Another exciting weekend of racing in wind and rain with the added incentive of a 5 O'clock start on Sunday for the BDCA '25' on the A50 near Uttoxeter, It almost didn't happen as a lorry spoilt its load of coffee beans on the road. A team was clearing up and closed the road as the early starters (me No.6) pondered the scene from the Hilton Cricket Club HQ with images of that bloke from Rising Damp and his lackey with the broom.
The A50 transverses the Midlands so the East wind meant an easy ride to the turn which was just as well with yesterdays ride still in my legs, I have taken my 56 ring off for the 'Hilly' season and only a 52 for my sins but with my new found zest for pedalling I caught my minute man before 10 miles and the remainder of the field just after the turn to be the first man on the road. I have not been using a watch or speedo yet only a heart rate monitor and riding to that but I could not get my pulse above 155 and it showed on the return when it got hard I just went slower and did not feel that I was responding to the battling conditions.
There was a couple of lorries at the 'spill' with 5 miles to go but the carriage was open so I carried onto the finish and then a miserable 20 minute ride to the HQ in the early morning drizzle, I had worn arm and leg warmers for the ride as no chance of a warm up in the delayed start and they were soaked and cold from the spray and the bitter wind. My time of 57.29 good enough for 5th place with the winner being in form James Perkins of the Zenith CC with 52.25 from Bill Moore of Shorter Rochford 54.39 over two minutes behind. Both of these riders won events the previous day Moore recording 21.43 in the Wyre Forest '10' and Perkins did a quite staggering 20.06 in the N&EM VTTA '10' on the A1 at Tuxford that I also rode with a respectable 22.10 but the wind was alot worse.
Monday, 21 April 2008
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
First RR of the Year - Royal Sutton CC
Based around Yoxall in Staffs the Royal Sutton CC Early Season Road Race on Sunday was my first race not in rain, snow or sleet so a good event apart from getting a spot of cramp with a quarter of the last of the seven lap (64 mile) race and I trailed in a minute down on the bunch. The race of mainly 2nd cat riders was quite animated and a group got away on the second lap, joined by another group the next lap and it was left with those who had missed what would be the winning move to organise a chase, a task we did very badly and never saw the front again. The speed and the wind made solo attacks hard work on the rolling course and although I got in a few promising moves I was happy with my event, a good workout for the legs.
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The race was won by Mike Jones of the Paramount CRT from 'Local Supervet' Andy Eagers of the Derby Mercury breaking away from the lead group, and rising star Carl Dyson Cyclebargains.com RT winning the sprint.
I had ridden the CDCLA (don't ask) '10' the previous day on the local Six Hills course, blustery West winds (and yes rain) made the event hard work but I came away with 22.35 for 5th place, the event was won by James Perkins of Zenith CC in an amazing 21.18
Ride to Work - Record
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When preparing my 'Ride to Work' feature I said I had never done the ride at anywhere near 19 mph well that all changed this Wednesday when I romped around my morning 35 mile ride at 19.3 mph to beat my all time record of 18.6 mph. On a 49 x 19 fixed gear (675mm diameter wheel equates to a gear of 68.6 inches) giving me 294 revolutions per mile that is an average of 95 revs per minute for the One hour Fifty minutes. Alarmingly I was only at 17.8mph at 11 miles (3428 revs at approx 90 r.p.m.) which means that I went allot faster over the final 25 miles (6859 revs at approx 98 r.p.m). I have to say that dropping down one of the descents I topped out at 33.5 mph which is a whopping 165 r.p.m but I didn't keep it up for long. If you have a hankering for working on your pedalling I can heartily reccommend a 'fixed' for general and recovery rides, have a look at jbarrm.com for working out your gearing and pedalling ratios
Rudy Project TT
As with most of the rest of the country, we were blessed with all the seasons in one afternoon here at Willoughby on the Wolds near the Leicester/Notts border. I was entered in the one lap (just under 15 mile) Veterans event although I would have preferred the two lapper but in the end I felt that I came off OK as the pain endured was just about worth the good result. The circular course was rolling more than hilly but a wickedly cold wind from the North brought driving rain that turned to sleet in the sub zero temperatures
I ended up in 4th place a mere 36 secs behind the winner Colin Griffiths of the Welland Valley from another local rider Ashley Long of the Coalville Wheelers and 3rd the series leader Dave Lund from Symbol Signs CC in the North East only beat me by 10 secs.
The Senior/Espoir 2 lapper was won by 'Veteran' roadman Wayne Randal (Planet X RT) with 1.5.33 a 1.05 beating of top Espoir Pete Williams (Pinarello RT) and Ashley Brown a further 20 secs down in third.
Manchester (So much to answer for)
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The brothers Parkinson spent an excellent four days at the World Track Championships in Manchester over the last weekend. The racing was fantastic and the results for Team GB unbelievable as the collective British squad took on the World and beat them convincingly in nearly every discipline. Such a display of riding I may never see again and I can say by the final event we were a little jaded as Victoria Pendleton could only manage a silver in the women's Kerin and we felt a little disappointed. There were so many highlights, to be fair and Wiggins third world pursuit title we watched on the telly as an appetiser. Team Pursuit Gold and World Record, Hoy in the Kerin and Sprint (when he beat Bos the current World Champ you could see him going all the way),the women's pursuit's, Pendleton imperious in the Kerin and Sprint did not look like there was anybody to touch her. And the Pièce de résistance to all us die hard track men the Wiggins/Cavendish Madison won with true grit and style when it looked like the title was slipping away, a magic moment for everybody in the crowd that evening.
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Alan and I took our bikes but we were treated to some real Northern weather, a non stop diet of wind and rain. Phil took the smart option and went to the local pool to do some length's and probably stayed drier. I was just getting over a cold so I just about managed to make it up Snake Pass before heading back to the Hotel, to my amazement Alan said he would go on in worsening conditions for a 5hr ride through the Peak District, which did him in for the remainder of the stay.
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Easter Racing
First event of the year usually more effort than result so I went into the A5 Rangers Hilly '31' on Easter Saturday with more hope than expectation but I was more than pleased with my third place a mere 5 minutes behind the winner Clive Nicholls of the High Wycombe CC.
It was the worst conditions I have ever raced in 50mph winds blowing halestones horizontal to the road as riders ploughed up the A5 just north of Towcester. I could feel the stinging cold on my singly Lycra clad shoulders. Two laps of a 15.4 mile circuit, I kept it steady on the first lap and had a bit more of a go on the second lap as the weather improved but the wind was almost enough to bring you to a standstill.
On the Easter Monday I rode the Leicester RC Hilly '29' to a more standard 13th place 8 min behind Matt Botrill (De Rosa RT), I felt I could do better but two events in close succession on the first week of my season in tough conditions was hard on the legs.
It was the worst conditions I have ever raced in 50mph winds blowing halestones horizontal to the road as riders ploughed up the A5 just north of Towcester. I could feel the stinging cold on my singly Lycra clad shoulders. Two laps of a 15.4 mile circuit, I kept it steady on the first lap and had a bit more of a go on the second lap as the weather improved but the wind was almost enough to bring you to a standstill.
On the Easter Monday I rode the Leicester RC Hilly '29' to a more standard 13th place 8 min behind Matt Botrill (De Rosa RT), I felt I could do better but two events in close succession on the first week of my season in tough conditions was hard on the legs.
Faro Training Camp
Over the past few years I have had the benefit of a week away around this time of year. March another birthday and another year older I look forward to a bit of sunny pre-season training away from the rain and wind of the Midlands. This year we managed 10 days staying in a friends house up in the hills just north of Faro at the Eastern end of the Algave near the Spanish border. Every year I pile on the weight over the winter months, and while flat Leicester shire might not provide a problem to the extra pounds I usually transport around until they shift in the racing season. The hills of this part of Portugal prove somewhat more of a problem to the overweight and the vertically challenged, now this winter I have ridden and eaten to be in top shape 'early doors' as it were and I go to the Algarve half a stone under my normal weight thinking these hills are going to present less of a task this year, how wrong could I be!
Long training rides in such hilly terrain is no fun so I usually restrict myself to shorter intense rides every morning and then a power ride on the flatter roads along the coast in the evening if I feel up to it. We had great weather this year, sunshine in the low 20s most days but do those hills hurt, I have a two mile climb out the front door past quarries where they hold a round of the European downhill series. This is somewhat of a rude awakening for tired legs, then a series of punishing uphill sections through Alportel on the old main road North (N 2) to Barranco Velho
Through forests of cork trees with their distinctive naked lower trunks where the bark(cork) has been stripped away, I don't know how much longer this industry will survive the modern plastic equivalent, this area produces 80% of the worlds production of cork. When I first came these forests had been ravaged by forest fires the previous summer end everything was black and dead, but over the intervening years it has recovered and this year it looked green and healthy with new plantations to compliment the higgldy piggldy cork trees every one with an individual owners mark.
If I am carrying on for a longer 4 Hr. ride its right along the N124 to Cachopo, then a terrifying decent down to cross the river Odeleite and long a climb up to the high point at Agua dos Fusos with views out along the whole South coast. Its a 10 mile drop down to Tavira (N397) on the coast, not easier going the other direction this little climb takes over an hour with not allot of rest bite in the baking midday sun
Back along the coast road (N 270) these roads are mostly quite now the (IP1) motorway has been built but two draggy climbs up to Sao Bras, I only have to climb over the quarry road and then a 50mph drop to our base at Bordira on the other side. This year has been much like the past a series of rides leaves me knackered and spent and I long for a bit of normality, I'm just not cut out for the hills.
