After a few mishaps For the first time I took on Stockton Grand Prix this weekend. The course doesn't play to my strengths, it's fairly flat on a twisty 8.4mile circuit before returning to Stockton for a six 4 mile laps around a technical circuit.
I'm hardly a sprinter and my technical skills are lacking a little bit so it's really not the best parcour for me. So my big aim was to get into the breakaway and have a really good work out in prep for some major goals for me in the next few weeks.
Almost as soon as we set off the rain started and this set a precedent for the rest of the day. It was typical British rain, short, sharp downpours followed by great bursts of sunshine. It was a really dichotomy between sunburn and rain jackets. We'd go from waterlogged roads to bone dry on the next climb.
The first lap was busy. There were a lot of riders blocking the road and it was very hard to move to the front. I slowly made my way there but the pace was rapid. We averaged ... And I did ...W for the first lap.
With a bit of favour I managed to get right to the front and there was still no breakaway. So I sent it! I attacked out of a corner and drilled it. It felt like I got a bit of a gap but watching it back on TV they barely let me go. After a couple of minutes I was caught but not out.
I spoke to Toby and he said "Wiv Sungod are assembling at the front". It was true, the bulk of their team was right at the front but so was I. A line rider attacked and after a short pause I followed suit. Unfortunately no one came with me and I attacked into the headwind right before the fastest downhill main road section. So I was just wasting energy on my own. I was out there a couple of minutes but got swallowed up right at the base of the narrow road climb.
This worked out quite well as I was well positioned for this section. As predicted Wiv Sungod railed it causing some splits. I had lost a few positions but managed to make it into the front group. It was pretty hard, I'd just been attacking and then the race got railed. I stuck with it though and was at the pointy end. When things settled down a few km later I caught up with Jacques, it was only me and him who had made it.
Somewhere later this lap we got caught by a big group from behind and it was back at status quo. I took a minute to compose myself which in hindsight was a baaaaad mistake. I was out of position as we hit the narrow climb again. And like the previous lap it got railed and there were splits. I wasn't as fortunate as the previous lap and was in the second group.
the last four races I just wanted to have a good, incident free race today. I'm going well, winning Saddleworth Mountain Time Trial a couple of weeks ago and really eager to race hard. I've raced the Upper Denby course many times now and it's one of my favourites with 2000m of climbing in 120km.
I took the first descent steady and moved up on the climb. I think four riders had attacked at this point and towards the very top of the climb Jake Scott (Wiv Sungod) attacked hard. Only Joe Wilson and I could hold his wheel and we bridged to the lead group. On the day, we were subject to really strong winds, with it being a headwind on the second half of the climb, crosswind on the open descent and tail on the fast. The wind slowed us and allowed the rest to catch us up.
Jake Scott kept attacking hard on the descent but never got away as we were all fresh enough to chase him at this point. At the steepest part of the climb on lap two, Joe Wilson attacked and no one followed. He's strong and I didn't want to miss it, so I jumped across to him. I knew I was on a good day at this point, I had good sensations and it felt pretty easy to jump across. I was expecting someone to have followed me but when I checked back it was just me and Joe. I said "It's me and you now, lets go" and so we pushed on. Just at the top of the climb we were caught but whilst I was on the front someone let the wheel to me go. I noticed, pressed the advantage and got a gap for the second time. I believe two more guys jumped across to me before the descent and so the three of us pushed on hard to the bottom.
It was difficult to tell what was going on behind us, I don't like to check back when going hard. If they catch us, they catch us. I focus on what I can control. Regardless, halfway down the steepest descent 7 guys joined us. I did allow myself a quick look back now and no one was in sight. That was that. The break was set up and I was in it. Wahoo!
After a few laps of working well together we had established a two minute gap. We were unlikely to get brought back. so it was a matter of just counting down laps until the end. I've made the mistake of driving the break too hard before so I consciously tried to pull shorter and softer turns to save energy for the end.
Now with two laps to go, we got told that the gap was only 62 seconds. To what, we didn't know, the peloton or a chase group? I'd spotted a few riders starting to suffer and wanted to get rid of them for a couple of reasons, firstly so I could beat them and secondly so a stronger group would form and we would hold off the chasers.
