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

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Manchester

10Km SCRATCH

Adrian had made it back up to Manchester to catch the Points race final and I think the competition was making him distinctly nervous as its a long way to come to do a 5Km heat, he was right to be wary, after the heats of the Points race I was beginning to doubt my own motivation for doing this sort of thing, you sort of just get carried away with it. I know its a World title and that would be nice, but the cost  difficult to square with what goes on in the middle of a bunch at 35mph and what you are prepared to risk in a 'comfy' mid life, we are not young and a race can be an unforgiving place, but none so hard as the ground beneath our feet, and that is where we are heading if we slip up or take one risk too many, there is always somebody else to blame but ultimately we have to take the decision to get up on the track

Having said that, it's a beautiful place to be, I have likened racing on the track to "The closest thing to flying", and none so free as on a Scratch race with its destiny a headlong rush to the finish line, complete freedom to move in space, the banking gives the sensation of being unhindered by gravity and in a bunch at speed we wheel and swoop like a flock of starlings under the artificial light and in the dry air of the stadium at once freedom and speed. A heady combination with adrenalin and competition track racing has been my drug of choice and here I am still chasing it. At this level the highest level I have tried I can sense that feeling I had in a previous life on the boards at Leicester, the cold air of a summer evening rushing past your face at 35mph in the 20Km final, a dryness in the throat, always the most amazing rush, preceded by a game of 'Jenga' with bike and rider tessellate to the width of the track and try not to fall that is the simplicity of the Scratch race, one dash for the line

The stress of the heats

To get to the final we have to compete in a  20 lap heat and the first twelve go through, heats are the devils work, they get under your skin and make you sweat, you cannot take risks, and yet you must to get up into position, there is no moving up in the final lap, you have to position yourself with a kilometer to go and then hold that. The race continues going on around and fend off the opposition and then push for the line in a maddening rush, no tactics just hold your position and hold your nerve. I have been in heats where only six riders go through so maybe I'm not so stressed as some of the others but I'm still a bit shaky even if I don't show it

Adrian and I are in the first heat and I am getting to know the opposition, the race does not take long to unwind and we are in the final sprint already, I position myself on the outside where I can move , It's further and you catch the wind so its tougher, the big South African Michael Bevan goes past with somebody on his wheel (Gomez?) I just have to stay upright, on the final bend I sense a rider at my elbow and I have to use it to keep them at bay as I close up on David Klipper (USA) who in turn is shouting at Adrian not to move up the track (& not in a calm way!) I push up as near as I dare without contacting the fence at the top of the track over the line and then kick back as hard as possible and my bike shakes in an impossible speed wobble as I try to take off some of the speed before we hit the banking, and the banking hits me. There is no incident just a blanket finish and its tight for places, it did not help matters that Greenstreet who had been on the attack was being swallowed by the bunch in the final 100 metres but he too makes it as do myself and Adrian in 5th and 9th. A rider informs me he could smell rubber when I kicked back on the line but it was too close to call and at that point you can hardly call your mother and tell her to "Get me out of here!" and I still see track riders with no lock ring on their sprocket in races, madness!



The second heat more of a 'dragstrip' affair with Steve Clayton (GBR) lining the bunch out with 3 laps to go and making the pace so high that nobody can move up (how nice of him) so the bunch goes over the finish in a long  line. With 11 British riders in the final maybe something good will come as the home nation not having a great Championship in our age group (but better in others).

Waiting for the 10Km final

The final can be approached in a more relaxed fashion, you are in the final so the pressure is subtly different, for some riders getting in the final is there final and they are happy to ride it with no pressure and no expectation, but if you want to do a good ride then you need a strategy that suits your ability and your expectations, there needs to be a bit of pressure. The 40 lap final is a strange affair, Gomez is determined for a solo attack as he sits up in a group of four that get away early on and then when he gets away he stays away for 25 laps! The Argentinian has over half a lap at one point but the bunch goes into stasis and we lap after lap after lap and nobody attacks at all just a steady pace almost like a neutralised race. With less than 10 to go we are pulling him back, there is a bit of bumping and boring as riders jockey for position Adrian goes down on his own in the middle of the banking under pressure from Thomas Kapuste (GER) and hits the blue inner as we all move away, I have been trailing Ettles through the bunch for a few laps and approach the front, I go up to the top of the track and with 5 to go attack, Plan A is the only plan for me, it would be good for me to have somebody on my wheel but I do not have time to wait and its as fast and as far as my legs will take me to the line is all I'm interested in

