Frosty!

It's a bit dangerous on the side roads up here in the Midlands so I tend to stick to the Fosse Way which as you would expect is fairly straight and is kept well gritted and can be remarkably quite at some times of the day. On Sunday I had to wait until late in the day when the temperature had risen to -2 but I finally managed a couple of hours out to the basin at Brinklow (Stretton under Fosse) Warwickshire on the North Oxford - Coventry Canal, here the canal (built 1790's) and railway come through adjacent to each other as they make their way up from Watford Gap.

I did'nt hang around too long as the light was fading and it was very cold once off the bike, Fiona and her sister had taken a chance to drive up to the Lake District but encountered few problems as I think they are generally better prepared for bad weather up there.

2010 Review of the year

Well the plan was "simples" do less miles but more intensity and try and peak two or three times in the season and have two week long rests in between to 'cool it' and keep me focused. Hmmmmm! Well my early season was on target after the coldest winter I'd experienced but only hit the deck once (Ouch!) I had a 20:40 for 10 miles and 52:18 for 25 miles by mid April and I was on track for my best season.

I had a few niggles, a cold for the Zenith 2 Day my only road event of the year but doing the UK and European track takes alot of preparation and you can easily knacker yourself on the road getting over tired or an accident, I had a few mechanicals which did not point to anything in particular but when you wait all week to race and it doesn't come off you always 'feel' it more
I rode the '10', '25', '50' & '100' Championships, they were not all target events so I didn't get the results that I imagined I would, I just told myself they were part of a bigger plan, the shorter ones I guess are not for me but they were glorious events on sweltering days and you feel part of the day if you ride, which I'm glad I did but maybe I should have got my mental preparation right as well. The longer distances are more my thing so I was disappointed to crash in the '50' two days back from a break but still post a good time. So then to have everything perfect for the '100' and not post a good time at all I was a bit puzzled
I had fallen off and banged my head the week before warming up for the British Masters track in Newport, this had been my first big target of the year and although I posted a PB in the pursuit 24 hours later I felt terrible and did nothing in the points race (I sat out the scratch race with a large bandage on my head!) the doctors warning "Don't do anything stressful for 48 hours" as he pumped a tetanus in my arm. So was my poor performance in the Nat '100' just a delayed reaction?  I probably paid the price for wanting a result when I should have rested but when you make it a target it's tough to let go.

Going to pot in the Nat '100' followed on from the same in the BDCA '100' a few weeks before so I'd ridden 3 x '100's (4:02:20 in the Anfield a good result but again for training) and got nothing out of them which meant I had to put pressure on myself to 'perform' later in the year.
The BBAR is a season long competition but it still means you have to 'perform' on the chosen day, I'd taken a week off without the bike mid June as a reward for early season efforts and to be fresh for the British Masters but after the BDCA 'missfire' and with no BBAR result the 'break' felt unjustified and with the National '50' disappointment as soon as I got back I think I was beginning to loose my focus (or maybe I was just too focused?) doubts began to creep in.
The National '100' should have been the TT'ing peak of the first half of the season as well as prep for the 12 hour which was on the same roads but after a good start I just rode the latter part like it was training and got the result to match, I could not quite take it in, doing a similar time to that of the Anfield on a day when the winner was within a whisker of Competition record. I had to have some time off so Fiona and I drove to the South of France (with bike this time) to watch some racing (Le tour) I had the European Masters the week after I got back and despite long slow miles in the Alps I took another second off my pursuit time in the qualifying but got DQ'ed and missed a medal in the points race by the smallest margin but at least I defended my title with a good ride and was 'in at the kill' so I knew I was on form, a bit late for a fast '100' but I had the Breckland 12 hour coming up and I knew I could do a good ride with average weather and no mishaps.

On the day of the Breckland it all feels like a dream (now) wafting along the A11 at 24mph for 200 miles (no matter I had to get off twice in the first 10 miles) I was leading by 5 minutes but more importantly I was 12 minutes up on PB and heading for over 280 miles (285 even!) when the race came to a premature end. I was in a bit of a daze for a week or so but I had to snap out of it PDQ as I had the Swift '100' to redeem my BBAR. It was a terrible day but I held it together to pull out a 3:47:39 nearly 2 min outside my best but 4th on the day and showed me I could do it on the day when necessary. I had to give myself a chance of a result in the final 12 hour of the season but I could not imagine going all that way without a decent '100' back it up

As it turned out neither my mind or body could master the Kent lanes or the late season weather (which was windy again!), I was just too un-prepared and fragile to get better than the 260 miles I recorded, which felt like a crushing disappointment at the time but probably all I had in me on the day. That I failed to record a faster late season '50' (not for want of trying) than the 1:50:38 I recorded just two days after the Masters Points and that my '10' & '25' were still those that I'd done by mid April says all you need to know about my season. I did not win an open event or record a personnel best for the first time since my comeback, I've had twice as many rest days (Av. two per week) but in the end the weight of expectation just got the better of me, I let my result become the focus of my ride, I looked too often at my split times and was disappointed by what I saw and that fed into my perception that I was 'on a bad ride' and if you tell yourself its bad then your legs feel the pain, and if you feel the pain then you don't enjoy it, it's always going to hurt but you need to tell yourself that the pain is worth it, the pain is necessary but like all belief its not rational to measure the physical reality against the perception of the goal, the mind had the ability to 'tune out' to stimulus (if you don't bring it to your attention - Some riders tape over their computers!) its an unlearned response all you have to do is to ignore the signs without being ignorant of the responses "Simples!"

