Noel Jones Memorial Road Race - April 15th

When my alarm clock starts buzzing at 5am on a Sunday morning, when most normal 19 year olds are just getting in from a night out, it can only mean one thing... Race day! I travelled over to Wales with my team-mate Rob, and although it was a clear blue morning the temperature was a chilly 3 degrees when we arrived. We signed on, changed, and rode a lap of the circuit to warm up... Despite having ridden the circuit last year, it was a lot more rolling than I thought with a fair few draggy sections before the final 1 kilometre climb to the finish, a perfect breakaway course. Riding for the team today was Rob, Matt and me, joined by John and Mark from the club.

The race started steadily with nobody willing to start the work on the front, and taking advantage of this, 2 riders soon made an early move and went up the road, Scott Easter (Felt-Colbornes) and Charles Coleman (Cadence-Cannondale) quickly gained a sizeable gap, and once they were joined by a third rider from NFTO Racing they pushed hard to pull out over a minute on the bunch. Rob countered this move by jumping away with a couple of guys, and I moved across to him soon after, we didn't stay out for long but it signalled early, our intent for the race.

Early chase group containing both Rob and I.

The next couple of laps passed without much entertainment, but the bunch were so un-interested that the break had pulled out a gap to 2 minutes, Rob and I were both trying our luck off the front, but none of the strong riders wanted to come out to play. With just over 2 laps to go, the break had pushed the gap up to 2 and a half minutes, and I started to worry so I rolled back to the bunch and grabbed Matt and John who started working with me on the front to bring down the gap, little did we know Rob had just jumped off the front with 2 others... whoops, we brought back our own team-mate, sorry Rob! The gap came down to 2 minutes, and when 2 riders drifted off the front, I bridged across on the finish hill and we got a gap on the bunch.

Bridging the gap

We were soon joined by a couple of other riders, forming a strong 5-man break and as we started working smoothly together, we got a time gap of 1m50s, then 1m20s, then 50s and by the time we went up the finish hill for the penultimate time, there was just one rider left up the road at 20 seconds.

Penultimate lap

We caught the final rider, Scott Easter with 8 miles to go and he joined our group. The 6 of us continued to chaingang for another 4 miles before Daniel Davies (Wallis CHH RT) and I attacked the group with 4 miles to go... This was a futile attack as we couldn't gain a big enough gap. By this time we had over a minute on the peloton, and it was clear that people were thinking about the finish by missing turns on the front. Davies went on the attack again with 2 miles to go, pulling out a decent gap, and he held it to the bottom of the hill, but couldn't maintain it to the finish. Karl Hine (Cadence Cannondale) made his move with 500m to go by passing everyone on the outside, I stayed on his wheel as we surged ahead of our breakaway companions.

I bided my time until 100m to go, when I attacked Karl on the right hand-side and pulled out a good few bike lengths to cross the line first and take the win! My first Road Race win of the year, and I was over the moon!

Rob had to settle for around 15th after riding a very strong race, Matt paid the price of not drinking with bad cramps and had to pull out, and John finished in the main bunch.

Presentation with Team Sky Neo-Pro Luke Rowe

Video Highlights - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4aOtB8xuEM

It felt fantastic to take the win in a tough race on a fantastic course, my first ever win in a road race on the open roads, and yet another win for Dream Cycling. I've now got about 60 points and I'm moving in the right direction in terms of tactics, strength, and points towards my 1st category licence! Now looking forward to getting more out of my good form at the moment when I head to Portsmouth on Wednesday!

Ciao!

Update

I've had a few races since my last blog, with varying degrees of success. I won't bore you with long drawn out reports from each race but here is a short summary from each!!

Wednesday 28th March - Newbury RC 10 Mile TT
Won this event on course H10/3A in a time of 21:24, very ver pleased with this as put serious time into some strong riders and took the win by 40 seconds from Pete Weir (Banjo Cycles), with Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) a further 10 seconds back.

Sunday 1st April - Ham Hill Road Race
Got in the first break of the day that only managed to stay away for 15 miles, team-mate Alec Baskaya got into the main break of the day to take a well earned 8th, meanwhile I finished in the bunch. Legs felt good for this race, just didn't go with the right break! Such is life!

Wednesday 4th April - Ray Martin Memorial League Round 1
Portsmouth is usually a happy hunting ground for me as it suits me attacking, powerful style of riding. Today I attacked far too much for my own good, but nothing I forged managed to stick. A group of 4 managed to take a lap on the bunch so the sprint was for 5th place. Due mainly to good positioning and timing I managed to take 8th in the race so a few more points towards the cat 1 licence!

Friday 6th April - Castle Combe Easter Classic
Our first race with all the team present in 2012 kit was a great occasion and a great race. Okay so none of us placed in the points, but we made our presence felt with Alec and myself prominent in various breaks, while Fred and Rob stuck it near the front for the whole race. 45 miles with an average speed over 27 mph, so a fairly rapid race!! Good to race as a team and looking forward to getting some results with the boys!

Sunday 8th April - RTTC Rudy Project Round 2
One of my main aims for the year is to win the Espoir (Under 23) category in the Rudy Project Time Trial Series. So I may have been the only Espoir on the startsheet for this particular event... But I am confident I could have given any under-23 a run for their money on Sunday. The course was a technical one with various sharp bends, long drags, and wet roads to make it more interesting. I paced my ride badly, riding the last 5 miles with little energy left in the tank, but still managed a respectable 45:19 for the 20 mile course, taking 4th overall, 3m40s down on multiple national champion, Michael Hutchinson (In-Gear Quickvit RT). Very happy with that, and I am now sitting joint 1st in the standings for the espoir series... A lead I don't intend to relinquish to anybody!

