Newbury Summer CX Rnd 5

Its late June, raining, I am sure that it is already starting to get dark earlier , and we haven't even had a summer yet.
At Goldwell park,  the grass had been cut, maybe it will make seeing the bumps easier, help to pick a smoother line instead of the normal juddering routes. The drizzle doesn't ease up as I get the bike out of the car.  Its jacket on, quick chin wag and its off for a warmup to check out the course.

Another fine twisty course on the menu,  and on the slick wet grass, cornering is going to be interesting. The Off camber switch backs are back, with additional block of switches and a very convoluted lower field. I think a 29er would have been a good choice.

So heres the course.. Start on a short straight >gentle left hander >dip> under the low willow tree> pinch point> sweeping right hander/loop through to another dip ( oooo mud)> bump> up the hill ( drag)> switch half way up>kick to a left hander> switch> followed by a steep kick for the hill crest.
Then off down an off-camber downhill to  a really slippy switch back (180)>followed by another 180 3 meters later> 3m again followed by another> down hill sweeping corner> to  another switch back up hill,
A few switch backs around marker trees ( a Banjo favourite now) followed by a welcome downhill section to a fast corner ( loads of flattened mole hills). Another flat fast long section, hugging the right hand line onto the lower field. A long straight> sharp right> another few straight followed by sharp corners., up to a set of 180's more line a sheep dip gates.
round a nother corner, to a loose 180 across the line for another lap..

I managed to get onto the front row again for the start and got away pretty quickly.  No fluffed clips this week. But by the time we went under the willow, I was in about third, but happy with that.
4 of us were together, with the usual guys that I stratify with over the first few laps. All was well, until someone tried wedging them selves up the inside, approaching that fast downhill switchback. I left it too late as I accelerated to close the gate and completely screwed up any hope of stopping . Damp grass, shit brakes, I cruised straight through the tape as I utterly messed it up.  The three chortling riders immediatly came through as I untangled myself while laughing at my stupidity.
I chased back onto a Banjo guy on a 29 er and we were pretty close for about 60 % of the race.  He opened up on me in all the switch backs and I made time on him on the flats. But eventually he managed to get away from me when I fluffed yet another corner. I was really struggling with cornering. The wet cut grass seemed to clog the tire tread, and maybe I was running  too low a pressure, but the tyres felt squelchy to the outside while pushing it into corners. The hurdles/ short switches I went through like an old lady, I over took one of the back markers, who then overtook me again just after these. ( He did push a bit too hard and crashed right in front of me on the next corner mind you.)
Another Banjo Cycles 29er had me in his sights. He had been chasing for ages
 and due to my wussy switchbacks ( did I mention that?)eventually deservedly caught me.
As I went through the finish line I saw the 1 lap to go board, woo hoo I thought and had a right dig.. one lap later the board was gone and I had to do yet another one.. Blunder.... but by now the leader (Crispin Doyle of Hargroves) was sat on my wheel taking the piss.. I slowed down to let him pass, but the fucker sat there and as he crossed the line to finish, I was forced to go do yet another final lap, but now the gap to Banjo 29er boy was too great to get back...
That final lap was not without incident, as I entered the lower field  I came up behind my friend Dean. He had a good dig, determined not to be lapped by me, but as he took a good line and accelerated out of one of the faster corners, disaster struck him and his rear mech folded, with a sickening crunch. It wasnt over though, as my right calf cramped in solidarity and I pedaled single legged for a straight, before I gingerly soft pedalled to finish.
Finishing in eighth place wasn't too bad for how shit I had ridden. Just one to go , hopefully stay out of trouble till next Thursday. 

What went well:  another good start. Another top ten. felt fast on the drops across the rutty lower field.
Not so good:

• I didnt feel as strong as the last few weeks, 
• Shit cornering ability on tight switch backs
• Shit cornering ability on wet grass ( lower pressure than lately)
• Poor decision, not dismounting to run through the tight switchbacks
• Need to drink more as well as that cramp is still hurting a day later.

