Glencoe Grand Prix

This weekend started with a drive to Glencoe to our Host family to drop our gear and then for Jeannie and I to make a school visit to South School, Glencoe to have a talk with the kids at 12.25 then again at 2pm.

After we went for a ride to Lake Michigan for my first view of the Great Lake since arriving here a month ago.  Also house spotting some Frank Lloyd Wight homes, very nice to see.

So good to get the kids involved, so many of them planned on doing the kids race the following day. Record number of 228 kids lined up on Saturday noon to race the same circuit we raced.  
Having a chilled out day was really good and not having to drive to far as it was only an hours drive from Crystal Lake to Glencoe made it good. Having the Kelbers as a host family was awesome and being 1.5km from town and the race circuit made it so easy to chill out. Having the basement area to use when it was 22 degrees at night allowed us to stay cool, the difference from downstairs to     the ground floor the next day was staggering, hit 33 degrees in the afternoon.   Our Host family have this amazing dog called Simba, a Bernese  mountain dog that was 2 years old.

  So onto the Glencoe Grand Prix. I was entered in two racers and Jeannie in one. First race was at 9.35am being Masters 45+, made my day very hard by eating breakfast way to late, 8.30 was to close, to chilled, oh well, school boy mistake. It did do what I was meant to be able to do and that was to use this race as a warm up for the Masters 35+ Held later in the day.
I like to race and when I tried I felt sick. Legs good but felt sleepy, body trying to figure out what's more important, digesting food or supplying energy. In the end I got beaten into 5th place by not getting far enough forward when it mattered and also not fully committing myself in the sprint. So I was a bit peeved at first but turned that round making sure I would race hard in the 2nd race of the day. Mornings course was a short course with no real challenges while the afternoons course added on another circuit which had some dynamic corners and a hill to contend with.                                                                                                                                                          
The race started fast and I had to move up which took a few laps, I could see it was going to be hard as there was lots of attacking. I rode myself into the race and tried a few moves but everything was chased down. Towards the end with 5 laps to go 3 of us got away for a lap but reeled in then I went again using the downhill and corners taking Tim with me, by the time we got round and up the hill we had 10 seconds so we gave it full gas hoping to break the bunch which we did but man did I suffer, with two to go I had adjusted to the effort but could feel my legs where a little tired from racing in the morning, just pushed on. Tim was riding very strong and in the end he just had a more powerful sprint than me at the end. Still was happy with the result. Masters racing is hotly contested here in the States, well organised and supported by the riders, family's and the towns we race in, making it a family fun day out. Having a rest from racing for a week, get some steady riding in before racing 11 days in a row at The Tour of America Dairyland (T.O.A.D) phew!!

  

 

Racing the Snake

The snake I refer to is in Burlington, Iowa. Snake Alley criterium is famous as it involves a fearsome climb up Snake Alley each lap with switchbacks up the hill on cobbles no less, at a max gradient of 12.5%.
This is both daunting and exciting at the same time as I know I can climb, but am also afraid of the course as this is my first time here at this iconic event and being unsure of my competition as I line up looking at some pretty fit master riders.
Our race was 12 laps long which appears to be quite short but this is how the Snake bites as I was to find out. I had a great start sitting 2nd wheel on the approach to the climb but was swamped by the bunch sprinting to get a good position so this put me back in the field watching the rider in front and once the climb was over finding that 3 riders had a gap, this kept happening to me but less aggressively until the 5th lap when I made sure I hit the bottom first and using some power that I had saved by not sprinting each lap I managed to exit solo at the top and work on building a lead which I did, so for a couple of laps I was thinking I had this race in the bag and had the measure of the snake but how wrong was I, as on the 7 th lap I was caught by Daniel Casper, took me a moment to realise he had caught me as I had been lapping riders already, this is when I payed for my early effort and started to struggle up the climb.
As we counted down the laps I was trying to figure out my best plan of attack to get rid of Daniel as he looked like he could sprint but the course decided for me, I was really grovelling on his wheel up the climb with 3 to go and was having searious doubts about even challenging when with 2 to go he wanted me to lead up the climb, which I took straight away as I knew I could set a pace and block so I had something for an all out attack on the last lap, and that is what I did but to no avail as he gave it everything to stay glued to my wheel, I could tell by the way the crowd was cheering it was for him to stay opposed to me getting away.
So we both had finished the snake totally maxed out, looked at each other and rolled down the hill back towards the downtown part of the course, had 6 corners to sort a plan, and my plan was to recover as much as possible by not even pedeling until we had to, I was relying on him thinking he was going to beat me in the sprint so I made sure he was on my right shoulder and I up against the curb, let it slow right down till the last left turn when I moved to look like I was starting my sprint but all I wanted was for Daniel to start coming round on my right which he did then I took a tighter line and opened up my sprint to the line on the smooth section of road in front, up shifting once and willing myself to the line to win by half a bike.
I was pretty much tired up in knots after as I had maxed myself but was more than happy about that as I had the result I was after, so glad to have had the chance to do this race, nothing like I have ever done before.
My prize amounted to a real brick with a plaque on it, a toy snake and some cash.

