The National Duathlon Championships were held in Cambridgeshire and Ray Tucker won a silver medal in the O/70 category behind Britain’s no.1, Brian Grierson. Here is a brief report:
The weather was very warm, reaching 21C which made the final run very gruelling. There was also a 30mph wind blowing from the south and in places and Ray had great difficulty staying on the bike during the cycle phase – and he does not have disc wheels!! 20 competitors didn’t complete the course, 3 or 4 for mechanical reasons. The medals were presented by James Cracknell, the double olympic rowing gold medallist, who also competed in the race and finished 2nd O/40. James Cracknell has now been selected in the British Team for the World Champs in Ottawa in August.
Well done Ray – now you can do the sprint or shorter duathlon race for GB in Canada. Go Ray, Go!
The first meeting of the Reading track League in 2013 and good results for the Willesden Youths. Kye Lewis was 1st in the under 10s 200 tt and 2nd in the Hare and Hounds. Connor Woodford was 3rd in the under 16s Hare and Hounds.
After having a good race on Tuesday I was hoping I would be able to get a good result on Saturday. The race was just a local 3/4 race at Hillingdon run by the Westerley. I finished 2nd place from a breakaway a few years ago so I was quite confident I would do well.
This all changed when I realised how many good riders were there, the sort of riders who should really be riding Elite races. Clive Nicholls from High Wycombe was there and he’s a super strong rider who has been out for a while.
I signed on as number 72 and I was told that there were 86 riders in our race, this is a clear indication that there are not enough 3rd cat races to cater for the increase in popularity. It’s a bit of a shame that there isn’t a weekend summer series at Hillingdon to match the winter series.
The race was quite fast for a 3/4 race, we were averaging well over 25mph for the first half, normally you would expect these races to be under 25mph easily. I started to realise this might not be as easy as I had hoped.
I spoke to Clive and we discussed getting in a break together, we’d agreed to leave it to allow the bunch to wear themselves down. With around 10 mins remaining I saw Clive move to the front. I followed him and although Clive didn’t realise this there were 4 of us away and we had a small gap. Clive hit the front as hard as he could and shot off. Unfortunately I was behind the other riders in the group and I didn’t get on his wheel. As you can see I wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to get across to Clive.
Clive was eventually caught and the bunch sprint was inevitable. Clive went off early and held on for 2nd place, the sprint was won by Jo Skelton of Look Mum not Hands. Jo’s a excellent sprinter and can normally out sprint the Elites.
As for me, I was in about 5th place coming around the final corner but the rider in front of me just stalled and I lost about 6 places on the right side of me as you can see below. I finished 12th and a little bit disappointed.
Up until now I hadn’t finished my last two races, I’d had too much time off the bike and I wasn’t sure how I would get on. I had the choice to ride in the E/1/2/3 race but I wanted to try and win one of the 3/4 races first.
I knew the race would be short as there isn’t much light in the evenings just yet so I was prepared for lots of attacking. I had been warned that the Kingston Wheelers would be riding and that they would have several riders present, I’d heard of Gareth Thomas before as he’s been riding a while and because he finished an excellent 2nd at Milland Hill. I knew Gareth was the rider to watch which with hindsight made my ‘tactics’ seem even worse!
I rode quite sensibly for about 2 laps, then the first break went which included riders from Kingston wheelers. It’s not often you see tactics used effectively in a 3/4 race so I didn’t read too much into it but the two Kingston riders didn’t seem to want to do any work. I think on that occasion we realised that no commitment was going to be made so we just sat up. Other breaks were going off and again there was at least one Kingston rider in each break, again sat on the back and unwilling to work.
About half way into the race a friend of mine who is a strong rider attacked, I went with him and so did two riders from the Kingston, at the time I was trying to encourage them to ride with us. They had two riders in the break so it surprised me that they wouldn’t work with us. I felt really strong though so I wasn’t going to let that stop me and I continued to push on as hard as I could to keep the pace up. We got to the line as a group of four and the whistle went for the Prime lap! I didn’t really know what to do at this stage because I didn’t want to gift the Prime to a Kingston rider but at the same time I knew that Gareth was still in the bunch and that he would attack after the Prime.
I decided to attack on the long downhill section and try and win the Prime, perhaps I could have hung back a bit but I’d already committed myself to this move and I had a good gap. It would have been stupid to give up the Prime when I had it in the bag. I crossed the line on my own and won the Prime with a decent gap so at least I’d won my money back for the night.
