Rounding off the year

It's been a while sine I last checked in but seeing as though it's Xmas Day and strictly has invaded the telly, I'll take the opportunity to cover off the last couple of outings.

Winterton Cyclocross

First off was the Wheelers Cross Championships held at Winterton on the last weekend in November. It would be my third cross outing of the year and also my last. With cross races being on Sundays it has been a case of missing long ride training and trying to cram it in on a Saturday. This means that I'm not really fresh to race a proper cross (not that it makes much difference), and miss the winter base miles - so decision made to knuckle down early and start the base training like a good lad !

Back to the cross at Winterton and actually it was a really nice day. Unusual for Winterton which is either wet, blowy or both. The ground was reasonably dry and speaking to a rider beforehand he suggested more air in the tyres. I duly went overboard, and raced on hard inflated tyres.

Thing is, I didn't feel fast and although after my usual poor start I made up places, I got the feeling that I wasn't going as quickly as I would have done if I'd run my usual lower pressures. This showed through on the strava laps as I was at least three quarters of a minute a lap slower than last year. Cross bike back in car, not much cleaning needed before the bike was retired to the garage for the year.

Percy Pud 10km

A trip up to Sheffield and a stab at my 10km all time PB which I set at Lincoln in 2015. I had been running well this winter after last years 8 month hiatus but I wasn't sure what type of form I was in as I lined up on a cold but nice Yorkshire morning.

The Percy Pud is an annual race put on by the steel city striders and is a popular out and back 10km race where a Xmas pudding is given out to the finishers. I have a couple of finishes in previous years races, but had not raced the event since 2012.

The race itself, once the congestion had settled went extremely well. I couldn't see my pace until the miles flashed up and each one of them looked fast at 6 something. I has some good pacers to stick with and found myself chasing down a Xmas tree on the way back. The last few miles were quick, flashing up 6.37's, and my finish time was 42.04. I think I have a 41 in me somewhere and I'll have that next year I think somewhere down the line.

Great T shirt, time and of course Xmas pudding - a top day out!

Bardney Cyclocross

This was the second cyclocross race of the season and this would be a case of two down , two to go. In fairness, I'm not the greatest cyclocrosser of all time, preferring to pick and choose testers courses rather than technical ones. The first two have been technical, but the two coming up, lend themselves to the testers, so Bardney would just be a fun outing and further work towards being cross fit.

I knew the course, I rode it a couple of years ago or so - it's bleak, it's cold, it's exposed and windy, and it's lumpy - a traditional Lincolnshire Cyclocross course then.

I turned up early and got loads of practice in - there wasn't anything too ridiculous, you kust had to learn the line and know how hard to tackle each obstacle. I wrapped up warm for the warm up, only shedding a layer or two 10 minutes before the Vets race started.

Shivvering, I sat at the back ungridded, waiting for the off. Usual slow start, and hung around at the back for much of the first lap. Some guys got tangled and fell over and down a bank in front of me which moved me up a few places, but other than that, taking places was hard going with a lot of the course being single track. Once settled, I started to ride the more technical bits competently, and felt fast on the long stretches of Testers Country.

Did well Wheelers wise, not lapped for a change, and closer to some of the guys than I have been. Considering I could have quite easily gone home after the warm up, the result and performance today came as a pleasant surprise.

Scunthorpe Cyclocross

The end of the TT season, a couple of weeks away on the Costa Brava, and one cold later and it's time for winter training fun - of which a few cyclocross races form part of it.

First up, a trip to Scunthorpe, a course I didn't like two years ago when I rode it, and to be honest my feelings haven't changed !

I warmed up on what was a cold and very windy day and could still feel the arse end effects of my cold. I rode most of the course, even the sandy bit that I ran last time around, but managed a spectacular fall at the bottom of the bomb hole - mind set, I would be running that obstacle during racing affairs !

My start was ungridded, and I went backwards really fast, yielding my line continuously as I was very rusty. I had good power on the straights, and made places, but to be honest, I was blowing hard by the end of the first lap and things didn't get much better, I made more places up on the 2nd and 3rd laps, but by the 4th and forty minutes I was really hanging out of my arse and the last two laps were an exercise in just surviving and not losing any places.

I did manage to take a couple of places in the last throes of the last lap, but I was truly relieved to see the finish after an hour in the saddle. Welcome back to Cross Andy - countdown of 5 months to the start of the testing season started today !

Closing out the season

It's been a truly brilliant season. Whilst I've been distracted by some triathlon nonsense which has been incredible fun, but definitely accelerated the wind down of my season. there have been three final events over the past three weeks and this is how my season sort of ended...

TA Jack Riley 25 - held on the V235 course which is the old A1 up at Boroughbridge. It was very low key with four entrants and only three starters. the road was eerily quiet, and I enjoyed a stress free trike 25. I would imagine that this course could be very fast in the days where traffic poulated the course, it's got some good cover and it's lanes are pretty wide. For the actual race, I paced it well, took a PB and improved my club record with a time of 1.03.15. Nothing more to say.

LRRA / Leadenham Hill Climb - held on Leadenham Hill, south of Sleaford, I knew this hill pretty well, having ridden it on a few occasions during reliability rides and club runs. I didn't expect much, but on the day came a respectable 14th and beating the dark lord at the same time. I started in the big ruing and switched down only when the gradient ramped up in the middle. Swithching back to the big ring for the very top and sprint for the line. If testers did hillclimbs this is how they would design it.

