World Masters Track II - Points Race & Team Pursuit (Cossavella 10 Mile)

Sprinting it out with Baxter Pereyra and Faris

The next day we have the Points Race so the same thing again, heats in the morning and finals later that evening. Even with the attrition of the previous day there were still enough riders for heats, one rider with a very black eye and a fair bit of skin lost in the Siberian wars! But only twelve to go through and with only three sprints (30 laps) only twelve lots of points available (5, 3, 2 & 1) so in theory one point enough to go through, unless riders got a lap (unlikely). In reality some riders would get more than one so it was possible to go through with zero if you were well up in the final sprint, this was still beyond the current British National Champion who went out without a point but I gleaned a single in the first sprint so I could afford to take it easy while the others sprinted and sweated it out (to be fair one of the S African riders did get a lap on his own!)

Points Final - Half way

The final would be an altogether different affair and require different tactics, I like to wait until the second half but its only a twenty minute race and with only six sprints (60 laps) these days its a game of Poker how long you leave it. Two sprint places (if one of those is a win) enough to get you a medal these days and with such a good field riders unlikely to gain a lap. Those first few sprints are always ferocious but the British rider Blair Buss (Swift) getting away from the gun and takes the first sprint so that means reduced points for all that effort but its the first three from the Scratch race Faris, Baxter and Rice in the frame for the rest of the points.

Unsurprisingly its Peter Ettles the fourth placed rider from the Scratch taking the second sprint from the other Argentinian Pereyra and that man Baxter again with previous World Scratch Race Champion Peter Toth (CAN) edged out for the single. I had a go at splitting the field before the previous sprint but with a rider away its not possible so I use my timing and I manage to clip off the front and overhaul him keeping the bunch at bay (2:55:00) to take the third sprint, five points on the board and second at half distance behind Peter Ettles who has scored in the second and the third behind me (8 Pt's.) Toth is also there again picking up two points this time but two consecutive efforts like that for so little return is almost too much to recover from and he does not score for the rest of the race. Buss who took the first sprint by staying away has gone straight out the back and lost a lap (eventually DNF) its 5 points that will not count in the overall so even less points needed to get a medal. For the next sprint an Argentinian and an Italians are away with Ian Greenstreet in the middle picking up three, the other Italian Dardi picking up the one remaining.

I could afford to gain my composure in the bunch but top road-man Mike Twelves (MI Racing) riding his first Masters goes away solo to win the next sprint just from Baxter and the Faris the first two in the Scratch close on his tail. The top six all separated by three points so it would all come down to the final sprint, the other Pereyra & Ettles leading with eight Twelves, Baxter and myself on five, Faris third in the middle with six.

Breakaway with Ian Greenstreet

50-54 Points race - Result

I attack at the first opportunity (3:02:50) while the others are still blowing, slipping between two riders to shake off any company, only Greenstreet gets up to me and I have to make a big effort to get on. We have a decent lead and press our advantage with six laps to go. Unfortunately we were the victim of a bit of teamwork from the Italians who kept the pace high and although Ian and I work well together we do not get the lead we need. We were caught with a lap and a half to go, its the first time I've been the victim of this type of partisan riding and the culprits were docked their points in the result but the 'leadout' not only took us out of the sprint but helped Faris and Baxter to first and second in the final sprint and in the overall result. Peter Ettles held onto the Bronze by virtue of being well up in the final sprint and Pereyra dropped from first to fourth so the biggest looser  When you analyze the points scoring its the same riders in the points as were up there in the Scratch Race, The same Gold and Silver Medalists (as last year and the year before when I was Champion in the Scratch and Silver in the Points) It leaves very little but scraps for the others in the race  My five points still good enough for Fifth place to go with my Silver and two Fourth places in the last four years but I was in the mix right up to the end was so close to taking a medal

The Points Podium Baxter (AUS) Faris (ARG) and Ettles (GBR)

Team GB1

 We had a days break and then the Team Pursuit on the Saturday the final day of the Championships. I'd had to purchase a GB skin-suit for the performance so we all 'matched'. It was a little on the snug side! But then I guess a 'speedsuit' does what it says "On the can" It kept everything in place and a little unforgiving but I don't think I'll be using it for a '100' TT any time soon
Not being able to come up with a suitable name, some don't want it to be humorous or a pun and others not wanting it to be to serious or Po faced like 'The Apprentice' we settled on the hopeful and catchy GB1, it made us sound like a record speed attempt but at least we got in early and did not have to be GB2. Three Kilometres that's twelve laps of the track, only three efforts each on the front and then hang on in between.

