Tagged: devon

Okehampton CC Brentor Road Race

I have been slacking with race reports on here of late.  For example the fantastic Etape De La Defonce deserves a write up for the quality of the race (try PJ’s instead).  I managed to bag points in the TTT, 2nd Road Stage & the GC, tipping me over to 3rd Cat.  Maybe I have been spending too much time stretching instead of blogging after riding.

Anyway on to the Okehampton CC Brentor Road Race.  This was a 3/4 Cat race on the same course as I had ridden a 2/3/4 stage race earlier in the year (click here and scroll down a bit).  Knowing whats around the corners helps so much thats for sure.  4 other members of The South where in attendance (all had ridden the 2/3/4 as well), along with about 46 others from various clubs.

There was a dire forecast, Kierans twitter doom mongering was there to remind us of this.  Luckily the weather pretty much held, yes the ground was damp and there was some puddles about but aside from one shower it actually held.  Bonus.

Bringing more doom then Electric Wizard

 

Lots of things seemed to accidentally happened.  I neglected to check my tire pressure but it was bob on for the conditions, I got in an accidental solo break for a large portion of the race.

Now I say it was accidental but we were firing riders off left right and centre in the early laps.  Tom, Kieran and Me all had a go but it kept coming back together for the group to diddle up the climb.

It was accidentally good timing when I finally got away though.  The lap after the final prime (lap 5) following the downhill drag I pushed through the rolling kick and got a gap.  With no reaction from the bunch I pushed it on a little bit more and rode threshold up the climb.  Next time I looked back they were out of sight.

Scenarios start to run through you head, psychologically and tactically it is a big thing to be out of sight.  Even better then that when the Commi’s put a car between me and the bunch I knew it was pretty good . I decided to manage my effort as worst case I would get brought back and one of the others could attack.  I knew the bunch had been slacking on the downs and going relatively slow up the climb. I rode the climb in the low 90′s of my max HR and most of  the rest just below 90.  The first time I have properly used my HR monitor in a race, knew it would come in useful at some point….

Spot the break away (I think it was actually a little bit later then where it looks there)

 

I crossed the finish line in the lead again on the next lap.  At this point I realised the move could actually stick as the rest of the riders where still out of sight.  I went to take on my last gel and dropped it, hoping this wasn’t a sign for potential fading energy!  A couple of cars snuck onto the course in front of me despite the best efforts of the marshalls as well, I wasted a tiny bit of energy shouting at the drivers, they were moved on rapidly by the lead cars though.

I was joined just after the beginning of the last lap by Andrew Feather, who I knew was a strong rider.  He had smoked a lot of people at The Only Way Is Up Road Race so I knew he would do me on the final climb here.  When he joined I had a quick word to suggest we share the load which he was receptive to.  In reality it was quite even but I did bigger turns on the downhill sections where he was slowing, my interest was in ensuring that this move stayed out.  There was a sketchy moment on the final corner where we both nearly went down in a patch of gravel.  True to my predictions he rode me of his wheel on the climb, a quick look behind showed I had plenty of a gap to take 2nd!

The junction is almost made, I look like I am hurting a bit here.

 

With a big solo effort involved I was well happy.  My results have just kept improving through the season and the rest of the boys commented I had been due a good result.  It’s nice to know others had faith in me where I may have been doubting myself slightly.

Lots of things conspired together in this race that meant I got the breaks.  It was short race distance, only 37 miles in the end!  I had a lot of rest in the week (I was nervous this would hinder me before the weekend, I know long term its not a good plan).  I for some reason was given the rope to open up a gap. Tom, Kieran, & Mark patroling the bunch and makign a nusiance of themselves.  The team work of Bristol South has been exemplary the season and it’s a real privilege riding with such a good bunch of guys.

To cap it off Tom had come in 8th, chipping away at the points to make 2nd cat.   Mark was 11th, knocking on the door of points just again.  Kieran came in just behind after a lot of early work, extremely selfless!

Making paper in the tequila sunrise (got to be the go to drink for end of season party right?!)

 

I really like the way that as a team we (almost) always look to shape a race rather then waiting for it to take shape.  The same happened in the Etape where joining in attacks or creating attacks really worked out for us.  Its awesome to see red and gold up the road in races.

Unlike the 2/3/4 race here I was not struggling at the back of the group but riding alone off the front of it, this is testament to how far I have come this season even though it was a lower category race.  My personal lap split times where on the whole higher then that race.  While 2nd cat is going to be out of touch this year it is definitely something I will aim for next year, I just need to start my charge a bit earlier.

The Only Way Is Up Road Race

This was an interesting one.  It was essentially a bunch start hill climb up Haytor Vale, a three mile race organised by Mid Devon Cycling Club!

