This report is going to be so salty ahaha
Stage 1: Hill climb. Almost exclusively, this was the reason I entered the race. The 2019 national hill climb is on Haytor and conveniently stage 1 of Totnes Vire stage race was a hill climb up Haytor. It presented the perfect opportunity for a race effort recce and means I don’t have to travel down in October to recce it then.
I took it seriously, warmed up on the turbo with my full hill climb methodology and arrived at the start raring to go. I’d street viewed the climb before the day so roughly knew what to expect: steepest at the start with a flat/slightly downhill section before ramping up for 90s for the finish. I just rode it hard. I was aiming to average high 390W and considering my peak 10 minutes last year was 400W, this didn’t seem unrealistic.
I definitely was an eager beaver and set out a tad too hard averaging just under 500w for the first 2 minutes. I knew it was a bit hard so eased off and settled down into a nice rhythm slowly reeling in my minute man. I caught him after 6ish minutes, just as we crested the first ramp into the flat section. I was starting to blow here eased off, got my head down and “recovered” on the descent; just as my minute man surged past me…
As soon as we hit the final ramp I slogged it into the big dog and churned my way, once again overtook my minute man and cranked it to the line. I knew I’d done a good ride. I’d somehow paced it really well and the legs felt awesome. In fact, I’d gone sub 13 minutes with a time of 12:56, I did have a tailwind but I was very pleased with both my effort and the time.
I’d averaged 414W, way more than I anticipated but I am 3kg heavier than at peak hill climb form. This placed me 4th overall, merely 14s behind the leader (Steve Lampier). With my teammate Archie in 6th place, Team B38 Cycles in Motion were in an enviable position and it was all to play for.
One big takeaway from this result was that I beat World Tour stage winner Marcin Bialablocki in an individual time trial.
Stage 2: Circuit race. The second stage was an hour long circuit race. My only aim was to not lose time. I am not really suited to crit racing so was not anticipating a good result, only wanted to preserve my 4th place overall.
The race was started by gridding the GC riders. As I was currently in 4th; I was called up and brought to the start line. I proper rated this and lifted my hand up to wave to the crowd as I made my way forwards. I was chuckling away ready to go.
Within about 200m of setting off I had managed to sacrifice my position and was already swamped by racers. With a field of 80 on such a tight circuit, I was feeling a bit nervy and on edge. I didn’t like the intensity so slotted towards the back, allowing me to avoid any incidents should they occur.
I wasn’t on my own though. Archie was also with me. We were having a right laugh at the back to be honest. We were literally sat in the last 5 wheels proper chatting away, laughing at the ease of the race. With both Steve Lampier and Pete Kibble (1st and 2nd overall) having 4 teamates, every move was just chased down slowly and deliberately. This meant the pace was just constant with no chance of a split.
Absolutely Ideal situation for me and Archie. One issue I was having was that I felt like my rear wheel was punctured. It felt really dodgy as I cornered so I was having to be quite careful so avoid risking sliding out. It wasn’t a puncture but afterwards I checked it out and discovered the rear wheel’s bearings had completely gone and it was wobbling quite a lot; hence the feeling I had.
Last week I updated my front chainrings to a semi-compact and had to adjust the front mech accordingly. I’m no expert but followed some youtube tutorials and it seemed to be running smoothly. All until 47 minutes into the crit…
Going into a hairpin I changed down a couple of gears and somehow unshipped my chain. Now it’s easy to replace if it falls to the right but it came off into the frame and jammed. Fucking hell. I had to dismount, rag it out and put it back on. It didn’t take me too long, maybe 20 seconds in all. But as I was already last rider the gap was elongated.
As soon as I got going I chased hard. I knew I had to shut down the gap immediately and had two laps full gas averaging 410W for the first 5 minutes.
I REALLY needed the group to ease up slightly. If they knocked it off a little, I could close the gap but I was holding/maintaining the distance rather than closing. Some attacks started to fly and the gap went out. I was still chasing full gas but with my rear wheel so wobbly my cornering was slow which hindering me significantly. I was definitely bleeding time because of it.
It was just SO annoying. Placed 4th overall, there should have been no way for me to lose time in a crit. I chased on and on, counting down the laps but I was losing about 2 seconds per lap. I just couldn’t match the pace of 80 riders on my own. It was such a stupid situation. Sat at the back it was SO easy. I’d averaged zone 3 both HR and power which I can easily maintain for an hour yet when you are chasing it was incredibly hard to match the pace.
