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.
1 comment:
Good write-up; makes me want to have a go at road racing! Only done sportives and audaxes up to now and not many of them!
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