11 June 2014 - Forza Cycles Summer Series, Llandow
Another first, as I finally got round to riding a criterium. Llandow is a small motor racing circuit about 15 miles from Cardiff where criteriums are held more or less every Wednesday evening all summer. On a beautiful summer's day I elected to ride the hour or so there, race, and then ride back. Fortunately there was a tailwind on the way home to help my tired legs!
For the race itself about 40 cat 3s and 4s took the start. I'd had the chance to warm up on the circuit and take note of a couple of tricky bends on the circuit, but I didn't really know what to expect as we set off. The pace was high but manageable (most of the time), with peaks and troughs in speed as riders tried to escape off the front of the bunch, were reeled in, and then everyone relaxes for a moment, before someone else has a go and the speed shoots up again. I made a few half-hearted moves myself, mostly as a consequence of trying to stay near the front of the pack, but also chasing down the odd attack, or in one case, finding that I had inadvertantly accelerated away and (briefly) joined a breakaway.
After 30 minutes of a 45 minute race, the sprints out of corners every lap were beginning to take their toll and I stopped mucking about and sat in the bunch, just aiming to make it to the finish with the main bunch. It was at that point that there was a crash at the tight chicane which I got caught behind, coming almost to a standstill. I've learned enough about road racing to know that it would be a hard chase back to the bunch, so I immediately went full gas and was quickly joined by James, another Ajax rider in the same predicament. After 2 miles of working together it became obvious we couldn't make it back across the gap, and we sat up and pulled off the circuit with a handful of laps to go.
13 June 2014 - Cardiff Ajax Friday Night Time Trial
Another summer evening ride out into the vale, and two Friday nights in a row of blasting down the A48 and back. A little less wind saw me improve to 19 minutes dead along the 7.4 mile course. I will have to keep going back until I get a time in the mid 18s....
17 June 2014 - Pembrey Circuit Series round 3 (cat 4 only and 2/3/4)
A whole six days since my first criterium, I thought I'd give a second one a go. And indeed a third: I was eligible for both races, and having made a long trip down the M4 I thought I may as well get my money's worth and see how long I could hang on in the second race.
About 25 riders lined up for the cat 4 only race. Krzyzstof was there early to watch before racing the 2/3/4, and gave me some of his usual blunt advice - just attack from the off. Well, why not I thought, and without even waiting for the bunch to form up, rode away from everyone as the flag dropped and quickly settled down into my time trial pace. Within a lap and a half I was joined by another rider, then another bridged and the three of us took our turns for several laps before being caught by the bunch. I sat in for a while then, but went along for the ride any time anyone else attacked. Nobody managed to get away from the bunch though. I gave it one last go with a few laps to go, but nobody came with me and I wasn't strong enough to make a solo effort work. On the final lap my positioning was all wrong - I tried to follow a half-hearted attack but only managed to drag the rest of the bunch with me and effectively led out the sprint, rolling in at the back of the bunch.
I had all of five minutes turnaround from the end of one race to the start of the next, with a much larger and stronger field. Predictably, I lasted all of a lap and a half with the main bunch, having burned all my matches in the earlier race. I just could not match the accelerations out of corners, and I don't think I would have even had I been riding on fresh legs. Still, it was all good experience and good training - I just need a little more brains and a little less misplaced enthusiasm.
25 June 2014 - Western Cyclocross League round 7 (Odd Down cycling circuit)
Having flirted with circuit racing, next week's midweek race was more familiar territory - another trip across the Severn Bridge for a evening cyclocross race.
Unlike May's race at Warmley, this was a proper summer cyclocross race under sunny summer skies. Bone-dry conditions like these can become like dusty criteriums, but the organisers had come up with a cracking course to keep things interesting. Odd Down is a purpose-built cycling facility with a mile-long road racing circuit and a BMX track, and yes, you've guessed it, the course took in elements of both, linked by some fast singletrack which included a short but quite technical (for a 'cross race) descent and sharp climb.
The lap was simple really - bury myself on the open grass and tarmac circuit section, rest on the BMX track and singletrack, bury myself on the climb again. It was one of those 'cross races that seemed to settle down relatively quickly - by half distance I was on my own, trying in vain to catch the rider in front who I could see on the more open sections of the course, but mostly just managing my effort and picking off back-markers. If I had to sum up my race performance in a word, it would be 'satisfactory'. Nothing went wrong, I wasn't losing loads of time anywhere on the course, but neither was I particularly strong anywhere. I probably could have started a bit harder - this was partly a product of bad preparation before the start; I'd rolled round but not done a flying lap, and so approached some of the more technical sections with a little trepidation on lap one. I think subconsciously I didn't want to be too far up the field and under too much pressure to begin with.
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