Team Swift Charity 10

Had another go at the ten mile club trike time trial record and for the second time in as many months I failed to take it and run out of time whilst approaching the finish line.

Today's weather was initially forecast as a light breeze easterly, but by race morning that had changed to a light Westerly, which is just the wrong direction for this course.

Things started well enough and with that wind behind me, I managed to get good speed up until the turn averaging 27.1mph and then I was 5 seconds faster then 6th July negotiating the turn.

It would be the return leg though that I would find tougher than expected with that westerly wind making life difficult even though it was just a breeze really atc.7/8mph. Some of the small drags on the way back were tough on the legs, and then a smash fest last mile at over 30 mph couldn't bring me back on track.

Tougher day, better performance - record must go next year now !

AP 351W (Strava)

Temp : 17C
Wind : 7mph W

Course V718

LRRA 25

Another year and another trip over to Ashcroft Fabrics for another LRRA 25 Championships. No, STOP PRESS, new course , new HQ ! Maybe this wouldn't be an open, windy, fenland type time trial - oh wait, yes of course it was!

15mph cross winds and a course with lots of camber - I know, I'll ride the trike and while I'm at it I'll have a go at the all time LRRA trike records needing to beat 1.07.53.

Nice and sunny but windy as hell when I lined up for my 9.28 start. I was already on a camberous road and the warm up had been fun. I shot away and was soon chasing down a club mate whilst another had given up on the day and was coming back t'other way. I settled rarely and was battling the trikes instinct to follow the wind so had to keep on top of it at all times. I was going all right though and with a good carrot and concentrating on the road I found I wasn't mileage watching at all.

The middle section was into a headwind and that was a real speed killer. My average dipped and with that went all hope i thought of beating that 1.07. The next section was cross wind again, and faster than I anticipated. Slowly I clawed my way back but it was a tenuous affair holding the road. Just to be bastards, the course was a real shitter for trikes for the last few miles and whilst back wind fast, saw technical sections and bridges which were a hard test for a tired rider.

I had made up good time in the second half of the race to pop over the line in 1.06.46 - a good effort for such a hard day and a record and SC PB.

AP 279W (Strava)

Temp : 18C
Wind : 15mph SW

Course C25/2

Sleaford Striders Summer 10k

I booked a couple of summer Friday evening 10k's earlier in the year when I was all giddy about my running and had been injured in June when the first of these took place at Long Bennington. I have been back running since last month and have lost a couple of kilo's recently so have felt in decent shape - it would be interesting to see how things went...

The first mile of the race was on a single track road that wound for a third of a mile before a nasty rise to a corner and a sharp left - this meant lots of running on grass verges as the field sorted itself out and thankfully by the time I was up and round the corner this had happened and I was able to settle down...sort of !

I also noticed (being a trike rider) that the camber on the single track roads was horrendous , so to keep even footfall the best I could , I kept out of the gutter and ran on the crown of the road. First couple of miles were run at a hard even pace of 6.59m/m each and I couldn't see that many runners in front of me and indeed made steady progress.

The thing about this race is that it's not really flat and there are lots of little draggy parts that go on for a bit as well as bridges and then some brisk downhill sections. When I hit halfway I was under 22 minutes and was yet to struggle. A complete waste of a water bottle at this point confirmed I was OK. As this middle section wore on though, it was becoming harder and harder to maintain pace and I fely myself backing off a little. I can point out though that miles 3, 4 & 5 were completed at exactly the same pace of 7.05m/m !!!!

Hardest part of the race was definately the last mile which had some tough headwind just when you didn't want it and I began to panic a little bit about losing my position - form seemed to go out of the window and I genuinely had to battle for a slowest mile of 7.12.  With six down, I could compose myself as we got back into the centre of Scredington for a non spectacular finish heading into the car park,

Tough course, delighted with 43.50 - my last competitive run as coach says only once a week from now on, so Lincoln Half will just be for fun.

Temp 19C
Windy
Pos 28th/201
Miles
1 - 6.59
2 - 6.59
3 - 7.04
4 - 7.04
5 - 7.04
6 - 7.12
0.2-7.05

Bourne Wheelers C25

Two weeks after the 12hr and a good opportunity to see if I had any life back in my legs yet ? 

The course would be a familiar one to me but in reverse as it was the Sleaford 25 course with the HQ at Donnington. I would be debuting a new pair of pink velotoze overshoes and using a HRM for the very first time - despite owning two and having access to one for the past 3 years !! 

A good wind and a decent temperature meant great conditions for time trialling and I was looking forward to getting out and having a go. 

I was happy enough with the first miles up until the first visit to osbournby roundabout - decent cadence of above 90 and didn't feel like overcooking it. Up to Sleaford roundabout and that was OK, back down and I started chasing speed and the cadence started to go to pot - and then the very last section back to Donnington should have had a backwind and did, if only in a couple of sections. 

Fastest performance over 25 miles on a lincs course, but down on power from my last 25 and with that feels a bit like a sub par performance, albeit one I am pleased to be back with. 

1.02.16 

NP 249w
AP 239w
Temp : 17c
Wind : 6mph WNW
Course C25/35
Pos 21/46

Bassetlaw Triathlon

This is a running and tri blog after all, so I thought it best after a couple of years to actually do a triathlon, so chose the sprint distance at Bassetlaw as a perfect opportunity to get back on the horse. My time trialling had been going well and I was back at running club for four weeks following a calf tear - I had also been back in the pool for the past four weeks and had managed to get up to 400 metres non stop. This is how my day went :

Swim 8:27 

Mega fast first couple of lengths when I had just told a bloke I wasn't going to do it. Overtook loads but by the fifth length had calmed down and by the fifteenth and sixteenth leg I was hanging a bit. I managed to exit the pool and was near the door when the athletes at 8 mins started, so a good sub 8 swim achieved, by the time I'd legged it across to the transition it was 8.27 - good start.

