I've recently returned from Australia where I was visiting my sister. We embarked on an East coast road trip from Cairns to Sydney and it became evident rather quickly that fitting in training was going to be a struggle. I 'exercised' where I could but I have effectively taken something that resembles a mid-season break. Whilst fitness was lost, Motivation and drive was gained so I was longing to restart training when I arrived back in the UK. So much so that I touched down in London at 5:10am and by 6:45am I was heading out for a run. I've now completed around 2 weeks full training and I'm not too far from where my fitness was prior to down under. This has been proven by a few little bike races and I finally purchased a proper race license so it will be interesting to see how far I progress by the year's end.
Here's a brief synopsis of these little bike races:
Milton Keynes Bowl cat 3/4
I entered this for a bit of fun and it did not disappoint. Being my 4th time on a bike in 3 weeks, expectations were running low, but Sam Hucks was joining me for the smash-fest that was inevitable. Wanting to use it as training session, I had planned to be as active as possible. This was going well, until, in my peripheral vision, I saw 3 riders going off the front. I waited for someone else to respond and no one batted an eye lid. 10 seconds passed. Still nothing. I consequently attacked and gave chase to the 3 riders. I caught them quickly and we had a 15 second gap. Prior to the race I hadn't taken note of the colour of our race number. So I thought I was in a 4 man break from my race. That was until they began shouting at me, when I realized I had in fact bridged to a breakaway from the E/1/2 race running concurrently with mine. Feeling like a muppett with my tail between my legs I was then quickly caught by the actual riders in our race. After a few more attacks we were soon on the final lap. 1 guy was away and clear so we were sprinting for 2nd. I was well positioned until the final corner which I took too wide and lost a lot of speed. I was soon swamped by those behind me and ended up10th over the line. Still, a fun race with some takeaway points and not too bad given the recent time off.
Hillingdon 4th Cat
Again, this is just another midweek criterium. I was slightly better prepared for this race with a few more days training than the previous crit. My plan was to race tactically and cross the line first as I'd finally purchased a race license so a win would promote me out of chopper category. By the second lap, however, tactics and race craft went out the window, replaced by maximum enjoyment in the form of attacking at every opportunity. After 30 mins this quickly became tiring so I sat in the wheels and waiting for the 3 lap to go board. When 3 laps to go was announced, the pace was lifted and, as expected, everyone tried to move up. I was left around 10th wheel with 2.5 laps to go, I thought it was now or never and launched an attack down the outside, opened a small gap on the bunch and began a 2 mile TT effort. Much to my surprise I was able to extend this gap and even had time for a celebration at the line. Whilst a Hillingdon 4th Cat Crit isn't quite as prestigious as the Tour de France, I'm still chuffed with a win. Plus, Geraint Thomas was a 4th Cat once.....
Here's a brief synopsis of these little bike races:
Milton Keynes Bowl cat 3/4
I entered this for a bit of fun and it did not disappoint. Being my 4th time on a bike in 3 weeks, expectations were running low, but Sam Hucks was joining me for the smash-fest that was inevitable. Wanting to use it as training session, I had planned to be as active as possible. This was going well, until, in my peripheral vision, I saw 3 riders going off the front. I waited for someone else to respond and no one batted an eye lid. 10 seconds passed. Still nothing. I consequently attacked and gave chase to the 3 riders. I caught them quickly and we had a 15 second gap. Prior to the race I hadn't taken note of the colour of our race number. So I thought I was in a 4 man break from my race. That was until they began shouting at me, when I realized I had in fact bridged to a breakaway from the E/1/2 race running concurrently with mine. Feeling like a muppett with my tail between my legs I was then quickly caught by the actual riders in our race. After a few more attacks we were soon on the final lap. 1 guy was away and clear so we were sprinting for 2nd. I was well positioned until the final corner which I took too wide and lost a lot of speed. I was soon swamped by those behind me and ended up10th over the line. Still, a fun race with some takeaway points and not too bad given the recent time off.
Hillingdon 4th Cat
Again, this is just another midweek criterium. I was slightly better prepared for this race with a few more days training than the previous crit. My plan was to race tactically and cross the line first as I'd finally purchased a race license so a win would promote me out of chopper category. By the second lap, however, tactics and race craft went out the window, replaced by maximum enjoyment in the form of attacking at every opportunity. After 30 mins this quickly became tiring so I sat in the wheels and waiting for the 3 lap to go board. When 3 laps to go was announced, the pace was lifted and, as expected, everyone tried to move up. I was left around 10th wheel with 2.5 laps to go, I thought it was now or never and launched an attack down the outside, opened a small gap on the bunch and began a 2 mile TT effort. Much to my surprise I was able to extend this gap and even had time for a celebration at the line. Whilst a Hillingdon 4th Cat Crit isn't quite as prestigious as the Tour de France, I'm still chuffed with a win. Plus, Geraint Thomas was a 4th Cat once.....
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Many of you who haven't read my previous blogs this year may be wondering 'Seb's TRI Life has turned into Seb's bike life... what's happened?' A one word answer is all that's required: Injuries. So whilst I can't run competitively at the moment I might aswell do something competitive. That something takes the form of bike racing.
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