« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »
Here's a nice package about the folding bike race, including helmetcam footage I took and my clubmate Angus in the red and gold blazer powering away to a second place:
Watch Suits on Wheels from the BBC's cycling site
Ironically the Nationals have been cancelled due to rain, the heavy sort which has been drenching Yorkshire and looks set to head our way for the London-Canterbury Etape. Better get the wet-weather gear out then.
I've written a preview for the BBC's 606:
Read my preview of the UK National Road Race Championship 2007
Which is bit foolish really as I'll not be able to report on it myself as I'll be somewhere between London and Canterbury at the time. To use an apprpriate internet meme, *selfbelm*.
Great looking fields for btoh men's and women's, so if you can make it, it's well worth going to watch.
So what if he finished fourth, Warrick Spence was the man of the night with a bravura display of handling and power round the tight course.
There's a report and more photos on London Cyclesport and I wrote a race report for BBC's 606 cycling section.
As for me, I got my arse kicked by the big boys from Cycling Weekly, Rouleur, Procycling and a few other publications in the All-Stars/Journalists race. After 7 laps my body was screaming in agony. I didn't know which way was up and was doing the vomiting in the bin thing five minutes after we finished.
The buzz of all those people lining the streets and cheering/jeering was electric. I've never ridden in anything quite as exciting. I couldn't really see much due to the pain and my contacts popping out halfway round. Perhaps the fact the boys at the front were mostly cat 2 racers would explain why I was out the back door on about the third lap of seven. so much for exhibition riding and then two laps action.
I wasn't sure if I would make the folding bike race but managed to recover enough to be up for it. And what a race it was! Shortly before the courier race finished the heavens opened dousing everything liberally. So we were down to 4 laps (or was it 3 and one behind the car?).
Angus and I made sure we were near the front and were in the first three down the road. Angus went past the leader, who I think crashed and was away. There was no way I was going to catch him so I thought I would see what I could do for a podium place. The eventual winner came hooning past me and I couldn't see anyone coming up on me so it was just a case of clinging on grimly in the pouring rain and not coming off.
Last corner I thought I was home and thoroughly hosed, then some bloke came flying up the inside and nailed me in the sprint. Gutted. Still it was my best result of the year so I'm not complaining.
Moreover it was fucking fantastic fun to race in the wet, in suits on folding bikes. I really enjoyed. Who cares if I'm not as quick as I'd like to be, I've rediscovered how much I enjoy racing and riding which has been missing the last few weeks. Here's me in action:
Fingers crossed the event will be back next year as a post-Tour crit event with big names, sponsors and proper TV coverage. It's exactly what London needs.
Despite a frantic week at work and minimum time on the bike I still managed to get my mug on just about every cycling site going. What's more, I didn't even need to win a race to do it.
I got asked to take part in the press call for the Smithfield Nocturne and, as I had the day off, I thought I would play the role of suited commuter. It was a rather novel experience to find myself tootling through central London in a suit and tie at a leisurely pace on a folding bike. What's more surprising is that it didn't take me much longer to get where I needed to go.
So here's me on Pez Cycling, one of my preferred cycling sites:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5016
And here's me on the extremely informative cyclingnews.com (who got my name wrong, grrrr, points off for accuracy there):
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/jun07/jun20news
I've also blagged into the journo race so I'll be riding over with a folder on my back with my suit in the bag it's strapped to. That might be a bit of a challenge.
Once again it all kicks off around Smithfield from 5pm or so with a tasty looking regional A race then there's the journos/all stars; the fabulous wacky races insanity of the courier race; the utter bedlam of the folding bike race; and finally the daredevil speed of the Elite riders. More info here:
Here's me talking up my prospects on BBC London 94.9fm's Sunday Sport show:
Click to download (2.2Mb mp3 file)
It also features James Pope of Face Partnership, the event organisers talking my chances down and talking more about the event. I'm dead excited about it all and I just hope we get good weather for it.
Come join the fun next Saturday (23rd June) at Smithfield Market
http://www.smithfieldnocturne.co.uk/
There's something for everyone:
Now guess which one I'm entered in? Well there was only one I even vaguely thought I'd stand a chance of coming close to winning in.
That's if I can figure out how to assemble the thing. I'm borrowing my mate Steff's Dahon folder. Given that he's done the Dunwich Dynamo and London to Windsor on it I should be able to get it round a race. In fact the only time he couldn't keep up with me on the London to Windsor was on the descents where its smaller wheels weren't exactly suited to the terrain.
I'm going to recce the course round the market this week to figure out a plan and I'm borrowing the bike all week to get used to the assembly and riding experience for the weekend. It'll probably be a fairly fast course so handling through the corners will be very important. I'd imagine that not everyone in the race will have raced before so it might be a bit nervous, especially as I've heard the course described as "technical".
Yesterday was the Highclere sportif, one of the events I had set myself as a fitness test before the Etape Du Tour. Yesterday was also about as much pain as I have endured on a bike since the last Etape.
It all started well with a gentle ride out from Newbury where I had stayed to Highclere. I passed my friend's old home on the road and sang along to my ipod in the slightly misty dawn on the 40 minute ride up to Highclere Castle where there were already plenty of riders preparing themselves for the start. The sun was up and the conditions were as near to ideal as I could ask for. I even managed to persuade a lovely lady from the organisers to look after my bag for me and offloaded that and a few other bits I wouldn't need.
Brendan, Peter and Richard from my club, London Dynamo were also riding and we managed to find ourselv es in the first wave off the start. The first section went well, with a good average speed getting us well down the road. I took a bit much wind and was breathing hard at the first climb but didn't think I was too near my limit. We'd already lost Brendan to a puncture but I was pretty sure he would catch up.
