Sleaford Wheelers Charity 10

I think this must be the fourth consecutive year that I've ridden this charity event in aid of Cancer Research and hosted by Sleaford Wheelers.

By contrast to yesterdays fine weather, Storm Katie was on the way, so we had to put up with a gusty 22mph southerly wind on a course that is over 5miles due South, and under 5 miles coming back, albeit with a super backwind I would have guessed.

I got blown almost sideways on the warm up and felt reasonably pleased that I'd again left the tri - spoke in the bag ! 2.58pm was my start time, and at 2.51 I was sure that I was still visible climbing the first ramp after the start ! It was soooo slow going into the headwind - but I kept limiting the power and as such struggled to the roundabout turn, almost coming to a standstill on the uphill approach to it - I mean, 13mph - WTF !

...then, woosh, 16 minutes out, just 9.29 back - what a difference, I was spinning the 55x11 nicely in places and was averaging nearly 30mph. I didn't tire or blow up I just ran out of road. Not a great time, but to be honest, who did on a slow day - 25.42 - solid, again.


NP 292w
AP 288w
Temp : 12c
Wind : 22mph S
Course C10/10
Pos 37/113

Good Friday V718

I like the V718 - it helps that it's the fastest 10 mile time trial course in the country of course and that I've always enjoyed good results whenever I've ridden it, including last years PB performance of 21.25, although I've started the season down on that level of performance.

I felt OK, and had a good 30 minute warm up before hand where I concentrated on a bit of cadence and not hitting the power so hard. Stripped the warmers off the legs, stashed them at the side of the road as I have been doing and made my way to the start.  3,2,1 and away down the start ramp - and I knew the first leg of 4.9 miles would be ridden with a good backwind to push me along. I kept a close eye on the power figure and had to stop myself going too giddy - my speeds were over 30mph in lots of places and I hit the turn with a 29.3mph average.

Up the ramp - slowly but not as bad as last years effort, and down the other side for what I thought would be a much slower headwind return leg. With good shelter and rolling road, yes it was slower, but over any drags reasonably well, and the last mile was bliss as it always has been.

26.5 average for the return 5, meaning a time of 21.36 (only 11s off my PB) a nice turn up for the books, and I can't wait to get the trike on there in a months time.




NP 288w
AP 287w
Temp : 11c
Wind : 8mph ENE
Course V718
Pos 86/119

Vive Le Cross Round 2 Cyclocross

Over to the Costello stadium in Hull for a bit of Wednesday night floodlit Cyclocross then. I have ridden this series before as we lovingly refer to it within the club as the 'Elvis Costello' championship held at the Costellodrome- a series of four March Wednesday evening races on a short but technical course which is roped off around the grass banking of the athletics stadium.

Week one had been rained off, but the previous Wednesday had seen a good Wheelers turnout albeit the results of that race had been 'all over the shop' and at the time of writing still appeared to be wrong. Five Wheelers making the trip this week, with numbers dwindled due to illness and injury - it was a nice number and we enjoyed a rib or two of each other pre race. Not a lot of wind, a bit chilly but a very dry course were the conditions of the evening and we all made sure we got in a good sighting lap ahead of the official start.

7.40 and away we went - I got a great start, then promptly threw it away by being far too nice at the first off section by waiting to see if I could ride through it ! lesson learnt - I shall not be doing that again. Spent the first lap trying to pick my way through riders from the near back of the field. Made some good progress then lost my front wheel momentarily and taking a diversion through the tape used to mark off the course.

That was the last mishap, and I then found a good pace and stuck to it, managing to navigate the course quite well (for me). Each lap I could see the Wheeler in front as I desperately tried to get back up to him, some laps getting closer and some laps falling further back. The race felt like it was an hour long and not the mere 40 minutes that it took. By the end, I was tired but did put in one more effort to try and catch my mate - but to no avail. Happy with that, and nice to squeeze in one last cross race. 33/56

Newtons Fraction Half Marathon

Following yesterdays disappointment at the TT, I wasn't really expecting much from this mornings
half marathon adventure. My PB was a high 1.39 from 2 years ago, and the way I had been running had led me to place a more conservative target of 1 hour 45 minutes as the target. To achieve this mark I would need to run an average mile pace of exactly 8 minutes and that would be the target I would be keeping an eye on.

Club members had told me that there were two real killers of hills to look out for, but it was an interesting course that I would enjoy, a race well worth doing. I like nice courses and I'm not too averse to the odd hill, so I paid up my money a good month ago and entered on the strength of that advice.

The HQ and start was at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium and would start and finish on the track just like the Stockport 10 that I have finished a few times in the past. The course would take us out of G town and to the Vale of Belvoir and back via a towpath and a couple of challenging climbs. 

