Season 2008
Last year was mainly a learning process, usually learning
not to get lost as well as how to ride a Time Trial bike without crashing.
I watched some great riders set local course records and generally learned
not to get discouraged by coming 2nd or 3rd from last every race, which is
the hardest part to take. At least with sports like football you win now
and again, but not in a hard sport like cycling where the hours and hours
of tedious and painful training has to be put in just to compete in some
fashion. There are no team mates to hide behind while you take a breather
for a few minutes like in football. No drinks breaks like in tennis or
cricket. I suppose running is similar, possibly harder as you cannot free
wheel down hill, although even with marathon runners who I admire and
respect, they've usually got people around them. In Time Trials all you've
got is the little voice in your head telling you to pack it all in to keep
you company.
Anyway, this year at least there would be no excuses due to poor equipment.
Armed with possibly the best wheels you can buy, even a professional would
struggle to build up a faster machine. This at least gets rid of the
"if only I had" nagging doubt in your mind, although the thing
won't ride itself unfortunately and it is also very expensive, getting
towards the price of a new small car. It is also a landmark year for the club which celebrates its 100th
anniversary this year.
Frame 06
Trek Team Time Trial OCLV HC carbon monocoque. Wheelset Zipp 999.
(Zipp
808 front with Zipp 900 rear.)
Tyres Vittoria Corsa Evo CX
Tubular. Brakes Shimano
Dura-Ace
front + rear. Brake Levers Cane Creek
200TT
Crankset Shimano Dura-Ace. Derailleurs Shimano
Dura-Ace
front + rear. Cassette. Shimano
Dura-Ace
21-11.
Aero bars Easton Delta Force
with FSA Vision tri bars. Seatpost Easton Elite. Saddle
Bontrager. Headset Cane Creek.
Photos Courtesy of Hull Thursday Road Club.
"I see more of your backside every week than I do the
missus's Les."
The first race was cancelled due to issues with the police, but I was down to marshal anyway, so the 10 mile hilly Skidby circuit was the venue for the first event in anger. Last season on the same course my time was 29:35 and I came in 21st out of 22 riders. The start time was 1-00pm and after riding home from work at 11-00pm the previous night in wind and rain, the racing would be difficult if conditions were the same. However, on the morning of the ride it was bright and sunny with not much wind about. Just in case, I took a pair of non-aero wheels as the Zipp 808 front wheel, if it caught the wind could be decidedly dangerous. On arriving at the course it became clear that the front wheel would have to go - the wind was too strong and I felt much safer with the normal front wheel. The rear disc as it is a non-steering wheel doesn't affect the handling as much so it could stay on.
Drew number 7 and rode out to the start at the bottom of the long drag up to Little Weighton and set off at 1-07 pm. The long drag was awful and the familiar feeling of doom and gloom descended, have I trained too little, too much? At that stage you have to dig in and ignore your feelings of self doubt and just keep on doing the basics. Keep tucked in and don't blow up. Through Little Weighton and the even longer drag up to High Hunsley when I passed two of the female riders who set off six minutes before. Into the 25 mph head wind for a short while when I was in my lowest gear possible on a nasty stretch of hill. At the crossroads it was now fairly easy to the finish apart from the sharp gusts of wind from the side.
Had no clue as to the speed I was riding at as the replacement wheel had no magnet on it but it felt quite fast with the disc wheel pushing me along like a sail. Gunned it to the line when it started raining, so got away with it weather wise. My time this year was 27:35 which was a huge two minute improvement over last year. More encouraging was the fact that last year I was 6m 18s behind the winner, this year I was 2m 25s behind which is more of a true indication of progress as the conditions are the same for everybody. In those terms I had lopped four minutes off and finished 9th out of 19 riders. This was in no small part due to the fact I had done 3000 miles of training since the end of last season, rather the any fancy bits of kit, but the new disc wheel does make a difference. All in all a very satisfying day.
Last year this was like shooting fish in a barrel. Downhill with a strong backwind and very mild conditions. It couldn't have been more of a contrast tonight. It was very cold and there was no help from the wind anywhere. We all rode out to the start line as pack and surprisingly nobody sounded their horns at us on the way to the top of the hill. Got number 8 and soon found out it was going to be much tougher than last year. It was like riding into cold mist and I must have pumped the tyres up too hard as the road surface was shockingly bumpy. It was the first time I'd used the front Zipp 808 and I was a bit nervous so kept braking which a couple of days later got me a telling off from local TT expert Chris Whitelam. I said I'd rather lose a few seconds than end up in a wheelchair!
