WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Manchester

10Km SCRATCH

Adrian had made it back up to Manchester to catch the Points race final and I think the competition was making him distinctly nervous as its a long way to come to do a 5Km heat, he was right to be wary, after the heats of the Points race I was beginning to doubt my own motivation for doing this sort of thing, you sort of just get carried away with it. I know its a World title and that would be nice, but the cost  difficult to square with what goes on in the middle of a bunch at 35mph and what you are prepared to risk in a 'comfy' mid life, we are not young and a race can be an unforgiving place, but none so hard as the ground beneath our feet, and that is where we are heading if we slip up or take one risk too many, there is always somebody else to blame but ultimately we have to take the decision to get up on the track

Having said that, it's a beautiful place to be, I have likened racing on the track to "The closest thing to flying", and none so free as on a Scratch race with its destiny a headlong rush to the finish line, complete freedom to move in space, the banking gives the sensation of being unhindered by gravity and in a bunch at speed we wheel and swoop like a flock of starlings under the artificial light and in the dry air of the stadium at once freedom and speed. A heady combination with adrenalin and competition track racing has been my drug of choice and here I am still chasing it. At this level the highest level I have tried I can sense that feeling I had in a previous life on the boards at Leicester, the cold air of a summer evening rushing past your face at 35mph in the 20Km final, a dryness in the throat, always the most amazing rush, preceded by a game of 'Jenga' with bike and rider tessellate to the width of the track and try not to fall that is the simplicity of the Scratch race, one dash for the line

The stress of the heats

To get to the final we have to compete in a  20 lap heat and the first twelve go through, heats are the devils work, they get under your skin and make you sweat, you cannot take risks, and yet you must to get up into position, there is no moving up in the final lap, you have to position yourself with a kilometer to go and then hold that. The race continues going on around and fend off the opposition and then push for the line in a maddening rush, no tactics just hold your position and hold your nerve. I have been in heats where only six riders go through so maybe I'm not so stressed as some of the others but I'm still a bit shaky even if I don't show it

Adrian and I are in the first heat and I am getting to know the opposition, the race does not take long to unwind and we are in the final sprint already, I position myself on the outside where I can move , It's further and you catch the wind so its tougher, the big South African Michael Bevan goes past with somebody on his wheel (Gomez?) I just have to stay upright, on the final bend I sense a rider at my elbow and I have to use it to keep them at bay as I close up on David Klipper (USA) who in turn is shouting at Adrian not to move up the track (& not in a calm way!) I push up as near as I dare without contacting the fence at the top of the track over the line and then kick back as hard as possible and my bike shakes in an impossible speed wobble as I try to take off some of the speed before we hit the banking, and the banking hits me. There is no incident just a blanket finish and its tight for places, it did not help matters that Greenstreet who had been on the attack was being swallowed by the bunch in the final 100 metres but he too makes it as do myself and Adrian in 5th and 9th. A rider informs me he could smell rubber when I kicked back on the line but it was too close to call and at that point you can hardly call your mother and tell her to "Get me out of here!" and I still see track riders with no lock ring on their sprocket in races, madness!



The second heat more of a 'dragstrip' affair with Steve Clayton (GBR) lining the bunch out with 3 laps to go and making the pace so high that nobody can move up (how nice of him) so the bunch goes over the finish in a long  line. With 11 British riders in the final maybe something good will come as the home nation not having a great Championship in our age group (but better in others).

