Four in a row!!!

What a great English weekend, wet and windy, so a good time to be out and about racing. Started at Hog Hill for the London Criterium champs, was alot faster than the previous race I did there two weeks ago, started with a very wet circuit but no rain until 5 laps from the end of the 25 lap race. I had a go at the sprints but as the finish line is at the top of the hill it was hard to fully commit while still trying to keep some energy in reserve for the finish. At 10 laps in I was attacking out of the bottom hairpin bend leading onto the back straight when I got a front wheel puncture so rode up to the top of the hill and borrowed a wheel and had a lap out, Takes 3 minutes to do a lap at Hog hill so had plenty of time.
So that was my 5th puncture of the year on my Tubular wheels, not good.
In the end I got 6th place in the race, was feeling good but still lacking that extra drive at the end, it is coming though.
So Saturday night was busy cleaning kit, drying shoes etc and gluing another tub on front wheel for Sundays racing in central London in support of the Tour of Britain stage start.
Again wet and windy but rain held off during our support race that got underway with 77 riders at 10.30am. As I sat on the start line I realised my rear tire had gone flat, managed to get hold of an official so was allowed to have a lap out straight away and get a spare wheel of the London Dynamo contingent. It is a bit poor of me having no spares but I haven't got any wheels that are suitable, and also have been lucky not to puncture, but then I don't normally race on tubulars.
Anyway as I was racing I was marking the moves, covering the primes without wasting to much energy, 4th and 3rd respectivly and in general felt good as the other riders were getting tired and I was staying the same. After a bit of attacking we came into the finish straight having established the race winning move when my front tire punctured, as I was at the front I rolled along to the pits and got another wheel, as I was waiting for the field to come round I was told I had no more laps out and would have to chase to get back in, so rolled round the corner then thought this is pointless as with 5 laps to go I could never catch the bunch, and saw no point in being in the bunch but being a lap down so called it quits.
Found my wheels and started walking to our store in Covent Garden. In the end I rode very slowly as walking in cycle shoes at 3.8 mph is slow when I could ride very slow and do 10 mph.
Got to the shop and changed wheels to allow me to head back to Tower Hill and the Bike Jam where we had a display and I had my car and dry warm casual cloths. Spent the rest of the afternoon drinking tea and eating, oh and talking to the odd passing visitor about bikes and cycle fitting.
Then to top it all off, this morning on my training bike I had to avoid a car sweeping across 3 lanes in Aldwich when I caught my rear tire on something sharp which slashed my tire in half, so again rode to the shop on a flat tire. At least this was quick and easy to fix.
Tubular wheels are not going to be used on the road ever again, instead I have already mounted some 30mm cyclocross tubs for the cross season, which starts for me in two weeks, maybe three as it is my birthday on the 20th and feel like having a drink or two.
Race is at Hillingdon at 1.30pm on Sunday the 21st so will probably make it.
So four ruined tires in one weekend, pretty shit really, This weekend I will be at the final National circuit race of the year at Warwick and will be on clinchers going for the win.
goodnight Warrick

The Devil ride....

