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Vertical Bogs

So , my birthday present  for Alan as he entered his 6th decade , was to allow him to drive us to compete in the Barebones 200. An event which is billed on the website as an off road Time Trial round mid wales . It is unsupported, you receive a GPX file for the Garmin ; a 60 second briefing at the start  , which was definitely to the point 'If you get back before 8am then don't come to the farmhouse -come back to the field and enter your name and arrival time there"; and then  the next morning , AFTER 8am ,a very good and vast cooked breakfast from the kitchen of the said farmhouse cooked by organiser Stuart's wife.

And that was it. Four rules  on kit, you must have  ;

1 sleeping bag

2 bivvy bag

3 lights 

4 a phone ( this being redundant as it doesn't work anywhere )

. A refreshingly minimalist approach.

spot the spare garmin borrowed from Matt Scholes  I reckoned that if were separated there was one thing I could not manage without and that was the route .

There were 56 starters and our aim was to finish-ideally  in under 24 hours.Last year in wet conditions when the temperature got down to  minus 6c ,less than half of the field finished and less than a third got round in under 24 hours , but this time it was much warmer and as we were repeatedly told by the old hands we met on the way round " Oh it is so much easier this year…."

We went wrong a couple of times , both times in the dark and each time Alan quickly realised before I did and got us back on route Here he is scanning ahead for  the route

This was mid afternoon on a moor called Carneu . Last year this was a scene of some heartbreak with much pushing and carrying. There was still a fair bit but not too much and it was a beautiful spot. Even this poor photo gives a feel for the light. And spot the "path" if you can …..Stuart the next day when I expressed some mild incredulity at parts of the route - gave a broad smile and assured me we were always following a bridle path. I will have to take his word for it.

The top of Carneu. We started at 10am -presumably to make sure that however fast the first back were there is always going to be a lot of the route done in the dark. For us it was about half and half.

It does not look steep but this is leading up to the high point on Carneu where it had flattened out -it was a lot steeper just before this -honest.

Me looking rather more desperate than I felt.

When my main light failed at about 3.30am on the sunday morning ( after stupidly not charging it fully before the start ) I was pleased that I had brought a head torch as back up. As I was a little concerned that running it on main beam would result in no light at all I ran it on dimmed. This was fine save for the slight impediment of me not really being able to see. This led to one memorable trip straight over the top of the handlebars about 20 minutes before the end. but nothing serious.

You can see the fast guys here -like any race -at the front from the off. They are the ones in summer jerseys and arm warmers .The start had about 15 miles on narrow lanes and the lead group averaged 22 mph on this section ,not bad for fully laden mtn bikes.

The route is notable for a crossing about 10 rivers or more  and one section , Strada Florida, comprises riding through one long stretch of water after another. There are steep banks at the side or bogs and it is quite hard to push round them . The deepest stretch came over our hubs but we got through it ok. Last year , we were told with great relish , that as well as the water being freezing , it was waist high on the last river crossing. On the very first river crossing , after about an hour, Alan rode straight across it with aplomb. I followed his wheel but did not follow his style and ended up on my back while still  in the cleats. A little embarrassing but a few hours later and I seemed to have dried off ok. 

At 6.45pm just as it was becoming truly dark we came to the first and last village we would see on the whole route. This village had not one but two pubs and both serving food. Before the start we were we wondering if we would reach this oasis before 9pm when food was no longer served.  But we had made very good time -in part because as were about to find -the second half includes a number of unrideable pitches with tufts of grass 3 feet high with water seeping through them- was a lot tougher and slower. Indeed the vertical bogs were getting ready to make an appearance.

The smell of home cooking was too much and Alan said -"right in we go". It was a good decision. Although we had to wait 30 minutes for the food , we were warm -it was now raining outside  -and we had a big carb heavy meal -and we did still ,it turned out ,have 9 hours and 45 minutes riding to do .

We had brought enough food -and Alan lugged round a small stove -so we were not reliant on the pub -but I smile now as I  remember the joy of a very large plate of hot nosh appearing on the table.

