What is it with this ride? There's always something. This year, I was a bit late leaving due to having the Willesden CC club dinner the night before (3 trophies this year - score!) so on arrival at the HQ there were no 100k routes left, only 55k - no thanks. There were already 200 riders doing the long one. Doh! I decided since I'd already ridden the 30k out I would just do the equivalent distance to get my hours done. I had my GPS so I could 'get lost' without too much worry.

I started out following the tyre tracks of the previous riders (found a wireless cycle computer right near the start - contact the organisers if you lost yours) and saw a sign for a hill so headed in that direction. Eventually I spotted a couple of riders and followed behind them for a bit trying to work out if they were doing the course or not. If not I was just going to stick into the GPS some of the hills I remember doing in previous editions. We came upon a HHH signed junction so I decided to stay on the course - save using my brain for route making.

A couple of other riders went by while I was taking it easy and before long I recognised the fencing going up Bison's Hill. Obviously I have to represent in club kit so upped the pace and was looking forward to decimating the few riders ahead when I see two of the guys stopped, one holding a chain. Whoops! I rode past apologising for my lack of chain tool and carried on past Cervelo guy who'd stopped for a breather. He offered words of encouragement (I think) which was nice.

It's all a bit of a blur now - just riding and turning if I saw a course sign. I remember starting to ride up Ivinghoe Beacon (I think) and remembering going wrong here last time so asked one of the many riders who'd hit it coming from the other direction if they were doing the 100k. Nope, the 55k, one of them said. So I rode back down and carried on.

I was stoked to start seeing (and of course passing more riders - yeah, I'm like that) on Aston Hill. I was enjoying the descent and noticed one of the group I'd passed had given chase. I eventually eased up and low and behold it's Ludwig from LFGSS! He says there's a whole bunch from the forum back there and they thought it was BMMF in Grupetto kit flying by. Ha! Maybe if BMMF grew a foot or two in all directions! We all kind of rode together after that - respect to Jonny on SS and Joe riding fixed - mentalist! Again, I lose track of where we are and what's going on, it's just a nice day riding around some nice places. Tear off to the finish to hand the computer in, the others go to the pub and I head home with 100 miles in the bag.

Tonight's commute home through peak hour traffic using the new midfoot setup was ok. I was making a very conscious effort not to do much lane splitting, lest I get caught out with the toe overlap trying to hook around a bumper bar. Clipping in is getting more accurate. Trackstanding the wrong way around is a bit wobbly but will only get better.
So far, there are no niggles, no pain, no strange muscle recruitment that I've noticed. The only odd thing is still the fact that the cleat is further back and I'm expecting pressure under the balls of my feet but not getting it.

Did a 2x20min turbo session using the midfoot setup too. It went ok but felt perhaps too heavy on the quads - this could have been the turbo angle or something though?
No pain, nothing bad to report about the new setup. Power was ok, nothing special but basically what I was aiming to hit.

After 140k cycling around Watford and Hemel Hempstead with fellow Grupetto, BMMF, I called in to see Scherrit to finish off the mid-foot cleat conversion of the Kinesis. The original setup was documented, the ATAC pedals were swapped out and the Speedplay cleats were test-fitted to the custom-drilled Shimano shoes. The saddle was dropped and moved forward and I cycled whilst Scherrit eye-balled the position. The saddle was raised a bit and moved further forward and the bars were dropped and the position was retested. The shoes rubbed on the cranks so the cleats were moved in to shift the shoes outwards. Scherrit adjusted the cleats whilst I was on the bike and conducted a shim test (left shoe was heel wedged with a Steve Hogg designed wedge) once more before locking the whole lot down.

Kinesis midfoot fitting image gallery

The alarm was set early today so peak hour could be avoided. Carving through gaps in London traffic on a totally new position and pedal system just doesn't appeal.

First thing to note is due to the Speedplay design having the moving gubbins on the shoe rather than the pedal, you need to use cleat covers to keep dirt out of the cleats. I hate carrying extra stuff so this is annoying. You're also supposed to lube the cleats every week. This is contrary to the zero maintenance policy I've applied to my SPDs, SPD-SLs and Time ATAC shoes/pedals in the past. Basically, so as long as you aren't using totally worn cleats, you're fine. I've never lubed or bothered to service these pedals and they work fine. Scherrit's reason for using Speedplay is their ground-up design for cycling rather than being, essentially, a modified ski binding. They are also supremely adjustable and more suitable for mid-foot cleat position, which is why they are on my shoes now.

Clipping in to Speedplay is awkward for me - it operates the other way around from SPD, SPD-SL, etc. in that you don't hook the front and push down, you hook the back and twist (at least that's how Scherrit explained it). My method is more akin to 'slam middle of foot towards Speedplay lollipop and hope for the best - surprisingly this seemed to work most of the time.

The Speedplay pedals also feel much more 'skatey' than my other setups. They probably move more freely as opposed to the centre-sprung SPDs for example.

Cycling with a midfoot cleat position does feel slightly odd, but perhaps not as weird as you might first think. It's not difficult or anything, just, you know? A bit odd. Seated pedaling feels good. Now and then I find myself wondering what I should be doing with my toes - should I be scrapping the shoe back or is the motion more like an ankling movement. Clearly for me, with my Achilles problem, I should be minimising ankle movement and I think mostly I am, it's just now and then I'd wonder if my feet should be moving more. After adapting, I'm sure this sensation will vanish.

I think I might be sitting a little forward on the saddle compared to previously. This is possibly one of the positional tweaks I'll need to address or it could be nothing and just need some more riding.

At higher power outputs my right shoe in particular rubs against the crank. Perhaps I twist or roll my foot under load or perhaps it needs to be moved further out? Something to look at.

Generating power whilst seated isn't a problem, though out-of-the-saddle efforts feels a bit strange. I'm training for long distance time trials (50mi, 100mi, 12hr, 24hr) so this isn't much of an issue for me. At some stage I'll have a go at a peak power test just out of curiosity.