It's tougher than you think

I pass under Adrian getting back into the race and over Gomez as his magnificent effort comes to a close and I just put my head down, for this (Plan A) to succeed you need the bunch to hesitate and it does for a moment and I get a quarter lap but the Germans have other ideas and Blasczyk goes to the front and in a blatant lead out for his team mate Kaspuste, he drags the bunch up to me on the bell lap and I am swamped by a mass of riders and I know my race is done. Kaspuste wins it from Paul Whatsmouth (GBR) so at least one of the British riders got up there and Colombian Jaime Cardona in third. As I circle the track to cross the line Blasczyk is next to me Whooping & cheering, sometimes the German aptitude for winning is justified but here in a non team race it is a bit hard to take, not blatant but just annoying. Plan A is an all or nothing strategy, it's rarely successful but it does give you a chance and in a world final that chance is just too juicy not to take, with Adrian in the bunch (a better finisher than me) but you just have to stick with it and say you took part and carried out what you planned , the result shows a different story. Adrian was up and back in the race but all at sixes & sevens so did not have a chance to get himself into position for the sprint, he has taken skin off all over as he tumbled to a standstill but he will mend, the damage to a pair of Mavic wheels more difficult to bounce back from.


Report & Result 

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Manchester

20Km POINTS RACE

I had a day off on Tuesday and went out for a ride to the top of Snake Pass the entry into the Derbyshire Peak District from the red brick of Manchester, It was a miserable day, proper Manchester weather steady rain and wind but I needed to be outside as the claustrophobia of the track seemed to be heightened by the Pursuit dicipline a very intense effort with an insular focus. With that now gone I could concentrate on the Points and Scratch race, more racing effort and more my thing. The weather was worse at the top of the pass, driving rain and misty low cloud, I was determined to get to the top but immediately turned around to come home as I was getting cold as well, the 30mph decent was blinding but I warmed up once down and the rain receded to a drizzle by the time I was back in my hotel.

Madchester

Two heats with 25 riders and twelve to qualify, only four sprints in a 10Km (40 lap) race that would test the nerves as well as the skills of the riders, I was in the second so I could watch the first and it was completely different styles of raceing. In the first five riders in two groups including the British champion Tony Nash gained a lap mopping up the sprint points as they went, leaving few for the bunch to sprint for. My heat was more closely contested 'sprinters' race and I knew a single point would probably be enough but If I could get two that would make sure. I broke the habit of a lifetime and went for the first sprint and came up 5th which left me short of breath and on the back foot for the second sprint. With only two sprints to score I knew I needed to make it so hard that nobody would come past me and I chased down Peter Ettles (GBR) but could not pass him but I got my three points and all I had to do was make sure I was well up in the final gallop to ensure there was no problems. At this stage quite a few riders not scored so a bit of desperation set in and the last couple of laps like a scratch race and on the bell a mass of barging and elbows making it dangerous so I was on the outside. All four riders on my inside came down in a tangle of frames and bodies, I heard a pair of forks break as I missed a riders head with my wheel as they squirmed up and then down the banking. I was still placed 8th in the finish and 7th overall so comfortable in the end but a near miss on the way, The only rider to miss out Stephen McNally (IRL) who had points but unable to contest the final due to his injuries, the other three walking wounded with no points

We had a few hours to kill before the final at the end of the evening session, brother Phil had come up from London to be my helper for a few days, I think I saw him blanch at the crash and the rider on the floor for quite a while until he could be moved, he had broken his collar bone falling the long way down the track and in the next heat for another age group there was another crash which delayed the rerun until the evening as the session was brought to a halt to let the place calm down. Crashing is part of track racing, the riders and the officials were already getting a feel for the quality of the riding and with such a variety of events and riders, it can all get a bit heated rather than dangerous but you still need to be able to impose yourself and adapt to the style of the racing. Some of the whips were shaking their heads at the maneuvers in the bunches but as a rider you just do not have time to think too much if a rider is too close stick an elbow out and if another does not hold their line then shout, there were 25 nationalities at these Championships but I don't think there was any misunderstanding in the racing, it was full on and committed and you just have to deal with it.

Preparation for Points Race

The final was over 80 laps so more time for the race to develop but judging by the pursuit times allot of very evenly matched and powerful riders and all of the 24 riders has a different strategy to suit their style of riding. I can sit out the first couple of sprints and let the race settle as I plan to make a break to get my points as I'm better from a small group, Michael Blasczyk (GER) took the first 5 Pt's. and Gerardo Gomez (ARG) the second and Kerry Harford (NZL) the third, five points is a big score when things are so tight and the 3-2-1 for the other places looks paultry for the effort required in a mass sprint. No rider had scored twice apart from Thomas Kapuste (GER) who has a 3+1+1 Pt's. so when he scored a single again in the forth won by Ettles (GBR) from Blasczyk and Harford there were allot of riders in contention and plenty of riders with nothing, including me! I had tried to get up in the sprint but 5th the best I could manage, several riders had already tried to get away but the pace was too high and there were too many willing to chase you down but I had to try and so I took my chance in the lull after the forth sprint

