Well plan A failed within 3km! of the start!
A recap of plan A do as little as possible but stay in the race, the winning break was gone the first time we hit the cross wind, 3km?
The course was essentially two straights, the home straight with a bit of sub standard ‘clinker’, one end connected by a 200m straight. So only three real corners on the course. The home straight was mainly cross with a bit of tail off the right, so quite fast, the back straight started cross headwind off the left and finished mostly block headwind with a little cross off the left.
I was in the start chute in good time, not at the front, probably 30 back; there were just under 100 names on the start sheet, although I don’t know how many started. We had a dry race, later races weren’t so lucky, the weather was warm enough but the wind was right up and we just about had open water on two sides, so I was expecting to spend some time in the gutter!
Well we were off the first straight was OK, even a bit of bunching which can make things a little nervous and I lost some positions as the back starters tried to make ground. We turned into the back straight and it was on for young and old, I really wasn’t worried, I’m usually pretty good in the gutter but I was 10 or 15 places further back than I wanted to be at any stage of the race.
So we are hammering along the back straight in one long line, as the road moved about a bit I thought to myself, I must be further back than I thought, I could see riders way up the road. I swung out of line to get a look and bugger me the line was in pieces, gaps everywhere, the riders I could see was the winning break! 10/12 riders at that time. First things first I had to start crossing gaps, attacking them one at a time, some were riders that just couldn’t hold the pace and didn’t let the riders behind know, some of them riders at least doing the right thing and pulling out of the line as soon as they realised that they couldn’t hold the wheel. You still have a gap to cross but they are much smaller if you get into it early. One of the guys that I chat to at the races, pulled out of the line quite early which surprised me, he said to me after that we were sitting on 52kph, that seems a little high to me but it was fast and b..... hard, I’ll check it when I download my data.
The end of the back straight, on the ‘rivet’ all the way, I just managed to get on the back of the chasing group of 40, as they kicked out of the corner onto the home straight I flipping well got gapped again but back on again by the time we hit the finish line about 750m up the road.
That was me just about cooked, the usual debacle followed with individual riders trying to bridge up on their own, not today I thought, I was doing everything just to hang in there, we must have lost one or two each lap. I worked through when there was some semblance of an organised chase, but it’s just not in their racing DNA to do things that way, we exploded at about two to go and split into ones and twos which came back together eventually as two groups, one of around 10/12 and the rest of us which was 12/14.
So there was the front group had shed a few although it was so confusing out there I never noticed them coming back, the first chase group, then my group, there was no way either chasing group was going to make up any leeway on the lead group, they were long gone. I was told that there were guys climbing off the bikes after one lap having lost 5 minutes? Riders too far back were getting hooked out apparently to prevent lapped riders getting in the mix, standard practice.
I didn’t even sprint, cutting a corner deciding it was a bit irrelevant really the race was decided by that stage. Even if I had been in the first dozen on lap one, I’m not sure I had the power on the day.
Hell of a day, maybe I could have done better if I had had the power I had in 2009, possibly not, some of these guys are just incredibly strong, speed and fitness is usually my thing not pure power. It is of course the O60 race as well and each year seems to be more important as they count up!
There is some talk about introducing more age groups into the championship, it doesn’t really gel with the way the group’s race in normal every day racing, so maybe I’ll have another crack then if they do and I go up an age group.
The sun was shining so I stripped down my bike and put into the hard case ready for the flight, then wandered back to the course for some spectating, after all I was only going to Amsterdam to stay in a hotel ready for my flight on Monday.
It was really nice that 4 or 5 of the guys that I’ve been racing with stopped to chat and wish me a safe flight, I certainly seem to have connected better with more riders this trip which has been good.
Watching the O50 race, it seemed to go pretty much as ours did except that since it was a bigger field, 135 I think, many many more got chopped on the first lap. In the O40 race which was bigger again I was surprised to see they pretty much held together for at least three laps, just a few stragglers, there was quite a large crash on the first lap, inevitable with so many riders, it happened on the back straight where the road pinched down from 8m to 4m, everybody was trying to get closed down but not lose places. The front third managed it OK then smash, it was actually relatively low speed and a few of us had a bit more exercise running along pushing riders back up to speed. Then there was a huge black cloud and a torrential downpour, I left them to it at that point.
So all that remains is to repack my bags and get the flight home. I’m looking forward to being home but it’s a fantastic trip if you are fit enough, maybe I’ll train harder next year?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Last blog from Belgium this trip
Today was a very easy day, I rode for 90 mins in Active Recovery and only did 'two lung openers' which is all I wanted to do for the day.
My bike is clean, and as 'tuned' as I can make it with a very limited tool set, I think it's going to be fine.
My plan for the afternoon was to sit on the hotel steps and watch the big UCI professional women's race that took place today, 208 riders on the start sheet. I was chatting to the 'Chef de Jury' last night at dinner, or the Chief Commissaire if you prefer. I was at one stage exam qualified to that job myself, I always found it useful when I was managing my team. Not that we talked more than superficially about racing we spent more time chatting about fiction books and stuff like that, nice chap.
Anyway back to the women's race, the last time I was here they raced 15 laps of a 7km circuit, so it was all happening and you could follow how the race was unfolding, this year they did one 7km lap then 7 laps of a 19km circuit.