What does that mean for me? Well I have to think a bit more about what I want to get out of my racing, sure fast times and good results are great but there is always alot to sacrifice to get there and I don't think I want another season like this one but you only learn by 'doing it' and learning..............such is life

Tally of events of the year - 45

3 x Hilly
2 x 2 Up
3 x Crits
2 x RR + 1 x Prologue
10 x 10
8 x 25
6 x 50
4 x 100
1 & 2/3 x 12
4 x Track
2 x Pursuit

Total 1888 miles

Miller - Silver -- Cancellara - Gold -- Martin - Bronze

Emma Pooley wins World TT title

2 x 50 (+ 25)

A last chance to improve my BBAR standing before the end of season with the last couple of 50 mile time trials, last week in the Team Swift '50' on my 'local' Etwall course on the A50 near Uttoxeter there was a full field of top riders with all top twelve BBAR contenders entered always fast and the competition always seems to bring out the best in riders. This week three in different parts of the country Yorkshire, E Anglia and the S. West so riders could pick and choose but the Swift event came first.

Fi - No 1. Helper

I have a problem with saddle sores after the 12 hour, never this bad before and do no respond to the usual treatment (antiseptic cream and walking like John Wayne!) require a visit to the doctor who confirms ulcers. The nurse is helpful and applies padded waterproof dressing to wound. The next day (Thurs) I'm able to ride for 30m carefully but I don't need to do much in the intervening week as I'm trying to get over the physical (& mental) damage of the 12 hour, Lack of sleep and hot and cold sweats all week leave me feeling a bit of a wreck but come the weekend I'm ready for a battle.

I'll have a McFluffy!

It's a late afternoon event and pretty windy so those with fast times are happy that it's going to be difficult to improve, wind will present the biggest obstacle to a fast ride today I have 1:50:38 to my name over 2 minutes down on my best so I should have a chance to go faster, I start cautiously and my legs feel good but try and hold a bit in reserve for the final push up to the turn, the "concrete mountain" they call it and with the wind it slows me to 58:00 at 25m. The return is a dream, the first 5m back covered in 9:13 but then a tricky leg out to Rocester from the McDonalds roundabout see me outside 22 minute for the next 10m then disaster! avoiding the 'rumble' strip (Ouch!) on the lead up to the Uttoxeter roundabout with 12m to go I puncture, straight down! I wait for Fiona who is out supporting and handing up a bottle to a friend (Mark on a three bottle strategy while most of us make do with one for the whole race) she has stopped to pick up another puncture victim and no space in the car and I want to finish the race anyway. 9:36 and 10:13 my final two 5m splits with the wind taken out of my sails by the puncture but I've done the hard (slow) bit so why not enjoy the fast (hard) bit, time would have given me a seasons best but I have to make do with 1:56:22 one of my chances taken.

Puncture victim (pic by Placid_casual)

When I see the times come in some are spectacular, Julian Jenkinson (UTAG- Yamaha) BBAR leader wins the event with seasons best 1:41:27 Joel Wainman (Swift) who has been consistently fast all season 2nd 1:42:48 and BBAR 2nd settles for 3rd Andy Bason (Pedal Rev) 1:43:06 What must they have done into the wind?

Another week of rest and my sores are much improved and I have the Stone Whs. '25' on the Sat PM, again on the A50 but this time starting at Blyth Br. at the '50' turn, unfortunately the wind has also been mirrored for the day but we have a blindingly fast start and excruciatingly hard finish up the 'mountain' 10:05, 8:31 and 10:04 splits put me at 31.4mph and I'm still above 30mph with 5m to go but nearly 13 minutes for the final 5m give me a final time of 53:12, good enough for 12th place. As I warm down the rain begins to fall, I have asked for an early start as I'm racing on the Sunday and to my disappointment the rain becalms the wind and the late starters gain the benefits, scratch man Barry (Baz) Charlton (Lyme RC) wins in 48:52 with Charles Taylor (S. Pennine) sneaking over 30mph with 49:59 Alf Hilton (Congleton) 3rd in 50:54

Baz (in the rain)


