Main Course - National '10'

Training bike 'Lloydy'

Traditionally the National 10 Mile Time trial is the first big event of the 'Testing' season but this year its at the tail end and on the fastest course in the country or a version of it, the powers that be decided for reasons of their own to turn it off the fast dual carriageway and do the last mile along a bumpy B road so that it can finish near the headquarters, this will entail riders to negotiate a slip road a turn and a roundabout (together) when coming to the end of their ride so should be interesting. My last four rides on the traditional version of this course 20:08, 20:07 last season 20:13 and 20:08 this season so while I am informed that I have not experienced it under 'Superfast' conditions (apparently) they have been consistently fast. Now when I saw the National was going to be the tail end of the season a month or so before the World Championships my major objective of the year I planned to target the event as the start of the build up to the main course.

Oldskool style (and time) 23:38 (Pic Taceys Photos)

By way of preparation I had a full Bank Holiday of riding, first the local Leicester Forest CC '10' on A46 Six Hills. and then the VTTA National '25' at Newmarket on the Sunday early! They had tried to run this earlier in the season and it was cancelled half way completed by one of those torrential rainstorms in June. I had not entered the original event, this was to be a complete re-run.

Winner - Matt Sinclair 19:46

I rode a single fixed in both events my steel 'David Lloyd' (Lloyd'y), a modest 92" on my training bike with 'non aero' as there was a Road bike prize and I did not want to stuff my legs, it was important to get two hard rides without overdoing it as this would be my first back to back racing of the season. The only race wheels I have for the Saturday are over 30 years old 28 spoke Campag SF, my best track wheels in the day, elliptical spokes and super-light Argent 10 rims (can you feel the nostalga?), the front tyre (a Clement No6) still shellacked on (Google it!) for that real Oldskool experience. Advanced in their day but would I be able to compete with geared riders on their carbon aero road biked and wheels (No Disc or Tri bars allowed)

'Bands' get an outing

I wanted to change the bars and stem to get a better racing position (on the drops!) but the stem stuck fast, I did a nice warm-up on the rollers and it felt great that gear spinning around at 110 RPM. The race however was another thing, strong cross-winds made it tough both ways on the DC section, some were having problems with their deep rims, not me on my 'skinny' Mavics. I was off number 50 so I knew I would be caught by David Mead (Hinckley CRC) who usually beats me by half a minute or so in the Tuesday evening 10's but without the aero aids he was on me at half distance. To be fair I struggled in the conditions and did not get into my riding even though I was not over-geared and even the fast last 3 miles was a struggle, my time 23:38 only good enough for half way down the 100 rider field but I did manage to get third on the Road bike event and got my entry back, so a result of sorts I don't think I could have bothered the winner Matt Sinclair (Lutterworth) 19:46 by a second from Brett Harwood (Terry Wright RC)


On the Sunday I rode my Pursuit/Fixed Time Trial bike an alloy Cervelo SL which is 'Super Lite'  it comes in only 80 grams over the UCI minimum weight for bikes and makes a lovely 'stiff' TT bike and this was the first time this year I've stepped the gear up to 106" (56 x 14). The conditions for the 6.30 start were not ideal (cold, windy and early!) at least I was off in the last half hour (125) and had time for a 10 mile warm up on the roads this time as the organisers did not want riders disturbing the locals with Turbo's or Roller's at this un-earthly hour.

VTTA 'NuSkool' (Pic Kimroy)

It was a bit of a struggle going out, I could see I was not handling the uphill sections on the bigger gear and then not able to take advantage of the downhill until the way back when I got into my stride and managed a 30mph last five mile split (9:47) But I'd lost too much over the rest of the ride my dad's maxim "You only ever loose time!" ringing in my ears, still 53:30 good enough for 10th overall but only 16th on VTTA Standard (+14:56) Defending Champion Rob Pears (Pro Cycling) went fastest 49:46 at only a year younger than my 25 years but could not match the 'Old Guys' and 6th on Std +18:18. Local 84 year old Eric Marsh (Cycles Uno) +22:11 was the winning plus (1:03:21) over a minute ahead of Scot Derek Stewart (Deeside Thistle) a mere youngster at 78 with 58:22 but Brian Sunter (Condor RC) 54:33 at 71 only good enough for third +20:03

These are the times you need to win at this level, Rob Pears would have to break Competition Record to win today, on a slower/harder course where he is on the roads longer and the 'Old Geezers' suffer more power loss than the younger man they are clear winners even though the Standards have been adjusted (from their 1943 original) in the past few years to allow the younger man to be more competitive as riders are better even though they are getting older.