Alan is an excellent companion on these occasions -and I must stress not just because he is always happy to drive -since as well as being very strong on the navigation front , he remains calm in the face of adversity. However, just for a moment at about 2.18 am, he let his normally cool demeanour slip , whilst  ascending yet another mountain of  soggy tussocks at a gradient of at least 30% , I suggested we should contour round as it was even steeper than what had gone before.  He politely told me , in I have to say ,in a rather brusque ,offhand tone ,that I could do whatever  I liked  -he was going straight up.  A few minutes later he definitely seemed to be going sideways on the same angle as me . I chose to let this pass…..

I had never ridden a mountain bike at night before and it is a memorable experience. There is absolutely no light pollution out there , there were no moon or stars and almost riding into two large boulders which as we neared them then turned round and showed us their horns and bovine best , by then did not even faze us. And tearing down forest trails and even grassy single track in the pitch dark is -as I say -memorable  and even when becoming just a tad fatigued , is an adrenaline charged experience.

Finally at 5.15 am , some 19 hours after starting we were back at the start. I had packed some 200 mg caffeine pills ( pro plus are 50mg ) but they were not needed. Funnily enough we found it quite hard to fall asleep when pushing or carrying our bikes up over those infernal tussocks.

We found out -after 5 hours of blissful sleep in the back of Alan's car, over breakfast ,that the winner had taken just less than 12 hours. An amazing achievement. It happened we parked next to him at the start and we did notice that he was small and lithe. In fact he was so lithe that his thighs were the same dimension as Richard Gordon's forearms. When carrying or pushing a bike your weight and that of your machine becomes rather relevant.

For the record , Alan and I came in 15th .

A rather special event , run by  a very friendly bunch , and my best adventure for quite a while.

Happy Birthday Alan.

Nick

The Surrey cycling debate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k5y0c

Amsterdam Six

You can watch a live feed of the Amsterdam Six here on YouTube

HERE

Lap it up!

So you get to bed at one O'clock and rise at six after the most momentous day of your racing career, thinking you have no more to add but I still have a point to prove.

Steve Clayton takes some points in one of the ferocious sprints

 The Points race is my favourite event and with the confirmation from my brother that he had never seen me win a race in the style of the night before. Phil had spent the last lap thinking I had blown my chance victory would slip by once more. Thanks brother! No heats in the morning so we could all slope off to get a bit more rest, Adrian was not riding, he was off after almost grabbing a World medal, with no racing for ten weeks and a chest implant and other undesirable interruptions to his season he had finally diagnose a heart fibrillation issue he has had since childhood. He has the satisfaction of heart surgery to come and the knowledge he will be back stronger next year

Going for broke in the break

The reality was that I got ten minutes lie down before the evening session and only ten minutes on the track Claire (Hands on Recovery) gave my legs a rub in her new occupation as a masseuse, the last time we met I was screaming down the A50 in the BDCA '100' "Go Claaaaaaaaaaaaire!"

It's ten O'clock at night before the twenty four riders take the starters gun, I have only one plan wait until the last third of the sixty lap race, ignore four of the six sprints and then go for broke and gain a lap. A lap gain is worth ten points and that might be enough to get me a medal, last year I had seven points the same as the third place rider, but he had gained a lap in the race. I figured after last night I would be marked out the race, so it was "Shit or Bust" (it's a plumbing term!) as my dad would say, I always go better at the end of the race. The first two sprints are red hot anyway, I just have to mark the breaks and make sure nothing gets away so I roll through a few times to make sure the speed does not slow.

Result!

Past the middle of the race, my legs are getting twitchy and I go for some points with twenty to go but I only place fourth and with a rider ahead I strike out, this is my time to go and it takes me two laps to find a lull in the pace to break from the pack and get up the 'road'. I catch two riders Gerry Cross (Manchester Whs) and Nigel Stephens (Finchley RC - Adrian's heart consultant, always good to know there's a doctor on board!) I know I cannot take a lap on my own so I pitch in with them, we do half laps but its a bit slow, I'm chomping at Gerry's heels every turn but i have to bide my time, we have a third of a lap and getting onto the next sprint. I lead out for a full lap and take the points, we almost have the bunch at a third of a lap and I begin to calculate can I get across the gap on my own before the end, the bunch will speed up with three to go and we will not bridge the lap so I have to go soon. But when?