I watched the first lap and after less than 7km there were already 30 riders about 1 minute down, another 15 @ 2 mins, so I guess in a field that big there is quite a mix of abilities. The think was the front of the race didn't seem to be driving either, the pace wasn't high.
I watched one other lap and got bored with hanging about with nothing to do, in anycase I needed to pack, so I left the ladies to it and got myself packed. I'll have to do it all again tomorrow but I'll be travelling on after the race tomorrow morning ready to fly out of Amsterdam on Monday morning.
I'll do an entry later to recap what I've achieved this trip, I know its not as good as the last trip but I also know my FTP (Threshold) is 40/45 watts down on that trip, I think I understand why but I can't do anything about it now! On the other hand my ability to put higher power numbers out for shorter times is still good.
So my plan tomorrow is going to be the same as Friday, do as little as I possibly can and stay in the race and hope it comes to a sprint of some sort. Its going to be tough, big field, good riders coming from all over not just the guys I have been racing and of course I'm giving away 'years' which gets tougher as you move away from the starting age of 60, its also going to be windy and the course is right alongside the open ocean, normally I'm good in the wind so we'll see. Let you know later.
My bike is clean, and as 'tuned' as I can make it with a very limited tool set, I think it's going to be fine.
My plan for the afternoon was to sit on the hotel steps and watch the big UCI professional women's race that took place today, 208 riders on the start sheet. I was chatting to the 'Chef de Jury' last night at dinner, or the Chief Commissaire if you prefer. I was at one stage exam qualified to that job myself, I always found it useful when I was managing my team. Not that we talked more than superficially about racing we spent more time chatting about fiction books and stuff like that, nice chap.
Anyway back to the women's race, the last time I was here they raced 15 laps of a 7km circuit, so it was all happening and you could follow how the race was unfolding, this year they did one 7km lap then 7 laps of a 19km circuit.
I watched the first lap and after less than 7km there were already 30 riders about 1 minute down, another 15 @ 2 mins, so I guess in a field that big there is quite a mix of abilities. The think was the front of the race didn't seem to be driving either, the pace wasn't high.
I watched one other lap and got bored with hanging about with nothing to do, in anycase I needed to pack, so I left the ladies to it and got myself packed. I'll have to do it all again tomorrow but I'll be travelling on after the race tomorrow morning ready to fly out of Amsterdam on Monday morning.
I'll do an entry later to recap what I've achieved this trip, I know its not as good as the last trip but I also know my FTP (Threshold) is 40/45 watts down on that trip, I think I understand why but I can't do anything about it now! On the other hand my ability to put higher power numbers out for shorter times is still good.
So my plan tomorrow is going to be the same as Friday, do as little as I possibly can and stay in the race and hope it comes to a sprint of some sort. Its going to be tough, big field, good riders coming from all over not just the guys I have been racing and of course I'm giving away 'years' which gets tougher as you move away from the starting age of 60, its also going to be windy and the course is right alongside the open ocean, normally I'm good in the wind so we'll see. Let you know later.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Thats more like it!
A very encouraging day!
Apart from a small error on my part which meant that I had to race in a higher (younger) grade it was a good day. My plan for the day was do as little as I needed to do to stay in contention and sprint at the end, to test myself for Sunday without going too deep. So plan almost executed perfectly but more of that later.
The course was essentially fast and flowing with a few slopes on it but nothing too difficult. From the start line it was about 100m into a 90 degree right, then straight into a 90 degree left, a winding straight! for about a km, then a 90 degree right up hill for about 750m, pinching a little steeper at the top into a 90 degree right. About 1km straight, slightly downhill with a traffic calming plateau at the end followed by another through a 90 degree right hander, fast down a slight hill, swinging left, then right, followed by a 90 degree left, a 600m straight into a fast left hander, followed by a fast right hander, 500m into a 90 degree left into the home straight, 200m 90 degree right, straight into a 90 degree left, straight into a 90 degree right into a straight that swayed left and then right before straightening for the last 50m.
So the sequence of turns in the last 700m was 90 degree right, 90 degree right, 90 degree left, swing left, swing right then 50m straight, not really a finish for me. I can be really good at long straight finishes where the speed is high and stays high, this was very nervous and jumpy, however!
I could be wrong but I actually feel racing in the younger age group was easier, maybe because I didn't expect too much of myself and felt zero compunction to contribute to the racing, which was my plan, but it did seem that we spent more time freewheeling and swinging about the road than in my normal races. This actually made the racing more dangerous, cos apart from watching out for those dreaded concrete gulley's, getting the corners right, holding some sort of position, you have to watch out for everybody else in the race. My new pal the Belgium champion, also electing to go in this race (I think he was local since he turned up on his bike) went down after touching wheels, in this case he was the only one and actually rejoined so I guess he didn't hit hard, lucky sod.
Having said that we averaged 42.6kph, to be honest I haven't been looking at that statistic in other races so I'm not sure how that compares.