The Team - Ian, Peter, Nigel and myself (and a nice bike)

We are a team who have all won medals at the World level (Two Gold, a Silver and five Bronze between us) so plenty of fire power, what we have not done is practice enough, not short of experience and speed but what you need for the TP is technique. We had sorted our order at the practise sessions and had Ian the slower of our more experienced riders going 'Man One' as he was the steady option as managing the start and the transition to speed the crucial thing you can only do under race conditions, Peter took the second part here with me third and Nigel tucking in at the back. The  ride went as well as could be expected, we had Rachael (new '30' Competition Record holder) at track-side calling our numbers. We had no problems with the changes or splitting up, I think this being the last event of the week we were all pretty tired. Nigel did two turns and swung away leaving the three of us to finish, I did the final two lap stint as its negledgible if a change on the last 3/4 lap is worth doing as the front rider has to swing out on the final banking to let the other two inside and we finished nicely

We were half a second a lap off the pace to qualify with 4:31 for the ride-off (only four) and had to settle for 6th. Not bad for a team of all 50+ riders giving away quite a few years to the other teams. Baxter (AUS) and Tim Lawson (GB) the only 50+ riders in the teams that qualify. We have to look on it as good practise for two years time when we will all be in the 55-64 group for the TP. We were a little deflated as we did think we had a chance but like many of the other events the competition gets tougher every year and this time age and practice against us but we looked good and feel that we will go faster in the future

In the finals it went to form with the Welsh squad just holding on for the Bronze and in the final the Champions for the last two years the USA made it a triple crown with another World Record time (to go with breaking it in the morning) The Aussies had to be content with the Silver but they went inside the previous WR as well.........o7ò o7ò o7ò o7ò.......

10 mile Result

For the final event of the week there is the Brian Cossavella 10 mile, (Brian to organiser of the Masters for 10 years until his untimely death at 54)  a race open to all competing during the week, Its always a good race and with the full age range from 35+ always a test for us in the upper reaches and I was the only 50+ finisher last two years in 13th and 11th place albeit a lap down. This year I try and do better. Amazingly fast from the gun to the sound of Rolling Stones music in the background (Brian's choice!) riders are already getting shelled out the back. I hang in there and at half distance the race splits apart and I manage to stay in the front half. By the time I get to the end I have no effort left for a sprint which goes to Matt Glanville (AUS) from Martin Van Wyk (RSA) and John Mc Clelland (GBR) I roll over in 8th place one behind Baxter (AUS) the only two 50+ finishers o7ò

Cossavella Winner with the Director of the Masters Ian Emmerson

A nice innovation this year the organisers (BC) had most of the racing put on the UCI You Tube channel), I have put links below and approx. time


Points race video (from 2:46:00) 
 
winning sprint (from 2:55:00)

Team Pursuit Final  video (from start)

Cossavella 10 mile video (from 2:34:00) 

World Masters Track I - Pursuit & Scratch Race

I thought I'd come up with the perfect solution to avoiding the dreaded lurgy in the run up to the World Masters, I'd work from home away from all the germs and risks of cross infection, the house in need of attention so why not kill two birds with one stone and re-paint the house as part of my preparation. I was careful to not overdo it on rest days (Mon & Fri) so light duties only, nothing above ground level.

