Surrey League Ottershaw Series #3

After another week travelling and last week's result I wasn't expecting much from this race, but I wasn't really prepared for the outcome either.

Everything went pretty much as last week at the beginning. No idea when the race really started but really noticed the first big push, and that was when we were about to cross the line for second time, 12 to go (the race was thirteen and a half laps).

The problem I have with a "500m to go signal" before a line that is at the top of "a climb" is that even if we still have 11 to go everyone sprints like crazy to the line... and they drop me.

Luckily this time I was well positioned; when the push came I was fifth or sixth position. Pretty much everyone passed me and before we crossed the line (with 11 to go!!!) I had a gap of around 20 meters with the rider that was in front of me. I tried to push it to get on his wheel but it was too much for me. I gave up, at least mentally. But another rider passed me, he wasn't riding that fast so I decided to jump on his wheel. The group eased a bit later and that rider took me to the back of the peloton. Literally, saved by the bell.

Pretty much same history in every single lap; surviving, but constantly at the limit of being dropped.

When I saw the 6 to go I almost raised my hands in celebration. I was really really happy. I had survived more than half of the race.

Happiness didn't last very long though, I was dropped in the following lap. Nothing brutal, just a bunch that pedals away while you say goodbye and mumble your frustration. A bit more than 4 laps to go so I decided to keep riding and finish the race.

Very soon a WyndyMilla rider rider caught me. Not sure by which mechanism but I felt relived finding out I was not the the first nor the only one dropped. Jumped on his wheel and soon I took a turn as a sign that we could work together. I guess he agreed because we started to take turns keeping a fair pace.

A lap later we saw a lonely rider in front of us and in one of the turns we got him. It was a Pedal Heaven rider, and again I found comfort in the fact that elite riders also get dropped. Silly, I know, but that's how I felt.

We worked well together until one turn that the Pedal Heaven rider instead of waiting for me to pass him he moved to the right. I thought it was weird but accelerated a bit to pass him just to realize he was moving to the right to turn left. Not having time to turn left I went straight, stopped and turned back.

When I was back on route they had quite a gap. I tried to keep a sustainable pace and I think they were waiting for me but still took me five or six minutes to catch them. At the left turn just after crossing the line with 3 to go.

That was a descend so I was sitting at the back recovering. Suddenly they broke and I broke but probably too late and too hard. I fell off the bicycle hitting the tarmac quite hard. A few cars stopped to help me and it took me about a minute to recover from the shock before I could stand up.

The pain in my shoulder and a bulge that was not there in the morning reminded me this tweet from David Lloyd and I figured I had broken my right collarbone.

It was also the time to realize how nice everyone was. The driver and his wife that stopped, called the ambulance and stayed with me until I was taken to the hospital. The personal from the two ambulances that showed up. Paul Altorf, from the Twickenham CC, that offered himself to take care of my bike (It is a huge relief to know your bike is going to be safe when your are taken to the hospital). The Commissaire, Tom McCaw, that got my car key, assured me he would move my car with the bike in it to a public parking and that allowed me to call my wife before he tried (in these cases it makes a world of a different to talk to the husband directly). And last, but not least, the lady from the organization, unfortunately I don't remember her name (update 13/Nov/2014 - It turns out her name is Susan), that came to visit me at the hospital, offered herself to coordinate with Tom to collect my car key and bring it back to me at the hospital and charge my mobile in the meantime (the crash, somehow, drained the battery). Not to mention the sympathy from NHS personal at the St Peter's hospital.

It is in moments like this when you are reminded how fortunate we are enjoying organizations like Twickenham CC, British Cycling and the NHS. I feel extremely grateful for all the help and support received and really sorry for all the hassle I have caused to everyone.

At the beginning the doctor thought it was going to be just a dislocated shoulder but the X rays confirmed it was a broken collarbone.

