Well been back from the honeymoon since the end of August but after a few relaxing weeks away and with only four weeks or so of the racing season I decided to hang up my racing shoes for this season. Partly this was because I lacked the motivation to train hard to get back to fitness for only would only be a couple more races, but also because i'm still struggling with a few niggles injury wise that I would rather rest and recover properly from so I can really get fit for next season.
So what have I been up to...
Went to watch the Tour of Britain start in London where I was trying out my new digital camera, a Canon EOS 40d.
Photos on my photostream on Flikr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30297354@N02/
Watching a bit of other sport, cycled down to Chertsey to watch some of the racing there,
Have had one decent training type ride since I've been back at the Southern Sportive, a long day of riding steady (where I suprised myself by putting out the same average watts as I did for the marmotte, albeit over very different terrain and a being more than an hours less cycling)
Planning on starting training again beginning of October, as want to get a really good winter in so can be more competitive in the premiers next season helping the Sigma team and perhaps being in good enough shape to get up there and challenge myself.
Friday 26 September 2008
Monday 4 August 2008
Looking forward
Well Sunday didn't really go to plan for me as a rear wheel puncture only 30 minutes into the race scuppered my hopes of a good ride.
Just as the race had hit some narrow lanes and I attacked off the front of peleton, bridging across to a pinerello rider who was ahead. Once I made contact, disaster struck as my rear wheel went flat and I had to watch the entire convoy with the exception of the Sigma team Audi speed off down the road. With the change over taking a bit longer than normal so all in all probably had a good 2 - 3 minutes stationary just as the race was really hotting up.
This meant I had to chase back on, whilst this was helped by being behind the team car, it was far from an easy chase as riders were puncturing, crashing and getting dropped all the time, meaning once back in the convoy I had a hell of a job just staying in it let alone move up as cars sped past me in order to catch up with the peleton ahead. Up the hill just as I believe the winning break escaped the main group I had just made contact with the back of the same group. By the time I got to the top of the hill and the front of the group the break was long gone, and so were my legs ruined by the 20 minutes of hard chasing!
A combination of the course and the racing made it too hard to recover any good feeling in my legs and so after 60 miles, knowing that two team mates up the road in breaks (Rob and Matt) and me being unable to do much more than cling to the last wheel in the main group I sat up and let the wheel go in order to end the suffering.
Annoying as I think I could have gone well yesterday (proved I think by the number of good riders that I saw puncture never to see again in the race). C'est la vie! Its a good event and i'll look forward to doing well here next year.
Have bigger things to think about now as next stop for me is Ireland and the biggest weekend of the year, my Wedding!
Just as the race had hit some narrow lanes and I attacked off the front of peleton, bridging across to a pinerello rider who was ahead. Once I made contact, disaster struck as my rear wheel went flat and I had to watch the entire convoy with the exception of the Sigma team Audi speed off down the road. With the change over taking a bit longer than normal so all in all probably had a good 2 - 3 minutes stationary just as the race was really hotting up.
This meant I had to chase back on, whilst this was helped by being behind the team car, it was far from an easy chase as riders were puncturing, crashing and getting dropped all the time, meaning once back in the convoy I had a hell of a job just staying in it let alone move up as cars sped past me in order to catch up with the peleton ahead. Up the hill just as I believe the winning break escaped the main group I had just made contact with the back of the same group. By the time I got to the top of the hill and the front of the group the break was long gone, and so were my legs ruined by the 20 minutes of hard chasing!
A combination of the course and the racing made it too hard to recover any good feeling in my legs and so after 60 miles, knowing that two team mates up the road in breaks (Rob and Matt) and me being unable to do much more than cling to the last wheel in the main group I sat up and let the wheel go in order to end the suffering.
Annoying as I think I could have gone well yesterday (proved I think by the number of good riders that I saw puncture never to see again in the race). C'est la vie! Its a good event and i'll look forward to doing well here next year.
Have bigger things to think about now as next stop for me is Ireland and the biggest weekend of the year, my Wedding!
Friday 1 August 2008
Last race on sunday.
Just had a very lazy week for me training wise. Didn't touch the bike at all last weekend!
However, being well rested I got a new 5 minute power pb on tuesday on a hill rep session up the Ranmore Common climb near Dorking. 509watts which @ the 74kgs I am running at currently works out at 6.88 watts / kg, and according to my power profile in the cycling peaks software makes me "exceptional". However, I take this with a pinch of salt as i'm a bit worried that my powertap may be reading high. It has been pretty consistent all year, and also seems to match readings from fellow Kingston Wheeler member, Steve Saunders but was about 5-10% higher than Dan Lloyds SRM when I tested it a couple of weeks ago. Also the data in this program is based upon Boardman riding the track in a pretty extreme aero tuck for 50% of the climb up ranmore I was out of the saddle wrenching on the handlebars, still a pb is a pb and i'm happy of the improvement real or not.
Last night raced a SL handicap out on a circuit near Chertsey. In the scratch group we had myself, gary dodd, martin smith, andy betts, Wouter "turbo locomotive" Sybrandy and Chris "The Slippery Hobbit" Moores. Wouter gains his nickname after coming through so hard no-one could follow his wheel and then for continuing to drive it on the front for a minute or so making it very hard for anyone to get past him! The Slippery Hobbit is so named because he was able to get that low on his bike it was hard to see him let alone get any draft from him. Everytime he went through to the front it was like someone had given him a handsling up the road, whooosh and he was off.
Martin Smith won the race, but for me Wouter was by far the strongest rider on the night and was instrumental in bringing the race together and also had a great go at it towards the end when countering an attack I made with 3km to go, and holding a bunch off for around 2km whilst we were shifting at close to 60km/h.
I met a reader of the blog in Toks, (yep I found another one in addition to my mum which is exciting news for me!), and i'm sure he'd be interested to hear the power data from last night so without further delay the stats from my race yesterday:
Time: 55:40
Distance: 41.4km
Avg Speed: 44.6 km/h
Avg Power: 349 watts
Normalized power: 380 watts
Pretty fast wasn't it!
However, being well rested I got a new 5 minute power pb on tuesday on a hill rep session up the Ranmore Common climb near Dorking. 509watts which @ the 74kgs I am running at currently works out at 6.88 watts / kg, and according to my power profile in the cycling peaks software makes me "exceptional". However, I take this with a pinch of salt as i'm a bit worried that my powertap may be reading high. It has been pretty consistent all year, and also seems to match readings from fellow Kingston Wheeler member, Steve Saunders but was about 5-10% higher than Dan Lloyds SRM when I tested it a couple of weeks ago. Also the data in this program is based upon Boardman riding the track in a pretty extreme aero tuck for 50% of the climb up ranmore I was out of the saddle wrenching on the handlebars, still a pb is a pb and i'm happy of the improvement real or not.
Last night raced a SL handicap out on a circuit near Chertsey. In the scratch group we had myself, gary dodd, martin smith, andy betts, Wouter "turbo locomotive" Sybrandy and Chris "The Slippery Hobbit" Moores. Wouter gains his nickname after coming through so hard no-one could follow his wheel and then for continuing to drive it on the front for a minute or so making it very hard for anyone to get past him! The Slippery Hobbit is so named because he was able to get that low on his bike it was hard to see him let alone get any draft from him. Everytime he went through to the front it was like someone had given him a handsling up the road, whooosh and he was off.
Martin Smith won the race, but for me Wouter was by far the strongest rider on the night and was instrumental in bringing the race together and also had a great go at it towards the end when countering an attack I made with 3km to go, and holding a bunch off for around 2km whilst we were shifting at close to 60km/h.
I met a reader of the blog in Toks, (yep I found another one in addition to my mum which is exciting news for me!), and i'm sure he'd be interested to hear the power data from last night so without further delay the stats from my race yesterday:
Time: 55:40
Distance: 41.4km
Avg Speed: 44.6 km/h
Avg Power: 349 watts
Normalized power: 380 watts
Pretty fast wasn't it!
Monday 21 July 2008
Spills and Summit Finishes
Yesterday "le Tour" headed into Italy and over some pretty slippery dangerous roads.
Oscar Pereiro crashed over a barrier on the descent of col Agnel and suffered a broken arm.
Dennis Menchov crashed out on a corner going uphill whilst attacking for the yellow jersey.
Cadel Evans grimaces and he is obviously suffering on the final climb of the day to the Italian resort of Prato Nevoso and he loses narrowly loses yellow.
Elsewhere, back in the UK, riders at the Southern Counties Road Race Champs also had their own summit finish to look forward to, the mighty Leigh Hill, the highest hill in the South Downs which tops out at something like an oxygen deprived 250 metres. This race unfolded in a similar fashion.
After last weekends London Dynamo Road Race on the man to beat was definately Jon Tiernan-Locke.
The first lap was very quick for a regional race with the Ploughmen, including Eurosport pundit Tony Gibb keen to stamp their mark on the race. On the second lap though Sigma team mate Wouter leapt off the front of the peleton and took with him a number of strong riders including the race favourite. Knowing full well that Wouter doesn't do riding easy when he's in a break I jumped across myself, and this group of 9 quickly rode away from the bunch to get a nearly 3 minute lead at one point.
Tiernan-Locke was looking very strong in the break particularly when it hit the little hills around the rolling circuit. Near the end he fell badly when a horse bolted across the road in front of the break which had slowed but not stopped. Some riders said that he was kicked by the horse. I had slowed right down though and was on the back of the group so didn't see it too clearly.
This left just 5 in the break (with Roy Chamberlain also crashing out in the same incident), Wouter having puncturing a little earlier and Andrew Mckie from Norwood finding the pace a little too high and dropping back.
Seeing the rest of the group were tiring I rode away alone from half a lap out and finished the hill some 40s ahead of Dan Patten who finished second. No doubt with my head leaning to one side in a similar fashion to Evans, perhaps one reason why i'm warming to the whiney little Aussie who I think is still well placed to win the yellow jersey.
I'm sure it would have been a much closer race up the hill without Jon's crash and I really do hope he makes a good recovery.
Unfortunately as of yet I couldn't find the photos of my race on Eurosport.com, but Sleeping Bear Productions were there videoing it:
Oscar Pereiro crashed over a barrier on the descent of col Agnel and suffered a broken arm.
Dennis Menchov crashed out on a corner going uphill whilst attacking for the yellow jersey.
Cadel Evans grimaces and he is obviously suffering on the final climb of the day to the Italian resort of Prato Nevoso and he loses narrowly loses yellow.
Elsewhere, back in the UK, riders at the Southern Counties Road Race Champs also had their own summit finish to look forward to, the mighty Leigh Hill, the highest hill in the South Downs which tops out at something like an oxygen deprived 250 metres. This race unfolded in a similar fashion.
After last weekends London Dynamo Road Race on the man to beat was definately Jon Tiernan-Locke.
The first lap was very quick for a regional race with the Ploughmen, including Eurosport pundit Tony Gibb keen to stamp their mark on the race. On the second lap though Sigma team mate Wouter leapt off the front of the peleton and took with him a number of strong riders including the race favourite. Knowing full well that Wouter doesn't do riding easy when he's in a break I jumped across myself, and this group of 9 quickly rode away from the bunch to get a nearly 3 minute lead at one point.
Tiernan-Locke was looking very strong in the break particularly when it hit the little hills around the rolling circuit. Near the end he fell badly when a horse bolted across the road in front of the break which had slowed but not stopped. Some riders said that he was kicked by the horse. I had slowed right down though and was on the back of the group so didn't see it too clearly.
This left just 5 in the break (with Roy Chamberlain also crashing out in the same incident), Wouter having puncturing a little earlier and Andrew Mckie from Norwood finding the pace a little too high and dropping back.
