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I see my mate Martin won, great result for him!
Awaiting the write up 🙂
I was racing the 4s at Abingdon today too. I was caught in a poor position coming into the last lap and had to bury myself to hang on. Overtook quite a few coming up to the finish line though probably top 20. I was going to try some attacks today but didn't feel great in the wind!
@rawka I was number 8 - the guy in blue with a Rapha cap on. What bike were you on/ number?
Just been hacking away at the steerer. I've now got exactly 10mm of steerer showing above the stem. So this will give me the option to raise it another 5mm should I need to:
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So final position is 15mm under and 15mm over:
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Number 32 I think. I was on my winter hack, a white Eastway.
Only just got back from my meeting!
There's not too much to say this week. My routine was ok although my head was already thinking about the meeting. The start caught me out a little, Nath and I thought we had more time to warm up and nipping back to ditch my coat meant I forgot to pop a gel. (I'm sure 111 calories of sugar made the difference 😆 )
I hung out at the back with Nath for the early laps when we were cruising along at an easy pace. But my drafting was off again. I still don't feel comfortable right in the pack. It was also really hard to find shelter at the two main headwind spots- to get the best position, you really needed to switch sides half way around.
I find at Abingdon that there are so many possible lines on the wide course for each corner, that you get people flying in at all angles.
Anyway, I was yo-ying away at the back and then working a lot harder than last time to try and move up before the pace ramped up.
Eventually it did ramp up and unfortunately, I was near the back once more at the time.
There was no grace, ceremony or maybes about it, I was shelled out like a bad nut in the Wonka factory 😀
Anyway, I had a naïve hope I could get back on when the bunch slowed into the wind but it was taking 460-500w just to maintain the same gap!
So, I sat up and waited. Timing it well, I got back on.
I slid through the bunch until I found Nath.
Me- "Alright Nath?"
Nath- "Yeah, you ok?"
Me- "I got lapped!"
Nath- "Ah naw!" 😀
Anyway, my heart and legs weren't in it. I always feel bad bossing a position when I've been lapped as I don't feel I deserve to be there so a lap and a half later, I slipped out the back once more.
I carried on, but it didn't take long until the 2 to go sign came out and we were asked to pull over.
Which meant I got to watch Nath's awesome Sprint finish 🙂
🙂
So that wind was brutal and I spent far too much time in it!!! At about 35? mins the bunch seemed to split in half and I very nearly went with the wrong half. Took a lot of effort to stay with the lead pack (bridging a gap that came out of nowhere on my own) - this is where my sit in the back 1/3 for 35 mins nearly cost me dearly!
Once I'd caught the group it took a couple of laps to catch my breath, before me and a bearded guy went for a silly attack (I find this the easiest way to get to the front few riders). Okay adrenaline pumping now as we are caught in the ridiculous headwind - not bothered just want to stay in the front. Heading down the straight (Southbound on the map) I found myself at the front and on the inside - perfect! Managed to get through the two left hand corners and went for it, 60 seconds of pain and it'd all be over. I stuck on the inside, which in hindsight I should have followed them and tried to get past in the last few meters, but I was knackered and not thinking straight.
Here's the last 60 seconds 😆
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Anyway I looked up after the finish line and counted 7 riders in front. CH confirmed.
8th pending confirmation, 2 more points to go!!
That screen grab is great!!! I reckon I'd have had to do 700w for a minute to stick with you!!
I told you I was tired at the end of that one, now I know why 😆
So happy with no knee & back pain!!
Now to try a 120mm stem 🙄
Nice work, chaps! I'm impressed.
Nice to get a better chat with you today Tiim, sorry I nipped off, I wanted to congratulate Nath before he started doing sprints or intervals or whatever he usually does as a cool down 😆
Reading about your races counts as training right?
My first race is next weekend and once again the weather was far too shit to do any cycling today so reading this is my race training...
Where you racing crazy? Abingdon with them boys?
No, the Eddie Soens! My plan is simply to hold on as long as possible which I suspect will be half way at best.
Problem is that up north we have nothing like the early season crits that London has with Hillingdon, Redbridge & Cyclopark. But it's good to read about how everyone is getting on.
Well, I may as well use this thread to come clean. I was going to keep it as a shock purely for entertainment for Crosshair.
But I'm in next Saturday at Abingdon. I paid up my British Cycling membership and entry for the race last night after riding and chatting about it.
I have very very few expectations outside of turning up and hanging on until I can give no more and my legs, lungs and heart call it a day.
Tactics are an alien concept to me, as is group riding and group etiquette. But I'm big, strong and have a pair of lungs.
