Thetford Winter Series 2012-13

Round 1
I decided to leave the SS at home and stuck a Ron and Ralph on my geared bike.

The tyres held well although towards the end the course was getting pretty churned and something a bit more substantial would have been useful. The cassette and rear mech suffered from the clag during lap 2, although it was raining hard enough that the clag washed off my drivetrain again after half a lap and all was well again.

Since D2D I've not been able to train as much as I'd have liked so am happy with 33rd of 194 would be nice to edge a little higher for rnd 2 though

Well done to those who made it onto the podium, quite a feat in those conditions!

Round 2
WS2 - a.k.a "Eeh it were a bit chilly..."

On the journey there the car showed a temperature high of 0.5C, on the way home it was showing 4C, it's fair to say it was a bit nippy...

Lap1: Set off down the same long fire-road they'd used for D2D only to find LOADS of people already by the side of the track fixing punctures! You occasionally see the odd 1 or 2 who've had a mechanical straight off the line but there were tens of people already fettling away! I got off to a pretty good start, the ground was frozen and rolling well, it couldn't have been much more different to WS1.

Lap2: I headed into the 2nd bend (end of the lumpy singletrack after the main fireroad) only to hear marshalls shouting to be careful as it was icey. I'd not had a problem there on lap 1 so foolishly carried on as normal and ended up on my arse... At the end of lap 2 I realised I might be able to squeeze in a 5th lap if I carried on as I was!

Lap 3: A few more minor moments on the ice but nothing serious until the very end of the lap... As I rounded the final corner onto the start/finish straight I was right on someone's back wheel. I saw a chance to get a move on and take a few places but didn't bank on the bloke in front spotting some mates on the sidelines and slamming on the brakes so he could stop for a chat!!! I went straight into the back of him, flew over the bars and decided to stay on the ground for a while. Once I realised I was still in one piece I got up, uttered a few choice words and cracked on (Thanks to Mrs Tesla for capturing the moment for me...).

Lap 4: The crash must have given me an adrenaline boost as I flew the next couple of miles but as I approached the single-track near Mayday meadow I hit another patch of ice and had yet another lay down! Despite the lost time I managed to get back to the start/finish line with a couple of mins to spare and headed out for a 5th lap!

Lap 5: I'd planned to just plod round and get back in one piece but I was still feeling strong so ended up just going for it. On the start finish straight I saw someone quite a way ahead and managed to just pip him over the line

I really enjoyed the course, especially after the last round's mud-fest.

Final result showed as 19th which I was very pleased with but when the Timelaps site was updated I was bumped up to 18th! Also it looks like there's been a timing error for one of the people above me so I might even get 17th! So with any luck I'll be gridded for the next round! I've never been gridded before

Very well done to Lewis for a 1st place in only his 2nd senior race!

Was good to see the other TROG/GRT/HMFers out there, thanks for making sure I was OK after my crash!
 
Round 3

After a training-slog through the snow on Weds I was fully prepared for the ground to be draggy and for the bike to be sliding everywhere. As it was, Saturday night's rain had removed nearly every flake of snow! The opening gravelly fireroad was the only place with some slushy ice still standing!

So obviously all the melted snow and rain had turned the whole course into a sloppy mud-fest... Erm, no, actually It hadn't... In fact it was mostly running really well! The whoopy section that runs alongside the road was hideous with all the dips filled with mud/water and there was a 10ft-long, hub-deep puddle that spanned the width of a fire-road but other than that it was surprisingly solid!

We followed the quad-bike off the line as the first section of fireroad and the first corner were still a bit dicey. I've not been gridded before so I'm used to setting off and overtaking a fair few people in the opening dash, this was a bit different... I managed not to lose too many places before the first section of singletrack and it was nice to find no real queuing once in there.
I'd stupidly forgotten to have a pre-race trundle to warm up and it took pretty much the whole 1st lap for me to warm up. In fact I was heading down "The Plumb Buster" at the start of lap 2 when I finally started to notice my legs feeling stronger!

