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So Nath, are you coming to watch on Saturday? Or does even the sight of bike racing make you feel guilty for being unemployed?? 😆
haha. Not sure yet, I was hoping to!
May be doing the parkrun on Saturday morning, helping the missus get back into running 😐
Ah cool. Jesper, Johnny and I will be there- it'll be like old times 🙂
By helping, I hope you mean 'racing' 😆
Getting excited about tomorrow now!
Seeing as it's a bonus training race, I may cover the front for the first couple of laps and see if London Dynamo try the same tactics. Not saying I can make the bridge or maintain a high enough pace if I do but it will be fun trying!!
I would love to make a plan with Jesper to try something but I've watched enough of his Zwift streams to know that pacing isn't his forte 😆
That's ideal then, he goes off like a loony, you follow him for some laps then you solo TT to victory !
CH are you point or glory hunting tomorrow?
What time is the race?
Yeah there's no way that I can just jog with her as other people are overtaking, the pointless competitiveness fibres in me will kick in and I'll end up not being able to walk on Sunday lol
Nath- 15:30.
Neither really, the goal is an enjoyable race and have some fun. But also to stretch myself a bit.
I've been over thinking things and come to the conclusion that the only two options I have at the moment are a last lap sprint out or an early break with others that fools the bunch into thinking we've gone too early.
Weeksy- I don't have enough pace for that and neither does he. But working together at threshold, we could maintain 25mph I reckon....
Where you racing CH?
If the legs aren't broken I might pop along. Entry on the day possible?
"Entries on the day - there is NO guarantee there will be entries on the day and therefore it is highly recommended that you sign up in advance. Advance registration for each event, that is not already full, will close at midday the Friday immediately before the event."
14 spare places at the mo so I reckon you'll be ok
Well the legs aren't filling me with confidence to match my outlook. Had a sluggish recovery ride earlier where my legs felt totally blocked.
I managed to work late and get everything done I wanted so at least I'm mentally free to enjoy myself 🙂
The anticipation is crazy though! I'm a little bit addicted I think 😀
Probably really good for them to have gone out to do a gentle spin. Good luck tomorrow, CH. 8)
So, it’s fair to say I was a little bit over excited this week!
Having talked a good game, I wasn’t sure I had the legs to match.
I like to arrive early and cooly execute my pre-race prep but I foolishly agreed to collect Jesper from Feltham. What with the M3 traffic clogging the M4, it was touch and go for a while and making up ground in the fast lane I missed jct 4!! So I had to go down the A4 which seemed to take forever.
Jesper and I made a plan. For the first two laps I was going to cover the front and try and join a break. If this failed, with 20minutes gone, we would rendezvous at the back of the bunch and figure out where best to launch an attack together. Sadly, we didn’t make a three to go plan as I was resigning myself to a sprint after that.
Anyway, panic averted, with a bit of streamlining of my routine, we still had numbers and transponders on with 20mins to warm up.
We set off. Covering the front, it was all a bit of a blur. I think everyone was thinking of the same thing and the pace was high. A few guys tried to get away but to my mind, they kept picking the wrong spot! The were attacking just after the hill and into the downhill, negating much of their kick.
I forgot to press start until lap 2 but by about lap 4, normalised power was 330w so a lot more frantic than last week! Of course, as soon as I drifted back through the bunch to recover, someone did break but he was solo so pretty much guaranteed to come back.
The next phase was a blur of moving forward and back. The bunch was worse than last week with probably 8-10 close shaves across the race. Jesper described me as a Fabian Cancellara calming influence in the bunch ( 😉 ) with my “Easy guys!” and “Steady now!” and “Hold your lines team!”
What it really needed of course was a YGA…….
With 27minutes gone, I found myself next to Jesper. “How you feeling?” I enquired. “Fine!” came the reply.
We agreed to spend a lap moving up and launch on the Start/Finish on the next pass.
As I chicaned my way through the bunch (TiRed is utterly correct of course- this is a so much more energy efficient way of moving up.) I knew Jesper wouldn’t be able to follow but hey, we made a plan- let’s see this thing through.
The bunch hit the wind and as usual, took this as a reason to spread across the road and nearly wipe each other out. A combination of the front easing off and the back drilling it not to get dropped meant every lap was a crash waiting to happen!