2KM Pursuit Heat Result

This year I'd been asked by some other riders to be part of the Team Pursuit discipline, age groups are blocked together 35-44, 45-54, 55-64 and >65. two of our number are the Bronze from last year but we are all 53 and above now so it will be tough to qualify against those nearly 10 years younger. In the normal five year age groups you can feel the competitive edge drift away as you progress and with tight competition and always a stream of young talent results are more difficult the older you get until you graduate to a new age group. This is my forth year on the 50+ so I'm expecting it to be tough, the riders that took the titles last year were new-by riders like I was the year before

I have not ridden a TP since 1983 the All London Title and the SWRC were the winners! Alan, Phil and myself, our fourth man on holiday so we rode as a three, myself doing full laps (on Herne Hill!) we beat the De Laune and the Old Kent. Alan was at University so not very fit, we gave him my best wheels (Campag 28 spoke shod with silk tyres) I'd won the Individual Pursuit earlier in the meeting. Equipment a bit different these days, bigger gears, faster speeds, on a banked track (I'd ridden a TP at Leicester) but not on aero bars it was all pretty daunting

We had a get together for a weekend in Leicester, utilising the new Derby track. It went pretty well, we did some flying 2Km with changes at race speed (16.5 second laps) and some starts, hard on your legs, cant do more than a couple in a session. Then we did a day at Newport, the day after a Derby Track League meeting, two days in succession in what I kindly describe as 'Petrie dishes' of germs, and of course the day after I come down with a head cold, all my good work to avoid picking up a bug and 10 days before it's all come to nothing

GOLD - Monthier (FR)

I have a few days off the bike, all the heavy work is done so just the taper to complete, it's started a few days early, hopefully this will clear up before my first event the Individual Pursuit. I'm hoping the TP practice and TL will have benefited my performances. IP not my best discipline but It gets you into the swing of it all, get used to the pressure of competing at this level. The feeling of going out for a final (heats even worse!) is quite exquisite, almost unbearable during the time you are there, and then so soon it is over and you need to be doing it all over again. The only drug sanctioned at this level, adrenaline!

BRONZE - Wiffin (GB)

I do my usual preparation for the IP and I go two seconds faster than last year, only 2/10th off my best but such is the competition I drop from last years 9th to 15th this. Can there really be that much competition? Last years Champion Scot Peter Ettles (Sandy Wallace) does not it into the top four! So does not qualify to ride for a medal. The winner is French Ex Pro Pascal Monthier from the Italian Luciano Pasquini but as last year Mark Wiffin manages to move up from fourth qualifier to take the Bronze from evergreen Italian Roberto Dardi

Next up the Scratch race, we have no rest this year, three events in three days, heats in the morning and finals in the evening. I have done three day training/racing sessions all though the season to prepare for this, What you cannot prepare for is the sheer psychical stress of it all. The Scratch race always the most nervy and fractious, heats are only 15 laps, not enough time to have a sort out, always skittish and dangerous. I'm in the second heat so watch the pattern of the first, whatever happens ours will always be different, It pays to pay attention, only twelve to go through. We have all three Argentinians in our heat, they always come to race, but they leave a trail in their wake, everybody need to be careful

Three to go in the Scratch - Argy Bargy on the inside

Our race is twitchy and fraught, just a continuous series of involuntary lurches as Ian Greenstreet (GB) tries to get things moving but there are too many good riders and you have to be confident you can sprint it out or pack up and go home. Coming up the final sprint I feel a rider try to push me to get out of the pack, I'm concentrating on my race and stay put. On the final lap there are three incidents that split the pack, I'm in front of the first as a rider (Argentinian) hits the deck, there is the sound of metal and carbon as well behind me then in the final banking a South African rider on the inside also comes a cropper, I have to swerve up the banking lifting myself over the incident I pull my foot out the cleat in the heat of the maneuver, I manage to hold onto the bike and cross the line in 11th place, a near thing for both crash and qualification, if there had not been so many incidents I'm sure others would have got past me and I would not have made it

Scratch Race

The final in the evening, we are the last race so 10pm, I always go into the Scratch race with an open mind, its not my preferred event and I don't think one rider can influence the outcome, you have to get your position right and keep your powder dry for the final strike as there is unlikely to be a chance for a second. Its been a good few years in our event since anybody has got away in the final during the race it all happens in the last five laps. Daniel Casper (USA) won the 45-49 yesterday with a well timed break with six to go, a perfect move after a tough race where the British riders made all the running but slipped up in the finale. Would I be so lucky? Our race is shorter 30 laps, they go past at a rapid rate,Ian Greenstreet has a go early on (again!) with the IP silver Pasquini and Dardi gets up to them but it all comes back together as last years silver medalist Blasczyk (Ger) and Toth (Can) get across. There is no more concerted attempts to get away and its lining up for a big sprint. I have kept well out of the way up the back watching the moves but with five to go I follow Toth up the inside (3:36:20) as I sense he will attack but the bunch comes down on us and we have to kick back hard. This effort takes me to the front, not the place I need to be but as my dad always said 'In the last five laps you just keep going forward until you hit the front' the back of the bunch is not where the race is.

