The Build
Frameset: Cipollini Bond 2 custom bluer with gold lettering
Handlebar: Prime Primavera Carbon 38cm width
Saddle: ISM PN 3.0
Groupset: Shimano Ultegra Di2
Drivetrain: FSA SLK-force light SRM power meter with 53/39 front chainrings/Shimano Dura Ace 11sp chain waxed with Molten Speed wax/ 11-28t cassette
Wheelset: Just Riding Along Mahi Mahi Carbon.  30mm front 45mm rear
Tyres: Hutchinson Fusion Galactik Storm 11 tubeless
Pedals: Shimano Dura Ace

Components Rationale
Back in 2020 I went for a bike fit with crimson performance in the Rapha shop in Manchester.  We spent a few hours testing and dialed in my position.  One key change was the handlebars.  I used to ride 42mm bars but we discovered with my narrow shoulders it left me with flared wrists.  To mitigate this I dropped down to 38cm and never looked back.  The prime primavera bars are supposed to be aerodynamic so let's hope there is a gain there.

I ride 53/39 front chain rings on this bike.  They are great for racing and sending it but can be a bit large for casual riding especially around the hills near me.  I ride a compact in winter when I'm not as fit.

I've used molten speedwax for the last year or so and it's been a game changer.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's more efficient and increases the longevity of my components but by far the biggest benefit to me is cleanliness.  Now my bike is so easy to clean and I no longer have problems with getting oil on my clothes/walls/car etc.  Of course it takes time to maintain and wax but I've got it down to a fine art and for me I'm glad I made the shift.

You may wonder why I use an ISM saddle with the peculiar shape.  Not that I ever had major problems but riding more than 500 hours a year can start to wear on your groin.  My hips sit nicely over the wide forks and now I very rarely get any soreness.  It's slightly heavier than a standard saddle but I I think the comfort makes up for that.

The wheelset is from a Yorkshire based company called Just Riding Along.  They are a lightweight responsive set of wheel I've not ridden them an awful lot, as I would like to save them for racing, but I have had problems with stiffness, spokes and buckling of the rear wheel.  The front has been flawless it's comparatively light (took me to 7th place at the national hill climb) and has a good braking surface but the rear has caused me several issues and trips to the local bike shop.

The final kit of choice is the Hutchinson tyres.  Tubeless has been fantasitic for me, I think I've only ever had 2 tubeless issues in over 10000 km of riding and they were both easily remedied.  The Galactik Storm tyres according to www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/ are on the top end of  performance and from experience they are quick.  They just feel fast.  Combined with literally never having a puncture with them I cannot complain.  I haven't ridden them an awful lot in the rain but I haven't had any problems with them in when it's been wet.

For the 2019 race season I set myself the task of recording an accurate cost of racing in the UK for one year.  Several years ago this article came out, it claims that the annual cost of racing at an amateur level is £25500.  I found this obscene and set the task of debunking it.

To do this I had to define what I was going to record.  I recorded: all race entries, fuel/travel costs to each event, all race nutrition, all kit, the cost of bike parts/servicing etc. and miscellaneous items such as gym memberships.  I didn’t record everything in my life to do with cycling, only those which directly contributed to my ability to race. For example, I have not included accommodation when I went cycle touring to the Lake district.  I have also not included things that I already owned such as my bike computer, turbo trainer, winter bike etc. Another “cost” not included was food consumed on training rides (bananas/energy bars etc.) and money spent on café stops. 

The final thing not included, which arguably could be, was my holiday to Gran Canaria in late January.  Yes, I took my bike, rode hard every day and it could be described as a training camp but it was more of a holiday and I’m not exactly sure how much it truly contributed to my season of racing.

Analysis of costs

The costs are summarised below.  You can see that in all I spent £3129.01 and had a total income (mainly prize money) of £918, giving a net cost of £2211.01.

Race Fees: £860.50
Nutrition: £153.79
Kit: £270.00
Bikes, parts and servicing: £1,260.44
Travel/accommodation: £433.62
Miscellaneous: £104.56
Total:£3,129.01
Race winnings/Support/Sponsorship: £918.00
Net Cost: £2,211.01

Breaking it down further, in terms of just entry fees and travel minus winnings, road racing cost me £574.07 for 19 races (£30.20 per event) whilst hill climbing cost me only £16.15 for 17 events (95p per event).  Which would have been an income of £60.62 had I not raced the national hill climb. Now in terms of prizes I didn’t just earn money.  It’s a struggle to fiscally quantify these, but I also won: a year’s supply of soreen, a lapierre race winners jersey, velochampion gloves and glasses, chamois cream, 5 bidons, box of high5 energy gels, wend wax/wax off and a Rapha musette.

Final Thoughts

Now the season is over, what are my thoughts on spending this much money?   On the whole this has been a massive regret.  Over the previous years I have been in a state of ignorant bliss, but this year every time I spent money on racing I had to really wonder if it was worth the money.  This was especially exasperating when I was having a terrible blight of mechanical problems throughout the road racing season. When I kept failing to get results and the costs kept adding,it put a downer on the season.  I kept tallying the costs but didn’t update the spreadsheet to keep my sanity. Of course cycling at an amateur level isn’t only about money. I love riding and racing my bike and one can’t put a price on that. For more details costs please follow this link to see the google document I used to record it all

Detailed costs

I suppose an appropriate place to start this report is with my first open hill climb of the year.  In late June, I did the least hill climb-like hill climb: Cragg Vale.  It’s basically an 8km uphill TT which I rode in full TT gear.  There was a gas leak 3km into the climb, so the course was shortened to the top 5km.  I was still in road racing form at this point but I put out an effort of 401W for 10:01 to take first place, putting me into the lead for the Yorkshire hill climb championships.

