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June 2007 Results

Surrey League TTT Championships (30/06/07)

Thames Velo were out in force today, with 3 teams representing the club at Loxwood, Surrey. The 35 mile course is a rolling one with no killer hills, so definately one for the full TT rig and pointy hat! The weather wasn't good though and we were beset with punctures - especially with our 'A' team who failed to finish with the minimum 3 riders out of the team of four.

Here's Paul Redman's report from the squadra 'B':

The forecast was for rain and rain it jolly well did as the ‘B’ team mustered at the village hall in Loxwood.  Whilst tea was being consumed and the team were getting changed, disaster immediately struck when John realised he’d left his helmet at home.  Equally bad, Paul had left his spare, pointy one in his living-room and so a spare was unfortunately not available.  This meant Ian, Per and Paul would not have the benefit of John’s experience and reserves of strength post-Fred Whitton.

The three men sauntered along to the start area three miles from the village hall and immediately tried to get accustomed to the foul weather conditions.  Although the rain was easing, the roads were absolutely saturated and ‘rooster tails’ from the rider in front were giving the rider behind something of a face-wash, but without the soap or flannel.

From the start, the three members quickly formed up into a steady pace and welcome vocal support came from John as they passed the village hall.  Up and out from the village, the call went up “Ambulance Coming!!”.  It was pretty evident where the ambulance that was about to overtake was going.  Sure enough, when the team saw the ambulance again further ahead, a paramedic was tending to a competitor with what looked like a head wound.  Encouragement and support was called out to the team by the roadside and the ‘B’ team continued with their good pace.

The first lap appeared to go well with each of the three riders performing strongly on the front and taking a good turn.  Whilst two rival teams did catch and pass on that first lap, both teams were clad in ‘the gear’ and were riding what can only be described as expensive-looking TT bicycles.  On one of those ladies, you’d expect to be quick!

With one of the two 17.5 mile laps complete, the omens were looking good and the rain was continuing to be nothing more than a slightly inconvenient minor drizzle.  On passing John at the village hall, the call came out “You’re five minutes up on Dave” and so it seemed the progress on the first lap was indeed swift and smooth.

Early on in the second lap, the boys were being annoyed by a constant buzzing noise for a few miles out from Loxwood.  It was thought unlikely that this was a giant bee (well, it would have been fitting given that this was the ‘B’ team …. *boom-tish!*) and this was confirmed when the buzzing noise starting to eventually overtake and then a sort of ‘horn noise’ accompanied the buzzing.  The buzzing turned out to be a L-plated 125cc motorcyclist who didn’t appear to be Thames Velo supporter.  It was unclear what the hand signal he gave was …. it was either an accusation that the ‘B’ team were all self-abusers or it was the clenched-fist “I’m jolly annoyed that you’ve held me up for as long as you did” variant.  Clearly there was no two-wheeled solidarity there.  Teenagers, eh?

Further on and going through a wooded area, a strange sight greeted our heroes as they made their progress on the second lap.  There were two figures standing by the roadside and both were dressed in the Thames Velo kit.  Was this some kind of apparition?  Or had two club members braved the foul weather and dressed in team-kit, driven all the way south of Guildford to show their support?  Alas, no in both cases, for it was Gary and Harry from the ‘A’ team (as in Thames Velo ‘A’ and not a gang of four Vietnam veterans in a black GMC van on the run from Colonel Decker, etc, etc).

In their deserted state, Gary and Harry both shouted support and encouragement from the roadside, although there was no sign of where fellow members Ian and Simon had ended up at (it was later revealed that the team had had punctures galore – the odds of getting that many in such a short space of time were longer than winning the National Lottery jackpot!) and the ‘B’ teamers took this vocal backing by the scruff of the neck for some more powerful pedalling.

With each of the three riders still taking strong goes on the front, the progress on the second lap was as swift as on the first.  The drizzle was still persisting, but the ‘B’ were now homeward bound and at each marshall-post, thanked the chaps for standing out in the weather with their flags and for their vocal encouragement too.

…. and then it happened.  With the ride having passed off very smoothly indeed, whilst taking a strong turn on the front, Paul punctured his rear tyre (“I just knew I should’ve changed them this week”, he was heard to curse and mutter later on!) and his speed slowed dramatically.

Clearly, there was no sense in changing it this close to the finish, but with only three riders in the team, they all had to finish together for the clock to stop and so Paul could not be dropped and left to his own devices.  With the rear wheel slipping and sliding furiously behind him, Paul managed to just about hang on in the corners and on the downhill sections.  The sideways bicycle control could mean a career in speedway awaits should he want to retain two wheels but avoid the need to pedal.