Seeing the rest of the group were tiring I rode away alone from half a lap out and finished the hill some 40s ahead of Dan Patten who finished second. No doubt with my head leaning to one side in a similar fashion to Evans, perhaps one reason why i'm warming to the whiney little Aussie who I think is still well placed to win the yellow jersey.
I'm sure it would have been a much closer race up the hill without Jon's crash and I really do hope he makes a good recovery.
Unfortunately as of yet I couldn't find the photos of my race on Eurosport.com, but Sleeping Bear Productions were there videoing it:
Friday 18 July 2008
Thanks for reading!
Thanks to the 1500 visitors, who have been to my blog since I started it back at the beginning of the season.
Whilst most of these visitors are probably my mum as she logs in from various different computers, thanks to everyone (especially my mum) for reading.
There are only a couple of weeks to go before I get married and subsequently fly away on honeymoon.
This holiday may be the end of my season as I've been advised no bikes allowed on the honeymoon!
This is probably fair enough, as thanks to cycling, Leon, my fiancee, hasn't seen much of me this year and also puts up with me being lazy on the sofa after knackering myself out whilst training or racing.
I've had plenty of warnings from people about the squeeze placed on cycling time post marriage. Hopefully this wont be the case for me. I'm gonna pop out for a quick ride before work this afternoon. Have a fantastic day!
Whilst most of these visitors are probably my mum as she logs in from various different computers, thanks to everyone (especially my mum) for reading.
There are only a couple of weeks to go before I get married and subsequently fly away on honeymoon.
This holiday may be the end of my season as I've been advised no bikes allowed on the honeymoon!
This is probably fair enough, as thanks to cycling, Leon, my fiancee, hasn't seen much of me this year and also puts up with me being lazy on the sofa after knackering myself out whilst training or racing.
I've had plenty of warnings from people about the squeeze placed on cycling time post marriage. Hopefully this wont be the case for me. I'm gonna pop out for a quick ride before work this afternoon. Have a fantastic day!
Monday 14 July 2008
London Dynamo Road Race.
Quite a hard day out for all the riders yesterday at the London Dynamo Summer Road Race, and I was surprised it stuck together for so long on quite an undulating course showing that the SE has plenty of strong riders.
Perhaps i was still in sportive mode, as whilst I was riding pretty hard up the hills I tended to then ease off on the flats and descents and also I didn’t put in my usual attacks towards the end try to try and avoid it coming down to a sprint. Not surprisingly riding up mountains at a hard steady pace for a week has made me better at riding a hard but steady pace.
In truth I was a bit stuck of how to beat Jon Tiernan-Locke (Mid Devon CC) who was riding fantastically all day, in just about every break and having plenty of spare speed to play with on the climbs. I finished 4th, also behind Dan Patten and Rob Hurd, who managed to get by me in the sprint.
Next weekend is the Southern Counties Road Race with the finish up Leigh Hill so might try and get a practice run in during the week if time allows.
Saturday 12 July 2008
And now for some numbers
| | Time (h:mm:ss) | Distance (km) | Speed (km/h) | Average Power (W) | Normalized Power (W) | Work (Kj) |
| Start to Glandon | 0:23:21 | 15.2 | 39.1 | 222 | 273 | 311 |
| Glandon Climb | 1:04:30 | 21.8 | 20.3 | 331 | 355 | 1281 |
| Descent off Glandon | 0:24:41 | 21.0 | 51.1 | 137 | 177 | 203 |
| Bottom of Glandon to Start of Telegraph | 0:36:25 | 21.2 | 34.9 | 277 | 293 | 606 |
| Telegraph Climb | 0:40:47 | 12.1 | 17.8 | 335 | 338 | 821 |
| Telegraph Descent | 0:06:21 | 5.0 | 48.6 | 171 | 239 | 239 |
| Galibier Climb | 1:06:48 | 18.1 | 16.3 | 306 | 309 | 1224 |
| Descent to start of Alpe D'Huez | 1:02:39 | 48.0 | 46.0 | 185 | 224 | 694 |
| Alpe D'Huez Climb | 0:54:14 | 13.2 | 14.6 | 313 | 318 | 1019 |
| Total | 6:19:39 | 175.7 | 27.8 | 273 | 306 | 6220 |
Friday 11 July 2008
Racing the Pros and Cycling in the Alps
Sunday 29th June 2008
National championships day... Surely you'd have thought this was an event you'd like to peak for... however it didn't turn out like that for me this year having finally succumbed a cold in the week before this event. This was after Leon having a nasty cough that meant we both didn't enjoy a good nights sleep for near enough 3 weeks prior.
So here I am at the biggest event i'll ride all year completely blocked up and feeling pretty demotivated, even more so by the thought of the 6 hour drive up to Yorkshire. Luckily for me I managed to persuade Dan "Schumacher" Duguid to give me a lift and this instantly meant my journey time was significantly reduced. Team talk in the evening with Rob and Matt having aspirations of a good placing, the rest of the team would help as best as they could.
Early on in the race I was really struggling to breath, my right jersey sleeve and top tube rapidly turning from red to green. About an hour in and i'd finally managed to move up only to see Matt jumping off the front looking certain to get into a break. The road was clear in front of me and I was pretty certain I could make it across that gap, however I hesitated as didn't want the chance of dragging the bunch back to Matt in what looked like a promising move, and so with that hesitation I missed the break of the day, a 17 man break from which Rob Hayles would be crowned National Champion.
The rest of my day was spent hanging on at last man in the peleton whilst riders were being popped from the back from the frightening pace being forced by Millar, Hammond and Stannard. Not the most efficient place to ride as I was having to sprint across all the gaps left by the ailing riders, however with the pace it was also pretty difficult to move up and not many people were willing to give up their place in line.
At the end I could have placed better than my 16th as my legs were still feeling good (although it was always my lungs that were struggling this race), I had actually misjudged the distance thinking we had another lap to ride only to find out we had a couple of kms to go meaning I didn't have an awful lot of time to move up the peleton. Ah well top 20 was a target for me at the beginning of the year and so I was pleased enough to finish and get a minor placing. It was also a pleasure to ride in the same peleton as guys who are finding success in the worlds biggest bike race over in France.
And so to my French adventure..
Monday afternoon after working the morning shift and rapidly throwing a few things in a bag for the journey me and Wouter headed off to the Alps for a spot of Marmotteering.
A long journey to Besse d'Oisan was punctuated with a night in Annecy thanks to Mark and former sigma grease monkey Sam of GPM10. Around Annecy me and Wouter had a couple of great days training including riding the several cols including Forclaz, Croix Fry and Aravis. After spending some time there last year I already know that Annecy really is top location for cycling and these couple of days proved it again.
With the drive down to Besse the weather changed from 30 degrees plus and burning sunshine to 14 and constant heavy rain. Thursday thus meant a shorter ride with all my fellow Marmotteers (from Kingston Wheelers) opting for an off the bike day but with nutty old me heading off down the steep descent to our hotel in order to ride a couple of quick hill intervals right before dinner.
Friday was an easy day up to the Lauteret and back to the hotel, but with a 23 sprocket on and a desire to keep the watts below <250 I found myself track standing up the 6km ride to the hotel, only overtaking George who'd walked the last 3k after shearing off his drive side pedal in the last few hundred metres.
The Saturday, Marmotte day was an early start with me starting in the priority pen after my last years mostly successful sportive campaign. With some 7000 starters I was glad off the start near the front as I knew the fastest guys would all be in this pen, even some riders with their own team cars!
Down the valley goes quickly as a mass of riders occupy the whole road and begin jostling for position. Turn right and we can see where we are going up that bloody great mountain pass, the pace doesn't drop obviously no-one is deterred. The first few ramps the pressure is applied on the group as riders up front stay in their big ring. For the first time a gap appears in the mass of cyclists with a lead bunch of about 400 ahead of the rest. Up the Col du Glandon the pace is now really being forced and coming in surges, most riders realising that there is a long day ahead and accelerations hurt so choose to settle into their own pace. A couple of ks from the top and my team mate Wouter a rather tall Dutch Fella finally succumbs to the gradient and settles into his own pace. Over the top those with helpers quickly grab a bottle from a friendly face and hurtle down the descent. Those without look for the feed station to refill. Here however for the first lucky few are colourful marmotte bottles being handed out, my hesitation whilst I looked for the station however meant a ten second gap to the guy in front has opened and my inexperience in this sort of descending means its inevitable that I fail to close it, eventually catching a few of the more cautious descenders I find myself in a second group of about 8 whilst the front group containing the fastest descenders has headed up the road.
The col du Telegraph is merely a short lull in the 40km climb to the top of the Galibier. A mountain which I bonked completely at whilst riding this event last year. Our group is riding together although as it continues some faces are starting to look wearier than others. By the time we hit the steep bit of the Galibier after some 30 minutes of climbing later its down to 4. I stop at the bottom to refill my water bottles and the other 3 push on up the steep section. I don't panic thinking ill be able to close the 40 second gap that has opened up. However i'm quickly working out my 39x23 gearing isn't going to be sufficient for this hill and legs settle in to a 30 minute leg press session with my cadence rarely exceeding 65. Ouch, i'm now cursing myself for not packing the 27 sprocket cassette I have on my training bike as my Specialized Tarmac slowly inches up the mountain. Still no Marmottes in sight, but still I see the rest of my 4 man group just ahead but I know now it'll be impossible to close that gap as my legs have almost ground to a halt.
Finally at the top my face must have shown visible relief as i'm sure it will do for the thousands coming up the mountain behind me.
The descent from Galibier to the foot of Alpe d'Huez is 50km. A dutch companion from my group had wisely advised me not to try and ride this section alone stating its better to wait for the next group or catch the one in front. Unfortunately this same sage has now disapeared ahead leaving me to ride the next 40 minutes on the drops descending alone, something my lower back will remind me of for days after, I was in no mood to sit up and wait for someone behind.
About 20 minutes from Bourg D'Oisan I finally caught someone, a young french lad who'd been dropped from the group ahead. He was looking tired and his turns on the front probably slowed me down a little but at least it meant I could sit up whilst in his draft and stretch my back a little.
At the foot of the Alpe I tried to put on my show for the waiting crowd as I kept it in the big ring up to and around the 1st hairpin. My companion made an effort to stick with me but here on the Alpe for me it was everyman for himself. By this point I wanted this ride to end and could see the finish in sight. 54 minutes of climbing the Alpe later and with the power was ebbing from my body I was in sight of the timing mat and as I crossed the line was offered a refreshing drink and and some well earned pasta and my day of marmotteering was over.
For 1000s of others the day was just hotting up though and for hours after i'd finished a constant stream of cycle traffic blockaded the worlds most famous mountain for cycling. Riders of all shapes and sizes, from all over the world were busy slowly making pilgrimage to the top of the Alpe so that they could also say they had conquered what is most probably the Worlds toughest annual amateur bike event. Amongst them quite a few familiar faces from the South East smiling and seemingly enjoying their day out.
By not finishing last year I learnt how brutal this event could be and so this year i'm very happy with my 9th place finish, my time a shade under 6 hours and 20 minutes a tough target to beat if and when I decide to return.
National championships day... Surely you'd have thought this was an event you'd like to peak for... however it didn't turn out like that for me this year having finally succumbed a cold in the week before this event. This was after Leon having a nasty cough that meant we both didn't enjoy a good nights sleep for near enough 3 weeks prior.
