Q&A From the VTTA Quarterly Magazine - September 2020

NATIONAL VTTA 10M CHAMPIONSHIPS - Newbury - 12th September 2020

 3rd in Championship; 12th Overall

Gnarly, twisty course with regular gradient changes led to difficulty in maintaining rhythm and form, but same for all I guess...gave it my all anyway, and was in the deep red a good 2-3 miles out....but will beaten by the amazing Richard Oakes (aged 51) who broke 20 mins and was very close to the course record of Michael Hutchison (from victory in the CTT National in 2009, when Hutch was at his peak)....30 secs off Richard with standard, and pushed into 3rd spot by a trike (🙄😡) - on the podium again so cannot complain.🥉

See official report below.

COMMON LANE OCCASIONALS 10 TT - Hatfield Woodhouse - 5th September 2020

 5th Overall

Covid has had an interesting impact on cycle racing....the main event survivor is TT (time trialling) as by it’s nature there is “social distancing” (riders are set off at one minute intervals and “drafting” a fellow rider is not permitted). A few common sense tweaks around signing in and out have been introduced, and Oh Noooooo, the worst, on the start line competitors have to “clip in” themselves (normally a ‘pusher off’ holds you in position, pre clipped in)....out of 6 races, I’ve clipped in pretty much first time in 5, in one I had about 4 stabs before success....vital seconds especially in a short race! Nightmare!! 😫

We all miss certain things of course, the biggie being the HQ, with the post race drinks and cake, and social discourse, from enthusing to your pals about your new course PB whilst simultaneously ignoring your team mate blame a tractor for his relative underperformance (secretly chuffed that you beat him for the first time, result sheets don’t lie, you tell yourself 😝)....awaiting the results board to be completed, with typically an informal presentation to close the show....such an important part of the racing experience...none of that now, and results only posted online, between one and four days hence (in my experience)....although a recent development are “live results”, initially introduced by the Newbury club and the forward thinking Rachael Elliott - one for the future? 🤔

Irrespective many TT races have been cancelled, the initial official Covid list of instruction was perhaps off putting, for the sake of a few months, and anyway, “it’ll soon be March when everything is back to normal so we can wait then....” so we thought a few months back.....

Also, with fewer events and practically no road racing, the quality and quantity of the entrants in those TT races has rather escalated. I’ve been fortunate enough to typically target top 5 places pre Covid, but have had to be a little more flexible in recent events, when the start line includes occasional pros wanting to test their fitness levels, and a number of startlingly talented under 23 years olds (the sport certainly appears healthy) role out too....great to see!

So, last Saturday. The Common Lane Occasionals 10M TT at the most unappealing Hatfield Woodhouse course (there is a tentative promise from the council that they will resurface it one day, didn’t say what year though!)....and who roles up?

We only got a Dame and a pro.....yes, Dame Sarah Storey made the journey to experience the potholes and sunken drains of South Yorkshire, and of course, she only broke the Lady’s course record just shading under 22 mins....how good does she look on that bike! 😳

And the son of a friend of mine (I did message Mervyn, and instruct him to tell his son to “bugger off” and stay in his neck of the woods, when I saw the startsheet )......yep Simon Wilson, a member of the amazing Bigham mavericks, and fresh from his 3rd place in the (full fat) National 10 Champs last weekend....Simon was targeting Connor Swifts (who is now racing the Tour de France, who would’ve thought: from Donny to Paris!) recent course record but missed out by 3 seconds, so the record stays in Yorkshire, bloody Lancastrians, get back (I’m one btw) ! 😎

Great to have these guys participate, raises the profile of course and brings TT to the forefront of the domestic racing calendar, if only temporarily, but who knows what the "normal" will be in 2021?!

And finally, for completeness, this old boy, well, yes! Personally chuffed, solid ride again, form hitting the spot, just in time for a series of National vets Championships....another sub 21min performance and 5th place overall.....

Thanks of course to Pete Laud and his CLO team for organising the event.👏

And also many thanks to Chris Lawrence for all photos below, and particularly allowing me to use the photos of Sarah and Simon. 👍📸

