Worlds Time Trial - Tony Martin - Three in a row

 

Result & Report here 

BBC

PB(3)10 ~ 0.184 < 30 x 1/1207 = BC

Hutch (In-Gear) 18:01

My final TT of the season Team Swift Charity '10' (I forgot to enter the Manchester Whs '50') and I just have a two week build up to the World Masters now but it was good to finish on a personal best ride my second over this distance and third in a month

I made a special concession in removing my bottle cage and I can report that it's worth exactly a second over the ten miles though where I saved it I cannot tell, compared to a month ago my splits were almost the same for the out and return leg (10:02 & 10:05) with the first incorporating the tricky turn that cost about 10-15 seconds but I cannot see where I would have done it better.

Nick Frewin (Bournmouth Jubilee) 20:49 on a 92" fixed (105RRM)

On the day. My HR was at its max for the year 150 Av. and 157 Max (somewhere it has not been for a while) so maybe the Turbo session in the week did the trick. I was pleased with my cadence 90 Av. and 110 Max  although 94 on the way out and 87 on the way back as I began to suffer and resort to the bigger gears but apart from the finish I don't think I used top gear (56 x 11) and mostly it was the 13 & 14 where a month ago I 'bossed it' but only managed 85 RPM but I have been doing allot of speed work for the WM and no need to change tack now

Burns (Manchester Whs) 8th 19:21

So only a second, I would like to think its the fastest ride ever off the No1 position, I'd not started from there before and usually (traditionally) it's taken by a rider from the promoting club but I don't think having somebody to chase affected my ride, In these uber fast events you are unlikely to catch your minute man (although some did) and the only down side was I had to leave the house before ten to get to the event alongside the River Humber for my lunchtime start.

Perkins (Zenith) 2nd 19:00 (on a steel frame)

Conditions were better than before with a less strong South wind but as one local wag pointed out "It'll be slow because the tides out" the thinking being that the wind over the water would be at the wrong height but I could not see it myself and on that thinking we should be burning witches at the stake and using leeches for all manner of ailments! It was warmer than we had the right to expect at this time of year so after a furious 20 minutes on the rollers I had a furious five mile ride to the start where the Mrs (lady) timekeeper was positioning herself on the grass verge (no jokes about women drivers but she had to have a couple of goes at it!)

PB  20:07- Taxi for Mr Parkinson

I caught the marshals off guard at the turn as I don't think they were expecting anybody along nine minutes after the start but I knew the routine and I was beginning to puff by now having kept a lid on it with my wonder footwork on the way out. Nothing to save and I just went all out for the finish. the wag who said the tide was crucial said the final drag would be tough as well as the road comes around into the South but I found it not so and the few ounces I'd saved were all but gone by the time I hit the line in 20:07.8 with the hope that delayed reactions and the timekeeper gave me the benefit of the doubt

Perhaps I did not go hard enough from the start but I was only eight seconds slower to the five mile point and although I came back slower I felt that the couple of drags that could slow me down I dealt with better this time and It's only by using bigger gears that I'm going to get that Club Record, It's only 20 seconds but at this rate I'll be claiming my pension before I break it. 31st place does not sound impressive until you think there were three riders on 19:52 and 19:58 a few seconds ahead of me and another four on 20:03

Michael Hutchinson was in imperious form after having to defend his crown taking a few direct hits in recent weeks from Matt Bottrill AND young pretenders, he stormed around in 18:01 (his 3rd fastest) 13 seconds faster than last time to win. Back to his best local Midlander James Perkins (Zenith) was a big PB by over 30 seconds with 19:00 and Andy Jackson from the promoting club 19:15 a bit disappointed as he's been inside 19 minutes three times already this year on this course





Result Here

Photo's here

Stone Wheelers '25' - Life's a Drag

Another week another trip to the A50, this time starting at the Blythe Bridge end and literally dropping down past Uttoxeter and then back. This is always a race of two half's, one super fast and one super tough, tough physically as you have to fight the course and usually the conditions and mentally as you see your dream ride ebb away. Its always the way so a lack of wind was a welcome sign that I might be spared the superlative and only be reduced merely tough.