Just before going away I was out on the trusty winter 'steel' when ploughing into a fierce headwind I was visited by an almighty crack, or my bike to be precise, my seat tube fractured just above the bottom bracket in a terminal case of fatigue. Then to cap it all my 'spare' aka 'Portugal bike' (or 20 yr old carbon bike) is mislaid in transit so I am now down to a 30 yr. old 'fixed' or a racing bike for the immediate future or until they can locate and repatriate my lost machine
With the realisation that I have two events over Easter, The A5 Rangers 'Hilly' 31m on the Saturday and the Leicester 'Hilly' 29m on Easter Monday I'm not expecting any miracles
Tribute to John Bromley
As a tribute to Ex-President and SWRC legend John Bromley I have reproduced here a picture from the archives which graced the Newsletter (Autumn 86) when brother Phil was the editor. Some of the current members of the club would be unaware of John as he had played a backseat role in recent years but his influence in guiding the club through some quite difficult times were much appreciated and he was always an inspiration on and off the bike. The picture was taken at the end of Paris-Roubaix Randonee in 1984
Caption reads (Courtesy P D Parkinson)
John - Are you going to the AGM on Dec 16th Gus?
Gus - Is that fancy dress too John?
JOHN BROMLEY
The sad news reached us over the weekend of the un-timely death of John Bromley. John was the President of the South Western in the early 90's having joined the club in the late 50's. John had a heart attack while out on his mountain bike on Headley common on Saturday. When I spoke to Brother Alan on Sunday who had been at the finish of the Cheam & Morden CTC 'Hilly' 50 on Boxhill in the afternoon, he told me he had seen the Emergency Vehicles and Helicopter. I can hardly believe I am writing this so soon after the death of another Ex-President Fred Parsons late last year. Both these men embodied aspects of the club to which they were lifelong members and where Fred was a staunch of the Pre-war John was one who captured the freedom and excitement of the Post-war Generation. A war child John became an excellent time trialist in which was the club was strong at this time. But it was as a roadman that he was to make his reputation, John never lost his characteristic tough and wiry physique that marked him out as an excellent climber and in a time when Britain had a surplus of road talent John rose to be well respected in this the hardest of sports. I had spoken to John just last month and he assured me that he had scaled down his work (he would not use the word retired) and was looking forward to seeing more of his bike, It is such sad news when one of our number is taken before his time
Our thoughts go out to his wife Jenny and his family in their sadness and for their loss, a man who had given much to this club of ours and still had such alot to give
John will be cremated on Friday 29th February at 10.15 at Randall’s Park Crematorium, Leatherhead (just outside Leatherhead on the road to Cobham). John was a keen bird watcher and any donations should be made to the RSPB.
Our thoughts go out to his wife Jenny and his family in their sadness and for their loss, a man who had given much to this club of ours and still had such alot to give
John will be cremated on Friday 29th February at 10.15 at Randall’s Park Crematorium, Leatherhead (just outside Leatherhead on the road to Cobham). John was a keen bird watcher and any donations should be made to the RSPB.
Frequent Ride Feature
Members of the club comment that they do not know what I get up to in the winter in the 'windy' Midlands, so a new section for SWRC riders to contribute to a regular ride that they make every week, or at least a route they can tell us on the blog all about. A blatent 'rip-off' of a Cycling feature but as a designer all I can comment is that impression is the sincerest form of flattery
This is my ride to work loop, I try and do it 2 or 3 times a week mostly on a 68" fixed in the winter and it's almost 30 miles so it takes over 1 1/2 hrs but as I work for myself I can afford the time and It's only 5 miles home in the evening and I do not like riding in the dark any more than I have to
Leicester is in a bit of a natural bowl so its slightly uphill for 10 miles which ever way you leave town, I head out South against the prevailing SW wind which blows something cronic up here and the mainly agricultural landscape makes for an open and exposed ride most days (Leicestershire has the least tree cover of any county less than 1/2 of one percent compared with Surrey/Sussex 5-6 percent)
I pass the 1930's 'Pork Pie' circular library on Saffron Lane, just down the road is the now crumbling cycle track which used to be the National Cycling Centre now long since superceded by Manchester. It's sad to see it like that, scene of some of my best rides in younger days. On the way to South Wigston where the smell of Strawberry from the Jacobs biscuit factory pervades the air once or twice a month and you know it will be Jammy Dogers with afternoon tea in an effort to exorcise the smell that hangs in the nostrils.
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Through Countersthorpe and Peatling Magna, Arnsby windmill in the distance (on a clear day) to Bruntingthorpe where the newly refurbished Vulcan Bomber is housed and made its maiden flight after a 6m refit last year
These roads are part of the Zenith 2 day Nigel Meason Road Race Gilmoreton Stage and the route from Walton to Lutterworth is the reverse of the 2.7m TT second stage so I 'have a go' if I'm going in the opposite direction to see how my form is.
Over the M1 into Lutterworth here is the birthplace of the jet engine, Coventry born Sir Frank Whittle set up Power Jets here when his idea for a Jet powered plane were dismissed during the 1930's, the first flight took place in 1941. A copy of this engine was sent to the USA thereby kick starting their own Turobjet industry (Doh!) His company was nationalised in 1944 and became Rolls Royce Aero upon which he was refused permission to develop further and resigned. There is a memorial in the middle of the roundabout just off junction 20
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Another original thinker John Wycliffe also lived here in the mid 14th Century and translated the Bible into English for the first time thus giving birth to the education system. But got into a right load of bother with the Catholics who by all accounts felt that the text should be kept in an 'elite' Latin form and not for the common man.
Usually the wind is comming behind me by now and I can get ontop of my gear which has been a struggle to here but no pain no gain, there is a right old strange village naming policy round here, Ullersthorpe, Wibtoft, Wigston Parva and Frolesworth all seem to be made up names but here they realy exist.
Onto the Fosse Road for a bit and then Sapcote and Stoney Stanton where at Stoney Cove they have the deepest man made inland water (36m) and it's used for Scuba Diving. Apparently Chris Boardman a 'Scuber' afficianado has graced the water but he could only stay under the water for just under 46 minutes!
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All the villages round here were quarrying communitys digging holes in the ground like Stoney Cove, the remaining site at Croft is one of the biggest granite quarrey in Europe now operated by Aggregate Industries we in the next village at Huncote get a 1 O'clock explosion every day which shakes all the tiles on the roof, like living in a poor mans Edinburgh. We work out of one of the many Chapels (our village has four) built to keep the workers on the 'straight and narrow', then it was turned into the village school (they want to be educated as well!) one local resident remembers that on Friday while the 'head' was moonlighting doing the books for a local firm they would pull the fattest kid in the class around on a pile of rags to polish the floor - education is a wonderful thing
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17.0 mph average
18.0 mph good day
19.0 mph never been done
This is my ride to work loop, I try and do it 2 or 3 times a week mostly on a 68" fixed in the winter and it's almost 30 miles so it takes over 1 1/2 hrs but as I work for myself I can afford the time and It's only 5 miles home in the evening and I do not like riding in the dark any more than I have to
Leicester is in a bit of a natural bowl so its slightly uphill for 10 miles which ever way you leave town, I head out South against the prevailing SW wind which blows something cronic up here and the mainly agricultural landscape makes for an open and exposed ride most days (Leicestershire has the least tree cover of any county less than 1/2 of one percent compared with Surrey/Sussex 5-6 percent)
I pass the 1930's 'Pork Pie' circular library on Saffron Lane, just down the road is the now crumbling cycle track which used to be the National Cycling Centre now long since superceded by Manchester. It's sad to see it like that, scene of some of my best rides in younger days. On the way to South Wigston where the smell of Strawberry from the Jacobs biscuit factory pervades the air once or twice a month and you know it will be Jammy Dogers with afternoon tea in an effort to exorcise the smell that hangs in the nostrils.
.jpg)
Through Countersthorpe and Peatling Magna, Arnsby windmill in the distance (on a clear day) to Bruntingthorpe where the newly refurbished Vulcan Bomber is housed and made its maiden flight after a 6m refit last year
These roads are part of the Zenith 2 day Nigel Meason Road Race Gilmoreton Stage and the route from Walton to Lutterworth is the reverse of the 2.7m TT second stage so I 'have a go' if I'm going in the opposite direction to see how my form is.
Over the M1 into Lutterworth here is the birthplace of the jet engine, Coventry born Sir Frank Whittle set up Power Jets here when his idea for a Jet powered plane were dismissed during the 1930's, the first flight took place in 1941. A copy of this engine was sent to the USA thereby kick starting their own Turobjet industry (Doh!) His company was nationalised in 1944 and became Rolls Royce Aero upon which he was refused permission to develop further and resigned. There is a memorial in the middle of the roundabout just off junction 20
.jpg)
Another original thinker John Wycliffe also lived here in the mid 14th Century and translated the Bible into English for the first time thus giving birth to the education system. But got into a right load of bother with the Catholics who by all accounts felt that the text should be kept in an 'elite' Latin form and not for the common man.
Usually the wind is comming behind me by now and I can get ontop of my gear which has been a struggle to here but no pain no gain, there is a right old strange village naming policy round here, Ullersthorpe, Wibtoft, Wigston Parva and Frolesworth all seem to be made up names but here they realy exist.
Onto the Fosse Road for a bit and then Sapcote and Stoney Stanton where at Stoney Cove they have the deepest man made inland water (36m) and it's used for Scuba Diving. Apparently Chris Boardman a 'Scuber' afficianado has graced the water but he could only stay under the water for just under 46 minutes!
