Chasing wheels

I've not been doing much other than racing and training a bit since the Etape. With my weird work hours I've been feeling knackered so I have laid off training as I'm a firm believer that it's a good idea to listen to your body when it tells you it's too tired.

Thinking about it I haven't done a long ride into the Surrey Hills since I came back but I have been doing shorter one and two hour rides as well as racing. That means the edge has probably gone off my fitness and my season is winding down in terms of the results I can expect. So to make up for this I'm taking me and the bike off the the Massif Central next week to get in a late season refresher and treat.

It's ten years since I first visited the region to be a teaching assistant in Vichy. Back then I was a utility rider who rode my BMX everywhere but never thought of my bike as anything more than transport and freedom to get places. I've been up most of the climbs in the area that mean something to cyclists in cars but somehow I managed never to visit the Puy de Dome, possibly the most iconic mountain in cycling.

It's where Poulidor and Anquetil rode literally shoulder-to-shoulder in 1964 and where Merckx got punched in the gut in 1975. Despite the repeated calls for it to feature again, the local bureaucrats and the size of the Tour retinue mean that it's highly unlikely it will ever play a role in the Tour de France, which is a huge shame given how visually spectacular something like a time trial up it from Clermont Ferrand would be.

There's the slight complication that it's only open between 7 and 9 am on Wednesday and Sunday between May and September so I've been sneaky and managed to make sure my plans allow me to ride it on both days.

I'm also going to ride up to places like La Bourboule and Mont Dore as well as Murol/Lac Chambon to take in some other climbs. In theory I can do a long loop round that would start in Clermont and then follow Puy de Dome > La Bourboule > Mont Dore > Murol/Lac Chambon before returning to Clermont. It would be about a 140km route and would include a lunch stop and refilling in a couple of places. I'm aiming to do that as a big day trip on the Wednesday.

I'm also hoping to the a sentiment trip back to Vichy to retrace my steps and come to terms with some of the ghosts I left there in my youth. I had a fabulous time there, no mistake, perhaps too good a time. That should cover Thursday or Friday daytime.

With a decent forecast for the Saturday I might make a trip over and round to Besse/Superbesse and then back round through Mont Dore. Or alternatively take a longer route through Orcival and then pick up a similar route to the Wednesday ride.

Finally I'll do a shortish ride out on Sunday morning to Puy de Dome to catch it one more time and have a final stretch of the legs before packing down for the journey back. So now I'm mentally committed I have no excuses for not coming back with all plans ticked.

Posted by Alex on 21 August 2007, 23:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

(Picture by Dennis Sackett - http://www.dgs-photography.co.uk for Londoncyclesport.com)

I finished 11th, my best finish of the season. Unfortunately it's one outside of the points and, with only 13 starters, I should have done considerably better by my own expectations. Maybe it was just one of those days.

I was going well to start with, staying near the front and putting in a couple of digs as well as covering and watching any other moves. It would have been tough to get a break going with so few riders to work with but it was good to test a few legs and see how I was feeling. I felt not bad, a point was in my grasp.

Then just after the E123s had come past for the first time the pace went up a bit and I let a tiny gap appear. I tried to close it and the rider in behind me promised to come through off the bend. He did but my legs just wouldn't give me any more to go with him. It was like being stuck on the rev limiter and not able to shift up. I gave it a boot and nothing.

Slowly the bunch started to move away from me as the "elastic" flapped wildly in the wind as I tried to get back on. I thought about packing and going home before I remembered there were 13 starters and I was sure that they weren't all in front of me. Head down, plough on, you might pick off one of them.

A couple of laps of shouting at commissaires established I was 12th. Then I saw another rider pulling off the circuit with a puncture. Result, up to 11th, now to catch the next one. I was sure I was closer than I thought so got my head down and kept the cadence high even into the headwind while trying not to lose it in the wet.

It didn't happen but I rode on anyway trying to make a decent training session out of the ride. At some point my back seized up something rotten. It's still sore this morning. I wonder if it's not a side-effect of riding fixed and having to use my core a bit more. I really need to get that sorted for next season or figure out a stretching and massage regime that will minimise its effect on my riding.

