I have decided that this has definitely been my most frustrating racing season so far. Okay, I've only done 3 but none the less....
At the end of February I was flying. 10lbs lost over the winter, in our training APR's I was riding everyone off my wheel. Even the good guys! Then CRASH!!! in the first race at Gifford. I went there believing I could win, and I was out of the race within the first mile! Still, nothing broken and I was okay for training camp in Mallorca.
In Mallorca my climbing was great. On the climb to Lluc I was second only to Ken and he'd taken 5 minutes off his PB. I was really looking forward to racing when we got back.
Then my luck started to turn bad. My entry for the second Super 6 race never arrived so I had to sit out the race despite being in the form of my life. Then I went to Holland with Andy & his football team and picked up a nasty cold. Three weeks later I was back on the bike.
This setback meant that I wasn't fit enough for the 3rd Super 6, but by the middle of May I was riding well again and looking forward to the Dundee Stage Race at the end of the month. This was when I got the flu, cue another two weeks off. Super 6 number four missed now. It was turning into a crap season.
Still, I could look forward to building up in June for the national 25. Erm, no. Entry lost in the ppost and as it's a championship I'm not allowed a late entry. I was even more pissed off when I saw the number of people on the start sheet who DNS. I was desperate to race!!
So, you get the drift. Well, July wasn't bad and I did a great ride in Super 6 no 5 here in Aberdeen. But then we're in to holiday time and there's a dearth of races. Good form again but nowhere to show it. Grrrrr!!!
And now I've got an injury so I have to miss this weekend's race and wasn't able to contest the finish at the nationals last week. Hey ho! With a month of the season left I've still got a few target events and I'm now building up for them.
The Cairngorm Cycling festival at Aviemore the first weekend of September is a cracker. Four events over two days including a hill-climb up Cairngorm Mountain (!) and a 10TT on one of Scotland's fastest courses.
I'm now crossing everything, have bought a black cat, am standing in every bit of dog shit I can find, and avoiding walking under ladders. Can I have some good luck for September please? Pretty please??
Saturday 22 August 2009
Sunday 16 August 2009
National Championships
I'd done a national time trial before (last year's 25 held in Aberdeen) but this would be my first road race championship. This year, as last, it would be held in Hawick in the Scottish borders - a good five hour drive from Inverurie!I arrived in Hawick at about 5pm on Friday afternoon and checked into my "hotel". I'd be being kind if I described it as "basic", however it was only a bed for the night right? I'd arranged to meet Duncan at Denholm, half way round the circuit, at 6pm and we'd ride the course.
As we set out, the rain that had been falling all day seemed to get heavier. By the time we'd reached the start at Hawick where we were meeting Ali we were soaked. The back section from Denholm back to Hawick was lumpy on small country roads and into a strong headwind, whilst the stretch from Hawick to Denholm was on a slightly downhill main road with a tailwind. The roads were some of the best we'd raced on this year, although in the wet the descents on the back stretch were pretty slick. Could get interesting tomorrow!
A lap was enough for us and I accepted Duncan's kind invite back to the caravan he & Yvonne were staying in about 10 miles from Denholm. It was a perfect pre-race meal - pasta followed by cheesecake and great to have company and talk about non-bike stuff for the evening.
However I'd made a schoolboy error and not bought anything for breakfast. The hotel didn't start brecky until 8am and that would about 2 hours too late for me on race day. Never mind, I'll get something when I get back to Hawick from Duncan's. Nae chance! Everything was shut when I got back to Hawick at 10pm.
So, on national champs day I woke up to an energy bar & coffee breakfast. Not the best prep and I would pay for it later. I also woke up to the same heavy rain we'd had the night before. It was going to be tough racing in this.
I got to the race HQ at about 8.30, signed in and met up with the rest of the guys from the club. Got changed and then went out for a warm up spin with Ross. The legs were feeling good, I was looking forward to this.