RUTLAND 10 & N MIDS VTTA CHAMPS - Hatfield - 30th August 2020

5th Overall ; 1st Vet ; 1st N Mids VTTA Championship

The Rutland TT 10 and N Mids Championship....lovely Hatfield Woodhouse!
So it’s still August, and the temperature was showing a disbelieving 11C but diminished even further by a really stiff northerly breeze 🥶 ....I warmed up by placing my rollers on the leeward side of the car with every layer on I could find, including an old thick smelly fleece that I found next to the spare tyre! Michelin Boy 😎
Anyhow...the cold soon forgotten, as I bounced inefficiently vertically over the potholes and sunken drains on the outward section at over 30mph on this contentious course with the tailwind...but struggling to maintain 27mph into the Arctic blast on return, but really pleased to sneak under 21 mins at the finish, a great time on any day on that course....reflected in 5th overall, 1st vet and thus retained the North Mids VTTA Championship....🏆
Won by rising star Oliver Peckover followed by top Iron Man Phillip Graves 👏- illustrious company.
Thanks to the Rutland guys for putting on the show and especially Gordon W 👍
Loving the potholes so much at Hatfield, next race, yep Hatfield, Common Lane 10, this Saturday....probably 😉

(Note: Mr Briggs (ex pro) was on a road bike 😎)

ECCA VTTA '10' - E2/10 - Newmarket - 22nd August 2020

 7th Overall; 3rd on Standard 😳

Planned for fast time and target the 19-51 National Age record. however the day before the winds were super strong, and also forecast for race day too....sat in kitchen at breakie time and hesitated, but it looked like the winds had slightly abated to risk the journey...

Decided (for the first time) to risk a 2.5 hour drive on race day (although stopped and walked for 10 mins twice, and did a roller 20 min spin on arrival)...

Anyhow what a mistake! Wind was supposed to be 19mph with gusts of 30...but friggin L, probably the worst wind conditions I've ever raced in....first mile could not get above 19mph, really lost it for a short time in my head, and felt like packing...perservered, but not convinced I put everything into the outward with a very modest power average (similar to my 25 the week before!)...but hammered it with the tailwind as hard as I could....finished on 21-34 - with three breaking 21 mins. 

"Only" third on standard too (again in a 10) although Kev Tye was one of them, respect! Wake up call though for the forthcoming VTTA National 10....but two more Hatfield 10's before then, should wake me up for this distance!

SHERWOOD 25 - A25/34 - Newark-upon-Trent - 15th August 2020

12th overall ; 3rd Vet; 1st on Standard

For a moment I even considered that Father Time was catching up with me, after 3 rather under par race performances, although picking up the National Vets TT 50 title during those was more than a bonus, but no, last Saturday, the 4th race, and “the legs have returned” (I should’ve known really, it happens every year)....the Sherwood 25 miler TT on the A46 SW of Newark...recording a useful 51mins 45secs on a moderately quick course but with a challenging 12 miles of significant headwind on the return....giving 12th overall and 3rd Vet (O40) and even a PB power average for a 25 (342w) - typical of these “Covid Times”, attracting a huge field with top quality as there is no road racing, won by rising star Joshua Giddings who is still a Junior, born 2003!
Big appreciation to the Sherwood CC guys for putting the event on, and so well organised

Interesting year for TT - limited races, and no road racing. The events are getting oversubscribed with some top heavy fields, comprising aspiring youngsters and a smattering of pro racers. Tough to get in the top 10, never mind top 5!

TICKHILL 10 - Hatfield Woodhouse - 8th August 2020

 17th Overall; 3rd on Standard

First '10' and 3rd race of season, reflected in a pretty poor performance. Hurt also from a long way out....but gave it my all....always sub 21 last year in 3 races, but only 21-20 today. Not to worry, one in the bag...will get better...got two more Hatfield races (so hopefully will see an improvement) with the Rutland 10, and the Common Lane 10. 

Won by Connor Swift (just before being chosen to ride the Tour de France) in 19-09!

NATIONAL VTTA 50M CHAMPIONSHIPS - Newark - 26th July 2020

NATIONAL CHAMPION!

First National TT Champs of any flavour for 2020, according to the previews I was certainly in the mix for the Cap & Shirt with Matt Bottrill and Andy Jackson. Having 7 / 8 minutes on those guys with how standards weight the ages, did give me optimism prior to the race, all being well! 

However, arriving at the HQ, I was aware the forecast was fairly strong winds, and increasing through the morning (I was no 100) but it was far stronger than anticipated (again for the third time on this course). As a consequence it was rather brutal on the southerly legs, but flew back....probably wrongly went out really hard with peaks of 10mins @ 346w and even 30mins @ 330w (although my new Stages power meter is def exaggerating)...on the turn after the tailwind on the Old Fosse Road, the wind was awful. and I really had to dig deep psychologically to prepare for the 2nd lap and final headwind stretch...really felt any chance of success was fast disappearing. 