It's a drag - 52:02  (Photo - Chris Lees)  o7ò

I've been paying a bit more attention to my position after looking at my 'double' photo posted a few weeks back, allot has been made about wind tunnel testing and how much (or not!) the top riders pay attention to what benefit it has on performance. Matt Bottrill claims not to have achieved any more power output for his recent improved times but being sponsored by a wind tunnel lab (drag2zero) seems to be having its benefits.
I decided to make a start by dropping my bars an inch as I'd put it up for my last 12Hr and got used to a less aggressive position and then did 20 minutes on the rollers as even with a fast start its a cold day and a bit of warmth in the muscles always nice

My first split 9:48 as I try and resist the temptation to start too fast but 8:51 (33.8 Av.) is more realistic and I know how Hutch feels as he scorches along on the flat all the time 10:06 including a tricky double roundabout at the turn that I had driven on my way through just to check my line and the road surface, I was glad to see Sir Brad concur for his TOB time trial at Knowlsley

Spot the difference 2009 o7ò

32 Av. mph to the turn is not quite competition record speed but you would think its a good position to be and 10:39 for the next five miles still put me fifteen seconds inside a 50 minute ride. But that last five miles are the hardest I will ever race, I have taken 14 minutes to polish them off, on this occasion its 12:19 still well over 24mph but it does not matter how you cut your cloth all I can salvage is 52:02 minutes my third fastest of all time and a course PB and I should be pleased but this course always leaves you unsatisfied with all that promise its never going to feel comfortable. Good enough for 10th overall, a couple from Manchester Wheeler's Simon Bridge and Scott Burns take first and second and that man Charles Taylor the only other rider inside fifty minutes. o7ò

Result Here

Photo Here (Chris Lees)

MERCIA '30' - CLUB RECORD - Rich Pickings

A week after the '100' and I'm up to my elbows in Jam and Chutney, fresh produce all comes along at once and I do like a bit of a faire bouillir so with my windfall apples and beans from the allotment and brambles from the hedgerows we see what we can cook up. The Mercian CC '30' is over the same roads on the A50, it's the curates egg of events the 'Thirty', neither fish nor fowl.

On a standard road bike (Pic Harry Wilson) o7ò

The record stands at 1:04:42 I think it would be arrogant to say I could beat a club record at the asking but with my current form this one is ripe for the taking. I set the record over thirty years ago with a time that was the fastest in the country that year, brother Phil (yes your club secretary used to race) and I were first and second on that day (Hertfordshire Whs) and first and second on H'cap (reversed) just to prove what a ride it was for us, even in those days time triallists had their own 'special bikes' with drilled bits & bobs (lightness) and the best of them used terrific big gears, we on the other hand had standard road bikes with 32 spoke wheels and used our track speed to win the day over some impressive local talent.

E72 - I even had time to go and give Phil a cheer o7ò

I was off at unfavoured number 5 so I'd caught everybody in front of me in the first ten miles, I remember it had been raining and all the marshal's were sitting in their cars and stared out the window at me as I came past mouths agape. it was a good job I knew the course! At least Harry Wilson (above) the photographer was ready to mark my passing for posterity. Phil was late on and we had time to go back up the course and give him a shout

Post race - Winner and Runner Up o7ò

So no push over to do it on the day I have beaten all my other times from when I was arguably fitter but without the modern advantages in Aero equipment, now was the time.

