First Few Races

March is almost been and gone, the months just feel like they are flying by now, suppose that is one of the joys of lighter evenings.

March started off with a different feel as mentioned before, but now it was down to what I suppose is my bread and butter, time trials. The first couple were just about getting me used to racing again and getting the legs used to prolonged high intensity efforts. It is all well and good doing short intervals but then extending that interval to the full duration you should be able to manage can be a whole different thing.

I am not normally a lover of short duration TT's (anything shorter than 50 miles for me is short), but the plan was to do a 10 miler and then a 25 miler in preparation to the first of my "target" races. Neither of these were special in the grand scheme of things and were purely training events, so I was training through them and would ride with whatever fatigue I had. The 10 was a really eye opener in one respect, I didn't have the luxury of training normally as I was up in Edinburgh without a bike for work, so the majority of the week was spent running. Even when I got home it was a nice threshold interval session on the plan, definitely not something I would usually do before a race. The race the following morning was just a go balls out and see what happens sort of effort, to my surprised power was good and I managed to win by 30 seconds, I certainly hadn't expected to win, or to ride as well as I did. It show that winter training had obviously been working well.

 

Just after the start in the VTTA 10 mile TT (photo Courtesy of Bob Burden)



The 25 was slightly different, I originally had intended to ride it solo, but my teammate Tim Bayley suggested we do a 2up, so we entered the 2up instead. Again I wasn't really holding back with the training, and even had a Running School rehab session the day before, and my legs again weren't in the best state. I was (for one the very rare times) quite nervous about holding Tim's wheel and doing my share of the work, I had tried to make sure I was a fresh as I could be, but I did have doubts in the back of my mind. It ended up being a very very good workout and I didn't blow to bits either which was nice, again I was quite surprised at the power I was putting out when on the front, though sometimes I think I might have overdone it as it took a while to recover from. One thing I did notice, Tim starts like a bat out of hell, and goes up hills a fair bit quicker than me. Time for some weightloss I think LOL.

The main reason for doing these events was for the first round of the RTTC TT Series, which I was the defending Vets champion. My aim this year was to always do the first 5 events and hopefully win the series again so this was one of the more important races of the year. The training in the week inbetween the 25 and this race had gone pretty well, though I did notice I was feeling tired in general, and with the family coughing I suspected I was trying to fight a cold as well as recover from training. As the weekend approached I just tried to keep the training load up without overdoing it and although on Sunday my legs didn't feel their best things seemed to go OK.

The race was a very wet and cold windy affair, what had been a bright and breezy day suddenly got very wet about 5 mins before my start time, not the best news I was hoping for. I had only got one set of race tyres, and even these on the roads we were racing on were dodgy let alone when it is very wet. Being a TT Series race the course is a circuit and with this one a very twisty circuit, even better news really when the front tyre is one I don't feel that confident on in the wet. As I started and the wind chill hit, it got very cold indeed, in fact my hands were so cold and numb, it took until halfway (about 12 miles or so) before I started getting any feeling in them, not good when you have to brake for corners.

Even though I didn't feel on top of my game, the power seemed good and although I was tentative in the corners I tried to go as hard as possible where I felt confident. After about 10 miles I kept catching glimpses of my 2 min man in front, this gave me a little incentive to push that little bit harder, I managed to catch and pass around the halfway mark. I thought things must be going pretty well and although I was suffering with the cold and wet at least the rain had stopped. I just tried to keep the power where I thought I could hold it for the full distance, and I also kept an eye on the average speed as I wanted to go under the hour on a course that had only previously seen a handful of people do so. As I got to the 5 miles to go point, nicely marked with a 5 to go sign, things weren't looking too bad, the wind was going to be mainly from behind and I was hoping to pick up some speed.

The last 5 miles were difficult for a couple of reasons, one you are getting tired, there were some flood control works with a nice little chicane, and they were also relaying some of the road (for the Tour de France of all reasons), so we have a section that resembled Paris Roubaix. All in all this section did go well, and with the miles to go boards it kept you focussed on just how much to meter your effort. The Chelmer CC guys also had a prize for the rider who could do the last mile the quickest, this did involve a cheeky little hill about 500 metres from the finish. I knew I was unlikely to ever be the quickest so although I tried a little harder I made sure I had enough for the hill more than anything.