.jpg)
All the villages round here were quarrying communitys digging holes in the ground like Stoney Cove, the remaining site at Croft is one of the biggest granite quarrey in Europe now operated by Aggregate Industries we in the next village at Huncote get a 1 O'clock explosion every day which shakes all the tiles on the roof, like living in a poor mans Edinburgh. We work out of one of the many Chapels (our village has four) built to keep the workers on the 'straight and narrow', then it was turned into the village school (they want to be educated as well!) one local resident remembers that on Friday while the 'head' was moonlighting doing the books for a local firm they would pull the fattest kid in the class around on a pile of rags to polish the floor - education is a wonderful thing
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17.0 mph average
18.0 mph good day
19.0 mph never been done
Essex weekender
Out training at the weekend, My efforts to do a long ride on Saturday were thwarted by the weather as I set out South from Leicester. I had planned to stop for lunch in Bedford with friends but 'packed' in the town after a soaking with the river Ouse ready to break it's banks and the roads gridlocked in chaos. Fiona and I continued to Essex in the car as the rain fell into the evening, I feel I had made the right choice to save it for tommorrow
We were staying with returning cyclist Adrian who was now a member of the Shaftsbury CC and going out on the weekly club ride the next day. Sunday morning greeted us damp and windy but surprisingly warm no rain though so we were off to a good start. The ride set out from Mountnessing on the A12, in the 70's we used to start the super fast E8 '10' here where we saw the great Alf Engers with his oxygen mask and cylinder on his back before racing to amazing times (the oxygen to psyche out the opposition I feel)
There was an A and B group but one of the latter had broken his chain so there was a delayed start while that was fixed. And then the first hour of the ride was punctuated by three 'flats' to the same rider on a sub-standard machine (some people never learn but every club has one!) but the 'three and out' law of the road left him roadside with his mobile to call for assistance from the emergency services (the wife)
The ride for the remaining seven over the flat lands of Essex, we zig zagged in the windy conditions avoiding the traffic on minor and B roads. The tempo was good as we all shared the work in difficult conditions and only one major climb of the day at ?
this was the territory where the GP of Essex used to kick off the road season finishing up Halstead high street
Over the last quarter riders peeled off and only three of us returned to the start after a good workout and in need of some grub
We were staying with returning cyclist Adrian who was now a member of the Shaftsbury CC and going out on the weekly club ride the next day. Sunday morning greeted us damp and windy but surprisingly warm no rain though so we were off to a good start. The ride set out from Mountnessing on the A12, in the 70's we used to start the super fast E8 '10' here where we saw the great Alf Engers with his oxygen mask and cylinder on his back before racing to amazing times (the oxygen to psyche out the opposition I feel)
There was an A and B group but one of the latter had broken his chain so there was a delayed start while that was fixed. And then the first hour of the ride was punctuated by three 'flats' to the same rider on a sub-standard machine (some people never learn but every club has one!) but the 'three and out' law of the road left him roadside with his mobile to call for assistance from the emergency services (the wife)
The ride for the remaining seven over the flat lands of Essex, we zig zagged in the windy conditions avoiding the traffic on minor and B roads. The tempo was good as we all shared the work in difficult conditions and only one major climb of the day at ?
this was the territory where the GP of Essex used to kick off the road season finishing up Halstead high street
Over the last quarter riders peeled off and only three of us returned to the start after a good workout and in need of some grub
Lake District Weekend
No bike riding this weekend as Fi and I are visiting family in the Lakes the week before Xmas, While Fi and her sister entertain their father in the Cheshire Homes nursing home at Holehird I do a bit of mild hill walking up the adjacent mountain to the top of Ill Belle on the Kentmere Horseshoe above Troutbeck. Freezing conditions make the long grass glisten with ice and they bob in the breeze like Tibetan prayer flags, but it's no day to stand around and I need to keep walking to keep warm. I can see the cars crawling up the lower slopes of the Kirkstone Pass on the opposite side of the valley, It will be closed as soon as the snow falls but luckily there is none yet only a cover on all the tops which are mostly also in the cloud. 
On the way down I pass a few mountain bikers walking or at least progressing very slowly over the rocky packhorse route to the saddle and on to Kentmere, one shares a passing resemblance to tennis ace Andy Murray struggling in bottom gear, I give them a shout as I jog down to meet Fi outside the Church in Troutbeck for Coffee and a Mince pieVTTA Best All Rounder Comp
Results of the 3 and 4 distance BAR for the over 40s are in
cdp gives a resume of the results and how he fared
In the 4 Distance 25,50,100 and 12 Hour I was placed 12th on standard in the country with with an average speed of 25.409mph or +5.234 Winner and 10 years older than me at 55 years of age was Ken Platts of the Cambridge CC with 26.880mph or +8.157
In the fastest category I was 5th the winner again being Ken Platts who placed 7th in the CTT National BBAR but his faster 25 (not included in the CTT series) saw him leapfrog Paul Holdsworth of the Houndslow and Carl Ruebotham of Swift both who beat him in that competition
Full results at http://www.vtta.org.uk/BAR%20Results.htm
In the 3 distance 25,50 and 100 us young'uns were well outclassed, I was placed 58th with an aggregate time of 26.452mph +116.42 but the winner was 73 year old Derek Hodgins of Stockport Clarion with 25.057mph +208.29 just pipping 75 year old Jim Goodwin of Sheffield Phoenix 24.565mph +206.28
The younger Vets fared better in the Fastest(aggregate) myself placed 12th with 6.39.18 to the winner Paul Holdsworth 27.870mph 6.21.27 snatching the win by 20 sec fron Ruebotham 6.21.47 and Platts third this time 6.25.03
Because I live in Leicester I ride for the Nottingham and East Midlands section of the 'VTTA' I was placed 5th in my region I just snuck into the six man team as the youngest rider that placed 2nd in the National Group Classification ably backing Jim Goodwin and 72 year old Clifford Tremain of the Kettering who managed 17th position Nationally on a trike
Full results at http://www.vtta.org.uk/3%20Distance%20BAR.htm
If you fancy racing with the VTTA have a look at their website
http://www.vtta.org.uk/index.htm
cdp gives a resume of the results and how he fared
In the 4 Distance 25,50,100 and 12 Hour I was placed 12th on standard in the country with with an average speed of 25.409mph or +5.234 Winner and 10 years older than me at 55 years of age was Ken Platts of the Cambridge CC with 26.880mph or +8.157
In the fastest category I was 5th the winner again being Ken Platts who placed 7th in the CTT National BBAR but his faster 25 (not included in the CTT series) saw him leapfrog Paul Holdsworth of the Houndslow and Carl Ruebotham of Swift both who beat him in that competition
Full results at http://www.vtta.org.uk/BAR%20Results.htm
In the 3 distance 25,50 and 100 us young'uns were well outclassed, I was placed 58th with an aggregate time of 26.452mph +116.42 but the winner was 73 year old Derek Hodgins of Stockport Clarion with 25.057mph +208.29 just pipping 75 year old Jim Goodwin of Sheffield Phoenix 24.565mph +206.28
The younger Vets fared better in the Fastest(aggregate) myself placed 12th with 6.39.18 to the winner Paul Holdsworth 27.870mph 6.21.27 snatching the win by 20 sec fron Ruebotham 6.21.47 and Platts third this time 6.25.03
Because I live in Leicester I ride for the Nottingham and East Midlands section of the 'VTTA' I was placed 5th in my region I just snuck into the six man team as the youngest rider that placed 2nd in the National Group Classification ably backing Jim Goodwin and 72 year old Clifford Tremain of the Kettering who managed 17th position Nationally on a trike
Full results at http://www.vtta.org.uk/3%20Distance%20BAR.htm
If you fancy racing with the VTTA have a look at their website
http://www.vtta.org.uk/index.htm
Revoloution 17
Spent an enjoyable evening on Saturday at indoor track in Manchester, avoiding the Rugby (although it was on in the bar) and watching the Revolution Track meeting, one of a series of events that gives a competitive outlet for our established and up and coming track riders. The format developed over the past couple of years gives the public a chance to see top class riders in a series of events to showcase their talents, a few guests and notables are also thrown into the mix to encourage a sense of fun and (god forbid) entertainment.
This edition had a selection of road racing 'stars' to enliven the proceedings so the new generation of British Road men Cav (Mark Cavendish) and 'Gee'(Geraint Thomas) were pitted against Francesco Chicchi 2nd in last weeks Paris Tours and his Liquigas team mate 'Big' Magnus Backstead (to be fair the Brit lads were both world Champions on the track before going on to road success) and made mincemeat of their continental counterparts although they had their work cut out beating our other world class track men in a season that will culminate in the Beijing Olympics.
Britain is classed as the best track nation in the world (god it feels great to type that) and our traditional strength in the Pursuit has been consolidated in the Sprint and Endurance events and i have every confidence that British track cyclists will do us proud over the next few years, the Hoy's, Staff's and Queally's of the past few years are now being elbowed (literally) out of the frame by the new generation, Jason Kenny having a particularly good evening.
On the Sunday morning I had a session on the track myself, anybody can do a taster session (£9 + £9 for bike hire ) and most were in combat shorts and a T Shirt with a sprinkling of 'serious' cyclists. It's 15 years since I last mounted a track bike and got on a banked track, not since falling off and breaking my collar bone the week before the National Track Championship in 1992. I used the same bike that has hung on the wall all those years, replacing the shredded white tape and newly rebuilt high pressure wheels on my old trusty 'Campag' hubs. The wooden track was super smooth and hardly a mark on the newly laid surface of Siberian Pine, It was as if I had not been away, circling high on the banking and back into the feel of a fixed wheel on a steep track. To be fair I had ridden a fixed to work that week just to get used to the sensation but there were people in the session that had not ridden a fixed before so to combine that with riding the track and all the riders did very well
I had a puncture just before the end of the session (1 hr.) and managed to make an exit down onto the inside without embarrassing myself and I can't wait untill my next outing, roll on Newport
Season Finale
Colin writes about his final event of the season.
