This week Eugene, Rob Telford and I traveled down to Bala and stayed in one of the most wild hostels I’ve been in. The less said the better… We put up with the conditions for the night to race the second round of the North Wales Road Race series. While only 100km the course was 3 big laps totalling over 1500m of climbing. Especially in the heat we were due a tough race.
I spent the first 10 minutes or so moving forward trying to get to the front for the upcoming climbs. I’d managed to snake myself into the front third of the group right as we hit the first decisive climb. I was still warming up and not feeling 100% after a poor nights sleep. So when Kieran Savage and Joe Clark (both Cycling Sheffield) got to the front and smashed it, it was a real wake up call. They really hammered it, the field strung out and I had to make quite an effort to stick with them. I really went deep at this point, it was actually my hardest five minute effort of the race (386W 420NP).
While it really was a hard effort on the climb and it dented everyone's legs we were all too tired to profit from it. They made it so hard that no one could carry on driving the pace, especially not me. While in a group of “favourites” over the top of the climb I made a call not to work with them and let it regroup. I did not want another all day break, the course was too hilly.
Either way, I had now warmed up and could stick with the best climbers when needed. The route descended for the next couple of minutes before a sharp left turn followed by another steep climb. Once again it was railed. Several riders at the front really put on the pressure and it lined out. We did fly up the climb but there was no decisive split. I tried to counter it over the top but couldn’t gap them on the descent, it was still pretty early in the race and I eased back but remained towards the front to stay safe. The effort on this second climb was my hardest 6 minute effort of the race (371W 397NP). In essence I did a 5 minute hard effort, had a 4 minute rest and then did a 6 minute effort. All within the first 30 minutes of racing. It was a very hard start.
We had driven down the descent on the way to the HQ so roughly knew what to expect. While the views were stunning, the descent was quick but not too technical. I wanted to be right at the front just to stay out of trouble on the first lap. This paid dividends when I was well placed as a sheep ran out in front of the peloton. Somehow we all avoided it but it was a VERY near miss. #onlyinwales
During a lull in the action over the start/finish area Jack Stanton-Warren and Ollie Hayward attacked. I know them both reasonably well and wanted to join them but didn’t quite have the legs or positioning to follow immediately. I was hoping the other teams would push to bring it back but they didn’t really. When a couple of riders attacked, aiming to bridge I made the effort to follow. It took me just over a minute to bridge to the small chase group and pushed 470W to make it.
I was nicely placed in third wheel when disaster struck. The rider directly in front of me looked behind to check the situation right as the front rider pulled out. They overlapped wheels causing the rider in second wheel to career into the verge. It looked like he went down hard. I somehow dodged it by using some emergency breaking and swerving but the rider behind me then clipped my wheel causing him to crash taking down the entirety of my chase group. I didn’t slam on, I think he just wasn’t paying attention either and was too close to me.
So now I was in a duo, chasing a duo. Both of us knew we weren’t going to make it without help so made a call to ride tempo until reinforcements arrived. Surely enough after 3.5km we were brought back by the peloton, I slotted in and recovered.
Just over a lap had passed now and we were approaching the hardest section of climbs again. Once again I got caught napping. I was resting too much, too far back in the peloton when an attack went. Quite a few riders went with it, but neither me or any of my teammates.
I saw the danger too late and as we hit the hard climb I tried to to get across to the front split. The peloton shredded itself on this climb. Personally I did 360W for five minutes this time. It was still pretty tough but not as hard as first lap.
There was the leading two riders, followed by the first chase group of about 10 riders, followed by my group of about 15 then whatever else was left behind us. Our group was too big to work. All of my teammates where there and we all pulled turns but as a cohort we didn’t get organised and the gap to the leading group kept increasing. It felt like we had blown it and I was getting angsty. A Bottechia rider attacked solo and on the descent between the two climbs I attacked solo to catch him.
I put in an attack of 700W for 15s to get the gap and then pressed on at threshold to catch him. I initially made quite a dent into their advantage and quickly caught the rider in the middle. I allowed him to rest behind me as I went ham and tried to bridge the gap. I thought that this was THE break of the day and wanted to be in it. I really committed to the chase but it felt like my compatriot didn’t have as good legs as me. Whenever he pulled turns we lost time to them. The gap wasn’t huge maybe only 5-10 seconds but it wasn’t really coming down. I wanted to catch them before the descent as I knew that 2 vs 10 just wouldn’t work when the speeds get up. We crested the climb with about a 5 second deficit. I had averaged 350W for the 9 minutes of chasing so far.