 

A very cold and wet Steve (photo courtesy of Davy Jones)



I didn't quite break the hour which sort of miffed me a bit, it's been a long time since I felt so slow,  even my last 12 Hour TT on lumpy roads was nearly as fast :-o. Overall I should be happy I won the Vets event by nearly 3 mins and the power was good, so the time lost was more about me being sensible around the bends than just being slow. I have no doubt I have become less aero by taking up triathlon, I know I have put on upper body muscle from swimming, I just hope that it isn't too much as I feel the next round will be a little bit more difficult with the likes of Julian Ramsbottom up against me.

RTTC TT Series Round 1 Results

TT Series Round 1 Report


Now I have a couple of weeks of training to fit in and no doubt start building up towards the iron distance triathlons as it isn't long now to the first one, and worries about long duration fitness will no doubt haunt me.

All Change - Again

A few people has asked me recently what I am planning to do this year and to be honest I thought I had got my season all plotted out, well nearly. On Friday last week it did all finally fall into place when I was announced as a winner of a Erdinger Alkoholfrei UK competition to win an entry into Challenge Weymouth. I must say a huge thanks to Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Just Racing and Challenge Weymouth for the prize, it is very greatly appreciated, and I really do aim to enjoy the whole weekend. I wonder if there are any prizes for the fastest bike leg ;)

Now with this ironman distance tri being on the 14th September and the Kent Cycling Association 12 Hour TT being the week before, it does mean I can't do the 12 Hour now. This is a shame, as I have said before it is really close to my heart, but with the Bastion ironman distance event earlier in the year, it will make things easier for my coach to plan my training.

So now my season is pretty much all planned, the first part of the year, well to mid May anyhow is all about defending my CTT TT Series title, with a couple of short distance triathlons mixed in, and then onto training for the Grafman Middle Distance Triathlon, which also happens to be the Triathlon England Middle Distance Championship. This will be a good gauge to how good (or bad) I will be at triathlon, I can't really peak for this I suspect, so it will be done with only a very short taper week beforehand I would guess. I am not expecting that the shorter distance triathlons will suit me as I was mainly a long distance TTer, so prefer the longer distances. It really is the middle and long distance triathlons that I really look forward to at the moment.

So for now training is mainly about getting the power out over shorter distances for the TT Series, but soon I know I will have to start upping the miles, and hilly ones at that I guess in preparation for the Hever Castle Bastion.

I hope not to change anything again, I think my coach has had enough surprises from me this year, I have never changed my plans so frequently and so late before, poor girl must roll her eyes when we speak LOL.

Below is a plan of the major races, I might fit a few other TT's in at the long distances as prep for the triathlons, though the thought of doing a race at a lower intensity than I know I can go, and not being at the sharp end as a result doesn't feel me with joy, I prefer to race at the maximum I can go for the duration of the event. We will see if I can fit anything in, as it is there is not a lot of time between the end of the TT Series and the Bastion, so no doubt a lot of this time will be spent on running to get that endurance built up.

Races Planned

March

23rd - CTT TT Series Round 1

April

6th - CTT TT Series Round 2
20th - CTT TT Series Round 3
27th - Sevenoaks Triathlon

May

4th - CTT TT Series Round 4
11th - East Grinstead Triathlon
18th - CTT TT Series Round 5

June

8th - Grafman Middle Distance Triathlon

July

13th - Hever Castle Bastion Triathlon

September

14th - Challenge Weymouth Long Distance Triathlon

Oh How Running Hurts the Legs

Last weekend saw my first foray into the world of multisports events, with the Maidstone Duathlon. I had been contemplating of how to approach the race and I finally saw sense with how to race it. I had done a training run in the week at the sort of pace I thought I would be able to manage, though this seemed tough and I wondered if I was being too optimistic, well I guess you can always go faster when racing. The bike was just going to be as hard as I could and see what happened.

The morning of the race I felt in good shape, though extremely nervous. I hadn't been as nervous as this at a race for a fair few years now, talking with a few people helped settle the nerves. One thing I hadn't really thought much about was warming up, now I know what to do on the bike, but for running, well normally I start off slow and then ease into the effort. This couldn't really be done in a race, so I just sort of followed others by running gently up and down the road to get loosened up.

8am and the hooter goes, off I go at the front and running at a pace that I knew full well that I couldn't sustain for long, luckily the first couple of km's was downhill. I soon settled in behind another runner at a pace that I thought I might be able to sustain. As the run progressed the faster runners drifted away, but I didn't panic, I knew I was going faster than I had in training, and it was going to be tough finishing the first run at that pace as the last few km's were all uphill.

