31 August 2014: Two cross country races in a day

What better way to end the summer than deciding, on Thursday night, to race on Sunday not once but twice.

We're away in the Midlands this week for a couple of weddings and some downtime. Of course the first thing that springs to mind after 'downtime' these days is 'is there a race I can go and do'. With the long range forecast looking good, I found myself hunting on the internet for holiday races. Lo and behold, the final round of the Midlands XC series was on not too far from Birmingham; the series is run by my old friend James, and so it would be downright rude not to show up, for a pre-cyclocross season leg-stretcher at the end of a three week training block, or so I reasoned. Andy, another Midlands buddy, helps James out at a few races so I dropped him a message to see if he was going to be there. He wasn't, because he was helping organise the last round of a summer evening XC series run by his club, Royal Leamington Spa CC. One race at 14.30, one at 18.30, only an hour's (fast) drive away from each other....and so a plan was formed.

Having passed up copious free booze at a wedding on Saturday and managed to get a not-too-late night, I packed the car, buoyed up by perfect weather for racing, and set off mid-morning for Dudmaston, near Bridgenorth. I arrived in plenty of time to catch up with James and warm up with a couple of laps of the fast, dry, 6km-long course, which featured lots of fast singletrack, a couple of steep loose descents and some small drop-offs that even I could get air off. I lined up for the sport race in a very competitive-looking field of about 30 and got ready for a sharp reminder of the chaos and all-out effort that comes at the start of an XC race. Sure enough I nearly crashed 100 metres after the start line, when I hit a rut unsighted behind another rider. I held onto that, and tried to embrace the pain in my lungs and legs whilst fighting for position in the middle of the pack for the first half a lap. Things gradually settled down, for me as a result of getting dropped out the back of a group of four other riders I had been sticking with. With hindsight I could have made more effort to stay with them, but it was going to be a long day, with another race to come, so I tried to just enjoy myself but keep pushing. And I did enjoy myself, vowing to make the effort to do some more XC racing next year as I pushed on round the course, trying to find the fastest lines and keep my legs working hard. At the start of the fourth and final lap I had sight of a rider ahead of me, and spent twenty minutes trying to reel him in. I only managed to closed the gap to him in the final few hundred metres of the race, and he outsprinted me at the end, but it had been something to make me motivated for one more lap.

With all of five minutes of warm down and a race against time to make it to race number two, I packed the car and sped off towards Warwick, for a brisk drive that at no point involved me doing 100mph down the M42 whilst eating pizza off the passenger seat. That would be a terribly reckless way to act just to get to a bike race on time. I made it with about 45 minute to the start. It was (mercifully) a shorter race on a shorter course, and I had time for a couple of warm up laps again, trying to copy Andy's lines through the wooded sections and hoping my legs would feel better in the race itself. The race was a very small affair with only about 30 riders taking the start across all categories, and as a result I bagged myself a spot on the front row. At the start, something I experienced something I can't recall happening to me before: I got the drop on everyone and led the field into the first corner, and through the first section of singletrack. I was relieved of this unfamiliar position before too long, as a rider shot past me up the only major climb on the course, with Andy in hot pursuit. I lost two more places on the first lap, not helped by a couple of silly mistakes - a bit of tiredness creeping in? For the rest of the race I swapped places with another rider repeatedly for 4th and 5th place; he had the edge on me in the technical sections, whereas I made time back to him on the climb.  On the last lap he got away from me as far as he had all race, and like race number one I tried to close the gap, wringing out every ounce of strength this time. Once again I closed the gap only within sight of the finish, but this time I managed to win the sprint and come home in 4th place.

It was good to fit some more racing in at the end of a hard block of training. What's more I got to sharpen up my skills on the dirt after lots of racing on tarmac, and remind myself that XC racing is fun and I should do it more! Now it's time for a week of recovery, then three more weeks of training leading me straight into the cyclocross season.

Crits galore

Another omnibus edition is called for. Too much racing and training and not enough sitting on the sofa with time to get the laptop out and type.

Since the end of June I've managed four further trips to Llandow, twice for cat 3/4 races in July, and we're currently in the middle of a series running through August with a cat 4 only races followed by a race for 2nd, 3rd and 4th cats.

