Kingston Wheelers 2/3 race at Dunsfold (a day at the races)

Get up really, really early to cook two tortillas. My plan was to cook them yesterday, but Carmen found out and didn't allow me. She argued tortillas would not be at the required quality standard if cooked the day before, that I have a reputation to honour, tortillas had to be cooked on the day.

I marshalled Kingston Wheelers Dunsfold race in 2013. That day I realized how s**t my cycling pedigree was. I was 44 and seeing a real cycling race live for the first time in my live (and learning that Milan-San Remo was a monument). I even wrote about it in this blog, a shame it is in Spanish because I still think it is probably my best entry. Anyway I got so excited with the race that I wrote "I have to try this racing thing".

Two years later and here I am. Lead car 2 radio operator no less, quite a promotion I would say.

To be honest I'd have to confess that it was a self-assigned position with the idea of having an easy time sitting warm in the car while the others were racing so I didn't get too tired because I was racing in the afternoon.

As stupid as it sounds I managed to enrol myself in the 2/3 race when I was meant to sign up for the 3rd cat only race (which would have been more than enough for me).

What an experience. I learnt a lot about what is going on behind the scenes in a race. And really enjoyed seeing the race from the car. There was a solo break that got up to 48 seconds, but he was reeled back. And then another one. I immediately recognized Gareth pedalling style (so aero). He was being chased by a group of about 6 riders. He managed to keep them at about 10 seconds for a good while but finally a group of four was formed, one of them a Wheeler (Andrew). When they got more than a minute on the bunch the commissaries asked our car to let them pass us and wait for the peloton. When we got a visual on the peloton the Kingon Wheelers where at the front keeping the pace slow. Excellent work!!! So excellent the break made it to the line with Gareth taking first and Andrew taking second. I couldn't see the final, but I was super happy for them.

Time to disappear. Go to the car. Eat a pasta salad and time for a siesta.

I actually didn't sleep at all, but I managed to get 45 minutes of really relaxed time with my eyes closed. It really felt good.

Sign in, get a coffee and sit for a while. Andrew commented I looked relaxed, and I really was. I had low expectations on the race, no need to stress myself.

Time to go for a warmup, commissaries final instructions and off we go.

Pace was not hard and I sat comfortable in the middle of the bunch for the most of the first lap.

Now the tricky section came, a left turn, a couple nasty potholes, wet road. I break enough to feel comfortable and there I have to sprint for a minute to keep contact with the tail of the bunch.

Short descend, left turn and we complete the first lap as "the climb" starts. Give it all for another minute and boom. I'm dropped and out of the race.

My expectations were low, but not that low, couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Killed the idea of quitting only because I needed the workout to meet my objective of the week so kept pedalling.

Saw in the distance another rider and took me a bit of time trialling to get to him. When I passed him I said something that meant to encourage him to jump on my wheel, but I doubt I managed to say anything coherent in English.

Luckily no words are needed to get to an agreement and we started to work together.

Our pace was nothing mental, we kept it constant and I kept cadence around 100rpm when I was in the front in an intent of making sure my legs were going to last.

Having someone to work with helped a lot. Not only because that allowed me to rest but also because it kept me motivated to keep it going (that and the support I got from my fellow Wheelers in every corner).

Nothing happened until we were at 4 laps to go; and what happened was that we were about to be lapped.

Fantastic, not only dropped in the first lap but also lapped by the field in a circuit that is 10kms long.

A rider passed us and asked if we were in a break or dropped!!!!!!!

We jumped to the tail of the peloton as they passed us. My objective now was to try to keep up with them to the finish. It was "only" four more laps.

How naive. The moment we got to the tricky turn I lost contact with the peloton and there I was dropped for the second time and alone again.

And here comes the moment of the race I'm more proud of.

When I hit the top of "the climb" I saw in the distance the rider that was riding with me. He was not alone. There was another rider a bit behind him.

I set myself to catch them. I thought I had to do it quickly, if they get together and start working I won't be able to catch them.

It didn't look like they were working very well together, but still I was having a hard time to reduce the gap, but with 65kms in the legs and almost two hours racing I managed to put a consistent effort for more than 15 minutes.

The third rider pulled out as I was passing him and a few minutes later I caught my companion. It took me a whole lap so when I got his wheel I told him I needed a minute to rest (and to get a gel).

When I got my breath back we went back to work together. The pace had obviously went down, but hey, we were still there and only two laps to go.