I have chosen the Severn RC '50' on the A419 between Cricklade and Cirencester as I resolve that I'm likely to get a faster morning than the Yorkshire RC event on Saturday afternoon (I'm right) and my attempt to ride both last year ended in a bout of cramp and me missing my target in both. A more selective approach here, I suppose If I really wanted to target this event then I should have not ridden on Saturday afternoon but I'm as fit as I will ever get and most of my racing is predicated on being able to 'back up' your rides I just make sure I have a 20 min warm down after the '25' on the rollers (25 min warm up!)
Sunday morning is colder than of late and a bit breezy from the West across the course but see where that got us last week! start is 5m from the HQ so I just ride there and watch the riders come and go on this two lapper. I'm a late starter (they have collected all the 'fast' men together to avoid bunching and the pacing that marred last years event. I start 'full gas' there will be no further chance, 11 min 5m splits should do it and I'm only 3 seconds shy at the beginning and then 10 seconds inside. A tricky hill up to the far turn drops my average but 40mph payback and 10:57/10:34 sees me bang on 55:00 at 25m. It's not warmed up and a rider crashes on a side road into a turning car, next to a man taking photographs, he is walking wounded but has a bad gash over his eye, the race continues. Lack of concentration costs me 40 seconds and I'm in & out the saddle urging a bit more speed out of the dead conditions and although my style is not altogether laboured I don't seem to have 'it' today, two splits at 11:13 and Adam Topham (High Wycombe) catches me for 5 min at 40m and takes the wind out of my sails, I had not been tracking other riders only Jon Shubert (Verulam) 10 min in front and we are pretty level. Lack of concentration costs me 45 seconds on the penultimate split 11:46 and I only have the final 5m (10:23) to give me 1:51:25 good enough for equal 5th with Shubert. Scott Povey (Warwickshire RC) wins with 1:43:54 on a 'fixed' a near minute in front of Jenkinson 1:44:47 and Topham third 1:45:05
It's been a difficult few weeks and in a way I'm glad its over, a few more races to finish off the season and I can reflect fully on what I got right and wrong. Fate can be a cruel master and if luck is his lady companion is against you then your destiny can be in the balance. In the week when the Pope called for more faith in society you know superstition won't be far behind, you can try to outwit them both but it leaves you precious spare to do your best. It's difficult getting to the end of a season knowing that you didn't get the best out of yourself (or your fitness) , what I have learned is these two impostors have played their part in the things I have achieved so far, and coming to terms with the more negative role they play in sport is something I have not experienced since my comeback, I have the belief that I did my best, I will have to be wary of them in the future.

Team Swift '50' result here

Stone Whs. '25' result here

Severn RC '50' result here

Kent CA 12 Hour -

I've had to sit down and write some unedifying accounts of races in the last season and I'm dreading how to tackle this one bearing in mind, it did not go as planned or give me a satisfactory outcome beyond the fact that I finished and in doing so I now have a complete set of distances for this years BBAR. My distance 259.847 mile almost twenty miles short of my best and at least a mile per hour short of what I would have expected even in the worst outcome

Satisfaction is always going to be a comparative state so maybe I should wait a little longer to reflect or use some different criteria to judge my performance (this is what most people are suggesting when they console you on a bad ride), Did I overestimate my opportunity or the toughness of the challenge, there's always an element of this, when you are fit you might have a tendency to feel that it might be easy but it’s the result that matters. There is no doubt that I am in good condition, my recent ‘100’ prove that I am not far off my best but my result is not good enough to get me into the top echelon that I desire and that hurts
Breckland - Result that never was

There is also the fact that I was doing this event because the Breckland event was cancelled at 200m (8Hrs) and I have had to get used to the fact that my fitness and focus on that day had been ‘wasted’, ignoring all the reasons for this just extending my form for a few more weeks to ride another event with all the effort and time of another half day, not that I'd do anything different again given the opportunity - that's what it takes! But sitting here in the cold light with the result in my lap I am having difficulty seeing through to the sport, it all seems like some cruel joke at my expense

No matter that my distance would have won the event last year (six of the last ten years) on this tough and unremitting course down in the SE corner of the country.

Kent courses now that most DC roads are off limits bearing in mind the traffic levels in the South East are not known for their speed, you would say unfashionably slow, not since the 80's when Lloyd broke the '10' on the Q10/19 (A21)have they garnered national records, those have gone to the less populated regional roads. The Kent CA event has a reputation for being exposed and hilly being based around Romney Marshes and the hop growing area of inland roads from Tenderden to Ashford. I knew this and the results of recent years were similarly dauntingly slow but it was my only remaining opportunity and I had to make the best of it.
Brothers Alan and Phil had stepped up to the mark to be my helpers for the day and we went for a little ride to the HQ from our base in Headcorn to test the roads on a warm sunny Saturday evening. We were up at 4am it was cloudless but colder than of late and I hoped the wind would be less than of late. I'd ridden the team Swift '10' the previous weekend in unprecedented gales that saw me record a decent 21:30 on the new National Record course (17:56 by Hutch a month before) but even he only just scraped inside 30mph with 19:57 and my uneven splits of 9:04 (34mph) and 12:30 (24mph) tell the story of the day.
I was the fastest man in the field and as such all eyes were on me, but I was too concerned about, not getting lost on the initial route and settling down into a decent racing rhythm, I need not have worried about the course it was well signed and marshaled. Before the first hour was up I had some inkling that it was going to feel like a long twelve hours, the flat roads around the Marshes were exposed and the wind was getting up. I found myself fighting my way up the seafront at Camber Sands along the esplanade into a fierce Easterly which had me fighting to keep 'evens' when I should have been eking out my effort for the remains of the event, the first hour garnered 25 miles but it was obvious I could not sustain this attrition, I went through 50m in 2:4 (my Av. Sp. here already below the 200m mark in the Breckland event!) Two big laps inland followed and we could get away from the wind but this was replaced with a substantial amount of climbing on the rolling countryside, 100m came up in 4:14:40 and local Steve Berry (San Fairy Ann) was a clear leader in 4:4:43, there was a clutch of riders within a couple of minutes of my time Andy Sheppard 4:13:39 (GS Stella) Paul Holdsworth (Houndslow & Dist.) 4:14:56 local Andy Miles (VC Elan) 4:16:10 and Brian Walker (Swift) 4:19:25
The next 100 miles which should be a stabilising time of the race proved to be the most difficult, there were many agricultural vehicles, combine harvesters, balers and tractors, I had to nip around on the narrow and windy roads those less speedy sat behind on a fog of dust and straw. I caught Walker for 15 minutes at 150m there were two laps of the Woodchurch circuit with a steep climb and my bearing in my wheel exploded and I had to change onto my spare bike at 178m. Luckily I was close to my help but the bike felt awful to ride as you would expect after nearly 8 hours on one bike
All change - again!