A particular concern was the large toe-overlap now present - toe overlap being the front wheel, when turned, clipping the front of the shoe. At speed this is not an issue since you're leaning to turn (#dontlean!), but in heavy traffic (ie. all of London) you are always weaving around cars, buses, trucks, taxis and the like at slower speeds. Peak hour could get a whole lot more interesting soon... #gravelrash

Trackstands are much harder for me now since it requires I use my non-favourite foot forward. In the past I'd turn the wheel right and have my left foot forward and be rock solid. Because of the toe overlap now, this method would mean the back of the wheel would hit my shoe and I'd possibly topple over. I can flip it around the other way so my right foot is forward but I rarely do it this way so I'm a bit unco at trackstanding with mid-foot.

Usually, when I can't be bothered to trackstand I'd roll up to the gutter and put a foot down. This feels strange now, since the saddle is 20-30mm lower. It's actually more comfortable to just put a foot down on the road.

Not a bad first test I would say. I'll document some more as I adapt to the new setup. Wonder how long it will be before I order some bio-mxc2 shoes..

NB: I'll post some info about the 2nd stage of the fitting process later

Great idea from Rapha. The Rapha Festive 500 challenges you to ride 500 kilometres (310 miles) December 23-31, 2011. Should you join, you and riders from around the world will attempt to escape the clutches of holiday indulgence by achieving this feat in just one week.

Finished on New Year's Eve with a 220k jaunt around WOL (west of London), in the Chilterns, around Burnham, Maidenhead, Marlow, Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, Wendover, Great Missenden, Chalfonts, amongst others. There were some very impressive rides (I think the milder northern hemisphere winter helped) and I'm sure I'm not the only one taking a well-earned rest from the bike right now!

Using Strava and a GPS I logged about 770k during the Festive 500 which I thought is pretty respectable considering I started late and was working between Christmas and NYE.

The poor Kinesis suffered a bit though - I worked my way to the blue protective layer on a 25mm Marathon Plus and yesterday broke a spoke in the rear wheel yesterday as well as watched the bottom bracket spew its inners out. The cranks were moving about a centimetre side to side! Bye bye bearings. The HTC Sensation did well, logging over 9 hours of cycling yesterday with 7% still remaining on a single battery charge. It's not going to last for a 24hr though, obviously so maybe a Garmin 800 with Extended battery pack is on the cards?

Cyclists do some odd things for performance. This feels like one of the most strange to me - changing the way I've been pedalling for the last 30 or so years in order to improve long time trial efficiency and reduce the likelihood of my recurring Achilles injury.

I'm currently working with The Bike Whisperer to change my cleat setup to a mid-foot cleat position. Most of a cyclist's power comes from the quads, glutes and hamstrings - the lower leg only connecting to the pedal and stabilising what happens above. It doesn't contribute enough to justify its energy expenditure - and I have massive calves. The idea is there will be more oxygen/fuel left for the bigger muscle groups. Side benefits include a reduction in the overall height on the bike for better aerodynamics and hopefully the elimination of my recurring Achilles tendinitis.

"Midfoot cleat position is when the cleat is positioned so that the Tarsometatarsal (TMT) joints are over the centre of the pedal axle. The TMT joints are the joints between the two rows of bones drawn on the foot below."


Midfoot is being used by lots of long distance riders, Ironman competitors and such-like.
Read more here:
www.stevehoggbikefitting.com - power to the pedal – cleat position
www.trainingbible.com - cleat position
www.biomac.biz



Gallery: Midfoot Cleat Positioning - Stage 1

Bye Hatchy.

Thanks for looking after him for all these years Mum & Dad.

Last night I looked at the TT bike and thought "nah, it'll be slower on the hill climb" so chose to prep the S-Works road bike. I looked at the 11T DA cassette and thought "nah, I'll not need go fast enough for that" and kept the 12T on. Turns out I could've done with both. Damn. My normalised power was 20W up on the 10mi TT I did on 18/09. The tailwind on the way out meant that at my preferred cadence I ran out of gears on the Wendover bypass. I averaged ~47kph/30mph to the turn-around. The average after the turn was 36kph - the wind made a big difference!

Perhaps being on the road bike meant I paid less attention to the power meter and just punished myself? Whatever, it was fast and almost a new PB. I was pretty annoyed afterwards that I didn't bother with the holder at the start and was mucking around pushing 2-up clubmates back together mid-race (shhh!). So, once again, note to myself: If you're going to bother entering a race then race properly!

Followed up the 10 with a hill climb up Longdown and got a second place overall. I was a long way off first place (the winner has won it 4 times though I was only a second slower than him last year when I didn't ride the 10 first).

24:24

Last night I looked at the TT bike and thought "nah, it'll be slower on the hill climb" so chose to prep the S-Works road bike instead.

I looked at the 11T DA cassette and thought "nah, I'll not go fast enough for that" and kept the 12T cassette on. Turns out I could've done with both. Damn!

My normalised power was 20W up on the 10mi TT I did on 18/09/2011. The tailwind on the way out meant that at my preferred cadence I ran out of gears on the Wendover bypass. I was averaging ~47kph/30mph at the turn-around. The average after the turn-around dropped to a meagre 36kph - the wind made a difference!

I probably should've made use of the holder at the start and perhaps not got involved in the err 'Willesden 3-up' :)

Using the road bike meant I paid less attention to the power meter, so perhaps rode more to my body's limit than a pre-determined best guess? Anyway, a good lesson in preparation that I will ignore like the other hundred lessons in preparation I've ignored in the past. The 'green army' headed to Deep Mill Diner where those who had planned to do the hill climb had a coffee and those that were perhaps talked into doing the hill climb had breakfast.. ;)



The hill climb over Longdown (Cadsdean Road) was a fairly standard affair for me with the only things worth noting: sort gears out before starting! Crunch Bang Crack Pop Click Snap Etc. and if you want to perform well.. don't do a 10mi TT beforehand!

I came in 2nd place with a 2:44 I think, way off Dom's first place 2:15. Apparently I was only a second slower than him last year with a 2:47 which means he has basically got a lot faster going up hills. But it also means I am marginally faster up hills which is nice. Maybe doing thousands of kilometres during the season works for me? *bins turbo trainer* Yeeess!!!

