Hanging Up The Race Wheels.

So what's that....about forty one years of cycle racing in one form or another. Now the time has come to call it a day, possibly a few days too late?

Why? Many reasons. Life.....life and I mean the good life is getting in the way. I was thinking just the other night, a Friday night in fact. I was sitting in a club, I had my arms around a beautiful woman, there was a great R&R band playing, and the dance floor was empty just beckoning us to jive the night away, which we did. Somehow the thought of turbos and the ensuing stats just didn't seem that attractive anymore!

Then there's the enthusiasm. I still have it, but it's clear from my posts of late that it's waning. I mean I still ride, and still enjoy it....in fact slightly more than before, but there's no desire to go any further than the ride.

I can also see that fresh enthusiasm in my younger peers, or club mates new to all of this, and my own pales into insignificance. And once there was a time I fought hard within myself to keep going, but kicking back has been a blessed relief. And I now take in great amounts of pleasure watching all my fellow riders progress....have fun and add to that little private palmares of their own.

And a very close friend said just the other day 'enjoy it...you created it....be proud'

So there we have it.

Forty one years. Longer than that if you count the years that John 'Gino' Goddard took me and my first riding and racing partner out, before we were deemed ready...nay allowed to race!

That was with Kenton RC, when shorts and jersey's were wool or silk and crash helmets were leather.

Gino gave me a good grounding in 'how to ride'...how to sit....how to hold the bars....how to dress...and even how to look at your opponents.

He must have taught me well, winning my age group in the Afia Memorial in my first year. And I soon had a short 21 minute 10 mile TT, and a sub 1 hour 25 mile TT under my belt, all on a 10 speed steel racer and not an aero product in sight.  

Moving out of London I joined the Hemel. Even back then you had to serve a probationary period with the club before you were allowed to race in club colours. I think more to just see if you were a liability or not.....lesson to be learnt there?

I never did race with the Hemel. There was a new club on the block the Bossard Wheelers. BWCC was a club at the right moment in time, it was small, but we had six lads....yes I was a lad that could race. Another lad was Miles Walker now with me/us in the LBRCC. None of us had kids, and we could race whenever we chose. We were a tight outfit in a sport that was getting super competitive. For example, the Milk Race used to come by here and it wasn't unusual for the Elites from the race to pop down and race amongst us at the MK Bowl evening races. We used to pose for the TV cameras.

Then there were the names I raced....and obviously I use the word race loosely, never the less race them I did....Chris Boardman, Roger Hammond, Malcom Elliot, Jeremy Hunt. And while I chose a career  in the electrical industry, they all went on to ride in the Tour de France.

Kids came along for all of us at the same time, and eventually the club became just a name on a list somewhere.

I had a little dabble in Triathlon, competing in the first ever UK full Ironman, but the jack of all trades aspect of Triathlon didn't appeal.

Then followed a decade racing Mountain bikes. Road racing was in decline at this stage, so many riders took this path. Though the popularity of mountainbiking grew the industry and later that would create the strong base for UK racing to return in the future.

I enjoyed my years racing fat tyres, I never had a win, but did podium a few times. I rode countless enduros, eleven 24 hour races, four 12 hour races and broke..fractured....sprained....and twisted more bones and muscle in that short period of time than the whole of my life put together.

By late 2000 and something local road racing was on the up again. I hastily bought the only race bike in the local shop (yes not many shops sold road bikes at that time) I took it up the Bowl to race.

That went okay, so I tweeked it a little and kept racing.

Some things had changed. Now you could get 10 points for a win at the MK Bowl and instantly move up a Cat. This I found had an adverse effect as it made the racing short fast and pretty dangerous. Previously you needed 30 points to move up a Cat, and a win at the Bowl back then only offered 3 points i.e you'd need ten wins.

Still I raced on without a club. The Bossard had disappeared, though I knew two guys were keeping it going and racing only TT's.

I put up notice in the shops and on media about reforming a local road club. And  I had a few guys interested. It was also at this time that the local council organised....created several riding groups, including one for sporting road cyclists. The council road group had a profile, and I and my riding partners had vast experience. During a mixed ride we stopped at the top of Well lane near Wing and I suggested we form a proper BC affiliated local road club. And after a quick meeting in the Bottom Bell the LBRCC was formed. So proud of that.

