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