Keeping on Track

Watching the racing at Newport

  
 A few weeks of racing dominated by the Track, I entered my first proper 'Open' meeting since 1984! At a track I'd never ridden on before, the Newcastle-under-Lyme track at Stoke. It was on of the National Hard Track League run throughout the season and although I had a series of 'B' I chose to do the Elite races with some of the top track riders in the country. A lovely outdoor track in a park with a good tarmac surface, the rain of the day before had cleared up. The meeting had quite a bit of sprinting (Senior won by Sean Mayer the son of an old friend (and adversary) from the past. There was Ladies and schools so plenty of time to recover between the races. I didn't show myself up too much in the 'warm-up' Scratch or Points races, not out first in the Devil (but suddenly ran out of puff!) It was the day after the National 50 so my legs ached like buggery anyway and it was all down to the 20Km Scratch finale. As I say legs were about shot so when six of the top riders set off up the road I sat tight in the bunch and bided my time for them to gain a lap while doing a few strong turns and then when it was all back together I was able to hang in and got 8th overall in the finish sprint.

Ceremonial Opening at newly re surfaced Halesowen

A couple of weeks later I had the British Masters Track at Newport, I did a dismal 2Km Pursuit (slowest ever!) for 9th but when you are in the company of the World Champion Peter Ettles (Sandy Wallace) then all performance is relative. And such is the competition here that even he could not retain his British title and pushed into second spot by World Bronze medalist Mark Wiffin (Tavistock Whs.) 'newby' to this age group but a rider with another World class time Johannes Roux (Giant) only taking the Bronze. After feeling great the day before in the 8Km Scratch final. I was here there and everywhere, up the road in a break of four most of the race but i could just not get it to stick as the others were unable or unwilling to make a real go of it (a bit of both I suspect) so as we finessed the finish I'd used most of my bullet's and ended up 7th with the same podium as last year Peter Ettles Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) and Adrian Ward (Shaftsbury). In the Points race I fared better but with the race reduced from 60 to 40 laps (& only 4 sprints) it became a 'sprinters' race and as I never get going until half way I was off the front chasing the eventual winner Ian Whittall (Manchester Whs) with Ettles an Greenstreet when the bell went for the end of the race. We were only 20 meters short of lapping the field (so 1/4 lap!) which would have seen us taking all three medals (10 Pts for gaining a lap) as I was I had to settle for 6th the Manchester rider winning (with 9 Pt's) from Ettles and 'newby' Michael Rice (De Laune) 3rd an old friend from Herne Hill (& Dunraven days) who got up in several of the early sprints

1982 Winner

I had another visit to my past this last weekend at (newly resurfaced) Halesowen Track for the Dudley GP another National Hard Track League meting . It rained all morning so the start delayed for a couple of hours and then an opening ceremony with the Mayor and all that jazz. I was a bit more confident here knowing a few more of the riders and having a few more races in my legs but I'd done a terrible (I thought) ride the last week in the Belper RC 25 (54:34) and set out to recover my TT legs by doing a few hard sessions in the week so my legs feeling a bit wobbly after 70m yesterday and track legs suspended until later in the year. I suppose I never worry that I will be able to 'turn on' my track legs, I've never been the super quick type so transition not all that difficult but having done some specific track sessions and a bit more racing has definitely had an effect on my 'testing' ability so I needed to reverse it If I want to put up some decent times

In the bunch with William Fotheringham

All the races were quite long 20 lap Scratch 32 lap Points and a Devil that went on forever (I went out after 12 or so) and with only a Ladies  and Schools Omnium to compliment it we were up and down every twenty minutes. It was tough going, the wind blew up making the home straight a bit of a graveyard and I'd left my 94" gear on from the indoor track making it even tougher. I was determined the the best riders would not get away from me this time and there were a few more endurance riders to take on the chasing and the wind discouraged riders from going out on the attack too much so all the races stayed together apart from the end of the Points when I attacked and got half a lap up by the finish, this with an early win gave me my highest place.