There was a brief flat section with a crosswind but relief for me as I could settle myself down for a few minutes and get some rhythm into my racing but it was all too brief on these unremitting roads before it climbed up to Hamstreet and up again towards the finishing circuit. I could not continue on this bike as the saddle was giving me grief but the ‘boys’ had a puncture on the car and were temporarily delayed in getting to me so I had to continue on until they caught up, a second change and I had a bit of a sit down for a few minutes to take stock. I just needed it to be over and began to clock watch with more than three hours remaining; Berry caught my going as strongly ready to break the course record which has stood for fifteen years (Ian Silvester when the event was the National Championship)
Finished

My computer had not worked when transferred onto my spare so I had over 2 hours unaccounted for, but with the stops I cannot imagine how my distance could be more than 264 miles which would have been a disaster so to find that it was less than 260 was a blow to my moral and the death knell for this seasons BBAR. I could not have averaged more than evens for the last 4 hours on top of the 22.6mph up to my bike change where I was already 38 minutes behind my Breckland speed of 24.2mph, I have to go away and re evaluate my season but I do seem to have been plagued by incidents in nearly every event I have made a target for this season, this has left me bewildered and not a little depressed when I think of all the time and effort my team and I have put into getting it right o7ò



KCA 12 Hour Result Here

Swift '100' -

Since the aborted 12 hour I'd been suffering from a different type of crisis, not a crisis of form or fitness, No! I was pretty sure I had the condition to do a good ride but that of anxiety. A feeling of inadequacy stemming from things outside my control, you can try and control as many of the factors within your control but what do you do when that's not enough? Back pain, headache, listless and unable to sleep, that's no way to prepare for a performance that's going to define a season
I rode the Nottingham Clarion '25' the intervening week a respectable 57:36 for 4th place on 'B' roads on the Vale of Belvoir, then a broken chain in the midweek '10' on 'fixed' well at least some of my bad luck is disposable but it's still annoying.

So to the Team Swift '100' pretty much the whole of my season was going to rest on this one ride, an overestimation I know but 3:54 my best so far would not get me a place in the BBAR top 10, with the way things are looking, with faster times 'across the board' in '50' '100' and 12Hrs. I would be outside with comparable speed to last year so I had to pull a decent ride to get my campaign back on track. It would be almost unbearable to ride another 12 hr. with nothing at stake, push yourself to the brink once more with no chance to make the grade when you know you are up against real riders with real times in the bank, it's no wonder I'm anxious

The Swift event up in N Yorkshire on the A168 between Disforth and Northallerton (turn) x 3 laps always a good one for me and has provided me with my seasons best the past three years, a good field Hutch (going for Comp record?) almost better than the National. I'm not off until 3.00pm so almost a day to while away (nerves) with all the riding done only the racing to do now, I'd been out in the morning for a customary stroll and got soaked before 2 miles so came home and called it quits.
A bit much wind than everybody would like, the weather these past couple of weeks has been changeable to terrible (ask anybody on a 'staycation' holiday) but to ride a 100 mile time trial at top speed in it another matter. Rain I can deal with, wind well that's why we produce such good sailors, because there's way too much of it on this island we call home, get on with the race, a bottle of fluid and a gel with coffee, bang it all in and see what transpires. It's a fast opening leg so the five mile ride to the start at Rainton Lane enough to be getting on with although there are riders in the lay by going 'nuts' on turbo's! 20:24 for the first 10m the first warning that it's going to be hard the other way but I'm not here to shirk a bit of pain and some grovelling it's a 'hundred' after all, you don't ride these and get off thinking "Nice day to be out on the bike" you race the whole way these days and all that 'aero' gimmickry ameliorates the wind (or that's the theory) the pain was always there - riders love it!

Coming back into the wind does not feel too bad, keep aero but keep relaxed and concentrate only on the next bit of road, then the next bit, the next and so on, don't panic. I have to do this three times so do not blow it on the first lap, keep something in reserve for the next time that will be crucial. At 50 miles I'm 1:51:17 but have done two downwind to one upwind and the second half will be the reverse so not to get too excited. Fi gives me my first bottle, its not a hot day, I will not need much more than this. I catch my four minute man Peter Greenwood (Clayton Velo) and he hangs around a bit too long, I cannot afford to alter my pacing to shed him but a couple of hard efforts on little rises as the second hard lap finishes sees him off. I have a Gel at the end of each lap as a present, use every trick at your disposal, whatever gets you to the end.