Mike Rice - Bronze

As we enter three to go I am perfectly placed at the front, all the main players are there, the speed is high and the riders 'wall to wall' so going over the top not much of an option. Crossing the line I am in a dangerous squeeze with riders coming at me from above and below and I touch riders on both sides but manage to hold it and not hit the deck. I have to get out of my 'box' and in doing so loose my place at the top table but it was just too dangerous. As i extricate myself I see that it is an Argentinian rider coming up the inside on the Cote d' Azure (3:37:32) that has caused the squeeze in getting to the front up the inside, he goes on to follow Dardi's attack from two out with a lap to go and win the race by a long way (3:38:25) I come behind the inital scrum in 8th place but lost my place when it just got too risky with riders crowding the front caused by the mass of riders crowding the front.

Scratch race - Result

I go to make an official complaint to the judges about the 'Argy'  riding up on the blue, they say they are looking at the video, its outside the last lap so I don't hold out hope that they will find anything but they inform me it was this rider who 'manhandled' me in the morning heat (and got an official warning for it on the result!) The result stands Gustavo Faris (ARG) the winner from Geoff Baxter (AUS) and De Laune Michael Rice third closing fast but just mistimed his effort. Last years Champion Blasczyk has crashed on the final bend in the melee, He was foregoing the Points and had booked the track for an hour the next day (£750) to attack the Masters Hour Record so I guess that will be off!  I have to say its the most dangerous and perilous days racing I've ever been involved in. I feel a bit disconsolate with my effort and the fact that I backed off at the crucial time, all I can console myself with is that I survived to race in my favorite and best event tomorrow o7ò

50-54 Scratch Podium - Baxter (AUS) Faris (ARG) and Michael

A nice innovation this year the organisers (BC) had most of the racing put on the UCI YouTube channel), I have put links below and approx. times

Scratch race final video (from 3:28)

World Masters - Manchester Velodrome

2Km Pursuit - Result

By my own standards I did a poor 2Km Pursuit on the Tuesday, inexplicably going back nearly two seconds on the last two years and as a consequence only 12th place. This was tempered  fellow Brit (Scottish) Peter Ettles taking his first World title (he had multiple British and European) beating the milti-talented Italian and newly returned rider Mark Wiffin taking the Bronze in the fastest time of the competition just showing how important it is to get your best ride out in the qualifying heat as both Ettles and Dardi (fastest qualifier) both went slower in the Gold medal ride off - only Peter less slow giving him a well deserved top spot. Beter has been one of the outstanding track riders since I have come back to track racing and we have had some rare tussles over the years but he is head and shoulders a better pursuiter than I am and even though I had put in allot of effort to improve my technique my speed is sadly lacking. I hope that will change with the opening in the new year of the indoor velodrome at Derby thirty minutes up the M1 so with some track time I may still one day get on the podium in this discipline.

Pursuit Report - VeloUK

Dardi (It) Ettles and Wiffin

 The next day I had to defend my 10Km Scratch race title, it's not like I have to defend anything just be in the race and make my prescience felt. Heats are always tense but I was through OK without expending too much energy but with only twelve to go through and seven of the eight British qualifiers in my heat there was intense competition from the British camp and no joy as rider fought to stay safe but out of trouble as well, no good here if you mis time your effort or use too much energy too soon.