I got into T1 in about 13th position and about 5 mins down on the first runner, T1 went very well and my transition time was up there with the fastest guys. On the bike I started off at a reasonable effort  whilst being distracted by a rubbing noise, it took a while to realise it was the paper number rubbing on my thighs, another new experience LOL. Once on the main road, I just tried to get into a groove and keep at a reasonable effort. I wasn't expecting to be able to put out my normal 25 mile TT power, but was a little bit surprised at how even a lower effort felt so tough.

I was soon passing the faster runners and I got into the lead around the 10 mile mark, from here it wasn't long before the first run started showing with me getting cramps in both my calves everytime I upped the effort, not a usual experience for me in such a short TT. I pushed on as hard as I could with the aim of just trying to build as big a gap as I could with full knowledge that the final 3.5km run wasn't going to be fast and I needed as much time as possible. I was managing the cramps quite well, and at the final turn I was able to gauge that I was about 2-3 mins in front of the 2nd place rider. The last few miles I tried to go as fast for as little energy expenditure as I could, not a normal scenario for me, where I normally try and get everything out.

I arrived in T2 in a good state, and with another decent transition I was away for the 2nd run. I have done brick sessions in training, but in all honesty the feeling of racing hard and then trying to run hard is not one you experience unless racing. The first km was a real weird feeling with my legs feeling that they didn't want to work, and that along with a real sore quad meant the final run was not going to be a pleasant experience at all. The first 1.5 km was uphill as well, again not the best feeling. I just concentrated on getting up the hilly bits as quick as I could, as I knew a lot of the run was downhill.

As I reached the top of the hilly part, I looked at my pace, all seemed fairly good, and the with the downhill section it increased. The left quad was quite painful now and it was just a case of trying to manage the pain whilst going as fast as I could. I dare not look behind me as I didn't want to see the faster runners bearing down on me. As soon as I turned back towards the HQ and the finish line I knew I was going to cross the line first. It was sort of surreal really, as I am so used to just doing a solo effort and awaiting the finish times, there was no celebrating or anything, just an immense sense of satisfaction that I managed to win my first ever multisport event.

I have done a fair amount of TT's of all different distances, but this is the first time my legs have felt as though they had been hit with a sledgehammer, I guess that is the sort of damage done by running hard. It was a good experience, though I can't say the most pleasant one. It certainly impacted my training for a few days afterwards, again something I am not used to for a relatively short event. Will I be back for more duathlons, well no doubt I will, but for now it is the CTT TT Series to concentrate on followed by triathlons (including 2 ironman distance triathlons), lets hope these go as well. It was great to get racing off to a great start for the Tri Spirit Team, lets hope for many more successes.

Provisonal Results

Big thanks to Mike and the Team at Velocity Events, and to Zipp Wheels, SRAM, Tacx, Quarq and Torq Fitness for all your help, it is much appreciated.

So It All Starts Again

Well the start of the race season is upon us, the first part of my season is going to be focussed on trying to retain my RTTC TT Series (Vets on Actual) Title, whilst also mixing in a few sprint triathlons. My first race however, is this weekend and is the Maidstone Duathlon, which is certainly going to be an eye opener I would suspect.

Now luckily I know the bike course very well, being the local 25 mile TT course, the new sensation of trying to bike hard after a 9.5km run is likely to make it seem a whole lot different to what I am used to. I have done some easy running off the bike, but I have yet to do a hard run and then into a hard ride. I guess it is going to do one of two things, hopefully it won’t be the breaking of me and I will “enjoy” it.

It also does mean a slightly different feel for me starting the season, I know where I stand locally when it comes to TT-ing, what I am going to be like in a duathlon is a completely new experience and if I am honest it excites me a little, but also scares the shit out of me.

I am not sure how to approach the race, do I try and keep up with the faster runners, and hope the hell I don’t blow majorly and take the bike leg as it comes, or do I pace the run slightly easier and really hammer the bike leg and then hold on for dear life for the final 3.5km run. It is supposed to be a race where I try and get to grips with transitions between the legs, and not really worry about the result, but unfortunately I know what I am like and I will want to do the best I can. Let’s see what happens on the day, and I am going to try and enjoy it first and foremost.