Riders are packing, Hutch is gone as he has no need for a slow agonising ride, the pain is relative but I would have liked to see what I do against him, seventeen others along with the fourteen DNS's for this excellent promotion, bit of a pity but when you have a sub 3:50 (3:45 some!) on the books not starting can be easy, stopping once you are into the race more of a battle but those little voices in your head that start as soon as the knot of pain in your chest and legs begins to slowly 'garrote' your senses

I need to be at 80m in three hours to give me 46 minutes for the final twenty, it's looking a possibility, all my splits whether into/with or split with the wind have been 22:30 - 23:00 (26.4mph Av.) as it is I'm bang on but the last climb up onto the moors they call the Cleveland Hills although wind assisted are interminable and provide me with my only split outside 'evens' 24:32 and puts me back, I see current BBAR Nik Bowdler (5 min man) and make him only 2:30 up with 13m to go, Fi gives me hot coffee it goes down a treat. The finish is into the wind (wouldn't you know it) and my legs are pretty much empty, I lever along my bike over every rise past finishing riders, nobody has caught me today, unusual to think that but I cross the line in 3:47:39 that last bit always goes on forever.

I lay down in the lay by (is that why they are called that?) I've never had to work that hard before, back pain and a headache in the correct context! Shows how much it means/how much I want it after a while I can sit up, Fiona is looking on a bit distressed, it's not good for her to see me in this condition, it makes it all look too serious and not just a sport we do for a bit of fun but I've done it and I've got the time to go with it, 4th again on the day (with all the dropouts!) but a credible performance maybe things are looking up!

Nott's Cl. Result

Team Swift '100' Result

BBAR Latest

Excercise in suffering - Breckland '12'

After a decent seasons best in the Pennine '50' up on the A168/19 (Boroughbridge Dishforth - Knayton x 2) 1:50:38 I could feel my 'form' beginning to return, I suffered a bit in the last ten miles but I'd only got off the track at 10.30pm Friday so the early Sunday event just a bit too soon after two strenuous track events.
I had a week to recover before the seasons most difficult challenge the 12 Hour, I'd chosen the Breckland event in Norfolk purely for the fast roads and the chance to go for a big mileage as over 200 miles are on the A11 between Thetford forest and Browick just West of Norwich. I ignored the bad time I'd had here just a few weeks back in the National '100' and put faith in my preparation and race strategy, the week before had been almost total rest apart from a 'middling' 22 minute '10' on the Tuesday to test out the spare bike.
The team (Fiona, Adrian & I) met at the 'cruddy' Travelodge at Barton Mills where we would rest our heads for a few short hours before the early start, we still had time for a picnic with wine and a fresh brew on the idyllic banks of the River Lark with swarms of dragonfly and a couple of dwarf deer for company.



4.30am is an ungodly hour to think about racing but with rain as well the omens were not good, of course it had been showery all week but at least the wind seemed to have abated so we set off for the HQ at Scoulton in the dark. There's always a flurry of extra things to get ready for the 'half day' race, bike and spare, frame numbers, I cannot remember the last time I fitted one of these but at least we have 'zip' ties these days and not the old plastic covered wire that used to catch your leg, then we have to move it behind the saddle as it fouls the larger 750ml bottle in the reduced modern frame.

On the line - In the rain (Photo KLCC)

Feeding strategy is simple, only one bottle "So don't let me go dry, whatever!" but with a good team I can relie on we have done this 2 or 3 times now and I have confidence. Food is rolls with banana and Chocolate spread or Ham & chicken for later I go to the line with only gels and a energy bar I plan to take in mouthfuls from the first hour so that my system is always working and does not get supressed. It's only spitting but I have to be careful on the road as the first 10 miles on 'B' roads with potholes and a set of lights, gratings and white lines all there to trap the unwary and put an early spanner in the well oiled machine of performance, of course I don't need that. After working perfectly my computer fails to start at the beginning so I have to stop after half a mile and adjust my sensors, then the sensors clash for 5 miles until I cannot stand it any longer, I toy with the dilemma of doing this on the move but in the wet just a slip and I'm over or take a finger off in the front wheel, but I just cannot have the magnet 'ping' for twelve hours, it would send me mad, or break the spoke or sensor, or both the frustration is boiling my brain and I want to get on with the race, so I stop again! two stops in the first 10 mile, probably just a minute but it feels like disaster, it feels like failure is stalking me.