Quote

4 year old son:  If you are not going to get tired of pedaling why do you want to go ?

hell yeah son... thats the right idea

Newbury Summer CX Rnd4

Thursday evening, long draggy day, muggy weather feeling pants... must be time for racing ;-)

Muggy, Sticky, but at least its dry again. Banjo Cycles seem to be finding their confidence, by setting increasingly testing courses at Goldwell Park. This week was deliciously twists, with the uphill switch backs making a reapearance, and the lower field (ted) hosting a sharp 'S' bend just before the finish.

I have acquired a pair of Fulcrum Race CX 5 and was keen to use them. a lunchtime repair to a nicked sidewall and I shod them with my old Michelin Muds ( MK1). From training on these classics, I was sure that they would corner better than the Challenge's that I have raced on the last two weeks.
 Warming up they felt ok, so I committed and lined up at the start.

The start this week was close to a sweeping left hander. I was quick enough to get the inside line front row, and when the whistle went I was off like a rocket.  My assailable lead lasted until the second corner, as the elite seniors made their way past. , including a cheeky RAF geezer calling a line on the fast downhill section.
I held on in 4 or 5th for quite a while, but Cotswold Veldrijden and a few Banjo Boys were steaming towards me ( Well Banjos were sat on him )
they eventually past me and with a Rides on Air rider nipping at my heels, I did my best to keep on pushing.
Eventually I pushed too hard, and made a mistake , Fluffing a corner on one of the short uphill corners, needing to get off and run over the bump. I cocked up the next corner as well, losing all hope of catching the small group in front.
Taking it easy under the trees in case any dew was forming  I felt that the Muds were drifting a bit and I had to back off in some of the corners.
the twisty lower field took its toll again as the rutted long drags really wore me down, though my triceps didnt ache as much as last week.
Bell lap and I pushed on a bit,  and held on for tenth place.
Pretty chuffed with that as it was a strong field.
went well: Start :-) cant get much better than that.
not so good. Cocking up on corners when tired, poor tyre choice, Flat line strength across rutted ground. 
Average HR 97% of max.. dont think I can go much quicker..

Look at how twisty...

Old friends

When I used to ride road bikes I was a semi retro grouch, but with a modern twist. My particular taste is high quality steel frame, with a carbon fork.  With my limited means I put together a lovely steel Lemond, Campag Chorus through out. Royce hubs on DT R1.1 Chorus carbon compact chainset,  Arione saddle, lots of Hope stuff incluing a RS stem.… you get the drift.

Now its not the most super amazing top drawer bike, but it was mine and I rode it ... a lot…But then as I started riding more fixed gear/ short trips, it stopped being used and it hung in the garage gathering dust for most of 2011/2012. I used my Surly on the nursery runs. ( childseat and porteur rack) or my track bike( I was training for Roller racing )

I got kinda  got swept up in the whole disks on road bikes thing and for once in my life became an early adopter and bought a spanking Genesis Croix de Fer. The Lemond was stripped down and the parts transferred to the Genesis.

It looked cool.. But try as I might I just couldn’t get on with the Genesis.. I liked the brakes ( when they were not squealing). The handling was ok., a bit lack lustre maybe. But I totally loathed the weight.  This thing weighs a tonne.

With the Hiver shod with old race wheels,  my passion for riding on the road was reignited ( as a necessity for bagging Segments and CX training).

While I have been threatening that I would strip it down I just couldn’t be bothered, but the last straw finally came after Sundays ride.. I went to lift it over a pile of junk in the garage and the weight finally hit me. 725 steel or not .. it’s a fucking lump.

Now maybe I am used to flicking a cheapy aluminium cross frame up with the greatest of ease.. but this was beyond a joke.

Two days later it is now hanging skeletally in the garage, next to the stripped down Surly and roller race training turbo frame.

In only one hour the Lemond was assembled and a quick scoot proved all was ok. 