As we hadn’t made the junction before the descent I think we subconsciously eased our effort and before we knew it the group I had attacked caught us up. At least it let my teammates rest. I allowed myself to get to the back of the group to recover. I felt a bit guilty sitting on but my as both Kieran and Eugene were at the front aiding the chase I didn’t stress too much. I got my breath back. I had a very nice 10 minute rest averaging just 145W.
My former teammate and good friend Kieran Savage was in this group and we had a quick discussion. He said that on the second climb coming up he was going to attack and I should go with him. I agreed. We needed to get into that front split and this group just wasn’t committed enough. This was shown by a chase group catching us right as we hit the first short sharp climb.
Not expecting any big attacks here I was towards the back. Stupidly. This was where the next attacks came from and once again our group split and I was on the wrong end of it. As were all my teamates. Kieran Wynn-Catanach very nearly made it but couldn’t quite make it. We’d been caught out; not wanting to throw the race away I started to pull turns, mainly just keeping the gap under control. If we eased the chase then they could quite easily get away for good.
As we passed the HQ for the second time, entering the final lap, the lead group was caught by the chase group I’d missed and they put a neutral service car in the gap. Highlighting how big the gap was. I was getting stressed. It felt like we had blown the race. None of our team was in it and all three of us got to the front and pulled turns to bring it back. It wasn’t just our team, we had a fair bit of help but to me it seemed as though the gap wasn’t coming down.
I was getting really stressed and began pulling wild turns. I kept surging through which disrupted our chase and was detrimental to our cause. I got yelled at a bit and eased into pulling longer more sustainable turns. This allowed us to work as a unit and the gap started to come down. What I think happened was that their group got too big and disorganised while we kept an even hard pace.
The gap took quite a while to come down, but as we hit the flat section before the hard climb we made the bridge. I had done quite a bit of the chasing and once again allowed myself to rest and settle into the group. Eugene was moaning about my energy drink that I’d given him describing it as “bile”.
As we hit the hardest section of the climb, our group began to split. Once AGAIN I saw it happen and was too far back to be apart of it. I powered past everyone I could but could not reach the front guys attacking. I knew that this was actually THE move. Everyone was shattered from endless chasing and only the fit had the legs to be in that group. I put in a massive dig over the top of the climb, passed Joe Clark telling him to jump on and then passed Ollie Hayward also telling him to jump on.
Joe didn’t quite make it but Ollie did. He’s a strong rider and with his help I thought we’d be able to bridge to the front group.
I was counting the gap to them. They were obviously pushing on and it was about 8-10 seconds to start with. It gradually came down, first to 5 seconds and then to 3. But we still couldn’t close it. My legs were screaming, I’d had to rail the climb then smash the descent and I was flagging. But I kept saying “this is it, we have to make it”. And sure enough as we started to climb the one of the final ascents, we tagged on the back. The bridging effort was by far the hardest of the race and I averaged 342W for just under 10 minutes and 374NP, this included a 5.5 minute effort of 375W on the climb.
I kept myself to the back, grabbed a drink from Ollie (which I was very grateful for) and got my breath back. We’d not been with the front group long when Jack Stanton-Warren attacked from it. I knew it was a good move but simply didn’t have the legs to follow. He managed to catch the 3 riders up the road and came 2nd which was a solid effort.
On the descent, I remained right at the back, simply resting. A few riders attacked but to no avail. I gave it a bit of a dig but regretted it instantly and returned to the rear.
Now that I was in the front group I wanted a result. I knew a top 10 was on the cards but of course wanted to place as best I could. On the penultimate climb of the day with 2km to go I railed it. I put out my best one minute power of the race. I actually got the Strava KOM here showing I was the fastest to ascend it during the entire race. I did start the climb too far back but once I got going I felt awesome, I just drilled it and crested the climb first. We did drop a couple of riders but when I pushed on over the top our group was lined out.
I got my breath back on the descent and let Kieran lead it out. The finish was just after a rise, not a hard one but enough after 3 hours of racing. One rider attacked as soon as we hit it. I launched and followed him but made sure not to attack myself. He was countered by Joe Clark which I followed and was passed by a couple others. I held on, legs screaming to place 5th in my group and 9th overall. I actually managed not to come last in my group, my sprint training is working!
Within the last 3.5 minutes of racing I did two one minute efforts, the first at 590W to get to the front on the climb and sap everyone's legs. The second (averaging 510W) in the rise/sprint to the line. I was honestly surprised I could do these back to back efforts with only 90 seconds rest in between. Especially that deep into the race.
