100 Mile Time Trial Pacing, Nutrition, Strategy & General Planning and Preparation - ECCA 100 2013

I am writing this mainly because when I Googled “100 Mile Time Trial Pacing” it returned very little of use. Maybe I used the wrong search term or maybe its because time trialling is a peculiarly British pastime with the 100 being an even smaller niche or maybe even because the keepers of this wisdom want to keep it to themselves. I very much doubt the last possibility as you can’t stop most of the testers I know from offering advice on anything and everything.. Every chance they get.

I am not a coach and don’t claim to have any special knowledge on the subject. I have just done my first 100 and I will just tell you what I did, what I thought worked well and what didn’t – this doesn’t necessarily make it right for anyone else – first rule of seeking advice; take what you find with a pinch of salt and remember everyone is different. Most crucially – adapt and try to apply it to your own situation.

Firstly, my background – I am a very average club level time triallist. I am nowhere near a pro, or even a good amateur, but equally I am not coming into this with no experience at all. Most of my testing is done on the club Evening 10s, local Open 25s and 50s – in total, I probably time trial about 25-30 times a year. Currently my 10, 25 and 50 PBs (mostly on sporting courses I hasten to add) are 24.03, 1:04.54 and 2:09.17.

Rovers Open 50

I am 45, male, 1.83m and about 79kg. All of this is relevant but please adapt and apply this to your own situation, even if you just sit down and think realistically about who are you and what you might be capable of. Oh, my resting heart rate is also about 44bpm and my max at 185bpm. That’s about all the science clues you’re going to get because that is pretty much all I know myself.

Having failed to find anything much about 100 mile time trial preparation on Google, I asked around. I asked on Twitter and I asked clubmates, specifically about the pacing issue. Frustratingly, opinion was evenly divided.

Rovers Open 25

1.    Go out easy. Save yourself. Gradually ramp it up. The last quarter will be the worst thing you ever experience

2.       Don’t go out too slow – the last quarter is never as bad as you think its going to be.

Take your pick.

This is where I started to look at my known performances and ask another question – if I can do a 50 on a sporting course in 2:09, what should I be aiming at on a dual carriageway 100?

The answers came back again and this time varied between 4:20 and 4:40…

Take your pick… but… I now had a level of expectation and potential for a target time. I also looked at previous performances by clubmates I regularly race against and was able to get things a little clearer in my mind. I now knew I should go under 4.40, but would be happy with anything under 4.30 (based on bragging rights – another important consideration)

The leap into the unknown also involved the course – I have only ridden one dual carriageway time trial before and had experienced the significant increase in speed, but I had no idea of the topography or the organisers ability to marshall and signpost this one correctly. I have to say at this point that the organisers (Eastern Counties Cycling Association) put on one of the best organised, signposted and marshalled events I have taken part in. Anyway, I’ve gone off course too many times before, so the only answer was to drive it, which I did a week or so ahead of time.

I was mildly freaked out by the volume of traffic when I drove the course but had to remind myself this was why the event started at 5.00am.

Driving the course also gave me a chance to record it on a Garmin blu-tacked to the dash – this gave me a file that I could check for gradients etc and a course that could be used on the day if directions were a concern. Most importantly, I had seen the roads and turns, giving me a much better overview of the course and a bit of extra confidence. I found that building confidence and removing as many concerns for raceday as possible was very important.

Because I was doing this race unsupported, I was now also able to start working on my nutrition plan – I am rubbish at eating or drinking on a TT bike and avoid both as much as I can as it interferes with my rhythm but most importantly is hard to do in windy conditions (which most of my races seem to be). Please note that I am not a camel and although I don’t eat or drink on 10s, 25s or 30s, I do drink on a 50. I will also take a gel on a 50 but rarely use it at this distance. However, I knew I had no choice with a 100 – you simply have to fuel responsibly. The knowledge gained from the drive was crucial in coming up with a simple plan – basically down a gel at each of the turns (4 of them)  where I could get some shelter and not lose too much speed and then to drink every 10 miles. It was rough, but it was a plan. 

Nutrition will always come down to personal preference. There’s no point downing stuff that is going to make you puke – it slows you down and gives you lost fuel to make up for…You need to experiment with different products in good time for your event.  I personally like  the SIS gels that don’t need water but they only have 31g of carbs. I hate the Zipvit gels that do need water (I can never get them down properly) but they have 51g of carbs. I like the gels with caffeine which seem to work for me… so here is what I did.

