An unhinged trip over to Bolsover and a 10k to boot

Alarm set for 4am, planned to be ready and out the door for 5ish and meet up with the other two founding members of the unhinged brothers for a ride over to Bolsover and then as a brick run of sorts we'd do the Bolsover 10k. 

A bit unhinged....like ! 

When we rode a recce a couple of weeks back, we had a backwind and we were in the saddle for around three hours in a ride affected by some Newham navigation faults. 

Today the weather gods deemed it fit to give us a headwind all the way to deal with along with rain for the first couple of hours which only seemed to galvanise the effort of all three of us. After a second break on the road, the day broke and the rain stopped, OK, it was still headwind but hey two out of three can't be bad can it ?  Two hours and thirty something the ride took us, all three of us arriving at the Bolsover School HQ nice and early and ion good spirits. 

Roll on another 90 minutes and it was time for my 4th running of this honest road race, covering 10k on open roads out on a rolling loop of the countryside. Personally, I've had a claf problem which has meant that I've not been running for the past three weeks so my form would be unknown. I set myself toward the front third of the waiting masses at the start and played it by ear, my race kinda went like this...

Mile 1 - Jockeying for position and making some good ground, tried to run a quick not top end run, so far so good.

Mile 2-4ish, kept up a good even pace, moved gradually one by one up the order, didn't feel uncomfortable at any time. Nice brisk pace.

Mile 4&5 Felt my calf, like a nerve pain, and had to knock of the pace by about a minute a mile looking at the strava splits.

Last mile or so - felt confident enough to carry on, push it a little harder into the finish. 

Total time 46.29 a PB for the course, the team did awesome with a 56 and a 59 on the scoreboard, and medicinal Guinness of course prescribed at the after run lunch. 

A nice unhinged day out ! 

2 Comp records, some Nationals, and a run out on the tandem..

The last few months of the season had been hectic and saw racing every weekend. I had some Nationals to compete in at both 25 & 50 mile distances along with a tandem in the workshop and most importantly some comp records to go at with my trike cohorts.....

1/8 Gbro Interclub - 22.52
Nice run out on one of my favourite courses, midweek event, didn't quite eek out all that I could and lost some composure, was minuted on the line by 'the Champ'. Still not a bad ride though.

5/8  RTTC National 25 - 55.18
A run out at the Nationals doen near Portsmouth on a misty Sunday morning.  While I felt the performance was acceptable, I didn't feel that the watts reflected the ride.

11/8 Tickhill Velo 10  - 23.04
Just missed out on a 22 on the Hatfield 10 course. Road surface not as bad as made out. Fierce headwind out and good watts, died a bit on the return - 23.04 a fair refelection of a so so ride.

18/8  YCF 30 on trike 1.17.24
1st attempt at the 30 trike team record. Four of us took up the challenge with a new rider called Dan joining the team. The day was fruitless as although we all finished, it was a blowy and horrible day. Dan put in a monster of a time for the first effort on a trike.

25/8 Barton Wheelers 10  -  22.10
That was more like it although I really wanted a 21 if I'm honest - I almost got it but alas so near so far. Course short at 9.9 miles, a rode a consistent and composed ride. Much more like it !

1/9  BDCA 100  - DNF
I really wanted the club record of 3.58, and looked on course at 70 miles, however by 86 I was cooked on a really warm muggy day and was all I could do to stay upright as I quit in the layby on the final lap of 6 on the shortened course. That record will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine !

8/9 Jenny Noad 10 (trike)
9/9 Stan Spelling 25 (trike)
Trike National Weekend action up next, both held at Wolvey for the last time.  Battled Ian on both days and just managed to come out on top of the exchanges - 2 secs on Saturday, and a minute on Sunday. Both were decent rides as I concentrated on my position. Very pleasing performances. Ians turn next year. Gavin obliterated both of us of course, but Gav is different gravy !!

15/9  CC Breckland 30 (trike)  1.09.57
Down on the old Norwich dual carriageway for attempt no.2, myself, Ian & Dan. Decent day but some hard wind sections. We all did PB rides to take the competion record away from Antelope RC who had held it since 1981. I briefly bettered the club record before Ian took it away with a stunning 1.08 ride. Job done, pressure off for...

22/9 Leo 30 (trike)  1.07.00
The record goes again !! Al of us PB'd on a bonkers day on the E2, it was fast, fast, fast - I took back my club record a week after losing it and we all managed to take nearly 10 minutes of the comp record we set last week.

