May 12/13 Mud sweat and gears!

On Friday night I turned in at 9:30 ready for a 6am start on Saturday, bleary eyed and grouchy from lack of caffeine I couldn’t help wondering what I had let myself in for.

For the Saturday I had entered a surrey league road race promoted by Bayeux CT held in Newick  a bit north of Brighton.  I had entered this as a bit of a panic after the race I had been targeting (The Tour of the Millbury) had been filled up early and closed.  Anyway I embarked on the 2hr drive down to Newick not knowing  1) any of the other 54 people on the start sheet   2) what the terrain was going to be like and  3) how I was going to fair over a 100km road race as due to illness I hadn’t managed one yet this year. 

After signing on at the HQ I couldn’t help noticing the amount of lightly built riders around, alarm bells immediately started to ring!   I approached one of the Motor outriders “Hi, so what’s the course like then?”   “Well...I hope you like hills!” he said.  As it happens I love hills, just not racing whippets up them for 60 miles.  Anyway this finalised my plan for the 8 lap race, sit in for the first lap and see how bad it is.

So we set off for a short neutralised section up a hill on to the course and began the first lap.  It started out easy enough; the first half of the course was rolling with draggy climbs that suited me.  There where the normal early escape attempts but they where easy to bring back. Entering the second part of the course the road surface degraded with frequent potholes and mud all over the place. While this was quite disconcerting in a bunch it wasn’t too bad until someone broke a spoke and proceeded to swerve violently in front of me! I had to take avoiding action and lent on the rider to my left, fortunately he was an experienced rider and we both managed to stay up.  Panic over we made it round to the first set of climbs, Steep, sharp and punchy is probably the best way to describe them.  The final climb up to the finish line was the harshest and again attacks went in but we completed the first lap all together.  

Descending the hill after the start finish a concerted attack went in that had the bunch strung out single file for a good 5miles, but eventually a 10 escaped off the front and I was too far back to respond.  With the escapees still in sight I moved up and chipped off the front in an effort to make it across.  I hoped other guys would come across to me and help close the gap but they where quite happy just to drive the bunch on and close me down.  Once I was caught the bunch just sat up and I knew the race was probably over.  So we rolled round quite uneventfully for the next 30miles or so until the second to last lap.  I was just sitting in the bunch at what I thought was mid pack until I looked around and saw I was at the back. Nearly half the field had been shelled!   I started to work my way to the front and I made it for the bell lap.  With about 2miles to go I again chipped off the front and got a fair gap, up the final hill I was just about staying away but was passed in the final 200 meters by the remnants of the peloton.

It was good enough to take 9^th from the bunch so with the 10 away that made 19^th all in all not bad but room for improvement. 

Results:
1 Harold Evans VO2 Development Team 2
2 Elliott Porter Team Corridori 2
3 Conall Yates In Gear-Quickvit 2
4 Iain Palmer Twickenham CC 3
5 Josh Lawless Private Member 3
6 Sam Larkham Bristol South CC 3
7 Michael Coyle Brighton Mitre 2V
8 Scott Webb Team PM Racing 3
9 Ashley Dennis Prestige Velo Club 3J
10 Joe James Velosport 2
11 Daniel Clark Brighton Mitre 3
12 Darren Peachey Addiscombe CC 2
13 Stuart Harvey i-team.cc 2
14 Jonathan Lewis Charlotteville CC 2V
15 Paul Sewell Bigfoot CC 2
16 Paul Drake Cycleworks.co.uk 2
17 Robert Quin Brighton Mitre 3V
18 Keith Lea Addiscombe CC 3V
19 Oliver Hitchings Peter Hansford Racing 2
20 James Lowden Lewes Wanderers 2
21 Daniel Drake Lancashire RC 3
22 Luke Farren Brighton Mitre 3
23 Graham Hills In Gear-Quickvit 2V
24 Peter Allan Private Member 2
25 Chris Beales La Fuga - Sigma Sport 3V
26 Peter Morris Lewes Wanderers 3
27 Colin Gunn Kingston Wheelers 3
28 Andrew Colvin Bigfoot CC 3V
29 Marc Townsend Neon-Digital.co.uk 3
30 Robbie Hayton Bigfoot CC 3
31 Stuart Adair Redhill CC 3V
32 Stuart Fahey Brighton Mitre 3V
33 Greg Woodhouse Brighton Mitre 3
34 Daniel Stevens Neon-Digital.co.uk 3

So to Sunday, and it was time for my 2^nd race of the weekend. again it was something I was even more unprepared for,  The South of England MTB Associations regional CX championships held on Wasing Estate Near Reading. On reflection this was a bit of a foolhardy move on my part but I had paid my fee and I wasn’t going to back out now.

  I was entered in the sport category and was fairly confident my fitness level was sufficient to see me through its only an hour after all….  I won’t go into lots of details but I have a new found respect for XC racers! It was far more technical and challenging that I had anticipated.  I while I won’t use it as an excuse I feel the bike I used (the verry robust giant revel) is probably more suited to the rolling hampshier downs and not a full on race bike as most people’s front wheel cost more that my XC steed. I dropped the chain that then jammed in the cranks at one point on the last lap a stupid gear change on my part left too much slack on the chain so i only have my self to blame. 

While I had fun in a strange kind of way but I was happy for it to be over.  what’s even more supriseing I wasn’t last!  Its defiantly something I’m going to revisit in the future when I have a developed my skills to a somewhat higher standard... 

All through the weekend I was using Clif shot blocks and Honey Stinger bars and found them to work fantastically.  I didn’t have any hunger knocks in my 60mileRR or MTB nightmare.  I’ll defiantly be trying this combo again!

Happy peddling,

Ollie