my weekly race log

Mark - I'm doing a 100-mile sportive in late September - not sure if this was a good idea!
http://www.essexsportive.com/

Cutty - how are you finding it (racing at that level)?

it's really difficult. but i'm having more fun than ever. no longer is there the stress of getting more upgrade points and moving up in the ranks--so the races are generally more enjoyable for me.

on the other hand, i'm racing against the strongest elite racers in the northeast. everyone is as strong as me, most are stronger. so i pretty much just hold on tight and pray i don't get dropped.

i haven't really been posting about my racing in the p/1/2s because it's mostly uneventful. i've had some top 20 finishes, i've gotten into some early breakaways (the field is usually likely to let a new cat 2 like me go off the front for a while), and i've gotten dropped.

but i'm racing with the big boys and that's most of the fun. i'm a 30 year old lawyer, yknow?

i'm curious how i will do next year with another winter of training under my belt.

Jamie, I may possibly be doing that one - I have a (female, very powerful) friend who lives in Essex and if she can deal with the hills we might be entering. After the Black Mountains I am rather less scared of hills! (NB this lack of fear gradually dissipates so by late September I'll be bricking it again)

Well, keep in touch and we could end up riding together (at least for part of it). I'm supposed to be doing with an Australian bloke from my cycling club, but he hasn't entered yet and I haven't heard from him for a fortnight - I think he might be doing some event in the Pyrenees at the moment.

By the way - I don't think there'll be any hills on that sportive to be even remotely worried about.

but i'm racing with the big boys and that's most of the fun. i'm a 30 year old lawyer, yknow?

^^^ this is a good attitude

yeah, thanks. it's a personal accomplishment for me to have gotten this far in only two seasons of racing. and i'm not burnt out yet. i love the sport and i love being fit and fast!

Next week (on bank holiday Monday) I'm doing another one, but twice the distance and with 3rd cat riders (I'm 4th cat) - I doubt I'll even finish, but hopefully it will be a good learning experience.

Ouch. Well, it was a good learning experience, I suppose. Very hard: this was the furthest I've raced (50km/31 miles), in easily the biggest field (68 starters), against 3rd cat riders for the first time. Unlike the 4th cat races I've done, which tend to get splintered into several groups, this basically stayed together as one big bunch most of the time (with a group of 4 or 5 off the front for a while). The pace was very fast for me (over 24mph), but I managed to keep myself in the bunch (albeit very near to or actually at the back nearly all the time) for the first 5 laps (1 lap = 2km). This often involved sprinting hard just to keep in touch and then suddenly everyone would all squash together and slow down for no apparent reason.

On the 6th lap a gap opened and even when I sprinted I just couldn't close it. The bunch pulled away from me on the hill and I was left to ride the next 6 or 7 laps on my own (which I did at a much gentler pace). The only rider behind me was so far behind (one or two minutes) that there didn't seem much point waiting for him. Eventually the bunch lapped me and I upped my pace and got back into the middle of them. This time I stuck with them for about three laps before getting spat out the back. I pootled around a bit more and eventually they lapped me a second time. Again, I sprinted as hard as I could and kept with them for a lap and a half before I just couldn't hack it.

Then came THE FOOLISH INCIDENT. I had a look at my computer on the main descent (I was on my own again) to check my speed (I normally try to force myself to hit 35mph before I start freewheeling) and saw I'd done just under 25 miles. I wondered how my time would compare to my 25-mile time trial, so I pressed the button on the computer to get to the right display. Then I looked up and realised I was just about to run out of road (there was a 180-degree bend, but I was still going forwards at about 30mph). I braked, skidded, then went off the road and tumbled over and over into a load of thistles.

I was cut up, with a fair bit of blood on my right leg, but nothing serious. I'm sore now in various places (both knees took a whack), but nothing's broken. Amazingly, the bike seemed to be more or less OK as well (only the handlebars had been knocked out of line). After about 30 seconds I got back on the bike and tried to finish the race. I managed another lap and a half with blood all over me and thistles covering my back and hanging from my gloves, but then my legs started to cramp up. There was only one more lap to go (if you're lapped you finish when the leaders finish), but I decided against continuing - I'd done enough damage already.

OH NO. sometimes after you crash, your adrenaline is so high you can catch back on.

lesson learned though, right?! don't look at your computer in a race!

!!!!!

lesson learned though, right?! don't look at your computer in a race!

B-b-but I was on my own - what could possibly go wrong?

Yeah, lesson learned alright.

84 mile road race, got 7th. my best result so far in the elite peloton. upgrade points towards my cat 1 ;)

Excellent!
I've been ill and had to miss my race yesterday - couldn't even ride to the end of my street.

i'm climbing really really well right now. seems the same thing is happening to me that happened last year, my peak fitness happens in august-september after the entire season is nearly over!

cutty how long did it take you to go from guy with a bike to cat 1???

i won't be cat 1 until next season at least. still a 2.

i started racing march 2008. just finished my second season. however, i started structured training september 2007 before i had ever even entered a race.

