Chasing wheels

Argh, it's an itch I can't scratch - I've been caught up in the rush to try cyclocross and I'm trying to resist buying another bike. I can't afford it (I've just impulse bought a new SRAM Rival groupset for my other road bike) but I really fancy having a crack at the wintery fun.

An hour thrashing around an offroad course on a road bike sounds like an ideal way to keep the enthusiasm and fitness going over the winter. Quite a few people I've ridden with this season are giving it a try and they're all raving about it. The getting a bit filthy, improving your bike handling, falling off and having fun are just the sort of thing I enjoy.

I missed out on a frame on Ebay by 15 quid at the weekend which would have persuaded me into it. Now I can't find one anywhere. Ideally it's a hack job - spend as little as possible to get up and running - so I'm now tihnking of looking for a 700c hybrid frame with V-brakes that I can cannabalise. The V-brake bosses should allow me to get cantilever brakes on if I need to and the 700c spacing should allow me to swap on a pair of road wheels. With a bit of luck it will have an 8-speed block and I can thrown my Sora shifters at it and an old bar.

It's going to be a disaster isn't it?

Posted by Alex on 24 September 2007, 20:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I seem to have scored a point. According to the officials I finished 9th at Hillingdon last weekend.

I'm fairly certain I didn't but I'm not going to complain about my one point's worth of recompense for the season thus far. It's a fair irony that I score my first point through administrative error rather than a glorious dash to the line.

In other news I've just ordered a new SRAM Rival groupset for my pink and black Giant T-Mobile frame, so I'll be flogging off a 105 nine-speed triple groupset on Ebay when it arrives. I'm torn as to whether it's going to be easier for me to get either Condor or Cyclefit to mount it onto the bike or whether to do it myself. Having spent two hours last night trying to adjust the rear derailleur on the Merckx to deal with swapping the wheels back to my Mavic Ksyrium Equipes, which are different to the Fulcrums in terms of alignment, I'm tempted just to let someone who knows what they are doing deal with it.

Tomorrow I might head down for a lap of the Hovis Freewheel event in central London. I signed up for it ages ago and forgot about it. I suppose I should head along as there's meant to be 38,000 people signed up for it. Nice weather and free sandwiches are promised as well.

Posted by Alex on 22 September 2007, 20:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Some time back in July I went up a lot of big hills in the Pyrenees. You may remember me writing about it. It now seems distinctly possible that I haven't actually been up hills in earnest since then.

On Sunday I decided to take advantage of some nice autumnal weather and head out on the Surrey Hills ride with the club. Not a big group as it's late season, a time when people are either winding down and avoiding longer rides or desperately chasing those last points.

It looked warmer than it actually was so it was probably not a good thing to forego the baselayer, arm and knee warmers. It was that annoying temperature when it's not quite cold enough to merit a gilet on the flat but anything above training pace is a bit nippy - it's that time of year, when the gilet becomes your favourite bit of kit.

Paul H took us on a route through the hills that I've not been along before which included two brutish climbs, one of which bordered on being more suited to a cyclocross course or insane Belgians. Rough, wet and steep, it was the sort of experience which puts paid to the myth that there's no climbing to be had in Britain.

Stick a strange dutch name on it and they'd be screaming Spring Classic in no time. Don't ask me to find it on a map though, I'm trying to forget I ever saw it and tried to ride up it. At least it meant we had an excuse to skip the ritual purgatory of the climb up to Ranmore Common.

It probably didn't help that my legs weren't as fresh as they could be from racing on Saturday. I could feel the race in my legs when climbing - that touch of tightness mixed with a burning sensation and lack of top end power - as ever at my own pace at the back of the group and trying not to push myself too hard.

I felt better for getting out and for the nap I had later on that afternoon. I wasn't considerably off my pace and it got me a bit more motivated for keeping riding through the winter. I may shuttle back down a bit to Saturday rides to keep things itcking over and to avoid that sense of dread about getting out into the Surrey Hills in the depth of winter.

I might still invest in a turbo trainer, or I might give cyclocross a whirl. Something to keep me interested and active is all I really need and the latter is currently seeming like the more likely option - I've set myself a 200 quid ceiling (the same price as the turbo) for a cyclocross setup from existing bits and Ebay bargains etc and, fingers crossed, I might just achieve it.

Posted by Alex on 18 September 2007, 19:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

First let's get formalities over and done with - no I didn't score a point, yes I did enjoy myself. Last race of the series and there were a few friendly faces to race with, in particular "wee" Scott and Matt, so it was a good laugh. Here's me and Scott trying to liven things up early on:

Image: http://www.londoncyclesport.com by Dennis Sackett

We carried on trying to liven things up throughout, be it by encouraging people to race a bit (mostly Scott) and by heckling (me shouting "Venga! Venga! Venga!" like a deranged Spanish DS). It never looked like a group would get away so it was a case of keeping on putting in digs and seeing who would crack. Not many did as far as I can tell but it sure as heck beats all trudging round like a training race for an hour and then a cavalry charge from the last bend. If it's just going to be a charge from the last bend then why not just skip the hour going round?

