Race Report - Witham Wheelers CC 25 (Windy with a chance of rain!)

Managing to improve my tardiness its only been 5 days since my last race and here I am writing an update!!  Can I take that as another win?!

This week saw my return to 25mile Time Trials, it was a course that was close to my parents which allows both my wife and I to race while we make use of free childcare our daughter gets to spend quality time with the grandparents!

The course is an interesting blend, of some light rolling bits and narrowish roads and then a flat section to the turnaround and then a retracing of your steps.  Its quite a nice course all things told and being an “L” shape there is a reasonable chance that at some point you will get an advantageous wind.

The lead up was not ideal, and in fact I was expecting to not race, Erin (my daughter) was really ill on the Wednesday before and it was the first time she has been properly sick, its not nice to see as they don’t really know what’s going on but as she seems to with most things she just got on with it, in fact I think she quite enjoyed mum and dad running about with bowls and towels certainly in between the sickness she was full of beans!

With the little one being ill it seems inevitable that mum and dad will soon succumb to said illness and another day hugging the toilet would be in order, although there is little worse that your 10month old daughter taking a sickness bug like more of a man than me!!  I need to toughen up!

I was conscious of every little odd feeling but nothing came of it and we headed off to Lincolnshire on Saturday morning with the “dad bus” (Volvo V70) loaded to the roof. 

I had said to Coach Rob ahead of the race that I would be disappointed if I didn’t win, that is not me being arrogant (well maybe a bit), but I knew that I should be quicker than those on the start sheet, but this does add an element of pressure!  

On the way down Fiona and I were discussing the weather, it was forecast to be a strong westerly with a good chance of heavy and possibly thundery showers, which led to a lot of discussion around whether to wear the KASK visor or not, they are horrendous for steaming up in rainy conditions and we were thinking we would need to find a suitable location to throw them half way round, the weather is always a factor but generally it’s the same for everyone so we just hoped the rain stayed away.

With a short chat in HQ and a steady warm up I made it to the start with 5 mins to spare, which was probably a bit too much but rather be there on time than get a penalty for a late start.  I was running my normal set up 50mm front wheel and disc, I would run these in mot conditions, they are pretty controllable, but with an expectation of a strong cross wind at the start and then tailwind to the turn point I was prepared for a little bit of a rough ride.

In the end the weather was not so bad on the way out, the cross wond was more of a head cross and the nature of the road gave a degree of protection, I made good time to first turn but was conscious about managing my effort, its easy to go out too hard with a tailwind and leave nothing for the fight back.

Riding quite an aggresive position can give some problems, and the longer the race the bigger the chnace of problems, for me it was my hip flexors, they just didnt want to play ball, first the right one started to cramp up, concious there is little I could do I just peddaled through it, it hurt all the way to the finish (about 12miles) but it was manageable, the left one was less kind, whem it went the pain was a lot higher than the right and each time I tried to puish through it just got worse, I had to sit up and try and stretch it the best I could but didnt want to lose any time, in the end I was able to get back into my aero position and manage both of them to the finish, but I think more mainteance of my legs is required!

Getting the wind on my back I was clicking down through the gears, soon I was running out meaning I was over 40mph, which on the flat is some going and feels pretty damn good.  I was watching the average speed creep up, I hit the turn point at just under 32mph, which is a bit ludicrous really, but I knew I had a hard slog back to keep that up.

I had targeted 27mph average speed for the return which would have seen be come home around the 29mph mark, and at first it seemed like it was on, the wind didn’t seem as bad as expected and I was making good speed…. Then it hit me, coming into a false flat in an exposed part of the road I was struggling to maintain 20mph, I was fighting just to keep going forward but I composed myself and really focussed on my aero position, knowing that can make the difference, the last turn and relief from the wind seemed like an eternity away, but it slowly came into view and as I turned I got the wind on my back and felt the relief as the speed picked up.

In the end I averaged 28mph for the day which gave me the win by 1min 44secs, which made for a good day out, I cooled down and waited for Fiona, she too had a good ride and placed 1^st lady by pretty much the same margin 1min 43secs.  So a good day out got even better and good day for York Cycleworks colours.

I have 2 weeks off before hitting the V718, although it’s the day after a mates stag do so its hard to say how that will go, and only 4 weeks until the national 25, fingers crossed I get a ride and then I just need to find my good legs to take. 

The race report from the Witham Wheelers race can be found here: https://www.ctt.org.uk/race-report/12112

Race Reports, testing updates and other such drivel...

Its been a while since my last report, I must admit to being very busy in work and at home, and at times that is all I can get through in a day.

But I have still be training and still racing, and while I have 2 more races in the next two weeks I have 3 updates on races that I have completed.

I started this blog about 2 weeks ago, its been a hectic time both at work and at home, and I have struggled to find the time to catch up, which is a poor show I know. 

At home the little one has been the sharing / caring kind and making sure that my Wife and I get all the bug and sicknesses as possible while she is at nursery, as such we have been coughing and spluttering from one cold and bug to the next, I am seriously considering a hazmat suit for either her at nursery or me at home!!

She continues to amaze me though and despite deciding that crawling is not for her you can see her learning everyday, my parents always remind me what a terror I was, and tag on the end.. "oh and you didn't crawl either", so I am guessing she will just decide one day that its time to walk, which is fine with me.

