I’m really riding myself into some form now. On Tuesday I took my 5th win of the year at the Cragg Vale hill climb holding 401W for just over 10 minutes. This puts me into the lead for the Yorkshire hill climb championships. Even though true hill climbing season is way away, I enjoy the efforts and can ride an hour each way to keep my endurance topped up.
I was pretty disappointed to puncture two weeks ago (at Leisure Lakes RR) so purchased some new tyres and was raring to go today. I knew the course intimately from my exploits in the break at Ilkley 2 day earlier in the season and planned on waiting for at least one lap before even following a move. I was racing once again with Eugene who managed to get into a small group off the front on the first lap. I didn’t think it would stick and I was 100% not going to chase it, so sat in 20th wheel just waiting. I think I averaged just over 225w for the first half an hour. For me this is zone 2 and I can easily hold that for several hours.
As we were finishing the first lap, Eugene’s break was in sight and to anticipate the catch I positioned myself towards the front. We hit the finishing climb hard and as we closed the gap I countered. I absolutely drilled it, reaching my best ever minute power of 670W. Initially I got a gap but the bunch still had fresh legs and I was brought back. Still, I remained towards the tip of the race but still wanted to wait before launching a full on assault.
Riders kept attacking and on the incredibly grippy Penny Pot Lane nothing was getting away. About ¾ the way around the second lap there was a real lull in pace. I decided that this was the moment to go. I didn’t attack as such, just rode hard to get a gap. And once I got the gap that was it, I kept the effort strong to extend my lead. I was riding at about 105% effort, pretty hard but not fully committing to ride solo to the end (I’m not that good) but I wanted to make them chase me. What I mean by this is that if I was committing I’d be riding at 120% effort around 420W not the 380W I was doing.
Ideally a break would establish behind and catch me, then I could work from there. As I crested the finishing climb with 3 laps to go I was reminded that this was a Prime lap, meaning as I was first over it I got my entry fee back which was nice. Now for the next 15 minutes I got my head down (literally. Check the top pic) and pushed on. I averaged 335W for the 20 minutes I was solo. My plan nicely fell into place and I saw a group of three approaching me on Penny Pot Lane. I eased off my effort, let them absorb me and sat on “to get my breath back” for a few minutes. They didn’t mind and I swiftly started to pull minute turns.
I had a feeling that this wasn’t THE break as the bunch was still in view behind but nevertheless I kept pulling turns. At the worst it’d help tire out those behind chasing. We were still working nicely as a quad before one of us realised there was a chasing group behind. I had a sneaky peak and saw it was in fact Eugene bridging. As soon as I saw this I got to the back of my group and skipped turns, allowing me to rest until he made it to us. Our groups combined and once they recuperated, from their bridging effort, they began to aid us.
As we approached the final few kilometers of the 3rd lap and we were on the cusp of being caught. “Bunch heroes” were sat on the front bringing us back. I quickly assessed the situation and whispered to Eugene that we NEEDED to drill the next climb. The bunch should have been tired from chasing us, so for us to now lay down a full frontal assault, on arguably the hardest section of the course, would allow us to snap the elastic and make the decisive break.
We hit the climb and I got to the front and attacked. I held 521W for the 80 second climb and pushed on over the top. This split our break but dragged four others with me who. They immediately followed my attack and carried on driving the pace. We really pushed on the descent and by the base we had a gap of over 25 seconds. That was it. The elastic had snapped. We just had to make it to the line now.
As a fivesome we generally worked well together. There was one weaker lad who pulled pretty short turns but I had a word with him and got him to pull a bit longer turns. The Penny Pot Lane section of road has a terrible surface and is really hard to keep a good pace, it was my downfall at Ilkley 2 day and I did not want it to play out the same this race.
As we entered the final lap we were given a time gap of 45 seconds. It should have been enough but on such a slow course that gap could quite easily come down to nothing. I motivated the group and we really hammered the main descent, we were flying. It really was a do or die situation and we fully committed to the cause. With half a lap left we still had a time gap of 40 seconds but the effort was clearly taking its toll on us. The turns people pulled got shorter and shorter but for some reason I still felt golden. My legs were indefatigable but I couldn’t carry everyone else to the line. I knew I was on a flyer and kept pulling long sustained turns whilst the others faltered.
We were very near cresting the false flat section of Penny Pot Lane when I decided to attack. I put in a big dig and leapt off the front. Only one rider was initially able to follow but he refused to pull turns which killed my rhythm and as I faded the remaining three caught me. We had a discussion to not mess around until the end and as “punishment” I began to pull stronger turns just to ensure we didn’t get caught by the bunch. My legs still felt awesome so I didn’t mind the work holding the pace.
With the final climb in sight, the other four left me on the front. A junior was clearly panicking that we would get caught and I said to him “well get on the front then” which he did. He did quite quickly pull off leaving me on the front again. I resigned myself to the lead-out knowing I was the freshest still and with 225m to go unleashed my sprint. I quickly dropped the break but was clawed back by Oli Rees and as we hit less than 50m to go he passed me. I tried to kick again but couldn’t bring him back and I rolled across the line on second place.
I’d held 320W for an hour and 318W for 90 minutes sustaining the break and it was lost by sprinting too early. It was my first real opportunity for a road race win this year and I blew it. The Buzzard celebration will have to wait.
In hindsight I’ve realised that I knew the wind was coming from our front left. I attacked on the left hand side of thE road giving Oli shelter as he passed me. That may not have been the difference, but after 90 minutes I should have been looking for every advantage I can get.