Urbana Grand Prix back to back racing

PSIMET riders Jeannie Kuhajek and Warrick Spence headed south over the weekend to race the Urbana Grand Prix, organized by Scarlet Fire Racing. Urbana GP features a 1.6 mile windy, rolly course around picturesque Crystal Lake Park in Urbana IL with a punchy power climb heading into the start/finish. Jeannie and Warrick arrived in Chicago from New Zealand less than two weeks ago. Fresh to the US crit scene, Warrick had his first go at a multiple race day. Warrick’s Race Report Urbana Grand Prix was my first chance to try out my new PSIMET wheels, as well as have a go at racing multiple races in one day. My plan was take it easy in the Masters 123 race, and then go hard in Pro123. Well, that plan went out the window on lap two of the Masters race. I followed an attack, thinking it best to be near the front of the race. We quickly established a sizable gap to the field in a two rider break. Soon I found I was spending a long time on the front, with maybe a 20 meter pull from my breakaway companion each lap. I put some effort into encouraging him to do a turn, which he did, but he then promptly sat up, leaving me with more than half the race distance to cover on my own. I considered sitting up but then decided to just keep riding one lap at a time. I was very glad to get time checks from Team Mack rider Gary Doering. With two laps remaining I upped my pace coming in for my first win in America. Yay! After a quick podium celebration, I did my best to recover and prep myself for the Pro123 an hour later. I made sure I drank plenty of electrolytes and ate what turned out to be way too much food. Three cookies and a couple of bars left me feeling a wee bit in the middle of the next race. The Pro123 was a much larger field with lots of young, strong looking riders and multiple teams. The race started fast (30 mph) but felt easier than the Masters123, with the large field for draft and the high speed providing momentum up the hill. Ignoring protests from my sore legs, I positioned towards the front. About 10 minutes into the 70 minute race, attacks started. The field strung out and a group of three riders separated from the field. The field splintered as chase groups formed. Putting in a huge effort (and nearly repeating all the food I had just eaten), I managed to bridge to the front chase group. I sat on for a while to recover from the effort then started rotating with the other four riders in pursuit of the three up the road. With about 15 minutes left in the race, two strong Bissel riders joined us, interfering with our rotations to protect their two teammates up the road. The last nine laps I was really starting to fade. With two laps to go everyone started looking at each other. I just wanted to get the race over so I attacked. Another rider countered and I was completely maxed out. In the final sprint up the hill, my legs were empty, about to cramp, and me dry and out of drink. I hung on for 10th place. Phew! I got in some great training, learnt a bit about food intake between races, and figured out that I am better off saving my legs for the bigger race as I am a racer and will race hard in any race I am put into. Thanks to Scarlet Fire for putting on a great event, Gary Doering for organising a place to stay on a Friday night with Mike and Lori Ozment, Mike and Lori for excellent accommodation, Jeannie for all the driving and support, and PSIMET for the wheels and team kit. Looking forward to Fox River Omnium.

Final Race in the 2013 Benchmark series, Hell of the South.