So here I am at the biggest event i'll ride all year completely blocked up and feeling pretty demotivated, even more so by the thought of the 6 hour drive up to Yorkshire. Luckily for me I managed to persuade Dan "Schumacher" Duguid to give me a lift and this instantly meant my journey time was significantly reduced. Team talk in the evening with Rob and Matt having aspirations of a good placing, the rest of the team would help as best as they could.
Early on in the race I was really struggling to breath, my right jersey sleeve and top tube rapidly turning from red to green. About an hour in and i'd finally managed to move up only to see Matt jumping off the front looking certain to get into a break. The road was clear in front of me and I was pretty certain I could make it across that gap, however I hesitated as didn't want the chance of dragging the bunch back to Matt in what looked like a promising move, and so with that hesitation I missed the break of the day, a 17 man break from which Rob Hayles would be crowned National Champion.
The rest of my day was spent hanging on at last man in the peleton whilst riders were being popped from the back from the frightening pace being forced by Millar, Hammond and Stannard. Not the most efficient place to ride as I was having to sprint across all the gaps left by the ailing riders, however with the pace it was also pretty difficult to move up and not many people were willing to give up their place in line.
At the end I could have placed better than my 16th as my legs were still feeling good (although it was always my lungs that were struggling this race), I had actually misjudged the distance thinking we had another lap to ride only to find out we had a couple of kms to go meaning I didn't have an awful lot of time to move up the peleton. Ah well top 20 was a target for me at the beginning of the year and so I was pleased enough to finish and get a minor placing. It was also a pleasure to ride in the same peleton as guys who are finding success in the worlds biggest bike race over in France.
And so to my French adventure..
Monday afternoon after working the morning shift and rapidly throwing a few things in a bag for the journey me and Wouter headed off to the Alps for a spot of Marmotteering.
A long journey to Besse d'Oisan was punctuated with a night in Annecy thanks to Mark and former sigma grease monkey Sam of GPM10. Around Annecy me and Wouter had a couple of great days training including riding the several cols including Forclaz, Croix Fry and Aravis. After spending some time there last year I already know that Annecy really is top location for cycling and these couple of days proved it again.
With the drive down to Besse the weather changed from 30 degrees plus and burning sunshine to 14 and constant heavy rain. Thursday thus meant a shorter ride with all my fellow Marmotteers (from Kingston Wheelers) opting for an off the bike day but with nutty old me heading off down the steep descent to our hotel in order to ride a couple of quick hill intervals right before dinner.
Friday was an easy day up to the Lauteret and back to the hotel, but with a 23 sprocket on and a desire to keep the watts below <250 I found myself track standing up the 6km ride to the hotel, only overtaking George who'd walked the last 3k after shearing off his drive side pedal in the last few hundred metres.
The Saturday, Marmotte day was an early start with me starting in the priority pen after my last years mostly successful sportive campaign. With some 7000 starters I was glad off the start near the front as I knew the fastest guys would all be in this pen, even some riders with their own team cars!
Down the valley goes quickly as a mass of riders occupy the whole road and begin jostling for position. Turn right and we can see where we are going up that bloody great mountain pass, the pace doesn't drop obviously no-one is deterred. The first few ramps the pressure is applied on the group as riders up front stay in their big ring. For the first time a gap appears in the mass of cyclists with a lead bunch of about 400 ahead of the rest. Up the Col du Glandon the pace is now really being forced and coming in surges, most riders realising that there is a long day ahead and accelerations hurt so choose to settle into their own pace. A couple of ks from the top and my team mate Wouter a rather tall Dutch Fella finally succumbs to the gradient and settles into his own pace. Over the top those with helpers quickly grab a bottle from a friendly face and hurtle down the descent. Those without look for the feed station to refill. Here however for the first lucky few are colourful marmotte bottles being handed out, my hesitation whilst I looked for the station however meant a ten second gap to the guy in front has opened and my inexperience in this sort of descending means its inevitable that I fail to close it, eventually catching a few of the more cautious descenders I find myself in a second group of about 8 whilst the front group containing the fastest descenders has headed up the road.
The col du Telegraph is merely a short lull in the 40km climb to the top of the Galibier. A mountain which I bonked completely at whilst riding this event last year. Our group is riding together although as it continues some faces are starting to look wearier than others. By the time we hit the steep bit of the Galibier after some 30 minutes of climbing later its down to 4. I stop at the bottom to refill my water bottles and the other 3 push on up the steep section. I don't panic thinking ill be able to close the 40 second gap that has opened up. However i'm quickly working out my 39x23 gearing isn't going to be sufficient for this hill and legs settle in to a 30 minute leg press session with my cadence rarely exceeding 65. Ouch, i'm now cursing myself for not packing the 27 sprocket cassette I have on my training bike as my Specialized Tarmac slowly inches up the mountain. Still no Marmottes in sight, but still I see the rest of my 4 man group just ahead but I know now it'll be impossible to close that gap as my legs have almost ground to a halt.
Finally at the top my face must have shown visible relief as i'm sure it will do for the thousands coming up the mountain behind me.
The descent from Galibier to the foot of Alpe d'Huez is 50km. A dutch companion from my group had wisely advised me not to try and ride this section alone stating its better to wait for the next group or catch the one in front. Unfortunately this same sage has now disapeared ahead leaving me to ride the next 40 minutes on the drops descending alone, something my lower back will remind me of for days after, I was in no mood to sit up and wait for someone behind.
About 20 minutes from Bourg D'Oisan I finally caught someone, a young french lad who'd been dropped from the group ahead. He was looking tired and his turns on the front probably slowed me down a little but at least it meant I could sit up whilst in his draft and stretch my back a little.
At the foot of the Alpe I tried to put on my show for the waiting crowd as I kept it in the big ring up to and around the 1st hairpin. My companion made an effort to stick with me but here on the Alpe for me it was everyman for himself. By this point I wanted this ride to end and could see the finish in sight. 54 minutes of climbing the Alpe later and with the power was ebbing from my body I was in sight of the timing mat and as I crossed the line was offered a refreshing drink and and some well earned pasta and my day of marmotteering was over.
For 1000s of others the day was just hotting up though and for hours after i'd finished a constant stream of cycle traffic blockaded the worlds most famous mountain for cycling. Riders of all shapes and sizes, from all over the world were busy slowly making pilgrimage to the top of the Alpe so that they could also say they had conquered what is most probably the Worlds toughest annual amateur bike event. Amongst them quite a few familiar faces from the South East smiling and seemingly enjoying their day out.
By not finishing last year I learnt how brutal this event could be and so this year i'm very happy with my 9th place finish, my time a shade under 6 hours and 20 minutes a tough target to beat if and when I decide to return.
Wednesday 25 June 2008
Feeling Grumpy
Me not looking too comfortable!
Another weekend racing, this time in Aberveganny for the GP of Wales.
I travelled up on Saturday night with Wouter and stayed for my first time in a travelodge. Where we watched holland go out of euro 2008. Wouter tried to cheer himself up by getting a dessert from the closeby Little Chef only to find the services had closed up for the night, you could tell poor Wouter just felt like he needed a break at that point nothing was going his way. At least he got the double bed in the room whilst I made do with the sofa bed, and a bad nights kip on what was possibly the spongiest mattress in the world! Not sure my first experience in a travelodge will tempt me back... at least it wasn't too expensive at 50 quid.
Sunday morning the usual rituals pre race, including with me panicking last minute trying to adjust my rear mech on the start line and in the process nearly taking out some riders who had come all the way from hungary as I failed to check behind me as I jumped off the bike in the start pen as I got to the team car.... Whoops, sorry about that...
The race... blimey that was hard... It was quite unlike me I dropped out with 40k to ride... My normal fighting spirit seems to have temporarily been mislaid. Could it be the lack of sleep recently or the knowledge that i'm not really going as well as I wanted to after having a month of easy riding after my injury at the ras... However once off my bike was great to see team leader Matt going well all day riding on the front and breaking away all the time... Spectatating and handing out bottles certainly had an appeal over racing on a course like that!
The Fonz (Russell Downing) again seems head and shoulders above the rest winning again for the umpteenth time this season. Very Impressive! At least he looks like he's trying this time :)
Saturday 21 June 2008
First race in a little while
Didn't race the beaumont last weekend took instead a much needed rest, sounds like the Sigma team had a good ride there with Wouter riding in the break most of the race and Rob making the final selection of 4 but being dropped off after his efforts put to get there.
On thursday evening I did a SL handicap race out near Gatwick on a pretty good course with a little hill on each lap. Keith set our scratch group of five some eternity after everyone had left. Within 2 miles we were down to four when George Brent (Addiscombe cc) found the pace up the hill a bit much, another couple of miles later we lost my team mate Gary Dodd which was a bit of a dissapointment. So that left Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon), Andy Betts (Twickenham CC) and myself to rided through and off for an hour.
A good workout, although did get a bit tactical with a lap to go after we'd caught the other groups with everyone bar the race winner Burdeau (agiskoviner) who was busy time trialling to victory. I finished 3rd after losing out to Chris Moores in the sprint.
In the car on the way home Gary discussed that possibly his bio-rhythm wasn't right that day - and was talking about the near future when he was certain that he would be able to buy an implant to tell him whether or not he was going to have a good day out on his bike or not. Something like that would certainly save money as a 80 mile round trip to Gatwick to race midweek seems a pretty costly evening out with Petrol costs like they are.
Friday morning I met up with Dan Lloyd who lives nearby in Sunbury and rides for the An Post team. I met him at the Ras a month ago and have met up for a couple of very nice cake and coffee rides since then. However friday Dan had other ideas thanks to his coach Hunter Allen, and set about ensuring I was pretty tired for the afternoon. Was good fun though, and these couple of good hard training sessions have left me feeling a bit more prepared for this weekends GP of Wales.
On thursday evening I did a SL handicap race out near Gatwick on a pretty good course with a little hill on each lap. Keith set our scratch group of five some eternity after everyone had left. Within 2 miles we were down to four when George Brent (Addiscombe cc) found the pace up the hill a bit much, another couple of miles later we lost my team mate Gary Dodd which was a bit of a dissapointment. So that left Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon), Andy Betts (Twickenham CC) and myself to rided through and off for an hour.
A good workout, although did get a bit tactical with a lap to go after we'd caught the other groups with everyone bar the race winner Burdeau (agiskoviner) who was busy time trialling to victory. I finished 3rd after losing out to Chris Moores in the sprint.
In the car on the way home Gary discussed that possibly his bio-rhythm wasn't right that day - and was talking about the near future when he was certain that he would be able to buy an implant to tell him whether or not he was going to have a good day out on his bike or not. Something like that would certainly save money as a 80 mile round trip to Gatwick to race midweek seems a pretty costly evening out with Petrol costs like they are.
Friday morning I met up with Dan Lloyd who lives nearby in Sunbury and rides for the An Post team. I met him at the Ras a month ago and have met up for a couple of very nice cake and coffee rides since then. However friday Dan had other ideas thanks to his coach Hunter Allen, and set about ensuring I was pretty tired for the afternoon. Was good fun though, and these couple of good hard training sessions have left me feeling a bit more prepared for this weekends GP of Wales.
Tuesday 3 June 2008
Gary comes up trumps! (again)
On Sunday I rode the SE divisional champs for the 3rd time.
2 years ago I raced the SE champs on a course round Goodwood in what was one of my first road races. I cramped up and pulled out around half distance unable to stay with the pace of the peleton up a hill. My now team mate Gary Dodd went on to win.
Last year on a pretty hilly course around Ardingley. In a sprint from a small group of riders who had got away relatively early in the race, Rob Enslin (aw cycles) won, Gary Dodd got the silver, and I won the bronze medal. This was result was one of the highlights of my season last year.