Well that was a bloody killer ride, 2nd hardest event for me this year, Etape de Tour being my worst experience on a bike ever at number 1, maybe one day I will write about that.
As it goes having 10000ft of climbing over 100 miles is always going to be challenging, but how hard can it be. The first 25 miles nearly took 2 hours, well I did it in 1.40, but I saw plenty of times slower than this. First checkpoint at the top of Devils staircase which happens to be 25% for quite a long way.
At this point I had already lost contact with Steve, he was supposed to be the main man for the climbs, but turned out he had a very rare off day, I wasn't feeling that much better but experience kept me on track, nice steady pace, deal with the odd rain storm and the narrow single track roads, even stopping to put rain cape on and off, wind and roads to twisty, steep etc.
I managed to get in a little group of 5 riders and we rolled along until another long but not so steep climb got us down to two, at this point we picked up the tailwind so the valley after we blasted it and that was my undoing. Mentally I was not racing but could not stop the urge to monster a big gear, didn't take to long to realise my error as on the next climb found me lacking, started drifting back one bike length then two and before I knew it I was a couple of hundred meters adrift, managed to catch my man on the descent but from then on I was flagging, eventually I was done in on a 25% climb, could see it coming up but once I saw the sign I cracked, so that left me with 25 miles to go alone.
I just rolled along feeling every single pedal stroke, wondering if I could finish at all, made it to the last checkpoint to be told there was a group of 4 just in front and 1 solo rider 10 minutes further up the road. sort of made me go a little quicker but really was suffering so had to back off, was trying to remember the route discription in my head as I was praying for no more climbs in the the last 10 miles, how very wrong was I. Hence the name of the ride I guess. Even when I could see the finish town of Bulith Wells below it was still plenty of short steep climbs to contend with which hurt like a bastard.
Eventually rolled in for 3rd fastest time in 5.33.32hr, loosing 11 minutes to my man I was with who got fastest time of the day.
Easily inside the gold standard time which was 6.14hr.
Will I do it again, maybe as I know the route now and 2nd time is always easier in the mind.
Since getting back Steve and I have found an event this coming sunday in the Chilterns called Ride to the Horn, have entered as it is the only way for me to get out on my bike and get the miles in at the moment, although did manage a 2.30hr ride after work tonight so that was good.

getting ready

to go to Wales for the Devil ride, 100 mile sportive with 10000ft of climbing, looks as though it could be wet and about 17 degrees.
Picking up Steve from work in 1 hour to drive to Hereford where we are staying the night.
Been a while since I have written on my blog, sorry about that, just lost my motivation to write and ride, am getting my act togeather again, should have a report in the next couple of days from tomorrows event.
Watched the mens Olympic road race this morning, very exciting finish, looked like a hard course to me.
thats it, back soon

Warrick

The past week.

Raced at Crystal Palace on tuesday night, had a good hard race, well was until I punctured my rear Tub going up the hill just as we had made the break with 10 laps to go, walked across grass with bike and put some sealant in tire so I could get home, did have a spare tub in my bag but it is only 2 miles to my home, wasn't interested in rejoining the race as I had been going pretty hard, so hard that the Garmin recorded my heartrate at an average of 178 bpm which feel is not quite right, considering it thinks I had a maximum of 248 bpm, feel I would need a check at the Hospital if that was the case. So besides that glitch I took the rest of the week as easy as I could while still doing some short rides about London, actually felt weak on thursday, but nothing some percy pigs from Marks & Spencers didn't put right.
Glued a new tub on during lunch break thursday, getting pretty good at this, but don't want to make it a habit. checked and cleaned bike for this sundays race. Took saturday off so took my wife to the beach, very hot and extremelly windy so headed back inland for a nice pub lunch, good day out.
Sunday I took part in the Cycle Kingdom road race starting in Liphook and taking in Milland Hill which is 25% which we went up 4 times. Missed the break, well saw it go on the first 2 miles but thought it would come back, eventually there were 13 riders up the road, at one point the gap was 3.50 minutes back to the bunch, on the 3rd ascent of Milland I got a gap, well the bunch let me get a gap, so on the dual carrage way I was joined by 4 riders and about 5 minutes later by 2 more, from this point on we were heads down going for it, started taking little chunks out of the lead group but not fast enough and as we went up each climb our chase group got smaller and smaller until we got to the finish circuit with 4 laps left it was 5, a lap later it was 3. At this point we were going even harder and faster as we still had 2 minutes to make up, starting the last lap we had the time gap at 1.15min. We had nothing to loose so rolling massive gears into head wind and over the rolling terrian, on the last straight before turning left Rob Hurd punctured from our group and we could see the lights of the lead car start the climb, gave it everything which was a little to much as I hit the climb maxed out, had my eyes on a dropped rider from the break but I had gone over the edge so was struggling to catch him and was also in danger of being re caught by my guy after leaving him at the start of the climb, not sure on the times but if it had been a lap longer we may have caught but more likly I would have gone pop, legs were close to cramping as it was.
Feel good though to have finished a road race and so strongly, so all looks good for the Etape next weekend.
Had another Ice bath, these really work when legs are knackered and a nice plate of Pasta cooked by my Lovely wife who enjoyed her day out in the country watching the racing as well. All while listening to Niel Diamond live from Glastonburry on TV. Takes me back, way back.
This week I was planning on doing nothing but am know thinking about racing on tuesday, but also need to be aware that we are driving through France on Thursday to get to the Pyrenees for the Etape start as we at Cyclefit will be setting up at the Start Expo for the Friday and be available all day Saturday talking shop etc.

