This year the Yorkshire champs was on the Penny Pot circuit. I’d already raced this twice this season at Ilkley 2day and Harrogate Nova RR. The former I was in the break but blew on the last lap and got caught with 5km to go, and the latter I came 2nd, again in the break but I made it to the line that time. This race was to be 7 laps totalling 130km with 1500m of climbing.
The Yorkshire champs was picked as a big event for me, last year I came joint 6th against a quality field and incidentally needed to come 6th to get my Cat 1 license this year. With some luck this could be achievable, I’m flying at the moment but the field was stacked with talent. We had 4 continental riders, including U23 national champion Rob Scott, Tour de Yorkshire breakaway rider Pete Williams as well as several other quality riders. I knew I was in for a tough day, fortunately to suffer with me I had Eugene and Freddie.
During the warm up it became apparent how tough a day it would be. The Penny Pot circuit is very open and exposed and we had a wind today. According to mywindsock.com during the race gusts peaked at 50kph but it averaged around 30kph!
This report will be a bit all over the place. So much happened and I don’t really know what happened when, but I will stress how tough it was.
Less than 10 minutes into the race I was positioned at the front of the race as we summited Pot bank for the first time. I was feeling OK but something about my bike didn’t. Of course I’d flatted… Extremely fortunately it was right at the top of the climb and I got a spare wheel from the KTM car and got paced back in. By no means was this an easy chase back but Paul Lamb (KTM DS) did a very good job of pacing me back in. Within 5 minutes of chase I was back in the peloton. I found a large chunk of glass in my tyre after the race.
Typically at this moment the break went. All three Team Wiggins riders were in it, as well as Freddie! So I was a bit surprised to see Eugene help aid the chase. Turns out he was right to as surely enough Freddie got spat from the break after a few minutes. I got to the front and started to help chase. I didn’t want my race to end just yet.
I don’t really know how I missed the next move but I think I was caught napping as a second small group including Pete Williams got away. This engaged chase mode. I went off the front and tried to bridge, I caught the dropped Freddie and pulled hard turns with him. It was really full on. Fortunately (for us) we were caught by a focussed peloton. All B38 committed now and working with the bulk of the peloton we bridged to the chase group. This was my highest heartrate of the race. 184bpm average for 20 minutes and also 321W (360NP). My max ever HR is 191bpm so I was basically at max effort here.
The group then lost our flow a bit and the pace really dropped off which allowed the front group (with all 3 Wiggins riders) to establish a gap of over 50 seconds. Whilst still only on lap 2, I said to Eugene that that was it and the winning break had gone. Boy was I wrong.
On the newly resurfaced Penny Pot Lane (PPL), I saw a Holdsworth rider chatting to Pete and the KTM crew to organise a chase. The 6 of them got to the front and raised the pace and got us refocussed to chase. Whilst it was a big gap to close, we had a very focussed effort, about 20 riders committed and within a lap the gap was down to less than 10 seconds. Then after a bit of cat and mouse we finally made the bridge.
Slight detour here to laugh at the whopper who crashed on the Pot bank descent. In fairness it’s a very nasty -25% double switchback. I don’t really like it, but the rider overcooked the first bend and ended up in someone’s drive. I’m pretty sure he was fine and didn’t come off but it was good bants.
Back to the race. So somehow it was all together again. I think it just shows how tough the course is that a group of 7 riders (including 3 pros) can get caught brought back. The race became quite cagey now, with everyone pretty tired no one wanted to attack, especially not me as there were still 40 odd miles to go. I just kept towards the front wanting to mark moves.
As we hit the finishing climb with 4 laps to go Pete Williams lay down a huge attack. He was marked but when you’re that strong no one can really follow. From what I remember, Julian Varley (Team KTM) was the only one to follow. I think Kieran Savage (cycling Sheffield) and Glen Hale (Holmfirth cycling club) got away as a duo just over the top. I simply didn’t have the legs to follow but I was upset to miss it.
I rested towards the front as we descended and somehow got to the front at the base and had recovered enough to attack solo. I knew I couldn’t bridge to the leaders on my own but my plan was to hold on and take Pot Bank at my own pace avoiding going anaerobic. This was potentially my best move of the race. Surely enough I was scooped up on the climb, I heard them but didn’t look back. I was passed by the trio of Wiggins riders drilling the climb. They were laying down a full assault and as they passed, I was able to just jump on and crested the climb with them in the front group.
This move split the field in two, we must have dropped half the peloton and by continuing the attack along PPL they never got back in. We also scooped up Kieran and Glen who tucked in like me. We all began pulling turns and within a few k’s, we closed the gap to Pete and Julian. All together at the front.