Towards the top of the climb I went to the back and sat on. I was resting up so I could launch an attack at the steepest point. This went really well! When we hit this section I laid down the gauntlet, got out my Buzzard wings and attacked hard. Nobody followed me, which in hindsight was a tactical masterclass from them. Once I saw the gap I had, I pushed on. I was trying to win!
It wasn't to be however. They were leaving me to hang out in the strong winds and slowly brought me back over the next 4-5km. It was a bit of a mistake from me to be honest. I showed my hand too early, burnt my matches and was now on the back foot when I was on the front foot before. Even more annoyingly no one was dropped! The only saving grace was that it sprung some life into them and our gap went back out to 3 minutes by the end.
We were now on the last lap. There were a couple of little attacks before the top of the climb but nothing stuck. Then right at the top, Mike Chadwick (Embark-Bikestrong) attacked. I'd been watching him and knew he was strong but I wanted to leave him out there to suffer like I had on the previous lap. This might have worked, but Jake Scott jumped across and I made the split second decision not to follow.
Another regret really because this meant I had to chase them back on the cross wind descent but by now my legs were in trouble and I didn't have the same snap as before. Three more got away from me on the sharp kicker before the steep descent. I was on my last legs. With a couple other guys we tried our best to catch them but didn't have it in the end. I got put away in the "sprint" to come 8th.
A top 10 was great for me. Maybe I was fit enough to place higher but I can't sprint that well so sometimes you have to roll the dice. I didn't land on a six today but I finished and I'm the 6th best Yorkiebar!
I'm hardly a sprinter and my technical skills are lacking a little bit so it's really not the best parcour for me. So my big aim was to get into the breakaway and have a really good work out in prep for some major goals for me in the next few weeks.
Almost as soon as we set off the rain started and this set a precedent for the rest of the day. It was typical British rain, short, sharp downpours followed by great bursts of sunshine. It was a really dichotomy between sunburn and rain jackets. We'd go from waterlogged roads to bone dry on the next climb.
The first lap was busy. There were a lot of riders blocking the road and it was very hard to move to the front. I slowly made my way there but the pace was rapid. We averaged ... And I did ...W for the first lap.
With a bit of favour I managed to get right to the front and there was still no breakaway. So I sent it! I attacked out of a corner and drilled it. It felt like I got a bit of a gap but watching it back on TV they barely let me go. After a couple of minutes I was caught but not out.
I spoke to Toby and he said "Wiv Sungod are assembling at the front". It was true, the bulk of their team was right at the front but so was I. A line rider attacked and after a short pause I followed suit. Unfortunately no one came with me and I attacked into the headwind right before the fastest downhill main road section. So I was just wasting energy on my own. I was out there a couple of minutes but got swallowed up right at the base of the narrow road climb.
This worked out quite well as I was well positioned for this section. As predicted Wiv Sungod railed it causing some splits. I had lost a few positions but managed to make it into the front group. It was pretty hard, I'd just been attacking and then the race got railed. I stuck with it though and was at the pointy end. When things settled down a few km later I caught up with Jacques, it was only me and him who had made it.
Somewhere later this lap we got caught by a big group from behind and it was back at status quo. I took a minute to compose myself which in hindsight was a baaaaad mistake. I was out of position as we hit the narrow climb again. And like the previous lap it got railed and there were splits. I wasn't as fortunate as the previous lap and was in the second group.
the last four races I just wanted to have a good, incident free race today. I'm going well, winning Saddleworth Mountain Time Trial a couple of weeks ago and really eager to race hard. I've raced the Upper Denby course many times now and it's one of my favourites with 2000m of climbing in 120km.
I took the first descent steady and moved up on the climb. I think four riders had attacked at this point and towards the very top of the climb Jake Scott (Wiv Sungod) attacked hard. Only Joe Wilson and I could hold his wheel and we bridged to the lead group. On the day, we were subject to really strong winds, with it being a headwind on the second half of the climb, crosswind on the open descent and tail on the fast. The wind slowed us and allowed the rest to catch us up.