My first official hill climb of the season was the East Lancs club 2 stage.  I did not take it seriously, riding an hour there and back, just starting to condition myself.  The first stage was less than 2 minutes, but I didn’t “turn up”.  I just rode it and came 5 th .  I lost 12 seconds to DEvans (who won).  I was a bit embarrassed by this and got myself sorted to actually turn up for the much longer stage 2 on Blackstone Edge.  I did a proper effort here and came 2 nd  to DEvans, losing 18 seconds.  We were the only 2 to ride under 8 minutes (I did 7:28.4) so I easily made up the deficit to ramp me into second overall. 

3 weeks to go. 

Even though I started training specifically for short efforts since mid-September, my first proper hill climb was at the start of October on Crown Point.  I won the event last year and aimed to repeat in 2018.  It was a bloody cold day this year and even though I rode there as a long warm up, I never got properly warm, arrived too early on the start line and never got going during the effort.  My effort was 518W for 2:32, quite a bit down on what I was aiming for.  I came third to Kieran Wynne-Cattanach (my teammate) and Niall Paterson.  It was one to forget. The next day was the target.

My current home-town of Ramsbottom hosts an annual hill climb on The Rake.  It’s a stupidly hard climb with the final sustained section well over 20%.  I was 6th  last year slightly disappointed with that result. But this year I was focused.  I was skinnier, had a lighter bike AND was fitter.  All was in my favour.  Living at the base, I’d trained extensively on it and knew it backwards.  I knew the lines to take, the gears to be in etc.

I warmed up in my kitchen and got to the start with two minutes to go. Whilst I was waiting, they told me “we aren’t counting down, only saying 5-GO.” This threw me off a bit, but the guy said “5”.  In my head I counted to 0 and set off.

I rode the entire first section out of the saddle, lay down 740W for the first 30 seconds, recovered what I could on the middle section, picked my gear and turned onto “the Rake” itself.  I knew I’d set out hard and was suffering by now but I got out of the saddle and sprinted up the 25% section.  In my rush to the finish, I’d put myself into the wrong gear.  I was in the 42x23 instead of the 42x25 I wanted.  This mistake cost me really.  Filled with lactic, I couldn’t get on top of the gear and started to blow with 100m to go. 

I was down at 60rpm rather than the 75 I wanted to be at.  Gifted by the crowd, I crawled to the line, finishing in a time of 2:27.6.  I was totally wrecked at the end.  I was still laying down with exhaustion 5 minutes later.  It was my best ever hill climb, I’ve never been that deep.  I’d put out nearly 580W, a massive PB and I was thrilled.  The results shortly came in and I was second! I’d beaten some proper hitters and was merely 4 seconds behind current national champ DEvans. 

As I was called up for the podium, I’d been given a time of 2:29.1, actually placing me into 3rd  place? Turns out I’d be given a 1.5s penalty for “setting off early”.  I likely did set off early, but I was thrown off by the new CTT counting down system. I’d gone before they said “go” and I got given an arbitrary 1.5s penalty placing me into 3rd .  I was quite disappointed with this but with threats of disqualification I accepted the punishment.

My result here was a sign of potential.  I was SO close to the win, and the rake being so close to Pea Royd Lane (short course) that I doubled down my efforts.  Diet was stricter and training harder from then on. 

2 weeks to go 

Jackson Bridge. Perhaps my favourite hill climb.  I know it well and rode it for the first time in the 2016 nationals to place 44th .  My aim was to hold 500W and go as close to 4 minutes as possible.  This plan faltered on the day. There was a stonking wind.  It was a strong tailwind for the first 200m before gradually increasing to a block headwind as the road curves around the hillside.

My warmup was strong but I slightly misjudged the effort.  I went too deep in the first half and couldn’t hang on through the blockheadwind to the finish.   I was fighting the bike, rather than sprinting for the line.  I placed 5th  in the end.  Quite a bit down on Andrew feather and DEvans (1 st  and second respectively) but there were only 2 seconds between 3rd  and 7th  so it was very tight. (In the end I managed 485W for 4:33.2)

The afternoon featured Holme Moss.  Another classic.  A long tough climb, but a fan favourite.  Malheureusement, as the wind had now got up, a decision was made to move it to the much shorter “Vineyard” climb.  At 2 minutes, it would be much closer to the national, which I was ultimately prepping for.  I knew it was to be a headwind for the first half before turning into a block tail for the second and I rode accordingly. 

I crushed it.  I placed 3rd ! Only 1.5s behind DEvans and 4s behind a flying Andrew Feather.  It was the first time I’ve ever beaten Kieran Savage, (a long-time friend) in an open event.  Everyone gets stuzzed eventually… (595W 1:59)

The following day was the final challenge for my favourite hill climb, Nick O’Pendle. I had significant fatigue from doing both hill climbs the day before, as well as a cheeky national’s recce. I felt it all the way up, really labouring to the top but still had a good ride.  (492W 3:57)

For the 3rd  time this weekend, I was beaten by Andrew Feather. David Huck placed second with me in 3rd .  Another podium.

One week to go.

My training this week was awful; I had no energy.  I could do one effort but then be dead for the next few.  I had to stop 3 rides short. Perhaps I was at the point where I’d lost too much weight, so I ate a bit more and maintained my physique rather than digging into a rut.