Leo 30 - Not great conditions with a cross wind, so I debuted the kask bambino. I'm unsure if it's any better than the Javelin but I gave it a go any way. I rode too hard at the start and felt like I struggled on the return especially in the last five miles. I definitely had last weeks half marathon in my legs still which didn't help at all. very close to the club record (8 seconds out !!), everything lines up well for next year. For now, I just need a little bit of a rest and then on 1st November it's time to knuckle down for the 2018 season.

Course E2/30C

Temp 63

Wind 10 W 

Cadence 80

NP 274W

HR 175

Course CHC/1

Temp 61

Wind 11 SW

Cadence 81

NP 409W

Pos 14

HR 165

Course V235

Temp 61

Wind 12 S

Cadence 86

NP 297W

Pos 1

Lincoln Half Marathon

Team Newham was supposed to getting the band back together for a Lincoln Half season swansong, but one half of the dynamic duo is still recovering from Weymouth, so it was time for the older, better looking brother to head over to the showground and attempt the 2nd edition of OSB's Lincoln Half Marathon.

The race itself..

A different course this year as instead of heading into Lincoln via Burton Road, this year the change had been made to turn right and go through Burton Village and head into Lincoln via the towpath. The HQ and bot the start and the finish would again be the showground at Lincoln. The parking seemed slick and the queues of last year averted, and the runners themselves seemed to be seeded better and the start was a much more enjoyable experience.

So, onto the race itself - I wanted a sub 1.50 time considering my lack of miles and this was only run no.6 since February. I started strong but controlled, I tracked the 1.45 marker runners and then purposely inched ahead of them heading to Burton village. I soon had clubmates for company, so forgot the pacers and focused on keeping with them. By halfway I was on for around 1.40, but at mile 8, you start a climb upto Lincoln Cathedral via Carline Road, and hence, my slowest mile of the day came to be !

From there on in, boy what a struggle. I could tell that my longest run had only been six miles, and everything started to stiffen. My calf started to throb and I adjusted my footfall to compensate, my thighs burnt but my breathing was fine. Back up at the showground and I knew I had a sub 1.43 if I pushed it a little, which I did, amazed to find that mile thirteen was slower than I had actually started at - it felt like a sprint !

So, great time, not a great demonstration of race smarts though, and certainly not a clever thing to do off so little running.

I write this a day later and my legs really really hurt !

Next weekend is the last race of a very busy season, I'll check back in after that !

Warwickshire Sprint Triathlon 2017

Another year and just the one triathlon to enter right at the very end of the season. My swimming was going to be OK as I'd trained up to the half iron, and we know my biking would be fine - the unknown quantity would be the running part as I'd done not a lot other than 3 runs with running club once a week since the start of September... how did I do ?

Pre race

Stayed in a retro caravan for a bit of glamping. Heidi would be doing her very first super sprint so it was important to get a nice rest ahead of the race and this was ideal. The tri itself runs out of Stratford Upon Avon Leisure Centre and I remembered doing this as one of my very first triathlons in 2009. The pool was a 33.3m biggie, the bike had shrunk to 19km, and the run was a bog standard 5k - this is the tale of the day..

Swim 8.57

An improvement on Weymouth and a bit quicker than I timed myself in training. With the pool being 33m it seemed easier and the swim at this tri as per last time saw you changing lanes after four lengths and moving down a lane with the aim being to finish near the exit. At 8.30.15 I was off, and just treated it as a training swim - I enjoyed it very much and couldn't get excited if I got overtaken or not. No stress, just concentrated on my stroke and cared not about much else. 8.57 was a lot better than anticipated and included getting out and possibly going down the stairs it was impossible to figure out where transition was.

T1 - 1.07

About right, didn't have a lot to do, it was just competent as a transition

Bike 27.28

4th fastest on the day - loved it - a nimute off being fastest bike split and I got traffic hold up in places especially coming back into Stratford - TT mode engaged and no prisoners taken. Power meter didn't work for the first half so no doubt my pacing was off. Happy with it though..

T2 - 57

In hindsight with nothing more than popping the bike back in and sliding on some shoes, I maybe could have been a bit quicker !

Run 21.40

Time for the great unknown ! I felt great coming out of transition and was running really very well. I kept with it expecting to either blow up or catch a stitch and although nothing as bad as that happened - I did however settle down a bit after my first mile registered 6.46. I just kept going surprising myself at how I was pacing things - the run was easily navigated and as such I was able to mentally break it down into segments easily.  21.40 and 15th overall (3rd in age group) just proving that I can dip in and out when required and put in a reasonable effort - clearly a far cry from 2009s feldgling effort that's for sure !

Heidi finished her super sprint with an amazing effort - it's too early yet to know if this is the beginning of another team newham or not - time will tell :)

Ironman Weymouth 70.3 - Team Newham relay

So it was was agreed and the deal was signed back in May time to bring back Team Newham and have a go at the 70.3 Ironman in Weymouth, Dorset. fast forward a few months and we were ready and in good spirits to make the five hour trip down to the south coast for a weekend of Ironman fun !

Pre race

We camped at Portesham Farm campsite which had all we needed. Dave chose the van, and I slept in the pop up palace. Portsesham was only 20 minutes from the car park at Weymouth so as good as it gets. from the car park its about twenty minutes walk to either of transition or registration at the Pavillion. We hadn't figured they would be seperated by around two miles so learning no.1 is to always read the race pack!