Final Sprint - (Pic Steve Walton)

The bunch splits ahead and they draw away, I think I have to go, then it comes together and we are in the same straight, one more turn and we are on, five to go, I have my lap now I need to get up for the final sprint, my place may be down to how high up the finish I am so I head straight for the front just as the wind up for the final sprint begins, I have no time to gather my breath or thoughts at this stage its truly 'eyeballs out' Toth my lucky Canadian leads again (Damn! he's good) I come over the top, over Ettles the European Champion and I place second, a couple of riders up the track but I've done what I set out to do, I have absolutely no idea who has won, where I am placed?

My breakaway companion Dr Stephens Bronze

As I circle the track brother Phil holds up two fingers, is it second? it is second! UNBELIEVABLE! Perfect tactics, from me and only last years Champion has beaten me, Stephane Le Beau the Canadian, he went for the lap just before me and mopped up the points ahead of me, he gained a lap on his own! And then attacked at the end to get second at the finish What a rider, What a Boy.

My position last year Gerry 4th place

The Doctor has taken the Bronze by virtue of one more point on the penultimate sprint, Gerry is 4th he did a valiant ride but loses out this time. We are the only ones to take a lap, all other activity in the race is as if nothing, this race was won (not lost) in the last 20 laps, I think Le Beau had the same tactics as me but he can do it on his own, he is supreme in this respect.

Podium - Le Beau 

Stephane was second in the Individual Pursuit an event he won last year, he and I pass pleasantries at the podium, we both have a Gold and Silver (he went on to get Bronze in the team Pursuit) I'd like to think my 8th in the Individual trumps his 18th in the Scratch but I'm happy to share top billing in this age group with this superb athlete, even more so when he tells me he goes up unto the 55-59 age group next year.

The British riders have done well, two medals here and two in the Scratch (six in the top seven) We miss out in the Pursuit Ian's 4th one down on last year Adrian Dent (Team Terminator) holds our end up in the other events with Silver in both the 500m TT and the Sprint (Gold in the Team Sprint)

I was convinced to ride the Cossavella 10 mile race to finish the Championships on the Saturday, it was a super fast race with all the best riders from the week in every age group. I just tried to keep well up but at one third distance one of the Argentineans (of which there were a few!) made a somewhat sudden and unusual blocking manoeuvre while one of his team mates was away and brought one of the Americans down, unfortunately I could not avoid him coming down the track and he took my back wheel away, I was sent tumbling into the infield in a heap. I got up quickly and was back in the race in no time after straightening my bars and finished with the main bunch after leading out the winner John McClelland to the bell as there was a genera consensus that we did not mind who won so long as it was not an Argentinean! Job done!


All Photo's Larry Hickmott - VeloUK

VeloUK - Day 6

I had a Dream.............................

When you do a bit of sport, whether you do something with a passion or a passing interest, when you talk with your mates about what to ride or aim at. Do you ever dare to dream? Of course you do, but you might not share it with your friends for fear of what they might think, Failure? Cost? Humiliation? Delusions of grandeur even!

Two to Go  (Photo's Larry Hickmott - VeloUK)

I had a dream to win a World Championship on a bike, I had it from being a kid, I stopped dreaming it in my twenties and I only started again in my late forties, I'd got fit enough to race at a good level, raced on the road and in time trials, won a few medals, little dreams but what about the big dream I even talked about it with my pal Adrian, he loves the track, he's 'quick' and smart. "Let's ride the Track Nationals", 'The Masters'  we shared it together. I won a couple of medals (never Gold!) Adrian won a medal we were close but it was still a dream.

The bell- Peter Toth the defending Champion

When people say when you lose something "Why are they in the last place you look"?  Dreams are like that, they do not come true until the last moment, they remain lost, in terms of a race they remain unwon until you cross that line. As the finish hovers up into view approaching you at speed there is still time for you to wake up and then like crossing into another world, like stepping through a mirror, a reflection of your own life but one that exists with you as the Winner! , so when the line was getting closer and in all my other dreams when a rider comes past me and the reflection gone. At about ten thirty last Thursday night the line came up and passed under my wheels

The Finish - Adrian 4th

Sure I won a European Masters Gold! It was a nice feeling but like all dreams when you wake up you just want to slip back under the covers, enjoy the detachment, the warm cosy world of altered reality, the realness of winning in a real race is cold and harsh. Last year my best chance I went up an age group away from most of the riders who beat me year after year in the British title races. And even though I was the best Europe could offer I came up against others, Canada, Russian Australia and America, a bronze seemed like a brilliant success, I gave it my all and two! Canadians beat me in both races.