29/9  RTTC National 50 & Wheelers Hill Climb   1.54.16
Another bonkers day - up early for an earlyish start in the National 50 held on the A46. New experiment position having gone high rise extensions, fast first 25, tired on the lumpy return and lost form - 1.54.16 a good return for 62nd place on the day.  In the afternoon, I took part in the hill clim at Leadenham on my trike in fancy dress and came 19th - the least said the better !

14/10  Lincoln Wheelers 25 (tandem trike) 1.02.55
Partnered with Jon Moody, a first outing for the Barron. We faired well. Even with the stokers bars coming loose and stopping us for over a minute, we put in a competent performance, and managed to win the event on the day. That tandem is going to see more racing next year for sure.

Well that was the season that was !  A bit of a mixed bag, some wins, some losses, gained and lost club records, gained 3 more comp records, and committed to a couple of years of triathlon - looks like 2019 could be another busy year !

July - a sweltering heatwave and I'm melting, I'm melting !!

Biggest thing that has happened this month, is that I've agreed to enter and train for Ironman Barcelona in October of next year. This means dusting off the old Triathlon, Duathlon and of course Ironman sections of this blog  ! 

I'll be testing still cos testers always be testin, however my coaching will stop at the end of March and then I'll be going solo - scary ! 

In other news, I did some testing throughout July, and this is how it turned out.. 

7th July - Lincoln Wheelers Charity 10 - 22.26
There is a reason why I have avoided our fastest 10 mile local course for the past three years and that is because I don't think I have ever gotten it just right and I was wayward on this event too. I really wanted a 21 minute time on a Lincolnshire course but it wasn't to be ! Started too strong even with trying to keep a lid on the power, but wilted badly on the return probably because of

the heat. A badly paced effort resulting in a disappointing course PB.

8th July - Nottingham Clarion 3up TTT 57.41 
This was fun. The day after the Charity 10 and I found my legs - I was in a Lincoln Wheelers team with me old mukkas Sean Hunt & Richard Sheldrake, and the three of us worked like a well oiled unit on a two lap single carriageway course. We benefited from a morning start, and from the off the pace was frantic with regular and constant switchovers - having beforehand worried about being strong enough for a three up, I held my own and was able to give it full beans. We won a tenner each as fastest old boys - nice mornings riding.

14th July - BDCA Trike Assc 50 - 2.06.11
This was an altered course to the usual 50 course and was a three lap affair. This nicely describes my outing for the day - I rode the first lap at race pace and in the heat and with my Garmin cutting out causing my strategy of tracing average power out of the window. By the end of the first lap my head had gone and I enjoyed a massive flounce by getting off and quitting. After a couple of minutes, I got back on and decided not to waste the miles and rode the last two laps at training pace. Overall, 2.06 was a course improvement, but again, far too hot for racing.

22nd July - Shaftesbury 50   1.51.14
Stayed over at Cherry Hinton in the pop up palace and had a decent nights sleep in preparation for the Shaftesbury 50 and a 7.27 start time on the E2. It was a warm morning but nothing like the afternoon temperatures that we've been seeing, so a nice change. Wind was low but unhelpful as a cross wind. As a result the course was a bit dead for the first half, only livening up for the second half. I paced power very well, negative splitting at c.270W/272W, giving an overall return of 271W. A time of 1.51.14 meant a three second personal best as well. 

28th July - VTTA National 25 - 1.03.19
Delayed an hour for traffic, no cancellation for the severe wind, and so , so many DNS's on the start sheet. I think we had gusts of between 41-45mph - the only concern was cross wind as I went across the A46, but I practiced a couple and as long as you paid attention it was fine.  My time was 1.03.19 and obviously much slower than my ride on the same course in April. I was horribly over geared on the tough headwind out section really gurning the trike up relatively shallow climbs and then the test of strength of Bingham Hill - how I got up that I don't know !!  I lost 5 watts at the turn from the freewheeling, and then on the way back I hit a PB on any machine averaging 31 mph and undergeared - I chased the power where I could but there were part that I'd spin out on. Winter project for the trike will be installing a double - a 60/46 would have been ideal today !  Overall, on such a crappy day, that was the best I could produce. 

Big June

June has been one massive month of time trialling, with comp record attempts, double headers, a trip to Lanza and a shot at European qualification...

2/6 - Tour Of Cambs Crono - 39.32
A crack at euro qualification for the UCI champs in Italy later in the year. I would need to finish in the top 25% of my age group to have a shout. It was a warm day and an excellent event to take part in. A warm up area and an arena start ramp for that professional feel. again, being so soon after the position change, I started well, but felt like I faded in the second half of the race, particularly struggling to get going again after some hard climbing. My time of 39.32 was about 45 seconds off qualification and a comfortable top half finish - a nice effort all things considered.