Alistair wins the Billy Jones '10'

William Fotheringham the Guardian journalist is a Halesowen A & CC member and races in my Masters age group but he has not been around recently claiming no time to race but he was sponsoring the final race and gave a good account of himself without walking off with any of his own money. At easter I started reading his Eddy Merckx book while staying at Adrian's, I did not know if I was going to get on with it but within a few chapters I was gripped, the only sad part I had to leave it behind half finished but not much time to read in the season so I'll put it on the list of things to catch up with along with the Sean Yates and Sean Kelly books that brother Phil just gave me (he needs to get out on his bike more!)

Podium Loney, Rutherford & Notley

 The final event was the Billy Jones '10' forty laps of the track in the company of some pretty fierce (and allot younger) competition. I was determined to stay with the leaders this time however hard the pace went and the race developed differently and I was able to hold the pack all the way to the finish. David Bradley (Vertex) helped by making a solo attack that lasted for the first half of the race but was destined not to succeed in the wind and he was pulled back and by this time in the race the contenders had decided to settle for a sprint finish so there was a bit of finessing before the final gallop and it was Alistair Rutherford (NAB) from James Notley (Mammoth) and long travelling young Scottish rider Zac Loney (LFH).

I had won this race in 1982 with a solo win when there were only four riders left on the track, three of these were SWRC riders as we decimated the mainly sprinting field with constant attacks one of my favorite memories of racing o7ò

Billy Jones '10'

Masters Track (Newport) Results

Midsummer TM Newcastle UL Results

Dudley GP - Halesowen Results

Build a Season

I decided a few more racing miles were in order so before attempting an Open '10' I'd entered the Anfield '100', it's one of the oldest races on the calendar going back to1889 when it was a paced event, it had been un-paced since 1900 and most of the great Time Trial list's over the years have made their mark on the Shropshire roads somewhat South of its Liverpool club roots. Its been run on a variety of courses but this one has been fairly constant in the years I have ridden it being based at Shaulbury to Preese and Terne Hill and then finishing with four 17 mile laps of a finish circuit.

Final preparation with my Time Trial Guru Mick 'The Quick'

 It's a few years since I'd ridden it but this year it was designated as the VTTA national '100' so well over 100 riders on a chilly but thankfully less blustery than of late Bank Holiday Monday. I was off number eighty so I could afford a lay in until 4.30 but sleeping on Mick's sofa not the best option but you just have to make the best sometimes and it was good to spend the evening with a friend of mine who had been one of my drawing tutors at Leicester Poly as well as being an excellent bike rider and one for a tall story so I had to send him to bed so I could get some shuteye, Mick was going to come out later so I had a lonely breakfast of muesli and home made toast and jam the sort of thing to get you around a hundred miles. The roads were pretty deserted as I drove to the start where I could hand in a couple of bottles for the 'feeding' team to hand up, they have a man with a radio to tell the 'feeders' if you need a bottle down the road, a good system and it means the riders can do the race un-supported.

A bit of colour in a dismal Spring

I rode a conservative race really as I've not done enough to go 'all out' from the gun so keeping my gears down I planned to get to half way and try and hold out to the end without flagging too much. I was 59:42 at 25m and then 2:01:32 at 50m so going to plan. Once on the laps you hardly see anybody but those you catch (or catch you!) but I got in a tussle with Arthur Winstanley of the Liverpool Phoenix but he was a lap ahead and using terrifically big gears so I let him finish before I pressed onto my final lap but the distance got to me on that final circuit and although I got no cramp I slowed somewhat to a 4:08:5, not my slowest on here and good enough for 8th place in the Vets Championship. Steve Irwin late of Kingston Wheelers but now back up North and with the N Lancs RC (who also won the team) was fastest overall with 3:46:02 and on Vets Standard from Winstanley and last years winner Nigel Haigh (Strategic Lions)

Anfield is classed as a SPOCO

Mick came out and gashed his leg on his pedal so had to be taken off to hospital for stitches (17!) and I was left with a sense of a job well done although I had sold out in the last ten miles and lost a couple of minutes.

