NORTH MIDS VTTA 10M CHAMPS - Staveley - 30th Sept 2017

3rd Overall / 1st on Standard (N Mids VTTA Champ)
Another "crazy" performance this afternoon - taking 3rd overall in the North Mids TT 10 at Staveley and winning the standard competition (age adjusted).

Broke the course record in 21-06 until Ian Guilor (21-03) and Daniel Barnett (20-54) further improved it - really pleased to be so close to those guys....

Must credit John Morgan with identifying I needed to race at a lower cadence, hit a different level in the last few races and power again at 349w - nearly 20w greater on what was my norm for a 10 miler

A gratuitous celebratory beer on return home (although don't read the small print, it's all there was in the fridge )

Proper celebration with a curry very imminent

Until the next race, I don't want the season to end!!

WELSH 50M TT CHAMPS - Abergavenny - 24th Sept 2017

4th Overall & 1st on Standard (National Welsh Gold)

So, stage 2 of the weekend - the Welsh 50m TT champs at Abergavenny - just missing out on the podium with a 4th place, should be super delighted mixing it with the youngsters, but me being me....

Second half was particularly tough but actually held it fairly well....losing just 40 seconds....

Later in the day though, received a searing pain right though the heart, nothing to do with bike racing, found out the Owls result against the "not so" Blunts - devastation on an otherwise glorious weekend

[April 2020: This was my first of 3 x 4th places in the Welsh 50m Champs....but interesting that this was 2 races in 2 days, in my early days I didn't like that...nor did I like doing any sort of interval session inside 2 days of a race...this is a running legacy, where typically racing would be 2 in 3 weeks, and certainly no hard training close to the event...but I eventually trusted Richard and illustrates that cycling is easier on the body and therefore allows quicker recovery!]

RUTLAND CC 10M TT - Hatfield Woodhouse - 23rd Sept 2017

3rd Overall
Well chuffed with 3rd at the Rutland CC 10m TT today, just 3 seconds from Dan T and Darryl W on the top podium - peak 20min PB by 17w too (348w - for the cyclist geeks ) - stage 2 of the weekend: National Welsh 50m TT Champs at Abergavenny - should I have rested?

[April 2019: This was milestone result...the combination of Dan Bigham's aero resting with John Morgan's advice for me to drop my cadence, gave me approx 25-30w more...it took a few races, but to get so close to Dan and Darryl was quite significant (and so far ahead of the other guys)]

VTTA NATIONAL 30M TT CHAMPS - Abergavenny - 17th September 2017

4th Overall & 3rd on Standard (National Bronze)
From Chris M's FB Page:

VTTA National 30 mile champs - gold on standard, win on scratch, national age record and course record (my first) for me; bronze on standard, 4th on scratch and national age record for Keith

What a day. This wasn't a fast course and it certainly wasn't a float day, so we are two proud old buggers...😝

[April 2020: Cannot remember much about the race except Chris and I went down together and stayed in a farm house in the middle of the sticks! Oh! And met up with Richard (coach) at the HQ]

RTTC 10M NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Keswick - 3rd Sept 2017

52nd Overall / 2nd in Age Group (National Silver)Not quite Porto Pollensa, but the seafront and early morning views across Morecambe Bay towards the southern fells of the Lake District is still pretty damned good, and a little nostalgic from my younger days - that sighting of the Lakeland Fells is a personal joy, like revisiting old friends



Overnight stay in Heysham, breaking the journey to Keswick for the National 10 TT Champs - stage 2 of racing this weekend. Stage one being my second visit to the fast S Cave 10 course yesterday, in the VTTA 10 "knocking out" a 19-13 underlining my recent 19-11 was no fluke, arguably in less favourable conditions and a little experiment on lower cadence, needs a little work, but the future?

Plan this morning is to take a slow drive (it is memory lane ) to Keswick via the coastal road: Hest Bank, Silverdale, Arnside and then up the Lyth Valley to Windermere over Dunmail passed Grasmere - can't wait, be more fun than the race - as will be the post race refreshment in Keswick with my old mucka Mr Summers 🍺

[April 2019: The National was hugely disappointing, probably should not have done the race the day before, in fact my coach was surprised how "well" I actually did in the National - must admit I was over confident that no one could touch me in my age group, but well done to Chris L he beat me fair and square on the day]

VTTA YORKSHIRE 10M TT - S Cave V718 - 2nd Sept 2017

10th Overall / 7th on Standard
First race after advised by coach Dave Morgan to drop my cadence from the mid 90's to the mid 80's (ultimately by 2019 this got even lower) - checked my Training Peaks efforts and identified that my best training was with the lower cadence, but I race in the mid to high 90's.

Really strange to concentrate on a lower cadence and bigger gear, knocked out a 19-13 for this '10', which was just 2 seconds off my PB....however in retrospect, it is a shame that this was not a handful of races into my new cadence, as I added a good 20w on to my previous output after 3 or so races.