You can go to Redbridge (Hog Hill, East London), Cyclopark (Gravesend) or Velopark (Olympic Park). There are also regular races in Preston Park (Brighton), Alexander Park (Portsmouth) and others. The last two are on outdoor oddly shaped velodromes.

Getting out of 4th Cat is not always easy. It took me 39 races 😉 . It took my clubmate two (he won them both!)

Took me 6, first three were on a day license where I found out I wasn’t strong enough – I hadn’t done any specific training but wanted to scratch the itch.

Next three (after a winter of training) went 4th, 5th, 3rd

If you’re willing to travel and can get up to the Midlands there are some 4th only races at Stourport end of January – they’re filling up quick though so get your skates on if you’re interested.

Ah that’s a shame, I was hoping that if I attended at least half of those at Hillingdon I could be in for a small chance (by sheer luck) of moving to cat 3 which seems to open a lot more race doors. There’s a couple E123 ones up north where my folks live I wanted to turn up to (not to get ahead of myself).

I don’t mind travelling a little bit, but it’s less likely I can attend. Will see what the imperial series brings then go from there. 🙂

crosshair looking comfortable in the bunch

YGA

Race mode

Nath if you have the power to weight, and a little tactics, you’ll progress a lot faster than me. But 4th cat at hillingdon is very competitive. There are 62 entries online for this week. A few spaces remaining.

Crosshair, assuming that is you with bare arms and legs. Easy to spot the mountain biker 🙂

Nath if you have the power to weight, and a little tactics, you’ll progress a lot faster than me. But 4th cat at hillingdon is very competitive. There are 62 entries online for this week. A few spaces remaining.

As I think I said, practice your sprint. Decent power will help give you some time to think and get into the right position at the right time but you do need to be able to sprint (mine was woeful!)

Before I did a few the season before last I did think cat 4 would be pretty easy. Ultimately I found it a bit frustrating. Had enough power so the pace was easy and could get into the right place at the end of the race but my sprint was dreadful and I’d get swamped. I went for a long range attack a couple of times and almost made it but didn’t quite have the legs to hold of the bunch to the line (at the time my 60MP was about 4.6w/kg @ 72kg – got more power, less mass, and a better position these days though 😈 ). Pretty negative racing too with few willing to try or help in a break and most just wanting to sit in for the sprint. I think if I’d have committed to it and tweaked the training a bit I’d have started to pick up points but I didn’t really have enough free time to race crits and time trials.

Haha I remember seeing you now @crosshair. The thought of my god that guy is mad showing arms and legs as I’m sat here shivering in thermals. 😆

I’ve done a couple of virtual races, I know it’s not the same by far but it’s giving me decent & more importantly consistent stats to compare versus my FTP test (plus I really can tank it in my garage as I know I don’t have to cycle home), also learning a little about tactics (as much as you do in a virtual environment):

Current weight: 70kg

FTP:
Duration: 20
Average: 338w

Race 1:
Duration: 21:44
Weighted average: 345w
95% 4.76w/kg
20m 350w
5m 5.24w/kg
2m 5.28w/kg
15s 7.68w/kg

Race 2:
Duration: 52:42
Weighted average: 316w
95% 4.69w/kg
20m 345w
5m 5.28w/kg
2m 5.45w/kg
15s 7.14w/kg

I’m expecting Saturday to be a BIG learning curve, and like I said I’m happy to sit mid pack not causing an accident and learn. Then hopefully regroup in January and try to come in the top 10. 😆

With those levels, I’d suggest attacking on the first lap and time trialing to victory! 😉 I’m about 4.3 Watts/kg. Real Watts measured in real races. You will be fine. Say hello before the race and be sure to stay in front of me!

@TiRed – I’m renting a power meter for Jans races to compare.
Now I know what you look like I’ll say hello. 🙂

Haha that’d be the dream! I’m not sure though, part of me doesn’t believe those stats – but I can always try 😆

With those levels, I’d suggest attacking on the first lap and time trialing to victory!

Death or glory but it’s not a bad idea 🙂 Leave it too late and the bunch speeds up considerably in the last few laps (last lap up to about 30mph) so it’s harder to get the gap you need to stay away.

