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)

Newport Weekender

I rushed down to Newport Thursday afternoon to see the much anticipated BC Time Trial Champs around Celtic Manor, by the time I got there it was raining and a walk up the steep (1:4) road to the resort/start/finish gave some indication of the task on the 13 mile course covered twice and the information that the hill up the other side to the 2011 Ryder Cup course was steeper!

Wiggins catches Bottrill for 2 minutes at 11 miles

There were quite a few non starters on the ramp but all the favourites were here Millar, Dowsett, Geraint, amateur Bottrill and of course Wiggins smarting from being left out of Team Sky's TdF team. Jayson Boutell (Velopro) set the early pace off No 2. 30:02 for the first lap and then Russell Hampton (Athlonsport)  the first man inside thirty minutes with 29:34, Team Raleigh Mark Christian 29:01 bettered that. The favorites came through as the rain hammered down Bottrill already caught for 2 minutes by 'Wiggo' who was storming came through in 28:51 Luke Rowe 28:34, Wiggins 26:29  a good 30 seconds clear of the Welshman 'G' 27:07 and final rider Dowsett 27:32. Millar had already packed by this time feeling unwell and picked off by 'G'

'Wiggomania'

In the final analysis Wiggins was too powerful for all the other contenders on a course not best suited to the bigger rider, Ex National Hill Climb Champion Matt Clinton (Mike Vaughan) said to me at the finish the hill was so steep that in the rain out the saddle his back wheel was slipping and in the saddle he was pulling a 'Wheely' up the climb. His time 53:56 was well ahead of 'G' and defending Champion Dowsett who was under the weather but put up a good defence

1 Bradley Wiggins Sky ProCycling 26:29 53:56
2 Geraint Thomas Sky ProCycling 27:07 55:04 @ 1:08
3 Alex Dowsett Movistar 27:32 55:17 @ 1:21
4 Luke Rowe Sky ProCycling 28:34 56:55 @ 2:59
5 James McLaughlin Guidon Chalettois 28:24 57:16 @ 3:20
6 Matt Bottrill www.drag2zero.com 28:51 58:03 @ 4:07
7 Mark Christian Team Raleigh 29:01 58:12 @ 4:16
8 Russell Hampton Athlon Sport – Cloud 9 Telecom 29:34 59:15 @ 5:19
9 Joe Perrett Team Raleigh 29:26 59:29 @ 5:33
10 Gruffudd Lewis Pedal Heaven-Colbornes 29:54 1:00:11 @ 6:15

Earlier in the day Emma Pooley (VC Norwich) won the women's event in 30:18 by nearly a minute fron Pearl Izumi pair of Kate Archibald and Dame Sarah Storey. In the Espoire event 18 year old Scott Davis (Madison) 27:45 (Only beaten by three of the Elite) he won by over a minute from Owen Doull (AN Post) and Dan McLay (Lotto) who had plenty of practice beating me in recent Tuesday evening 10's.

1 Emma Pooley VC Norwich 00:30:18
2 Katie Archibald Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International 00:30:57
3 Dame Sarah Storey Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International 00:31:09

1 Scott Davies Madison Genesis 00:27:45
2 Owain Doull An Post – Chain Reaction 00:28:09
3 Daniel Mclay Lotto-Belisol U23 00:28:44

Essentially I was here to ride the British Masters Track at Newport Velodrome, I had the Scratch race on the saturday afternoon, no heats and only a 30 lap final which plays into the sprinters hands so it was essential that the race was hard. Ralph Carter (London Dynamo) had a long solo break after 10 laps and we left him out there until Peter Ettles (Sandy Wallace) made the connection to him too dangerous to let go so I helped close the gap and we were all together with 10 to go.

At six to go Ian Greenstreet who had been very quite made a solo break and had fifty meters and the bunch was in a line about to break apart, there was a brief regrouping Ettles went after the leader and when local Courtney Rowe (Cardiff Jif) and father of  Sky pro Luke took up the charge for the line with two to go I was on Sprint winner Adrian Dent's (Team Terminator) wheel in forth in the bunch, thinking I had the perfect spot when without warning he swung out of the line unable to take the pace any longer, I was lucky not to come down and lost a few lengths which I only had just over a lap to close and by the time I got up to Courtney's wheel the race was over the line. Ettles the winner from Greenstreet and my racing pal Adrian Ward (Shaftsbury) Bronze coming around the tireing Welshman and I was 5th.