There wasn’t much action now, and as we turned into the headwind section to the finish line, there was a lull so I attacked again. I was repeating my earlier idea. I know I can’t follow the best guys when it kicks off but I can if they bridge to me. Once again this worked. I climbed at my own pace and was caught by a strong attack right at the top of the climb. This attack once again split the field and I didn’t even realise at the time but apparently it was a 4-up break with a 15 second gap. Either way we got caught at some point. I also think this was where I lost Freddie to a mechanical.
This next lap is a bit of a blur. There were SO many attacks and efforts that I’m so confused what happened. I think I just followed what I could, rested where I could and pulled turns chasing when needed. Either way, it was a leg sapping lap but we remained all together as we crested the finishing climb with 2 laps to go. I actually did my tactic again and snuck off the front with Kieran as they raised the pace behind once again dropping some riders. It was tragically where I lost my last teammate, Eugene. It sounds as though he slowed too much to get a bottle and couldn’t close the gap to us. He was on a really good day and finished solo 8 minutes down.
Once again it’s a bit of a blur here, there were some attacks and chasers and I knew I was starting to struggle. My legs were cramping and I was beginning to doubt myself. I was not feeling good. At all. I was saved by a slow scaling of Pot Bank. It kicked off on Pot Lane instead. If anything had gone there I’m not sure I’d have been able to follow.
Once again on PPL there were just relentless attacks. I cannot get over just how aggressive this race was. It kept seeming like an attack would stick but inevitably they’d blow and get caught. I saw one strong move go and waited just too long to chase. I really thought it was THE move and lay down an effort to bridge but I just couldn’t. The wind was killing me, I blew halfway there and I had to drop back to the dregs of the peloton. Fortunately it got brought back (somehow) and a counter went.
I’m not sure how but I must have followed the right wheel at the right time, but I made it into this split. I must have just reacted at the right moment, or had the legs to bridge? No idea! Anyway we had two Wiggins riders, two KTM riders, Alex Dalton and Pete Williams (and one other). All of us committed and when I checked behind we’d gapped the bunch.
And that was that. I’d made the front split. After literally 5 laps of the bunch splitting, regrouping and splitting again. I’d found myself out of my depth in the who’s who of Yorkshire racing. After a few minutes we were joined by Rob Scott, (team wiggins) who bridged solo to us making a group of 9.
We crossed the finish line entering the final lap with a gap of 1:17 to the chasers. There was no one strong enough behind to chase anymore so this was THE move. I’m not quite sure how it got away but Alex Dalton and The Shack (team KTM) attacked as a pair and slipped away. I was totally spent by this point, so I 100% would not have been able to chase it. At all. In fact I was so goosed on the final lap I was simply waiting to be dropped.
But the droppage never came. We almost crawled up Pot Bank. Everyone must have been blowing at this point, because I stayed with it when any sustained attack would have surely shelled me. All that was left was Penny Pot Lane. For those who don’t know, it’s a 1-2% 7km km and it was a block headwind for this race.
There should have been no way Alex and The Shack could have made it. A 2-up break this late into the race into that headwind should have blown. Alas they made it.
I mean I was totally goosed at this point so avoided pulling turns, I think I pulled 3 turns along PPL. All awful and just so I wasn’t yelled at. I was worthless to the chase. But I still don’t even get how the duo made it. There were 4 pro’s chasing them and no one was even disrupting the chase. I just don’t think Wiggins and Pete committed completely. I mean, maybe they did and it wasn’t enough? But with their caliber I’d expect them to be able to shut the gap. It was not big at all.
Towards the end of PPL, Rob Scott and Pete Williams attacked. I obviously couldn’t follow. But I did do the biggest turn I could to help Julian and the other guy chase but it was to no avail. They’d gone.
As we turned onto the final cross wind section before the finish both remaining Wiggins riders attacked. Again I couldn’t chase. In fact I couldn’t follow anything else. Our group split and I was finally dropped just 3.5km from the finish.
My thoughts turned not to catching anyone but to not getting caught by any chasers. I just got my head down and as I turned into the tailwind to the line I rode tempo to the end. I couldn’t see a single chaser behind so crawled up the final climb and collapsed by the team car. Turns out I lost 45s to 8th place on this stretch but beat 10th place by 3 minutes…
I was in pieces. I just lay down, wanting to cry. I just couldn’t shake the exhaustion in my legs. I was shaking with lactic. At this point I was saved by a very generous couple who gave me two bottles of water and cheered me up before my mum found me slumped in a bush.
But I came 9th, that’s my 10th top 10 this year and once again I was in the winning move. My racecraft has really stepped up this season. I truly would rate this the hardest race I’ve done. I mean I’ve got around Prems (whilst sitting in for 5 hours) but just the pure volume of unique efforts I had to do throughout the race sets it apart from them. I’ll really struggle to quantify is just how many times I chased down groups, bridged to a move or attacked myself. It really felt like I was active the entire race and eventually blew. 308 normalised power for 130km and 2500 calories later. I’ll sleep well tonight.
