3 x10+(1V)2up25 = BH

Pudding Man

An 'aperatif' a midweek '10' of 22:09 on Tuesday evening saw me 7 seconds shy of winner from promoting club Kevin Southan (Hinckley CRC) but 10 sec too good for Ian Ball (Zenith) on my 95.7" fixed but come the weekend the 'starter' proper without the (after work) rush to warm up I trounce Kevin by 6 seconds with a 21:34 in the Leicester Forest '10' on the same setup but the A46 (Six Hills) is faster than the bumpy B road between Wolvey Heath and Meridian Park at Lutterworth and even though there was a stiff cross wind  my 11:16/10:18 splits good enough for 8th pipping Andrew Green (Lutterworth) by a second and Andy Eagers (Derby Mercury) by 38. With four inside 21 min and winner Matt Bottrill (i-ride) breaking the course record with 19:37 and looking like a contender for the BTTC in Northamptonshire this coming weekend.

Sunday's 'main course', the Team Swift (Charity) '10' on the uber fast V718 along the A63 on the Humber estuary, if this had been at 7am in the morning when I left the house then who knows? But as it was by the time I got out the car a stiff breeze had put pay to most of the 334 riders (3 events) who descended on the course in the hope of PBs and more. There were some fast times of course, my 9:43 first leg looked good but let down overcooking on the return 11:07 for a final 20:50 good enough for 36th and some way short of what I'd wanted from the day. A minute slow (cooking) the general consensus so Michael Hutchinsons (In-gear) would be happy with his winning 18:38  as it gave him just under a minute over 2nd Rob Pears (Bath CC) Steve Whitwick (UTAG) 3rd another second back

My use of gears pushed my margin over Ian Ball out to nearly 45 sec so I cannot have been slouching  and Andy Green slipped to 16 sec behind but Eagers pulling himself up by his proverbial bootstraps and closing the gap with the same  21:06 winning the >22min event

I like to think of myself as a bit of a pudding man so the 'dessert' always eagerly anticipated on this occasion the Bank Holiday Coalville Wheelers 2 up '25' with Mark 'Tri' White (Bike Science), after two days of ride-stretch-drive-warmup-race-warmdown-drive-sleep-drive-warmup-race-warmdown-drive-sleep edges getting a bit frayed so early/cold/wet/windy not appreciated for what should be a bit 'o' light relief and we miss our start because Mark's bladder goes on strike as we warm up and then he has perform bicycle ballet taking off his gilet as we descend to Long Watton at 30mph, despite this we manage a 10:25 split for the first 5m but heading into the wind his legs go on strike and this put pay to our race but in his defence he has just placed 4th in the National team Triathlon the previous day and I think I would go on strike as well. We finished the race in 1:02:25 so the minute late start did not seem like a penalty more like a service charge
Next week  BDCA '100' ( BBAR) + BTTC TT

Record breaking ride - Breckland CC 12 hour 281.63 miles

My own ride was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that (Dr) Jeff Jones (Chippenham & Dist) managed to fluke the competition record by three miles 305.51miles so my own five mile breaking of club record (my own) with 281.63 (23.46mph Av.)  was lost in the excitement. This was the event that was cancelled at 200 miles last year when I was leading and the rider that pushed me that day Nick English (AW Cycles) was again present so with BBAR contender Jeff Jones and Steve Berry (San Fairy Ann) and local favourite Dave Green (RAF) we had quality in the 31 man (and one woman) field. We had to compete with the National Championship taking  on the other side of the country (Shropshire/Cheshire) the winner of that race (and champion) with 302.75 miles Andy Bason (Pedal Rev) would have made claim to the record had he not finished half an hour later than Dr Jones at 6.30 in the evening because he had also broken the old record which stood to Andy Wilkinson at 302.46 miles.