The worst part of chasing was when I caught two lapped riders who sat on and started to attack me. I was like WTF, you’re lapped. Just work with me. Eventually with 3 laps to go I dispatched them and rode to the finish solo.
As I crossed the line it was a disaster; I’d lost 1:45 eliminating any chance I had to win the GC. Just such a shame, I was really gutted. What was the point in travelling so far just to unship my chain and throw away the race. Just so infuriating.
In my chase I’d averaged 366W (374NP) for 24 minutes and 42kph compared to 44kph for the bunch. I was doubly hit by the chain loss; firstly I’d lost 1:45 but I had also had to do a 25 minute threshold effort when everyone else was sat in. I was not optimistic for the road race.
Stage 3: Road race. I only had the stage win to aim for. Losing 1:45 on the crit killed my GC chances and I was in 44th place overall. With my wheel being knackered I got a spare from neutral service as I was lining up. It was a bit wider than my standard wheel so rubbed a little when I got out of the saddle, all good training though.
Within 2 minutes of the race starting we’d been pulled over. Several riders were overtaking on the opposite side of the road and getting very close to oncoming cars. Pete Kibble who was in 2nd place overall was really bad. He was so close to hitting a car but he wasn’t spotted by the commissaries, unlike number 13 who (sort of hilariously) got disqualified and had to pull out of the race. We’d literally been going 2 minutes. What a shocker.
Alas we restarted and two riders escaped in a long range break. My aim was to be canny and conserve energy, aiming to follow the big dogs when it kicked off later in the race. I swiftly got bored though. We approached the descent for the first time and I had a little dig trying to get away but couldn’t. It turned out to be a stupid move as Archie was in a small break away and I’d just not seen him attack so I inadvertently chased down my own teamate.
Eventually Saint Piran and Wales Academy reeled him in on the main climb. I’d been sat in for ages now and felt quite fit, so as Archie was caught I tried to counter it. I had a dig over the top of the climb but it was just a feeler. One guy came with me but with a cross-headwind it was difficult to get a gap and we were quickly caught.
The race was so boring. Literally nothing was happening. Any attack would get chased by Saint Piran who were preserving the overall win for Steve Lampier. As we approached the climb for the penultimate time I was expecting things to kick off and tried to keep to the front. George Pym from Madison Genesis absolutely kicked off. It was pretty hard and the group began to splinter. I crested slightly behind a group of 12 leaders. It was full of strong guys and I wanted to be in it.
There were about 3/4 riders in front of me refusing to chase. It was one of those race defining moments. Had we not chased the group of 12 was very likely to stay away. So I just made the anaerobic effort to close the gap. I felt like if I didn’t it just would extend out and we’d miss the move.
I did it for 2 reasons: firstly, I wanted to be in the lead group and secondly, by sewing the groups back together it aided Archie in preserving his 5th overall. The effort was hard, I’d averaged 440W for the 3 minute climb and then had 20s “rest” at 300W before making the 35s at 530W effort to shut the gap.
Whilst the race had been very easy so far it was an encouraging sign to have the legs to shut down moves like that after 85km of racing.
Now the last lap was just mental. Everyone was still fresh and clearly wanted to race for the win. The climb was once again ridden full gas, only 1s slower than the very first time we ascended and I was once again within the front group. But as we crested the groups came back together and the intensity rose.
The speed was high and everyone was fighting for position. There was so many near misses with riders clashing handlebars and it was just too intense for me. I stayed towards the middle out of the action. But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. My plan was to monitor Archie, making sure he didn’t get gapped. He was pretty safe to be fair and didn’t seem in trouble at all.
We hit a short ramp with about 4km to go and I tried to get away. I sprinted from the back towards the front but couldn’t move up enough and didn’t have any chance of getting away. I was really not feeling my chances in a bunch kick so kept myself safe and eased off the bunch as they entered the sprint. Rolling in the same time as the peloton.
There was literally no point at which I could have won the final stage. I’d marked the key riders when it mattered but the bunch was just happy with preserving their overall places. Which made losing my chain even more annoying. It’d have been the easiest 4th place in a national race. I’d have been halfway to preserving my Cat 1 license. Proper let down but at least I got in some good racing miles and my legs are coming strong.
After the crit I had a chat with seasoned pro Steve Lampier who told me “there’s always another race”. He’s not wrong but it doesn’t numb the damage.
