20:18! Bloody hell. What can you say?
14th fastest Old Git in the country on scratch time, 36th
on Vet’s Standard time. Think that’s what they call the ‘ride of your life’.
Thing is, it didn’t
feel like a particularly fast day or a very fast course and I certainly didn’t
feel especially awesome, but it just happened!
Anyway, bit of
background…
I decided to
recommence the two hard hours a week winning formula after a week long taper
for the Good Friday V718 ride. So, 2 x
20mins Sunday, and again Tuesday, and Thursday….
Thursday was insane
– I was pushing the 56 x 12 easily on a turbo setting that is usually very
hard. As usual, I dismissed the fact that it might just possibly be me going
really well and spent 15 mins checking the cables, magnets and rollers on the
turbo, convinced it was playing up and under-reading.
Didn’t find anything, so just carried on.
However, I thought that I’d break my golden rule and do more than two hours
that week as I felt so fresh, so set up for another 2 x 20 session on the
Saturday.
Felt almost as good
but not quite which I put down to absolutely tearing around my delivery round
that morning (Job & Finish on a Saturday!!) and was a bit knackered. I wondered if I could stretch it to one more
hard session on Monday? Hmmm…
Disaster! This time I had to check out the turbo
because I was convinced it was applying too much resistance! Couldn’t find
anything wrong, so persevered briefly. But no heart rate, no strength, no
motivation. Shit! Baled out and took the doggies out for a long walk instead….
Started to feel
unusually knackered at work the next day, then broke out in a very slight sore
throat in the afternoon at which point everything began to make sense. Virus.
Aaaarrggghhh!!
Bit of a drippy
nose the next couple of days but nothing serious, so attempted the GYCC
sporting 10 at Somerleyton on Thursday evening. Actually knocked out a half
decent ride in the cold, rain and wind but struggled to get on top of the big
gears and had a very sluggish HR again so didn’t go too mental.
The VTTA National
Champs was on the Monday but, to be honest, I was fairly laid back about it
because I’d already achieved my goal of getting under 21 mins on Good Friday.
The VTTA event had always just been a contingency in case things had gone badly
on the V718. I still fancied going so decided to try my foolproof kill-or-cure
cold remedy: Garlic!
Two whole bulbs in
fact for breakfast on friday, disguised slightly in half a pound of lambs
liver. Extremely ‘fragrant’ for the next 48 hours or so, (in fact Sue
threatened to make me sleep in the shed!) but it did the job. The virus seemed
to be dragged from the shadows and my body spent the next couple of days
duffing it up. By the Monday morning, I was feeling pretty good once again and
decided to make the trip to Aston Clinton in Bucks.
Got there
ridiculously early and drove the course a couple of times. It was windy, I guessed at around 12-15kts
cross but there was a fair bit of shelter. I have to admit that I was left very disappointed
by this new superfast course on the Tring bypass. Really hilly with a turn at
each end, the first one of which was incredibly fiddly and low speed. However,
everything became clear halfway down the course. The course profile reveals the
secret…
Yes, the finish is
several hundred feet lower than the start! Between miles 4 and 6 there is a
steep descent which you didn’t have to pay back anywhere.
Hmmm, this wasn’t
going to be one of my usual “fast as you can and no faster” even paced rides. That just wouldn’t work here. I stood in an exposed layby on the course and
did some pondering…
The ESE wind direction
and the hill meant that I’d be massively under-geared on my 56 x 12 for long
stints on the long leg between the turns and wouldn’t be able to hit full
power. So my plan became:
Tits-out really
hard into wind for the first couple of miles to the first turn. Then as fast as
my high cadence would let me go downwind on the second leg. Then a loooooong
section of freewheeling down the hill during which I could recover a bit for
the last half of the ride. Nice and controlled for the slightly uphill but
downwind section to the second turn, then tits-out again for the final couple
of miles into wind to the finish.
Thing
is, the wind had put paid to any chance of doing a quick ride so I continued to
be fairly chilled out. I was more excited about the fact that my brother Dave
was driving up from Southampton to give me a
cheer. I hadn’t seen him for ages!
Still really,
really early (the HQ wouldn’t open for another 40 mins!) I unloaded the car and
gave Trigger II a fettle and polish as litter started blowing around the car
park. Ah well.
Then a few
chocolate biccies (a really bad habit I really must break!), a tin of Red Bull
and on the turbo.
Blimey. I was in the
same gear and same resistance that I’d baled out of exactly a week before and
could barely feel it. Turbo playing up
again… Oh, everything in order, maybe
not. Hmmm,
I wonder if a decent ride is on today? Reckon I could have PB’d if it hadn’t
been for that pesky wind….
Off number 31 from
a field of 150. The wind was increasing (and veering) steadily as the morning
progressed so I hoped an early start would be advantageous for once. A quick hobnob (Yes, yes, I know!) then off
to the start. Got there a bit too early and was starting to get a bit cold by
the time I was called to the line. There was the odd pulse of traffic on the
Tring bypass but nothing like as scary as the A62 a couple of weeks earlier. Riders coming back past the start downwind on
the other carriageway certainly were flying. 4 or 5 minutes of self-destruction
and I’d be enjoying it too!!