This years SE champs was held on the same course as the Wally Gimber race I did earlier in the year. In march this course can feel tough mainly due to the cold and wind, but on sunday neither the finish hill or drag on the far side of the course seemed to offer many opportunities to break away.
However with one lap to go I attacked at the bottom of the hill to try and split things. I saw Steve Calland (norwood paragon) go with me and he was quickly able to attach himself to my rear wheel. Unfortunately having only just spent a few miles alone just off the front of the main group wasting energy in a futile attempt to get away, my legs hadn't recovered and didn't co-operate with the order to go hard. As a result after an initial jump my legs went into Park mode and promptly stopped moving. Steve said after the race he thought that I might have just been making a dummy attack, no such luck although I certainly felt like a dummy when I started going backwards so quickly.
A shout from Gary for me to get my act together kicked me back into action as team mate Simon Lawn was busy setting the pace for a breakaway group over the top of the hill. Over the top I was able to recover a bit and helped drive the pace down the hill to try and keep this group away from the peleton who were still very close.
After my previous attempt up the climb and with the finish fast approaching I didn't think I wasn't gonna have the legs for a sprint, and so was worried when Gary said he also wasn't feeling too good. Both Chris McNamara and a London Dynamo rider (Richard Hoult) were looking particularly strong in that group, so I put in a few attacks to try and tire them out a bit more and hopefully give Gary a bit of an opportunity to sit on and recover. My attacks were a bit limp though and certainly didn't take anyone by surprise as I had been well watched all race.
Up the finish Gary suddenly found his legs and blasted up the hill away from everyone, fantastic considering he wasn't feeling too strong. He claims it was energy gel assisted, and that with half a lap to go he genuinely was feeling bad and had quickly gulped down two energy gels. I got a bit blocked in after starting the finish hill near the back and finished 4th. Wondered if I too would have found a Dodd like sprint had I also gulped the two energy gels I had carried around in my pockets all day but neglected to use.
I have next weekend off racing (although am working) and then over the following three weekends I am entered for the Beaumont Trophy, the GP of Wales and then the Road Race National Championships.
After that I'm attempting the Marmotte again, and after last years dissapointing failure to finish it hopefully will at least make it to the top of the Alpe.
The next race i'm hoping to do in the SE should be the London Dynamo Summer Road Race, normally held on a hillier course so should make it a bit better suited to me than sundays race. It was unusual being so closely marked by so many riders all race on sunday. Apparently Chris Moores informed me at one point in the race I had nearly caused a crash when I attacked from mid way down the pack as 15 or so riders all went to get my wheel.
2 years ago I raced the SE champs on a course round Goodwood in what was one of my first road races. I cramped up and pulled out around half distance unable to stay with the pace of the peleton up a hill. My now team mate Gary Dodd went on to win.
Last year on a pretty hilly course around Ardingley. In a sprint from a small group of riders who had got away relatively early in the race, Rob Enslin (aw cycles) won, Gary Dodd got the silver, and I won the bronze medal. This was result was one of the highlights of my season last year.
This years SE champs was held on the same course as the Wally Gimber race I did earlier in the year. In march this course can feel tough mainly due to the cold and wind, but on sunday neither the finish hill or drag on the far side of the course seemed to offer many opportunities to break away.
However with one lap to go I attacked at the bottom of the hill to try and split things. I saw Steve Calland (norwood paragon) go with me and he was quickly able to attach himself to my rear wheel. Unfortunately having only just spent a few miles alone just off the front of the main group wasting energy in a futile attempt to get away, my legs hadn't recovered and didn't co-operate with the order to go hard. As a result after an initial jump my legs went into Park mode and promptly stopped moving. Steve said after the race he thought that I might have just been making a dummy attack, no such luck although I certainly felt like a dummy when I started going backwards so quickly.
A shout from Gary for me to get my act together kicked me back into action as team mate Simon Lawn was busy setting the pace for a breakaway group over the top of the hill. Over the top I was able to recover a bit and helped drive the pace down the hill to try and keep this group away from the peleton who were still very close.
After my previous attempt up the climb and with the finish fast approaching I didn't think I wasn't gonna have the legs for a sprint, and so was worried when Gary said he also wasn't feeling too good. Both Chris McNamara and a London Dynamo rider (Richard Hoult) were looking particularly strong in that group, so I put in a few attacks to try and tire them out a bit more and hopefully give Gary a bit of an opportunity to sit on and recover. My attacks were a bit limp though and certainly didn't take anyone by surprise as I had been well watched all race.
Up the finish Gary suddenly found his legs and blasted up the hill away from everyone, fantastic considering he wasn't feeling too strong. He claims it was energy gel assisted, and that with half a lap to go he genuinely was feeling bad and had quickly gulped down two energy gels. I got a bit blocked in after starting the finish hill near the back and finished 4th. Wondered if I too would have found a Dodd like sprint had I also gulped the two energy gels I had carried around in my pockets all day but neglected to use.
I have next weekend off racing (although am working) and then over the following three weekends I am entered for the Beaumont Trophy, the GP of Wales and then the Road Race National Championships.
After that I'm attempting the Marmotte again, and after last years dissapointing failure to finish it hopefully will at least make it to the top of the Alpe.
The next race i'm hoping to do in the SE should be the London Dynamo Summer Road Race, normally held on a hillier course so should make it a bit better suited to me than sundays race. It was unusual being so closely marked by so many riders all race on sunday. Apparently Chris Moores informed me at one point in the race I had nearly caused a crash when I attacked from mid way down the pack as 15 or so riders all went to get my wheel.
Monday 26 May 2008
On becoming a "man of the Ras"
That was without doubt the hardest 8 days i've ever spent on my bike as I have just clocked up around 30 hours of racing miles whilst participating in the FBD Ras, an international stage race around Ireland.
I formed part of a surrey league team which was also represented by riders Chris McNamara (Mc), Wouter Sybrandy, Chris Moores and Dave Sinclair. We also had pro like backup from Managers Keith and Richard, Masseuse Nikki and Mechanic Ray.
Some highlights for me were on stage 2 making the break with the stage winner Rapha's Dean Downing, and finishing 12th. This was even more rewarding as I'd initially missed a large split mid race and had got myself across to a chase group up a climb and then nailed it on the front of this group down a descent in order to close a minute gap to the front split. Apparently Wouter and Mc had also tried been trying to bridge across to my group on the climb. Had I known about I would have eased off to allow them get across, but when I looked back at the top of the climb I couldn't see anyone within 300m behind our group, and so had to make the decision to go hard or risk not seeing the race again. Think Wouter particularly was a bit annoyed to miss that split and sounds like he pretty much rode all day on the front of the second pack.
The real highlight of the race for me had to come on the next stage, stage 3 as both me and Mc got ourselves ahead of the peleton to finish in a chase group of 14 behind a breakaway duo of Newton and McCann. By riding a hard pace up the final climb we even split off from the rest of the group and got a small gap up the steep section whilst this was closed down over the top, showed that we could both match these pros on the hard climbs. That day I finished 6th, and was placed 4th on GC with Mc in 13th,
On the next day one of the lowlights for me was a near crash on a fast ad slippery wet descent after nailing myself to get across a large split. This really shook me up, lost me 30 seconds from the main group and also as I wrenched the bike to stay upright pulled a glut muscle.
Towards the end of the week the increasing pain in my right bottom (from the pulled muscle) meant I was increasingly riding using my left side, and every pedal revolution was painful. Wouter and Mc obviously noticed commenting that my riding was even more lop sided than normal.
As always Plowman riders seem to be shouting at me and giving me aggro. This was despite me helping their rider Simon Richardson who was wearing the yellow jersey get home on the horrible headwind finish section of the 7th stage, after we had both lost out. Some smart arse comments from PCA rider Alex Higham on the morning of the last stage (and i'm sure he could tell I was not in a good mood after losing out on the overall position I had been riding for) and then he wonders why I might not move over to let him through in the run in to the sprint, just because he shouts at me to move out of his way and let him through.
Ever increasing pain and a dropping GC position ensured I was in a pretty solemn mood towards the end of the week, and was glad to see the end of the race. However while it lasted it was fun to see my race number up on the stem of some of the UKs top pro riders such as Dan Lloyd from the An Post team.
Friday 16 May 2008
Off to Ireland
Back at the end of the revolutions 5 day last year I was asked by Keith Butler from the Surreyleague if I would like to race as part of a team he takes every year to the Ras.
This 8 day stage race is one of my main focuses for the year and I hope to come away from it with a good result or at least by putting in a good ride, and gaining lots of experience and hopefully strength to take on for the remainder of my races this season.
In the ras I will be coming up against many of the same top riders from the UK scene, but with the addition of strong international contingent with teams from Ireland, France, Norway and the Netherlands. I've been promised by Keith Butler that the racing is full on for 8 days! This is helped by each team only having 5 riders which must make it fairly unlikely for any one team to be able to control the race. The field is a mix of full time professionals and amateurs such as myself, as such i'm sure there will be a certain people im sure who will be happy to just to finish and also those who are genuine contenders for the win.
Well except for still being pretty tired after the Lincoln, i'm all set to go. Keith has my bike and race gear which he will be driving over for me with the rest of the team. I am flying tomorrow afternoon which will allow me a much needed lie in tomorrow morning before the race begins on sunday morning.
Keep your fingers crossed that I get round safely and quickly and watch this space for updates.
This 8 day stage race is one of my main focuses for the year and I hope to come away from it with a good result or at least by putting in a good ride, and gaining lots of experience and hopefully strength to take on for the remainder of my races this season.
In the ras I will be coming up against many of the same top riders from the UK scene, but with the addition of strong international contingent with teams from Ireland, France, Norway and the Netherlands. I've been promised by Keith Butler that the racing is full on for 8 days! This is helped by each team only having 5 riders which must make it fairly unlikely for any one team to be able to control the race. The field is a mix of full time professionals and amateurs such as myself, as such i'm sure there will be a certain people im sure who will be happy to just to finish and also those who are genuine contenders for the win.
Well except for still being pretty tired after the Lincoln, i'm all set to go. Keith has my bike and race gear which he will be driving over for me with the rest of the team. I am flying tomorrow afternoon which will allow me a much needed lie in tomorrow morning before the race begins on sunday morning.
Keep your fingers crossed that I get round safely and quickly and watch this space for updates.
Monday 12 May 2008
Hot day out!
Just woken up from dozing whilst watching the pros on TV at the giro recovering after a pretty tough day on the bike at the Lincoln GP.
Was a fantastic race - large field and crowds on a brilliant course that goes right through the centre of the city of Lincoln. Hot sunshine for the race meant I was sporting my casper the friendly ghost look as I opted for factor 50 suncream, whilst my Polar cycle computer recorded an average temperature of 29 degrees celsius!
In the race we (sigma) missed the 14 man break from which the race winner came, and chased hard, doing which I just about blew my legs off trying to chase it back. Unfortunately started to cramp after about 30 minutes of riding hard as I was getting dehydrated, so had to sit in and recover for a couple of laps whilst grabbing a bottle every lap. I eventually got some strength back in my legs towards the end of the race and got into a small group ahead of a rapidly shrinking peleton, as riders went off the front and climbed off at the back.
Cobbled climb was hard, although position on this climb was just as important as how fast you could climb it because it was so narrow and riders were stopping in front of you all the time.
I saw a photo of me pulling a face up on BC gallery.
