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.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Saturday, 9 April 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Thruxton - 20th March
Today I raced in the 3rd cat race at Thruxton Motor Circuit, a great track, with a great surface! Me and my club-mate Mike went for a gentle 20 mile warm up around the surrounding roads beforehand. We felt really well warmed up and ready to go. The race started slowly so I tried a couple of digs off the front, but not enough people came across and the break didn't stick, I also didn't want to use all my energy so early on.
The race soon sped up though and with almost 100 riders in the race, there were a couple of hairy moments through the fast chicane section of the course, however as a whole the race was pretty safe and there were no crashes.
One break did get away with about 5 laps to go and they hung out with a fair gap for quite a while, however they got reeled in with 1 lap to go and the race seemed destined to go down to a bunch sprint, and going into the final kilometre I found myself making inroads up the field and was soon sitting 5 back on the left hand side of the track, however as we got into the final mini chicane before the home straight, I lost my lead-out man and was left with a gap that I couldn't make up, so I couldn't get back to compete for the win. I kept sprinting though and managed to get up to around 20th place (unconfirmed).
Overall again, happy with my result and felt strong, I think we averaged over 25mph for the 30 miles, so it was all good speed training. Still getting stronger I think, so who knows what next week will bring!!
Ciao.
The race soon sped up though and with almost 100 riders in the race, there were a couple of hairy moments through the fast chicane section of the course, however as a whole the race was pretty safe and there were no crashes.
One break did get away with about 5 laps to go and they hung out with a fair gap for quite a while, however they got reeled in with 1 lap to go and the race seemed destined to go down to a bunch sprint, and going into the final kilometre I found myself making inroads up the field and was soon sitting 5 back on the left hand side of the track, however as we got into the final mini chicane before the home straight, I lost my lead-out man and was left with a gap that I couldn't make up, so I couldn't get back to compete for the win. I kept sprinting though and managed to get up to around 20th place (unconfirmed).
Overall again, happy with my result and felt strong, I think we averaged over 25mph for the 30 miles, so it was all good speed training. Still getting stronger I think, so who knows what next week will bring!!
Ciao.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Spring Chicken Road Race - 12th March
Today was my first ever road race on the open roads, having only done criteriums and time trials until now I was nervous and excited to see what this new style of racing would be like!!
The course was 11 miles round, gently rolling all the way round, with one sharp climb each lap. It was 4 laps, so 46 miles in total. We started on a downhill section with a tailwind, so after less than a mile, all of us juniors were spinning our legs at 130+ rpm, being gear restricted can be very telling sometimes!! Anyway the race soon settled into a steady pace and whilst avoiding the many potholes around the course, I was feeling good and felt like I could give everything in the final sprint. It came down to the final lap and going up the hill with 5k to go, I gained around 10 places and took up a position to the right of the peloton, the fast tailwind section saw another small split in the bunch, but i remained in the front group, and fancied my chances going into the last 3km.
With about 500m to go however, there was a clash of wheels in the middle of the group and a huge number of riders went down, the sound of expensive carbon on the tarmac is not nice at all!! One bike came bouncing int my path and pushed me onto the grass verge, so began my cyclo-cross race!! Bouncing over ditches, bumps in the grass and managing to somehow get back onto the tarmac, I had obviously lost my leadout, the race was already over, and there was a pile of bikes and bodies behind me, so I just trundled up to the line with the other stragglers who managed to avoid the pile-up. I ended around 30th place.
Special mention goes out to team-mate Cameron Foster who managed to get 5th place in the sprint, a great effort from him!!
Overall I was very happy with my race, and feel I could have been in with a chance for a top 10 finish had the crash not happened. Hopefully I can get some points in the next one!! I would also like to give a mention to the rider who went down badly in the crash, one guy stayed down quite a while and suffered from concussion and a battered body, hope you have a quick recovery!!
Until next time.
Ciao.
Me and my mate Max waiting to begin!
