I entered the Yorkshire Road Club 'Victory 50' on the A19 up to Northallerton from Thirsk, the day was promising (as most of the week had been - Indian summer Ahoy!) so with Fiona doing the driving we trecked up the M1/M18/A1 mid day, I'd asked for an early start my next ride on the Sunday morning being the Severn RC '50' 250 miles away! (setting a new record for exclamation mark use!)
Mind over matter
A warm Yorkshire day with light wind from the South greeted us as we got out the car at the HQ in Dalton on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, It was a decent ride to the start and I'd done some stretching in the morning so I went to the start feeling confident about my chances. Start was wind assisted so I tried to keep my gears down and something for the second half but I was impressed with HR at 162 on the climbs as that usually means I'm in the red but here I feel comfortable and balance out my effort on the faster sections to reach half distance in 54:00 on target for 27.5 mph ride.
I saw Andy Wilkinson (Port Sunlight Whs.) out on the course needing a 1:42:04 to clinch the BBAR from Nik Bowdler last years winner and current leader, I needed faster than 1:49:16 to improve my position. Fi said "That 'Wilco' went by with such a Whoooosh!" after talking to his helper while roadside, I was trying to do my best to emulate Andy's onomatopoeia! My ride began to unravel here, I could point to so many things, too much the day before (38m at 15mph - slowest ride of the year), no ride in the morning (first time this year!) wrong food (bit of too 'spicy' risotto on the way up!), not enough warm up (warm day - its not a '25'), not enough to drink (only drank half a 750cl bottle - but not a hot day either) I just could not press home my advantage.
Thums Up!
.jpg)
When your average speed is over 27 mph for fifty miles the pressure is on to be close to the limit all the time, I should be able to push through this speed ceiling but it is dependent on so many factors and yet they all serve to show you that you will fail if you let your speed drop and this at the end of the day is too crushing a reality for the under pressure rider to resist, it is no coincidence that many of my best rides have been done when my computer failed, and riders tape over their 'values' on power meters. In the end the will to ride fast is only balanced by the knowledge that 'it was done' in the mind as well as the physical limits of the rider.
Make of that what you will but I came up short (again) with 1:49:59 for 9th place - I found out later as no sooner had I got back and delivered my number at the HQ than we were on the road back to Leicester, before we left news came through Wilco had also narrowly missed his target by 25 seconds (or 0.12 mph if you prefer) bummer! I left the remains of the field to benefit from the exodus of traffic from the Middlesborough V WBA football.
A brief stop to swap cars and refill bottles I ate my tea (frittata) travelling along the M40 to a rendezvous with old mate living in Clanfield (Darkest Oxfordshire) from which it was but a short hop to the next mornings event on the A419 between Cricklade and Cirencester at 7.00 the next morning. Apart from riding back to the HQ (5m) I'd done a bit (20 min) of stretching to ease off the muscles but that was it, It was a lovely morning, sunny with the lightest of breezes (but some people will complain about anything!) I was the only rider to attempt the 'double' although several had entered both, I still wanted to see what I could do, a new course for me, I'd only ridden part of it 4 years ago as part of the WTTA '100' (my first of my comeback 4:38:27!)
The back end of the field had been 'stacked' with all the fast men in an effort to ease pacing issues on the three lap course but as we were to find later these measures were to prove not useful because if riders are not prepared to 'self regulate' as we saw in the recent BTTC Champs then Time Trialling can be reduced to a farce. the start was wind assisted and I kept my gears down as yesterday but here to give my body a chance to ride myself into a second severe effort in less than 15 hours, after the turn we had a long 10 mile pull into the wind (which for this course not so favourable) which was slightly rising so I was mildly surprised to be going so well around the outskirts of Cirencester and the first lap completed without too much trouble and above 27 mph. 25 miles came along in 55.30 not going to set the BBAR alight but I was moving well and felt I could push on a bit into the wind, My minute man Dave Kiddell (CaleverCC) caught me soon after and I let him go although he was travelling only marginally faster as I felt I would pull him back if I began to 'motor' AS it was I started getting twinges of cramp second time up the steep slip road and I was a bit ragged, when the downwind section came I could not take advantage of it like I hoped and when I came to turn into the wind I closed in on my 2 minute man Nick Green (Stratford CC) but could not drop him, Dave Summers (Bath CC) my 6 minute man was now also in the mix as I was cramping up badly and only able to turn over a smallish gear but still ahead of these two.
It was then that scratch man Barry (Baz) Charlton (Lyme RC) came past with Paul Holdsworth (Houndslow & Dist) glued to his wheel, this was not edifying as the paced passed the pacer on the slip road shouting "Your going too slow" this to the man 3rd in the BBAR! and winner of many events this year Bizarre!
Summers and Green passed me in agony but I was able to continue and re-passed them on the way to the finish and there was a bit of 'ding dong' racing to the line (which I lost) this was fair and I don't think any of us felt taken advantage of, we did not speak about it but if we had then I'm sure we would have seen it for what it was, committed riding at the end of a race. Baz had caught Paul around 25 miles and was not happy to have him there for the rest of the race, we talked about it as we rode back to the HQ, he was very reluctant to make a complaint, he had after all won the race but Holdsworth by his action had come second and the third rider Nick Sparks (Sheffield Tri) was also not happy. We had all seen the 'action' all the marshalls had seen it too! and on a 3 lap course it's hard to mistake pacing for what it is. Holdsworth is way more experienced in the ways bike racing lore and law to know that this sort of stuff, riders do not like it Paul and I have raced together over 30 years, I spoke to him after the event and made it clear that Baz was not happy and likely to make a complaint, we have been close (in times) all season but pacing has given him an unreal advantage in this event and that can have real consequences for this and a season long competition like the BBAR and so the complaint was lodged with the organiser.
I think you can definitely make a clear distinction between no nonsense 'battling' riding of the style that engulfed the three of us at the end of this ride and the type of riding that Paul was engaged in. As a separate incident earlier in the year I was accused of pacing at the Team Swift '50' when Antony Nash (Scunthorpe Poly) (A good TT'er Tony but I'd been out of racing for 20 years Tony Who?) caught me for 2 min with 8 mile to go and we had a 'battling' ride to the finish. The third party who we caught during this incident was disgusted at what had taken place or what he had seen (me being a fast rider on a zero etc etc). But Tony who at the time I did not know (but subsequently got to know better as he rides the track) was OK with what had taken place as we discussed the incident immediately after but It must have looked like pacing to the third party, he was very angry & indignant and was going to report me! In the end he was convinced but the onus should always be for the caught rider to drop back a distance (although this is never specified) but once it gets to 10 seconds in my experience then riders get on with 'their' ride.
Back to the Severn RC event, waiting confirmation but Baz won it with excellent 1:44:17 I came in with a credible 1:52:30 and with hindsight I could have done better BBAR ride here if I'd not ridden the day before but we shall just have to live with the consequences - It's only a bike race!
Yorkshire Road Club 'Victory 50' Result
Severn RC '50' Result
STOP PRESS! - Paul Holdsworth Disq! Self 7th
No comments:
Post a Comment