Registration at the Pavillion was easy and the usual, and then it was through the merch tent, before back to the van to sort the kit and sticker up, and then the walk to transition to rack the bike. 2 more miles and we were back at the Pavillion theatre for the race briefing to put us in the mood.

Race day 

I was awake before two and provided butler service to Dave , providing coffee and porridge for his 4.20 wake up. It was surprisingly easy to park at Weymouth and we had plenty of time to walk to T1 to do the final touches to the bike. I was beach front ready to watch the pro's go off early then it was a nervous shuffle for a rolling start from 7am. I think I entered the water at around 7.28 finally.

Swim 55.39

I have bad memories of sea swims having not enjoyed my last one at tenby very much indeed. This was a shale beach start so I had an unimpressive start tip toeing into the water !  The first ten minutes were purgatory as I couldn't get my stroke going and had to adjust for the swells. Each marker bouy seemed to take an eternity and I knew it was slow. Also, it was very cold and my borrowed wetsuit seemed to be a very thin racing one so did not retain much in the way of body heat. I stuck with it though, and toughed my way through a personal worst swim performance and a 13 minute T1 where I was a shaking cold mess !

Bike 2.40.17 

It took around a further ten minutes to warm up and the bike was a case of a knife through butter as I went on an overtaking mission. I tried to keep a power of between 240-250W and for most part I did okay. I must have overtaken hundreds without reply and really enjoyed myself. The bike really is my section and I loved every minute of the rolling countryside.  My average of 21.2 was fantastic considering how I felt after

the swim, the course which had 3700 ft of climb overall, and the traffic from being so far back out of the water. My T2 handover to Dave was 3 minutes because I made the mistake of not running in my shoes and there were stones everywhere !

Run 3.13.55

The run at Weymouth is a well supported seafront run which is basically 3.5 loops of the aforementioned two miles between the registration Pavillion and just past the transition area. Dave did a great job of knocking out some consistent miling and he was pleased with his half marathon return of 3.13. I met him just before the finish, and we ran down the red carpet together happy to complete the event in 7.06.35.  A great weekends work where both of us overcame different challenges to put away a fantastic event finish.

Team Newham rocks on !

Trike Association Nationals Weekend

My third year of competing at this event - the set up is the same year on year : The HQ is Wolvey Village Hall, and the format of the weekend is the 10 Championship known as the Jenny Noad takes place on Saturday afternoon, and then everyone returns on the Sunday morning for the 25 which is the Stan Spelling.

Last year, I won both events with times of 26:00 & 1.06.58 respectively, and this year I would be back to defend my crown with a more competitive field. I hoped to post some improved tiomes on the last two years...

TA Jenny Noad National 10 - 24.39

My last two rides had seen times of 26.01 & 26.00 so anything better than that would be a bonus. 25 riders listed on the start sheet - a great turnout for this popular trike event. It was a cold snap in September and it was also windy with a strong un blowing across the course, albeit some cover attained from the hedgerows.

It has been a couple of months since the Newbury 15 and I hadn't ridden the race trike since then, just having the one outing on the leisure version this week. I felt it too, as I went off far too hard on the outleg and my power predictably was all over the place. By the roundabout I was blowing and I had a hold up which at least gave me a breather for 5 seconds. On the return I tried to settle down knowing my heart rate was a couple of bips too high and for most part it worked - I crossed the line with a 1.21 PB and a 3rd place finish. A decent outing and a sizeable improvement. Great rides by Gavin and Ian for the first two places. A video of the event can be found here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMSnxmiexc4&feature=youtu.be

TA Stan Spelling National 25 - 1.04.20

Instead of camping over in the wind and the rain, I deceided to cut my losses and have a nights sleep in my own bed. So I arrived nice and fresh and all rested for my 9.18 start in good nick. A change of clothing to Wheelers home strip with fleece arm warmers was a welcome wardrobe alteration as it was brisk to say the least out there. I had previously achieved rides of 1.06.59 & 1.06.58 and today had two goals - beat those times and just calm down as yesterday had been far too giddy in the early offing. Chanting the mantra I set off and did actually manage to put together an early ride which felt composed and competent. I was on the A road before my heart rate started to get to it's maximum for the ride and I could ease a little. I had caught some good riders already, and had made good progress - it felt better than my previous rides but time wise I couldn't be sure. First lap done, and the second lap although a little harder as I tired came and went a little quicker. My strava splits are pretty even stevens between lap one and lap two so my pacing was bob on my my reckoning. 1.04.20 and 3rd place again. Same as yesterday, I'm happy with the improvement !

More trike action here :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG89F0UPr1k&feature=youtu.be

Course K41/10

Temp 57

Wind 9 NW

Cadence 87

NP 311W

Pos 3

HR 175

Course K41/25
Temp 54

Wind 12 SW

Cadence 87

NP 283W

Pos 3

HR 169

Going the best that I ever have and then wanting more.....

Three races over the past couple of weeks to catch up on... 

27/8 VTTA 25 Champs 52.51 

Camped over the night before in the pop up palace, and had a lovely relaxing evening walking around the chalk pits and a quiet nights sleep ready for my 7.15 start the following morning. HQ was a Newmarket Leisure Centre, with good amounts of parking, and plenty of changing and shower facilities – an ideal hub for any TT.

