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Tomorrow's race rubber... 🙂
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I think this would be more handy:
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😆
Tomorrows objective = stay upright!!
^^ would go nicely with CH's helmet.
So who else is racing @ Abingdon this week then?
Me. (titanium bike, Maybush CC kit, day-glo yellow overshoes and gloves, probably at the back)
I live about 10miles away and it has started gently snowing here, so little chance of overheating tomorrow (positive outlook . . .)
Just been out for a spin up that way and it is indeed snowing 😀
ooo prizes:
Dear Nath
Well, this is the final ever Imperial Winter Series, wow, those 11 years flew by!
As we have always done, after the final race of the day, will follow the prize presentation in the club house.
If you race in any of the races E12, 3rd or 4th cat and you will be at the presentation then you'll be in the Lucky Riders Free draw. Great prizes (see photo). You must be at the presentation in person to collect or another wins it!
See note attached to your singon sheet on the desk.
Yours
Lucy Collins
See you at the circuit.
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A box of "protect and lube" as well as an ass saver, nice 🙂
Ok Tiim! Hopefully meet you there 🙂 I'll be in my TFC kit onboard my Triban 5.
They've hired a commercial road sweeper and have done their best to clear the problematic flints- can't ask for more than that I guess.
Looking forward to hearing about Abingdon (and the strava scouting too!)
Good luck everyone for tomorrow!!
P.s. Can't believe you ditched me CH 😆
I don't think I'm much help mate 🙂 Stay positive and focused and you may just get the points you're after!
I've had swings of uncertainty all week- I was just learning a few faces and of course the circuit itself but at the same time, I'm looking forward to some new challenges.
Let's see what tomorrow brings 😀
Brrrrrrrr
It's probably the warmest race yet 😀
A bit dull and grey perhaps but above freezing and not too windy (he's says from the sheltered car park 😀 ).
I'm still in bed 😆
Good luck CH!
You'll be home and a race report published before I even set off for Hillingdon, could have done both! 😛
Lol! It was fun!
When I say they were doing 18mph in that video, what I didn't respect was that they were also doing 400w into a gale force wind!!!!!
It was a bit mucky out but nothing a bit of adrenaline couldn't cure.
One crash- hope everyone was ok!!
More later.....
Abingdon Race Report pt1 :
Preparation started last night. Once the bike was given a quick clean of Zwift sweat with wet wipes and had it's IRL wheel re-fitted, it was time to think about me!
I felt rubbish yesterday- not bristling with arrogant confidence as I'd expect to be for a race 'peak'. So elected not to ride at all.
Despite being around evens for the days calories, I decided to force some extra toast and cereals down before bed as the pattern of pre-race eating I had been used to was obviously now out of sync with the 9am start.
With no past experiences to help with visualisation, I drifted off to sleep running through a fairly generic race-day plan in my head.
I woke up just before my 6:15 alarm and snoozed it without waking everyone. Then drifted back to sleep until the 06:25 one by which time everybody was awake anyway!
With my plan already in my head, I zoned out and went through the motions-
Coffee!
Toast
Cereals
Dogs (Walk and feed not extra breakfast 😉 )
Set car running
Clothes
Bike
Stacker box of bike paraphernalia!
Go!!!
I managed to get a Rice Crispy square down my neck as well as a bottle of lucizade sport- just to top the sugar and hydration up 🙂
Arriving at 07:59, I soaked up the atmosphere. It's bleak! Harsh and bleak in fact. Hillingdon, with its welcoming club house and buzz of kids activities pre-race is positively cozy in comparison.
Cyclists were already warming up but looked out of scale and lonely in the vast surroundings!
I'm sure 99% of the great atmosphere at Hillingdon is down to Lucy Collins. It's a hard act to follow and Abingdon felt more like the CX races I've done.
People more focused, less welcoming, more official! The sign in was painless though and the facilities warm but very basic.