Start to finish, the cat 4’s I’ve done have tended to average out around between 24 and 27 mph. If you can go faster than that for 50 mins you’re sorted 🙂 (though you will be giving the bunch a nice carrot to chase!)

Edit… FWIW I can remember our local WC XC rider doing just that in his first ever cat 4 race round Thruxton having fancied a go at a crit. I think he needed an NP of about 380W to stay clear for the 50 minutes.

@mrblobby the only chance of that is if you managed to catch the back of the main group and tag along? I don’t think I’ve got it in me for 50 mins.

Only one way to find out 🙂

Death or glory but it’s not a bad idea

Worked last week. Winning margin was 1:25. 4th cats don always want to chase, so if there is one away, they normally settle for a nine-point sprint. Attacking with six laps to go is a good move. On my garmin I ALWAYS have elapsed time, because the lap board will go up at 40 minutes, and it is 2:10 per lap.

Average on Saturday was 25 mph. It felt slower to be honest.

If you lap the field you win! It’s pretty rare for a solo rider at Hillingdon. Very common at Preston Park.

Average on Saturday was 25 mph. It felt slower to be honest.

Not to Crosshair 😉

Already got my racing screen ready on my computer:
Speed
Cadence
Heart Rate
Elapsed Time
Distance

So you’re saying attack (if possible) around the 38 min mark?

I think I was more riding ‘with’ the bunch than ‘in’ it 😀

I averaged 21mph for the 16miles I did. You can see from my lap times when I was working with someone to try and push on and when I was wondering whether to just call it a day right there and then 😀

Not to Crosshair

🙂 That’s the thing if the bunch is doing 25mph and you’re off the back it can be rather hard to get back on. Similarly going off the front at that speed needs a big effort too.

Worked last week.

Just need good timing, a bit of luck, and some strong legs 🙂

It wasn’t particulate easy to get back on when they lapped me either 😀 (x4 😀 )

It wasn’t particulate easy to get back on when they lapped me either (x4 )

As the bunch comes up behind you, start sprinting. Get off the racing line to allow the bunch to come through smoothly and you should be at full tilt by the time the first third or so of the bunch are through.

Behind that there will be a few gaps, riders jostling for position and leaving spaces so it should be OK to just slot in and adjust to the speed of the bunch. Kind of like joining a motorway from the sliproad and merging to the middle lane. Ideally, you should be looking to join the bunch again while they are negotiating the bends or on a slight downhill section where you’ll be able to match their speed more easily.

You should then get about 15 seconds respite while the bunch moves around you to recover from the initial sprint up to speed and find your place. If you mis-time it, that 15 seconds will see you out the back door again!

Thanks. Yes, I was just trying not to get I anyone’s way 😉 🙂

Eurgh, I’ve just seen the weather forecast for Saturday! 🙁

Are the Hillingdon Winter series crew fairly amiable to people using cameras? I won’t stop dead on the finish line to press stop or drop it down the road in the middle of the bunch (definitely not if I’m solo TT’ing again 😉 ) or put it on a selfie stick and pose or anything crazy 😀

I’ve seen a few videos on youtube of hillingdon races. The pros do it!

Which races are you aiming for @crosshair?

Imperial Winter Series
07/01/2017
14/01/2017
21/01/2017
28/01/2017
04/02/2017
11/02/2017

Trouble is crosshair, that you’ll probably also have expended a lot of energy riding around alone (more than being part of the faster moving bunch) once you got dropped. So each time they come past, you’ll be that little bit more fatigued, than if you were just trying to latch on from fresh.

Yes I think you’re right. You start off in denial, thinking you can catch back on, then you team up and chase for a bit and then when they come around again, you’re already maxxed out 😀

Assuming I get dropped again, I suppose saving my energy for a concerted effort to join the group again might be better practice than TT’ing for another 40mins.

I was hanging to the VC10 rider (the last guy to get a finishing spot) then bridged from him to the bunch as they passed… then couldn’t hang with either after that 😀

The more I think about it, the more brutal type 2 fun I realise it was. Can’t wait for next time!!

