Its often a good idea to get an activation ride in the day before a race. Something like a 45 minute session with a few short intervals that aren't enough to fatigue the body, but just get it ready for the effort ahead. Everyone has their own format but I've often just gone through the watt range in 5 minute 20 watt increases up to about 90% threshold and then warm down.
Only a fool does the same thing and expects a different result right? With that in mind, I was certainly foolish today!
I could literally cut and past the round 9 write up from last year.
With a huge field of circa 100 riders, it was going to be a tricky race to be in the bunch. So I spent the first five laps trying to get in a break/split. The same 10-15 riders with the same idea rotated around, each stringing things out in turn at the piece of the lap that best suited them.
Leigh was always there or there abouts and I shouted a few ‘bend your elbows’ and other cheeky comments.
As small gaps came and went, everyone's spirit was gradually crushed and nobody got remotely close to an organised gap. Not one with the pace and discipline to last another 70minutes that's for sure.
Retreating back to the bunch to get the normalised power down a little (305w already) I instantly regretted it. I didn't feel safe at all. As is the way at Thruxton, the bunch veers from side to side often at random and it was catching a lot of people out. Watching folks blindly riding into disappearing gaps, I could only wonder at their lack of spatial awareness.
Experience is great and all, but it also heightens the stress a little as you see accidents developing where thankfully, most don't materialise- but only by luck!
Time to move back up! The old cornering magic at the top chicane meant I could make up fifty places and coast off the front with very little energy wasted. Positioning myself in front of the approaching riders, I was able to get back in just by accelerating as the first rider passed and passively forcing the next few off of the wheel. Simple but safe and effective.
Nothing happened for a bit. The top twenty kept rotating but with no urgency now. One theme continued- Leigh was always there- often on the front!
With 65minutes on the clock- 3 to go, a bit of positioning started and things picked up a notch. The adrenaline returned and it was time to start planning. I knew I wanted to stay off the front, stay in the top ten and end up on the right for the final time up the hill.
Leigh was still there- drilling it!
Not wanting to burn a match up the hill, I dropped back a little then made all the places up at the chicane again, slotting in behind Leigh.
Final lap then and a vast swarm of riders surged across the line before nearly wiping each other out through the first gradual bends. I hate it! I desperately wanted to be off the front but I don't have 5 minutes at enough power so I had to man up and make the best of it. Leigh solved the dilemma by staying right on the front. A wise move!
Once more the chicane moved me up and I was in a good spot. However, the herd of riders who had braved the bunch all race had spare energy now and swarmed around us on the wide track.
Bollocks! I was far left and blocked in. It seemed ludicrous to drop back when the speed was so high but perhaps that would have been a better move. I hoped I would get a slot to move across as we entered the hill but it never came. As usual, the bunch headed left and it was obvious what was going to happen- so instead of powering into my finale, I was coasting and moving hard right. As I checked my blind spot, I realised I was almost at the back! Stupid boy! This has happened before.
Anyway, too late now, so I started surfing wheels. As per round 9, it was like a 90’s Sega car racing game as slower riders appeared and I just hit left or right key to dodge through them.
My caution was vindicated though as by this point, I would have top ten on the left if I hadn't dropped back and I heard the all too familiar clatter of bikes right where I would have been. Spidey sense? Luck? Too many Cat4 races? Who knows but it is my wedding anniversary and at least I wasn't going to spend it in A+E!
I pressed on, further left for a bit and then back to the right, all the time making up places. There's Leigh! All that work on the front meant he had dropped back a little and I hoped to hitch a ride. Safely though the chicane and Go! I stayed seated and powered as best I could unsure of when to kick. It never felt worth it in the end, the 10y gap to Leigh's wheel wasn't closing. More keeno’s who had gone early came back to us and as we crossed the line, I already knew I was out of the points. Fingers crossed Leigh sneaked in though- you certainly deserve it mate.
So, a botched last lap in an otherwise okay race. If I was being hyper critical, I'd say I worked too hard for five laps for nothing. But the small chance of an 8 man break getting organised for the duration seemed worth the risk at the time.