Did another 25-mile time trial today and smashed my PB *again*. Previous best: 1 hr 10m 45s, today: 1 hr 7m 7s (average speed 22.3mph). I'm amazed at the progress I've made this season - it's going to take a bit of getting used to next year when presumably my times won't keep tumbling down.

This should be the off-season, but my club had its annual hill climb championship today. I managed to get 2nd place (out of 11), which I'm pretty pleased at. The bloke in first was 20 seconds better than my time, so I was nowhere near beating him, but I was only 3 seconds ahead of 3rd place so my desperate final sprint was worth it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainzep/4086279513/sizes/m/

why the fuck can't I post images that show any more?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2647/4086279513_6d63f365da.jpg

^ouch!!!

oh and nice work!!

I don't think it's really 20%, despite what the graphic says. There's a warning sign at the side of the road saying 1 in 8.

20% is like a repeated golf club strike in the nuts.

Fucking hell dude! You are SO GOOD at this bike-racing stuff! Chapeaux!

cheers :-)

Back in action: my first race of the season. It was an hour-long 4th cat circuit race at Hog Hill, this time going clockwise (instead of anti-clockwise). There was a dusting of snow around earlier in the morning, but they did their best to clear the circuit of ice before we started. They had to cone off one section and there were some dangerous puddles around, but it was just about OK.

In many ways it was my most comfortable road race so far: I was able to sit in the bunch fairly easily and the pace actually seemed quite slow. I mean, obviously it hurt a bit, but nothing like as much as previous races have done. I was biding my time and actually fantasising about making an attack on the hill with a lap to go. Eventually the sign went up saying five laps to go and I thought 'right - this is where the action starts'. Ten seconds later the riders I was following overshot a bend on the descent and went off the road. I couldn't help but follow them off. We just about managed to avoid falling over on the icy grass and then got back onto the road, but by this time the bunch was about 20 seconds ahead of us. I said "Let's work together to get back on" but half a lap later I realised I'd just dropped them. I chased hard but didn't make any headway on that gap, and evetually as the atacks started flying towards the end they upped their pace and got even further away.

So, a bit frustrating because I could have done much better without a bit of bad luck, but I'm optimistic about the next time.

but half a lap later I realised I'd just dropped them

haha, awesome!

That is brilliant NBS! Unlucky but I bet you came away feeling strong.

that's great. blows my mind that britishers are actually racing in mid winter.

made crit debut tonight after work in 34deg celsius heat on "the hardest crit course in melbourne". mixed it up for a while but the heat and the climbing that took up half the lap took their toll and i dropped out before the finish. think i might try the flat course another club runs on weekends next, that's probably more my thing i reckon.

AWESOME!!

Good luck, haitch.

Back at Hog Hill again for another hour-long race. No ice this morning, so the field was a bit bigger in my 4th cat race (I think 38 riders, compared to 27 last week). I didn't crash / go off the road this week. At one point (on the main climb) my chain came off when I tried to put it in the small ring - fortunately I was able to get it back on without stopping just by moving the derailleur back and forwards. We did 17 laps (about 21.5 miles) and I stuck with the bunch (whittled down to about 20 riders) virtually the entire way. I started off at or near the front of the bunch. On the second or third lap a break formed ahead of me of about five or six riders - everyone else seemed content to let it go, so I dug in and bridged across to it, only to find that it all came together as all I'd done was tow the bunch with him. After that I found myself lurking towards the back of the group most of the time, mostly because I'm still nervous about taking tight bends at high speed surrounded by riders. I lost contact after the climb with three laps to go, but teamed up with another rider and spent two minutes absolutely hammering it until we got back on. Then I lost contact again with one-and-a-half laps to go when the pace really hotted up. The bunch fragmented ahead of me and I could see the finish (the finish line is at the top of the climb) being contested by about six or seven riders about 300 metres ahead of me, while the rest of us straggled in in ones or twos. I had a 'sprint' of sorts against another rider, but to be honest both my legs were cramping up and I was relieved it was over. Anyway - I'm very pleased with that - it's the longest I've been in the action (15.5 out of 17 laps) and the closest I've come to finishing with the winner (probably about 45 seconds down).

today was STUPOR BOWL!!!!!!!

you did the right thing bu trying to bridge, but never bridge if people are on your wheel. make sure your jump/acceleration is timed so no one is with you next time.

Did my last race of the Hog Hill winter series today (there's one more round to go, but I won't be in London for it). The field was much smaller this week (23, down from 40), partly due to the weather - it was actually snowing while I was warming up and in the middle of the race there were hailstones. We used the 'Alpine' slalom section today (a three-hairpin bend descent) - the first time I've raced on it. As usual I tended to take these corners slower than most and drifted towards the back. However, I was feeling alright and worked my way up the field on the other bits: I actually led the bunch up the hill at the end of the first and second laps.

