Wednesday, 30 April 2008

Salt Ayre Round 2 & CDNW Leauge Event 4

on 22nd april me and an old border city mate travelled down to the salt ayre crit in lancaster for round 2 of the league. for me it was the first race of the year without leg warmers so a cause for celebration. the race itself went really well, previously my success in crits has been limited often finishing in the bunch tending to sit out the sketchy sprints on the narrow course. however this one went rather differently, on the second lap of the race, about a minute and a half in a breakaway of ten riders managed to get off the front of the chasing pack, we timetrialled through, everyone seemed willing to work because as long as the breakaway stuck we
were all guaranteed a point. with around 45 minutes gone we lapped the main group. and instead of letting up continued to keep the pressure on increasing our lead to almost a lap and a half. the towards the end everyone gets a bit edgy and an attack to early for the finish led to me being beaten in the sprint, i ended up finishing 5th, 5 more points to add to the tally.

this weekend i was at old hutton, for round 4 of the cdnw race incorporating the westmorland tankard. the course is a hilly one with 2 main climbs and no long flat sections, brilliant. the first three laps of the six lap race were business as usual, working as little as possible, just keeping breaks under control. however with 3 laps to go on the smaller climb of the course 2 strong looking riders got away, i decided this was a break to follow so set off in pursuit, after working as a 3 for a while we were joined by a fourth rider, and all worked together, with 2 laps to go the group was whittled down to 2 riders, me included, after keeping the pressure on for the rest of the lap i finally managed to drop the other rider going up the climb to take the bell, leaving me to time trial round the next lap on my own, taking my first win of the season. and winning the westmorland tankard trophy, more silverware. it also added 15 points to my tally so i only need 2 more now before i move up to a 2nd cat.

this weekend ill be heading over to the north east to do the stan robson memorial trophy, this is a e,1,2,3, race so im expecting a grim 80 miles.

Sunday, 20 April 2008

Top step gets a little closer...

The 3rd round of the Rudy Project National Time Trial series took place last Saturday, so as ever, i was off on my travel's to fly the KMB colours. Setting off on friday was deffinatly a good idea, as the near 5hour journy would have left my legs feeling like lead. The wind was blowing strongly on saturday morning as i headed down towards the course, but apar frm tht the weather wasn't all that bad. I rode the route before the actual event, like i did at ruond 2, before heading back to the travelodge where we were staying, for food and rest. I'm glad i did ride ruond because with the event being 24.6miles long, the wind was going to play a huge factor!

I was seeded 2nd last junior, with Richard Hadley off 2minutes behind me. i knew the catch was inevitable as he is an extreamly good rider, so it was just a case of holding him off as long as possible. I had a good 40min warm-up and then headed t the start. The course was a hilly 12.8mile lap, covered twice, with a long strech up-hill into a block headwind. I stuck to my game plan, and set about my race. By the end of lap 1, Richard Hadley had caught me and was pulling away with the tailwind. i passed through the start area and saw my 2minute man just ahead, before passing him on the 1st long drag, and then pulling out a further 2.10mins.

Crossing the finish line, i felt i'd had a good ride, and once back at the HQ after a 20min cool-down, i saw that i had managed 2nd place. 24.6 hilly, windy miles in 1.02.30. Not only that, but i had gone faster over the second lap than Riahrd Hadley! extreamly pleasing.

4th, 3rd and now 2nd... lets hope this pattern continues.

Sunday, 13 April 2008

Capernwray road race

The start to today was a bit erm scary, after a near miss driving to the event involving lots of fog and someone in the fog with no lights on i reached the event in one piece if slightly shaken. however the race turned out to be much less eventful. the capernwray course is a rolling one to say the least with a climb around a third of the way thats about half a mile long and steep then a mile long climb up to the finish up a very steep hill. the downhills are fast, very fast and full of blind corners requiring some descending ability to reach the bottom in one piece, the race started in its usual disorganised bunch fashion with most people reluctant to work and the odd one or two that broke away were soon reeled back in. the first time up the climb managed to spread the group out sufficiently to pick the pace up, for the bulk of the race i manged to avoid being on the front instead keepin consistently in the top ten riders, which is an unusual feat. for the bulk of the race the bunch stayed together, with only two riders managing to break away who went on to take first and second place. after failing to break away from the bunch on laps four and five i decided to sit on and sprint it out up the climb on the final lap. this turned out to be a good tactic as a group of 5 riders (me included) ended up together with 200m to go, after cutting the final corner to gain an advantage when it came down to the sprint my over exuberance with my thumb and freakishly light shifting campag levers left me overgeared, however i still managed 6th over all and 12 points added to my tally, 42 to go till im a second cat, yay.

looking forward to the pimp track build arriving tomorrow, its gonna be sexy......

Wednesday, 9 April 2008

Round 2 Rudy Project and National Youth Circuit Race Series, Round 2

On saturday I was down at Willoughby on the Wolds, on the Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire border, to compete in the second round of the Rudy Project National Time Trial Series. The day started well, as I woke to find the sun shining through the window of my aunty's loft room (lucky they live in Nottingham so i had a comfortable bed to sleep in). My motivation was on a high at this point and I realised that i might actually get to race without leg warmers!

