The Anfield Classic (You'll never walk alone!)

A tough few days of racing with a mixed bag of results which do not give me a clear picture of my fitness and where I am in my season so far, If this sounds like an excuse then I am guilty as results have to be judged against expectations and there is no doubt that this year I have raised the bar as to what I expect from myself.
A midweek 2-Up (One rider a Vet - Me) with a Triathlete friend Mark White went well and we finished 2nd, beaten to the top spot by 3 seconds from the promoting clubs Zenith CC Stefan Rick and Richard Hunt of the Derby Mercury.
Next day I took a right battering at Mallory Park in the Roger Martin Memorial Event, a quality field ripped it up and I missed the break and when I got in a small group to try and get up after half distance I could not hold the pace with only two others, I was not recovering and I'm not the sort of person to sit on, I sat up after ten laps as I was getting cramp every time I went up the hill into the wind, I dropped back to the bunch and finished with them.
On Saturday I was 9th in the Mapperley 10 with a relatively slovenly 23.20 in very windy conditions, Geoff Platts (De Rosa RT) won only just over a minute faster than my time so slow times all round.
Sunday was a rest day before the Anfield 100 on the Bank Holiday Monday and I drove over to stay with friends on the Welsh border, to be near the start near Shrewsbury, I would have gone out for a spin but it poured with rain all day and Mick and I sat in his conservatory and chatted about the book he is writing about his life in cycle racing. Mick was the first rider to win the National 25 and 50 in the same year 50 years ago and it has the provisional title of 'Twiddling Fifties' a reference to the fact that in those days they all rode single 'Fixed' wheel. Mick was one of the first to try out bigger gears and was considered outrageous when he used a 90 inch gear but it obviously worked (although he won both the titles on a 88"). Alan text ed from the I.O.W to say it had been lovely all day long.



Colin carbs up for the Anfield


The Anfield 100 is a 'Classic' event with a history going back to 1889, only 60 riders but a true spirit of time trialling prevailed with helpers and spectators cheering on the riders on an undulating circuit course. Seven time consecutive winner (1990-96) Andy Wilkinson was out, a bit of a hero in these parts and this event particularly, It is said he won the event once on a Mountain bike because he had a bad back! I quite like these events on B roads and varied landscape they require a different approach to chasing times on 'fast' courses.
My hope that the strong Northerly winds would have blown themselves out on the Sunday were not to be, the flags we saw on the way to the start were all devilishly active. I have done no time trial longer than 25 miles so far this year so I had planned to take it easy but as soon as I started I realised that 'Easy' was only going to be a relative as most of the effort was going to fight the conditions rather than into a good time. Every rider was buffeted by the murderously strong winds and I passed some going very slowly into it as my own speed dropped below 20mph and two were still out on the course when the photo of all the competitors was being taken after the presentation.



As it turned out my 4.11.51 for 5th place was respectable, I had started moderately needing a consistent ride, the tough conditions helped as we had to do 15 miles into the wind at the start. I kept it on the 50 ring most of the ride, its more psycological than anything else but it does seem to go better when it's tough. But I pushed on to 50 miles in 2.4.50 and then tried to keep my form for the rest of the ride, I had a bit of a shock when eventual winner & local rider Andy Bason (Wrekinsport) caught me for 15 min at 55 miles but he was onto a storming record breaking ride beating Dave Lloyd's 26 year old record of 3.47 (set on a standard bike!). His eventual time of 3.44.13 beating two time winner Nik Gardner by over 8 minutes was an astounding ride under the conditions for this Ex Triathlete who has only been riding time trials for two years, I would make him one of the outstanding new names to watch and to win the National 50 or 100 and be up there in the BBAR.



I had to stop at Telford services for an hours nap after waking up at 4am an hour before my alarm. On the way home the car was buffeted on the raised M6 through Birmingham and I could hardly believe I had been out riding in it earlier in the day (let alone a hundred miles) my eyes were burning from the wind and I think the sign on the gantry over the motorway said it all but my legs did not hurt too much, save that for another day.