Zipvit bag of gloop 15 minutes before start with water

SIS nice gel at first major landmark - 14 miles

Zipvit stuff at 34 mile turn

SIS nice one at 54

Zipvit Caffeine at 70

Zipvit Caffeine at 90

Bacon sarnie at 102.

I love the caffeine gels and regularly have one 15-20 minutes before a ten. I’d assumed this would be fine for any distance but was correctly warned by a friend the week before the event to only use caffeine products towards the end when you really need them. The low that can be experienced once the effects of caffeine wear off is not worth it – nor is the diuretic effect. Also (and this one takes dedication) the effect of the caffeine gels is increased if you abstain or at least cut down on caffeine intake for about a week before the event.

I was also told by another friend who does 24hr MTB stuff that the body can absorb 1.3g of carbohydrate for every kg of body weight and this is what you want to aim at. I learned this the day before the event, did some sums and thought… bugger. Not enough. But decided to stick to my original plan. Taking the plan apart would heave created too much disruption and uncertainty at this pont. To be honest, I couldn’t have downed more gels if I had tried. Well, I could but they would have come back up again and then my sums would have been seriously affected.

All this nutrition stuff  hasnothing to do with pacing, apart from I found it useful to start thinking and planning and conceivably have fewer things to worry about on the day. I suppose this is what Dave Brailsford might describe as “process”.

Even World Champs can over-prepare

Now. To accommodate all this nutritional luggage, I had to do away with the skinsuit for this event and stick with the club jersey and its trusty rear pockets. This was also useful as I normally ride with an aero bottle with a can of Vittoria Pitstop tucked inside in case of any p&*%ture dramas with tubs. As I needed both bottle cages for bottles, I had to find a home for the Pitstop, of which I decided to carry two cans for this race.

I had two 750ml bottles – one with my isotonic drink of choice and the other with plain water to help wash down the gloop.

Another challenge presented by the 100 was the start time – the event started at 05:00 with me going off at 5.36. Working things back, I knew I wanted to be there an hour before my start, it takes an hour to drive there and I wanted my regular raceday breakfast of cold skimmed milk, organic porridge oats and sliced banana 3 hours before my start. This meant setting the alarm for 02:30, which in turn meant an early night. A very early night.

On the drive to the HQ I sipped at a 500ml bottle of Lucozade sport and munched through a well filled PBJ sarnie. All very slowly.

Inevitably, I needed the loo a number of times before the start – the last time in a hedge about 4 minutes before my start time. Bizarrely, I was then dying for a wee from about 8 minutes into the ride – that desire finally left me around the 60 mile mark and I have no idea why.

In the days leading up to the race I was keeping a very close eye on the weather forecast although in reality this is a variable over which you have no control – its just nice to know. 

A busy Eagle Road Club Hut at 5.00am - ECCA 100 

Fortunately raceday remained pretty dry (just a few spots of drizzle early on) but it felt windy as hell. I hate riding into the wind, just as most sane cyclists do, but you have to play with the hand you’re dealt and as it turned out the wind was very helpful  in determining the final pacing strategy which was created partially on the hoof.

I elected for the go out easy and try to build steadily but with a few crucial wind inspired amendments. A wonderful tailwind meant I was able to keep the heart rate down, put the minimum effort in but still roughly maintain a 25mph average. For the first 35 miles or so.

Due to my unnatural speed, I knew there must have been significant help from the wind – often you don’t realise how much until you turn to come back the other way – and realised I had to keep a lid on this wind assisted effort as I would need every ounce of power to get me back to the roundabout turn a further 20 miles back the other way. Wise move but it needed great discipline – I was just itching to power along at 30mph plus – I just had to keep that lid on.

At the turn I was able to pick up the pace again with the help of the wind but this time, having experienced 20 miles of the headwind, I kept just a little bit more in reserve. More discipline – its not my normal approach, honest!

Anyone can turn their hand to testing

This section was crucial as I knew it was not just the 20 miles back to the roundabout but the course demanded the final 30 miles back into the wind with the last 10 being on slower roads. As a result of saving a bit more while the going was good I was able to complete the first 20 of that final headwind section faster than the previous lap.