Thanks for the photography Ron

2:01, 3rd overall, 1st Willesden

With thanks to the lovely man Digger, for not encouraging me to stay for drinks too much, I managed to get up on time and make it through the thick fog to the bottom of Windsor Hill. Without too much time to spare before the start I didn't bother riding up the hill pre-race. I know it well enough now anyway. Tony, riding his first hill climb (I wonder if he'll be back for more?) and his daughter Kirsten let me use their car to stow all my warm kit. Cheers guys! A brief roll around the block (I'd call it a warm-up but think it actually made me colder) and then back to the start line ready to roll.

Little ring, smallish sprocket so I don't have to use the front derailler or spin too fast off the line and get my HR high too early. 30.. 15.. clip in.. 10.. 5.. go!

Using my light-weight Ksyrium ES's instead of the Zipp 404 Powertap wheels meant the bike was probably >500g lighter but I had no power for pacing the effort. With this in mind I tried to ride conservatively early on the hill, knowing it ramped a lot near the end. Around the first corner I was already going for easier gears as the all-too-familiar rapid and heavy breathing kicked in. Dropped another gear here and then as it kicked I climbed out of the saddle to get some more speed into the ascent.

Seeing the finish is a nice bonus here and I was out of the saddle again to impress the fans :) I heard some cheering going on (thanks Gladys and Ron) and crossed the line, gasping for air. Considering I could barely move after having done these previously, I was happy to roll down the road for 30s and then have enough in the tank to turn around and cheer on Tony and Kirsten and the last rider off, 29. I'm not sure what happened to Pete - he was going to be my main opposition for the club HC trophy this year.

In the end, I came in 3rd overall doing a 2:01, which oddly enough is 1 second faster than I did on this course 2 years ago. I was sure I was going to be a lot slower, owing to all the LSD I'd been doing (that's Long Slow Distance not Lysergic Acid Diethylamide). Pretty happy with that - though I reckon it's down to that 500g and not my (relatively poor) training lead up. 2nd did a 2:00 and the winner, Joe Holloway(?) did a 1:44. Not sure of the Savage duo's times, they'll appear on the blog soon, no doubt. Thanks for the gels Gladys. Found a quid on the way home too. Bonus. :)

Welcome to Dopeology, a website about reported instances of doping in European professional road cycling. Make no mistake, this is an enormous subject. That's why our story begins as recently as 1980, while the history of doping in professional cycling actually began over a century earlier.

Dopeology builds a topology of the densely interconnected network of doping, by listing the people, substances, techniques and events involved as recorded by reliable press sources. The purpose of the exercise is simply to organise and present the data in a logical way rather than to make any judgements about what has happened over the years.

The data on Dopeology is divided into just a few categories: People, Teams and Products, combinations of which go together to form doping-related Incidents. Every incident is supported by published sources, all but a handful of which are accessible online.

www.dopeology.org

59:44 Under the hour, finally!

Okay, it's not like I train for 10s and 25s but I've been close before (1:00:04 was my previous PB) so it was only a matter of time. I didn't think it would happen on this course though. The HCC114 is bit bumpy north-south-north-south with no real gift sections except perhaps the Wendover bypass downhill. My PB for this course on the TT bike was 1:02:11 last year.

I think the main problem with my TTing is that until this year I've never trained on the TT bike. It was strictly for the TTs and maybe the odd turbo session. Having spent the last 8 months riding for hours and hours and hours on this bike is obviously paying off (two PBs in two weeks) even though I'm not really doing any specific short distance training - at least until this week I wasn't.

A smaller breakfast was on the cards this morning due to the unknown start time forcing me to be there before the first rider off time of 8.30am. Espresso and a single Vegemite (food of champions.. and me) toast. Nibbled on a Powerbar riding out. Caffeine and gel 15min before the start. Set off a bit fast, wanting to catch Ray and John, the other two Willesden CC riders and Westerley's Rolly, who I'd cycled some of the way to the start with. Paid for that exuberance at the Wendover turn-around when the speed sunk but at least I kept the power up.

Half way through the race my left leg started going numb, like pins and needles. Unlike last week I'd done my shoes up this time so stopped and undid them a little bit thinking that might've been the cause. Shuffled about on the saddle too. I guess it helped a bit but still something that needs addressing. Glutes were hurting again too.

Still heading south and held up by a 4x4 waiting to go past another rider for a bit. It might've cost me some time but the rest was welcome. Shardeloes RAB turn-around and then back up past the finish line - which is unfortunately on the other side of the road. I was looking at the distance and time and thinking to myself "something is wrong, there's no way I'm this slow, I'll never get near the hour". It took me some time to work out that we didn't go all the way back down the Wendover bypass but actually turned around at the start of it. "Oh, sweet, so I might actually be able to get near the hour". After the turn-around with this new goal in mind it was hammer time. This is where everything hurts and you have to push harder. I knew the finish line was coming up soon but where?! Dig dig dig! "There it is!" Go go go! 59-something!!! Woo!!! Finally cracked the hour. Grovel back to the HQ and then wait to have it confirmed (my last three race times/distances have been wrong so I wasn't getting too excited just yet). Ate cake, had a coffee and... confirmed! Yes!

2010-05-30 WLC 25mi TT HCC114
2009-04-19 WLC 25 mile TT HCC114

westerleycc.blogspot.com - Interclub Sunday 25 September result

www.willesdencyclingclub.co.uk - hippy under the hour

Team Clonc

www.londonscalling2011.com

LCEF

After training for and competing in a 12hr and 24hr this felt a bit odd. The ride out was 40k, the ride back 40k but the race was only 16k - something's wrong! :)

I decided to use the 24hr TT bike rather than the road bike as I couldn't be bothered with wheel swaps - Iain and Brent from Oz had arrived Sat night so working on bikes wasn't an option anyway. Also didn't bother with my S80 front wheel or overshoes. The Willesden skinsuit saw its first use this year though and the Kask 'sperm hat' was good to go.

At the start I found the two Richo's had found something better to do Sunday morning so I had a double gap in front of me. As soon as I hit the road I realised I'd not done up my shoes properly so I quickly tightened the straps and started properly (that's what all stop/start is at the start, Scherrit). I was trying to hold around 330-350W I guess or at least trying to to wander into 400W+ too often.