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/eve/ImageGallery.asp?gid=3464#
I should be in the third photo along in the slider
Matt was best placed Sigma rider in 12th. Good to see team mate rob riding and finishing along with James Williamson, who had both chased hard and sacrificed their day to try and give the team a chance of bringing back the break. A combination of the hard chase, hot weather, mechanical problems and sickness meant Wouter, Dan and Mike were DNFs, but they weren't alone as only 50 of the 180+ on the start line made it to the finish.
This will be a race for me to look forward to for next year!
Was a fantastic race - large field and crowds on a brilliant course that goes right through the centre of the city of Lincoln. Hot sunshine for the race meant I was sporting my casper the friendly ghost look as I opted for factor 50 suncream, whilst my Polar cycle computer recorded an average temperature of 29 degrees celsius!
In the race we (sigma) missed the 14 man break from which the race winner came, and chased hard, doing which I just about blew my legs off trying to chase it back. Unfortunately started to cramp after about 30 minutes of riding hard as I was getting dehydrated, so had to sit in and recover for a couple of laps whilst grabbing a bottle every lap. I eventually got some strength back in my legs towards the end of the race and got into a small group ahead of a rapidly shrinking peleton, as riders went off the front and climbed off at the back.
Cobbled climb was hard, although position on this climb was just as important as how fast you could climb it because it was so narrow and riders were stopping in front of you all the time.
I saw a photo of me pulling a face up on BC gallery.
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/eve/ImageGallery.asp?gid=3464#
I should be in the third photo along in the slider
Matt was best placed Sigma rider in 12th. Good to see team mate rob riding and finishing along with James Williamson, who had both chased hard and sacrificed their day to try and give the team a chance of bringing back the break. A combination of the hard chase, hot weather, mechanical problems and sickness meant Wouter, Dan and Mike were DNFs, but they weren't alone as only 50 of the 180+ on the start line made it to the finish.
This will be a race for me to look forward to for next year!
Friday 9 May 2008
Looking forward to the weeks ahead
Another dissapointing race for me last weekend at the chas messenger capped off with me being caught behind a split on the final stage andfinishing a long way behind the peleton in a small group.
This weekend I will be racing the Lincoln GP. A massive field of riders is entered and a good position at the bottom of the narrow cobbled climb through the centre of Lincoln is sure to be critical for any success in the race.
After that i'm off to Ireland for the FBD Ras. I'm riding as part of a Surrey League team and will be up against some top names of British and Irish cycling, as well as plenty of international teams. Fingers crossed the weather in Ireland is as nice as we have in the UK at the minute!
This weekend I will be racing the Lincoln GP. A massive field of riders is entered and a good position at the bottom of the narrow cobbled climb through the centre of Lincoln is sure to be critical for any success in the race.
After that i'm off to Ireland for the FBD Ras. I'm riding as part of a Surrey League team and will be up against some top names of British and Irish cycling, as well as plenty of international teams. Fingers crossed the weather in Ireland is as nice as we have in the UK at the minute!
Tuesday 29 April 2008
Been a little quiet recently.
Another pretty frustrating weekends racing not only for me but for the rest of my sigma team mates I imagine as well.
Was riding at the Rutland - Melton Cicleclassic and predictably I punctured. Strangely it happened on a main road section, the front wheel just went down (perhaps picking up something in the 1st off road section i had just got through). Unfortunately when I punctured the team car was miles off busy trying to overtake dropped riders so by the time it caught up I had no chance of getting back to the main group as was stuck with a group of dropped riders.
Just about everyone else in the Sigma team had their chances scuppered by untimely punctures, this wasn't helped much with the team car being drawn last in the convoy.
Pretty pissed off as fitness had actually felt pretty good going into it....
Had ridden a hard ride round Richmond park on my road bike as part of the bikeradar "3 lap challenge "on the wednesday before. I had averaged 25 mph for it on my road bike which was a new PB (in terms of power and time).
This had come off the back of a really hard week for me straight after the Thames Velo, which had left me feeling pretty shattered for a couple of days on the monday / tuesday last week. This "hard week" involved riding "tempo" (in watts terms 300+) for 3.5 hours on the tuesday after the thames velo race. I then did 2.5 hours followed by riding a local clubs 10 mile TT on my road bike (which I won) the day after that. I followed this with 6 x 5 minute intervals done flat out as part of a longish ride a couple of days after that. Tiring stuff!
With the next lot of races coming over the next weeks I just need to find some belief from somewhere that I can get a decent result in these major races to make all this effort feel worthwhile.
Next weekend is the Chas Messenger, a bit more local and hopefully wont be quite so unpredictable, this race also has a short flatish TT so I'd better dig my lo-pro bike out and fix it.
Was riding at the Rutland - Melton Cicleclassic and predictably I punctured. Strangely it happened on a main road section, the front wheel just went down (perhaps picking up something in the 1st off road section i had just got through). Unfortunately when I punctured the team car was miles off busy trying to overtake dropped riders so by the time it caught up I had no chance of getting back to the main group as was stuck with a group of dropped riders.
Just about everyone else in the Sigma team had their chances scuppered by untimely punctures, this wasn't helped much with the team car being drawn last in the convoy.
Pretty pissed off as fitness had actually felt pretty good going into it....
Had ridden a hard ride round Richmond park on my road bike as part of the bikeradar "3 lap challenge "on the wednesday before. I had averaged 25 mph for it on my road bike which was a new PB (in terms of power and time).
This had come off the back of a really hard week for me straight after the Thames Velo, which had left me feeling pretty shattered for a couple of days on the monday / tuesday last week. This "hard week" involved riding "tempo" (in watts terms 300+) for 3.5 hours on the tuesday after the thames velo race. I then did 2.5 hours followed by riding a local clubs 10 mile TT on my road bike (which I won) the day after that. I followed this with 6 x 5 minute intervals done flat out as part of a longish ride a couple of days after that. Tiring stuff!
With the next lot of races coming over the next weeks I just need to find some belief from somewhere that I can get a decent result in these major races to make all this effort feel worthwhile.
Next weekend is the Chas Messenger, a bit more local and hopefully wont be quite so unpredictable, this race also has a short flatish TT so I'd better dig my lo-pro bike out and fix it.
Sunday 13 April 2008
Good weekend for Sigma
Good weekend for the sigma team with 3 victories in the form of Dan Duguid @ hillingdon, a three up time trial by myself, Steve Golla and Wouter, and today by Gary Dodd who sprinted away from his breakaway companions to take a victory at the Thames Velo Road Race against a top quality field.
Antelope RT 3 up TTT
Dry conditions greeted all the competitors for that 50km 3 up team time trial promoted by Antelope RT. Riding for the Sigma team was myself (Andrew), and Steve and Wouter who have both been in hot form against the clock with time trial victories in the last couple of weeks. With both my companions being somewhat time trial specialists (Wouter finishing 2nd at the BTTC (Espoirs) and Steve 7th overall in the highly prized best all rounder competition last year) I was always going to be in for a hard day. They also both came geared up on full TT set ups and I put myself at a further bit of a disadvantage beforehand by riding a conventional spoked wheel. Five minutes in these two had already put me deep into the pain zone! When early into the second lap my tri bars came loose (hanging on by the gear cables), this meant Wouter and Steve rode the second lap pretty much as a 2up with me hanging on behind with my now useless tri bars busy trying not to get them caught in my front wheel. Despite losing some of the advantage we'd built up over the first lap we held on for a good victory beating some of the quickest teams in the country and narrowly missing out on the course record by about 20 seconds. As I am sure you can gather from my report I can take little credit in this win, and in this kind of form both my companions are sure to go well whenever they race against the clock.
1 Sigma Sport 01:06:16
2 Shorter Rochford RT 01:06:28
3 Arctic Premier 01:08:16
I put in lots of silly little digs to try and get into a break, and in the process tired myself out a fair bit for when the crucial point of the race came. Team mate Gary Dodd however stormed to a great win from a break group of about 9 that started the sprint with only a 50m advantage from the main group. In a dicey sprint I got switched by the Bean Pole again and also today by his team mate all within the space of a few metres, again there was no need for it as they were both sprinting with a clear road ahead of them, very aggressive / dangerous sprinting and probably wont be long before they really hurt themselves or someone else again with ridiculous moves like that!
Tuesday 1 April 2008
Time to let the legs recover
Another long weekend spent up north with some moderate success finishing 16th at the tour of the reservoir. Unfortunately half the Sigma team including Matt remained out of action with a flu like bug that struck at the girvan, and Alex Wise was the only other Sigma finisher in a tough race.
My legs are definately in need of a little rest now. The finish to the reservoir was one that I had quite fancied i.e. a steep uphill finish, unfortunately I cramped up badly with about 4 miles to go and went from about 4th wheel in the chase group all the way to the back (and was lucky not to drop off it completely). I drank half a bottle of water and gritted my teeth on the downhill run-in to the finish and that helped ease the cramp, but meant I started the climb from right on the back of a 16 man group, and so could only manage to finish 4th out of the group.
So, as I said legs are feeling a bit sore post race. I got given a great sports massage yesterday from my work colleague (Cat) which has helped ease some of the tension in my legs but with no races entered for a few weeks (as not many elite races within travelling distance in April) i'll be able to get some good recovery in and hopefully start racing again with fresh legs.
Other things i'm looking at doing over the next month is losing a little bit of weight. I was about 72kg in late January but with the cold spell and less time / energy for training due to all the racing i've been doing i've let it creep up a few kilos. Means i might start even eating healthily? Thats the plan anyway..
Hopefully now its British summer time the longer evenings, and warmer weather? will also mean I'll be able to get a few more miles in. Yesterday evening was really great was out for a short recovery ride in shorts and a short sleeve jersey.
My legs are definately in need of a little rest now. The finish to the reservoir was one that I had quite fancied i.e. a steep uphill finish, unfortunately I cramped up badly with about 4 miles to go and went from about 4th wheel in the chase group all the way to the back (and was lucky not to drop off it completely). I drank half a bottle of water and gritted my teeth on the downhill run-in to the finish and that helped ease the cramp, but meant I started the climb from right on the back of a 16 man group, and so could only manage to finish 4th out of the group.
So, as I said legs are feeling a bit sore post race. I got given a great sports massage yesterday from my work colleague (Cat) which has helped ease some of the tension in my legs but with no races entered for a few weeks (as not many elite races within travelling distance in April) i'll be able to get some good recovery in and hopefully start racing again with fresh legs.
Other things i'm looking at doing over the next month is losing a little bit of weight. I was about 72kg in late January but with the cold spell and less time / energy for training due to all the racing i've been doing i've let it creep up a few kilos. Means i might start even eating healthily? Thats the plan anyway..
Hopefully now its British summer time the longer evenings, and warmer weather? will also mean I'll be able to get a few more miles in. Yesterday evening was really great was out for a short recovery ride in shorts and a short sleeve jersey.
Tuesday 25 March 2008
An easter weekend in Scotland
Phew thats over!
Got back last night from my weekend in Scotland where I was riding the Girvan premier calender stage race.
With wintry conditions hitting the country, the race was affected by a change of course for the last day with snow sitting on the top of the highest roads. However all things being considered , the race got pretty lucky with the weather with it staying cold but clear all weekend. The sigma team were struck down by a bug which meant that from 7 starters only myself, Mike and Alex finished.
In the racing I was caught out on the first 3 stages by splits in the peleton by positioning myself too close to the back, but managed to get something positive from the weekend on the last stage.
I had climbed the last major climb on the first stage with the front group (of around 20) so still didn't feel I was going badly, but got caught out when the field split in crosswinds in the last few miles of the stage, and lost 30s to the stage winner.
2nd stage was a crit, and again I got caught out again by a split in the peleton on a pretty technical course. I ended up riding into the wind for most of the 40 minute stage trying to limit my losses and keep myself in contention for a possible GC position, tiring!