I decided to give my final TT of the season (Nottingham Cl. '25') a miss on Saturday and trek down to London for a party where I bumped into brother Alan, after getting caught in traffic jam on the M1 at 12.30! we did not get to bed until 2am so getting up for my final race on Sunday was a bit of a drag. Still I made it to the start line of the Lincoln Whs RR at Eagle just outside Lincoln. I had ridden this event the last couple of years a 3/4 event preceded by a 3/Vets over 60 flat miles which is always a bit of a 'burn up' It was a bright and windless morning better than many in the summer that was washed away.
The beauty of this event is that it's open to vets of any category so there is always a sprinkling of 'supervets' that make for an attacking race and more like an LVRC event than a normal RR, sure enough a break of six was away on the first lap as I sat in the bunch waiting for my body to wake up and join the race, It took a while to get the bunch organised and another two laps to pull the break back as they were working well, several Doncaster Whs. riders I'd been thrashing all season in TT's were in front as I bridged across with Malcolm Smith (Fenland Cl.) winner of the Percy Stallard Series, we had built up a bit of a competition during the season since getting 1st and 2nd in an early season RR.
With a lap to go Ian Furness and Bradley Johnson of the Doncaster Whs. went away again to take the win and after trying a solo attack and then with four others who got up to me came to nothing I decided to wait for the sprint. Unlike my brother my sprinting has got inversely proportionally worse the more TT's I've done so I was pleased to get up for eventual 8th place in a mass finish.
I decided to give my final TT of the season (Nottingham Cl. '25') a miss on Saturday and trek down to London for a party where I bumped into brother Alan, after getting caught in traffic jam on the M1 at 12.30! we did not get to bed until 2am so getting up for my final race on Sunday was a bit of a drag. Still I made it to the start line of the Lincoln Whs RR at Eagle just outside Lincoln. I had ridden this event the last couple of years a 3/4 event preceded by a 3/Vets over 60 flat miles which is always a bit of a 'burn up' It was a bright and windless morning better than many in the summer that was washed away.
The beauty of this event is that it's open to vets of any category so there is always a sprinkling of 'supervets' that make for an attacking race and more like an LVRC event than a normal RR, sure enough a break of six was away on the first lap as I sat in the bunch waiting for my body to wake up and join the race, It took a while to get the bunch organised and another two laps to pull the break back as they were working well, several Doncaster Whs. riders I'd been thrashing all season in TT's were in front as I bridged across with Malcolm Smith (Fenland Cl.) winner of the Percy Stallard Series, we had built up a bit of a competition during the season since getting 1st and 2nd in an early season RR.
With a lap to go Ian Furness and Bradley Johnson of the Doncaster Whs. went away again to take the win and after trying a solo attack and then with four others who got up to me came to nothing I decided to wait for the sprint. Unlike my brother my sprinting has got inversely proportionally worse the more TT's I've done so I was pleased to get up for eventual 8th place in a mass finish.
British Fashion Week
Just thought I'd put up a picture of BBAR pin-up Kevin Dawson from this weekend's Yorkshire RC '50' winner in a time of 1.44.00 Picture courtesy of www.cyclingimages.co.uk Can you believe he has a 'Camelback' and a bottle!(I think he may be some type of fish) I have never got on with the bodyhugging style of the personal hydration system, the 'Hunchback' look spoils the lines of a Time Trial position (although I'm not against it for the Mountain biking look) and warm Gin and Tonic half way round a Fifty can be so off-putting.
Yorkshire RC '50'
Colin writes about his last BBAR ride of the season
A second trip up to N Yorkshire in two weeks for the YRC '50' on the A19 between Disforth and Northallerton, I had a bit of a head cold in the week and it had stopped me from doing my usual hard preparatory ride mid-week so although my legs felt good i would not know how they would go under racing conditions. The weather was warm but the wind was getting up from the SW and I knew the two return legs from the far turn would be the key to a fast ride, I started well enough the first 10 miles in 20.20 and the half way in 53.40. My minute man (No 60) I felt I should keep in contact with to do a good ride but Fiona informed me he was 2 minutes up at this point and I feared I may have started too easily. From the far turn there was a long 15 mile finish into the wind, very tough while trying to protect a good bit up on schedule at 27.5 mph (I had to beat 26.8 mph from my previous best) But as I worked frantically away at the miles the average speed ebbed away, With 6 miles to go I was caught by 'Roadman' John Tanner (along with teammates Wayne Randle & Ashley Brown riding their first '50' of the year - "It's my 7th or 8th" I said not remembering as they borrowed my pump to inflate their under used TT wheels) Shortly after I caught Barry Charlton for 3 min doing a magnificent 1.54.42 on a Trike! the two Red Indian tattooed heads on his calf's twitching at me as i passed (now that's an original and arresting image if you ever get to see it)
The finish came slowly and painfully in 1.51.31 with the realisation that I had managed to beat the Club 50 record for the third time this year by a margin of 19 sec's (but they all count), enough to gain the 6/1000th of a mph to move me up a place in the BBAR (although I was leapfrogged by another rider so stay in 18th spot) The event was won by Kevin Dawson in 1.44.00 from Randle and Brown a second apart in 1.45.26 and 27 (they all train together apparently) I had pulled back a minute and a half on No 60 by the end and it goes some way to prove that it does not matter if you start fast, go fast in the middle or finish fast you just about end up with the same time.
A second trip up to N Yorkshire in two weeks for the YRC '50' on the A19 between Disforth and Northallerton, I had a bit of a head cold in the week and it had stopped me from doing my usual hard preparatory ride mid-week so although my legs felt good i would not know how they would go under racing conditions. The weather was warm but the wind was getting up from the SW and I knew the two return legs from the far turn would be the key to a fast ride, I started well enough the first 10 miles in 20.20 and the half way in 53.40. My minute man (No 60) I felt I should keep in contact with to do a good ride but Fiona informed me he was 2 minutes up at this point and I feared I may have started too easily. From the far turn there was a long 15 mile finish into the wind, very tough while trying to protect a good bit up on schedule at 27.5 mph (I had to beat 26.8 mph from my previous best) But as I worked frantically away at the miles the average speed ebbed away, With 6 miles to go I was caught by 'Roadman' John Tanner (along with teammates Wayne Randle & Ashley Brown riding their first '50' of the year - "It's my 7th or 8th" I said not remembering as they borrowed my pump to inflate their under used TT wheels) Shortly after I caught Barry Charlton for 3 min doing a magnificent 1.54.42 on a Trike! the two Red Indian tattooed heads on his calf's twitching at me as i passed (now that's an original and arresting image if you ever get to see it)
The finish came slowly and painfully in 1.51.31 with the realisation that I had managed to beat the Club 50 record for the third time this year by a margin of 19 sec's (but they all count), enough to gain the 6/1000th of a mph to move me up a place in the BBAR (although I was leapfrogged by another rider so stay in 18th spot) The event was won by Kevin Dawson in 1.44.00 from Randle and Brown a second apart in 1.45.26 and 27 (they all train together apparently) I had pulled back a minute and a half on No 60 by the end and it goes some way to prove that it does not matter if you start fast, go fast in the middle or finish fast you just about end up with the same time.
Personel Best '25' - 52.51
Colin writes about one of the fastest 25 mile events of the year.
I broke my PB for 25 miles in the Stone Wheelers event on the A50 between Blyth Bridge and Utoxeter on Saturday afternoon. The course had to be modified in the days before the event due to roadworks giving a longer (downwind) outward section, the event was cancelled last year for the same reason. I was off early and by the time I had finished 3 miles of cones had been removed from the carriageway and it was open as usual so all the re-measuring and upheaval for a couple of hours work!
I felt with my current form I had a chance of getting within touching distance of Roger Hammonds Club record as it's less severe than his 10 record which I feel needs some serious speed work. I started well enough with the first 10 miles under the wheels in 19.20 the fastest I've ever gone in a TT. With the turn moved out to 15m I reached that at a shade under 31mph av. so no time wasted! I was still on course at the 20 mile point in 40.43 but from here things fell apart somewhat and I lost the best part of two minutes in the last five miles (uphill and against the wind) to come home with 52.51 a 3.39 beating of my PB done last year.
It was a super fast event with the winner Chas McCulloch of Artic Shorter RC in a seasons best 48.24 (He'd done a 18 min 10 on the Levens course last week), Ruth Eyles Beacon RC best lady in 54.03 (and a Vet) and the Vet's prize going to 79 yr. old Dennis Milsom inside the hour 59.39 followed by 77 yr. old Ron Hallam 58.27
On the Sunday morning I rode the ANDCC(don't ask!) '25' on the super slow (their description) A25/2 based around Granby in the Vale of Belvoir. Al Salter of the Walsall RCC won in a time of 55.15 I was nearly a minute and a half off the pace in 56.41 for (equal) 4th place with legs tired from the day before and the blustery conditions not allowed to 'ride in' on the triangular course with more changes of direction than an America's Cup race
I raced both days as I have my last counting event for the BBAR next week, the Yorkshire RC '50' up on the A19 in North Yorkshire.
I broke my PB for 25 miles in the Stone Wheelers event on the A50 between Blyth Bridge and Utoxeter on Saturday afternoon. The course had to be modified in the days before the event due to roadworks giving a longer (downwind) outward section, the event was cancelled last year for the same reason. I was off early and by the time I had finished 3 miles of cones had been removed from the carriageway and it was open as usual so all the re-measuring and upheaval for a couple of hours work!
I felt with my current form I had a chance of getting within touching distance of Roger Hammonds Club record as it's less severe than his 10 record which I feel needs some serious speed work. I started well enough with the first 10 miles under the wheels in 19.20 the fastest I've ever gone in a TT. With the turn moved out to 15m I reached that at a shade under 31mph av. so no time wasted! I was still on course at the 20 mile point in 40.43 but from here things fell apart somewhat and I lost the best part of two minutes in the last five miles (uphill and against the wind) to come home with 52.51 a 3.39 beating of my PB done last year.
