Chasing wheels

Saturday 22 December saw my last race of 2007 and I'm not going to even pretend I covered myself in glory. I finished somewhere in the midfield of the twenties and was being passed by a fair few people coming out of the final bend.

I rode well and aggressively throughout the race but I tried to go from a long way out and ended up leading a bunch of people out. My friend Ollie had recommended his dad's maxim for racing when you don't have a sprint, which was "Be the first to attack at the last possible moment."

As it happens that worked out well for me as I avoided a crash that happened in the bunch behind me. It's something of an occupational hazard of not getting out of the 4th Cats that there will almost always be a crash, no matter how open the course. Likewise there'll always be someone who brakes into an easy corner or eases up suddenly causing a concertina effect down the bunch.

The best way to avoid such things is to make sure you are nowhere near then when they happen and in the first 10 to 15 places in the line at the front. That much I've mastered now, after a season of too many lapses in concentration. Now I just need to concentrate on being up there and in the points at the line, not 200 metres before it.

I'm a bit frustrated that I'm not going to get to race again for a while. I'm working this weekend which rules out one possible opportunity and with New Year and my snowboarding holiday the week after that I'm not going to race again until mid-January. Which gives me plenty of time to concentrate on getting my weight down and my fitness up so that I can make 2008 a decent year for me.

Posted by Alex on 26 December 2007, 16:12 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Nothing like a big crash to get the rubberneckers out. Enjoy.

Posted by Alex on 21 December 2007, 11:12 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

You know you've been to the races and gone hard. Either that or you've crashed and are contemplating how much of your mush you've left on the road. Fortunately for me the taste of blood was down to the former at the weekend.

My first run at the Imperial Winter Series, in the familiar surroundings of Hillingdon, ended up being as much about getting my race legs on again and surviving the bitter cold rather than storming to the points. Which is not an unsurprising outcome given that the last time I rode in anger was three weeks ago in a 'cross race. Of course, it's far too easy to forget these things when the fire is lit in the heart, for racing.

On the plus side I did manage to bridge across to one of the early breaks comfortably, dragging another rider with me and when he came through I managed to go with his wheel. It wasn't at this point that I started to taste blood, it was when the group came back together and the pace became erratic. I got caught out in the wind for far too long trying to move up the bunch, something I try to avoid but which becomes unavoidable in a nervy big bunch, such as is usual in 4th Cat races.

So having fried myself a bit I was reduced to sitting in a bit and making sure I didn't get dropped. There were a couple of times when I found myself too far back and at the end of the elastic but if there's one thing I've learnt in my first season, it's that when you are hurting and wanting to pack you can always dig that bit deeper and hang on. Never pack unless you are seriously injured or your bike is no longer roadworthy.

As ever I managed to miss the decisive break so tried to psyche myself up for the inevitable bunch sprint for the remaining points. Once again, I went too early and too hard from too far back and found myself going backwards in the last 100 metres. I really must conquer my fear of the sprint and position myself better on the last three laps. Or even position myself to go with the break when it happens. And remember to drink and keep myself in good shape rather than being unduly concerned by erratic riding around me.

Saturday's race was also a first in that it was the first time anyone has come to watch me race. I managed not to fall off as I had promised and I managed to impress just by competing. Sounds good to me.

Posted by Alex on 17 December 2007, 20:12 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

She's gorgeous, she's articulate and she's bloody quick on a bike. Enough of my boyish lusting about one of the best women on the track, Victoria has given Will Fotheringham of The Guardian and excellent interview:

Victoria Pendleton on why she'd love to be more famous...

I have to agree with some of her points but some would argue that Athletics was fairly well represented with two women. What her absence from the shortlist does show is how narrow the attention of many sports desks is in this country. Some don't have a cycling correspondent so it depends on whether or not they have someone with an interest in cycling on the desk as to whether it gets covered. Others are so focused on the big audience sports that niche is as nothing to them.

Still, I look forward to seeing Victoria hammering round Manchester in March at the World Championships. Hopefully I can find a way to blag myself up there for work purposes.

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

Day off today so once the rain cleared I went out for a well-established ritual training ride in Richmond Park: the three lapper. I've not been on the bike much recently so felt like I needed to get out and clear myself out a bit ahead of this weekend's racing as well as attempt to put some effort into keeping my weight down.

I'm currently tipping in at just over 75kg but with the hard bit of winter coming up I need to keep it in check. I've also not ridden properly in a fortnight, bar a few hour-long rides across town so my fitness is coming off a bit. At my last 'cross race I felt good and strong and now I feel like that hard-won fitness is fading.

The three laps work out at around 33km and when I add in the distance there and back it works out around 50km in total, which is a good ride for a man with a couple of hours on his hands. I aim to get the three laps done in a touch over an hour usually, although I'm sure I should be able to do them in under the hour if I really push it. Today it was more a case of just riding and blowing away the cobwebs than setting a time.

I've discovered that I get in an increasingly poor mood the less time I get to spend on my bike. Perhaps it's a form of replacement therapy and gives me the same sensations that I used to get from drinking. I love the feeling of just getting out there and being able to push everything else out of my mind as I turn the pedals.

Unfortunately today it was rather difficult to clear my mind as my chain kept skipping in the middle of the cassette and I dropped the chain off the front a couple of times as well. It might be because I put my training wheels and 25mm tyres on the 'cross bike rather than taking my race bike out. Or because I haven't cleaned the 'cross bike properly since the last time I rode it so the chain is a bit sticky.

By the end of the third lap I was just starting to settle into something approaching a groove but I was running out of patience with the chain skip. Plus my slightly lumpy riding was causing even the deer to look at me with bafflement in their eyes. Frankly when you get to that stage of riding, you should call it a day. So I did.

Posted by Alex on 10 December 2007, 21:12 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

It's that time of year when I feel like I'm getting fat and worry about how hard I'll be battling come January to shed the pounds, or rather the kilograms I've put on.

With no race last weekend and work this weekend I feel like I'm plumping up again. I don't feel like I'm riding enough to be as fit as I want to be for next year, although the Cyclocross is helping with that. I currently weigh in at betwen 74 and 76 kg, depending on the prevailing wind and the previous night's menu.

In reality it's not particularly heavy, there are plenty of riders heavier than me out there. It just feels slightly lumpen to me when I aspire to getting down to 70kg for racing next season. I got down to around 71-73 last season but can't help feeling that little bit more off would make a difference.

It doesn't help that I've not been eating well and that my hours and general lifestyle has been a little less than routine of late, but these are the things that every amateur - and no doubt a few professionals too - has to cope with in their cycling life. I know I've said before thatI'm not a pro and there's no reason for me to try pretending that I am in my training and lifestyle, but I would at least like to be a respectable amateur.

The lack of riding makes me a bit fretful and I tend to make it up by riding like a man possessed when I can. So winding it up hard on a 50 minute ride from Acton to Islington via Kings Cross counts as an intensity session and sprint repetitions mixed into one, while the reverse route in 35 minutes counts as a threshold session. No prizes for figuring out which way is up the hill and which is down.

Is this helpful training? If you regard all time spent on the bike as good, then yes. If you think that lack of structure is poor training, then no. I'm just glad I can do any training at all.

Posted by Alex on 4 December 2007, 16:12 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()