I posted a 10:39. Slower than last year, but so was everyone else. In terms of time behind the winner last year it was 1:35, but this year the gap was 0:54 and I nearly caught the guy who set off one minute before on the line, so not doing too bad at all.
We use this course for winter training at night. Nobody likes it, three laps of a 3.5 mile triangle with a sharp hill thrown in. Last year I rode this course once and posted a time of 31:14 just after the burst disc in my back healed. Tonight's start was at 6-30pm and after looking at the wind to see if I could use the front deep section wheel rode over the Humber Bridge on my own. Just about made it in time before the numbers were handed out, drew number 7 and paid the �2 entry fee. The hill on the first climb was awful, much harder than in winter when I was flying up it for "fun".
Thought about abandoning as I didn't really fancy it at all tonight, but kept going. After one lap there was a dull pain in the abdomen due to lactic acid build up. I had to throttle back or it would get worse. Going past the start line, I had clocked just under 10 minutes which was very good. On the second lap the pain in the abdomen had cleared and it felt a bit better, still clocked a 10 minutes lap when I hit the hill for the last time. It seemed to stretch out for eternity, I thanked the marshal for his help and then TT ace Chris Whitelam came by who had started 4 minutes back. Gunned it to the line and just saw the computer clock tick over 30 minutes. When the times were published it was 29:52. 1:22 faster than last year. It was my goal to post a sub 30 minutes on this course and I'd done it - well pleased. There was now a 75 mile club ride on Sunday with some of the retired folk, so I didn't have to be scared of being dropped in the middle of nowhere this time and could have a relaxing ride without it all kicking off. It turned out to be wet and cold - horrible. Still, some bloke did it on a penny farthing.
7-00 pm start in a school car park in the village of Little Weighton. Conditions were not too bad, sun was out but it was still chilly so no short sleeve jersey yet. Wind was just about suitable for the Zipp 808, but still brought out a normal wheel in case. Arrived in good time at 6-40, but was dismayed to see I was down as number 23. That meant I wouldn't get going until 7-23 pm which is a long time to be hanging around.
TT ace Chris Whitelam was number 25, so my first thought was could keep him at bay for the first lap? Chatting to the 55 year old Steve Macklin next to a skip full of old school computer gear he said how much he hates time trials as he has to "bury himself" as he put it. Killed the time by riding up and down the main street and looking at the local duck pond. Finally got going up the long drag into the setting sun.
At the first left turn it was clear the front wheel was
dodgy with the stiff side wind as I could feel myself being pushed to the
right, but it was manageable. About 2 miles from the end of the first lap
Chris Whitelam flew past and so it was into the second lap, keep it spinning
up the long slow drag where at the top our club photographer was perched
looking for agonised expressions to capture. Passed one of the women training
for a triathlon and shouted some encouragement to her. On hitting the line
I wondered how much improvement there was from last year's 36:23. The
times were read out from a clipboard and I had done it in 33:57.
This was 2m 26s better than last year. In terms of
time behind the club winner, it was 3m 57s down on their time whereas last
year I was 7m 27s off the leader's time.
The next goal was to ride in a Barton Wheelers 10 mile race and post a 25
minute something time. There was one in a couple of weeks.
Etton -South Dalton circuit 13.5 miles
This event is possibly the hardest one in our calendar that I personally enter. It is very much like the Deepdale TT across the river in that it has one sharp hill in it and is three laps. Although at 3 miles longer than Deepdale it is arguably more difficult. Decided to use the SatNav to get there and was somewhat alarmed when the thing took me half way to York before directing me to the start line down some single track roads.
A quite beautiful evening if still not exactly warm, but mild enough to wear short sleeves. It so happened that our new 100 years anniversary kit was ready to pick up from our member Dean. Some riders decided to change into it in their cars. I was down as number 25, second from last man, so after signing on at 6-40 pm had a 45 minute wait before setting off at 7-25pm which is a long time to kill. There's only so much riding up and down you can do in the meantime, so chatted to a few people, including a young guy who had started as number 2 but had crashed on his first lap on some loose gravel. Luckily he wasn't badly injured.
Eventually got under way and immediately came up behind a guy who had just completed his first lap. You now have a problem, do you pass or let him go? If you sit behind him you could get disqualified. The best solution is for the guy to be recognisably better than you and watch as he rides away. This time I saw that the rider in front of me was someone who has been a couple of minutes behind me in the earlier races, so I decided to ride by him and since I didn't see him behind after that, it turned out to be the right decision.