10Km Scratch -Flanked by the Bronze and Gold medallist (last years Silver in-between)

10Km Scratch Race - Result

The final in the evening a totally different affair, there was a consensus among the British riders with a third of the field in the 40 lap final that we would have to make the race fast as there were a number of excellent sprinter types who would easily win if it came to a mass finish. Peter Ettles and Steve Clayton made a break in the first lap (after getting caught up a little game of 'Bunch Bagatelle' first!) When they were eventually pulled back Courtney Rowe had another attack until the group out front got so large that it fell apart with lack of impetus. I weighed in shortly after to try my luck and keep the pace high, the bunch was pretty much lined out all the time and one of the US and an Italians pulled out and it began to fracture as the race reached half way. I was watching for an opportunity to break again but it never really arrived, the German Blasczyk stole my thunder and with 5 to go the Dane Hartkopp went after him. I think the British riders made for an excellent race and many in the commentator and the crowd enthused about the race after but we lacked a coherent end plan and played into the other strong riders hands as they had to do very little pace setting until the end. I was marking the fast French rider Vernet but with 3 to go I had to take up the chase as the leaders already in an unassailable lead, I trailed in 9th the French rider blasting past me with a lap to go thinking we were the front unaware that the medals were up the road. The Dane caught Blaczyk on the last lap, a very strong rider but both these new to our group and the Chile rider Droguette who has had some near misses in recent years the best of the rest. Just as you get rid of riders into the age above riders come in fresh from taking a pasting in the age group below where they are no longer competitive but still very good riders, with me mid way through my age group I was looking distinctly average where before I was a contender.

Scratch Race Report - VeloUK

It was turning into an intense few days as we had Points race heats the next morning, each year there seem to be more riders and heats in most age groups not necessary but another nerve jangling effort to get through to the evening final. I had points on the board early and as I won the third set there was an almighty crash with three riders going down, one of these my good friend and track 'buddy' Adrian putting a hole in his Io (expensive) and demolishing the top tube on his track bike (very expensive) making continuing impossible and that large hole in his wallet was accompanied by that on his hip, limbs and pride. The only upside (for us!) with one DNF was there was only the required riders left in the track so we did not have to race the rest of the way. The other heat complete without incident and ten British riders through we could hope for better this time.

British effort - Ian Greenstreet, Courtney Rowe ?(USA) and Ralph Carter

I had planned to take the race on early but as with much track racing plans change and you have to modify or in this case completely change your plans in order to just be in with a chance of a medal, a group went away early and while they did not get a lap they were mopping up all the points and only six sprints so after two of these I did a massive two laps on the front to pull it all back together, this had two outcomes, 1. i was 'blowing' and could do nothing for a few laps and 2. Not get in with the next move that did just the same as the first, parked itself up the road and made effectively neutralised the race. after a bit of skirmishing and after I'd recovered my composure (another two sprints) so I did another big turn on the front to pull it all back together, I now had less than twenty to go and nothing on the board. Annoying! I was in the same position last year but had done nothing in the race, as was my plan but here I needed to redeem myself as I had not made much impact on the race only pulled it back together Twice! I set off over the top with Pursuit winner Ettles on my wheel and we made a quarter lap, unfortunately Blaczyk was ahead and the Dane Hartkoop with us and refusing to work. Peter pipped me for second with 10 laps to go and we passed the German but our break looked doomed but with nothing to loose I set off again, on my own this time with seven to go

Points race - Result

I held it at half a lap but had to ease off for fear of having nothing at the end and lapping the field not an option now, and with three t go I wound it up to keep the baying bunch behind me to the line which I managed with a wheel to spare and take the final points. With no laps taken and only six sprints seven points could have got me a medal but I fell short by a point as the charging Dane took 2nd on the final and overtook me and the point I lost to Ettles now looking very costly. 'Close but no cigar' as they say, the same three riders in the medals as the Scratch race with the German and Dane swapping and Droguette the Bronze again. I was the top British rider making my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 4th (with 9th) in the last 3 years not looking so shabby but I've missed a medal this time o7ò



Scratch Race Report - VeloUK

Andreas Hartkoop - Michael Blaczyk - Miguel Droguette (Double medalists)

Bottom Gear Shocker!