It was a lovely day with a nominal cross wind which made the outleg down to four wentways roundabout a reasonably quick one. I held my power a little better than last times PB and the only difference between that day and this morning was the lack of traffic on the quiet E2/25 course. I attacked the turn best I could and the return, into a slight cross headwind helped keep a more balanced effort.  The return from this was a lifetime second best effort of 52.51 proving that July’s effort was no fluke and only 17 seconds adrift of my PB.  A great result !

2/9 VTTA Yorks 10 (V718) - 20.05 PB

Giddy from the previous weekends efforts I headed up to Hull knowing that I was in good form, in reality the best of my life, and I was also treated to some good forecast weather conditions, so the starts had aligned for what I hoped would be a club record smashing day.  Everything was checked and double checked, and I gave myself plenty of time to warm up from the HQ to the start. The wind direction which is so important on this course looked to be either a southerly of a south easterly which was a good as I could have hoped for.

The recent increase to 305W for my V02 intervals paid dividend as I held a strong effort all the way to the turn. Although down on my very best effort time wise, I could see higher than usual power figures couple with a decent heart rate return which meant that I was indeed going well.  On the return, it was a case of sticking it in the 56x11 and holding form and cadence the best I could.  My power return dipped as the cadence topped out, but I was able to mentally break the course down into remaing segments and mentally tough out the completion of my race.  I had dreamed of a 19, and was oh, so close to achieving that with a new PB of 20.05 which obliterated the old club vets record of 20.37.   I held it for 15 minutes then it fell again with a 19.51 – surely achievable with another winters training under my belt !

3/9 LRRA 30 - 1.09.20

The day after the V, I was back in county action at the LRRA 30 held on the often visited this year Sleaford course.  I would be up against rivals from the county and people that were also invested in the county’s short distance best all rounder competition.  I needed to finish to complete the series and also kind of hoped to knock a wedge off my 30 PB which had been at 1.16.11 for the past three years. 

My effort on the day was a good one and I was pleasantly surprised with the output of my legs. My power was only slightly down on my previous 25 on the Sleaford course overall and my time of 1.09.20 was good enough for 8^th and put me in my usual place in the county rankings of around 7^th.  Again, a good winters traing may see me a little better next year – we shall have to wait and see.

Course E2/25

Temp 54

Wind 6 NNW

Cadence 82

NP 294W

Pos 22

HR 172

Course V718

Temp 66

Wind 11 SE

Cadence 85

NP 314W

Pos 30

HR 177

Course LRRA 30

Temp 55

Wind 8 SE

Cadence 79

NP 280W

Pos 8

HR 171

A bit of the V and back to back weekends of 25's

Team Jadan - V718 - 5/8 - 21.15

It would be my third ride on the mighty V and one I had been waiting for after so many cancelled events due to roadworks over the summer. Imagine my frustration then when the conditions on the day were not the perfect planet alighned conditions that I had fantasised about when imagining what riding the course again would be like. I was presented with a direct westerly and a strong one at that that meant that the ride was fast out to the turn but never a full on backwind, and then a laborious slog mostly on the return that built to a crescendo of an almost impossible last mile or so once I’d got up and over the last rise at South Cave. A time of 21.15 would represent a 2^nd ever fastest 10 mile effort and stacked up OK against the rest of the field, but I couldn’t help thinking how nice it would have been to have a different wind direction. Suffice to say my PB of 20.39 was never in danger !

Bourne Wheelers 25 - 13/8 - 58.08

In my four or five seasons or racing TT’s I had never achieved a sub hour ride on a single carriageway course. I had been chipping away at it over the years getting as close as 40 seconds earlier in the year at the Middlemarkers event.  I chose the Bourne Wheelers event on the C25/22 for my latest effort which would be eactly a year since Ruth started coaching me. On that day I did a 1.02.15 off 235W, and an entire years dedication to the plans that Ruth provides for me had upped my power output somewhat. I definitely had a sub hour in me, but would I be able to break the ceiling today on a windy exposed Lincolnshire course with it’s famous ‘surface of the moon’ road surface ?

Time to find out, but with a WNW 12mph wind, I knew the second half was going to be tough, tough, tough !

The previous evening I spent far too long out in Nottingham and then thought it was a good idea to stay up and watch the first match of the day of the season. Consequently, I managed 4 hourse sleep – not ideal prep when you are facing your club rivals and trying to go sub 60.

I felt OK though, and once I had started and was underway, I applied myself well, and paced what I thought was one of my best paced efforts. I probably held back a little too much on the wind assisted out leg as my power output looked as good as gold, but I could have pushed a little more – maybe that was the fatique creeping in from the night before. Still, I got to the roundabout at Donington in good order, my heart rate was where I’d expect it to be at c.167bpm, and I’d say my power out put was spot on at around 280 ish where I’d factored in a negative split with the back wind scenario.

On the return, there was a definite headwind which was block in places and I could tell that the profile of the course was an upward one – I had to reall reign in the watts in places.

The final countdown began with the right hand turn at the Osbournby roundabout and from there I concentrated on riding an effort of a moderated 10 miler. The last mile would be full on, and because I was able to do this, I believed I had the pacing spot on. Back at HQ my time of 58.18 gave me 10^th although disappointingly, I was a minute behind ‘The Champ’ Sean Hunt, the fastest vet in Lincoln Wheelers – I had estimated being closer than that.

My first sub hour Lincolnshire ride though so can’t all be bad – now the glass ceiling is broken well and truly.