Stage 1: Hill climb. Almost exclusively, this was the reason I entered the race. The 2019 national hill climb is on Haytor and conveniently stage 1 of Totnes Vire stage race was a hill climb up Haytor. It presented the perfect opportunity for a race effort recce and means I don’t have to travel down in October to recce it then.
I took it seriously, warmed up on the turbo with my full hill climb methodology and arrived at the start raring to go. I’d street viewed the climb before the day so roughly knew what to expect: steepest at the start with a flat/slightly downhill section before ramping up for 90s for the finish. I just rode it hard. I was aiming to average high 390W and considering my peak 10 minutes last year was 400W, this didn’t seem unrealistic.
I definitely was an eager beaver and set out a tad too hard averaging just under 500w for the first 2 minutes. I knew it was a bit hard so eased off and settled down into a nice rhythm slowly reeling in my minute man. I caught him after 6ish minutes, just as we crested the first ramp into the flat section. I was starting to blow here eased off, got my head down and “recovered” on the descent; just as my minute man surged past me…
As soon as we hit the final ramp I slogged it into the big dog and churned my way, once again overtook my minute man and cranked it to the line. I knew I’d done a good ride. I’d somehow paced it really well and the legs felt awesome. In fact, I’d gone sub 13 minutes with a time of 12:56, I did have a tailwind but I was very pleased with both my effort and the time.
I’d averaged 414W, way more than I anticipated but I am 3kg heavier than at peak hill climb form. This placed me 4th overall, merely 14s behind the leader (Steve Lampier). With my teammate Archie in 6th place, Team B38 Cycles in Motion were in an enviable position and it was all to play for.
One big takeaway from this result was that I beat World Tour stage winner Marcin Bialablocki in an individual time trial.
Stage 2: Circuit race. The second stage was an hour long circuit race. My only aim was to not lose time. I am not really suited to crit racing so was not anticipating a good result, only wanted to preserve my 4th place overall.
The race was started by gridding the GC riders. As I was currently in 4th; I was called up and brought to the start line. I proper rated this and lifted my hand up to wave to the crowd as I made my way forwards. I was chuckling away ready to go.
Within about 200m of setting off I had managed to sacrifice my position and was already swamped by racers. With a field of 80 on such a tight circuit, I was feeling a bit nervy and on edge. I didn’t like the intensity so slotted towards the back, allowing me to avoid any incidents should they occur.
I wasn’t on my own though. Archie was also with me. We were having a right laugh at the back to be honest. We were literally sat in the last 5 wheels proper chatting away, laughing at the ease of the race. With both Steve Lampier and Pete Kibble (1st and 2nd overall) having 4 teamates, every move was just chased down slowly and deliberately. This meant the pace was just constant with no chance of a split.
Absolutely Ideal situation for me and Archie. One issue I was having was that I felt like my rear wheel was punctured. It felt really dodgy as I cornered so I was having to be quite careful so avoid risking sliding out. It wasn’t a puncture but afterwards I checked it out and discovered the rear wheel’s bearings had completely gone and it was wobbling quite a lot; hence the feeling I had.
Last week I updated my front chainrings to a semi-compact and had to adjust the front mech accordingly. I’m no expert but followed some youtube tutorials and it seemed to be running smoothly. All until 47 minutes into the crit…
Going into a hairpin I changed down a couple of gears and somehow unshipped my chain. Now it’s easy to replace if it falls to the right but it came off into the frame and jammed. Fucking hell. I had to dismount, rag it out and put it back on. It didn’t take me too long, maybe 20 seconds in all. But as I was already last rider the gap was elongated.
As soon as I got going I chased hard. I knew I had to shut down the gap immediately and had two laps full gas averaging 410W for the first 5 minutes.
I REALLY needed the group to ease up slightly. If they knocked it off a little, I could close the gap but I was holding/maintaining the distance rather than closing. Some attacks started to fly and the gap went out. I was still chasing full gas but with my rear wheel so wobbly my cornering was slow which hindering me significantly. I was definitely bleeding time because of it.
It was just SO annoying. Placed 4th overall, there should have been no way for me to lose time in a crit. I chased on and on, counting down the laps but I was losing about 2 seconds per lap. I just couldn’t match the pace of 80 riders on my own. It was such a stupid situation. Sat at the back it was SO easy. I’d averaged zone 3 both HR and power which I can easily maintain for an hour yet when you are chasing it was incredibly hard to match the pace.