At some point a third rider (another third rider) passed us. We jumped on his wheel and we started to take turns.

At that point I was really tired and I was struggling to make anything out of my turns on the front.

Finally we made it to the final turn and here it came the final climb. The third rider decided he was going to softpedal his way to the line and I climbed it riding in parallel with my companion. When we got to the flat I tried to sprint but he was more clever and didn't even try (what was the point anyway?) so I eased and we both softpedalled our way to the HQ.

Time to relax, eat something and comment the race with the Wheelers that were around. Despite of being dropped (twice) I felt happy and in peace with myself.

Got to the car, my phone didn't have coverage so drove back following my navigation instinct.

Miraculously (and because the phone did got coverage at some point) I got home. Got a shower and set myself to cook dinner for the family. I knew if I sat down I wouldn't be able to stand up again.

Finished dinner and rushed to the computer to download the track and look at the numbers.

Enough of peace with myself, the numbers revealed I was terrible today, I was dropped by a power*duration effort that I can do more than ten times in a trainer session!!!!

I think I now have a very good idea of what went wrong.

I was too relaxed. Way too relaxed.

I passed through the tricky bend on the car 8 times and the idea that was a potential point of concern for me didn't even cross my mind. What was I thinking!!!!

I look at my warm up and it is a joke. 3.5km, 8:26 minutes. Worst warmup ever (published here for public scorn). Even more terrible if you have in mind that I think I am very slow warming up.

Now Javier. True, it is early for you to be competitive in these races. True, you messed up and you signed up for the wrong race. But a race is a race, if you are going to be part of it at least be focussed and do it properly.

Finishing the race once you were dropped is ok but it is not good enough consolation.

the race in Strava.

Longcross (London Dynamo race #1)

Finished in the bunch and I was very happy with it. I even celebrated it when I crossed the line.

I know it is not that a great achievement to finish on the bunch a race but considering how tired I was from this week's training, how my mind was asking me to find an excuse to not show up when I was still in bed and how my legs felt when I was warming up I'm really happy with the result.

For me it was not only about finishing in the bunch, it was also feeling "comfortable" in the middle of the peloton, with my cornering and deciding what to do at every moment of the race.

At some point I saw Declan at the front setting the pace, I figured he was trying to bring back a break (which I didn't know there was one) so I moved to the front and started to work. When the "climbs" came everyone passed me full speed, but I recovered in the final straight and moved to the front again. I did that about three or four times and when we were crossing the line I saw there were still 9 laps to go so I relaxed a bit and hide in the middle of the peloton to recover for a few laps. With 2 laps to go I moved to the back of the peloton and focussed on staying away of any problem. For me the work was done.

It was all about getting confidence back (especially after last race's fiasco), getting the training and measuring my progress.

Today I felt comfortable, numbers are telling I'm in better form than last year at this time, I'm not competitive yet, but if everything goes well I will.

Imperial Winter Series e123 race (Fear)

Fear, that is. Simple an plain fear.

It started to rain when we were waiting for the go, the pace was nothing special, but I was not comfortable cornering. I was afraid of slipping and that made me slow down and hesitate, it took me only three laps to quit.

My brain tells me it is all right, it was not the day nor the place to build confidence, my heart tells me I should have try harder. I hate this controversy.

Good thing next week I'm racing at Cyclopart, it'll help to build my confidence in my cornering.

The three laps in Strava (published as punishment for being such a quitter)

Imperial Winter Series 3th cat race

My first race of the year. Three months after the crash that broke my collarbone.

With this background in mind and knowing that my training was not that great since the beginning of the year (too much travelling) my expectation was pretty low for this race. In fact my brain spent all morning looking for excuses to justify honourably not showing up today. Couldn't find any so had to show up.

At the third lap the idea of being dropped didn't look that bad. I was expecting to be dropped at some time so why not quit early and have an easy time. 

I don't know why, or even how, but I kept going; a few laps later the pace went down and I started to feel comfortable in the middle of the peloton.

Half way of the race there was a crash in the second "climb" of the circuit. It sounded pretty nasty, luckily I was at the other side of the line so managed to avoid it without a problem.

When the 5 to go sign appeared the pace went up a bit but very quickly slowed down considerable. It was obvious that everyone was waiting for the sprint. I decided to move to the back of the peloton. I didn't think I could have been competitive, despite the first crash the peloton was still quite big and, honestly, being the first race of the year, I was more than happy to finish in the bunch and in one piece.