I found a gap down the left and kept moving up. One of the Condor guys was off the front by 20yards but in an accidental way, not an attack. As I passed the front rider of the bunch, he cut me off at the apex and we nearly came together. My fault, I saw a gap and didn’t call it but luckily we both held our nerve and it also served the purpose of slowing the bunch.
I knew Jesper wasn’t with me but went anyway. Sprinting hard, I was soon on the Condor guys wheel. He was just cruising along. As I hit his draft, I shouted “GOGOGO!” at him and he suddenly realised he had a gap! Anyway, we went but it was a totally bungled attempt and soon we had the front of the bunch with us. But nobody had the pace of the early laps so I kept the power on and spent the next two laps working with various folks and even if we didn’t get a gap, we at least made the bunch try a bit harder.
Playtime over, it was time to drift back and recover so I did, right to the back. Knowing how each lap panned out, I was able to casually take a drink whilst riding on the tops some 5-10y off the back knowing that it would all come screeching to a halt on the straight.
Sure enough, I drifted back on as the 5 lap to go banner appeared.
Right then, sit-rep. Breaks still trying hard but getting nowhere, it was time to rest up. I spent two more laps right on the back. Three to go- time to get in the zone.
Two to go and WTF!!!!!! Someone that looks like Jesper has launched a proper attack off the front!
WTF!!! - IT IS JESPER!!!
The bunch just let him go. He soon had a huge gap and my twin thoughts were a)Go Jesper!!!!! And b) Shhhhiiiiiitttttt! He’s gonna get points before me!!!
It was a cracking effort though and I wished him every success!! But of course, as I predicted, pacing is not his forte.
As we crossed the line on the last lap, he was totally spent and half the bunch nearly crashed into him. The pace ramped up to 28.5mph and I felt in control still. A little too far back but moving up.
We passed the clubhouse and I knew I was too far back. Any super-motivation faded and I settled for safely holding my place. But then!!!! I realised I was next to the Henley Rider now known as "Fighty McFight-face" from back in the day 😆
So I pressed on! And dropped him whilst picking up another 8 or 9 places.
Finished 25/46 but it was so much fun! I know a point is my goal and ultimately 12 of the buggers but to be honest, I’m racing! Properly racing. And I don’t think a single point is worth the trade-off for what I’m learning.
I think Tuesday can be business- see if being boring does get me anywhere…..
Well done, Crosshair, it's coming on!
I've been following the thread since page 1, watching everyone's progress.
Now I've marked the thread, I'll sit back and watch.
Good luck all.
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So yeah, Sprinting on lap two is good right?? 😆
Well done, CH. You'll get there.
Nice one CH! Your racing is getting stronger and stronger each time. Points are imminent!!!
I was thinking of you all as I was printing out envelopes for our save the dates 😆
I did a race today too, I was only supposed to be there to help the missus get into running. But after 1km by her side I sprinted off lol: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/gunnersbury/results/latestresults/
(First one since Central Park in November 16 lol)
A friendly face on todays club run! (Not that the others aren't friendly mind you 😆 ) Sadly, less than 18hrs from my race, not much sleep and an early start to check livestock meant I didn't put on a good showing 😀 As in- I got dropped up pretty much all the hills 😀
277w normalised for 2h21 means it was pretty much like back to back Hillingdons for me 😮
A day of rest and carb loading now or else Thruxton could see me out the back of the bunch 😆
I feel your pain CH. I went out to do some threshold intervals yesterday and ended up doing another couple of hours blast afterwards. Did 275NP for 3:25. I was ruined. Mrs was not happy.
Best thing was when MrBlobby and I were doing a turn on the front. Just as I hit LTHR, MrB clicked up into Z3 😆
I need to see how Tuesday goes and structure my week from there. I reckon it will be rest or Z1 Wednesday, Tempo/Threshold intervals Thursday, Z1 Friday and then a Power and Anaerobic Endurance medley on Saturday.
Which sadly means I'll be hanging for next weeks Sunday ride too 😀
If I'm recovered on Thursday, I can swap the intervals around which means I may cling on a bit better.
Winner of the Bec RR yesterday did 329NP for 3 hours. I'm guessing he must be 10ks lighter than me (I'm 74). Nuts.