One nutrition point raised its head at about 95 miles when my left quad started to cramp a bit, suggesting  that I could have possibly done with a bit more of the isotonic drink earlier.

Once over the line I was pretty pleased with myself on the one hand but felt a bit too fresh for the end of a time trial – I hadn’t left everything out on the road. On the other hand, due to the cramp, I would not have been able to go much further at any kind of speed – in that sense I had done the best my body would allow and I had the confidence to set a more challenging target for the next race at this distance . The thought I couldn’t get out of my head was that I only time trialled half of it – the windy bits. For the rest of it I was just riding my bike. With the benefit of hindsight those sections were crucial in being able to complete the distance and beat my target time.

I finished with 4:25.17 – an average of 22.7mph – and am very happy with that, particularly in the conditions. As is the way with testing, I now have my marker and the plans for the next one will be built on this experience.

The Strava file with heart rates, speeds etc can be seen here - the effects of the headwind section are clear to see! http://app.strava.com/activities/62279490

So to summarise this waffle – the best piece of advice I can give  is to start thinking about your event as early as possible and write stuff down. Do different calculations and compare the results – imagine what it might feel like and compare it to some other exertion you are familiar with. Ask questions, use Google, talk to people who have done it and read forums. You need to raise the bullshit filters but you’ll get a feel for sensible advice after a while. Oh, and ride your bike as much as you can – I ‘ve not touched on training here at all as that’s a whole subject in its own right. Ride as much as you can and rest as much as you can. There you go… I managed to sign off with my own piece of contradictory advice… Go figure…

100 mile TT + 2 x Leffe Blond = ........

A Testing Summer

Its been a while since I last did this. January 13th to be precise.

Following all the late season Cyclocross excitement, including a ride at The Nationals and some great (for me) form in the last couple of Eastern League races things kind of stopped for a bit.

Well, I kept on riding as you do at that time of year with little or no real purpose. The racing highlight of each weekend replaced with a Reliability Ride (or Liability Ride as my mate Martin calls them) here or there.

Once the clocks changed, that was it... The Evening 10s recommenced and I started hanging out with old blokes in laybys with pointy hats. They wear skinsuits too.

I pretty much spent my riding Spring and Summer time trialling. Most of the early autumn seems to be going that way too, despite the distant, faint call of the new Cyclocross season.

I like time trialling. I like it so much, I even bought a pointy hat this year. And a skinsuit.

Its simple. You don't have to pore over pages of results and relative placings to work out if you've had a good year. If you're going faster on the same courses and distances as last year or earlier in the season, you're having a good year.

Fortunately for me I have been. Also I break fewer things when I am time trialling.

The Comeback

Road to recovery - shadow training

Well I did it.

Last Sunday at Mistley, I put the crash at Basildon behind me and raced again in the Eastern Cyclocross League.

Mistley isn't the easiest of courses, in fact its a bit of a beast, but I had to start somewhere and this was my club's promotion. With a couple of espressos and a belly full of ibuprofen and paracetamol I knew I could get through  it.

And getting through was the only aim. As with any endeavor like this, all I had to do was stay upright and keep pedalling for 40-45 minutes. Pipping Dom Castle on the line for 32nd place was the unintentional icing on the cake.

Packed and ready to go. Fin looking a bit Belge.

Thanks to Mark Fraser for this short video analysis of my climbing "technique".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgRlcIS0TIs&feature=player_embedded

Due to the inter-regionals on Sunday, I have a weekend off and a chance to train for the next round at Graffham Water. Entry form for the Regionals in early December was posted this week, so yet more incentive.

Mark Fraser's video highlights of the Womens Race can now also be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXjTxn8-H8A&feature=youtu.be

New Wheels

Following my 'incident' at Basildon a couple of weeks ago I found myself needing a new front wheel.

To be more accurate, I destroyed my old wheel - a trusty, Mavic MA3 rim on Deore hub with the manliest of spokes - a heavyweight that was built for 'cross.

So, accepting a replacement wheel was required, the thought processes began. Having some very nice, generous clubmates, there was no shortage of offers of loans, but as everyone knows, your own kit is best - you just don't want to trash someone else's. No alternative -  I definately needed to buy a new front wheel.

