Soldato
Tell us about your most recent race in here!
What was it?
How did you get on?
What went well?
What went badly?
What was it?
How did you get on?
What went well?
What went badly?
Race reports
- Thread starter One More Solo
- Start date
I meant to post this yesterday but got distracted after doing the OP. 
I rode my first ever crit yesterday at the Tameside circuit on the east side of Manchester. It was a 4th cat only race for an hour. I've done a fair bit of track riding now but this was my first road race. I ended up losing the bunch after about 40 minutes and rolling back to the starter's hut. I've had a cold all week and wasn't feeling too great, but it was still a good experience to get some laps in at race pace.
Coming from the track to the road was not much of an advantage as the skills are so different. I really struggled with moving up the bunch on what was a relatively narrow circuit, and that meant working hard to chase back on after tight corners. All that effort added up in to being spat out the back eventually and chasing back on was never going to happen with the wind. I just don't have the absolute power to ride like that - need a circuit with a few lumps in to make it interesting!
I feel like I could at least get a top 10 though with a few more skills and knowing the right wheels to follow. Just have to keep practising and training.
https://www.strava.com/activities/268460485
I rode my first ever crit yesterday at the Tameside circuit on the east side of Manchester. It was a 4th cat only race for an hour. I've done a fair bit of track riding now but this was my first road race. I ended up losing the bunch after about 40 minutes and rolling back to the starter's hut. I've had a cold all week and wasn't feeling too great, but it was still a good experience to get some laps in at race pace.
Coming from the track to the road was not much of an advantage as the skills are so different. I really struggled with moving up the bunch on what was a relatively narrow circuit, and that meant working hard to chase back on after tight corners. All that effort added up in to being spat out the back eventually and chasing back on was never going to happen with the wind. I just don't have the absolute power to ride like that - need a circuit with a few lumps in to make it interesting!
I feel like I could at least get a top 10 though with a few more skills and knowing the right wheels to follow. Just have to keep practising and training.
https://www.strava.com/activities/268460485
^Thanks. Lad I know posted up his own race later that day, 90km at an average of 40km/h. Put it into perspective really!
Yeah - his was a fairly non-technical road race but CAT 2/3/4 so obviously a much higher standard.
The sprints from 20-25kph up to 40-45kph every lap on the hairpin finished me I think. I didn't have my cadence meter going sadly but apparently my comedy track cadence stood out a mile among the grinding roadies.
New PB at the club 10 tonight, 25:16 pending official results. Crap conditions too, definitely think sub 25 will happen on a nicer day. 
Much better than the 26:27 I did a couple of weeks back.
I did say I would buy a TT bike if I cracked 25 mins though on the club course...
https://www.strava.com/activities/307191079
Much better than the 26:27 I did a couple of weeks back.I did say I would buy a TT bike if I cracked 25 mins though on the club course...
https://www.strava.com/activities/307191079
Good work , Do your legs feel like theyve got that speed in them just waiting to come out ?
Did you see Wiggo go past his minute man in that Hull 10 ? The chap was doing 25 mph and looked like he was hardly moving as Wiggo blazed past him
The Wiggo video was pretty awesome, really puts it in perspective. The pros are amazing.
I did a sub 25 tonight, a 24:59 so couldn't have cut it any finer! Absolutely delighted with that as it was another crappy day with no one doing any better than a long 22. Need to start looking for a TT bike now.
https://www.strava.com/activities/311777267
Also did a 25 on the weekend, my first in a time of 1:06:38. Quite enjoyed the longer distance though it makes pacing tough. New target is to go under the hour by the end of the season but that depends on finding the right bike as well as my legs!
https://www.strava.com/activities/310178229
Got two weeks holiday from Friday which is kind of annoying as I'm the fittest I've ever been at the moment, but a couple of weeks off should set me up for the rest of the season. I've been racing since January most weeks so a break is probably needed to keep me fresh. Enjoying things though.
Couple of TTs from the last few days:
East Lancs RC 25
Run on the J2/9, a typically rolling Cheshire course with some dodgy surfaces. Paced this really evenly all the way round for a 1:03.10 ish, still waiting on official results. A PB by almost four minutes although the TT bike helped! I'm going to do the same event in September and targeting the hour.
https://www.strava.com/activities/334307250
Tonight was the usual Club 10. I managed sub 25 just barely last week, but a few tweaks to my position and a few more miles in the legs saw me round in 23:50 tonight. Perfect weather for it, but pleased to take a minute off my best. I flagged a bit around mile 7 so I feel like I have a short 23 in my legs. Going sub 23 this year would be great, it's not a quick course by any means.
https://www.strava.com/activities/335736551
Got a new skinsuit on order so that should help too...
East Lancs RC 25
Run on the J2/9, a typically rolling Cheshire course with some dodgy surfaces. Paced this really evenly all the way round for a 1:03.10 ish, still waiting on official results. A PB by almost four minutes although the TT bike helped! I'm going to do the same event in September and targeting the hour.
https://www.strava.com/activities/334307250
Tonight was the usual Club 10. I managed sub 25 just barely last week, but a few tweaks to my position and a few more miles in the legs saw me round in 23:50 tonight. Perfect weather for it, but pleased to take a minute off my best. I flagged a bit around mile 7 so I feel like I have a short 23 in my legs. Going sub 23 this year would be great, it's not a quick course by any means.
https://www.strava.com/activities/335736551
Got a new skinsuit on order so that should help too...