Friday we left for the drive down to Christchurch with most of our team mates finding there own way down I got a ride with our manager for this event John Reid and his 2nd in command Matt Black in the good ole Holden Commodore work car of Brendon Matthews with its permenant check engine light and other warning beeps from the car. Nice stress free drive. I was staying at a long time cyclist friend of mine Scott McDonnell and his family on his sofa. Arrived at 6pm and settled in for the evening. The day of the race started with a lift with Team Thule to the start of the race at the Farringdon Estate in Rollston, 20 minute drive away on a brand new motorway. The final days racing was a split day with a short 7km Team time trial that only counted for the teams points and then the main event at noon which had us doing 3 circuits with a section of gravel of 1.3 km long each lap then another section on the final run home of 1.7km, total race distance of 127km. We needed to do well in the TTT as we were holding 2nd overall in team catagory but only a few points in front of 3rd and 4th. The time was for the 4th rider across the line which was fine as we had 5 in our team, well we did for at least a kilometer. Meant our overall contender in the points Brendon and I had to do most of the work, I did not feel that we where going that hard but these events quickly compound those feelings as I started to tire quite badly which meant I had to dig deep to keep up the pace. We managed to just get in 3rd place with a 11.18, 2secs in front of next team. So that was job done. I just needed to have a sleep after which I did on the grass verge by our team car. Felt quite sleepy most of the day as had not had the best sleep the night before, sofa was good, just hard that first night in a new place. Anyway I needed to recharge, drank energy drink and at a couple of pieces of food before the main event. We rolled out with me right at the back during neutralized section of about 5km, Once the race was under way I went up to the front of the race, there where a few moves that came back, I just followed the wheels knowing it was going to be a long day and most riders where going to wait until the gravel. 2 riders managed to slip away and started opening a gap quicly, a rider managed to sprint across so that was 3 up the road, no drama I thought as it was a long way to go, 3 more riders went in pursuit, bunch was content to just keep cruising so both groups of 3 got out of sight quite quickly. I felt it was hard to let the bunch just roll along but without doing alot of work this early I would be no good later so just held back. the first section of pave came at 42km so set about making sure Brendon was up near the front which was easy, ended up riding next to Team thule as they where protecting there rider as he was the overall leader of the series. I followed into the gravel in 3rd wheel but straight away felt unsettled, I was trying to ramp up the pace but found the gravel was like marbles with deep patches, hard to see a line to ride so ended up off line not able to corner so got out of postion, I was shaken quite alot as I love this stuff normally, managed to stay in the top ten as alot of riders where far worse off than I, we came out onto the road with a split in the bunch, pace hovered at 50 plus but with no real structure or desire by our bunch to keep driving it the rest of the field caught back on. I took shelter and to check on team mates, Brendon was in front half, Chris, bruce and Andy managed to get back in after a short chase. At this point we got a time check to the front group of 3 where out at 4.50mins with the second group of 3 2mins behind, so I decided to see if doing a few hard long pulls on the front might make a difference and also spur some action into the bunch. managed to get 4 other riders to help, able to sit on 40 km/h into the wind, next time check at the end of that lap and we had taken 2 minutes out of the leaders and could see the 2nd group in front of us. The 2nd lap through on the gravel I lead in so I could chose my line and set the pace which I did well, also felt alot more at ease this time, came out onto the road with the bunch intact but we had a few more teams interested in chasing, although also had some teams doing a good job of blocking as well, this time into the wind I bought the pace up to 45km/h and simply rode of the front with one other rider on my wheel so kept going, we opened up a good gap and closed out the 2nd bunch which had imploded by then but then we also started to see the folly of this move as it was bloody hard out there, managed to get the gravel in front of the bunch so knew we could get through at our own pace which was not that slow, I came out in front of the bunch, all the camera men and crowd had gone, makeing there way back to the finish. we know had 25km to go, I felt I may have burnt to many matches but sat in near the front. Time check to the front was 2mins at this point, at this point I had a chat to Brendon about our finish plans, he wanted a lead out train for the sprint, still had two team mates with us at this point. I said I am going to work on the front to see if we can bring the break back as I felt I could do both this and still help lead out if it came to that. We started to get more regular time checks, we where taking time back in chunks but not quick enough, I managed to ride of the front again and lead into the fiial section of pave at 1.7km long, got caught on the 90 degree left turn that was all dirt, this section was narrow with some grass showing down the middle so that is where I rode, had a team thunder pass but managed to match them on the right, very fast for a gravel section, we came out with a bunch of 8 and a good gap but no one wanted to drive it which was interesting as how hard these guys did the gravel. Buch was getting tired but not letting anything go either, well that was until one rider launched from the back and rocketed past, i took up the chase, had another rider right on my wheel, bunch only a coulpe of bike lengths but then no one could close the gap so the 3 of us held in front then slowly started pulling away, By know we could just see the lead car, 1.20 up the road with 10 km to go. The 3 of us kept rolling at 38-40 km/h, I was waiting for the right time to punch it up to 42-44 but as it turned out i had nothing left to do this but we where still pulling tme, down to 50secs and 38 secs in front of bunch, knew it needed one of us to drive it but we where all at the exact same point, seemed stuck on 38km/h, I started to inform them how far to go, 2km and it was 30 secs to the 2, or thats right one rider had blown to bits, lasted 100k though. We had a two more right turns to go, I lead the first and started ling up the 2nd with a nice wide arch and then one of the guys cut in at an angle that took me right into the gutter so I thought stuff you and sprinted for the line which gave me a 3 bike length gap but then I had no more and was willing my body to keep going, legs had run out of everything, lucky for me the other two had the same thing happen so was able to roll over the line completly exhausted, whole body had pins and needles, not sure if heart was beating or just vibrating, managed to make it back to team car then just sat on the ground for 10 minutes. So that is my account of the race. Brendon finished 10th with Bruce Heron and Chris Heywood in the bunch as well. Well done to the whole team, John Reid, Matt Black, Brendon Matthews, Bruce Heron, Chris Heywood, Andy McDonald, Brian Grant, Jim Black, Glenn Bussell, Mike Anderson and all the help that has made it what it is. Next Target is the Masters games next weekend. phew, wonder if I can recover in time.