The next morning I had the Pursuit, I was still a bit 'shocked' from my first track race of the year (could have done with a heat!) my time 2:30.421 only good enough for 7th behind Ettles Mark Wiffen (Tavistock Whs) and defending Champion Greenstreet. Now Wiffen a man on the comeback trail had placed second in the Sprint on the Friday and was having a go at everything, I knew the name as an Ex Leicester  Zenith rider and a handy pursuiter in his day but the remarkable thing about his ride was that he did it on without Aero bars just took the spacers out to get a lower position, the 'Ride of the Weekend' for me.

50-54 PointsResult

In the afternoon we had the 15KM Points (60 laps - 6 sprints) race, always a favourit for me and a chance for me to use my stregnth as the race progressed and after a few hard races. I sat out the first couple of sprints which were terifically hard fought Carter and Ettles taking an early lead. Because there were only twelve entries our race had been combined with the 55-59 race making a round twenty and it was the Pursuit winner Graham Barclay (Team Leslie) from this age group that took a flyer away on his own, I went after him and settled until Ettles got up to me and we shared the points as another group of five making two groups on either side of the track. This group of eight eventually lapped the field but I missed out on the next set of points as a rider from the bunch was away so I had no option if I wanted a medal to go for the final sprint as I knew I did not have enough points from my sprints although I had twenty from gaining a lap.

50-54 Points Podium

So without hesitation and with nine laps left I attacked again, I'd attacked after every sprint to keep the break away so one more time and I made sure I had nobody with me for while its nice to have company it can complicate things when you just need to go flat out. Within three laps I was half a lap up and I saved a bit from then on as I knew gaining a lap was not possible and the finish would be tight, as It was I held out without trouble speeding up on the last lap to hold off a speeding Ettles and Carter who ahd taken the Silver and Gold, I held the Bronze on 'countback' over Steve Clayton (Litchfield) with the same points but by virtue of my better placing in the final sprint

During the lunch hour we had dashed out to see the BC Professional Road Race come through Celtic Manor after an hour of racing, Luke Rowe was off the front the bunch was already well split up and Geraint who had un-shipped his chain on the hill was chasing like mad (he did so for the rest of the race) o7ò

Bronze Boys

BC Time Trial Report

BC Road Race Report

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)

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

MASTERS TRACK

Points Podium - cdp, McCaw and Cross

Like last year these series of events at the Newport Velodrome (Felodrome for Welsh speakers) were my first target of the season so while its nice to have a bit of racing in recent weeks with no pressure on the results here no place to hide as the best in the country come together to race for the Masters Track Titles. It's promoted by London based Graham Bristow (Norwood Paragon) who I've known since my early racing days, Graham has a passion for the track cycling (and for motor pacing in particular) and promotes the Good Friday meeting as his father did before him. Its always good to see some old faces Dave Rowe (34 Nomads) back on the track after a nasty fall at the Worlds Masters last year that saw him with bad neck injury, even though he had only been able to get back on the track in the last month here he was to give it his best which in his case is usually pretty top notch, not bad for a rider approaching his seventieth birthday.
I'm with Adrian Ward on the Friday as he is in the Sprint but has to sit it out after an arrhythmic attack just before his ride, It's something he's had all his life and has learn ed to control but when he has an episode and his PR goes up over 220BPM then he just has to take it easy (lie down basically). So this gave me the opportunity to watch some racing I do not usually see, I'm giving a hand to Dubai based and Ex Phoenix (Kent) rider Martin Stephens, he is second fastest qualifier with high hopes of a medal but looses out to defending Champion Ralph Carter (London Dynamo) in the semis. Also in the semis Brad Thurrell one of the outstanding sprinters of my youth making a comeback, Adrian Dent (Terminator) wins it from Scot Ivor Reid (Clachnacuddin CC) and Carter third in a three up final!
Adrian has a 500m TT the next morning so while I go out on the road he prepares for that, The champion as last year and a repeat of the sprint but this time Stephens getting an excellent Silver and Reid third. The 10Km Scratch race has the biggest field of the weekend with all the sprinters and endurance riders up on the track, 24 in total and Ettles (Sandy Wallace) is off from the gun like he never finished the 500m! So even though we've warmed up legs go to jelly until its under control, Nigel Stephens (Finchley RT) takes a flyer and is away for over 20 laps on his own, it's a tremendous effort and at one point is about to lap the field but once the bunch takes on some momentum he is pulled back inside the last 10 laps and its building for a sprint finish, Ian Greenstreet (Newbery RC) strikes for home a long way out but is brought back and I get into position in the last kilometre on local rider Courtney Rowe (Cardiff Jif - Father of Sky Pro Luke Rowe) Ettles leads out fast and hard and although Courtney has won this before does not have the speed to come over him, myself likewise further up the track with even further to travel can only manage third. Until we come to a halt and find that Steve Clayton (Litchfield City) had sneaked away in the brief lull and taken the win so I have to be satisfied with 4th.