There is nothing that can prepare you for getting up before light, scooping up a meal of prepared meal of fruit and cereal and trying to get your body active enough to start a race just as the day is starting, you just have to be as prepared as possible so a little light sleep is possible in a hot hotel room (with helpers) and little bonuses like securing the room at the back of the building come a long way down the list of worries that begin with miles and miles of preparation and racing, and  praying for the right conditions. Last year I felt those conditions were pretty perfect on East Anglian roads that are notorious as a graveyard for sporting performance and yet here I was again willing to risk a second dose of pain against judgement of the gods for a second chance at that elusive target I had set myself, the 280 mile 12 hour. Just over 30 riders have achieved this feat, mostly young men in their prime not riders entering their fifth decade

Going with the flow

Brother Alan rode up from South London to be chief helper the week before his own marathon ride and a last chance to make sure man and machine were ready for the Paris-Brest-Paris which he plans to complete in 80 hours with fellow club man Paul ("Show me the mileage") Alderson who plans to do the ride in 20 hours less! We had a picnic on the same spot, re enacting our preparation last year in the hope that it would be lucky or at least reveal to us some notion of justice that had been denied last year. When the preparation is done all that is left is faith and belief and where that fails in the twilight hours we pray, pray for good luck and good weather, selfish as it may seem I become the centre of my world, athletes are at the best of times egocentric but here at the alter of an important  event we are stuck in purgatory between the unknown and the possible, sleep is impossible and so we hope

Fiona and I drive to the start in the dark, Alan has to ride, no room in the car (2 x bikes, 5 x wheels, tools, food, drink, more food, more drink, everything for every eventually for a day camped at the side of the A14 between Thetford and Norwich. The Eccles road interchange at Attleborough is common to the two main DC loops of the ride one ten miles up and one ten miles down so the helpers are gathered here for 9 hours of the ride and it becomes an impromptu cycling festival with chairs and tables of food and drink to keep everybody (riders & helpers) going for the day

Nick English (AW Cycles)

There is a mad dash to get ready for the off, more than a normal race and with a car full of stuff to wade through (and then repack) but I'm on my way at 6.20 so all I have to do is go as far as I can on these roads before 18.20 that evening. The roads are damp from the dew, the air is fresh and clean out here in the Suffolk lanes only the fields of early cropped wheat because of the good weather at the start of the year. But what would today bring? There was a bit headwind from the West and after the first 25 miles (59:51) and I have caught half a dozen riders. Next we had a 20 mile pull into the stiffening breeze  the full length of the course from Browick interchange to the Croxted (Jct) big flags billow and little flags flap maddenly fast but it feels good to be going now everything else I can put behind me, it has not got tough yet but there is plenty of time. This second 25  takes me 1:03:27 and by the time I saw my helpers for the first time at 50m I was over 3 minutes down on last years schedhule, not a good start but I take my first food of the day, a banana. I rallied over the next 75m (1:00:49) (1:00:49) and (1:01:49) bringing me almost level, then we had the payback for the early hard section and as we swapped circuits we had a 20m wind assisted section which saw my fastest split of the day (58:28) this was a great fillip and put me up for the first time. Jeff Jones meanwhile had caught me for 10 min at 75m going very strong but only just behind him (on time) was Steve Berry one of the early starters going away from me. Nick English my 5 minute man caught me on the downwind section at 120m we exchanged a nod and a smile, this is what we had come to do, grim as it may seem the draw of competition with others and the elements but more importantly ourselves makes the half day race the ultimate racing puzzle, to pitch your ride with all the conditions to space it over those twelve hours, everybody  has bad patches, doubts themselves and then with determination and sheer willpower you come across the plains of  self doubt the wilderness of suffering over the middle stages and a dim light appears in the distance , and your moral begins to rise and you can see the end and when you can see a personnel goal achieved it is the feeling of pure nectar itself

Here in the race we are coming to half way 150m (6:05:54) over 4m up on what I thought last year was an amazing ride so by the time I got to 180m with 4:36 remaining I felt sure I could relax a bit and here it nearly went wrong, I decided to stop, mainly to have a p*** as I had been needing one for the last four hours, in fact since I had a p*** on the move at 30m when I should have gone at the start but in all the rush I forgot and then as soon as I was on the road I got that 'full' feeling down there which to be honest stayed with me for the whole day, not a pleasant feeling. The toes on my right foot had been gradually going to sleep, something I have had in the past, this year I even started with no overshoes so I could adjust my (Velcro) straps but nothing seemed to make it better