Pics from the road, NZ

Tuesday blast

Last night was the 2nd of the Tuesday night blasts held from Richmond. We meet at 6pm and start racing at 6.30pm on a route that takes an hour or less of very fast and hard racing. We had about 20 riders in A/B grade last night, good to see early on everyone doing through and off, that stopped on the first hill though as the attacking started, I did a big pull, all that did is separate me from the front before we turned into Maisey Road, eased back into the bunch, wanted to see if anyone was going to attack the climb as it is short and steep. We all went over in a bunch so had to start stretching it out again down Redwood straight, we could not get a gap, but was making it hard for the rest. I am just staying on the gas all the time. Had another go along Wamai West, as did a few others. Did get away with a young lad for about 5 minutes, he is one rider not afraid of giving it some. He was also in the break on Saturday with me.
We got caught just after Burkes Bank, Robin Reid rolling a big gear, but looking smooth as he went away from the bunch, I gave myself about a seconds rest then held his pace until someone could come round me, all came together with a 100 meters to Ranzua corner, came in third wheel, aiming to whind it up for the bunch, started then felt the wind was to much so sat up thinking I had the whole bunch on my wheel, when in fact only had 4 riders then a gap back to the bunch. I had done enough blasting so let everyone else charge to the line. I came in at the back, happy that I started the days racing hard and stayed riding hard till the finish.
Overall there was about 80 riders there last night, good turn out. What with the New Zealand Club Nationals to be held here in Nelson next week, it is bringing on the form so early in the race calender.
I feel good and strong, had my back sorted by Osteopath Richard Carruthers in 3 sessions, forgot that I had crashed and hit my head earlier in the year. Moving here took up alot of my time, makes a massive difference as before I could only manage 3 hours at the most as the discomfort was not nice, since I have done some of my longest rides this year. 6 1/2 hours last Thursday, mixed in with 2 over 4 and a 5 1/2 hours last Sunday, all last week, very big week but feel fine, well a little tired.
I am doing the 178km senior road race on the 24th of Oct, hence all the miles. The course is a honest one and is going to hurt going up Old Coach road on the 11th lap, 16km laps.
Will try to get some pics up soon.
later Warrick