Then number 26 came by so now I am last man on the course. Soon a burning sensation developed in my abdomen; lactic acid, so I knew I was riding at the limit and should ease off the gas. As the second lap was completed and I hit the hill for the third and last time the pain was so bad I had to stop pedalling for a while. Told the last two marshals that I was last man on the road so they can pack up and go home before nailing it to the line. This time I remembered to use my bike computer's stop watch function and so saw that the time this year was 35:17 as opposed to last year's time of 37:22, an improvement of 2:05. All being well, the possibility of finishing 5th in the veterans category is there. The "nightmare" scenario is that someone in the seniors category turned 40 this year and is better than you!
Little Weighton 12 miles (2 laps of 6 miles)
The evening was fine and the wind a cool easterly so no real bike handling problems. Got number 15 and saw that the inspirational Steve Macklin was one minute behind so I told him to give me a shout and I'll pull over when he wants to go by. He replied that he was so knackered that he might sit on my wheel and have a rest.
I also saw that TT ace Chris Whitelam was 5 minutes behind - could I keep him at bay? It was just possible as he can ride this course in 28 minutes something. Eventually the clock got to nearly 7-15 and I rode up to the line. Got clipped and flew off up the hill at 23 mph, but as the gradient ramped up then soon got pegged back to 17-18 mph. Only one marshal out on the course tonight so had to be wary of traffic. First left turn was no problem and so off to Riplingham crossroads when Steve Macklin came by. A bit disappointing that he got me so early, but he's a good rider and soon showed me a clean pair of wheels.
Looking at the stopwatch after the first lap, it showed 16-45 so heading for 33-30 if I could do the second lap as fast but my legs were hurting like hell. I was regretting having gone to work instead of resting as planned, but there's no going back now. Coming up to the last turn Chris Whitelam came by, so he had scrubbed off the 5 minutes head start, but I knew he would, I'd be a rabbit in the distance to him. On the line I'd clocked 33-47, which was an improvement of 10 seconds on the race last month so my handicapped time was 29:50.
I stupidly picked up a back injury and wasn't able to ride at all. I might get 5th place if I can get my back sorted out and get some fitness back after a 3000 mile trek around Romania, Moldova and Ukraine sat in the car nearly all day.
Unfortunately, three weeks later and now two races have been missed and it seems likely the season is over with and I can't even ride to work, let alone a TT bike. Right now I'd settle for being free of back pain, the cycling season seems somewhat irrelevant now.
Etton -South Dalton circuit 13.5 miles.
Looking at the latest points chart, it seems that the goal of 5th place was hopelessly optimistic, still at over two months since the last race the back injury just about allowed me to trundle around this tough course and at least get a few points albeit on reduced power. Got number 7 and so at least would not be trailing in at gone 8pm. Only a couple of days ago, I tried to ride the TT bike on a turbo trainer and it was agony, so didn't expect to finish, especially as this course has a nasty hill that you hit 3 times.
In May I rode this circuit in 35:17, but no way could I get anywhere near that time now. So arriving late at the course due to racecourse traffic it was soon ready for the off and surprisingly the back felt pretty good, but the 10 weeks off was beginning to tell fitness wise, so decided just to ride easy and keep the wheels ticking over. Expected a few people to come by, but it wasn't until halfway through the second lap that number 10 came by who started 3 minutes back. On the final drag to the finish line the back really started to play up, but it was tolerable. Just then number 12 came by, but surprisingly I had kept number 8 at bay, so it wasn't all doom and gloom. Final time was a respectable 36:49, not a total disaster and I could ride to work the next day, a good thing as my employers wouldn't take too kindly to going on sick again! At least I wasn't forced off the road by a mad tractor driver like two of our riders were.
Gilberdyke circuit 8 miles.
The day of this event wasn't looking too good as there was torrential rain all morning which luckily cleared up in time for the 12 mile ride home from work. The course is basically a square of roughly 2 mile long legs and pan flat. As it turned out most of the rain water had gone and the roads, although rough in places, weren't too tricky apart from a few 90 degree corners which you have to be wary of. A fair few didn't turn up so there are more points up for grabs and if you don't turn up you get docked 10 points which is why even though I couldn't ride this same event last month due to the back injury I drove out there, signed the start sheet, put "DNS" next to my name and drove home again.