On the Sunday I have a double helping of racing Pursuit in the morning Points in the afternoon (evening as it happens!) It's only 2Km but the most pain that can be had on a bike, short of hill climbing and being hung drawn and quartered, William Wallace chose the latter over a spin around Meadowbank. There's no defending Champion so as the runner up I get the home straight final heat, No Pressure! I'm up against Carter, Greenstreet bangs out a time that would have won last year in the second heat so I ignore the remainder and try to focus. In the gate the twelve seconds count down and you are away, the rise itself does not feel good at all. Why would you practise these? I'm glad it's over soon enough, I could tell I was down at the bell but in the end my time only 1/10 sec slower than last year, only good enough for 6th this time though Greenstreet wins it from Ettles and Clayton. All these riders have come into my age category this year, my one year grace from these tyrants which proffered excellent results last year is over, I have a job on my hands to compete with these guys now!

Our 15Km (60 laps) Points race is early evening, it's a long weekend of preparation and recovery for 6 sprints, there are allot of potential outcomes for this race so you have to have a plan, mine is to be as aggressive from half way and test the riders who are all feeling a bit jaded. There are attacks for the first two sprints Phil Watkins  (34 Nomads) and Steve McCaw (Sandy Wallace) take these but It does make the pace hard so I get my chance early and I'm away, the Pursuit winner Greenstreet gets up to me and we share the work and I take the win at the next points (ian says he is being generous), McCaw makes a fantastic effort to make the half lap we have gained. With three of the strongest riders it's inevitable that we will lap the field and we do so before the next sprint. I now have to mark these two as my main rivals for the medals, I get 2 points in the next sprint and the others miss out, I know it must be close between McCaw the Veteran Hour Record Holder and myself, I can only go for the final sprint as final placings count where riders are equal on points. In the lull Clayton and Jerry Cross (Manchester Whs) gain a lap but it is so quick They gain no points and I am only paying attention to the others. Greenstreet and then McCaw slip off the front by 50 meters but I hold my position as I know it will all come together for the sprint and I need to be in the mix to be up for the points and as we wind it up the two are swamped, I am on Rowe's shoulder (again!) and cannot overtake but good enough for 3rd place and 2 Pt's. In the final count I miss out by a point to McCaw that early win put him in a commanding position, Greenstreet looses out for the Bronze by being too far back in the final sprint and with 4th place and one point going to the Manchester man.
I really enjoy the racing here and a bit of success makes it all the better, It's hard and aggressive racing with no quarter given (apart from Ian in the third sprint) but It does not feel crazy or dangerous as this group of riders I have been racing against for the past 5-6 years are all experienced and like to make the racing tough without making it desperate. Looking forward to the Europeans in September

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Big cat diary

WORLD MASTERS - Manchester - Scratch  Race

So to the Scratch race, we did have over thirty sign on for this, so with only 24 riders allowed on the track some would be unlucky, I kept my gear the same which in retrospect was a mistake, these guys may be over fifty but when they have to move themselves for a 'one time only deal' they sure get a shift on! Only 5Km (20 laps) to wait everything was going to plan following Poppelwell high up the track to keep out the bother down the bottom, fine at 30mph maybe even fine at 35mph but in a sprint for the line above the Madison line when you loose your wheel and I was in a drag race to the line, the Argentinian Zoric and Trevor Burke at the front under geared and at the back only myself to blame if I did not make the cut?