The need for Ice

On sunday I went and rode the same ride as the previous sunday with Steve at the same time, slightly warmer and a hell of a lot windier. For what ever reason I cranked the pace into the head wind at 18-19 mp/h as I felt good and need a hard ride as I am racing this sunday coming up.
Had a slight easing off before approaching Shere, but once back climbing seemed to ease into an all out fast tempo till the top of climb which maxed me out, legs and heartrate, made my legs really sore and this two and a half hours into a sub six hour ride, kept the pace at normal pace but know a real effort on my part, strange it was the flat that was making me hurt. On the steep climbs of Leith hill from the south, Ranmore and Box hill I was fine, actually cruised up Box hill wondering if I should up the pace or not, in the end I settled on a steady pace, had a moment break at the top of Boxhill, plenty of cyclist out and about. The ride back into London via Hampton Court was OK, legs started feeling better.
By the time I got home and checked my New Garmin Edge 705 I had done 101.4 miles at 17.3 mp/h and 4988 ft of climbing in 5.49 hours.
Thought I was all OK, had a quick shower as I was trying to catch the F1 Grand prix on TV, had lunch and did some stretches while finishing the last of my Born recovery drink. About an hour later I was so sleepy and my legs were pinging, could see the muscles contracting all over my legs, also very hot legs, went to have a nap but to much heat from my legs so decided to fill the bath with cold water and chucked in some ice cubes for good measure, tentatively lowered myself in to just cover my legs, quite a shock but by taking my time and not making any sudden movements I was comfortable immersed in cold icy water, sat there for ten minutes, well until my feet got cold, legs had stopped feeling so over active and had cooled down which is what I wanted.
By about 6pm I was back to normal so washed the car, anyway today my legs feel great after such pain yesterday so the Ice bath works. not sure how often I would do this as I cannot allow my core to get cold as it will take forever to warm up again, luckily it was a hot day yesterday.
Other notes, max heartrate was 181 , managed 192 last tuesday while racing, average for the ride was 141 bpm.
Today I averaged 102 bpm and a max of 132 That's enough geekeness, will be racing at Crystal Palace tomorrow night all going well.

2008 Serotta race bike

Here are some pics of my race bike for this year, Spec is as follows.
Serotta HSG full carbon frame and fork, size 56cm
Campag Record groupset with red top levers, 53/39 x 11-21 cassette
KMC Ti Nitride gold chain
Zero Gravity limited edition N.E.R.D brakes in red with Swiss stop Yellow King brake blocks
Chris King headset in red
PMP carbon tubular wheelset with Ti PMP skewers
Continental Competion 22 Tubulars
Speedplay Zero Ti pedals in grey
PMP carbon seatpin 27.2
Prologo Nago saddle in white
Stella Azzurra Garda carbon handlebars
Stella Azzurra GPA carbon stem
Stella Techna Spugna bar tape in white
Elite carbon bottle cages

Total weight as is. 15lbs/ 6.8kg

Saddle and brake blocks have been changed since photos were taken.