We were lead out from the race HQ at 9.30am by the lead cars and taken for a tour of the town centre so that they could "show off the riders" to the locals - what a fantastic experience! The race was neutralised until the outskirts of Hawick and once the flag went in, the hammer went down. This was the fast section down to Denholm now so it was unlikely anything would get away here. I had drifted to the back through the town, too busy chatting to friends in the bunch! It was time to make my way back up to the front. By the time we got to about 500m from Denholm I was just off the front and in the perfect position when one of the Moray Firth CC guys attacked. Three of us went after him and I found myself in third position as we flew through the village!
He was reeled back in as we turned into the wind and the bunch stayed together on the back stretch. The race would continue like this for a while. On the descent on lap 2 one rider lost his back wheel on the slick surface, right in the middle of the bunch and a big crash took out about a dozen riders. Unfortunately for me Duncan & Ross we were on the wrong side of it. We formed a group with about ten riders and the chase began to get back on with the lead group of twenty. Despite Duncan doing long turns on the front (he's a very strong time trialist) this was something we would never manage to do and Duncan's group finished around 3 minutes down on the main bunch.
Me? Well I had started to get cramp in my calves on the third lap. Duncan had suggested taking a gel, which I did along with half a zipvit bar (they're lovely!). I also started to drink more - something I don't do enough of in a rcae when the hammer's down. This seemed to do the trick and for the next lap I felt much better and did my share on the front. However by Denholm the cramp was back and this time it was much worse. It had reached my hamstrings too and I had to slow right down which means letting go of that string that had been keeping you in the group. It's a soul destroying feeling but there was nothing I could do but to shift down to the small ring and spin slowly in.
I finished about 10 minutes down on the bunch I think, cold, wet and dirty as hell. My legs were really tight, so after speaking to the guys to find out how they'd all done I got back on the bike and went for a warm down. I had five hours of driving ahead of me so this was definitely the right thing to do. After the warm down I had a lovely hot shower, which got most of the muck off, then it was time to say goodbye to Hawick. By now it had stopped raining and the sun was out! Bloody typical.
So, how do I feel about my first national RR? Well, at least I went & raced! I was happy with my positioning in the bunch, although I need to get more confident on the twisty descents - that was where I tended to drift back and of course you then find yourself having to go hard to get back up to the front. That's going to come with experience I guess. I also need to plan better. Not having any breakfast was a schoolboy error and may well have contributed to my cramp. I should have drunk more water the day before whilst travelling too.
Oh yeah, and I need to spend more time looking at accomodation options rather than just booking the first available one. I was staying in a crappy town centre "hotel" that transported me back in time 30 years, whilst my mate Ross was out of town in a farm house B&B where they made him porridge and told him to come back after the race for a shower. Chapeau!
Finally, the Scottish borders are beautiful. Go there if you can. Just remember to spend time finding the RIGHT place to stay.
We were lead out from the race HQ at 9.30am by the lead cars and taken for a tour of the town centre so that they could "show off the riders" to the locals - what a fantastic experience! The race was neutralised until the outskirts of Hawick and once the flag went in, the hammer went down. This was the fast section down to Denholm now so it was unlikely anything would get away here. I had drifted to the back through the town, too busy chatting to friends in the bunch! It was time to make my way back up to the front. By the time we got to about 500m from Denholm I was just off the front and in the perfect position when one of the Moray Firth CC guys attacked. Three of us went after him and I found myself in third position as we flew through the village!
He was reeled back in as we turned into the wind and the bunch stayed together on the back stretch. The race would continue like this for a while. On the descent on lap 2 one rider lost his back wheel on the slick surface, right in the middle of the bunch and a big crash took out about a dozen riders. Unfortunately for me Duncan & Ross we were on the wrong side of it. We formed a group with about ten riders and the chase began to get back on with the lead group of twenty. Despite Duncan doing long turns on the front (he's a very strong time trialist) this was something we would never manage to do and Duncan's group finished around 3 minutes down on the main bunch.
