Penalties, pedals, and punctures...

So after a few months away from the keyboard, the blog is finally back! It's been a whirlwind of racing and riding since the 12:12 where I left off, and one of my most challenging periods as a cyclist. However I've come out of it more motivated than ever, and I'm determined to take my riding up a level over the next 12 months. So here's what's been going on…

A week after the Gorrick 12:12, I was preparing for my 3rd stage race of the season, the Tour of Tidworth. From my perspective, the race was a disaster- a decent time trial on the opening stage gave me an indicator of my form, and I figured I could potentially be quite competitive on stage two- a hilly road race. 
However, it was not to be- two laps in, they stopped the race and called out a list of numbers who were disqualified and told to go home. I was one of them, as were my teammates Gavin and James- apparently at some point we had crossed double white lines, earning us instant disqualification. Despite our appeals, the comissaire was adamant that he was right, and threatened to make the situation worse for us if we continued to argue. 
I left that weekend feeling pretty disillusioned with British Cycling- before then I'd never even had a warning from a comissaire regarding my bike riding, and I'm pretty sure at no point did I ride dangerously. 

A few weeks later was the VC Meudon Surrey League Road Race on the Cutmill circuit. Having won the event in 2012, and being part of the hosting team, I was determined to get a result. My tactic- if my lap one attack didn't work then I'd sit in the bunch and try to ride off the front with a lap or two to go. However when a breakaway group went with none of our riders in it, I was forced to sit on the front of the bunch and try to drag them back. I was absolutely livid that I'd missed the break, and as we hit the finishing climb for the last time I tried to put in one last kick to take a few of the remaining points. However I'd already left everything on the road, my thighs cramped up and I finished in the bunch. 
Still, I could take something away from this- my form was clearly back to the point where I could be competitive in races, which was something I hadn't felt since before my chest infection in April. On to the next one…

Taking my racing seriously- as always...

The "Apres Autumn Last Blast" race down in Brighton- a 700 meter  concrete track, absolutely dead flat, with nowhere to get out of sight of the field. One of my teammates, Kieran Ali, came to the race with me, with the express intention of getting me across the line in first place. Now, some background…
Kieran is one of the best sprinters I know, if not the best sprinter. The course in Brighton was absolutely tailor-made for guys like him, and he has won races there in the past. But today he was willing to put his own results to one side in order to help me, and for that I was massively grateful. 
The race was pretty textbook- we sat in the bunch, followed attacks and made sure we were always towards the front. With three laps to go, we were in the perfect position- not quite on the front, with me sat directly behind him. With two laps to go Kieran hit the front and started to wind up the pace, stringing the bunch out and setting me up for a sprint finish. With a lap to go he notched it up again, before dropping me off with 350m to go. I gave my sprint everything, and finished 2nd in the bunch, and 5th overall. Bam. First result in a long time.

The following weekend was the Finsbury Park Road Race- and possibly the best race I've ever ridden in. The rain was hammering down, the wind was up, bits of the course were flooded and other bits were through farmland. It was a brilliant test of physical and mental ability, and I felt unbelievably strong.
As soon as we hit technical sections of road, the race started to split up. We were dropping riders on every bend, and with two laps to go I decided it was time to put the hammer down- I rode away from the bunch as we hit the rough tarmac, gaining time on them through every slippery corner and effortlessly spinning a high gear on the straights. As riders tried to bridge across to me, the pace of the main field lifted, and I was eventually caught by a select group of eight or nine riders- two of whom were my teammates, Gavin and Darrell. It was a perfect situation.
Then disaster struck- hissssssss. I'd punctured. Race over. 

A week later, the first round of the Ottershaw series. Another puncture. Another race down the drain.



After another few weeks of racing for the sake of it, I finally decided to call time on my season around three weeks ago. I had two weeks completely away from my bike, eating badly and generally relaxing. I'm now working with my new coach on next season's goals, and my real winter training starts  this weekend. 

And to finish...
I'd like to say a massive thank you to the management at VC Meudon for keeping me on the race team for another season- your faith in me really means a lot, and I'll make sure it's not misplaced.

The next one goes to the race team sponsors- especially the guys at Pedal Heaven, who have helped me out all season, from my training bike to a last minute time-trial helmet. Thanks for all you've done for myself and the team.

Also, a last thank you goes to the guys at Mountain Trax- one for being so supportive of my training and racing, and two for getting my new race bike sorted. Seriously, check it out below- it's AWESOME!