T1 - 45s 
7th fastest on the day - what's to complain about

Bike - 37:37 
My strong point - started well, struggled halfway into the headwind climb. Frustratingly, someone dared to overtake me on the bike leg (that's cheating and it's not fair), and I had a couple of foot down stops - one at the regulation crossroads and one unscheduled at some traffic lights for which I should get some time back. I rolled back into transition on a very windy day, happy to be a minute better on the bike than 3 years ago !

T2 - 48s - I ran in cycle shoes - big mistake.

Run - 21.26 
No wonder it was hard - it was the fastest honest 5k that I'd run this year. I went out of transition wondering where my legs had gone, but started off reasonably well. Paced myself up the first drag and the never ending first mile clocked in at 6.53 before I felt in any way comfortable. Wound my way down and through the council estate and through the college grounds to start the shorter second lap. I struggled a little up the second drag, but felt good at the top and coasted home for the last mile. My splis for mile 2 & 3 were exactly 6.55 each so bang on pacing wise. Up and over the line in 1.09.03 in total with a bit to be shaved off when the official results come out.

Provisionally 16th/212 on my return, excellent !

Team Swift 12 hour (trike)

It had been two years since I had ridden the 12 hour course laid on by Team Swift, and knew after my  firste there that it would be a good course for a tricycle. I entered and was given the no.10 meaning that the days work would take place between 6.10am & 6.10pm. The temperate would start at 8C and would peak at about 16C. Also the wind would rise from a SW 8mph through to a 13/14mph in the afternoon. 

well, my day started interestingly with a first loop tangle with a Sleaford Wheeler before spending most of the rest of the event on my own, occasionally being passed by riders doing the 50 and the 100 event mainly. For the trike, the bottom loop was the most precarious and this had to be negotiated four times. I was having a good day in the main, battling the wind when I had to, and pacing the trike well. As the miles ticked by, I didn't panic and was really happy to see every ten miles tick off. 

After 160 miles and four laps, we were sent onto the finishing circuit which was the kinder top half of the course and I was really happy about this, and it was a bit of a pep for the last three hours. Things picked up a little and even through there was the giants footsteps and a drag up to a turn to do on each lap, it was fast going eastward and I made up any time lost. 

The last hour was crazy and I had enough left in the tank for a decent finish and managed 219.551 miles for a new club and county record - good days work in the saddle - but my last trike twelve for a good while.

AP 180W (Strava)

Temp : 8-16C
Wind : 8mph-14mph SW

Course V12hr

Pos. 17/27

July catch up (It's been busy 2 - Electric Boogaloo)

July has continued to be as mental as the June that preceded it, but thankfully it's at an end now I can can fully reflect on the races that I took part in...

17th July - EDCA 100

After a good night's camping at Brick Kiln Farm where I had my own field for a tenner, I was up nice and early and at the HQ very early. It was going to be a warm day with lowish early wind of 7mph rising steadily to 12mph throughout the morning. the course was one that I'd ridden my first 100 on a few years ago so I was looking forward to it.
My start was early so I got on with it - very light in the way of traffic and a backwind to start with. This was dual carriageway all the way, which was fast in parts and very much reminded me of both the ECCA & Etwall course, but the difference is a lack of shelter in some places, and also the surface is broken up with poorly repaired joints and some good old potholes peppered along the route. It was a real armbasher and a lot of expletives were used.
I knew early on that it wasn't going to be a PB day as the wind rose and the surface took it's toll - happy with my finish though - 4.25 will do.

AP 196W 

Temp : 59-79F
Wind : 7mph-12mph SW

Course B100/4

20th July - F11/10

My first ever trip down to the F11 course on a windy midweek day for a VTTA event. It was to be a double header day as I also needed to be back later for the road race. It meant that I was off very early on, on a course I hadn't ridden before, with a technical first turn. a quick drive round the course to learn it , and then to the HQ, and decided that although it was windy, I'd be alright with the disc and a tri spoke in the front, and then it was off up a big fuck off hill as a warm up to the start which was on a slip road to the A41 Tring bypass. 

Soon as was off, with a supposed backwind to the first roundabout but it didn't seem that fast. A down, the first round about, then a second and I was back on the A41 with and average of 26mph. The beauty of this course was that it always seemed to be a bit downhill with a lovely gift hill halfway through the return leg where I hit 41.8mph going full pelt. It slowed a lot at the bottom as I hit the headwind and then when I turned at the roundabout it just wasn't that quick. Still, I struggled past the finish with a 22.10 which was my second fastest finish this year. 

AP 248W

Temp : 29C
Wind : 14 W
Course F11/10

TLI Ashby Road Race#

The second race of the day - and not a lot to say. I got there just in time, then rode in group 2 again, doing more work on the front than I had for weeks. After 3 laps , we were caught again by group 3 and by the mid 4th lap, I was dropped coming out of the corner at Scopwick and then ended up riding alone until a few of us formed a group, and despite a break for glory with half a lap to go, I was brought back and then lost a four way sprint up the last hill to the finish.