Waiting for the 10Km final

The final can be approached in a more relaxed fashion, you are in the final so the pressure is subtly different, for some riders getting in the final is there final and they are happy to ride it with no pressure and no expectation, but if you want to do a good ride then you need a strategy that suits your ability and your expectations, there needs to be a bit of pressure. The 40 lap final is a strange affair, Gomez is determined for a solo attack as he sits up in a group of four that get away early on and then when he gets away he stays away for 25 laps! The Argentinian has over half a lap at one point but the bunch goes into stasis and we lap after lap after lap and nobody attacks at all just a steady pace almost like a neutralised race. With less than 10 to go we are pulling him back, there is a bit of bumping and boring as riders jockey for position Adrian goes down on his own in the middle of the banking under pressure from Thomas Kapuste (GER) and hits the blue inner as we all move away, I have been trailing Ettles through the bunch for a few laps and approach the front, I go up to the top of the track and with 5 to go attack, Plan A is the only plan for me, it would be good for me to have somebody on my wheel but I do not have time to wait and its as fast and as far as my legs will take me to the line is all I'm interested in

It's tougher than you think

I pass under Adrian getting back into the race and over Gomez as his magnificent effort comes to a close and I just put my head down, for this (Plan A) to succeed you need the bunch to hesitate and it does for a moment and I get a quarter lap but the Germans have other ideas and Blasczyk goes to the front and in a blatant lead out for his team mate Kaspuste, he drags the bunch up to me on the bell lap and I am swamped by a mass of riders and I know my race is done. Kaspuste wins it from Paul Whatsmouth (GBR) so at least one of the British riders got up there and Colombian Jaime Cardona in third. As I circle the track to cross the line Blasczyk is next to me Whooping & cheering, sometimes the German aptitude for winning is justified but here in a non team race it is a bit hard to take, not blatant but just annoying. Plan A is an all or nothing strategy, it's rarely successful but it does give you a chance and in a world final that chance is just too juicy not to take, with Adrian in the bunch (a better finisher than me) but you just have to stick with it and say you took part and carried out what you planned , the result shows a different story. Adrian was up and back in the race but all at sixes & sevens so did not have a chance to get himself into position for the sprint, he has taken skin off all over as he tumbled to a standstill but he will mend, the damage to a pair of Mavic wheels more difficult to bounce back from.


Report & Result 

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Manchester

20Km POINTS RACE

I had a day off on Tuesday and went out for a ride to the top of Snake Pass the entry into the Derbyshire Peak District from the red brick of Manchester, It was a miserable day, proper Manchester weather steady rain and wind but I needed to be outside as the claustrophobia of the track seemed to be heightened by the Pursuit dicipline a very intense effort with an insular focus. With that now gone I could concentrate on the Points and Scratch race, more racing effort and more my thing. The weather was worse at the top of the pass, driving rain and misty low cloud, I was determined to get to the top but immediately turned around to come home as I was getting cold as well, the 30mph decent was blinding but I warmed up once down and the rain receded to a drizzle by the time I was back in my hotel.

Madchester

Two heats with 25 riders and twelve to qualify, only four sprints in a 10Km (40 lap) race that would test the nerves as well as the skills of the riders, I was in the second so I could watch the first and it was completely different styles of raceing. In the first five riders in two groups including the British champion Tony Nash gained a lap mopping up the sprint points as they went, leaving few for the bunch to sprint for. My heat was more closely contested 'sprinters' race and I knew a single point would probably be enough but If I could get two that would make sure. I broke the habit of a lifetime and went for the first sprint and came up 5th which left me short of breath and on the back foot for the second sprint. With only two sprints to score I knew I needed to make it so hard that nobody would come past me and I chased down Peter Ettles (GBR) but could not pass him but I got my three points and all I had to do was make sure I was well up in the final gallop to ensure there was no problems. At this stage quite a few riders not scored so a bit of desperation set in and the last couple of laps like a scratch race and on the bell a mass of barging and elbows making it dangerous so I was on the outside. All four riders on my inside came down in a tangle of frames and bodies, I heard a pair of forks break as I missed a riders head with my wheel as they squirmed up and then down the banking. I was still placed 8th in the finish and 7th overall so comfortable in the end but a near miss on the way, The only rider to miss out Stephen McNally (IRL) who had points but unable to contest the final due to his injuries, the other three walking wounded with no points