Had I spent more energy at the front on the downhill on the last lap, perhaps I would have maintained it up the other side- but we will never know!
I was genuinely pleased with surviving unscathed which is a sad indictment of Cat 4 I guess.
More work on my FTP and 5-8minute power seems to be the way forward. Just sit tight and bugger off with one to go- regardless of the length of the circuit!
Gonna try a new venue next week too- see if I can finally get in a break that sticks!
I went, I was rubbish.
Shorter than theirs, but then again so was my race.
Disappointed lots
What happened Weeksy?
Andy,
You too were a pretty frequent face on or very near the front as I recall..!
Thanks mate, I don't think there was any points for me this time though...!
Nice to meet Weeksy, and see Joe again, I managed to miss all of you at the end of the race though!
Still going to be working on you tripping to Cardiff CH, and hopefully will make it to odd down soon also..
I went, I was rubbish.
Shorter than theirs, but then again so was my race.
Disappointed lots
Need a bit of perspective 🙂
Had a look back in the old thread for CH's first race last year...
"Ouch! that was tough. I got lapped 4 times and pulled off when they had 2 to go."
Taken him a season of racing but now he's bossing the pack and competing for points. He's fitter but there's a lot more to it than that. Takes time to learn how to ride efficiently in a race, to learn the flow of racing, to learn some race craft. If you enjoy it and want to get better at it then stick with it.
Need a bit of perspective
Had a look back in the old thread for CH’s first race last year…
“Ouch! that was tough. I got lapped 4 times and pulled off when they had 2 to go.”
Taken him a season of racing but now he’s bossing the pack and competing for points. He’s fitter but there’s a lot more to it than that. Takes time to learn how to ride efficiently in a race, to learn the flow of racing, to learn some race craft. If you enjoy it and want to get better at it then stick with it.
Totally understand that buddy.... 100% i get it. Simple answer is also above... It was OK... but nothing that made me think "Yeah i want to do this more".
If i race again this year, it will be at Southern XC, not Roadie stuff.
Cool no problem. A bit of experience and you'd have done a lot better. You either get the bug or you don't.
Hope to see you at some Southern XC rounds, may well dust off the XC bike for a few rounds this year 🙂
A bit of experience and you’d have done a lot better
It would have been hard to do much worse 🙂
Just caught up on this thread. Crosshair - thanks for your long write ups, please keep them coming, I really enjoy them. Best of luck to the rest of you too. I shall continue to live vicariously through you lot!
Lol! Thanks! I’m hoping Saturday will inject some much needed fresh material 😂
I was in CH first race, tryin* to Marshall him into the back of the pack.
And Weeksy, I was rubbish for my first whole season, then mediocre and finally mid pack fodder. But everyone has to learn to race. Once you’ve done the apprenticeship, it’s like crack.
Speaking of crack, my club mate broke six ribs and has a punctured lung from n Hillingdon on Saturday. That was the 3/4 race. Taken out on the last bend.
Feeling a bit better. Still down about 10-15% on go, but getting there. Form is temporary, class is permanent. Just need some me of that there permanence!
Speaking of crack, my club mate broke six ribs and has a punctured lung from n Hillingdon on Saturday. That was the 3/4 race. Taken out on the last bend.
Eek, that's going to be sore. I popped a lung about 6 years ago. Ended up having to have surgery to stick it to my chest wall and stop it deflating again. Chest drains are painful, even without broken ribs! I hope his lung heals up without needing too much intervention.
(I realise I must sound really accident-prone. Up until 6 years ago, I'd never even had a stitch! Since then...bah.)
Speaking of crack, my club mate broke six ribs and has a punctured lung from n Hillingdon on Saturday. That was the 3/4 race. Taken out on the last bend.
I think he's lucky it was nothing more serious than that.
I was spectating on Saturday and to say the crash was spectacular would be an understatement, when you see bikes cartwheeling through the air a couple of metres up you know it's not going to end well.
The whole way through the race it looked like there was going to be crashes, I was chatting to another couple of spectators and they thought the same. A mate of mine who was racing nearly pulled out after the first smaller crash as he was expecting it to go horribly wrong at some point.