Apparently only 18 riders finished and 16th place was over 8 minutes down.
The Yorkshire champs was picked as a big event for me, last year I came joint 6th against a quality field and incidentally needed to come 6th to get my Cat 1 license this year. With some luck this could be achievable, I’m flying at the moment but the field was stacked with talent. We had 4 continental riders, including U23 national champion Rob Scott, Tour de Yorkshire breakaway rider Pete Williams as well as several other quality riders. I knew I was in for a tough day, fortunately to suffer with me I had Eugene and Freddie.
During the warm up it became apparent how tough a day it would be. The Penny Pot circuit is very open and exposed and we had a wind today. According to mywindsock.com during the race gusts peaked at 50kph but it averaged around 30kph!
This report will be a bit all over the place. So much happened and I don’t really know what happened when, but I will stress how tough it was.
Less than 10 minutes into the race I was positioned at the front of the race as we summited Pot bank for the first time. I was feeling OK but something about my bike didn’t. Of course I’d flatted… Extremely fortunately it was right at the top of the climb and I got a spare wheel from the KTM car and got paced back in. By no means was this an easy chase back but Paul Lamb (KTM DS) did a very good job of pacing me back in. Within 5 minutes of chase I was back in the peloton. I found a large chunk of glass in my tyre after the race.
Typically at this moment the break went. All three Team Wiggins riders were in it, as well as Freddie! So I was a bit surprised to see Eugene help aid the chase. Turns out he was right to as surely enough Freddie got spat from the break after a few minutes. I got to the front and started to help chase. I didn’t want my race to end just yet.
I don’t really know how I missed the next move but I think I was caught napping as a second small group including Pete Williams got away. This engaged chase mode. I went off the front and tried to bridge, I caught the dropped Freddie and pulled hard turns with him. It was really full on. Fortunately (for us) we were caught by a focussed peloton. All B38 committed now and working with the bulk of the peloton we bridged to the chase group. This was my highest heartrate of the race. 184bpm average for 20 minutes and also 321W (360NP). My max ever HR is 191bpm so I was basically at max effort here.
The group then lost our flow a bit and the pace really dropped off which allowed the front group (with all 3 Wiggins riders) to establish a gap of over 50 seconds. Whilst still only on lap 2, I said to Eugene that that was it and the winning break had gone. Boy was I wrong.
On the newly resurfaced Penny Pot Lane (PPL), I saw a Holdsworth rider chatting to Pete and the KTM crew to organise a chase. The 6 of them got to the front and raised the pace and got us refocussed to chase. Whilst it was a big gap to close, we had a very focussed effort, about 20 riders committed and within a lap the gap was down to less than 10 seconds. Then after a bit of cat and mouse we finally made the bridge.
Slight detour here to laugh at the whopper who crashed on the Pot bank descent. In fairness it’s a very nasty -25% double switchback. I don’t really like it, but the rider overcooked the first bend and ended up in someone’s drive. I’m pretty sure he was fine and didn’t come off but it was good bants.
Back to the race. So somehow it was all together again. I think it just shows how tough the course is that a group of 7 riders (including 3 pros) can get caught brought back. The race became quite cagey now, with everyone pretty tired no one wanted to attack, especially not me as there were still 40 odd miles to go. I just kept towards the front wanting to mark moves.
As we hit the finishing climb with 4 laps to go Pete Williams lay down a huge attack. He was marked but when you’re that strong no one can really follow. From what I remember, Julian Varley (Team KTM) was the only one to follow. I think Kieran Savage (cycling Sheffield) and Glen Hale (Holmfirth cycling club) got away as a duo just over the top. I simply didn’t have the legs to follow but I was upset to miss it.
I rested towards the front as we descended and somehow got to the front at the base and had recovered enough to attack solo. I knew I couldn’t bridge to the leaders on my own but my plan was to hold on and take Pot Bank at my own pace avoiding going anaerobic. This was potentially my best move of the race. Surely enough I was scooped up on the climb, I heard them but didn’t look back. I was passed by the trio of Wiggins riders drilling the climb. They were laying down a full assault and as they passed, I was able to just jump on and crested the climb with them in the front group.
This move split the field in two, we must have dropped half the peloton and by continuing the attack along PPL they never got back in. We also scooped up Kieran and Glen who tucked in like me. We all began pulling turns and within a few k’s, we closed the gap to Pete and Julian. All together at the front.
There wasn’t much action now, and as we turned into the headwind section to the finish line, there was a lull so I attacked again. I was repeating my earlier idea. I know I can’t follow the best guys when it kicks off but I can if they bridge to me. Once again this worked. I climbed at my own pace and was caught by a strong attack right at the top of the climb. This attack once again split the field and I didn’t even realise at the time but apparently it was a 4-up break with a 15 second gap. Either way we got caught at some point. I also think this was where I lost Freddie to a mechanical.