We had a few hours to kill before the final at the end of the evening session, brother Phil had come up from London to be my helper for a few days, I think I saw him blanch at the crash and the rider on the floor for quite a while until he could be moved, he had broken his collar bone falling the long way down the track and in the next heat for another age group there was another crash which delayed the rerun until the evening as the session was brought to a halt to let the place calm down. Crashing is part of track racing, the riders and the officials were already getting a feel for the quality of the riding and with such a variety of events and riders, it can all get a bit heated rather than dangerous but you still need to be able to impose yourself and adapt to the style of the racing. Some of the whips were shaking their heads at the maneuvers in the bunches but as a rider you just do not have time to think too much if a rider is too close stick an elbow out and if another does not hold their line then shout, there were 25 nationalities at these Championships but I don't think there was any misunderstanding in the racing, it was full on and committed and you just have to deal with it.

Preparation for Points Race

The final was over 80 laps so more time for the race to develop but judging by the pursuit times allot of very evenly matched and powerful riders and all of the 24 riders has a different strategy to suit their style of riding. I can sit out the first couple of sprints and let the race settle as I plan to make a break to get my points as I'm better from a small group, Michael Blasczyk (GER) took the first 5 Pt's. and Gerardo Gomez (ARG) the second and Kerry Harford (NZL) the third, five points is a big score when things are so tight and the 3-2-1 for the other places looks paultry for the effort required in a mass sprint. No rider had scored twice apart from Thomas Kapuste (GER) who has a 3+1+1 Pt's. so when he scored a single again in the forth won by Ettles (GBR) from Blasczyk and Harford there were allot of riders in contention and plenty of riders with nothing, including me! I had tried to get up in the sprint but 5th the best I could manage, several riders had already tried to get away but the pace was too high and there were too many willing to chase you down but I had to try and so I took my chance in the lull after the forth sprint

Tight scoreboard (three sprints to go)

In this style of race you hope that somebody will come with your attack in a race too fast to suvive on your own, so best not to make your attack too much of a surprise or too hard, a gentle drift over the top is better than a thunderbolt underneath like enticing a fish with some 'tickling' it will only work if you have somebody to work with and after a lap or two on my own Ian Greenstreet (GBR) is up with me but trailing Blasczyk and we settle down and change every half lap, no need to knacker yourself when you have a sprint coming up. We three only have a few laps before the sprint which fall kindly for Greenstreet on the bell so I have to out sprint him and hold off the German for the win and my first points. Blasczyk responds by attacking us a lap later I know we are doomed if we do not work together, it's too late, confusion in the break and the bunch hunt you down and we are swamped by the melee.

I sense that the German duo are working as a team with Kapuste taking the next sprint while I get my breath back and the bunch is getting elongated more and more at every sprint but the pace is still too hot for my sprinting and I can only manage another 5th in the next sprint won by Harford with Kapuste another 2 Pt's putting him in the lead by one point from the New Zealander, Blasczyk on 10 Pt's and Ettles 8 Pt's Gomez 6 Pt's and myself in 6th place

That was tough! (Photo's by PDP)

With the penultimate sprint gone but the bunch in a long line I have no option but to attack again, this time the Pursuit winner Daniel Casper (USA) and Gomez but the Argentinian will not work with the American and keeps swinging up the track, I think he feels he does not have to work but it is not helpng my cause and I have to attack to try and rid myself of them as we have a third of a lap and the bunch in dissaray, I do not have enough in my legs for a third attack after he swings up again with no intention of working. We eventually are absorbed in the bunch and the final gallop is upon us, of all the cheek Gomez gets up and wins it and celebrates like its a scratch race, Blasczyk is second so on the same points as his team mate so its a German 1-2 and Blasczyk takes it by virtue of a better placing in the final sprint, Harford takes the Bronze a point infront of the now sombre Argentinian who thought it was his in a very close race  and picks up a warning from the judges for "Entering the sprinters lane when there is already somebody there" ie Dangerous riding and suffers a deduction of points in the relavent sprint(s) I'm 7th (and 2nd British rider) in a final only four scored from the nine that contested the final a pretty poor showing.