It was a super fast event with the winner Chas McCulloch of Artic Shorter RC in a seasons best 48.24 (He'd done a 18 min 10 on the Levens course last week), Ruth Eyles Beacon RC best lady in 54.03 (and a Vet) and the Vet's prize going to 79 yr. old Dennis Milsom inside the hour 59.39 followed by 77 yr. old Ron Hallam 58.27
On the Sunday morning I rode the ANDCC(don't ask!) '25' on the super slow (their description) A25/2 based around Granby in the Vale of Belvoir. Al Salter of the Walsall RCC won in a time of 55.15 I was nearly a minute and a half off the pace in 56.41 for (equal) 4th place with legs tired from the day before and the blustery conditions not allowed to 'ride in' on the triangular course with more changes of direction than an America's Cup race
I raced both days as I have my last counting event for the BBAR next week, the Yorkshire RC '50' up on the A19 in North Yorkshire.
Team Swift 100
Just to show I used my inner chainring sometimes on Saturday's event Photo courtesy of www.cyclingimages.co.uk
3.51.11
A new club record for the 100 miles was set in the Team Swift - Allsports event in Yorkshire on Saturday afternoon, my helpers and I had a long drive up from Leicester to the Boroughbridge course based on the A168/19. The course covers a 16 mile section 3 times between Disforth and the Northallerton, in this wet and windy summer it was great to stand at the start in a skin suit wondering if it would be too hot in an under vest (I wore it anyway) a fresh NW wind did not detract from near perfect racing conditions.
Taking more than 6 minutes off the old record set by Paul Alderson last year and improving my PB by nearly 9 minutes I recorded a time of 3.51.11 putting more than one mile per hour average on what I had done before. This was my last chance of the year to improve my 100 time for the British Best All Rounder (BBAR) season long competition.
After starting too fast in the WLCA 100 a month before I was determined to have a more even paced race and went through 25m in 57 minutes, and I do not think my average pulse rate went over 90% during the whole race. I took two bottles at the start, one of carbohydrate mix and one water, by half way I needed another of mix but my mouth was getting 'claggy' and my water going on my legs and head and i took another. I had nothing solid during the race (I had stocked up on porridge and bagels for breakfast and a honey sandwich before the off) but a caffeine gel with a bottle of coffee saw me to the finish as my stimulant meter went off the scale. My time at half way was 1.56 having done two sections into the wind and one down, for the second half of the race this was reversed and the two long downwind sections helped the second half of the race as I pulled ahead of my schedule to be at 75 miles in 2.52.
I knew I only needed to keep my into the wind speed to break 4 hrs. The last 10 miles to the far turn was all into the wind and tough, there were quite a few people packing (18 DNF's!) which i was surprised about as racing days do not come better and It's the effort that makes it hard! I was beginning to cramp up with the heat and using a big gear (my minute man i usually beat by 5-6 min but his 116 fixed handy capping himself i feel 4.12.43) but I turned at the far end with 12 miles of downwind to go and an av. speed of 25.5 mph so barring accident or mechanical failier I had the record. As I crossed the line my computer just nudged 26 mph av. and I'd covered the last ten miles in 20.30
I was overjoyed at beating 4 hours and by such a margin, my time was more than I could have expected having gone close to beating the elusive 4 hour barrier three times this year. The event was won by Carl Ruebotham of the promoting club with 3.43.27 from another top three BBAR contender Oliver Jones who recorded 3.45.17 My result included in the standard BBAR distances of 50, 100 and 12 hour gives me a more than 25 mph average for the three distances, these results should be good enough to put me in the top 20 in the country at the end of the season, I have entered the Yorkshire RC '50' on the same roads as Saturday's event in two weeks time, if I feel I can improve my 50 time.
Paris-Brest-Paris...................adventure
Here is Paul's account of his recent PBP ride carried out in somewhat arduous conditions
PBP consisted of 2 days of howling rain and a headwind to Brest which then turned into a crosswind on the way back, awful. My hopes were high but I was still nursing a tender achilles from the 24 - so my plan was to go steady and still hopefully get in between 60 and 65 hours(in 2003 I did 69.48).
So much for the plan, my steady start meant I lost the fast bunch from the off - they just nail the first 140 Km's. So I found myself in a group that wasn't going at a pace I wanted to go at - it was a bit slow, the result was I ended up riding alone for long sections of the ride - not ideal with a headwind.
My other problem, and this was worse than 4 years ago, was my inability to stay awake at dawn, so on two of the three mornings I found myself cuddling up to a hard wall on the outskirts of some remote village in France - just for 30-45minute catnaps.After around 750 Km's my left knee hurt like hell, tender just to touch, and this really slowed my progress again (I could feel the achilles but at least it wasn't going to be my nemesis this time round). Due to my slow start, I was playing catch up by reducing the time I was allowing myself to sleep. First sleep at brest - 3 hours (I'd hoped for 4-5), next sleep was at a place 220Km's from the end -
a dreadful place, but the rain was cold and it was 2 in the morning, again 3 hours sleep(I'd planned to have 5 hours at my second sleep).
I really should have just pushed on to the next stop - where there was good food, but hindsight is no good now. The 3 hours sleep only did one thing and that was to make my knee stiffen up even more. The push from Villaine to Mortagne de Perche (88Km's) was very hard - I rode all the way alone, and it took me over 4.5 hours! And this on roads that are really not too lumpy compared to the rest of the route.
From Mortagne I had 140Km's to go. At my current pace I was looking at a ride of 72 hours or more. Maybe it's my tt brain taking over but I swallowed the pain and pushed on, by the next stop after 71 k's I realised that I could just beat my previous time and had a very short stop before nailing it to the finish - any uphills were very painful, but I pushed as hard as I could on the flats. Coming into the finish there are at least 20 traffic lights - it was also rush hour and I
didn't want any time penalties for jumping lights or to end up squashed by a French truck. I finally got to the finish according to my watch I had finished just 3 minutes quicker that 4 years ago. The current official time has me at exactly the same time as 4 years ago! Almost unbelievable to go that far and end up with the same time.
Result of all this: I have to now go back in 4 years time and beat that time just to prove that I can. The extra experience should help to put together a good time next time. A friend of mine from Twickenham, he was second in the 24hr AND HASN'T DONE ANY OTHER RACING BEFORE THIS YEAR!! (I did my 300 and 400 qualifiers with him and I always felt I was slowing him down), finished in just over 50hours!!(I think that only Gethin has gone quicker). Amazing. I think he should do the 12 next year - definitely huge potential.
I have only done 8 or 9 tt's the whole year and in 4 years time I'll only do 100's as preparation for PBP - it really does take up the whole season.
By the way the pic attached was ridden over the whole route by a mad Englishman dressed in a beret, stripey top and three quarter length trousers mad!
Paul I think we all need to go and have a lie down!
PBP consisted of 2 days of howling rain and a headwind to Brest which then turned into a crosswind on the way back, awful. My hopes were high but I was still nursing a tender achilles from the 24 - so my plan was to go steady and still hopefully get in between 60 and 65 hours(in 2003 I did 69.48).
So much for the plan, my steady start meant I lost the fast bunch from the off - they just nail the first 140 Km's. So I found myself in a group that wasn't going at a pace I wanted to go at - it was a bit slow, the result was I ended up riding alone for long sections of the ride - not ideal with a headwind.
My other problem, and this was worse than 4 years ago, was my inability to stay awake at dawn, so on two of the three mornings I found myself cuddling up to a hard wall on the outskirts of some remote village in France - just for 30-45minute catnaps.After around 750 Km's my left knee hurt like hell, tender just to touch, and this really slowed my progress again (I could feel the achilles but at least it wasn't going to be my nemesis this time round). Due to my slow start, I was playing catch up by reducing the time I was allowing myself to sleep. First sleep at brest - 3 hours (I'd hoped for 4-5), next sleep was at a place 220Km's from the end -
a dreadful place, but the rain was cold and it was 2 in the morning, again 3 hours sleep(I'd planned to have 5 hours at my second sleep).
I really should have just pushed on to the next stop - where there was good food, but hindsight is no good now. The 3 hours sleep only did one thing and that was to make my knee stiffen up even more. The push from Villaine to Mortagne de Perche (88Km's) was very hard - I rode all the way alone, and it took me over 4.5 hours! And this on roads that are really not too lumpy compared to the rest of the route.
From Mortagne I had 140Km's to go. At my current pace I was looking at a ride of 72 hours or more. Maybe it's my tt brain taking over but I swallowed the pain and pushed on, by the next stop after 71 k's I realised that I could just beat my previous time and had a very short stop before nailing it to the finish - any uphills were very painful, but I pushed as hard as I could on the flats. Coming into the finish there are at least 20 traffic lights - it was also rush hour and I
didn't want any time penalties for jumping lights or to end up squashed by a French truck. I finally got to the finish according to my watch I had finished just 3 minutes quicker that 4 years ago. The current official time has me at exactly the same time as 4 years ago! Almost unbelievable to go that far and end up with the same time.
Result of all this: I have to now go back in 4 years time and beat that time just to prove that I can. The extra experience should help to put together a good time next time. A friend of mine from Twickenham, he was second in the 24hr AND HASN'T DONE ANY OTHER RACING BEFORE THIS YEAR!! (I did my 300 and 400 qualifiers with him and I always felt I was slowing him down), finished in just over 50hours!!(I think that only Gethin has gone quicker). Amazing. I think he should do the 12 next year - definitely huge potential.
I have only done 8 or 9 tt's the whole year and in 4 years time I'll only do 100's as preparation for PBP - it really does take up the whole season.
By the way the pic attached was ridden over the whole route by a mad Englishman dressed in a beret, stripey top and three quarter length trousers mad!
Paul I think we all need to go and have a lie down!
Sub 21 in the Lakes!