Living in New Zealand

Well on the 12th of August my wife and I arrived back in my home town of Nelson, New Zealand to be greated by my Mum and daughter, had a nice moment at the airport. My daughter and I caught the airport shuttle with my bikebox and two suitcases, while my wife went with my mum. Meet at my mums apartment and hand a simple lunch of sandwiches. Warmer than I thought it would be considering it is winter here. Had a busy afternoon, took my daughter for a bike ride through town which was a first for her. Got caught in a little bit of drizzle, very light rain, made it back without getting wet.
After a good long nights sleep, first in 3 days, as the flight from London to Nelson is over 24 hours of flying time, phew.
Yesterday I took my wife into town and had a nice lunch at a cafe called Lambrettas, steak sandwich for me and rice risotto for my wife and sweet hot chocalates for both of us. Food is fantastic although at a cost, but $40 is still cheap.
After opened a new bank account and got an Eftpos card, so can get some cash, allways handy.
Had put my bike together in the morning so went out for 2 hour ride in the afternoon, roads where wet and covered in mud, so bike is filthy, nice and mild for riding.
This morning I spent an hour washing bike and know have it sitting in the living room ready for me to go out riding, although the sun is shining so more likely to borrow mums car and go to the beach with my wife.
Must go as lunch is all ready and we have guests.
The riding scene here is very strong so will report on that once I get involved, racing every weekend at the moment.

Sunday summer racing

Raced the London Dynamo summer road race, starting at Handcross, entered on the line at £18, not cheap for 76 miles over 6 laps. Field of about 65 riders, half way through the first lap I was in a move with 3 others, worked steady in regards the pace, for me my body was already on the limit, soon settled down though, we hovered at 30 to 40 seconds in front a chase group and already 1.10 on the field, after 2 laps we got caught by about 20 riders and had 1.40 on the field, was harder now as the pace varied so much, certain riders like braking when they get near the front, what is wrong with momentum, the wind will slow you down anyway.
The circuit was Staplefields which has to steady drags either side of the circuit, undulating along the back with dead flattish section, got in another couple of moves, did not attack the race, just rode harder on the hard parts, eventually I started to tire, well get twinges of cramp so had to roll as best as I could which meant watching the winning break go up the road.
Anyway I came in at the back of what was left of the group for 19th place. Rob Hurd won again, he bridged across with 1 and a half laps to go to the 4 up front. Wiley old racer he is.
Strangely feel good about the race as I was making the moves and I have really not done many races longer than 1 hour. Tan lines coming on strong as it was about 25 degrees, a lot cooler than last week but still plenty warm enough as it was humid as well.
Thinking of racing Crystal Palace on Tuesday night, need to see how I feel tomorrow as the Guildford town centre race is Wednesday night. look forward to it.

getting set to leave.

Sorry to anyone who has been following my racing and such on here, as I have been rather lax in updating my blog.
This is just a brief update as on the 1st of august i will be at Richmond Park for a farewell ride at 9am, meeting at the cafe. As of the 10th of August I fly back to New Zealand to live and hopefully keep racing, so will have more time as well. Lifestyle and to be closer to members of my family, ie daughter.
At the moment I am recovering from the 2nd crash of my racing year, this time taken out in a sprint after 130km's of racing, landed on my knee hard, also abrasions on hip, shoulders and elbows. Been over a week and the flesh wounds are healing up well, just my right leg after a longish ride starts to be affected with the pressure applied on it. Which then makes walking hard. will get it looked at by a pysio on wednesday.
Wont stop me racing at Crystal Palace tomorrow night, try to get back to winning ways, won 3 already this year.
Thats me done, see how soon I am back reporting, later.

My ride from hell(Denghie Marshes Tour-Hell of the East)

17th place. rode at or near the front for most of the race, legs were getting tired but was measuring out my effort well, last lap the mud had started to get tacky going across farm yard,as opposed to the first few laps when it was well muddy, so we all had more mud on our tires, 3 corners after the farm muddy section everyone had a scare, I had to adjust my line as it looked as Sam was going to come off in front of me, he had his feet out of pedals when, my front wheel went from under me, slid on my face and ripped up my hip, arm and fingers as well, stunned and in real pain. Remounted after some time sitting on my arse figuring out if I had broken anything or even had a face. Straightened stem and bars and tried to catch but had no legs, managed to latch onto two riders that caught me and hung on in till the finish.
Was physically and emotionally wrecked, hard not to cry as arm and wrist hurt.
Seem Ok at the moment but have yet to have a shower as I know this will hurt with my hip.
Bike frame and fork as far as I can see is undamaged, only damage has occurred to the left and right Sram shifters, scuffed badly. wheels straight and true, although there is dirt rattling round inside them know, may prove interesting when I come to clean. Bike is back at the shop.
Shorts and gloves have been binned, have scratched my race glasses and put a small hole in Gillet (max temp was 8 degrees) and two holes in left arm warmer.
Other than that I went out and bought a top up for my first aid box which got some interesting looks at Tescos, people double taking to get a look at my face, at least the security guy asked what happened, made a new friend, yeah!
1st race of the year, bike is fantastic, had no issues at all, so comfortable while being stiff, got plenty of approving looks. 50/50 with the bar tape though, will be changed once the weather improves and staying to mud free roads.

