We started fast, and for the first lap I was feeling fatigued and weak, however by the end of the first lap I felt fully warmed up and strong! A large break went up the road on lap 1 consisting of about 10 riders, they soon established over a minute on the peloton and the chasing pack were making no inroads into the time gap. I made my way towards the front of the group and started working on the front with 5 other riders to try and close the gap, other riders chasing the break included Dan Pearson the national champion, and Brennan Townshend, 2nd placed rider in the Ras de Cymru. We chased hard for about 10 miles and eventually reeled in the breakaway halfway through lap 3. More riders soon attacked, and I settled back into the bunch whilst the race continued at high speed. At the start of the last lap there were 6 riders up the road with a substantial gap, and two chasers inbetween the bunch and the break. I shot off the front in an attempt to bridge the gap to the two chasers. I quickly pulled out about 300 metres on the bunch as nobody chased, but I couldn't reach the two chasers on my own and after about 10 minutes on my own I sat up and waited for the bunch. The rest of the race was ferociously fast, and I stayed near the front for the last lap, I soon found I was on the limit for the last lap and paid dearly in the uphill sprint for the line. I rolled over the line at the rear of the peloton. We finished the 71 mile race in 2h50m, with an average speed of 25.5mph. I was pleased with how I rode, and pleased with my effort to bridge the gap.

My legs are feeling super strong now ever since the Ras de Cymru, and hopefully my 2nd category licence will come within a few races.

Next weekend I have a 25 mile TT on H25/2 course in Marlow, aiming for an improvement of my pb of 56:48.

Ciao!

Update including Ras stages 3-6

Hey all,

Sorry not to have updated sooner, but I haven't had time to sit and write this for a while!!

Stage 3 of the Ras de Cymru was a tough 20 mile circuit that we covered 3 times, including one brutal climb that kicked to 20% at the top. The weather was awful with rain for the first 50 miles of the race, which made the long fast descent a bit tricky. The race started fast and I tried to stay up near the front and managed to stay with the main group after the first ascent of the hill. A 4 man breakaway soon went up the road and quickly established a solid lead over the main field, despite the hard work being done by the strong teams at the front. Second time up the climb I got distanced by about 200 metres at the top and had to use everything I had to get back on and work my way through the cars to the back of the peleton, luckily when descending on your own you can afford to take more risks and they paid off as I reached the rear of the bunch just as it flattened out, we then went full gas for the next 3-4 miles and I was really blowing, and knew I needed to recover before the final time up the climb... I couldn't, I got shot out the back and soon found myself in a 7-man chaingang of riders, we pushed so hard and in the last half hour of the race, I dug deeper than ever before and we managed to limit our losses to the fast moving bunch to under 1m30, a bloody good effort considering how 'on the limit' we all were! The stage was won by the breakaway, and Alex Peters of Eastern Region took the win, Mike and Henry managed to finish at the back of the main bunch so moved up to 42 and 47 respectively on the GC, I however had dropped to 54th, and the team were in 15th after stage 3. We hoped to make up some time with a good Team Time Trial in the afternoon.

The TTT was awful... We finished 2 minutes down on the winners, and all dropped places in the GC.

Stage 5 was the place to make up time on a tough hilly place to place course, it started with a long drag that never seemed to end, and at one point I found myself in a front group of about 20 riders and we had opened up a gap, however the chasing group caught us on the flat and the race came back together. The high pace though meant that riders were being shot out the back the whole way up the long climb. I felt good and fairly comfortable in the front group. A large break soon went up the road and pulled out around 2 minutes, the bunch contained defending champion Mike Smith of Team Corley. Adeo Cadence worked hard pulling the bunch along at a fast rate to look after the interests of Tavis Walker, however the break maintained their gap over the rest of the course, even though along a 10 mile stretch of flat dual carriageway, the bunch didn't slow much below 30mph for the whole stretch of road. We soon jumped off the DC and before long we were on the final run in and at the foot of the sharp climb to the finish, I was near the front and when Liam Stones of Corley Cycles attacked, I followed his wheel, but he was too strong and halfway up the climb I slipped backwards, and managed to finish just at the back of the front group. A succesful day in the saddle with Mike and Henry working hard to stay in the front group too, we jumped several teams in the Team GC and moved to 11th, we were all ecstatic. We all moved up in the GC too, I moved to 43rd and Henry/Mike were joint 38th on the exact same time after 5 stages!

