Palace 18.8

[Rob Q]

As it was a pleasant evening I decided to pop down and shout my support. Not sure of all the final standings, but I think Adam finished 4th. Well done all. Not sure what happened to Antloony??
Apologies for the blurred shots, I blame it on the fading light and sh1t camera.

Adam and Nic
[img]http://i30.tinypic.com/2vm8q5z.jpg[/img] [img]http://i29.tinypic.com/2epjyj7.jpg[/img]
Kieran
[img]http://i25.tinypic.com/291kfwh.jpg[/img]

[kieran]

Good ride by Adam, bad one by me. Just arrived back on Sunday night from 2 weeks holidays in the sun so not too much high intensity rides recently! Anyway a nice sized bunch, mangaed to stick with the group for 18 laps then got dropped, after cramp started in my 2 legs from lap 15, every time I checked my HRM it was showing over 180bpm. Then I did about 2-3 laps on my own (my hr dropped to low 170s) and then joined 2 other riders (mosquito bikes and london dynamo) for the remainder of the race, and finished without being lapped, that was the best I could manage!

One more to go.

[Nicolas]

Aaaahh Palace, the infamous South London weekly race. I had to try it, it's done! I was told it was hard, it is!!

Ok, let's get my results out of the way right now, they are nothing to be proud of, far from it: I managed to stay only 3 laps in contact, then rode with the odd dropped rider or two, and called it a day after 16 laps and being lapped... several times!

The bright side of it is I learned plenty of things yesterday night, so maybe it can be of interest to other poor 4th cat Palace virgins.

1. You HAVE to warm up properly!
The race starts really strongly from the go, the first lap was really brutal to me. I was not warmed up enough and was not prepared to push 400w+ up the climb one minute after the start, and so was pushed to the back of the bunch quite quickly. I suppose you need a thorough warm up, especially at Palace where you can't just hide in the bunch for the first 15 min and warm up there as in other races.
I'm letting the seasoned racers explain how to properly warm up, I have no idea. Maybe doing one lap spinning and one lap at full racing pace just before the start?

2. You HAVE to know your wheel/tyres, and trust them in the corners!
I didn't follow Mr. wise advice to arrive well in advance to have a chance to do a few recce laps of the circuit. So on the first couple of laps, I was braking WAY too much in the corners, making it even more difficult to come back when accelerating out of it. The truth is those Michelin Pro 3 Race have an amazing grip when you push them properly, I had never been at such an angle in a corner before! The corners at Palace are quite clean (except maybe the U turn after the line) so you can really go fast when you know it, saving a lot of energy in the process.

3. Keep the pedals out of the way in the tight corners!
Following point 2, an additional thing I discovered is you have to avoid starting pedalling too soon! On the third lap, I clipped a pedal on the corner at the bottom, not a big deal really but it's a bit surprising when it happens the first time and I needed a few seconds to take my mind back to the race, realizing.... I just hit the back end of the bunch!

Apart from that, the bunch riding (not that I have experienced much of it yesterday but hey...) is less scary than I imagined, most riders are very safe and people who pass you tend to shout very clearly where they are, so that scary moments are avoided. But yes, it's very hard, there is no hiding here, you really have to be able to power up the 1min+ long hill... 30 times with little rest in between!!

I really enjoyed my first outing there, and will definitively be back next season (out of town next week) with the right set of mind and (hopefully) better fitness!!

Thanks a lot to Rob for the pics and the chat, it was nice to see an ACC cap cheering you up in the top corner every lap! And congrats to Adam as well who made the race at the front and finished 4th behind an impressive Dynamo breakaway.

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"][quote="Rob Quinn"] Not sure what happened to Antloony??

[-Adam-]

BLOODY LONDON DYNAMO!!!

[Antloony]

Not a lot to report from me, yes its a pained look on my face, started off ok, just sat at the back of the main bunch till I warmed up, being old it takes me a while. People were dropped straight away but I was feeling ok. After 3 laps tried to start moving up towards the front but got no where due to some appalling standards of riding. Followed round for another 2 laps when my knee just had a panic attack at all the strain I was putting on it going up the hill and it just didn't want to play anymore, pain got to much hence my expression.

Gave up and went home to hit the ice and pain killers. Pretty pee'd off about it really, sat I was going well and felt good.

Think that'll be it from me as far as racing goes, will just stick to the club run and the odd social ride from now on and not bother re-newing my licence next year me thinks. Least I can go out with a race win under my belt in my short lived career

[Keith]

[quote="Antloony"]Think that'll be it from me as far as racing goes, ...

[Antloony]

Thanks Keith

I had a arthroscopy done 6 years ago following a nasty car accident which damaged my already damaged knee. This sorted it out for about 4 years. Last MRI scan I had done showed that my knee is wearing out, my dads knees have done the same and he's having both his replaced this year. Mines an odd one really, seems to come and go at the moment. I think I'll go see a specialist and get some pointers as to what can be done then if surgery is required I'll get it done early winter time so I'll be fit for riding come early next year.

TBH its getting me down and really pissing me off, can't train hard, scared to push myself for fear of making it worse. Least I can still ride though, can't begin imagine how Michelle feels

[kieran]

[quote="Nicolas"]Aaaahh Palace, the infamous South London weekly race. I had to try it, it's done! I was told it was hard, it is!!

Ok, let's get my results out of the way right now, they are nothing to be proud of, far from it: I managed to stay only 3 laps in contact, then rode with the odd dropped rider or two, and called it a day after 16 laps and being lapped... several times!

The bright side of it is I learned plenty of things yesterday night, so maybe it can be of interest to other poor 4th cat Palace virgins.

1. You HAVE to warm up properly!

2. You HAVE to know your wheel/tyres, and trust them in the corners!

3. Keep the pedals out of the way in the tight corners!

Apart from that, the bunch riding (not that I have experienced much of it yesterday but hey...) is less scary than I imagined, most riders are very safe and people who pass you tend to shout very clearly where they are, so that scary moments are avoided. But yes, it's very hard, there is no hiding here, you really have to be able to power up the 1min+ long hill... 30 times with little rest in between!!
.

[Toks]

15mins of the nights E12 race here - nice video by Andy Waterman. Adam takes centre stage at around 12 minutes
http://www.londoncyclesport.com/Feature ... Video.html