winter grit

On Sunday went out with Stephen, over the north downs, lots of snow from the day before, even though it was a warmer day, nice and sunny, still icy in places though.
Did my normal route, Woldingham,Crowhurst,Edenbridge, Hever, Toys hill, Idle Hill, Westerham, Pilgrams lane,Sundridge, Knockholt, Cudlam Downe and back via corkscrew hill.Encountered lots of ice and snow on Sundridge Lane even though we only encountered that part of the ride in the afternoon, looked like deep snow drifts from the day before, stays shady all day.
My legs felt tired but when it came to climbing the really steep climbs I went up in a gear higher than normal, all while seated, so the power is there.
Feel good, but do notice I have a patch at about 2.5- 3 hours when I feel crap, once through I am fine. Maybe because I try not to stop and am always pedalling, even the down hills.
One thing is for sure though, when all the ice melts and riding on farm tracks can get very dirty as the pics I took once home will testify. Not nice hearing your chain grinding away at the cassette etc as it is caked in grit.
Gave my bike a good wash and clean after while it was still sunny, used my chain cleaner device to get the grit out from between the chain links, bike looks like new again.
Was thinking I could get a gentle spin in today, being Monday before it started raining, but I was so tired I only got up at 10am.
So that went out the window, went to the cinema instead and watched Yes man with Jim Carey, thought it was OK.
Need to get out on my mountain bike this week before the race on Sunday, just to dial into the slight position change with hand placement etc.



Still have this cough from new years lingering on, only has an effect once I start to exercise, so just let it be.

Back to it.

Been awhile, and after seeing that London Cycle sport has used some of my blog for the Dengie marshes race I better start updating what I have been up to.
So far since I had such a crap year last year race wise. I hardly rode my bike from september through to November. Once I got my riding head on and had my back seen to by Michael Lanning of Gonstead clinics, long running issue, although I don't help myself as it was July when I crashed at Guildford that tweaked my back. I just eased off the riding so it would not flare up again, although once I felt like I was walking sideways and had upped the milage, the pain caused was to great to ignore, so off I trundled to see the good Doctor, one almighty crack and we were back in shape again.
So far gone had my riding became, that I had to start by increasing my weekly commute distance, which I did by adding half an hour to an hour to my normal 30 minutes each way. After a few weeks I then felt tired but more at ease with riding, saddle time I guess, that I started adding in a hilly 2 hour ride on the sunday, and depending on work get to Richmond park to do 3-4 laps at my one gentle pace on a saturday.
So slowly been building it up again to a point that I am know comfortable doing 4 hours in the very cold weather we have now. Managed back to back rides over the Xmas break, 2,4,4 and a 3 hour rides, 2 days off then 3 and a 2.5 hours on mountain bike as I had destroyed the bearings in my rear hub and Bottom bracket on my road bike all at the same time, to busy to service my own bike with the time I had before Xmas, did have new chain, cassette, inner chainring and jockey wheels on but that was easy to do. So much muddy, wet riding in the last year.
New Years messed things up a bit, but my legs had had enough in that time, so getting drunk at a club was quite nice in itself, just caught another bloody cold instead.
So easy last week, started a 4 hour ride sunday but knew it was not wise so headed home to do 2 instead, slept the rest of day, took monday off riding, handy that it is also my day off work anyway. Just done 2 easy rides of an hour after work the last two days. Still have a slight cough that takes chunks out of me.
Aiming to start racing early this year on the road. 1st race though will be the Gorrick spring series of mountain biking on the 18th of Jan. Be interesting as it has been two years since my last off road excursion.
Have plenty of new events planned this year, so should be good, not all racing though, More events like the Tour of Flanders sportive, Etape de Tour etc.

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!!