In every other respect the race followed the usual patterns, I spent as much time as possible sitting just behind the guys that were sprinting off the front, happy to give a couple of positions to slot in without having to 'arc' it up to top power, then just recovering the places when the pressure eased. I was really pleased with my speed out of corners and closing gaps when I needed to, a lot of the time I was doing it in the saddle which is usually a good sign for me, especially when everybody else is giving it 'big licks' out of the saddle, could be that I'm not too proud to drop a cog or two going into a corner helps as well!
A couple of times during the race I looked behind me to realise that I was almost last wheel, I wasn't aware that we were shedding riders but we were, so just kept my eye on moving forward but coming into the last couple of laps we were down to about 25, which is a manageable number to move about in and I had done nothing, absolutely nothing.
There were a couple of guys off the front as we hit two to go as the pace picked up, they were still just off the front as we hit the bell, but got sucked up as the pace inevitably picked up through the last lap as everybody tried to make position.
To be honest I didn't get involved until half a lap to go, I was never that far back and moving up early just meant that you had to continually fight for your position, expending energy, I opted to come late and try and make it count.
Coming to the right hander that started the home straight, I admit I was too far back, but that corner had to be taken so precisely, there was only one fast line, that I opted for caution (I want to race on Sunday) and stayed on the fast line, about 15 back, moved up a position or two coming up to the right hander, got baulked but stayed on the right to move up on the outside of the left hander, as the road swung right I got baulked again, but hopped up onto the pavement to make a lot of places, there was a guy in front of me on the pavement and I just managed to get around him and back on the road before ploughing into an ornemental planter! Back on the road approaching the one straight bit I had a run and really picked it up down the right hand barriers, I guy came off the left hand barrier to block me! gob smacked or what! so I was 5th, I would have been fourth apart from that manoeuvre and in the normal course of events he and I would have had a conversation in the car park! but I figured well I was too far back for the win, 4th or 5th who cares.
Sprinting in Belgium is definitely not for the feint hearted, but the vast majority of the guys are top bike handlers, but you have to be able to take and give a few bumps on the way.
So maybe if I'd come out of that key corner inside the first 10?
The finish for the worlds is I think very straight but as usual not very wide, so if I'm still in the race at the finish I'm going to have to fight, really fight.
The only bad news out of the day was that in the first two laps I ripped all the scabs off of my right palm, which was uncomfortable at the time but then in the race I forgot about it, now its a problem! Plus when I peeled my shorts off, the scabs on my hip had been weeping, stuck to my shorts and came away with my shorts! Not going to be a problem in the race but I'm not looking forward to spending 24 hours on a plane with that!
I know wuss!
Apart from a small error on my part which meant that I had to race in a higher (younger) grade it was a good day. My plan for the day was do as little as I needed to do to stay in contention and sprint at the end, to test myself for Sunday without going too deep. So plan almost executed perfectly but more of that later.
The course was essentially fast and flowing with a few slopes on it but nothing too difficult. From the start line it was about 100m into a 90 degree right, then straight into a 90 degree left, a winding straight! for about a km, then a 90 degree right up hill for about 750m, pinching a little steeper at the top into a 90 degree right. About 1km straight, slightly downhill with a traffic calming plateau at the end followed by another through a 90 degree right hander, fast down a slight hill, swinging left, then right, followed by a 90 degree left, a 600m straight into a fast left hander, followed by a fast right hander, 500m into a 90 degree left into the home straight, 200m 90 degree right, straight into a 90 degree left, straight into a 90 degree right into a straight that swayed left and then right before straightening for the last 50m.
So the sequence of turns in the last 700m was 90 degree right, 90 degree right, 90 degree left, swing left, swing right then 50m straight, not really a finish for me. I can be really good at long straight finishes where the speed is high and stays high, this was very nervous and jumpy, however!
I could be wrong but I actually feel racing in the younger age group was easier, maybe because I didn't expect too much of myself and felt zero compunction to contribute to the racing, which was my plan, but it did seem that we spent more time freewheeling and swinging about the road than in my normal races. This actually made the racing more dangerous, cos apart from watching out for those dreaded concrete gulley's, getting the corners right, holding some sort of position, you have to watch out for everybody else in the race. My new pal the Belgium champion, also electing to go in this race (I think he was local since he turned up on his bike) went down after touching wheels, in this case he was the only one and actually rejoined so I guess he didn't hit hard, lucky sod.
Having said that we averaged 42.6kph, to be honest I haven't been looking at that statistic in other races so I'm not sure how that compares.
In every other respect the race followed the usual patterns, I spent as much time as possible sitting just behind the guys that were sprinting off the front, happy to give a couple of positions to slot in without having to 'arc' it up to top power, then just recovering the places when the pressure eased. I was really pleased with my speed out of corners and closing gaps when I needed to, a lot of the time I was doing it in the saddle which is usually a good sign for me, especially when everybody else is giving it 'big licks' out of the saddle, could be that I'm not too proud to drop a cog or two going into a corner helps as well!
A couple of times during the race I looked behind me to realise that I was almost last wheel, I wasn't aware that we were shedding riders but we were, so just kept my eye on moving forward but coming into the last couple of laps we were down to about 25, which is a manageable number to move about in and I had done nothing, absolutely nothing.
There were a couple of guys off the front as we hit two to go as the pace picked up, they were still just off the front as we hit the bell, but got sucked up as the pace inevitably picked up through the last lap as everybody tried to make position.