New Record Holder - Jeff Jones

So 200 mile a good place to stop (1:03:57) and 8:14  when i stopped I got my shoe off and sprayed my toes with 'freeze' spray. My helpers knew I was going to stop and had things prepared but its the things that had been annoying the noisy chain ("Alan give that chain a spray with silicone") load up the bottle and gels and ("Fiona give that visor a clean") and in all the industry and activity I FORGOT TO HAVE A B****** P***  so I was on my way and before I could think about it I had that 'full' feeling again. Never mind do another lap, no panic, at this stage I would do 285 with only 22mph I calculated and I was at just under 24mph for the race so all seemed fine so long as I did not puncture or get lost on route to the finishing circuit (we never got there last year remember so still a few unknowns to conquer, for the twelve hour what you need is repetition and certainty, take all the variables out of the equation, when you are on the limit, your brain does not function properly and the anxiety of the night before can come back to haunt you.

I stop the next lap and taking a p***, It takes ages to get going when your bladder has been treated like its had a massage from Joe Pecci, it's all manner of sports drink (SIS, coffee, cola) but its always Gatoraid coming out. "Do you think the people there know that and think it's a problem"? I have only had two bananas two hot cross buns to date with chocolate (and yes banana) so the inside of my skin suit looks like a dirty protest has taken place but what else do you do with the wrappers? The rest has all been gels, I save up the first caffeine one for over 100 miles and its what taking mainline heroin and speedball crack at the same time must feel like (Why would I know?) It smooths out all the edges off your riding style, my RPM to this point has been 90 a bit down on what it would be for shorter distances but I cannot allow myself to 'plough' along in a big gear as cramp creeps up on the ununwary and then it's difficult to shake off. From 120m Steve Berry's wonder ride began to slide,  but it was he going slower not me speeding up, he was slowing at a greater rate and that is where the danger lies, the steeper the decline, the harder to arrest and the further away the finish seems, he was having problems with cramp, Nick English was closing in on him after a modest start, his power meter was telling him he could take second spot, Jeff Jones out in front just seemed so strong for only his second outing in the event he was putting a canny ride to go with the extra speed he has found this year.

225 miles (1:04:25) comes with better posture but these past few hours in the heat of the day on concrete roads leave one half baked to go with the exhaustion but there is still a way to go, we leave the A14 at 236 miles and ride the four miles to join the 12 mile finish circuit, I had almost exactly two hours to ride. I had no knowledge of how long I had stopped for, making two stops had complicated matters but  I only have to keep above 20mph all the way to the finish to attain my target, it would be close but surely I ride my bike to work faster than that and regularly do intervals well above on hilly roads, but that is not to take the ten hours of punishment metered out to the body already, the first hurdle is to 'manage' the change from DC roads to the undulating B roads that punish with their variety in effort and tempo, it takes a lap before I am comfortable but I have to take on more food (another bun) that goes down greedily where the others had to be forced down as I find I am hungry. I take extra drink from a friend (thanks Peter!) who whips a bottle out of his van as I wave an empty at him.

Steve Berry (San Fairy Ann)

250 miles (1:09:05) and the slowdown had been dramatic, I still had a few minutes over the 1 1/2 hours in hand (I thought) but it was that close I could not afford to ease up, I usually 'come around' a bit and have a final flourish but today I seem to have left it all my efforts on the DC, no matter what I do there is no style in my riding, it is rough, urgent and ugly, the timekeepers every mile come and go and I even catch a few riders but when the next 25 miles comes up (1:12:09) its a bit of a shock 275 and only just over 15 minutes to make my play. I have done the up wind side of the course through the HQ at Scoulton and thankfully the heat has gone and we are among trees. I  complete my third lap and go on to Hingham Green where Alan and Fiona are waiting, my time has come and gone, I'm sure I'm there and its good to get a provisional result a good half mile over. With Jeff Jones breaking Competition record with 305.691 the course will be re measured and officials will go over the data with a fine tooth comb, they may make some adjustments which will not affect the record but I could loose my 280 but for now its a Club Record and a PB, a good effort, quite an achievement and payback for last year. Nick English has moved on to 2nd with 290.095 and Steve Berry held on to beat me for third 284.604, I did not even win the Vets prize that went to Stan Maciac (Didcot Phoenix) 260.609 at 65 years (+74.219) Not wanting to overstate my case I'd put this as my best ride ever, I've won more prestigious races and performed better but today I achieved a dream and while I could have gone further I think I'm satisfied.