Saturday featured Drighlington Hill climb on Scotchman Lane.  I’d not done this before and got my effort slightly wrong. I went too “easy” in the central flat section and didn’t sprint for the line early enough.  I lost to Kieran Savage by about 4 seconds.  Slightly disappointing but another podium. (526W 2:47.2)

The penultimate hill climb of the 2018 season was Ripponden Bank.  I fluffed it last year.  It was freezing and I never got going. Right before the start, I had a word with Big Ian Savage (Kieran’s dad and manager for B38 Underpin) who riled some courage in me.

It clearly worked as I had another stonking ride.  I rode out of my skin, I couldn’t have gone harder.  I knew it was a winning ride. It had gone perfectly and If anyone had have beaten me today they’d have deserved it.  Inspired by Big Ian, I smashed the finish and recorded a time of 3:21.9.  This was the second fastest ever time up there.  I was 4 seconds off Andy Cunningham’s 2017 course record, set in a huge tailwind.  But importantly it was also 7 seconds faster than Matt Clinton’s course record set in 2008 when he won the national champs. (524W 3:21.9)

Finally, a win.  After 5 podiums I finally got the win.  Can I pull it off next week?

The National.

Always one of the best days of the year and 2018 was no exception.  I knew I was on good form and obviouslywanted to do my absolute best.  I was aiming for a top 10 and maybe top 5 if I had a stormer.  As well as personal aims I REALLY wanted to be in the fastest team.  For the last two years, Team B38 underpin had been the fastest team but I’ve been the 4th fastest rider so never got the glory. 

One actual aim was to finish.  This may seem silly but last year my chain came off with 100m to go and I had to run.  I was then DQ’d so I actually wanted to finish this year.

My prep was good, I’d had a great season and was at a good weight.  But whilst prepping my bike the day before disaster struck! I snapped my gear cable and had to call Rick Cycles in Motion for some emergency repairs.  Thankfully it was all A-OK.

Conditions weren’t great on the day, it’s been gradually getting colder this week and whilst warming up, we were struck with a hailstorm.  I put on two pairs of leg warmers just to make sure.  It was also a headwind on the climb, this doesn’t suit me really.  I like to ride out of the saddle as much as I can, so I lose a bit of speed with a headwind.  A headwind also suits the heavier riders as raw power becomes more important than w/kg so as a lighter rider, a headwind isn’t in my favour.

I’d be freshening up all week, just done some short anearobic efforts to keep on top of it but nothing intense or long.   I warmed up nicely and got to the start with enough time to have a quick trip to the portaloo tactically placed there.

I’d planned out my ride in advance.  I wanted to start hard, standing for the first 30 seconds to the motorway bridge, then sit and “recover” at around 500w for 20 or so seconds before standing to the corner and sprint for the last minute to the top. 

This almost worked.  I started standing and held on to the bridge.  I averaged around 700W for the first 40 seconds.  I recovered on the bridge before standing to the corner.  I was slightly overgeared here and had to change down, but that was ok.  Then as I hit “B38 Bend” or “Crowd Corner” I ramped up the effort and began to sprint for the line.  The wind had picked up here and I was starting to die with 250m to go.  I proper fluffed up a gear change here too and it easily cost me half a second.  But I got back on top of it and pushed to the line. 

Now I am not joking when I say I crawled to the line, I was dead.  I REALLY laboured to the finish, it couldn’t come quick enough.  I blew with about 100m to go.  Killed by the wind. Pea Royd lane has an unforgiving finish, it’s still a solid 10-15% which makes it easy to lose speed, which is exactly what I did.  But at least I got it all out.   

At the top I was wrecked.  Two helpers rushed over to catch me as I came to a stop.  I’ve never been this messed up before. I actually couldn’t get off my bike, I was so full of lactic that I couldn’t pick my legs up to get off.  I was saying “I can’t get off” and they had to lift me and place me on the side of the road.  I was swiftly given a space blanket and my Dad’s jacket to stay warm.  It genuinely took me over 20 minutes until I could stand back up.  I was pleased it was over though, I couldn’t have gone any faster. I gave it all.

Now time for results.  I was just outside my aim of a top 10, I was 12th in a time of 2:26.9.  Andrew Feather won in a time of 2:18.8 which is stupidly quick.  He broke the course record in awful conditions.  He deserved the win though, he’s thrashed me all season and won somthing like 10 open hill climbs.  Interestingly though, I am one of 5 people to beat him this year.  I beat him by 0.1s on the Rake.  (The others were: Dan Evans, David Huck, Richard Gildea and Adam Kenway). 

My teammate Calum Brown was second in a time of 2:20, he was one of the favourites but he looked to set out too hard because he REALLY crawled to the line.  He probably lost it there.  Anyway with his rapid time and Andy Nichol’s time of 2:25.2 again Team B38 Underpin Racing won the National team prize, and I was in it!  Finally I made the cut! The hard work paid off and I made it to the podium for the National Hill Climb.  What a day!

Other Info

Weight - Being skinny is vital to being a successful hill climber. There’s no point being strong if you are carrying loads of fat.  I started to monitor my diet on August 1 st .  At that point I was between 67 and 68kgs.  It’s not bad, but higher than I should be for climbing hills fast.  I started to lose weight this early because I wanted to do it slowly.  If I lost too much too quickly I would burn out, not be able to train and lose muscle.  But if I lost it slowly, I could still train hard but sleep well, recover well and most importantly lose fat instead of muscle, thus retaining power.