Finding my racing legs

Been a while since last blog, had a few interruptions to my year but all in the best interest in helping others, mainly family as my father passed away on the 5th of May in New Zealand. The night before I flew back home I raced at Crystal Palace with the aim of winning for my father, which I managed, in a two up sprint after a race long break away. At that point I was just getting some racing form, but the trip to New Zealand cycling took a back seat to the extent I didn't take my bike with me at all. Spent the time with my family walking, talking and just being together and enjoying the NZ autumn weather, bright sunshine, fresh air and 17 degrees each day. Did manage to borrow a Mountain Bike from Village Cycles to get out for an hour at a time wearing jeans and a t-shirt with trainers on flat pedals.
After 12 days it was time to come back to the UK and start riding once again, which I started by going to work the day after landing at Heathrow, still tired but at least getting my legs turning. Lucky for me that weekend was a long weekend so able to get out for two 2 hour rides which was my limit, during the week I was riding an hour or more after work and hoping to race at Crystal Palace but rained off. That weekend I managed a 4 hour ride in the North Downs area, again felt OK but found it hard going. Tried doing some efforts during the week but struggled to push myself and get going, come the weekend and it was all to little to late as it was the Smithfield Nocturne that I had enjoyed so much the year before but hurt so much this year. Found the pace very fast but still able to work my way up to the front and even had a couple of attempts to bridge to the break away but I was out of top end go, wheezing out of my arse and only had short bursts of power so just wasted alot of energy, and once it started drizzling and got the surface wet I lost my confidence with cornering, just felt out of place the whole race and not comfortable so drifted of the back of the bunch but held there pace until 5 laps to go when I got lapped by the leaders so took it as my cue to pull from the race, legs had just cracked at that point as well.
My hole body was very sore after and glutes, wow haven't had so much pain so must have been using them alot, even got cramp with the muscle up the front of my right shin while driving the 6 miles home, falling apart. 1am was when I went to bed still coughing up bits of lung and contemplating not racing the following day at Brentwood.
Woke to a power cut and the outside alarm ringing very loudly, so that solved that question, will race just to get out and away from our dead house, so arrived at Brentwood by 12 noon, had lunch and then got ready for the Crit at 2.30pm. Still sore legs from the night before and just tired but with hardly any warm up as I couldn't be bothered we started another race, sat in as much as I could, pace very high once again but this time I felt good on the bike so avoided the split in the field to get into the lead group and struggled to hang on. Could corner fine but just lack the punch out of the corners so ended getting dropped and in no mans land between lead group and the bunch, eventually 3 other riders caught me and together we worked hard and caught the lead group again just at the point when Dean Downing attacked for the race winning move, the only person to react was Rob Hayles as the rest of us where knackered.
So that left us chasing the two lone riders and in the end it was a sprint for third that I had nothing for so came in 9th, it's a result in an Elite National race at least but really don't like doing races when under done, but I guess that's racing, you have to deal with what you have got at the time of the race, so we use this weekend as a build up to something bigger and better.
So made it through the week following those two races by doing as little riding as possable except for a two and a half hour spin on thursday which just high lighted how much deep tissue damage I had done, legs very tight, especially quads. As I had the weekend off work I planned on getting some miles in and that's what I did. Took Steve from work out over the North Downs for 4 hours on the Saturday, riding out through Edinbridge, Heaver, Idle hill along Pilgrims Way and up Sundridge Lane and back through Cudlam, Downe and up Corkscrew Hill. Total mileage over 70 miles at 17.4 mp/h.
On Sunday once again met up with Steve at 8am at Roehampton gate Richmond Park and headed for the Surrey Hills on another ideal riding day with the sun up and mild temputure to allow for bare arms to get a tan, added an extra loop to normal ride by heading down Horesham way before coming back to climb Leith Hill, Ranmore Common and Box Hill before heading back towards Hampton Court and home, felt stronger as the ride progressed, was expecting to suffer at some point but had no problems so 102 miles in 5.45 hours at 17.4 mp/h average again.
So the racing legs are there some where so on Tuesday night I took them to Crystal Palace to see if I could unlock them. No is the short answer as I guess all the riding over the weekend has taken the edge away but still we had a race long battle which doesn't happen to often at Palace. Lots of attacking ,chasing and tactics going on, in the end it came down to a 9 man sprint for the line, I got myself boxed in as I followed the wheel in front to close so had to follow as riders came in from the sides so was on the gass then off as we were all aiming for the same piece of ground, closest finish I have been in for a while, either 3rd or 4th, not to worried, just liked the hard racing and all good prep for bigger races which brings me round to the need to enter some soon.
Main training at the moment for me is the Etape du Tour on the 6th of July, but I will be also racing the 25th edition of the Guildford town centre race on the 9th of July, so either flying or dead, find out on the night, hope to see some of you there.