Being a typical bloke and cyclist, I rationalised that to mean I needed a pair of wheels and started trawling the internet, gazing longingly at all kinds of circular weaponry before realising this was an emergency expense, was not budgeted for and frankly, if you stick me, a new set of wheels and a cross bike together something is going to break eventually - probably sooner rather than later. No point spending hundreds!

A clubmate, Tony Sheppard, mentioned to me that Planet X were selling pairs of CX  wheels for £99 - this got me looking at the budget options.

Despite the massive increase in sales of CX bikes and growth of the sport, if you google "cyclocross wheels" you get very little of use apart from some nice looking Campag stuff. So, I started researching what "road wheels" were available and what standard wheelsets were offered on "off the shelf "cross bikes.

It took a while, but I eventually had a match.



The rather nice Kinesis EVO4



Kinesis are well known in CX circles, particularly for great value performance frames, but they also sell complete, off the peg rigs. These bikes come with Shimano R500 wheelsets (WH-R501 to be geeky).

http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/crosslight/evo-4

Reasoning that if a company with the reputation and Cyclocross expertise of Kinesis can offer this wheelset as standard it must be OK, I did some more research.

Merlin Cycles came up trumps - one pair of said Shimano R500 wheels for the princely sum of £72.95. P&P was about £6 but having ordered on the Sunday night, they were with me by Tuesday morning - very efficient.

A pair for £72! Being me, this very nearly became the perfect excuse to buy another pair for the pits, but I resisted my natural urges and stuck to the cheap option for once. One pair was actually twice as many as I "needed" anyway. If I was having this dilema closer to Payday, I might easily have ended up with 2 pairs.

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Wheels/Road+Wheels/Factory+Road+Wheels/Shimano+R500+Wheels_SHIMANO-R500.htm

The wheels were also in great shape - namely round and true. After a week of good use, they still are.

Some might consider them a little heavy, but this wheelset also came as standard on my Cannondale roadbike, with the only difference being colourscheme and spokes. These ones from Merlin with beefy stainless steel spokes - no bad thing in my book considering the beating they are likely to get over the coming months.

My new wheels in the wild

They also look quite nice on my bike.

I'll let you know how they fare over the course of the season.

The Great Tour 2010

I can't have a cycling blog without writing something about The Great Tour.

This was one of my defining moments in cycling, encompassing all the joys associated with great rides - superb company, scenery, sunshine, mileage and accomplishment; just on a much bigger scale. In cycling, you have to accept that for every up there is a down, in every sense. The Great Tour also delivered the worst spill I have experienced.

In a nutshell, the 2010 ride was planned as a circumnavigation of the coastline of Great Britain in 64 days to raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity and retail trade charity Caravan. Graeme Knott, Hugh Roberts, Alistair Cope, Mike Sweeney and Sam Mashford were the hardy souls who completed the whole thing, starting and finishing in Seaton, Devon.

My involvement was just to ride the first two weeks - Seaton to Scarborough - approx 900 miles. My trip was cut short on my home stage, close to St Osyth, when I had a nasty spill and was carted off to Colchester A&E. My focus then became getting fit enough to rejoin the ride, which I managed and subsequently had the priviledge of taking part in the final week.

It was special for me, and pulling the video clips together for this 8 minute summary of my time on The 2010 Great Tour was a really nice trip down memory lane. Sunshine, bikes, great people and an excuse to air the Superstars theme tune! My thanks go to Dan Broom for producing such a fine video record of a great event which I have randomly plundered and shoddily edited for my own purposes.

Sitting One Out

There be riders in these woods

Following my incident at Basildon the previous week (see last blog – Another Tale of Cyclocross Misadventure) I was a bit bruised, sore and unable to ride a bike.

This combination of circumstance is always irksome, but was particularly disappointing last weekend. Not being able to ride my bike meant missing out on the Amis Velo Hillyfields Supercross.

Amis Velo may not be my club, but this is my home race, taking place no more than a few hundred yards from my front door. I know the course like the back of my hand – walking our dog there regularly and riding the trails most weeks. Its also home to the Colchester Rovers training sessions.

If  I was going to do well at any race this season, I felt this was going to be the one – my pre-season aim was to give this one my all and trust in local knowledge and experience to guarantee a higher than usual finish. My off at Basildon put paid to that grand idea.