This chart shows my progress, with the blue line showing the trend.  I have a personal rule to never weigh myself on the day of a race.  If I weighed in high, then I might psych myself out of it.   Body fat was low 9% (according to my expensive scales).  I really struggle to get lower than that.  In the final week before the national I weighed around 65 kg’s which was ideal really.

Training - I’d had a VERY good road season, so I’ve had some good legs to use.  To prep for the national, I’ve really dialled down the duration.  Instead of 3 hour rides, I’ve limited them to around an hour and very easy for the most part but then stacked with very intense short efforts.  With my successful season, my capacity to train has increased.  I’ve found that I can, not only go harder, but can recover enough to maintain the intensity each effort.  I didn’t see the same drop off between efforts as last year.

There’s something mesmerising about hill climb training.  I would go so deep I could barely pedal home.  I’d average like 100W, just ruined.  I could barely climb the stairs at home.  At work I’d be half asleep until lunch.  I was enjoying the hard work though, and I completed almost every session.  Which again was a sign I wasn’t losing too much weight.

Tips and Tricks  - This year I’ve been trying to optimise myself and my bike.  This are just a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up.
• Take out your shoe inner soles.  I saved 47g with this!
• cut the corners.  Always recce the climb, as then you can take the optimum line.  You can save a couple of seconds if you ride for less time.
• Get a single front ring.  Tha’s been the best thing for me this year.  I’ve been riding a 42T which both saves weight on my racing set up, but also gets me to get out more torque when out of the saddle, which I do a lot.
• Don’t eat much the day before/morning of.  There’s no point being full of food, it’s such a short effort that you only need a gel to have enough energy.
• To go with this, don’t drink much.  I’d try to only drink 500ml the day of a hill climb, and this would all be a carb drink within the warm up.  Again my logic is to save mass.
• Have a long warm up.  This year I’ve been having about a 45 minute warm-up.  This involves 20-25 minutes of Z1 very easy spinning before an 8 minute build phase, followed by 3 sprints, then cool down.  I’ve also been warming up hot.  I’ve been wearing 5 layers, a hat, a buff and even two sets of leg warmers.  I’ve been told that a 1 degree lower muscle temperature lowers performance by 4%.  Since I was told that I’ve made sure I turned up to the start hot and ready to go.
• In terms of training, I’ve really been optimising the recovery between efforts.  It’s not like road race training where you need to practise repeated efforts.  This is a once off, so it’s wise to take a long rest between efforts.
• Stand with a second to go.  Now don’t start early… but stand as they hold you, that way you can push off harder, thus gaining time? I saw Joe Norledge do this and tried it twice.  Seemed to work.
• Start in a low gear.   It’s way too easy to set off hard and blow, by starting in a lower gear, you can get up to speed quickly but delay inducing lactic too early.
• Kendal Mint Cake.  I had half a bar of this before both the Rake and the National which were my two best rides.

Anyway, I think this is long enough! Onto next year!

Now May has started, the weather has laughably not improved at all.  But with this “increase” in temperature and daylight the evening time trials have begun.  In Warwickshire there was quite a good scene for it, with at least two a week and with some searching I’ve found Lancashire also has the buzz. 

Now I’ve always been alright at time trials, I’m good at the sustained effort they require and having several years’ experience I’ve got good at pacing and reading the roads, taking the optimal lines where possible etc.  However, I’m on a new bike frame and still adjusting from my (much) larger winter bike so need to adapt and get used to the TT bars.  It’ll come with time but I feel that I was struggling to get the power into the pedals and was over 20W down on what I’d expect to do for 20 minutes.  I know the power is there as I did 355W for 20 minutes 40km into a 120km training ride the other week, just need to get it out in a TT.

This week I happened to do two TT’s, the first was Rossendale RC on Tuesday evening.  I rocked up in my fresh Fat Lad at the Back skinsuit to the Hapton Inn to find only one other rider who like me was puzzled where the organisers were.  After 10 minutes sat out shivering in the cold the most typical old cycling Don rocked up to get the race organised.  I paid my £3 entry, received number 3 and snuck into the toilets to adorn my number into the no-pinz pocket. 

The course is 2.5 laps of a quiet A road through Hapton and is not a quick course.  The surface is brittle, coupled with 5 roundabouts and a reasonable hill it’s very hard to get up to a consistent pace.  I ended up trying to maintain a hard tempo on the climb and attempting to recover/stay tucked in for the descent.  At points I was going over 63kph which can be a bit daunting on an unfamiliar position.  Alas, I kept focused but with the cold, felt very stiff and never really felt good.  With the nature of the course I could measure my position against the other riders easily and could see I was gaining each lap.  Having just passed the 2 lap mark I caught my 2 minute man and pushed onto the finish. 

I wasn’t really pleased with my effort, I was cold, stiff and averaged around 325W which is 30W less than I was planning on riding at.  Now the course didn’t suit a power PB but I just couldn’t get the effort out.  I did manage to come first but there were only 6 riders and I did win by nearly 2 and a half minutes.  Still good to get my TT legs going and get used to the position and efforts they require.

With the relative disappointment from Tuesday and the apparent much nicer evening I decided to ride out to Clitheroe and do the North Lancs RC evening 10, on the short Bashall Eaves circuit.  The long circuit is home of my 2nd  place in the Team Chronomaster RR last season so I knew the roads slightly more than the Hapton course. 

Again, the course isn’t quick, it’s very undulating and has several 90 degree turns which kill your speed but I arrived early enough to get in a recon lap and figured out the best lines to take.  With the nicer weather (but still chilly) the field was much larger around 30, with riders from NLRC and team Green Jersey.  I was keeping my legs warm spinning around the local roads when the sky darkened and the rain came down.  Boy was it cold. I was literally on the startline shaking, just couldn’t get warm.  Yet again I was in leg warmers for a TT!