I did get to ride my first sub 21 minute 10 mile but it was the first ten miles of the North VTTA '50' between Cockermouth and Keswick on Sunday not the Barrow Central Wheelers '10' on Saturday. I could only manage 21.25 on a windswept A590, for 19th place(the course Jason MacIntyre managed 18.15 on a couple of weeks ago) Nik Bowdler won the event with a staggering 20.09 but when my Pulse Monitor went over 98% on the way back I eased off rather than burst every blood vestal in my forehead. I say ease off because that was the down wind section of the course and as me ol'dad used to say "You never gain time you only loose it" and on that day I'd lost plenty on the way out and doing myself some physical mischief on the way back getting my speed up was not going to save 30 seconds.
At least the weather was warm and (almost) sunny which was more than could be said for Sunday which dawned wet and miserable, but like i always say "If it didn't rain there wouldn't be any lakes there!" And when in the Lake District one expects to get a little wet, the deluge which accompanied the race was of Biblical proportion and with the accompanying wind I expected to see Charlton Heston on top of one of the many hill tops with a staff and a couple of tablets of stone. The mountains of the North Lakes that surround Bassenthwaite make this (usually) the most picturesque course in the country, but my vision was a blur of spray from the many veteran HGVs on a rally to Penrith and wind blowing in from the Irish Sea down the Solway Firth. There was an ultra fast start which saw me catch my minute man the 79 year old Dennis Milsom in under 4 miles and complete the first 10 in 20.35, I did 32mph+ one way and barely 22mph the other and ended up with a 1.57.07 for 4th place (1st Vet 40-45), Dennis who has seen some conditions in his time and knew better packed at half way!
At least the weather was warm and (almost) sunny which was more than could be said for Sunday which dawned wet and miserable, but like i always say "If it didn't rain there wouldn't be any lakes there!" And when in the Lake District one expects to get a little wet, the deluge which accompanied the race was of Biblical proportion and with the accompanying wind I expected to see Charlton Heston on top of one of the many hill tops with a staff and a couple of tablets of stone. The mountains of the North Lakes that surround Bassenthwaite make this (usually) the most picturesque course in the country, but my vision was a blur of spray from the many veteran HGVs on a rally to Penrith and wind blowing in from the Irish Sea down the Solway Firth. There was an ultra fast start which saw me catch my minute man the 79 year old Dennis Milsom in under 4 miles and complete the first 10 in 20.35, I did 32mph+ one way and barely 22mph the other and ended up with a 1.57.07 for 4th place (1st Vet 40-45), Dennis who has seen some conditions in his time and knew better packed at half way!
Colin's Bank Holiday Racing ...........#2
After Alan impressed in the Surrey League 3 Day at Ockley in glorious sunshine and we then watch the field struggle up Leigh hill to the finish (Why so cruel?), It was my turn for some pain and suffering on the Bank Holiday Morning. As the penultimate man I had the luxury of an extra hour in bed and the shock of Kevin Dawson catching me just after seven miles in the ...a3crg (even the people in the club don't know what this means!) 50 mile TT on the A3 between Petersfield and Farnham. The fast start meant a 21.20 first ten miles and I kept to my 1.50 schedule and went through 25 miles in 54.28 The second half I could feel Saturdays ride in my legs and the breeze stiffened and I was the only person on the road (over the two leg course and eccentric layout of the field!) Alan handed me up a hot coffee and together with a caffeine gel I hoped enough stimulant to get me to the finish! as I ground my way up to the final turn (on my 56 chain ring) But the final seven miles 'all cream' as they say as I topped out at 40 mph to record a PB and Club record 1.51.50 I had lost a bit in the second half and my time (only) good enough for 15th place in this ultra fast event where no less than half the field recorded PB's (51 in total!)
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An age standard record for 81 yr old Ray Dare in 2.18.53 (+47.03) and fastest Lady/Vet Julia Shaw 1.55.11 (57.41) outstanding rides. Kevin Dawson was the outright winner with 1.42.24 (50.42) to consolidate his grip on the BBAR the only down side the course is un available for the next 5 years as the Punchbowl Tunnel is under construction.
Colin's Bank Holiday Racing ...........#1
Further to my Bank Holiday dilemma as mentioned last week. I had already decided to ride both events (Congleton and...a3crg 50's) as I have entered one final 100 mile TT in two weeks time and two hard rides would extend and enhance any chance of doing a sub 4 hour ride and capitalise on my form rather than let my season tail off.
Saturday was sunny and calm for a change, and I only had to do battle with the Bank Holiday traffic on the M6 to get to the start just south of Manchester. I had ridden the event last year on the way up to the Lakes and liked the 3 lap format of almost 17m, starting No 50 I had done a brief scour of the results on the CTT website to see what my opponents were capable of and decided a mid 1.56 would be enough to win the event. As it turned out i was well up on this schedule after 2 laps and so eased off knowing I had Mondays ride to come and finished with a 1.56.11 At the finish i was alarmed to see that No 10 had come in 34 secs faster! This was all the more annoying because he had sat on my back wheel all through my second lap (his third) and then had the nerve to go past me up behind a London double decker bus(I kid you not), I pointed this out to No 45 who i was catching at the time and then remonstrated with the rider as i passed him again some miles later "I may have to report you" not thinking of the consequences (I had already caught him for over a minute and thought he was out of the placings equation) he dropped back and i never gave it a second thought that he would beat me! As it was there was four riders with 1.57 rides so my effort should have been enough to win the event so i had no option to hand in a written complaint about the winners riding............to be continued.
Saturday was sunny and calm for a change, and I only had to do battle with the Bank Holiday traffic on the M6 to get to the start just south of Manchester. I had ridden the event last year on the way up to the Lakes and liked the 3 lap format of almost 17m, starting No 50 I had done a brief scour of the results on the CTT website to see what my opponents were capable of and decided a mid 1.56 would be enough to win the event. As it turned out i was well up on this schedule after 2 laps and so eased off knowing I had Mondays ride to come and finished with a 1.56.11 At the finish i was alarmed to see that No 10 had come in 34 secs faster! This was all the more annoying because he had sat on my back wheel all through my second lap (his third) and then had the nerve to go past me up behind a London double decker bus(I kid you not), I pointed this out to No 45 who i was catching at the time and then remonstrated with the rider as i passed him again some miles later "I may have to report you" not thinking of the consequences (I had already caught him for over a minute and thought he was out of the placings equation) he dropped back and i never gave it a second thought that he would beat me! As it was there was four riders with 1.57 rides so my effort should have been enough to win the event so i had no option to hand in a written complaint about the winners riding............to be continued.
Bank Holiday dilemma?
I've never been much for winning(who am I kidding!), what I mean it doesn't 'drive me' like so many other athletes (just kidding again!). I suppose It's why I packed in racing (seriously) at 21 years of age because i could see it meant so much more to other riders, you can't compete with that desire
But there is an allure, a quality about winning that is it's own reward, to beat the whole field, to be the best, it's a heady mix of ego and vanity to dominate and see the result that puts your name above all others.
And this leads me to my dilemma, one of my targets for the season was to win an open event, not a difficult task you might think when you are doing Personnel Best times (and breaking the odd club record) in the form of your life and dedicating the best part of 20 hours a week to riding your bike (who ever said you can do the BBAR on 10 hrs. a week is talented beyond belief or a liar!)
But no matter what the event the outcome remains that I have rarely bothered the top five let alone winning an event, the sad fact is , that the same riders win every time they ride, so the gap between the best and the rest is in effect much greater than it seems at first glance. Unlike a Road Race the fastest rider usually comes out on top and as a result the same riders win every event, be it a 'hilly' short or long distance.
Earlier in the year Paul Aldersen congratulated me for beating the (his) club record for 50 miles by a mere eight seconds. (good luck this weekend in the Paris-Brest-Paris, see when you write it like that it looks a whole lot further than the distinctly un-impressive PBP!) And during the exchange (by E Mail not a real conversation) it transpired that his 'winning time' won the event! Now this gives another filip to the ride because my time in the Finsbury Park event was only good enough for 12th place!
You see doing a fast time is not enough to win an event, speaking personally I race for the satisfaction of doing a good ride under the conditions and in the 'form' that i've got. It's the time triallist mantra 'be the best you can be'
In my cycling career over 30 years i have only managed to win one open time trial, the Hertfordshire & Dist '30' in 1982 (see club record 1.4.32), to win the event i did the fastest 30 mile TT in the country (beating Cammish et al in their prime -different event and not that many run but still the fastest that year) and my brother Phil into second place by over 4 (four) minutes, a storming ride by him and me under the circumstances, as mainly track riders we never usually bothered the 'testers' in their art or on the podium usually restricting ourselves to the Team or H/C prize.
And so this leads to a dilemma for the weekend, several weeks ago I entered two events over the coming Bank Holiday, (depending if I came to London for the weekend).One the Congleton '50' at Holmes Chapel South of Manchester, the second the a3crg '50' on the A3 'down south' an attempt to improve my Fifty time and BBAR average on a fast course.
The first of these events around the lanes of the observatory at Jodrell Bank, I like a bit of visual stimulation when i'm riding - I can recommend the VC Cumbria '50' between Cockermouth and Keswick It's not hilly it runs alongside Bassenthwaite lake (for the views you can almost forget the wind that makes it a testing ride). I'm riding there the week after the BH if anybody fancy's a 400 mile trip up the motorway to the other end of the country, not a BBAR counter that one! Luckily Fi's family are from the Lakes, not my desperate search for an out of the way event to win! last time I rode Gethin Butler turned up and did a 1.51 to my 2.8 still I get to ride on the 'uber fast' Levens '10' on the Saturday when the National 10 record gets broken (you heard it here first folks!) No not by me by that Scottish geezer.