The winter period has been a bit of a challenge for me this year, I was mentally spent after a long season, and it did take me a while to get going again. This was shown with a slightly lacklustre performance at a New Years Day 10, though to be honest I still think I went better than I should have done given the bike training I had done. Since the New Year things have got better and training has been going really well, power seems to be there still, even with the reduced hours cycling, and my running has been improving.

I have had help with my running, I had a running technique analysis session with the Running School www.runningschool.co.uk, which identified some pretty big issues. I have since started on a course with them to improve my running technique, so far this has helped with not being as sore after runs, and recovery from runs seems pretty good. I also hope when I have to run in anger on Sunday it will prove to be faster as well.

On to what happens later in the year, my big goal for the first part of the year is an ironman distance triathlon, this originally wasn’t planned, but I happened to win an entry for the Castle Triathlon Bastion event at Hever Castle http://www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk/en/bastion-long-distance/. Now with this being local I couldn’t turn down the opportunity, but if I am being honest it is going to prove a huge challenge for me and my coach to get me ready for it in July. My coach even suggested I might look at not doing the RTTC TT Series so I could concentrate on it, but me being stubborn said I think I can do both, only time will tell.

I am split between trying to do very well in triathlon and also competing in my local TT competitions, to be honest I can’t do both, I just need to work out which way I want to go, hopefully this weekend will give me a little pointer. Which way the pointer points will dictate what I do beyond July, I will keep you updated.

A New Challenge

In my previous blog I wrote about changes for 2014, what could that mean I hear you say (or maybe not LOL). 2013 has been a little stressful in some ways, but in other ways I have had a cracking season and have much to be thankful for. So what am I changing, well teams, focus, and even the sport I do.

Change of Team

When I joined Team Swift, it was to go for team wins in the Nationals and the BBAR, and that was very successful, we won the National 12 Hour last year, and I have been on the winning BBAR team 2 years in a row. To be honest I couldn't have asked for better, but I decided in early October that I wasn't happy chasing around the country and time chasing on dual carriageways (which in reality is what you need to do in the BBAR if you want to do well). As I wasn't really going to concentrate on the BBAR I thought it was unfair of the team to continue to support me (which they have done without fail) when I wasn't going to be able to offer much help myself. This along with a change in focus meant joining a more local team to me to achieve my 2014 goals, for this I decided to go and race with Arctic-SRAM RT.

Change of Focus

For the last 2 years I have done the National 12 Hour, and the year before that the CC Breckland 12 Hour, but I have helped and cheered on the Kent Cycling Association (KCA) 12 Hour riders in those 3 years and I have always had a hankering to do the KCA 12 Hour again. I decided that for 2014 I would think about doing the KCA BAR (Best All Rounder) again, and try and win it again. This meant being in a KCA Affiliated team, and hence a reason for joining a local team. I will also focus again this year on the CTT TT Series (Vets on Actual), and see if I can win this again. I do hope the CTT give a little bit more coverage to ALL the categories that race the series and not just the Senior Men and Women.

I was also getting fed up with the TT scene in one respect, and was lacking enjoyment in what I was doing, though some of this was probably due to not racing as often last year, and when I did race it was a fairly major race so I was never really in as relaxed a mind as I could have been. This alone takes it's toll on you, but when as a full time worker you add in the average of 12-15 hours a week training, it makes for a very stressful life. It was only a few races at the end of the season which I really felt relaxed and enjoyed what I was doing, I just need more of this next year. Also it prompted a thought process about a change of sport.

Change of Sport

Numerous people have said in the previous years I ought to try doing triathlon, my stock answer was always "Why do I want to be mediocre at 3 sports, when I seem to be pretty decent at one". This is not really fair on triathletes if I am honest, some are bloody good at all 3 disciplines. My thoughts were always I know how much effort it has taken me to become a half decent cyclist (well TTer anyhow, as this is the only cycling I do), do I really want to water this down and just finish mid pack in a triathlon. I had noticed I was watching more triathlon on TV, and knew a few TTers that did triathlon, and with me getting fed up of TT's I began to have a change of heart.

Could I put in the hours to get my swimming and running to a standard near my cycling, how much of a hit would the cycling take etc. By the middle of October I had made my mind up, I was sick of just cycling, and even with a few weeks off I knew that was unlikely to change. I spoke with my wife (who I must admit is one in a million), and she was fully behind me, well actually she called me an "nutter", but I suppose someone that finds enjoyment in doing 12 Hour TT's must be slightly nutty.