The course was 11 miles round, gently rolling all the way round, with one sharp climb each lap. It was 4 laps, so 46 miles in total. We started on a downhill section with a tailwind, so after less than a mile, all of us juniors were spinning our legs at 130+ rpm, being gear restricted can be very telling sometimes!! Anyway the race soon settled into a steady pace and whilst avoiding the many potholes around the course, I was feeling good and felt like I could give everything in the final sprint. It came down to the final lap and going up the hill with 5k to go, I gained around 10 places and took up a position to the right of the peloton, the fast tailwind section saw another small split in the bunch, but i remained in the front group, and fancied my chances going into the last 3km.
With about 500m to go however, there was a clash of wheels in the middle of the group and a huge number of riders went down, the sound of expensive carbon on the tarmac is not nice at all!! One bike came bouncing int my path and pushed me onto the grass verge, so began my cyclo-cross race!! Bouncing over ditches, bumps in the grass and managing to somehow get back onto the tarmac, I had obviously lost my leadout, the race was already over, and there was a pile of bikes and bodies behind me, so I just trundled up to the line with the other stragglers who managed to avoid the pile-up. I ended around 30th place.
Special mention goes out to team-mate Cameron Foster who managed to get 5th place in the sprint, a great effort from him!!
Cam taking 5th!!!
Overall I was very happy with my race, and feel I could have been in with a chance for a top 10 finish had the crash not happened. Hopefully I can get some points in the next one!! I would also like to give a mention to the rider who went down badly in the crash, one guy stayed down quite a while and suffered from concussion and a battered body, hope you have a quick recovery!!
Until next time.
Ciao.
Pushing on at the top of the climb!!
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Upavon Criterium @ Ludgershall - 26th February
Evening Bloggers!!
Today was my first race for a couple of weeks, and after a hard week of training I wasn't expecting much of a result. Again it was a cat 3/4 race over 40 mins + 3 laps and on a very windy day I didn't know how the race would begin...
It began at a ferocious pace with a tailwind up the home straight, 30mph after 5 seconds of racing, then we hit the back straight... The headwind saw us down to ~17mph at times, whilst sometimes cranking up to 28mph into the wind, which almost split the peloton halfway through the race. As it was, the race boiled down to a bunch sprint, although nearly every rider tried an attack off the front during the race, the headwind just killed any potential breakaway.
Going into the final bend I felt rather boxed in, and didn't think I would get any sort of position from which to sprint, however with less than 200yds to go I saw a gap and just went hell for leather!! I passed about 10 riders down the right hand side and launched my bike over the line to just grab 6th place. A good result for the day I think, but still looking for that elusive first win!! 4 more BC points in the bag though, 4 points closer to Cat 2, and who knows what next week will bring!!
Ciao.
Today was my first race for a couple of weeks, and after a hard week of training I wasn't expecting much of a result. Again it was a cat 3/4 race over 40 mins + 3 laps and on a very windy day I didn't know how the race would begin...
It began at a ferocious pace with a tailwind up the home straight, 30mph after 5 seconds of racing, then we hit the back straight... The headwind saw us down to ~17mph at times, whilst sometimes cranking up to 28mph into the wind, which almost split the peloton halfway through the race. As it was, the race boiled down to a bunch sprint, although nearly every rider tried an attack off the front during the race, the headwind just killed any potential breakaway.
Going into the final bend I felt rather boxed in, and didn't think I would get any sort of position from which to sprint, however with less than 200yds to go I saw a gap and just went hell for leather!! I passed about 10 riders down the right hand side and launched my bike over the line to just grab 6th place. A good result for the day I think, but still looking for that elusive first win!! 4 more BC points in the bag though, 4 points closer to Cat 2, and who knows what next week will bring!!
Ciao.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
February Thus Far...
There hasn't been much to report lately on the racing front, just one race a couple of weeks ago at Ludgershall in the Upavon Winter Series, ended up 13th after getting dropped with another rider.
Training, on the other hand has been going very well lately, with me averging around 12 hours of training per week, a mixture of high intensity and base rides. I can feel myself getting stronger, and am looking forward to my first road race, the spring chicken road race on March 12th, should be a good indicator of where my fitness levels are for the start of the season.
Ciao.
Any clues about conditions for that race?
Training, on the other hand has been going very well lately, with me averging around 12 hours of training per week, a mixture of high intensity and base rides. I can feel myself getting stronger, and am looking forward to my first road race, the spring chicken road race on March 12th, should be a good indicator of where my fitness levels are for the start of the season.
Ciao.
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