I think it was in the last lap there was another crash, this one in the first "climb". This time it happened just in front of me. One of these crashes that you see a rider moving left a bit too much, then he tries to correct which ends up with him moving right a bit too much and you know he will take someone down. And that was exactly what happened. I had plenty of time to avoid it, but still had to ride to the green. 

Soft pedaled to the line and when I was crossing it I celebrated a bit. I guess it looked silly to the spectators (a guy celebrating his 40th or 50th position) but I was really happy.

Not only I was in one piece and I was not dropped, I also ended up feeling quite comfortable in the bunch which is great to gain some confidence after a serious crash. I managed to move up and down as I wished and I didn't finish that tired. Riding back home was all joy and hopes for the year to come.

Then when I looked at the numbers I realized they were not that great (no wonder it didn't felt that hard) but what numbers can't take away is the fun I had being back to racing.

The race in Strava

Take care

Javier Arias González

¿Quebrantahuesos 2015? Parece que este año no va a poder ser

¿Qué pasa "biciosos"?

Resulta que el número agraciado fue el 11,682. Es decir, que tienen plaza los números del 11.6882 al 15.443 y del 1 al 3.738.

Yo tenía el número 9.833, lo que significa que estoy en la lista de espera en la posición 6.095. Mi optimismo natural no me impide ver que, después de 5 participaciones consecutivas, este año no estaré en la Quebrantahuesos.

No os podéis hacer una idea de lo que me fastidia perderme esta cita anual. La Quebrantahuesos era mi principal objetivo para este año, incluso por encima de la Paris-Brest-Paris; toca adaptarse y cambiar de planes.

A cuidarse
Javier Arias González

First proper ride of the year

First you break your collarbone back in early November.

Then, when the doctors give you permission to go back on the bike you drag your feet and you don't really ride as you said you would.

If the the logical drop of CTL where not enough you add 4kgs to your body weight during Christmas (I could blame my mother, but that would be too mean, even for me).

And if all these would not probe enough how silly you confirmed it deciding to join a 85m ride to Chilterns that was announced as "K2 pace, for experience riders only". I should have read "too tough for you my unfit and fatty friend" but I couldn't help but read "That's exactly what you need".

I can't say I didn't know what I was doing, specially seeing who was at Laithwaites waiting to join the ride. But, hey, I set very low expectations. I was prepared to be dropped at some point. The idea was to push myself to let the ball of year preparation start rolling.

Things went better than expected. I made it to the coffee stop with the group and the second half was even better. At some point I thought I was going to be able to finish the ride with the group, but reality soon came to put my feet on the ground.

By Lower Sunbury road I was dropped, luckily the traffic light at the A308 was red so I could join the group. But that was a mirage, before Hampton Court I was dropped again. 

Now, here is the thing. When I started the ride I was expecting to be dropped but being dropped that close to the end really annoyed me. I hate to be dropped. I shouldn't because I get dropped so often that I should be used to it by now. As said sometimes I even expect it, but I still hate it. To give you an idea I prefer the Spanish national football team to lose the world champion final more than I being dropped once.

And the worst of today being dropped is how tired I was. Empty, wasted, you put the adjetive and it won't be short of how I felt. Basically I had to spin at 11 km/h all the way home, it took me ages. More time to enjoy my anger and frustration. Switching to another sport looked like a sensible option, chess, darts or snooker looked like the best candidates.

By the time I got home the idea of going upstairs to take a shower made me think that installing one of this would be a great investment for the house, even if I don't know the rules of some of them.

The beauty of all this is that after the shower, a good lunch (which meant some pain walking down the stairs) and writing all this to pity myself I am now thinking when is going to be the next one. Some of my close ones think I'm crazy.

The ride in Strava

Take care

Javier Arias González

Mi CTL (o la evolución de mi estado de forma) en los últimos 365 días

Pues aquí va el gráfico de mi CTL (Chronical Training Load). Por explicarlo de alguna manera, cada vez que sales tienes un valor de "entrenamiento" (TSS, Training Stress Score).

El CTL, la línea azul, es la media de TSS diario en las últimas seis semanas. La idea es que es estado de forma es cuanto has entrenado (lo alto que sea tu CTL) más lo descansado que estés. Por aquello de simplificar el gráfico he eliminado la parte de lo cansado que estas y podemos hacer una aproximación CTL = estado de forma. Podéis encontrar información más detallada, en inglés, en el artículo What is the Performance Management Chart? 

