SCCU 25 18/4/10

[Andrew G]

Off down to Broadbridge Heath this morning with 5 other yellow perils for the SCCU 25. A bit nippy when I got to the HQ but an hour later and once racing it was fine with just some armwarmers added to the kit.

I started off quite badly, my legs felt terrible and were uncomfortably sore. After about 3-4 miles I looked down and my average speed was 22.5mph way down on what it should be. I knocked it up a gear or two as I realised I'd just been turning the pedals without any real conviction and sped up, even if only to get back to the HQ a bit sooner. Ah maybe I'm on to something as the legs stopped feeling terrible and there was just a bit of a dull ache.

Now moving along at a decent speed and with my legs feeling better all the time I started to feel better all round. I spotted Dominic and Jon at a couple of turns as they'd started 2 minutes in front and 3 minutes behind me respectively. On the way back down from Tollgate I saw Keith Coffey heading the other way, sitting up a bit and looking around at the scenery, at least have the decency to make it look hard work Keith .

Onwards and back through the turn back up towards Southwater with a quick wave to Tamar and the Watts who were on pointing duty there, and catching a couple of riders along here. On the way up the drag to Hop Oast I was caught by James Stuart (NP - winner of our road race promotion at Bletchingley) who was storming along on his road bike. I was also caught just after Southwater by my two minute man but then on the drag back up to Hop Oast I recaught him, a bit later he came passed again and didn't pull away very quickly so I had to move out to the middle of the lane to avoid getting a tow. He pulled very slowly away and I could move back in again and then followed him in to the finish.

Not too bad once I'd got going, just a shame I didn't realise that going faster was easier on the legs sooner. Well done to Dom for pipping Mark to the ACC honours today.

Addiscombe:
Robert Royle-Evatt 1.02.29
Dominic Lowe 1.0.49
Andrew Green 1.02.02
Jon Hemming 1.02.52
Paul Tunnell 1.03.57
Mark McLaughlin 1.01.08

A nice Golden Sheep watching the cycling and then an hours legs spin to ease them off. Good weekend really .

Look forward to seeing all the Addiscombe next week at out 25 promotion.

[Toks]

Nice one fellas! How did that N.P. chap on his road bike do in the end?

[Mulberry]

Toks,

James did 57.02 on his road bike in the end. I spoke to him earlier and he was pleased with his ride and spent most of it at HR 178 by the sound of it. He's been busy lately building a bathroom extension so didn't have time to set up his P3 for the race and was keen to get the miles in anyway so just rode out this morning (2C apparently) did the TT and rode home again to put the roof on the bathroom!

Apparently somebody had done 56 by the time he left and James was off no 62 I think. I think he surprised a few people on TT bikes as he rode past on the drops.

BTW I saw Peter St Amour was riding in civvies in the Gorrick Masters at Surrey Hill today. He was 14th in what proved to be fast dusty race.

Marcus

[Andrew G]

I forgot to note his time but think he did a 57. A great ride but speaking to the chap who finished in front of me he said his pacing was a bit up and down so if he evens that out then if could really fly. A target for you to aim at in your road bike 25 Toks . I think a 50 won it. He wasn't on the drops Marcus if was riding the hoods!

[EdO]

[quote="Mulberry"]

BTW I saw Peter St Amour was riding in civvies in the Gorrick Masters at Surrey Hill today. He was 14th in what proved to be fast dusty race.

Marcus

[David.Hilbert]

Just out of interest, do any of the guys that have gone under the hour for a 25 reckon they could ever do it on an ordinary road bike? How much harder do you reckon it would be without the tri bars and pointy hats etc?
From a pureist point of view, I think it would be nice to be able to do this.

[George]

You would have to go some
I'd say on this course you would be around 2 or 3 mins slower on a road bike so you'd need to be able to knock out a 57 min 25 on a TT bike and at the moment theres only one guy in the club that can do that

[David.Hilbert]

[quote="George"]You would have to go some
I'd say on this course you would be around 2 or 3 mins slower on a road bike so you'd need to be able to knock out a 57 min 25 on a TT bike and at the moment theres only one guy in the club that can do that

[Jon H]

Last year I rode a few 10 mile events in the Planet-X Old Skool series, riding a fixed wheel road bike.

In the Catford 10 I was about 1.5 minutes slower than what I would have expected to have done, gauged by the times my peers in the club did in the same event. Same story in the President's 10. Although I suspect part of this time difference was down to riding fixed rather than the road bike aspect; I was either over geared or under geared for large sections of both courses.

In the Team Sanjan Design 10, I rode Old Skool (24:12) then an hour later rode fully aero (23:34). So 38 seconds difference, although I would have gone faster on the second run if I hadn't already knackered myself riding the first run.

Pro-rata those time differences up to 25 miles and take into account my caveats, and the difference is in agreement with George's estimate of 2 to 3 minutes.

That was a top ride by James - I guess he'd have won the event if he'd been on a time trial bike.

[Andrew G]

[quote="David.Hilbert"]What makes the most difference do you reckon: the tri bars, disk wheels, or the pointy hat?

[David.Hilbert]

Interesting post Andrew.

I'm thinking of dipping my toe in the racing pool and TT's appeal to me more than RR. I get nervous in a bunch of riders and I'm always reading about crashes, but that's another story. If I did , I'd prefer to do it without the aero aids I think. I got into cycling in the 70's and 80's and for some reason I can't get over the idea that the disks and pointy hats etc are cheating in some vague Luddite way. That's just me though.

I've often heard you talk about the drifting off . Can you explain that? It seems to me that when I have ridden hard for a few miles that I'm not worried about drifting off...more managing the painful sensations in my legs and breathing. By drifting off do you mean that you unconsciously ease off a bit because it hurts?

[Sylv]

Yeah, I'm curious about that too!
Anyway well done for the sub-hour Andrew

[George]

[quote="David.Hilbert"]Interesting post Andrew.
I've often heard you talk about the drifting off . Can you explain that? It seems to me that when I have ridden hard for a few miles that I'm not worried about drifting off...more managing the painful sensations in my legs and breathing. By drifting off do you mean that you unconsciously ease off a bit because it hurts?

[Sylv]

[quote="Mulberry"]BTW I saw Peter St Amour was riding in civvies in the Gorrick Masters at Surrey Hill today. He was 14th in what proved to be fast dusty race.

[Andrew G]

Cheeky bugger George .

By drifting off I just mean that my mind is focused solely on my race and my effort and/or pacing. I think it's a subconscious thing as it isn't a deliberate choice, just that I may have caught something in my peripheral vision and without realising it my mind has gone off on a tangent.

It's not an avoiding pain thing, Mr Brent, and isn't a drastic slowing, it's just that I'll notice I'm not going as hard as I could and my speed is say 23mph on a stretch of road where it should be 24.5-25mph. Do that for 2 miles though and you've lost enough time that you can't get it back.

I've got my head sorted now though so rarely happens anymore. It can take different times for different people, some will be able to do it straight away.