And when i opened the start sheet for the Saturday event Where were all the fast men? With my new improved time I'm off at No 50 and third fastest in the field, the fastest a mere couple of minutes faster (in an event i did 2.03.06 last year to the winners 1.54.36) I have a real chance of winning the event but with only a day and a half to recover (and 300 miles of travelling) do I want to ride to win or for a fast time?
When the a3crg start sheet arrived I saw where all the fast men had decided to race (de-camp to the south for the weekend), the field reads like a National Championship or at least a race for all the BBAR contenders looking for one final fast ride before the season comes to a close. At No 119 and second to last man off I find myself sandwiched between Gold and Silver in the recent 12 hour, I may see the BBAR elect Kevin Dawson (No 120) in the first 5 miles and then nobody for the duration of the race but the prospect of riding fast is the 'lure' of the tester
At the present time I've not made a decision to ride the Saturday event, wait for the day, see what it's like , we have had some poor racing weather this year and times seem to be down as a result but the thought of winning is a strong card to play, you've still got to do the ride but winning is its own reward.
But there is an allure, a quality about winning that is it's own reward, to beat the whole field, to be the best, it's a heady mix of ego and vanity to dominate and see the result that puts your name above all others.
And this leads me to my dilemma, one of my targets for the season was to win an open event, not a difficult task you might think when you are doing Personnel Best times (and breaking the odd club record) in the form of your life and dedicating the best part of 20 hours a week to riding your bike (who ever said you can do the BBAR on 10 hrs. a week is talented beyond belief or a liar!)
But no matter what the event the outcome remains that I have rarely bothered the top five let alone winning an event, the sad fact is , that the same riders win every time they ride, so the gap between the best and the rest is in effect much greater than it seems at first glance. Unlike a Road Race the fastest rider usually comes out on top and as a result the same riders win every event, be it a 'hilly' short or long distance.
Earlier in the year Paul Aldersen congratulated me for beating the (his) club record for 50 miles by a mere eight seconds. (good luck this weekend in the Paris-Brest-Paris, see when you write it like that it looks a whole lot further than the distinctly un-impressive PBP!) And during the exchange (by E Mail not a real conversation) it transpired that his 'winning time' won the event! Now this gives another filip to the ride because my time in the Finsbury Park event was only good enough for 12th place!
You see doing a fast time is not enough to win an event, speaking personally I race for the satisfaction of doing a good ride under the conditions and in the 'form' that i've got. It's the time triallist mantra 'be the best you can be'
In my cycling career over 30 years i have only managed to win one open time trial, the Hertfordshire & Dist '30' in 1982 (see club record 1.4.32), to win the event i did the fastest 30 mile TT in the country (beating Cammish et al in their prime -different event and not that many run but still the fastest that year) and my brother Phil into second place by over 4 (four) minutes, a storming ride by him and me under the circumstances, as mainly track riders we never usually bothered the 'testers' in their art or on the podium usually restricting ourselves to the Team or H/C prize.
And so this leads to a dilemma for the weekend, several weeks ago I entered two events over the coming Bank Holiday, (depending if I came to London for the weekend).One the Congleton '50' at Holmes Chapel South of Manchester, the second the a3crg '50' on the A3 'down south' an attempt to improve my Fifty time and BBAR average on a fast course.
The first of these events around the lanes of the observatory at Jodrell Bank, I like a bit of visual stimulation when i'm riding - I can recommend the VC Cumbria '50' between Cockermouth and Keswick It's not hilly it runs alongside Bassenthwaite lake (for the views you can almost forget the wind that makes it a testing ride). I'm riding there the week after the BH if anybody fancy's a 400 mile trip up the motorway to the other end of the country, not a BBAR counter that one! Luckily Fi's family are from the Lakes, not my desperate search for an out of the way event to win! last time I rode Gethin Butler turned up and did a 1.51 to my 2.8 still I get to ride on the 'uber fast' Levens '10' on the Saturday when the National 10 record gets broken (you heard it here first folks!) No not by me by that Scottish geezer.
And when i opened the start sheet for the Saturday event Where were all the fast men? With my new improved time I'm off at No 50 and third fastest in the field, the fastest a mere couple of minutes faster (in an event i did 2.03.06 last year to the winners 1.54.36) I have a real chance of winning the event but with only a day and a half to recover (and 300 miles of travelling) do I want to ride to win or for a fast time?
When the a3crg start sheet arrived I saw where all the fast men had decided to race (de-camp to the south for the weekend), the field reads like a National Championship or at least a race for all the BBAR contenders looking for one final fast ride before the season comes to a close. At No 119 and second to last man off I find myself sandwiched between Gold and Silver in the recent 12 hour, I may see the BBAR elect Kevin Dawson (No 120) in the first 5 miles and then nobody for the duration of the race but the prospect of riding fast is the 'lure' of the tester
At the present time I've not made a decision to ride the Saturday event, wait for the day, see what it's like , we have had some poor racing weather this year and times seem to be down as a result but the thought of winning is a strong card to play, you've still got to do the ride but winning is its own reward.
LVRC National Road Race Championship
Brother Alan and yours truly rode the LVRC National RR Champs in Leicestershire at the weekend, In the Welland Valley CC promotion we rode the 40-45 and 45-50 respectively. Alan and I had been around the 'rolling'(as the handbook describes it) course based near Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome a couple of times on the Saturday in preparation for the events on Sunday afternoon. The start was delayed for half an hour as riders were stuck in traffic on the M1 as the weather closed in on what has been a patchy week with rides snatched in the various dry spells or a pattern of zig zagging across the landscape to avoid the various and frequently heavy downpours. (I had been out 4 times and got soaked twice - not a bad average for the wettest summer on record)
The extra time came in handy as I had to dismantle my bottom bracket in the car park as I found it to be tight, (so that's why Alan kept dropping me on the hills yesterday!) without the right bits of kit and with nobody else at the race seeming to have more than a pump and some allen keys!- what is it with bike riders these days, I had a 'top' road man ask to borrow a valve extender at another event recently!
It was still clear as Alan's race headed off ten minutes before mine with a field of forty odd riders, I had been placed Eighth in this event last year with the same tough bunch of Ex Pros and top road men(still racing and getting results) I however had moved up an age group and felt like the new boy
There was a moderate start and several solo attacks on the first lap until Walton hill with the finish on top and the race got a bit more animated, soon after I had a bit of a preliminary solo attack for 3 or 4 miles until a group of five got up to me but they had allowed the bunch to close in so we all came together until the end of the lap
Shortly after this I had a back spoke break in my trusty Dur-a-Ace wheels and with no service vehicle I was out of the race, as i stood by the side of the road with my un-rid able bike I lamented my mis-fortune in a race that i could have done well in but having not had so much bad luck during the season it's best to put it down to fate. There has already been several punctures on the grit strewn roads, a rare event with modern tyres, so i got a lift with a marshall to where the lovely Fiona had been standing but she had gone home (a mere 10 miles!) to get the camera, after having seen me come up the road on the front of the bunch the previous lap. As i waited for Alan's bunch to come around there was no sign of him with a group of ten away by a minute, he trundled up a few minutes later 'out of sorts' and we stood by the roadside and cheered a solo Mick Davies away by over a minute in my race
Alan roed back to the HQ and I stayed basking in the sunshine but dark clouds were rolling in from the West and i knew soon we would be in for some rain.
When it came it was a sudden and torrential downpour, luckily Fi had just arrived so we headed off to the finish to watch the last couple of times up the hill. Both races were decimated by the conditions but the expected victors came out on top, last years winner Roy Chamberlain repeated his feat in a solo escape and the winner of the Percy Stallard season long series Paul Stubbs won my event from an excellent Davies and Simon Day who had been with Stubbs with a lap to go.
So with two DNF's against our names the SWRC/Parkinson team had a pretty dismal day of it, all we can say is that we did'nt get to race in the rain and don't have to clean our bikes until the next bout with the weather
New Club Record at 12 Hour of 267.33
Colin writes about record breaking in the National 12 hour Championship at the weekend
This years National Championship was the Elmet CRC event on a flat'ish' course based on two circuits around Sutton on Durwent just East of York on a blustery day which provided an extra challenge to the distance I'd only ridden once before. We had a rude awakening by crowing cockerel at 3.30 so i had over an hour to ponder the event which has taken up a large proportion of my season, as the most demanding both in terms of preparation and training it is an event you only want to ride once a season to qualify for your BBAR position.
I was an early start 6.27 and it was quite cold, it took a few laps to warm up as i was not 'flat out' I kept to my schedule of 24mph for the first four hours to get into the body of the ride. I went through 100 miles in 4.12 and was sent on an extra lap of the big circuit(31m) as i has caught everybody in front before a single lap of the smaller finishing circuit (14m) where every body else had done 3 and 2. This was a little bit confusing for my helpers and put me back into the body of the field and it took them a lap or so to catch on. The wind got up and the flags outside the local cricket pavilion taunted every rider with their motion as if to say 'come on if you think you're hard enough' I took some grub which i managed to force down me, a chicken sandwich, a banana and a hot cross bun saved for later, the crucifixion motif not lost on me here as i ploughed my way on to 200 miles in 8.45 at 23mph average.
At this point i decided to be 'old skool' and i stopped for a 'sit-down' feed which not many of the riders do these days (aparently) but i was coming into a bad patch and i was glad of it, I ate some fruit and rice and a drink of flat coke (not easy and a little bit messy on the bike) i had been cramping up so the leg rub came in handy and i was off in less than 10 min. One more lap of the big circuit and it was onto the finishing circuit where once I'd worked off my cramp the day began to cool and it rained enough to wet the roads but it also seemed to calm the wind for the last two hours. I came into a bit of a 'purple patch' and was cruising along at 25-30 mph for the first time in the race, I had a ding dong battle with Paul Holdsworth (4th - 278.04)as we passed and re-passed each other i eventually gave way as i came to my finish at 6.27 in the evening and then rolled along to the next timekeeper where i was given the instruction i could cease and my support team pulled up.