3-2-1-GO!!
Whoosh, whoosh,
whoosh and the now traditional imaginary hydraulic whirr and click as the gear
and flaps came home.
Very treacly into
the wind just 23-24mph in places, go hard but stay low and aero, don’t waste
those watts Andy…
HR 176 already.
Hope you know what you’re doing!!
Starting to blow a bit but turn in sight… bit of shelter, that’s better…
Blind entry onto
the first roundabout… Aaaargghhhh… Bright red vintage sports car appears from
behind the vegetation. Dab on the brakes and blend in nicely behind him. Yuuck! Lots of smoke and fumes, these old
cars are like Chernobyl
Slow and twisty
around the second roundabout then onto the sliproad which feels downhill, in
fact I’m in the ‘12’ before I’m back on the bypass. I pass an old boy on a
proper old skool TT bike wearing one of those funny balaclava things. I really
hope I’m fit and healthy enough to still be doing stuff like this at his age.
Good for you mate!!
The tailwind takes
hold like the Death Star tractor beam, which is probably just as well as I’m
totally cooked already! Back past the
start at 35 mph. Woohoo!
Then Trigger II
bunts sharply at the top of the hill and Issac Newton starts to lend a hand
too! I’m unable to keep up with the pedals at 41mph. This is ridiculous!! I tuck up into a slick a position as possible
and grip the top tube with my knees.
45… 46… 47… And I’m not even pedaling!! I’m freewheeling for ages. As I finally start
to slow down, I quickly check the computer. 5.55 miles and I’ve not even been
riding for 10 minutes yet. I briefly
start to dream of knocking out a ‘19’.
Very briefly…
 |
| Thanks for the pics Dave. My cheeky thumbs up was my way of communicating "I'm on a stormer Bro!" |
Subsonic once
again, I’m finally able to start pedaling.
Bit of shelter now and very slightly uphill, averaging 29 -
29.5mph. The second slightly more
conventional roundabout ahead and it’s fairly quiet so I’m able to take a
slightly more racing line around it.
Wooah, last time I was cranked over like that was astride the R1 on the Isle of Man !
I’m glad I’ve saved
a bit for this last run to the finish as it’s full-on back into the wind
although slightly downhill. Really
treacly once again, I’m struggling to make 25mph. Rapidly running out of legs
too – not sure my shit-or-bust tactic was a wise one. I’m reaching that stage
where my body is wanting to slide off the front of the saddle to lever a bit
more effort out but I won’t let it. I’ll
probably lose more watts going out of my aero position than I’ll gain by riding
‘on the rivet’. Pedal, pedal, pedal, then a typewriter-like slide to the back
of the saddle once again. There’s a nice
distracting rhythm to it.
This is really
hurting, I’m going incredibly deep, I can only remember being able to do this
to myself once before and that was during my 1996 PB ride on the A14. My vision is starting to tunnel and there’s a
strange whooshing in my ears. I REFUSE to change down a gear. I’m in a really
special place and I almost don’t want it to stop but there’s the finish line. I
feel like I cross it at walking pace. It’s over….
Watch – 20:18.
I feel too ill to
even get excited and, realizing I’m about to fall off, I point the bike into
the grass and try to step off. My legs just won’t support me and I collapse onto my
knees. I spend the next couple of minutes groveling on my hands and knees,
gasping & swearing. I’m chuffed to
bits that I’ve been able to drive myself so hard after all the years of poor
health and frustration, it’s even more satisfying than the time. I am so happy.
I climb back on the
bike and make the short journey up the sliproad to find brother Dave waiting at
the top. He snaps a pic on his iPhone.
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“That must have
been close to a PB,” he offers, “Bloody hell, are you alright?”
“20:18. Yeah, fine,
just had a bit of a ‘moment’ after the finish, that’s all.”
“Good lad!”
As usual, I didn’t
hang around for too long afterwards. Quick visit to the loo to wash the puke
and mucus off my face then all packed up
and on the road for home.
I know I did a PB
but I had no idea how quick it actually was. To be quicker than some usually
very quick highly seeded riders was amazing but I can’t take all the credit. I
didn’t recognize many of the descriptions of hard conditions out on the course,
I thought it was freakily quick, at least for the 20 minutes or so that I was
out there. But, as I’m often reminded,
the bike doesn’t pedal itself and if you consider all the times I’ve been to
fast courses to have the conditions turn against me while riders in the same
event do massive PB’s, then I’m about due for a bit of good luck!!
I’m now getting
nudged about trying to do a ‘19’ but that will never happen. I’ve been saying
for about 20 years that on a really good day in good health I’m good for a
20:30, that’s all and it turns out I was almost right. I’m realistic about my limited level of natural
ability – I think trying to chase a 19 would be a path to disappointment and
lead to a ruining of my enjoyment of competitive cycling for a second time.
Plus, at 44 my powers can only go south from here on in!
The 25 mile PB can
be improved though, and my 50 (and possibly 100? Eeek!)
We’ll see……
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