I couldn't believe I was a quarter of the way through already. Flying down the Wendover bypass I regretted still having the 50T big ring on. At the turn-around I spiked the effort trying to get some draft from a truck that had got there before me. It was too far in front though so the effort was somewhat wasted. The grind up here is usually horrible and once again it didn't disappoint.

Up to RAB and into the trees I couldn't see properly because my glasses had fogged up and I'd dripped loads of sweat all over them. I had to pull them down. The effort increased here as it was the homeward stretch. Back past the start so almost onto the finish line and I ramp it up a lot. Proper pain time now as I grovel towards the line as fast as possible. Feel the burn! (insert your choice of sporting cliche here).

A few minutes riding down the road to catch my breath and I head to the HQ. Chatted to some of the other riders and eventually looked at the time 23:08. Nice! That's a PB by almost 2 minutes. I was only 10 seconds down from Pete and give him some stick about pies. Looking at my PT data later on though I'm sure I did a 24:08 and they've messed up either the start time or got my number wrong. So, I'm going to keep the 24:08 time (probably the right one given Peter was loads faster than me normally) and it's still a PB anyway. Next time I'll tighten my shoes up first and make it into the 23s officially. :)

I've been looking at buying a car so that next year I'll be able to drive to different courses instead of always riding out to the West London races. We'll see how that goes though.

240.603mi officially, 256mi actual

Since a great time was had riding the National 24 hour and knowing the Kent 12 was organised by the same people (Esther and co. I believe) I was keen to have a go at a 12hr and set a marker at this distance. Whatever happened would be a PB, right :)

Unbelievably Malwina and Scherrit were again willing to form 'Team Foreigners', get up at stupid o'clock (before 4am! urgh!) drive us out to Kent, hand up food/drink, wrench and cheer. They are the nicest, most enthusiastic two nutters I could hope to have following me around. Thanks guys!

Up before 4am the three of us loaded the car with bikes (the Planet-X TT, Kinesis road bike spare and Scherrit's roadie), food and drink for rider and crew, race clothing and then headed to the M25/M26 making rapid progress towards Bethersden via Ashford. We arrived in good time, grabbed my numbers (arms and lower back) changed into the same Assos and Grupetto kit as I used during the 24hr. Mal and Scherrit prepped the bike, filling the Speedfil with Go and the Profile pack with Powergels. It was a very short ride to start. I had a caffeine gel and remember wishing Chris (clubman) well as he left. I told the holder not to bother even though he was worried I might knock his teeth out if I only lost by a second :)

The plan was to hold 24hr pace for the first 6 hours and then try to add 10W onto that and see how it was going before trying to add another 10W, etc. I found out afterwards there were lots of course changes made due to last minute road works. This was fine for me, since I had no idea how to navigate the course anyway - as I managed to prove by following a rider the wrong way (left instead of over some large orbital thing) and missing an entire section of the course. This was confirmed when the very distinctive low-cadence rider 55 went past me.. for the second time. I was not a happy chappy - to screw up the course so early really pissed me off.

Onto the Camber circuit, heading towards the coast (I'd ridden here before on an LFGSS Camber Sands ride!) and man was that wind buffeting me around with the 404 on the front! My upbringing was flat, windy roads around Sunraysia so I hoped, sadistically, it would make everyone else miserable and slow down while I got low, hung on and held my pace. I noticed what looked like a broken seat-mount bottle cage after turning away from the coast road - just after hitting a large pothole - so I could make a good guess as to why it detached!
The team were up at the top of the Camber circuit so I stopped for a leak and a massive rant about getting lost. With that off my chest and my Speedfil topped up I carried on for another lap. My glutes (butt muscles), which never really give me any grief were in a world of pain - yet it had only been 2-3 hours of cycling - something was wrong. I thought my saddle might have moved or maybe I had changed my position on the bike too much due to the high wind.
On the next loop I stopped again and downed an Ibuprofen and maybe a Paracetamol with a can of V I think (the early start made me quite drowsy early on). It felt like I'd pulled a muscle on both sides of my butt cheeks. I was trying to massage them but until the drugs kicked in I was grimacing with the pain. The team thought I was talking about saddle sores or something and they were puzzled as to how I could ride a 24hr and be sore after only 2-3 hours! No, my muscles were sore not my undercarriage!
I think there were about five laps of the Camber circuit. I was stopped at traffic lights on one of these but generally felt I was doing ok, especially since the glute pain had died down.

Eventually, Scherrit let me know we were transferring and so it was a right turn heading north along a large road for a while and then up a kind of off-ramp thing and back around heading south and onto the Ivychurch circuit, I think.

Probably around here is when it started to rain (Mal says it was later). The roads became quite slippery but nothing too treacherous and I had to lose the clear glasses to see properly. Apparently I had been sounding and looking pretty miserable (no way, me?) so I got quite a nice surprise to see Mal jumping up and down like a mental with the Aussie flag draped over her shoulders. It gave me a real boost, I had a quick moment thinking about Cadel's fantastic Tour win for Australia and my mood lifted substantially.. until I arrived at a T-junction that was devoid of marshalls or signs. "Ahh crap!!!". I decided to take the natural road progression, right. After a few kilometres I called my team - "where the &%&$ am I? Where the ^"%$ am I supposed to be?!" hoping they'd be able to see my GPS position on the map. Unfortunately they couldn't work out where I was so I took the time to have another 'natural break' and continued..

At New Romney, coming across another junction devoid of race marshalls or signs I knew I'd made the wrong choice and so turned around. Chris had made the same mistake but I was too far behind to catch him up and tell him. Finally I made it to a sign that said Newchurch, the village Mal had told me to head for. This little debacle had cost me probably half an hour, maybe 16k/10 miles. I was ^£$"ing furious. I think when I finally got to my team I stopped and had another colourful rant before taking on more supplies and continuing. Argh, time trialling sucks some times!



Once I'd got everything off my chest Mal says I did 4 solid laps, fast, focused and without any stupid stops. I think the smaller circuit helped here as you get to chase down riders more frequently and even a little comment here and there between riders helps take your mind of the effort. Apparently Mal was thinking about handing me up a pint, as they were parked up outside The Bell Inn. I'm glad it wasn't offered to me otherwise I might have just stopped at the pub - Go and V would have to do. The marshals arrived at the pub and directed us right, away from it, bound for the finishing circuit.