In all I was pleased with the result, even though tactically I was pretty poor and wasted a lot of energy early on chasing to get into the front group. I think that had I not done those efforts I would have been able to follow Jack’s attack. Who knows but I’m well on my way to Cat 1 now.
I spent the first 10 minutes or so moving forward trying to get to the front for the upcoming climbs. I’d managed to snake myself into the front third of the group right as we hit the first decisive climb. I was still warming up and not feeling 100% after a poor nights sleep. So when Kieran Savage and Joe Clark (both Cycling Sheffield) got to the front and smashed it, it was a real wake up call. They really hammered it, the field strung out and I had to make quite an effort to stick with them. I really went deep at this point, it was actually my hardest five minute effort of the race (386W 420NP).
While it really was a hard effort on the climb and it dented everyone's legs we were all too tired to profit from it. They made it so hard that no one could carry on driving the pace, especially not me. While in a group of “favourites” over the top of the climb I made a call not to work with them and let it regroup. I did not want another all day break, the course was too hilly.
Either way, I had now warmed up and could stick with the best climbers when needed. The route descended for the next couple of minutes before a sharp left turn followed by another steep climb. Once again it was railed. Several riders at the front really put on the pressure and it lined out. We did fly up the climb but there was no decisive split. I tried to counter it over the top but couldn’t gap them on the descent, it was still pretty early in the race and I eased back but remained towards the front to stay safe. The effort on this second climb was my hardest 6 minute effort of the race (371W 397NP). In essence I did a 5 minute hard effort, had a 4 minute rest and then did a 6 minute effort. All within the first 30 minutes of racing. It was a very hard start.
We had driven down the descent on the way to the HQ so roughly knew what to expect. While the views were stunning, the descent was quick but not too technical. I wanted to be right at the front just to stay out of trouble on the first lap. This paid dividends when I was well placed as a sheep ran out in front of the peloton. Somehow we all avoided it but it was a VERY near miss. #onlyinwales
During a lull in the action over the start/finish area Jack Stanton-Warren and Ollie Hayward attacked. I know them both reasonably well and wanted to join them but didn’t quite have the legs or positioning to follow immediately. I was hoping the other teams would push to bring it back but they didn’t really. When a couple of riders attacked, aiming to bridge I made the effort to follow. It took me just over a minute to bridge to the small chase group and pushed 470W to make it.
I was nicely placed in third wheel when disaster struck. The rider directly in front of me looked behind to check the situation right as the front rider pulled out. They overlapped wheels causing the rider in second wheel to career into the verge. It looked like he went down hard. I somehow dodged it by using some emergency breaking and swerving but the rider behind me then clipped my wheel causing him to crash taking down the entirety of my chase group. I didn’t slam on, I think he just wasn’t paying attention either and was too close to me.
So now I was in a duo, chasing a duo. Both of us knew we weren’t going to make it without help so made a call to ride tempo until reinforcements arrived. Surely enough after 3.5km we were brought back by the peloton, I slotted in and recovered.
Just over a lap had passed now and we were approaching the hardest section of climbs again. Once again I got caught napping. I was resting too much, too far back in the peloton when an attack went. Quite a few riders went with it, but neither me or any of my teammates.
I saw the danger too late and as we hit the hard climb I tried to to get across to the front split. The peloton shredded itself on this climb. Personally I did 360W for five minutes this time. It was still pretty tough but not as hard as first lap.
There was the leading two riders, followed by the first chase group of about 10 riders, followed by my group of about 15 then whatever else was left behind us. Our group was too big to work. All of my teammates where there and we all pulled turns but as a cohort we didn’t get organised and the gap to the leading group kept increasing. It felt like we had blown it and I was getting angsty. A Bottechia rider attacked solo and on the descent between the two climbs I attacked solo to catch him.
I put in an attack of 700W for 15s to get the gap and then pressed on at threshold to catch him. I initially made quite a dent into their advantage and quickly caught the rider in the middle. I allowed him to rest behind me as I went ham and tried to bridge the gap. I thought that this was THE break of the day and wanted to be in it. I really committed to the chase but it felt like my compatriot didn’t have as good legs as me. Whenever he pulled turns we lost time to them. The gap wasn’t huge maybe only 5-10 seconds but it wasn’t really coming down. I wanted to catch them before the descent as I knew that 2 vs 10 just wouldn’t work when the speeds get up. We crested the climb with about a 5 second deficit. I had averaged 350W for the 9 minutes of chasing so far.
As we hadn’t made the junction before the descent I think we subconsciously eased our effort and before we knew it the group I had attacked caught us up. At least it let my teammates rest. I allowed myself to get to the back of the group to recover. I felt a bit guilty sitting on but my as both Kieran and Eugene were at the front aiding the chase I didn’t stress too much. I got my breath back. I had a very nice 10 minute rest averaging just 145W.