LRRA 25 ( 23.5m short course) 20/8 - 53.45

Last year on the same course I rode the trike and remembered that the road surface was OK for about the first 75% of the course and then it descended into trike hell ! This year, I’d be on two wheels, and would be further hampered by a last minute change in course which would shorten the event by 1.5 miles. It would take in even more Lincolnshire ‘agricultural’ roads and would not miss out the sketchy bit at Gypsey bridge which was my undoing last year.

I was again seeded riding at no.30 and the conditions on the day were cross winds of 12mph and bright and sunny. I was happy with that as it was a near comparison to last years effort. I started well and aimed to achieve a power output of around 290W given it was a shorter course and I’d been training a bit harder over the past couple of weeks with my V02 intervals jumping by 5W.

The wind seemed to be affecting my power readings and occasionally I’d experience an outage, followed by spike readings which I learned to ignore.  I felt better than last week no doubt benefitting from a good night’s sleep and felt strong and comfortable. My heart rate took a while to get going but I put that down to being a bit fitter and starting more sensibly. There was a tough headwind section halfway when we approached Coningsby and this seemed to go on forever, however, we soon turned and then it was dodgy diversion roads with a bit of tailwind which made the return a little more enjoyable.

A bit of heavy machinery lost me a few seconds at a turn and poor gear choice at the first 90 degree bend lost me a couple more, but overall my 53.45 performance on the day was a great return and got me to within a solitary second of the Champ.

11^th overall – good result that !

The Stats : 

Course V718 

Temp  68f

Wind 12W

Cadence 83

NP 299W

HR 173

Course C25/22 

Temp 64

Wind 10WNW

Cadence 82

NP 290W

Pos 10

HR 172

Course C25/1

Temp 61

Wind 11WNW

Cadence 84

NP 291W

Pos 11

HR 168

Another comp record and at last... a club trophy - a bling bling week then...

Newbury 15 - Trike - 35.51

Back on the old trike for team two's crack at the tricycle team 15 mile mens comp record. I had been part of team one on 5th July who set the record initially, however, this second attempt was organised as a back up event and included a rider who couldn't make the first date. 

The course was the H15/1 which meant a long drive down to Newbury for this event made worse by the piss poor weather on the day - it seemed to rain all the way down there and all the way back - the course was soaking but at least the rain stopped for a bit so we didn't start soaked too. A single carriage way course with two straight through roundabouts and two turn roundabouts it looked like a good trike track - the reality though was it wasn't that great and I nearly lost the trike in the first mile when I hit a manhole cover cum cambered pothole mess and nearly top sided. I had to be very careful and from that point I was. I cocked up the power meter calibration telling the head unit the trike had 100mm cranks so had to race on heart rate only. I huffed and puffed the whole way round and swear I was still feeling the previous weeks 50 shenanigans. I was amazed to finish with 35.51 which was only 12 seconds slower than the Breckland ride. The other two fellas did superb rides and as a unit of 3 our aggregate of 1.58.59 was good enough to take over two minutes off our previous time. 

Bourne Wheelers 50 - 1.58.09

Also the LRRA county championship as well and the fifth year I would be riding it. Last year I rode trike but this year I was back on two wheels. I'd be one of only four Wheelers entered on the day which meant that I'd be guaranteed 4th place and some good club competition points if I finished. The course I knew well, with riding lots of different parts of it over the years - I knew the climb to spittlegate would be tough with a headwind, and I knew the hardest part of the race would come later on when returning from Donington roundabout into the headwind as it is exposed badly and has a poor road surface in places.

It would be the first time that I'd start a local event with a zero on my back and I hoped to live up to the seeding going off at no.30. I started well enough and looked to hold the same sort of power figures that I'd averaged at the BDCA a couple of weeks back. I needed to average 267W or more and I tried to do that without getting to far ahead of myself like I had on the E2. With it being windy it was tough and also as the course is an honest Lincolnshire one, it is easier to maintain a good constant power. The climb to Spittlegate came and went, and what followed was a gloriously fast Spittlegate to Donington section with a backwind and a downhill profile.
Then the dreaded return ! It went on forever ! Grovel central - felt like my whole race was going down the pan ! I was truly ecstatic when I finally finished that section and headed back up the A15.

Job done with a new Lincolnshire best of 1.58.09 and that included at least four hold ups. Two club trophies as well, can't be all bad this time trialling lark !

The H15/1
Temp 61f
Wind 11mph SSE
NP n/a 
HR 173
Pos 14th

The C50/2
Temp 63f
Wind 15mph SW
NP 271W
HR 169
Pos 9th

Yo Adrian ! I DID IT !!!

A couple of events covered off this week as on Wednesday I rode the Interclub 10 event put on by Gainsborough Aegir, and then quite a big one - a 50m TT on Saturday over at Eteall on the A50/5 course :

Wednesday - 22.30
A single carriage way course, Knaith to Torksey, a tight almost dead turn and then a ride back past the start to the finish - an honest Lincolnshire course and the first time I'd ridden the GA10/2.  Nice evening and a light crosswind of 5mph greeted us at the HQ at Knaith Park. Decided to use the 404 on the front, and although there was lots of play in the Zipp disc, managed to eek one more race out of it before being sent in for repair.

Started well, kept the power nice and consistent and made the turn without falling off or colliding with any vehicles. Ramped up the power just a little and felt good on the return. Got to about 8.5 miles and ended up sat up in traffic as four cars struggled to get past one of those pesky Wheelers. I was there for the large part of a minute before strangely taking a strava KOM in the last mile. 22.30 but could have been so much better !