Finally we had reached the last day of the race, stage 6 was a flattish course for most of the day with a long 4 mile climb to the finish. Nothing much happened in the run up to the foot of the mountain, although Nick Hinze had a breakthrough and found himself attacking off the front at one point, great to see him up there having suffered in the previous days. We hit the climb at pace and the sharp kick at the bottom split the group right up, I tried to stay in the wheel of Mike Betts, but he proved too strong and halfway up I cracked... ended up rolling in 55th on the day, with Nick Hinze doing a storming ride to finish ahead of me. We ended up consolidating 11th place on team GC, a great success. I finished 41st, Henry P 36th and Mike 32nd. Nick managed to move up to 79th, a respectable placing having worked his ass off for 5 days! Chapeau everyone. The stage was won by Mike Smith, who in turn took the General Classification for the 2nd year running!! Well done Mike. Brennan Townshend ended up 2nd, a great race from a young rider, definately a name to look for in the future. Third place went to Gruff Lewis. Adeo Cadence took the team standings, deservedly so, having ridden at the front for most of the 5 days.

All 4 Zappi riders left the race feeling happy with how we'd done, and raring to get back next year stronger and faster, ready to contend the GC and stage wins!

When I got back from the Ras I rested for a couple of days then did a 10 mile TT on the Wednesday, not a good idea. The position was all wrong on my new Cervelo P3, horridly uncomfortable... This coupled with my legs still feeling heavy meant I was over a minute down on my course best on the F11/10, only managing 21.38. Not a bad time, but I was bitterly dissapointed as I was hoping to get close to 19 minutes. Nevermind.

Yesterday I raced at Portsmouth, broke away multiple times, never stayed away, felt super strong and ended up taking 6th in the sprint. Today was a very wet 11.4 mile hilly time trial and I did no warm up, just sat in the car until my number was called! Managed to take the win by 1 second... not too bad!!

Next up is the H10/17R 10 mile TT on Saturday, followed by the Bath RC Junior Road Race as part of the national series on Sunday.

Until next time.
Ciao.

Ras de Cymru - Stages 1 & 2

Good evening bloggers!!

This week has finally brough about the much anticipated Ras de Cymru 2011, promoted by Cadence Cycle Racing. I was coming into the race on the back of some good form, having smashed my 10 mile TT pb with 20:36, winning the sprint at the MK Bowl, and riding hard and fast in the Stratford CC Road Race. I felt strong and was aiming to finish in the top half of overall GC, with it being my first stage race.

The Zappi's team consisted of Mike Betts, Henry Peacock, Nick Hinze, and me Henry Latimer. We arrived into a wet, overcast Wales early on Wednesday morning for the race briefing before the prologue TT in the afternoon feeling motivated, strong and raring to go!! The prologue was a hilly 6.9k course with a 1km climb to the finish. The early pace was set by Tavis Walker of Adeo Cadence RT with a rapid time of 11:31, which we later found out would stand as the winning time for the day, conditions began to worsen as the Zappi's start times were looming and the rain began to come down, nevertheless we all recorded respectable times, Nick Hinze coming in 83rd of 102, in a time of 13:29, Mike Betts taking 80th in 13:25, Henry Peacock snuck inside the top 50 with a time of 13:00, and I came 42nd in 12:54. Personally very happy with my start to the Ras, and hoping to come good as the race went on. Tavis Walker managed to gain 19 seconds on defending champion Mike Smith of Corley Cycles to take the yellow jersey going in to stage two.

Stage 2 was to be a 51 mile hilly road stage, starting in warm but overcast conditions, the race saw an early break of 5 gain 2 minutes on the main field, and despite the hardworking Adeo Cadence Road Team pulling the bunch along at over 30mph, the main field gained little time on the break and those 5 riders managed to stay away with Steve Calland of South Downs Bikes taking the win on the final climb to the finish by 5 seconds of Jamie Howard (Team South West), who in turn took the yellow jersey from Tavis Walker who rolled in with the main field, leaving him 1:39 off the pace in the General Classification. As for my ride, I felt strong in the race but stayed well hidden in the bunch, the race started quickly with the first 3 laps avergaing over 26mph, once it was clear the break had gone for good, the race became less frantic but the pace remained high, I rolled in with the main bunch over 2 minutes down on the stage winner, with Mike Betts riding a strong race finishing at the front of the main field, and Henry Peacock alongside me in the bunch. Nick Hinze had unfortunately lost contact with the race due to the frantic early pace setting by Adeo Cadence, and rolled in having ridden a 50 mile TT on his own, he managed to limit his losses by riding strongly and only losing 25 minutes on the main bunch. The results of todays stage mean that I am now sitting in 39th on GC, with Henry P in 45th, Mike in 62nd and Nick in 95th. The team have also moved up to 17th out of 27 on the team classification, which is currently being led by Team South West, closely followed by Corley Cycles.

Tomorrow sees us race another hilly road stage in the morning with a brutal climb in the middle, followed by a TTT in the afternoon, so it's time for bed now to rest up ready for a tough day tomorrow!!

Follow the results on the Cadence Cycle Racing website.

Ciao.