Per and Ian crossed the line together with a thoroughly disappointed  Paul only a few metres behind them both, having spent the last mile or so not being able to reach speeds much above 12mph.  If some kind soul was keeping the weather bearable for the ‘B’ team crew then the generosity was rescinded less than a minute after finishing as the rain started up once more in earnest.

Both Ian’s and Per’s computers gave a readout of 1hr 39mins for the time trial.  Unfortunately, the timing board back at HQ claimed that Thames Velo ‘B’ had completed the distance in 1hr 46mins.  Whoever was correct, the seven minutes difference was not likely to alter the results too much and over tea/cake back in the village hall, the ‘B’ team reflected on a fairly good job done in view of the conditions and circumstances.

Next time, please bring a paddle.  Life-jacket optional.

Colerne 3/4 Cats (23/06/07)

Gary Bullock reports: "Despite the fact that I haven't really ridden much during June my legs felt pretty good during the warm up, I was determined to get as much out of today as possible, so I lined up behind the comms car and led the bunch up to the start and then up the slight rise to the back of the circuit. What I did notice at the start of our 2nd lap was there were only four of us working so I took the option of refusing to come through and sit in the middle of the bunch. This proved to be a mistake as the pace dropped as we went up the slight rise and a guy attacked. I sat there waiting for a reaction but none came, so this time I took a flier after him. Going solo up the rise into the wind was hard work but I managed to close to about 50 metres of him before the pack swallowed me up. Then the pace dropped again and the guy up front opened up the lead to around 30 seconds. A counter attack came and again no reaction from the pack, so this chap just simply rode away. After a couple more laps the two up front had come together and now had a lead nearer 40 seconds but I was determined to pull this break back and took to the front and started to increase the pace up the finishing straight and to my surprise I had gone off the front. So this time I decided to go as hard as I could to try and get across to the two leaders, again into the wind it was hard going and I wasn't really making much ground - a couple of seconds maybe so I decided to ease up and wait for the bunch. As the bunch came by another counter attack and again no reaction, this time it was one of the more stronger riders and I had a feeling he would stay away. Now with only a couple of laps to go the two up front had it sewn up but the guy in no man's land had about 20seconds on us. A couple of guys tried to organise a chase but in my opinion it was all too late and so I just sat in and waited until the final lap. There were a couple of jumps out of the pack and I decided to counter attack one of these but the field were having none of it, as we came into the technical section one guy took a chance and went fast round "Lowe's corner" (where Ian left the track last year), he managed to get a good gap and kept it going to the line. So now I was sprinting for 5th. I managed to pass a couple of guys in the short sprint and so ended up getting 3rd in the bunch sprint, which meant 7th overall. The really encouraging sign for me is for the second week in a row I have managed to hit my max HR, couple that with the fact that it is now 198 instead of 196 shows that things are moving in the right direction."
 
Race Facts  
AVG Speed 22.8MPH
AVG HR 173BPM
MAX HR 198BPM (My max 198BPM)

Kenton Road Race 3/4 Cats (17/06/07)

Making his debut in club colours, Harry Bulstrode pulled 4th place out of the hat in a manic bunch sprint at Cheddington today. Harry said that if he'd have seen the 1km marker then would've taken a flier instead of waiting for the sprint.

On a fairly flatish course in warm and sunny conditions it was the usual fare in the 3/4 cat event with the expected "chase and sit" routine from the bunch. From the club, we had Gary Bullock, Andy Fowkes, new-boy Harry Bulstrode, Mike Inder (making a welcome return to racing) and Ian Lowe.
There were a few solo efforts off the front, but no one was willing to make a race of things and so it came down to a bunch gallop for the line. Andy was up there in getting top 20, with Gary & Mike happy to get some race miles in the legs and not expecting too much. Ian cramped badly on the hill on the penultimate lap and was not best pleased with himself by all accounts. Rumours that the "sampson" haircut had contributed to his performance were swiftly quashed!
We'll be seeing more form Harry I'm sure .. after all he did win our promotion back in April!