Scott Addict 10, 2014. Built by Mountain Trax.

I've been given the title of "Mr Unluckiest Man of the Season" by one of my teammates, and I think that basically sums it up- a mix of injury, illness, and mechanical issues has made (in terms of results) 2013 a complete write-off for me. But with some of the most supportive teammates and team managers I could ask for, it's been the most enjoyable season I've ever had. Cheers guys.

VC Meudon RT of 2013. Here's to next year...

Back on trail...

Like buses, my blog updates are either few and far between, or one after the other. Here's my write up of the Gorrick "Torq in your sleep" 12:12...

So straight on the back of Saturday's Parham Park race, I was unpacking my road kit from my car and repacking with mountain bike kit, in anticipation of Sunday's 12:12. But despite my organisation, on Sunday morning I was running around the house getting the last few things together- energy gels, drink powder, warm clothes... Everything I might need for a 12 hour mountain bike race.

Now just to get anyone who's not familiar with the 12:12 up to speed; the 12:12 is a twelve hour mountain bike race, with the option of either riding it solo or in teams. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who does it solo is a madman. So on both occasions that I've raced, it's been as part of a team of 4, doing 1 lap each. This year I raced as part of the Mountain Trax B Team- a team comprising of myself, Kathy Beresford, Luke Kennard and Scott Webb.

Anyway, back to getting ready. So with my bike packed, kit in my bag, and race-face on, I jumped in the car and off I went, convinced I had everything I would need.
Alas, my confidence was in vain. Having assembled my bike at the race, I promptly realised I had forgotten my pedals. Fantastic start...
By the time the pedal drama was sorted (one of my team mates had a spare set- phew!) I had an hour until the race kicked off, and started to get myself ready to go- skin suit on, warm up gels etc...

Just to keep things simple, I'm going to do a lap by lap summary of my race.

Lap one
For the past few years the race has started with a short lap of the arena, behind a quad bike. As the most experienced road cyclist on our team, I was nominated to be the first rider as the first few miles are basically like riding in a peloton. Apart from they weren't- a bumpy surface combined with people who weren't used to riding surrounded by other cyclists made for an incredibly tense start. Within a few minutes I had to choose between hitting a barbed wire fence or getting my elbows out and shoving my way forward. As the racing kicked off, I felt strong and sat on the wheel of a Torq rider, quickly gaining positions. Then as I went to sit back down after a technical piece of single track, my saddle slipped- not just downwards, but sideways as well. I tried to keep going, but I couldn't get any power down and I was forced to jump off the bike, grab my toolkit and fix the saddle. By the time I'd tightened everything up and was ready to ride again, I had seen my solid start to the lap go out of the window, and had to start working my way back through the slower riders. I put down the power where I could, but was held up a lot in the single track by slower riders. I eventually finished the lap in 19th position in our category, did a quick transition and Luke got out on his lap.
Lap time: 40:22

Lap two
After the technical disasters of lap one, I'd spent some time getting the bike back to running order- tightening up bolts and tweaking bits to fit me better. So lap 2 had to get better, surely?
Well from a technical view, it did- nothing went wrong with the bike, and I was riding quickly. But the race still hadn't properly spread out, and I was constantly getting caught behind slow riders. I was using my road legs to get past as many people as possible on the fire roads, but just kept getting held up in the narrow single track. But apart from it being a slightly frustrating lap, nothing major really happened...
Lap time: 40:32

Lap three
In previous years, lap three has been where I've started to feel the effect of the previous two laps. But not this time- my legs felt fantastic as I left the transition zone, and I cranked up the gears and settled into a fast pace. By this point the race had spread out, and so I wasn't held up so much behind slower riders. I was riding smoothly, and on the fire roads I was out of the saddle and sprinting from one bit of trail to the next. However the sun had come out from behind the clouds and the temperature was rapidly increasing.
Now at this point, you'd expect the usual sun related dramas to come out; dehydration, sun stroke etc. But in my case, the drama was sweaty hands- as usual I wasn't wearing gloves, but I was using rubber grips instead of my normal choice of silicon. I vaguely recall musing to myself about this mistake as I went into one of the last sections of trail. The next thing I knew, I lost control as I tried to flick my handlebars around a corner, and smacked face-first into a tree. Well done me...
Lap time: 40:23

