Stok - Kortenaken

It may seem somewhat duplicitous to be reporting that I was content to have rolled in with the peloton for a top 100 position at Thursdays race in Stok, but considering this is the first race in nearly 2 weeks, winning, or even trying to win was never an objective.

We were to face 10 laps of a 12km circuit starting at 18:00. Even if we were to average a ridiculous 45kph, the finish would still be taking place in darkness, and that is exactly what happened. The wide straight roads, coupled with little wind provided the perfect conditions for a fast race – ideal for getting some speed training in.

It was not long before I found myself hovering off the front of the peloton. Feeling fresh, and strong I spent almost the entire first half of the race either off or around the business end of the race- naturally, an encouraging outcome. Unfortunately, I was never able to gain more than a handful of seconds despite sometimes going clear with a good size groups, even being in a front split later on in the race with the peloton splintered was not enough for any escapees to go clear.

Ultimately I worked far too much, far too early and found myself unable to do much more than hang on for the final few laps, just as Dom, who had been biding his time in the peloton moved into what became the winning break, and finished off in 9th, while I rolled in with what remained of a weakened peloton – just half the 200+ riders completing the race.

For me, the result was irrelevant, and far more encouraging is that I felt strong and had a very aggressive race. Perhaps more importantly however, is to learn from your mistakes - I trained too hard while racing too much, and definitely won’t be repeating this blog in a month’s time!