VTTA 50 - Team record attempt

Or otherwise known as the day that Me, and Tricky, and Sean went up North to try and bag the clubs 50 team record which had stood at a modest 5.58.30 since 1981. We all had to finish and then hope we'd done enough for each of us get a time good enough to add up to less that the 1981 standard.

I'd ridden the Stockton T502/2 course back in May on the first trike and had notched up 2.15, and that was with a southerly 9mph which had been a bugger to ride into, but not as fast on the return stretch - compared to Etwall with similar conditions it is a slower course in my opinion. Our weather was a stronger wind at 12mph, with a SSW wind - so stronger than the day of my trike effort !

Tricky had an early start as he had to be away, something about it being his birthday ! So, I buddied up with Sean and used the two hour trip to Crathorne to pick up some useful tips from our Club Champ. A few wrong turns and we made the car park with some 40 minutes to Seans ride, and tricky must have already been on the road. I seemed to have all the time in the world to get myself prepped and then eventually warmed up. My start time would be eight minutes past three, which meant I would be time trialling all the way through City's game with Watford.

The first mile was largely single carriageway and slow as we made our way up and over the A19, so that we could wind our way down to the dual carriageway and start the business or settling into our record attempt. Ave speed 20.something, so concentrate, get into a good position and then get a good tap going - which I felt I managed to do quite early on. The course undulated as I remembered it, which meant a few long drags, and a climb of sorts, and a headwind that seemed to come in and out of focus randomly. It was hard work for sure, but if I'm something at all, then it's a decent wind-worker, so I tried to counsel myself that I would be making good progress and any shortfall would surely be made up as I enjoyed a taily on the way back.

I saw tricky at 31.5 minutes on the other side of the road, absolutely burying himself on a drag, and then Sean a little bit later on at 45.5 minutes - both had been kind enough to pass me at easily remembered points and both had looked to be going extremely well. Thoughts of not making two hours kept creeping in and then thinking about having to come in last and fessing up to a bad ride. Time trialling can play tricks on you like that and it's best not to dwell on those thoughts.

Meanwhile, I circling Thirsk, and the course was feeling easier and I was making up time again. the average speed crept to 24.4 I think, before falling back up the slog that is Dishforth Mountain. On the crawl up the Garmin showed 1.02.10 and by the time I had circled the roudabouts it was 1.03 as I felt the first backwind of the day. Whoosh, instantly 30 mph, and holding comfortably. BETTER !!

It was a very nice feeling seeing the average speed creep up by 0.1mph increments and at that point I knew, just knew, I would be done within the two hour target. I passed Sean's marker over two minutes down on him, managed my way through a slower, draggier section of the home leg,and then enjoyed a battle with my minute man which made things easier to pace.

With the to-ing, and fro-ing with no.67, I almost missed the point I passed Tricky, but remembered in time, and saw that I was c.25 seconds up. This meant that as long as we all finished, then surely we had done it.

Those last miles were a hard chase of no.67, who himself was trying to beat the two hour mark, and although I passed him again, he would eventually go past me again and finish five seconds ahead of me.

The record was ours - we had done it ! A 1.55 from Sean, a 1.59 from Tricky and my 1.58, saw the record lowered to a new level of 5.54.06.  Mission accomplished !

Team Swift Charity 10

Just a week after the '12' and I've scheduled in a 10 on the *fastest 10 course in the entire country (*subject to conditions)! Nice planning, but I was up for it in any case.

The week had gone like this :
Monday - recovery !
Tuesday - train badly
Wednesday - Train less badly
Thursday - 10km run - died at halfway
Friday - train better
Saturday - 5km parkrun, race 3km, jog 2km.

So the week had been a bit of a mixed bag, albeit towards the end, I had started to feel like myself again. so onwards and upwards, and this was an event for riders with a PB above 22 minutes, and with my 22.32, I got a place. I was to be no.16 on the day, which had a 20-22mph near easterly wind howling as we gingerly made our way to the start.

Plan of attack was simple, bury myself into the headwind to the turn, and then hang on for dear life with a backwind for comfort on the way back,

My ride sort of went like this :

1) Approached 40mph down the start ramp, hit the headwind, and abruptly slowed to a more normal speed.
2) Worked bloody hard into the wind, and kept wishing the miles away.
3) Got to the bottom of the halfway ramp at 25.7mph. Crawled to the top to see that drop to 24.2mph.
4) Immediately feel the benefit of the push home and wish that I'd switched to a 55T chainring, 8 weeks earlier than I plan to.
5) See the speed drop in the middle and wonder if I'm bonking
6) Ride a very fast last mile and a half where that 55T would again have been welcome.

21.25, a new PB by a minute, and something to aim for in 2016.

ECCA 12hour

I'm wondering what to call this one :

- How to spend a nice day mullering yourself ?
- How to ride 8 hours after deciding you don't want to ride anymore ?
- 101 ways of motivating yourself to keep going ?

I began the day with high hopes, I was going to have a good ride, I was aiming for 240 miles, I was going to enjoy the variety on the course, and then I was going to visit 'The Colonel' on the way home for celebratory fried chicken' - what could go wrong ?

6.05am was my start time, 200m from the HQ, which is good, cos no warm up is required for a 12 in any case. Queue up, see no 64 is not there, joke with the time keepers that I got a late start penalty from the same scenario last week - they say they won't do that, but let's see eh ? 6.05 tick by and I'm off, heading for the A11 dual carriageway used for the ECCA 100 that I rode last year. Brilliant start, holding a good speed and well above the 20mph I'd need at the end for 240 miles. Wrong turn up a slip road, no bother, get of and scamper down and embankment, back on the bike, not real time lost, crack on. Overcast and windless, I could really determine wether I had a backwind or not, I was enjoying these first miles. Up to Red Lodge, turn, back down to Four Went Ways. Some bloke was supporting his wife and although you were only supposed to pass your rider once in 10 miles, this bloke was doing layby to layby, in some cases a mile apart - I don't know why it irritated me, but it did !  On my way back to FWW, I saw Richie Bideau for the first time, absolutely steaming East toward Red Lodge - the fastest I've ever seen a rider - a true time trialling monster !!