Me and my real all steel bike

I am lead to writing about a bike I have grown so accustomed to riding I had almost forgotten what it was like as I treat this bike as my default bike, ie the one I always end up on when the weather is bad, the roads are rough or as of last weekend the threat of stacking was high and the roads extremely rough for a road race anyway. We are talking about the Rutland to Melton Cicle Classic that this year was a full 2.2 UCI international race, A race that I have unfinished business with, last year got taken out in while avoiding fallen riders, I had stopped but not the guys behind me, got hit hard and that was it for me.
So this year the race was upon us again with an even larger start list than last year. 180 plus riders.
as the race was so big we had to collect our race numbers the day before the event, luckily you could also collect other riders numbers and sign on for them as long as you had there licence. Which meant I was able to collect Sam Humpherson number as he was coming up first thing in the morning with Tom Hemmant.
I had Kimberly from Cyclefit with me as she had also entered the support race to be held over part of the main course, 4x 10km laps with some gravels roads thrown in for good measure.
Well getting back to the bike, I could have ridden a choice of bikes but in the end I settled on what I knew to be the best, which meant prepping my training bike a bit, ie. remove the mudguards, change the brakes and wheels and away we go, even riding it home I was staggered as I ride this bike everyday but must have got numb to how good it rides, just amazing, plenty of feedback from the road, lively as well as fast, only took the mudguards, seatpack, lights, OK, a few items removed, but basically the same wheels, handbuilt Campag Record hubs on new Mavic open pro rims, unlike my well worn training wheels which I have since replaced.
Ever since the race I have appreciated my bike a hell of a lot more, just feels amazing and a joy to ride, even today with some sad news that my father had passed away I went and thrashed myself silly up all the climbs on my ride out on the north Downs, 12 minutes faster than yesterday on the same route, bike does everything and more, have decided to treat it to some bling Campag record calipers in black to go with the overall paint scheme that I designed 4 years ago(don't worry Jules,I have payed for these), we have had the odd knock here and there, paint chips from broken spokes and road debris, the odd fall but just keeps on feeling as good as the day I started riding this bike.
Soaks up everything the London roads have to offer and more as I regularly take a short cut across the pavement and drop off the kerb at 20 miles per hour on the way into work, wouldn't do this on any other bike because I trust what I can do as well as the bike, we are one..

Oh the race, well I kept out of trouble but that meant using up lots of energy that I didn't have, what with having a slightly interrupted training period or lack off, way behind but still feel strong.
After 90 minutes my legs were having enough and hadn't even got to any rough sectors of the race, had to contend with not chasing but just riding and setting goals, like make 2 hours, then get to the next sector, kept pushing on, 2.5hrs, legs really hurting and in a small group that is still working OK, at 2.53 on the roughest sector I pinch flatted the front tire in the middle so had to ride out the sector to get a pare wheel.
From that point on I chased until the next climb when my legs said no, felt solid and on the verge of cramping so gave up, but as I was still on the circuit I kept riding to spin my legs out, every now and then a rider would catch me and pass, some would offer encouragement, while others were in there own world of pain, every time I came to an intersection the crowds were to vocal with encouragement to keep going even though I was going so slowly ,a kid on a bike did keep up with me at one point until the parent told him to leave me alone.
The last two hours I did not know were I was and the broom wagon hadn't caught me which was even more amazing, in the end 4 of us got together and decided whether to return to the start or ride onto the finish. The whole race was held over various circuits and the start and finish in a straight line where only ten miles apart, yet we raced, well rode for 100 miles somewhere between the two.
Officially I finished 94 and no recorded finish time as we were outside the winners 5% time cut, all very well, turned into more of a sportive, just glad it stayed hot and sunny all day.
Totally spent but glad to have completed this event and on the right bike for the job.
Mended puncture and rode to work the next day.
long live steel!!