Saturday - 1.51.17
so the wind was back with a SW of 12mph to greet me at Etwall. I had loads of time and I was very relaxed I seem to remember, not stessed and took my time with everything. My garmin mount died during the warm up and was about to fall of, but I managed to find a kind soul with some gaffer tape and ta-dah ! I fixed it !
I was a minute starting behind Karen Ledger who I know of from VTTA North Mids and knew that if I could keep Karen in sight then I would have a good chance of a club record ride. I also knew that I would have to start more conservatively than I did on the E2 a month or so ago, so aimed to keep the watts down to about 260-270 until at least the top of the concrete mountain - which I managed to do, holding a good tempo for that first 21 miles or so - I could see Karen in the distance and had the comfort of knowing that the gap was still the minute we started with. That being said, I lost time by the top of the climb, and was probably another half a minute down.

Going down the mountain was just a case of switching into the 56x11 and pedalling as hard as I could until I turned right at Maccas roundabout for the dog leg SC section - deceptively flat and evil to boot - I'm looking forward to riding a 25 on this course where this section doesn't feature.

Once out of dog leg purgatory it was a case of giving what I could, and hoping that I wouldn't run out of gas. At the last roundabout I still had a little left and gave it full beans for the last mile or so - sweet relief when I saw the finish timekeeper and shouted 79 with the energy I had left.  1.51.17 and a new club record, finally, after so many near misses, I have one of the solo 2 wheeled ones. It was a brilliant day.

The GA10/2
Temp 64f
Wind 5mph WNW
NP 310W
HR 172
Pos 4th

The A50/5
Temp 72f
Wind 12mp SW
NP 268W
HR 173

and then Comp records ..... and getting them !!

Strange 'owd week this one.... following on from recently getting very close to the club vets 10 record on the mighty V, I have been further frustrated by events being cancelled for roadworks, accidents and the like. I've had a few weekends of just training and have been raring to go. I rode a club event on the 010/5 on a tuesday evening recently and managed a very good 22.14 on the night to win the event, so I knew that not racing was probably doing me some good ! The O10/5 course is one that I really wanted to do this year and it was a nice night and an honest course - 2017 bucket list tick I'd say !

Moving on to the CC Breckland 15 - it had previously occurred to me that there was not a comp record for this distance and especially a men's team record. I had secretly been putting together a band in an attempt to take the 30 record but with our A event cancelled, we were left with no alternative but to take stock and look at what else is available. The CC Breckland 15 was to be our first crack at the title, and a back up at the Newbury 15.

It was a lovely night, and there wasn't a great deal of wind around - and given my luck with conditions and cancellations this year I'll take the smooth thanks very much. I set the wattage target at c.290 and aimed to keep above that - thing is though I did muller the first couple of miles and really had to scale things back at mile 3 - it felt good, but the intelligent me knew I couldn't hold it. Giddiness over, I settled well into the event and apart from the road surface throwing up lots of potholes to dodge, I got to the turn in good order. Double roundabout without incident, it was the long winding road home, knowing I was going well. It does make a difference and the ride back was less of a battle knowing that. I worked hard to catch my two minuteman and did that just before finishing under a bridge ?? in 35.39 - a time I will be claiming a comp record for, even though it was beaten just three minutes later. Lincoln Wheelers have hopefully set a team comp record too - I smiled all the way back to Lincoln, pressure off for the season :)

On Saturday, I rode on the E2/25 course for the first time at the VTTA Champs and posted a time of 52.34 to equal the club record on a hot but windless day. I rode the first half far too quickly and paid for it on the return - still a PB none the less. A rider was knocked off just three minutes after me and the race was abandoned so a pretty hollow victory for me personally. The race is being re-scheduled.

The O10/5
Temp 57f
Wind 6mph ENE
NP 312W
HR 169
Pos 1/8

The B15/1
Temp 68f
Wind 7mph NE
NP 303W
HR 175
Pos 21/40

The E2/25
Temp 72f
Wind 5mph WNW
NP 286W
HR 178

Chasing club records...... and not getting them.....

Over the course of the past week I've had a go at a couple of the club records - the 50 and the 10. I was due to add the 25 to that yesterday, however, the event on the A25/11 had been respectfully cancelled just a couple of days ago.

First of the attempts was the 50 and that took place last Saturday. The club record is 1.52.42 and I felt in good enough form to seriously worry it on a fast course - the one I chose was the E2/50C near Cambridge - a course I knew well (or I thought I did ! ). It was a very hot day and the wind was a 16mph SW - which meant 25 miles of head or cross head. I wasn't worried at all about this as the course as some shelter and is fast in any conditions.

I started hard - too hard as it turns out and paid for it later on in the ride. I went through 25 miles in 52.35 and was on course - then three things happened - firstly I cocked up the top roundabout by assuming I knew the course without checking - turns out there is a section I didn't know about, secondly, I wilted in the heat and from the early pace - and then finally, the headwind did for me. 17 DNFs on the day due to it being a bit shit out there, but I battled on to a respectable 1.56.25 - good enough for 18th on the day - but outside of the record.

The second attempt came on the V718 this past Tuesday, where I would be attempting to better 20.37 on a decent night for the V. I was off at 7.53 on a lovely evening, and again, I felt good.