To be honest I didn't get involved until half a lap to go, I was never that far back and moving up early just meant that you had to continually fight for your position, expending energy, I opted to come late and try and make it count.
Coming to the right hander that started the home straight, I admit I was too far back, but that corner had to be taken so precisely, there was only one fast line, that I opted for caution (I want to race on Sunday) and stayed on the fast line, about 15 back, moved up a position or two coming up to the right hander, got baulked but stayed on the right to move up on the outside of the left hander, as the road swung right I got baulked again, but hopped up onto the pavement to make a lot of places, there was a guy in front of me on the pavement and I just managed to get around him and back on the road before ploughing into an ornemental planter! Back on the road approaching the one straight bit I had a run and really picked it up down the right hand barriers, I guy came off the left hand barrier to block me! gob smacked or what! so I was 5th, I would have been fourth apart from that manoeuvre and in the normal course of events he and I would have had a conversation in the car park! but I figured well I was too far back for the win, 4th or 5th who cares.
Sprinting in Belgium is definitely not for the feint hearted, but the vast majority of the guys are top bike handlers, but you have to be able to take and give a few bumps on the way.
So maybe if I'd come out of that key corner inside the first 10?
The finish for the worlds is I think very straight but as usual not very wide, so if I'm still in the race at the finish I'm going to have to fight, really fight.
The only bad news out of the day was that in the first two laps I ripped all the scabs off of my right palm, which was uncomfortable at the time but then in the race I forgot about it, now its a problem! Plus when I peeled my shorts off, the scabs on my hip had been weeping, stuck to my shorts and came away with my shorts! Not going to be a problem in the race but I'm not looking forward to spending 24 hours on a plane with that!
I know wuss!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Got my head back
Nice sunny morning, 23c, windy.
Did my pre race day which is a mix of Active Recovery, some endurance and some specific drills to wake my body up to race type efforts.
Spent the afternoon watching stages of the Tour of Burgos and the Tour of Poland, both a bit formulaic, you know the sort of thing, early breakaway, chased down at about 20k to go. But from there on both races had really exciting finishes, so I'm enthused now.
Racing tomorrow near the Wouter Weylandt memorial that has been recently vandalised (sicko's), I think it will be a top field so I need to be on my game. My plan is to do enough to be 'in' the race but not waste any efforts and try and do a good sprint to give me a bit of confidence for Sunday.
Saturday will be a day for packing, I will do a pre race ride in the morning, there is a big UCI women's race passing the hotel in the afternoon, I will sit on the steps and watch the girls do there stuff,hopefully in thye sun, finish my packing then I need to leave for the championship about 6am on Sunday to drive over the border into Holland.
Do the race, there are a 100+ on the start list from all over Europe and me, I have race number 2 again. Then I have to dissemble my bike, pack it all into the hardcase and then drive up to Amsterdam. I fly out on Monday morning.
Did my pre race day which is a mix of Active Recovery, some endurance and some specific drills to wake my body up to race type efforts.
Spent the afternoon watching stages of the Tour of Burgos and the Tour of Poland, both a bit formulaic, you know the sort of thing, early breakaway, chased down at about 20k to go. But from there on both races had really exciting finishes, so I'm enthused now.
Racing tomorrow near the Wouter Weylandt memorial that has been recently vandalised (sicko's), I think it will be a top field so I need to be on my game. My plan is to do enough to be 'in' the race but not waste any efforts and try and do a good sprint to give me a bit of confidence for Sunday.
Saturday will be a day for packing, I will do a pre race ride in the morning, there is a big UCI women's race passing the hotel in the afternoon, I will sit on the steps and watch the girls do there stuff,hopefully in thye sun, finish my packing then I need to leave for the championship about 6am on Sunday to drive over the border into Holland.
Do the race, there are a 100+ on the start list from all over Europe and me, I have race number 2 again. Then I have to dissemble my bike, pack it all into the hardcase and then drive up to Amsterdam. I fly out on Monday morning.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
I think my heads's gone!!!!
Had real trouble getting to sleep again last night, the wound on my hip is the real problem every time I move!
Woke up feeling very peculiar, just had real trouble getting going, even after I'd been and had my breakfast, but I managed to get myself ready to go race. Today's race was a bit further in kilometres than usual but still under an hour so no big deal.
I set off wondering whether I was forcing myself to do it, it was raining when I started, the nearer I travelled to the race venue the heavier the rain got. My GPS got its knickers in a twist with a freeway junction that was closed, I missed a detour sign and it started thundering, so I just said sod it! and went home and did absolutely nothing.
I need to get myself together tomorrow and at least ride, there is no race for me, then race again on Friday.
I think with the benefit of hindsight I shouldn't have raced on Monday, it hadn't recovered from stopping suddenly!!!!
Woke up feeling very peculiar, just had real trouble getting going, even after I'd been and had my breakfast, but I managed to get myself ready to go race. Today's race was a bit further in kilometres than usual but still under an hour so no big deal.
I set off wondering whether I was forcing myself to do it, it was raining when I started, the nearer I travelled to the race venue the heavier the rain got. My GPS got its knickers in a twist with a freeway junction that was closed, I missed a detour sign and it started thundering, so I just said sod it! and went home and did absolutely nothing.