Back up to Red Lodge again, and back down to FWW for the last time. Sounds bad, but I was chasing a lady at this point, and I was riding just a notch above where I should have done. Circle FWW and back up to Six Mile Bottom for the first of the loops of c.12 miles. Bad news, puncture, or so I thought, it actually looked like the valve had made its way loose, so I CO2'd that bad boy and that seemed to do the trick. Back on, into Six Mile Bottom, saw Heidi for the first time, so stopped for some food to take on, a wee, and most importantly, lashing of nut cream !!

This section B loop was a bastard, a 12 mile loop of minimal joy, that climbed out of SMB, and didn't really give anything back ! I was scheduled to do six laps of this soul-less route, but after just three, the timekeepers directed me off and I could have whooped for joy - this section had made me so miserable !

Stopped on the DC, ring Heidi to let her know I had gone to section C, and get back on with it, the speed of the DC perking me up a bit. Finally, I got to the second loop of the day and what I call section C - what a difference, I loved this part of the course, it was great, and i could have ridden it for the last 6 hours easy ! In reality, I did 5 loops and whooped for joy when I just made cut off to start the last lap. I was holding an average speed of 20.5 mph when I finished the circuit and was knocking on the door of 200 miles when I exited and went to find the finishing circuit. I was in a lot of pain by now, everything hurt, and I was motivating myself by breaking the ride down into 30 minute sections.

The finishing circuit then, grovel city ! The old A11 was just a horrid grovel for half a mile uphill, a fast but short section of the DC, lots of ups and down through to Little Chesterford and back, and then a faster A505 out and back section with another grovel toward the end. It was a sadists way of saying 'tough enough to do a 12 ? Have a bit of this !!

I saw Heidi at 207ish miles, and my Garmin died on me at this point and I rode blind for the last couple of hours. This actually took some pressure off, and I began to feel good again ! I saw the battle between Richie Bideau and Adam Topham unfold, and Topham would claw back a deficit, to take the win by 4 miles overall. I was honoured to see this !

For me, a made my way round the circuit twice more, and got back to Heidi with 25 mins to go. I desperately wanted to get to the timekeeper station on the A505 to finish, but got there too early, and then timekeeper 0 told me two minutes left. In a final kick in the balls, I had to race my way up that old A11 climb to my finish !

Back at HQ, so happy to be finished, felt wobbly, threw up for the first time after an event, I had left nothing in the tank.  240.4 miles completed according to the estimated finishing board and my last 12 hour for a while.

ESCA 100

Every time there was a 100 that I fancied doing, the event clashed with something else that I wanted to do. I fancied the London 100, but that clashed with Outlaw Half, I liked the look of the EDCA 100, that clashed with Outlaw relay, and then the National Trike 100 clashed with the Stockton. Running out of options, I decided to go for the ESCA 100 which is run by Eastbourne Rovers Cycling Club on the South coast.

It was a long drive down and I managed to book the smallest hotel room in England at Crawley ! It was a warm night, but I couldn,t open the window because of the planes ! needless to say, I woke the next morning rested ????

50 minutes in the car and I'm at the HQ! First decision - start oil of sun cream on the legs - could I do both ? No, I decided there might be some catastrophic chemical reaction, so used the sun cream as was expected a warm day. Got ready and rode out to the start , no 45 was a no show, so I rolled up next and chatted about triking to the start guys. I wasn't late, so when I got a 1min 10sec time penalty against my time at the end, I was a bit shocked ! ( I have sorted this out although my time stands !) .

6.46 and I'm away ! I knew the course was rolling and had 3000ft of rolling climb on it - so I set myself a target of 4 hrs and 30 mins for the day.  An average speed of 22.2 miles per hour would be needed if I was to beat it. Having figured that out, I set about the first of the three laps of the course.

I previously hadn't been able to find a GPS of the G100/861 course, but eventually came across this map  https://evententry.ctt.org.uk/Local/2015_ESCA_100_Course_G100861.pdf

The course profile says it all really, nothing steeper than say 200ft, but continually up or down ! .....and this is how it proved to be out on the road. The first lap of the course was enjoyable, as I held 22.6mph, but everything was fresh and for the first time. It was chilly sure, and there were parts of the course covered in early morning mist which cooled the legs down and misted the visor - in fact, I felt fresh as a daisy, and wondered if I had gone off a little conservatively.

The second lap soon put paid to that, as the climbing began to irritate, and getting back on top of my pedal stroke at the top of these 'ups', seemed to take a fraction longer. Second lap though, done, bang on schedule 22.2mph.

Third lap, and I took advantage of the drinks station and changed my bottle ! I also had a massive wobble between miles 70 - 85 where I flat out began to hurt, and the climbing was really getting on my tits !!  At 85, somehow, I came out of the other side of this flunk, and got it together for a final push. the hills didn't bother me anymore, and I was fully focused on getting to the end. 22.0mph for the third lap - by my calculations I'd done it - a time of 4.29 was surely mine.

Back at HQ and my time shown as 4.30.52 - gutted, but accepted the course may have been long. Official results have me down as including a 1.10 late start penalty, which would concur with the feeling I was under. I called the timekeeper, and although he agreed it wasn't me who was late - my time of 4.30.52 was accurate.

It is what it is then, and to be fair, If I can get in to the BDCA 100 in September and get a good slice of luck, I should better that time in any case.