From that moment a rollercoaster of feelings. Wondering how soon I will be able to jump on the turbo, asking myself how I'm going to make it to not gain weight, despairing at the thought of many weeks (always too many) out of the bike, questioning where bad luck ends and clumsiness begins, struggling to convince myself this is not the right moment to decide to quit racing or even cycling altogether. Finding comfort in the idea that, at the end of the day, this is the best moment to get injured... I'm sure tomorrow I'll have a better day.

The ride in Strava

Take care (something I obviously failed to do today)
Javier Arias González

Surrey League Ottershaw Series #2

First act
I showed up with two right hand gloves (I have two pairs of the same model). I also forgot to remove my saddle bag. A Twickenham rider noticed it when we were lining up at the start and couldn't resist the temptation of making me know. Two more riders commented on my saddle bag during the ride adding to the embarrassment..

Second act
I was wondering why we were riding so slow for three entire laps. I couldn't even tell when the race really started, after the neutralized ride to the circuit. It was only when I saw the lap count twice that I realized the race was really on.

Third act
In the fourth lap I thought, if this goes like this I will do well at the end. That was just a minute before the first big push in the race. It burned my first match but I survived. A second push in the fifth lap, "only" five minutes later, and a second match is gone and with it, Javier is gone. 500w for a minute is more than enough to drop like a stone. End of the race.

Excuses
Still hesitant between two consecutive weeks travelling (and next week I'm also travelling) and the idea that I feel like my body is shutting down, I wasn't there today. Not sure which one will be more convincing.

ps. Or maybe swimming lessons on Friday evenings are not a good idea after all...

Penalty
Post the ride for public embarrassment (here), one hour on the trainer tonight and try the same race next week. Hopefully I won't be that lame...

Take care

Javier Arias González

My PBP 2015 Qualifiers plan

I have checked my dates for next year and these are the four events I have in my plan as qualifiers for PBP 2015.

Sunday - 22nd March - Man of Kent 200
Saturday - 25th April - Oasts and Coasts 300
Saturday - 9th May - Severn Across 400
Saturday - 23rd May - Bryan Chapman Memorial 600

These dates should leave enough room to enter alternative rides if for any reasons I can't ride any of them.

Funny enough these are the same rides I have ridden in the 2014. But I would consider that an advantage, I don't want to mess my PBP 2015 qualification.

Take care
Javier Arias González

Surrey League Road Race (VC Meudon) 3rds - Cutmill

[a quick/short one because I was watching the world champs]

A complicated week at work meant I couldn't ride until Friday. That, added to my crash in last week, meaning only 45 km ride on Sunday, meant my TSS sank from 108 to 96 in just a week.

I should not complain though. Had a hard ride on Friday and an easy one on Saturday and today I definitively felt really fresh.

Cutmill is supposed to be a challenging course so my objective for today was to hang on and try to finish on the bunch. As I said driving there "I would be happy finishing in the bunch".

I was expecting a hard first few laps. But it didn't happen. We were riding fast up the hill, but nothing mad.

Half way through the race I was trying to put the bottle back in the bottle cage and somehow it slippered off my fingers. "F**** stupid" shouted a rider. Half way through the race and I only had a quarter of a bottle of water. I couldn't agree more with him.

When we crossed the line and I saw 5 to go I got that weird feeling of this can't be possible, it seems we have been riding for ages!!!

With three to go I was drinking small sips to make the most out of the water I had. Got a get a gel and had it in my mouth when I had to get the handle bar with two hands, somehow I managed to drop it. I took a laugh of myself, but only because I had another gel!!!!

With two to go I was "comfortably" in the top five climbing the hill. I was happy because I figured I was going to be able to finish on the bunch.

At the bell I was again well positioned in the bunch, but looking at the numbers now I see I was hitting the max HR of the race so far.

At the final climb I positioned myself very well, I was even thinking about placing. Kept my position in the flat part of the climb and when the last bit of climb came I tried to keep up with the pace.

I managed for about 250m, a shame there were another 250m to the finish line!!!