Once I got going and got my TT head on I was good though.  I began chipping away at my minute man and he was in sight by the end of the first lap.  I kept up the power and took good lines around the corners where I could.  As there were several short laps, when I came around to the startline I could see a rider who had just set off.  A new target to chase.  Within a few minutes I pegged them back and started chipping away at their minute man.  I lost count of how many riders I caught but kept focused on my effort.  Once I got going I felt a lot better than the day before and averaged 346W.  Still down on what I wanted but with the corners on the course it wasn’t a bad effort. 

I came in 4th place, 10-15 seconds behind 2nd and 3rd but 50 behind the winner.  I just can’t compete against those on a full TT setup, but once I get my position sorted I’ll be quicker.

Firstly lets look at the raw data.  I’ve got a screenshot of the training peaks summary for each TT.  On the left is the Rossendale RC and the right North Lancs. In terms of similarities, my cadence and average heartrate are almost identical, as is the variability index.  A cadence of 95 is a little low for me, in a TT I’d expect to be doing around 100-110 rpm but it has been dropping since I moved to a hillier area, so it’s probably a by-product of that.  My average heartrate is also very low.  Last season my threshold heart rate was 182bpm but I’ve been struggling to hit anywhere near that recently.  168 is really low for me, I think it’s a combination of fatigue as I’m towards the end of a tough block of training and not trying that hard.  

Variability index is an algorithm showing how evenly paced the power output for a workout is.  The closer to 1 the more evenly paced.  Having 1.03 and 1.04 is very good.  It doesn’t get much better for a TT

Using the Chung analysis from Golden cheetah I can estimate my coefficient of drag.  For the plot below there is quite a bit of uncertainty, firstly I didn’t weigh either my bike or myself beforehand so I’m estimating that, as well as the coefficient of rolling resistance.  The air density (Rho) should be accurate as it was based on empirical data from the weather forecast.  Another cause of uncertainty was the level of wind, both days were pretty windy, so that will again decrease the accuracy.  It also rained for most of the second one, so that will skew the results.  There weren’t many cars that passed so that is in my favour.

Anyway, ignoring the huge levels of uncertainty, my CDA for the first TT came out at 0.2851 and the second 0.3178.  These aren’t too bad actually, if I take the average of 0.30145, it fits what I’d expect for a standard road bike with aero bars on.  There is some optimisation to do though; I raced in my training wheels, with lights on by mistake (doh) and I can configure the best slope for the bars the next time I get a still day. There is definitely room for improvement but it gives me a good CDA starting point.

Looking at the two plots below you can see how my W’ (Battery) decreases through each ride.  The red line indicates how, as I ride above threshold my store of energy depletes, while the yellow is my power (smoothed) and grey, the profile. 

From the first graph you can really see how I drilled the climb, then recovered significantly on the descent. I was pushing a 50x11 at over 60kph but couldn’t get any more effort out so recovered and kept tucked in. The second is just very inconsistent, you can see how I am surging throughout but have a really big finish. Neither are ideal graphs, what they should look like is this one from a 20 minute hill effort I did the other day.  The power is consistent and the W’ line drops at a constant rate.  It’s exactly what a flat TT should look like.

Finally, lets do some quadrant analysis.  Quadrant analysis can be used to see what the pedal strokes were like.  The plots below show the quadrant analysis for the Hapton TT on the left and the Bashall TT on the right.

The first plot is generally tightly spaced around the centre, showing a good balance of efforts.  It much more typical of a TT than the second plot which is much more varied. The second plot has a lot of markers in Quadrant I (top right) which indicates high force and high velocity.  It shows I did a lot of sprinting and supra-threshold efforts, much more than the first plot.  Again, it’s a sign of the inconsistency of the effort.  In general the plots should be more similar to the example TT from Training peaks below.  You can see the general shape is there but is fundamentally skewed into the right quadrants by the courses.

Hope you enjoyed this analysis section.  I may do more in future.

I have quite recently moved to a lovely Lancastrian village called Ramsbottom.  The terrain for riding is fantastic, littered with every type of climb and some very hard local races, it’s an aspiring cyclists dream.  That is except for one thing… the weather.  As it’s to the West of the Pennines, it tends to get a bit worse weather than my previous home of Leeds.  While I don’t dislike the rain and I will ride in almost all conditions, I was getting a little fed up of drying out my shoes after riding so decide to invest in the Fizik Artica R5 winter boots.  They promise to be warm with foil lined innersoles and fully waterproof. 

I’ve ridden them throughout the entire winter and covered about 3500 km’s.  My riding has been varied in terms of both duration and conditions so I think I’ve used them enough to justify a full review.

We have had a particularly harsh winter, the first snowfall was in November and currently (March 2018) we are still expecting more snow next week.  So it has been a real test for the shoes.  Each weekend I have been getting out and doing around 4 hours both days with several rides over 6 hours.

Let’s start with comfort.  Now they fit well, very snug and comfy.  They have a nice string system which helps to tighten them internally.  The zip helps to keep them in place and the internal padding allows for abnormalities.  I’ve had next to no issues with comfort.  One issue with the string system is that if you don’t secure it properly under the zip, then it can hang out.  If it does this, it can catch on the front chain ring and snap.  I discovered this the hard way.

