A 7pm evening crit after a mad dash from Sheffield (working) and surreal temperatures (still over 80 degrees on the start line). The race itself felt pretty fast (but that may have been the heat) and was dominated (spoilt?!) by Aire Valley RT riders protecting their sprinter and pulling back every move that went up the road. In the end, and the inevitable sprint, I was eigth, which isn’t bad for someone who’s never been able to sprint. Great race. Bitter? Moi?

Le Tour II
Originally uploaded by Telstar Logistics

The Tour de France gathers pace (or rather loses pace) as the race its the mountains today - when the going get tough….

I’ve browsed to these posters (Promoting the Discovery Channel riders) on show in the US at the moment - I just love the style of them. More posters in the series here

First race on the road this year (if you don’t count a duathlon), the supporting 3rd cat and Juniors’ race for the National championships at Horwich (nr Bolton). I was disappointed a bit - I’ve got high expectations of myself - but I finished in the middle of the whittled-down bunch on a wet but fast course. Probably about 20th place - but the results will confirm that. Sprint finishes in bike races are a bit out of my territory and I was looking for a break to get into instead, but it was too fast a course with easy corners - so there wasn’t much jumping about into and out of tight bends (luckily - the roads were wet!).

Having made my excuses, I must say that I just am not up to that speed of racing yet (26.5mph) after commuting and riding steady since the last cyclo-cross race in January. I’ll get there - as I ride the races at Colne, Clitheroe and Rochdale later in the summer, but I’m going to have to ride more strongly as well as intelligently if I’m going to repeat my podium place at Colne in 2005.

The races themselves were well put together (by Horwich CC) and it’s always much more exciting racing in front of a good crowd. British Cycling’s report here.

A lovely Belgian Cyclo-Cross moment when the former world champion decided it was time to retaliate against an abusive fan. Footie fans: this is a bit like the Cantona moment, but unlike a fottballer, he just carries straight on with his job afterwards. Click piccie to watch the video.

I had a great time in the Fred Whitton Challenge. I think it’s probably the hardest shorter distance cycle ’sportive’ in the country - there are a few 300km rides and such like but they’re for nutters… but the Fred Whitton ride is, in summary:

A ride over all of the (tarmac) Lakeland passes.
114 miles
Approx 4,100 metres of ascent and descent
Very polular (500 plus riders)

I did a respectable ride and finished in 6 hours 38 minutes. I was the 34th finisher from 516 finishers (and quite a few more starters), and was pretty pleased with the result. I’ve never been a good climber so the challenge was always going to be interesting for a 13 stoner. I used the right gears (39 tooth chainring on the front and a bottom gear of 32 teeth on the back). The tiny gears seemed ridiculous at first but as soon as I hit Honister Pass at 48 miles I knew they were a wise choice. Quite a number of people had underestimated the steepness of the climbs and were in for quite a bit of pushing the bike and a long day in (and out of) the saddle.

The climbs of Newlands Pass (after the first feed at Buttermere) and then Whinlatter Pass were both rhythm climbs which suited me much better than the uneven gradients of the others. I had a good leg from there to the final feed at Gosforth (86 miles). Going on from Gosforth I was starting to get into dodgy territory - the gorgeous surroundings of the lower Eskdale valley were no distraction from the worry I was about to cramp up. I saw the zig zags of the one-in-three climb of Hard Knott pass (101 miles and the highest point on the ride) dotted with people pushing bikes ahead of me and was resigned to a tough climb.

However, to my surprise, riding on my own, I managed to get into some sort of a rhythm and, apart from the stench of burning clutches from all the slow passing cars around me, I felt surprisingly comfortable. The descent of Hard Knott is viscious - with no time to look at the views, and constant braking as you screech down the staircase-like hairpins. The final climb of Wrynose pass is a mere two miles up the valley and I had no problems with my easy gear on the easier side of this high pass. I’d ridden this side of Wrynose with Richard (Hannaford) in 2005 on a bottom gear of 42-23, so I knew I’d be fine.

The final run-in is deceptive, and with about 600 feet of climbing over to Coniston is not to be sniffed at after 107 miles. Still - with so many mountain passes in the bag it was an easy spin and a lovely power ride over the last couple of miles.

Links:
Results 2006
Official website
Blogs of note:
Mark Wilson, Southport CC (2003)
Mike Inder (2005)
Someone from Thames Velo (2003)