Posted by Alex on 15 August 2007, 11:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I hate headwinds. actually, I hate any winds, with the honourable exception of the tailwind. Being built somewhat "square-rigged", to borrow a sailing term, I catch a lot of wind no matter where I hide in a bunch. I'm gettnig better at avoiding it, but in a break you have no choice.

Which is where I found myself on Tuesday at Hillingdon. I've made a point of working hard and trying to get into the breaks, or at least chase them down, the last couple of weeks. Part of it is about testing myself and proving that I can race aggressively, part of it is about pushing myself to my limits and not just sitting in for an hour but animating the race a bit.

As you might guess from the title of this post, it hasn't helped me with scoring a point yet. The last break I went for ended into the headwind and the surprise of the "2 laps to go" board. The pair of us who had jumped both muttered obscenities at such a cruel trick of fate. If it had been three left we might have had time to recover and place but two was no time to get back into a point-scoring position after a hard dig.

Nor did it help that someone went down just before the bell. On the straight, going slightly uphill into the wind. How do people do this? Washing out the front wheel (which is what looked like the cause) really takes effort in a straight line. The result was that I got caught behind it, managed to nip round the carnage but stilll found myself off the back of the sprint as a result.

Next week will be my last chance at points for a few weeks so I'll need to concentrate, no attack as much and make sure I'm in the right place at the bell.

Posted by Alex on 10 August 2007, 12:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Nice article on bicycling.com about how to dress properly for road riding, by Simon Mottram of Rapha:

http://sittingin.bicycling.com/2007/08/wear-it-well.html

Obviously that still doesn't explain why his own company offers black socks in its catalogue. I own a pair, very useful for winter training when they can be hidden away under overshoes and legwarmers or tights. Still it's a nice view of what should be observed while riding on the road for our cousins "in the colonies" as some Europeans refer to the Americas.

Posted by Alex on 7 August 2007, 16:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Back into the groove of Hillingdon criterium racing this week. None of the youngsters were about so I thought I'd use the opportunity to have some fun and put in some big digs.

Let a few people wind it up a bit for the first few laps then went for the jump when I heard the shout from the commissaires that the E123 race would be coming up on us on the next lap. It's a proven tactic that seems to work for most breaks. Effectively you jump and then go like a pig in a storm to put as much distance as you can for the E123s to fall into as they pass the main bunch of the 4ths who will have to sit up and let them pass thus consolidating that gap.

It usually needs at least two of you to go and ideally four. Unfortunately only my friend Robin jumped across with me and I didn't have the legs to get up to him when he came through me. We stayed away for a couple of laps before sitting up and dropping back in to see if anyone else would go.

After I'd got my breath back I went again and, yet again, nobody came with me. Perhaps it was too early. I had a third dig off the front to no avail and that was countered by the chap who steamed away to solo to victory when I drifted back for a breather. I really should have paid attention and stayed nearer the front but needed to catch my breath badly and have a drink.

Eventually the three laps to go led to the usual caginess as everyone tried to jockey for position. I'm not a fan of this bit and I think it's rather dangerous to have everyone backed up coming into the last bend. So on the last lap I put the hammer down, shouted Robin to get into my wheel and did my best to string it out.

I got it though to the last big bend and swung off, knowing that if I had tried to drive it up through the last bend I would have been in the way when I came off the front/ran out of legs before the line.

Robin was in the right place to take advantage and bagged a tidy third place, not bad for a self-confessed "old git", albeit one whose got a pretty handy sprint in his kitbag. I rolled in off the back but happy enough to finish all the same.

I do need to start mixing it in the points if I want to move up before next season but it's also the time of year when people start to get desperate for points so it could be a bit fierce. Next Tuesday I'll be looking out for myself and trying harder to concentrate on getting a point or two for the first time. I need to be a bit more fearless when it comes to the sprint bit but I always worry that I'll come off through no fault of my own. Perhaps I'll try for a long one or a break then.

Posted by Alex on 1 August 2007, 22:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()