Triggsy crests a climb on home turf

I have to say, I really enjoyed spectating – having the time to chat, catch  up with many of the people who helped me the previous week and soak up the glorious October sunshine on the grass bank above the start/finish line.

Knowing the woods well, I was also able to walk the course, cutting corners to catch as much of the action in different spots as possible – I loved it.

Mark Fraser saved one of his diminished stock of cowbells for me, which I put to good use annoying as many riders as possible on a couple of climbs.

There were a couple of offs on the start finish line and a few thorn cuts visible of riders’ arms, but the injury prize of the week has to go to Tiffany Hore.

Following a spill on a tight corner, she ended upside down in a bramble bush. Still clipped in, she couldn’t move her legs and lying on a bed of brambles meant she couldn’t push herself back up. By the time I had made my way down the slope, she was being helped out by a guy from Welwyn Wheelers. She remounted, legs covered in blood and finished the race. One tough cookie.

Thats my boy - Fin smiles or grimaces for the camera

Some great racing was on show in all categories with outstanding rides by junior National Champ Hugo Robinson in the Elite Race and Sean Dunlea in the Youth.

The organisation by Amis Velo was, as ever, superb and I managed to spend a Sunday with bikes and cyclists without once feeling sorry for myself that I couldn’t come out to play.

Youth U16/U14 Video from John Swindells

Veteran / Womens Race video from John Swindells

*AGAIN – A PHOTO AND THE VIDEO HAVE BEEN NICKED FROM OTHER PEOPLE’S YOUTUBE AND FLICKR - John Swindells and Amis Velo, respectively...

Another Tale of Cyclocross Misadventure

Basildon - while surrounded by some modest hills, the town of Basildon itself is pan flat.

Well, that’s what I thought until I discovered the notable exception of Gloucester Park which boasts a few lumps of man made hill, dating from the town’s sudden post-war birth, now fully covered in grass and woodland.

For once, I had quite a good start

The perfect venue for Round 5 of the Eastern Cyclocross League, organised by Essex Roads CC.

Just one week on from Baldock, and while it was still a long way off traditional CX conditions, the temperature had dropped by over 12 degrees. My legs were feeling good, my bike was in much better shape than at Baldock, following a thorough strip-down and clean during the week, and I was ready to go. The first warm up lap immediately revealed the true severity of one of the climbs and that none of the three on offer were to be looked forward to. The second warm up lap convinced me to take it easy and avoid overdoing it too early ie. stop warming up and just stand around chatting.

The Muur Van Basildon

I had a good start and made the first hill a quarter of the way down the field. To my surprise, despite my measured approach, I found myself going past people who are normally way ahead. I kept calm and consolidated my position, passed through the first bottleneck ahead of the first pile-up to find myself clear in the top 30 or so as we approached the bottom of what became known as the Muur van Basildon. The severity of this slope was emphasised beautifully by the constant ringing of cowbells, thanks to Mark Fraser’s newly opened carpark cowbell stall. Mark’s photos and video from the race have also lost none of the sense of gradient and show this hill exactly as I remember it.

Again, to my surprise, I made ground on many of the faster guys - they were catching up or going past me on the downhills and the flat, but I seemed to have found my forte - I can't really be a climber can I? I am 6'1...

The second lap was more of the same, and I found myself passing clubmate David Triggs - I have never been ahead of him in any CX race. Ever. At this point I got a little too excited and abandoned the measured approach, pushing as hard as I could on the next two hills. That left me with nothing to offer on the flat and David duly passed me, gradually pulling away. He was followed by fellow Rover Mike Barnard who went past me one lap later. Even though they were gaining ground on me, I just kept them in sight and kept plugging away.

Ungainly but surprisingly effective

For the first time since I have been racing this bike in Cyclocross I wasn’t cursing myself over having a triple chainset and on laps 4 & 5 actually used the granny ring for what it was intended - getting over hills without getting off your bike.

On the final lap, exhausted at the top of the last climb, 2 guys went past me on the downhill. Determined to preserve what would be my best position of the season (about 23^rd or 24^th, for the record) I caught my breath before the final 600-700m of winding flat course and began to chase them down, keen to line up a sprint for the line.

Spoke key, anyone?