As I said before, this winter has been particularly harsh and I have definitely put the shoes to the test.  I have done several 130km rides with average temperatures of -2°C, in full blizzards, sometimes with an inch thick layer of snow on the road.  I’ve used them in the worst conditions I’ve ever ridden in, so bad I shouldn’t really have been riding.  However, on those rides, provided it wasn’t raining too hard my feet stayed warm and dry.  There were points where I could barely feel my fingers and suffered from “frost-nip” for several days afterwards, but my toes were still toasty.  The shoes are brilliantly waterproof, and water can’t access from the cleat bolt holes which is a great feature.  Having tested, you can walk in puddles and stay dry.  The waterproofing works.  

The downside of this waterproofing system is that if your feet do get wet, then they will not get dry.  On one of my rides in heavy rain (which I would like to forget) the rain seeped from my bib tights, into my socks and into the shoes.  Once there, even after the rain passed there was no way for the water to escape.  But that’s not the shoes fault, you just can’t solve the issue of water entering via the socks. 

The shoes are, as expected, heavier than a standard set but not by that much.  When my winter bike weighs 13kg an extra 100g in shoe mass is insignificant. 

In summary the shoes are brilliantly warm, completely waterproof, and comfy but if water gets in, it won’t get out.  In terms of cost they aren’t cheap and you are paying a little for the name, but as I knew the winter was going to be harsh, for me, they were worth the investment and I have zero regrets about having warm feet.

Some good news! So after two hard seasons of training and racing for the University team, I've managed to secure a place on the B38/Underpin team.  I knew all the guys and it's a really good environment for us all.  We plan on racing most of the Premier calendar races as well as some of the UCI ones, but we'll see.  Here's to a good seasons racing!

After a mixed season last year I really wanted to excel at hill climbs in 2017.  The ultimate goal was the National hill climb on Hedley Hill in Northumberland.  After it was first announced to be on there I knew this would be my season.  A four minute effort at 8% is basically ideal. 

I took this year a lot more seriously than other years, starting to shed excess weight in August to avoid peaking while losing weight which I’ve struggled with in the past.  I’ve also recently graduated and started a new job which gets me into a nice training/working routine, really aiding everything unlike the haphazard distractions of university. 

One thing I’ve chosen to do in 2017 is to start racing later.  Last year I did North Tyneside wheelers HC in early September and ended up beginning to burn out in the two weeks approaching the national.  It was a really horrendous period of training; I remember being unable to finish almost every turbo session and was getting really demoralised.  So this season I held back the racing to get a more defined peak in fitness.

I started to transition the training for in the weeks following my last road race in August, but only starting to ramp up the intensity in late September and October.

4 weeks to go: I had a really tough weekend of training that week.  On the Thursday I cycled 135 km to North Yorkshire Moors, the route had just under 2000m of climbing but with great views and a tailwind it wasn’t too bad.  On the Saturday I did a loop up Rosedale Chimney and Blakey Bank; these are definitely two of the hardest climbs I’ve ever done with Blakey bank almost cracking me before the top.  On the Sunday I had a hard ride tackling Sleights moor, Egton High Moor and Carlton bank.  They were all pretty tough and especially on the third day of training I was worn out by the end.  In the moors I rode 275km with   5800m of climbing, hopefully it set a good base for the weeks to come!

3 Weeks to go: To condition my body for the national I focussed on doing efforts close to 5 minutes and chose hill climbs aiming to replicate that.  The weekend of Crown Point and the Rake hill climbs was my real season opener, I had several guests staying at my house with one competing with me.  All four of us rode out to Crown Point in dreigh conditions.  The weather was grim and there was a strong crosswind which didn’t allow for great times but after a haphazard warm-up at best, I got to the start line raring to go.  I was conscious that the hill starts at the steepest point and gets easier as you reach the top so I planned to set out hard and hold on to the top.  By the top I felt as though I paced it well but I wasn’t so tired that I had to dismount.  It was just a case of learning how to suffer again!  I finished in a time of 2:43.3 in first place, 16 seconds ahead of 2nd place.  Not bad for a first effort!

The Sunday was my local climb of the Rake in Ramsbottom.  In theory, I should know this climb back to front but due to its proximity to my house (and severity!) I rarely do it.  Still, living so close gave me ideal conditions for a warm up and preparation.  I arrived at the start line buzzing, aiming to go under 2minutes and 40 seconds.  I held back at the start, knowing how it ramps up towards the finish and really let loose over the 22% gradients.  The crowd was awesome, even my boss came out to watch and it gave me a real boost over the top.  I felt perhaps a little over geared but dug deep to get the fastest time set so far.  I was in the hot seat all day, until the last 5 riders who all beat my time, leaving me 6th overall.  The climb isn’t ideal for me as it’s a bit short and steep but 6th against that field shows good signs for the weeks to come.

2 Weeks to go:  One of my favourite hills: Nick O’ Pendle.  Building on last week’s success I had a promising week of training and prepped well.  I love this climb, the way the road splinters up the hill side never relenting.  The views are spectacular and it's witchcraft history adds to the mystique of the event.  I rode out there gently from home, signed on a recced the hill with my new friend Louis Symanski.  This climb was a real test of my form for the national.  The course is similar length but a bit steeper.  I set out really well, died a bit in the middle but then driven on my my fastly approaching minute man smashed the last minute to come 2nd, 9s down on the winner but cheekily 0.5 seconds ahead of Lious.  The joke was that I was definitely spurred on my catching my minute man who was on the same team as Louis. 