For the last lap as i knew i had a PB in the bag and the Club Record fell with over half an hour to go and i was still over 22 mph (it would have been 22.5mph if I had not stopped) ahead of my target 264 and good enough for 7th place on the day and winner of my age category (45-49). Champion was two time previous winner the 'Master' Kevin Dawson 291.49 an awesome ride on such a tricky day a clear 2mph faster than I could muster. Second was C. Ruebotham with 280.25 and third Nik Bowdler on 279.61 a close run thing for the Silver and Bronze after twelve hours of racing
Mallory Park #14 - Win!.................at last
Colin writes about long overdue win at Leicester's premier race for 3/4th cat riders!
After a near miss last week when another rider tagged along and managed to spoil my evening this week i made no mistakes and made my move with just over two laps to go and pulled out a gap of 400 meters more than enough to come in ahead of the pack in a mass dash for the line, but they were fighting for the runners up position as i'd bagged the top spot. Because most of my other racing consists of time trialing my legs are not good enough to get a good finish place in the sprint and the best I'd managed was a couple of 10th's, I had got a couple of 5th places from break-away groups and I had tried (as usual) to get away during the race but all my efforts came to nothing, I had a near miss taking out another riders rear gear with my front wheel (Dura Ace wheel 1 Carbon rear Mech 0)as the race built to a climax and i thought i would not get my chance as the pace was high and it was the final event in the series but there was a slight lull in the pace and i took my opportunity. This result gives me a top 10 place in the overall series, results are on the East Midlands BC website http://www.veloriders.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=58234&sid=0022e2dbb458bc34d3af4102ab4cc5f0
This result gives me 42 points for the season and upgrades me to 2nd category
VTTA National '25' re-run
Colin writes about his 2nd place (40-50 age group) in the VTTA National '25'
Despite torrential rain in Central England in the previous couple of days, the re-run of the VTTA National 25(cancelled from May Bank Holiday due to.....bad weather!) it took place on Sunday in Oxford. I had the previous days Coventry CC 25 cancelled due to 'standing water' so i was not hope full as i travelled down on the Saturday. At six in the morning i had to wade through knee deep water to get to my car on the outskirts of Clanfield, staying with friends i had spent two hours the previous day helping to bale out a neighbours house. I was lucky the next village of Bampton had been under four feet of water and 1000 houses had no electricity. Even though the nearby town of Abingdon was cut off the event went ahead on the A420 from Cumnoor to Faringdon, I was an early starter after trying to warm up from my early morning paddle the day was bright and just a hint of wind. There were lots of DNS's which probably accounted for my 7th overall on scratch with 57.28(5th if you exclude the non Vets) and second in my age category (40-50)only missing out by 46 sec to the winner Joe Murray of Hinckley CRC. Phil Bull was the overall winner and winner of the 50-60 age category with 55.45, 78 year old Dennis Milsom romped away with the Standard award with a +24.30 to my poultry +11.03 (for 20th)
Despite torrential rain in Central England in the previous couple of days, the re-run of the VTTA National 25(cancelled from May Bank Holiday due to.....bad weather!) it took place on Sunday in Oxford. I had the previous days Coventry CC 25 cancelled due to 'standing water' so i was not hope full as i travelled down on the Saturday. At six in the morning i had to wade through knee deep water to get to my car on the outskirts of Clanfield, staying with friends i had spent two hours the previous day helping to bale out a neighbours house. I was lucky the next village of Bampton had been under four feet of water and 1000 houses had no electricity. Even though the nearby town of Abingdon was cut off the event went ahead on the A420 from Cumnoor to Faringdon, I was an early starter after trying to warm up from my early morning paddle the day was bright and just a hint of wind. There were lots of DNS's which probably accounted for my 7th overall on scratch with 57.28(5th if you exclude the non Vets) and second in my age category (40-50)only missing out by 46 sec to the winner Joe Murray of Hinckley CRC. Phil Bull was the overall winner and winner of the 50-60 age category with 55.45, 78 year old Dennis Milsom romped away with the Standard award with a +24.30 to my poultry +11.03 (for 20th)
Close but no Cigar
Colin writes of mid-week circuit race near miss as he takes a podium spot on the penultimate race of the Mallory Park season
2nd place my best finish ever here and I managed to fool all the sprinters with a break away with two and a half laps to go at last. I had to cede the win to a lad from the Coventry RC who managed to get with me when i attacked down the back straight into a fierce headwind. My legs were still hurting from the 100 at the weekend, I was in no shape for any heroics after a solo mid race break of 5 laps when the bunch hung me out to dry in the blustery conditions. So i sat in waiting for my opportunity and it came just as a duo were pulled back and the bunch was anticipating a mass dash for the line
2nd place my best finish ever here and I managed to fool all the sprinters with a break away with two and a half laps to go at last. I had to cede the win to a lad from the Coventry RC who managed to get with me when i attacked down the back straight into a fierce headwind. My legs were still hurting from the 100 at the weekend, I was in no shape for any heroics after a solo mid race break of 5 laps when the bunch hung me out to dry in the blustery conditions. So i sat in waiting for my opportunity and it came just as a duo were pulled back and the bunch was anticipating a mass dash for the line
The Magic of Four Hours
Colin writes about his determination to get inside four hours for 100 miles. When i started my comeback a couple of years ago I decided to set myself a target to aim for that would be tough and yet achievable. Even in these technological improved times (aero wheels & bars) the four hour 100 does not re-lie on pure speed and yet the duration means that a significant amount of training and racing needs to be done to acheve the result. Only approx 30 riders in this country will attain this standard (and the vast majority will have done it before) so it is with this in mind and that at 45 years of age every year was not going to make my target any easier in the future, i decided that it would be a tough and yet realistic enough aim to motivate me. In a year when 500+ people will stand on top of Everest, once seen as the ultimate physical challenge, the four hour hundred mile time trial is still i feel a sporting achievement to be proud of. With this in mind and having gone so close in the BDCA event 3 weeks ago with a time of 4.00.26 On Sunday I rode the North Middlesex & Hertfordshire Cycling Association hundred mile event, using the A1 and roads between Bedford and Baldock, on a similar course to that used by the National Championship which i rode last year (in a time of 4.16.05.) I was the third to last man off in a field of 70 at just after 7.00am, I started well enough going through 25m in 57.30 and 50m 1.57.21 a significant improvement on the BDCA event, however a de tour (i mis-read marshal's signal) and a slow puncture in the next section forcing a wheel change (I was lucky to have help on hand in the event). Even with these delays my final time would not have put me inside four hours. A stiff Easterly breeze blew up making the 'lumpy' second half a tough challenge and the muggy conditions made me dispense with my crash helmet as the miles and effort took their toll. Everybody in the race suffered and went significantly slower in the second half, and i saw my elusive target missed on the roads just south of Biggleswade less than two miles from the finish. Even the winner Jason Gurney of Team Milton Keynes did not get inside 4 hrs getting as close as it is possible with a time of 4.00.00 (50m 1.55.25) My time of 4.03.51 was good enough for 6th place. At the result board most of the talk was of the second half and what might have been after the promise of the first, which leaves me planning another attack on this particularly elusive goal.
If it's Tuesday It must be Mallory Park
Tuesday evening see me riding at the Motor Racing Circut at Kirby Mallory just outside Leicester. Mallory Park was used as the Road Racing venue for the 1970 World Champoinships but unlike the stars of yore all it gets to see these days of top class bike racing is on Thursday when the Elite/1st/2nd cats race. On the Tuesday a motley assembly of wannabees, hasbeens and new converts get to bash around the circut to their hearts content, in the early part of the year can see bunches of 100+ but as the season wears on and enthusiasm runs low (and some get upgraded god forbid) there is a more managable bunch of about 50. Juniors, Ladies, Vets, Triathletes (no tri bars) and even the odd rollerblader (on a bike) pile in together and usually it ends in a mass sprint after 25-30 laps (32-40m). Yours truly usually has a go at getting away or attacking in the last few laps to get caught on the final bend (i think they are catching onto my tactics!) but i have managed a clutch of placings in the top 10 with two 5th places in the last 3, I do feel the spectators are rooting for me as one said to me last week "You'll win one soon"
Third PB of the season for Colin
To go with Personal Best at 10 and 50 miles in the last few weeks Colin Parkinson beat his 100 mile TT time on Saturday, he recorded 4.00.26 just outside the four hours which would have given him a 25mph average. In the BDCA event based on three circuts of a course using the A50 near Uttoxeter He writes " I had to overcome difficult conditions making it tough going out against an East wind but fast the other way, I did my previous best in this event last year (4.09.08) on the hottest day of the year. The threatened rain held off but the blustery conditions made for tricky judgement of the ride and I struggled from 45 to 80 miles as the wind and distance took their toll. I began to feel better towards the end and I did the last 10 miles in under 20 minutes (+30mph) but the finish came too soon to make up for time lost earlier in the ride." The winner was Kevin Dawson the National Champion at the distance in 3.32.18
Colin Parkinson rides the National Championship 50
Colin Parkinson roed the National Championship 50 on Sunday and finished in 54th place with a time of 1.54.42, the event was promoted by the Icnield RC on the A1 near Bedford. He writes "The ride on Sunday was a good result I had schedhuled for a 1.52 and went through 25 'bang on' in 56.14, i slowed a bit in the second half and finished 1.14 down on last weeks time. I topped the leader board for 25 mins untill Ian Dalton came in with the first sub 1.50 ride it was good conditions and all the fast men were kept in the last hour so yours truly was off in the early part which was just as good but i could have done with the extra hour in bed" (4.30 alarm and that was staying in Bedford!) There were 130 finishers and i was 5th in the 45-50 age group
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