I had a bit of a shock when I got in from my Saturday ride, a face contorted & fixed with staring eyes and a menacing grimace from my hall floor. No warning or explanation for which I have seen other magazines placed on the top shelf and in opaque bags! The face of a man only 15 yards from the finish line of a World Championships not a person i recognise

Was this really the month for the SWRC magazine to get all up to date and be posted out in a clear poly bag? It must have been a shock for all those poor posties who had to sort and handle it to the members doors So I put out a few less stressful pictures of the week when the SWRC got itself a World Champion o7ò

A solid 8th in the Pursuit (Pic Steve Walton)

Scratch Final (Pic Steve Walton)

The race is always ahead (Pic Steve Walton)

Canadian sandwich

Flowers, Medal & Jersey for Colin Parkinson o7ò

Podium is the place to be (with Ian Emmerson) o7ò

All smiles o7ò

Pushing to take the lap

Second place, second medal (Pic Steve Walton)

Silver - to go with my Bronze & Gold (Pic Steve Walton) o7ò

 Approaching the last lap in the Cossavella (Pic Steve Walton)

Lap it up!

So you get to bed at one O'clock and rise at six after the most momentous day of your racing career, thinking you have no more to add but I still have a point to prove.

Steve Clayton takes some points in one of the
ferocious sprints o7ò

The Points race is my favourite event and with the confirmation from my brother that he had never seen me win a race in the style of the night before. Phil had spent the last lap thinking I had blown my chance victory would slip by once more. Thanks brother! No heats in the morning so we could all slope off to get a bit more rest, Adrian was not riding, he was off after almost grabbing a World medal, with no racing for ten weeks and a chest implant and other undesirable interruptions to his season he had finally diagnose a heart fibrillation issue he has had since childhood. He has the satisfaction of heart surgery to come and the knowledge he will be back stronger next year

Going for broke in the break

The reality was that I got ten minutes lie down before the evening session and only ten minutes on the track Claire (Hands on Recovery) gave my legs a rub in her new occupation as a masseuse, the last time we met I was screaming down the A50 in the BDCA '100' "Go Claaaaaaaaaaaaire!"

It's ten O'clock at night before the twenty four riders take the starters gun, I have only one plan wait until the last third of the sixty lap race, ignore four of the six sprints and then go for broke and gain a lap. A lap gain is worth ten points and that might be enough to get me a medal, last year I had seven points the same as the third place rider, but he had gained a lap in the race. I figured after last night I would be marked out the race, so it was "Shit or Bust" (it's a plumbing term!) as my dad would say, I always go better at the end of the race. The first two sprints are red hot anyway, I just have to mark the breaks and make sure nothing gets away so I roll through a few times to make sure the speed does not slow.

Result!

Past the middle of the race, my legs are getting twitchy and I go for some points with twenty to go but I only place fourth and with a rider ahead I strike out, this is my time to go and it takes me two laps to find a lull in the pace to break from the pack and get up the 'road'. I catch two riders Gerry Cross (Manchester Whs) and Nigel Stephens (Finchley RC - Adrian's heart consultant, always good to know there's a doctor on board!) I know I cannot take a lap on my own so I pitch in with them, we do half laps but its a bit slow, I'm chomping at Gerry's heels every turn but i have to bide my time, we have a third of a lap and getting onto the next sprint. I lead out for a full lap and take the points, we almost have the bunch at a third of a lap and I begin to calculate can I get across the gap on my own before the end, the bunch will speed up with three to go and we will not bridge the lap so I have to go soon. But when?

Final Sprint - (Pic Steve Walton) o7ò

The bunch splits ahead and they draw away, I think I have to go, then it comes together and we are in the same straight, one more turn and we are on, five to go, I have my lap now I need to get up for the final sprint, my place may be down to how high up the finish I am so I head straight for the front just as the wind up for the final sprint begins, I have no time to gather my breath or thoughts at this stage its truly 'eyeballs out' Toth my lucky Canadian leads again (Damn! he's good) I come over the top, over Ettles the European Champion and I place second, a couple of riders up the track but I've done what I set out to do, I have absolutely no idea who has won, where I am placed?

