Keep the Faith - Manchester Whs. '50' - Club Record ..........o7ò

With the Manchester Wheelers having their 130th Anniversary (Is that Carbon or Titanium?) they promote the last gasp 50 mile time trial for all those with an interest in the BBAR and those like myself  who think we can improve. The course only just in the Manchester district starts at Blythe Bridge on the Stoke end of the A50 like the Stone Whs event a couple of weeks ago but comes right down to Etwall in Derbyshire. The Tommy Barlow Memorial finishes up the feared 'Concrete Mountain' past the JCB factory at Rocester but has a lovely decent out and this autumnal day at the tail end of the season.

Club Record 1:45:56

I had been blown around on my Friday ride to work after a difficult week, I'd had a disappointing ride last weekend in the Bert Christian Memorial promoted by my own Notts & East Midlands VTTA on the A46 just South of Newark, I'd given myself an easy week and hope for a sprightly and encouraging ride with the World Masters only two weeks away but my time and more importantly my performance was brittle and lackluster in the windy conditions, my time was average but crucially I went back on most of the riders I performed well against in the Stone Whs and the BTTC the week before so I was plunged into a gloomy week of what ifs and maybes about my form and fitness, two weeks after the BDCA '100' I should be solid but I was up and down the gears unable to settle and in the end my frustratingly fragile ride started to eat away at my confidence. I have to kept the faith, no more fitness to gain no, from here on in it was all going to be about condition and self help, no trainer to turn to I just think about what I have been taught and what I have learned

For the Saturday I am blessed with a wonderful autumn day, I go out for an hour after breakfast, quit hard on my legs but Its the only warm up they will get, the start is fast and to hit this event too hard could mean I pay later when I need it in the last ten miles
There is a dusting of rain as I sit with my coffee and compose my thoughts, I'm one of the last so most of the other riders are out on their effort, now like the calm before the storm. I sit at the side of the road waiting my turn, a bus pulls into the lay by where we are starting from just thirty feet in front (it's not a bus stop!) Is this a sign? Am I to be blocked and baulked today? I start and get on with the race

My legs feel good, 19:27 for the first ten miles dropping to the dog leg to Rocester which is slower B roads and two new roundabouts and I get baulked a bit on a couple of these so 21:38 but once back on the A50 I'm still feeling good 20:23 and the far turn at 31 miles comes up with no problem. Shortly after Charles Taylor (South Pennine) the National '100' champion and my five minute man steamed past, I do not look at my splits in the race these days, too much information and it spoils the race if you are going badly so either he's going well or I'm having another dismal day (when I look at it later I'm over 29mph to this point) 21:51 and I still save a bit for the 'Mountain' looming in the distance, It's getting near dusk and the light makes the speed feel deceptive, always feels faster and all I have to do is not overdo it on the series of ramps that make up the last ten miles, each one increasingly harder and as you press your body for more as you reach your threshold for pain and lactic acid fills every sinew of your legs, at one point when the pain is the worst I glance down and see my speed at 20.5pmh! How can I be going so slow? It's not encouraging and my advantage is slipping away. As the end is near, going over the top is the worst though, as you try and pick up the pace again, you need to have a masochist streak, nobody to see or encourage you just you and your self inflicted suffering

With less than a mile to go Robert Hayes from the promoting club catches me for a minute, he must have been chasing me up the final drags using me as a target, he was only 10 seconds up at the far turn but has come back better, that's what catching a rider can do but once past me he slumps a bit and I am able to go past him and cross the line. 22:34 for the final split so I lost about a minute on that section over most of the return (the winner 20:07 So you can see where he gets the power down) 1:45:56 is a seventeen second beating of my previous best and always satisfying to go into another minute, from being a forty six man into a forty five man. Great feeling!
Charles Taylor has pounded back to 1:37:33  but he has been beaten by 'Scratch man'  Adam Topham (High Wycombe) 1:37:19 to seal the BBAR for the third year Richard Bideau (Pendle Forest) 1:39:34 surely the first rider to do +30mph in his first 10, 25 and 50
I'm happy with a PB and a club record for the ninth time in seven years on seven different courses o7ò


Manchester Whs. '50' - Tommy Barlow Memorial Result

Nottingham & East Midlands VTTA '25' - Bert Christian Memorial Result

Making a meal of it

It's been an interesting month, after my premature false start to the year I could tell I would need to reassess my physical condition and my fitness if I was to carry on racing and get something out of the season. I went to my doctor and had a series of blood tests to reject any medical reason for my breathing  problems as I had already diagnosed tiredness or over training syndrome but I hoped if I caught it early I could arrest my intermittent form.

