Time Trial Round Up - 2014

The Autumn nights are drawing in and the temperature is dropping. The hill climbs are done and dusted and the knee warmers are beginning to make way for the "longs" and the full finger gloves. Winter is coming and with it comes time to reflect on the season gone before planning out the regime for the season to come.

2014 saw my life-time 10 mile best get shaved by 3 seconds and also saw another solid 57 minute 25 miler go in the book.

Hitting 21.49 for 10 miles was a major achievement given that it is around 12 years since I have posted a sub-22 minute time. I was optimistic that I could carry some form following a week at altitude on the Raid des Alpes (September) so breaking the mark with comparative ease (it felt oddly "easy" on the day) was a bonus. I had taken 30 seconds off my last-three-season best in the Bossard Wheelers event in August (22.19) which meant that over the course of the year my time has improved by 1 minute. A significant improvement. Tick.

Rides of over 10 miles were more numerous for me in 2014, at least when compared to 2013 and 2012. The upshot was a solid 57.42 in July on the Bentley (Hants) based H25/8 course. Sadly Phil Silver DNF'd on that one. I suspect that event will be on the "to do" list for 2015 as it is a good course albeit not a rapid one compared to the E2 near Newmarket. Tick.

Having been knocked off on a Hitchin Nomads club run in January/February time my winter was ruined. Another collarbone/shoulder injury affected my fitness and it took around 10 weeks simply to get back to square one. To say I was cheesed off was an understatement. Inexperienced riding in icy conditions took a few of us out. I won't be repeating that combination again. Work commitments also saw me chucking a bike in the car and riding with VC Sevale in Malvern. A really friendly bunch who let me ride some of their evening time trials. The Malvern courses are sporting and pretty idyllic so that was a silver lining even if it meant some complex logistics and sneaking bikes in and out of hotel rooms.

F15/10 action in August (Davey Jones with the snap)

The biggest change for me this year was riding with Team Salesengine. Although I am still an active member of the Hitchin Nomads CC, the club isn't a dedicated time trial outfit (nor does it claim to be) as such it has been difficult in a personal sense to gain impetus and motivation to move up to (or even back to) the next level. Feeding of the energy and competition in a time trial squad yielded huge benefits. As did a week at altitude on the Raid des Alpes.

The specificity of time trialling needs real focus and although the Nomads has gone from strength to strength membership wise (107 and counting), at a personal level I needed a boost and challenge in terms of riding more TTs within a focused and dare I say faster cadre of riders. That is not to say the Nomads do not have some good TT riders. I was chuffed to see Nick Hickman, Ben Wilson and Gavin Ashfield break the 10 mile team and individual records this year. Nick Hickman in particular has had a stellar season. Proving you get out what you put in. Chapeau Nick! Ben also represented GB in European Triathlon. I am looking forward to seeing him continue. The Nomads is a social and sociable club and its catholic range of activities are its strength.

But back to the "here and now". I am lucky in the sense I have good friends in the cycling community. Over the course of 2014 I have managed to plunder information from Justin Layne (ex-CC Ashwell - thanks for the super hard training sessions) and Simon Norman (BRCC - and probably the best TT rider within 50 miles of the Beds/Herts area). Again, I am really pleased they have progressed so significantly.

Mark Gray (BRCC), John Pick and Jason Stuart (CCA) have also been good for banter and support, most notably on the BRCC SPOCO circuits. These sporting course (SPOCO) races are a must for anyone wanting to improve all round technical riding, handling and fitness. Graham Laming is an ever-present at the Cardington HQ - he and those like him -  are the bedrock on which British TT'ing is built. Paul Bullen has been a rock (yes, that is with an "r") despite the "Black Books" level of intimidation and harassment in the shop.

Me, Steve Robinson, Sam Hayes (October 2014 - Thruxton) - note the matching kit/van combo and lack of awning.