Apparently the finishing circuit was changed - again I have no idea I just rode where they pointed me. There were maybe 4 hours to go and each lap of the circuit was taking around 30 minutes to complete. Mal and Scherrit were parked atop a short rise, still armed with the Aussie flag. The sun had come out now. I remember trying to signal that I wanted sunglasses before I got to the team, riding no hands up the hill with my fingers around my eyes to indicate glasses - Mal already had them out so it was a wasted gesture. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the glasses and the bottle+gel so I ended up running low on fuel that lap and was desperate for a refill the next time around, caning the gel immediately and the whole Powerbar shortly after.

Really moving now, knowing the end was near. I knew I'd lost mileage with the detours but thought I might be able to scrape over the 400k mark if I smashed myself. Mal says she watched me just ride past 4 or 5 people going up the hill. I wasn't controlling my power output now but riding more like it was a 25 and not the end of a 12hr. I really wanted to hurt myself in the closing stages of this race - it feels good. I remember one of the faster guys (maybe VE Elan) went past me and got maybe 500m down the road before I decided I'd chase him down. It'd turned into commuter racing, ie. using every rider as a target before moving onto the next one. I went past the team once more and then hunted down the final time keeper. I wasn't sure of the time so I kept riding briefly until Mal and Scherrit passed in the car and told me I could stop.

The Powertap had stopped recording with 30min to go (stupid ^$£$^$% piece of $%^$&) even though it's supposed to do 15 hours in 1 second mode so the final push failed to record. Luckily the on-screen speedo keeps running so Scherrit took down the finishing values: 415k, 11hr 44min, 236Wavg, 33.4kph avg. So, unofficially I'd beaten 400k/250mi but of course due to getting lost this was brought back down to 240mi/386k. Officially, 5th place, unofficially it would have been my first TT podium finish as I'd come in at least 3rd, possibly 2nd place.

In many ways this was a harder event than the 24 hour. The pace was higher, the weather was much worse, lack of hills actually meant being stuck in the one position for longer, I'd not trained as much, my muscles didn't work properly, the 4am start made me noticeably tired and got lost, twice. But after all that it was still great fun to do and once again proved that I am sick in the head for actually enjoying this stuff :)


Picture > 1000 words, no?

www.kca12hour.org.uk - Provisional Results

www.mapmyride.com - Brenzett - Camber Circuit and IvyChurch

Nick Wilson's Photos

Cycle Racing Plus Photos

Megan Marshall's event photos from www.rywheelers.org

www.timetriallingforum.co.uk - pre race chat

www.timetriallingforum.co.uk - post race chat

It all kicked off in Ealing tonight. Of course, I was in the pub so only caught the aftermath. Click for gallery..

The official results sheet from the RTTC appeared through the letterbox today and it looks like the organisers have made some changes.
One of my missing laps has been reinstated so my overall position is now 17th and my mileage is now 425.84 (685.32 kilometres). If they'd counted the other one it would have been 10th place with around 445mi. This would have got me the national record... in 1935! :)

Once more I'd like to thank everyone involved and I look forward to having a go at the Mersey Roads event next year.

Anthony, I hope I've supplied enough undercarriage detail for you in the previous post.

Quentin/PedalBikerUK is uploading a series of interviews with record holder Andy Wilkinson:
Andrew Wilkinson - Doing it My Way - Episode One
Andrew Wilkinson - Doing it My Way - Episode Two
Andrew Wilkinson - Doing it My Way - Episode Three

For the last 8 months I've been thinking about and training for the East Sussex Cycling Association's 24-hour time trial. Never before had I invested so much time or money into a single event. Never before had I contemplated entering an event so long and with requirements for training, fuelling, equipment and support that far out-strip any of the shorter races and rides I've done in the past. This was a whole new ball game for me.

Almost as soon as the plan was hatched to enter the race, Scherrit from The Bike Whisperer was on board as my coach, bike fitter and volunteer to provide race-day support. Without his help I'm certain I'd not have ridden as far as I did and I'm not even sure I would've entered the event.

Malwina is always providing support, be it cooking my post-ride meals, massaging my tired legs, calming me down when I'd get stressed, standing out in the pouring rain under an umbrella to provide food, drink and warm clothes on a training ride or just letting me bounce ideas about the race off her. She was always available to help and did so with Scherrit during the race itself.

The Race:

Mal had bought lots of food and packed it into labelled boxes along with the existing race fuel, medical supplies and other kit the night before and Scherrit arrived with the car and bike rack. We were taking two bikes - my heavily 'tweaked for distance' Planet-X TT bike and my S-Works road bike with spare race wheels fitted. Scherrit had also brought along mechanical supplies, eskie, bedding and seating. Mal, importantly, had a clipboard - nothing could go wrong. It all went into the car and we left for Sussex around 9am.



With a slight detour into Berwick we eventually found the HQ around 11am, signed on, collected numbers and I waited in the car while Scherrit spoke to some riders he knew and Mal prepped my cycling kit. I was starting at 12:47 so delayed getting changed as long as possible. Once changed and it was time to go we drove towards the start at Michelham Priory a few miles down the road. Thinking about it now, riding to the start as Scherrit suggested, would've have been a better idea. At Michelham Priory Scherrit added some air to the tyres, Mal helped me into TT helmet, gloves and overshoes and I rolled towards the line.

VRRRR VRRRRR VRRRRRRR VRRRRRR

"What the hell?!" Something was rubbing. The whole bike was vibrating. Scherrit had a look, pulled the wheel back a bit and we tried again. Nope, still rubbing. "Arrgh! Could the wheel have moved whilst on the car rack?" Backing the rear brake right off seemed to help. It was almost my start time so I rolled towards the line while Mal and Scherrit walked up. Something was still rubbing though so I was off the bike and examining anything for signs of contact - the fat 25mm Michelin Pro Optimum tyres left little room for error in the chainstays.
Someone at the start line held my bike up (thanks, whoever you were!) while I adjusted the wheel fore/aft and left/right, checked brake pads, etc. It was time to start, so giving up, the rear brake callipers were backed right off and with 30 seconds to go I was with the holder, Mike Anton (who went on to take loads of great photos of the event).



