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!
Monday, 31 March 2008
Monday, 18 February 2008
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
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
Thursday, 14 February 2008
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!
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, 8 January 2008
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
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
Monday, 31 December 2007
Last day of 2007
Had a bad nights sleep last night, and to top it off when I was asleep my mum called from New Zealand to wish us a happy New Years at 7am,
So I managed to head out at 12 noon towards richmond park, ridding a little bit quicker, legs feel strong but tired at the same time, rode 3 laps, very peaceful as hardly anyone about at all, road all wet though. I was about 13 minutes quicker than the same ride last week, although no wind at all today.
Have a annoying squeak from left pedal caused from some glop off the road between cleat and pedal body, stops if I wiggle my foot or disengage and clip back in, bizarre as it was my right pedal early in the year, but that stopped after I fell and scuffed up that pedal, have some new pedal bodies to fit and bearings, so I guess at the same time I change my cleats as well I hope to get rid of this squeak, need to be all set up for the New Year, going to record the details of my rides again, ie. keep a training diary, have done in the past but stopped the last few years as it seemed to be for me taking it to serious, but as an aid it is vital.
Will be listing target races for the years and times as well, hope to be doing some time trailing as well.
Just need to sort my body out so I can switch off at night and get a good nights sleep, better sign up with the local GP, so I can check if my body is lacking in anything, minerals etc.
Very sleepy at present, the way I feel I think I will be in bed well before midnight tonight, thats OK as I am a kiwi I can say that we are already into 2008 as it is 13 hours difference at the moment, so at 11am this morning it is 2008 in NZ. I was still in bed even then, very slack!
Happy New Years
heres to a good 2008
So I managed to head out at 12 noon towards richmond park, ridding a little bit quicker, legs feel strong but tired at the same time, rode 3 laps, very peaceful as hardly anyone about at all, road all wet though. I was about 13 minutes quicker than the same ride last week, although no wind at all today.
Have a annoying squeak from left pedal caused from some glop off the road between cleat and pedal body, stops if I wiggle my foot or disengage and clip back in, bizarre as it was my right pedal early in the year, but that stopped after I fell and scuffed up that pedal, have some new pedal bodies to fit and bearings, so I guess at the same time I change my cleats as well I hope to get rid of this squeak, need to be all set up for the New Year, going to record the details of my rides again, ie. keep a training diary, have done in the past but stopped the last few years as it seemed to be for me taking it to serious, but as an aid it is vital.
Will be listing target races for the years and times as well, hope to be doing some time trailing as well.
Just need to sort my body out so I can switch off at night and get a good nights sleep, better sign up with the local GP, so I can check if my body is lacking in anything, minerals etc.
Very sleepy at present, the way I feel I think I will be in bed well before midnight tonight, thats OK as I am a kiwi I can say that we are already into 2008 as it is 13 hours difference at the moment, so at 11am this morning it is 2008 in NZ. I was still in bed even then, very slack!
Happy New Years
heres to a good 2008
Sunday, 30 December 2007
Steady
Well went out on friday night after I managed my 3 laps of richmond Park earlier in the day and got a little tipsy as I forgot that pubs can stay open longer than before, wondered why my wife was calling, but when I looked at the time it became apparent, 1am, made my excuses and left on my long drag of a trip across London.
Basically I wrote myself off so spent all of saturday recovering, so today i went out again to do 2 laps of the Park, nice day, a little cooler but no wind at all, still keeping it on tick over at present, feel good.
Wondering how much a 5 hour ride is going to affect me, find out in a couple of days.
Basically I wrote myself off so spent all of saturday recovering, so today i went out again to do 2 laps of the Park, nice day, a little cooler but no wind at all, still keeping it on tick over at present, feel good.
Wondering how much a 5 hour ride is going to affect me, find out in a couple of days.
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Merry Xmas
Been out riding after xmas as I have had a break of two and a half weeks, mainly to do with having a cold and also social engagments etc.
Have been really run down so was prepeared to take the whole xmas break off my bike as well, managed 5 days in total, legs start getting twitchy at night, getting hot etc, so on Boxing day I headed foe Richmond park in the afternoon, took it very easy, managed 1 lap before heading back home, still that is 1.40hr .
Today I managed two laps while still keeping it as steady as possable, ended up having a slow motion race with an old man on a twin tubed Colnago, he was in the big ring and every time I got near him he would get out of the saddle for about a minute to put some distance between himself and I. Maybe all this effort to increase his pace by about 1 mph was taxing, I found it funny. tried to give him some shelter into the headwind heading towards Richmond Gate, he didn't like that, let him get on with it then after the climb from Kingston gate he seemed to take a while to recover so I just resumed at my pace which put me in front. He finally came past by the cafe, just a fraction quicker than I. Oh well. all about self control at this time of the year.
2.10hr riden today, feel good, been out to get some foodbars for the 3 laps I aim to do tomorrow. Take it one day at a time at the moment.
Will be out at a friends birthday party Friday night so not likely to be riding on Saturday, sunday I may do the surrey hills ride, we will see.
Take care out riding as the roads are very geasy!!
Have been really run down so was prepeared to take the whole xmas break off my bike as well, managed 5 days in total, legs start getting twitchy at night, getting hot etc, so on Boxing day I headed foe Richmond park in the afternoon, took it very easy, managed 1 lap before heading back home, still that is 1.40hr .
Today I managed two laps while still keeping it as steady as possable, ended up having a slow motion race with an old man on a twin tubed Colnago, he was in the big ring and every time I got near him he would get out of the saddle for about a minute to put some distance between himself and I. Maybe all this effort to increase his pace by about 1 mph was taxing, I found it funny. tried to give him some shelter into the headwind heading towards Richmond Gate, he didn't like that, let him get on with it then after the climb from Kingston gate he seemed to take a while to recover so I just resumed at my pace which put me in front. He finally came past by the cafe, just a fraction quicker than I. Oh well. all about self control at this time of the year.
2.10hr riden today, feel good, been out to get some foodbars for the 3 laps I aim to do tomorrow. Take it one day at a time at the moment.
Will be out at a friends birthday party Friday night so not likely to be riding on Saturday, sunday I may do the surrey hills ride, we will see.
Take care out riding as the roads are very geasy!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