RTTC Junior National 25 Mile Time Trial Championship

So last weekend was the big one, the National 25!! My favourite distance, I was in the form of my life, and feeling more motivated than ever before!! The event was held in Holsworthy, Devon, and we were staying in a Travelodge in Okehampton. I was travelling down with my team-mate Cameron Foster and his parents, we drove down early Saturday morning and arrived in Devon around Midday. A quick drive down one leg of the course and we were ready to go and reccy the course!!

Cameron and I got changed, sorted the bikes out, training wheels in and we were on the road! The course started in Holsworthy town centre, descended under a bridge and out of town before a sharp left hander onto the main road for the course. This section was to be closed off to traffic on Sunday, so could be taken quickly and safely!! Once on the main road there was a sharp climb right away, followed by various up and down sections along both the outward and return legs of the course. Not a flat section in sight... There were some very fast downhill sections with a couple of sweeping bends that you could carry your speed through. We finished our ride and both felt pretty good about the course, it suited us with its sporting profile. We were now ready for the big one!!

Cameron & I riding the course!

We woke up Sunday morning feeling refreshed, strong, and up for it! We arrived at Race HQ nice and early to leave plenty of time, but before long we were changed and warming up! My warm up consisted of 20 minutes steady on the turbo with a couple of sprints to get the blood lactate up to threshold. Cam was off 4 minutes before me so we made our way to the town centre in good time, saw the closed roads, the start ramp, and the riders being sent on their way!! It looked amazing, like something out of the Tour de France!! Cameron was soon off and he sprinted off the ramp at top speed. Then a couple of minutes later I was up...

Ready on the ramp!!

I was set off down the ramp and was greeted by a cheer from the crowd, this got the blood pumping and I pelted down the closed road section and took the sharp left hander at speed!! Then it went up... I powered up the short climb to applause from the spectators at the top of the hill. I pelted along the rest of the course at completely inconsistent speeds, this reflected the profile of the course. I got to the turn in fairly good time and could see I was gaining on a few riders, I continued to power back towards the finish and despite my visor continually steaming up due to the rain in the air, I remained focussed and managed to push hard in the final few miles, catching 5 riders in the last 5 miles. The final push for the line, and then it was over, I pootled back to HQ and after sorting everything out I went in and the results were up... 11th. Damn. My aim was to break into the top 10, and I had missed out by around 30 seconds to Mike Barnes of ColourTech RT. Nevermind, a good result nonetheless! My time was 1:00:58, a good 4 minutes off my PB for a 25, but not a bad time for the course, Cameron completed the course in 1:02:44, another good time and a great showing from the Zappi's!!

The event was won by National 10 champion Ryan Mullen of Planet-X, a clean sweep for Mullen this year, at only 16 years of age, definately one to watch in the future!! Oli Rossi from PCA Ciclos Unos came second with Luke Grivell-Mellor topping off the podium for the Mid Shropshire Wheelers. The womens event was won by hot favourite Julia Shaw of Drag2Zero.com, but a fantastic ride by team-mate Chrissy Radon meant that the Zappi's were on the podium in 2nd place! Well done Chrissy!! Michael Hutchinson won the mens event, despite a mechanical whilst riding, a testimony to how powerful a rider he is!!

Here are a few pictures of my ride:

A great success in my opinion, for now I am more than happy with 11th place at nationals, and I am now focussing on getting good results in road races and bring down my 10 and 25 mile TT times!!

Since the Nat 25 I have done a couple of club time trials and came 2nd in both, form is still here, now to bring in some points in the bunch racing!!

Thanks for reading!!

Ciao.

Midweek Stuff.

Since my last blog I have done 1 local club time trial, and 2 midweek crits.

Last Thursday was the Didcot Phoenix 10 mile club time trial, the weather wasn't great, fairly windy and rain was in the air. It did however stay dry for the race itself and the 18 riders who had braved the weather were pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a fairly fast night. The course was a single carriageway course containing no less than 11 roundabouts... But by no means a slow course. I ended up winning the event in a time of 22.04, only 3 seconds off my pb, and this on a much slower course, so things are looking good for when I get back on a quick course!! My winning margin for Thursday... 53 seconds put into 2nd placed Alan Alcock of Didcot Phoenix who record 22.57.

I had a weekend off racing last weekend, playing cricket instead for my local team, not a bad weekend, scored 93 runs, nearly a century!!

Back to cycling, on Monday I went to Ludgershall for the cat 3/4 race. The track was covered in muck, flints and looked wet!! The race started fairly fast and I felt strong, always staying up near the front of the pack. After 30 minutes I discovere my front wheel had punctured, I quickly stopped to put in my spare and was back in after a lap out. The race was still fast but my legs felt good and going into the final lap I was well placed behind team-mate Chris Boote who was there to lead me out, then disaster, at the start of the final lap I felt my back wheel go down, a puncture, but I couldn't bring myself to stop when in such a good position. I was completely blowing and was deep into the red, I kept pushing on behind Chris, but could simply not compete in the sprint, we both finished outside the top 10, I rolled in 17th, still in the top half of the bunch, not bad on a flat tyre... Team-mate Andy Mckay took a brilliant 4th place in the sprint. Overall I was happy with my positioning and strength in the race, and felt good for a top-3 finish, but bad luck at the wrong time put paid to that. Ludgershall, not a track I will be returning to any time soon!!

