NNO 25 + SB 50

I had a couple of fast outings mid July while the 100th Tour was wending its way through France, the North Nott's Oly '25' I've ridden numerous times on fixed usually but this time I plumped for gears as I've not done much and I was wanting to get the best out of myself in the next week Shaftsbury '50'
Almost a repeat of last year when the long spell of dry weather was broken by thunder storms that fell early evening, gone are the days when a Saturday time trial was midday due to traffic count this part of the Great North Road is used in the early evening (first rider 5PM) so it was a long days wait (I did 20m in the AM & some Yoga) watching the Tour for inspiration. The first 30 or so riders were deluged to the point where the A1 was almost un-rideable and some competitors decided it was too dangerous but by the time I was off an hour later the rain had completely cleared up and the temperature dropped and all we were left with was damp roads to contend with.
I still did a good warm-up on the 'rollers' as my legs had been sore after doing my first Mallory Park evening criterium in two years on the Tuesday, I finished in the bunch and a bit of a shock to the system. The wind was a bit weird stirred up by the evening storms and I set out with the aim of not going too much into the red too early! 10:45 for my first (5m) split and then 11:02 and 11:20 as I negotiated the damp turn and then picked up a bit on the way back, as it was evidently faster 10:24 as you climb up to Newark and then 10:14 dropping down to finish at Sutton on Trent 53:46 about 30 seconds down on my usual for this course but good enough for 10th and only 2:30 off the winner's time Adam Gascoigne (Loughborough)
The next Saturday I have the Uber fast '50' on the Newmarket bypass and around (A14/A11) Last year this event was run off in almost perfect windless conditions but today we have a steady NW wind that will make the long 20 mile pull out to the turn at Red Lodge hard work and the heat is there to make it worse, I still see some riders with a bare 500ml bottle and some with none at all but I'm taking a full litre! (of water) and it can go on my legs if I think I don't need it.
The first ten miles out and home 21:57 does not look bad as I think anything inside 1:50 today will be a 'good job' so I have to average 22:00 for each ten mile section over the duration, my second split 23:34 is not so pleasant as the wind hampers my progress but I dare not put in too much for fear of overdoing it and having nothing for the return. After a while my legs get the hang of the conditions but my head still has to rule and the (out & home) third split 22:28 means I can let loose a bit as I now have a tail wind and the worst is out the way 19:58 is good work and pulls back the time lost on the two previous splits but I still have to do the final ten miles, (the same as the first) This means a hard final five miles but 21:41 gives me a time of 1:48:51 making a negative split of nearly 5 minutes as I was at the '25' point in 56:51 and then a nice round 52:00 for the second half. Just shows what you can make back if you hold your nerve, last year I was 53:04 to the turn and I suffered on the way back into the wind as I usually put everything into the first half but when you only have a limited amount of condition you have to be assiduous with it and on this occasion I think I played it right. Winner was a new name at this level Jon Wynn (Northover VT) 1:40:47 (52:10) from current BBAR Adam Topham (High Wycombe) 1:41:16 (52:54) and third 51 year old Kevin Tye 1:41:37 (53:28) winning the Vets prize with +38:50

PM 25 (A11) + AM 50 (A1) x 102 = 169.5

VTTA '25' - Four-went-ways (All Pics - David Jones)

A double header that I did last year on the same two courses with pretty much the same results with the added plus that I rode a 'Fixed' in both evens and still in the first flush of racing so not near my racing fitness yet, with the British Masters track at the end of the month time is short to get thoes muscles prepared so a bit o' back to back racing the best solution to winkle out some of the dormant form that might be useful on the boards. I'd been doing some work in London so a stay over in NE London and a brief morning ride was all that I managed as a build up but its good to do things differently and preparation can't always be ideal so better to put yourself under a bit of discomfort in preparation so you can be prepared for all eventualities. I was one of the later starters in the VTTA Championship '25' I thought the wind of the past few days would blow itself out but not soon enough for the Saturday afternoon on the Newmarket bypass. I chose (54 x 14) 102" gear as I have decided to make every event a 'fixed' one (where possible) but there was no doubt it was going to be an uneven ride but nothing I can do about it as I've only got the one bike, sometimes you can have too much choice and live too much in the comfort zone

Perfect Day (with gilet) - Finsbury '50' (A1)

