This was supposed to be “the best race of the year” and it was the race I had picked as my early season target. I came into the race flying, having won the Shap Fell hill climb beating former BBAR champion Richard Bideau up the 9 mile slog by 15 seconds. This was my first victory of the year, so I was hoping for a good result.
I got off to an awful start to the race. On the start line I was with my teammates Rob and Eugene who decided to go for a last minute urination. I jovially held their bikes as they ran into the HQ. Only for the race to start whilst they were away. With one bike in each hand I was in quite a predicament much to the amusement of the riders around me. I managed to offload their bikes to a man walking past and set off in pursuit of the race, somehow dodging a woman who stepped out in front of me.
I easily got into the pack but was obviously towards the back of the bunch as we lined up on the Michaelgate climb in Lincoln town centre. The procession out of town was initiated on time and I began snaking my way through the gaps aiming for the safety at the front.
The race got deneutralised just as we crossed the A46 and I presume attacks trying to form the breakaway started at the front. Within literally 200m of deneutralisation, there was the crushing sound of brakes screeching and the awful clink of riders and bikes hitting the deck.
It was a biggie.
I’d say around 40 riders crashed in the pile up. We were going about 30mph and some guys went down hard; I’ve heard reports you could see Rob Scotts knee cap… I managed to glide myself onto the verge next to the road and was the last person to latch onto the peloton as we started the descent into Burton-By-Lincoln. The road twists its way sharply down here and the already stretched our bunch began to splinter.
We’d literally been going 2 minutes and I was chasing full gas, going nearly 70kph and only 5 beats off maximum heartrate. Riders started dropping the wheel and as I was already at the back, I was in a small group which became detached. We managed to work together and got back in but it was a match burnt after 5 minutes of racing. Awful.
In the first 3.5km I had averaged 52kph and 416W. So even when the paced eased slightly as the road widened I was trying to recover rather than move up.
The race carved its way towards the city centre and approached the famous cobbled climb of Michaelgate. It’s not too long (merely 300m) but it averages around 11-12% and is (of course) poorly surfaced. We hit the climb and within about 50m I knew something was up... My back wheel was rubbing. It had come dislodged and I was unable to pedal anymore. I had to dismount and get it back and working. It took me around a minute and even with the push from a helpful onlooker my race was doomed.
I shot up the rest of the climb and raced over the top hard, almost careering into the barriers. I knew I had to get back in fast as the race was full gas now. I got my head down only to see my parents walking towards the centre. I yelled “my chain came off” which wasn’t untrue.
The rest of the race was me just solo chasing to get back in. I obviously just lost time consistently and was eventually black flagged after an hour.
I was just gutted to be honest. I’d specifically targeted this race and prepped more than others for it. I basically didn’t even get to race. Practically all I did was chase as hard as I could from km 0 until I got pulled. The only even slight perk was that I did my best ever 20 minute power: 391W, so I was clearly flying. Who knows what could have been.
What makes this even more frustrating is that it’s the 4th mechanical I’ve had in 5 races this year. At what point does it become sheer incompetence? I know my frame has an issue with the rear wheel coming out and the way of fixing this is to severely tighten the skewer which I normally do. However, Andy put my wheels and unknowingly didn’t do it tight enough. It wasn’t his fault, there was no way he could know this but I forgot to check. Such a bummer, I’m just so frustrated with road racing this year.
.
I mean I was clearly super strong
I got off to an awful start to the race. On the start line I was with my teammates Rob and Eugene who decided to go for a last minute urination. I jovially held their bikes as they ran into the HQ. Only for the race to start whilst they were away. With one bike in each hand I was in quite a predicament much to the amusement of the riders around me. I managed to offload their bikes to a man walking past and set off in pursuit of the race, somehow dodging a woman who stepped out in front of me.
I easily got into the pack but was obviously towards the back of the bunch as we lined up on the Michaelgate climb in Lincoln town centre. The procession out of town was initiated on time and I began snaking my way through the gaps aiming for the safety at the front.
The race got deneutralised just as we crossed the A46 and I presume attacks trying to form the breakaway started at the front. Within literally 200m of deneutralisation, there was the crushing sound of brakes screeching and the awful clink of riders and bikes hitting the deck.
It was a biggie.
I’d say around 40 riders crashed in the pile up. We were going about 30mph and some guys went down hard; I’ve heard reports you could see Rob Scotts knee cap… I managed to glide myself onto the verge next to the road and was the last person to latch onto the peloton as we started the descent into Burton-By-Lincoln. The road twists its way sharply down here and the already stretched our bunch began to splinter.
We’d literally been going 2 minutes and I was chasing full gas, going nearly 70kph and only 5 beats off maximum heartrate. Riders started dropping the wheel and as I was already at the back, I was in a small group which became detached. We managed to work together and got back in but it was a match burnt after 5 minutes of racing. Awful.
In the first 3.5km I had averaged 52kph and 416W. So even when the paced eased slightly as the road widened I was trying to recover rather than move up.
The race carved its way towards the city centre and approached the famous cobbled climb of Michaelgate. It’s not too long (merely 300m) but it averages around 11-12% and is (of course) poorly surfaced. We hit the climb and within about 50m I knew something was up... My back wheel was rubbing. It had come dislodged and I was unable to pedal anymore. I had to dismount and get it back and working. It took me around a minute and even with the push from a helpful onlooker my race was doomed.
I shot up the rest of the climb and raced over the top hard, almost careering into the barriers. I knew I had to get back in fast as the race was full gas now. I got my head down only to see my parents walking towards the centre. I yelled “my chain came off” which wasn’t untrue.
The rest of the race was me just solo chasing to get back in. I obviously just lost time consistently and was eventually black flagged after an hour.
I was just gutted to be honest. I’d specifically targeted this race and prepped more than others for it. I basically didn’t even get to race. Practically all I did was chase as hard as I could from km 0 until I got pulled. The only even slight perk was that I did my best ever 20 minute power: 391W, so I was clearly flying. Who knows what could have been.
What makes this even more frustrating is that it’s the 4th mechanical I’ve had in 5 races this year. At what point does it become sheer incompetence? I know my frame has an issue with the rear wheel coming out and the way of fixing this is to severely tighten the skewer which I normally do. However, Andy put my wheels and unknowingly didn’t do it tight enough. It wasn’t his fault, there was no way he could know this but I forgot to check. Such a bummer, I’m just so frustrated with road racing this year.
.
I mean I was clearly super strong
