Keeping on Track

Watching the racing at Newport

  
 A few weeks of racing dominated by the Track, I entered my first proper 'Open' meeting since 1984! At a track I'd never ridden on before, the Newcastle-under-Lyme track at Stoke. It was on of the National Hard Track League run throughout the season and although I had a series of 'B' I chose to do the Elite races with some of the top track riders in the country. A lovely outdoor track in a park with a good tarmac surface, the rain of the day before had cleared up. The meeting had quite a bit of sprinting (Senior won by Sean Mayer the son of an old friend (and adversary) from the past. There was Ladies and schools so plenty of time to recover between the races. I didn't show myself up too much in the 'warm-up' Scratch or Points races, not out first in the Devil (but suddenly ran out of puff!) It was the day after the National 50 so my legs ached like buggery anyway and it was all down to the 20Km Scratch finale. As I say legs were about shot so when six of the top riders set off up the road I sat tight in the bunch and bided my time for them to gain a lap while doing a few strong turns and then when it was all back together I was able to hang in and got 8th overall in the finish sprint.

Ceremonial Opening at newly re surfaced Halesowen

A couple of weeks later I had the British Masters Track at Newport, I did a dismal 2Km Pursuit (slowest ever!) for 9th but when you are in the company of the World Champion Peter Ettles (Sandy Wallace) then all performance is relative. And such is the competition here that even he could not retain his British title and pushed into second spot by World Bronze medalist Mark Wiffin (Tavistock Whs.) 'newby' to this age group but a rider with another World class time Johannes Roux (Giant) only taking the Bronze. After feeling great the day before in the 8Km Scratch final. I was here there and everywhere, up the road in a break of four most of the race but i could just not get it to stick as the others were unable or unwilling to make a real go of it (a bit of both I suspect) so as we finessed the finish I'd used most of my bullet's and ended up 7th with the same podium as last year Peter Ettles Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) and Adrian Ward (Shaftsbury). In the Points race I fared better but with the race reduced from 60 to 40 laps (& only 4 sprints) it became a 'sprinters' race and as I never get going until half way I was off the front chasing the eventual winner Ian Whittall (Manchester Whs) with Ettles an Greenstreet when the bell went for the end of the race. We were only 20 meters short of lapping the field (so 1/4 lap!) which would have seen us taking all three medals (10 Pts for gaining a lap) as I was I had to settle for 6th the Manchester rider winning (with 9 Pt's) from Ettles and 'newby' Michael Rice (De Laune) 3rd an old friend from Herne Hill (& Dunraven days) who got up in several of the early sprints

1982 Winner

I had another visit to my past this last weekend at (newly resurfaced) Halesowen Track for the Dudley GP another National Hard Track League meting . It rained all morning so the start delayed for a couple of hours and then an opening ceremony with the Mayor and all that jazz. I was a bit more confident here knowing a few more of the riders and having a few more races in my legs but I'd done a terrible (I thought) ride the last week in the Belper RC 25 (54:34) and set out to recover my TT legs by doing a few hard sessions in the week so my legs feeling a bit wobbly after 70m yesterday and track legs suspended until later in the year. I suppose I never worry that I will be able to 'turn on' my track legs, I've never been the super quick type so transition not all that difficult but having done some specific track sessions and a bit more racing has definitely had an effect on my 'testing' ability so I needed to reverse it If I want to put up some decent times

In the bunch with William Fotheringham

All the races were quite long 20 lap Scratch 32 lap Points and a Devil that went on forever (I went out after 12 or so) and with only a Ladies  and Schools Omnium to compliment it we were up and down every twenty minutes. It was tough going, the wind blew up making the home straight a bit of a graveyard and I'd left my 94" gear on from the indoor track making it even tougher. I was determined the the best riders would not get away from me this time and there were a few more endurance riders to take on the chasing and the wind discouraged riders from going out on the attack too much so all the races stayed together apart from the end of the Points when I attacked and got half a lap up by the finish, this with an early win gave me my highest place.

Alistair wins the Billy Jones '10'

William Fotheringham the Guardian journalist is a Halesowen A & CC member and races in my Masters age group but he has not been around recently claiming no time to race but he was sponsoring the final race and gave a good account of himself without walking off with any of his own money. At easter I started reading his Eddy Merckx book while staying at Adrian's, I did not know if I was going to get on with it but within a few chapters I was gripped, the only sad part I had to leave it behind half finished but not much time to read in the season so I'll put it on the list of things to catch up with along with the Sean Yates and Sean Kelly books that brother Phil just gave me (he needs to get out on his bike more!)