I took a complete week off racing, a difficult decision when you know the opposition have started earlier and getting stronger by the week, I ride pretty much every day but I looked at it as taking a holiday for a week which I have done without my bike over the past couple of seasons. Doctors (& the internet) are undecided as to the best remedy for over training but we had a good chat about how it affects the body, like most athletes i recon I know myself pretty well but it's still difficult making a balanced prognosis and sticking to what is best as a remedy.  Rest is recommended although there is a debate as to how active that should be, like most situations it depends on the person and how deep the problem, I hoped I'd caught it early and it could be arrested with some restand then progressive recovery. I started with three days complete rest, difficult when you ride every day, then I I took the middle route and just did a couple of little rides but nothing stressful and did stretching every other day and had a full massage on the Saturday instead of a race. I'd decided to make good use of my time and do some DIY plumbing at the house which turned a bit stressful (as always!) and probably negated the good of the massage but a change as they say is as good as a rest, just try to avoid B & Q on a weekend
I then had a week to build up to the Bank Holiday but work was worse than normal so I just rode to work and did one midweek session on 81" fixed, not that impressive but riding a single speed always puts a smile on my face and that was good. I'd already entered a tough double for the BH weekend, as an appetiser the Manchester Whs '50' on the Sat and the main course the Anfield '100' on the Monday, in the past I have only ridden the Anfield as its my first long event of the year and requires special preparation as it can be hard on the Shropshire roads and the weather has been non too kind in the few times I've ridden it , I planned this a few months back before my dip in form to supplement my lack of hard racing,  the Saturday like most of May was very windy so I resolved to ride the shorter and if it went badly give the Anfield a miss

Moody hills in the Dee Valley

I tried not to put too much pressure on myself, no pre race ride only more stretching and with a downhill/downwind start no need for a warm up either I would feel my way back into racing. As an aperitif the outward leg was powerful stuff, I clocked 48mph down the A50 past the JCB factory at Doveridge and got to the turn just 10 seconds over 30mph, so much for the warm up! the h'ordeuvres would be 22 miles of suet pastry not a crisp vol au vent, now I cannot pretend that it was pretty or stylish and when the 'concrete mountain' arrested my speed below 15mph I did relent with the thought of what was to come two days later but I feel I did myself justice and there was no sign of the breathing difficulty I had a couple of weeks before. There were some super fast times despite the conditions, Julian Jenkinson (UTAG) ran out winner in 1:43:15 so god only knows what time he got to half way, I came back at a sedate 23.3mph to record 1:54:21 happy that I would survive the Anfield but just hope for less windy conditions

Telford's cast iron aquaduc

After another breezy de-stressing ride in the lanes around Oswestry on the Sunday past the 'clanging' stage ot Ozfest and a walk in the hills with my hosts Mick & Barbara almost blown off the tops, I also had a close look at Telfords Aquaduct  of 1790 but with my hands on the iron rail at 80 feet up above the River Dee. As it panned out Monday was calm as a millpond but the predicted rain was already falling as the first riders were set off on the Anfield '100' that has been run since 1889, the temperature at 8 degrees was more worrying and I should have put on proper overshoes but I went for the pretty (and ineffective) covers

The first two hours were not too bad completed in under two hours, my saddle came loose at 40 miles and I had to stop to fix it after riding for several miles with it clenched between my buttocks not daring to get out the saddle, this would not have been so bad if I had not needed to re fix the saddle an inch further forward than usual compounded by my bars coming loose as well on the rough wet roads where you could not see a good line to ride. So after 3 or 4 minutes with my saddle forward and bars tipped up I continued which gave me a somewhat cramped position for the rest of the race. As the second half progressed and my ability to generate enough power to ride and keep warm I began to suffer mainly with the cold and my final ten miles I was the slowest. Back at the HQ riders were close to hypothermia white and shivering and some were to be out for over five hours, the winner Andy Bason still felt the cold but only needed 3:41:07 for a new course record as the expected challenge from Andy Wilkinson fizzled out at 65 miles and he climbed off with a bad back and the cold.

New compact position - photographs © Simon J Evans

My final time 4:11:14 with 4 minutes delay was not too bad, good enough for 6th on the day I was pleased with the way I performed and more than pleased with my two events, several who rode on the Sat packed but I felt pretty solid and my decision not to go all out in the '50' paid off. I could plan my next few weeks training and racing with a bit more certainty although my fragile fitness would need to be nursed along until I felt more robust. Back in the Doctors on Tuesday morning I was candid as to the type of rest I'd taken over the holiday weekend but he gave me a clean bill of health and the Nurse syringed one of my ears although I thought I'd had enough of that yesterday.