No Sumners Ponds but Twyford

 Thanking my riding mates for agreeing to scrap the riding to Sumners Ponds plan and going for an "easy and steady" ride to Twyford.

I've been ill this week and I'm not fully recovered yet. Looking at how I finished today (spoiler: almost dead) I have no doubt that a ride to Sumners Ponds would have killed me.

"Easy and steady" are relative terms. As you know it all depends on who you are riding with. I wasn't riding with slow riders today. In fact, I was riding with fairly crazy riders.

How else would you describe the fact that over coffee it was proposed the brilliant plan of running the Florence Marathon.. barely two months after we finish our cycling season in September.

Proving that I fit in this group I was immediately tempted to say yes to the plan. I am an accomplished runner (proof in my last run report https://www.strava.com/activities/6430407945) and my lack of personality makes it very difficult for me to say no to a plan that gives me the opportunity to show off.

Luckily for me I was tired and the caffeine didn’t make its effect yet so I said no to the plan. An outcome you can’t imagine how grateful I am for looking at how I feel at the moment.

To make things better I took the theoretical win in today’s three sprints (Twyford, Drift Rd. and Hampton).

Being as honest as I normally am in my reports I’ll confess I didn’t cross the line first in any of them. That would have been a miracle. But I was well positioned in the three sprints, I saw the winning move starting in front of me, I had the legs to follow those moves (in theory) and I “know” I would have taken those wins.

You would be excused for thinking that interpretation of facts is a bit optimistic, especially if you mention that Ed van der Poel was involved in those three sprints. I got a bit of that when I explained to my riding mates my reasoning. But we have agreed already that I was the only one in that group that was thinking straight today.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8619572195

Take care 

Javier Arias González

The consequences of riding without legs and without a brain

A picture is worth a thousand words…

I wasn’t sure how my legs were going to be today after a couple of inconsistent weeks and it turns out they decided to stay in bed instead of coming with me to the ride. 

Now, why does an extremely conservative rider decide to move to the front without having the legs and riding with four other strong riders?

Because the brain also decided to stay in bed instead of coming with me to the ride.

So this is what happened.

I did my fair bit in the front the first 45 kilometers of the ride (which is highly unusual for me, even when I have the legs) because I didn’t have a brain.

From kilometer 45 to the coffee stop I was just happy surviving at the back of the group because I didn’t have the legs. 

Coffee, scone, cream and jam at the Devil’s Punchbowl because I didn’t have a brain to think properly.

I shouldn’t have had that coffee. 

A coffee meant caffeine made me feel strong and optimistic. So I moved to the front… again!

A few downhill, tailwind powered efforts convinced me I was going to play a good role in the last two hills when that kind of performance is very unusual for me, even when I have my legs and brain.

That conviction lasted until I released which hill was coming first. I didn’t know the name. I didn’t even know we were going to climb it. Which is a lot to say considering it was me the one that proposed the route and the climb was Barhatch, a climb difficult to miss. 

What I knew very well is I didn’t have the legs to “play a good role”. It was more being at risk of having to play Chris Froome up Mt. Ventoux’s role… but walking.

Without legs and with my caffeine inducted conviction vanished I rode Coombe Lane, the last hill, at snail pace. 

From the top of Coombe Lane to home is mostly downhill. You’d imagine I would be in “take me home” mode. 

What happened instead is I moved to the front and helped push the pace all the way to Cobham.

Why? Downhill, tailwind, no brain… You know the drill by now.

At Cobham I started to consider the idea of leading the group to the Esher sprint. I might have been riding without a brain but I wasn’t stupid enough to believe I had a chance at the sprint.

I figured that leading the group to the sprint, something I don’t think ever happened, would, somehow, make my ride honorable.

Unfortunately that only lasted until Ed Van der Poel moved to the front and I saw the opportunity to sit on his wheel all the way to Esher.

I clearly was stupid enough to believe I had a chance at the sprint.

In fact I thought I was going to take the Esher sprint. Honestly. I thought it was almost guaranteed I was going to take an uphill sprint. 

I was third.

Which isn’t as great as it sounds when you know it was only three of us sprinting for the line and there was a considerable gap between the first two and myself.

No legs, no brain, no honor.

Got home, had lunch and fell asleep hoping to reunite with my legs and brain for tomorrow’s ride. 

My honor is lost forever.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8582779706

Take care

Javier Arias González

 

Wargrave. Not a Z2 ride

Dai showed up in excellent humour today and as he wanted a Zone 2 ride he, for once, allowed everyone, including me, to take turns at the front.

That is a good base for a great ride. That, and the nice weather. So nice that two out of the eight in the group were riding without gloves. I wasn’t one of them.

At the coffee stop we had the opportunity to comment on the most recent Zwift racing results. We marvelled at Denis’ results at Zwift racing and despite the effect those races have in the quantity and quality of his work at the front, we all agreed that’s the right thing for him to focus on. Dai in particular also seemed very interested in taking on Zwift racing.