The definition of being a crap rider

250m that I rode full of disappointment. What a crap rider was the nicest thought I was having.

But hey! as soon as I crossed the line and had a second to think I realized that finishing in the bunch was what I was happy with before the race. I know, I'm to easy on myself, but that thought made me forget my anger.

And here I am, thinking about next race. 

Take care

Javier Arias González

Surrey League Handicap Championship (Norwood Paragon)

This is a E/1/2/3/4 handicap race. My first handicap race.

I'm not sure about the criteria the organizers followed to create the groups and the order in which they were sent. But I was a bit surprised so see a few Kingston Wheelers definitively stronger than me way before my group was called.

Still I was happy with my group out of about 10 riders 5 were Kingston Wheelers and that meant we had good chances of ride in good order taking proper turns.

Well that lasted for about 1:30 minutes (and I'm actually looking my power profile). That was the time that took my turn to come and at that time I already was at my limit. 4:40 into the race, only 2.8 kilometers and I was thinking "there is no way I can keep with this pace, I'm not finishing this race".

And here is the thing, we were not riding that fast. It wasn't a mental pace. I think I still need to work a bit more in my warmup. Because after the first 5 or 6 minutes we entered in a phase of 50 minutes where the pace was totally fine for me. Yes, we had a few pushes but nothing that took me close to the limit. It is just the first push that I need to be better prepared for.

With about an hour into the race we were caught by a faster group and that was the signal to jump on their group and stop taking any turns. The game was now a matter of survival.

A bit messy at the beginning, a couple of Wheelers went away with a third rider and the peloton looked all spattered in small groups. I knew there were still one or two groups ahead because I was missing a few Wheelers, but at some point it was impossible to know how many people had ridden away from the group. A feeling I don't like because it leaves me not knowing what to do. Should I try to bridge to the next group? sit and wait?

About 10 minutes later the scratch group caught us. I knew because I saw a Wheeler that is 1st cat. That was a good signal because now I knew to which group I had to try to stick to.

And honestly it didn't felt that difficult. I could even move up a few positions to be better positioned for the "climb" that was coming. Funny enough when I look at the numbers those were my peak 10 minutes in terms of average power. But the point is I passed the climb without a problem and by that point I was already feeling that I was going to finish in the bunch.

Well that was until 5 minutes later the guy riding ahead of me lost the grip on his front wheel and went down. Without any hope I went down as well and the guy behind me. And that was it. My heart rate jumped 10bpm in one second, my speed went from 40km/h to 0 in the same second and the race was over.

Luckily I didn't hurt myself, just a few scratches, my helmet got an impact (I'm in the market for a new helmet, again) and my front wheel twisted a couple of spokes. Time to call it a day and head to the finish line. 1:18:55, 52.5km, not exactly the kind of workout I was expecting (Is it too geek if I mention that I was worried about not hitting my target TSS for the week?).

I have a few more that I shouldn't post pictures of

Not much more to add. Made it to the finish line and relaxed there in the sun watching the rest racing and taking a video of each time they crossed the line.

The ride in Strava

Take care
Javier Arias González

John and Dulcie Walker Trophy 3/4 Race (my second road race)

I was in the waiting list for this race but I was so eager to get back to try myself after my holidays that I took my chances and I decided to drive about an hour to get to the HQ early enough to make sure I was the first in the reserve list.

The race had 80 entries so I was quite sure I was going to get a place. So I decided to go for an early warmup; I wanted to ride the final straight, it wasn't clear in the profile if the finish line would be just at the top of the hill or if there were going to be a flat section leading to the line. The later was the case, in fact about 300m mostly flat from where the climb eased to the line. I rode the climb once and finalized my plan. Sit on near the front the whole race, try to get to the top climb in the top 10, hold a wheel until the last 150m and sprint.

With that plan in mind headed the HQ to get my number and there is where I met Paul, a fellow Kingston Wheeler. We chat a bit and he went for a warmup while I headed the car to get ready for the race.