This ride puts Jeff Jones in the box seat for the BBAR and moves me up to 12th but I will need to improve my '100' to stay in position and Jeff could do with improving his as it all looks tight at the top with some very fast times done already.

Photos - Stephen Penney

Happy man - "What do yo mean I did'nt win the Vets prize"

Result Here

Read Jeff Jones account here

BBAR standing

BDCA 50 = 2 x PB +1 x CR

Like buses you wait ages and then two come along together (unless you're in Tottenham of course) so breaking my personnel best '50' (and the club record) was a surprise to me as even with my recent mixed fortune I've had better rides on better days. Although I knew I'd turned a corner with the '10' a couple of weeks back I have been on a last round of training and primping to round off my conditioning in time for the 12 hour next week and the end of the season. It was in this event two years ago that I last rode to a club record and although I was at the top of my fitness for a while last season, conditions (and luck) prevailed to stop me making good with that form and I endured a frustrating end to the season.

Dr Jeff Jones winner of the BDCA '50' and recent NM & H '100 (Pic gbr295)

The BDCA '50' lines up like a mini championship with only sixty riders in the main event (closed on a 1:58) the rest taken up by the ladies and the Association event as this course has a 120 rider limit.  The  A50 has become a favourite for its fast times in all conditions but this the one lap version as opposed to the arguably faster two lap (2 x the '25' course) and goes all the way up to near Stoke on Trent, the glorious weather of late has become changeable in the week so as we look to the skies on Saturday morning we are left with mixed feelings as the wind seems too strong and the heat of the past few weeks evaporated as quickly as it arrived. I went out for twenty miles in the morning and did my second portion of yoga this week to ease out the aches and pains of the past couple of weeks which I can still feel on my body.
While there is a frantic Whirrrr of turbo in the car park I prefer to take a more relaxed approach to my warm up, take some food (banana & fig roll) and drink prepared coffee in the sunshine, I do a five mile ride on the road and arrive just as my minute man Scott Povey (i-ride) goes off, a bit fine but its going to be straight into it today as we have a head wind for 22 miles to the Blyth Bridge turn. My first few splits 11:16/11:47/11:58 seem unremarkable and the killer 'concrete mountain' section 12:17 puts me below 25mph for the first time, I see the winner of N Middx & Herts '100' Jeff Jones (Chippenham & Dist) going the other way and put him 5 min up on me and Povey not far behind so my 57:48 (26.0mph) at 25 miles does not look impressive or PB material, that however does not allow for the return which is super fast 10:28 is followed by 8:29 (this is not an error Av. speed 35.4mph for one 5m section!) The dog leg to Doveridge (JCB) slows the pace 11:13 some what but I catch three riders along this section and this helps me to focus, so are the hunters hunted and I am indeed caught by BBAR Julian Jenkinson (UTAG) for 4 minutes at 34 miles just as I take a second gel, 10:58 back into the A50 with 12 Miles to go and I am hunting down my 4 minute man Gavin Hinxman (Welland Valley) its all high speed stuff around the two roundabouts at Uttoxeter 9:17 and then as the pace and the distance take a grip of my muscles and I realise I must be close to my best ever, I catch Gavin on the slip road off the main road onto the A516 we are either side of a startled driver like pilot fish myself in Red & Blue and Gavin in vivid orange (nice socks!)
It's 1:47:52 at the line but I'm unsure of the seconds, I've never been inside 1:48 I have made it back in 50:03 (30mph), back at the HQ there are some super fast times and (Dr) Jeff Jones is fastest of the year so far  the outstanding winner 1:39:08 his splits 53:14/45:54 (32.7mph all the way home) so although he was 2.1mph faster into the wind he was even more impressive going faster on the way back. Povey was an excellent 2nd 1:40:08 (on a fixed) and in form Derek Parkinson (Cleverlys RC) 1:40:49 pushing back the more established riders Jenkinson 1:41:42 and Joel Wainman (Swift) 1:42:32 these are all terrific times for what was a pretty ordinary day but riders are coming into their top form with the National 12 containing most of the same protagonists next week, I will have to contend with Jeff Jones starting 10 minutes behind me in the Breckland 12 with Nick English (AW Cycles) and Steve Berry (San Fairy Ann) also it should be a good race.

