palace 8.8

[Dr Frigo]

That was good fun. More exciting than Hillingdon too!
And not as hard as people sometimes make it, if you are willing to ride in the first quarter of the pack.
Even there I couldn't believe how much momentum we lost braking early in the turns.
No wonder someone strong enough to ride on their own (not me) can build a 45" gap on the bunch if he rides a smooth race.
I never saw the guy who did it last night though.
Spent the whole race on the drops this time - much better aerodynamics, control and braking power - was getting numb hands by the end!
Still a bit hairy though - three men went down on the last lap.
A bit annoyed having gone up the climb not too badly to have been passed by 3-4 people in the last 30m - I'll be working on my sprint! Weights intervals bla-di-bla.
Well done Toks whose pre-race excuse for the day was being tired from riding his bike. And thanks to the supporters although it all went in a blur for me.
Average speed was a hair under 24mph.
Last Palace for me this year unfortunately - well maybe on the 29th but I only fly back from France at noon. Back from l'Alpe d'Huez though so might be worth a try with the benefit of altitude training


3/4/W
1 Nick Ross Dulwich Paragon
2 Kevin Knox Dulwich Paragon @ 35 secs
3 Ben White @ 37 secs
4 Alan Flight GS Invicta @ 46 secs
5 Rob Jeffroy London Dynamo/Cyclefit
6 Toks Adesenya Addiscombe CC
7 Dennis Preston Dulwich Paragon
8 Andrew Noble Erdale Olympic
9 Sylvain Garde Addiscombe CC
10 Jonathan Donald Brixton Cycles @ 1m+
11 Paul Horta Hobbs Dulwich Paragon
12 James Peters Dulwich Paragon
13 Nick Symes Vegetarians CC
14 Craig Northam Dulwich Paragon
15 Chris Campbell London Dynamo/Cyclefit
16 Guy Phillips Dulwich Paragon
17 Fraser Wildman Downland Cycles

[Toks]

Hillingdon 4th cat graduate and mountain bike supremo Sylvain made arguably the most impressive first time showing at Palace this year. However, unlike Matt last week this was sadly not reflected in the results - but Slyv rode smoothly and kept himself in the front 3rd of the bunch for the whole race. Thats not easy and requires high fitness levels.

In stark contrast to Sylv my performance last night was distinctly average. I almost got dropped on the 3rd lap and really struggled to get to the front half of the bunch. Thanks to shouts of encouragement from Sean and others I finally got up near the front with about 7/8 laps to go. My July purple patch has long gone and I'm not able to 'boss the race' (not my words) as I once did. I gotta be honest guys its getting hard now.

That 2nd cat licence is only eight points away but it might as well be eighty points; I'm just a couple of stops away from racing burn out. As you know if it doesn't happen by mid September then I'm gonna throw the bike in the Thames and take up Green Bowling. Why put myself under so much pressure? I don't know - but two years as a fair to middling 3rd cat is enough. I just wanna see if I can cut it with the big boys next year. Cooler and more talented racers like Tim Harris made the cut ages ago so I'm fighting a lone battle. Marek's wasn't prepared to put his cards on the table and word on the street says his struggling for form (tell me about it!) - but he'll still kick your arse on the club run.

Last night I used two cans of red bull for race fuel. I'm still waiting to hear from Spanish doctors so I'm not sure what will be in the bottles next week. Seriously though I've only done about 20 odd races I don't know how pro's do 80-100 (err actually I do!)...Guys like Rob Jefferoy (LD) and Alan Flight (Invictor) couldn't get near me a month ago now they're out jumping me just short of the finishing line. Aaarrggghhhh!!! Roll on next week

[Matthew Ives]

Excellent work ,chaps !!!

I knew you'd be fine, Sylv. I'm sure if you got to ride the Palace a bit more frequently this year, you'd have been far higher up in the result.
Toks: awesome once again. Off form and you still get 6th, you wiley old dog, you
8 points....that so close you can almost touch 2nd cat. Maybe have a complete week off the bike and have one last push in the last two weeks of August? I've heard a whole week off can do wonders if you're over raced/tired.
Failing that we'll put you on and IV drip of Red Bull just before next weeks race

I was thinking of coming down to watch but I really wasn't up to it.
Pretty heavy cold ATM. I hope to recover in time to have one more crack @ the Palace.

[Nick]

I rode to the Palace last night to get a feel for this racing stuff.

Spoke to Toks and had a nice chat while the juniors were racing some of them barely able to walk (being very young I mean) let alone ride. Well done the juniors.

I was asked by The great man himself if I wanted a tour of the Palace circuit....I jumped at such a chance and was very flattered. I rode around a few times with Toks then went my own way whilst riding around on my own I got to thinking I could do this........then Whack!!!!!!! reality hits 27 laps 24mph average hmmm prehaps not.

There was at least 6 Acc members there cheering on Toks and Sylvain. It was great to see all that hard work done by the pair of them keeping it all together, Dulwich did have a rider pull away but we thought he had been dropped at first then realised he was off the front his team done a very good job of keeping the bunch back. With only a few laps to go they both looked very strong indeed with little digs after the hairpin. The final lap looking good with them both around the front of the bunch but as they emerged from the climb a few riders must have put in some massive efforts as ACC were just of the front line it was a very close bunch finish and just to see the look of pure emotion as Toks and Sylvain battle to keep in the race for the line.

Well done Boys.



I will get into some sort of training for next year as will a couple of ACC members I spoke to. So I think we can expect a few of us to maybe have a cpl of novice races this year and then hit the race circuit early 2007.

[Toks]

Hey thanks for the words of support Nick and Matt...You're right Nick that was a pretty awesome ride by the Dulwich guy. He went clear on lap two I think. It was so good the guy who came third actually thought he came 2nd. Now where have I heard that before??

[Dr Frigo]

[quote]I will get into some sort of training for next year as will a couple of ACC members I spoke to. So I think we can expect a few of us to maybe have a cpl of novice races this year and then hit the race circuit early 2007.

[Nick]

[quote]mission accomplished Toks

[Toks]

[quote]I will get into some sort of training for next year as will a couple of ACC members I spoke to. So I think we can expect a few of us to maybe have a cpl of novice races this year and then hit the race circuit early 2007.

[Toks]

[quote]Plan: Dupe enough NON racers down to Crystal Palace let them make a commitment on the forum....they have No way of turning back. New racers for 2007.

[Andrew G]

[quote]No wonder someone strong enough to ride on their own (not me) can build a 45" gap on the bunch if he rides a smooth race.