Hopefully your mate is on the mend but having watched a few races at Hillingdon and seen some pretty big accidents I think it's only a matter of time before something more serious happens 🙁
Yowch! I stand by what I said about 3/4 races being bad news!!
Crazy how many times the sprint lap causes a crash- and hopefully proves I’m not just being a pussy!
I’m not sure why people don’t try different tactics more- it’s not like they are going to get any further without learning some. Is it as simple as they all want to win?
Note to self- NO MORE SPRINT LAP ATTEMPTS 😂
Is it easy to park at Hillingdon? Thinking of going down on Saturday
Yep 👍🏻Parking either inside the barrier or in the Goals carpark. Never even had to wait for a space.
Great, thanks
It will be my first time at Hillingdon on Saturday. Is parking free? Any course tactics to help me?
Semi-serious point. It's hardly surprising places like Hillingdon are crashfests, when I was a young racer (back in the days of third cats being the start level) the Surrey League 3rd cat road races were known for the carnage, now the equivalent riders (and possibly even less skilled as you had to be a club rider to race back then so may have done some chain gangs etc) are racing tighter circuits in big fields and possibly with a lot more alpha male bs making them sprint wildly for 34th place 😉
I've seen so many people taking big risks for 34th, there's no point. I don't play if the top 10/15 isn't on.
Yep, free parking.
It’s usually 3mph faster on the final lap and suddenly everyone forgets how to ride in a bunch.
Not sure I’m the best to ask for tactics 🤣
🙁
🙁
I was reinvigorated for today’s race. After the balls-ups ofthe last few weeks, I was pinning quite a lot of hope on a visit to Odd Down.
At 90mins, it’s the furthest venue yet but actually, not abad run with the M4 light in both directions and Bath not mega busy.
The facilities are quite lively as it is a sports field toobut there was a café and loo’s/changing rooms etc.
This was the final round of their winter series whichcarried points down to 20th place I think and had good cash prizes.
There was quite a bit of banter between the regulars and 38 on the start line.
I warmed up on the Turbo for a change but with only 20mins,I did 170w for five minutes, 225 for five, 275 for two, then 300 for 1 and acouple of 30 sec bursts at 400.
The course is only about 30m wide in a back to front r shape and within that 30m are both lanes around 5m apart. This is actually pretty cool for spectating although it’s half a mile from the top to the bottom with a drop/rise in altitude that looks worse than perhaps the numbers suggest. The wind today was the non-prevailing Easterly which meant the first straight after the top hairpin was a lot tougher than would usually be the case. The two 180’s at the top and bottom required respect as did the uphill, outside corner of the back to front r.
Waiting to get a couple of sighting laps in, the women came tonking into the top hairpin by the gate on their bell lap, and one lady clipped the grass and crashed into another. The assembled Cat 4’s stayed quiet but I did hear a few gulps!
As it turned out, I sabotaged myself before we began but only by making a reasonable assumption. Which was that there would be a split.It has a reputation for being a selective course. Each lap effectively has three sprints out of tight corners- like a classic (American?) city centre course.
With a week’s worth of pent-up dreaming as usual, I burst out onto the warmup lap in fine fettle! Despite being a little tight earlier inthe day, my legs felt great and I found myself whistling down the wind at 26mph.RPE was playing tricks and the only reason for my good progress was way too many watts. I usually laugh at the 350w warm up guy who’s soon flailing in the race but today I was surely him!
Anyway, tight corners safely negotiated, I loved the course and felt great. Lining up in the second row, it was game on.
Being a newbie to the venue and the series was bliss! I hadno idea who the choppers were or even if it’s a crashfest or not. This helped considerably and instead of bracing myself and backing out of situations that looked imminently hairy, I kept my nose in there and held my line well. Mainly because I had too!!
As we set off, I was on or near the pointy end. RPE was still not calibrated and 360w pulls on the front felt like I could do them all day. Carving through the hairpins, I was out-accelerating everyone around me and feeling confident that this kind of pace would help force the inevitable split. A few of us worked together loosely and eventually, someone shouted forward that we had the gap. Feeling vindicated, we all kept drilling it. But the motivation in the bunch was high and not many turns later it seemed, the news that we were back together filtered forwards. Still attacks came and I kept trying to help ramp things up.