9/6 Lindsey Roads 10 - 22.14
A nice Lincolnshire TT on a course I hadn't had a go at before - the C10/4 in North Lincolnshire. It is single carriageway, quite flat, with some dual carriageway thrown in - who would have thought ?  It was a case a further progress as I started really strongly and was holding my target 320W all the way to the turn at 5.2m - I thought I was flying, but the shame of it was I couldn't quite manage the same tempo and effort on the way back as my clock ticked over 22 minutes having seen the power average out overall at 310W by the time I finished. That Lincolnshire 21 can't be far away and it feels like that is my new glass ceiling !

16/6 Mercia CC 30 - 1.10.10
This was effort number one in the trike comp record chasing team efforts.  Gaz was off no.1, Me no.2, and Ian no.3 as we aimed to beat 1.16 each and claim a new record. The course was an amended one because of roadworks on the A50 which made the course faster in my opinion. It was a decent day and I felt good especially as it was a day before my holiday to Lanza !  I knew I was in good form having ridden the club 10 on the Tuesday on the trike managing a powerful ride and a 25 minute time despite coming off the course !  So for this race, I had a strong start and really settled into a fast pace right from the off. I held good power and despite taking a wrong turn at the first turnaround looked to have a little lead over Ian even though I couldn't see him. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen Gaz at that point but as he'd gone wrong at the first roundabout !! I kept good composure and really dug in especially during the second half of the ride for a very pleasing 1.10.10 which took nearly four minutes off my old club record.

23/6 Sleaford Wheelers 15 - 37.02
A Lincolnshire course and a new competition record for the three of us. Despite Gary's braking system disintegrating, we still managed a cummulative effort which beat the record that Gary, Pete and myself set last year. The ride was quick on the way out to Donnington and then really hard back from the roundabout into a headwind and some draggy climbing - a nice ceiling breaker for the record chasing boys.

24/6 York BHPC Crit racing
... and now for something completely different  ! I went up to York for the british human powered club crit racing. I used the pink trike, and went in the slow race with the other comp record sharks.  My usual crit racing on show, I was a distant 6th in the end - great fun, but abslotely bonkers !

30/6 Yorkshire RC 50 -  2.00.47
A nice trike 50 in the heatwave to finish off a mad month of June ! Another record tilt this time at the 50 mile team record. We would all need to average 2.05 or less to do this and it was a big ask given how hot it was, and the unhelpful wind conditions which was a sidewind of around 10mph.  For my effort, I thought I could hold 290 ish watts, which slipped to 285 by halfway, then it was a real battle and very uncomfortable in the heat. Eventually having to settle for 267W ad a new club record of 2.00.47.  Happy with the ride, but disappointed not to go under two hours as I hoped.

Massive catch up - whats been going on this year so far....

This post has the capacity to be the biggest that I've written, I haven't posted for quite a while and that is down to a couple of things, the first and most important being work and the long hours and constant driving have left me just enough time to complete my training only and the second, is well, I've been underwhelmed by my start to the year and in that sense some of my mojo temporarily left me.

This is what has been happening , taking it from the top as it were...

14 April - BDCA 25 - 54.07

Some good and some bad points to this performance which I think you'll find is a reoccurring theme. The course was an amended one so not the usual A25/11 course. It had been altered to a two lap affair which suited me just fine to be honest. There had been more double roundabouts thrown in to make the course work. I had the 58 chainring on and looked forward to giving it full beans on the A50. The day was warm and I had sun on my legs which always makes me go.  Now for the race - I started well enough, probably too well. The big chainring working well, and for the first few miles I think I hit my numbers OK. Then it started to ebb away and I had to really race hard just to keep anywhere near my target wattage. So hard in fact that my heart rate data showed I was at a '10' effort for the majority of the ride. I finished with a 54.07 which for early season is a good ride, but I came away thinking I should have been better.

21 April - Shaftesbury 25 - 58.59 

Back on trike, and a trike team comp record attempt with myself, Ian Pike & Gaz Wright making the startsheet in the Shaftesbury Middlemarkers 25 (slower than 57 event). A nice hot day and not terribly windy, about as alright as you can get. I managed 58.59 so another trike 25 PB and second time under the hour this year. Probably my best ride of the year so far for pacing and power. Left it all out there and didn't overcook it at any stage. Not a terribly quick day as it turns out so you can't always go off conditions - we missed comp record by a few minutes but will get closer as the season goes on and we will get there !