After rnd2, this time was reasonably uneventful, I managed to stay on my bike for the whole race so no comedy OTB incidents to report My drivetrain succumbed to chain-suck quite a bit, some gears were fine and some would skip like mad - obviously the fine ones were never the ones I wanted

The whoopy section by the road got worse as the race went on but other than that the course was holding up brilliantly given the amount of water that has been over it. My Nic and Ron tyre combo worked well, but 2 Rons or a Ron and Ralph would probably have coped.
I had another over-the-line battle but I lost out this time. I'd passed the bloke out of the final bit of single-track and held him off on the long head-windy fireroad but he passed me about 50ft from the end of the lap and I couldn't reel him back in.

I finished 20th, which I'm very pleased with, so all being well I'll be gridded again for the final round.

Was good to see some other cracking results from HMF and GRT. Didn't spot Jeff there this time, shame about your wheel!

Round 4
It was another bloomin cold morning but the forest was bone dry and rolling very fast - I think I only saw one puddle on the course!

I'd been a bit daft in the days leading up to the race (out boozing on Fri night and eating stodgy grub on Sat night) so wasn't feeling overly athletic on Sunday am. Following a warm-up spin along the opening fire-road and first few single-track sections I felt a little better, but Saturday's tea was still sitting heavily on my stomach.
As with last time, we followed the quad-bike off the start line and the riders seemed more closely packed in than usual, but being gridded again helped me get a pretty good start off the line.

The course was a cracker, with a few pits (Tom's, Howe's and Flint), it ran down the MX trail (my favorite), through Rusty Bucket (my least favourite) and back up the Double Shocker (good for making up a few positions).

I managed to stay on the bike again apart from one minor incident at the start of lap 2; as I climbed out of Tom's Pit the rider in front of me toppled off his bike and landed on my front wheel, pinning it down. I lost a few places as people passed us while I waited for him to get back up.

I had a running battle with an Iceni Velo rider throughout the race (he was one of the people who passed me on the pit exit). We swapped places several times throughout the race and I found keeping with/ahead of him a good motivator. On the 4th lap I'd got a reasonable lead over him on the climb after the MX trail and had managed to enter the Rusty Bucket section with a couple of riders between us however I was worried he would still be able to take me on lap 5.

All was going well in Rusty Bucket until I got stuck behind 2 slower riders and just couldn't get past them. I find that section to be too twisty with too many hidden stumps and slippery tree roots to comfortably overtake, I'd chance it with a single rider, but 2 riders is too risky for me.
I must have lost a good 30secs stuck behind them and as I reached the Double Shocker Mr Iceni Velo had made up the lost ground. I had a good run up the Double Shocker and managed to keep him behind me which was just as well because as I reached the start/finish line Paul put out the "2hr Race Finished" sign so I couldn't do a 5th lap after all.

After two top 20 finishes I was a little disappointed to drop down to 26th (of 134), but at the start of the series I'd've been overjoyed to finish there so can't complain too much

The GRT riders got some more excellent results with Lewis, Ady and Wingnut making it on to the series podiums and the team took 5 of the top 10 places in the 4hr Vet Male category! Also Paddy got another podium (and I assume series win) in the 2hr Junior Male cat for HMF.

Apologies to Jeff, I didn't recognise you at first when you called me over and I'd just realised I was running out of time for a pre-ride so didn't stop to chat.

I'm just waiting for the series rankings to be updated on the TMTBR site now, I was 9th at the end of Rnd3, but there's some people with only 2, very high, results who were just behind me (it's the best of 3) so I'm not sure where it'll leave me - hopefully I'll still be within the top 20.

Thanks to the cheerleaders (Kim, Jojo, Blondie)


End of Series
I ended up 15th in the Series Standings!

Thetford Dusk Til Dawn 2012

I've ridden D2D 3 times before but usually with a view to have fun rather than properly race. This year I entered as a team of 2 with my mate Steve (Stumpy on here) who I've done a lot of riding with lately and we were keen to do as well as we could but realistically we had no aspirations of troubling the podium or even being anywhere near it.