After the usual words from the commissar off we went.. and first surprise of the day. I was expecting a super fast pace from the gun and it was not. True the road was mostly flat or downhill, there were not that many bends and only one turn in the first few kilometres (this circuit is an almost perfect square of 24 kilometres, only 4 left turns per lap!!!) but it was a clear contrast with my first road race experience where I was in the red zone from minute one.

In this one the pace was quite pedestrian, I averaged 189 watts in the first 15 minutes. Yes, part of it was that I was well hidden near the head of the peloton, Paul a few bikes ahead, but still not challenging at all.

It was about 15 minutes into the race when Paul gave it the first go. There was a rider ahead and he tried to bridge. Got a gap with the peloton but very soon a steep nipple appeared and the bunch caught Paul as we were riding over the top.

The pace was still quite manageable but that changed as soon as crossed the line for the first time. Up to 8 surges I can count in my power file in the following 10 minutes. I took mental note that was probably going to be a mined terrain in the last lap, too away from the line to attack, too easy to push it hard to drop whoever is caught in bad position.

The attacks stopped as soon as we started the main "climb" (2km uphill) but very soon Paul jumped again. There were two riders away with a gap between them. Paul managed to bridge the gap to the first one, from my position it seemed like they were starting to work together so I moved to the front of the peloton and eased a bit. As soon as someone passed me I jumped on his wheel and when he moved right I eased again. It was not long until I took some verbal abuse, but hey, seven years in the Spanish air force gave me a thick skin for verbal abuse and, honestly, I couldn't understand half of what they were saying (advantages of having a terrible English), so I didn't care.

Unfortunately the peloton ended up catching Paul and his companion and very soon the rider that was ahead. Back to square one and the pace eased again.

A few kilometres before the bell a rider jumped, put himself in TT position and got a decent gap. Part of it was that the pace in the peloton was not that fast but at some point Paul moved to the front had a look at the two riders that were leading and he came to the conclusion they were blocking and so he said out loud. A pace line formed and a chase began. I took a few turns in the pace line but at some point I changed my mind. The rider was not that far away, say 15 secs. he was alone and still had a few kilometres to go with three "climbs". I got to the conclusion he had no chance to make it so I moved out of the pace line and sat.

Eventually we caught the guy and we were all together again. I had a quick look back and saw a lot of riders. The pace was not that high but I was still surprised of how many riders were still in the game.

I was very concious of the importance of positioning at this point and be assured I managed to stay in the top 10 most of the time. Funny enough Paul was doing the same and we ended up riding two abreast quite often in the final kilometres.

The final climb came I moved towards the central part of the road. Half of the climb is gone and I feel I am well positioned with legs not feeling that bad. And suddenly, about 250 metres to the top of the climb, 500 metres from the line, the guy in front of me raises his hand and moves slowly to the right. My front wheel touched his rear wheel once, twice and thrice as I was easing up trying to keep myself on the bike and slow down. When I looked at the race again half of the peloton had passed me so eased up and soft-pedalled to the line. I think I was last in the main group, which very easily still had 40 riders (update 8/Sept/2014 it turns out I did 27th, not that good at guessing bunch numbers).

The no sprint

Camera in the line, at 00:57 you'll see me (Paul at 00:31)

Anyway I finished very, very happy.

I think I did a good race from the positioning and strategic point of view and I felt in great from. More importantly I had a great time not only riding but also thinking during the race. I want more.

Also this is a great event, very well organized and marshalled. The course is easy to navigate and most of the roads are wide enough. I'll try to be back next year.

The ride in Strava

10/9/2014 It seems there was a cause for the punctures during the race.

Take care
Javier Arias González

Sotonia Summer (chopper's first road race report)

How can I be so arrogant? Signed up for the race, my first road race and my first race as 3rd cat, without knowing anything about it, just thought 96km, yeah, that should be fine.