Podium Loney, Rutherford & Notley

 The final event was the Billy Jones '10' forty laps of the track in the company of some pretty fierce (and allot younger) competition. I was determined to stay with the leaders this time however hard the pace went and the race developed differently and I was able to hold the pack all the way to the finish. David Bradley (Vertex) helped by making a solo attack that lasted for the first half of the race but was destined not to succeed in the wind and he was pulled back and by this time in the race the contenders had decided to settle for a sprint finish so there was a bit of finessing before the final gallop and it was Alistair Rutherford (NAB) from James Notley (Mammoth) and long travelling young Scottish rider Zac Loney (LFH).

I had won this race in 1982 with a solo win when there were only four riders left on the track, three of these were SWRC riders as we decimated the mainly sprinting field with constant attacks one of my favorite memories of racing o7ò

Billy Jones '10'

Masters Track (Newport) Results

Midsummer TM Newcastle UL Results

Dudley GP - Halesowen Results

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

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

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - "It's showtime folks"

WORLD MASTERS - Manchester - 15Km Points Race

News of that once great cycling champions fall from grace, it was only getting worse by the day, all these allegations against Jimmy Saville were only tempered by the back pages full of the pantomime events that surround that once iconic charity fundraiser Lance Armstrong allegations that his great plate spinning act was finally falling down around his ears. With cycling so much in the news these days we thought for all the right reasons but apparently we were wrong! Rumours that Lance was thinking of making a comeback in the Masters abound but was otherwise engages on some pre-publicity event that may involve a lifetime ban or even a stretch in prison where I'm sure he will find all the drugs he needs (or wants) to be champion of his world.

Bunch racing at it's best 15Km Points Race 50-54

Lance Arm Strong his name is like a call to war, the definition of a fighter, and what a fight it has been, if only it had been a fair fight we might feel good about how we believed (wanted to believe) in a man who could take on the things that us mere mortals hope to avoid or at least beat with the help of others. A one man war machine against the world and its pain. Taking that pain for us? And now we find its all been a Hollywood plot with rickety scenery and bad acting, shocker!

Toth leads by two laps - still a bit to do for SWRC

Back to the racing, Day 2, for me or just plain Thursday for everybody else, not enough riders (26) sign on for heats so its everybody straight through to the final and no nasty heat for us Hooray! But I got to watch some of the best racing of the week in the 45-49 heats as riders lapped the field one after another clocking up the points (10pts. for a lap) in the highest scoring 40 lap race I'd ever seen and riders needed at least 10 points to qualify, and to think last year you only requires a single point, thank Lance I'm out of that group. Our final comes around soon enough that evening after a day watching the rain fall and fall. So its a bit of a warm up (I'd been on the track that morning) and with only 60 laps (six sprints) all to play for, I sit out the first sprint as only on 92" gear and its always 'mental' fast! Vincent Zoric (ARG) is fastest out the gate from Londoner (Hackney BC) Kier Apperley and the Vladimir Zyryanov from Siberia (bet they have a nice track!)

Round the outside

After this it gets a bit confusing but I think we are played the old one...two by defending champion Le Beau and his Canadian team mate Peter Toth who went away and gained a lap with Burke the British champion  but Burke pulled out soon after as did the American Don Langly who won the next sprint as I picked up my first points in second, the Russian third and another American David Gulick the single. While I was getting my breath back Toth went again! this time with the Russian and Ralph Carter (London Dynamo) who had beaten me in the British Champ's but he could not hold the pace  while the others gained a lap.

Ralph Carter (Dr) 5th (Pic - Steve Walton)

While I was floundering getting a single point on the scoreboard but the race was well stretched by this point and I thought I was nowhere, so many riders had gone away that I was out of the reckoning. I made a big effort for the final sprint and only lost out to Le Beau so I was surprised when I came off the track to be told I was 4th! With two of the strongest riders pulling out and the likes of Poppelwell and Christensen not scoring a single point, even though they were very animated in the race. To be fair all the medallists were all at least a lap up and I never even thought it was possible for me to go with any of the moves but it just goes to show that maybe I was not giving myself a chance its the closest I've come to a medal and now maybe I think I can win

The British riders do better in the 45-49 age group Nick Abraham and Nick Noble taking  the Silver and Bronze from that man Kenny Williams again!  But it's a dam close race with the result only decided on the final sprint after the Italian Enrico Grimaldi penalised two laps for a 'non mechanical' timeout when leading the race at half way.