5..4..3..2..1.. Go! There was some clapping and cheering but I didn't really notice much while trying to keep my wattage at Scherrit's super-conservative "first 20 minutes warm up" 200W.

Half a kilometre down the road, at the end of Arlington Road West, I stopped and readjusted the rear wheel as the rider behind me went passed. For a change I had no concern about people passing me. This was about the "long game" as Scherrit called it. I knew the pacing strategy we'd decided upon was good so I just had to apply it. Of course, it would help if the wheels on my bike would turn properly! Thinking about it, while bouncing down the A22, my conclusion was when the tyres were properly inflated, the rear rubbed on the chainstay and when it was moved back to stop this, one of the the brake blocks was then slightly out and rubbed on the tyre instead.

"Focus!", reducing pressure on the pedals to bring my overexcited power down a little. My biggest concern about the 24, believe it or not, was not my legs or my feeding, it was simply getting lost. The course notes were very complex with no chance I could remember the turns and I was worried about how many marshalls they'd have and how good the signage would be. After the first couple of turns those fears started to disappear - there were LOADS of marshalls at each turn and huge signs made it a breeze knowing where to go. The organisers really excelled here!

The course headed along a turn-around road so you could nod/wave/sneer at the other competitors coming back along it. There were already spectators and support crews out on the road cheering everyone on. Being able to see other riders and other crews helped calm my nerves too.

Up to the Little Horsted circuit (a sign for the village made this fact obvious) where I'd do 3 laps. The terrain was quite rolling - made obvious by the fact I was flying down the hills only to almost stop when going up them - in order to keep my power output steady. There'd be no attacking hills this early in the game! There was good tree cover a lot of the time or perhaps the wind died down so I ended up sticking with the Zipp 404 front wheel choice rather than the shallower option.

Spotting my crew for the first time, after Newick on the top part of the course, Mal handed me a bottle on the move with food attached but I stopped further up the hill anyway. While I 'shed some water weight' Scherrit had a look at the bike, sorting it all out so nothing was touching the back wheel. It was better after that but still rubbed throughout the event when I was out of the saddle after a corner or on a hill. I think it was just a case of very close tolerance with the fat tyre choice and the Zipp 808 flexing slightly with my bulk above it. Riding out of the saddle isn't so efficient so this wasn't too much of a concern. Rolling again there were some long drags, fast downhills and after the sharp turn an appropriately named Deadmantree Hill - short, steep annoying climbs that meant even in the lowest gear, power was above target wattage. Through a slightly technical section with some rougher roads and blind corners and then back onto the A26 to the A22 where the riders had started the course.

Using a Speedfil hydration system (Corinne's suggestion - a tank on the bike with a tube up through the aerobars to drink from) meant the empty 'normal' bottles being handed up would have to remain in a saddle-mounted cage after the Speedfil's tank had been refilled. The first bottle wouldn't stay open so it was a struggle to empty its contents into the Speedfil. Whilst thinking about how to tell Mal not to use this bottle again the problem resolved itself when the bottle bounced out and onto the road on the very rough A22. Another empty bottle (London to Canterbury TdF sportive one *sob*) bounced out a few hundred metres after I'd ridden past my crew at a roundabout on the transition to the Pevensey circuit. Grrr.. no more 800ml bottles in the Profile cages!

The Pevensey circuit was probably the worst of the three. There was a lot of very rough dual carriage way followed by long, exposed and therefore windy B-roads. Then some steep hills (again with poor surfaces though at least you're not doing 50kph+ on them) and some towns with the usual problem of lights, pedestrian crossings, parked cars, etc, etc. Two laps of this were required before the ~70k transition to the Henfield night circuit and familiar territory (I'd done a 12 hour training ride on the night circuit in the pouring rain the week before). On the last Pevensey circuit I stopped, sat down and ate one of Mal's chicken sandwiches and drank a Pepsi while Scherrit fitted my lights (thanks James, Wayne, Tom and Laura for the lights!) - it was 7:26pm and it would be getting dark at some stage of the transition.

Mal and Scherrit seemed to me to keep appearing but I didn't really know what they were doing. Turns out they were just cheering but I didn't know this at the time - I was wondering if I should be stopping to pick stuff up. At some stage I yelled "I'm a third of the way through!" and I think they were yelling the same thing but 40kph Doppler means "Hashhshfeueueffeaaaa!!" is what people actually hear. Mal's got some great notes of all the transition times and what I was taking up and so I'm finding out now they were struggling to catch me during this transition leg. At some time between 8.40 and 10pm the lights were turned on and a fishing lure glowstick (Starlite) was crushed to activate and jammed into the blutack (high tech!) already on the Powertap so I could continue to monitor output through the night. Great in theory...

Riding in the dark but not yet on the night circuit caused me to check my speed a bit since it was unfamiliar roads and I had no idea about potholes and the like. Traffic through Cowfold was also a pain totally stopping progress a few times (at least on a 24hr you don't go mental knowing your race is ruined like during a 25mi!). Somewhere around here there was a high-speed bottle grab (Mal still has both her arms - you can relax) and when the team drove past I confirmed I could (just) see the Powertap with my single glowstick and we'd meet at Ashurt Village Hall. The best laid plans...

Riding through Ashurst there were a huge amount of cars and people but none were recognisable. I was expecting Mal to be covered head to toe in the glowsticks she'd bought but she'd run out of time to prepare. Instead of doing the sensible thing and slowing down to find my team I maintained speed and at the last second saw Mal but stubbornly and stupidly carried on with a "what the hell?" look thinking I'll get to them next lap. Unfortunately this screwed up their plans to feed me the pasta and left me running out of fluids. I also felt the need to use a toilet but for some reason this feeling disappeared for the rest of the race.
My team being clever cookies moved down the road out of the crowd and made a sign out of glowsticks with my number on it for the next lap. Carrying on a bit miffed about the Ashurst failure I was actually enjoying the night laps. Being familiar with the course meant I could ride the descents pretty fast without too much worry. I could see my power output for the climbs but more light would have been better as it took time for my eyes to adjust to reading the unit.