Celebration (Photo - Steve Walton)

Another year, another tilt, the Canadians are still there but so are all those Brits Aaah!, Second and fourth was all I could manage at the Nationals, consistent but not dominant, I can't even win a British title! How can I win a World Title? The Europeans are also in the UK this year, good practise but I need to focus and I put all my eggs in one basket, Its the Worlds or nothing, I train in isolation, I do not step on a track but I do believe. Belief is a hunger but it is also an itch, it's inside and outside you, all you can do is eat and train, drink and breath and rest.

The Pursuit is much the same as last year, I am so well rested but I am out of touch with the feeling of competition its hard to know if its good or bad, in the end I decide its nothing. Back at work months of preparation float in the air and I pace through it with purpose but like all big moments they start with small waves, ripples that you feel in the middle of the night, on your chest and at your finger tips. I go around at work cleaning the door handles, am I turning into Howard Hughes? I sit down when I brush my teeth, does it all adds up to a World Title? I've done it for years, a devotion to the line, my own genuflection to myself, the dogma of winning, strangely I do not consider I am not a natural winner, its not pathological with me, it's not a necessity and sometimes it does not feel right I have to make it a methodology, I feel unwell

Podium with Michel Lacouline (Can) &  Scotland's Ivor Reid (Clachnacddin)

My 'niggle' has developed into a sore throat and I wake up at six O'clock, Adrian and I are sharing a room in basic hotel near the track, I have lain awake most of the night, I have learnt to rest without sleeping, the days events will be the test, rest has no place there. We get on the track to warm up and wait for the heats to be drawn, both in the second heat, so we can watch and learn, only six to go out but the tension of the heats are worse than the final, some are paralysed but Adrian and I go through in the confusion as the American Tolson laps the field and the judges get the lap numbers wrong, but you have to be prepared for everything, Ian Greenstreet is out, the Pursuit taken more out of him, an Argentinian is relegated for riding on the Côte d'Azur letting in the Manchester rider Jerry Cross

The man and his 'Iron'

We line up for the final in the central pen, the Whip insists my steel bike is weighed, the scrutineer does not even put it on the scales, "No weigh it" I say "What does it weigh"? 1.5Kg over the 7.6Kg, most have spanners taped on or chain down the tubes, 400g the most I found. So were on the track 40 laps, its ten O'clock at night, the day like no other has lasted longer than my longest race but that is track racing, you eat and drink, you rest, you warm up and down, you shower and you eat again and you try not to dream, we go back to the hotel to rest away from the fuss of the track but you do not allow yourself to sleep because you know if you dream you might wake up and there is nothing here to be gained from that, not now at least

Result

Back at the track the race is fast, no chance to get away let alone gain a lap, I balance at the back of the bunch, observing the group, I trail riders up through the field, I follow Tolson and then Peter Toth (Can) he moves with such purpose like a shark in a shoal of smaller fish, he is defending Champion but I have two other Canadians to observe as well, you can only choose one so Toth is my man. Its ten to go, this is my zone, my time of the race, my throat is dry and 'claggy' the suspense is only held at bay by sheer excitement and panic. I trail riders up the track once more in one last effort to find my opportunity but there is none, I move to the back again high on the banking scrubbing off the speed as I climb higher and then in a split second Toth makes his move, I have to barge Ivor Reid off his wheel and chase him over the group, a split second decision to go over a stray rider as Toth goes under I almost come a cropper but it gives me the height I need to latch onto him

Phew!

Toth is on the front from three laps out, he does not glance around or ease up, he does not waver in his intent, I admire his certainty he has taken the race on, the mark of a Champion, I have now been dealt my hand, this is not the way I would plan it but you have your cards and you have to play them. I was certain as I ever was to take the race on early, Toth had not faltered but hesitation would hand the advantage to others, there are plenty faster (quicker!) than me but Toth had handed me two aces, the front and the speed, with 300m to go I begin to pass and take the front, I have not looked over my shoulder (mistake?) I'm on the front with a lap to go and I play my own aces. The last lap is just as fast as I can make it, I'm still expecting a rider to come past, still expecting the dream to end, as I pass over the line, I have become a World Champion..........................