I need to get myself together tomorrow and at least ride, there is no race for me, then race again on Friday.
I think with the benefit of hindsight I shouldn't have raced on Monday, it hadn't recovered from stopping suddenly!!!!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Recovery day and I think I needed it.
Beautiful day to day, 26c sunny a bit of wind.
Rode for 2.5 hours, mostly in the Active Recovery range but with some mid endurance bits and even a few very short surges. I'm very tired, I felt pretty lethargic on the ride, really 'battered' in fact. I didn't sleep well, every time I moved I woke my self up with the discomfort of various bits of me!
Did a few domestic things this afternoon, then had a 'nana' nap for about an hour, I think I woke up feeling worse than I did before I went to sleep.
I was planning on racing tomorrow but I'm not sure now, I'll see how I feel tomorow morning if I can sleep well tonight. With only this week left I'm sort of driven to take every opportunity to race that I can, but I guess I need to balance that against wanting to 'compete' when I race. Difficult decision, my thought was to race Wednesday, Friday and of course Sunday in the championship, not ideal preperation I agree but I think I have to be realistic, the championship is an O60 race I've moved too far away from that age to be a serious contender anymore.
Rode for 2.5 hours, mostly in the Active Recovery range but with some mid endurance bits and even a few very short surges. I'm very tired, I felt pretty lethargic on the ride, really 'battered' in fact. I didn't sleep well, every time I moved I woke my self up with the discomfort of various bits of me!
Did a few domestic things this afternoon, then had a 'nana' nap for about an hour, I think I woke up feeling worse than I did before I went to sleep.
I was planning on racing tomorrow but I'm not sure now, I'll see how I feel tomorow morning if I can sleep well tonight. With only this week left I'm sort of driven to take every opportunity to race that I can, but I guess I need to balance that against wanting to 'compete' when I race. Difficult decision, my thought was to race Wednesday, Friday and of course Sunday in the championship, not ideal preperation I agree but I think I have to be realistic, the championship is an O60 race I've moved too far away from that age to be a serious contender anymore.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Bike fixed, sunny day (at last) and another bike race.
I was waiting on the door step of the bike shop when it opened at what I thought was a very civilised 9.30am. Got a bit of the pursing of the lips but they took it on and undertook to try and get it done in time for me to race this afternoon, come back at 11.30 I was told. 11.30 was going to make the opportunity to race very slim.
I pitched back at 11.00! he was still working on my bike, called me through to show me what he had done, including the part of the lever housing that was cracked nearly right through, I think he took delight in informing me that one heavy application of the brake and it was going to let go!
Anyway he fitted a new (second hand) lever for 10 Euros which I was very grateful for, plus of course a few tiny Campagnolo spares, a cable, new handlebar tape and straighten the rear mech hanger. I was good to go.
Paying up and throwing my bike in the back of the car (not literally you understand) and speeding off to the race 40 minutes according to the GPS and I was speeding but not more than loads of other people. I get to the race with 5 minutes to spare, I am already dressed in my race kit, number pinned on, sign on very quickly and then wait, we were 10 minutes late in starting!
Big field today, 80 I'm guessing, lots of guys I had never seen before, I assumed that the good weather bought them out, it was 25c, with a light wind. I decided that as the 'extra's' were not regular racers they probably weren't going to feature and perhaps needed a bit of care. Having crashed in the last race, I was a bit concerned that I would be a bit 'windy' in my first races, especially as my 'road rash' is still fresh, however no problem.
I'm not very good at starting cold, never have been, but the first half lap seemed OK, then I had a stroke of luck, we ran up the back of the race in front, the younger guys, who for whatever reason had started really slowly, so we neutralised ourselves for 2/3 km's which was great for me.
Today's circuit was quite flowing, the difficulty was the sorry state of the home straight, it was an old cobbled road that at some stage in the dim and distant past it had been tarmac'ed over, so there were cobbled buts, a few smooth bits and the rest was mixed broken tarmac / cobbles. With people flicking about looking for smooth bits it was quite chaotic early on but I worked out how to prevent that later in the race.
The course was, about 400m into a 90 degree right hander that took us down a winding gentle down hill for about 1500m into a 90 degree right hander into another 1500m straight, 90 degree right hander for about 500m, 90 degree left for about 750m, 90 degree right, about 1500m with two sweeping right handers bought us to the last 90 degree right across cobbles onto the home straight that incline up at 2% for about 600m to the finish line.
The race sorted itself out after about 2 laps of 7, I moved to the top 20 before the end of the first lap, having started at the back, and right where I needed to be by the end of the second lap. There were a few false starts in that as any slowing bought a rush of 'new faces', I didn't want to be behind those that's for sure.
In the middle laps of the race I pulled strong turns up the home straight and was pleased to see lots of gaps in the line, I think we may have got rid of most of occaisional racers in this way, a combination of the gradient and cobbles.
The race settled into the usual pattern with the 'usual' faces making the race, me spending my efforts jumping across to likely looking breaks, I made two really big efforts, one with two to go which was succesful but the group was closed down, and again on the last lap which was unsuccesful, I just couldn't get across on my own. Unfortunately this was the winning group, only about 20 seconds off the front but nobody really doing anything about it. There were probably only about 20 still 'in' the race but I was so sore in a host of places I didn't fancy the physical style of the last couple of kilometres, so let my self slip to the back of the sprint for minor placings, the extra benefit was I didn't have to hang about for the extra hour to claim prizes!