The next news was breaking it to my coach, how would she react. I must admit Ruth was a little shocked I think, but as always very supportive. During the year I had voiced my frustrations over certain events, so I don't think she was entirely surprised by my reasons. Still it will mean we have to try between us to get a good plan together of how we can manage all the aspects that need to be learned.

For the Future

Obviously as a cyclist I have done very little swimming or running, now running will get there as I get used to it, and the stresses it is likely to put my legs under, but swimming, oh boy there is some work needed there I must say.

Luckily for me I joined a local tri team  Tri Spirit Team, www.trispiritevents.com and thanks to the wonderful BTF coaches I have made very good progress with the swimming, and in fact it has started becoming a little bit more enjoyable.

As to how good I will be at triathlon, well I have no idea. I will no doubt still be a strong cyclist, but as I am finding out, there is more to triathlon than just hammering the bike leg and hoping to hold on in the run. It is certainly a new challenge and one I am really looking forward to conquering. I think my goals in triathlon in 2014 is to find out where abouts I am in the grand scheme of things, but I know looking forward even further is that I want to do well in Ironman distance events, but I got to start somewhere I suppose.

Now instead of getting up before dawn to do a turbo session, it will just mean dragging myself to the pool to do swimming instead, though I suppose the swimming pool is a bit warmer than a sub zero garage in the middle of winter. Enthusiasm for training has return and I can't wait for 2014 to start and see how I get on.

Season's Review

I have been meaning to write a review for a while, though I wanted to wait until the results from the National 12 Hour, these came through the other day so it was time to pen my thoughts.

Overall it has been a very good season, with me hitting all the targets I had set myself, but even so I feel a little deflated by certain aspects of went on during the year. My main targets were the CTT TT Series (Veterans on Actual Time), the National 12 Hour and of course doing well in the BBAR (British Best All Rounder), and hopefully winning the team award again.

The year started off well with a win in the local Southborough and District Wheelers 10 on New Years Day, and with it another course record, but then it was a big knuckle down period of training hard for the first proper races of the season. Training this year was not helped by being away with work every week for a prolonged period, though my company were very helpful in letting me cart my turbo and bike around the country with me so I could at least train around work. This meant a fair few 05:00 starts in cold deserted car parks to get the training down, and normally the same again in the evening. It worked quite well and didn't miss many sessions at all.

I started the season a bit later than previous seasons, mainly due to wanting to be near my best for the start of the CTT TT Series, but I decided that the East Surrey Hardriders would be a good warm up event for these. Really surprised I was able to defend my win from 2012, and it filled me with a lot of confidence. In the end we then had a real cold snap and the 1st round of the TT Series was cancelled (as were virtually all the TT's this weekend), it meant a long wait until the 2nd round, but at least it gave me plenty of time to get some more quality training in without worrying about racing getting in the way. I did fit in a early 10 mile TT as well at the Team Swift event, getting a sub 20 min 10 whilst tired from training was a very nice result, and it seemed to provide good evidence that training had been going well.

The TT Series finally got going late April, and I was able to go pretty well in the first 3 events, and win them all. In the middle of these first 3 events the start of the BBAR races were also upon me, and these also went very well, with me winning my first 50 mile TT of the year, the next 2 BBAR events went very well with a 100 mile TT win (and a new PB), followed by another 50 mile TT win. Things were looking good with 7 wins from 8 events so far in 2013.

Around the middle of June I had decided that I would also make a return journey up to the Lake District and contest the National 100, training was now geared around this and the National 12 Hour as the TT Series was now on hold until later in the season. I still had another "fast" 100 to do beforehand however, the ECCA 100 is generally a fast 100, and like a lot of the riders trying to get good BBAR times, it was a must do event. Even more so for me, as it was going to be the last "fast" 100 I was going to do. It didn't quite go to plan however as it was a horribly windy day, and I cocked up my pacing a real treat, so actually ended with it being my slowest 100 of the year.

The National 100 was a chance to redeem myself, and with me being seeded as the fastest rider it also meant a lot more pressure than I ideally would have liked. I rode a very well paced ride, and was unlucky to miss out on 3rd place by a matter of 15 secs, still I won my age group so not a complete disaster. I also missed a cracking day at another fast 100 (it was on the same day), so this was going to hamper my BBAR placing a little. The chance of a National medal outweighed a fast time and I wouldn't have changed anything in all honesty.