Hopefully the last 4 of those dates Nath

Cool – I’ve just all 6 passed the missus, she seems fairly okay with me doing them all. 😆

May even convince her to come and watch one week 😛

Have to say hello!

I’m in the mindset of I’m doing it for fun this time around. Next season I’ll properly train etc. That way I feel better for not getting any points lol.

I’m in the mindset of I’m doing it for fun this time around. Next season I’ll properly train etc. That way I feel better for not getting any points lol.

This is exactly the right mindset. If you can stick to it all season (or indeed past your second race) then you’re a better man than most 😉

Are the Hillingdon Winter series crew fairly amiable to people using cameras?

Bike mounted cameras and videos are banned from BC races. Dems da rules. All about liability. Sad I know, and there is a nice video from last year’s #9 of me lying unconscious after a very poor overtake and chopping by a rider. a bike mounted camera would have given me grounds to sue for negligence!

10.4 The use in competition of cameras attached to
riders, cycles or helmets is prohibited, unless
previously authorised in writing by the BC Board.
Unless prohibited by the regulations of individual
disciplines, onboard cameras are permitted
during practice or designated training sessions,
but the use of such cameras is authorised solely
when the camera is attached to the bicycle. The
rider is solely responsible for securing the fixation
of the camera in order to avoid any danger or
distraction.

In my 10 milestones of racing, finishing in the bunch is number 2. Entering is number 1! Just keep in the bunch and in front of me!

Are the Hillingdon Winter series crew fairly amiable to people using cameras? I won’t stop dead on the finish line to press stop or drop it down the road in the middle of the bunch (definitely not if I’m solo TT’ing again ) or put it on a selfie stick and pose or anything crazy

BC Regulation: The use in competition of cameras attacehd to riders cycles or helmets is prohibited.

The Commissaires should be DQing anyone seen with a camera. Filming from the sidelines is allowed but obviously don’t go waving a selfie stick near anyone’s spokes!

Outdoor Traders (Abingdon) Winter Crit series now up on BC…

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/156700/OTRT-Winter-Crit-Series—Round-1

Damn this thread, I really wasn’t intending to race crits this year 😕

Not that I’m a racer, but in case it’s of interest but not known: Zappi’s (Oxford) has pretty much ceased, so I don’t imagine that there’ll be any Zappi’s Crits this season (was at Enstone last year).

🙁 for Zappi’s.

TiRed
Sad I know, and there is a nice video from last year’s #9 of me lying unconscious after a very poor overtake and chopping by a rider. a bike mounted camera would have given me grounds to sue for negligence!

Jeez! In the 4th cat? What happened!?

Jeez! In the 4th cat? What happened!?

That’s just how it is in 4th cat 😉

Ah ok thanks. I thought it was at the commissaires discretion but glad I asked now.

So all the ones on YouTube should have resulted in a DQ or what?

I know Chris Pritchard who vlogs about training and did the commonwealth games in 2010 was slagging BC off for not allowing people to film at a velodrome but didn’t know it applied to other disciplines.

They really are an innovative bunch of modernisers aren’t they 😉 😀

I’m surprised they allow Garmins by the same reasoning really (similar size and weight and just as likely to fall off. I.e. Not likely at all 😉 )

I wonder if I can pass a VIRB off as a head unit 😉

And the reason BC gave Chris Pritchard was that they ‘don’t want people making commercial gains out of the footage’ …… so not safety related at all.

[video]https://youtu.be/48GaiXw78sE[/video]

Chris did a good job of keeping a lid on what he was really thinking I reckon- would love to see the proper version 😀

What’s the turnout like in the pouring rain? 🙁

Actually it was the E123. I moved up to sixth wheel, someone attacked and a rider chased him. That rider cut across and took out my front wheel. As travelling at 33mph with a speed wobble and I knew I wouldn’t make the corner. All I remember was saying to myself “don’t hit the bench”.

No crashes in the 4th cat last week. One in the E123.

And of course there is the greatest finish of all time in THAT photo 😉 . I wa forced off on the last lap in that race.

In my experience rain makes little difference to turn out.

Ah 🙁

I’ve just noticed on last weeks pictures, this was ME sat on the bench 🙂