The LBRCC has done me well these last five years. Even won a race at the Bowl in 2013. Had some good years racing CX, but I think I have a successor now. Took some time out in 2014 to ride my only Super Randoneur. And managed to ride some iconic roads and mountains at the same time.

So I'll rest on that.......for now........and the race bike isn't up for sale.

Gone Dancin

    

Paris - Roubaix 2016

Camp 2 Cancellaras crash site

Antoine Demoitie 1990-2016

You Don't Need An Accountant To Tell You How Poor You Are.

Your mates, heart, head, legs and lungs can do that for you.
It's that time of year again when the books have to be in, and mine seem to say that I'm making a loss.
The accountant wants to know where all that profit I made last year has gone.
According to the books I had a pretty good road and circuit season.  They also show that I invested in trips to Belgium and the Pyrenees. And finally the accountant is querying the balance between the start and end of my cross season.

Truth is I got a bit tired, tired of having to get up early every day of the week. So I needed a break and had to do something different.
Problem is the five month long cross season has eaten away at my profits. Fear of being tired for a weekends racing has meant something like just two long rides in six months. Getting dropped on a climb you lead up last year tells you all you need to know.

So the first thing I did when I got this news was to act like a kid and say #### it, done this long enough so #### it. I've won races and there's no way that's ever going to happen again so double #### it.
Then I went to my room and spent some time reflecting on my attitude and realized that actually I did want to keep on doing this. The problem is that between getting dropped and deciding I did want to race again in 2016, I'd developed a taste for late nights dancing to bands in places frequented by ladies with tattoos that drink whiskey and dance. Which, by the way is still better than freezing your nuts off at 8am on a fast 100 with a load of blokes.
Still I wanted to race.
The bathroom scales show me at 68kg so not too shabby. The dancing has it appears kept the weight at bay. My core seems to be stronger, again the dancing? But my legs can only just about ride me out of Leighton Buzzard! Plus they're hairy for the first time in years. I can't shave them yet. That would be like writing a cheque your legs couldn't cash, and we know how bad the books look already.

The second problem is that I seem to have been a little casual about checking race dates. Thinking two months is enough time to salvage something for that very first race. So when exactly is that race that's about two months away......ah in a months time.

How I want Sunday to be

How it'll probably be!

Okay.
Right it'll have to be the club fast rides, I'm going to get dropped. I'll definitely grumble like ####. And it WILL hurt, but I need that investment right now.
I've just looked at the GCN video telling people how to deal with getting dropped it's that bad.
But it's cards on the table time.
And you can't cook the books. Well you can.
So I meet the board this Sunday, the truth will out.
   

All Quiet On The Home Front.....For Now.

Nothing says Spring like Belgium & cobbles

This is bloody great. Weekends in not worrying about tomorrows race, only what coffee to have or pants to put on.
A chance to clean machines and inspect the damage accumulated over the year. And boy has some been accumulated! Got a nice big list, cables, cassettes, chain rings, pads, chains, bar tape, wheels, tyres, even a new groupset.
The year is planned already, so each bike gets set up accordingly.
The race bike gets the most attention. Stripped and cleaned. Then to have the carbon race wheels fitted, new tubs glued on and a set of yellow Swisstops added before being put away ready to race.
The training bike gets some upgrades especially a set of decent wheels so it can be press ganged into racing duties in the foulest of weather. The thought of my dollar dollar Lightweights grinding away in the wet makes me wince.
The crosser gets all new running gear. I'm sticking with canti's, but moving over to 1X and tubulars.
The mountain bike gets some long overdue attention as it might be my holiday bike this year if we go to the Alps as planned.
Finally the old old Claud, new tyres and cotton bar tape to carry this aging hipster to work!

So I pretty well have about three months where I can do what I want. Of course all the time I'm aware I need to be ready to race come late Spring.
Though right now I can afford to mix it up. Sundays are the cycling mainstay and still a bit fast, but always ridden. I'm getting off road, it makes a nice change to stuff everything in the camelback and just head off out, sometimes I stop and just sit under a tree. The turbo is a consistent in my cycling, and yes every week I leap on it. But the pressure is off and everything now seems so much easier? 