Now everything was geared to the National 12 Hour, after coming 3rd last year I wanted to go at least one better, but I felt I was in with a good shout of winning it, if everything went to plan. The build up was quite intense, with a couple of weeks off work to really build the load and fitness. It is amazing how fit you can get when nothing is distracting you, these weeks went very well and I was going pretty well. I did have to fit in another round of the TT Series before the 12 Hour, and as I had got a new frame, this was the ideal opportunity to make sure everything was good with it before using it for the 12 hour. I good win at the TT Series again filled me with confidence that everything was going well.

Getting a taper right is difficult enough, getting it right for a 12 hour can be a real pain. You want to be well rested, but at the same time you are losing fitness. I think I almost blew it, as the weekend before I was due to do my last long ride, due to family commitments I split this into 2 x 3 hour rides, but as normal I did them as hard 3 hours each. This wiped me out for a fair while if I am honest, but luckily come race day I felt refreshed enough, but I think I cut it very fine indeed.

The National 12 went very well indeed, as I had faster guys behind me, I didn't really have the opportunity to ease into the day, I went as hard as I thought I could hold for at least 6 hours and see what happened. During the first 80 miles you are on a dual carriageway, and this at least gives you the chance to pace well, but after seeing a rider on the road after being hit by a car I wanted off the road ASAP, and for about 15 miles or so I raced at a pretty high effort, this could have been a disaster in reality, but in the end it didn't seem to impact me later in the race.

Overall the race was very well paced with power being pretty stable (apart from those 15 miles) throughout and not dipping that much at all by the end. I didn't really know where I was in relation to the other riders, which was good I suppose, I was riding as hard as I dared and to up the effort might have been a step too far. On finishing I was slightly gutted to have lost by a mere 0.8 mile, but I had given it my best effort, and I was up against one of the best BBAR riders, and last years National 12 Hour winner. Overall a very pleasing effort and payback for all the hours spent training in getting there.

As for what happened after the 12 Hour, with the complaints about Nik Bowdlers bike, I will leave my thoughts about that to another post in the future, but the whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth. In all honesty I never wanted the result changed, and thankfully it wasn't, but the CTT rules are so vague and wishy washy that there is no point in them being there I think. Hopefully someone will come along a re write the rules in a clear way where no ambiguity can exist, that way complaints can be handled a lot more efficiently.

I had to put all that aside though as there was still a couple of TT Series events left to go, and I had decided to try the win my Age Group at the CTT Circuit Champs. The Circuit Champs was always going to be a bit hit and miss to be honest, as a week taking it easy after the National 12 followed by a weeks family holiday and no cycling isn't the best preparation really. I also decided on doing a fast ascent and descent of Skiddaw on the second to last day of my holiday as a challenge, this left my legs in pieces for a week after getting back from holiday, so 3 weeks in total of minimal cycling. To finish 7th overall and win my Age Group by a couple of minutes was a real surprise, and a very pleasing one.

The final 2 rounds of the TT Series were all that was left initially of my season, and by this time I was getting a bit fatigued. These did pass without too many issues, though the stress of needing to complete the last in the series, with it being double points, was something I could have done without. Really pleased to have won the Vets on Actual Time, it really does take in some great parts of the country and the courses are pretty good courses as well.

I finished off the season with a late season 2 up with Rebecca Slack, but I will admit by this time I was fed up with training, and really wanted a break. The race was a good end to the year however, and I was glad I did it, it brought some fun to the end of the year. I also had a lot of fun doing a local 2 up with a local lady, this made me think about what enjoyment I got out of TTing, changes afoot for 2014 ;)

Achievements for 2013

Winner of the CTT TT Series (Veterans on Actual Time) with 6 wins out of 6 events
2nd Place in the National 12 Hour Championship with 292.67 miles
4th Place in the National 100 mile Championship with 3:41:47

40-44 Age Group Winner in National 100
40-44 Age Group Winner in CTT Circuit Championship

Winning Team in the BBAR
7th Place in the BBAR

12 Wins out of 17 events

TT Series Round 8 - Finally There

Last weekend saw the final round of the CTT TT Series, with 5 wins out of 6 events so far, this should have been a bit of a fun event, but with this event being double points, the whole series could still be lost if the worst was to happen. Before I go on however I want to have a quick mention of a really fun event I did the weekend before.