The effort was too much and as expected Gareth went off past me just after the Prime, I’m not sure how he attacked the bunch but he flew past me and it was clear that the Kingston Wheelers tactics had worked well.
From then on Gareth’s team mates worked well together, there wasn’t a move that they weren’t in and if they missed any, then they just rode on the front and brought things back together. I’d hoped to win one of these races and so I hadn’t really thought too hard about what I would do in this situation so my tactics got worse. I should have sat back, accepted what had happened and saved my efforts for the inevitable bunch sprint and maybe picked up 2nd place, instead I just kept attacking and wearing myself down.
I did calm down a bit at the end though and positioned myself reasonably well for the sprint, I was just about to hit full gas and over take a couple of riders in front of me but the rider in front of me switched from the left and moved into the slipstream of the rider next to him and that unnerved me a little so I backed off a bit but that was my fault for not sprinting from the front.
I picked up 5th in the sprint and 6th overall so I can’t be too disappointed but I felt really good so it was a shame to miss out but I rode really badly and I should have maybe just stuck to Gareth for the entire race as I’d planned too. Well done to the Kingston Wheelers riders for riding so well, one of their riders even took 2nd in the sprint so it shows how well they were riding together.
Track training this Sunday 21st at Welwyn arrive at 11.30 for a 12.00 noon start. bikes for hire for £3.00 Look or Look Keo pedals or toe clips and straps. Please note we can not change the pedals. Cost of session £3.00 under 18s and £5.00 for Club members over 18 £10.00 for non club members. Novices welcome just come along and try. We will have coaches in attendance at this session.
A couple of months ago I decided it would be a good idea to enter this Surrey League Race, it’s pretty local and although the course does feature a 25% incline, it’s pretty short though and we’d only need to go up it 6 times so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad.
I knew it would still be hard for me to stay with the bunch though so I knew it would be really important to stay at the front for the climb as there was a short sprint afterwards, a hard left turn followed by a long uphill drag. It’s easy to get over the 25% bit and ease off but if you do that you will soon get dropped.
Lap one went quite well but I did find it quite hard to stay with the bunch on the first climb of the hill. I kept to the front and did quite well, a few of my friends had been dropped by this point so I was pleased to still be with the bunch. On lap two a rider was riding on the front on the approach to the climb to make it harder. I got over the sharp incline but I really struggled on the uphill drag afterwards.
I tried to get back to the bunch and after half a lap of trying I got to the first aid car but it was just as the bunch were going up another hill. I didn’t have the legs to get back in and I realised I would be riding the rest of the race on my own.
After two laps on my own at TT pace, I started to feel pretty tired, I wanted to keep going though because I knew that some of my mates were behind me and that if they caught me, then I would probably get dropped as I was pretty tired. I saw them up the 25 climb and we rode a lap together before I was dropped by them on the hill, I’d blown completely!
I had another two laps left and I wanted to finish, I got round (just about) and all the officials had packed up and gone back to HQ.
I was pleased to finish but I’ve decided I’m just too big to get up these sort of hills, I think next season it would be more sensible for me to choose races that I can be more competitive in.
The 3 Down 300K from Chalfont St Peter to the New Forest and back, attracted 54 starters. The helpers’ ride, with even more of us, will set off on Saturday. It was almost the first day of spring: cold but sunny and the ennervating north-east wind we have been enduring for weeks, reduced, but still providing a real bite across the exposed part of the New Forest. 47 riders finished, many looking exhausted after the 80 miles of headwind, but for many it was their first 300 and for practically everyone their first of the year.
One of the Willesden’s own riders produced this great article about the ride on her Bikes and Bees Blog
The next club Audaxes, with much more sensible distances, are Mick Hill’s 10 Thames Bridges 110km and Kaf to Kaf 62km, starting from Maidenhead this coming Sunday (14th). For anyone who can simply not get enough time on the bike, the 400km Severn Across is on May 11th. Links to the details of those rides and the full list of our 2013 Audaxes is on the Willesden Audax Calendar
Finally, many thanks to my family, Ray and Paul for their help on the day. I’ve had nothing but praise for the tlc they gave riders on their return.
Ten riders turned up for a fine and sunny afternoons track training. With Seven youth and Junior riders and a poor turnout of only three senior riders. Although everyone enjoyed a hard 2 hour session on the track.