I used the two races in July to try and learn to race a bit smarter. I'm nowhere near able to get in the points (top ten) in these, but there's people from Ajax who can, so the best I can do is try and make myself useful to them and hopefully learn something in the process. So, a lot of sitting in the bunch, trying to maintain a position in the first ten or so riders, whilst doing as little actual work on the front as possible. Staying near the front of the race makes life a lot easier; much like heavy traffic on the motorway, accelerations and decelerations travel like a wave down the bunch, turning a slight increase in pace at the front into a frantic sprint at the back as gaps appear in the pack. I'd always known this in practice, but it was a revelation to me how much energy it saves compared to hiding at the back of the pack. I put myself to work when needed in the last few minutes of the race, both times taking to the front and upping the pace as much as I sustainably could to try and stop any late attacks. As a result I blew up just as everyone else was winding up for a sprint finish, and rolled in pretty much last. I managed to repeat the same trick the following week. I don't really have a problem with that; I'm happy to play domestique as long as it gets me a good workout in the process.

August's races have had a different format, and offer the opportunity for a category 4 racer like me to thrash themselves in a first race against other cat 4 riders, before lining up again to race with the 2nd and 3rd cats, who are fresh, while we lowly 4th cats are tired from finishing a race five minutes ago.

I'd done one cat 4 only race before, with a small field. The first race was a larger and probably also a stronger field, but the pace was manageable and we had seven other Ajax riders in the field, so some strength in numbers. Lots of attacks went, and we tried to ride with a strategy of always making sure every break had at least one Ajax rider in it. This not only makes sure we have a rider in the break if it sticks, but also takes the onus off those of us in the bunch to do the chasing - obviously you don't chase a break down if it's got your team mate in it. This strategy worked quite well, but nobody managed to get away, so with a few minutes left to race I went for it myself. Kicking hard for the first few seconds I got a gap, but realised I had done so alone. Well, no choice but to press on alone then. I came round to the line to see 'three laps to go' and I had a lead of a handful of seconds over the bunch. For about half a lap I dared to think that I might just stay away until the end, even as my breathing got increasingly laboured and the burning in my muscles got worse. Needless to say I got caught at the start of the last lap, but managed to recover enough to hang on and finish with the bunch, which was a first.

The following week saw a bigger turnout still, despite the threat of showers in the air. I resolved this week that riding to and from the circuit was no excuse for skipping the second race, even if it did mean digging out lights to be able to ride home in the dark! The cat 4 race went well, at least when your aim is to get a good workout rather than where you finish at the end. After an anonymous first 15 minutes, the whistle blew as we crossed the line, indicating that the first prime of the night would be won at the end of the next lap. As good a time as any to break away then. Ant, another cyclocross racer who races these crits for training, had the same idea and attacked; I bridged up to him just before the end of the lap, and lunged round him for the line. We both looked at each other - neither of us knew who had crossed the line first. There was no time to discuss it at  this point as we had a gap over the bunch. We worked together smoothly for a couple of laps but were gradually reeled in and caught with about 4 laps to go. Having ticked the 'doomed breakaway' box I resolved to work for the good of the club in the final laps. I took a long, hard turn on the front with a couple of laps to go, then on the final lap tried to lead out Hamish, one of our better sprinters. He got boxed in during the chaotic run to the line but still picked up an 8th place finish. I rolled in with the bunch again.

Two minutes to recover and off we go with the 2/3/4 race. I smashed my previous record and lasted more than three laps before getting dropped! I was far from the only one, and got into a group of half a dozen who continued to work together, with no real hope of catching the pack, but just getting a good workout and delaying getting lapped. A few more laps and the group fell apart; I was dropped and on my own. I stuck it out for as long as I could, trying to squeeze every last ounce of strength out of my legs. At just over half distance I was lapped by the bunch, and unceremoniously dumped straight out the back of the bunch, unable to hold onto them at all. At that point I decided to call it a day - I'd never expected to make it to the end of the race, and I still had a 15 mile ride home to think about.

Two more Wednesday nights of racing in August followed the same sort of pattern; work as hard as possible in the cat 4 race, then wring out every last drop of strength in the 2/3/4, while the race proper goes on way ahead of me. Both of the last two cat 4 races included quite a long time in the break for me. The first week I went solo on the first lap, and stayed away as the early sacrifice for the first ten minutes or so. The following week I was one of a three-man break that stayed away until the end of the race - unfortunately for me, it stayed away as a two man break as the other riders were too strong for me and I got dropped and slunk back to the peloton. In both races I had a few minutes to recover before working for our sprinters at the end of the race, and as a consequence I finished both races pretty much last, my work done and legs spent with half a lap to go.

That's my first road season over and done with then. It's been quite fun, and these recent races have hopefully kept me sharp (and increased my pain threshold) for the cyclocross season.