Dreamtime

I get out onto the quite roads of the A11 it's light and the rain is worse but not bad, I have passed 3 or 4 riders already, I settle myself down, calm myself, try and get thing going in my favour. There is little traffic, but a car is up an embankment and the driver being attended by the police. Was a rider involved? Keep going at a steady pace, I'm at an hour for 25m, the field do a loop of the whole DC course to 53 miles but then we cut short at Eccles road underpass and do a shorter 20m loop which means we will see each other (and helpers) more often. It is here on this communal spot to both circiuts that most helpers have gathered, 50m in 2 hours dead and I take a bottle, 75m slightly slower in 3:01:42 but the wind is getting up and it's harder going East and the splits will be uneven all day so I don't need to worry that I'm a bit inconsistent. 100m in 4:04:09 two minutes up on last year but I'm three minutes up on Brian Phillips (E Grinstead) and eight on Nicholas Engilsh (Reading CC) my 5 and 10 minute men, Phillips catches English ahead of me but then begins to fade, English one of the most improved riders of the year riding to a power meter is keeping his pace very even but has gone remarkably slow at the start and will hope to pick us off one at a time. Dave Green (RAF) the man with the best distance is my 5 minute man behind me and I have not been aware of him but suddenly he is an extra 5 or more minutes down and I am in the lead. Ian Sutton (San Fairy Ann) my 15 min man is very strong but drops away after 120m. We have a 20m haul into the wind as we change circuits at 135 miles and I have to concentrate to keep it together but I'm managing 1:02:30 for my splits, I catch Phillips during this phase and we acknowledge each other cheery but short, neither of us in any doubt that we are not here to chat but to suffer, every rider suffers, for his speed and to defie the race, the race is not broken yet and we must suffer a bit more that the race will come to heel and be broken but not yet, closer to the end. English pulls back a little every lap but then has to stop (comfort break!) and looses it all, Sutton I am about to catch at 175m when he too has to stop and next time I see him he is another 5 min down.

The traffic has got up allot, mostly cars going to 'car booters' or the Snetterton race circuit but once we move onto the Borowick loop it seems to ease of, and then in the distance the sound of sirens and the screech of police cars, could be anything but deep down you know it affects you, as I reach the Eccles road turn I see flashing lights and a rider in the road, I go around the turn a mere half a mile up the road none of the helpers seem aware what is going on, I take a bottle and back out onto the A11, I pass the several cars and a helecopter is low overhead and lands in a fields adjacent to the incident, I'm almost blown sideways and the hay from the newly harvested field is all around me, as I pass away from the scene I get down to my riding. 200m comes up in 8:18:10 a whole 12 minutes faster than last year! I've done so well over the middle section, I'm still above 24mph and a quick calculation in my head tells me I only need to keep 22mph for the remainder to make the magical 280 miles maybe even more. 200 miles is a watershed, more than two thirds gone and 3:40 to do the remainder, it's lifts me into the wind. Still allot to do but after my early faltering miles it feels like relief. When I get to the far turn a marshall steps into the road and waves his arms, I carry onto the overhead bridge, more marshall's in orange coats "Race is cancelled" and some helpers confirm it is all over. I literally turn the air blue with my language as it sinks in, the ride of my life has just come to an abrupt halt, and a lady helper puts her arm around me instinctively she knows what to do I know it's over, then I have to apologise, we all know it's over.

The 'Grindstone' (Photo KLCC)

I have a 10 mile trudge back to the helpers, the A11 is closed to all traffic but the rider is gone, everybody is in a state of panic and confusion but the over whelming sound in my head is silence "Who was the rider?" "Is he OK?" It wasn't supposed to be over and yet we are sitting, standing resting our weary bodies on our bikes gradually as the late afternoon sun dries the sweat on our skin into scales of salt I have to peel off my skin suit and remove my number in an acknowledgement that we will not be going on. We pack away and go back to the HQ, there is a bit of discussion but we don't know very much, the rider is young Will Dorsett and local from the North Norfolk Whs. he's been taken Norfolk & Norwich hospital, tea and cakes are plentifully and free but they stick in out throat, we would pay twice for the chance to finish what we have started, no rider climbs off without regret and bitter is the taste when over eight hours of toil is against the 'grindstone'

Adrian, Fiona & I are the last to leave the HQ (even the organiser had locked up and gone) I felt like waiting until 6.35 when I was due to finish and I would wake up and it would have all been a dream. But by that time we were on our way back to Leicester in silence, lost in our thoughts for the day and the injured rider. We all take risks to race on the public roads, to a non cyclist like Fiona it seems like madness to share with cars and worst lorries but we all do it and we do it because we have a desire to go fast, statistics put DC roads at no more dangerous than 'A' or 'B' roads it is the circumstances and the individuals that create the danger not the roads themselves. We all use the highways in the (calculated) knowledge that to enjoy our sport, indeed ride a bicycle then we need to be allowed to make the choice about the places and circumstances but protected from the individuals who would make it a foolhardy choice.
Young Will was battered by a car that got too close and was lucky, he has a broken arm/wrist and required surgery on his knee and took a beating from his collision & fall but looks to be pulling through, others have not (& will not) be as lucky and we all must be aware that it is a danger we all face.

Accident report here

Fool's Gold - 'Madchester'

Euro Masters Track

The British masters track had been a bit of a disaster with my self inflicted accident I just about scraped through without any permanent damage but looked forward to these races after a holiday but only a few days on from riding in the Pyrenees to 3 Km pursuit on the Thursday a bit of a challenge. Unfortunately I was pitched against Tim Lawson (SIS) the winner of the British title in the qualifying round and had to suffer the ignominy of being caught while doing a PP of 3:38 (good enough for 6th place) but then being disqualified for not dropping back twenty meters, the same thing happened last year with Tim who can put in a 1:9 first kilo but finishes with a 1:14, me I'm starting with a 1:14 so out of the reckoning and don't even get to keep my time unsatisfactory all around.
Pursuit:- Ettles - Lawson - Burke