I'll be riding my borrowed Isaac carbon thing and running gp4000s in 23 as my frame doesn't fit anything bigger lol.
Its simply one of them things for me to tick off the list of 'must do' type things.
I didn't sleep at all last night after making this decision and had random bike racing dreams all night.
I'm not going to do anything too scientific this week in preparation, my plan is to rest Sunday and Monday, ride Tues and rest weds Thurs and Fri. I'm not convinced I can improve my fitness in a week, but in over training I could potentially lower my chances of completing it.
Crumbs! I better buy a new bike and taper for this weeks race then 😆
Welcome to the club weeksy! 🙂
For a race on Saturday my week is normally
Sunday - leg spin Z2/3 max
Monday - rest
Tuesday - random intervals
Wednesday - sweet spot
Thursday - Zwift pre race day workout (leg opener)
Friday - rest
Saturday - race
But best not to overthink any of it. I built it up in my head thinking it would be TDF, but just take a deep breath and don't overreact to anything/hold your line and you'll be fine.
Are you joining on Tuesday night?
Next weekend I have no chance of getting points - I'm out on Friday for a friends birthday. It's at a pizza place - I won't be drinking but still be a late one. 🙁
Now we just need to persuade mr bloggs to have a go 🙂
Tues is likely buddy yes.
Now we just need to persuade mr bloggs to have a go
That me with a bit of auto correct? I'm in for Saturday (with a fair weather proviso!)
This week is last week of a hard block of work, may have an easy spin Friday but not expecting there to be too much in the legs. Will be fun though 🙂
Looking at Martin's ride for the win, rode it well, looks like he kept it clean till the finish. I shall debrief him in he office on Monday! Good result for him, looks like a winter of CX racing has payed off. And his club do regular road race style training rides too which sound ideal for crits.
@mrblobby - no it's Joe, he came to watch a few Hillingdon races.
Abingdon has totally different tactics to Hillingdon, after realising that a few minutes into the race and nearly getting dropped I'm over the moon to come out with my 2 points 😆
So in next week is:
Me
CH
Weeksy
Mrblobby
Tiim?
Rawka?
Tomvet?
Cheeky request, anyone got a spare pair of SPD (mtb) pedals I could borrow (or buy if they're cheap ones).
Missus just got her first pair of spd spinning shoes and wants to have a go on Zwift on her bike/get used to clipping in and out.
I'm sure I have some in the parts bin you could have if you can wait till Saturday.
Sounds like a few local(ish) to Abingdon...I'm a few miles away. Was poised to enter until I forgot UCI were behind the times with the whole disc brake thing....Hopefully will have a bike sorted for the next series in the summer there.
Yes I am in for Abingdon next week, just had a hard weekends riding did about 115 miles with 11000ft of climbing, going to need to back off a bit this week I think . Once Abingdons out the way I need to work on my endurance before the 237km tour of Flanders route.
Nath - If I come I'll be on a bike, but it will have a motor 😉 Spectating only.
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Come on Joe... You can drop out after 3 laps along with me !
I'm still figuring at this stage on being a non-finisher.... Anything better than 25% race distance in the pack will be an absolute bonus !
I'm racing in Bath (odd down) this weekend so I'm not doing Abingdon this week. I've not raced in Bath yet so looking forward to a new track.
Looks like Saturday may be wet for the Crit. So I’ve got 1 or 3 options
1. Don’t go
2. Do go, use the Conti’s I have on there
3. Do go, buy something more appropriate
I’m not massively worried about the getting wet aspect of things, it’s only an hour, I won’t die of exposure. I am though slightly concerned about grip levels etc… Especially as I’m less experienced on road bikes/tyres than most.
Weeksy, just ride what you've got and use your MTB bike handling skills to catch the slides 🙂
(Seriously, just ride whatever you have, won't make much difference.)
It's pretty much my only option 🙂
I had a look around Wiggle and none of them have what i'd call a 'tread pattern'.... there's just nothing at all.
i've only got to last 1 lap anyway, so i can say "been there, done it..."
weeksy, gp4000s is really one of the most grippy tyres around - road tyres don't need a tread pattern to displace water, as given the contact patch you'd need to be going 200mph to start aquaplaning.
There are a couple of cold/wet specific tyres with softer compounds, but I wouldn't bother, you'll be just fine.
Normal road bike tyres usually grip pretty well in the wet - there is a theory that because they're so narrow having a tread pattern on them doesn't make much difference. Certainly the Conti Gatorskins I normally use have worked well on wet roads.
I'll be racing on Conti 4seasons again.
https://www.radialcycles.co.uk/continental-gp-4-season-folding-road-tyre-twin-config.html
Pressures are probably more important than the tyre choice to be honest, grip isn't the concern - it's the flints.