On one lap early on, I confidently flung my bike into the bottom hairpin and arrogantly began drilling it halfway through. SCHHHHHHR!!!! I had the biggest pedal strike ever! Thankfully the rear wheel couldn’t dislodge its hefty load but it meant my confidence was a little dented and I didn’t dare accelerate until the bike was stood up after that!
However! This was like nowhere that I had raced before in that three times a lap, a huge acceleration punished my relatively poor w/kg. The efforts out of three corners were 800w a go and that uses up matches at quite a rate. At around 8 miles in, so almost halfway, the group slowly reformed into a blob from the stretched-out line it had been so far and I was cooked!
NP was showing as 340w- so over FTP and the first time I’d ever seen it so high in arace. If the split had gone now, I would have been finished.
Drifting back with my chest heaving, I tried to swallow some sugar and recover. Normally, this is a simple task which, with a few cheeky tail-gunning moves and some care on the brakes can see you settle in at sub Z2 wattage. Not today! Those 3 efforts per lap were just as savage at the back as they were at the front. If not more so as the cornering of those around you was less assured, and by the time we were powering out of the top hairpin, the bunch were so far down the headwind straight that I couldn’t ease off for 30 seconds or more.
I knew I was too far back now but the cost of getting repositioned at the front was going to eat into my sprint reserves for what was surely now going to be a bunch sprint. So, I tried every line on the circuit to gain free places.Nothing doing! I even tried to get a bit fruity in the hairpins again but I couldn’t bring myself to risk another pedal strike.
No use crying over spilt milk- it was time to take responsibility for my poor positioning and early enthusiasm and began keeping the power on a little more out of each corner. Slowly I ticked people off and before I knew it, it was the Cat4 industry standard +3mph final lap! Rounding the bottom hairpin, I vaguely knew in the back of my mind it was a 50 second or so effort to the line. Time to empty the tanks of whatever reserves I had restored!
Making up places, we approached the tricky 90degree corner that is basically,as hard as how many people are going through it at once it seems. I.e. if you are solo, it’s not worth a second thought but with ten people surrounding you, your options and angles are limited.
For probably the one time all race, I was overly cautious here and decided to follow a Bath Uni rider through rather than punt it up the inside and let him deal with the consequences. Whether that cost me tenth place or better, I’ll never know but it certainly meant I opened up the taps from 5yards further back on the leaders.
My sprint wasn’t out of this world in terms of power but it was reeling people in- and fast. It was top 30% of all time for the final 30secs and top 25% of all time for the final 10 seconds but sadly, and like other weeks, it was from too far back and saw me cross the line mid-way along a strung-out pack.
The riders congregated around the Comms eagerly and I wished I was sharing their expectant excitement. “Hey, Red Handlebars!” shouted the Comm, “…come here!”
My mind raced! Was I in the points after all or was I due a bollocking for some unknown misdemeanour? I scooted over and he was busy counting out the places and relative numbers/bike descriptions. With no idea in my fuzzy mind what my number was, I was still none the wiser as he re-counted through the placings.
He had got past ten and not looked back up at me and I had no idea still and said; “So I wasn’t anywhere?” to which he replied “Yes….” and time stood still! I had done it after all. That final surge had brought me into the points and the mounting pressure of poor results and tactical blunders was eased!!!
“… you got 15th!” he finished his sentence! Grrr! He thought I would have been pleased with the series points but of course, they were irrelevant to me. Ah well, it was a nice surprise for a split second!
For some strange reason though, I can’t help but be pleased with the day. It was awesome weather, great to have Joe there, a friendly atmosphere and a cracking if brutal course that was genuinely satisfying to ride in its own right.
It was also a safe race with some of the highest overall riding standards I’ve seen. No crashes and just a tiny bit of grass surfing at one point.
