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)

Seconds Count

I raced a couple of events at Etwall Derbyshire over the last couple of weeks and pleasantly surprised myself with my second fastest times ever at 50 and 25 miles. The BDCA '50' is one of the hotly contested events of the year with only 90 places (72 Men & 18 Women) and closed on a 1:53 time, most of the BBAR contenders are here. I was feeling 'out of sorts' in the morning so only a short ride and stretch in preparation but with the memory of the Shaftsbury event still in my legs I knew I had a good chance to do a better time than my 1:48:51. I set out up the A50 to Blyth Bridge into a stiff breeze but it was South Westerly and I'm always comfortable with that. Travelling out was going to be crucial as it includes the feared concrete mountain past the JCB - World Parts Centre (When Fiona and I first came this way, to the Lakes, we thought it was great to have a World 'arts' Centre here in the Midlands but the sign was just obscured by some trees!) 11:04 my first split then 11:11 going around the Uttoxeter bypass and several tricky roundabouts to negotiate as I had been deluged with rain for a short while and the roads were wet and greasy. 11:04 and the wind was less of a problem than I thought, I caught Baz Charlton on his trike (Ex runner - glutton for punishment as if riding a bike is not tough enough) and another who proved a good target as I crested the 'mountain' of the rise to the top of the course, it flattens out a bit 12:05 before the far turn (21.7m) and it can be exposed but not too bad today as I go through 56:05 at 25 miles Matt Bottrill (drag2zero) my minute man over 5 minutes up in on me at this point (51:06)! As you get the benefit of the wind the road also drops and your speed quickens 10:39 is followed by a 8:58 (that's 33.5mph Av!) to cancel out that climb, I'd saved a bit for the dog leg to Doveridge 11:19 and then getting back on the A50 for the big finish 10:54 into Derbyshire the road is still a bit up & down but the final ten miles you get the full benefit of the wind on flat roads and drop to the finish 9:37 and a final 10:03 for a time of 1:47:09, only a second a mile off my best ever and after a 56 minute first 25 I'd come back in 51 minutes. My time only good enough for 23rd but 2nd Vets 50-55 Bottrill had won it and done the 3rd fastest of all time 1:36:46.

A week later and I'm on the same roads for the Derby Mercury '25' same start same finish turn at half distance and no dog leg, it's the National 12 Hour the next day so a more open race apart from that man Bottrill again. There is less wind but it's directly from the West so that will make the conditions harder as the A50 cuts across the country and we shall be heading directly into it, I'm feeling better in myself and manage the full hour in the morning, raring to go. Always difficult to hold back when you feel good, the couple of ramps at the start can take the wind out of your sails if you go too hard and with less fitness less scope for mistakes. I need to feed out my effort and my pacing will be important, 10:51 is a good start although I have my computer sound turned off for the race so It's all done on feel and I rarely pay attention to it these days, 11:00 for the second split and 27:16 (Bottrill 25:23) at the turn is not setting the pulse racing only 153bpm compared to the 160+ I could manage a couple of years ago. When people tell you your faculty to push your limits once you go over 50 I think that is what they mean. But like my dad used to say "It's no good getting old if you don't get.........crafty" so you have to make up deficiency with guile. My split including the turn improves to 10:49 as I get the benefit of the tailwind then as my legs get used to pedalling I bang out 9:07 almost as good as last week but not quite. The finish comes too soon 9:48 for a sub 19 minute last ten miles and 51:35 only 50 seconds off my best, a better paced ride than last week and good enough for 12th and 1st vet in my age this week. The top four riders all +30mph but that man Bottrill blisters around in 46:10 (Av. 32.5mph all the way!) making him also the fouth fastest of all time to go with his effort last weeks, surely on a better day competition record will be his

