Palace 11.08

[Sylv]

Ah Palace, where else do you get the chance to compete against a national champion (cyclocross) who casually rolls on the start line at 7.15pm? I had told George and Toks it could be another "easier" race this week but I was glad they hadn't turned up as just looking around I knew we were in for a hard one this time. So I sat in Jody Crawforth's wheel while he watched the early attacks go for a few laps, then when he went for it I followed and we got a gap. I took a turn up the hill which got my highest power output and heart rate for the day (and in a long while - 194bpm!), and a few 1"51 laps.

Ideally just a few would have joined but it was early and soon the whole bunch was back together. There were loads of strong guys, Dynamos, Dulwich, Pearsons, etc, but I was feeling strong, and now trying to conserve energy for later. The pace was pretty ridiculous, I looked down about 20 minutes in and we'd been averaging 41.7km/h. At some point Kevin Payne and Ian Knox (or something like that) attacked up the hill, when Jody bridged I was in his wheel most of the way, and as I just lost it coming to the top I knew the race was slipping away from my hands at that very moment. A few riders managed to shoot off and make it to the break, but from thereon I just went backwards.

I was now at the back of what was left of the bunch and fighting not to get dropped, all of a sudden all my energy had vanished and I felt like in that race a few weeks back - every time going up the hill was a nightmare - couldn't think of even taking a turn at the front for the next 10 minutes and was just trying to recover. Stuart Spies was doing a great job of driving the pace but some people thought it was a good idea to attack rather than work together to try and make up some time on the next group, which was still in sight.

We kept going at a decent speed and I began to feel better and take turns, once up the hill which I think split the group, but we were back together on the next lap. Forgot to say I think we had a crash at the back on the first lap down the hill, and another one later on (I looked back to see someone in mid-air on the sign-on hairpin). Jody was also apparently taken out by one of the 3/4 riders but still finished with of our group. Managed to contest the sprint for umptenth place, just as he was catching up with us.

So what did it take just to grab a lowly top ten spot, narrowly avoiding getting lapped - about 5.67w/kg normalised power for 59 minutes @ 168bpm @ 40.62km/h.

1 Tom Hemnant London Dynamo
2 James Waite Pearson Cycles
3 Kevin Knox Dulwich Paragon
4 Ian Paine London Dynamo @ 6 secs
5 Sam Humpheson London Dynamo @ 1.50+
6 Jody Crawforth Arctic RT/Premier
7 Luke Wallis Kingston Whlrs
8 Matt Zeitz Pearson Cycles
9 Phill Heresy Eagle RC
10 Sylvain Garde Addiscombe CC

A brilliant second place for Jack in the 3/4 too I see.

[Sylv]

Sean, the forum is about to self - destruct, you might not have a chance to post in another week, think about the withdrawal syndroms, so do yourself a favour and write us a few lines about your race however bad it went

[Michelle]

Sylv - 5.6 w/kg? Good God, man you only need to be 6.4w/kg to be able to make it into a Pro team (or so I've heard).

What a great ride that was, well done.

Sean - you are right, the less said about your ride the better

[Sylv]

[quote]Once more the women put on a great contest. Joe McRae (VC Londres) and Emma Patterson (London Dynamo) at half distance moved away before Patterson returned back to the chasers leaving McCrae to win

[Jon H]

[quote="Sean Hogan - 何祥"]A bad day at the office.

[Sylv]

[quote="Michelle"]Sylv - 5.6 w/kg? Good God, man you only need to be 6.4w/kg to be able to make it into a Pro team (or so I've heard).

[Sylv]

what am I doing wrong, here I am with eventual 1st and 2nd place ..

[Michelle]

It's the blue splodge on your left knee, that's what did it.

[Sylv]

How on earth did you notice that, I can hardly see it

I would have thought a bit of blue would have helped - just look at the top 9!

[Andrew G]

Hey well done Sylv on another top 10. Sorry couldn't stay 'til the end but was getting chilly not riding round. Good result judging by the way you were shaking your head as you passed us trying to work out why you were there

Didn't see Jody go down but there was a crash in the E/1/2s on that hairpin when someone clipped a pedal, obviously made the rear wheel skip and an unfortunate Pearson's guy (but not Guy) got brought down. Bounced well though and didn't seem to have any damage and rejoined next lap.

[Toks]

[quote="Sylv"]Ah Palace, where else do you get the chance to compete against a national champion (cyclocross) who casually rolls on the start line at 7.15pm? I had told George and Toks it could be another "easier" race this week but I was glad they hadn't turned up as just looking around I knew we were in for a hard one this time.

[Keith]

Top ride Sylv.

[Andrew G]

Dropped in on my way home to wave a pom-pom and try out my new point and shoot. Had a spot of bother trying to force the flash so have had to make merry with photoshop to try and shed a bit of light on the subject(s). Looks like I'll have to resort to reading the manual .

John "da man".
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB02JohnM.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB03JohnM.jpg[/img]

Ladies first
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB08Laydees.jpg[/img]

3/4 bunch
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB063-4pack.jpg[/img]

Sean, not looking like he's having much fun
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB05Sean.jpg[/img]

le Garde au Palais
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB01Sylvstart.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB09Sylv.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB07Sylv.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n315/andrewgreen23/Palace%20110809/WEB04Sylv.jpg[/img]

[Sylv]

You look the business Sean - just imagine there are 40 riders behind you

Thanks for the photos Andrew

[Sylv]

just join Dulwich or Dynamo, you got the shoes and helmet already sorted