However, the hammer came down on the fifth lap and I found myself disappearing off the back. The field got smashed to pieces: a lead group of about seven opened up a gap, one or two riders in no man's land behind them, a second group of about five, then a whole series of individuals who had been shelled out. I worked my way up through the ranks of the shelled out - I was hoping I could get a third group to form so we could chase our way back to the second group, but unfortunately (with one exception) everyone I managed to catch just got left behind and/or retired. The exception was one man who I spent several laps chasing: he kept dropping me on the Alpine bit and then I'd spend two minutes chasing furiously before catching him before the climb, only for him to drop me again on the Alpine bit. I thought it would have made more sense for us to work together, but perhaps he'd already given up any hope of catching the second group and just wanted to protect his position.

By looking at landmarks at the side of the road and the time on my computer I was able to work out the time gaps. With 40-minutes gone (of one hour) I was more than 2 minutes behind the leading group and about a minute behind the second group. There was no way I was going to catch the second group, with or without the other rider just ahead of me, so I just focused on chasing him down. Then at the bottom of the climb I realised I had a puncture. I hadn't heard anything, but before I knew it I was riding on the rim. I didn't have a spare so I had to retire - very annoying. The man I'd been chasing-catching-losing-chasing-catching-losing for half the race got lapped by the leaders with about two laps to go and retired, so I guess that's what my fate would have been.

Actually, I've just seen the official results and it would appear EVERYONE (including the second group) got lapped apart from the leading group of seven riders. Weird: last week there were more than 25 of us still together at the front after 50 minutes, this week only 7 people were in contention after just 15 minutes. The guy who finished second is some kind of wonderkid 15-year-old.

Back in action at Hog Hill again today: a bit warmer, but there's been so much rain that there were dangerous muddle puddles around the course. There were at least two photographers there, so hopefully I'll be able to get a picture of my mud-splattered suffering Roubaix-style.

An attack went on the very first lap and the field just got broken into pieces within five minutes. I found myself in my familiar position: desperately chasing the chasers on my own. A group of four had broken away, there was another group of about seven chasing them, and then individuals like me hopelessly tearing after them (there were plenty behind me even at this early stage). As with the last race, I managed to work my way up through the field, but annoyingly the riders I managed to catch just went backwards once I got them when what I really wanted was someone to work with.

Eventually I teamed up with another guy, and then a few laps later we caught one of his team mates too and worked as a group of three. It was very complicated out there - we weren't really sure whether the people we were passing had been ahead of us, or if we were just lapping them, and then at some point the leading group of four came round and lapped us, so the commisaires must have had a tricky job keeping track of things.

On the last lap we caught a group of four at the bottom of the hill and I threw everything I had into a savage attack and sprinted off up the hill then soloed to the line. Technically it wasn't worth it (I haven't got the results yet, but it probably meant I finished 16th instead of 18th or something insignificant like that), but it made me feel pretty good! That's the first time I've managed to do that - normally I'm on the verge of hideous cramps by the last two or three laps.

Some photos:
Another rider and me looking surprisingly cheerful up the hill on an early lap
My group of three with one lap to go
The winner amusingly snatching victory by a centimetre while the guy in blue celebrates too soon

looks fun. how big is the hill in hog hill?

Not huge, by any means. You probably climb about 20 to 25 metres over a distance of 200 to 300 metres, but it's at its steepest (1 in 8) just before the top so you really have to slow down and change down the gears. It's the kind of hill you ride up once and think 'that wasn't so bad', but when you have to get up it at race pace 17 or 18 times an hour it really takes it out of you.

do you get out of the saddle and powerclimb?

I try to stay in the saddle and spin up, but more often than not I end up out of the saddle with a face of pain.

on a climb like that you should be out of the saddle as soon as the climb starts. it'll get you up the climb faster and you won't have to make the slow transition from sitting and spinning to powerclimb mode. try that next time.

Noted. That's what I did on my FINAL SAVAGE ATTACK (which was ultimately a bit pointless, as they didn't bother to give placings outside of the top ten), but I think if I did that every lap I wouldn't last very long.

don't SPRINT uphill. but get out of the saddle and pedal at a lower cadence, stronger cadence. focus on pulling the pedals up in the rotation just as much as pushing down.

is it less economical to get out of saddle? i do both, but i tend to go out of saddle when i'm:

(a) tired
(b) need to get blood flowing to lower legs
(c) ass is sore
(d) more than likely all of the above

ALSO: what are your hand positions on climbs?

I struggle between on the hoods where my chest feels a little bit constricted versus on the horizontal part between the drops/adjacent to the stem (what's the name for this part of bars?) where I can breathe better but feel like I'm losing torque.

imo whether it's less economical or not depends on the type of rider you are and terrain. on a climb like hog hill, the way NBS describes it, i would think it's more economical to dance on the pedals all the way up the short climb. you'd never do a long climb like that, you'd sit, spin, and settle into your threshold climbing pace. this climb seems more like a 30-second max (or less?) effort you have to keep repeating each lap.