My right hand was sore throughout the race, I have an open wound right on the heel of the palm, but that was just uncomfortable, my right thigh started to get really sore about half way and for the last couple of laps my rib area on both sides were really playing up, it was that mainly that made me give the finishing melee a miss.
Coming out of the shower I realised that my bruising has suddenly appeared, I now have some lovely multi coloured bruises! Oh Joy! hope fully a nice easy ride in the sun will help me move these through tomorrow, the forecast is 28c, looking forward to that.
I pitched back at 11.00! he was still working on my bike, called me through to show me what he had done, including the part of the lever housing that was cracked nearly right through, I think he took delight in informing me that one heavy application of the brake and it was going to let go!
Anyway he fitted a new (second hand) lever for 10 Euros which I was very grateful for, plus of course a few tiny Campagnolo spares, a cable, new handlebar tape and straighten the rear mech hanger. I was good to go.
Paying up and throwing my bike in the back of the car (not literally you understand) and speeding off to the race 40 minutes according to the GPS and I was speeding but not more than loads of other people. I get to the race with 5 minutes to spare, I am already dressed in my race kit, number pinned on, sign on very quickly and then wait, we were 10 minutes late in starting!
Big field today, 80 I'm guessing, lots of guys I had never seen before, I assumed that the good weather bought them out, it was 25c, with a light wind. I decided that as the 'extra's' were not regular racers they probably weren't going to feature and perhaps needed a bit of care. Having crashed in the last race, I was a bit concerned that I would be a bit 'windy' in my first races, especially as my 'road rash' is still fresh, however no problem.
I'm not very good at starting cold, never have been, but the first half lap seemed OK, then I had a stroke of luck, we ran up the back of the race in front, the younger guys, who for whatever reason had started really slowly, so we neutralised ourselves for 2/3 km's which was great for me.
Today's circuit was quite flowing, the difficulty was the sorry state of the home straight, it was an old cobbled road that at some stage in the dim and distant past it had been tarmac'ed over, so there were cobbled buts, a few smooth bits and the rest was mixed broken tarmac / cobbles. With people flicking about looking for smooth bits it was quite chaotic early on but I worked out how to prevent that later in the race.
The course was, about 400m into a 90 degree right hander that took us down a winding gentle down hill for about 1500m into a 90 degree right hander into another 1500m straight, 90 degree right hander for about 500m, 90 degree left for about 750m, 90 degree right, about 1500m with two sweeping right handers bought us to the last 90 degree right across cobbles onto the home straight that incline up at 2% for about 600m to the finish line.
The race sorted itself out after about 2 laps of 7, I moved to the top 20 before the end of the first lap, having started at the back, and right where I needed to be by the end of the second lap. There were a few false starts in that as any slowing bought a rush of 'new faces', I didn't want to be behind those that's for sure.
In the middle laps of the race I pulled strong turns up the home straight and was pleased to see lots of gaps in the line, I think we may have got rid of most of occaisional racers in this way, a combination of the gradient and cobbles.
The race settled into the usual pattern with the 'usual' faces making the race, me spending my efforts jumping across to likely looking breaks, I made two really big efforts, one with two to go which was succesful but the group was closed down, and again on the last lap which was unsuccesful, I just couldn't get across on my own. Unfortunately this was the winning group, only about 20 seconds off the front but nobody really doing anything about it. There were probably only about 20 still 'in' the race but I was so sore in a host of places I didn't fancy the physical style of the last couple of kilometres, so let my self slip to the back of the sprint for minor placings, the extra benefit was I didn't have to hang about for the extra hour to claim prizes!
My right hand was sore throughout the race, I have an open wound right on the heel of the palm, but that was just uncomfortable, my right thigh started to get really sore about half way and for the last couple of laps my rib area on both sides were really playing up, it was that mainly that made me give the finishing melee a miss.
Coming out of the shower I realised that my bruising has suddenly appeared, I now have some lovely multi coloured bruises! Oh Joy! hope fully a nice easy ride in the sun will help me move these through tomorrow, the forecast is 28c, looking forward to that.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
No race today, no ride today, no bike today
I woke up feeling rermarkable chipper this morning considering how sore I felt when I went to bed. Two glasses of Red wine and two Nurofen might have done the trick there, I slept really well, obviously my wounds haven't gone away but a lot of the soreness has, although I do have a slightly stiff neck to add to the list, that I didn't have yesterday.
The biggest issue I have was where somebody rode over my right calf while I was on the ground. When I woke feeling sort of OK, I thought today's race is pretty close, I'm going to ride. However being a little worried about the calf I changed my mind to maybe do an easy ride, if that felt OK maybe a longer steady ride and if that felt OK, I would do some serious efforts to test myself.
So I got ready, went out, about 1k down the road I realised that I could change down the cassette to the 11 but I couldn't change back. Bugger. Came back to the hotel, begged some tools to take the lever assembly apart, had a fiddle, the best I could do was get it working intermittently and even then I wasn't sure how I was achieving that!