Dug really deep, tried to stay controlled and in good rhythm, but power def dropped....and speed. The last 2 miles on the home stretch was back into the wind, managing to drag myself across the line, with no expectation - somehow rescuing a 1-49-13. 🤪

Until, I had a quick word with Matt B, who thought he had done a 1-42 something, which would be not quick enough to beat my 'plus'....and eventually it was confirmed that I did win the Vets Championship with Matt 2nd and Andy Jackson 3rd.🍾

Retrospectively though I was disappointed with my actual time, felt like last week, I was slightly off the pace...or has Father Time finally started to catch up!!

Anyhow, a second NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, so I should not complain! 🏆

Some stats: 53-37 @ 25M @ 327W (333NP)   /   55-10 @ 2nd 25M @ 302W (307NP) [PANTS 🙄]

Tailwind 1st lap 12.2M @ 33mph (318W / 324NP)  /   2nd lap @ 32.2mph (291W / 297NP)

SHAFTESBURY TROPHY - 50M - Newmarket - 19th July 2020

At last, 2020 starts!! 🎉🥳🍾

Covid-19 could not destroy the rather prestigious Shaftesbury ‘50’m TT in Cambridgeshire / Suffolk, but the bloody British weather tried its best, a window of torrential rain was forecast and at just the wrong time on Sunday very early morning, however fortunately those wonderful Shaftesbury CC boys declared it fit to race, and although it was very wet, it was never hazardous. ☔️

So, the first race of 2020, so good to have that ‘number on your back’, it’s not just the race it’s the build up, prep, how the training has gone?, of course the race itself, and then mulling over the result sheets, and where could it have gone better!

For starters it will do, a 1-44-27, my 3rd quickest ever, just under 29mph average - with a tidy 51 mins for the 2nd 25m...was looking for slightly quicker, but for the first rusty race, I shouldn’t complain, much 😉....good enough for 20th overall, 6th vet (O40) but pipped by 1 second to the vets ‘standard’ top podium prize (age and gender adjusted) by the impressive Anna Turvey...also improved the N Mids Vets record, but missed the National Age record by 52 seconds...

Amazing time btw by Adam Wild, especially in those conditions....possibly 2nd fastest UK time ever I believe? A name for the future at that rate 🥇

Bigger fish though next week, the rescheduled National Vets 50m TT Champs at Newark - all being well, I’m certainly in the mix with just the ‘oldies’ (O40s)  👴

Must thank the Shaftesbury club for endeavouring to persevere with the event, fighting not just the Covid constraints  but as mentioned the weather....their social distancing strategy was perfect but illustrated how simple yet affective it can be....adhering to all the rules, as did the competitors... So well done guys 👏

END OF SEASON REPORT 2019

[April 2020: 2019 was a year of much consolidation but clear evidence of even more progress, in my 60th year! How right Pete Read (RIP) was, when he said it could take 6-7 years to reach a peak! 

Evidence: As far as PBs go I only broke my best at 5 miles...which was always quite a soft target, unfortunately my efforts at 10, 25 and 50 were all on inclement weather days....especially the two attempts on the "E2" at 10's...but:

• Broke 20 mins twice on the E2 but in super windy conditions 
• Broke sub 50 mins three times for a 25 on two different courses - becoming standard, and very close to a 4th on a 3rd course - becoming the 'norm' to exceed 30mph (near 50kph) 
• Never broke 21 mins on my local potholed Hatfield course previously, I not only broke 21 mins on each of my three attempts (with a best of 20-31) but improved my 10 mile power average to just under 360 watts (from high 340s)
• Generally knocking out consistently good performances and regularly finishing in the top few in races all over the UK including National Welsh Champs and National VTTA Champs, as well as regional races
• Won National Age Gold medals in 'full fat' both for the 10m and 25m - in the former also faster than 2 age cats below and 6th Vet (O40) - and the latter finishing 28th overall
• 4th in Welsh National 50M Champs (again..third year running!)
• Broke 4 x National Age Records and equalled a 5th
• 20 open races - 12 top '5's

Hard to pick most pleasing performances, such was the consistency...one criticism, I got too many "seconds" both regionally and even at National VTTA level, although I won the National VTTA 10m in only the third race of the season - really thought I would go on to take at least a couple more but three subsequent 2nd's was frustrating. 

The question is, will I continue to progress, there must be a plateau first...this could go on for a while! 

The-End]

WELSH OPEN NATIONAL 50M CHAMPS - Abergavenny - 29th Sept 2019 - last race of the 2019 season 🙌🎉

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

Well, what a weekend….what awful weather, for a major sporting event, and especially for a major Championship (a dig at the World Champs in Yorkshire where the weather was awful). 🌧 💨 

Yes, the Welsh National 50 Mile TT Championships from Abergavenny 😎 – with a continuous deluge throughout the night, a little concerned that parking my car near the banks of the local river at the normally gorgeous Ross-on-Wye wasn’t the best idea….fortunately although swollen, the river was intact and so was my car the following morning!

Beneficially for the race, the deluge had been replaced by ‘only’ sporadic showers, but the wind was rather blustery to say the least, with copious amounts of surface water.

This was my season’s final race on a near 6 month season, I suspected finishing on a ‘50’ miler could be a challenge…and so it proved, holding the expected target power for 35 miles, but physically deteriorated badly thereafter, with of course (and those that race will know) a bigger psychological battle to then try and minimise any losses – somehow in the main I succeeded, by fvck it was most unpleasant, somehow recording only 16 secs slower on my second lap…with a finishing time of 1-47-22, bang on 28mph average.

Annoyingly in 4th position overall – narrowly missing the podium, but as a usual bonus won the Vets “standard” gold (age adjusted) National medal.

Driving north, I eventually caught up the previous night’s deluge, apparently this affected some other minor Championship held much further north, but loads apparently dropped out of that one, lesser types…I never knew? 😉😜

Back home, immediately on to Operation “Weight-Gain” starting with a few pints 🍻 of the tremendous Abbeydale Brewery’s “Deception” (as a “recovery” drink of course) together with the largest burger on the menu – all thoughts of racing at last fast subsiding…

Looking forward to some scheduled R&R now in the near future…from gigging in Nottingham (the musical and comic legend John Otway) to a “beer and walking” weekend in the Brecon Beacons…and already made a return to some mountain biking, after a five year hiatus...where I can only get better, and surely it has to be less muddy! 😎

 — in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.

[Referring to this being the last race of the season, so happy to allow weight to gain, after controlling my 78ish-kg race weight and to recoup some social activities!]

LEO 30M TT - Newmarket - 21st September 2019

10th Overall & 3rd Vet (O40) & National Age Record

So perhaps a lovely afternoon for sitting in the garden but when there’s a stiff SE wind on a NE / SW course it means a near permanent bloody cross wind, the cyclists enemy! 😡
And so it was near Newmarket at the annual semi-legendary Leo 30m TT, considered THE classic closing TT event of the season - a rarely raced distance, and on a normally quick course, attracts the gratuitously time chasing “hitters”, including me 😎

Targeting a sub hour time and a top ten place, worked my rocks off into mainly a headwind to half way (average speed 30.3mph) looking forward to speedy tailwind return.... it didn’t happen 😳 if anything it was harder coming back, especially the last 5 miles 🤪, but just managing to keep above 30mph average in 59mins53secs....and 10th place overall (3rd vet O40), so ✅ the objectives....

As a secondary bonus lopped over 2 mins off the National Age Record...

However somewhat paling into insignificance when compared to the amazing Rachael Elliott and Ian Greenstreet that broke the mixed tandem (affectively) National Record in 56mins 54secs (that’s 31.6 mph average!) - super, well done guys 🏆👏

One weekend to go🍻🍔

[Crackin race and time this considering the cross wind conditions]



 


 
 

JEJ JAMES NORTH MIDS SERIES - CLA 10 TT - Hatfield - 14th Sept 2019

2nd Overall - Season Runner-Up N Mids JE James Series
So into the last race of the season for regional bragging rights, the JE James sponsored TT Series finally came to a conclusion on the infamous Hatfield Woodhouse 10 course courtesy of Pete Laud and the Common Lane Occasionals.

The podium spot pre race was delicately balanced, for me to retain my Championship trophy from 2018 - ‘all’ I had to do was WIN! And also season long time leader Nick Latimer of Rutland had to finish worse than 4th....super times for all at the sharp end in tough conditions on a slow course, it was for me ‘close but no cigar’....learning that I’d beaten the pre race favourite Billy Jarish gave me short term confidence until finding out I’d been pipped by another rider....and irrespective Nick had secured 4th spot.

So, well done Nick, thoroughly deserved - the 2019 Champ after a few previous close calls, and 2nd for me 🥈

Socialising post race with traditional tea and cakes - I commented to Paul Armstrong that my season was littered with seconds in open races and now 2nd in this.....walking away, he quite wittily retorted “I’ll have to buy you a bridesmaid dress”. 🤣

I’ll have the one (dress of course) in the middle if you don’t mind Paul (that got you reading )

[so close to recapturing my 2018 title, but did not target, and only did the 5 max as required, so could not dismiss my worst performances, actually "let down" by my own club's 25, in 8th place!]