I haven't raced in Kent much this year, and when one of the local girls, Sally Smith, said she was looking for a veteran to do a GP de Gents 2 up, I said I would be glad to ride it with her. The event was the West Kent RC 25 mile, and although Sally was suppose to lead me around (as I was the older of us two), we had decided that as we were very unlikely to get anywhere near the win, I would tow Sally around. I think Sally enjoyed her early morning workout as she did really well holding on for what was her fastest ever time around a 25 mile course, and that was including previous TTT's. For me it was a real fun race with no stresses or worries about what I needed to do. I think in all honesty it is what I really needed as the season has been quite stressful in various ways, might have to include a few more "fun" events next year.

Sally and I

Picture Courtesy of Dave Hayward

 

 

Back to the TT Series, after what felt like a stressful 2 weeks waiting for the startsheet to appear, downside of this event was no internet entry, so not knowing if your entry arrived was a worry when the event was so important. Some of the stresses went when I got the startsheet, but I still needed to make sure I finished the event with a decent placing, things on the bike and tyres etc were checked and double checked. I would also be ably assisted in this event by Heather and Killian who were parked up halfway around the course with spare wheels in case I got a puncture, I even had spare wheels at the HQ (which we passed) just to be really safe.

The course was almost 2 laps of a 10 mile circuit near Corby, a very nice circuit with a few lumps thrown in, and some really nice rolling roads. There were a few villages to go through as well which due to the parked cars, meant fully alert. The course record was held by Richard Prebble with a 41:30, and as well as aiming to do well, I wanted to try and break the course record.

The start is straight up a hill, and although not long, it is steep enough to get the old legs stinging if you go too hard, which is quite easy just after the start LOL. Once at the top it was now a great downhill and onto the rolling roads, speed was good here with a nice tailwind, and soon I was passing Heather and Killian in Medbourne. I was feeling good and just aimed to keep up the speed to make sure after the first lap I was in with a shout of the course record.

Out of Medbourne and on towards Ashley the roads were still rolling, but the drag up to Ashley seemed quite tough when at full racing effort. Through Ashley took a bit of care with parked cars and 90 degree bends, but once out of the village it was virtually straight on until you got back to Middleton where the finish was. This section was the toughest with a little bit of a headwind slowly robbing you off the average speed, as I went through the finish for the first time I saw the average was 27.6 mph, and now sensed that the record was beatable. Coming out of Cottingham you have to climb up past the start and up the hill again towards Bringhurst, it didn't seem so easy this time, and it felt like a very slow grind. Average speed had dropped below the 27.1 mph I needed, but at least with the slowest part of the course out of the way I could try and get it back up to where I needed it to be.

I passed Heather and Killian again, if I got a puncture now it was too late, and knowing that there were only a few miles left pushed on as hard as I could. Speed had risen, but still not enough to be comfortable, and with the drag up to Ashley seeming to be really slow the second time, the speed dropped again. Once through Ashley and with about 2 miles to go, I just pushed as hard as I could to try and get the speed up. In the distance I could see my 2 min man Geoff Platts, and knew I wouldn't catch him, but it was the time I was more interested in. Coming around the last bend I could see the finish about 1/2 mile away and I could see I was going to beat 41 mins, with a last full on effort I crossed the line in 40:45 to record the win, and set a new course record.

Winning the event also meant I won the CTT TT Series overall for Veterans on Actual Time, which was one of my big goals for the season, and won all 6 of the events I took part in. Geoff Platts managed to finish 2nd overall as well, we have had some good races between us all season.

It has been a really good series in my opinion, and we have raced on some really good and interesting circuits, certainly makes a change from racing up and down busy A roads, can't wait until 2014 when I suppose I will have to try and defend my title.

Also must say congratulations to Matt Bottrill (www.drag2zero.com) on winning the Senior Men, Rebbeca Slack (Look Mum No Hands) on winning the Senior Women and Womens Veteran on Actual, Colin Lynch (Macclesfield Wheelers) on winning the Disabilty, Alex Royle (Banjo Cycles R.S) on winning the Espoirs, Jake Coward (Rapha Condor) on winning the Juniors and John Woodburn (VC Meudon) winning the Veterans on Target Time.

I would have liked this to mark the end of my season, but I agreed to do the Redmon CC GP de Gents 2up with Rebecca Slack at the end of October, so it means a few more weeks of hard work before the season is properly over. Big thanks must go out to Torq Fitness, Tim Bayley from Fisher Outdoor and Keith Murray from Scott UK for all your help this year.