So no race nor even a ride today, all things being equal by not racing today I was going to race on Monday, that has to be in doubt now, the bike shop opens at 9.30am, I have to persuade them to see to my bike first, hope they can fix and then drive the 45 minutes to the race which starts at 12, going to be tight. That assumes that they can and will fix it and that we don't need a spare part or something that they don't have. Three race potentially lost now. It seems my body is bouncing back quicker than my bike.
Apart from a twisted brake hood it seemed fine yesterday when I rode it back to my car. I suppose I could always buy a new bike!
I spent the afternoon watching F1 on the TV, which is pretty boring these days, I used to follow it but lost interest, I can see why now. But I spend some time on Youtube amusing my self with old clips of Eddy etc etc. I did find some clips from the VWF racing, the VWF is my preferred racing this year, it was one of their races that I crashed in but I can't blame the organisation for that. I've appended a few here of courses I have raced, although the camera work is pretty static so you don't get the idea of the circuit.
What you will see is that the races usually breakdown into a 'selection' of maybe 15/20 riders, in my races very often on lap 1 or 2, then that 'selection' keeps attacking itself to pair the group down even more sometimes into 2 or 3 groups. To date I have always made that selection so these video's are my first opportunity to really see what's going on behind!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL2SoqgdD8Y&feature=related
Aalst has a lot of racing in and around the town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrvkW-pffHE&feature=related
Temse is where the European Champs where this year, same course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJCkllq24E4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj0DJIIrR7c&feature=related
To finish off the afternoon I've just watched Cadel, roll Gilbert and McEwen in a post tour crit sprint, yeh right! The crowd seemed to like it OK.
The biggest issue I have was where somebody rode over my right calf while I was on the ground. When I woke feeling sort of OK, I thought today's race is pretty close, I'm going to ride. However being a little worried about the calf I changed my mind to maybe do an easy ride, if that felt OK maybe a longer steady ride and if that felt OK, I would do some serious efforts to test myself.
So I got ready, went out, about 1k down the road I realised that I could change down the cassette to the 11 but I couldn't change back. Bugger. Came back to the hotel, begged some tools to take the lever assembly apart, had a fiddle, the best I could do was get it working intermittently and even then I wasn't sure how I was achieving that!
So no race nor even a ride today, all things being equal by not racing today I was going to race on Monday, that has to be in doubt now, the bike shop opens at 9.30am, I have to persuade them to see to my bike first, hope they can fix and then drive the 45 minutes to the race which starts at 12, going to be tight. That assumes that they can and will fix it and that we don't need a spare part or something that they don't have. Three race potentially lost now. It seems my body is bouncing back quicker than my bike.
Apart from a twisted brake hood it seemed fine yesterday when I rode it back to my car. I suppose I could always buy a new bike!
I spent the afternoon watching F1 on the TV, which is pretty boring these days, I used to follow it but lost interest, I can see why now. But I spend some time on Youtube amusing my self with old clips of Eddy etc etc. I did find some clips from the VWF racing, the VWF is my preferred racing this year, it was one of their races that I crashed in but I can't blame the organisation for that. I've appended a few here of courses I have raced, although the camera work is pretty static so you don't get the idea of the circuit.
What you will see is that the races usually breakdown into a 'selection' of maybe 15/20 riders, in my races very often on lap 1 or 2, then that 'selection' keeps attacking itself to pair the group down even more sometimes into 2 or 3 groups. To date I have always made that selection so these video's are my first opportunity to really see what's going on behind!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL2SoqgdD8Y&feature=related
Aalst has a lot of racing in and around the town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrvkW-pffHE&feature=related
Temse is where the European Champs where this year, same course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJCkllq24E4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj0DJIIrR7c&feature=related
To finish off the afternoon I've just watched Cadel, roll Gilbert and McEwen in a post tour crit sprint, yeh right! The crowd seemed to like it OK.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Crashed out!
Not much I can say about today's race, crashed on the second lap of 5.
Ironically it was the safest, least technical race circuit that I have ridden this trip, perfectly marshalled, good road surfaces, one stretch of 500m category 1 cobbles just coming onto the home straight which was about 500m dead straight nice and wide, beautiful tarmac surface, we were in Holland after all. Topped off with only one of the guys I would recognise as a sprinter being there and I started the race thinking in a straight line I was faster. What was also in my favour was the fact that there were 'premies' for the first three places each lap, which in my experience tends to neutralise the race by the non sprinters attacking for the lap prizes cos they know they are not fastest in the finish, whereas the sprinters tend to keep their powder dry for the 'big' sprint. My plan was not to get involved, do just enough, give the sprint a big crack!
I was right about the outcome, my sprint pick cracked the win in a bunch finish, double bugger.
Anyway there was one straight which was cross wind, we were in the right hand gutter, me minding my own business, then we were braking hard, turning left, two guys going down, I had nowhere to go tried to make the grass verge, came up short. Given there is no stuctural damage I am pretty sure that I held onto the bars right through, took it hip, elbow, back? and helmet. The helmet's smashed and I knew I wasn't right while I was on the ground, so stayed there, everybody else remounted. To be honest if I hadn't hit my head I would have as well.