Glider Track bike

On saturday I took my new white and red Glider track bike to Herne Hill for the induction session as I have not been on the track for a long time. There appeared to be plenty of 1st timers making the most of the supplied bikes. All very basic but good to go over all this again, for me it's more so that I get familiar with the fixed before I start chasing or sprinting, can be pretty hair raising the 1st time you get bucked off the bike.
Anyway it was a fantastic Saturday morning, at first I thought I was over geared on 49 x 15 but that was more to do with the controlled pace we maintained even when at the top of the banking, quite a lot of grip at Herne Hill for a concrete surface.
We all passed the induction so were allowed to continue on with the following training session for £3.00 from 11am to 1pm
This was made up of most of the morning group and a hell of a lot of other riders on fancy bikes, about 80-90 on the track, so it was split up into 3 groups, 2 groups pulled of onto the grass in the centre of the track and the group left out did a 12 lap training race. Kept swapping over so I think we managed 3 12 lap racers and then had an all in at the end.
I found these good but kept wishing I had a bigger gear for the sprint. Everyone else was running similar gearing so more a case of a lack of leg speed, kept getting top 4 placings but maxed out, all good, will be good once I start racing more at the track as I am hoping the extra speed will help on the road.
After 3 and a half hours in the sun without a drink or food I was toasted, didn't think I was going to stay for the whole session as I had had a few beers the night before and had to get up early to collect Track bike from work, feel so much better for making the effort to attend this weekend, really enjoyed it and look forward to getting my arse whipped on the monday league events and the Thursday Derny paced training that everyone recommended would help me with my criterium racing.
Also good to see so many youngsters giving it a go.

Mallorca 2008 GPM10 training camp pics

Week 12- 19 of April GPM10/Cyclefit cycle training camp held in Mallorca, week one of 3 seperate weeks organized by Cyclefit and GPM10.
I was out on the first week so most of these pics are from me while driving the van in support. Weather was very good as you can see.