A few guys said morning but there seemed to be a lot more teams and egos on display.
I pinned my number onto my TFC jersey, swapped it with the long sleeved BTwin one I was wearing, and set out to warm up.
I had tights, bib-shorts, my new shoes, overshoes, arm warmers, short sleeved jersey, rainshell and fleece snood on to warm up in- as well as my tinted visor.
I've learned to ignore others whilst warming up. Their's is irrelevant to yours!!
Hitting the long straight I was immediately knocked for six by the stiff Northerly wind!
Conditions had deteriorated since my optimism of earlier and I was doing 12mph. At 260w 😀
Hmmmmm.
The race starts from the HQ which is almost 3/4 mile away from the circuit. So I did one more lap, then headed back.
I decided to switch a few things up.
My visor was ditched in favour of clear glasses and I stripped off my jersey and arm warmers before putting both my long and short sleeved jerseys on.
I also kept my snood on.
Lining up behind the pace car- I spotted Tiim up ahead and prepared to go!
Race time!!
Pt2:
Setting off behind the car, the group strung out and I gradually worked my way forward. It took a while but eventually I got alongside Tiim to say hi. I didn't see you again mate- sorry!
After we'd joined the course we did a lap or two and then stopped at the line. I was front row right (inside).
A latecomer arrived and we did two more sighting laps behind the car before arriving back at the start!!
A brief note about the course. It was clockwise this week and (haven't checked yet) about the same length as Hillingdon.
The start finish was at the Northern end running E/W on a short straight. Then we turned onto a longer straight heading across the wind still.
Then a turn with cones on the inside marking some rough tarmac before another straight running due south down the wind.
90 degrees right and onto the southern straight. It had a couple of marked potholes but otherwise featureless.
Turn again, heading due North and smack into the wind!
One final turn and a short 60m sprint to the line.
Basically, there were two lines today. Inside and outside. Inside gave you shelter at the top and a good run down the wind and was my preference.
Everybody seemed to stick hard to wheels along the top two straight but if you went inside, you had protection from the wind and could soft pedal your way to the front most laps.
If you were inside at the bottom though, it meant a strong crosswind on the Southern straight and then being dumped out in the wind up the hard Upwind straight.
Optimum of course was inside at the top and outside at the bottom but in practice, I rarely achieved this.
My drafting was very average today. I was cagey after last week I think.
Latecomer ready- let's race 🙂
Pt 3:
The pace was hard on lap 1! People were well warmed up after the sighting laps and I just concentrated on getting a feel for things.
What lines did people take, what skill level was on display and where could I find the most shelter.
For 75% of the time, the pattern would be: easy across the top, harder down the wind, attack along the bottom, slow into the wind, rinse and repeat.
A few laps the gas stayed hard on right up the wind and a few times it was hard all lap.
With a bit of experience now, I learned to trust myself. No panic. Off the back twenty yards? No worries- don't blow up just soft pedal back on as they slow.
The crash must have happened in the first third of the race (time is a blur!) and was around the coned off bend. By riding inside here, I had the coned-off bit as a get out of jail spot and probably cut across for 2/3 of my laps lol. It was fine in there but meant I could square the corner off and carry more momentum. The comms had already said we could at our own risk.
Anyway, someone on the inside slid out into the bunch and ten or more went down.
My race was following a pattern. Cruise to the front across the top, sit top 1/3 down the wind, hang on tight and drift back along the bottom then regroup up the wind.
One or two breaks had gone and came back.
I was able to quickly look at my Garmin and saw 35mins had gone. Moving up in my usual spot, an attack of about 6 went so I decided to go as a wheel sucker.
We had a small gap for just over a lap but it was futile really and I was soon maxed out and hanging at the back once more desperately trying to recover.
A lap or so later, the pace ramped up because a break of four had counter attached hard. It was a great move and kept them away to the finish.
