Race reports

I meant to post this yesterday but got distracted after doing the OP. :o

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
 
touch said:
I guess that would be a road race though?
It's so much easier to maintain a high speed in a road race, especially if you dont need to work at the front and you can just roll along in the middle of the bunch.
I would guess that your 30ish kilometre crit is pretty similar in terms of energy expended to a 90k road race.
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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. :p
 
dodg3rman said:
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 :eek:
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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. :D

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... :)
 
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.
 
daveski said:
So yeah..didn't get in. 480 entries! Cut off is 20:37, cut off for reserves is 20:57 so nowhere near!
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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
 
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.
 
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
 
SoliD said:
Ah the good old cyclists excuse book. I missed our clubs hillclimb last night due to weather/feeling under it. Gonna go for a ride after work tonight whilst the weather is good.
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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).
 
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