The weather had been fairly poor in the days leading up to the race and I wasn't looking forward to riding in the rain again (2008 and 2010), but on the day the rain cleared around 7am and it stayed dry and bright. We arrived at High Lodge around 5:30pm, too late to have a proper pre-ride but we got signed in and had a quick spin over the first couple of sections of the course. The rain had left a fair bit of mud, but there was considerably more fire-road than usual so hopefully it would hold up better.
I was volunteered to do the opening lap so queued up on the start line with Andy1 at around 7:30pm in the freezing cold. On the lead out section I managed to stick to Ady's wheel but misted up lenses caused me to faff my way through the first section of singletrack and he left me for dust, erm mud...
The "simple" course set-up meant I didn't see any of the queuing problems that there's been in previous years and my Racing Ralphs managed to cope pretty well through the mud (other than in one section that I doubt will dry up again this century).

I tried to eek 2 laps out of my batteries but unfortunately they both packed in about 2/3rds of the way through lap 2 meaning my Hope Twin was blinking on low power mode and my Fenix helmet light had dropped to it's dimmest setting. Somehow I managed keep riding with low light levels and despite the problems the lap-times show I set the overall fastest lap time for my category
I'd borrowed 2 spare Hope batteries from a mate, so with mine now on charge I used one of his for my 3rd lap, unfortunately it had been sat doing nothing for ages and it also died after about 20mins (despite me charging it the night before) and I had to survive on the 180 lumen helmet light alone!
The following laps were battery-problem-free but for the last mile or so of lap 4 I started to suffer cramp in my quads; a quick massage afterwards helped but the rest of my race was a balance between pushing on and fighting back cramping muscles.

Both me and Steve were managing approx 45-60min lap times which was just long enough in the pits to eat, sort out fresh clothes and batteries, service the bike and then wait for the next turn. The weather stayed dry but it was much colder than I'd anticipated fortunately the GRT boys and girls had a gas heater which was a god-send.
Unfortunately after my fourth lap I lost the ability to add up and somehow overestimated how much time I had by about 15mins and Steve had to come and find me and kick me back out onto the course...

Through the night we managed 7 laps each and we were constantly swapping between 6th and 7th place (of around 50 teams in our category). I made it back from my final lap at around 7:45am to find we'd dropped back to 7th. Steve went out for one final lap and he managed to bump us back up to 6th!

I'm exceedingly chuffed to have had a top 10 finish, it's by far my best result and is much better than we had expected we'd do.

Many thanks to all the TROG and GRT boys and girls for the hospitality, banter and support and to TMTBR for putting on another cracking event. And well done to all the others for some excellent results

Trinity Park Criterion Races 2012

Having bought a road bike for the Triathlon I thought I'd better get some more use out of it.

I was regularly riding with my mate Steve who mentioned the 'Crit races' at Trinity Park.  This is a fast paced, 30minute (novice class) closed circuit race series held over 6 week - there is also a 1hr (pro class) option for those who are sufficiently masochistic.

Having missed the 1st week I made my debut at round 2.  By "made my debut" I mean I managed to stay with the pack on the start line but struggled to stay with them for much longer...

The courses are 1.5 to 2 miles long and consist of many 90 degree bends with 100m or so between them and to keep with the pack you need to permanently sprint!  So for 30mins you sprint, brake, sprint, brake, sprint, brake...  If you lose the pack, you lose the 'tow' effect that it gives off, making it even harder to catch back up.

Round 2
For my 1st attempt I managed 7 laps, I stuck with the pack for a couple of them, but then fell away and limped over the line.  As "novices" go, these are pretty skilful! Only the 1st 20 people get their places recorded so I've no idea of my final position.
Endomondo

Round 3
At round 3 a lead pack and follow up pack formed, I managed to stay with the latter and I think I only just missed out on a ranked position.
At the end of the race my body was struggling, my muscles wouldn't work any more and I was struggling to breath.  I ended up laying down in the car park for a few minutes while I recovered.  I don't think I've ever pushed myself that hard before or since!
Endomondo

I missed rounds 4 and 5 but returned for the final.  

Round 6
Having picked up a feel for what was involved at round 2 I had high hopes (well, I thought I might just be able to scrape into the top 20), however I lost the pack on the 2nd lap from the end and then punctured on the penultimate lap, not quite the blaze of glory I'd hoped to go out in... 
Endomondo

One characteristic of the crit races is that the pack travels so close together, so quickly and around such tight fast bends, that crashes are almost inevitable.  When they happen they're on hard tarmac and a "domino rally" type effect takes out several riders at once.
I saw 2 crashes at the final round.  In the first - the worst of the 2 - someone appeared to take the 1st corner too wide then swung back in and collided with the bloke right in front of me. I managed to avoid it somehow, but it looked pretty painful for those involved. From chatting to one of the blokes afterwards (the one who got hit) it sounded like quite an expensive crash as well (Di2 and carbon rims etc) he was also draping a towel over his shoulder so that he didn't get blood on his car seats!
On the 2nd one, the pack were going around one of the last couple of corners and it seems the tarmac was just too slippery and, as he leant right over, one guy on the outside just slid sideways off the track fortunately managing not to take anyone with him.

I enjoyed the rounds I did.  It opened my eyes to a totally different style of racing and gave me a greater appreciation at how hard the faster racers really are pushing themselves.

Dunwich Dynamo 2012

Back in 2009 I did the Dunwich Dynamo for the first time then did it again in 2010.  It's a 120 mile ride, through the night, from Hackney in east London to the Suffolk coast.


I've done the "Dun Run" 3 times now and this was definitely my favourite. My first was at a very steady pace and was enjoyable but hard work, my aim was just to get there.
Three years ago I had wanted to break all known land-speed records getting there, but I left my legs at Needham Lakes after an overly-long rest stop.
This time I was keen to do as well as possible; the loose plan was to take it steady out of London and then press on after that, with minimal stops and aiming for an 18mph average speed.  Also I was travelling light this time around, no bags or excess kit, all I was carrying was;

• a couple of bottles of energy drink and a GPS fitted to the bike
• a spare inner-tube and multitool in my saddle-bag
• 4 energy bars, 4 energy gels, some Haribo jelly strawberries, a tiny waterproof jacket and my phone in my jersey pockets.

After the usual banter and bike-ogling in the park I set of with my mate Steve at 20:15.

• As we left the traffic lights, junctions and overcrowded roads of London we were averaging about 13mph.
• We'd only been on the road 20mins when Steve asked me for the direction sheet, which I no longer seemed to have.  D'oh...  Never mind, there's usually plenty of people around to follow and we roughly know the route anyway.
• We got to the Sible Hedingham feed stop at about 23:20 (approx 50miles) and there were only 20 or 30 other people there at that time.  Previously when we've got there it's been heaving with people and bikes - attempting to buy food there has been near impossible.
• We spent 20-30mins having a quick caffeine, flapjack and banana refuel.

The stretch from Sudbury to Needham was my favourite, we were in a pack of about 10-15 people and combined with the strong tail-wind we were, seemingly effortlessly, flying along!  It was along here that I started to notice an ominous rattle but chose to ignore it...

We reached the rest stop in Gosbeck at around 01:30 (approx 90miles) and had another 20-30min break, opting for coffee, mars bars and bacon buttys for fuel this time.  At this point the GPS showed that we were averaging our target of 18mph!
As I jumped back on the bike the rattle was very noticeable and I spotted that a spoke in my back wheel had snapped at the rim!  On closer inspection I spotted that the one next to it had gone at the hub as well!  Due to travelling light I'd not packed a spoke key, any spare spokes or a truing stand (ho ho) so opted to snip them off with some borrowed wire cutters!


I wasn't happy to keep riding at the same pace in case any more spokes snapped or the wheel buckled beyond a ridable level so we dialled it back a little. The remaining 20-30 miles were frustrating as we were both still feeling fit but, as I was planning on biking back to Ipswich too, I definitely wanted the wheel to survive.

The wheel developed a slight but noticable buckle around the Bruisyard/Peasenhall area but it wasn't bad enough to make it unridable.

We reached Dunwich around 3:30, managing to not only beat the sunrise but also the staff at the cafe too!  Our final stats were, 7hrs 19mins total time, 6hrs 21mins riding time and a 17.5mph average speed (route and stats are here).  I'd estimate that the wheel cost us 10-20mins.

There were probably 40 people milling around the car park (rather than the 100-200 when I usually get there) but only 10 or so in the queue for the cafe so we joined the queue and waited for it to open at 4am; it's just as well that we had backed off the pace a bit as we'd have been waiting even longer otherwise ;)



Due to the dodgy wheel I wasn't sure whether to bike back or not, as I had the option of a lift if I waited around. I decided to chance it, working on the theory that my lift would probably be willing to do a detour if the worst happened

One full English breakfast later I slackened off my rear brake to stop the buckled rim from rubbing against the blocks and at 04:30 we started the 30 miles back to Ipswich.  It took just over 2 hours to get back (14.6mph average) where I found my garden gate bolted from the inside meaning that I couldn't get in...

All in all, I really enjoyed the event and am very pleased with the result despite the frustration of the wheel, but I think next time needs to be a leisurely attempt, making the most of the various pub and burger stops along the way :)

Wattisham Triathlon 2012

I've written this a long time after the event (22/04/13) so it'll be patchy but I wanted to attempt to remember details in advance of the 2013 Tri...

 Beforehand

• I got there mid-morning for the sign on and debrief.
• I was issued number 159 (written on calf) and a start time of 14:20.
• Much faffing ensued between now and the start.
• Met up with Simon Lockwood, he talked me through setting up my kit at the bike racks.
• Further faffing...
• I wore a Nike Pro Combat compression sleeveless top and Altura Stream cycling shorts
• I didn't use any energy bars/gels/etc but did have an SIS Go electrolyte drink on my bike and had plenty of bananas and flapjacks before hand.

The Swim (300m)

• Wattisham Tri has an indoor swim. The pool is divided into 6 lanes, you swim up and down each lane and after 12 lengths (300m) you climb out of the far side.
• Around 14:15 I queued up by the side of the pool and waited my turn.
• I set off too quickly and tired myself out by the 6th lap.
• Plodded to the end but was overtaken on my final length.
• As I climbed out of the pool my legs were like jelly and my head was spinning (mix of tiredness and adrenaline).
• Ran/wobbled to the transition point.
• Very quick dry down
• Socks, lid and SPDs on (socks a proper faff)
• Ran with bike to exit of transition area

The Ride (20km)

• The swim had properly tired me out and for the 1st mile or so I couldn't focus on the road
• I even went off the wide clear track at one point on to the grass verge!
• The off-course moment seemed to clear my mind and I finally found my rhythm.
• The course involves 2 laps of the airbase including riding up and down the runway.
• The runway has a strong wind passing down it, so you fly along it to begin with, then do a hairpin turn at the end into a wall of wind.
• The slog into the headwind was very hard work I kept looking up and seeing a marshall in a hi-viz vest at the end but he never seemed to get any closer!
• Once back at the transition area I dismounted and ran to my transition point.
• Removed my lid
• Swapped SPDs for trainers

The Run (5km)

• Before the Tri I'd been recording my runs on Endomondo and had been getting around 24-25min times for 5km.
• According to a comment I made on Facebook I was suffering significant stomach cramps as I started the run.
• My legs struggled to do anything for the first 1/2mile.
• Grabbed water at the 1st water-stop but ended up wearing most of it.
• After the 1st lap I found my pace.
• On the final straight I somehow managed to sprint the full length of it (200m?)

In the end I was 88th out of 262 entrants or 16th out of 30 in the "35-39 year old males" category.

My split times were as follows;

• Swim + Transition: 00:08:20
• Bike + Transition: 00:38:07
• Run: 00:22:20
• Total: 01:08:48

I'd set myself what I though was a realistic goal of 1:15 and a stretch of 1:10 so very chuffed to beat my stretch!
 
Karen Aldis took a few pics of me.

Triathlon Training - Part 2

So, on Monday morning I found myself sat in the bath wearing black padded cycling shorts and a black compression vest...

Since my last post I've done quite a few rides and runs and tried to focus mostly on transitioning from one to the other, this has been going pretty well although I'm starting to think that running is shaking my joints apart!  I've largely ignored swimming as I know I'm a decidedly adequate swimmer and won't be able to improve on that in the remaining time.
There is now less than a week to the event so I'll have a few more days of training then I'll rest up.  This weekend I've been for a 50mile ride on Saturday and then a 6mile ride followed by a 3mile run on Sunday.

So back to my idiotic bath-time...  I didn't feel like embracing the humiliation of going to the public swimming baths looking like a member of the Goth version of Right Said Fred, so bathing while clothed was my alternative way of testing out the swim-cycle transition.  Having leapt out of the bath and legged it downstairs while futilely towelling myself down I hurriedly pulled on socks, cycling shoes and bike helmet, while simultaneously attempting to convince Clare that this is a perfectly normal way for her husband to be starting a bank holiday Monday...

From leaving the bath to setting off on the bike took 1min 25secs, at least 25secs of which was me struggling to pull socks over my wet feet.

Fortunately it was a fairly mild morning so cycling while sopping wet wasn't too uncomfortable and I had one of the best rides I've had in a while.  I covered approx 12.75miles (which is further than needed for the event) in 38mins and 12secs and maintained a 20mph avg speed (very pleased  with that).

Once back home I kicked off my helmet and shoes and pulled on my tatty old trainers, I then faffed around switching my GPS tracker from cycling mode to running mode.  This transition was about 1min, but much of that was due to me fiddling around with the GPS.

I found the run hard work and was 30-60secs slower per mile than usual, but covered 3.5miles (again, further than needed for the event) in 29mins and 27secs.
Towards the end of the run the underneath of one of my trainers was starting to hurt my foot.  I suspect they're at the end of their useful life but I'm reluctant to use new, unfamiliar and not yet worn in kit for the race, so hopefully they've a week's worth of use left in them...

Overall, the whole session took 1hr 10mins & 7secs.  So adding 6-7mins for the swim and deducting the phone faffing time hopefully means I'm on target for a 1hr 15mins-ish time.

For Tuesday and Wednesday I'll do some more cycle-run transition practices and get a couple of swims in too then that should be it till the big day!

Gulp...

Triathlon Training - Part 1

Since the start of March I've been training for the Wattisham Triathlon (12/05/2012).  It's considered to be a sprint Triathlon and the distances involved are a 300m swim, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run.  Although I've done quite a few bike races and events before, this is something new to me and I'm a tad nervous...

A few weeks of illness from mid-March to early April set my fitness back quite a way but I've been getting back into it over the last week or so.  I planned on starting back gently but a few wrong turns and some friendly competitiveness on my 1st ride back led to me doing a fairly quick 50miler (oops).  The next ride back was similarly competitive but nearer the 35mile mark.  Last week I did a few 10mile rides and a couple of 3mile runs mixed with some rest days.

Yesterday I opted to try a full distance ride followed by a full distance run, but cramps (due to eating a stupid lunch) a short distance into the run section meant I cut it short.  This had knocked my confidence quite a bit so I decided to replicate the event this morning just to see how I'd cope!

One of the elements of the tri that I'm most unsure of is the transitions from one discipline to the next so I also wanted to try out a couple of things to see how I got on.  The main one being, do I want to ride in wet trunks and just pull running shorts over them after the swim or do I swim in cycling shorts and have the cushioning act like a sponge!?!  Today I opted for the former...

I started the swim at 8:24 and 12 lengths of the 25yard pool took 6mins 10secs.  This is a little under the actual distance as the competition will use a 25m pool instead.
Due to it being a public pool this first transition was a bit more faffy than the one on race day should be.  Following a quick towel down I pulled on a cycling shirt and my running shorts over my still wet trunks (lovely image there).  I then had to faff around with bike locks etc so, all in, the transition took me about as long as the swim itself!

Riding in the wet wasn't too bad and I dried out fairly quickly.  As cycling is my strongest discipline it's the section I'm most confident about and the ride went ok, I ended up doing 21.8km in 44mins 05secs.
This next transition was much easier and just involved putting my bike away, changing my shoes and grabbing a fresh water bottle, this time I took about 2-3mins.

The run was a bit slower than I usually am (I usually average a little quicker than 8mins/mile but this was nearer 9) but fortunately the cramps/stitches from yesterday didn't appear and I ran 5.21km in 28mins 06secs.

End-to-end this session took around 1hr 26mins, so I now have a target for the actual event and my confidence has been restored a bit :)

Now for a lie down!