Toughest race to date, 123km with 2000m climbing made up from 11 laps up Yearsley Bank. Not only was the course tough but the line-up was also littered with pros and quality riders, such as: Graham Briggs, Harry Tanfield, Joe Clarke and Adam Kenway.
My form has been pretty good recently, but after a few weeks of not racing I was a bit nervous as to how I’d shape up against the caliber of the riders on this course. The race started off pretty intense, with 80 riders eagerly fighting forthe front coupled with a poor road surface down the initial descent I was a bit uneasy. There were a few early attacks but everyone feels good after 10 minutes of a race so they all got brought back before the base of the climb.
The climb is definitely one for the little ring, 1.2km at 7% peaking with two stretching sections of 13% which split the bunch every lap. For lap 1 the pace was fast but nothing too bad and it wasn’t until lap 2 when it all kicked off. I moved towards the front but stayed in about 25th wheel, staying happy and saving myself for later when the attacks went. I didn’t fully see it, but I counted 8 riders get away, including Adam Kenway and Joe Clarke. I wasn’t willing to get into a break this early so stuck with Harry Tanfield in the bunch.
On the third lap the peloton had lost its cohesion, with riders attacking trying to bridge and then easing off waiting for the next move. It’s the worst sort of racing so when I saw Joe Elwood attack and Graham Briggs following shortly after I jumped on. About 6 of us got away but we were brought swiftly back by the bunch which let Briggs attack twice more eventually getting away solo.
Lap 4 was where it all kicked off for me, on the descent there is this short climb, I knew I had nothing to lose so as we were approaching I moved to the front, alongside Joe. He then said something along the lines of “What do you want to do?” and I replied with “I’m about to attack right now on this next climb”. Meaning “come with me!”
I did exactly as I said and drilled it on the climb without looking back until the top. When I did look back, to my dismay no one had come with me but I had gotten a good gap. I knew it was early in the race but I decided to commit. After about 10 minutes solo a lone rider bridged to me, he was definitely stronger than I was and he kept most of the pace on the flat while I tried to keep the climbs quicker than the bunch.
After a lap together we saw a group of 5 approaching us rapidly from behind. I made the call to wait for them and a couple of k’s later they bridged shouting “jump on!” At this point the initial break was 90 seconds ahead of us, out of sight and out of mind eh? Absolutely not, with a lap of all 7 of us drilling it, particularly the machine that is the pro Harry Tanfield we brought them back. 90 seconds in 20km! Just as we bridged and I thought I’d be set up for the rest of the race, my legs went. Climbing the 13% slope after 40 minutes of intervals was too much. I just couldn’t hold the pace anymore. They were so strong.
This left me in a predicament, a chasse patate if you will. The break splintered into about 5 groups but I just kept going and 3 riders joined me fortunately. The four of us, all severely knackered kept going for the next 3 laps. We were just ticking off the miles really, slowly going backwards from the riders ahead. During one lap I said “are you guys as fucked as me?” and was pleased to hear shouts of “oh yes!”
With 3 laps to go a stronger group of 7 bridged to us, finally respite! I sat in doing as little work as I could get away with. My legs were beginning to cramp up due to the extreme suffering they’d had so far.The laps kept ticking away, I kept eating and staying hydrated in the heat with the help of 2 extra bottles my mum passed me. On the penultimate time up the climb I was almost distanced, but kept with the ever smaller group over the top. Three Plant-X riders kept the pace consistent before one of them attacked 4km out with nobody following. A minute later an Acre rider attacked and I decided that I had to try something so followed him. Clearly we were a threat as the group followed quickly and we were back together for the final climb.
Frankly, I was in pieces by this point having been in in various breaks for 2 hours and I just couldn’t follow, it wasn’t as if I could have just gone deeper, it was that the muscles gave way and cramped up. 5 of them got away from me and I rode the last 2 km solo to roll in 21st. Just outside the points.