I guess the reason Cat 4 racing is generally negative is that people commit to the bunch sprint. By committing to a different tactic, you of course accept the decreased chance of it paying off.And probably reduce your chances of a crash in the process. Well, I had a plan today and I committed to making it work. In hindsight it was the wrong one but I still recovered and got close to pulling off plan B V’s guys racing their plan A.
Self-justification for another ‘failed’ attempt? Maybe- but I honestly don’t think another point on my license would have trumped the fun few laps at the beginning- and the chance of 10 was worth it at the time.
On the cool down lap, a nice guy rode up alongside and was very complimentary about my bunch skills. He said he looked out for my wheel as I was very safe and very powerful! Beaming with pride,I felt really good to the point that I thought my head may explode. Then he said;“but if I can offer one word of advice- you’d be so much faster if you just bent your elbows!!” 🙂
🙂
Nice work crosshair! Sounds like you had fun. One of these days one of these stories will end with a podium, I'm sure!
Curious to know what happened in the 3rd Cat race at Hillingdon today. 7 DQ’s apparently???
Ah, the E,1,2 and 3rd Cat only races were run concurrently and the riders were DQ’d for drafting the quicker race.
Abingdon this Saturday but it looks set to be pretty bleak!!
Abingdon this Saturday but it looks set to be pretty bleak!!
I do wonder why you seem to race in the depths of winter 🙂
Surely racing in July would be far nicer...
Good luck either way though.... Wrap up warm !
Feb through to Apr are my quietest weekends at work for one thing but it’s still good fun obsessing before and after 🙂
It also helps sharpen your bunch skills in a relatively controlled environment that somehow feels a little safer than doing it on the Sunday club run.
Odd Down was lovely weather though- a glorious day to be out.
nothing to add, except a gentle LOL for
Then he said;“but if I can offer one word of advice- you’d be so much faster if you just bent your elbows!!
Re Hillingdon DQs - 3rd cat race eased to allow the E12 bunch through, then when the E12 group had a 10-15 second gap some riders attacked and sat on the E12 group for a free tow away. Left the rest of the 3rd cat bunch a little confused for the rest of the race!
Next time someone asks me, was it tough, I'll just show them this
[img] 
[/img]
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/38733298510/ ]2018-02-28_10-20-41[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode_lite ]Flickr2BBcode LITE[/url]
TiRed’s list?? Completed it mate 😎🤣
Even though it hasn't really started yet, I already felt like 2018 was getting away from me. Training at my FTP from December, I certainly didn't feel like I was being complacent- the workouts were tough!
But I'd ended up a victim in every race so far or so it seemed. Victim of the weather at Abingdon, victim of the crash at Hillingdon, victim of the crash at Thruxton and just simply out classed at Odd Down by the series regulars- I had stopped taking responsibility for my results.
It was time to take stock and sort out my act. First up was the TR ramp test. I had done one a couple of weeks prior and written off the result as being skewed by fatigue.
Low and behold, this one was identical! And minus 20w from where I had been training. No wonder I'd felt washed out and like I was going backwards. I was surviving the elevated workouts but not recovering.
Then there was weight! I'd been training to increase power only in Dec/Jan and eating what I liked. Whilst not so important on the flat, fast tracks, the extra KG's stung hard at Odd Down and were likely affecting my aero's too. So an embarrassed go on the scales and a bit of MyFitnessPal was also urgently required.
Bikes next and a discovery! Perhaps even important enough to account for some of my 'missing' FTP- the saddle on my Turbo bike was as far back as it would go and it had happened so gradually that I hadn't noticed!
Combined with the lower FTP, adjusting this correctly once more meant I could now complete shorter intervals in a (slightly) better aero position again.
The other is even more stupid! The 170mm Ultegra Stages I had bought from Sigma Sport in the 2016 Black Friday sale... the one I'd raced on throughout 2017..... it's a 175!!!!!!!! Paired with a 170mm crankset that I'd built the race bike up with to match! Hmmmmm!
So the cheapest solution was to get a new crankset and I decided to go for a 53/39 in the process and put the 50/34 on my CX bike.
Next up was a new skinsuit. A long sleeved, winter CX one. Racing in the thick fluro training jersey just wasn't on. I was now ready for whatever Abingdon could throw at me.