At this point I was struggling and nearly getting dropped. The group was probably 1/2 the size now and I knew I needed to move forward or go ping!
Again, I didn't panic- just trusted what I'd seen in other laps and sure enough, I moved to the front whilst still recovering and even got the better outside line at the bottom of the course.
There is literally >< that much difference between getting dropped and cruising sometimes 🙂
Anyway, 2 to go and the pace ramped up. I held my spot at first then slowly drifted back. One or two more dropped off- a reminder that the others ARE working hard too 😉
Things strung out, then bunched a little into the wind before stringing out again. I dodged a guy with a puncture and we dropped a couple more from the bunch.
Around the bend and a small sprint to pick up one more place.
At a guess, I was 25th but actually I have no idea!
Didn't get dropped or crash and went with one small move so I'll take that 🙂
Sorry Nath- accidentally hijacked your thread with a novel 🙂
Nice work CH, did that tick off your top 50% finish?
I don't know really Fifeandy. It's a shame they don't do full results. It was certainly very close to 50% of starters....
Watching the Strava flyby, I don't think my 'break' actually qualifies as a move 😉 😀
Oops. Double post.
I got caught behind the two guys who came of in front of me, nearly managed to weave between them but an awkward bounce from the bike in front sent it into my path and brought me down, I remounted and then had to chase hard for half a lap to get back to the bunch. Then spent a couple of laps recovering from that effort.
Last lap I was near the front of the bunch and it was clear the break was going to stick so I went for a do or die attack to see if i could scrape a top ten and attacked from the bend going into the final straight about 600-700 meters from the line slightly up hill and into a headwind but unfortunately the line came about 100 meters to late and the bucnh caught me up, I think I ended up somewhere about 20th.
Wow! Great ride mate. You did well to catch back on and get to the fruity end. That upwind slog is brutal isn't it!! Give me a hill to attack any day 😀
Anyway, someone on the inside slid out into the bunch and ten or more went down.
That would explain how I suddenly found myself sliding across the runway when I thought I had a 'safe' outside line.
Went down NDS so trueing wheels and new bar tape should be all. Slightly sore hip and head and some holes in the lycra but nothing too serious.
Hope to see you again next week CH and see you at the finish too!
If you go down in a crash, then for a crit you're usually allowed a lap out until the field come back round??
I dont know, they organisers said that this yr BC had stated that you could not take a lap out for a mechanical beccause the rule was being abused. I wasn't sure so just chased as soon as I got up on my feet.
Sounds like a good race CH, well done!
Punctures they allow a lap out, not sure about mechanicals.
I'm in a lot of pain right now and it haunted my race (forgot my gastro meds + gels/caffeine) - will do a quick summary in a bit.
Amazing how quick the meds work 😆
Okay so today TiRed was allowed out = much better racing, a few mishaps but unless I missed it absolutely 0 crashes, bonus!
I sat in the back with TiRed for about 30-35 mins of it, despite his best efforts to get me to attack 😆 , there was only one attack and due to strong wind after the clubhouse it didn't stick. It was pretty uneventful for 99% of that time.
Cue 5 laps to go. "I had a dream". On the windiest section I found myself on the front on this lap, I couldn't resist and brought a Twick CC member with me (Sam?) we went out off together and actually held the pack off for 2 laps before a 3rd rider joined us. Eventually though 3 of us wasn't enough and we were caught. But I made sure I stayed in the top 15 riders.
Last lap after the clubhouse I found myself in about 15th, on the left hand side of the track (hate this side). Around Brian's bend I managed to manoeuvre myself to the right hand side (sheer luck) and gunned it.
Between 5th or 6th I think 🙂
Ah! Gutted Tiim.... I did wonder 🙁
Hope you're ok too Nath!!!
Cool! Awesome job Nath. Well done you 🙂
Thanks mate.
Hopefully there's a pic of our little breakaway to celebrate the last race! 😆
Definitely felt back in the game this week.