3rd stage was the longest @ about 90 miles, with half distance covered the race split on a slightly downhill section. I was only a few riders back when it split but couldn't get across the gap which was initially about 200m, the speed at this point in the race averaged 50 km/h for 4 minutes with just about all the main contenders and their teams up in the front and riding hard. The next two hours were spent crawling towards girvan across the moors into a headwind, just sat in and ate and recovered and felt miserable knowing that any position on the general would be gone now.
On the 4th and final stage managed my best result with a 7th place on the stage. I'd climbed the main climb starting about 40th place and reaching the front group of 12 by the top after making my way through quite a few riders heading backwards rapidly particularly on the steeper early sections.
I then had a go at breaking away trying to follow Tom Southam (Halfords) another non GC threat had a go with 20 miles to go. My legs were already starting to slow at this point, and when Kristian House who was only a minute down on GC came across I knew I had to try and save my legs to get over the last climb of the day. Up this final climb Oliphant (PCA) absolutely ripped it up, bringing only himself and the yellow jersey (Russ Downing) across to the front group. On the run as I wasn't being marked I tried jumping away a few times however ended up missing the four man stage winning move. Did manage to get away in a two man break chasing group but blew up with 2 miles to go and crawled to the line getting half swamped by the big hitters as they wound it up for the sprint. Did get myself in their sprint photo through so a bit more publicity :)
Good experience, but a bit of an eye opener about what I need to work on to compete with the top guys, particularly in terms of tactics and positioning in the pack. Hopefully will come out of it a bit stronger. Racing the tour of the reservoir next weekend so will need to recover quickly.
Got back last night from my weekend in Scotland where I was riding the Girvan premier calender stage race.
With wintry conditions hitting the country, the race was affected by a change of course for the last day with snow sitting on the top of the highest roads. However all things being considered , the race got pretty lucky with the weather with it staying cold but clear all weekend. The sigma team were struck down by a bug which meant that from 7 starters only myself, Mike and Alex finished.
In the racing I was caught out on the first 3 stages by splits in the peleton by positioning myself too close to the back, but managed to get something positive from the weekend on the last stage.
I had climbed the last major climb on the first stage with the front group (of around 20) so still didn't feel I was going badly, but got caught out when the field split in crosswinds in the last few miles of the stage, and lost 30s to the stage winner.
2nd stage was a crit, and again I got caught out again by a split in the peleton on a pretty technical course. I ended up riding into the wind for most of the 40 minute stage trying to limit my losses and keep myself in contention for a possible GC position, tiring!
3rd stage was the longest @ about 90 miles, with half distance covered the race split on a slightly downhill section. I was only a few riders back when it split but couldn't get across the gap which was initially about 200m, the speed at this point in the race averaged 50 km/h for 4 minutes with just about all the main contenders and their teams up in the front and riding hard. The next two hours were spent crawling towards girvan across the moors into a headwind, just sat in and ate and recovered and felt miserable knowing that any position on the general would be gone now.
On the 4th and final stage managed my best result with a 7th place on the stage. I'd climbed the main climb starting about 40th place and reaching the front group of 12 by the top after making my way through quite a few riders heading backwards rapidly particularly on the steeper early sections.
I then had a go at breaking away trying to follow Tom Southam (Halfords) another non GC threat had a go with 20 miles to go. My legs were already starting to slow at this point, and when Kristian House who was only a minute down on GC came across I knew I had to try and save my legs to get over the last climb of the day. Up this final climb Oliphant (PCA) absolutely ripped it up, bringing only himself and the yellow jersey (Russ Downing) across to the front group. On the run as I wasn't being marked I tried jumping away a few times however ended up missing the four man stage winning move. Did manage to get away in a two man break chasing group but blew up with 2 miles to go and crawled to the line getting half swamped by the big hitters as they wound it up for the sprint. Did get myself in their sprint photo through so a bit more publicity :)
Good experience, but a bit of an eye opener about what I need to work on to compete with the top guys, particularly in terms of tactics and positioning in the pack. Hopefully will come out of it a bit stronger. Racing the tour of the reservoir next weekend so will need to recover quickly.
Tuesday 18 March 2008
My win @ the hounslow road race
Doh! computer just crashed after i'd written an updated report of my win.
Probably a bit long though anyway..
Basically... PCA seem to be a bit bitter about losing a race they would have been expected to win. http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/NEWS_Hard_Day_in_Hounslow_for_Plowman_Craven_RT_article_198359.html
I thought it was a good idea of the organisor to limit all the teams to 6 riders and so provide a more level playing field where no one team could dominate the race through numbers alone.
Just a couple of things to add to my report:
Its weird how things change over a long race... Mid race I was speaking to Sam (sigma mechanic) and telling him how rubbish I was feeling... Cramping up in the cold and thinking of peeling off and heading off to HQ to get warm, an hour later crossing the line first!
After I had jumped across to the break I went through to the front and was greeted by Gibb shouting at me "go through easy" at this point my power meter said 450 watts so not exactly sprinting. Either he was feeling a bit rubbish or wanted to stall things so a team mate could get across. Needless to say I kept riding hard till I wanted to ease off.
When I jumped at the end I was suprised no-one tried to follow immediately. It was the first attack from within the break, and normally they are the one marked down. Once i'd got that gap up the hill it was just a case of hurting myself for the next 3 miles, something i seem to find myself doing a fair bit in races recently.
From looking at my powermeter file my solo lap at the end was the fastest of the race over the finishing circuit, so obviously i'd saved my energy for the right point today, and despite my lack of celebration in the photo once I'd realised I was the winner I was pretty chuffed as you can imagine. Next stop is the Girvan... Weather forecast looks dodgy! But i've had some good practise in this past weekend so im really looking forward to it.
Probably a bit long though anyway..
Basically... PCA seem to be a bit bitter about losing a race they would have been expected to win. http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/NEWS_Hard_Day_in_Hounslow_for_Plowman_Craven_RT_article_198359.html
I thought it was a good idea of the organisor to limit all the teams to 6 riders and so provide a more level playing field where no one team could dominate the race through numbers alone.
Just a couple of things to add to my report:
Its weird how things change over a long race... Mid race I was speaking to Sam (sigma mechanic) and telling him how rubbish I was feeling... Cramping up in the cold and thinking of peeling off and heading off to HQ to get warm, an hour later crossing the line first!
After I had jumped across to the break I went through to the front and was greeted by Gibb shouting at me "go through easy" at this point my power meter said 450 watts so not exactly sprinting. Either he was feeling a bit rubbish or wanted to stall things so a team mate could get across. Needless to say I kept riding hard till I wanted to ease off.
When I jumped at the end I was suprised no-one tried to follow immediately. It was the first attack from within the break, and normally they are the one marked down. Once i'd got that gap up the hill it was just a case of hurting myself for the next 3 miles, something i seem to find myself doing a fair bit in races recently.
From looking at my powermeter file my solo lap at the end was the fastest of the race over the finishing circuit, so obviously i'd saved my energy for the right point today, and despite my lack of celebration in the photo once I'd realised I was the winner I was pretty chuffed as you can imagine. Next stop is the Girvan... Weather forecast looks dodgy! But i've had some good practise in this past weekend so im really looking forward to it.
Sunday 16 March 2008
Four Sigma Sport riders (Gary Dodd, Steve Golla, Wouter Sybrandy and myself Andrew Bye) signed on as part of a good quality field for the 85 mile Hounslow Road Race on Sunday 16th March on a course around Chobham held in wet and windy conditions.
A small break got away early on in the race, and the main group behind was neutralised over the first 50 miles, this was despite plenty of efforts from the Sigma riders to try and spark life into the race and form a chase group. After 50 miles the course moved onto to a smaller finishing circuit that included Staple Hill that was to be ascended 7 times before the finish. 10 miles to go a small group formed off the front of the main pack which included the pre-race favourite Tony Gibb (PCA). Gary put in a strong attack to get across but was well marked, I used his attack to help me jump across to the break, and after one more rider got across the elastic between the group and the bunch snapped. I put in a few hard turns to help establish a gap but then settled into a comfortable pace once it became clear that the winner would come from this break. With one lap to go I attacked at the bottom of the short climb and didn't look back until I got to the top at which point the rest of the group were just about out of sight. I continued to ride hard to the finish, and put a fair bit of distance to the rest of the break.
In the run in to the finish Sigma Riders Steve and Wouter jumped away from the pack, whilst Gary sprinted in with the pack to finish 12th, placing the whole of the 4 man team in the top 12 - a really great result for the team on a challenging day for bike racing!
Steve missed out on the post race photo as he had to rush off home. Nice photo of us in our smart casual clothing, Wouter will have to remember to look at the camera next time. I also had to rush off as was working in the afternoon, thankfully my work is very understanding as I was a little late!
Monday 10 March 2008
A last minute call up
Friday afternoon 4pm following some last minute negotiations my plans for the weekend undertook a big change.
Originally I was down to ride the Jock Wadley race, but with Rob (Sharman) and Neil (Swithenbank) out of action for the Bikeline I was called up as a late replacement to help strengthen the squad for the seasons first premier. Was a bit of a mission to organise everything so last minute and am indebted to many people, particularly Cat and Andrew from the Pavillion who gave up there Saturday afternoons so that I might have some fun in Wales.
And so after very little sleep on friday night I set off to make the 4 hour drive up to North Wales, this was after being woken up by a noisy neighbour at 4am which meant I left even earlier than planned and so I was actually one of the first to arrive.
Met up with the rest of the team again and then after much fussing with a kit bag filled to the brim with clothes (i'd packed for all weathers not knowing what to expect) got myself out to warm up for the first stage a short 1 mile prologue.
OUCH! A real lung opener. Up a drag and into a nasty headwind I nearly stalled halfway up when started to run out of steam and was hit by a gust. Was wrenching the pedals a bit out of the saddle. Not at all like stage winner Wilkinson (SIS) who seemed to be firmly seated and piling out the power!
I finished 17th and came away with a new power pb for 3 minutes, and was temporarily at least first sigma on GC. As reward for this Matt adopted role of domestique and quickly repinned my numbers on my jersey for me so that I didn't have to haul my own mini parachutes around with me. Good tip gained = use the pin to grab as much of the number as possible to keep it snug, and never only use 4 pins for the corners.
The afternoons stage was short, rapid and made extremely dangerous by howling cross winds and pretty heavy traffic on the course. Matt with both his experience and talent was revelling in these conditions and managed to get into most decisive break in terms of the general classification of the whole weekend. Me on the other hand I was happy to finish the stage in one piece, me and fellow South East racer Rob Enslin (awcycles) seemed equally shellshocked as we crossed the line at the rear end of a group that had shelled out 20 in the last lap with some riders apparently deliberately sitting up to make gaps appear.
Saturday evening was spent at the Stephens family house and included refuelling on pasta and pizza Fondant fancies and a delicious lemon sponge (all expertly dished up by Chef Matt) and entertainment in the form of Indiana Jones (chosen by Matts young lad Josh). Matt showed me his torture (turbo) room which Andrea (Matts wife) reassures us is definately audible from the living room.
Sunday felt a lot better after a good nights kip. The first 2 hours were spent with the whole of the Rapha team setting a fast pace on the front. This provided everyone else in the pack with a recovery ride interspersed with the odd uncomfortable dip into the red as crosswinds and hills gave rapha opportunities to try and split the main group.
It looked like it was gonna come down to the 10 minute climb with 40k to ride to split things up. Up that climb me, James and Matt were all fortunately excellently placed at the bottom and got rode well enough to all get into the front group.