The 20Km points race a different challenge altogether, we were the only age group to need heats to qualify for the final, only a couple to be eliminated from each 10Km heat and with only four sprints there was some panicky moments (Clayton) but all those that qualified scored at least a point. With numerous closely matched riders it was always going to be a 'burn up' and a terrific race, I sat out the first couple of sprints always fiercely contested, with a lull in the pace I then took my chance to get away, Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) always a rider with similar ambition was soon with me and we worked for the next 8 laps where I took the 5 points and we kept going with Trevor Burke (Finchley RC) and Peter Ettles (Sandy Wallace) getting up to us in time for the next sprint where I took another couple of points. I was blowing and sat out the next sprint and was just pipped half a wheel by Ettles for a point on the next sprint taken by Steve Clayton (Planet X) who also took the next from a group including a German Michael Blasczyk, Ettles and Greenstreet which put them all in contention for the medals but the race was very close and I knew a few more points or a win would get me in the medals, Working my way up through the field on the penultimate sprint was nigh on impossible as the sprints were being contested from 3-4 laps out and the pace made it difficult to move up let alone get in the top 4 places for points. After the sprint I took my chance to break away, I held a quarter of a lap and Blasczyk made it across to me and we stayed away to the bell where I jumped him for the win, unfortunately a French rider Jaques Suire exploded out the bunch and caught me a bike length from the line reducing my 5 points to 3 and I missed the silver medal my 10 points only good enough for 4th. Ettles taking the Gold with 14 Pts. from Blasczyk and Clayton both with 11 Pts. Blasczyk getting the verdict by virtue of his higher final placing.

Result tells the facts but not the story

After the race I apologised to William Fotheringham (Halesowen C & AC) who I'd (accidentally) ridden over at the British Masters, he looked a bit battered. I felt good that I had tried my best and put up a good defence of my title, in the light of recent events a single point at half way and the final charge for the line would have made me second, together they'd have won it for me but that's racing and it's always good to be in a closely contested race. Everybody who had been in the final knew that it had been a race worth winning.

Bordeaux time trial - Revisited #3

After my premature retreat from the Pyrenees I was able to see the Tour slightly more leisurely and up close in Bordeaux for the Time Trial on the penultimate day, I had first seen the Tour here in 1973 while on a family holiday and it must have made a big impression on me.



I don't remember too much about the stage finish which was mobbed and as a young boy was probably too foreign and strange won by Walter Godefroot (Bel) but the next days time trial won by Jaoquim Agostinho (Por) in the same Orange 'Bic' jersey as the eventual winner Luis Ocana with all the accompanying motorbikes and car horns I can remember as something of a spectacular. Each car had the riders name on Merckx, Poulidor and Zoetemelk all strange and fascinating in the heat of the French countryside (through the environs of an out of town exhibition complex if memory serves me right) , Barry Hoban was to win the penultimate stage at Versalles and had won a stage at Angles-sur-Mer and Michael Wright had won the previous stage at Aubagne so there was a buzz about the British interest in the race as there had been this year with the Team Sky involvement in the le Grande Bouche for the first time and Bradley Wiggins as a potential winner.

Le Garaint

Of course by this time the British hope had been tailed off of shown his place after his fantastic 4th last year he was now a marked rider even though he had a team built around him. Lance Armstrong had also been found wanting (for luck if not pace) and was well down.
We saw the middle order through the streets of Bordeaux and then went to the Tour 'village' where we were able to see the riders preparing for their race, Geraint Thomas was warming up on a 'turbo' as the mechanics got his bike ready and we saw him go to the gate and start down the ramp to eventual 10th place, a rider for the future I feel after his excellent ride in the first week when he came within an ace of wearing the yellow jersey

Le Sky


Fiona and I set off out of town to watch the riders through the vineyards (Medoc) on the way to Pauillac along the Gironde river, along with what it seems like the European nation of cycling family with a few Americans and Aussies thrown in for good measure on the flat tarmac and the heat of the mid day, We just missed Lance and Brad but caught the last twenty and the sight and sound took me back to those events in the early 70's that impressed me and made me want to race a bike. When it was all over the crowd who twenty minutes earlier had been taking in the sights of the tour and shouting their respective favourites on to the finish simply melted away and the road was left barren and open never to see the like again.

Le Start


Fi and I made a brew of tea at in the forest and sat in the shade after being in the heat for an hour but some had been here since early this morning and even with the parasols and lunch boxes you need some staminer to follow the Tour never mind ride it as I'd found out over the past week supporting your rider is a serious and time consuming activity all be it a free event it still takes a big effort.

Le Maillot Blanc


The supporters truly love the race and believe in the riders so with all the activity that has tarnished the event in recent years this year has been one of the most exciting (and clean - to date) giving hope for the future of the sport, youngsters have to dream big dreams and there's nothing bigger than 'Le Tour'

Le Maillot Jaune

Le Tour (de France) #2

The day after the National '100' we were off to France for two weeks holiday and I felt I needed a rest to take stock of my season but of course I took my bike and planned to do a bit of riding in the second week to watch the Tour in the Pyrenees. While there I had a ride over to see Dave and Penny Wright at their Gite 35 miles away, there was time for a dip in the pool before heading back as the next day I was heading South. I planned to take minimum 'basic' camping gear and ride down to Pau and then on to Hautes-Pyrenees to see the riders on the Tourmalet which was to be crossed twice (both ways) in its 100th year of use.