My sprint finish was pathetic though at 990w: https://www.strava.com/activities/862680444
But that was with a feeling of being punched in the stomach 😆
110w more than mine lol! How did Johnny get on?
I didn't see him from 5 laps to go to be honest. Saw him at the front at somepoint in the first 35 mins.
I read it that Tim had gone down in a crash, not a mechanical? Lap out for a crash. Lap out for a puncture. Lap out for a mechanical is sometimes at the commissaire's discretion because you could argue should have maintained your bike better before the race. If you get caught behind a crash then thats tough luck, you've got to chase back on.
Yes, went down in the crash but tbh wouldn't have been much use even with a lap out. It was very surprising (must have been taken out from behind based on CH's description) so took a few mins to check everything was ok and gingerly rode back to the car.
I'm not sure on my position now... http://www.hughesartandphotos.com/Photos/Cycling/Cycling-20162017/IWS-2016-2017/Imperial-Winter-Series-9/Men-Cat4/i-rX6fszs/A
I think it's impossible to know from that shot mate. 7th right at that moment I'd say but it depends on your relative speeds I guess...
Laps out are dependent on the length of the circuit. Cyclopark is too long, so no lap out.
Well done to nath, broke away with one of our riders and it almost held! I was willing you both on from the rear - wore an XL sail of a yellow wind shell in that picture of the finish. The E123 was all tactics this week, but a decent pace. I was held up on the last lap and lost my solid midpack placing. The promoted fourth cat from Sigma broke away after five laps with four others. He and two lapped the field!
He certainly is strong! Sounds like a great day all round.
So cool you made a decent move Nath- you must have got your mojo back 🙂
What made them change their mind TiRed? Did they acknowledge last week was sketchy?
Different commissaire let me ride. In fact I was almost taken out with two laps to go! A few first-timers, one of whom needed a little instruction in how to corner and generally not take anyone down. But the race was pretty safe.
In fact Imperial pride themselves on what they've done for 4th Cat racing, and quite rightly so. The standard is very high despite the occasional spill - two this season compares well with higher level racing. I enjoyed sitting at the back providing advice.
Thanks @tired, really enjoyed today's race, despite feeling tired and stomach hurting.
Which guy was that tired? I heard you giving instructions to someone riding at the back with us.
Ah I see.
Last week shook me up not because of the crash as such but because of the constant feeling of unease. Also the fact that I felt unable to get away from the obvious dangerous folk as there were so many!!
Today didn't feel any different than the earlier Imperial rounds I did- a good overall standard of riding with one or two dodgy wheels to avoid but there was definitely more scope for moving away from it. Probably helped by the lower speed and killer head wind 🙂
I think it's great what you do though TiRed and it should be something B.C. embrace and seek to replicate as much as possible. You were a massive help to me!
@CH that club we were talking about didn't turn up this week, which probably helped things exponentially! Maybe Lucy banned them? 😆
Yes totally agree there should be an experienced rider in the 4s. Particularly as there is no minimum requirement to join a race other than BC membership.
It was a good end to the season - wish I could have stayed for the awards and free cake 🙂
Also the power meter was so incredibly useful in that attack - without it I would have had nothing to give in the final lap. Now I need to slam my stem ready for those crosswinds at Abingdon!
Also the power meter was so incredibly useful in that attack - without it I would have had nothing to give in the final lap.
Is that justification for you, or for Mrs Nath 😀
My position on the bike was back to being awful again. I wasted a lot of energy all race unfortunately.
Oh my mind is made up @CH, I've got a potential job lined up next week - if it's mine then so is a PM 🙂
Interesting to see @tired was using a powerpod as I've never seen one of them in the flesh before.
A lot of this week was mental change plus less fear of being taken out, physically I was tired and in pain. 😆
Next time though you'll be more comfortable with the track, the people and I'll be behind you shouting profanity for ditching me yesterday haha. Which should mean you're back to being aero.