Lap four
My fourth lap was the first of my laps in darkness, which brought up a slight dilemma- where do you put a battery pack in a skin suit with no pockets?! I'll leave it to you to decide...
At this point in the race, positions were firmly established- we had sat in fourth place for a while, and we were slowly closing in on third. Knowing that I would have to go out for a fifth lap, I decided to take this lap a bit easier- I figured it was better to lose some time now and be able to do a fast final lap than to blow up later on.  I eased my way round, holding back a bit on the fire roads and trying to not push myself hard in the single track. It worked, and I finished the lap only a few minutes slower than normal, and feeling fresh. It was now down to Kathy and Scott to put in some fast laps and get us on par with AQR, the team in 3rd place...
Lap time: 43:52

Lap five
The part which I enjoy about racing in the darkness is that you start to lose track of where people are on course, and this was the case. I started lap 5 at 11:20 pm, and set out with the express intention of finishing it before midnight so Luke could get out for one more fast lap and get us into 3rd place. I was absolutely flying- overtaking even in the narrow single track, and sprinting on every fire road. When I glanced down at my Garmin I saw that I was maintaining 25 mph on the flat fire roads. However as I neared the end of the lap, more and more riders were slowing down, trying to not cross the finish line until past midnight- the absolute opposite of what I was trying to do. When I finally got past them, I knew it was going to be close, and it was- as I exited the last bit of single track, I heard the finishing gun go. I rolled into the arena at 52 seconds past midnight...

... only to be greeted by my teammates celebrating our third place! In the confusion of the darkness, we had overtaken AQR and I had started my last lap with a 1 minute 30 second advantage, instead of the deficit I believed we had. I had continued to put time into them on my lap, and we had beaten them by just over three minutes!

Lap time: 42:39

The final top five was...

TORQ Fitness- 19 laps
Four4th Lights- 18 laps
Mountain Trax "B"- 17 laps
A Quick Release Holidays (AQR)- 17 laps +3min 11sec
Mountain Trax "A"- 17 laps +4min 8sec

A very happy Mountain Trax "B" team on the podium. Photo courtesy of Vermont Images

I was genuinely quite shocked to be on the podium, and it was great to be there after working so hard to get 3rd. I'd like to say a massive thank you to my team mates, Luke, Kathy and Scott, for putting in some really good efforts even when it looked like a good result was out of our reach.



Next up on my race program now is the Tour of Tidworth, an E12 stage race. It will be a tough race, but hopefully my fitness is now at a level where I can hold my own, but I guess we'll see. Watch this space...

A brief return to the road...

So after a hectic weekend of racing, I've finally got around to typing up a report kind of thing- hurray!

The weekend started off with the Surrey League 2/3 race at Parham Park in West Sussex, a unique circuit which is partially on public roads and partially on private farm lands- I don't think I've ever ridden over a cattle grid in a race before... Having been warned about the poor road surface quality and the likeliness of punctures, I packed my training bike in the car and off I went!
With it being my first race in about a month, my plan was to take it easy and see how it went. Which is exactly what I didn't do...

Pacemaking on the front. Photo courtesy of Pauline Unwin.

Having had a close run in with some deer on our neutralised lap (I said Parham Park was unique) I attacked as soon as the lead car pulled away. I briefly opened up a small gap over the field before someone counter-attacked and I was pulled back in. But instead of dropping back into the field to recover, I kept grinding away on the front to pull the attacking riders back. After a few minutes of this, I decided to calm down and get out of the wind.

Once again, that's exactly what I didn't do. Two riders had pulled out a lead of about 100m on the field, and looked more and more like they were gaining ground- so on a very narrow, very bumpy road I attacked out of the field, and quickly bridged to the breakaway. However the main bunch didn't seem to be too keen on the idea of three riders away, and the pace picked up and we were swallowed back up. Someone attacked- and there I was, back on the front, dragging them back.

After about an hour of this my legs suddenly went bang- the road kicked uphill and I felt almost like I was going backwards as everyone powered past. So yes, lesson learned- stop racing like an idiot.

Hitt-ing back...

Well it's been a few weeks since I wrote anything on here, and I've been up to quite a bit so figured now was probably a good time to do an update, albeit a short one...

So having had my early 2013 largely wrecked due to illness and A-Levels (it was worth it, I got into Loughborough), I've been facing the predicament of how to get myself back up to top form. My usual attitude is to race myself into form- just sit in the bunch and slowly get stronger until I can be competitive. However this wasn't working- largely because I just couldn't sit with the field. In the last few rounds of Eelmoor I was being dropped within 20 minutes of the start- hardly ideal...