1982 Parkinson dominate the result

As I finished my 20 minute warm up on the rollers the heavens opened and we had a hail storm, I felt sorry for those already out on the course but as soon as it arrived it was gone and apart from a couple of wet roundabouts I had a dry ride and the other end of the course saw none of it. I tried not to start too fast but 10:29 a good 5m split, this course has a tough start with two ramps to get up onto the main road. With again strong winds but unlike last week cutting across the road and not as troublesome as I punched my way through them 11:16 included a little dog leg over some lumpy bumpy roads to make up the extra distance but we got a feel for the return which came on super quick and i needed to get to the McDonald's roundabout at then turn (sad but true we register our way points with fast food than any more significant monument to the byways) 10:59 or 32:41 at half way I was down on the record, I set the record previously on the old E72 course on the A12 in Essex, the fastest courses in the country at the time (too busy now) with the A1 (The 'Great North Road' all up the country from Baldock to N Yorkshire), yes Brampton Hut was on the way North but It wasn't named after a Pizza or roadside cafe (but there probably is one now!) These roads had taken over from the Bath Road in the South during the early days of time trialling, when landmarks like Sunrise Pub and Speen Hill marked a riders progress and were spoken by riders up and down the country as hallowed places Can there ever have been as aptly named a place as Pains Hill on the A3 mores the pity that its not used for racing any more though you can still ride up it. 10:49 was a bit of a haltering return but then 9:29 and I go through 25 miles in 53:02 as I get into my stride and the big gears moving and coming to the finish 10:21 the wind has condensed my effort and I have run out of steam. Its a well beaten record by over a minute 1:03:23 and 9th overall. Barry Charlton (Lyme RC) a non finisher last week on his trike with a bad back runs out winner this week 1:01:35 o7ò


Result here

Burton & District Cycling Ass '100' - Heat is on

I've had an exciting few weeks as most riders are bringing their season to a close with late season races that feel a bit 'After the Lord Mayor's show' but I still have the World Masters in early October so I need to be ramping up my intensity to get the best out of my fitness. While my overall training is well down on previous years I still seem to have the condition to do some amazing rides, better than when I was doing the BAR when I might have been overtired, I leaned from last year If I do less training then It has to be top quality and then more rest. I rest every other day so my training/racing is only three or four days a week and my monthly total has not topped 900 miles all season (compared to 1500m in other years)

BDCA - Not the easiest (Pic by Flybike) o7ò

So how would I fair over one hundred miles? I'd done a couple of long rides in the two weeks previous but my ride would depend on careful pacing, I need a '100' time to improve on my VTTA BAR (7th 2012) last year I blew it on a windy Northern day I made a good start and went to pieces. This time on local roads the BDCA '100' on the A50, it was cancelled last year due to a RTA (motorbike not a bike!) and there were many disappointed riders who lost out and I did not get a chance to correct my Yorkshire error. This year only one chance, all or nothing, I suppose last year I thought I had a second bite at the cherry but this year I don't have that luxury.

61 year old  Ken Platts (Cambridge CC) on his Lotus (7th)

It was a windy day again and I had to make a slow start not to repeat my error when my eagerness let me down. I make the first quarter (most of it into the wind) 59 minutes, there is a good crowd out and Fiona is out to assist and enjoys a bit of roadside banter with the other helpers on the dog leg to Doveridge which thankfully is fairly neutral in the cross wind. There's plenty of interest as its the final British Best All Rounder counting '100' and a ride off between defending Champion Adam Topham (High Wycombe) and 2011 Nik Bowdler (PedalRevoloution) I take another bottle and its pretty much all I need to the finish. I have to temper my cool start with a bit of speed on the return and get to half distance in 1:53:56 so I have a second lap and a second time up to Blythe Bridge where the wind is stealing my time as it blows directly down the highway leaving no place to hide.

Joel Wainman (SWIFT) 3rd

It takes me 1:05 to do the next 25 miles as I grind out my ride but as I get to the final turn inside 3 hours I know I will pick up on the way back and beat 4 hours which at the start of the day was my target. I can feel my legs go a bit wobbly with the lack of endurance training and Andy Jackson (Swift) who has only caught me three of the five minutes he started behind me to this point reels in the reminder in the last 15 miles to catch me on the line. 3:54:11 a few years ago that would have been a disappointment but with lack of training miles and tough conditions its a great result. Local rider Charles Taylor (South

Andy Jackson (SWIFT)

Pennine) shows the National stars what can be done with local knowledge and on a set of favoured Shamals wins the even with an amazing 3:35:39 Bowdler 2nd 3:36:06 and Topham 3:40:20 for 4th but he still leads the BBAR and it will all come down to the final event of the season the Manchester Whs. '50' on these very roads (starting Blythe Br. end) on the 28th Sept I will be riding that one as well, final preparation for the Masters. o7ò

Result here

Pics here (By Flybike)