El gráfico es de los últimos 365 días para poder poner perspectiva al asunto.

Os cuento lo que he señalado en el gráfico:

1. Esto son las vacaciones de navidad en Asturias. 11 días seguidos montando en bicicleta me dieron un buen empuje al estado de forma, Una pena que la semana siguiente a volver de las vacaciones tuve que viajar y no pude tocar la bici. Perdí casi todo lo ganado. El llano argandiano que hay después del punto 1 son los meses que me dediqué a competir. Como era un cuarta categoría eran carreras muy cortas por lo que mi CTL nunca llegaba a subir. No me importaba porque estaba entrenando más intensidad que otra cosa. 
2. El Man of Kent 200 hecho a toda pastilla 
3. El Oast and Coasts 300 hecho a toda pastilla hasta que me quedé sin gasolina. 
4. El Severn Across 400 (acabo de darme cuenta que en su día no escribí la crónica) hecho a toda pastilla los 200 primeros km y luego bastante dignamente 
5. El Brian Chapman 600 Los 200 primeros km a toda leche (los más rápidos que he hecho nunca) los otros 400 arrastrándome 
6. El Diching Devil 200 el 9 de Junio, perfecto para llegar en buena forma a la Quebrantahuesos. 
7. Lamentablemente después del Diching Devil tuve que viajar dos semanas seguidas por lo que cuando llegué a la Quebrantahuesos no estaba precisamente en mi mejor estado de forma (eso si, estaba muy, muy descansado). No pude batir mi tiempo del año pasado por 3 minutos 25 segundos. Hice examen de conciencia y le eché la culpa a esas dos semanas, al calor y a no se cuantas cosas más. No me faltaron excusas. 
8. Tres semanas de vacaciones en Asturias rodando como un campeón, incluídas dos subidas al Angliru, una a los Lagos, una a San Lorenzo, la leche bendita. Nótesen los rellanos de los días de descanso activo. Estoy muy orgulloso de esas tres semanas, no sólo por lo mucho que disfruté de la bici estando en tan buen estado de forma, sino por lo bien que me gestioné el cansancio y el descanso. Cuando volví de vacaciones era competitivo en las carreras de tercera categoría e incluso me animé a apuntarme a las carreras que combinaban corredores de las categorías élite, primera, segunda y tercera (e/1/2/3), me descolgaban rápido, pero estaba en la forma de mi vida. Una forma de verlo es saber que la LEL me creó un pico de CTL en 121, pero al acabarla tuve que descansar una semana y cuando volví a la bici tenía un CTL de 97 (lo que sube rápido baja rápido). En este verano había conseguido mantenerme un mes con una media de 107 TSS y dos meses seguidos por encima de 97 TSS 
9. Aquí se me acabó la tontería, a partir de este punto me toca viajar tres semanas seguidas y sólo puedo salir uno o dos días entre semana y los domingos. La caída hasta el punto 10 es rápida de 102 a 85.3 Casi un 20% de pérdida en 3 semanas sin haber estado parado del todo. A pesar de lo rápido que perdía forma todavía estaba en una forma más que decente, al mismo nivel de la que tenía cuando hice la Quebrantahuesos... 
10. Ese es el punto donde me rompí la clavícula. Era una carrera e/1/2/3 y había conseguido aguantar más de la mitad de la carrera en el grupo principal. Estaba contento con el resultado; hasta que me la pegué claro. 
11. Marca el punto donde estaba hace justo un año 56.2 TSS 
12. Marca como estoy hoy 44 TSS Una bajada desde 85.3 que tenía el día que me caí. Un 20% menos que el año pasado por estas fechas 

Si os fijáis la caída entre 11 y 12 no es una recta, tiene algunas pequeñas llanuras. Esas son las sesiones de rodillo que he hecho. Como véis al principio pocas, espaciadas y muy ligeras y luego más concentradas hasta el fin de semana pasada que hice una sesión un poquito más intensa dos días seguidos.

Viendo como ha caído mi nivel de forma y haciendo una estimación a volapluma yo diría que empezaré el año más o menos al mismo nivel que el año pasado. Lo cual es un tanto decepcionante porque otros años había conseguido empezar el año un poco mejor que el anterior. De todas formas la parte llana entre el punto 1 y 2 me da mucho margen para intentar conseguir un mejor estado de forma en 2015. "Solo" tengo que asegurarme de empezar a subir el CTL a finales de Enero, principios de Febrero.

A cuidarse
Javier Arias González