I was strangely nervous and babbled to other runners before the start which is most unlike me but it was my first HM in two years so I can be excused for the old verbal. 10.30 came around soon enough though and it was a slow first 50m or so as we got funnelled through the starting mat, following that we got out onto the open road and headed toward Barrowby.

My first mile came and went in 7.24 and I though that would be the end of that, and maybe I would pay for going off so quick, but no, the second mile was even quicker and then a couple of miles on the towpath came in with similar numbers. I was enjoying myself but working hard and every now and again I backed off a little and listened to my breathing. When I did this, I seemed to get a little faster and took a few places on the towpath. 

Pretty soon we were in the vale and the first climb was looming - Woolsthorpe - one I had ridden this year I think and a standard vale hill. I just kept check on my breathing and if people wanted to come past I let them go. In most cases, once I had reached the top, I took the place back anyway. 

Middle section of the race seemed to go well and when I thought I had put in a slow mile, it flashed up 7.11 - I nearly rubbed my eyes !! 

Of course, I had been running slightly too fast as the second climb of the day - a real nasty bastard damn near finished me off. We had done 11.5 miles by that point, and my legs were jelly at the top - my slowest mile by far but then I got on the shoulder of another runner and let them guide me back into Grantham at a good 7.20 pace. 

The final mile seemed to take forever and I was very tired, but managed a semi-quick last 300m of track running to sneak a new PB of 1.39.21 - I'm made up with that !

Misty start and then sunny

Temp 8c

Wind 5mph

1.39.21

103/430

VTTA North Mids 10m

..and not the 18k that I usually ride each March as that has been put to bed by traffic lights that have sprung up on the 18k course.

The new course is the O10/3 course on the A1 which roughly runs from South to North to South, and starts just before Ranby, following the dual carriageway up to Blyth where it is an up and over job and then a return South to finish.

HQ was again Ranby Village Hall, and I had plenty of time to squeeze myself into my new Wheelers skinsuit which comes with a new NoPinz speed pocket - it seemed to work a treat and for the first time I didn't have a flappy race number on my arse ! A leisurely 5 mile warm up saw me at the start for my 2.58 start time and I was sent away down the ramp and onto the A1 northbound shortly after.

Initially everything was good, power was reading strong, a 6ish mph backwind was pushing me along and my average speed was over 29mph !!! However, as the course unravelled, so I appeared to and that speed average seemed to ebb away. My power also dipped below my usual 305W average to struggle to 284W and average 27.9mph at the turn.

Then it was riding in treacle. Some sections were fast, but I just wasn't hitting any sort of form and struggled on some of the draggy sections on the way back. The final mile was a headwind drag uphill and that finished me off.

Ave speed 26.2mph, third fastest 10m TT I've done, but I thought I was faster :(

NP 289w
AP 283w
Temp : 12c
Wind : 7mph S
Course O10/3
Pos 37/67

CC Breckland 10

Time for the annual pilgrimage down to Hingham, outside of Norwich for a 10 mile time trial that I have completed in March for the past two seasons. Previously, I had finished in 25.06 and 30/54 in 2014, and last year saw a massive improvement to 24.20 and a 26/64 finish.

I ummed and arred a bit about making the trip to Hingham as it was going to be a 180 mile round trip, and the weather was bitterly cold with a crosswind all the way down the course. I, of course, decided to race - well, when I haven't I ?? 

Nice enough trip down, got to the new HQ at Hingham in plenty of time, signed on, then went back to the car, unpacked it, started to rain, bike back in car, warm up in car ! 

With 25 minutes to the start, I went off for a very cold warm up for six miles or so, and in that time decided that it would be best (and warmer) if I kept my leg warmers on for the race. I made the start, with a minute to spare, so timing spot on. 

Pretty quickly I was off, and haring along quite nicely. The crosswind soon started to cause me bother and so did some of the undulations ! I was keeping a close eye on the power readings especially on the tougher bits to ensure I wasn't cooking it too badly. I didn't have the average speed that I thought I should have and because of that started rocking more than I usually do. 

To the turn, 4.9 miles in approx 12.19 and in good order, expecting a bit of help wind wise on the way back, but it didn't come. It was a tough tough return leg, with wind and some mild undulations meaning that I never really got the required momentum. 

As much as I battled, I just couldn't get the average speed above 24mph, albeit, my power output was almost exactly the same as a couple of weeks ago. 

25.08 at the finish and 23rd place-ish on the day. 180 miles driven, a flat tub costing £55 to replace. 

I still love it though. 


NP 310w
AP 305w
Temp : 5c
Wind : 17mph N
Pos 23/49
Course B10/19