Jake Scott kept attacking hard on the descent but never got away as we were all fresh enough to chase him at this point. At the steepest part of the climb on lap two, Joe Wilson attacked and no one followed. He's strong and I didn't want to miss it, so I jumped across to him. I knew I was on a good day at this point, I had good sensations and it felt pretty easy to jump across. I was expecting someone to have followed me but when I checked back it was just me and Joe. I said "It's me and you now, lets go" and so we pushed on. Just at the top of the climb we were caught but whilst I was on the front someone let the wheel to me go. I noticed, pressed the advantage and got a gap for the second time. I believe two more guys jumped across to me before the descent and so the three of us pushed on hard to the bottom.
It was difficult to tell what was going on behind us, I don't like to check back when going hard. If they catch us, they catch us. I focus on what I can control. Regardless, halfway down the steepest descent 7 guys joined us. I did allow myself a quick look back now and no one was in sight. That was that. The break was set up and I was in it. Wahoo!
After a few laps of working well together we had established a two minute gap. We were unlikely to get brought back. so it was a matter of just counting down laps until the end. I've made the mistake of driving the break too hard before so I consciously tried to pull shorter and softer turns to save energy for the end.
Now with two laps to go, we got told that the gap was only 62 seconds. To what, we didn't know, the peloton or a chase group? I'd spotted a few riders starting to suffer and wanted to get rid of them for a couple of reasons, firstly so I could beat them and secondly so a stronger group would form and we would hold off the chasers.
Towards the top of the climb I went to the back and sat on. I was resting up so I could launch an attack at the steepest point. This went really well! When we hit this section I laid down the gauntlet, got out my Buzzard wings and attacked hard. Nobody followed me, which in hindsight was a tactical masterclass from them. Once I saw the gap I had, I pushed on. I was trying to win!
It wasn't to be however. They were leaving me to hang out in the strong winds and slowly brought me back over the next 4-5km. It was a bit of a mistake from me to be honest. I showed my hand too early, burnt my matches and was now on the back foot when I was on the front foot before. Even more annoyingly no one was dropped! The only saving grace was that it sprung some life into them and our gap went back out to 3 minutes by the end.
We were now on the last lap. There were a couple of little attacks before the top of the climb but nothing stuck. Then right at the top, Mike Chadwick (Embark-Bikestrong) attacked. I'd been watching him and knew he was strong but I wanted to leave him out there to suffer like I had on the previous lap. This might have worked, but Jake Scott jumped across and I made the split second decision not to follow.
Another regret really because this meant I had to chase them back on the cross wind descent but by now my legs were in trouble and I didn't have the same snap as before. Three more got away from me on the sharp kicker before the steep descent. I was on my last legs. With a couple other guys we tried our best to catch them but didn't have it in the end. I got put away in the "sprint" to come 8th.
A top 10 was great for me. Maybe I was fit enough to place higher but I can't sprint that well so sometimes you have to roll the dice. I didn't land on a six today but I finished and I'm the 6th best Yorkiebar!
Bonus, by the numbers.
How hard was the race? Well it took 10 minutes at 335W to establish the break, including a 400W effort for the first 4 minutes. This was also having done 420W for five minutes on lap 1. Once I was in the group of 10, things settled down a bit and I averaged 270W (300NP) for the next 5 laps or 105 minutes. My solo attack was 370W (400NP) for 4 minutes followed by descending at 50kph. For the last two laps, the pace increased and including my attack I averaged 300W for the last 40 minutes with a normalised power of 325W. This gave me an average power of just under 280w and normalised of 320W for the 3 hour race. When you consider I was actively trying to save energy, it was pretty tough.
How hard was the race? Well it took 10 minutes at 335W to establish the break, including a 400W effort for the first 4 minutes. This was also having done 420W for five minutes on lap 1. Once I was in the group of 10, things settled down a bit and I averaged 270W (300NP) for the next 5 laps or 105 minutes. My solo attack was 370W (400NP) for 4 minutes followed by descending at 50kph. For the last two laps, the pace increased and including my attack I averaged 300W for the last 40 minutes with a normalised power of 325W. This gave me an average power of just under 280w and normalised of 320W for the 3 hour race. When you consider I was actively trying to save energy, it was pretty tough.
