MDM-me

I headed over to Hillingdon in pursuit of points and managed to achieve just that. 5th place gets me 5 points so I'm now halfway to my 3rd cat license. I also got a tenner for my efforts as well!! I was smiling so much afterwards that I anyone watching might have thought that I'd been sniffing glue or perhaps something even stronger with the local crackheads in the park next door.

I'm never really very good at remembering details of races but basically I spent a lot of time on my own and with various people off the front of the pack. I think a more committed trio or perhaps duo could have got away and stayed away but frankly the people that I teamed up with were either unwilling or unable to do the work necessary to stay out in front. So with that it all eventually went down to a bunch sprint, this is normally where I would have come unstuck having done so much previously but not this time. I held my position when the last two laps were called and even led out the penultimate lap. I let up for the briefest time in order to get a wheel to suck as close to the front as possible for the last windy drag before two lefts and the slight rise towards the line. I held my position here too and even going around the outside stayed true to my new best friends wheel. I was so fooked at this point I couldn't even get out of the saddle, I just had to sit there with my head down trying to turn the gear over as quickly as I possibly could. The excitement was immense as I headed towards the line, I was looking in front and knew that I was in the points but could see people around me and wasn't really sure what position I'd got. What a great race! I'm thinking about going back there next Tuesday with backup to see if it was all just a fluke or if I can get an even better result and those last 5 points...

Mr potato head

It's bank holiday weekend and I'd signed up for my third TT of the year. Made my way up to Suffolk with Miss Drago and other relations in tow. Arranged lodgings with the folks. I think it was shortly after the Dartford tunnel when I realised that I'd forgotten my cycling shoe, doh! Made a visit to the local bike shop the following morning and restocked on essential footwear. The weather was amazing this weekend so it would have been incredibly rude to not go and give the new shoes a test ride.

The cycling up here in Suffolk is fantastic, much quieter roads in a better condition then the ones around South London and Northern Surrey. Looking forward to figuring out ways of avoiding the busier ones and discovering where best to jack up with the obligatory caffeine spike.

I'd done a minuscule amount of research for the route, not a super fast DC but a bit of a sporting affair. Was still hoping for a respectable time though what with the good weather. Bought the Powertap with me for this one and was treating it as a bit of a FTP test. I'd also planned to use the wheel covers I've got with the PT in order to knock a few seconds off my time. Unfortunately the shoes weren't the only thing I'd forgotten, in order to fit the wheel covers you need to remove the cassette. Not going to happen without the right tools though, is it? Double d'oh!! Race went reasonably well, my HR average creeped up from 170 to 172 for the effort when compared to the last TT I did. I'd say I went harder in this race then the last one but the slower course and less aero kit meant that a slower time was on the cards. Finished with 1:03:47 which I'm pretty pleased with.

I just pee'd my pants

Found this on the BBC website, this guy signed up for the sportive version of the first TdF stage that went from London to Canterbury in 2007. Check out his expression after his first long ride!!

Fish and chips...

A strange week so far, went to Palace for the first time which was great fun. I hadn't expected to enjoy it so much as I did or to feel reasonably ok. I was a bit naive and started at the back of the pack which I'd promised not to do after Ixworth. Someone pointed out later that it's better to sacrifice a warm up lap for a good position in the starting grid. Still, made up a few places quickly and had some good fun practising the corners, got involved with a few others here and there and as mentioned earlier, I had a good time. Was going to have a second race on Thursday night but had a mishap on Thursday morning, the day that London declared war… ON ME! First thing to happen was my bike getting struck by a car, no damage to me though and the bike seemed fine at first. Noticed shortly after that the wheel was buckled, I had to fully disengage the brakes but the wheel was still rubbing against the pads. I remember counting four other incidents on the way in which is an unheard of. My commutes are normally totally harmless affairs and I recommend the bike over the train on all but the sh1t est of weather days. But saying that it was a mere £11.50 to get the wheel trued on the way home and I was back in business. Thanks to www.deensgarage.co.uk bike shop in Beckenham for fitting me in and scrubbing the frown from my face. The anti frown look didn't last long though. Have been feeling a bit sore along the undercarriage recently but though nothing of it until I had a quick peak/feel the other evening only to discover what can only be described as a nuclear nipple growing. I'm hoping that it's going to bare fruit soon because if it keeps growing I may need to commission some sort of saddle orthotics to keep me even on the bike. I may you tube the exact moment of eruption for this little beauty in the interests of medical science. Perhaps, if I time it just right, I can use the eruption as some sort of racing aid, simultaneously giving myself a speed boost and covering my competitors in a incapacitating (but harmless) sticky mess. For those wishing to catch the moment in real life I'll be at Goodwood this Sunday for the 4th Cat race...

A downward trend?

So, for the second time this week I put on my TSN jersey and went into battle. The first time was up in Suffolk whilst visiting Mummy and Daddy Drago. I'd noticed on the BC website that the annual Ixworth Crits were happening on Bank Holiday Monday and decided to give it a go what with being in the area. And so it was that for the first time this year I found myself at a proper race, it nearly didn't happen though as, I turned up, it started raining, I started cacking my pants, I got in the car and drove away. Minutes later after a quick toilet stop in a bridleway and a wake up call from the lovely Mrs Drago I'd re-composed myself and was pinning a number to my jersey trying to figure out where to go and attempt a warm up. 

Pre race ritual

The race was OK, I foolishly hid at the back for the start and only realised just what a stupid move this was when on the first corner I look ahead and see that the people in front had already let a gap go. For anyone who doesn't know it's stupidly hard to catch a group of speeding cyclist when all you've got to do it with is your own legs and a bicycle. I show up as 11th in the results but that isn't the case. If I'd been given any points I probably would have owned up but seeing as there are none for 11th I don't think anyone will be that bothered...

Second time in the jersey was for today's Norwood Paragon hosted 25 TT on the Broadbridge Heath course. This is the second time I've been here in two weeks! Come to think of it I've only ever done 4 x 25 TT ever, that's including this year's efforts. 

Had noticed on the turbo this week that the front of the TT bike didn't look right and so I spent a bit of time yesterday getting that right. Thought about using the Power tap but decided against after a quick chat with Mr Betablocker himself. A later start time probably helped get the speed up and I'd also had more then two hours sleep, which was nice. Managed to get around in 1:01:01 according to my watch but will know for definite later once the results are available. Really pleased with that. Had a think about it on the way home and If I can finish every mile just a little bit over 2 seconds faster I'll get under the hour. I've entered two more events over the next month or so and I'm hoping to use some road races to sharpen me up a bit. Interestingly enough, my race number was 111 today which was the same as my time. I think I might be being optimistic requesting number 56 for the next race though...