After a few more slightly disastrous races, I decided to re-evaluate; I was doing something wrong, and it needed to change. So I set new goals, all a month or more away, so I could focus on training and getting back into form.

The first of these was the Action Medical Research Surrey 100 sportive event- 100(ish) miles around Surrey. While not technically a race, I just needed to find something relatively challenging to give myself something to train towards, and that could give me a slight confidence boost. It was actually a lot harder than I anticipated, but I made it around in a bit under 6 hours which I was pretty happy with.

Having got that in my legs, I think I'm basically ready for a return to racing- the first of these will be the Surrey League 2/3 race at Parham Park this Saturday, followed by a 12 hour mountain bike relay race on the Sunday. After that, I'll have a few easy days before the Tour of Tidworth E12 race, and then the Surrey League TT champs, as well as a few other races. So all in all, I'm looking forward to getting back on the race bike and hopefully being competitive again- hopefully I can finish the season in style...

Pete

The best laid plans of mice and men...

There's a certain sense of impending doom when you start to lose a rider's wheel on a climb. At first it might just be a meter, and you pedal a little bit harder and dismiss it as a lapse in concentration. Then it happens again- two meters, three meters- until all around you, people start to go past. You drift backwards through the group, grinding the pedals as hard as you can, but to no avail. Suddenly, you're not surrounded by riders any more- and the chase is on.

The Ras de Cymru is going to stick in my mind as one of the most difficult challenges I've undertaken on a bike, both mentally and physically. Having had my early season build-up written off due to exams and illness, I came to the race completely under-prepared, but with the vague hope that I would be OK once I started racing; apparently that doesn't work.

What I hadn't considered about a stage race is that the efforts of each day take a little bit more out of you for the next. In the world of cycling, this is known as "burning matches"- each time you have to dig deep to stay with the race, or launch an attack off the front, that's another match burnt. And you've only got so many.

For example in the opening TT, I gave absolutely everything- the next day, my calf muscles were so tight it was almost painful to get out of the saddle. Each time I had to make a massive effort to stay with the group- bang, another match gone.

There's also the mental stress of a stage race- whether it's getting up early to get some food down you before racing, warming up or actually being on the road surrounded by 99 other cyclists flying along at stupid speeds, you're always under pressure. Even after racing, you've got to think about nutrition, recovery, bike repairs- it's very "go-go-go".

For me, stages three and four were the most challenging- a 100 km road race followed by a 24 km team time trial in the afternoon. Having recovered surprisingly well from stage two, I was up towards the front of the field as we headed into the final 15 km of the race. Then suddenly, brakes squeal, everyone starts shouting, and the field splits in two- a car had pulled into the road in front of the race. Within a matter of seconds, I'd gone from the front of the field to near the back, and had to accelerate hard just to stay in the race- another match burnt. As the road kicked up again, I had nothing left- I soloed the last 10 km, into a gusting headwind, constantly ignoring the agony in my legs. I could hardly see straight as I crossed the line several minutes behind the field- and then I had the team time trial to worry about.

Stage five was where my race came to an end- my efforts from the previous day had left me both physically and mentally exhausted, and as soon as the pace increased, I was dropped. 60 km into the race, I was forced to call it a day- I climbed into the support vehicle. Race over.

The Ras had been one of my season's goals from the outset, and to have it go so badly is obviously something of a setback. But I feel I'm a more experienced rider having done it, and can hopefully start to make my return to top form over the coming months. 

I'll most definitely be back.

A brief (cycling) history of me

Earlier today, having got a bit bored of endless differentiations and integrations of y=f(x), I found myself mulling over something someone said a few months back- "If someone had told you when you started racing that you'd be where you are today, would you have believed them?"

A slightly round-faced me, sometime in 2010

The basic answer is a resounding, "no." 

Now like every child, I spent absolutely hours riding up and down the road on my bike, with the occasional escapade into Circle Hill, where (as you'd expect) the main objective was to get "air". Then sometime late in 2008 I got persuaded to go mountain biking up in Swinley Forest- to sum up that trip, the memorable quote of the day was "aaahhh crap, a corner!" Not much has changed. 

But despite the crashes, cuts and bruises, I somehow got persuaded to ride again, and again, and again- until somehow, despite being short, fat (see on the right), and a rather temperamental asthmatic, I was persuaded to race. Here are the results. 