Winner of the Bec RR yesterday did 329NP for 3 hours. I'm guessing he must be 10ks lighter than me (I'm 74). Nuts.
As a previous winner of the Bec RR, I have no idea what that means. I would have said he rode his bike faster than anyone else 8)
You know what, I think you might be right. 😆 He's going pretty well this year. The Bec course probably suits him to a T.
NP = Normalised Power.
Grrr! Wish I had written this in MSWord the first time!
Try again….
So, Thruxton this evening. It was cracking weather and a great atmoshphere. The plan was to be lazy and sit in for the final 500m.
Prep went to plan and after a couple of warm ups, I was as ready as could be.
A guy on the line was like “Andrew?” and I said “Yes?” turns out it was his first race and he knew me from Jesper’s Strava picture of us that he had posted on Saturday! Anyway, I enjoyed being able to pass on some of TiRed’s advice and see him maintain contact with the bunch the entire distance.
I chilled at the back. When I say chilled, I mean 156bpm, 217w average (top of Z2), 22minutes below Active recovery type chilling!
The bunch is hilarious at Thruxton. They all follow an exaggerated racing line, clipping the Apex from a wide entry. Yet actually, you could ride pretty much flat out and hold the inside line and get around fine. This is discouraged by the fact that you will get chopped by everybody else.
So instead, I hung literally at the back and maintained contact by following the shortest route. I was able to roll back into the draft just after each Apex as they hustled each other into slowing down. It must have looked comical to the Comms in the following car.
I won’t quite say it was boring as ripping around a racetrack at Cat 4 industry spec 25mph is fun regardless but nothing happened. Some very poor break attempts were made but there were the most teams I have ever seen out so it didn’t take much to shut everything down.
Bell lap arrived and lots of people were very fresh. The pace ramped up to the usual 27mph and I was still quite far back having attempted to soft pedal up the final climb of the penultimate lap without investing too much.
So, I kind of ruined my chances by doing 420w for a minute downhill to move up. This was pretty much the end of my race. I arrived at the critical final hill in around 5-7th place and started pushing as hard as I could. Sadly, my top end was lacking- partly because of the previous minute but partly because I just hadn’t recovered enough from my weekend.
A big switcheroo occurred and 1-10th probably finished 25-35 and those with brains who saved it for the post-chicane finale made the sprint.
So, I rolled in around, well, I want to say 25th but 30th wouldn’t surprise me. I PB’d the final two sections so I had improved on my last race here but was nowhere near my potential.
The climb at the end of my road is a similar gradient and length to the Thruxton finish and I can do that at 550w at the end of a 30mile Tempo type ride so to only average 380 tonight shows there is more there- despite the easy race.
So- no excuses. I got the result I deserved in a strong field I think. The ingredients are coming together and when I finally get to my Taper week- I’m hoping it will click.
Nice write up CH, definitely got a feeling points are coming soon.
I went to the local APR training ride again tonight. Found myself in the unusual (for a 60kg climber type) situation of doing the bulk of the work for my group on a windy flat ride 😐
Fast group caught us with about 2 miles to go - sitting in was pretty easy, but 6 or so guys just wanted to sit on without rolling through to the front. Not much into jostling for position for a training ride, so just sat at the back. Final half mile or so was an uphill finish and the ones not going through predictably exploded and blocked the whole road.
Pretty sure i could have gone with the moves up front if i'd been in position, but like i say, not worth risk taking for position on a training ride.
Next time that route is used, may try to force a split earlier so less traffic at the end.
Really wish we had some climbs in the UK. Would love to get stuck into some racing if some 30-40 min climbs were included. Don't see me ever generating the raw power to be competitive on typical flat to rolling UK routes with dire road surfaces. 🙁
BCWT E123 race at Hillingdon for me. Can't race masters tomorrow, so chose to ride the smooth fast roller coaster. Hard. Group got away, some of us worked hard to try and bring them back. To no avail. I managed to remain top third for most of the race. Come last lap and it's hammertime. Legs said they'd done enough, so I rolled in at the back of the bunch. Did I say it was hard?
Then rode 11 laps to calibrate my powerpod properly and home.
CH for hills you want Redbridge. Aka Hog Hill. Youngsters go up the hill.