Finally, this evening I travelled to the Eelmore for another 3/4 criterium race. Conditions were good and the race started fast, remained fast and finished fast. But once again I felt strong and followed a few attacks off the front, but nothing stayed away due to the ferocious pace of the race. I tested my sprint on the primes after 20 and 40 minutes respectively, taking 3rd in the first, and 5th in the second. Not bad and looking good for a top 10 finish if I could position myself correctly in the line up to the final bend before the sprint. It didn't work out that way, the bunch slowed on the straight before the final bend, it bunched up and i found myself boxed in. No chance, I still sprinted hard but nothing came of it and i rolled in around 20th place... Not a complete waste of time however as my team-mate Chris Boote remarked after the race... "I think I won" ... Turns out he was right!! 10 more points for Zappi's and we're moving up the Central Regional Rankings!! It must be my turn to bring in some points for the team, it's been too long that I have been 'riding well' with no reward.

More motivated than ever before.

Bring on the National 25.

Ciao,

RTTC Junior National 10 Mile TT Championship - 21/5/11

So the time had come for my first National event of the year, the National 10 Mile Time Trial Championships, promoted by Hartlepool CC on the T102 course near Middlesborough. We headed off on the 4 hour journey at around 7 oclock to allow plenty of time before my start time at 2.20, arriving at about 11.30. We drove the course and found that this event had the worlds longest turn consisting of 2 90 degree sharp left handers, a drag up over a bride then a sweeping left hander back onto the dual carriageway, I figured the event could be won or lost there!! The wind had been howling all morning and it soon became apparent that the longer outward leg would be a block headwind, and the shorter return leg would be a flying tailwind, not ideal but the same for everybody!!

When we stopped in the service station along the course to grab lunch, it was a nice surprise to see Bradley Wiggins, the hot favourite for the mens event and pro rider, getting his bike out of his car. I went over and had a chat with him for 10 minutes or so, before he wished me luck and declared he was off to ride the course 3 times, oh how the pros do it differently!! Really nice down to earth guy though.

Me & Brad.

I started all my pre-race prep nice and early, and began warming up about 40 minutes before my start time, felt like my legs were working okay on the turbo, and by the time I rocked up to the start I was feeling warmed up and ready to go.

I started quickly down the slightly sheltered slip road, quickly getting up to 25mph, but when I joined the dual carriageway my speed considerably dropped and with a couple of drags up to the turn it all meant that my 5 mile split was 13.42, an average speed of 21.9mph.

 At the 5 mile mark

I sped round the turn in pretty good time with the rider just before me in my sights, I rejoined the dual carriageway and soon overtook the rider in front of me, Hannah Barnes of Motorpoint who would go on to take the Junior Womens title, well done to her. I sped home with a brilliant tailwind and the second 5 miles took a mere 9 minutes and 42 seconds, averaging 31mph all the way back, with a top speed of 39.7mph over the finish line!!

Pushing on down the DC!

I rolled back to the finish HQ wondering how I had placed and how other riders had got on. When I got back to HQ it turned out I was 4th fastest thus far in a time of 23.24, but with a lot of quick guys still to come in I knew I would be hard pushed to crack the top 10. I ended up in 15th place, but a lot closer to a top 10 placing than it first seemed, 13 seconds slower than 10th place. The win went to Ryan Mullen of Planet X in an astonishing time of 21.33, 37 seconds ahead of Alex Royle in second, last years champion Oli Rossi rounded off the podium a further 17 seconds down.

Overall I was very pleased with my performance, and happy to show I can compete highly at National events. The ride has also given me the confidence to push on and aim for top 10 in the National 25, which takes place on June 5th in Cornwall!

In the Womens event, Julia Shaw was run very close by Laura Trott of 100% ME, but in the end Shaw, riding for drag2zero.com won in a time of 22.53, followed by Trott in 2nd with 22.57, 3rd place went to Hannah Mayho of 100% ME, in 23.28.

The mens event went to Bradley Wiggins in a phenomenal time of 19.14, worth noting his 5 mile time of 11.01, meant that he averaged 27.2mph into a block headwind... enough said. The comp record holder Michael Hutchinson took 2nd in 19.55, with Joe Perrett rounding off the podium in 20.26.

No events planned before the National 25, but I will probably do a few club TTs, and maybe a midweek crit somewhere..

Until then.

Ciao.

Reading CC Road Race - 15th May

Today I did a road race promoted by Reading Cycling Club, it was held on the Great Milton circuit, the same as the Thames Velo road race earlier in the year. The race was to be 60 miles, a lot longer than any other race I had done before, it was also including 2nd cat riders, so the race itself would be faster, longer, and tougher!!