Then up the first hill I came unstuck and started going backwards out of the group. It was a hill I should have got up reasonably comfortably given my training and fitness levels but there was nothing there in my legs. This annoyed my and left me floating between groups when I needed to be in one. Rich managed to stay in with that group before picking up another two groups later and it was reflected in his excellent time of under 7 hours for the event. I guess I should know by now: stay in the group, let the stronger riders do the work.
I made it through the first time control point in good time and still averaging about 30kmh. I did my calculations and reckoned I was on for a decent enough time, under 8 hours at least. Then my right knee started hurting. No reason for it to do so other than it just fancied annoying me. I've had it a couple of times but it's so intermittent I can't really nail down the cause. It comes and goes and I've put it down as "one of those things". This meant I couldn't get any real power down on that side. Coupled with not having anything in my legs this meant it was time for one of those grim sections of sufferance.
For the next two hours it was a case of gritting my teeth, taking stops when it got too much and riding every energy spurt as best I could. It was also the two hours in which I overdid the High5 energy drink and ate too much with inevitable results: I threw up down the front of my bike. Luckily it was on the relative flat and I managed to pull into a fortuitously positioned bus stop.
I eventually passed a local shop and loaded up on Ibuprofen to dull the pain from my knee until the next feed and the medics. I also took the opportunity to fill up one bottle with plain water as my stomach was having trouble keeping down the energy drink and I needed to stay hydrated.
My pace was pretty average to the next water stop where the medics gave the knee a good going over with the magic "hot spray" which eased the pain off and allowed me to get back on track. I found a nice groove and a few groups to work in which pulled my pace back up on the hillier sections. I was feeling much better. There was even a nice descent where I managed to push my top speed out to over 70kmh which is one to tick off in the achievements list. Somewhere in there I broke the midpoint and the 100km markers.
By the time we passed the 150km mark I was starting to consider am 8 hour time still achievable. After all, it was only about the same distance as three laps of Richmond Park to go. Only Richmond Park isn't quite as hilly. Much of it passed in a blur of pain, some of it was quite enjoyable, such as finally finding a bit of a rhythm on the last climbs and being able to ride in relative comfort and a decent pace.
The final insult of pain came in the final few kilometres back up to Highclere Castle. My feet got that sensation of being nailed to a plank slowly by a not-particularly-talented carpenter, various muscle groups started to cramp and my body screamed at me to stop, go, eat and drink all at the same time.
When I crossed the line my only thought (uttered rather too loudly) was "Thank fuck that's over". But you know what? Within 30 minutes, a burger, a can of 7up and an ice cream I felt fine and could actually consider having had not too bad a day on the bike.
My computer timed me as having got round the 191km or so in around 7:45 at an average of 25kmh. My calculated time according to the official timing was for nearly 8:20. Allowing for injury, agony and stops I'm relatively happy with that. I would have liked to have gone faster but some days you just have to accept it's not happening and get round.
Sunday's training ride was an enjoyable 126km in sunny weather round the Surrey Hills. It took a bit longer than planned due to an unseasonal outbreak of punctures for Simon - 6 in total and we couldn't figure out why. He gave up trying to fix them at Dorking and took the train home.
So it reminded me that there's a checklist of kit you should always carry when going out for a ride that will take you beyond walking distance of home. Some people carry everything they might need to rebuild their bike, others carry so little it's a wonder they survive.
. It fits on your frame, it may not look sexy but it does the job fast and well. Which is what you want when you are standing by the roadside on a wet, freezing winter's morning.
which are fairly standard ones. Make sure they have the right length of valve for your rims as there's nothing worse than getting ones that are too short.
- These little babies are transparent and easy to apply. Plus they take up about as much space as a bottletop.
You will of course need something to put these things in. So get a saddle bag rather than shoving them in your pockets which should be full of food (I'm coming to that in a moment). This one should do nicely: dhb Saddle Bag (Black/Red)
Food and water are essential. If you are going to ride for two to four hours you will need both. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a dolt and the wrong person to take advice from.
You should always have at the minimum a litre of fluids with you. That's two standard size water bottles of 500ml. Most people, quite sensibly carry two larger 800ml bottles on a training ride. They should be full when you start the ride and topped up whenever possible. There's no excuse for not carrying enough water and you will feel like an arse if you run out miles from anywhere. Some people like to use energy drinks but water will do just fine. Primarily it's about keeping hydrated, not keeping your energy levels up even if that is an easy way to do so.
Food should be small enough to fit in your jersey pockets. Bananas are a classic staple of the cyclists diet, as are flapjacks. Solid food is better than energy gels which should be a food of last resort for an instant hit when things are tough. Solids will fill you up so you feel fed rather than continually empty in the belly. I carry cereals bars rather than flapjacks because I'm too lazy to make them at the moment. Also a bag of jelly babies for a treat now and again doesn't go amiss.
Always carry enough loose change to buy a mug of tea and a permit to travel. The former is a regular feature of most club runs as there'll be a stop for tea and cake about halfway round. The latter is an infrequent emergency but, occasionally, you'll find there's a need to catch the train home from some remote station due to injury, accident or irreparable damage to bike. Some people carry a bank card as well for covering such incidents.
Carry a mobile phone if you are going out on your own. You may need to call for help one of these days and that's usually the one when you forget your phone. I've only been out twice when we've needed a phone and both times it was to call an ambulance.
Right that's the essentials covered. I'll be doing some more of these guides if people like them.