Feeling a little more in control of things, Snowmageddon had other ideas and Abingdon was cancelled. Ah well, I decided to line up a double header. Hillingdon on Saturday and Thruxton on Sunday.
And then Thruxton got cancelled too! With Hillingdon in the balance, I thought it might be for the best if that was cancelled as well, as my legs were sore from a couple of tough Build weeks.
As is often the case, this mornings weather wasn't as bad as forecast though and the race was on. I hadn't pre entered and the website didn't list the entries so I had no idea who my competition would be.
Signing on, I wondered where the other sheet of names was. Hey? Number 6! Five pre entries plus me.
A few more arrived and I actually felt worse for knowing it was a small field. Getting DNF/15 or 9/12 seemed to me to be the cruelest results imaginable!
I was prepared today. Not only did I have my winter skinsuit and base layer but I also had chemical hand warmers in my gloves and inside my shoe-covers. I'm not getting that cold in a race ever again! As it was dry (despite the continuous snow oddly), I left the leg warmers off though.
A couple of pre entries never showed and 7 of us hardy souls lined up. The pressure felt more intense than ever. This was the best chance I'd ever have for a podium.
Setting off in good spirits, a Loughborough Uni rider did his warmup on the front and we all filled in behind. I took a turn or two and tried to keep a lid on my excitement.
But it was hard not to open up a gap. Once or twice I found myself three or four bike lengths clear. A lap later, I looked around and noticed that the Loughborough guy, a Windy Millar and myself were clear of the others!
They hadn't noticed so I shouted out and we decided to press on, taking turns every 30seconds or so.
Another lap or two went by and Windy Milllar was five bike lengths back so I shouted to L.U. to press on a little harder still.
I was pulling the headwind (start/finish) straight every lap at 450w and Windy Millar said at the end of the race it was taking 400 for him even in my draft.
So, dream come true! In a 2-up breakaway. I was torn, and remain so, about whether to feel proud of this fact given the tiny field but hey, it was a legit race that anyone could have turned up to right?
As we lapped the woman's race for a second time, I dared to look back and couldn't even see another Cat4 rider.
With ten minutes plus three laps to go, L.U. started to play games. Timing it so I was pulling on the headwind straight again, he'd then attack me through BusStops and into Brian's. Being a lot lighter, this was his only slight advantage across the whole course but I managed to keep contact. Three to go, and we played a bit of Cat and mouse. Riding side by side, I commented that it was almost a shame to have to contest the finish and genuinely felt that way a little.
Bell lap then and we cruised almost side by side once more. A lapped rider suddenly ripped back past and I jumped thinking it was L.U. He jumped too and we sped up then slowed once more. Through Brian's and I knew my best advantage left was the downhill- so I attacked the climb. 900w over the top and 600 down the hill, I pressed on. Hitting the bend near the clubhouse with a tailwind, it was the first time all race I was going too fast to pedal through (34mph at a guess). Relatively fresh, I kept pushing all the way up the sprint straight and ended up about 200m clear.
So my first win! But it is a little bit hollow..... and I'm pretty sure it's only three points for a <10 person field right?
Loads of positives to take away though. Bike felt awesome, gear worked perfectly and I never got cold! And a win is a win is a win right??
(A bit like winning a mid morning race against five Japanese blokes on Zwift!)
You can only beat who turns up! Take the glory and bask in it.
Well yeah but it’s hardly solo’ing away from an 85man Thruxton pack is it 🤣
Hush now. You won. That's it fella. Your record shows
1.
Well my points are safely on my license 😂 Annoying to have placed 8th, 5th and 1st since the start of December and only have 8 not 17 but still, better than nothing.
Next race will be the 31st as long as Beast from the East 3 stays away 🤞🏻
Where's that one ?
Hillingdon. And then Thruxton on Sunday 01st.
A win is a win!!! It's the number who pre-entered, not who start on the line. If 10 people registered to race, you get all ten points. If nine registered, it's only three points. The comm will know.
Congratulations!!!! Delighted for you.
Thank you! It was 9 including pre-entries sadly 🤦🏻♂️
Keep on trying 😀
