Training and Racing again

Training has been going pretty well, been doing 200-300 miles week in week out. Its not about mile-age now, more of quality. Short intense time trial training 6,7,8,9,10 minutes efforts at a short recovery around 30% of effort. And chucking in the max sprint efforts on flats and up short steep hills.

Elveden Series 2 E12 6th April
I am starting to feeling pretty strong and confident at competing in this level now. As I line up at the line there are some elite teams there, Madison Genesis, MG Maxifuel, Twenty3c and wealth of other 1st cat riders.

From the off I try and try to break away with some other riders but kept on being bought back by the peloton. Gradually getting frustrated I sit up and take a breather but do so in a bad place, up the hill at this course. I got a little swamped and three go up the road, MG, Madison and a few other riders. Bugger it. They build a fairly big gap with the rest of the peloton becoming ever so more unorganised and messy. After a few laps I try to bring them back with a few others helping but not really working consistently and basically ending in disrupting flow and getting in the bloody way. A few team riders in particular.

So the break doesn't get bought back and the bunch are sprinting for 6th place and so on. Leading the sprint out I manage to hold off most of the riders apart from two riders and I place 8th. Not bad, Im happy with that, worked hard, deserved a better place mind you but another top ten result in an E12.

Autostrasse Porsche RR 14th April
Another E123 road race. Not feeling particularly strong at the start of this race as probably worked a little to hard leading up to it but I am training for a more important race the following weekend so using this race as training.
What a training session!
After two laps of the course Sigma are on the front lining the peloton out putting everyone in the gutter because the savage head/cross wind. Starting with from what I can remember the 3rd lap maybe, a motorcyclists had pulled over and was stationary as he saw a load of cyclists coming out of a sweeping left turn at about 30 mph. With the group lined right out, towards the middle of the group 2/3 riders abreast the motorcyclist is very hard to see up the road, I see the riders sweeping quickly left and back in again avoiding something, nothing being shouted out or pointed out though. It was the motorcyclists, and at the last fraction of a second I sweep to the left and miss the motorbike but the rider on my right was not as fortunate. Hitting him face on. Now I used to play ice and roller hockey and saw some pretty savage hits and this was by far a brutal hit. I saw the cyclists face hit the motorcyclists helmet and the visor went flying off! The perspects safety glass on the bike shattering into millions of pieces covering me and surrounding riders. The noise was horrific and expensive. The grunts, the 'wwwwoooooaaaaah's' and the 'oh fucks' filled the road and the crunch of wheels and carbon fibre was enough to give you goose pimples.

This was pretty scary, especially after what had happened a few weeks before to a rider in an elite race, unfortunately he lost his life. So this definitely put the shits up me which I have to admit then made the rest of the race difficult to concentrate on.

The race is neutralised whilst the carnage is cleared up and the injured parties seen to. It re-starts and has been shortened by 3 laps. With the commies re-iterating the rules on how to race on an open road. This obviously doesn't last long. WE HAVE TO HAVE ROLLING ROADS BLOCKS!
Off we Go!
Anyway I obviously miss the break and the rest of the field have been whittled down to around 10-15 riders because of the winds and pace set by the Elite teams.

So almost three hours myself, Paul Londors from Mg and rider from Luton CC break from the rest of what turns out to be total choppers on the last lap and hit it hard for 3/4 of a lap. Coming up to the last 1km I move out to let the Luton rider take a turn and he says 'no I'm fucked'. Great, the game of 'silly buggers' has started. So we slow down and on the last hill I hit it hard feeling strong and confident, Paul comes with me and in the last 100m he started a sprint and a go to start mine but shit happens! I push down with my right leg as its stronger and pull up with the left but my foot becomes unclipped so as I push down with my left my foot goes straight to ground, handlebar hitting me in the thigh sending me over the flipping handle bars into nettles and a row of fern tree.
Damage done......tear in my shorts showing off my white arse cheek, broken cleat and realising I had lost my Garmin at the finish I go back down the road to find a car had run it over. Bugger it.
Oh well all in all a decent training session nonetheless and good for team mate, Dan Young on finishing strongly too a few places in front of me.