So until I pin a number on later this year I can pretty well do as I want, and that is such a relief that I have to wonder why I do the hard stuff at all.
A ride I will do is the Rapha Hell Of The North (London), I pretty well always do this barring a once a decade foray onto the Hell Of The North Cotswolds.
Then there's the clubs very own 'special' rides
Perhaps I might grab a final Chilterns Classic reliability ride. Whatever, there's nearly always a ride you can jump on. And often they're a freebie.
And Belgium this time of year shouldn't be missed,  another outing to ride the Gent-Wevelgem would go down a treat.

So for now it's time to kick back and get ready to crank it up. #wintermilessummersmiles

Central CXL Round 12 Welwyn The Final Round

The day goes shit shaped from the start!

Miles my racing partner and traveling companion call's to say the car won't start. Or tries to call as I have no mobile, the message gets through via Facebook just as Ross rolls onto my drive. My car is hurriedly pressganged into the team car, and two bikes go in the back before we set off to collect Miles. At Mile's place the car is blocking the way, and it won't move because the handbrake is electronic and won't release. Technology is failing today. We faff and don't get anywhere. We finally set off when we were meant to be there.
Luckily the journey there is an uneventful one.

We arrive at Welwyn to a dry windswept circuit over looking a lake. Windswept putting it mildly. The flags won't stay up, tape is blowing fully across the course, gazebo's are failing, there isn't an erection left standing!

We pour out of the car into the wind, eager for some reason to get well versed with this course. My day doesn't get any better. All season long I've been racing on general purpose tyres, but for today I've fitted brand new mud tyres because the forecast was so bad. Now I have super grip on a drying plasticine course when semi slicks would have done. I set them to sub 20 psi so they don't dig in.
Other than that the course seems fine. The strong wind is in your face on the descents, though I don't think that was down to careful planning. Therefore the climbs are wind assisted. Other than that it's classic CX.
I set off for a practice lap, and follow it up with two loops of the courses perimeter. After that I spend some time gassing with guys I might not see until next season. Though it's not long before one of them points out that my race is lining up to go. I race over to find I've lost my place on the grid and have to start right at the back.
It's right there and then that I loose the plot and any thoughts of doing well. The whistle goes and I tear off like number twos off a polished shovel.  I pass loads within metres, and think blimey I've done well. Then the inevitable happens, I shut down tired from the effort and have to go into limp mode to recover. Darren passes.....Barry passes, Barry literally cruises by. I've blown a gasket on the first lap, and I can't even limit the damage.
You can read it anywhere.
'PACE WINS THE RACE'
I've done this on three occasions out of the eleven races I've done this season and it's always had the same result.  Whilst some like a fast start, I need to just be there and kick in at about thirty minutes.
Halfway through I still had a stitch so couldn't even floor it on the flats. By now the hills were more welcome than the straights where I had absolutely no power.
I had also left my Buff on and was boiling because of it, I was really ####ing up today.

By now I was just holding on for points, Miles could come past at any time and I'd have nothing.
I don't know if I picked up a bit on the last lap, but I started racing on the tops and instantly felt better. Halfway through the last lap I wanted it to go on for another twenty minutes to see if |I could get back on, but that wasn't going to happen.
Darren took honours, followed by Barry. Then yours truly with Miles coming in fourth and Mike fifth.
I rolled back to the car wondering how on earth I could hold back the guys next year when I'd be pushing 57. My strength was going rapidly. I still could muster speed, and handling wasn't an issue, but strength when I needed it most, as in now when the going was hard wasn't there.
The years always throw up a new challenge. Since my late forties I've noticed strength and speed drop off in three year blocks, and it seems now I'm loosing another block of ability. I have coping methods in place, but it'll remain to be seen if they work.
But before we say goodbye to everyone for another year we have Ross going in the final race of the day and entire season.
Ross has a good start, pretty damn good actually. However our good intentions cheering him on from the side lines seem to make him write a cheque his legs can't cash ! And so he begins an epic battle on a tough course. There are a lot of London League guys out there today, and that's forced the pace. Still Ross rides a clean well paced race to finish well.

Wout van Aert