I love a good break but I really need to work on finishing the job off. As Lance Armstong says when he came second once “today as far as I’m concerned I got last place”.
I was pretty disappointed to puncture two weeks ago (at Leisure Lakes RR) so purchased some new tyres and was raring to go today. I knew the course intimately from my exploits in the break at Ilkley 2 day earlier in the season and planned on waiting for at least one lap before even following a move. I was racing once again with Eugene who managed to get into a small group off the front on the first lap. I didn’t think it would stick and I was 100% not going to chase it, so sat in 20th wheel just waiting. I think I averaged just over 225w for the first half an hour. For me this is zone 2 and I can easily hold that for several hours.
As we were finishing the first lap, Eugene’s break was in sight and to anticipate the catch I positioned myself towards the front. We hit the finishing climb hard and as we closed the gap I countered. I absolutely drilled it, reaching my best ever minute power of 670W. Initially I got a gap but the bunch still had fresh legs and I was brought back. Still, I remained towards the tip of the race but still wanted to wait before launching a full on assault.
Riders kept attacking and on the incredibly grippy Penny Pot Lane nothing was getting away. About ¾ the way around the second lap there was a real lull in pace. I decided that this was the moment to go. I didn’t attack as such, just rode hard to get a gap. And once I got the gap that was it, I kept the effort strong to extend my lead. I was riding at about 105% effort, pretty hard but not fully committing to ride solo to the end (I’m not that good) but I wanted to make them chase me. What I mean by this is that if I was committing I’d be riding at 120% effort around 420W not the 380W I was doing.
Ideally a break would establish behind and catch me, then I could work from there. As I crested the finishing climb with 3 laps to go I was reminded that this was a Prime lap, meaning as I was first over it I got my entry fee back which was nice. Now for the next 15 minutes I got my head down (literally. Check the top pic) and pushed on. I averaged 335W for the 20 minutes I was solo. My plan nicely fell into place and I saw a group of three approaching me on Penny Pot Lane. I eased off my effort, let them absorb me and sat on “to get my breath back” for a few minutes. They didn’t mind and I swiftly started to pull minute turns.
I had a feeling that this wasn’t THE break as the bunch was still in view behind but nevertheless I kept pulling turns. At the worst it’d help tire out those behind chasing. We were still working nicely as a quad before one of us realised there was a chasing group behind. I had a sneaky peak and saw it was in fact Eugene bridging. As soon as I saw this I got to the back of my group and skipped turns, allowing me to rest until he made it to us. Our groups combined and once they recuperated, from their bridging effort, they began to aid us.
As we approached the final few kilometers of the 3rd lap and we were on the cusp of being caught. “Bunch heroes” were sat on the front bringing us back. I quickly assessed the situation and whispered to Eugene that we NEEDED to drill the next climb. The bunch should have been tired from chasing us, so for us to now lay down a full frontal assault, on arguably the hardest section of the course, would allow us to snap the elastic and make the decisive break.
We hit the climb and I got to the front and attacked. I held 521W for the 80 second climb and pushed on over the top. This split our break but dragged four others with me who. They immediately followed my attack and carried on driving the pace. We really pushed on the descent and by the base we had a gap of over 25 seconds. That was it. The elastic had snapped. We just had to make it to the line now.
As a fivesome we generally worked well together. There was one weaker lad who pulled pretty short turns but I had a word with him and got him to pull a bit longer turns. The Penny Pot Lane section of road has a terrible surface and is really hard to keep a good pace, it was my downfall at Ilkley 2 day and I did not want it to play out the same this race.
As we entered the final lap we were given a time gap of 45 seconds. It should have been enough but on such a slow course that gap could quite easily come down to nothing. I motivated the group and we really hammered the main descent, we were flying. It really was a do or die situation and we fully committed to the cause. With half a lap left we still had a time gap of 40 seconds but the effort was clearly taking its toll on us. The turns people pulled got shorter and shorter but for some reason I still felt golden. My legs were indefatigable but I couldn’t carry everyone else to the line. I knew I was on a flyer and kept pulling long sustained turns whilst the others faltered.
We were very near cresting the false flat section of Penny Pot Lane when I decided to attack. I put in a big dig and leapt off the front. Only one rider was initially able to follow but he refused to pull turns which killed my rhythm and as I faded the remaining three caught me. We had a discussion to not mess around until the end and as “punishment” I began to pull stronger turns just to ensure we didn’t get caught by the bunch. My legs still felt awesome so I didn’t mind the work holding the pace.
With the final climb in sight, the other four left me on the front. A junior was clearly panicking that we would get caught and I said to him “well get on the front then” which he did. He did quite quickly pull off leaving me on the front again. I resigned myself to the lead-out knowing I was the freshest still and with 225m to go unleashed my sprint. I quickly dropped the break but was clawed back by Oli Rees and as we hit less than 50m to go he passed me. I tried to kick again but couldn’t bring him back and I rolled across the line on second place.
I’d held 320W for an hour and 318W for 90 minutes sustaining the break and it was lost by sprinting too early. It was my first real opportunity for a road race win this year and I blew it. The Buzzard celebration will have to wait.
In hindsight I’ve realised that I knew the wind was coming from our front left. I attacked on the left hand side of thE road giving Oli shelter as he passed me. That may not have been the difference, but after 90 minutes I should have been looking for every advantage I can get.
I love a good break but I really need to work on finishing the job off. As Lance Armstong says when he came second once “today as far as I’m concerned I got last place”.