Wednesday 11th April - Ray Martin Memorial League Round 2
Once again I arrived at Portmsouth keen to impress, and gain a few more points towards my first cat licence. The 20 minute hailstorm put a slight 'dampener' on things, but nevertheless it was mainly dry by the start of the race. We started fast as is often the case at Mountbatten, and before long I found myself in an early break with Justin Hoy (Felt) and a strong rider from Primera-Specialized. We pulled out around 15 seconds on the bunch and held it for about 10 minutes, before the hard-working pack reeled us back in. More attacks came and went but the decisive move came after around 25 minutes when I, along with 4 others gapped the peloton, soon to be joined by 4 more riders, creating a 9-strong break that worked hard for 20 minutes to eventually lap the field and rejoin the bunch. My tactic was get in, get out, meaning I attacked again as soon as we passed the bunch. This caused a large split of about half the field, however as 5-laps to go was signalled it all came back together for the sprint. I was way too far back with 2 to go, but made good ground and ended up sprinting in about 8th, but some riders in front of me were lapped so I think I was about 5th/6th in the race. Great to get into the winning break and really good to feel some form in my legs. More points, more recognition and most importantly GREAT FUN!

Next race is the Noel Jones Memorial RR on Sunday with the boys from the team, I may also do a local TT tomorrow evening if my legs hold up after the morning ride!

Ciao.

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!

Pre-Season Training Camp in Calpe - Part 1!

So I'm sat in a bar on the seafront in sunny Calpe in Spain, watching the waves crashing in after a gentle recovery ride this morning. Temperature is a mild 13 degrees, but looking to warm up next week!

We arrived Tuesday afternoon and had an easy transfer from Airport to Bus Station, the 1km walk to the apartment was not so easy... with a 32kg bike bag and 20kg luggage... it took quite a while...



HEAVY!

Once we arrived we went for 1h30 at a steady zone 2 pace, just to prepare our legs for our first 3 day block of training. It was a lovely ride along the Coastal road towards Xabia, a great view and a cracking way to start the 3 weeks out here! The plan is to start steady this week with some long mileage, before using the last 2 weeks for some high intensity specific sessions to prepare the body for the long season ahead... We began our first 3 day block with a 4 hour ride with a couple of other lads, one from the area and a guy from Team Isle of Man. The ride was steady with a couple of lumps but mainly flat, we stopped at a café for lunch and rode steadily back to Calpe, an average speed of 17.5mph, not quick but it was very windy. Day 2 of the block was a 5 hour ride including 7,200ft and taking in the amazing Col du Rates near Altéa, we rode steady up most of the climbs, and smashed down the descents! I was feeling really strong and managed to spend the last 45 minutes on the front driving us back towards Calpe, a great route and a great ride... So much so that we used the same route yesterday to complete the training block!



Climbing!

This time we rode much harder up the climbs including a huge pull up Col du Rates, averaging around 14mph for the 4-5 mile ascent, I was feeling strong and can definately feel my climbing improving with every ride! We followed the Project 1t41 Pro Cycling Team down the descent for half an hour, and spent the rest of the ride going hard back into Calpe. Matt and I decided to do an extra few miles taking in a local 4 mile climb up to Benissa before descending back into Calpe again. Ended up doing 90 miles at 18.1mph with 8,500ft of climbing. Very pleased with this first block, I was feeling strong, climbing well, and loving it! Long may it continue...

We took a steady 1 hour ride today to recover before we do our first specific session tomorrow, SPRINT TRAINING! My favourite.

Will write again next week! Enjoy the snow everyone... :)

Ciao.



East London Velo Winter Series Round 4

Saturday 4th Febuary... The coldest day of the year... I know... I'll go and smash it around a tarmac track for an hour... what fun!

Yesterday I raced at the Hog Hill cycle circuit in East London, conditions were bright, but ominously cold as the car showed a chilly -1 degrees... We arrived bright and early at the track, got changed and went for a walk round so I could take in the circuit. It consisted of an undulating start followed by a long descent, half a mile of flat, winding section, then a drag up to the final bend with a steep kick to finish. A tough circuit.

Nick & I warming up...



I warmed up on the rollers for 20 minutes before getting out on to the track, doing one quick circuit and it was time to begin! The race started FAST with Zappi's rider Nick Baker tearing away from the gun. The race soon settled down though as lots of attacks went away and were brought back almost immediately, including a few attacks of my own that did not last. I soon settled in the peloton so my legs could recover. After about 30 mins a Maldon CC rider went up the road and was soon joined by Roger Maidment of East London Velo, these guys worked strongly together to pull out a gap of almost a minute, and maintained this to the finish where Cousins of Maldon took the victory from Maidment.



Early Breakaway Attempt... Which Failed.

Meanwhile in the bunch things were spicing up as we hit the final lap and there was a small group just ahead of us, they were brought back with 3/4 of a lap to go and we flew round the flat section of the course at a high pace. With around 400m to go the sprint started, I thought this was slightly to soon, but these 4 managed to maintain a slight gap over the rest of us at the line. I saved my kick for the final 150m where I pushed past the 3 guys at the front of the bunch and rolled over the line in 7th

place.

Report: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20120204-road-Road--Cousins-fastest-in-ELV-Series-0

Overall, a much better race then my last one at Hillingdon, more enjoyable, better legs, better result, can't argue with that! Climbing is improving... Sprinting is improving... Recovery was not great today but that could be down to the cold weather. Pretty pleased to get another few points on the licence before the season begins, and to get a decent result before I head to Spain on Tuesday. Spain is a great opportunity to really fine tune the legs before the first big road race on March 4th, the Severn Bridge RR.

On a side note, we had our first team photo with Dream Cycling last weekend in Bath:

Dream Cycling Team & Team Issue Giant TCR Advanced 2 Bike.

Ciao.