I arrived to the HQ with only time to ride half of the circuit lap, not a big deal, but the very first humps got me to the conclusion the race was going to be hard but manageable.

In the briefing the BC commissar defined the circuit as "testing" and I didn't even blink.

Well arrogance in cycling  is something you end up paying if you don't have the legs to back it up and I certainly did (I mean paid for it, not that I had the legs to back my arrogance).

The race started neutralized until we reached the circuit. It started with a hump and there I was surprised with at the pace we attacked it. You know this idea of being a box of matches and each time you hit certain power you burn a match? That hump was my first match.

There were more surprises for me. A road lane is not that wide and 60 riders trying to get to the front of the bunch fills every gap. Suddenly someone shouted "car" and I realized cars would be coming in the other lane as everyone got closer, the bunch got longer and I found myself at the back and braking, only to sprint all out five seconds later because the first hump was immediately followed by a second one; and there it went another match. Descending that nipple I hit 70km/h and at the same time I heard a crash behind me. Looked back briefly in time to see a guy hitting the tarmac really hard.

Didn't even had time to assimilate all that was happening when a third hump came only to be followed by a forth one and a left turn, all riding at sprint.

As we turned left the climb that would take us to the finish line started and the bunch slowed down! A lot!!

Great, that's what I needed a moment to catch my breath. 6 minutes into the race and I was already exhausted. I'm sure I have hit half a dozen power PB's by now.

The slow down in the climb was a mirage, it lasted only one minute, and finished with a sprint that didn't have any point in my opinion but took us to cross the finish line for the first time at 35km/h. I found a match in my back pocket to cover that sprint.

Second climb came and surprisingly this time we attacked it full speed and half way through it everyone slowed down. I took the opportunity to move up; as I was making myself room around the tenth position I realized there was already a four men break away.

It is great to know that you should be in the front of the group, if only so when they sprint without notice you can be passed by everyone and be back to the tail of the peloton. This is the moment I started to think this whole idea of road racing was a bit too crazy.

This was only the first lap. The second lap started and we hit the first hump again, in the descend my saddle moves and I'm grateful I have found an honourable excuse to finish this nonsense. Surprisingly when I sit again in the saddle, after the second hump, it seems stable so the excuse vanishes.

Second, third and fourth hump; left turn and here we are again in the climb to the finish line. I'm afraid that I don't have any matches left to cover this last sprint and I lose contact with the peloton. It moves away painfully slow, like asking me to not give up.

Nah, that would have been a fairy tale! I give up and now the peloton moves away much faster. The commissar car passes me and I'm out of "the bubble" as he defined it during the briefing.

I easy it a bit and to my surprise so does the peloton. Maybe I can catch them again. Should I try?

Of course I should try! I pushed it a bit (it can't even count as a match), passed the commissar car and joined at the back of the peloton. Five seconds later someone decided to sprint and there I was in trouble again.

Hopefully this time was fast. The peloton flew away, the car passed me again and I was left on my own in no time. Crossed the line for the second time, got the cheers for the people that was there, turn left, got a gel. I was 20km into the race, I had only crossed the finish line twice, I still had six laps to go. What am I doing here?

I consider myself a positive person, always trying to see the positive side of everything. Well, I have to admit that I failed for a couple of minutes during this race. I regretted not have started with something "easier" (if such thing exists in road racing), I regretted not have had a proper rest for the race, I regretted the lack of preparation and all the improvisation. I regretted not have done more anaerobic intervals. I regretted I had entered the race and the whole idea of racing. I wanted to stop, but stopping was nonsense because I was in the middle of nowhere so I would have to ride to the HQ anyway. It was only a couple of minutes but I felt bad.

The good thing about being alone is that after a couple of minutes you get your breath back, you find your own pace and the positive feelings come again. Going home with 30km in the legs is wasting a lovely Sunday morning, lets finish the race and get the kilometres in your legs.

