Matt Page Blog: Cross Racing Success
The last few weeks have been quite busy for me in terms of training and also CX racing. A few weeks ago I entered the Welsh CX round at Pembrey on board the fantastic Focus Mares. I was just looking to get a little more experience and use it as a training session. To my amazement I was gridded on the front row in only my second ever race. In a way this was great as I knew I’d get a fairly good start, but I was rather nervous as I am still very new to it. The start was quick, but I stayed within my limits and soon settled into a battle for 4/5/6 position. The laps seemed to fly by and I was really enjoying it – if that’s possible when your in pain and near your limits! In our own mini battle we kept swapping positions throughout the race.
Towards the end, what I thought would be our penultimate lap I glanced back to see Lee storming through to lap us! I knew that if he passed us (which he did very soon after!) this would be our last lap, so made sure I got into a good position and made a sprint for the line to finish in 4th place overall (3rd Senior). I was really happy with the result and it was a nice step up from the 7th place at the previous race.
The next 2 weeks were spent training hard, almost all on the Kiron as I step up the mileage and hopefully start improving my overall fitness. Had I known how much I would enjoy racing cyclocross I would have entered the Welsh Champs, but the entry deadline was the day after my first race, so I didn’t really give it much thought. Instead I used the time to head up to North England for a weekend away and also paid a visit to Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders where the UK Solo 24hr Champs are to be held. It looks like it will be a fantastic venue and will be a great place to battle it out against the other top riders in the country. I honestly think it will be the best course used for any major UK 24hr to date, so anyone looking for a great event to race or just to challenge yourself then look no further!
This week started quite badly as I struggled to train hard as my daily routine was turned on its head and I went from training in the afternoon and evenings to having to get on the bike as soon as I got up at 7am. Apart from a slight lack in top end power it wasn’t too bad in the end, but I’d much rather go out later in the day.
Sunday 13th Dec 2009
This weekend I entered the Welsh CX round at Glanusk Estate. The course was totally different to Pembrey, with loads of tight and twisty corners and almost all on grass. Some sections were off-camber and really tricky. I am still very much a novice at CX and I didn’t think the course would suit me at all. I was slow and ponderous around the slower more technical corners, but at least there were not too many dismount sections, something I have never practiced.
With Lee racing at the British National Series I was hopeful of getting at least one place higher!. Once again I started on the front row, so I made sure I put in a good start and got into 2nd place really quickly.
It didn’t last long as I was pushed out on one of the first corners, lost some rhythm and dropped back several places. As the front few riders went ahead with a clear track I was stuck behind other riders and found it hard to make up the lost ground. Very slowly I picked up a few places, picking off one or two riders each lap I moved up to 4th or 5th and was holding ground on the leaders. As the race progressed the course became more cut up and I was struggling for grip on both wheels in several places. I was loosing time in some of the corners and also where I had a few slow dismounts/remounts, but able to pull some back on the flatter parts and the short uphill blasts.
I progressed well and could see that not only was I gaining on the riders ahead, but the time gap to the lead rider was also coming down. I made a big push and soon found myself in a 3-way battle for the lead. The gap kept changing, but it was only ever a few seconds and I was still feeling strong. With 2 laps remaining I made my move as riders behind were starting to close in. I got a small gap which started to grow ever so slowly. Going into the final lap I only had a lead of about 10 seconds, so I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes. I put the hammer down on easier parts and made sure I got around on the sketchy sections and was over the moon to cross the line and win the race!
The other major news on the training front is that I have found a coach to work with after a number of years of self-coaching. After plenty of thought I have been lucky to find someone that I trust and someone who really understands the needs of a 24hr soloist. I only ever considered 2 people, so to find someone willing to help me progress is very exciting stuff. Now that I have been using my Powertap for a couple of months I have been able to build up enough data to start using it to its full extent after an initial learning process.
Training by power certainly lives up to my expectations as you can go into a huge amount of detail on every single part of your ride. At the moment I am mainly looking at snapshots of rides, finding out how hard each ride is and using the data to slowly build my fitness and hopefully prevent and possible over training. As things move on and I learn more about what is possible then I will go into more detail and really start to analyse each training session. There are so many benefits to power training, but the main benefits I am finding at the moment are the extra motivation I get from hitting a certain level of “stress” or TSS each week and also watch in numbers as my aerobic fitness, or FTP (functional threshold power) increases.
Next week is the final round of the Welsh CX series and I hope to be there racing again. All being well Lee will be racing again, so that will certainly be a different type of race.