With about 500m to go and pushing through one corner faster than before, I naturally took a wider line out of it. At this point, my front wheel disappeared into a crack I hadn’t spotted on any of my previous laps, partially covered in grass. According to others who examined it later, it was about a metre long and 7-10 cm wide. Oh, and deep enough to cause a problem.

Unfortunately, I am quite familiar with the slightly dizzy feeling of being airborne when you should have two wheels firmly planted on the ground. My front wheel had refused to continue and I was up and over the bars, landing firmly on my head. Stunned, the next thing I recall is lying across the course, moaning like an idiot with a lot of pain in my back.

Even in this distressed state I was amused by the thought of becoming a human obstacle and half wished that I would cause some riders to dismount, hurdle me and remount.

Quite properly, I kept completely still. More through necessity than anything else. Help arrived quickly and riders were directed around me. My best finish would have to wait – this was my first DNF.

Dr Boyton leads her group up the Muur

At this point, Camilla Boyton of Dulwich Paragon revealed herself to be Dr Boyton of the Royal London and took charge of the situation until the ambulance arrived. The first ambulance guy arrived in a car and was told they would need a full sized ambulance as I needed to be immobilised on a board and carried out of there. Due to access issues, the Air Ambulance was discussed – I begged them not to, as I knew I would never live this one down – I felt I had made enough fuss as it was by causing the U12 race course to be shortened.

My main concern at this point was my 12 year old son – we were an hour from home, he was joining me in the full sized ambulance that had now worked its way onto the course to head for hospital and I could not move to help him out with anything. He had packed clothes, food and water into a rucksack, taken care of bikes, car keys and phoning home – he played an absolute blinder, keeping cool, calm and in control, showing exactly the qualities needed to fulfil his ambition of becoming a paramedic. Ironically, if I am ever asked about my proudest cycling related moment, the way Fin handled himself that afternoon would be top of the list by a long way. He was awesome.

He wasn’t the only one to play a blinder that day – I owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone who helped out – friends, clubmates, organisers, league officials, strangers – you were all bloody brilliant.

To cut what is becoming a very long winded story a bit short, following the obligatory hours in A&E with examinations and x-rays I was declared to have no more than a black eye, swollen head, bumps, bruises, cuts, grazes, aches, pains and damaged pride.

Kit damage included a broken helmet, bent front wheel and another ripped jersey.

No bike riding and full recovery is now my focus and I hope to be well enough to race Rd 7 at Mistley.

*ALL PICTURES AND VIDEO SHAMELESSLY STOLEN FROM MARK FRASER'S YOUTUBE & FLICKR

My Worst Race Yet?

On the face of it, Saturday's CC Ashwell Cyclocross was my worst race yet.

I've never done well on this course and the heatwave temperatures did

nothing to improve the relationship this time round.

On my last couple of training rides and even the warm up on Saturday,
everything on the bike was working nicely.

However, as soon as I put the power down at the start, the crunching of
slipped chain let me know it wasn't going to be plain sailing.

After a barrier dismount a total seizure of chain and chainset lost me yet
more time as I frantically clawed at the bloody thing to try and free it.
By the time the first small rise was to be negotiated, my drivetrain let me
know in no uncertain terms it was was not coming out to play.

At this point, I have the wisdom of a 12 year old to thank for avoiding my
first DNF. "Dad? Why don't we put each others bikes in the pit in case
either of us have a problem?", he asked. I couldn't think of a reason why
not, so we did.

So, I was now able to do the next 4 laps on a 12 year old's bike and claw
back some places. From stone cold last (72nd) to 44th by the end.

Initially, I had some issues with handling, but following a single
altercation with a tree, I got the hang of it and started to get a little
quicker. I am not going to pretend my six foot frame didn't look a bit out
of place on the bike, either, but I finished and beggars can't be choosers.

In some ways, this turned out to be one of my better races.

Of course, I was last out of my clubmates who don't accept excuses easily.

Oh well.

Basildon on Saturday and we can start all over again.

Ps - I was going to post a picture of my tree gashed shoulder, but thought
this one of the fast start to the Youth race was much nicer.

I am a bit Cross

I love Cyclocross - I am a bit rubbish at it, but its my favourite competitive discipline, so September and the dawn of a new season is an exciting time for me. All that potential for improvement, all those summer base miles being put to good use in the mud and frost of the great British winter.