Track training this Sunday 7th at Welwyn arrive at 11.30 for a 12.00 noon start. bikes for hire for £3.00 Look or Look Keo pedals or toe clips and straps. Please note we can not change the pedals. Cost of session £3.00 under 18s and £5.00 for Club members, £10.00 for non club members.
The cold and icy weather didn’t stop the warm welcome at the Minet Ladies Good Friday Party. Just a few pictures of all that food you missed as well as the good company.
The Savages have had some bikes stolen from their shed in Hayes.
Please keep an eye out for them.
Look KX, carbon, grey frame, white writing highlighted in orange, blue rimmed mavic wheels, white handle bar tape, 52 cm frame, Kirsten Savage sticker on top tube.
Specialized Hard Rock, sport disc, red frame with black and white writing, crud catcher mudguards, road tyres, Sav sticker on top tube, 21″ frame and topeak mtb pump.
Specialized Hard Rock, comp disc, black frame with white writing, crud catcher mudguards, 13 or 15 ” frame, road tyres.
If you spot one of these bikes please call the police and contact Nici or Tony.
This weekend, Kenny Ross and myself decided to take a trip to Hog Hill. It was chucking it down with rain all day and both Kenny and myself had agreed if we hadn’t of already paid our entry fee, we probably wouldn’t have gone.
Neither of us had been to Hog Hill before, I wasn’t that excited about riding, mainly because there was a hill on the circuit which we would ride around 20 times in the race. I wasn’t too concerned because it was a race for 3/4 cats so I didn’t think it could be too hard.
Once we arrived I was really impressed, the facilities are great and I wasn’t put off by the hill at all. The only thing was that the Guernsey Velo team were parked in the car park. I don’t think they get to race much but when they do race, they normally tear races apart.
We got on the course and rode a couple of laps and I was confident we would do OK. I started right at the front and we did our first lap and I felt comfortable but I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep that pace up for long. I backed off just a tiny bit on the climb to try and preserve my legs and that was probably the worst thing I could have done because straight after the climb there was a sharp corner followed by a 40mph descent. I quickly found out that if you allow yourself to back off even for a second, you then have to struggle to get back into the bunch, mainly because there are so many tight corners.
I can honestly say I’ve never ridden around wet corners as quickly as I did in those laps, the weather totally changed the race and by 3 laps in I found myself drifting back and totally out of contention of the race. Kenny was doing a great ride but was at the back of the bunch before the climb and the rider in front of him sat up and Kenny found himself a bike length off the back of the bunch. I got to Kenny and the other rider and got on the front to try and drag Kenny back to the bunch but it wasn’t to be.
Kenny carried on and was just hanging off the back of a small bunch, there can’t have been many less than 20 riders left in the main bunch at this point. I was struggling from my efforts but I wanted to carry on to finish the race so I could learn the course and get something out of the day. The next lap my chain came off, I wasn’t too bothered because I was already out of contention so I got off and put my chain back on. Then the following lap I realised I had a slow puncture and decided to stop riding.
Kenny was mainly riding on his own and was able to complete the race despite the terrible conditions. We were all a bit fed up after the race, it was a long way to travel to be taken out of the back of the race so early on but once we heard the results it was clear we weren’t the only riders to struggle and in fact Kenny’s perseverance earned him a very respectable 15th place which was eventually upgraded to 14th!
The race was won by Joshua Gosselin Guernsey Velo and full results and photos are available on the UKCyclesport website.
Please let me know if you will be coming to the Westerley this Wednesday
FOR:8:30pm on Wednesday 20th March 2013 – at The Westerley’s Club rooms are at the Northolt Rugby Club, Cayton Road, Greenford. Horse jokes will not be tolerated!
Willesden member, Ray Tucker, was selected for the British Team to compete in the World Duathlon Championships in Ottawa, Canada in August. He won his age group in the British trials race earlier this month in Northamptonshire – the sprint duathlon – 5K run /13 mile bike/5K run. He would like to thank Ray Kelly who timed his practise transitions one Friday afternoon at the track.
Ray will also be trialling for the longer duathlon distance of 10K run/40K bike/10K run. Well done and good luck Ray in your next qualification race next month.
By the way – a septuagenarian is someone in their 70s!
The National Duathlon Championships were held in Cambridgeshire and Ray Tucker won a silver medal in the O/70 category behind Britain’s no.1, Brian Grierson. Here is a brief report:
