Seacroft Wheelers Spring Road Race

Well, today was my first race in nearly a month, so I've had plenty of time to train beforehand. The ' through and off's ' and power-sprints I've been doing really came into their own on this race.


The morning was cold, with temperatures hovering just above zero. The sky was grey and uninviting, and yet, a full field turned up. Someone had even come abroad, and kept on racing on the wrong side of the road (The organisers told him off after). 
The course itself was flat except for two railway bridges, and had no nasty corners, although the road surface wasn't great in parts and a few people got punctures, which was race over for them. 
At just over 5 miles long, the circuit was to be navigated 9 times, and if no breaks got away, was a sprinters paradise.


Anyway, the start was rolling, from the HQ in Wistow Village to the start line. They say that this part is neutralised, but thats a lie, since the rolling start is a race in itself, as riders jostle for position before the competition gets underway. 


Now, the previous day, I had been advised to stay in the top 15 riders throughout the race, not to do too much work, and go with an attack every now and then (more towards the end). Also, I'd been told the the race is traditionally windy, since it is very exposed, and to watch out for splits in the peleton. 
I don't think any splits happened, but if they did I didn't notice since I was well placed throughout the entire race.
Some people attacked every now and then, and an early lone attack was reeled in after 5 laps, and I was surprised to see that it was a women that had kept the men at bay for the best part of 25 miles. However, she was lapped 2-3 laps further on so she must have given it her all. 

With about 4 laps to go, a usual attack happened, and got about 100 metres of the front. Now this was where the race was lost. Due to lack of co-operation, commitment and just pure laziness in the peleton, a train never got going at the front of the bunch, and the break gained about a 30sec advantage at their greatest point. 

Me, realising that no-one was going to go to the front and work, psyched myself up and put in a powerful attack, with anyone unable to follow, I increased my advantage over the group over half a lap to about 15secs, and maintained it for another quarter, then, the pack finally realising that if they didn't start working and upping the pace, they'll end up sprinting for fifth, so they got themselves organised and caught me just before the final bell. 


Once I got caught, I quickly got into optimum position again 5-10 riders back and sat in to preserve my energies for another attack with 2 miles to go. At this point, the break only had around a 15sec advantage, and was within catching distance if a couple of riders sacrificed the chances of winning to reel them back.
Me, knowing that no-one was prepared to do that, attacked once again with 2 corners to go, however I was caught with about 500 metres to go and about 10secs off the break. 
I kept my pace and rolled in around 25th place.

A much better try than at Eddie Soens, and with the decreased field and limited categories, I got a much better place. 








Once again, thanks for reading. 

Racing Calendar

Heres a list, if everything goes to plan, of races that you can expect me to report on.

                                                                                      Pos.

March:

5: Eddie Soens Memorial Road Race                                      113

27: Seacroft Wheelers Spring Road Race                                ∼25

April:                                                                                 

10: Bridlington CC Road Race {RESERVE}                               ∼25

13: Club 5m TT                                                                     3

20: Kildwick 10m TT                                                            DNF

27: Kildwick 10m TT                                                              5

30: York City Cycle Races                                                       21

May:

4: Kildwick 10m TT                                                                6

10: Yorkshire Spring Circuit Series 1                                         4

17: Yorkshire Spring Circuit Series 2                                        N.A.

18: Kildwick 10m TT                                                              5

24: Yorkshire Spring Circuit Series 3                                         5

31: Yorkshire Spring Circuit Series 4(2/3/4)                               15

June:

7: Yorkshire Spring Circuit Series 5                                          11                     

12: City Road Club Annual Road Race                                       17

14: Yorkshire Spring Circuit Series 6                                         3

19: BikeLine Tom Simpson Road Race                                   DONT KNOW

22: Otley Town Centre Races                                               ~17

26: Eric Biddulph Memorial Road Race                                      7

28: Yorkshire Summer Circuit Series 1(2/3/4)                          DNF

July

2: Tour of Blackpool Support Races                                          12
5: Yorkshire Summer Circuit Series 2(2/3/4)                              9

6: Kildwick 22m TT                                                                  2

12: Yorkshire Summer Circuit Series 3(2/3/4)                            15

19: Yorkshire Summer Circuit Series 4(2/3/4)                            3
21: Science in Sport Criterium League 14                                  2  

August

21: York Cycling City Races                                                       DNF

September:

4: Richard Hoyland Memorial Road Race                                      5

11: Out of the Saddle Road Race                                                30

Heres a vid posted by I think ,Josh Hunt on Twitter, and I though it was pretty decent

Nothing Much

Nothing much has happened over the last week in terms of training. For one it was my rest week, but I crashed on the way to school and my face absorbed most of the impact with the road. Luckily, there wasn't too much serious damage either to me or the bike, but I still took a few days off to heal.


Saturday was my first Cafe Racing run in around six months, and it went surprisingly well considering that I was on my winter bike and most other people where on the summer bikes or at least their racing cross-bikes.
Anyway, the Keighley Chain Gang that do this run start in Keighley (obvs) and head out to Skipton via the main road at a steady pace. Then at Skipton the pace kicks up and people start trying break away. At Hetton, we head to Gargrave where the finish line is. 
On saturday, about a mile out of Skipton, Scott Thwaites attacked with another person, and the pack wasn't too keen on bringing them back. After another mile or so, the breakaway could still be seen, and this was the time to start putting in an effort before the break disappeared into the twisty roads at the 'Duck Pond'. 
However, no-one seemed to notice that a team-mate of Thwaites was putting in the effort at the front, or at least this is what he was trying to make it look like. Obviously, the team-mate was going slightly slower than Thwaites so that he had a chance of making the break succeed. 
Anyway, I took it upon myself to get the rhythm going again, so I stepped up the pace and got the first group working to catch the break. 


Unfortunately, this wasn't enough and the break succeeded, however, I managed to get to Gargrave with the first group on my heavy bike, so there's no telling where I shall end up with my light bike.


Training was supposed to start this week again however I have been hampered by thick fog that has been hanging over Yorkshire over the last two days.




My next race is on the 27th of March, the Seacroft Wheelers Spring Road Race. 
The course profile is once again flat, except for two drags that go over railway bridges. This 50miles race is only for 3rd and 4th category, so hopefully I have a better chance in this one, and Im expecting at least a top 10.


Thats all from me this week, and once again, thanks for reading. 

Let The Games Begin

The weekend just been was very hectic for me. Work Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, not to mention the first race of the season, and my first proper road race, and what a race it was!
Friday evening, I got to bed around 11:15, not the best time to hit the sack before a race, but I had work that night.
Anyway, seven hours sleep later, and after a big breakfast of four Weetabix biscuits and two slices of toast, I was on the road heading towards Aintree for the 50th Eddie Soens Memorial Road Race.
Luckily, we got there an hour before the start, which was a good thing because I needed to severely limit my gears for the Junior category. 
Several other teams had also decided to make this race their season debut, among them the newly formed Team Raleigh, Team UK Youth, 100% Me and a couple of Rapha Condor Sharp riders thrown in for good measure.
These teams came in brand spanking new cars and vans, covered head to toe in sponsor decals and brimming with the latest bikes, but these are merely mind tricks to make the less experienced riders nervous and soft with adrenaline for the start, and it worked.

Anyways, the race started without a hitch, group one (my group) setting off at 9:30 sharp. There wasn't a lot of cooperation in my group and no-one was really willing to do a huge turn on the front to attempt to lap the pro's and elites, who where setting off 3minutes later on the 1.64mile circuit. 
So I did a turn on the front for about a quarter of the course to get myself warmed up, because the pace group 1 was setting wasn't anything special.
For the first 2 laps, the equilibrium stayed constant with only 30secs separating group 1 from the Elites, however, after that the Pro's stopped gossiping and got to work, and thus swept the course by the 10th lap. 
At this point in the race, Team Raleigh was firmly in control of the bloated peleton of 150+ riders, and attacks came from left, right and centre from this outfit. Me, sensing that a potential winner could come from this team, caught onto as many attacks as I could from them, and the most we ever got off the front was about 100 yards. 

Me, filled with new-found confidence of having the ability of being able to keep up with the big boys and even attack the field to some extend, decided to sit in the peleton until about 2-3 laps to go and go for an all-or-nothing charge for the line. The reasoning behind this was that any attempts at attacking from anyone had not managed to break the elastic of the main bunch, and the thinking was that the race was going to end in a bunch sprint.
So every two or three laps I made my way to the edge, moved up a few places, probed at the success of attacks at the front, and then went back to sleep firmly in the middle of the bunch. 
Now, with 5 laps to go, I made my commute to the edge of the peleton, and went near the front to wait for my assault. However, once getting near the front, and being able to see the long straight in front of me, I noticed a small group of riders had gotten away, some 300 metres in front, like a mirage in a dessert. 
I asked the Raleigh rider in next to me whether they had broken away, or whether they had been dropped and about to be lapped. 'Broken away', he gasped at me. 
This was the sledgehammer to my glass of confidence, and in the last lap, I made sure I finished in the main group, since my chances of a top 20 finish had evaporated. 
I finished in 113th, in a time of 1hour, 40minutes and 2 seconds. I was 30 seconds of the winner.


And that was my first race, I  may not have won, but at least I wasn't dropped and had proven to myself that my doubts about my ability to race had been declared null and void. 


My next race, if I manage to get transportation, is in Stokesley, Middlesborough. 
This 50 miles pan-flat circuit is in memory of Neil White, and is once again open-category. 


That's all from me for this week, and once again, thanks for reading. 

Further Prep

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of you because I have been telling you that I raced on Sunday. I lied. I did not race. The reason being that my entry got in late. However, the organiser called and left a message on my home phone saying that I could race, since the was space on the start list. The Really ironic thing is that I did not check my answer machine until Sunday evening, after the race had started, been raced and won. I guess I can say that the only upside of this episode is that I got a bit more practise with my gears on my new bike, and I did the full Buckden run on Saturday. Now whether the Buckden run was better training that a race can only be guessed and I shall find out on Saturday, when I am certainly racing. 


Now this race on Saturday, the Eddie Soens Memorial, is being held at Aintree Racecourse , and I am certainly doing this one, since my name is on the start list. 
Course profile is flat as a pancake and in essence the race is just basically a really long criterium. However the pros will make it difficult and I'm hoping my new bike, coupled with these amazing deep-section carbon tubulars wheels will pay dividends during the onslaught. 


In training news, I haven't been doing too much this week because I'm tapering for this race on Saturday, however, I did manage to get out with Joe Moses yesterday for a deceivingly hard session on the hills and flat, even though I managed to get home at nine pm due to Joe's puncture and my freewheel failure. 


That's all from me this week, and once again, thanks for reading.