A couple of weeks ago we hosted the Halfords Tour Series event in Aberystwyth. The weather was atrocious, with Gale force 8 winds recorded and 1 or 2 of the support races were cancelled sadly for safety reasons, but we did have a 4th cat race and it was manic! 15 minutes + a lap. Probably the shortest complete race I’ll ever do. I missed the back of the bunch and got stuck out in the wind on my own so didn’t finish in the points but Martyn got a good photo of me on the start finsh line Working Hard™
The past couple of weeks have seen me out on the bike 4-5 times each week. Almost all short speed sessions with the club 10s and chaingangs in full effect. Also the addition of the Dysynni CC 10 up in Tywyn, which fits into the empty Tuesday in my schedule (used to be filled by swimming but I’ve let that slip for the peak of the cycling season).
That was all well and good but it went no way to preparing my for last weekends 200Km Dragon Ride in South Wales. 21 Ystwyth riders set out at a fast pace, almost immediately forming into 2 pace lines based on ability. Both groups worked well over the first 50 miles and the first feed station seemed to come up in no time. We stopped, much to my annoyance for about 15 minutes getting watered and fed here and then set off up the Bwlch. I managed to finish the Bwlch ahead of the rest of our group somehow and celebrated by falling sideways off my bike at the summit feed station by balancing over the wrong way whilst clipped in. Oops! On joining me at the top, the rest of the group jibbed en-masse and declared that they were no longer doing the 200Km route in favour of the (downhill all the way home from here pretty much) 130Km route. So I filled a bottle and set off for the finish line on my own. Over the Rhigos and over the Bwlch again (this time in the rain) then one more kick in the face before the fast run in to the finish. I managed to average about 26MPH for the final Km and sprinted for the line! 7:45 elapsed time, 7:20 moving time (thus missing out on silver by 15 minutes due to aforementioned feed station faffing). Grr.
I thought I’d need a weeks rest after the Dragon but on Monday the legs felt OK. Tuesday and there was a bit of heaviness but overall they were pretty good so I went and rode the Dysynni 10 that night, managing a 26:17 in windy conditions. Not bad considering.
The Wednesday night brought about a Llety Gwyn 10 mile TT in windy conditions again. This time I managed a 25:33! Getting better as the week progresses.
Speed work, 3 nights in a row? Why not. Bring on the chaingang. I left in the 2nd of 4 fast groups and we worked well but even the 1st group stayed away until nearly Taliesin. groups 3 and 4 caught in quick succession after Taliesin climb but for once I managed to jump on and keep with the leaders right to the finish line. I finished only 20m or so behind the newly crowned Welsh Road Race champion (who’d had a couple minutes handicapped start admittedly). I felt great! I attacked all the ‘climbs’ and that is what kept me in touch rather than trying to spin my way up everything. Lesson learned. I’m more of a puncheur I guess.
Plenty to look forward to in the next few weeks. 5 Pembrey circuit races which will be a mixture of 3rd/4th cat races and 2/3/4 handicap races. Also 2 Shrewsbury circuit races, one of which is a 4th cat only! My aims are now high. Attain 3rd cat licence by the end of the season. I’ve been working on my sprint a bit too which I can now crank up to 35MPH momentarily.