The other part of the conversation at the coffee stop was about what a training ride is. Not that we came to any conclusion beyond Back For Breakfast rides are NOT a training ride. Something about missing “through and off” riding. Don’t ask me.

To show THEM how it is done we rode through and off at Drift Road. The result was not very impressive if you ask me. A solitary rider was able to keep up with the pace of our eight riders group despite him leaving a good gap to not be in our wheels. The Pope attacked at a very random point (to be fair I don’t think anyone was surprised about that one). Marek and DD formed a mini train and caught almost everyone despite the gap the rest of the group had on them at the “climb”. Marek still claims that was not one of the “few mini efforts” (https://www.strava.com/activities/8465391020) that took him out of riding at Zone 2 all day. Apparently the sprint was taken by Calum, the same Calum that was telling me minutes before he was considering focusing his training in Time Trialing.

Decided to get things back to normality I prepared myself for the last sprint. A sure win for me, despite all the work I have done at the front, was lost because Ed van del Poel decided to have a puncture a few meters before the sprint. 

As punishment we took back the old tradition of timing puncture repair time. Ed van del Poel is now leading the board with a performance he described as “Work to be done!” (https://www.strava.com/activities/8465498623). Always understanding Dai was more magnanimous and rated it as “Top quality puncture repair 🏆” but I’m asking myself if he is being ironic, something I never seen Dai doing..

That’s it. Apologies for the few Saturday Gang inside jokes in today’s report. Although, paraphrasing the GREAT Tim Krabbé at The Rider, “Non-Saturday Gangers. The emptiness of your lives shocks me”.

 The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8465165355 

Take care

Javier Arias González

 

Alice Holt

Flat endurance ride (https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2019/02/javiers-ride-classification-criteria.html)

My today’s track record as road captain.

Misjudged the weather and showed up for the ride way overdressed. I took off several pieces of kit even before we started the ride.

A rider that didn’t announce they’d join the ride showed up 5kms into the ride. Of course he wasn’t the best behaved rider of the pack.

10kms into the ride a coup d’etat formed and my navigation instructions were ignored completely. Several times in a row. 

Something like 20kms into the ride the unannounced rider decided to peel off. Who can plan a ride with such a level of anarchy.

I missed a right turn. I wouldn’t read too much into it because we miss that turn everytime we do this ride.

I wanted a K2 ride but looking at the success at my last “Proper, steady K2 ride” https://www.strava.com/activities/7790384597 I announced the ride as K1.5. It turns out it was closer to K1 than to K1.5. 

The good news is after today’s experience I came out with a great way of classifying rides. I’d put a given K value, say today’s K1.5, and then would warn everyone to discount 0.1 for each person that joins that have the letters E and D in their name. As Ed “The Pope”, Ed van der Poel and “GC” Denis signed up for the ride the adjusted K value was K1.2. Which sounds about the pace I had to survive today.

I only realized we were climbing Hog “hill” (https://www.strava.com/activities/7894281917/segments/3011276855885634848) when it was way too late to save my legs for it. Blew up 50 meters before the top.

A second coup d’etat, instigated by the same rider, changed the route to the end of the ride only to make sure I didn’t know what the final sprint was. I was preparing for the sprint at Hurst Rd in Hapmton Court and suddenly I started to see signs suggesting we were heading to Esher. A sprint I wasn’t prepared for. Luckily for me there were too many cars around so we didn’t have a final sprint.

In my favor I have that we actually stopped at Alice Holt which is a clear improvement on the last ride I was ride captain. In that one we were supposed to stop at Henley and after another coup d’etat, by a different rider, ended up stopping in Twyford (https://www.strava.com/activities/7790384597).

Let’s think long term and with optimism. I reckon in 40 or 50 rides I’ll master the role. 

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7894281917

Btw. I checked my last three rides to Alice Holt and they were:

26th of January 2019 https://www.strava.com/activities/2104636782

25th of January 2020 https://www.strava.com/activities/3042232307

29th of January 2022 https://www.strava.com/activities/6599543557 

I guess we now know the route for the 21st or 28th of January 2023

Take care

Javier Arias González

I want my money back

A rant ahead, be warned.

GC Denis had put up the ride as “K1.5 to Windsor via Twyford - just under 100km”

The start of the ride was at Old Kings Head (OKH) instead of the traditional Sunday club starting point at Laithwaite’s (LW) . A cheeky way of confusing me and making me late. Even worse, to make me ride 5 extra kilometers and getting me even more tired than I was feeling when I jumped on the bike.

The post said “just under 100km” and my ride was 111 kilometers.

As close as Hampton Court, Denis got lost.

The coffee stop at Twyford was closed. So we had to ride 5 extra kilometers to get coffee at Wargrave. Did I mention I was tired? Well, by the time we made it to Twyford I was also hungry and craving for coffee. 

Is this enough to ask for my money back?

Wait there is more.

The ride was K1.5. A code for “let’s ride as fast as we can while pretending we are friends”. Richard L. has signed up for it and I was happy about it. He would bring some sense to the pace. Sense that I really needed because, as you know, I was feeling really tired.