Last season was better than the one before, but I was still finishing in the bottom half, if not the bottom third, in most races, so my target for this year is to consistently finish half way through the field or better.

I was really happy with Round 1 at Writtle - finishing 37th out of a total field of 78 (76 finishers) so pretty much on target. More importantly, I felt fairly strong and fast. I did fade in the latter stages, but I had done enough and my morale was great.

I missed Round 2 at Hog Hill because of the Tour of Britain - the opportunity to ride out to the route as it swung through South Suffolk with clubmates including my son, was too good to miss. Unfortunately, I can now see the Cyclocross momentum was lost - it was an interesting race at Hog Hill with a smaller field and loads of DNFs due to a ridiculous number of punctures - a big "What if..."

Round 3 at Springfield - I was very disappointed. I just didn't have the legs on the day. I had some problems with my chain slipping on one of the few inclines and jumping off in other spots. This created some undue nervousness on the small rise which followed a dismount for steps and immediate drop - on a number of the laps I elected to run the whole thing to avoid that horrible clanking and loss of momentum. It was fairly effective in the early laps, but I ran out of steam quicker than I should. Thanks to Mark Fraser you can examine my lumbering running style here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aicEKDqYudo&feature=youtu.be

As with Round 1, Springfield was also a Club Champs qualifying event and I wanted to consolidate my 3rd place in the Vets category - even with a couple of our guys away on Three Peaks duty, I only managed a miserable 4th. Very well done to Peter Hall who finished behind me at Writtle only to be 1st Rover home at Springfield following an impressively strong ride.

At least there was only 6 days to wait until the next round - CC Ashwell's event at Baldock - I suffered there last year due to an energy sapping, boggy football field, but can't wait to get back into it this Saturday. Now if only I can get my bloody gears sorted!

PS - did I mention my lack of training mileage over the last month and my cold? Oh well, nevermind - no excuses, eh?!

Solo Touring - East Anglia Day 3

Skegness to Colchester

Planned 129 miles

　

Hanging out the washing in Skegness

Third time lucky. The last day was the first I managed to leave on time. It probably helped that I wasn't worried about getting the tent as dry as possible before packing - it was unceremoniously screwed up and stuffed in a bag. The same went for the rest of my kit, with the notable exception of food, which I wanted in the best possible condition and close to hand!

Today was going to be a battle on three fronts versus 1. Distance; the longest day of the trip at 129 planned miles - 2. The Elements; although it promised to be dry, the wind was still howling from the South and - 3. My backside; sore after day one, painful after day two, it was now agony.

I had taken account of some of these challenges in planning - In most cases, you control the distance, so I couldn't grumble about this one. The elements are also in the lap of the gods, so again, no complaints. The state of my rear end could have been avoided.

You are always going feel two days of 100+ miles on a bike but there are things you can do to minimise the 'sensation'.

Chamois Creme? Never used it, probably never will - its another of those lines I am yet to cross, like shaving my legs. I am led to believe, however, that Chamois Creme is a good thing that helps minimise the nasty effects of friction at the rear.

The offending item

Saddle - that's the fella... biggest lesson learned on this trip - don't mess with a tried and tested saddle, and certainly don't change your saddle a week or two before a big trip. If you are going to stand any chance of surviving a trip like this in such a delicate area ( and I don't mean Lincolnshire), ride with a well worn in, well known, friendly saddle. I committed the cardinal sin and swapped my beaten up old Fizik Arione for a flash, tarty little Fizik Pave CX two weeks before leaving. A decision based purely on aesthetics came back and, literally, bit me on the arse.

I knew in the back of my mind this was a risk - I even took the remedial step of packing the Sudocreme. At least I wasn't going to get my welts infected. I was still using the stuff a week later, but am pleased to report that all is now well...

A mere 10 miles into the day, I felt like getting off and staying off. It had taken me just over an hour. The wind was ridiculous and Lincolnshire didn't help - pan flat, very few trees and roads that only seemed point into the wind.

I retraced my route from day two and ploughed on after popping a combo of ibuprofen and paracetemol, eventually grinding my way into Boston. I needed an espresso, cake and half an hour to pull myself together.