LVRC Milburys RR (10/06/07)

Dave Lambourne reports from the hillier parts of Hampshire held on a course near Winchester.  Some parts of the course were very lumpy, plus a hard 2 mile drag that seemed to go on forever. David felt apprehensive, since every time in the last three years he has ridden this race, he has been dropped on a steep descent with an S bend on a very bumpy surface designed to give extra grip for motor vehicles. So David arrived very early and did some practice runs down the hill and it worked!   First time down the hill, he stayed in contact for the first time ever!!!, so up a few climbs and the next fast descent arrives.  Hey Ho, don't touch the brakes, just let it go like everyone else, and again still in contact!   The thought goes through David's mind that he had achieved his main goals; perhaps it might be best to climb off and go home, but no - he decided to carry on, so up the climb to the main road, turn left and left again, but at the start of the two mile drag a few  riders in front of Dave let a gap open, so he gets round them and closes the gap with difficulty, still not having recovered from the last climb.   Having closed the gap, the legs felt a bit dead and quite soon Dave has let open a gap between him and the bunch and the gap widens as the race progresses up the drag; other riders are losing contact and Dave, hoping for company, eventually joins up with two other younger (note) riders. But disaster!  Dave's new glasses' optical inserts steamed up and were covered in perspiration and he could not see, so he took them off and, guess what, he still couldn't see when under the trees, and one fast downhill section with lots of gravel was difficult., so on to the dreaded descent where not being able to see properly Dave was dropped by the other two.  Still, only another two laps, so riding  carefully and having a few surprises with gravel and unseen pot holes, Dave finished the race.     3^rd in his age group, but then there were only four (!) in his age group, with the majority being younger vets. (But let's not get facts in the way of a good result Dave - well done. Ed)

MOD Chertsey - 4th Cats (02/06/07)

Paul Redman has a memorable first road race:
"A lovely, warm Saturday morning greeted us 4th catters for a 48km race at the MOD circuit near Chertsey.  There didn't look like a great many turned up, possibly due to the Regional Road Race champs on Sunday or maybe with it being the end of half-term, who knows?
Off we went then in my debut appearance for Thames Velo in a race.  I immediately thought the pace was a bit pedestrian and having started in the middle of the bunch, I'd made my way to leading the pack up the slow drag after the first corner.  Then I eased up, because having never ridden there before, I thought I should get a handle on the lap and which lines to take before getting too cocky.
I made up places once more up the very short, steep bit through the trees and led the field going over the start/finish line at the end of lap one.  Over the course of the next half-dozen laps, a few lone riders tried to make a break for it, but all were successfully reeled in.  In particular, I dragged the peleton back up to a Reading CC rider who'd made a daring escape.  The laps were a mix of hard puff 'n' gasp, then a nice easy stint .... all going very well, thank you.
Over the course of the race, I tended to be at the front going over the start/finish line, drifting back for the next half-lap, then using the very short, steep bit to get to the front again.
Coming up towards eleven laps done and I was once more at the front coming down after the very short, steep bit (btw, do these corners have names like on Motor Racing circuits?) and I hit the last corner first.  I opened up a bit of a sprint going down the start/finish straight and was surprised to see I'd opened up a gap of maybe 100m or so.  Two laps to go .... me out front on my lonesome.
Hindsight now tells me I probably should've floored it and see where it ended up.  I didn't.  Without a Directeur Sportif yelling in my ear, I decided to ease up, let everyone catch up and we all did the rest of the penultimate lap together.  Going down the main straight for the bell, I drifted to the back of the pack to take on board the last bit of drink ready for the major pace increase.  As one, we rounded the first corner and made our ascent up the long drag to the technical section through the trees.  Then, it happened ....
I heard the first "WOOOAAAH!", but by the time the second and third "WOOOAAAH!"s rang out, it was clear we weren't reciting a Michael Bolton song.  My hands were covering the brakes, but I didn't have time to go for them and I slammed straight into the back of the guy in front.  My mouth hit the back of his head or the top of his back and then I sommersaulted over my own bars.  At least six or seven riders were taken down in all, some poor chap behind was flat out on the tarmac and needed immediate medical assistance.  I could feel the blood pouring from my mouth, but all my teeth seemed to be there.
The other crash victims had already remounted and I followed suit.  "I've come this far", I thought, "I'm jolly well finishing" .... even though my handlebars were pointing north-east when straight, I managed to limp around to finish the race; although the bike was making a racket that probably disturbed the golfers.
.... and if my Dad's reading this, I'm truly sorry, you were right .... but at least I didn't lose as much blood as Hinault in '85 at St. Etienne (at least I don't think I did!!)
Including my warm-up, the Cateye says 28.19 miles at an average speed of 22.3mph (it was a very slow warm-up, trust me!!)."