This time, I reigned it in quite early, learning from the weekend as again it was warm. I kept around 300W and worked on this to the turn. attacking the turn I ramped it up as much as I could on the return, but the backwind was never quite what I expected. No problem with my position or my pacing. a light night for traffic I suppose - but I just missed out this time round with a finish of 20.39 - just two seconds outside of it. So near !!

A PB of 46 seconds though - not to be sniffed at, and it means that I'll get another couple of rides on there this season. Bonus !

The E
Course E2/50C
Temp 24C
Wind 16mph SW
Pos 18/56
NP 249W
HR 175

The V
Course V718
Temp 23C
Wind 8mph SE
NP 303W
HR 176

Sportzmad 25

My second visit to the the hallowed mountain at Hirwaunjust outside of Methyr Tydfil to ride the fast R25/3H course – a course where the 2017 CTT 25 Champs are to be held, and a race I am working hard to reduce my PB to a level of being able to claim a place.

This weeks event was the Sportzmad 25 and I had been placed at no.97 which meant that I wouldn’t be starting until 12.37 so there was no need to camp over the night before like I did in April. Instead, I left Lincoln at five to seven and arrived fabulously early at the HQ at Rhigos Rugby Club leaving me plenty of time to relax before eventually going through my race day routine.  The weather was overcast, drizzly and most disappointingly – cold at 11c – although this would rise a little before the off.

A nice little warm up and then I was set on my way, aiming to beat my lifetime PB of 55.21 and better my last attempt of 55.30 on this course. All seemed well, with a backwind to the first roundabout and I worked hard, above my FTP, knowing that I’d get a breather going down the mountain – wrong !! A good block headwind of around 11mph meant that unlike last times freewheeling fun – this week see me pedalling almost all the way to the bottom – I think I reached a top speed of around 40mph and not the headstart that I would have wanted.

My power looked good and my cadence and heart rate were where I needed them to be but it didn’t seem fast at all and with the cold and the drizzle I guestimate I wasn’t even holding 25mph as I made my way to the far end of the course. Number 100 came past me like a train and this cemented my feeling. At the turn, once I had negotiated the slow climb and picked the right exit from the roundabout, I afforded myself a look at my average speed and was stunned to see it read 26.9mph.

Now I had the bit between my teeth, with a backwind and a PB to chase on the last 10-11 miles of the course and set about holding my target power. I huffed my way through two roundabouts without delays and still had a little left in the tank at McDonalds roundabout for a final throw of the dice. Empty I passed the finish and could only whimper ‘no.97’.

Job done with a new PB of 53.25 – I just hope that’s low enough to get me a ride on either Etwall or the E2 cos 7-8 hours of driving in a day is not so much fun as testing.

Time 53.25

Wind SW 11mph

Temp 13c

HR 172W

AP 285W

NP 285W

Bruce Kingsford TA National 50

My third trip across to Astley nr. Shrewsbury for the TA's National 50 time trial. On offer was the chance to retain the Bruce Kingsford memorial trophy that I won last year with my time of 2 hours & 18 mins.

Competition was hot this year, with a good standard of entry with winners of previous TA events all lined up for the start. 15 riders in total and the weather gods smiled upon all of us with a light North Westerly wind of 9mph and a lovely early morning temperature of 15c - which was a good job as we were starting very early in the morning at 7am onward.

I was last man as defending winner and had the luxury of starting at 7.30. My garmin would display just three items : Power 10s, cadence and heart rate. I knew whick level of power to aim at, I wanted to avoid the inevitable slide into low cadence and I wanted to make sure I wasn't pushing my poor little heart so fast. In 2015 at my first BK - I fogot my garmin and started the event like a 10 which was a poor pacing strategy.

Also, br removing speed, it helps because I don't panic or chase, and finally no timer so that I don't get panicked by time splits. It was a case of just riding and riding to power.

Of course though, given all this science, I again started off far too fast and caught my two minute man within 10 minutes who himself is a fast man who has beaten me before.
I needed a word with myself, and managed it finally as I took on the first section from Ternhill roundabout up to Prees Island for the first time. On the way back, power dropped and cadence rose, so I knew it was super fast and very much wind assisted. On my closest rival , I guestimated that we were around level so all was good. The eventual winner of the event, however, seemed to be miles ahead and making it look so easy !

At about halfway, the course slows noticeably and it became harder and I genuinely thought I had bonked following the fast start. Round the bottom turn and all to do, the power rose again, especially on the return to Prees Island into that headwind, and I kept it steady just blindly trusting that power figure - I was having to work very hard though whereas it had seemed relatively easy earlier in the event.

Round the Island and this time I looked at the average speed - 23mph !!! WTF !! That was an immediate pick me up - I also got a time check over my rival and it looked like I was 45s ahead - decision made, I had 14 miles to go to the finish and I wasn't going to lose 2nd place, so head down and keep working. Those last 14 miles seemed to take fowever and the last three really were an eternity.  Finished empty with a club record 2.08.39 and two silver TA medals - a better weekend than I had imagined.

Pos. 2/15
Time 2.08.39
Temp 15c
Wind 9mph NW
HR 170
AP 265W
NP 265W

LRRA 10 Champs 2017

After last years effort on the trike it was time to have another stab at the county championship on two wheels. My last effort was in 2015 when I managed a very good for me 22.32. Today then, I had my eyes on the prize of going faster than that and placing well in the championship. A 21 would be nice and after last weekends trike offering I genuinely felt that it might be a possibility.