On the start line we held a minutes silence in memory of the late Wouter Weylandt, a fantastic young rider who was tragically taken from us in a stage of this years Giro D'Italia, a great mark of respect to Wouter. The race itself did not start well for me personally, as after less than a mile I heard a crunch and noticed my front mech grinding on my chain, the mech had somehow bent out of shape and was rubbing on the chain making the worlds most annoying sound... I had no choice but to continue on ignoring the horrible sound of rubbing metal!! The race continued at high speed through various villages and along the long straight road up to the climb of Clare Hill, I was near the back of the bunch the first time up the hill and having not felt great for the first few miles I struggled up and got blown out of the back, I spent the next 2-3 miles trying to bridge the gap back to the bunch with one other guy and eventually made it, on my own, I dropped the other guy with a huge dig to make the last few metres back on.

The next lap was all about resting and recovering, I did this pretty well and just stayed out of trouble in the middle of the peloton. A break of 8 got away during the 2nd lap, but I didn't have the legs to go with them at that point so just watched them ride away. As we approached the climb for the 2nd time, I found myself in a much better position and felt slightly stronger, having warmed up fully now. I made it over the top near the front of the group, then disaster... I slipped my chain off and couldn't get it back on, I pulled over and struggled to get the chain back onto my chainring. The neutral service car stopped and helped me sort it out, and then quickly paced me back up to the main group... averaging 33mph behind a car is always fun!!

I caught back onto the group around the start of the 3rd lap and started to feel a lot stronger from then on. I led the group over the hill for the 3rd time and was feeling good! I stayed on or near the front for the remainder of the race, and felt good right to the end!! Worth noting is that I managed to get through the feed-zone unscathed, photographic evidence is below!! Thanks to Henry Peacock got passing up the bottle.

Grabbing on to a bottle!!

The last lap consisted of me jumping on to every move that went away, and always getting brought back... I was still feeling strong though and doing my fair share of the work on the front. The breakaway was still up the road and looked to be staying away, so it was down to a sprint for the minor placings.

With 2k to go I was up near the front hovering about 3rd wheel, but I judged it wrongly and heading into 1k to go I found myself on the front... That was my sprint out of the window... I decided to try a lead-out for my team mate Gunther who I knew was sitting behind me. It worked well but I left him with a little too far to go and he could only manage 5th/6th in the sprint and 14th overall. My race did not end there as I had a personal battle to finish with a friend of mine Harry Strudley from Team AW Cycles... It was close as we both lunged for the line, as yet it is unclear who took this epic battle for 40th place...

Epic contest with Harry...

In general I am happy with my race, especially after the 2 early mechanicals. I felt strong in the latter stages of the race which bodes well for future longer races. I still need to work on my position towards the end of races, but I am getting there!!

Race Stats are 60.5 miles at 25.7mph with over 2000ft of climbing and a top speed of 39.7mph!!

National 10 next Saturday...

Ciao.

MK Bowl - 12th May

Went to the MK Bowl this Thursday for a 3/4 circuit race, mainly to be used as training, but as always I was looking to get a decent result. The race started with half an hour on an inside loop of the bowl before extending out around the bowl for the second half, with the second half being much more technical.

The race itself started slow for a couple of laps before people started shooting off the front, including team-mate Cameron Foster, I kept myself near the front, and having seen Cameron attack off the front for a second time, I also sprinted off the front to try and bridge the gap to Cam. I looked behind to see another rider bridging across behind me, Lucy Garner of the Motorpoint Ladies Team. 3 Juniors in a break off the front and we thought we had a decent gap at one point, although it was probably only about a quarter of a lap in reality, and despite working well together we were never destined to stay away and got caught after around 7 or 8 laps on our own.

Myself, Cam & Lucy pushing on.

Nothing much happened after this and the race seemed to be heading for a sprint, on the final lap I made up ground to get up near the front of the bunch, and onto the final climb to the line I started sprinting slightly too late and lost a few more placings than I should have. I ended up 14th out of about 35-40 riders, Cameron got 10th so gets a solitary point for the team!

My proper race for this week is on Sunday, the Reading CC Road Race, on the Great Milton circuit. 60 miles/100km and a cat 2/3/4 race, so I am really psyched up for that!!

Ciao.

Didcot Phoenix 25 Mile TT - Sunday 8th May

Sunday morning saw the first 25 mile time trial of the season for me, it had rained heavily overnight, and I woke up to find it was quite wet on the ground, and the trees were blowing in the wind. Not ideal conditions when going for a new PB! However with the power gains I had made over the winter, I was confident that I could beat my previous PB of 58:21. The course was the H25/17 which goes along the A420 towards Faringdon from Cumnor, then retraces back to Cumnor, it is a mix of single carriageway and dual carriageway roads, and is gently rolling the whole way through, overall not a superfast course, but by now means completely slow.

