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!
Thursday 25 August 2011
Thursday 18 August 2011
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.
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...
Friday 5 August 2011
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!
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!
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