This next lap is a bit of a blur. There were SO many attacks and efforts that I’m so confused what happened. I think I just followed what I could, rested where I could and pulled turns chasing when needed. Either way, it was a leg sapping lap but we remained all together as we crested the finishing climb with 2 laps to go. I actually did my tactic again and snuck off the front with Kieran as they raised the pace behind once again dropping some riders. It was tragically where I lost my last teammate, Eugene. It sounds as though he slowed too much to get a bottle and couldn’t close the gap to us. He was on a really good day and finished solo 8 minutes down.
Once again it’s a bit of a blur here, there were some attacks and chasers and I knew I was starting to struggle. My legs were cramping and I was beginning to doubt myself. I was not feeling good. At all. I was saved by a slow scaling of Pot Bank. It kicked off on Pot Lane instead. If anything had gone there I’m not sure I’d have been able to follow.
Once again on PPL there were just relentless attacks. I cannot get over just how aggressive this race was. It kept seeming like an attack would stick but inevitably they’d blow and get caught. I saw one strong move go and waited just too long to chase. I really thought it was THE move and lay down an effort to bridge but I just couldn’t. The wind was killing me, I blew halfway there and I had to drop back to the dregs of the peloton. Fortunately it got brought back (somehow) and a counter went.
I’m not sure how but I must have followed the right wheel at the right time, but I made it into this split. I must have just reacted at the right moment, or had the legs to bridge? No idea! Anyway we had two Wiggins riders, two KTM riders, Alex Dalton and Pete Williams (and one other). All of us committed and when I checked behind we’d gapped the bunch.
And that was that. I’d made the front split. After literally 5 laps of the bunch splitting, regrouping and splitting again. I’d found myself out of my depth in the who’s who of Yorkshire racing. After a few minutes we were joined by Rob Scott, (team wiggins) who bridged solo to us making a group of 9.
We crossed the finish line entering the final lap with a gap of 1:17 to the chasers. There was no one strong enough behind to chase anymore so this was THE move. I’m not quite sure how it got away but Alex Dalton and The Shack (team KTM) attacked as a pair and slipped away. I was totally spent by this point, so I 100% would not have been able to chase it. At all. In fact I was so goosed on the final lap I was simply waiting to be dropped.
But the droppage never came. We almost crawled up Pot Bank. Everyone must have been blowing at this point, because I stayed with it when any sustained attack would have surely shelled me. All that was left was Penny Pot Lane. For those who don’t know, it’s a 1-2% 7km km and it was a block headwind for this race.
There should have been no way Alex and The Shack could have made it. A 2-up break this late into the race into that headwind should have blown. Alas they made it.
I mean I was totally goosed at this point so avoided pulling turns, I think I pulled 3 turns along PPL. All awful and just so I wasn’t yelled at. I was worthless to the chase. But I still don’t even get how the duo made it. There were 4 pro’s chasing them and no one was even disrupting the chase. I just don’t think Wiggins and Pete committed completely. I mean, maybe they did and it wasn’t enough? But with their caliber I’d expect them to be able to shut the gap. It was not big at all.
Towards the end of PPL, Rob Scott and Pete Williams attacked. I obviously couldn’t follow. But I did do the biggest turn I could to help Julian and the other guy chase but it was to no avail. They’d gone.
As we turned onto the final cross wind section before the finish both remaining Wiggins riders attacked. Again I couldn’t chase. In fact I couldn’t follow anything else. Our group split and I was finally dropped just 3.5km from the finish.
My thoughts turned not to catching anyone but to not getting caught by any chasers. I just got my head down and as I turned into the tailwind to the line I rode tempo to the end. I couldn’t see a single chaser behind so crawled up the final climb and collapsed by the team car. Turns out I lost 45s to 8th place on this stretch but beat 10th place by 3 minutes…
I was in pieces. I just lay down, wanting to cry. I just couldn’t shake the exhaustion in my legs. I was shaking with lactic. At this point I was saved by a very generous couple who gave me two bottles of water and cheered me up before my mum found me slumped in a bush.
But I came 9th, that’s my 10th top 10 this year and once again I was in the winning move. My racecraft has really stepped up this season. I truly would rate this the hardest race I’ve done. I mean I’ve got around Prems (whilst sitting in for 5 hours) but just the pure volume of unique efforts I had to do throughout the race sets it apart from them. I’ll really struggle to quantify is just how many times I chased down groups, bridged to a move or attacked myself. It really felt like I was active the entire race and eventually blew. 308 normalised power for 130km and 2500 calories later. I’ll sleep well tonight.
Apparently only 18 riders finished and 16th place was over 8 minutes down.