That event was to determine your handicap time for this race, but as it was impossible to ride around that night I got my handicapped time from other means which turned out to be a generous 2m 05s. Last year I rode this course in about 20m 45s, so I'd be happy to go just under 20 mins tonight if possible - an average of 24 mph. Riding conditions were perfect except for the narrowness of some of the roads which means if you have a car coming your way and it won't pull to the side you have no choice but to slow down and get out of the way. Other than that the wind was favourable as it was a slight tailwind on the final leg as you head for the line.
Got number 5 and headed off at 7-05 pm, took it steady through sharp left and right 90 degree turns and then it was head down and see what sort of speed I could hold. A bit disappointing to see it was "only" 24.5 mph but if that's all you can do, that's all you can do. Had to take care due to standing water, pot holes and oncoming traffic but at the first turn felt OK. The second leg has a much better road surface, but it was a slight headwind so kept it at 23 mph. At halfway around the course caught a glimpse of another rider in the distance, it couldn't be number 4 surely? Onto the 3rd leg and no mishaps then at the final turn cranked it up to 25.5 mph but due to lactic acid build up had to ease off a bit. Now number 4 was in my sights and a great help as a "carrot" to chase.
I managed to catch him and then as I overtook I have to keep up the same speed as it is not fair on him to overtake then ease off, so he is a double help. On the line I got a time of 20m 09s, about 40 secs faster than last year. Due to the generous handicap though, my time was recorded as 18m 04s. This was enough to propel me from 9th to 3rd place, so having a back injury helped in way as my handicap time wouldn't have been so much had I ridden last month.
Spout Hill, Brantingham. 1 mile hill climb.
The only way is up on this tough hill climb, really a young man's event, but I have to do it having missed two races. Looking back at the times of people I know, then a time of 4 minutes would be reasonable anything less a bonus. No time trial bike for this event obviously, so decided to use my Trek commuter which has a triple chainset with a 30 teeth small ring. This would allow me to just sit down and twiddle my way up. Stripped the bike bare of lights, bags and a pump to save weight and drove out to my mate's pub in the village.
It was somewhat of a shock to find that the front wheel had a slow puncture. The Bontrager Hard Case tyre had gone through all of the winter unscathed but decided to go down now. Luckily, a kind woman had a track pump in the car and soon it was rock hard again. Got drawn number 15 and because you start up a steep incline the pusher off puts a large stone chock behind your back wheel to stop you slipping back downhill. The young bucks got out of the saddle and honked their way up, but they weren't carrying 12 stone in weight. Sat down and simply spun the cranks around until the finish line was in sight. The odd thing about the finish line is that all of the other riders are there and you seem to take forever to reach them, even though they look so close.
One young rider caught me few seconds after I had finished
and I almost knocked him off as I turned around. My ride time was 4m 06s which
earned me 36 points even though I came in last, with one marshalling duty (10 points) and one race to
come. In the hotly contested race for 6th place in the veteran's category,
it could all come down to those marshalling points in the end. The difference
between hill climbs and 10 mile TTs can be seen by the fact that one of
the lady riders did the hill climb 16 secs faster than I did, whereas on a
hilly 12 mile course in May, I was nearly 8 minutes quicker than the same
rider.
Spout Hill in the rain.
Onto the last race of the season then and after a week of awful commuting weather, the final event was held in glorious sunshine with little wind to interfere with handling. With little chance of getting a 6th place there was really no desire to even turn up, but since that is discourteous to the organiser I went out there anyway. Got number 13 and at precisely 1-13pm headed off into Little Weighton in a copy of the first race of the season, which was probably my best performance of the whole year. Pretty useless getting your best result in March in your first race, there only downhill from there on.
That time was 27:35 and in the meantime I was out with a
bad back for 10 weeks, so even getting that time would be an achievement.
A fairly ordinary ride today, just kept within myself and aimed to just
get round without too much pain. Onto the final stretch it felt good and
managed to hold 30-31 mph until the finish line. As it was the final event
of the year, we had a presentation ceremony in a local pub where the times
were read out. I ended up with 27:24, a personal best for this course, but
not enough to end up in a 6th prize place. So there you are, last year I came
7th in the veteran's category and after spending several grand on gear and
training for 5000 odd miles, I still ended up in 7th place. So to anyone
who bothers to read these tedious ride reports, save your time and money
and take up another sport instead!
Now where is e-bay and the time trial bike selling page?
But wait! The returning officer (club president) had a recount and I ended up in a prize winning 6th place after all, so the bike was hastily taken off e-bay and the whole ghastly process will start again in January 09 with winter training on Saturday afternoon when anyone with their head screwed on is going around B&Q or watching football instead.