Line out - 10Km Scratch race

There were allot of black looks in the pen from Phil fellow competitor Adrian (Shaftsbury RC) who had just seen his own qualifying go up in smoke when ten riders in groups of two and three gained a lap leaving him short in 14th place. Umm Ah! long wait for the result (photo) 11th place phew! Get that gear put up now!

Peter Toth (CAN) - Double Gold (Pic - Steve Walton)

The final a completely different race of course, for some qualifying is the final a chance to say "I was there" but for those with more ambition a plan even, the final is an opportunity, a blank canvas something to be moulded (or played) a bike is the instrument, my 33 year old 'Roberts' with a pedigree in British and European races was ready to take me through that kaleidoscope of faith and fear that is the simple Scratch race, double the distance for a final we had just watched Dave Rowe WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Big cat diary  carried off on a 'gurney' in the 65-69 Points race the first man I ever saw win a bike race at Herne Hill in 1968 (I was six) the magic dust sprinkled that day made me a 'trackie' not a sprinter like Dave but the eternal loop,  Dave would be back broken neck or not!

Crossing the line third - Behind the Canadian

The preceding race the 45-49 was also 'broken race' (or at least split) four riders go from the gun and lap the field inside 5 laps, its all over (but for the four) a race with nowhere to go but around the boards the others will never finish, always a lap too short. Americans David Klipper is the Champion, Italian Luca Agostino Salvedeo the Silver and British rider David Brinton Bronze
So we take to the track, riders are twitchy, I cruise around on the wheels, this gear (96") feels big! It is big! too big for my weak leg! Get a grip! Nobody is getting the slightest chance to get away, this could be a problem for me as a big sprint finish not my forte, I watch the other riders make their play, the bunch toy with them like a big cat with a sweeping tail, dropping on them with sharp claws feeding out a bit of freedom and then pouncing and killing the move but not dead just wounded, save the kill until later until we've had our fun!

Faithful Roberts 'iron' gets me throug

This continues throughout the early laps of the race. The bunch elongates as the pressure goes on and I have to pay close attention but it's still 20 laps out, too far to make a break, suicidal! Manchester rider Jerry Cross has another attack, he's gone before and its a weak move, the bunch hardly take up the chase but I sense that there is an opportunity. Ten laps out its a long way but this race is going nowhere for me, I drop back a bit we are all high on the track, cats like to sit high up and observe their territory, comfortable and knowing. I have to make my move and now is the time, think too much and you will not do it. A clean break that is all I need and then for the bunch to hesitate, you can risk making a slower move, taking somebody with you, share the risk and the limelight but in the end its full power and nobody is getting my wheel, the bunch less likely to chase a solo.

Podium - It's nice!

Its eight to go on the line so I just wind it up and launch myself underneath, it's always all or nothing, the gear feels big almost as big as I used in the Pursuit, It's going to be my second pursuit of the week after all! My head is down and I just go as hard as I can, the next time I'm aware of anything I catch sight of the bunch on the other side of the track, Wah! I'm going to take a lap! The cat is asleep, I can do this, all sorts of things go through your head but the main one "I'm gonna be World Champion!"  Then the pain begins to build, from the bottom of your toes to your waste, this is going to be painful, Oh! yes there is a price to pay, nothing I can do, just keep going lap after lap 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 the pain is bad so you slow down thinking the pain will go away but surprise surprise it doesn't.  I am totally unaware of what else is happening, there is quite a bit of noise as the crowd get behind me willing me on, I feel their excitement, I'm in limbo

With a lap and a half to go a rider goes past Toth? In his distinctive silver helmet, bugger! No way I can get on his back wheel and then a half lap later another Le Beau? Where does that leave me? Bronze? I can still raise a sprint, I'm unaware of anybody else but when they come you do not feel it, now I am the prey and the talons are out. I cross the line still thinking I might be passed but I've kept a good pace to the end  Gerard O'Connell (AUS) who was with the Canadians comes a distant fourth unable to hold the speed of the other two who are in another league So my 'direct' attacking play for Gold yields a Bronze but I'll take that, my first step on the World podium and place up from yesterday I just went from too far out and let them back into it  but If i had delayed the opportunity would have gone. It's thin pickings for the Brits again Apperly in 10th, I'd like to think they did not chase but the Canadians working as a pair as good as they are almost unbeatable but at least I tried