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.