World Masters Track - 10Km Scratch race

Men’s 50-54 Scratch Race

If all the other finishes were tight sprints, this was perhaps the tightest of them all with Colin Parkinson leading the bunch kick out from a lap to go with most of the peloton spread out behind him around the track.
Only the fastest of the fast could hold the speed and in the home straight, Canadian Michael Lacouline made his move down the outside of Parkinson with Scotland's Ivor Reid on the outside of him. With the last throw of the race, Parkinson just held on to win from Lacouline and Reid.

Reports Here

Full Story soon.....................

World Masters - 50-54 Pursuit

First up the 2000m Individual Pursuit, I have to do my stretching at 10 O'clock the night before after driving from Leicester but I managed to get some sleep although waking with a flat phone battery caused a mild panic until I was able to confirm it was only 6.00, too late to go back to sleep, so I had a leisurely breakfast in my room

Qualifying

Twenty five minutes warm-up on the track before the session is all the riding I'm going to get on my Time Trial bike that doubles for Pursuiting but the position has to pass UCI regulations for dimensions and weight so the position always feels a bit weird compared to my other bikes. My alloy P2SL Cervelo makes for a lovely light bike but Its a good job I left my sensors on (UCI says No! to computers) as its only 8 grammes over the 6.8KG weight limit, I didn't realise it was that close otherwise its cutlery down the seat tube time.
Formalities over I just managed 10 minutes on the rollers before my ride, it's so hot in the velodrome that any more leads to over heating, sitting in a pool of sweat on the line with it streaming down the inside of your visor a tad distracting before an all out effort so just get over to the waiting area

Silver - Le Beau (Can)

I'd done a final session with the starting gate on Saturday evening and it was fresh in my mind so no need for visualisation just keep it all together as practised, 22.1 is better than last year 22.7 with 100.6" (97.4" 2012) and the whole ride goes to plan. With me up against closely matched Steve Clayton (Litchfield RC) in the 7th heat I'm up at the start then loose a bit over the next few laps then come back with my usual fast finish to beat him by a slim margin 2:27.203, I would so like to get inside that 2:27 but without track time it seems I'm stuck at the same speed a fraction down on last year at 30.4mph Av.

Bronze - Dardi (It)

Fastest is recent Euro winner Pascal Montier (Fr) 2:20.197 (31.9mph) from reining Champion Stephanie LeBeau (Can) 2:20.956 although I think he eased up on the last lap when he knew he had enough over third man Roberto Dardi (It) and Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) keeping up the British end less than a tenth apart on 2:23.793 and 2:23.810 respectively. I am placed 8th as last year and 3rd British rider.

Ian goes to the start

During the break in the middle of the day we are treated to the GB squad tuning up for the impending European Championships going through their sprinting and TP drills, its a fine sight and the riders watch in rapt awe as the new generation of riders with some of the established stars (Trott, Barker & Tennant) show what they can do

The finals in the evening go to form, Le Beau not able to turn the tables on the Frenchman as he did last year and slipping back to 2:21.34 while Monthier moves up from the Bronze in the 45-49 age group to take the title in a faster time 2:19.292 In the bronze ride off Ian after leading for all the ride slipped back over the last lap and a half and Dardi won out marginally slower in 2:24.973, he's a big rider and I've no doubt he will pose some problems in the other races as will all these riders.

Result

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My Anfractous ride

All was going well at the start when we all set off from the hall at Chalfont St Peter. Over the chilterns was the route but within 20km I had had 3 punctures in quick succession. I sat down by the side of the road and mended all the inner tubes. The others had left me to it and I could have got a train back to the start if absolutely necessary. I looked at the wheel, the punctures were all on the inside of the tube, I looked at the relatively new tyre. I couldn't see any problem. Again and again. Still nothing. If I couldn't solve this here how would I solve my dilemma at home. Then the problem came into view. It was the brake pads, which were slightly high and had worn through the side wall and so when I braked the tube was punctured. I hadn't spotted it earlier.
Great. I popped to a local bike shop to buy an new tyre and I was back on the road again. Right at the back of the field so it was a ride by myself until I met up with a couple of others at 3/4 distance and we three rode the last section in the dark together to finish just after 9pm. Last year I had been 5hrs quicker.