Indeed, awesome efforts there! Chatting to the club's cycling guru and was interested to hear him say he rides mainly off feel despite having a PM.
Sounds similar to our club 10 daveski, anything sub-22 there is pretty rapid.
I'd like to have a crack at a quick 10 and 25 course, I know I'd go under the hour on a quicker 25 course but not sure on the 10. I've heard Etwall is decent, and it's a similar distance for me to the Levens course up near the Lakes. Might try and book one in before the end of the season.
I'd like to have a crack at a quick 10 and 25 course, I know I'd go under the hour on a quicker 25 course but not sure on the 10. I've heard Etwall is decent, and it's a similar distance for me to the Levens course up near the Lakes. Might try and book one in before the end of the season.
Club hill climb tonight up the Cat and Fiddle. Took about 3 minutes off my previous best so chuffed with that. Reckon I'm getting close to the magic 4w/kg but need a retest to confirm. Not sure of placing yet but the winner was 3 minutes faster! Looking forward to the rest of hill climb season.
https://www.strava.com/activities/362852576
https://www.strava.com/activities/362852576
Entered this - http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/event/972
There's also an event on the same day for those of you slower than 22:00
Raises hand
Tempted. Would be interesting to see how fast I can go at this stage.
If it makes you feel any better I was too late to enter. Ridiculous standards in TTing at the mo, doing a long 19 barely seems like an achievement when riders are doing 18s. Makes my long 23 PB look a bit crap (probably because it is).
Hilly TT today, second placed club rider and maybe scraped top 10 pending official results. Really enjoyed this, pacing was even more of a challenge and sweeping descents on a TT bike gives an awesome sense of speed. Hulking a TT bike up 10% inclines with a 39x25 lowest gear was a grind though.
https://www.strava.com/activities/365279390
Yeah, bit of a chicken and egg one really.
Flipped my stem and switched the tail on my Giro Selector ahead of yesterday's 10. Despite my legs being tired from Sunday they felt pretty good once I got going. Result: new PB of 23:27!
https://www.strava.com/activities/366043137
Selling my Powertap and got a Power2Max on the way so it will be interesting to get some power data for 10s. I doubt I'll use it for pacing shorter TTs but should be a good indicator of good/bad aero changes and of freshness.
https://www.strava.com/activities/366043137
Selling my Powertap and got a Power2Max on the way so it will be interesting to get some power data for 10s. I doubt I'll use it for pacing shorter TTs but should be a good indicator of good/bad aero changes and of freshness.
Selling, not yet sold. (Drop me a message in trust if you're interested?)
Email received this morning stating a problem with one of the timekeepers watches, so potentially new pb incoming
Amazing how often this goes wrong despite being a simple system in theory... The sooner electronic timing is introduced the better!
Did a hill climb up the Brickworks yesterday, averaged 301w for 4.5w/kg and finished way down the field behind people I'd usually beat. Cracking out the excuses, my bike was making weird rubbing noises so think it was the bloody brake. I rode up it faster on my steel Dawes on the weekend and that thing weighs about 3kg more than my Scott. All round meh.
Off to Evans at lunchtime to buy bits to give it some long overdue TLC. If I put in a crap ride in the next event in 2 weeks I'll have no excuses though!
https://www.strava.com/activities/373614358
Off to Evans at lunchtime to buy bits to give it some long overdue TLC. If I put in a crap ride in the next event in 2 weeks I'll have no excuses though!
https://www.strava.com/activities/373614358
I try not to crack it out too often but last night was definitely one occasion. When I've finished fettling I'll ride it again and if the result is the same then I will accept my ineptitude.
Final club 10 of the year last night, missed going under 23 mins by 0.3 seconds. Pain. Happy enough though, power was way up on last week when I was tired after a metric and I feel like my current position is a good balance between aero and comfort. Considering I was targeting a short 23 this season on this course, a 22:xx would have been great but it wasn't to be.
https://www.strava.com/activities/376701629
Couple more 25s in September then that'll be it for TTs this year, over to hill climbs and track. Remaining targets are to go under the hour on the J2/9 and to see how fast I can go on the J5/8 if I get a ride (58:xx would be fantastic).
https://www.strava.com/activities/376701629
Couple more 25s in September then that'll be it for TTs this year, over to hill climbs and track. Remaining targets are to go under the hour on the J2/9 and to see how fast I can go on the J5/8 if I get a ride (58:xx would be fantastic).
Final TT of the year. *sob* I posted a 1:00:03 around the J2/9 for a big PB but obviously disappointed not to crack the hour. It was a windless morning which was nice in some respects but I think the course is faster with a bit of a westerly to help on the draggiest sections.
https://www.strava.com/activities/395373467
https://www.strava.com/activities/395373467