I started off at 08.17, and when I started off down the slip road I soon got up to speed and found myself flying down the road. My average speed was soon up at around 28mph thanks to the rapid downhill start, as the miles rolled by, my average speed settled down to around 27mph, not bad considering this was a slight cross-headwind on the way out, I soon caught my minute man, and my 2 minute man the legendary John Woodburn, and by the time I reached the turn roundabout I had passed 5 riders. I reached the turn at just over 13 miles in 30:07, 4th fastest to the turn and only 4 seconds slower than the 3rd placed rider on the road. I soon felt the effects of my fast outward leg because I started to feel the lactic acid build up in my legs, luckily I managed to carry on at a steady pace. With 3 miles to go, Steve Golla of La Fuga passed me, I managed to keep him in my sights till the finish and after pushing up the final climb to the finish, I found I had recored a time of 56:48.

I was very happy with this as I was aiming for a long 57, so I achieved my goal and came 4th overall in the event, whilst also taking 1st junior. Steve Golla won the event in 53:21, with Danny Axford taking second in 54:00. Overall I am very pleased with my new PB, and I now want to get on a superfast course and go for a 54 or 53!!

Things are looking good for the national championships, and if I can hold my form I am on course for some good results!

Ciao.

Busy week!!

Hey all,

Racing started this weekend with a 41 miles road race near Milton Keynes, the Andy Morrison Memorial, run over a short 2.5 mile course that we were to cover 18 times. The course consisted of one long downhill with a tailwind... one long uphill drag with a headwind, and a straight to finish. Race started rapidly and I stayed tucked nicely into the peloton for the first half of the race, choosing not to contest any of the prime sprints. About halfway through the race a break of 2 got away from the bunch, and would go on to stay away for the victory. The bunch never got organised with the chase, so it came down to a sprint for 3rd place. Coming down the downhill section for the final time with 2 miles to go, I found myself at the front of the group, not a bad thing on a fast descent, but we then hit the drag with the headwind, bad position, bad time to be on the front. I had no choice but to drag the bunch along as I could see the break of 2 about 30 seconds up the road. With about 1.5 miles to go I realised I was not going to have enough energy to contest the sprint, so I went for a flyer off the front, got a small gap but that lasted all of about half a mile before the peloton wound it up. I ended up rolling in near the front of the main bunch, with team-mate Gunther Zechmann taking 6th place, and closet Zappi Mike Betts bagging a top 10 to boot. Not a bad race, and legs are starting to feel stronger with each road race!

 Leading the bunch onto the downhill section.

Monday morning saw a return to the ridiculously early mornings, only known to the testers of this world, time trials will always fascinate me with their choice of starting at 7am... hey ho. This was a 10-mile open event on the H10/181 course in Witney, Oxfordshire. A blustery day meant that no fast times were expected on the day, however with the addition of my new 60mm deep front wheel, I was hoping to match my time of 22.01 from 3 weeks previous on the same course. I turned up to the start to find my minute man was a DNS, nobody to aim for.. great, it so happens that I caught my 2 minute man at the turn anyway! The conditions were windy on the way out, windy on the way back. Not ideal. I finished with a time of 22.10, which after seeing the times of others, I was not at all dissapointed with. Chris Ball won the event in 22.20, a good minute slower than the event 3 weeks prior to this one, so I definately went faster relative to that event!

Tuesday night I rode over to Sutton Courteney for a handicapped training ride, going off with a guy on his TT bike, I expected a working over, we pushed hard to get round and caught/dropped all those in front of us by the 1 mile to go mark. I easily did him in the sprint. A good training session!

Tonight I did the Didcot Phoenix club 10 on CC241, a potentially fast single carriageway course... but containing no less than 11 roundabouts! I took the win in this event by 7 seconds, recording a time of 22.20, very happy with that and pleased to take my first win of the season!

First 25 this weekend, looking forward to that and aiming to knock a good minute off by current pb of 58.21.
Until then.

Ciao.

Midweek stuff again!

Hey guys,

Been a busy racer this week, two 10 miles TTs and a Criterium race. On Tuesday I did the Bicester Millenium CC Club 10 at Weston-on-the-Green airfield, no traffic and no hills makes this a very 'true' course with nowhere to hide. I had never done a solo on my TT rig before tonight, so didn't know what to expect. I completed the course in 22.41, only one other solo rider going faster. Very happy with that result, hopefully knock some more time off that during the season!

Wednesday night saw me and Henry Peacock tackle Eelmore, a simple circuit with two straights, and two hairpins. This was a 50 minute race for 3rd and 4th category riders. 60 guys signed on and we started very quickly, knowing that I was feeling the effects of Tuesday's TT, I wasn't expecting anything great in terms of results, however I kept myself near the front, got in a couple of small breaks, but nothing ever stayed away. I tried a solo attack with 4 laps to go, but could only manage one lap on my own before being reeled back in, I lost my position with a lap to go and could only manage to get back up to around 20th place. Not at all dissapointed though, I throughly enjoyed it, and my team-mate Henry got 7th place! 25.2mph average for those who want to know!!