My breakaway companion Dr Stephens
 Bronze and Silver for GB o7ò

As I circle the track brother Phil holds up two fingers, is it second? it is second! UNBELIEVABLE! Perfect tactics, from me and only last years Champion has beaten me, Stephane Le Beau the Canadian, he went for the lap just before me and mopped up the points ahead of me, he gained a lap on his own! And then attacked at the end to get second at the finish What a rider, What a Boy.

My position last year Gerry Cross 4th place o7ò

The Doctor has taken the Bronze by virtue of one more point on the penultimate sprint, Gerry is 4th he did a valiant ride but loses out this time. We are the only ones to take a lap, all other activity in the race is as if nothing, this race was won (not lost) in the last 20 laps, I think Le Beau had the same tactics as me but he can do it on his own, he is supreme in this respect.

The Podium - Parkinson with Le Beau (CAN) &
Dr Stevens (GB) o7ò

Stephane was second in the Individual Pursuit an event he won last year, he and I pass pleasantries at the podium, we both have a Gold and Silver (he went on to get Bronze in the team Pursuit) I'd like to think my 8th in the Individual trumps his 18th in the Scratch but I'm happy to share top billing in this age group with this superb athlete, even more so when he tells me he goes up unto the 55-59 age group next year.

Silver smile o7ò

The British riders have done well, two medals here and two in the Scratch (six in the top seven) We miss out in the Pursuit Ian's 4th one down on last year Adrian Dent (Team Terminator) holds our end up in the other events with Silver in both the 500m TT and the Sprint (Gold in the Team Sprint)

I was convinced to ride the Cossavella 10 mile race to finish the Championships on the Saturday, it was a super fast race with all the best riders from the week in every age group. I just tried to keep well up but at one third distance one of the Argentineans (of which there were a few!) made a somewhat sudden and unusual blocking manoeuvre while one of his team mates was away and brought one of the Americans down, unfortunately I could not avoid him coming down the track and he took my back wheel away, I was sent tumbling into the infield in a heap. I got up quickly and was back in the race in no time after straightening my bars and finished with the main bunch after leading out the winner John McClelland to the bell as there was a genera consensus that we did not mind who won so long as it was not an Argentinean! Job done! o7ò

All Photo's Larry Hickmott - VeloUK

VeloUK - Day 6

I had a Dream.............................

When you do a bit of sport, whether you do something with a passion or a passing interest, when you talk with your mates about what to ride or aim at. Do you ever dare to dream? Of course you do, but you might not share it with your friends for fear of what they might think, Failure? Cost? Humiliation? Delusions of grandeur even!

Two to Go  (Photo's Larry Hickmott - VeloUK) o7ò

I had a dream to win a World Championship on a bike, I had it from being a kid, I stopped dreaming it in my twenties and I only started again in my late forties, I'd got fit enough to race at a good level, raced on the road and in time trials, won a few medals, little dreams but what about the big dream I even talked about it with my pal Adrian, he loves the track, he's 'quick' and smart. "Let's ride the Track Nationals", 'The Masters'  we shared it together. I won a couple of medals (never Gold!) Adrian won a medal we were close but it was still a dream.

The bell- Peter Toth the defending Champion o7ò

When people say when you lose something "Why are they in the last place you look"?  Dreams are like that, they do not come true until the last moment, they remain lost, in terms of a race they remain unwon until you cross that line. As the finish hovers up into view approaching you at speed there is still time for you to wake up and then like crossing into another world, like stepping through a mirror, a reflection of your own life but one that exists with you as the Winner! , so when the line was getting closer and in all my other dreams when a rider comes past me and the reflection gone. At about ten thirty last Thursday night the line came up and passed under my wheels

The Finish - Parkinson wins World title, Adrian 4th o7ò

Sure I won a European Masters Gold! It was a nice feeling but like all dreams when you wake up you just want to slip back under the covers, enjoy the detachment, the warm cosy world of altered reality, the realness of winning in a real race is cold and harsh. Last year my best chance I went up an age group away from most of the riders who beat me year after year in the British title races. And even though I was the best Europe could offer I came up against others, Canada, Russian Australia and America, a bronze seemed like a brilliant success, I gave it my all and two! Canadians beat me in both races.