Big Events are at Redbridge this Saturday.... I need more training and more rest now so I'm going to skip racing and the group ride next weekend. See if I can turn up fresher on Tuesday.
Nath, Cat 3 only race at Hogs Hill- sounds perfect for your real life comeback!!!
Well done CH!
Richmond park on Sunday? 😆
Sounds tough TiRed!
I was contemplating this as my comeback: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/160243/BIG-Events---Central---Hillingdon--3-2017
CH for hills you want Redbridge. Aka Hog Hill. Youngsters go up the hill.
If anyone does race at Redbridge I'll come along and watch as it's very close to home for me and I'm in the club that's based out of the circuit.
I ride there occasionally but usually just the bottom circuit as the hill is brutal! First couple of laps I'm in the big ring up it give it a few more laps and I'm down to walking pace in my lowest gear!
The bunch is hilarious at Thruxton. They all follow an exaggerated racing line, clipping the Apex from a wide entry. Yet actually, you could ride pretty much flat out and hold the inside line and get around fine. This is discouraged by the fact that you will get chopped by everybody else.
Can all seem a bit random at first at Thruxton, but it's quite a wide and exposed circuit and the line is often dictated by the usually strong winds.
I won’t quite say it was boring as ripping around a racetrack at Cat 4 industry spec 25mph is fun regardless but nothing happened. Some very poor break attempts were made but there were the most teams I have ever seen out so it didn’t take much to shut everything down.
I'm told this is very common for Thruxton, especially in the lower cats.
Well done CH. Sounds like a bit more racecraft could see you pick up some points at Thruxton. Seems you can sit in the pack a bit more comfortably. You just need to time your effort.
I ride there occasionally but usually just the bottom circuit as the hill is brutal! First couple of laps I'm in the big ring up it give it a few more laps and I'm down to walking pace in my lowest gear!
The "Hog with the occasional hill" series that's been running recently could be right up your street.
MrBlobby- I can totally see why they do it but it's more the fact that nobody holds a wide line if you are fairly inside of them well before the corner 😀
But still, it was a fun game trying to keep my HR low. Managed to get as low as 130 one lap 😆
Thanks Matts! I do need to be more patient but it's a balance between not getting stuck either.
I suppose I also proved why polarisation is important- most of last weeks hours were high intensity so my top end was dragged down by fatigue.
Hopefully going up north soon, so hopefully my friend can fit me in for a bike fit - something I reallllllllly need.
My position has moved somehow. I noticed today that my legs can be extended further and I'm putting a lot of weight on my wrists. I also want to go lower at the front - I feel my back can now take it (rowing injury).
If I can't go up anytime soon I'm going to have a look locally for a fitting...any recommendations?
Nath, not that local to you but I'd likely go see [url= http://www.thebikewhisperer.co.uk/ ]this guy[/url].
I've had a fitting with Scherrit (mrblobby's link above). I liked him. Not cheap, but it took 6 hours or so! Subsequently had a new bike consultation with him after my crash.
I've been to Royce @ velocity for a saddle fit. He tweaked my bit fit while I was there.
http://velocitysportscycling.com/bike-fit/
He tweaked my bit fit
Not entirely sure thats the type of service Nath was after 😯
Another previous customer of Scherrit here.
I don't recall [i]he[/i] did any bit tweaking, but it was quite a long time ago. 😯
So I had my first crit (Corley summer series at Milton Keynes bowl)since the start of March , I have not trained since and just been riding as and when I can which has been less than I would like as have a house to finish renovating before baby arives in June.
I nearly pulled the plug on this race as I thought my form would have dropped too much. As it happened it went better than expected, sat in the bunch for most of the race and then sprinted up the little climb into about 13th, I think if I had used up a bit more energy to pass a few people in the last couple of laps I could have got in the points, it was not an easy course to move up the field though. Avereaged 25mph and got a new max heart rate of 200bpm, happy with that.
Lol, untrained and 25! Some people are just bloody fast !
Jealous
Thanks for the recommendations for the tweaking guys 😆
Nice one Tom! You'll know what to do for next time & some points!
You'll get there weeksy, you're certainly on course!!
Well still been riding but just no structure/plan maybe was just fresher and more rested
What's structure? 😆