28 April - LRRA 2up - 44.31

LRRA 2up - my first appearance at this event for 5 years. It was a wet and windy afternoon and cold at 7-8c. My partner was  about 2 minutes adrift of my 10 pace so I planned on doing most of the work. The course is the same as the Bourne Wheelers 50 so the first 1-9 miles are rolling up hill, which made it tough to keep the elastic band from snapping. Over 18.5 miles I'm pleased with the 290W which I put out ,which was tempered by the easing off and not going full bore for large parts especially the first half. 6th overall, winners of the county vets On Standard - which means a trophy !

After this 2 up, I decided the Trinity still felt a bit foreign to me so decided to have 3-4 weeks off open racing. I rode most of my sessions in training on it and also completed the King Edward 80 mile sportive, and the Lincoln GP sportive (also an 80 miler) on it. Something just wasn't still right and I was failing to hit my numbers in training. Desperate, I turned to my bike fitter who uncovered the truth - I had set up he bike incorrectly and the seat wasn't high enough. There's catch up to do now. 

26 May - Mapperley CC 10 -  22.54

Day One-ish of the new position. It felt better albeit the result maybe didn't feed through immediately. Basically this course was a shortened A46 affair on roads I'd ridden earlier in the year. 5.7 miles into a stupid hooley of a headwind, and 4.3 miles back super quick.  I felt I started better and maybe too hard but I wanted to see what I was capable of in the new position.  The first five minutes felt really good, and I could see that my shadow was still on the road and I wasn't moving much. It became tougher for the next 7-8 minutes and there were parts where the power would dip maybe as the road rolled, but still aimed to keep above 300W. To and over the turn, initially I had another strong section, however as the backwind really kicked in and I started to gurn and chase the power I lost composure and posture and continually had to re-set my backside.  A case of a work in progress and definately a day for those with a lower CDA. I termed this ride as progress as it was the best TT ride of the season so far and I feel like I'll grow to the point of being able to hold it for longer.

Under the hour.... on a trike !

It is a season goal for this year, to go under the hour on a trike in a 25 mile time trial. I had all season to do it, but as fate would have it, I was entered in two fast dual carriageway races during this month - the first being the Melton Olympic 25 held locally on the A46 between Newark and Bingham....

I was off at no.64 as as you can see from the photo, it was a first time outing for my no pinz hi viz dual carriageway skin suit with matching very bright overshoes. It would be my second outing with the new position on the trike as well. The weather gods looked to be smiling with a low predicted SSW which meant that it was as good a day as ant to make that first attempt and break that glass ceiling.

For this race I removed all the various clutter that I had in the last race from the Garmin screen and went back to to last years basics - 10 second power and cadence. I would not have a clue how fast I was going and it would be a complete shot in the dark. When I was warming up, it quickly became apparent that my cleats were so worn that the right side kept popping out - less than ideal and I would for sure need to be so careful especially while cornering.

I set off at just after three, and whilst it was only a mild headwind, the trike felt so slow, and to be fair my minute man caught me so, so quickly so I thought I was on for a very slow ride. Soon after my two minute man caught me - FFS I thought, this could be a long day. I did seem to settle down, and my target power was achieved in a consistent manner, also my cadence was strong. The biggest test was getting the barrow up Bingham mountain in 55 x 21 and I just about managed it. To the turn and again I thought this was bad (in hindsight I was there in 22.6mph average). The return to Farndon was super fast as the wind was in the right direction for the course. A glorious 13 miles of fun occasionally ruined by my right foot popping out and loosing time while I freewheeled to get clipped back in. I think I averaged 28.6mph going back to Newark and as a result my ride average must have been well above my target 25 as I made the final turn up the old A46 road. I gave it full beans and full bore right up and over the line.

Of course at this point I didn't have a clue and peered through fingers at the next garmin screen. 59.37, I had done it, and now I can relax a bit and enjoy my next trike ride knowing that I have already beaten this years goal !

Course A25/34
Temp 59f
HR 166
AP 292
Wind 9mph S

First racing weekend of 2018

After so many months of endless training without so much of a sniff of racing, finally I saw a weekend of racing back to back. On saturday afternoon I would head over to Jodrell Bank for the Trike Association 10 and then on Sunday I would be the bike leg of a relay team entered into the East Leake Triathlon.

TA North West 10   25.48

I headed over to Jodrell Bank and Goostrey Village Hall for a 2.00 event on the rescheduled J2/20 course. traffic meant that I arrived in OK time but not early enough to go out and ride the course. I would be rider no.10 in a ten man field and the trikes would be going off in front of a regular field. I felt strangely serene as I got ready in the car park and readied the trike. Even on the way out to the start and during the warm up I felt no nerves at all and just looked forward to having my first race of the season.