A fixed wheel is a lovely sensation for racing when you can get the momentum of your ride to carry you along from one section of the course to another like a demented hamster in a wheel but when faced with a full on head wind it becomes a bit of a grind just to survive, that unfortunately was what I was faced with on the outbound leg along the A14/11 DC course, I dare not look at my computer which found itself set on 3.1 miles so somewhat better than the previous week but even my addled brain could not work out the splits so all I can say was I was 30:36 to the 12.5m turn (24.50mph) so looking forward to some reward.
And lovely it was, 30mph all the way and my 85 RPM transformed into a 110 RPM rhapsody of sporting performance and syncopated perfection, well maybe not that exquisite but it felt pretty good to me, not enough time to recoup my losses but 55:56 (28th) a damn fine time for the conditions. Of course my time pales into the shade of my minute man Kevin Tye (Datateam Allstars!) who won the event with a staggering 49:54 he took 4 minutes out of me on the outward leg and 2 on the return (What a boy!) The main difference being that he actually won the Championship (on Standard) as well. Although defending champion 75 year old Derek Stewart (Deeside Thistle) was 2nd under the new 'Standards'  so with a good rage of ages represented in the top 10 it looks like the team that put the new tables together (Research + Calculus + Fibonacci) had done a creditable job
I bumped into Jonathon now in Epsom colours and allot of other riders wanting to know what I'd been up to and had I been training in Mexico and had weight loss surgery at the same time? A mystery to me as I'm exactly the same weight and it must be seeing me in civvy's that put them off and more than one person was heard to mention "Where were my 'baggy' shorts?" and with "Some onions I'd be mistaken for a Frenchman"

Finsbury '50' - Hard going up some of them slopes

Getting up at 4.30 for a race can be laced with fear and trepidation but when faced with such a beautiful morning, as I was on the next day, makes you forget that you have tired legs. The Finsbury is a long standing fixture of the racing season and a good field from these parts despite the National & VTTA '25' the day before, a spin on the rollers to ease the legs into race condition and I'm off up & down the A1 from Sandy in the South to Buckden in the North via the Black Cat roundabout. I took it steady over the first 10 miles easing up to jettison my gilet that I forgot to remove at the start, getting down to business I'd caught everybody in front of me just after the first 25m lap (56:36), I could have done with dropping my gear a couple of inches as I was pedalling just that little bit too slow (90 RPM) for me to feel comfortable but at least it was pretty even all the way around as the flags stayed asleep on their poles and the roads damp with the early dew hummed under my silky tyres. I could see quite a few riders going well but I just had to ride my race to its conclusion and I could feel twinges of cramp over the last 10 miles so I did not push too hard as I could feel the previous days efforts all over, a racing performance is total immersion and no part of the rider escapes inspection by the course
1:53:34 was a great time and dare I say it was easy, I always try my hardest but the conditions are a gift and when you get a perfect present of a morning it seems churlish not to be grateful for not having to wish your life away, so take it for what it is and be happy for those that got up at the ungodly hour and made the best of their reward. Lots of PB's and good times so I'm not fretting being down the result a bit. Steve Berry (Team Swift) wins it with 1:42:59

VTTA '25' Result Here

Finsbury '50'  Result Here

CTT National 12 Hr (ECCA)

I've had a week to reflect on this event, no result is yet available as the organisers try and unravel the complexities of the four circuts and the 104 competing in the National event. As defending the 45-50 age group I felt I could go better than last year but the recent spat of weather made me anxious for the half day to come. Sure enough we were greeted with slight rain and wind the first riders setting off with lights in the darkness at 5.00am. Fellow SWRC rider Paul Alderson and I were 12 minutes apart over an hour later as weak light reflected the wet roads.

Dream Time

He has ridden this one before, he says the finish is bad, all I am concerned with is the start, get on the road, see how you feel banish the preparation get on with the event.
Always alot to do before the off but it is the culmination of alot of preparation long rides to nowhere, races sacrificed to the hope of a better harvest, the bike, the food, spares no sleep in the Travelodge the night before just lie awake behind your eyelids going over all the possibilities for the next day, I have Fiona and Adrian out to help and Paul's wife and daughter are there to overcome any eventuality that may occur on the roads between Cambridge and Newmarket.
The first part, the fast part on the A11/A14 is busy for Six O'clock in the morning, I have started fast, Is it too fast? I can see my minute man Paul Holdsworth (No 80) up ahead, I'm closing in on him, do I lay back and use him as a pacemaker? He's sure to be in the top 5 but it begins to rain, soon it is lashing down as we approach the first turn at Red Lodge (23.5m). In front of me I see what looks like a SWRC jersey, It' Paul he's had two punctures and looking grim, we exchange a shout water is everywhere. On the return I catch my minute man, I've done the first 25m in 57 minutes, the bad weather makes me anxious to ride hard and get away, to where? There is only the road and the rain but I feel good there is no pain yet!
South the rain eases off but I am drenched Four Went Ways roundabout comes and goes 50 miles in 1.57 I've calmed down a bit, there are lots of riders at the side of the road with punctures I shout for my phone to be passed up I dread wasting my good beginning.