4 of The South attended, including bang in form Sam Larkham, on the verge of moving to second cat.  Tom gave me and Mark a lift down there as Sam was making a day of it in his old camper van.

We crammed a lot of climbing into the early part of the week, including Burrington Combe

Setting of for a race at 5 on a Saturday had me totally out of kilter.  I did not know what to eat when, I also did not get my bag ready the night before.  This, coupled with the fact that in my mind I was doing a hill climb meant I forgot my helmet.  I was fairly comfortable that as this was coupled with a sportive the day after (a pretty beastly one) I would be able to borrow a helmet.

About that sportive, the start list email said ‘sign on in the event village’, this was mad.  We had to queue to get into the car park which was full of cars with snazzy bikes on top.  Once in the village we were greeted with a lot of stands, including a pop up masage parlour and live music.  Martin Johnson was spotted outside the Specialized tent.  A bit grander than the usual village hall. There is certainly plenty of money in these things.  In the sign on tent after asking a few people we finally got directed to the race sign on.  There were 2800 people entered into the sportive (75K turnover by my maths!), hence the traffic at the carpark and a total of about 35 people in the BC race across all categories……

We signed on, I had a conversation with a chap that went as follows;  Me; ‘is there a helmet I could borrow, I stupidly left mine in Bristol’.  The guy I asked eyes lit up; ‘what size’, Me; ‘About a medium/large’, Guy; ‘I have just the thing’, the following was presented to me;

Vetta Testarossa in all its 1991 box fresh splendor. This was worth the trip down on its own!

Low amount of vents, check.  Fluoro colour, check.  That is the current trend for helmets right?

After my fellow team mates had laughed a lot we headed out to warm up.  Stumbling upon a suitable hill after following a lady from Zappis (who went on to win the women’s race).  That was pretty lucky.  We then headed back for the briefing which meant we warmed down, but then warmed up again as we rolled 4 or so miles neutralised to the bottom of the climb.  We subsequently warmed down again as we waited about 10 minutes to start.  I also did about 6 pisses before we started, this seems to happen from time to time.

From the off the pace shot straight up, courtesy of aformentioned Mr Larkham.  The young kid in front of me had trouble clipping in so me and Tom scrambled round him.  We were already strung out in a long line.  I tried to get into a rhythm as quickly as possible, in my mind I had already decided to ride at my own pace if it went off.  A group of about 6 broke up the road as the elastic snapped after only half a mile.  My heart rate was already high so I just kept it that way, settled into a nice cadence and started to pass the 5 or so people in front of me that had tried in vein to hang on to the group of 6.  One other guy came with me and quickly came past me.  He was making ferocious breathing noises, this convinced me to just pick my time to move past him as he popped.

Heart rate goes boom, hill keeps going up. Average grade of 6.1%

The middle section of Haytor is pretty vile, it has a nasty kick that broke a few people for sure, to bad for me they were all behind me.  I looked back and there was a decent sized gap to the next man on the road.

As we entered the downhill section the person in front of me really pushed on, reinforcing in my mind that he would pop on the finishing section which kicks up again, I kept it under control.  Keeping in mind what resident BSCC hill climb expert PJ had said about what was to follow; ‘It has a downhill. You’ll be reaching for the big ring – I guarantee it. You must not break your rhythm or overcook it, in fact, you have to bear in mind that as soon as you pass the car park on the left the road pitches up again for another really steep bit, and it’s horrible because you can see the finish. The last section, around 500 metres or so, is absolutely revolting, not because it’s unduly steep, but because it comes at the end of some serious effort. If you’re riding with someone at this point and you’ve got something left in the tank you can kill it.’

The kick to the summit. We understandably did not have a draw as big as the Tour of Britain, but there was still a decent amount of people up the top. Photo from www.velouk.net

He was right on all counts.  I wasn’t riding with anyone but my man still out in front was on a piece of elastic, I closed the gap but he didnt come back fully.  I crested the top in 8th place.  Pleased to be in amongst the points.  It hurt quite a bit, I borked a lot.  Tom was slumped over his bars on the verge of being sick.  I am still convinced I can hurt myself more when it comes to the cunch.

Completing a strong showing for BSCC Tom had finished in 5th and Sam in 4th.  Mark narrowly missed out on his first pointed, being pipped to 10th by around 2 inches after a rider worked him over to come round at the finish.  Strangely, we were all spaced by about 30 seconds.  Project Cat 2 was complete for Sam, congratulations mate!

The weather was coming in at the top so we headed down as quickly as possible, kindly directed back to the HQ by a MDCC who was tonking along.  When you descend hills, it really brings home how long they are, and we were assisted by gravity for a fair while.