So the National '10' is this Sunday and I'm off just before 2.00pm No 55 of the 150 man field (Juniors and Ladies at Alcester) so that means there are 95 riders faster than me at the present time (or the time of entering, rider No 2 did a 19:11 in the Swift Charity '10' on the Championship course last week!) so a place in the top 50 could be considered a good one. I would still like to break Roger Hammonds club record 19:49 but that would require half a mile per hour improvement in speed to shave off the twenty odd seconds (two a mile!) needed to go from my personnel best. I would like to be within two minutes of the winner, the last time I managed that of last man Michael Hutchinson was 2010 on the windiest day I have ever raced and that too was on the V718, he just scraped a 30mph ride with 19:57 and I did 21:34 so maybe I should wish for tough conditions but that would mean my ambition for the club record would go out the window and it seems like I have been trying to attain that for most of the ten years since I came back to racing

The march of time

If you look at my times over that time, there have been a few 'wobbles' but I have steadily got faster over the years, despite the encroaching age I still feel I can do it. Roger was a 21 year old recently crowned World Champion and had all the same aero advantages that we have today (aero bars, helmet and disc wheel) but had to negotiate the six roundabouts on the Rusper course (twice) to achieve the feat. I think he was studying at Brunel University when he was racing in the club, going over to Belgium to race in the summer months and I do remember him and Steve Gowar riding (& winning) the Divisional Road Race Championships around Lingfield in SWRC colours circa 1993. I however am also a newly crowned World Champion and when I saw him at the BC dinner where he was being invested into the 'Hall of Fame' I had a quite word with him and shook his hand hoping a bit of Hammond magic would rub off.  o7ò

Follow events unfold on the TT Forum

PM 25 (A11) + AM 50 (A1) x 102 = 169.5

VTTA '25' - Four-went-ways (All Pics - David Jones)

A double header that I did last year on the same two courses with pretty much the same results with the added plus that I rode a 'Fixed' in both evens and still in the first flush of racing so not near my racing fitness yet, with the British Masters track at the end of the month time is short to get thoes muscles prepared so a bit o' back to back racing the best solution to winkle out some of the dormant form that might be useful on the boards. I'd been doing some work in London so a stay over in NE London and a brief morning ride was all that I managed as a build up but its good to do things differently and preparation can't always be ideal so better to put yourself under a bit of discomfort in preparation so you can be prepared for all eventualities. I was one of the later starters in the VTTA Championship '25' I thought the wind of the past few days would blow itself out but not soon enough for the Saturday afternoon on the Newmarket bypass. I chose (54 x 14) 102" gear as I have decided to make every event a 'fixed' one (where possible) but there was no doubt it was going to be an uneven ride but nothing I can do about it as I've only got the one bike, sometimes you can have too much choice and live too much in the comfort zone

Perfect Day (with gilet) - Finsbury '50' (A1)

A fixed wheel is a lovely sensation for racing when you can get the momentum of your ride to carry you along from one section of the course to another like a demented hamster in a wheel but when faced with a full on head wind it becomes a bit of a grind just to survive, that unfortunately was what I was faced with on the outbound leg along the A14/11 DC course, I dare not look at my computer which found itself set on 3.1 miles so somewhat better than the previous week but even my addled brain could not work out the splits so all I can say was I was 30:36 to the 12.5m turn (24.50mph) so looking forward to some reward.
And lovely it was, 30mph all the way and my 85 RPM transformed into a 110 RPM rhapsody of sporting performance and syncopated perfection, well maybe not that exquisite but it felt pretty good to me, not enough time to recoup my losses but 55:56 (28th) a damn fine time for the conditions. Of course my time pales into the shade of my minute man Kevin Tye (Datateam Allstars!) who won the event with a staggering 49:54 he took 4 minutes out of me on the outward leg and 2 on the return (What a boy!) The main difference being that he actually won the Championship (on Standard) as well. Although defending champion 75 year old Derek Stewart (Deeside Thistle) was 2nd under the new 'Standards'  so with a good rage of ages represented in the top 10 it looks like the team that put the new tables together (Research + Calculus + Fibonacci) had done a creditable job
I bumped into Jonathon now in Epsom colours and allot of other riders wanting to know what I'd been up to and had I been training in Mexico and had weight loss surgery at the same time? A mystery to me as I'm exactly the same weight and it must be seeing me in civvy's that put them off and more than one person was heard to mention "Where were my 'baggy' shorts?" and with "Some onions I'd be mistaken for a Frenchman"