Me? Well I had started to get cramp in my calves on the third lap. Duncan had suggested taking a gel, which I did along with half a zipvit bar (they're lovely!). I also started to drink more - something I don't do enough of in a rcae when the hammer's down. This seemed to do the trick and for the next lap I felt much better and did my share on the front. However by Denholm the cramp was back and this time it was much worse. It had reached my hamstrings too and I had to slow right down which means letting go of that string that had been keeping you in the group. It's a soul destroying feeling but there was nothing I could do but to shift down to the small ring and spin slowly in.
I finished about 10 minutes down on the bunch I think, cold, wet and dirty as hell. My legs were really tight, so after speaking to the guys to find out how they'd all done I got back on the bike and went for a warm down. I had five hours of driving ahead of me so this was definitely the right thing to do. After the warm down I had a lovely hot shower, which got most of the muck off, then it was time to say goodbye to Hawick. By now it had stopped raining and the sun was out! Bloody typical.
So, how do I feel about my first national RR? Well, at least I went & raced! I was happy with my positioning in the bunch, although I need to get more confident on the twisty descents - that was where I tended to drift back and of course you then find yourself having to go hard to get back up to the front. That's going to come with experience I guess. I also need to plan better. Not having any breakfast was a schoolboy error and may well have contributed to my cramp. I should have drunk more water the day before whilst travelling too.
Oh yeah, and I need to spend more time looking at accomodation options rather than just booking the first available one. I was staying in a crappy town centre "hotel" that transported me back in time 30 years, whilst my mate Ross was out of town in a farm house B&B where they made him porridge and told him to come back after the race for a shower. Chapeau!
Finally, the Scottish borders are beautiful. Go there if you can. Just remember to spend time finding the RIGHT place to stay.
Saturday 8 August 2009
2009!
Oops! Got a bit careless with keeping this up to date! Forgot all about it if truth be told. It's only since getting onto Twitter, and reading other people's blogs (Simon Lamb, Helen Nutter) that I decided to resurrect it.
Season's into the last third now and what have I achieved? Nae very much to be honest. More PB's at Time Trialing but I do find that pretty dull. Did a few of the Super 6 series, Scotland's equivalent of the Premier Calendar, and had a bit of success at that. The best race was round 5 in Aberdeen where we bossed the bunch and got three of our guys into position for the sprint. I did long turns on the front keeping the pace high - what a buzz!
But apart from that it's been pretty dull. Only crashed once so far, in the first Super 6 at Gifford in March. It was the week before our Mallorca training camp and when I went down I was sure that I was going to break my collarbone. Fortunately I came away with just severe bruising and was ok.
So what does the end of the season hold for me?
15th August National RR Champs at Hawick
23rd August Vets RR, Balfron
30th August 25TT Aberdeen (Glegg Trophy)
5th & 6th September Cairngorm Cycling Festival
13th September Ythan APR
19th September 10TT Aberdeen
27th September TLI Race of the fallen leaves
Fingers crossed I can come away from that lot with something!!
Season's into the last third now and what have I achieved? Nae very much to be honest. More PB's at Time Trialing but I do find that pretty dull. Did a few of the Super 6 series, Scotland's equivalent of the Premier Calendar, and had a bit of success at that. The best race was round 5 in Aberdeen where we bossed the bunch and got three of our guys into position for the sprint. I did long turns on the front keeping the pace high - what a buzz!
But apart from that it's been pretty dull. Only crashed once so far, in the first Super 6 at Gifford in March. It was the week before our Mallorca training camp and when I went down I was sure that I was going to break my collarbone. Fortunately I came away with just severe bruising and was ok.
So what does the end of the season hold for me?
15th August National RR Champs at Hawick
23rd August Vets RR, Balfron
30th August 25TT Aberdeen (Glegg Trophy)
5th & 6th September Cairngorm Cycling Festival
13th September Ythan APR
19th September 10TT Aberdeen
27th September TLI Race of the fallen leaves
Fingers crossed I can come away from that lot with something!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