(Hell of the East) Dengie Marshes Tour 'my view

What a race, had my eye on this race for months as it is for me a build up for the Rutland-Melton classic to be held next month.
I had my doubts mainly regards lack of training and this being my first race this year as how far I would actually get in the race.
The day started extremely earlier as the clocks went forward an hour the night before and as the race started at 9.30am in Essex we had to allow 2 hours travel time to make the start. Sam came and collected me in his trusty Volvo 940 estate at 6.30am. All loaded up with our bikes, cycle kit and race food and drink, we made our way across London from East Dulwich taking the Rotherhithe Tunnel to get on the A12, as I say it took a while to get to the race HQ, narrow twisty roads all the way.
Everyone appeared to be here all ready, we had plenty of time to get ready.
I dressed to stay warm as in the back of my mind I was going to have to treat this as training, so I had long sleeve undervest, long sleeve race jersey, Gillet, cap under helmet, leg warmers and neoprene overshoes.
Sprayed the Serotta HSG carbon all over with GT85 and had put some campag lube on the brand new chain, this bike is the bike that has been hanging in our shop since October last year, just set to my sizing with a slight concession in regards my normal drop to bar, kept it 2cm higher and also using FSA wingpro shallow drop bars. This was to be a rough and bumpy day in the saddle and I wanted to be relaxed and in control especially over the farm track that had a layer of ash spread on it.
The race set off at a steady clip as the first part was neutralised from Bunham on Crouch to Southminster, once we turned onto Hall road we started racing, from the off I was rolling a big gear and straight away new that I needed to get to the front as I could see that the race was going to came apart once we hit the rough stuff, what I didn't expect is to actually get to the front within the first half of a lap with about 15 other riders, I was not going to do any work as I felt the distance itself would get me, let alone actually contributing to the break and it wasn't as if anyone attacked, more a case of riders not able to manage the roads and leaving gaps.
The first crossing and proper off road section I managed to go from the back of the group to be 2nd out on to the road for the 2nd circuit, I was surprised once again how cautious some riders were, also using speedplay pedals I could not afford to unclip and get mud in the cleat as I would never be able to re engage, so kept it in big chainring and steamrolled across, pushed through when the bike dug in. Certainly elevated my heart rate so waited for the remains of the break to reform which it did but with only half the numbers, so again set about doing as little as passable which was getting harder to do as there was so few to hide behind, eventually we settled on doing quick through and off, and then I punctured my rear tire, which was annoying and a relief at the same time, although when I saw we had no service car behind and couldn't see one coming I took my rear wheel out, cleaned my mud splattered glasses and ate a Born food bar, folded the wrapper up and put back in my pocket and still no service, at this point plenty of riders had gone past and the biggest group was the one I had been in, Sam was in the chase group which I reckon was already at 2 minutes.
Finally I got some service to be told he had no campag rear wheels, would a Shimano do, I said anything to get me going again, so far down that when 3 riders went past I really had to will myself to get up to speed and tag on the back, which I did. When it came to the muddy bit I left them and managed to catch the next group up the road, worked with them then the next lap I put time into them and decided to go it alone as I could see the flashing lights of a support car, I put in a big effort catching 3 riders and then got them to lift they pace before someone missed a turn and it was two of us going at the same pace as before, I told the other rider we could ease up a little as I was maxed, but no he kept going until he blew up which was Ok, as I was across the mud once again, just this time I seemed to have had all my energy sucked out of me so couldn't get back up to speed,so watched the group that I was chasing stay the same distance and then pull away when I hit the headwind section, I realised that maybe to finish I will need to leave something in the tank as I finally saw were the lap board was and it was showing three laps to go. I got passed by one rider, didn't even try to get his wheel as I could see the group he had left not far behind, funny how every group seemed to be made up of different riders that you hadn't seen during the race, from what I gather they were alot of punctures, anyway I got caught by about 7 riders, we all worked well, railed it across the muddy section and came out and waited for the riders to regroup, my legs were failing me quickly, slight twinge of cramp in calf and arms getting tired. Two riders attacked and no one reacted as I guess everyone just wanted to get to the finish. The last lap went without any dramas, I was hiding at the back ready to attack across the mud section one last time, turned onto the metal drive way leading to the rough section and instantly punctured my rear tire again, put my hand up for service to see the two support cars disappear down the country lane on the other side of the hedgerow, so I thought if I can get across most of the rough stuff as fast as passable before all the air escaped, no chance, rode on the rim, actually overtook 4 other riders making a real mess of this section, came to the end and was calling out for another spare wheel, the reply was we have none left here, will call for a support car to come, 1 minute later I was underway once again with another Shimano cassette, which seemed to work OK, had no issues during the race with gears or bike.
So that left me alone and tired to ride the final section back to the finish which was equivalent to half a lap of the circuit but heading back to Burnham on Crouch, my only problem was it was flat, no trees or shelter and a headwind, my body just wanted to sit up and spin but with the head wind I still had to be crouched into the wind as to my annoyance I could see a lone rider catching me, he sailed past and I thought that would be it, sure I was last man on the road, about 5 minutes later I glimpsed another riding slowly catching me, as he got closer I saw that it was Sam, asked him if he wanted his car keys as I had them as I was certain not to finish, he looked confused at this and pressed on, a few moments later I was caught by the two riders Sam had dropped earlier, I buried myself to get that extra bit of shelter from two riders, I think there had tried to surge past because shortly after we caught Sam, who attacked the moment he got caught, which led to the others giving chase and me tentatively holding on then seeing the finish half a mile up the road and at the top of a railway overpass I sat up as knew I wouldn't get up it if I didn't save what energy I had to conquer this finial stage of the race, so came in 29. eleven minutes down on the leaders, about 5-6 minutes for me was wasted at the side of the road, but in all fairness I feel it was a just result,some riders alot worse off. Sam got 26th. 42 riders finished out of 70 starters.
Everyone had a story to tell and thought there should be more of this type of racing. Fantastic race.
Spent two hours cleaning bike and fixed the puncture so I could ride to work this morning, washed all my muddy kit and went to bed at 6.30 pm for 12.5 hours of solid sleep!