Nightmare - I have company

Up to Red Lodge for a second drenching, it rains even harder and I ask for warm coffee, but by the time I get to drink it it's luke warm but the rain has abated and we are turning onto the second circut at Six Mile Bottom. Holdsworth goes past me after using me as a pacemaker, that's the last I'll see of him I think to myself, I have to settle into the 'B' roads, keep the gears down, minimise the time lost on every incline of this lumpy circut. I go past rider after rider and a few stick with me, try not to get distracted it's a difficult transition, I see Keith Coffey (No 70) stretched out on the grass with cramp(DNF).
In the distance can it be? Holdsworth is coming back to me, we exchange a grim glance as we pass he is suffering more than me, but I will suffer sure the pain begins to bite, you just have to see it through to the end, 12 hours everybody does the same. 150 miles in 6.22 only 6 minutes up on last year but it's been rough and the finish is yet to come. We are turned onto the 3rd circut 10 miles away down the A11 near Duxford, Holdsworth sits on my wheel an official has to stop his car and warn him for taking pace, it must be bad for him. We have been turned two laps early and my back-up do not know where I am, I have no drink for 25 miles and begin to feel sick and disorientated. Holdsworth leaves me for dead, it's my turn to suffer
I have to call for help but I cannot get my phone off lock "I'm at the far end of the circut" I screech to the distant panic and when they find me I roll to a stop at the side of the road, I drink it all up 'carb', water & cola and then a ravaging hunger soon after as my body comes back to life from its dormant state.
The next 40 or 50 miles go by in a blur of bile and sweat and as I fight to maintain my speed and dignity, my body rejects the effort to perform and my mind does somersaults to stem the wish to stop, at one point I stop to be sick at the side of the road, but there is nothing there it is full on war the body and the mind battle to resolve the conflict.

Feeding time - Adrian hands me fruit in a cup

I have to change bikes as I have broken an armrest but the spare is too different and compresses my shoulders luckily Adrian is able to effect a repair and I am back in the 'Sigma' like laying on a sofa, the comfort permeates my body. Adrian gives me some fruit in a cup and it settles me down somewhat, I am dry now and the sun is quite warm, there are combine harvesters scooping up the fields of golden wheat but whatn will I reap?. The wind is still there pushing me back when I try to go faster, the roads pass under my wheels and onto the finishing circut.

Dreamy Mmmmm!

These roads are the worst yet, lumpy and rolling, a bad surface rattles your body and the wind is stronger than ever, but we cover the roads both ways and get a glimpse of the other riders everybody is moving in the same laconic way at the same reduced speed. Cammish the eventual Champion (284.54 miles) goes past "The worst roads on Essex" he shouts I thought we were in Cambridgeshire no matter. Andy Stuart is catching me again, I caught him 10 minutes at 100 miles and now a minute behind, he must have found his second wind, he catches me his bike sounds awful grinding under his effort. I re-pass and drop him as his effort is dissipated in the creaking carbon and dry bearings, I press on past my helpers another drink another sponge, "Thank you" Fiona.
My computer is up the spout (it says my Av. speed is 30mph!) I have no idea what I am doing but only 2 hours to go. With an hour to go I reset my computer to see how I'm going, after half a lap 22.5 mph not bad I could be on for 260 not what I had planned (276 23 mph Av.) but a decent effort. I'm brought out of mt daydream with a bang! A broken spoke in the front and it's the one with the magnet so it will not ride until I stop and wrap it around another spoke, my hands too tired to unscrew the 'bleeder'. I get a wheel change anyway Fiona is following along and a minute here and there but I lost my computer again.

Dream Team

I roll to a close in a lay by on the A505 within sight of Duxford aerodrome, the little planes had been buzzing overhead the second half of the ride, I was just aware of them as my concentration slipped on and off the race. Its getting dark by the time we get back to the HQ at Gt Chesterford, I see Paul he is OK with his 252.68 miles considering the start and the horrendous day. I have managed to defend my title with 263.88 miles, less than I'd hoped but good enough for a top ten on the day
There are lots of stories of events out on the road punctures, broken chains the wind and the rain, How? and Why? Did we manage to get through it? that particular battle is locked inside my head. o7ò


 Ian Cammish Blog Here

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