Result here

South Western Road Cycle

I'd  ridden to stay with an old college friend near Oxford the day after my ten mile PB, I could feel the racing effort in my legs as I towed along my winter bike with panniers and mudguards (weather has been that unpredictable I thought it best) and made it there just over four hours for the 75 miles. I sat in the garden & looked at the route to Plymouth, first week of the holidays its bound to be busy on the roads where ever I go but I plumb for heading south to the coast (Portland) and then along the Jurassic coast Lyme Regis, Exeter and then Teinmouth and Totnes, I'd look at the route back in a few days.

Heading South into Oxfordshire

The Chapel at Abbotsbury (Jurassic Coast)

Once past Swindon (M4) and Marlborough on the old Bath road I was onto the Salisbury Plain where the odd military tanker passed me but no sight of the tanks (must be well camouflaged) and a few attack helicopters watching my progress to Salisbury for lunch (55m) I pressed on to Blanford (Forum) and Thomas Hardy's (Tess country) memorial just before Dorchester. The last part to Weymouth was getting busy so it was great to get a dedicated cycle path the last five miles which i shared with a couple of Triathletes and commuters as well as people out for the evening, no potholes, parked cars or annoying sudden ending just like being on the continent, Magic!
I stayed at the Youth Hostel on Portland in the old Military Police station the whole area was military until a few years ago as the 'functional' housing attested but there was lots of new apartments being built on the strength of the Olympic action to take place in the area in a years time. 115m in 7Hr

Chesil Beach to Portland in the distance

I knew the next day along the Jurassic coastline would be the hardest so as I retraced my steps along the narrow connecting sandbar to the mainland and climbed along the ridges overlooking Lyme Bay to the West and it tries to rain on me, after ten miles the road took a sudden right and climbed for ten minutes (in bottom gear 39 x 26) to a viewing point along the straight of Chesil Beach to Portland Bill, it was a good view but I could have done without the drop in speed as it put me under 13mph for the only time in the ride, this was supposed to be a ride done at tempo to help my time trial preparation at these speeds it wasn't going to do the business. The morning continued with annoying traffic on twisty roads until just outside Bridport where a lorry had broken down on a particularly narrow hill road, I passed every car,van & lorry that had passed me in the intervening journey and 5 miles of traffic in the other direction standing outside their cars and calling "Whats up"? "At least two hours" my gleeful reply, revenge as they say is mine! I know the names of these towns & beaches from childhood holidays Branscombe, Beer & Salcombe.  Lyme Regis a bad climb to get into and out of does not reward (similarly Dawlish later) but just a haven of tourist tat and traffic, I didn't even bother to unclip. From Sidmouth I move inland and the roads flatten out as I steer through the Exmouth delta, I stop for a delayed lunch and then take the flatter coast road to the Teign Estuary which has the feel of the highlands but I'm coming into commuter traffic around Torbay and my solitude does not last for long. Last part from Dartington is all uphill to South Brent where I am staying with Dan & Lou for a day before the journey home but for now I can rest, its been a hard day 95m 6:30

My day off I get to sit on Bantham Beach next to Burgh Island and watch the crowds mill about doing the holiday thing, I'm never here in the summer and these beaches are never full like today, Dan is a surfer but the surf is non existent so we have lunch and I head off to visit friends in nearby Noss Mayo & Newton Ferres. The next day the effort to get here has begun to kick in, it's funny how it takes a day for your legs to realise they can relax, I guess that's why the tour riders ride on the rest day, your body needs to know its got something to challenge it, maybe its psychological but I'm in two minds as I have put my body under allot of stress in the last week but as I said before you have to just go for it. I would like to go back via Bristol or Bath to cut across the traffic that flows to the SW but only accommodation at Salisbury means its the dreaded A38/30/303 route, eventually I leave after lunch hopefully the traffic will drop away and I will get a good few hours. And that is the way it pans out after a frantic couple of hours at 20mph through Exeter to Honiton once I get onto the A30 and on the way to Chard & Crewkerne its almost pleasant. By Shaftsbury which was the last major climb of the day It had turned into a pleasant evening and I met up with a couple of riders and was able to tag along all the way back to Salisbury. 120m 6:30