Parkinson celebration (Photo - Steve Walton) o7ò

Another year, another tilt, the Canadians are still there but so are all those Brits Aaah!, Second and fourth was all I could manage at the Nationals, consistent but not dominant, I can't even win a British title! How can I win a World Title? The Europeans are also in the UK this year, good practise but I need to focus and I put all my eggs in one basket, Its the Worlds or nothing, I train in isolation, I do not step on a track but I do believe. Belief is a hunger but it is also an itch, it's inside and outside you, all you can do is eat and train, drink and breath and rest.

The Pursuit is much the same as last year, I am so well rested but I am out of touch with the feeling of competition its hard to know if its good or bad, in the end I decide its nothing. Back at work months of preparation float in the air and I pace through it with purpose but like all big moments they start with small waves, ripples that you feel in the middle of the night, on your chest and at your finger tips. I go around at work cleaning the door handles, am I turning into Howard Hughes? I sit down when I brush my teeth, does it all adds up to a World Title? I've done it for years, a devotion to the line, my own genuflection to myself, the dogma of winning, strangely I do not consider I am not a natural winner, its not pathological with me, it's not a necessity and sometimes it does not feel right I have to make it a methodology, I feel unwell

Podium with Michel Lacouline (Can) Parkinson & Scotland's Ivor Reid (Clachnacddin) o7ò

My 'niggle' has developed into a sore throat and I wake up at six O'clock, Adrian and I are sharing a room in basic hotel near the track, I have lain awake most of the night, I have learnt to rest without sleeping, the days events will be the test, rest has no place there. We get on the track to warm up and wait for the heats to be drawn, both in the second heat, so we can watch and learn, only six to go out but the tension of the heats are worse than the final, some are paralysed but Adrian and I go through in the confusion as the American Tolson laps the field and the judges get the lap numbers wrong, but you have to be prepared for everything, Ian Greenstreet is out, the Pursuit taken more out of him, an Argentinian is relegated for riding on the Côte d'Azur letting in the Manchester rider Jerry Cross

The man and his 'Iron' o7ò

We line up for the final in the central pen, the Whip insists my steel bike is weighed, the scrutineer does not even put it on the scales, "No weigh it" I say "What does it weigh"? 1.5Kg over the 7.6Kg, most have spanners taped on or chain down the tubes, 400g the most I found. So were on the track 40 laps, its ten O'clock at night, the day like no other has lasted longer than my longest race but that is track racing, you eat and drink, you rest, you warm up and down, you shower and you eat again and you try not to dream, we go back to the hotel to rest away from the fuss of the track but you do not allow yourself to sleep because you know if you dream you might wake up and there is nothing here to be gained from that, not now at least

Parkinson Wins! The Result

Back at the track the race is fast, no chance to get away let alone gain a lap, I balance at the back of the bunch, observing the group, I trail riders up through the field, I follow Tolson and then Peter Toth (Can) he moves with such purpose like a shark in a shoal of smaller fish, he is defending Champion but I have two other Canadians to observe as well, you can only choose one so Toth is my man. Its ten to go, this is my zone, my time of the race, my throat is dry and 'claggy' the suspense is only held at bay by sheer excitement and panic. I trail riders up the track once more in one last effort to find my opportunity but there is none, I move to the back again high on the banking scrubbing off the speed as I climb higher and then in a split second Toth makes his move, I have to barge Ivor Reid off his wheel and chase him over the group, a split second decision to go over a stray rider as Toth goes under I almost come a cropper but it gives me the height I need to latch onto him

Phew! I'm exhausted o7ò

Toth is on the front from three laps out, he does not glance around or ease up, he does not waver in his intent, I admire his certainty he has taken the race on, the mark of a Champion, I have now been dealt my hand, this is not the way I would plan it but you have your cards and you have to play them. I was certain as I ever was to take the race on early, Toth had not faltered but hesitation would hand the advantage to others, there are plenty faster (quicker!) than me but Toth had handed me two aces, the front and the speed, with 300m to go I begin to pass and take the front, I have not looked over my shoulder (mistake?) I'm on the front with a lap to go and I play my own aces. The last lap is just as fast as I can make it, I'm still expecting a rider to come past, still expecting the dream to end, as I pass over the line, I have become a World Champion..........................o7ò