Tagged: Crit

Bath Cycle Races Round 4

So to round 4 of the Bath Cycle Races, this time organised by VC Walcot.

These races have been a blast so far, probably something to do with actually picking up some points in them.  This kind of adds to the pressure with racing as well, knowing that I can get in the mix.  I rode over solo from Bristol as the majority of the club had been lured to the lake for the club TT series.

In a bid to do better then my 7th place last week I consciously decided to ride higher up the bunch, so when I calculated there would be roughly 5 laps to go I moved up to third wheel. My usual position in past races has been tenth – fifteenth wheel.  The more advanced position did not work out for me.

Sitting second wheel, there is a man with no sleeves behind me....

Essentially what it meant was that I ended up on the front way more then I wanted to and the urge to chase down the frequent break aways by Bath Uni CC (again, when they come in numbers they use them wisely) was too much for me.  So much so that on the penultimate lap I chased one down out of the hair pin and with one other guy we had a decent gap.  I figured seen as I had expended so much energy anyway I might was well try and drive it up the hill.  We got sucked back in easily and I just slotted in.  The end result of all this was that I went backwards on the climb during the bell lap, my legs cursing my brain for the needless effort on the previous lap, I rolled in 18th.

I did a few other daft things as well like spend too much time on the hoods early in the race. You live and you learn….

Driving out of the hairpin on the hoods, GET IN THE DROPS YOU FOOL

It’s worth a note to say that two people got disqualified for fighting, FIGHTING at a bike race.  What is that about?  £100 fines for the pair of them.  I am not sure if it has anything to do with the guy in a sleeveless skin suit and no socks who was being a bit lippy in the bunch early on.  This is the first time I have heard words exchanged at these races, the general attitude of everyone is race hard but fair and nothing ridiculous has happened before, there is no place for it.

Almost looks like I had things under control here.....

Thanks to Jez, Noddy, Leary and Ferris for coming out to watch. Double thanks to Ferris for the pictures.  Any support is always appreciated.  Much like these guys off the hairpin;

Always providing entertainment. Photo credit Rich Wood. Click on the Pic to see the set!

It’s the last one in the series next week, it’s a shame it can’t go on longer, will be looking to switch up my tactics again!

Bath Cycle Races Round 2

A quick nip down the cycle path with BSCC team mate Mark and Kieran from VC Bristol for Bath Cycle Races Round 2, this time organised by Sommer Valley CC.

At last I got some points on the board.  Even if it was a solitary, lonely, single point.

The atrocious weather forecast seemed to reduce the numbers with a field of 41 starting in Cat 3/4.  Aformentioned weather was not forthcoming during the race.  With a damp course but nothing worse.  The briefing from the Commi made specific reference to which part of the finishing line was the finish, after the incident in round 1, just to ensure there was no further doubt for anyone.

As with last week, the pace was furious.  Splits formed from the off and having learnt from then I started in a much more advanced position (with no water bottle).

Filth. Mark didn't anticipate the pace being high from the off.

Again my weak point was coming into the two corners at the bottom of the hill, damp ground made my cornering even worse.  I’m sure its just a confidence thing and I can push my bike a lot further, I just need to MTFU!

Filth.

After around 3 or 4 laps I had a look around and was in a group of around only 15 people. I made all the splits and rode more advance in the pack.  Bath Uni CC did a great job of controlling the race with superior numbers, sitting on the front, keeping the pace high and letting their guys go if they fancied a breakaway.   Coming round the corner into the climb I chased down one of these efforts and proceeded to go instantly backwards at the top.  I just sat on the back of the group to recover, as it was so small anyway I was not to worried about not being able to move up again.

This time on the final lap bell I did move up in the pack (again learning from last week) and was sat around 8th wheel coming out of the hairpin.  When the sprint went I did not have the legs to go with it and came across the line in no mans land for 10th spot.  7 seconds from the first guy and 7 seconds from the person behind me.

Filth.

Though the specatator numbers were reduced from last week, it was a much more enthusiastic bunch.  A group of people on the hairpin banging pots and pans and in the same location a dude with a Dirk Hoffman Motorhomes sign.  Great stuff.

I was also encouraged by a few shouts of ‘come on Bristol’ and ‘keep it up Bristol South’.  Despite not having a clue who was shouting out it does really help having even the smallest bit of encouragement.  So thanks for that, whoever you were.

The worst part of the night was riding home in the pissing rain down the cycle path and getting absolutely sodden.  Grim.

Goal for next week is to finish in the 10 again, only 9 points to go….

 

#thehunt

Tomorrow me & Ed are leaving Bristol for the big smoke & the bright lights of Londinium to race The Hunt. Christian will be going the other way down the M4 & riding some serious hills with TheFootDown in Wales. Ed spent 3 hours today getting a bike together for the race. This is how prepared we are for our first crit race. Then we spent the evening with eating fish & chips, against our nutritionist’s advice.

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Our directeur sportif put together our hydration for tomorrow. All bases are covered, as we don’t know what to expect on an event like this.

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The bikes are prepped & ready to go. I’ve opted for the aero advantage of a GoPro, to aid in shooting footage for the blog & Road.cc.

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Ed’s aero advantage comes from a man sized 55t chainring. It’s all about #marginalgains, keep an eye on our twitter & instagram as we’ll probably post throughout the day. Probably.

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The Hunt is on

Next weekend is The Hunt, a fixed gear crit race organised by 5th Floor & Tokyo Fixed on Hillingdon Cycle Circuit in London’s famous London. I was the first, and what looked like the only TDO Bristol entrant, until Ed stepped up & put his name down for the race. A lot of our fellow TDO boys were put off by the fact this is a brakeless race. And we all know that brakeless = dangerous.

We did talk about training & preparing for this race, but this hasn’t actually happened, my only preperation has been to fit a set of drop bars to my bike, whilst Ed has been drinking more milk than ever, probably to make his teeth & bones strong. We’ll be making the trip up on Bank Holiday Sunday to the circuit that we’ve never visited before, taking our brakes off & having a jolly good time pedalling as fast as we can & hopefully avoiding any crashes. As well as eating burritos, possibly.