Dan, Alex and Mike were a bit caught out as the race was on over the first steep half of the climb. In good company though as top riders such as Malcolm Elliott and Kristian House were with them. Apparently on the 80 km/h descent off the hill Dan says he saw Elliott riding with just one hand on the bars and taking the opportunity to have a pee whilst everyone else was gripping their handlebars so tight they were leaving nail marks in their bar tape.
On the run in to the finish, I felt good and helped keep the pace up to prevent anyone else getting back to the group. At the finish Matt delivered another great result for the team 4th for the stage (to match his from the saturday afternoon) and also finished in 6th in the overall.
I was pleased to have finished in 12th, which means my first premier points! This was only my second race at this level and feel I was can be competitive at the end of the race, and hope I have a bit more to get out of myself with better preperation.
James was also well placed overall just out the points in 21st. However was an all round good performance for the whole Sigma team who can all take positives from their rides. It was great for me to get an opportunity to ride with such a slick outfit but more importantly was that we all seemed to really enjoy the weekend. My weekend was finished off with what can only be described as a bucket full of hot chocolate at costa coffee so big I needed help lifting it off the tray.
Originally I was down to ride the Jock Wadley race, but with Rob (Sharman) and Neil (Swithenbank) out of action for the Bikeline I was called up as a late replacement to help strengthen the squad for the seasons first premier. Was a bit of a mission to organise everything so last minute and am indebted to many people, particularly Cat and Andrew from the Pavillion who gave up there Saturday afternoons so that I might have some fun in Wales.
And so after very little sleep on friday night I set off to make the 4 hour drive up to North Wales, this was after being woken up by a noisy neighbour at 4am which meant I left even earlier than planned and so I was actually one of the first to arrive.
Met up with the rest of the team again and then after much fussing with a kit bag filled to the brim with clothes (i'd packed for all weathers not knowing what to expect) got myself out to warm up for the first stage a short 1 mile prologue.
OUCH! A real lung opener. Up a drag and into a nasty headwind I nearly stalled halfway up when started to run out of steam and was hit by a gust. Was wrenching the pedals a bit out of the saddle. Not at all like stage winner Wilkinson (SIS) who seemed to be firmly seated and piling out the power!
I finished 17th and came away with a new power pb for 3 minutes, and was temporarily at least first sigma on GC. As reward for this Matt adopted role of domestique and quickly repinned my numbers on my jersey for me so that I didn't have to haul my own mini parachutes around with me. Good tip gained = use the pin to grab as much of the number as possible to keep it snug, and never only use 4 pins for the corners.
The afternoons stage was short, rapid and made extremely dangerous by howling cross winds and pretty heavy traffic on the course. Matt with both his experience and talent was revelling in these conditions and managed to get into most decisive break in terms of the general classification of the whole weekend. Me on the other hand I was happy to finish the stage in one piece, me and fellow South East racer Rob Enslin (awcycles) seemed equally shellshocked as we crossed the line at the rear end of a group that had shelled out 20 in the last lap with some riders apparently deliberately sitting up to make gaps appear.
Saturday evening was spent at the Stephens family house and included refuelling on pasta and pizza Fondant fancies and a delicious lemon sponge (all expertly dished up by Chef Matt) and entertainment in the form of Indiana Jones (chosen by Matts young lad Josh). Matt showed me his torture (turbo) room which Andrea (Matts wife) reassures us is definately audible from the living room.
Sunday felt a lot better after a good nights kip. The first 2 hours were spent with the whole of the Rapha team setting a fast pace on the front. This provided everyone else in the pack with a recovery ride interspersed with the odd uncomfortable dip into the red as crosswinds and hills gave rapha opportunities to try and split the main group.
It looked like it was gonna come down to the 10 minute climb with 40k to ride to split things up. Up that climb me, James and Matt were all fortunately excellently placed at the bottom and got rode well enough to all get into the front group.
Dan, Alex and Mike were a bit caught out as the race was on over the first steep half of the climb. In good company though as top riders such as Malcolm Elliott and Kristian House were with them. Apparently on the 80 km/h descent off the hill Dan says he saw Elliott riding with just one hand on the bars and taking the opportunity to have a pee whilst everyone else was gripping their handlebars so tight they were leaving nail marks in their bar tape.
On the run in to the finish, I felt good and helped keep the pace up to prevent anyone else getting back to the group. At the finish Matt delivered another great result for the team 4th for the stage (to match his from the saturday afternoon) and also finished in 6th in the overall.
I was pleased to have finished in 12th, which means my first premier points! This was only my second race at this level and feel I was can be competitive at the end of the race, and hope I have a bit more to get out of myself with better preperation.
James was also well placed overall just out the points in 21st. However was an all round good performance for the whole Sigma team who can all take positives from their rides. It was great for me to get an opportunity to ride with such a slick outfit but more importantly was that we all seemed to really enjoy the weekend. My weekend was finished off with what can only be described as a bucket full of hot chocolate at costa coffee so big I needed help lifting it off the tray.
Sunday 2 March 2008
Andrew Bye Wins!
Todays race at the Wally Gimber...
Andrew Bye Wins! (Most Elegant rider)
Maybe it was because I looked that good in my sigma kit?
Apparently though it may well have been because I was riding with my knees so close together , which I only noticed i'd had been doing after the race as i've now got a big scratch on my right thigh from rubbing against my bike frame.
In the actual race:
PCA set about controlling the race from the start and managed to get a couple of riders in the winning break and took first through Simon Gaywood, and then set about sitting on anything else that moved that they didn't like the look of. Yawn... Yawn...
2 out of the 5 Sigma riders Gary and Simon suffered misfortune in this race, with Gary dropping out after a mechanical problem on the hill and Simon coming off at some point in the race in what must have been a pretty nasty crash. From this crash he was left with lots of swelling around his jaw (leaving him looking a bit like David Coulthard - i.e. very square jaw) and a completely destroyed helmet.
Managing to do a bit better was Wouter who got away with 1.5 laps to ride and duely caught the second break on the road, and came 3rd out of this group in the sprint for the finish.
I attempted to join him in by attacking before the short finishing hill with 1lap to ride with Alex Kirk (Shavedlegs.co.uk) and Gareth McCulloch (Medway Velo). Sadly this chase wasn't successful not helped too much by me losing my chain at the top of the hill which had required a kindly given push from my breakaway companions in order to help me get it back on.
In the final sprint up the hill I was overtaken by the fast moving Dan Duguid who won the finish from the bunch in which I was left to battle it out with the Sigma mechanic Sam (London Dynamo) for 3rd place (14th place overall) who commented that this was the second time i've just pipped him to the finish.
Andrew Bye Wins! (Most Elegant rider)
Maybe it was because I looked that good in my sigma kit?
Apparently though it may well have been because I was riding with my knees so close together , which I only noticed i'd had been doing after the race as i've now got a big scratch on my right thigh from rubbing against my bike frame.
In the actual race:
PCA set about controlling the race from the start and managed to get a couple of riders in the winning break and took first through Simon Gaywood, and then set about sitting on anything else that moved that they didn't like the look of. Yawn... Yawn...
2 out of the 5 Sigma riders Gary and Simon suffered misfortune in this race, with Gary dropping out after a mechanical problem on the hill and Simon coming off at some point in the race in what must have been a pretty nasty crash. From this crash he was left with lots of swelling around his jaw (leaving him looking a bit like David Coulthard - i.e. very square jaw) and a completely destroyed helmet.
Managing to do a bit better was Wouter who got away with 1.5 laps to ride and duely caught the second break on the road, and came 3rd out of this group in the sprint for the finish.
I attempted to join him in by attacking before the short finishing hill with 1lap to ride with Alex Kirk (Shavedlegs.co.uk) and Gareth McCulloch (Medway Velo). Sadly this chase wasn't successful not helped too much by me losing my chain at the top of the hill which had required a kindly given push from my breakaway companions in order to help me get it back on.
In the final sprint up the hill I was overtaken by the fast moving Dan Duguid who won the finish from the bunch in which I was left to battle it out with the Sigma mechanic Sam (London Dynamo) for 3rd place (14th place overall) who commented that this was the second time i've just pipped him to the finish.
Wednesday 27 February 2008
Getting ready for the Wally Gimber
This sunday I shall be driving down to Kent to ride Dulwich Paragons Primevera the race for the Wally Gimber Trophy.
This race has again attracted a top class field including teams of riders from Arctic Premier, awcycles.co.uk, Plowman Craven, Wildside and of course Sigma Sport.
Last year riding for Kingston Wheelers I did this race which was held in horrible wet and windy conditions. I was wearing a rain jacket that was a bit big for me and felt a bit like a parachute making things particularly hard going! I can't remember exactly where I placed, but was caught behind a crash which split the field and effectively ended any chances I had of finishing in the top 20.
Whilst my recent preparation has been made a bit more difficult after my recent crash, this hasn't stopped me riding (albeit a bit painfully) so I'll be hoping to go a bit better this weekend.
With myself, Wouter, Dan Duguid, Simon Lawn plus team leader Gary Dodd on the start list and all riding well we should be able to make an impact on the race. I'm also hoping the weather stays as good as it has been for the past week or so.
This race has again attracted a top class field including teams of riders from Arctic Premier, awcycles.co.uk, Plowman Craven, Wildside and of course Sigma Sport.
Last year riding for Kingston Wheelers I did this race which was held in horrible wet and windy conditions. I was wearing a rain jacket that was a bit big for me and felt a bit like a parachute making things particularly hard going! I can't remember exactly where I placed, but was caught behind a crash which split the field and effectively ended any chances I had of finishing in the top 20.
Whilst my recent preparation has been made a bit more difficult after my recent crash, this hasn't stopped me riding (albeit a bit painfully) so I'll be hoping to go a bit better this weekend.
With myself, Wouter, Dan Duguid, Simon Lawn plus team leader Gary Dodd on the start list and all riding well we should be able to make an impact on the race. I'm also hoping the weather stays as good as it has been for the past week or so.
Sunday 17 February 2008
Chertsey 17th February
Pretty disappointed today after coming down in the sprint finish from a break group of 8 at the Surrey League MOD Chertsey race.
I was coming to the line the fastest of the front three when I was leaned into by a rider from the Willier sportsbeans race team who I think had switched his line as I was coming up through the middle of him and another rider, this was after he had initially pulled out to the right.
Powertap records I was going 60km/h as I came down so was fairly lucky to get away with nothing more than a bit of road rash. My Powertap rear wheel doesn't look took too healthy though and will require rebuilding perhaps the bill for this should go to Willier Sportsbeans?
See what you think? www.sleepingbearproductions.co.uk were there videoing the finish
Normal speed version
Slo-mo Version
I was coming to the line the fastest of the front three when I was leaned into by a rider from the Willier sportsbeans race team who I think had switched his line as I was coming up through the middle of him and another rider, this was after he had initially pulled out to the right.
Powertap records I was going 60km/h as I came down so was fairly lucky to get away with nothing more than a bit of road rash. My Powertap rear wheel doesn't look took too healthy though and will require rebuilding perhaps the bill for this should go to Willier Sportsbeans?
See what you think? www.sleepingbearproductions.co.uk were there videoing the finish
Normal speed version
Slo-mo Version
Imperial Winter Series Overall
Forgot to mention congratulations to teammate Steve Golla for picking up the 3rd place in the overall.
The series was won by Paul Pickup (BC private member) with Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon) in the runners up slot.
I finished in 4th, so all in all it was a pretty good series for the Sigma team.
The series was won by Paul Pickup (BC private member) with Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon) in the runners up slot.