Report & Result

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Manchester

3Km PURSUIT (45-49)

I've never been great at the Pursuit so this time as it's my last opportunity to do the 3Km distance as next year I go up into the 50-54 age group and its only 2Km so I've been doing a bit of preparation, as well as building myself a starting gate to practice getting going I also did a dozen max HR sessions on the turbo and threshold at 115-120 RPM to simulate the race in the two weeks prior. As the event is on the first day of the Championships and I have a rest day before the distance races get going I can give it an all out effort and try and break the 3:40 barrier, I figure a 3:36 good enough to get into the top 4 and the ride off for Gold, Silver and Bronze but the world record a blistering 3:21 to the American Ken Bostick faster than all the worlds best down to 35 years.
Sure enough two days before the Pursuit I wake to feel a bit under the weather, I stay in all day and fore go my final turbo session but feel a little better on the Sunday so on my way up to Manchester with a carload I stop off to watch the Jonny Helms 2 Up at Congleton, Lots of champions past and present in an end of season event more of a social than a race but the day is a bit wet but fun none the less. Adrian who is riding with his dad Mick (multi National champion from the 50's) decides to come and help me with the pursuit but has to go back to London for work commitments before coming back up for the Thursday the 10Km Scratch race the only event he is entered, I have the 20Km Points race on the Wednesday

Jonny Helms 2 UP - Result

Photos (c/o Cycling Weekly)

Getting out the gate

I still feel a bit under the weather but nothing I can do about it, there is an impressive 16 (seeded) heats and Michael Bevan (RSA) records an early 3:35.187 catching his man and I think I may have underestimated the opposition, a couple of riders DNS including my opposition Steve Clayton (GBR) with a sore throat so the whips put me in with Geraldo Gomes (ARG) as his has likewise scratched. I have finished my warm up so ready to go but its all a bit sudden and I'm sitting in the gate on the line with the clock ticking down from 50-49-48 ............ sweat is pouring off my head onto my visor.................... 29-28-27 .............. I sit bolt upright take a few deep breaths............. ...........19-18-17..................my mind has gone blank..............I look at Adrian and he stares back as if to say "Time to go" the last ten seconds and I push back on  5-4-3-2-1-GO.
My start is fine around the 22 second mark and I settle down for my ride, I do not look across until 4 laps are gone but I sense that Gomez is up, I go through the first kilometer in 1:14 not super fast but workmanlike 17.5 -18.0 second laps is enough I still feel OK but I need to lift it from here to the finish. with 4 to go I can see Gomez a bit and my breathing is feeling out of control, I try to put a bit more into it, I can feel I am lifting it but it feels like more pain than I can take to lift it any more, the last couple of laps I can feel my style going to pieces. At the bell I can hardly see for the sweat and the sheer effort,  but I just have to fling my legs around until I cross the line

I know I got it all out but within a few minutes the pain has subsided and you wonder to yourself what all the fuss was about, the time is a personel best 3:40.288 the second fastest to date but not good enough I feel a bit dejected and disappointed, and slope off to warm down, Gomez 3:43.199

Kenji Yano (JPN) and Daniel Casper (USA) record 3:33.835 and 3:33.501 in the next two heats Stephen McNally (IRL) 3:33.663 in the penultimate heat means that they go through with Bevan to the ride off, my ride is good enough for 10th and only 4th British rider so while I have never got a medal at this discipline (the closest I came was 4th in the Europeans) I just do not have the aptitude to go deep enough as I have peppered the 4:40-43 mark with regular consistency just not able to take it further. Best British rider Peter Ettles 3:36.328 in 5th

The final goes to form with Casper slowing to 3:35.416 from Mc Nally 3:36.932 and Yano 3:36 an easy winner over Bevan 3:39, you have to be able to get it all out in that one ride, there is no room to develop during a series of rides like in the past when the you could improve through the rounds, when I have got through to the final four I have been very consistent but at this level it requires a dedication I do not possess and a talent that has thus far eluded me

All that remains is a haltering cough

Last Hurrah!