This was by far the most aggressive I’ve been in a national race and considering that less than 30 riders finished I’ve done pretty well and I’ll learn from this and come back stronger in the next one.
My form has been pretty good recently, but after a few weeks of not racing I was a bit nervous as to how I’d shape up against the caliber of the riders on this course. The race started off pretty intense, with 80 riders eagerly fighting forthe front coupled with a poor road surface down the initial descent I was a bit uneasy. There were a few early attacks but everyone feels good after 10 minutes of a race so they all got brought back before the base of the climb.
The climb is definitely one for the little ring, 1.2km at 7% peaking with two stretching sections of 13% which split the bunch every lap. For lap 1 the pace was fast but nothing too bad and it wasn’t until lap 2 when it all kicked off. I moved towards the front but stayed in about 25th wheel, staying happy and saving myself for later when the attacks went. I didn’t fully see it, but I counted 8 riders get away, including Adam Kenway and Joe Clarke. I wasn’t willing to get into a break this early so stuck with Harry Tanfield in the bunch.
On the third lap the peloton had lost its cohesion, with riders attacking trying to bridge and then easing off waiting for the next move. It’s the worst sort of racing so when I saw Joe Elwood attack and Graham Briggs following shortly after I jumped on. About 6 of us got away but we were brought swiftly back by the bunch which let Briggs attack twice more eventually getting away solo.
Lap 4 was where it all kicked off for me, on the descent there is this short climb, I knew I had nothing to lose so as we were approaching I moved to the front, alongside Joe. He then said something along the lines of “What do you want to do?” and I replied with “I’m about to attack right now on this next climb”. Meaning “come with me!”
I did exactly as I said and drilled it on the climb without looking back until the top. When I did look back, to my dismay no one had come with me but I had gotten a good gap. I knew it was early in the race but I decided to commit. After about 10 minutes solo a lone rider bridged to me, he was definitely stronger than I was and he kept most of the pace on the flat while I tried to keep the climbs quicker than the bunch.
After a lap together we saw a group of 5 approaching us rapidly from behind. I made the call to wait for them and a couple of k’s later they bridged shouting “jump on!” At this point the initial break was 90 seconds ahead of us, out of sight and out of mind eh? Absolutely not, with a lap of all 7 of us drilling it, particularly the machine that is the pro Harry Tanfield we brought them back. 90 seconds in 20km! Just as we bridged and I thought I’d be set up for the rest of the race, my legs went. Climbing the 13% slope after 40 minutes of intervals was too much. I just couldn’t hold the pace anymore. They were so strong.
This left me in a predicament, a chasse patate if you will. The break splintered into about 5 groups but I just kept going and 3 riders joined me fortunately. The four of us, all severely knackered kept going for the next 3 laps. We were just ticking off the miles really, slowly going backwards from the riders ahead. During one lap I said “are you guys as fucked as me?” and was pleased to hear shouts of “oh yes!”
With 3 laps to go a stronger group of 7 bridged to us, finally respite! I sat in doing as little work as I could get away with. My legs were beginning to cramp up due to the extreme suffering they’d had so far.The laps kept ticking away, I kept eating and staying hydrated in the heat with the help of 2 extra bottles my mum passed me. On the penultimate time up the climb I was almost distanced, but kept with the ever smaller group over the top. Three Plant-X riders kept the pace consistent before one of them attacked 4km out with nobody following. A minute later an Acre rider attacked and I decided that I had to try something so followed him. Clearly we were a threat as the group followed quickly and we were back together for the final climb.
Frankly, I was in pieces by this point having been in in various breaks for 2 hours and I just couldn’t follow, it wasn’t as if I could have just gone deeper, it was that the muscles gave way and cramped up. 5 of them got away from me and I rode the last 2 km solo to roll in 21st. Just outside the points.
This was by far the most aggressive I’ve been in a national race and considering that less than 30 riders finished I’ve done pretty well and I’ll learn from this and come back stronger in the next one.