She is back

A lunchtime ride today reaffirmed our friendship. Smooth and responsive.  Like a favourite pair of trainers.

Shes back..

This is a big hill dad

4 year old (cycling to nursery): this is a big hill Dad!
Me                                          : No its not that big son, it isn't even a Strava segment....

I should be a bit ashamed....

Train your Weaknesses, Race your strengths..

After the last two races, I am getting a basic idea of where my strengths are and where my weaknesses lie.  Basically I lose time every lap on the draggy climb and more on the rutty draggy straights. My start needs a bit more aggression. I don't seem to be able to translate my Roller Racing start speed and cadence into real life...
  Cornering was pretty good ( or felt like) and tactically I felt I raced pretty well. My Average heart rate for the second race was 96% Max so I don't think I can go much harder.
Cut to Sunday. Family are out, I have two hours to go training .. what do I do?
1> Do some hard hill intervals knowing it will help me sharpen up in the Summer CX series?
2> Keep my eye on the Season long goal of racing cross this winter? not the short term result.

I dont know who said,"Train your weaknesses" but if draggy hard stuff. = depth = hard base miles is where I should spend my efforts, especially if I have a guilt free 2 1/2 hours available.
So I went for a hilly 40 miler.

Winter is coming..

Recovery drinks

I took a long time to recover after last weeks exertions, so I thought I would invest in one of those carb/protein recovery drinks.
I bought two brands.

REGO and for Goodness Shakes.

Impressions:
I mixed the  Shakes Strawberry flavour .. dead easy, shaped sachet , no clumps and tasted great. no stomach trouble.
The banana flavour was a bit chalkier, but still easy to mix and very palatable.
REGO no so much..Mixing was harder as I have an old SIS bottle with the graduations on it. 90g on the bottle 50 per serving recommended on the product.. hmm. guesstimate time., made harder by a wet bottle meaning it was hard to gauge how full it was. Top up with water, but  a big unmixable clump in the bottle, steadfastly stuck to the bottom of t he bottle and a few gummy floaters to block the teat. Tasted pretty good, maybe a bit chalky, but did the job..
Definitely Goodness Shakes gets it .. so I went back to Hargroves to buy as many as I could as they are no longer stocking it. looks like I will be using it after every hard ride for the summer.

Newbury Summer CX Rnd3

Another Thursday, early start in work, to get away in plenty of time. I popped into Hargroves to buy some Rego at lunchtime as I suffered a fair bit after last weeks race ( may have been the very late gig up at Bristol Bike Fest on Friday mind you)
Easy traffic , arriving at Newbury a bit better prepared than last week.
A two lap warmup, soon revealed a much tougher course than last week. Especially the switchbacks going up through the trees. Corner> uphill 10m sprint>corner>sprint> corner>sprint....Even though it had rained most of the previous two days, the course was dry.
 As we lined up to start , i Kind of wedged myself somewhere in between the front two rows. I will start you in 5 seconds.. and we were off..
I had a pretty god start, but fluffed my clip in and lost a  few spots. the usual first lap 100% max meant I made  a few up and as we were going through the start again i was in about 4-5 place.
A young Fareham Wheelers lad , Andover Wheelers and a Pedal-On MTBer were all pushing tit for tat on corners.
I managed to keep pressure on Fareham boy and flew past where he fluffed a corner, but my marginal gain was short lived as didn't have the strength to hold them off on the flat straights. Damn it was rutty. My triceps were well caked by the end!!
Fareham boy crashed  and I went past again. It stayed like that for quite some time, but I could see Fareham and a Cotswold Veldrijden rider hauling back up to me.
No matter what I did they slowly but surely closed in.  I kept digging hard, but overcooked it under the trees where I think that I hit a damp patch and went down on my right side. ( why is it that handlebars always dig into your thigh!)  after bashing the shifters square again I was off up the hill, but they were just going faster than me and passed with about 1 1/2 laps to go.. Those damn draggy straights in the lower field (ted) were my undoing.
I finished with a pretty fast lap and no lasting damage other than clumps of earthy grass on my shifters and rear mech.
Counting back with other riders around the finish, I finished eighth. and third Vet ( is that a podium?) so in all not too shabby. need to get back and do circuits down my woods.
Have a look at the interactive results: Banjo Cycles.com cyclocross-results-seniors    Well cool....