Gironde Gite(s) Dave & Penny

As I left St Astier at 3pm to make my way to Pau on the edge of the Pyreneeian range and the stage finish for the next day, the tarmac was melting under my wheels as I headed from the wine growing region of Duras in the Lot-et-Garonne through the forested flat land of Gascony where Armagnac is made. I kept up a good pace (17pmh) but the heat did not abate until after 8 O'clock and I made 90 miles before I stopped an hour later when I bedded down in my 'bivvy' bag 30 from my destination, After a night of watching shooting stars I awoke for a breakfast of porridge and apricots (soaked overnight) and set off for Pau as the heat began to build again. I reached the barriered streets of Pau and after going under the 1Km to go inflatable and a brief coffee I set out along the reverse of the course to see if I could get to the top of the Col d'Aubisque final climb of the day, that also included the Peyresoured, Tourmalet and the Soulor, if I hadn't stopped for a coffee I'd probably have made it but the roads closed and it was a definite "Ferme" from the Gendarmes and I could only make it to Laruns the town at the base of the climb.


Johan Museeuw (nice man)

I had the consolation of riding the 30Km to get there with the Belgian Ex-World Champion and multi single day classic winner Johan Museeuw who was riding out to a 'Meet and Greet' along the course. At first I was just sitting on his wheel not knowing who he was, to be fair he did not try to drop the 'tourist' he was in an immaculate 'Museeuw' bike with jersey and shorts to match but every Tom Dick & Johan can get that sort of gear these days so I just followed along with my heavily panniered bike. He took a few calls (i-phone) I was forced to pass him (shucks!) and we struck up a conversation " Are you working on the race?" "No not really, I'm a sort of writer" " A journalist?" "No I'm writing a book, you might know who I am" (modestly)" Bloody Hell! You're not a writer you're an Ex-World Champion (surprised!)" He still had an impressive physique (shaved legs) with a deep scar down his left calf (racing accident), he did genuinely seem modest about his career I suggested that he get some (world) championship bands on his jersey and I had to let him go as the roads got steeper as we got to closer to the mountains as I did not want to be seen to be trying too hard to keep up.

Tour in town

After the race had been through I mounted my bike and began the 16Km climb to the top of the Col d'Aubisque, it took nearly 2 hours (with a few stops) and mostly in bottom gear (39 x 26) especially the 13% bits. As I began to climb the rain began to spot and the cloud rolled in to cover the mountain, It was fairly pleasant and kept me cool but the riders descending from watching the days events were having to take care on the bends and dodge all the traffic that had been on the mountain. I stopped at the ski station at Gourette for some water and the visibility was only 30 meters, on the top it was less, a Spanish rider and I took photo's of each other infront of the pinnacle, he headed back I headed on to the Solour, as I descended the cloud cleared a bit and I had views across the valley to the Asson decent to Pau.

d'Aubisque summit

The roads were lined with SUV's, every flat & not so flat space taken, I stopped in the Cafe at the Solour summit had a chat to some of the campers, some had done the Etap a few days before and were tanned/burned by their experience but I had to decide where to stay the night, the top very exposed although there were a few tents I was worried if it was as cold as the night before at this altitude I would be in trouble, I had my cape on and there was just some drizzle. I decided to descend and find some cover in the trees as rain was predicted so as I passed the hundreds and hundreds of vehicles here for the duration, I dropped down and found myself a secluded spot on a bend with a river to wash & cook, the grass had been trampled by the days events so I marked out a pitch under a tree and settled down with pasta & soup with sweets & Madelaine's courtesy of the caravan.
As I settled down to sleep thunder and lightning began and I was glad not to be on the top, but as the night went on and the rain got worse I was huddled in my bivvy with just an opening for my face and a worst storm developed in which it was impossible to get much sleep although I managed to keep fairly dry and warm in my sack.
The morning came with drizzle and a fog of low cloud, I cooked breakfast and packed my wet gear away descending to the town of Argles-Gazost (where the drink pastis is made) on the way I caught Nick ? (Archer RC) also with panniers on a camping holiday in the region. We went for a coffee to discuss the potential for the day, It was obvious to me that the weather was here to stay and with all my gear wet and no way to dry out a return was the only option, Nick was going over the Col du Tourmalet & Aspin (it had been closed to traffic for three days now!) to get away from the Tour which had completely overrun the region and the slopes of the Tourmalet were like some cycling Glastonbury at 2000 meters and I decided it was better to beat a retreat and watch it on the TV. This is what I did, I took the 15Km cycle path along the old railway to Lourdes and then on to Tarbes by lunchtime I took off some of my wet gear on the way although the weather did not improve much all day. I had marked out a nice route along the Baise river from Mirande and thet is what I stuck to, my phone had given up the ghost in the night and even a passage through Lourdes could not resurrect it so I had to resort to a payphone to get Fi to make the journey to meet me in the Gascony forest as I clocked up 120 miles by 7 O'clock and I was ready to climb off but at least I'd done a few miles for the 12 Hr. in a few weeks time


Expedition over