I’m currently in the middle of exams, so what better way to procrastinate than an overly-long and long-overdue blog entry. Last time I posted here was way back in May. There’s not been a lot of racing going on, but here it goes anyway:
Having missed the ferry due to 2 hour traffic delays in Belgium, the original plan of driving straight back to Loughborough was put on hold and so I was homeward bound back to Chelmsford, a rare destination for me these days. Departing for Loughborough the following evening, I took the opportunity for a quick spin on one of my old training routes, a pleasant change from the bumpy Belgian concrete I’d been on for the last month (if you’ve ever ridden in Belgium, you’ll know exactly what I mean...) Finding time for a quick coffee stop with a certain Mr Dowsett (a guy I have huge respect for, having attended school and watched progress right through the pro ranks), it was soon time to return to Loughborough.
Next race on the agenda was the BUCS road race championships, a home race for me as it is organised by the student club here, and one I wanted to get a result in. With a small field of 50 or so riders, and 15 having bought day licences, it wasn’t really a day to hide in the peloton. The course is tough, after a short neutralised section, it heads to Belvoir Castle with strong tailwind, before cutting back to Harby with a relentless block head wind before the centrepiece climb up to the finish line, unhelpfully having just been resurfaced and left with deep gravel to negotiate!
Jokingly, I attacked as soon as the flag went down, and in almost comedy fashion the entire peloton sat up and watched 5 riders disappear instantly down the road. Knowing 3 of the riders, Wojciech Szlachta, Tom Durno and Joe Skipper, and an Oxford representative we worked hard to push the gap out, realising that this could, almost accidentally, be the winning move. Distancing the peloton, we took the climb steady each lap, pushed on to take maximal advantage of the tail wind and setting a good tempo into the headwind section. I was quickly reminded of why British racing is so terrible, as no sooner had an old man doing his weekly shop swung across the road in front of us, than a tractor blocked the entire road as he searched for the entrance to he’s farm. This could only happen in British racing. As time gaps came and went, we started to lose riders, and the tough conditions took their toll. With two laps to go, it was just me and Wojciech left out front, with a 25 rider peloton chasing at 2-3 minutes. Leaving everything on the road, 150 kilometres later, and 3 riders chasing at a minute, I had to finally relent to the fierce tempo on the final climb, as Wojciech took a fantastic and well earned victory. I was still very happy with second place, and hats off to him - the strongest guy on the day won!
Give or take the weekly local 10, my next race was the campus crits, superbly organised again by LSCC. It’s not often you get to race past your front door, and I was very motivated for a result here. However, that was about as good as it got, my heart rate went through the roof on the climb and never came down again on the descent. 20 minutes in, and that was that, I crawled home disappointed, my confidence taking a big knock. I pretty much came to realise that I had got my training wrong. Without a big lecture on periodisation etc. etc. etc. I hadn’t trained for the specific short sharp race efforts since returning from Belgium. I could ride in a 150km break away, but a hilly crit? Not a chance. The last few weeks I’ve cut the volume, increased the intensity and I’m feeling a lot before for it.
Last weekend, myself and training partner Mike Thelwell made the trip into the peak district last weekend for a short 90km but potentially hilly (it was hilly. Very hilly) E/1/2 near Buxton. Despite a 7 minute warm-up, (it being a lot further away than we had imagined) and a shaky start, I came on strong in the second half and solo’d across a minute and a half gap to a group of 8 riders, with 1 leader a few trillion miles out front. Predictably just as I bridged the gap on the climb (bole hill) with 1 lap to go, the group split in 2. I recovered over the climb, and set about chasing the 3 who had jumped clear. Dragging 3 others with me, 2 of whom seemed to think they shouldn’t work because they had been in the break and were a bit tired... We never caught the group and so raced on for 5th, with me easily winning the tough hill sprint to the line, that was my kind of finish!
So there we have it, I’ve been racing a few local crits at Mallory and Darley Moor and some evening 10’s, but they’re only really training. I have slightly higher ambitions than to win the Thursday night world championships. Although apparently team Raleigh don’t.
I’ve set up a Twitter account so follow me @davetherave1991 (I didn’t choose the name!) for some shorter updates on my life. It’s back to Belgium on the 26th, so expect some more updates from the continent soon.