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - ( War on drugs!)

WORLD MASTERS - Manchester - 2Km Pursuit

After a shorter season (started racing in June) than of late the World Masters my ultimate target for the year, It's been good to get a couple of Time Trial PB's under my belt in the past months to know that I have decent fitness but the track such a different discipline, Do I have the 'form' to win a World Title? It's my first year in the 50-54 age group so in theory my best chance to win but I have at least Trevor Burke (Finsbury RT) to contend with the triple British champion and fifty other riders from 14 nations to contend with. I've done a diet of Turbo and Interval work to compensate for not having any track time but to be honest I do not know where I am as my other racing seems to be suffering and I have no Power in my normal racing and put in a series of poor or lack lustre performances in the weeks coming up to the Championships.

Waiting for the off - 2Km Pursuit

This year the events I've entered Pursuit, 15Km Points race and 10Km scratch race compressed into three days so there will be no let up from the pressure that accompanies heats and finals, warming up, and diet over the programme of being prepared and focused to race. First up the 2Km Pursuit down a kilometre from last year and only eight laps of the velodrome, I was second to Burke in the Nationals with a 2:28 and I feel I can improve with more rounded fitness and Adrian's lent me his disc front wheel. I have put my gear up an inch as well to 55 x 14 (97") as I figure with the race over quicker I'm not going to run out of 'puff'

First Lap

I've had a niggardly hamstring these past few weeks so I have been limited in my starting practise, I can feel it after a couple of efforts so I have to be content with being stylistically efficient if not powerfully correct, I take Emma Trott as my model, she hardly ever seems to be putting an effort in when starting, just a serene look of composure when all i can feel is grunting and a gnashing of teeth! I have a bit of a scare on my warm up when my rim splits and explodes with a BANG! The riders and officials around me think its another starting pistol but the only upshot I have to use a tri spoke (and 6oz tyre!) for the rest of the week which gives my winter bike a 'sporty' look to go with the mudguards (well it is Manchester!) and rack.

Last Lap

Brother Phil is here to 'walk the line' and add support but mostly its down to the individual so I'm up on the starting gate against Gonzalez (COL) I've been up on the track with the 'disc' and there is a definite difference to a conventional wheel, the need to steer the bike now, it won't just go around the banking on its own like I'm used to. Out of the gate I crash a few foam blocks but 22.701 for the first lap and over half a second up on my opponent, it's difficult to know how the race went in retrospect as it was over so quickly At the kilometre I was 1:15:171 as opposed to a long 1:14 last year and giving the foam blocks a bit of a beating as I 'threepenny bit' my way around the banking's walloping one onto the sprinters line, I bet Rubiel over the other side was wondering what was going on and how I was staying in front of him. I ended with my usual flourish for 2:27.192 over five seconds up on the Colombian and the fastest to date. I had gone nearly a second and a half faster than earlier in the year and the next two heats provided nothing faster but I feel I need to be inside 2:25 to get in the last four to contest the medals
Burke also went over a second faster than his National time 2:23.066 it was only good enough for third fastest, Michael Popplewell (AUS) was fastest with 2:20.311 only marginally faster than Stephane Le Beau (CAN) 2:20.485. Clause Christiansen (DEN) was fourth 2:24.044. I could warm down knowing I would not have to ride again that evening but get ready for the next days Points race. In the ride off Burke took the Bronze with a similar time while the Dane went backwards the result of two recent crashes and not having the form to back up his morning effort. In the Gold and Silver ride there was a reversal with Le Beau going faster and the Australian so we had a Commonwealth 1-2-3 and I ended up in 8th place and second Brit once again.

Warm down (with Tim Mulrooney - USA)

While we were having our own ding dong battle I had to take note of what was happening to my old pals in the 45-49 group, I was billeted at the track next to the USA pen and got talking to last years champion Daniel Casper who was a bit worried about the riders coming up from below but was here to enjoy himself and enjoy the camaraderie and the racing as were most of us.  One of his countryman Kenny Williams was fresh into the group and making everybody a bit uncomfortable for returning from a 2 year drugs ban He proceeded to win this age group taking the wind out of the sails of many who might train a bit harder if they thought there was a level playing field for Masters like there is in the post Lance era (should that be Cera?) There was much muttering but little we can do but 'Play up! Play up! and Play the Game!' More Here

Results Here