1 Week to go: Ripponden Bank.  It was a freezing day on a climb I'd never ridden before.  I was gifted by a stupendous tailwind up the climb but was cold and never really got going.  My power was down and I came in 5th place, 0.2 seconds behind Louis but way down on the top 3 who all destroyed the course record.  I rode home knowing I had to get my warm up right next week but not disheartened.

National hill climb: This year I felt like the odds were in my favour. The course was very rampy and inconsistent, suiting my climbing style. I'd done a "secret squirrel" recce of the course the week before and knew that with a good ride I could get up under 4:20.

I'd been feeling great all week, I'd avoided all illnesses this season and smashed all the sessions on the final week. I was totally motivated and was doing hill reps in the pitch black of Autumn after work. I had prepped better than ever for it and was aiming for top 20 and top 15 if I rode out of my skin.  I warmed up perfectly, everything was right. Watts were good and I felt as fresh as ever. I was pretty nervous all day and was calmed by a lovely marshall who wiped some oil from my nose on the start line.

I knew the course would take a lot of pacing and I was very careful not to set out too hard, aiming to raise my effort in the last 600m. It was going pretty well, I hit the hardest section strong and hauled myself through the immense crowd. My mum was there to cheer me on as I hit 400m to go.

The climb levels out with 300m to go and I stuck it in the big dog. I must quickly transition back to the Yorkshire champs here. In the ride immediately following that race somehow my orbea orca frame snapped. I actually have no idea how. I went to ride it on the following Tuesday and the seat stay was in two pieces. I'd not crashed, it had just broken and I'm still bemused to as how since I'd only had it 3 months.

Alas, due to this I was on my dated Raleigh. It's not a bad bike but it's 3 years old and I was going to get rid of it. The point is that it wasn't as good as what I wanted to be on.

Back to the big day. With 300m to go, my chain made a horrendous clanking noise when I was out of the saddle. I remained seated and with probably less than 100m to go my chain came off. Stunned, I tried to reship but it wouldn't go on. So I ran. Beyond devastated I remounted with 1m to go and crossed the line in anguish. I definitely swore and just sat down with me head in my hands.  When my mum caught me up I broke into floods of tears. I was inconsolable. I'd lost 2.5kg, trained specifically for this for 3 months, climbed the equivalent of Everest 3.3 times and got let down by a 3 year old bike.

I really appreciated everyone in the crowd who were consoling me but what can you say. I could never redo that effort. My main motivation this season was to beat with Paddy or Andy to get in the fastest team. I'd narrowly missed out the year before and wanted some glory and proper recognition from the team.  I was on for approximately 4:15 but actually finished in 4:30.1 in joint 31st place. One better than the year before. I didn't think I deserved that and it'll take me a while to get over the disappointment.

I would say I'm more motivated for next year, but I'm not.

2017 was my third full season of racing and having signed for a new team (B38/Underpin Racing) I was determined to perform at a high level.  I had a really good block of winter training, working hard on my sustained endurance. I also put on some weight to help bulk my leg muscles to aid shorter efforts.

My season aims were to finish some Premier calendar races, get a top 10 in a Nat B race maybe get to Cat 1 if I did well enough in the Nat B’s but I wasn’t too bothered about that; I just wanted to enjoy racing.  My target races were Tour of the Wolds, BUCS RR and the Yorkshire champs.

My season started out with the perennial Woolly Mamil winter criteriums on the Stourport circuit.  The racing was probably not that hard, but racing in February definitely tested my fitness.  Especially when I attempted to ride home after one, blew up, ran out of daylight and got a lift home in the O’Neill Express.

The next pre-season race was again at Stourport for Birmingham University stage race, I came 10th in the TT on a roadbike, then made the break in the crit to come 5th overall; almost securing my Cat 2 license already.  Having completed this block of early crits I turned my attention to road racing - a personal favourite.

Our team plans were to step up to the next level and focus on racing exclusively Nat B’s and the extremely demanding Premier Calendar races.  To be able to compete at this level would take an appalling amount of training, building up both strength and endurance.  I’d had a good winter and was feeling fresh for the first Nat B Capernwray where I came 11th.  With that result I thought I might be alright for Tour of the Wolds the week after.  Alas, Prems are a different entity altogether.

I was in way over my head for the Wolds.  The race was over 100 miles and included 150 riders many of whom are seasoned professionals.  The first hour was horrendously fast, averaging nearly 50 kph over rolling terrain and the field got split with me in the second group.  We chased and chased but got time cut after just 2 hours.  The issue here wasn’t my fitness but it was my positioning which needed work.  Fighting to be at the front on full closed roads with so many people was something I’d never done before and I suffered because of it.

The week after was Chorley GP, 5 tough laps totaling 187 km.  The field again was stacked and this time I lasted 4 laps before pulling out in roughly 75th place.  My positioning was improving and fitness was getting better.  To finish this Easter block of races I competed in Danum Trophy with the team.  I was pretty active but the race rhythm got broken by a tractor on the course, leading to a neutralised lap.  I managed to come 16th overall and 14th in a bunch sprint which is good for me!

After this block I returned to University to build for the University champs RR.  During this build phase I also competed in the BUCS TTT where we came 3rd, surprisingly close to 1st after they took a wrong turn.  I was in prime form for BUCS RR and really wanted at least a top 10.  After one hour, the race was all together, the pace was too slow, I got frustrated and attacked.  No one came with me and I ended up solo for 20 minutes before a break of 3 was established behind.  They caught me and we worked together until the end.  I really thought we were going to make it, but with 4 km to go we got caught by a small group.  I rolled in 11th place with my vision blurring, utterly exhausted after 88km out front.  One of the hardest days I’ve ever had in the saddle.