My former teammate and good friend Kieran Savage was in this group and we had a quick discussion. He said that on the second climb coming up he was going to attack and I should go with him. I agreed. We needed to get into that front split and this group just wasn’t committed enough. This was shown by a chase group catching us right as we hit the first short sharp climb.
Not expecting any big attacks here I was towards the back. Stupidly. This was where the next attacks came from and once again our group split and I was on the wrong end of it. As were all my teamates. Kieran Wynn-Catanach very nearly made it but couldn’t quite make it. We’d been caught out; not wanting to throw the race away I started to pull turns, mainly just keeping the gap under control. If we eased the chase then they could quite easily get away for good.
As we passed the HQ for the second time, entering the final lap, the lead group was caught by the chase group I’d missed and they put a neutral service car in the gap. Highlighting how big the gap was. I was getting stressed. It felt like we had blown the race. None of our team was in it and all three of us got to the front and pulled turns to bring it back. It wasn’t just our team, we had a fair bit of help but to me it seemed as though the gap wasn’t coming down.
I was getting really stressed and began pulling wild turns. I kept surging through which disrupted our chase and was detrimental to our cause. I got yelled at a bit and eased into pulling longer more sustainable turns. This allowed us to work as a unit and the gap started to come down. What I think happened was that their group got too big and disorganised while we kept an even hard pace.
The gap took quite a while to come down, but as we hit the flat section before the hard climb we made the bridge. I had done quite a bit of the chasing and once again allowed myself to rest and settle into the group. Eugene was moaning about my energy drink that I’d given him describing it as “bile”.
As we hit the hardest section of the climb, our group began to split. Once AGAIN I saw it happen and was too far back to be apart of it. I powered past everyone I could but could not reach the front guys attacking. I knew that this was actually THE move. Everyone was shattered from endless chasing and only the fit had the legs to be in that group. I put in a massive dig over the top of the climb, passed Joe Clark telling him to jump on and then passed Ollie Hayward also telling him to jump on.
Joe didn’t quite make it but Ollie did. He’s a strong rider and with his help I thought we’d be able to bridge to the front group.
I was counting the gap to them. They were obviously pushing on and it was about 8-10 seconds to start with. It gradually came down, first to 5 seconds and then to 3. But we still couldn’t close it. My legs were screaming, I’d had to rail the climb then smash the descent and I was flagging. But I kept saying “this is it, we have to make it”. And sure enough as we started to climb the one of the final ascents, we tagged on the back. The bridging effort was by far the hardest of the race and I averaged 342W for just under 10 minutes and 374NP, this included a 5.5 minute effort of 375W on the climb.
I kept myself to the back, grabbed a drink from Ollie (which I was very grateful for) and got my breath back. We’d not been with the front group long when Jack Stanton-Warren attacked from it. I knew it was a good move but simply didn’t have the legs to follow. He managed to catch the 3 riders up the road and came 2nd which was a solid effort.
On the descent, I remained right at the back, simply resting. A few riders attacked but to no avail. I gave it a bit of a dig but regretted it instantly and returned to the rear.
Now that I was in the front group I wanted a result. I knew a top 10 was on the cards but of course wanted to place as best I could. On the penultimate climb of the day with 2km to go I railed it. I put out my best one minute power of the race. I actually got the Strava KOM here showing I was the fastest to ascend it during the entire race. I did start the climb too far back but once I got going I felt awesome, I just drilled it and crested the climb first. We did drop a couple of riders but when I pushed on over the top our group was lined out.
I got my breath back on the descent and let Kieran lead it out. The finish was just after a rise, not a hard one but enough after 3 hours of racing. One rider attacked as soon as we hit it. I launched and followed him but made sure not to attack myself. He was countered by Joe Clark which I followed and was passed by a couple others. I held on, legs screaming to place 5th in my group and 9th overall. I actually managed not to come last in my group, my sprint training is working!
Within the last 3.5 minutes of racing I did two one minute efforts, the first at 590W to get to the front on the climb and sap everyone's legs. The second (averaging 510W) in the rise/sprint to the line. I was honestly surprised I could do these back to back efforts with only 90 seconds rest in between. Especially that deep into the race.
In all I was pleased with the result, even though tactically I was pretty poor and wasted a lot of energy early on chasing to get into the front group. I think that had I not done those efforts I would have been able to follow Jack’s attack. Who knows but I’m well on my way to Cat 1 now.