And to that task I set myself. Luckily a rider passed me and I jumped on his wheel for a while. Then I passed him and took a turn in the front. He followed suit. Great, riding together we will push each other.

I had to wait for him in the humps but he was a great wheel to sit in the flats. We kept a reasonable pace overall, given the circumstances. It only lasted about two laps though. As we had in sight a Sotonia rider and we were turning left to start the climb to the finish line he said something and stopped. I think it was something related with a pain at his back but couldn't understanding him clearly.

There I was alone again. Well not really alone, I knew the Sotonia rider was about 30 seconds ahead of me so I set myself to catch him.

It took me a whole lap, but as we crossed the finish line with 3 to go I was on his wheel. Took the first part of the descend to get another gel and drink a bit and as the road started to climb passed him shouting words of encouragement hoping he would jump on my wheel and we could work together.

He jumped on my wheel but he didn't show intention of taking any turn. A whole lap went with him sitting on my wheel. It didn't bother me really, just kept my own pace aiming to finish the ride.

During the briefing the commissar had said that if with two to go we were more than seven minutes behind the bunch the bell would be rang for us and we would finish one lap earlier. That was exactly what happened.

So there I found myself riding the last lap with a rider on my wheel and I couldn't help but starting to question myself about what would happen at the time of crossing the finish line. Was he going to outsprint me? did I care?

Well I decided I didn't care and kept my own pace.

With 3/4 of lap to go the motorbikes and the car passed us. Very soon we were passed by four riders, not sure if they were the four riders I saw in the break, not that I did care to be honest. I remember myself thinking they were not riding that fast. Still very soon they were away.

With 1/2 lap to go the Sotonia rider passed my. I, obviously, jumped on his wheel.

Now it is the peloton passing us. Again the thought that they were not riding that fast crossed my mind but, again, very soon they were away.

Two humps before the left turn to the final climb the Sotonia rider slowed down quite a bit. That kind of movement that makes you think "this guy can ride a bit faster but wants to sit on my wheel". I didn't care, I passed him trying to keep the pace, which, believe me, by this time was a rather pathetic pace.

Left turn and we were in the final climb. You know when you are going uphill but the gradient is not that steep but you keep going slower and slower as you are moving to a bigger and bigger cog? That was me in the final climb.

At least until I heard the Sotonia rider playing with his gears. As soon as I heard him changing gears I started to care about him outsprinting me in the line. It was an instinctive reaction, I didn't even thought about it, I just changed gears as well and stood on the bike and sprinted.

We were too far away for me to be able to sustain this sprint so when I felt I was losing steam I looked back to see where he was. I felt relieved when I saw he was like three bikes back. I knew I was going to "win" the sprint for the fifty something position. I wouldn't be honest if I wouldn't confess that, internally, I celebrated this "victory". We shook hands, he thanked me for the work and I congratulated him. The sun was shining.

My sprint

After a few minutes sitting in the grass to rest I jumped on the bicycle again to ride back to the HQ. It was then when I realized the saddle was not in its position. I didn't notice it during the race but it was way too back.

Racing with a saddle bag like a proper chopper (I don't about "the rules")

Got to the HQ, ate a piece of cake, drank a bit of water and what I was thinking? "I should find a race for next weekend". I'm sick.

The race in Strava http://www.strava.com/activities/162441360/

It turns out that after looking at my power numbers during the race they were not all that great, even for my standards. That's good and bad. Bad because it means I did a terrible race good because it means I can do better.

By the way I forgot to mention the Sotonians did a great work organizing the event, all going well I'll be back next year.

Update 7/7/2014. It turns out the Sotonia rider is Paul Ransom. Somehow he found this blog and left a comment.

Update 9/7/2014. I found the results in the Sotonia website. It turns out I show up as last in the classification (38th out of 60 that were signed for the race). I don't know why but Paul Ransom, the Sotonia rider, was given 37th. I almost prefer it that way so I can say that I was officially last in one race (so far).

Take care
Javier Arias González