Cornering at Eelmore

Thursday night I rode out to ride my local hilly 10 mile course (HCC243), the event was run by my old club Didcot Phoenix, I was hoping to go under 23 minutes on this course, as there are a couple of drags over the 10 mile course. It was a beautiful evening, incredibly warm for mid April!! I started off incredibly slowly, as I had stood around for the 45 minutes prior to the start!! Luckily the first mile was gently downhill, so 'incredibly slowly' was still about 25mph!! I soon warmed up again though and found myself coming over the line in a time of 23.03, slightly annoyed not to go under 23 minutes, but having raced for the previous two days, I can't complain! Once again I came 2nd, I WILL win something this season!

Rested yesterday, and rode the Zappi's club ride this morning, ended up doing 71 miles at 19.5mph average in glorious sunshine, tan lines are starting to show through!! Same again for me tomorrow morning, more miles! Next race is the Andy Morrison Memorial Road Race (2/3/4) on the 30th April.

Until then,

Ciao.

Inverse Road Race - 17th April

Today was the Inverse Cyclaim RT Spring Road Race, a cat 3/4 race around the hills of the Hughenden Valley... The sun was out and a glorious morning was just beginning!! There were around 80 riders in the race, which was to be 45 miles long, taking in 3 laps of a hilly 15 mile circuit. The circuit began with a long uphill drag at a low gradient, of around 3 miles, followed by a fast curving downhill section littered with potholes. We then moved onto the flat main road for a mile before entering whiteleaf and climbing whiteleaf hill... A hill with a 1:7 gradient for about 1.5 miles, we then rode along a flat section for a couple of miles, followed by a narrow downhill straight, before finally taking a hard left into the finish straight.

We started the race by being guided down the wrong road by the marshalls, which resulted in us being stopped, turned around and taken back onto the course!! I was slightly annoyed by this as I had taken up a good position near the front of the field, so while the service car was turning round, I lifted my bike over my head and walked through the stinging nettle patch, up to the other end of the field, so I didn't lose my position at the front!!

Once back on course, the racing began, everything stayed together untill Whiteleaf Hill when the 'hard riders' came into their own, the climbers soon pulled out a gap and pushed on over the top leaving lots of other riders for dead on the hill. The front group consisted of around 20 riders including myself, my team-mate Roger Prior, and Mike Betts. We obviously pulled out a big gap because there was no sign of the main bunch behind us. We lost Mike on the second time up the hill, but I was spurred on by the sight of Claire Galloway and Clare Leaver cheering on me and the other Zappi's, thanks for the support guys!! The race stayed much the same for the rest of the race, with the front group just pulling out more and more of a gap with every passing mile.

However on the final climb up Whiteleaf Hill, a GS Henley made a move, which was to become a solo winning effort!! A fantastic effort by him, second place was taken by Matt Melville of AW Cycles who broke away by himself with around 4 miles to go, and just stayed away by a few metres, well done!! The sprint for the top 10 was a fast one, starting out of the sharp left hander... I was spinning my junior gear as fast as I could, and got up to around 7th/8th place, while my team-mate Roger Prior took 4th place. A great showing once again by Team Zappi, 2 riders in the top 10 on an extremely tough circuit was a good team effort!!

Overall, very happy with my race, I felt strong and I am definately improving my tactics in road racing, hopefully I can find a spot on the podium soon!! I'm racing at Eelmore on Wednesday, wish me luck.

Ciao.

Midweek stuff...

Hey guys,

This week I have been fairly active, with a very hilly 52 mile ride on Monday morning, great fun but two monster climbs over Streatley hill and Whitchurch hill near Pangbourne!! Tuesday I did the Bicester Millenium closed circuit time trial at Weston-on-the-Green airfield, I am using these time trials as training for road races, and using my road bike to try and simulate breakaway riding... One of my aims for the year was to get under 24 minutes on my standard road bike, wheels, helmet, bars etc... And I did it on Tuesday!! 23.58, so only just, but very very pleased with that and can now aim for 23.30 by the end of the season!!

Last night I went down to the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth with team-mate Henry Peacock, the circuit race was 40 mins + 3 laps on a pan flat oval circuit, there were between 30 and 40 riders in the race and I planned to put these guys to the sword straight away! I broke off after about 50 metres off the race, and 4 other guys came with me, we pulled out a gap of around half a lap very quickly, and stayed away for 5 or 6 laps, before being brought back by the bunch. The race consisted of a few breaks like this, and I did my fair share of work getting in them or bringing them back!! By the time the bell went for the final lap, everything slowed down, as no body wanted to go to soon.. A couple of near touches of wheels made me slightly nervous, but I went high up the banking looking for a slingshot into the home straight, and i got it, but someone rode straight in front of me and blocked my sprint line... I ended up coming in just outside the top 10, a great race though and an average speed of almost 26mph...