Spotted my crew easily the next time around (Scherrit had gone up the road to make sure of this). For some reason I still didn't eat any pasta but instead had a ham sandwich and some Pepsi Max (why Mal bought sugar-free Pepsi I don't know - actually I do know - it's because I like it, I just would have bought full strength stuff during a race). The plan was also to change to HIgh5 4:1 during the night from Cytomax and SIS Go. I'd ridden for 12hrs on just 4:1 the week before so thought I'd be fine. This wasn't the case and I started to feel quite sick after drinking it. I kept drinking it though - it would either settle or come back out. It did neither and thinking about it now, making myself sick and going back to the Go drink or water would've been a better idea. Feeling horrible now, my intake of food (gels and bars) dropped drastically - Mal notes at 1:30am that she was actually taking Powerbars off me! After another lap it was decided to get rid of the 4:1 so the crew emptied my Speedfil tank and refilled it with Go.

The mist/fog became thicker and thicker through the night. At some points I'm sure visibility was 30-40m. Everything was wet, with water collecting and dripping off my helmet and as such any attempt to stick my glowsticks to my Powertap failed so I gave up on it and rode by feel. It's not so difficult but when unwell it's very easy to ride very slow.

The crew expected me in around an hour for the dawn lap but it didn't happen as riders were moved off to the transition back to Little Horsted. I was now feeling quite tired and sick and thinking to myself "should I call them, no, don't stop riding, they're watching the GPS, they'll know I've left the course". Unfortunately, the phone signal in this part of the world is pretty bad so they weren't getting any/many updates. The crew didn't find out I'd left the night circuit until the last rider car came through, which by this stage meant we were at least an hour apart. They decided rather than drive the course which would be full of cyclists and other support cars it would be quicker to take yesterday's transition road back to the Little Horsted loop and wait there. Out of fluids again now I called Mal around the Deadmantree Hill but went straight to voicemail so carried on. Calling Scherrit later in the lap and he'd spoken to Twickenham CC to get them to give me some water. I had no idea where they were stationed though and in the end grabbed a water refill from a guy (later found out it was Mad One from TTF) at one of the marked 'sponge & water' stops (thanks Mad One!) and carried on until I finally met my team again at the Newick location. I finally grabbed a bowl full of pasta and took a caffeine tablet before heading off for another lap.


Dawn. The worst part of the 24 hours.

The second Little Horsted lap was horrible with me literally nodding off whilst on the bike. The caffeine I'd taken wasn't helping and eventually I decided that sitting down for a breather was better than crashing. A woman on a trike who looked like she was enjoying herself a lot more than I was wished me a 'good morning'. Getting back to the team I thought what the hell and took a lot more caffeine and Scherrit switched me onto energy drink from water. He said to take it easy, just try and hold 200W but within 100m I was thinking to myself "nah, I'm feeling good now" and brought the pace back up.

Once again, riders were transitioned towards Pevensey loop and my team didn't find out until the last rider car came through. Somewhere around this time I decided to have a look at the distance completed. After my failure at night/dawn, the club record was out of the question but for some reason I had a look and saw something like 580k and looked at my watch I've got roughly 4 hours to ride. "Hmm.. 700k sounds like a good goal, let's ride!". I had a mission, felt good, the sun was up and I was now hammering. Okay, "hammering" is relative but after 20 hours riding to average 33kph for the last 4 on the worst of the circuits is pretty cool in my book.

Now all that worried me was bonking. Running out of Go drink again half way around the first Pevensey lap when it's about 25degC and getting hotter and I'm hauling arse over the hills at 500W+ ignoring my power pacing, trying to claw back every single metre in the final push, is not what I need. When instead of the team car I see a Timing Marshall I'm annoyed but not going to stop until I see my team. Now I'm drinking gels and just hoping I can hold this pace for another 2-3 hours. Scherrit jumps out in the middle of a small town and Mal provides gels and a much needed refill. I'm busting for a leak but this is not the place to do it so I hold on for a while longer until I find a nice wide-open and yet hard to get to part of the A22 to flash my tackle (ok, not quite but you get the idea).

The Pevensey finishing circuit is the only place I don't get passed by Warnock and Wilco, in fact I'm passing almost everyone else. People at the turns and marshalling points are all cheering - it's like a sprint finish that goes on for hours! Mal and Scherrit find an uphill to wait for me and hand up bottles and gels. Mal's brother Mirek has come along to watch but I don't have time to really acknowledge him (thanks for popping down). My Achilles tendon is agony but I'm going to get 700k if it kills me (well, ok not if it kills me).

I'm not sure how the distance measuring system works - Scherrit had said "just keep riding". They pass me in the car and later give me "7 minutes to go" sign. Scherrit says later I didn't acknowledge him but I thought I nodded - if I didn't it was because I was focused. Scherrit spoke to one of the marshalls and they said you should go to the next timing point AFTER your time is up, so at 12:47 Sunday I'm still riding as hard as I can manage. I can feel myself flagging and I know I've done over 700k but I also know this will come down a bit when they do their calculations so I want to be sure.

Lifting the power once more for the final timing point I'm done and roll down the road before heading to the car and sitting down. It's over. 24-and-a-bit hours, 722k unofficially.

www.youtube.com - finishing

www.youtube.com - Mike Haylor and the 2011 Sussex 24 hour

www.youtube.com - damonpeacock esca 24

www.youtube.com - JulianSotonia - Cycling Time Trials National 24 Hr Championships 25/26th June 2011



And... relax..

Massive thanks to the organisers, marshalls, volunteers, supporters and everyone who loaned me stuff or helped me in some way.

Very special thank you to Scherrit and Malwina. You guys were frickin' awesome! I had such a cool race.

Stats:
Duration: 22:57:22 (24:07:18)
Work: 16102 kJ
TSS: 1072.5 (intensity factor 0.684)
Norm Power: 212
Distance: 722.914 km
Avg Speed: 30.4kph
Max Speed: 62.9kph

~13L of fluids (water, Go, High5 4:1, Cytomax)
1 Pepsi
1 Pepsi Max
1 V energy drink
2 small instant coffees
26 Powergels
9 Powerbars
1 chicken roll
1 ham roll
1 brioche jam
1 brioche plain
1 bowl pasta
1 Kit Kat
5 Pro Plus tablets

LFGSS
YACF - East Sussex 24 hour 2011
YACF - What Andy Wilkinson can teach us
TTF 1
TTF 2

Provisional Winners

rupertracer photos
mike anton Saturday Afternoon photos
mike anton The Night Shift photos
mike anton Sunday Finish photos
andy sheridan photos
Kimroy Photography

4.30am alarm. Dress. Coffee. Taxi. Bus. Luton. Plane delayed due to mechanical problems. Fantastic. Bar staff delayed due to incompetence. Abort. Abort.