Following that was Beaumont Trophy, my first UCI event.  I’d raced a very similar course 2 years ago but it was naturally much harder at this level.  My legs were outstanding on this day and didn’t let me down when I needed to chase back in three times.  The first was after I got caught in a crash dislocating my rear wheel, but not hitting the deck.  Second when my front skewer came loose and then when I punctured on the penultimate lap.  The final chase back in was my last match but I was determined to finish as I didn’t want my only result on Procyclingstats.com to say DNF.  So when I got dropped on the final climb I rode the last short lap solo to come in 18 minutes down on the winner.  My result says out of time limit (OTL) but I was actually just inside and somehow not even last.  The point is that I’d now finished a 185km race; now to build on that.

With every season you have good results and bad results.  Holme Valley Wheelers 2-day was where my legs fell off.  The first stage was good but my power was way down for the TT (still came 19th on a road bike) and then I got dropped after half a lap of stage 3 and pulled out.  I just had a shocker and it’s a day to forget.

Following that catastrophe was Tour of the Reservoir.  Now I was really strong to start with and even was off the front for 30 seconds.  However, I had to pull out after just 90 minutes because of a mechanical.  My rear brake was rubbing, I’ve no idea how long for, but so much so that I got dropped from the groupetto.  Two nightmares in a row.

I was determined to get back on track so I went to Belgium with the team for some foreign racing and training. We raced there three times and boy was it hard.  The races are by far the flattest I’ve ever done (100melevation in 120 km) which doesn’t necessarily suit my slight shape.  I made the second group and came 30th in the first one after leading out Kieran to win in our group.

Sinaai-Waas was my season tipping result.  The pan flat cobbled roads suited me really well and I managed to slip off the front with 1.5 laps to go.  It was an unreal effort to bridge to the break but I managed to stick with it, despite incredible fatigue, to come 8th which is probably my best ever result.  The day after we raced again and it was the biggest get-round ever.  I got dropped at basically the same point every lap but chased back in perpetually to finish in the peloton with battered legs.

I then had a great week training in Italy before returning home to graduate, move and start a new job.  The final block of races started with York Cycleworks being cancelled.  So it actually started with Ryedale GP.  It’s just a savage day out but I finished, in 45th place this time and I was really close to making the front split.  Not that I’d have stuck with it because I got dropped from the groupetto with 7 km to go but now I’m getting to be in the right place at the right time and have the confidence to know I can finish this level of race.

With a hard season racing Nat B’s and Prems I needed a moral boosting 2/3/4.  My second place in Team Chronomaster RR definitely boosted my moral; showing my fitness and racing nous is really coming along.  It’s amazing how much I’ve improved over the season.  My power hasn’t necessarily increased that much, but what has it the amount of times I can attack and recover quickly.  As well as my power over a 3 hour effort which is what counts for racing.

To end this final block, I had the Yorkshire championships and Manchester Wheelers 2-day.  The Yorkshire champs was a stunning day for me.  I was very active including a two-up break with a Wiggins pro for a lap and was in every decisive split.  I managed to get dropped from the lead group of 6 in the crosswinds so ended up in the second group which was a shame.  We worked together and after several attacks, it came down to a sprint which was disrupted by a tractor giving us all joint 6th!

The final race was Manchester wheelers 2-day.  The first day was a total write off, I punctured in the prologue. Then got caught in a crash in the crit and punctured my other wheel, putting me in almost last place and more importantly 20 minutes down overall.  This meant I treated the second day as a one day race.  The race wasn’t incredibly hard but all my attacks came to naught and it was all together with 1.5 laps to go when suddenly I was in a small group off the front.  I raised the pace when I saw we had a gap.  I pushed on and split this group until only one rider came with me.  We committed and with half a lap left, had a gap of over a minute. Working together equally we actually made it.  With 800m to go I was perfectly positioned in 2nd wheel.  With 200 to go I released my sprint to take my first ever road race victory.  Not a bad way to end the season!

This year I have really progressed as a cyclist.  I’ve stepped up to racing at the highest domestic level and have really been excelling on the bike.  My ability to repeatedly attack and recover has improved and my endurance has increased so I can now race up to 5 hours.  Next year I’m hoping to place well in some of the Premier calendar races, as well as aiming to win a Nat B and achieve my category 1 license.

Winter miles are arguably the hardest of the season, waking up early doors checking the weather to find its 3 degrees and pouring with rain.  Ideal.  You have to love it, hauling your frame over even the smallest of lump can feel goliath, the rain beating down with a block headwind trying the add nails to the coffin.  Yet you go on, you plough through the fields and you love it.  Every second.  Every point you doubt yourself with a most feeble “Why?” and keep going is a minor victory.  When your legs are giving up and you still have 20 km to go.  It can crush a normal man, but you are not normal, there’s something special, why else would you be here?

The cruellest part of winter training isn’t the cold it’s the wind.  Yes the cold hurts your fingers, your feet slowly drain the heat from your toes but you can just go harder to keep warm, but the wind.  The wind is what does you in; it’s like carrying an anchor.  Are your brakes rubbing? Do you have a puncture? Why’s it so hard? It drains everything and there’s no hiding just you on the open road.

It’s the miles nobody sees that are what counts, no one sees you self-harming, the inner conflict between mind and legs, no one but you sees that.  And that’s all that matters really.  Your inner conflict, when it’s full gas in a race and riders are getting shelled it’s always easier to give up and call it quits but you won’t, you’ve put in the winter miles, you’ve done the hard work  and you can make it count