Matt Bottrill - drag2zero

CLUB RECORD (1:46:13) - Olympic Dreams

The British Olympic cyclists were sweeping all before them and I was getting into the spirit with a second breaking of the Club '50' record in the space of a fortnight, a shade under 90 seconds off what I'd done in the Shaftsbury but this was a different sort of ride, the third time I'd broken the record in this event the BDCA on my 'local' fast course on the A50 between Etwall & Blythe Bridge I'd ridden back from London on the Thurs (80m) Fiona picked me up from Northampton so I didn't have to do it all and I took it easy (18.5mph) but it was still a long ride close to the event on Saturday afternoon. The day forecast showers (again) and I plumped for gears for the first time this season since the opener as I figured the 'Concrete Mountain' would blunt any chance of taking advantage of the course and conditions which were blustery I downed several coffee's after being abstemious as usual and I was off to the timekeeper (Joe Summerlin) resplendent in his Olympic 'Gamesmaker'jacket making us feel part of the amazing sport we have witnessed so far. I looked up at the ominous heavens and removed my visor, not raining yet but it was 'how long' now not 'what if' I've been starting more cautiously because of using a fixed, it takes a bit of time to get into your ride and I carried over to gears, I've also turned off my computer notifications but with the rain I soon forget about my splits and just concentrate on my performance. Looking at my splits in retrospect my first (five mile) split was the only one outside 11 minutes 11:10 apart from the dog leg to Doveridge which knocks you for six after descending the Mountain at top speed. 10:33 as I get into my stride and then 10:19 as I battle with the conditions and the rolling roads, a couple of tricky roundabouts and then 10:54 as we ascend to the high point but still keeping my form. Around the Blythe Bridge roundabout at the far turn, I was about level with Neil Skellern (Team Swift) my 5 minute man but still not caught my minute man which is a bit unusual. The return is slightly harder but the rain storms have killed the wind a bit and it's only tough for the couple of exposed miles at the top of the 'Mountain' 10:42, and then descending is 9:57 my only +30mph split Then I catch my minute man at 35m and he promptly re-passes me on the dog leg as I have a bad patch but I decide not to get involved and ride my race,11:14 past the JCB factory I was only 20 seconds down on Skellern Its pouring with rain again and I try to keep out the grit, I have already seen a couple of 'walkers' and its a rare occasion when I do not have a spare since I lost one (with inhalator) and I feel lucky! Once back on the A50 I re-pass my man but he goes passed again but I'm not going that bad 10:33 and I decide (again) not to race and he goes out to 10 seconds. Coming to the penultimate 5 miles 10:12 and then I re-pass my man again and push for the line, I'd long since stopped looking at my time but the final split 10:32 I knew it would be good but again I'm not expecting to do personnel bests when not concentrating on the distance events, all my effort has been around preparing for the track in October and you would think I would have done my best times when I was doing longer distances in preparation for the BBAR but perhaps there is something to say for doing less and more recovery time as I feel great! The several riders that rode the Shaftsbury have gone back one or two minutes but I have done my biggest improvement for four years so surprised as the conditions not the best but my legs are, which bodes well and I can build on that.

Full Result Here

Mid summer MADNESS!