Leaving Salisbury YHA last push

The last day was a retrace of my journey to Swindon and then a hop onto the Fosse road at Stow but the weather had turned for the morning and I had my cape on for an hour and I was glad of mudguards but I was more miserable as I was into a headwind and would be all day,  these days prepare you for the mental as well as the physical duration of the 12 hour and if the day is bad then it's difficult to put a positive spin when you're tired. The reverse  way across the Plains I had a black hawk helicopter for company only added to my paranoia and I could hear firing in the distance. Once onto regular roads I perked up a bit and my speed picked up over the last two hours as I was determined not to be under 17mph, I stopped at a pub for coffee and got a whole cafetiere for £2.20 the bargain of the week with my hot X buns my staple for this sort of thing. I made it back to Leicester to greetings from Fiona, I have survived (1 x punt) and although pretty tired I feel better than I have in ages, my back and torso have taken a pounding from the pressure but my legs feel remarkably good, now have two weeks to finish preparation half day event. Some hard work to take on a bit of speed a couple of more events and a taper and 12 hour here I come 120m 6:50 (Total 550m)

Out of the Blue

A good weeks training or at least three back to back rides during the week allows me to break a personel best out of the blue in the Wolds RT '10' on the super fast A63  Hull course. As a prelude I did a 22:33 in the Hinckley CRC Tuesday evening event on 87.5" gear (that's 56 x 17) I'd under geared by accident thinking I had something in the low 90's so my 105 RPM felt fast (and uncomfortable) and I was less than 30 seconds down on road man Ian Bibby (Marshalls Pasta) fresh from being battered by the Sky boys in the Professional Road Race where he was 'best of the rest' (5th)
Three hours on Wednesday and an hour and a half around the lanes at 22mph on 81" fixed set me up for the weekend, I've not been able to string together anything like that consistency in training so my riding (both training & racing) has been all over the place, inconsistent with no solution to be found, maybe the '100' last weekend 'unblocked' something because although I still felt a bit fragile my legs were strong.

20:16 of all out effort in the Wolds RT event

A ten mile race is as fast and as flat out as you can go in a time trial, it was a little windy and the early riders who know about these things put it 30 seconds to a minute slow, no matter the conditions I've come a long way and It's my only ride of the weekend and tomorrow I'm off to Devon for a week on my bike to prepare for the annual fiesta that is the 12 hour. I did no formal warm up apart from ride to the start at nearly 5 O'clock (but that is 5 miles) there is still some heat in the day so by the time I get to the timekeeper I'm nicely warmed up and relaxed.
It's a downwind start and I put all I can into it and use the top only a couple of times as there is hardly any variation in the elevation so nothing to go flat out and I'm there at the turn, Matt Bottrill (i-ride) my 2 minute man is only 10 seconds faster (so 20 seconds overall) and by the time i get around the two mini roundabouts and down the slip to the five mile point its 9:29 (nearly 32mph Av.) the return further and into the wind but it does not blunt my speed too much, I see Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) my minute man some way ahead but I'm too absorbed to get a time check the effort is too distracting and I do not look at my numbers for fear that they will not say what I want to see, there is no point its a full on effort and nothing to be done but put it all in.
The finish flag is there all to soon but it takes ages too, the effort subsides and you hear your own breathing from out of the vacuum that is the envelope of time trial racing, adrenalin and concerntration keep out the pain of the effort at bay,  I could have tried harder, everybody thinks that, It's a PB but I don't know by how much? I catch Greenstreet on the way back to the HQ he is 20 seconds off his 20:25? and we must be close, at the result board 20:16 (29.6mph Av.) better than I anticipated, some good scalps too, still nearly two minutes behind Hutchinson (In-gear) the winner in 18:25 Under 23 James Gullen (Wallis) a good second 19:14 and Bottrill third this time a holiday taken the edge off his form 19:23 he took a little more out of me on the way back but I was out there for longer 10:47 (27.8mph Av.)
On the Sunday body feeling the day after the event, i pack my panniers and ride to Clanfield near Oxford on the first leg of my trip to Devon to get in the miles in a last desperate bid to get ready for the Breckland 12 hour on the 14th August, the Saturday ride has given me a lift and I have to weigh up taking it easy and building on that success or pushing the boat out with a bit of extreme touring and hoping my body stands up to the challenge, in the end I plump for the latter, I need some time off from work and as I cruise down the Fosse Road towards Swindon the sun is out and the prospects for a good week to follow.