Tight scoreboard (three sprints to go)

In this style of race you hope that somebody will come with your attack in a race too fast to suvive on your own, so best not to make your attack too much of a surprise or too hard, a gentle drift over the top is better than a thunderbolt underneath like enticing a fish with some 'tickling' it will only work if you have somebody to work with and after a lap or two on my own Ian Greenstreet (GBR) is up with me but trailing Blasczyk and we settle down and change every half lap, no need to knacker yourself when you have a sprint coming up. We three only have a few laps before the sprint which fall kindly for Greenstreet on the bell so I have to out sprint him and hold off the German for the win and my first points. Blasczyk responds by attacking us a lap later I know we are doomed if we do not work together, it's too late, confusion in the break and the bunch hunt you down and we are swamped by the melee.

I sense that the German duo are working as a team with Kapuste taking the next sprint while I get my breath back and the bunch is getting elongated more and more at every sprint but the pace is still too hot for my sprinting and I can only manage another 5th in the next sprint won by Harford with Kapuste another 2 Pt's putting him in the lead by one point from the New Zealander, Blasczyk on 10 Pt's and Ettles 8 Pt's Gomez 6 Pt's and myself in 6th place

That was tough! (Photo's by PDP)

With the penultimate sprint gone but the bunch in a long line I have no option but to attack again, this time the Pursuit winner Daniel Casper (USA) and Gomez but the Argentinian will not work with the American and keeps swinging up the track, I think he feels he does not have to work but it is not helpng my cause and I have to attack to try and rid myself of them as we have a third of a lap and the bunch in dissaray, I do not have enough in my legs for a third attack after he swings up again with no intention of working. We eventually are absorbed in the bunch and the final gallop is upon us, of all the cheek Gomez gets up and wins it and celebrates like its a scratch race, Blasczyk is second so on the same points as his team mate so its a German 1-2 and Blasczyk takes it by virtue of a better placing in the final sprint, Harford takes the Bronze a point infront of the now sombre Argentinian who thought it was his in a very close race  and picks up a warning from the judges for "Entering the sprinters lane when there is already somebody there" ie Dangerous riding and suffers a deduction of points in the relavent sprint(s) I'm 7th (and 2nd British rider) in a final only four scored from the nine that contested the final a pretty poor showing.

Report & Result

WORLD MASTERS TRACK - Manchester

3Km PURSUIT (45-49)

I've never been great at the Pursuit so this time as it's my last opportunity to do the 3Km distance as next year I go up into the 50-54 age group and its only 2Km so I've been doing a bit of preparation, as well as building myself a starting gate to practice getting going I also did a dozen max HR sessions on the turbo and threshold at 115-120 RPM to simulate the race in the two weeks prior. As the event is on the first day of the Championships and I have a rest day before the distance races get going I can give it an all out effort and try and break the 3:40 barrier, I figure a 3:36 good enough to get into the top 4 and the ride off for Gold, Silver and Bronze but the world record a blistering 3:21 to the American Ken Bostick faster than all the worlds best down to 35 years.
Sure enough two days before the Pursuit I wake to feel a bit under the weather, I stay in all day and fore go my final turbo session but feel a little better on the Sunday so on my way up to Manchester with a carload I stop off to watch the Jonny Helms 2 Up at Congleton, Lots of champions past and present in an end of season event more of a social than a race but the day is a bit wet but fun none the less. Adrian who is riding with his dad Mick (multi National champion from the 50's) decides to come and help me with the pursuit but has to go back to London for work commitments before coming back up for the Thursday the 10Km Scratch race the only event he is entered, I have the 20Km Points race on the Wednesday

Jonny Helms 2 UP - Result

Photos (c/o Cycling Weekly)

Getting out the gate

I still feel a bit under the weather but nothing I can do about it, there is an impressive 16 (seeded) heats and Michael Bevan (RSA) records an early 3:35.187 catching his man and I think I may have underestimated the opposition, a couple of riders DNS including my opposition Steve Clayton (GBR) with a sore throat so the whips put me in with Geraldo Gomes (ARG) as his has likewise scratched. I have finished my warm up so ready to go but its all a bit sudden and I'm sitting in the gate on the line with the clock ticking down from 50-49-48 ............ sweat is pouring off my head onto my visor.................... 29-28-27 .............. I sit bolt upright take a few deep breaths............. ...........19-18-17..................my mind has gone blank..............I look at Adrian and he stares back as if to say "Time to go" the last ten seconds and I push back on  5-4-3-2-1-GO.
My start is fine around the 22 second mark and I settle down for my ride, I do not look across until 4 laps are gone but I sense that Gomez is up, I go through the first kilometer in 1:14 not super fast but workmanlike 17.5 -18.0 second laps is enough I still feel OK but I need to lift it from here to the finish. with 4 to go I can see Gomez a bit and my breathing is feeling out of control, I try to put a bit more into it, I can feel I am lifting it but it feels like more pain than I can take to lift it any more, the last couple of laps I can feel my style going to pieces. At the bell I can hardly see for the sweat and the sheer effort,  but I just have to fling my legs around until I cross the line

