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

CLUB RECORD (1:47:40) - 'Fixed wheel fever'

Shaftsbury '50'  - Always out the saddle (Pic Dave Jones)

I had a double header at the weekend in the East of the country, the first challenge the Shaftsbury CC '50' on the Newmarket bypass (A14-A11)and around, a quality field assembled and looking like perfect conditions, light wind and the first heat of the summer. I was off early and I too almost missed my start but made it with a minute to spare once again on my 56 x 14 (106") fixed, Fiona was out to help and popped up all over the course but I was pretty focused and did the ride unaided on a single bottle and one gel at half distance. Taking things a bit easy this year I had no anticipation of breaking any records so It was as much a surprise to me that I took 12 seconds off my own personnel best (& a club record) for the seventh time in 5 years, I don't know the last senior rider to break a club record on a fixed but probably in the 50's when it was the only option. My friend Mick Ward the last rider to win a Championship on a fixed (Obree excepted) in the late 50's (on an 88" or possibly a 90") then along came gears and the 'Roadmen' took over Hoban, Woodburn and Simpson, the old ways were left behind

My dad was keen on us riding fixed and we used to as Schoolboys and Juniors, Steve Gowar broke the Junior '10' record on 88" in 1979. On the national stage Chris Boardman used fixed to great effect breaking the '25' record on 110" in his preparation for the hour record and of course Graham Obree broke all his records on a fixed but even that was surpassed on this day by Scott Povey (drag2zero) who managed 1:38:54 on 112" gear and he was only 3rd! the winner with the second fastest '50' of all time Andy Wilkinson (Port Sunlight Whs) 1:36:31 from Adam Topham (High Wycombe) 1:38:05. Team PedalRevoloution Mr's Bason/Bowdler and Arnold beat comp record for a team to add to their record in the '100'. 'Wilco' using his customary 'Mountain bike' frame with triple but he told me he borrowed a 56 chainring for the occasion - first time he ever used one

First Club Record on a fixed for over 30 years

I'd taken it easy at the start only 11:01 for the first 5 miles but a string of near 30mph splits (10:19/10:10/10:24/) and with the bone jarring turn now resurfaced my slowest split of 11:11 put me at 53:04 for half distance. It was harder on the way back but with me barely outside 11 minutes for the remainder and a 10:41 final I thought I would be outside the record but to my supprise my computer was in error and the time keepers chequered board came along at 49.5 miles so I was inside, I could hardley believe it

On the Sunday there was a 50th anniversary invitation event on the A1 promoted by the Verulam CC, I of course was in the accompanying event not studded with current and past stars so while I could not hope to compete withTeam Sky's Alex Dowsett I could at least say I raced against him. 

On the Sunday morning I wasn't rudely awakened by my alarm so when I took a look at 6.45 I was already an hour late and only an hour until I was due in front of the timekeeper, not helped by going to the wrong HQ and the right HQ being a couple of miles further from the start than anticipated. For my shame I had to pass a rider (sorry No 59!) who was racing on my way to the start but I made it nonetheless albeit unprepared and in no state to race.
The A1 at Bedford is made for a fixed wheel and on a summer morning with light wind should be a joy, my legs beg to differ, with less miles (and fitness) in them their ability to make an effort two days running is suspect and after a supreme effort the day before they were not willing to double up on their pain,
Yes that gear felt OK yesterday but today it felt immense and unwieldy

Now recovered from his injury earlier in the season but still not on form enough to get in the Olympic team Dowsett ran out the winner of the invitation by a whopping 2 minutes 47:31 to Matt Bottril's (drag2zero) creditable 49:33 with Andy Wilkinson just under another two 51:17. The supporting event won by Lee Turner (La Fuega) myself ringing up 14th with 57:04

  Verulam '25' - Out the saddle again (Pic Dave Jones)

Shaftsbury Resuly Here 

Verulam CC Result Here

Verulam Invitation Here 

Last Hurrah!