The course would be an honest single carriageway affair with a couple of twists, a couple of roundabouts, a railway bridge and generally some poor road. Like I said earlier, I needed to learn it as I went along. It would also be a learning experience with the new position on the trike and I soon found once I started that this too was a work in progress.

So, good start, and I was quickly on my way to the first roundabout and pushing out crazy watts thinking wow could I hold this? The answer was no and to be fair, although I had caught 4/5 riders by the turn, I was seriously blowing out of my arse and wondering just how f'in far 10 miles is !!

The return was a consolidation exewrcise and I had a bit of a tail push back. I was hoping for an early season 24 minute ride, and I could see that come and go on the Garmin. In the end I just managed to sneak under 26 with a time of 25.48. 299W so in the ball park of where I maybe should be first ride and all that. How do I feel ? Pleased to get the first one done, underwhelmed with the time and wattage, but most of all clearere about how much I need to adapt to the new position. Things should get better.

East Leake Tri Bike Leg

Not being able to do the other two disciplines, I roped a couple of colleagues from work in to do a relay triathlon so that I could just do the bike leg. It was a race I had done a couple of times in the past so I knew the venue and the routes well enough - ideal when you are managing a team.

We would start at 9.50 and a good swim time of 7.55 meant that I was able to get out on the Trinity before 10. I started well and I have to say the Trinity just wants to go all the time - it's an incredible machine and I'm very lucky to have it. I had of course raced the day before, so I was off it just a little bit but still I felt had a good ride all things considered.

My bike leg was just over 33 minutes and when our runner out away a 20 minute run leg - we snaffled the team category win by a healthy margin.

Back to back wins - not a bad weekends results !

Rauceby Ripper 2018

and so February came around... really quickly and that means two things - firstly it signals the end of my running for around 7 months and secondly it must mean it's Ripper time folks - my designated last run of the year for the second year in a row !

The Rauceby Ripper is laid on by Sleaford Town Runners and always sells out before Christmas. It's one of those smaller popular events that once you have done one - well it's a bit moorish shall we say.

Today would see a kind wind ie none, but a light drizzle and a cold temperature of around 4 degrees. I certainly wasn't complaining as I quite like running in the rain and prefer light winds - however, the course was definately boggier than I remember and you can see from the photo the amount of mud and standing water I would need to negotiate.

Walkers start at 9.30am and the runners start at 10.30.  For two years running now I have finished in 30th place, so this year I decided to be a bit more proactive at the start and get myself right near the front - this startegy seemed to work as I was able to push on the hard concrete surface in the first mile as opposed to the usual grass overtake of previous years.

I again used my trusty trail brooks and the boggy section in the second mile was competently negotiated albeit there were a couple of corners I found very sketchy !

My pace settled in, I could see the field had thinned out, and from then on in, it was a case of picking up a place here and there and not gong too hard. For the second year in a row, I was having a really good time out there, enjoying every part of the run and the miles seemingly flying by. 6 miles certainly didn't feel like 6 miles, and it was kind of a shame to exit the wooded section and know there was just a mile left !

I held good form determined not to lose any places over the wet grass down the hill to the finish, and deserved this years great medal with 24th place and a time of 1.07.09,

Running over and out - time to get testing again !

Winter Double Time Trials

Boxing Day - 20.52

The first ride out on the Giant and a fancy dress speed judging event held on the clubs 7.7m Torksey Triangle course. I am the event organiser so it was an early start to get the signs put out on the course which must have given the drivers a scare as I was painted up in my day of the dead costume.

My actual ride was a nervous virgin ride on the bike as I struggled to get used to a different animal to the Planet X which I've raced over the past 5 seasons or so. When I do get used to it I'm sure it will be fast, but this first outing showed nothing really as I had an uneventful 20.52 to show for my efforts and again a 1st place on scratch for my Boxing Day effort.

Nexy week will tell me more as I'm back on the same course for the first competitive ride of the year with a trophy up for grabs.

New Years Day - 18.04
1st place and first trophy of the season - over a minute quicker than last year and comfortably holding my 300W target. To say I'm buzzing is an understatement.  Started at no.12 and apart from a super power heavy first half mile I seemed to settle down well.  Couldn't see my HR data which is a shame, but most importantly the power did work and that was the biggest potential problem during the warm up. I had a decent minute man and reeled him in sooner than anticipated - both of us having good rides.

My season won't start in earnest until the last weekend in March, there's lots of work to be done between now and then, but result's like today's really give some comfort that my coach's way is the right way.