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 2nd 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 10th 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.
11th 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