This morning I went out with the club, 6 of us and I ended up doing 63 miles averaging 19mph.. A tough ride as my legs were not 100%, still recovering from last night, but I enjoyed it! now looking forward to an easy day tomorrow, a recce of this weekends road race course on saturday, then the race itself on sunday!!

Until then.
Ciao.

Oxford City RC 10 (H10/181) - 9th April

Did the Oxford City Road Club open 10 this morning, on the new Witney Bypass course, the H10/181. Opinions were split over the potential of this course before today, so todays results would prove whether or not it was quick!

Conditions seemed good, a nice sunny day albeit rather chilly due to the early morning start, I warmed up for about half an hour before heading out to the start. I started off fairly slowly, and in hindsight probably could have gained a few more seconds in the first 2-3 miles. Once I got past the turn I started to go full gas, and soon began to reel in my minute man, I ended up just 8 seconds behind him, but had no idea what time I had done because my cycle computer had run out of battery!

Got back to HQ to find that I had recorded a time of 22.01, I would have loved to go sub-21 but for the sake of 2 seconds... I was pretty pleased with the time!! I managed to win a private battle between myself and my team mate Cam Foster, who recorded his own PB with a great ride to get 22.12. I'm looking forward to doing a 2up with this guy! The TT today was won by Chris Ball of Biobike RT in 19.26, closely followed by drag2zero.com rider Stu Dodd in 19.27.

Riding out to a local tt tomorrow for training on the road bike and then the next big race is the Inverse Road Race next Sunday.

Ciao.

Thames Velo 3/4 Road Race - 3rd April

Hello all,

Just a quick note, last weekend I raced the Bill Jinks Memorial Road Race (3/4) and had a good race, finishing in the bunch and feeling strong.

Anyway, onto today's race now!! A local race for me, the Thames Velo RR, a cat 3/4 race through Great Milton and Stadhampton. I felt good in the morning having had a good night's sleep and lots of carbs the night before!! The race started slowly for the first few miles but soon sped up about 5 miles in, before long we were coasting along at 30mph with ease. There were a few breaks that tried to go early, including one started by myself and team-mate Henry Peacock, we got a small gap and felt we could push on, only to find the commisaire's car slow right down and stop us from getting away... Oh well!

 Just starting out...

The race carried on in a similar fashion with mini-breaks going away and soon getting brought back, and at all times, Team Zappi's were present at or near the front! The prime sprint was to come on the 2nd time through the finish line, at around 30 miles. I went early at the bottom of the hill, and tried to push on, but I had gone too early and was caught by a few other guys, and rolled over about 7th for the prime, team-mate Roger Prior took second though so well done to him!! So now there was one lap to go, everyone was together.

Just before entering Little Milton a group of about 4 of us got a slight gap and tried to push on, however everyone soon began to slow, so I went through to do a turn on the front, looking to wind the pace up and increase or gap, however it seems I either accelarated stupidly quickly, or the other 3 had nothing to give because I soon found myself alone with clear daylight between me and the bunch.

 Increasing the gap!!

I saw this as an opportunity, so with 12 miles left to go in the race I was all alone and building a steady gap from the bunch. I was soon out of sight and had a gap of about a minute, I blocked out all my thoughts and just dug in, and as far as I could see they weren't gaining on me. Off the long straight and onto the climb... I put everything into that hill and flew down the other side at 30+ mph, still a gap. The last left-hand turn of the race, onto the long road to the finish, 2 miles to go... they had started to close the gap, I dug deep and powered on, I could see a few riders beginning to wind up for the leadout, and the gap was closing down rapidly!! I got to the foot of the final climb, 500 metres before the line... 1 rider... 2 riders... 3... The whole bunch came past me and I just capitulated, could hardly get above 8mph to the finish line... I had given everything, and just been pipped at the line.

 Sprinting out of a sharp left hand bend... Ouch.

I was gutted, I crossed the line and collapsed onto the floor, nothing left whatsoever... I had dug deeper than I ever have in a bike race before... for 12 miles, and it wasn't quite enough. Congratulations to team-mate Matt Derrick who took 5th overall, and 1st Junior, cracking ride buddy!

Chasing the escort cars!

Overall I was happy with my ride, and proved to myself that if I work hard, I can compete really well in these races! The result was slightly dissapointing for me personally, but I was really proud to be part of a team who worked hard, rode hard, was ever-present, and got a few results today! Well done to all riders, and it was brilliant to see a lot of other club members out at the finish line!! Great support, thanks guys!

Everyone now knows who Team Zappi's are, and that we can compete with any other team at this level!

Ciao.