It's a month since the BDCA and I had two weeks anxious wait to see if I could improve my '50' time, In the intervening week I began preparation for the end of the season as I have the World Masters Track at Manchester (Oct 10-15) I will be riding the 3Km Pursuit (Mon) the 20Km Points race (Wed) and the Scratch race (Thurs). I train and race quite a bit on a fixed wheel during the season to keep my hand in but I have been inspired to do a bit more in the longer distances as one or two of the other top Testers have been getting good results most noticeably Scott Povey who has been going better this season than ever, the second fastest '50' of the year 1:40:08 and even broke into the BBAR in 6th place, he didn't ride the 12 Hour on a fixed but I would not put it past him in the future

Scott Povey (Pic Andrew Kiss)

I'd entered the Echelon '10' on what I thought was the National course from 2010 and what I thought would be a good 'fixed' course and put a conservative 106" gear on (56 x 14) I usually use 93" or 96" for my evening 10's but on a much slower course and I manage 100RPM for a short 22 most weeks. Here I thought was a chance to let loose and get a bit more power on the go. When I turned up I realised it was a different course with the first 4 miles on 'lumpy' B roads into a stiff headwind so I put the gear down to 100" and after a good warm up on the rollers was left freezing at the start as i miscalculated the 4 mile ride to the start which was only about 2 miles and reached allot quicker on a 100" gear! Needless to say the first part was deeply unpleasant and at one point I was going uphill at what seemed like a ridiculous cadence to be racing a fixed and everything I hate about riders who tell me they only have 120" gear on today "And I was twiddling my N*** off!"
The first 5 miles was looking like a disaster at 11:36 and I would have been better on gears as I turned onto the A46 at Salford Priors and got a bit of a tailwind, coming home was all that riding a fixed should be, I'm not saying I would not have gone faster on gears but so enjoyable as I sped along the gear dragging me up the inclines and encouraging me to put in some nifty footwork on the downhill. I finished with 21:21 so 9:45 for the second split for 5th place behind Jon Simpkins (Drag2Zero) 19:59 and that gear cost me dear as I was only a couple of seconds off 3rd as they were tied on 21:20

Came up short in the Sever RC 50 (Pic Andrew Kiss)

in the Severn RC event on the A419 between Cricklade and Cirencester, I only needed 32 seconds to make the top 12in the BBAR which may seem little to ask but as I'd already broken my PB in the season a might taller than I was able to reach in the end of. I came up a couple of minutes short of my target with a 1:49:40 which was still a good ride (7th) behind the flying Scott Povey (i-ride) 1:43:12 and Jeff Jones the BBAR elect 2nd this time 13 seconds behind. The course is exactly two laps of the same roads so my 55:09/54:31 splits was a good effort on a chilly morning with the odd splash of rain from the passing showers that plagued the late season, I missed riding the Stone Whs. '25' on the Sat to give this event me every chance of doing what I needed to do but despite a valiant effort it was not to be and I will have to settle with what I have.
The next day we were off to France for two weeks holiday and the Masters the week after I get back so it was into the car with turbo and bike and one on the back for good measure, I had a couple of days off cramped up in the car as rest bite but when we got to St Astier (Nr. Duras) an hour east of Bordeaux we were greeted with blue skies and balmy temperatures, I hear it was spectacular here as well but the blessing for me was NO WIND or only a moderate amount so I could do a decent amount of speed work on the road without knackering myself to go with the Turbo clatter and French roads Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Smooth I just want to get off and lick them!

To be honest the heat was almost too much for the turbo even though I kept it to the evening and outside the sweat was pouring off me and one time I did it in the rain until the water made my my power meter fail and I was still like I'd been swimming so it was 20 minutes in a cold shower to cool down or sweat all evening and leave a damp patch on the sofa. I just did 30 miles every morning and 45 minutes on the turbo in the evening and that was enough, a couple of rest days