Twig part 2

Apologies -you will need to read the first blog to understand this one.

This taken from yacf- ( yet another cycling forum, the Audax blog)

Nick

At around 75km, just outside West IIsley, in the middle of nowhere, I came under the same planetary influence that George Berwick did on the HBKH in 2010. Although I'd emphasize right from the outset that how events ensued for me pales utterly into the background compared to the show stopper that George managed to pull off during that event. There is no comparison.

So, down tube breaks and inch from the headset [where they so often do] and now back to quiet leafy Compton. It's the nearest place. No, not much welding action round here, and I wasn't in the mood to start knocking on doors either. There is one shop though. Helpful lady gave me some double sided tape and a pair of sissors and I bought some utterly useless cheap brown selotape. So, into the bins to retreive two coke cans. Cut them up to use as sleeves and tried to zip-tie [had only a few of those] and tape some kind of repair together. I knew right from the word go that this was only going to be a 'get me home' strategy [if that] and most definitely not a 'carrying on' one. Considering what I had to play with, it wasn't too bad, but it only lasted about 7 km before the head tube popped out of the coke can sleeve and I was down to the top tube as my main structrual support. The tape was the problem. Cycling about 20km with the down tube completely detached from the headtube is unnerving. The utmost care was needed.

Managed to limp back to Henley, where things really came together. Got chatting to a couple of musicians who were loading gear into a van for an evening gig, and they gave me a big roll of British Racing Green Duct tape. Nice colour- never seen green gaffer before. So now, repair no 2: cut away old failed repair, tape tubes together first [they're now a couple of inches apart!], apply coke can sleeves with tape, tape more, find thick twig to act as a spine and more tape - and the next 50km were no problem at all.

Shame not to make it round, but I ended up doing 160km in the end, and got back just as the light was fading, so all is well.

Quite a big field out there today - biggest I've seen on the Anfractuous since I've been doing it.
Thanks to Manotea and all helpers.

You can't beat a good twig

The Antfractuous ( from the Latin meaning twisting or tortuous ) 200 starts at Chalfont St Giles and Matt, Paul, Alan and I all met in the car park  on saturday morning. We met Anne  ( QOM) at the start who had slept the night before in the Community Centre with about 15 other hardy souls. This meant there were too many of them to fit into the bus shelter in the middle of town and they "enjoyed " the Centre's parquet floor in true Audax fashion.

Mausoleum at the top of Streathly Hill.

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Our ride did not get to the perfect start as Alan had 3 punctures in the first 15 miles or so. All in the front wheel and hurrying to get on our way he could not see the problem. So eventually we left him to his glue and patches about 1 mile from High Wycombe station to allow him to train it back to the start . Deflated but not down. There are on the route  about  5  long and steep  hills and lots of others of more modest proportions meaning a reported 2900 m of ascent.  Well before the end I was suitably impressed by Matt and Jo Scholes having ridden the event on a tandem a couple of years ago without ever getting off.  Once we had fixed Paul's puncture which he had shortly after we had left  Alan to his sticky fingers, we then made good speed ,as any of you who have ridden with the club's South African representatives may not be surprised to hear. Paul is a little more relaxed these days and he even let us have beans on toast in Wantage. Never  would this happened in the old days.  Back at the Community Centre at 5.30pm to enjoy large bowls of rice  pudding and tinned fruit ( none of that fresh rubbish ) -what superb post ride food that is. 
There we feasted our eyes on this fetching machine.  The owner achieved some notoriety a couple of years ago when not far into the Bryan Chapman Memorial ride up and down Wales , he noticed his frame had a big split in it. Simple -get it welded by a mechanic just shutting up his garage for the day and off he went and finished the ride. Note the deployment of the strategically placed twig,stick being too grand a description , which now forms an integral part of the machine-nicely contrasting with the exclusive design of bidon. Forget your pimped up carbon  and get a machine that can rely on a piece of tree.. ( NB Richard Gordon)  
 

The post script is we received a text from Alan to say he had visited a bike shop in High Wycombe , found the problem , bought a tyre and so continued his ride. A true Audaxer even if he got back to the now deserted Community Centre at 3am this morning ,at least he finished .