I got a good breakfast in me and then set off to the course, which was 20mins drive from where we had stayed. The time trial wasn't untill 2pm so I had allowed enough time to ride the course before-hand, go back for more food, and then go to the actual event. The course itself was an undulating 14mile route, with 2 fairly steep climbs and 3 long drags, with a few down hills thrown inbetween. My dad followed me round in the car, shouting the directions to me as I rode, and then driving on to get some pictures as proof for my GCSE's. I will admit that after finishing the course i felt terrible! my legs just didn't seem to have any power and felt very stiff and unresponsive. By this time i was kind of worried. We went back and i ate, and then fell asleep for 3hrs. when i woke up it was 1.55pm so i grped my kit and we where off again.

As i warmed up i felt brilliant! the sleep had done me some real good, and my legs where great. The leg warmers where thrown to one side as i rode to the start line, just as the first junior was set off. I was second off so i got to the start line to await the countdown. just as i was told, "30seconds" it started to rain... then sleet... then snow... then sun again! it was like this for the whole of the race! i got into a rythm and just kept pushing on despite the freak weather conditions. as i crossed the finish line, i was sure of a top 4 position. i had caught my minute man before half distance and i had put 2mins into the person behind me.

As the resluts where put up, I watched as my time was placed 3rd! beaten by two last year juniors, one who won the GHS last year and the other who won the Rudy Project Series last year! I was extreamly happy, and at the moment I am leading the juniors thanks to my 4th in the previous event.

Sunday however wasn't as good. After travelling up to hetton that night, snow all the way, we got to the travelodge at 10pm. The next day... snow! cold! sleet! rain! it was horrible. The under 16's where racing at 2pm, and the weather jsut got worse.

We thought it would be cancelled due to the extream weather, but they forged ahaed, out race being run in antartic conditions. I ended up finishing somewhere near the back of the bunch. The cold was too much and my little legs woudn't work properly (sympathy please). there wasn't even time for a cool down afterwards. Everyone was in the showers trying to get warm. Two people fainted and where taken to hospital due to mind hypothermia, others where in corners shivering under heated mats and towels. It was the worst time i've ever had on my bike!

Never again...

Thursday, 3 April 2008

first ride of the passes...

Well, it's only 4 weeks until the fred whitton challenge and as my weekends from now on are fully booked with rounds of the national youth circuit series, CDNW league and Rudy Project Time trial series, i decided to just get out and test myself on some of the climbs.

It was the first time since last April that i had been over any of the passes, not including whinlatter as that features quite regulary in training rides, and boy had i forgotten the pain they put you through!!!

I had decided to get a decent ride in my legs before heading towards the first "hill", as then i would get a better feel for how it will actually be on the day. So, after fueling-up i set off on my adventure. Following the start of one of my 4 hour training rides, i set off towards cockermouth before taking the back roads towards keswick, heading round braithwaite and cat bells. After crossing the bridge and turning left to head towards honister, i realised i had a nice 100min ride already in the bag, so i settled down into a nice rythm and carried on. i've got to say, i thought it was quiker to the foot of honister! Anyway, i passed through the little village and started to head up... up... up... up!

That gave the legs a shock, and the lungs, and the arms! it was a case of trying not to drop below 6mph, which i nearly managed to achieve... the last bit before the cattle grid got me! after that though it was all good and i got to the top 2hrs into my ride.

After dropping down the valley and getting along to buttermere, i was at newlands. I have to say, i have never been up there better in my life! The kick honister gave me must have got my legs working, and i set about a nice rythm all the way up the climb, before reaching the top and plumiting down to braithewaite.

Whinlatter was next, and how i love that climb! again, i just kept my rythm going and pushing over the pedals and before i knew it, i was at the top. The best part about whinlatter was the applause i got passing the lay-by where the ice cream man seems to live... it made me feel like a true pro!

Well, that was all the big climbs over, and i wasn't feeling that bad. So i decided to prolongue my ride. i set off towards eaglesfield and did a 10mile loop around some back roads before heading towards deanscale, where i jumped back onto the main road. Checking my ride time now, which was around 4hrshrs, i carried on adding on extra loops, and extra hills until it reached 4.30hrs. By this time my legs where starting to feel heavy, so i decided to get home.

Of course that meant getting back onto the top of cold fell... I just out my head down and grinded my way up, selefield traffic charging down towards me! after hitting the cattle grid, i checked my time. 4hrs 45mins. So i decided to kill myself and get home before 5hrs!

I managed, all be it I got cramp washing afterwards and fell out of the shower landing on the floor in a heap! all in all a good ride. 83miles over some big hills in 5hrs seemed like quite an achievement!

But for now, i'm off to the second round of the Rudy Project time trial series on saturday, and then the first round of the national youth circuit series on sunday. i shall write a report on how i did when i return.

adios