Finsbury '50' - Hard going up some of them slopes

Getting up at 4.30 for a race can be laced with fear and trepidation but when faced with such a beautiful morning, as I was on the next day, makes you forget that you have tired legs. The Finsbury is a long standing fixture of the racing season and a good field from these parts despite the National & VTTA '25' the day before, a spin on the rollers to ease the legs into race condition and I'm off up & down the A1 from Sandy in the South to Buckden in the North via the Black Cat roundabout. I took it steady over the first 10 miles easing up to jettison my gilet that I forgot to remove at the start, getting down to business I'd caught everybody in front of me just after the first 25m lap (56:36), I could have done with dropping my gear a couple of inches as I was pedalling just that little bit too slow (90 RPM) for me to feel comfortable but at least it was pretty even all the way around as the flags stayed asleep on their poles and the roads damp with the early dew hummed under my silky tyres. I could see quite a few riders going well but I just had to ride my race to its conclusion and I could feel twinges of cramp over the last 10 miles so I did not push too hard as I could feel the previous days efforts all over, a racing performance is total immersion and no part of the rider escapes inspection by the course
1:53:34 was a great time and dare I say it was easy, I always try my hardest but the conditions are a gift and when you get a perfect present of a morning it seems churlish not to be grateful for not having to wish your life away, so take it for what it is and be happy for those that got up at the ungodly hour and made the best of their reward. Lots of PB's and good times so I'm not fretting being down the result a bit. Steve Berry (Team Swift) wins it with 1:42:59

VTTA '25' Result Here

Finsbury '50'  Result Here

2. Form and Function

After the BH excess Fiona & I had a week in Devon visiting friends so this gave me the opportunity to ride the National Championship '25' at Holdsworthy in the SW, notorious for their non flat courses but this will live in the memory as the hardest for years, I've ridden 'Hilly' events on flatter and faster roads than these so my modest time & position reflected my unsuitability for this type of course.
The event itself was top class, the village of Holdsworthy just north of Dartmoor was closed to traffic, I should have taken note when somebody at work mentioned that he had started a hilly hiking weekend at the turn village of Hatherleigh. we had a tour style ramp in the main square to start from and a band in the background, no that I noticed I was too busy trying to stay focused on the event (and upright) as light rain began to fall.

After a perilous decent and left hand er the road (A3072) climbed past the finish and climbed and climbed, I had not done a recce of the course but my minute man James Coleman of the Witham Whs told me "Don't go mental on the first climb" it was good advice and if my PR was not on max already I might have thought about picking it up over the top but as it was I was still in the inner and dreaming that it be over and my holiday begun.


It leveled out a bit but James caught me at 7 miles at the bottom of another climb on his single 65 ring! By the top he was 20 seconds to the good and my moral as well as my speed was gone from the race, up to the high point where a tractor came un announced (and not stopping) out of a side road and I had to overtake it on a blind corner on the now wet roads.
I thought I would be Ok to the finish by a succession of seeded riders (I was in the last 25 after all) caught and passed me as I toiled on the way back now knowing what was in store. Michael Hutchinson was the slowest winner since 1987 in 53:36 despite unshipping his chain and loosing 30 seconds but Matt Botrill was only 36 seconds behind and youngster Andrew Griffiths (Orbea) a furthe 12 seconds back. Julia Shaw (Drag2zero) won the womens race in 59:20

I had a restful few days off only doing a couple of hill intervals as I find the roads down here too tiring for long rides so I may as well as make it hurt but keep it short

On returning I had the VTTA National Champ '25' the next week on the E2 (Newmarket bypass A14/11) Jonathon rode as well although unhappy with his 58:09 time complaining of a phlegm chest and not able to take advantage of the fast return after a drudge out to the Four went ways turn. He did a demon warm up on the turbo and I could hardly keep up as we rode together to the start, I think he put too much into the start. I was quite satisfied with my 53:49 with plenty left in the tank, I was saving a bit for the next morning as I had the Finsbury RC '50' on the A1 at Bedford a mere 12 hours later Kevin Tye (Allstars) was fastest 3 seconds inside 30 mph and Derek Stewart (Deeside) from North of the border the fastest on standard (VTTA Champion) with + 27:01, 57:59 at 74 years of age

Jon (Pic by Sarah Brooke)

Kevin Tye 49:57 (Pic by Sarah Brooke)

I was expecting rain (see Alan's Herts Audax - below) but the morning was sunny and importantly calm after weeks of blustery conditions, I started cautiously to 'ride in' my legs I could still feel the previous days race. The two lap event gives plenty of opportunity to observe your fellow riders as you need to pace your ride without getting caught up in racing the opposition, as the race progressed the wind got up but the traffic also began to flow which tends to cancel this out. I finished with a 1:52:52 after loosing a minute on the final 12 mile leg into the wind as my legs began to feel the pressure of back to back racing, not to worry an excellent time and good to feel solid in both rides.
Ian Cammish (Planet X) was fastest 1:44:46 after 51:29 the day before, I'd broken the club record in this event in 1982 doing 1:57:21 with a double wheel change at 22 miles (broken spokes) and a slow puncture for the last part of the race while Cammish had been the winner that day 1:45:14 also some things never change

Finsbury '50' on the A1 (David Jones)