Training has been a bit up and down due to the illnesses but I was pleased that my last test at York Cycleworks with Rob showed that I had not lost anything while I was ill, so if I can get some consistency we can look to build again.

Testing is always something I have mixed feelings about, I am never sure I go as well in testing as I feel on the road, for some reason I just cant seem to get myself up for it, but this time it was okay, I did it on my TT bike as well as that is what I am doing most of my racing on so it makes sense, that didn't show any difference which is positive but it did suggest that there was about a 35-40Watt difference between by power metre and the one Rob uses, which is good to know as I can adjust my training zones accordingly.

For the next test I am wondering if anyone that reads this might be interested to come along?  Its not for everyone but it will give you a feel for what its all about and how long it might lat and what you can get out of it, or just to have a laugh at my expense.

In terms of racing I have lost track a bit of where we are up to in terms of race reports, I think I have raced 4 times since my last update, 

Those races were,

Yorkshire Cycling Federation 15, this was a 15 mile race using a similar course to the fast V718, there is only one race a year on the course and its the fastest in the country, I wasn't really interested in the time more the position for the YCF points series.  It was a good day for it and I went okay, it was first race back after illness and I was still feeling the effects with a good cough and slightly tight lungs.  With an Average speed of 30.6mph I was surprised that I had actually beaten my 10mile TT PB as well as setting a 15mile PB, so the legs were still there.  I picked up 4th place and beat all of my closest rivals in the YCF league so it was job done.

Next up was the local club time trial on the Drax 10mile course, this is a series of races put on by Selby CC, they are a great little series of races and if you are looking for a welcoming series to make your debut then this is the one for you, there is always a good mix of abilities and everyone is very welcoming, plus they are very well organised.  This course has been a little bit of a bogey course for me, I never seem to go as well as I think I should and this proved to be the case, I managed to pick up the win averaging 28.2mph but I would have liked a new course PB and feel I should be able to get closer to 29mph... one day I will figure it out and put in a fast time.

The 3rd race saw the first race where my wife and I would both be taking part, I asked for an early start time and for Fee to get a late start time so that I could get back to the car and take over childcare duties.  It was a return to the O10/1 near Hatfield Woodhouse, the scene of my greatest win this year, a course I do enjoy and I was hopeful of another good result.  It was forecast to be a tailwind out and a headwind back so I took the decision to hold something back for the return leg, on the way out I hit a bump just after the start and nearly crashed, not a great start.... After that it all went smoothly, I was riding within myself but averaging close to 31mph, on this course there is a single turn point at just over half way, its a roundabout that you need to go all the way round, its shaped like a rugby ball so it is a bit awkward but I knew what to expect, when i got there I had bargained on traffic.... I have never had traffic on this roundabout... and when you have to stop you know your chances of winning are slipping away, there were 2 cars in front of me and a stream coming from the right, it felt like an eternity with much head shaking and cursing.

 Once the roundabout was clear I could get back on it, but in my frustration I sprinted too hard from the roundabout and had to take a short time to recover, I lost 1 mph in average speed at the roundabout and I suspected the race was lost, but you never know, I gave everything on the way back and averaged 28.6mph, which could have been 29.6mph without the roundabout.

Crossing the line I was spent, but I had to get back to the car so I kept my head down and worked hard so that Fee could get going, a quick swap of the front wheels and off she went.

Erin had a great time in the book of the new car, we sat there playing and watching the world go by while mum was off racing its moments like this that linger in my memory, I'm not sure exactly why but it was just really nice.

Fee got back and we headed to HQ, looking at the results I was 3rd around 30secs down on Simon Beldon from SSLL RT, respectable but still a little disappointing, some solice was taken from the fact I was 1st Senior.  Fee also picked up 3rd female which is fantastic as she returns to racing.  

Looking back at the data I lost around 20-25secs just being stationary at the roundabout, then a little bit more when i was hammering off the roundabout and taking time to recover, so it would have been close, I think Simon might have just had the legs but we will never know.  I just chalk it up to racing, when you are on open roads traffic is all part of the game.

Finally the most recent race was on V415, this was a hilly Sporting Course "SPOCO", which I was using for training, I had a reasonably big week of training so was not expecting too much, Ali Wareham another from SSLL was the favourite having won the year before and that proved to be a good bet.  I struggled to get into it, the first 3 miles were up hill and I felt tired I almost turned around and went back to the HQ, but dug in and crested the top going on to a fast descent where speeds were over 40mph and time could be made up.  

Things were going okay, I had picked up my average speed and felt like I would be on for a decent time, just as you approach the end there are 2 climbs, first is a steady drag and I just blew, my legs empty I slowed to a virtual crawl, looking down I could see my average speed just dropping away, again I dug in and managed to find a little bit more, some respite was I head back downhill and into the final climb, a short but sharp hill I power into the bottom of it and just drag myself over and another steady downhill over the line, I picked up another 3rd (there is a theme forming) with an average speed of 26.7mph, Fee had another great ride and picked up the win.

That pretty much brings us up to date, I have another race this weekend, a "25" in Lincolnshire and then a couple of weeks of good training.