Restricting myself to one local event at the weekend makes for such tough choices, should I go for speed or something more exotic like a 15 mile or a Veteran 2Up? Of course speed usually wins out as my mantra for 'Fixed Only' always adds a frisson of interest to the event, I've ridden many of these courses & events before but almost never on single speed, on the rare occasion that I have plumped for fixed over gears it's usually 10 miles where I want to have a real 'Shake up' and that's during the evening 10 where nothing much at stake but a nasty cough for a day or two. But this year I've done nothing less than 25 miles (well better value for money and I've got to get the miles in somewhere) I got my chance to ride an evening 10 with the Hinckley CRC at Wolvey just South of Leicester as Tuesday looked like a promising day with sun & light wind for a change so I put my 93" gear on but by the time I got there it was drizzling (the watchword for a normal Leicester summer) so I had to make the best of it. Only 19 riders (instead of the usual 45-50) so I do not have time for my usual warm up (I'm always last!) and 10 minutes on the rollers is it. Its a blast up the the Magna distribution Park at Lutterworth and back trying not to upend on the roundabout for a reasonable 22:56 a minute down on the fastest - Andrew Green (Lutterworth RT)
What I neglected to mention was I'd ridden the Belper RC '25' the previous Sunday with a slightly increased gear of 106.5" to a fixed PB 53:14 on the A50 at Etwall, again it looked good all day and then just before my allotted start the heavens opened as is the way with this record breaking summer the event was deluged with the wet stuff. I did not enough time to remove visor so I spent the duration of the race making like a windscreen wiper with a finger (both inside and out as the warm conditions made for condensation as well) I saw a couple of riders dismount 'DNF' but the day was good and my 10:50/10:44/11:02/10:21/10:33 attest to the day and my performance as I neg split the race which saw me caught with 2 miles to go and then overtake and finish 3 seconds in front of my minute man again the worst part was trying to keep upright on the nine roundabouts. Winner was Matt Sinclair (Lutterworth RT) with his first inside 50 minute ride 49:28 after many years of trying so he was made up

North Notts Olympic '25' - 28.01mph (pic by 'Bombmeister')

So a week later I have an evening event on the A1 at Newark the North Nottingham Olympic CC '25' (in this Olympic year its refreshing to see somebody not taking advantage of their name to promote something or maybe Locog came down on them and threatened legal action, who knows?)  I'd ridden fixed on this course before 53:33 in the VTTA National Champs 2010 but only on 100.6" so a couple of inches on the gear will do to erase the memory of forgetting my 'chammy  balm'  that day! Anyway new '100' Champion Matt Bottrill off number 10 (probably got Olympic tickets to deliver as he's a postie so asked for an 'earlie') was home almost before the event had begun with a blistering 48:05, so who's for second place? There were menacing clouds crossing the skies and I had to do my 'roller' warm up under an awning at the HQ (Carlton on Trent) but I was never touched by a drop of the wet stuff until the final mile of my ride down to Long Bennington and back.
For my efforts I got another 'fixed' PB by a second (but they all count), it felt like a better ride without the streaming water I was able to concentrate a bit better and my splits 10:33/10:34/11:15/10:44/10:03 only spoiled by the turn which is interminably rough and prolonged as the speedy A1 lies a few feet away while one bounces over the lumpy tarmac of the Old A1 (from mid last century) that mid-race nightmare led to a lapse in concentration until I was back on track with a flying 30mph finish. Tony Nash (Scunthorpe Poly) won the Vets prize with his 50:58 after doing a 21 minute '10' that afternoon but mores to the point he beat me by over two minutes when only beating me by 15 seconds last weekend, maybe I need to be racing more?

Matt Bottrill (Drag2Zero) - Now that's what I call 'speedy' 31.21 mph

As I came away I said my farewells to the five cooling towers of the High Marnham power station on the nearby river Trent that have stood there for 50 years and become a regular feature for everybody that comes this way like a beacon of the Midlands. Because we have a young French rower Quentin staying with us and as we came this way on Sunday to the National Water Sports Centre at Ratcliffe on Trent (to see the National Rowing Finals)  they were no longer on the skyline having been blown up at 10 that morning. And to think I had to go and complain about the builders at the end of our road for taking a scaffold down at 7.30 that very morning  - They got all JT about my industrial language, almost spoiled my weekend

BDCA 100

Funny how things turn out, I felt for sure that all I had to do was a reasonable ride in the final '100' of the year to confirm my position in the top 12 of the BBAR this year, the top 7 places are well out of reach above 27mph which must be a record and would have got you a top three place in most other years. The next three places all above 26.5mph and also out of reach for us mortals who have the final three places to fight for and the next 5 places covered by 0.04mph that's about 5 seconds in a 10 mile time trial