I got the message

Retracing yesterday's route again, I stuck as far left on the A16 and A17 as possible to minimise the risk of being added to the very helpful roadside kill-count-ometer signs and eventually pulled into the service area at Long Sutton where I had hidden in McDonalds from the thunderstorms. This time I opted to revisit my childhood and settled into Little Chef for today's Breakfast Number Two. With another ibuprofen/paracetemol top up, I was in good form and ready to roll.

Wisbech became my next target and I discovered roads flatter and straighter than anything Lincolnshire had to offer. I had previously thought this impossible. Further into The Fens, the flatness and straightness of these roads would be consistently trumped.

A very straight, long road

My mood darkened somewhat and having passed through Wisbech, 'The Capital of The Fens', and tweeting something about being stared at by too many "bog trotting Fen Monkeys" I hit upon the idea for a book - I would ride the nation, concocting insults for every town on my way. The combination of physical exertion, a mental inability to visualize getting home today and the unknown pharmacological effects of a sudocreme/ibuprofen/paracetemol/Little Chef Breakfast cocktail, led to something bordering paranoia. I was losing it a little.

I am not normally a swearer - my family would certainly attest to this, but when the going gets hard, and I am on my own on the bike, I will swear. I will do it a lot - sometimes mumbling, sometimes shouting. Its normally reserved for hard hills, but I discovered on this trip it is also helpful on the flat. I am sure I am not the only one - its something the cycling magazines will never tell you... the best aid to getting through a tough section on a ride is to swear yourself silly.

A very straight, long river

90 degree turn back into Norfolk

I can't really say much more about the Fens, apart from repeat the obvious - they are very, very, unimaginably flat, they go on for ever, the skies are massive and everything is in straight lines, that go on, and on, and on..Take a look on a map at the line of the New (and Old) Bedford Rivers between Earith and Downham Market. Dead, dead straight.... oh and it gets a bit breezy.

Shortly after Littleport, I began to notice the appearance of some left hand drive cars. The proportion increased steadily as they heralded my arrival in Mildenhall, one of the few remaining, large US Air Force bases of East Anglia. When I was a kid they were all over the place and the Yanks were a very common sight - I also loved the skies being full of Phantoms, Thunderchiefs, A-10s and Hercules - this really took me back to the 70's and I was surprised at the size of the current Mildenhall base. They only seem to have the boring stuff here now though - I saw one Hercules and a row of KC-135 tankers on the apron and that was it.

Back to civilisation

The landscape now changed, quite significantly and as I headed for Bury St Edmunds, I felt like I was back in familiar home territory. The roads were lined with trees, there were woods, undulations and bends in the roads! The pretty villages of my East Anglia returned and my mood lifted enormously. Once in Bury, I was reminded what a hill looked and felt like. I was pleasantly surprised my legs seemed to enjoy the challenge and the change in landscape led to some much needed shelter from the wind. My pace started to pick up again.

Last pitstop - Lavenham

After about 12 hours on the road, I stopped for a breather and some malt loaf in Lavenham. I had been carrying this large malt loaf for the whole trip and it probably weighed close to a kilo... it is one of those foods that I love once I am eating it, but I need a forceful nudge to start it. This is why I was on day 3 and it was unopened. I took the plunge and within 10 minutes the whole thing had been devoured. I followed that up with some more of the dry oats/raisins/nuts combo of the previous day and took on a couple of pints of water.

I was now ready for the final push. I wasn't showing quite as much mileage as planned, so decided to take a slightly more roundabout route home, using parts of my regular training routes from Nayland to Bures, Wormingford, Fordham, West Bergholt and on to home.

Home. I had left Skegness at 06:30 and arrived just a shade before 20:00. 131 miles at an average of 13.1mph with 9 hrs 57 mins spent in the saddle.

My first solo touring trip had taken 3 days, covered 377 miles and despite the rigours of some parts, left me itching to do more. I really enjoyed the experience and would highly recommend it. There were times on the road that I wished I had someone with me to share a joke or a sight but for the most part, I enjoyed being able to plod on at my own pace. It also would have been nice to have someone around to share the breaks and the stories of the day but the overiding feeling was one of achievement and when I achieve something completely on my own it is a very satisfying feeling. You learn a few things about yourself too....

Some lessons were learned and wise words from many sources were confirmed - I plan to break some of these down in the coming weeks to a series of short thoughts on individual aspects of touring.

Thanks for getting this far with my ramblings!