Bloody freezing

Met up with Mark Neep from GPM10, Jay and Andrew Hunter on Saturday morning at Roehampton Gate at 9.15am to get some social laps of Richmond park in, very cold but well wrapped up so all OK.
Fantastic bright and clear day to be out riding, plenty of cyclists out as well. we kept a nice steady tempo for the 5 laps that we did, more than what could be said about the two separate groups of London Dynamo riders that blasted past us with riders getting blown out the back, what's the point in that on such a cold early season ride, no working as a group at all, just destroy as many as posable, great idea, need to save it for racing and when it is warmer.
Anyway we had Ronan from Cyclefit join us for a lap, must say he looked a little under dressed, with just arm warmers and short sleeve top on, he gradually got colder and colder, even when sitting in the cafe having a tea and a unhealthy bacon roll he was cold. needed that bacon roll as I was flagging on the 5th lap.
Rode back with Ronan towards Kingston Gate, he attacked Test Hill in a vain attempt to get some heat into himself, I left him at the gate and finished off my 6th lap before cruising home along the emabankment in the sunshine. Felt good but a little flat in regards my legs.
Sunday saw me get up at 6.30am so I could meet Sam at 7.30 for us to meet some London Dynamos and ride out to Chertsey for the Beginners race series, I was out to offer advice in the two 2 lap introduction to racing etc while riding, getting the new riders used to rider in a bunch etc, then sat on towing dropped riders back to the main field in the 8 lap race, find it good fun, probable because I can do all this in my small chainring, even the 27 miles per hour down the home straight.
I was not allowed to race in the main even which was an 80km bunch handiacp race because of my full length mudguards on my training bike, but I was allowed to tag on and work but not have any influence on the outcome, so sat on for 3 laps with the Elites and 1st cat riders then started sharing the work by doing some threw and off, we caught the main field as it had all come together after 10 laps of hard chasing, I then found that my legs were feeling the effort even considering it was steady again and I could sit on, so did 3 more laps and pulled out, basically I had done a little over half race distance, enough for me, also had been riding for three and a half hours up to that point.
So went and got a nice cup of hot tea and a flap jack from the HQ, chatted to riders about there experience of racing in the 4th cat race earlier in the morning, then watched the finish of the main race.
A break had got away about half race distance and slowly pulled away from the main field, by the end it was down to a 7 man sprint with one rider coming off while aiming for the win, instead he slid up to the line and still got 5th, bike was further down the road. all on video. He was fine, lucky he had plenty of layers on as he had chewed up his race jersey in the crash.
Had to wait for Sam to recover before riding back to London, very tired by know.
Got home at 4.10pm after 5.40hrs of riding during the day, had lunch, then a nap and 45 minutes after that I had dinner.
Biggest week of riding this year, also the coldest for riding, feel good and tired.
struggling to keep my eyes open sitting here typing this in with my two fingers.
thats all from me, have a good night
Warrick

Onwards

Rode in yesterday with the sun coming up as I went over Waterloo Bridge , the day felt fantastic and great to be up and about this early, that all came to a halt when I got to work to find I had no keys on me to open the shop, luckily I was well early and a quick phone call and i was inside the shop at 8.10am, close call. Had left my keys in the shop the night before in my haste to get out riding after work. at the moment thats is all I am doing, the odd quick spin down the embankment to Putney and then back on the south side of the river to Vauxhaul, then Brixton and home.
legs have felt heavy this week so haven't done any speed or strength work, just fast spinning in small gears.
This weekend I will be in Richmond park clocking up the laps, two weeks ago it was 7 and 5 two weeks before that. just keep it steady, time on the bike and also my wife is teaching so can't be home before 1pm anyway.
Sunday should see me riding out to Chertsey to lend a hand at the London Dynamo beginners races, may even race, see how I feel,expect to be fairly knackered come sunday night.
Haven't entered any races yet, going to hold out to mid March. Past few years I have done the Wally Gimber but will pass on this this year. Need to check the calender though, need to fit some time trialing in this year as I aim to go to Austria for the World Masters road race Champs in August and the Time Trial.
Thats me for the moment!

Tuesday 8th update

Last few weeks I have felt really tired and had some rough nights sleeping, to the point that I stopped riding, had to cancel my ride with Sam on Sunday, just feel so washed out.
So last night I decided to ride home as fast as possible, felt fresh once home, so tonight I blat ted down the embankment given it full gas into the headwind, just trying to load up my legs and keep my heart rate high without redlining.
Struggle but fun, turned at Putney and came back via the south side of the river with a tail wind, feel less inclined as it is to easy to max out the heart rate, rather have some constant loading, felt good considering, also meant that my ride was over quickly.
Once home I sat on the floor to stretch my legs and then did some press ups and dumb bell curls and shoulder press, overall my body feels quite strong.
Find out tonight if this has snapped my body out of the lethargy that had set in. I know it is a long way before I start racing but to be honest I can't be bothered with long steady training rides at the moment, probably change my mind in a month or so!
Already finding alot of fun event clash with my racing, damn it!!
nevermind