I know I got it all out but within a few minutes the pain has subsided and you wonder to yourself what all the fuss was about, the time is a personel best 3:40.288 the second fastest to date but not good enough I feel a bit dejected and disappointed, and slope off to warm down, Gomez 3:43.199

Kenji Yano (JPN) and Daniel Casper (USA) record 3:33.835 and 3:33.501 in the next two heats Stephen McNally (IRL) 3:33.663 in the penultimate heat means that they go through with Bevan to the ride off, my ride is good enough for 10th and only 4th British rider so while I have never got a medal at this discipline (the closest I came was 4th in the Europeans) I just do not have the aptitude to go deep enough as I have peppered the 4:40-43 mark with regular consistency just not able to take it further. Best British rider Peter Ettles 3:36.328 in 5th

The final goes to form with Casper slowing to 3:35.416 from Mc Nally 3:36.932 and Yano 3:36 an easy winner over Bevan 3:39, you have to be able to get it all out in that one ride, there is no room to develop during a series of rides like in the past when the you could improve through the rounds, when I have got through to the final four I have been very consistent but at this level it requires a dedication I do not possess and a talent that has thus far eluded me

All that remains is a haltering cough

Fool's Gold - 'Madchester'

Euro Masters Track

The British masters track had been a bit of a disaster with my self inflicted accident I just about scraped through without any permanent damage but looked forward to these races after a holiday but only a few days on from riding in the Pyrenees to 3 Km pursuit on the Thursday a bit of a challenge. Unfortunately I was pitched against Tim Lawson (SIS) the winner of the British title in the qualifying round and had to suffer the ignominy of being caught while doing a PP of 3:38 (good enough for 6th place) but then being disqualified for not dropping back twenty meters, the same thing happened last year with Tim who can put in a 1:9 first kilo but finishes with a 1:14, me I'm starting with a 1:14 so out of the reckoning and don't even get to keep my time unsatisfactory all around.
Pursuit:- Ettles - Lawson - Burke

The 20Km points race a different challenge altogether, we were the only age group to need heats to qualify for the final, only a couple to be eliminated from each 10Km heat and with only four sprints there was some panicky moments (Clayton) but all those that qualified scored at least a point. With numerous closely matched riders it was always going to be a 'burn up' and a terrific race, I sat out the first couple of sprints always fiercely contested, with a lull in the pace I then took my chance to get away, Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) always a rider with similar ambition was soon with me and we worked for the next 8 laps where I took the 5 points and we kept going with Trevor Burke (Finchley RC) and Peter Ettles (Sandy Wallace) getting up to us in time for the next sprint where I took another couple of points. I was blowing and sat out the next sprint and was just pipped half a wheel by Ettles for a point on the next sprint taken by Steve Clayton (Planet X) who also took the next from a group including a German Michael Blasczyk, Ettles and Greenstreet which put them all in contention for the medals but the race was very close and I knew a few more points or a win would get me in the medals, Working my way up through the field on the penultimate sprint was nigh on impossible as the sprints were being contested from 3-4 laps out and the pace made it difficult to move up let alone get in the top 4 places for points. After the sprint I took my chance to break away, I held a quarter of a lap and Blasczyk made it across to me and we stayed away to the bell where I jumped him for the win, unfortunately a French rider Jaques Suire exploded out the bunch and caught me a bike length from the line reducing my 5 points to 3 and I missed the silver medal my 10 points only good enough for 4th. Ettles taking the Gold with 14 Pts. from Blasczyk and Clayton both with 11 Pts. Blasczyk getting the verdict by virtue of his higher final placing.

Result tells the facts but not the story

After the race I apologised to William Fotheringham (Halesowen C & AC) who I'd (accidentally) ridden over at the British Masters, he looked a bit battered. I felt good that I had tried my best and put up a good defence of my title, in the light of recent events a single point at half way and the final charge for the line would have made me second, together they'd have won it for me but that's racing and it's always good to be in a closely contested race. Everybody who had been in the final knew that it had been a race worth winning.