Thanks guys.... So just my legs/lungs/HR as my only worries then 🙂
I'm either excited/scared, not sure which really. It reminds me of my old days of racing motorbikes again.... whihc is a good memory (mostly).
I'm not generally this nervous coming into XC Racing, but i guess that's because i know what to expect and where i'm going to fit in within the grand scheme of things.
My toughest part apart from that is the group riding... i'm not exactly used to lots of people around me, nor wheels in front/behind.
Eurgh it's going to be raining tomorrow afternoon too!
I might bring the commuter instead so I don't have to clean the racing bike for Saturday lol.
My advice weeksy is to not overthink it. Follow the guy in fronts line but don't focus on his wheel it'll make you sketchy - use your peripheral vision - focus on the front and where you want to go your bike will follow. If you think someone is about to cut you up shout "on your left/right (insert number)". Hide from the wind as much as possible to save energy - looks like we have 16mph winds again. Most importantly enjoy it 🙂
Eurgh it's going to be raining tomorrow afternoon too!
Won't be a problem.... i'll be on Zwift if it's raining 🙂
I better memorise my number then if people are going to be shouting at me 🙂
It's a pretty large field which will make it interesting in the positioning context. I was thinking, should i try and stay close to CH... or Nath... but the clear answer seems to be, no.... Because you never know what can or will happen and how the pack will move, split or break. It will be a case for me mostly i think of finding the correct gear for each section depending on wind and just using the one thing i have in my arsenal, power.... just picking a gear and grinding it out to the best of my ability.... then seeing where it takes me.
I'm the big Audi diesel estate compared to most riders out there, so just suck it up and keep powering.
Yeah I may bail too if it's crap weather - I've got to lug my laptop home from work so I cba getting that wet 5 weeks before I leave 😆 Will make an assessment tomorrow morning.
Yeah it's nigh on impossible to stick with someone for longer than 20 seconds or so - the pack is very fluid and you've got to stick to 30cm from the guy in front otherwise you're wasting energy (particularly against that wind!!!!). Store that diesel the best you can, spinning is normally the best way to combat that wind without burning yourself out.
Weeksy, I suspect it'll be an initially bewildering experience 🙂 I've not done many but I still remember my first race, a 34 round Thruxton. Had no idea what was going on, why the pack would seemingly randomly switch from one side of the track to the other, why it would suddenly accelerate or slow down, and I spent pretty much all race worrying about crashing into someone, on the periphery, and in the wind. Does take a few races to get comfortable with it all.
Does take a few races to get comfortable with it all.
I think that's where i'm different to both Nath and Crosshair... i have no intention at all of 'a few races' this is without doubt a one-off experience for me. It's more a 'lets see if i can' and a 'tick off the bucket list' sort of thing for me, than a progression/goal longer term.
without doubt a one-off experience for me
You say that now 😉
LOL you can't grasp how little road bikes interest/inspire me... Don't get me wrong, i love watching the racing, a good chunk of my weekend was wrapped up with watching it, but from a riding context, i'm very meh.
It's only the competitive aspect that sort of sucked me in via Zwift and Crosshair.... I don't actually like the twitchy and seemingly dangerous aspect of road bikes 🙂
It's a bit silly to bail on tomorrow if it's raining- it will be your best chance of hanging on Saturday by getting some pointers and practicing your bike handling.
Your tyres will be fine- again, you should use tomorrow to play with pressures.
As I said before- it's a fine line between contesting the sprint and getting dropped. And that line won't be decided by how many watts you put out but by how few you have needed and how low your HR has been thus far.
It was amazing how strong the draft of 80 riders was and even if your ftp was 400w- you ain't going to be catching back on to a 24mph bunch in a 17mph headwind 😉
It literally took me 550-600w to maintain the gap to them last week.
If you go back to the beginning of this thread and read TiRed's pointers (and others) it's all there- it just may take a few goes to realise he was right 😉
The opening couple of laps were crazily slow last week- you'll hang no problem. But if you're hanging in the wind, riding solo effectively, you won't have the reserves when the pace inevitably ramps up.
Also, take the pressure off mentally by having a clear plan. If this happens- I'll do that etc etc
It's chess on wheels and thinking straight at max HR is more than half of the battle.
It's a bit silly to bail on tomorrow if it's raining
It would be even sillier to be in A&E with a broken collarbone 😉
Have a word! If you can't do a few sighting laps of Hillingdon at 80% effort without crashing then you shouldn't even be thinking of entering a Crit IMO.
You're supposed to be a rad-core MTB'er 😉
I don't do 80% 😉