Just as in Beaumont Trophy last year, Stamfordham was, almost unexpectedly, blessed with glorious sunshine. The race consisted of 7 laps of an undulating circuit, finishing on a minute long, reasonably steep climb. Unfortunately the race didn't go up the Ryals but totaling over 140km in that heat and with a moderate wind it was going to be a rough day in the saddle.
I thought it was just me from B38 riding but low and behold, I was joined by a certain Freddie Jagger on the startline, definitely making things easier for me. On the start line I began to realise just how hot it actually was. I could feel the sweat dripping down my back and by the end I'd have drunk 5 bidons of water.
The race started hard with plenty of attacks, both Freddie and I ended up in a group of 20 off the front after half a lap but it was brought back swiftly. Having a teammate really helped as it meant we could alternate attacks. It seemed like I would have 10 minutes on the front following moves, then would sit in while Freddie went. It was going sort of well but I could feel the fatigue unnecessarily building. Halfway around the third lap I was feeling tired so satin about 30th wheel to recover. It was on a narrow road and at this point when a few riders attacked. I was way too far back (and knackered) to follow and just prayed Freddie was in it. He was.
This group had 12 riders in it so personally I was a bit upset to miss it. Nevertheless, the bunch kept attacking trying to bridge. I wanted to be in the break but didn't want to bring it back. What's the point in having teammates? I just followed moves and whenever I got into a group off the front I'd work to bridge across. As long as I didn't drag the bunch then I could work.
I basically ended up in about 5 different small groups that left the peloton. I Just marked everything that mattered.However it was taking it's toll, after 3 laps of doing that I could really feel the fatigue, each bridging move was getting harder and harder. The attacks never relented though and I was desperate to get into the break so kept following. I was in several small groups which I really thought were going to make it but we kept getting pulled back. I don't even know who was chasing, all the teams were represented in both my group and the break. Eventually with two laps left, the elastic snapped and I got away in a group that stuck.
I thought it was just me from B38 riding but low and behold, I was joined by a certain Freddie Jagger on the startline, definitely making things easier for me. On the start line I began to realise just how hot it actually was. I could feel the sweat dripping down my back and by the end I'd have drunk 5 bidons of water.
The race started hard with plenty of attacks, both Freddie and I ended up in a group of 20 off the front after half a lap but it was brought back swiftly. Having a teammate really helped as it meant we could alternate attacks. It seemed like I would have 10 minutes on the front following moves, then would sit in while Freddie went. It was going sort of well but I could feel the fatigue unnecessarily building. Halfway around the third lap I was feeling tired so satin about 30th wheel to recover. It was on a narrow road and at this point when a few riders attacked. I was way too far back (and knackered) to follow and just prayed Freddie was in it. He was.
This group had 12 riders in it so personally I was a bit upset to miss it. Nevertheless, the bunch kept attacking trying to bridge. I wanted to be in the break but didn't want to bring it back. What's the point in having teammates? I just followed moves and whenever I got into a group off the front I'd work to bridge across. As long as I didn't drag the bunch then I could work.
I basically ended up in about 5 different small groups that left the peloton. I Just marked everything that mattered.However it was taking it's toll, after 3 laps of doing that I could really feel the fatigue, each bridging move was getting harder and harder. The attacks never relented though and I was desperate to get into the break so kept following. I was in several small groups which I really thought were going to make it but we kept getting pulled back. I don't even know who was chasing, all the teams were represented in both my group and the break. Eventually with two laps left, the elastic snapped and I got away in a group that stuck.
With all this attacking the break never got that much of a gap. At maximum it was just over a minute but there were times when it was under 20 seconds but no one wanted to do the effort to close it. Especially not me.
In my group there were about 7 of us, including George Atkins (Madison Genesis) and Alex Dalton who is so strong. We worked really hard as a group and people started missing turns which just upsets the rhythm. It was really frustrating but I kept pulling through only missing turns to eat.
Now the issue with bridging to a front group is that, as David Millar says, it's a Kamikaze effort. It's totally unpaced. Every time I was on the front I was pushing well over 400W. It's not for a long time, only 10-15 seconds at a time but doing that for extended periods tears you apart and I'd been doing it for the last 3 laps.
Within 1.5 laps of full on "Kamikaze" chasing we bridged a minute long gap and caught them. I played it as canny as I could and didn't work to close the last 10 seconds as I didn’t want to bridge to Freddie #teamwork.
I was feeling pretty goosed by now and got stupidly distanced at one point but bridged back in. I hadn't even worked my way to the front of the break before we took this 90 degree left hander. I didn't even take it that badly but let a small gap go and began to sprint to close it but just couldn't. It was one bridge too far. I held the gap for over a km but the group didn't ease just as my legs did.
Goosed.
I only had about 8km left to go and didn't want to get caught by the peloton so kept a constant pace. I looked back and saw two riders who had also been dropped from the break just behind. I didn't ease up but just let them catch me. I amicably joined them saying "please don't attack me!". I had two minutes on the back recovering and as we went around a 90 degree corner the guy in second wheel clipped the first riders wheel. I had to use my incred bike handling skills to dodge a flying bike. I was actually very lucky not to come down. It was such a stupid crash and when I spoke to him afterwards he described it as "I was just a retard".
Now with just the two of us we pulled turns to the end and managed to catch another dropped rider on the final hill. I gave the hill a bit of a kick and won from our group to come in about 16th place. It feels good to have my racing legs back, just got a few things to work on and if I can sort those then the results will come.
Photo credit to Darran Moore photography. Find more here
In my group there were about 7 of us, including George Atkins (Madison Genesis) and Alex Dalton who is so strong. We worked really hard as a group and people started missing turns which just upsets the rhythm. It was really frustrating but I kept pulling through only missing turns to eat.
Now the issue with bridging to a front group is that, as David Millar says, it's a Kamikaze effort. It's totally unpaced. Every time I was on the front I was pushing well over 400W. It's not for a long time, only 10-15 seconds at a time but doing that for extended periods tears you apart and I'd been doing it for the last 3 laps.
Within 1.5 laps of full on "Kamikaze" chasing we bridged a minute long gap and caught them. I played it as canny as I could and didn't work to close the last 10 seconds as I didn’t want to bridge to Freddie #teamwork.
I was feeling pretty goosed by now and got stupidly distanced at one point but bridged back in. I hadn't even worked my way to the front of the break before we took this 90 degree left hander. I didn't even take it that badly but let a small gap go and began to sprint to close it but just couldn't. It was one bridge too far. I held the gap for over a km but the group didn't ease just as my legs did.
Goosed.
I only had about 8km left to go and didn't want to get caught by the peloton so kept a constant pace. I looked back and saw two riders who had also been dropped from the break just behind. I didn't ease up but just let them catch me. I amicably joined them saying "please don't attack me!". I had two minutes on the back recovering and as we went around a 90 degree corner the guy in second wheel clipped the first riders wheel. I had to use my incred bike handling skills to dodge a flying bike. I was actually very lucky not to come down. It was such a stupid crash and when I spoke to him afterwards he described it as "I was just a retard".
Now with just the two of us we pulled turns to the end and managed to catch another dropped rider on the final hill. I gave the hill a bit of a kick and won from our group to come in about 16th place. It feels good to have my racing legs back, just got a few things to work on and if I can sort those then the results will come.
Photo credit to Darran Moore photography. Find more here