To top off the successful day I was allowed to keep the helmet, chuffed to bits!  If you are the guy that gave me this, you cannot comprehend how happy this has made me, as well as everyone else who has laid eyes on it since.

Finally I must apologise for writing a thousand word essay on a three mile race, maybe I remembered more because it was shorter than usual?

ROOKIE ROAD RACING

So far this year I have managed to attend (and more importantly finish) 4 races.  Starting at the lowest possible British Cycling ranking of Category 4.  I race for my local club Bristol South CC which is one of the oldest clubs in the UK (formed 1893!)

This was complete step up in terms of riding me having only recently acquired a geared bike at the turn of the year, not only that it was my first geared road bike.  All previous ones have been mountain bikes (a long long time ago).  Luckily I am not the only one with my good friends Kieran and Mark also venturing into the unkown.

Rookies.

The virgin race was a First Chard Wheelers organised cirucit race (Cat 4 only) at Ilton (an old airfield). I totally wasted all my energy willy waving at the front of the race as the picture below shows;

Red & Gold Train. Photo Credit; Charles Whitton Photography

I was pretty happy to get round in one piece (Cat 4 cirucit races are notoriously crashy) but a little bit irritated not to be there or there abouts at the end as the wheel I picked for my lead out punctured on the sweep down to the finish.  In hindsight this was by far the easiest race completed.

Next up was my first true road race at Blackawton (Cat 3/4), making a serious rookie mistake by starting at the back of the bunch I spent the first 10 minutes chasing back on!  I guess at least I know I can do it now….

The race was and out back, out back and out a bit again of sorts in the rolling hills of Devon and again I pleased myself with my ability to finish with the main group at the front of the race, especially as  the acceleration at the final turn really strung the bunch out.  Descending in a bunch at 40 + mph is quite an experience also.

Steve Green strings out said bunch. Photo Credit; British Cycling Photos

Someone made this rad video on facebook;  Blackawton Road Race you can just about pick the Red and Gold up in it. Arty.

Next it was back to circuits again and the Castle Combe good friday meet.  With my family visiting my old man did the good deed of taking me over and snapping some shots.

A huge field of around 120 took to the tarmac for the 4 only race and boy was it twitchy.  The bunch was incredibly nervous in the two chicanes with the apparent inability of a lot of riders to hold lines through them. Fellow BSCC racer Mark rode over a dropped bottle on the first lap, a great feat staying upright.

A windy day meant no breaks went and a bunch spirint was on the cards, as we rounded the final corner I grabbed a wheel for a tow round to the right of the bunch only for some idiot to open up a sprint right from the middle of the group, skittling some riders including the one in front of me! A deft skid saw me avoid the tumble ahead but sapped all my speed to the finish, trickling over the line in the top 25.  Plenty of people on the tarmac meant the paramedic had a good days practice and the ambulance saw some use as it had to take 3 people to the hospital.

Pinning on the number to the unmistakeable BSCC jersey.
The bunch under a big sky.

The following Sunday saw my first Cat 2/3/4 race at the Brentor 2 Stage Race which I was pretty nervous about after reading the start sheet (read Alex Baskaya / Scott Easter).

Quote fellow BSCC racer Kieran ‘its going to be hurty’.  It was a two stage race. Stage 1 was a TT which was one lap of the race circuit.

Supplied race map (turnings at circles)

A simple (yet brutal) triangle it contained an unsurfaced road heading down, a undulating back section and a draggy climb back to the top.  I posted a below par time.  Time trialling is definitely an area I need to improve on so my attendance to the BSCC classic league series will hopefully ensure this happens.

Stage 2 was a further 10 laps of aformentioned circuit, the addition of Cat 2 riders ensured the pace was high.  I was totally clinging on with 4 laps to go but managed to stay in touch until the very last corner, which saw me lose about 20 seconds as I could not stick with the burst to the end.  I was incredibly chuffed to roll in where I did and chapeau to Steve, Tom and Mark who all finished in the top 15.  With Steve and Sam taking points.  Hopefully I can continue to learn off these guys.

Steve leads the bunch down the unsurfaced road. Photo credit; Samantha Febrey
Helicopter Shot. Photo credit; Samantha Febrey
Tom loads the car up for the journey home

Apologies for the essay but we are up to speed now.  All the race data for the above can be found via the Strava link on the right if anyone is interested.  I have a weekend off before returning to action in the Betty Pharoah Memorial in Wales next weekend.

Racing is hard, even at this level it seems extremely competitive and has a steep learning curve.  I seem to be coping ok, having a great time meeting a lot of sound people (particularly members of The South).  I will continue to document my season, its highs, lows and hopefully some more behind the scenes stuff.