.. roll on next weeks racing. 

Good Quote

" when the gun goes.... its a sprint for the finish......"*

No rests , go hard, finish fucked...**

* MIke Shultz Training Peaks
* Shite added by me

Early Morning run

When SWMBO leaves for work , I generally waste time either on my Tumblr (Just get on with it) (ohhh the irony), reading the news etc. before I pluck up enough energy to drag my arse out of bed and do my usual 30 mins of core and stretching. If his royal highness gets up in that time he sneaks into bed and watches some cartoons on Netflix.

Not today though. I left the house at 6:35 and went for a 5 mile run in the light drizzle.

I dont run that much, and only really do it as a necessity for the upcoming cyclocross season. But it is damn good getting out that time of day. Through the wet grass , down through Holly Hill park out onto the Hamble Shore.

 Then home via the woods. with its short run ups. I know these runs are crap and I really should be getting on with more intervals work, but it is hard to resist the ease of sticking trainers on, music in,  and just escaping and getting out there. Its quick, simple but still bloody hard work. 4.85 miles @7.50 m/mi  ( bit slower than recently)

Newbury Summer CX Rnd2

Newbury Summer CX.. Glorious sunny dry weather.I was a bit nervous pinning my number on.. Just looking around at the machinery, carbon frames, deep-section wheels, Tubs. I just hoped I wouldn't embarrass myself , and take such a big ego knock that would affect my training. Warm up ok. dialed in the line through the trees. and soon it was lining up for the start.

( nicked from @Scotty_Manley Twitter)

I didn't have the confidence to push forward,  so I got off to a totally shit start as I was boxed in ( need to work on that), Spent the first lap muscling my way through at least half the pack. holding the race line, short cornering, ( bit aggressive I know, but one thing that CityCross taught me was to use elbows if necessary) The starting straight was followed by two 90' turns, over a bump, a sharp left hander, a dip ( sure to be muddy next time) variable lines under a willow tree and onto a long draggy hill.  a little kick at the top followed by a very bumpy off camber

( nicked from @NewburySummerCX Twitter)

straight to the downhill section. This was pretty hairy with the smooth line being obscured by low hanging branches. It was a case of close your eyes, duck your head, grit your teeth and plough straight through it, opening the ojos quickly so that  you don't run into the second ,rather awkwardly, placed tree.. then off across the rutted field with jolly hairpins before starting the second loop.

photo from Sports Alive Photography

 
I went well into the red on the first lap (new max HR), making up for the poor start , and by the second lap , a Banjo Cycles rider a Progression cycles guy and I were all together. They managed to drop me on the hill and I couldnt get back on.

I eventually got lapped by the eventual top two which wasnt too bad for a 2:30 ish min circuit. I managed to catch Banjo Cycles guy and he sat on for half a lap or so..

photo from Sports Alive Photography

.Come the last lap, I had a hard dig on the hill, in a total shot or bust, go home fucked kind of way,  which was my undoing..Banjo Boy held my wheel, gapped me which I just couldn't get back. That damn hill ( need to work on that too)
I finished in tenth, not too bad for my first proper cyclocross race. Cant wait for next Thursday.

Erosion

Erosion of form, of morale, of KOMs , not feeling welll, just feeling underpowered. Maybe my son waking me up at 03:30 to tell me he had an itchy foot didnt help.. but cant seem to go out and fire on all cylinders... is it rest? overtraining? illness? thats three KOMs lost over the last few days.
May Statistics were not too bad for me.
Total Miles=326
Average Speed=16.04 ( cross rides generally drag it down)
Total Hours=20
Number of rides=17
Number of new KOMs=10
Running miles=23.9 miles