LVRC National Time Trial Championships - Bronze Medal

It was a lovely morning at Napton-on-the-Hill in Warwickshire for the LVRC Time Trial Championships on Sunday 29 September. It was warm, but with a stiff breeze over a rather lumpy course of 19 miles. I was off at number 13 (lucky number?) and gave it my best. For my second TT in a row, I managed to stay on course and had the satisfaction of catching 3 or 4 riders (I never know if it is the done thing to make a cheery remark on passing, or to keep quiet to avoid being triumphalist? Perhaps Colin Parkinson can advise). Anyway, I was third in my age group, 30 seconds behind Barrie Mitchell and 60 seconds behind Roger Porter, so got a Bronze Medal and enjoyed the day

PB(3)10 ~ 0.184 < 30 x 1/1207 = BC

Hutch (In-Gear) 18:01

My final TT of the season Team Swift Charity '10' (I forgot to enter the Manchester Whs '50') and I just have a two week build up to the World Masters now but it was good to finish on a personal best ride my second over this distance and third in a month

I made a special concession in removing my bottle cage and I can report that it's worth exactly a second over the ten miles though where I saved it I cannot tell, compared to a month ago my splits were almost the same for the out and return leg (10:02 & 10:05) with the first incorporating the tricky turn that cost about 10-15 seconds but I cannot see where I would have done it better.

Nick Frewin (Bournmouth Jubilee) 20:49 on a 92" fixed (105RRM)

On the day. My HR was at its max for the year 150 Av. and 157 Max (somewhere it has not been for a while) so maybe the Turbo session in the week did the trick. I was pleased with my cadence 90 Av. and 110 Max  although 94 on the way out and 87 on the way back as I began to suffer and resort to the bigger gears but apart from the finish I don't think I used top gear (56 x 11) and mostly it was the 13 & 14 where a month ago I 'bossed it' but only managed 85 RPM but I have been doing allot of speed work for the WM and no need to change tack now

Burns (Manchester Whs) 8th 19:21

So only a second, I would like to think its the fastest ride ever off the No1 position, I'd not started from there before and usually (traditionally) it's taken by a rider from the promoting club but I don't think having somebody to chase affected my ride, In these uber fast events you are unlikely to catch your minute man (although some did) and the only down side was I had to leave the house before ten to get to the event alongside the River Humber for my lunchtime start.

Perkins (Zenith) 2nd 19:00 (on a steel frame)

Conditions were better than before with a less strong South wind but as one local wag pointed out "It'll be slow because the tides out" the thinking being that the wind over the water would be at the wrong height but I could not see it myself and on that thinking we should be burning witches at the stake and using leeches for all manner of ailments! It was warmer than we had the right to expect at this time of year so after a furious 20 minutes on the rollers I had a furious five mile ride to the start where the Mrs (lady) timekeeper was positioning herself on the grass verge (no jokes about women drivers but she had to have a couple of goes at it!)

PB  20:07- Taxi for Mr Parkinson

I caught the marshals off guard at the turn as I don't think they were expecting anybody along nine minutes after the start but I knew the routine and I was beginning to puff by now having kept a lid on it with my wonder footwork on the way out. Nothing to save and I just went all out for the finish. the wag who said the tide was crucial said the final drag would be tough as well as the road comes around into the South but I found it not so and the few ounces I'd saved were all but gone by the time I hit the line in 20:07.8 with the hope that delayed reactions and the timekeeper gave me the benefit of the doubt

Perhaps I did not go hard enough from the start but I was only eight seconds slower to the five mile point and although I came back slower I felt that the couple of drags that could slow me down I dealt with better this time and It's only by using bigger gears that I'm going to get that Club Record, It's only 20 seconds but at this rate I'll be claiming my pension before I break it. 31st place does not sound impressive until you think there were three riders on 19:52 and 19:58 a few seconds ahead of me and another four on 20:03

Michael Hutchinson was in imperious form after having to defend his crown taking a few direct hits in recent weeks from Matt Bottrill AND young pretenders, he stormed around in 18:01 (his 3rd fastest) 13 seconds faster than last time to win. Back to his best local Midlander James Perkins (Zenith) was a big PB by over 30 seconds with 19:00 and Andy Jackson from the promoting club 19:15 a bit disappointed as he's been inside 19 minutes three times already this year on this course

Result Here

Photo's here