I can't say enough about the race organisation with a medico on the spot, finding somebody in the race caravan that spoke English, then getting taken to the first aid tent, bit of luck there as well, there was an old chap with a suspected heart attack in there and they had proper ambo's on the spot. One of then checked me over rather than leaving me to the volunteers. I am pleased to report that we still use the brush to clean out road rash wounds, I really enjoyed that! So I know have a good collection of what we used to call 'Patrick Sercu' bandages. The VWF officials where fantastic, each of them that speaks English came into the first aid area to check on me and knowing that I am on my own enquiring if I wanted somebody to drive me home, can't say enough about how good they are.
So ankle, knee, big cherry on the hip, back, elbow and hand on the right side. I think that I got rammed by one or two riders while I was down, had the tyre marks on my right calf and back. Consequently my right calf is very sore and my hip/groin is very difficult to walk, my hand being chopped up is inconvenient to say the least.
I'm hoping that when I try my bike tomorrow that it will be easier riding than walking, assuming that I can get out of bed! I can race tomorrow or Monday, hopefully I will be up for one of those.
My bike has minor cosmetic damage, I think, I will check it properly tomorrow. Some Nurofen tonight I think.
Ironically it was the safest, least technical race circuit that I have ridden this trip, perfectly marshalled, good road surfaces, one stretch of 500m category 1 cobbles just coming onto the home straight which was about 500m dead straight nice and wide, beautiful tarmac surface, we were in Holland after all. Topped off with only one of the guys I would recognise as a sprinter being there and I started the race thinking in a straight line I was faster. What was also in my favour was the fact that there were 'premies' for the first three places each lap, which in my experience tends to neutralise the race by the non sprinters attacking for the lap prizes cos they know they are not fastest in the finish, whereas the sprinters tend to keep their powder dry for the 'big' sprint. My plan was not to get involved, do just enough, give the sprint a big crack!
I was right about the outcome, my sprint pick cracked the win in a bunch finish, double bugger.
Anyway there was one straight which was cross wind, we were in the right hand gutter, me minding my own business, then we were braking hard, turning left, two guys going down, I had nowhere to go tried to make the grass verge, came up short. Given there is no stuctural damage I am pretty sure that I held onto the bars right through, took it hip, elbow, back? and helmet. The helmet's smashed and I knew I wasn't right while I was on the ground, so stayed there, everybody else remounted. To be honest if I hadn't hit my head I would have as well.
I can't say enough about the race organisation with a medico on the spot, finding somebody in the race caravan that spoke English, then getting taken to the first aid tent, bit of luck there as well, there was an old chap with a suspected heart attack in there and they had proper ambo's on the spot. One of then checked me over rather than leaving me to the volunteers. I am pleased to report that we still use the brush to clean out road rash wounds, I really enjoyed that! So I know have a good collection of what we used to call 'Patrick Sercu' bandages. The VWF officials where fantastic, each of them that speaks English came into the first aid area to check on me and knowing that I am on my own enquiring if I wanted somebody to drive me home, can't say enough about how good they are.
So ankle, knee, big cherry on the hip, back, elbow and hand on the right side. I think that I got rammed by one or two riders while I was down, had the tyre marks on my right calf and back. Consequently my right calf is very sore and my hip/groin is very difficult to walk, my hand being chopped up is inconvenient to say the least.
I'm hoping that when I try my bike tomorrow that it will be easier riding than walking, assuming that I can get out of bed! I can race tomorrow or Monday, hopefully I will be up for one of those.
My bike has minor cosmetic damage, I think, I will check it properly tomorrow. Some Nurofen tonight I think.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Recovery day and some pre race drills
Another easy day today, I know I'm still tired from the last two races. The weather was a little better today, well it didn't rain at least, about 20c I think, with light winds.
So I did a couple of my pre race drills on the ride today, I didn't feel particularly special but the power seemed to be there so I can be happy with that.
Very quiet afternoon, went and bought a new tyre for the rear wheel, my wife persuaded me to do that!, doesn't happen often, so I spent some time changing the tyre over and cleaning the bike. Helped by Jurgen's littles blonde beauty, she gabbles on in Flemish, I'm answering her in English. I would say that neither of us knows what the other is saying but that's not quite true, she's smarter than me!
The quid pro quo for her helping me with my bike was 10 minutes playing soccer when I'd finished, even I can manage that with a 7 year old.
The race tomorrow is just over the border in Holland, with an 11am start, so I will need to be ready and away relatively early, for here anyway.
So I did a couple of my pre race drills on the ride today, I didn't feel particularly special but the power seemed to be there so I can be happy with that.
Very quiet afternoon, went and bought a new tyre for the rear wheel, my wife persuaded me to do that!, doesn't happen often, so I spent some time changing the tyre over and cleaning the bike. Helped by Jurgen's littles blonde beauty, she gabbles on in Flemish, I'm answering her in English. I would say that neither of us knows what the other is saying but that's not quite true, she's smarter than me!
The quid pro quo for her helping me with my bike was 10 minutes playing soccer when I'd finished, even I can manage that with a 7 year old.
The race tomorrow is just over the border in Holland, with an 11am start, so I will need to be ready and away relatively early, for here anyway.
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