I had a cheeky nip up to the V718 to record 20:48 on a bitterly cold evening when even the winner did not get 'inside' twenty minutes, I cannot think the last time that happened on the 'V'

Next up I had the CTT National Championship '50' on the three lap course at Jodrell Bank South of Manchester (Knutsford) I quite like this course but last time the champs were held on here in 2009 I did my worst ride and I lost an event on here to a rider I caught in the event some years before (work that out if you can?) so not the happiest of memories. I was off early (No 5) in a Champ's without a full field it seems the unfashionably slow courses cannot attract the riders who just want fast times and the event I enjoy the most and should be an honour to ride has now become curates egg for the speed freaks and the 'power' monsters.
As May was dry so June has been damp and on this day the heavens opened on the front end of the field I was wondering what I was doing warming up between a tree and the tailgate of Fiona's car as she had come out for the day to see me race. Some with imitative (& planning) had brought gazebos but I figured you could only get wet the once! The CTT had managed to get the twisty Twemlow Lane closed to traffic for the duration of the event but two riders still came a cropper, I took things easy as this was not so much a target event as a chance to ride a tough race and then on the Sunday I has a Track meeting in Stoke (my first since the 80's!) and I needed them both in preparation for the British Masters Track at the end of the month

Warm Up - In the rain

My legs felt very heavy for the duration of the race but I was in a 'loading' mode and not given myself too much time to recover since the Anfield (and before) as once I was past the Masters there would be little time to build my season and it would all be honing my fitness but I could still have a disaster by crashing out or even worse doing some damage. Next to illness, injury is the thing to fear in the season as there is little time to repair your body and consequently your fitness and we thought we had got all the racing in the wind and rain out the way early season but here I am in June and I've still not raced in short sleeves.
I soon caught my minute man but a line of six cars was between me and the catch, I had to back off so as not to take pace until the Chelford island where I could get past, these roads are too narrow for racing on a Saturday afternoon I thought and as we get into the race there will be two or three times the riders on the roads (on different laps) and accompanied riding becomes a problem (if you could not work out the earlier conundrum it was this that led to my defeat in the earlier race). Riders of similar ability come together again and again making a mockery of 'seeding' the fast men throughout the field, not the best way to sort out a Championship, give me a nice two lane DC any day or a circuit away from houses and traffic where the racing can be monitored effectively and safely

Last Lap - The old A50 at Jodrell Bank

I took a gel as my legs were cutting up a bit rough but I had a reaction I never suffered before, I got indigestion and this seemed to restrict my diaphragm and as a consequence I was finding it difficult to breath, this was a bit alarming so once I'd ascertained that I was not having anything more serious I slowed a bit to get my breath. I went through 25 m in 57:59 but I now had No 44 to contend with who I'd picked up going through the lap and we were stuck together like proverbial glue, I was still breathless when I pressed on so he re passed me and It wasn't until Neil Skellern caught us (No 45) that he latched on and went away. I was glad as It gave me time to compose myself for the final lap as I was now feeling better but I picked up another rider (No 84) and had the whole thing to deal with again. I finally dropped him going through Chelford Island the final time but I had to take some risks but thankfully by now it had stopped raining and was drying up. I was passed by Brett Harwood (No 87) and then defending Champion Matt Bottrill (No 90) with up and coming star Joshua Williams on his wheel, riders were all so close together with all the riders on the course meaning hey were spread every 20 seconds, not good on single file roads and not good in a Championship.

I finished faster than 2009 in 1:57:32 a bit disappointed as I thought I had a ride a couple of minutes faster in me, I'd had the worst of the conditions, indigestion and a good deal of interference but I think every rider had a bit of the latter. Bottrill was indeed the winner 1:41:21 but he has the BC TT Champ's in a few weeks when he is pitted against the Pros and now he is a full time bike rider/coach he will have to give a good account of himself but here he is just too good for the weekend warriors and veterans that make up the domestic scene. Matt Clinton was second 1:44:32 and Brett Harwood third 1:44:47 and there were a string of riders who were in contention inside 1:46 As a postscript to this I got a letter a week or so later from South Manchester DC telling me that I was observed contravening Rule 20 subsection (a) of the CTT rule book (basically unsafe riding and the rules of using the road) Twice! Going over the centre of the road, I assume. No further action to be taken but if it happens again you may be banned from racing. I have been warned!

National 50 podium - Harwood Bottrill and Clinton