2017 Road Season Review

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.

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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.

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