The worst part of chasing was when I caught two lapped riders who sat on and started to attack me. I was like WTF, you’re lapped. Just work with me. Eventually with 3 laps to go I dispatched them and rode to the finish solo.
As I crossed the line it was a disaster; I’d lost 1:45 eliminating any chance I had to win the GC. Just such a shame, I was really gutted. What was the point in travelling so far just to unship my chain and throw away the race. Just so infuriating.
In my chase I’d averaged 366W (374NP) for 24 minutes and 42kph compared to 44kph for the bunch. I was doubly hit by the chain loss; firstly I’d lost 1:45 but I had also had to do a 25 minute threshold effort when everyone else was sat in. I was not optimistic for the road race.
Stage 3: Road race. I only had the stage win to aim for. Losing 1:45 on the crit killed my GC chances and I was in 44th place overall. With my wheel being knackered I got a spare from neutral service as I was lining up. It was a bit wider than my standard wheel so rubbed a little when I got out of the saddle, all good training though.
Within 2 minutes of the race starting we’d been pulled over. Several riders were overtaking on the opposite side of the road and getting very close to oncoming cars. Pete Kibble who was in 2nd place overall was really bad. He was so close to hitting a car but he wasn’t spotted by the commissaries, unlike number 13 who (sort of hilariously) got disqualified and had to pull out of the race. We’d literally been going 2 minutes. What a shocker.
Alas we restarted and two riders escaped in a long range break. My aim was to be canny and conserve energy, aiming to follow the big dogs when it kicked off later in the race. I swiftly got bored though. We approached the descent for the first time and I had a little dig trying to get away but couldn’t. It turned out to be a stupid move as Archie was in a small break away and I’d just not seen him attack so I inadvertently chased down my own teamate.
Eventually Saint Piran and Wales Academy reeled him in on the main climb. I’d been sat in for ages now and felt quite fit, so as Archie was caught I tried to counter it. I had a dig over the top of the climb but it was just a feeler. One guy came with me but with a cross-headwind it was difficult to get a gap and we were quickly caught.
The race was so boring. Literally nothing was happening. Any attack would get chased by Saint Piran who were preserving the overall win for Steve Lampier. As we approached the climb for the penultimate time I was expecting things to kick off and tried to keep to the front. George Pym from Madison Genesis absolutely kicked off. It was pretty hard and the group began to splinter. I crested slightly behind a group of 12 leaders. It was full of strong guys and I wanted to be in it.
There were about 3/4 riders in front of me refusing to chase. It was one of those race defining moments. Had we not chased the group of 12 was very likely to stay away. So I just made the anaerobic effort to close the gap. I felt like if I didn’t it just would extend out and we’d miss the move.
I did it for 2 reasons: firstly, I wanted to be in the lead group and secondly, by sewing the groups back together it aided Archie in preserving his 5th overall. The effort was hard, I’d averaged 440W for the 3 minute climb and then had 20s “rest” at 300W before making the 35s at 530W effort to shut the gap.
Whilst the race had been very easy so far it was an encouraging sign to have the legs to shut down moves like that after 85km of racing.
Now the last lap was just mental. Everyone was still fresh and clearly wanted to race for the win. The climb was once again ridden full gas, only 1s slower than the very first time we ascended and I was once again within the front group. But as we crested the groups came back together and the intensity rose.
The speed was high and everyone was fighting for position. There was so many near misses with riders clashing handlebars and it was just too intense for me. I stayed towards the middle out of the action. But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. My plan was to monitor Archie, making sure he didn’t get gapped. He was pretty safe to be fair and didn’t seem in trouble at all.
We hit a short ramp with about 4km to go and I tried to get away. I sprinted from the back towards the front but couldn’t move up enough and didn’t have any chance of getting away. I was really not feeling my chances in a bunch kick so kept myself safe and eased off the bunch as they entered the sprint. Rolling in the same time as the peloton.
There was literally no point at which I could have won the final stage. I’d marked the key riders when it mattered but the bunch was just happy with preserving their overall places. Which made losing my chain even more annoying. It’d have been the easiest 4th place in a national race. I’d have been halfway to preserving my Cat 1 license. Proper let down but at least I got in some good racing miles and my legs are coming strong.
After the crit I had a chat with seasoned pro Steve Lampier who told me “there’s always another race”. He’s not wrong but it doesn’t numb the damage.
