Jonathan Thomas and I both rode the Lea Valley '50' on the Saturday afternoon where we both posted PB's last year, sweltering hot weather which had made the past couple of days a welcome change to the rest of May greeted us as we turned up at the HQ. There was a bit of a breeze to take the edge off the heat and we discussed re-fueling strategy for the event as we had not faced yet this season, I opted for two 500ml (weak) bottles of 'mix' (one electrolyte one carbohydrate) and a couple of gels and drunk a bottle before I set off for the start five miles away at Six Mile Bottom on the A11 Newmarket Bypass
The heat from the concrete road was incredible as I stood at the starting point on one of the small bridges to cross the main road, a tailwind start helps settle you into your ride but as soon as I turned at Four Went Ways roundabout to re-trace the stiff headwind was a bit of a shock. I stayed with it keeping my PR steady at 154 but when 10 miles came up in 22.15 I knew I was in for a difficult ride. The wind from the West made this section of the A11 and then the A14 tougher than I expected and my Av Speed dropped a mile per hour to 26.3 at the Red Lodge roundabout, thankfully the dog leg along the A14 has been re-surfaced from last year and I did not have to pick a path through the potholes. Jon was having a bit of fun with a broken armrest and having to balance on the one Cirque du Soleil style (such a talented rider) but at least his knees were giving him less trouble
At the half way I was unexpectedly caught by my minute man but by then I was not on such a good ride and in such good shape, the struggle against the wind my legs were not feeling too good and rather than respond to the challenge I let the rider pass into the distance perhaps a minute as we re-traced our path down the A14 and A11 to the start and Four went ways for a second time. I'd taken both gels by this point as I tried to revive my performance but the downwind leg was not easy on the legs as I pushed a bigger gear to pull back some of the deficit, to my supprise my minute man was having a tough tome as we came into the final ten miles and I closed in on him. A fifty is far enough to get your pacing wrong especially in extremes of temperature and it must have been over 30 degrees at this point, I caught him with five miles to go just as eventual winner Sean Childs (RN&RM CA) caught us for nine minutes (him for 8) and going like a train in a much bigger gear than I could possible have attempted on this last section into the wind (even at the start of the race!) and the two caught men had to watch as he sped away. But we had a private battle to the finish, with me getting the better in the final mile albeit a minute down.
After the finish Childs disappeared in the Pub at the level crossing that makes this a commuting point into London during the week, he gestured to me for having a pint, to be fair I could have done with a drink (of water) but didn't feel like being sociable and staggered back to the HQ exhausted. Times were down on last year by five minutes or more but Childs had done a great ride (and a PB) to win in 1.44.41 just from Barry Charlton (Lyme RC) 1.44.57 Kevin Tye (ODLS.com) 1.45.03 third then a host of 47,48 and 49's from the likes of Joel Wainman, Paul Smith, Ian Cammish and Michael Broardwith who I should be challenging also Julian Jenkinson my minute man who I fancied to have a chance to beat (or even catch) but on this day it was not to be, my final time of 1.54.39 half a minute back on what I'd done on the freezing/windy A1 two weeks before and six minutes down on last year. So not a satisfactory result as a pointer to the National Championship in 3 weeks time. Jon will be making the trip to the National '50' on my local A50 course and if he keeps improving (and no more of his bike/body breaks off!) then his 2.00.14 today will be a distant memory as this was a significant improvement on his 50 of a few weeks ago, even with a bit of bother.
Doing a bad ride always leaves me in a bit of a bad mood and I had the LVRC National Criterium Championship the next day at the New Redbridge Circut (the replacement for Eastway). Stayed with friends in Ian Dury's old manor Upminster but then woke up at four in the morning thinking about my form and not able to get back to sleep, worse than your team getting relegated, I should be racing in the North East not the South East. Day was shaping up to be another hot one and my race right in mid day. It was only eleven and over 30 as we drove to the circuit, you can see the track from a distance and with a bit of a climb, when we watched the prior race our thoughts were confirmed as riders struggled up to the finish, some on the inner ring! Criterium more like a tough road race and a bit of wind on the exposed hill too!
The twenty on the start sheet had expanded to double that number with the 'A' (40-45) race off a minute in front on the 2Km course, I had to sit in the first bit as my legs a bit sore, several breakaways of 2 and 3 were pulled back and the Team Quest duo of Fuller and Roshier attacking one after the other to split up the field. Fuller, Scott Holmes (Hillingdon) and Graham Payne (Whitfield RT) were away and a group of 6-8 detached off the front of the bunch, I knew I had to get with them as the bunch fractured and then when the leading three were 50 metres in front I attacked past Roshier thinking he would come with me but marked out of it by some local Finchley riders, this lot all ride at the LVRC races at Hillingdon every Wednesday and know each other well, mabe they thought I was my brother Alan! However got up to the leaders on my own and we began to work and pull away
We never looked like being caught, It took a few laps for me to get my breath back and to be truthful I was never happy on the hill, my legs ached from yesterday but I never went on the inner either and our quartet closed in on the 'A' bunch with 20 minutes of racing still to go. Of course we went to the front but the bunch sat on us until the judges threatened to pull them out but we were half a lap up on the rest of out race lapping riders it was all a bit confusing. After an hour we had three laps to go and I had an attack but there was not much in my legs and apart from the hill the wind made the circuit a pretty uninviting place for a solo effort. When the bell rang we were embroiled in the 'A' race again and caught up in their sprint, I lost contact with my fellow escapees until they all came past me on the hill, the finish was a bit of a mess, they should have finished one race and given us another lap, I would probably still have been 4th as the hill and the '50' had put an end to my sprint if there was one. Holmes took it in a tight finish (good thing they have photo finish) he was the strongest all day from Payne who had been going well on the hill Fuller 3rd More Results Here
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