Bill Jinks Memorial Road Race

Today was a glorious 20 degree day in Coventry, the setting for the Bill Jinks Memorial, a 2/3/4 category race with a pretty strong field of riders due to the ever increasing popularity of the sport. It was to be raced around a fairly short course at 6.4 miles, with 2 short hills thrown in for good measure, one being on the run in to the finish line. It looked to be a perfect breakaway course, with a rolling profile and lots of corners, so my plan was to attack hard early on in the race.

We rolled out for the neutral section with riders jostling for position early on, I placed myself in the top 20 riders ready for the early attacks. Immediately 2 guys went up the road with a small gap, however as is often the way, the first attack was brought back fairly quickly. Next up I attacked out of a corner and moved away from the peloton fairly quickly, my first thoughts were "crap... nobody is coming...", however after about 2 miles on my own I looked back to see Adrian Bird (Rapid Performance Coaching RT) moving up, so I sat up took a drink and when he latched on, we went full gas to increase our gap! We worked well together for 1 lap, and soon saw 2 other riders bridging across, as they reached us it became clear that Bird was struggling, and he dropped back to the bunch. So I began working with my new companions Matthew Bonehill (Stafford CC) and James Ratcliffe (Fred Williams RT).

 Breakaway

Large gap to the bunch.

We pushed really hard for over a lap and pushed the gap up to 40 seconds, before settling into a rhythm together. As the race went on, the gap was held at 40 seconds for 3 laps, but with 5 laps to go it was clear that the chase had sped up behind us, and after 35 miles we were swept up by the bunch. This was when the decisive move came from Tom Black (Cycle Premier RT), taking advantage of the tired legs in the bunch he countered with a huge attack on the hill to the finish line, pulled out a sizeable gap, and was never seen again as the bunch messed around behind.

With 2 laps to go I launched another attack and got away again, once again James Ratcliffe was there along with 2 others we worked to bridge up to Black, but we could only stay away for 1 5 miles before heading back into the bunch. At this point my legs were really starting to hurt and after one more futile attempt to get away I was resigned to finishing in the bunch, as 3 other guys clipped off the front to stay away. I didn't really have the legs for a full-on sprint so just stayed in the bunch and held my pace to the line, riders blew all around my in the last 500m and I ended up around 20-25th as we crossed the line.

Very happy with how my legs felt today, but with only 3 riders against a chasing bunch it was always going to be tough to stay out for 60 miles. Nevertheless it is encouraging to see the legs performing well early season. Hopefully there is much more to come! Next weekend is the Ham Hill RR.

Ciao.

Weekend of 17th/18th March

Another double header this weekend with a 2/3 crit at Milton Keynes Bowl followed by an E/1/2/3 Road Race in Worcestershire.

To be honest... there's not a lot to tell about either race. Saturday was frustrating as I was chased down every single time I broke away, then a counter attack of 10 riders stuck and I spent half an hour chasing with the help of one other rider, typical 2nd cat negative riding from the bunch! I ended up pulling out as it became clear that the group were gone for good.

Sunday... Similar story, got in an early move but missed the decisive break! It was a large group that got away and once out of sight we never had a chance of bringing it back, despite a huge effort from Felt-Colbornes on the front. I clipped off the front a couple of times to try and distance the bunch, once on my own and once with a small group, but it never lasted more than a few minutes.

A sub-standard weekend for me... Pretty dissapointing, but the racing will always be hard in E123 races, and it won't always work out the way you like! There is always next week though!

Ciao!

Weekend of 10th/11th March

This weekend was to be a double header for me with a race on both Saturday and Sunday, I had an easy back end of the week so was hoping to be going well for the weekend.

Saturday was the Roy Thame Cup in Buckinghamshire, this race is considered one of the early season classics in the UK and always attracts a high quality field, and this year was no different. There were full teams from 100% ME, Team UK-Youth, Rapha Condor Sharp, Metaltek-Scott, and plenty more to go with them, this was bound to mean a very controlled race. The course was gently rolling with no big climbs to tackle, however the road surface was atrocious with huge potholes and broken surfaces everywhere on the course, this was to make the race very tricky and technical, like a proper classic race such as Flanders or Roubaix.