I finished in 4th, so all in all it was a pretty good series for the Sigma team.
Imperial Winter Series
Yesterday was the final round of the Imperial Winter Series.
Once again I missed the crucial break, which contained Chris McNamara (race winner), Clive Nichols and Jerome Walters.
The main group was neutralised by this move, which quickly gained a minute advantage and later on went on to lap the field.
Not wanting to be lapped I attacked with about 30 minutes to go, and got into a good break with Chris Moores and a young rider from AW cycles. We were riding really well, and taking time out of the lead group. I misread the lap board thinking that I had three to ride and attacked, only to cross the line and see Doug holding out the 5 to go board. Whoops! I was then promtly caught by the other two riders and this then had the effect of slowing our little group right up. The result probably wouldn't have changed though with the peleton about half a lap back and the break about half a lap up. At the finish for some reason I decided to lead the sprint out from the bottom of the hill into a headwind. Some new power records got for me in this sprint, but with 25m to go they both popped out of my draft and whizzed past me! Whoops! But still new power records ! Who cares I came last..... right?
First race on my new bike, and new power records says it all really - it is a super stable machine which just screams speed. A more detailed review of the equipment to come but for now I need to get my arse in gear as i'm off to Chertsey MOD for another race this morning.
Once again I missed the crucial break, which contained Chris McNamara (race winner), Clive Nichols and Jerome Walters.
The main group was neutralised by this move, which quickly gained a minute advantage and later on went on to lap the field.
Not wanting to be lapped I attacked with about 30 minutes to go, and got into a good break with Chris Moores and a young rider from AW cycles. We were riding really well, and taking time out of the lead group. I misread the lap board thinking that I had three to ride and attacked, only to cross the line and see Doug holding out the 5 to go board. Whoops! I was then promtly caught by the other two riders and this then had the effect of slowing our little group right up. The result probably wouldn't have changed though with the peleton about half a lap back and the break about half a lap up. At the finish for some reason I decided to lead the sprint out from the bottom of the hill into a headwind. Some new power records got for me in this sprint, but with 25m to go they both popped out of my draft and whizzed past me! Whoops! But still new power records ! Who cares I came last..... right?
First race on my new bike, and new power records says it all really - it is a super stable machine which just screams speed. A more detailed review of the equipment to come but for now I need to get my arse in gear as i'm off to Chertsey MOD for another race this morning.
Friday 15 February 2008
New faces and new gear!
Exciting week as my new Sigma sport / Specialized / Sportful had its official launch.
Couple of hours were spent at the very nice surroundings of the hampton court golf club meeting the new team and being allowed to get hold of our new equipment.
First time for me for anything like that, felt like xmas with all the goodies were were showered with. The team is blessed with some excellent sponsors, which is fantastic as the gear for the whole team is top-notch. Also top-notch is the quality of the riders within the new look team.
The primary aim of the team will be the premier calender races, with Matt Stephens and Rob Sharman leading the charge at these races. Although i'm not a part of the 7 man squad for this year I will hoping to make some appearances at selected premiers, and hopefully showing that i'll be a valuable asset to the team for next year. All being well my first premier ride for the team will be at the Girvan Stage race at the end of March.
My main role for the year however will be as part of an extremely strong "local" team. This team will be led at races in the South East by Gary Dodd, and includes Steve Gowar and Simon Lawn who have been with the team for a number of years, and new signings Steve Golla, Wouter Sybrandy and myself.
With this team we will have real strength in depth and should be able to have a real influence in races. Our racing calender hasn't been fully decided just yet but its looking March will be a busy one with most of the local team having entries sent off for the Wally Gimber, Jock Wadley and Hounslow Road races.
Couple of nice photos of the team can be seen here on cyclingnews.com
Right off to bed now, last Hillingdon tomorrow and have a 4th place in the overall to defend!
Couple of hours were spent at the very nice surroundings of the hampton court golf club meeting the new team and being allowed to get hold of our new equipment.
First time for me for anything like that, felt like xmas with all the goodies were were showered with. The team is blessed with some excellent sponsors, which is fantastic as the gear for the whole team is top-notch. Also top-notch is the quality of the riders within the new look team.
The primary aim of the team will be the premier calender races, with Matt Stephens and Rob Sharman leading the charge at these races. Although i'm not a part of the 7 man squad for this year I will hoping to make some appearances at selected premiers, and hopefully showing that i'll be a valuable asset to the team for next year. All being well my first premier ride for the team will be at the Girvan Stage race at the end of March.
My main role for the year however will be as part of an extremely strong "local" team. This team will be led at races in the South East by Gary Dodd, and includes Steve Gowar and Simon Lawn who have been with the team for a number of years, and new signings Steve Golla, Wouter Sybrandy and myself.
With this team we will have real strength in depth and should be able to have a real influence in races. Our racing calender hasn't been fully decided just yet but its looking March will be a busy one with most of the local team having entries sent off for the Wally Gimber, Jock Wadley and Hounslow Road races.
Couple of nice photos of the team can be seen here on cyclingnews.com
Right off to bed now, last Hillingdon tomorrow and have a 4th place in the overall to defend!
Sunday 10 February 2008
Perfs Pedal
Been a little quiet on here for past few weeks as i've been getting ready for the start of the road season proper.
I made sure I had an easy week of training leading up to the perfs as I wanted to go in as fresh as possible. With no major races for another month I wanted to get a good result over a more sporting course than hillingdon.
Nice sunny day with little wind meant great weather for racing, although with the sun low in the sky there were still some slippery patches on the road. In fact first lap I nearly fell off twice as had my front wheel lost traction. Luckily though I managed to stay upright, and once i'd figured out the tricky bits made sure I was extra careful over the following laps.
On the 3rd time up the drag I attacked staying in the saddle and a break formed with about 7 riders and most of the main teams represented in it. This group was working well together and so a minute gap was quickly gained over the peleton. I felt really comfortable, despite doing probably doing longer turns than the rest in order to help keep the pace high. However, in this group the unfortunate Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon) took a nasty spill on one of the tricky corners. After this fall the groups rhythm was disrupted somewhat and the main group started to come back. As it hit the bottom of the descent with around 10 miles to go, the peleton was back in sight and closing in. To try and prevent the catch I went on the attack and went off the front alone. However, after some chasing from the teams behind I was caught after about 5 minutes. Immediately James Stewart (KFS) attacked as the race sat up and he quickly gained a good lead. I was a bit annoyed to have let him go so softly as although I had been away on the attack I still felt strong.
With half a lap to ride I saw an opportunity to attack and went off in pursuit of Stewart. Although he was coming back he managed to keep a 10 second margin and secure himself the win. Crossing the line alone in 2nd meant I also managed to avoid the somewhat chaotic bunch sprint as 50 or so riders went after 3rd place.
Lots of photographers around the course today, plus a good crowd of supporters at the finish line. So hopefully there will get a few good shots of me and Steve Golla in our new-look Sigma Sport / Specialized / Sportful kit. Having never used sunglasses before when racing due to fogging up issues, i'm particularly pleased with my new Specialized "miura" sunglasses which were so comfortable I just about forgot I was wearing them on and so could just let them do their job of keeping my eyes safe.
I made sure I had an easy week of training leading up to the perfs as I wanted to go in as fresh as possible. With no major races for another month I wanted to get a good result over a more sporting course than hillingdon.
Nice sunny day with little wind meant great weather for racing, although with the sun low in the sky there were still some slippery patches on the road. In fact first lap I nearly fell off twice as had my front wheel lost traction. Luckily though I managed to stay upright, and once i'd figured out the tricky bits made sure I was extra careful over the following laps.
On the 3rd time up the drag I attacked staying in the saddle and a break formed with about 7 riders and most of the main teams represented in it. This group was working well together and so a minute gap was quickly gained over the peleton. I felt really comfortable, despite doing probably doing longer turns than the rest in order to help keep the pace high. However, in this group the unfortunate Chris Moores (Norwood Paragon) took a nasty spill on one of the tricky corners. After this fall the groups rhythm was disrupted somewhat and the main group started to come back. As it hit the bottom of the descent with around 10 miles to go, the peleton was back in sight and closing in. To try and prevent the catch I went on the attack and went off the front alone. However, after some chasing from the teams behind I was caught after about 5 minutes. Immediately James Stewart (KFS) attacked as the race sat up and he quickly gained a good lead. I was a bit annoyed to have let him go so softly as although I had been away on the attack I still felt strong.
With half a lap to ride I saw an opportunity to attack and went off in pursuit of Stewart. Although he was coming back he managed to keep a 10 second margin and secure himself the win. Crossing the line alone in 2nd meant I also managed to avoid the somewhat chaotic bunch sprint as 50 or so riders went after 3rd place.
Lots of photographers around the course today, plus a good crowd of supporters at the finish line. So hopefully there will get a few good shots of me and Steve Golla in our new-look Sigma Sport / Specialized / Sportful kit. Having never used sunglasses before when racing due to fogging up issues, i'm particularly pleased with my new Specialized "miura" sunglasses which were so comfortable I just about forgot I was wearing them on and so could just let them do their job of keeping my eyes safe.
Saturday 26 January 2008
Another day at hillingdon
My blog seems to be getting a little bit repetitive as once again on a saturday afternoon I head down to Hillingdon for the Imperial Winter Series.
Once again Paul Pickup stole the show with a fantastic break away ride with a strong rider from High Wycombe CC.
My legs were actually feeling a bit rubbish after a training ride on Wednesday evening which i'd done with some guys from Kingston Wheelers. This ride had involved a few too many short intervals which may be partly to blame for the sore legs.
Because of this I was pretty quiet all race and only had a couple of digs. One in the middle, which got a small gap with team mate Steve Golla but didn't last too long. Another one towards the end which helped split the field up a bit as a small group formed just off the front and a few people including Steve bridged across.
In the run in to the finish I had one last dig to break away from this group in an attempt to take the 3rd place, however legs weren't playing ball so ended up finishing somewhere in the break and somewhere in the top 10, not too many places away from Steve who had mistimed his sprint a little and had deserved more for his attacking riding throughout the race.
A few angry cyclists seemed to be sitting near me in mid-bunch today including one particularly charmless fella from Twickenham cc who threatened to "punch me in the face" - not exactly sure what for, but I thought how very nice of him.
With the road season proper fast arriving and also with work commitments it looks like i'll be an unlikely starter at Hillingdon for the next few rounds, although hopefully will be able to make the last one on the 16th of Feb.
Once again Paul Pickup stole the show with a fantastic break away ride with a strong rider from High Wycombe CC.
My legs were actually feeling a bit rubbish after a training ride on Wednesday evening which i'd done with some guys from Kingston Wheelers. This ride had involved a few too many short intervals which may be partly to blame for the sore legs.
Because of this I was pretty quiet all race and only had a couple of digs. One in the middle, which got a small gap with team mate Steve Golla but didn't last too long. Another one towards the end which helped split the field up a bit as a small group formed just off the front and a few people including Steve bridged across.
In the run in to the finish I had one last dig to break away from this group in an attempt to take the 3rd place, however legs weren't playing ball so ended up finishing somewhere in the break and somewhere in the top 10, not too many places away from Steve who had mistimed his sprint a little and had deserved more for his attacking riding throughout the race.
A few angry cyclists seemed to be sitting near me in mid-bunch today including one particularly charmless fella from Twickenham cc who threatened to "punch me in the face" - not exactly sure what for, but I thought how very nice of him.
With the road season proper fast arriving and also with work commitments it looks like i'll be an unlikely starter at Hillingdon for the next few rounds, although hopefully will be able to make the last one on the 16th of Feb.
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