1	2	00:46:00		436	Martin Turton		00:22:56	00:23:39
2	2	00:49:00	00:03:14	434	Edward Moesli		00:24:29	00:25:20
3	2	00:50:00	00:03:50	430	Joe Broadhead		00:24:47	00:25:39
4	2	00:51:00	00:05:15	431	Darren Pyke		00:25:02	00:26:48
5	2	00:53:00	00:06:52	433	Isaac Pucci		00:26:16	00:27:11
6	2	00:58:00	00:11:32	441	Charlie Meeran	Herne Hill Youth	00:29:11	00:28:56
7	2	00:59:00	00:12:56	432	Robert Tinn		00:28:36	00:30:55
8	2	01:01:00	00:14:42	437	Sam Rodgers		00:30:11	00:31:06
9	2	01:03:00	00:17:18	442	George Neave		00:32:03	00:31:50
10	2	01:15:00	00:28:47	439	Daniel James		00:36:13	00:39:08
11	2	01:20:00	00:34:09	440	Peter Hitt		00:37:48	00:42:56
12	1	00:34:00	1 Lap	435	Jamil Gaida	Palmer Park Velo/RATz	00:34:04
13	1	00:37:00	1 Lap	438	Aled Williams	BECCS	00:37:39

So as you can see, I was pretty crap- I finished over 30 minutes down on Martin Turton, one of my best mates and now a regular training partner. But for some reason, I decided I enjoyed this cycling thing, so I went away "trained" (I think I rode my bike once or twice a week...) and came back in 2009 with high hopes. I finished 1 up from dead last- brilliant! I kept grinding away on my bike, moving up maybe one place  every few months, but loving it regardless. I think I eventually plateaued at 7th in a round of the Southern XC series sometime in 2011...

*Skipping forward a few years*

The generic "I made it" pose...

So in early 2010 I was still rolling around near the back of the field at every XC race I entered; then, having seen an advert for a London to Paris bike ride in The Times, I persuaded my dad to buy me a road bike. Bearing in mind I was a slightly pudgy 15 year old with no natural ability on a bike, I was somewhat surprised when he said yes! And that was when I discovered road cycling...

London to Paris remains one of my favorite memories of being on a bike- it was unlike anything I'd ever done before, and I finished every day absolutely exhausted. But every morning I was eager to go again. I (bizarrely) enjoyed the feel of pushing past my limits on a bike- gritting my teeth and just blocking out the fatigue had a weird sort of satisfaction to it. 

Then on the last day, someone suggested I should try road racing. It was possibly the most expensive suggestion anyone has ever made to me.

National 10 Mile Championships 2012

My first road race ended in a similar fashion to my first XC race- I attacked from the gun, blew up within about a mile of the start, and finished last. Dead last. 

But I was determined to get this right- I went away, bought a turbo trainer, and spent an hour every day doing interval training. Over the 2010-2011 winter, I lost over a stone in weight. And it worked- the next road race I entered I was straight into the top 10 in a field of over 40. RESULT!

Skipping forward again to 2012- I'd been persuaded to start doing time trials. And I was good at them. The first one I entered I won by a convincing 45 seconds over 8.5 miles. The following weekend I did my first 25- finishing in 1hr 3mins with no aero kit. 

Within the next year, I went from local time trials up to a 9th place finish at the British Junior Champs, won my first road race with a 13 mile solo breakaway, jumped from 3rd to 2nd cat and picked up a sponsor in the form of VC Meudon RT- my current team. 

So to sum up- I don't quite understand how I ended up where I am today. My early results show (as fas as I'm concerned) that I have absolutely no natural talent on a bike. I guess hard work may just pay off sometimes...

My start to blogging...

Right, well this is my first attempt at blogging, but here goes...

I've basically created a blog to write about my training, racing and (hopefully) winning. I'm a British 2nd Cat cyclist, having picked up my license last year as a junior, and this blog will basically follow my progress as a rider over the next 18 months or so.

I currently ride for VC Meudon RT, a race-based division of the VC Meudon club, who are mainly based in Surrey. You can check us out at https://www.facebook.com/VCMeudonRT?fref=ts

As it stands I'm currently getting through the last few of my A2 exams, before heading off to the Ras de Cymru next week. This will be the longest stage race I've ever undertaken, and my number one goal will be just to survive it- but maybe I can do something special along the way...

Anyway, I guess that's it for now- I'll try to keep updates regular (once a week or something), and feel free to let me know what you think :)

Pete