It's a month since the BDCA and I had two weeks anxious wait to see if I could improve my '50' time, In the intervening week I began preparation for the end of the season as I have the World Masters Track at Manchester (Oct 10-15) I will be riding the 3Km Pursuit (Mon) the 20Km Points race (Wed) and the Scratch race (Thurs). I train and race quite a bit on a fixed wheel during the season to keep my hand in but I have been inspired to do a bit more in the longer distances as one or two of the other top Testers have been getting good results most noticeably Scott Povey who has been going better this season than ever, the second fastest '50' of the year 1:40:08 and even broke into the BBAR in 6th place, he didn't ride the 12 Hour on a fixed but I would not put it past him in the future

Scott Povey (Pic Andrew Kiss)

I'd entered the Echelon '10' on what I thought was the National course from 2010 and what I thought would be a good 'fixed' course and put a conservative 106" gear on (56 x 14) I usually use 93" or 96" for my evening 10's but on a much slower course and I manage 100RPM for a short 22 most weeks. Here I thought was a chance to let loose and get a bit more power on the go. When I turned up I realised it was a different course with the first 4 miles on 'lumpy' B roads into a stiff headwind so I put the gear down to 100" and after a good warm up on the rollers was left freezing at the start as i miscalculated the 4 mile ride to the start which was only about 2 miles and reached allot quicker on a 100" gear! Needless to say the first part was deeply unpleasant and at one point I was going uphill at what seemed like a ridiculous cadence to be racing a fixed and everything I hate about riders who tell me they only have 120" gear on today "And I was twiddling my N*** off!"
The first 5 miles was looking like a disaster at 11:36 and I would have been better on gears as I turned onto the A46 at Salford Priors and got a bit of a tailwind, coming home was all that riding a fixed should be, I'm not saying I would not have gone faster on gears but so enjoyable as I sped along the gear dragging me up the inclines and encouraging me to put in some nifty footwork on the downhill. I finished with 21:21 so 9:45 for the second split for 5th place behind Jon Simpkins (Drag2Zero) 19:59 and that gear cost me dear as I was only a couple of seconds off 3rd as they were tied on 21:20

Came up short in the Sever RC 50 (Pic Andrew Kiss)

in the Severn RC event on the A419 between Cricklade and Cirencester, I only needed 32 seconds to make the top 12in the BBAR which may seem little to ask but as I'd already broken my PB in the season a might taller than I was able to reach in the end of. I came up a couple of minutes short of my target with a 1:49:40 which was still a good ride (7th) behind the flying Scott Povey (i-ride) 1:43:12 and Jeff Jones the BBAR elect 2nd this time 13 seconds behind. The course is exactly two laps of the same roads so my 55:09/54:31 splits was a good effort on a chilly morning with the odd splash of rain from the passing showers that plagued the late season, I missed riding the Stone Whs. '25' on the Sat to give this event me every chance of doing what I needed to do but despite a valiant effort it was not to be and I will have to settle with what I have.
The next day we were off to France for two weeks holiday and the Masters the week after I get back so it was into the car with turbo and bike and one on the back for good measure, I had a couple of days off cramped up in the car as rest bite but when we got to St Astier (Nr. Duras) an hour east of Bordeaux we were greeted with blue skies and balmy temperatures, I hear it was spectacular here as well but the blessing for me was NO WIND or only a moderate amount so I could do a decent amount of speed work on the road without knackering myself to go with the Turbo clatter and French roads Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Smooth I just want to get off and lick them!

To be honest the heat was almost too much for the turbo even though I kept it to the evening and outside the sweat was pouring off me and one time I did it in the rain until the water made my my power meter fail and I was still like I'd been swimming so it was 20 minutes in a cold shower to cool down or sweat all evening and leave a damp patch on the sofa. I just did 30 miles every morning and 45 minutes on the turbo in the evening and that was enough, a couple of rest days