We eventually arrived in Katowice where Mal's brother was waiting to pick us up. It was 120k and 3hrs drive from there to Makow Podhalanski not 80k like Mal thought. Whoops - we had a dentist appointment to make!

We were only five minutes late in the end and Mal had called ahead so we were cool. We both had some fillings done and I had an x-ray on my 'missing' tooth. Apparently I have generally fantastic teeth for my age which is nice to hear. After that we finally made it to Mal's parents house or was it their pub - I can't remember but the tweet went "First few Tyskie have gone down well. Weather is ace. Pub renovations are great. CX bike arrived but I've not built yet. Zakopane tomorrow?".

Short of cash, I'm made to work for my beers..


We decided to head to Zakopane on the train (10Zty) then catch a minibus (10Zty) and walk up to the lake "Morskie Oko". It took about 1hr40min to get to the lake from the park entrance (2Zty). This is what it looks like in summer.



The great thing about climbing up to it in April was that it was very quiet (it's swarming with tourists in summer). What we didn't factor in was that the lake was actually still frozen over so there were no reflections of the surrounding mountains. It was still a fantastic scene.



The next day, with aching legs from the walk, I put together the Focus Cyclocross bike that I'd bought in London and had shipped over before we'd left. Mal and I then rode to nearby town Sucha Beskidzka taking a very hilly detour in the process that had poor Mal pushing her hefty MTB up the road, cursing.




The next day I went for a solo ride with the only goal being to climb over the largest hill in the town - Makowska Gora. I think it topped out at 600m after a winding road past the Church including a stop to photograph a local snake (an apparently poisonous Adder - "pfft!", mocked the Australian).




After that I just kept on riding through lots of little villages in one direction, until I hit a major road (S7) where I turned south for Zakopane on a service road. I saw some roadies using this as I stopped to buy some water in a little store. Being Easter and Poland being very Catholic, a lot of bigger shops were closed but I always found somewhere to buy food/drink. I wasn't going to ride the 60k to Zakopane today so I turned west and rode through Jordanow towards home, but not before a detour up to Zawoja. Around 100k today.

When not riding we were going to the church (it's ok, it's all in Polish so they can't brainwash me) or drinking at the pub or eating the lovely food cooked by Mal's folks (Easter cake overdose!). We visited Sucha again, using the bus, but almost everything was closed. We did manage to get an ice cream at the little cafe before it closed.



Since everything goes quiet in Poland over Easter I decided to head to Zakopane on Easter Monday. As suspected the roads were nearly empty. The ride kicked off climbing through and out of the little ski resort town-esque town of Zawoja over a 1500m high bump. After a patchy descent it totally flattens out into open plains. One of the traditions on Easter Monday is water-bombing or, soaking with water, the single girls in the village. This seems to mean, soaking anyone you can find. I was lucky and all the attempts were made on other people or cars nearby and not myself (not that it mattered in the end). At Jablonka it was a sharp west as I headed for the Slovakian border via Lipnica Wielka. Being Australian, there's something truly fascinating about crossing into other countries by land and I do it whenever possible. It seemed to take forever to find evidence of a border (I was worried it wouldn't be marked) but sure enough there was a deserted border crossing building and then shortly after the sign indicating I was in Slovakia!



After some photos I retraced back to the S7 and then turned off this and headed east on the continuation of the 957. It was a bit grim here, skies starting to darken nothing much to see and a headwind until Czarny Dunajec where I turned south once more. At the funky wooden village of Chocholow (I'd been here a few years ago - all the houses are the same - traditional style totally wooden construction) it really started to tip down along with some thunder and lightning. Not knowing how long I'd be riding, how cold it would get and only having summer road kit on I decided to sit it out for a bit in a bus shelter until it at least died down.



It stopped raining and I carried on along the 958 towards Zakopane, buying some Snickers and a Coke at a little Polski Sklep.



Zakopane was pretty quiet and mostly just tourists being hosed down by locals. The coffee shop I was dying to get into wasn't open so I rode around until my Garmin GPS said I'd made it to Zakopane, took a photo of the shoddy train station and turned around, buying some more Snickers and Pepsi, before retracing along the 958 through Witow and Chocholow up to Czarny Dunajec where I continued going north on 958, rather than going back along the 957 through Jablonka. This took me over the plains and then through Raba Wyzna and smaller ups and downs rather than one big climb like in Zawoja. It was raining again now and this rain got heavier as the day went on. I think I got a bit lost in Rabka-Zdroj but eventually found the 28 road which took me into Jordanow and back to Makow along the same route I'd done a couple of days ago. By the time I arrived home I had been soaked through many times over but I was pretty happy with myself for actually making it back with just the GPS base maps and minimal food. All up, around 195k with 2000m climbing in 7.5 hours on a CX bike with knobby tyres fuelled by 2 'nanas, 3 Snickers, a Coke and Pepsi.



The next day we had a fantastic rafting trip along the Danube (Dunajec) which borders Slovakia and Poland near Pieniny.

For such a polished (pun intended) tourist activity why is it so hard to get to using public transport?


Lots of rude jokes from our raft master


Aww..


Beautiful surroundings - I'd love to come back and walk a lot of this national park.


The day before we left I headed out on the bike again. This time I was only going to ride to Zywiec (where the beer comes from) and back. I got a bit carried away and after making Zywiec I ended up climbing another large bump in order to cross the Slovakian border in a different location (told you I loved crossing borders!). 125k, 1500m climbing all in great weather this time.

Zywiec, just down the road from the massive brewery (and museum I'm yet to visit)


2nd Slovakian border crossing, this one near Korbielow


Drinking Zywiec is the only possible way to finish a ride to Zywiec


Big thanks to Malwina, Maria, Marian and Michal for a fantastic trip.

Easter in Poland - Trip Photos