It was a warm day in Bucks and as the riders took to the start line it became apparent that everyone was psyched up for this, and so it was proven when the first 11 mile lap was completed with an average speed just under 29mph. Attacks were coming thick and fast but with the pace so high it was nigh on impossible to get a meaningful gap on the bunch. About halfway through the race the decisive move got away as the pace gradually slowed in the bunch. 4 riders soon pulled out 2 minutes on the bunch. It was obvious that UK Youth missed the break as they sat 5 riders on the front for over a lap trying to bring back the break, but it wasn't happening for them so they stopped giving chase on the penultimate lap. Throughout this I was staying out of trouble in the bunch feeling fairly comfortable and trying to avoid holes, it was however difficult to move towards the front due to the high pace set on the front so I stayed hidden in the pack. On the last lap I moved up through the pack slowly and with around 5k to go I was in the top 20 trying to jostle for position, a second group got away at this point as Steve Golla (High Wycombe) attacked and took a group with him, they pulled out a small gap and just managed to hold this to the finish. All this meant we were sprinting for about 15th place in the bunch, nevertheless it was going fast down the final straight towards the line and with 1k to go I jumped on the wheel of a Metaltek rider who moved to the front... Not my smartest move as when he pulled off I had nowehere to go so had to move over and try to rejoin the motoring 100% ME train down the right-hand side. I had no time to rectify my position and ended up finishing in the middle of the pack. Phil Lavery (Node-4 Giordana) took the 3-up sprint from the break, with Richard Lang (Rapha) and Tom Moses (100% ME) completing the podium.

We finished the 69 mile course with a 27mph average speed, pretty quick considering the road surface too! I generally felt very good, just need to work on positioning towards the end, and perhaps be more confident with my attacks!

Omega Portsmouth Circuits

I had an early Saturday night and rested up so I was fit and ready to race again on Sunday at Mountbatten centre, Portsmouth. It was even sunnier than Saturday, and my legs were not feeling too bad considering the battering the day before! I had a nice long 30 minute warm up to get the legs nicely loose before the smash-fest began.

The race started fast and attacks came thick and fast, my first meaningful attack saw me escape the peloton with my training partner Nick Baker (Zappi's CC), we pulled out about half a lap on the bunch and held it for around 8 laps, but with just 2 people we were always going to struggle for firepower.

Pulling away with Nick Baker (Zappi's CC)

More attacks came and went but it was apparent that due to the high pace, a break would always struggle to stay away, that didn't stop people trying though! Another attack went and I latched on to it, 2 riders from VC St. Raphael and a Mid Devon CC rider rode off and I was there with them.

Driving the break along!!

We quickly increased our advantage to over half a lap and worked really well together, one guy dropped off after a while but 3 of us continued to push on, and for a while I though we might take a lap on the peloton, however with the bunch chasing hard for the duration of our break, we were always going to be reeled in.

3up break pushing on.

We stayed away for 20 minutes and this was to be the most succesful break of the race, except for the solo attack of Toby Neave, he attacked with 4 laps to go and caught the bunch by surprise. He quickly pulled out a third of a lap and held on for the finish, a well timed move to take the win. The bunch kick for 2nd place was led out at high pace and I was sat halfway back, as we rounded the back of the track for the final time I was quickly moving up through the pack and kicked hard, I think I managed a place just outside the top 10, so some minor points. Lewis Atkins (Twenty-3c Orbea) took the bunch sprint from Justin Hoy (Felt).

Another good race and my strongest performance of the season so far, feeling better with every race and hopefully coming into form for some early season results!! Next weekend is another double header with MK Bowl crit on Saturday and Evesham Vale Road Race on Sunday.

Ciao!