In the morning I learnt Richard L. was not coming. At the start point (OKH, don’t get confused) I learnt Ed van der Poel was joining the ride. Forget about any sense in the pace. I almost cried there and then. I was so tired!

And then there was the wind…

Look it is ok to order wind for a ride you organize but when one does that you order head wind on the way out and nice tail wind on the way back. What did we get today? Wind all over the place all day. To make things worse Denis is so aero that you don’t get any benefit drafting him. I had to constantly pay attention and make sure I was sitting behind Ed van der Poel to get some cover.

Of course that is a challenge in itself. Imagine yourself having to pass any van der Poel to give him a turn in the front. You need an effort that will make lactic acid come out of your eyes. And I was tired!!

Can I please get my money back?

It’s only fair. What kind of experience did I get?

Denis took the sprints at Twyford, Wargrave and Drift rd. Let that sink for a minute. 

One joins a club run hoping to have a good experience and “GC” Denis takes three sprints. I didn’t pay to ride with someone that is transforming himself into another Pogacar.

To make my experience more miserable at some point we passed a group of Kingston Wheelers. They were riding at what looked like a K3 pace (Club pace for those not initiated). They looked so relaxed, so chatty, they were even smiling. 

I felt ride envy. That was the experience I could have had and instead of that I was hanging at the back of the trio for my dare life. Things were getting hot because we were getting close to the final sprint.

As always I did everything well. In the last meters I was sitting on Ed’s wheel and had Denis sitting on mine. I was paying attention to a potential attack from Ed from the front, something you always have to have in mind when you have a van der Poel in the front. I was also paying attention to a potential attack from Denis, now that I considered him a sprinter I had to take him into account.

At the right point I attacked…

And none of them contested the sprint.

If we are sprinting we are all sprinting. If we don’t sprint none of us sprints. Me sprinting WHEN I WAS ON TIRED LEGS and no one else sprinting is a terrible experience.

I.WANT.MY.MONEY.BACK.

I’m going to report Denis to the committee for terrible road captain performance. I’m pretty sure he is going to be banned from organizing Kingston Wheelers rides for a few weeks. He’ll be missed but I hope when he is back he has reflected on his sins (and stops taking sprints).

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7520319295

Take care

Javier Arias González

KW - Amesbury Amble 2022 (300km Audax)

Put two Ed in your ride and your average speed will increase by almost 2 km/h.

Amesbury Amble 2019 (https://www.strava.com/activities/2287639549) - 27.9 km/h

Amesbury Amble 2021 (https://www.strava.com/activities/5340745666) - 28.0 km/h

Amesbury Amble 2022 (https://www.strava.com/activities/6955948704) - 29.7 km/h

The Pope acted as The Pope and started to attack each ramp we faced. Ed van der Poel following suit, me happy just hanging in there.

We stopped for lunch at Amesbury and you could tell that didn’t go down well in Ed van del Poel’s body. He started to struggle a little. 

Quite the opposite for me. I started to think “Actually, I’m feeling quite well”. What did I do? I started to visit the front. That’s not like me!!! That is more like if I were playing Denis’ role. [I thought about writing that I was playing Dai’s role but that wouldn’t be accurate as I wasn’t at the front all the time].

By the time Ed van der Poel started to recover The Pope started to struggle. To the point that I thought that today he was playing JFW’s role.

The problem was that Ed van der Poel was getting a strong second wind and he started to play Bidders’ role. A moment I decided it would be better for me to play Javier’s role… Except when we hitted any ramp. When we hitted any ramp I started to play The Pope’s role and felt almost compelled to attack then.

The problem with that attitude, no matter how laudable, is that you get tired. Maybe I wasn’t playing The Pope’s role all that well.

So I decided to focus on playing Javier’s role. I know I can play that one quite well and we were approaching the final sprint so that role comes as a second nature to me.

Ed van der Poel played Denis’ role despite we had agreed The Pope was going to play it. I’m not sure what role The Pope played because he disconnected from the sprint. I definitely was playing Javier’s role.

Ed van der Poel didn't play Denis’ role that well. Instead of keeping a constant and steady pace he kept accelerating. He almost dropped me!!! Well, not only that… He almost took the sprint!!! Attacking from the front!!! That’s not a great Denis’ impersonation I have to say. 

Luckily I was playing Javier’s role to perfection and managed to take the sprint. I’m pretty sure Ed van der Poel still doesn't know where the line is. No one ever said spriting is a fair game.

I am convinced Ed van der Poel didn’t enjoy his role as Denis’ either because came Coombe Lane and he decided to play Ed van der Poel. Coombe Lane was Santa Caterina in 2021, I played Julian Alaphilippe and you know how that ended.

I was still very happy with my ride (probably happier than Alaphilippe with his at that Strade Bianche). At no moment I struggled. Power decreased in the second half but was still decent. Finished feeling well. A strong sign that endurance is coming. Happy days.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/6955948704/ 

Take care

Javier Arias González