The ups and downs of racing

Hit and miss on the form front...

The first weekend in June brought the trip down to Peterborough for the Tour of Cambridgeshire. We were very lucky to have support from Motiva in the form of a brand new VW transit van for the weekend. This made transporting Percy and both the road bikes and all the associated bits and bobs so much easier, especially as it wouldn't physically have all fitted in my car! Packing light for a weekend of time trialling and road racing was a test too far for me - well you never really know what the weather is going to do from one minute to the next let alone a few days!

Transport courtesy of Motiva - thanks very much

We'd booked into the Premier Inn which was as close to the Arena as we were going to get with some 4,000 cyclists attracted by the opportunity to 'qualify to win a rainbow jersey'. After the success of the inaugural event last year word had certainly spread far and wide for this year; although the Gran Fondo accounted for most of the surge in numbers, split between those interested in racing and those out for a nice spin on closed roads in the sportive. 

Turbo session anyone?

Despite being relegated to a different part of the Arena complex (having been upstaged by Bill Bailey), Tom Caldwell and his ToC team had done a good job of setting up a great turbo zone for us to warm up in and transit to the start ramp. Signing on and warming up had gone trouble free so all that was left was to ride hard and stay safe out on the course, the rest would have to take care of itself. 

Ready to roll...

Eventually it was my turn at the top of the start ramp, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Out the arena doors, out of the show ground and finally onto the open (well closed on this occasion!) roads. It seemed to start relatively ok but my legs felt like they were already tiring by the time I got to Bullock road, which was barely 3 miles into the course. It was just at this moment when I was glancing at my power meter to see if it agreed with my legs when my 30 second 'marker' came past me... Bother. Not only past me but up the climb like her bike was on fire (unfortunately, for me, it wasn't). Thankfully there were two other people for me to pass on the climb but this didn't help the fact that I recognised that empty feeling in my legs which is generally present far closer to the finish than the start. 

 

Digging in up the hill

There were a few more people to pass as the course went on, a group of three who appeared to have decided that it was a team time trial (and there's me worrying about catching and passing quickly in case the Moto commissaire thinks I'm making it a 4up TT). All too quickly I'm flying down the hill in the homeward direction at 60kph trying to engage my best aero tuck, at least it didn't matter what the power meter said at that point, it was all about energy conservation! The return leg from where the descent finished to the main road seemed to take an eternity. There was no doubt about it I was struggling; this most definitely wasn't the race plan, I should be winding it up now but clearly there was nothing to wind up. To say I was pleased to see the show ground was an understatement but I certainly wasn't very happy with the time on the digital display at the finish. 

Sometimes you think you've got everything under control and you've planned and prepared as well as you know how to but the universe has other ideas come race day. Yes I slept badly the night before, yes I was more nervous than normal but that shouldn't have had that much of an effect. As it happened I woke up feeling under par the next day, so much so that I decided I didn't want to contest the road race. This turned out to be a very wise decision because as the day went on the more unwell I felt. 

Paul had a cracking road race, despite having been unwell recently and barely ridden his bike for the preceding 10 weeks he 'took it steady' and finished 12th having been in the bunch sprint for 5th. He's a truly talented rider and if he'd felt more confident in his health and fitness I've no doubt he would have gone with the three rider break, thankfully he heeded my note of caution on the start line (no heroics)! Given I wasn't well enough to drive home that evening he also had the 'pleasure' of the 3 hour return journey with me trying my best to stay awake. 

Start of Paul's race

Unfortunately I missed round 3 of the Castle Combe series which was 3 days after ToC due to the virus that had wiped me out apparently overnight. This was disappointing on two counts - I didn't want to relinquish my series lead and secondly the forecast was for a perfect night which would mean fast times. Given my competitive nature and inability to give in I did consider going to race but that didn't seem so clever when I'd barely made it out of bed for the previous two days and certainly hadn't considered riding my bike! This was a theme that continued for most of the week and I started to wonder whether I needed to withdraw from my race the following Saturday. I was still wondering whether I should go or not two hours before it was time to leave...There's nothing like leaving it until the last minute! 

... To be continued...!!