I had a consistent week of training, and felt good, tight calf muscles were sorted with a bit of stretching and I was good to go except late on Friday night I began to feel queasy and had a bit of indigestion but I was able to sleep fairly well maybe in the excitement I had got a bit tense but that what come with pressure and I did not feel it was unusual. In the morning I had breakfast in a bit of a sweat but I just went out for 30 minutes and did my stretching as normal and physically felt OK, my stomach was a bit bloated but I managed to put away a bit of pasta at midday as the first riders set off out onto the A50

Two identical laps from Etwall to Bylth Bridge and back along the Dual Carriageway with a dog leg to Doveridge where the JCB headquarters are situated, the wind had blown up from the South so it was pretty much a cross wind but harder on the way out as there was more uphill and the dreaded 'Concrete Mountain'. There was a bit of a plan to pace myself for the first outward leg and not go overboard I did not need a PB just inside 3:50 well within my capabilities, 100 miles a long way but I'm not going to get any fitter and I rated my chances of coping with any conditions baring in mind my recent form and plenty of experience

55:30 for the first 25 miles was good work as it was hard but I did not let my concentration slip even on the hardest sections but my HR would not go up to its normal 159/160 and hung around the 156 which could mean I was not overextending myself but every time I tried to go up there my body resisted. Coming back was easier but the dog leg was the hardest as we came back into a block headwind and  my second 25 of 56:02 so that's 1:51:38 to half way which was good and well  inside my target and on course for a PB

The second lap begins I had to have another gel (my second) and Fi had handed me a bottle at 35 miles, I had been using bigger gears (for me) so my style did not feel fluid so there was a drop in the speed back on the main road and I was not feeling very comfortable with the effort. Jeff Jones (Chippenhan & Didt) the BBAR elect caught me for 9 min at 60 miles super smooth and aero he is doing what is needed but I was having problems. Why can't I? I was expecting a bit of a slowdown but I just could not match this as I watched his flashing light disappear in the distance, I was catching riders myself but more slowly and with a laboured effort. I needed another gel to get me to the finish, my supplies gone too early Fi gave me one and I held it in reserve

It's always best to ride your own race and here I was beginning to feel that the ride was getting away from me I had a second time up the 'hill' to the far turn felt like it would make a difference but once around I still had nearly 30 miles to go (not 70 done!) even the downhill seemed an effort when It had been such an effort to climb you feel it should give back its power easily but in reality you have to toil to harvest the speed from the gradient and the wind all the time pulling at your side. 1:01:11 was a sudden shock for the third 25 and the ride was slipping away

The Doveridge section was a miserable experience,  you relish the hard times when you are going well, welcome them even, when there is nothing there they drag, Fi gave me a final bottle of water I feel disembodied as I look down at my legs, I drift away from myself and have to pull myself back down to carry on the effort and the pain

Derek Parkinson (Cleverly RC) catches me for 19 min with 10 to go and going strongly and cheers me , he is pounding  where I can only poke at the pedals, I see a couple of riders ahead that I have been closing in on and try to use them as bait for my effort, I am closing in on the final miles and there is effort and no effort, pain and no pain, tears of effort and tears of frustration closing in but not making the kill. I pass one Fiona at the side of the road cheering with Sean Childs urging me on, I have effort but it will not be urgent it will only subside at the finish

When I cross the line the twinges of cramp only for the final miles slip back into the water with the pain and I come up for air and breath properly, not the urgent breathing of a distorted mouth  but shallow breathing of late sunshine and a warm breeze, 3:52:20 the numbers stare back at me, not a disaster nothing really. After that good start I let it slip away, Was it the sickness? I felt sick in the race but my body was good, until I needed more. Was it the conditions? Did I underestimate them? When you look at the times of the other riders I feel a little bit more uncomfortable, I went out to race and got caught by the pace

Only '50' mile time trials remain to affect position in the season long BBAR, only 0.04mph between myself in 15th place and Antony Stapleton in 11th and  means riders only need fractions of minutes to move up a place, Mark Arnold only needs a single second improvement to move up a place and I only need 30 seconds to make the top 12

BDCA Result here

Current BBAR standing

BBAR times and '50'  times needed for improvement