The HQ was at Gunby Hall which is a national trust property, and the course is coded the C10/9 - an honest out and back 10 course which benefits from a gift hill finish as the cherry on top of the icing on the cake.

Wind was quite light at 10 mph, and as a south westerly should have assisted out and then been a cross head on return - which didn't always happen but we'll come to that.

I was off at no.82 and I seemed to be warming up for an eternity before being ready to go. When I did though, my power was through the roof as I tackled the early unulations - today I had ave power, cadence and heart rate showing. I could see good power and decent cadence, my HR was climbing already into the 170's so yes, I think I started too hard.
Having made my bed, I attempted to lie in it as best I could and powered up to the first roundaboutin a PB 310W.  I had been held up by some traffic, and also didn't feel that I'd got that much of a push, it was easier in some sections and harder in others.

The return with my HR sitting already in the mid 170's was hard for sure - but I kept trying to keep the power above 300W and keep moving forward. The back 5.5 was the same as the first half - good in places, windy in others - I found the course a complete mish mash today !

That gift hill though, a welcome sight after 9 miles and I attacked it knowing that every second counts. About halfway down I could see flashing emergency vehicle lights and then I could see an ambulance and police car just before the finish - I slowed down and drifter thinking that the event had been abandoned only to be waved around the incident and onward to the finish.

A dulling end to a good solid ride. My 22.18 was more like 22.08, but I placed well, and on a better day that performance would have been good enough for that magical single carriageway 21.  Onward and upward - the Bruce Kingsford Trike 50 next weekend !

Course C10/9
Temp 14c
Wind - SW 10mph
NP 313W

City RC Hull 10 on the V and a new club record

The new trike arrived this week, complete with single drive, just 6 gears and a 55T Chainring. I have managed to get out and ride it a couple of times and I know that it is a quick barrow ! Adjustments are still being made though and I'm sure that I've not yet got the seat high enough.

All that being said, I did my V02 intervals on it outside on Thursday evening and they felt really good, so I headed to Hull with the notion that I could at least trouble the club 10 record by getting close to the 20.47 mark that I had failed to achieve on my last two trike visits (22.54 & 23.08 respectively).

My warm up had gone well and apart from having to dodge a quick shower by jumping in the back of the car - I had plenty of time to amble down to the start !

I was away by 3.57 and enjoyed a relatively busy dual carriageway as I made my way toward the turn. My garmin displayed three things - power 10s, cadence & heart rate and all three looked on track as I headed into what I thought should be a cross headwind but didn't seem to drag as it should.

The 55 tooth chainring was superb and the gearing was just right as a result, I had enough at the bottom and enough at the top. I hit the turn and made a concerted effort to work hard up the ramp and not dilly dally at the roundabouts - of course I had no average speed readout at this point but I was actually ahead of schedule at the turn.

As with most trips to the V, the back 5 is the fastest and I was nearly maxxing out with the cadence at some points. It felt fast, but I just kept working thinking I was there or thereabouts and every second counts. Having a power meter on a trike is very useful and I found myself working consistently to my target power whereas I would have been all over the place usually.

I finished strongly but daren't check the ride time until I was rolling into Newport. 22.05 - a new club record and VTTA NM age record - I'll take that !

NP 310W
HR 173
TEMP 16c
WIND SSW 11mph

A busy bank holiday of organising and racing...

I managed to cram quite a bit into this weekend, with organsing the TA East & Lincoln Wheelers Old Skool event on Saturday and having a bit of a back to back racing for the Sunday & Monday on the V718 both days which is my absolutest favourite course in the whole wide world....

Saturday - V728 - VTTA National 15 Champs
This one was held on an extended remix version of the V718 course which added c.2.5m both ways towards the Newport turn off. There was a howler of a wind blowing from the South Easterly direction at 20mph, and that made both the start and the proceeding 2.5miles to south CAve really tough. I could see my power and could hold it steady and I could also see my minute man, himself a decent rider, edging a little bit closer. In fact he was an excellent carrot and I managed to catch him before the turn, so I knew I had a decent pace going out.

Up and over the turn smoothly, I made sure to be careful as I made my way up the gears for the super quick backwind section. My only problem came as I span out and couldn't spin fast enough to take the power any higher. I was strong and kept moving as quickly as I could and attacked the Welton Drag as hard as I could.  All out, I went for the line and was pleased to be rewarded with a 33.34 in poor conditions - 35th on scatch on the day.

Sunday - V718 - Mike Dixie - Tandem Trike
The super fast tandem trike pairing of myself and 70 year old Pete Holland met up early at the HQ at Newport and set about modifying Pete's tandem so that we could have a comfortable ride and attempt to take the Lincoln Wheelers tandem trike record which stands at 23.45 and has done since 1996.

We don't train on it together, preferring to just race occasionally. On this occasion, we chose the may-day Mike Dixie event that we usually ride solo.

We started well and got a good understanding almost straight away, I'd push on and occasionally Pete would rest and free spin. It worked well and we made good progress against the still windy but better than yesterday 12mph wind. Overall, we needed to maintain an average of 25.35 miles per hour and it was looking good at the turn (bottom of at 23.8mph). the turn was very slow though and it was down to 23 on the way down, but I thought it was still doable.

Riding back was like treacle in parts and I could feel the pedalling get harder as Pete tired in the second half. We did give it our all though and really went to town in the last mile getting up to 38 miles per hour and eventually only missing the record by two seconds !! Grrr !