My time trial highlights this year are (quick times aside) probably as follows:

• Riding the Milton Keynes 4up team time trial on closed roads with Steve Robinson, Chris Hartley and Phil Silver. Phil smashed his bike to bits within seconds of the start so it was a full bore effort from there on having lost Phil so early on.
• Hitting the track at Thruxton with Steve and Sam Hayes to compete in the national circuit champs. Sam's times have been getting within range as the season progressed so I think he's been a good carrot. A top 40 place should be achievable next year for me.
• My ride on the Interclub 30 was a good one - marred only by another rider attempting to draft me. I was pleased with that performance and will be able to claim my last HNCC trophy off the back of that (the Allan Porter Trophy)
• The Victoria CC 10.2 (August) was also a revelation - 23.37 got me 12th place on a route I didn't know prior to riding it. It is however a brilliant "out and back" course running along a twisty rolling B Road near Saffron Walden. Sam and Steve claimed the 2-up competition and will be eyeballs out to retain it.
• The Northampton and District CA series events I rode (I missed the first few) saw strong collective and individual performances from the Salesengine team. The final results should see us hit 2nd place overall in the team competition. 
• And finally -  even when I punctured on a BRCC event and was faced with a 2 mile walk in cycling shoes Mr Gomm appeared like Jeeves to my Wooster to whisk me back to the HQ. Serendipity cost me a pint but it was worth it.

Next year is going to be a blast.

Raid des Alpes - part 2

What goes up, must come down. Or so the saying goes. Having endured several hours of climbing the carrot dangling at the top of the climbs was the chance to open the taps up and push some speed on the beautiful alpine descents.

This is the scalextric style view of what you can expect to rocket down and there's miles of it.

The length of the descents coming off the back of cols such as the Galibier, Vars, Bonette, Saisse etc has no real comparison in UK terms.

In my view they are gifts which keep on giving.

Having taken the time to trundle 26km up the Bonette or the several hours to rock up the Iseran, the least the French can do is lay some good tarmac to allow Johnny English to get the adrenaline levels going. And that, in the most part is what happened.

Being more suited to going down a hill than up it (in comparison to my companions at least), I took a view of "if it is worth doing, it's worth doing well fast". With James Gomm and Rob Fryers in particular we had some real grins ratcheting up the speeds as we weaved down of the higher cols.

Hitting speeds in excess of 50mph, some of the descents became battles of nerve as well as stamina as holding on to a carbon bike with under 20mm of tyre tread in contact with the road is tiring. The arms begin to burn and the neck and back begin to wonder what is going on. The wind rush and exhilaration make up for it though. The GoPro footage (above) taken on the Col de Vars gives a good idea of some of the lines we were taking. James is hanging on to my wheel here deliberately to film the lines and give an impression of what it was like. Keep an eye on the horizon line to see how much we threw the bikes around.

Critical to success (and being able to avoid total wipe-out) is the ability to relax on the bike and to focus on where you want to be in the road. Taking hairpin bends at speed and flowing through them in the right gear helps save energy and keep momentum. Observing the valleys and bends below is also an absolute must given that these are not closed roads. A near miss with a Fiat served to shoot more adrenaline in to the system but the calculated risks taken ensure safe passage. On that occasion being in control of the bike allowed me to flick the rear wheel out to create safe passage. This kind of proves the point that descending is all about being fluid and loose - I don't want to do too much more field testing like that though. James likened the downhills at speed to slalom skiing and that analogy stacks up - even though I've never skied I can see the logic. I did raise an eyebrow when he ordered extra espresso when we got to a Cafe at the bottom of the Saisse though. I don't think it had any affect.

I'm not sure if it's the inner child inherent nutter in me that thought going as quickly as possible wearing only lycra and a plastic helmet was a good idea? On one of the peaks I think I was paid a compliment by one of the other riders when he said, "you go first, you are good at this sort of downhill thing." Either that or he wanted to be out of sight if/when some form of terminal event or smash occurred. 

I think it was the former. If you can ride down Hillfoot near Cardington on the tribars at full tilt anything that involves proper handlebars and brakes that aren't built around carbon pads has to be child's play surely? You can see where it is easy to get in to a breakaway move given the speed we were holding.We readily tapped out average speeds of well over 30mph for very long stretches of road. It could have been a better strategy to hold something back on some of these drops as there may well be 3 or 4 to do each day, as well as the associated "going back up" bits. I have tried to blank those out as it's the rocking downhills and associated rush that leave the enduring grin.