As I have alway argued, it's far better to lose gloriously than to win without racing. Anyway I bottled it a bit when someone cut me off in the sprint - it didn't drift right across the last bend and then someone changed line right across me. I'm going to have to get some balls and elbows if I'm ever going to challenge in these sort of races. Winter series, here I come.

Matt managed to get third and with it his third category licence - you need ten points to move up from fourth, which is the entry level in British Cycling. So that's one less person to race with and work with come the winter or next year. Scott needed a third and got fourth.

I am a bit pissed off not to get a point as I thought I was fairly well positioned off the last corner. But I've finished more races than not this year and I'm strong enough to animate races when I want to. If a break sticks then I've got a chance, just none of mine have.

Now it's time to bed down to some more weeks of training and keeping my fitness levels up. I'm trying to persuade myself that I need a turbo trainer but I know it'll just sit there and not get used. So that'll be a Tacx Flow in my bag within the week no doubt.

Posted by Alex on 16 September 2007, 20:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I'm not sure how many cups count as "too many" in the UCI's books but I can confirm that drinking one eight-cup cafetiere in two large mugs is definitely more than is sensible first thing on a Saturday morning before a race. Nor is staying out until gone 1am the night before and cycling across Central London on tired legs to get home.

I haven't raced for a few weeks now and haven't really done much proper training since the Etape but three days in the Massif Central should have put a bit of edge back on my form and spring in my pedal stroke. Last week however my legs just felt heavy and stiff, no matter whether I stretched or not.

This morning I felt a little dopey and a little rattly when I woke up but thought it would clear. My legs felt relatively fresh but my head was rather foggy, hence the overdose of coffee. By the time I got to trying to pin my numbers on my jersey I was shaking and buzzing like the old days of coke, speed and booze all-nighters. I could barely pin them on and get out of the door and the sensation was still there by the time I got out to Hillingdon.

Race-wise it was a smallish field and I thought I could probably get a top ten finish. Did my usual job of chasing down a couple of hopeful breaks early on and contemplating getting away but the legs weren't interested and my head timed it all wrong. I subscribe to the tactic of showing that you can chase the breaks early on but maybe this is the wrong one as it shows my hand. Maybe I need to sit in and not be the first to go after it. That's something I need to concentrate on if I'm going to improve next season.

Then started chasing down another break and felt the heart rate hitting the red line and drifted right back down the line as others came through. This happens to me a bit too often and comes on incredibly quickly. Dangled at the back and managed to cling on before working my way back up in the later stages. Was looking for Sam, one of the youths who's been kicking our arses all season, to make a move but it never happened.

It got a bit scrappy as we couldn't get disentangled from the second group on the road in the E123s. That was largely because a couple of riders refused to sit up and let the group go before we got down to racing. So the sprint looked likely to be very bunchy. I came off the last bend too far back to be in contention having decided that I didn't fancy mixing it and didn't have the legs. Then I realised I seemed to be coming through people quicker than I had thought and was moving up towards the points so clicked up and decided to hammer it a bit.

Pipped James to the line but we were both well outside the points. I'm pretty sure I'm the only 4th Cat who has been riding almost every race in the series without scoring a point. One more race in the series next weekend, which means one final attempt at getting a point. Just the one will do.

Posted by Alex on 8 September 2007, 21:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

This sign, at the bottom of the climb tells you everything that you need to know and fear about this legendary monument to cycling's greatest names. Like Le Mont Ventoux it dominates the countryside around it and is steeped in a history that stretches far back, beyond the earliest days of cycling.

As you climb it you are confronted by a challenge to both mental and physical ability. On the Wednesday morning that I rode out from Clermont the challenge was added to by a thick Auvergnat fog that hung heavy in the valley on the climb out of the town towards the fearsome lump of Volcanic rock.

This is where one of the most defining images of the era of Anquetil and Poulidor was taken:

It looks wilder and more natural than I found it. Modernity has smoothed the tarmac (it looks recently laid) and the paysage bordering the road seems more kempt than in the old pictures. Sadly modernity has also meant that the Tour de France no longer passes in procession to the Temple of Mercury at the summit (or the TV aerial which overlooks its ruins) as the circus has grown too big for this road.

One thing that remains the same is that this is one tough mountain to climb. I was pushing my lowest gear (34/26) from the outset and the gradient is relentless. On a couple of the bends you think it eases off but the respite is transitory. It's only 42.km but it still took me the better part of half an hour to climb (if I deduct time for photo-taking and breath-catching). The view on a clear day is spectacular and even on a foggy, windy, rainy day it still feels very special.

The first section up through the trees is largely straight and sapping as it winds up one side of the mountain after a left at the bottom. As far as you can see there is no resting place or bend to aim for. Then it works its way round to the summit, coiling like a serpent and disorientating you as it spins you up. I wasn't sure which way Clermont was when I reached the top.

I've wanted to climb this mountain for many years now and I felt glad to reach the summit but wish it had been in better weather than I had to endure. It felt slightly anti-climatic to do it on my own as well. On the day that I rode I didn't see a single other rider on the roads until 6 hours into my ride.

I've put a few pictures on my flickr account, some of which you can see here. I'll probably put some more up when I get a moment.

Posted by Alex on 4 September 2007, 20:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()