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Winter Update

16th January 2010

I haven’t Blogged for while and there is a good reason for that…it’s the only time of the year where I get to have some time off racing. This means I haven’t really got much going with regards to racing but have still been keeping my self busy with training and work.

I started a new full time job with Welsh Cycling at the begging of November as a Go-Ride Coach for Wales, my first ever proper job. I have always worked part time for various different people mainly with Welsh Cycling as a casual coach so when the opportunity came up to have a salary, laptop, phone and a vehicle I took it. So far I am really enjoying it although the weather has been a problem when it comes to coaching children on playgrounds, an ice rink would not look good on my risk assessment. So I have been busy with that but still managing to find enough time to train.

I have been mainly riding on my Focus Mares Pro cross bikes due to the snow and these machines are perfect for that. They are so much fun blasting along the canal and ploughing through the snow. I did have one incident where I was descending down a steep field which people had been using for sledging so was very slippery and that combined with a howling cross wind resulted in my going off course and somersaulting over the bars. No damage done though as the snow is a great cushion but I did look like a snow man once I got up.

I have also been riding on Newport Velodrome when it’s not shut due to the snow so that has been convenient in this arctic weather. I have also been on my turbo trainer but mainly use my rollers as I find these nicer to ride and is really good for your pedalling technique. So the only time the road bike has been used is indoors as the roads in Wales are very dangerous not just from falling off but also vehicles loosing control on the slippery roads.

I was due to ride the cross nationals last weekend but it has been postponed until February which has worked out well for me as I am only just getting over a cold. This weekend I am going to head up to the Revolution Track race in Manchester and also the final National Trophy Cross round in Rutland the following day.

I will be sure to let you know how they both go, take it easy.

Ben

Photos

End of Season Lowdown with Team Wiggle

Our Team Wiggle athletes have had a cracking year, standing atop rostrums the world over in road racing, mountain biking and triathlon. Before they put their feet up for the festive break, we caught up with them all as they reflect on 2009 and look ahead to 2010. Ben Simmons signed up at the start of the year as Team Wiggle’s roadie, but was soon excelling at MTB and XC riding too.

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Team Wiggle 2009 Team Highlights

Q. Looking back on your 2009 season, are you pleased with how it went?

A. This season has been excellent for me. I have done so many races and loved every one of them. I have been racing Mountain Bike, Track, Road, Criterium and Cyclo-cross races and have performed well in all disciplines.

Q. What was the highlight of your year?

A. Having an injury-free season. It was also nice to win the Welsh Circuit Race Champs jersey so I’ll get to show that off in the races next year and it will get me some more publicity!

Q. What was the funniest moment?

A. That’s a hard one to answer as every event and training ride I do always seems to involve some comical moments, mainly because of some of the characters I ride with. I was out on a training ride recently with a couple of mates and we were riding up a gradual climb when two dogs came out of a farmyard and chased us for miles. I was the fittest there so knew the dogs wouldn’t get me, but I was laughing so hard I could barely pedal – and being in the big ring didn’t help! Eventually the dogs gave up and my mates caught their breath while I was still in stitches.

Q. What was the most important lesson you learnt?

A. Not to hold anything back during a race because you might not get the chance to use it again. I found that if you race hard all the time you will get yourself in a better position and from this you will naturally perform better. Every position, point or second counts!

Q. What are your plans for winter training? How’s it going so far?

A. Winter training for me is a mixture of cyclo-cross races and long endurance rides. I have focused mainly on the bigger cross races so I can still get my long base miles in on some weekends as well as mixing in some track riding when it is wet and dark as Newport Velodrome is on my doorstep.

Q. What does 2010 have in store for you? What are your major races going to be?

A. For 2010 I am going to cut down on the volume of races and focus on performing well in bigger events. With me gaining the Welsh Criterium Champs jersey I would like to show this off as much as possible riding local and national circuit races and also mixing it up on the Mountain Bike and Track.

Ben Simmons Hugging The Black Line.

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Revolution & Welsh CX Champs.

5th December

Revolution 26 Track Race – Manchester Velodrome

After helping out at Revolution 25 I was really looking forward to be being team manger for the remaining Revolution events, this week I had Mark Griffiths to help out at the Revolution Coach for Team Slicks. Team Slicks are made up of Welsh Future Stars riders and were also lucky to have Welsh Elite Rider Luke Rowe on our team as well as Bradley Wiggins, Leif Lampater and our team captain Craig McClean. Leif was such a nice guy to talk to and really worked well with our other Elite riders as this was his first Revolution.

Team Slicks:
Elite Riders:
Craig McClean (Captain)
Bradley Wiggins
Leif Lampater
Luke Rowe

Future Stars:
Owain Doull
Matt Cross
Robbie Westwood
Amy Hill
Amy Roberts
Sarah Crowley

We had a strong team yet again and after finishing 2nd in the team rankings last time we were looking to go one better and be the winning team. This looked like it was going to be easy with a stronger line up Elite riders compared to last time and this showed straight away in the elite devil scratch race which Bradley won with Luke finishing in 3rd place.

Our future stars failed to be as successful as the last Revolution but all still finished highly in the races. Still racking up the points and putting on a good show for the crowd! Owain managed to hold on to his individual leaders’ jersey but unfortunately Amy Roberts dropped from 2nd to joint 3rd in the girls individual rankings. But by the end of the night not only did we win the Overall team competition for the night making us the leading team in the series but we also won the Italian Pursuit against team Rollers by 9 seconds!!!

What a nights racing and what made it better was looking after the winning team and getting to be involved with some of the most talented youngsters in the country as well as world class elite riders! If you have never had the fortune of attending a Revolution I suggest you book your tickets for the next one on the 16th January.

Event Website: www.cyclingrevolution.com

6th December

Welsh Cyclo-Cross Championships – Crickhowell

After another long night on my feet at the Revolution, my late night driving home and getting to bed until 2.30am (Note: bad preparation for a race as before). The race was local to me so this did give me some time to lie in the morning but was soon up a raring to go. I arrived at the race quite early so that I could watch the youth races which were great fun to watch as the course was muddy and technical! There was consistent rain showers with breaks of sunshine that made the course even harder by the time it came to my race!

My race started fast with Lee taking the lead and I was running in about 6th position all in a line. Half way though the lap I realised I had a rear wheel puncture so had to ride a flat which lost me a couple places before I managed to change on to my spare bike in the pits. I then had some chasing to do…I chased hard and felt strong riding through the slow mud and was riding well through the technical sections and soon got myself in to 4th position closing down on 3rd. This soon come to an abrupt end when I caught some string in my rear mech, I pulled it out and tried to continue by my rear wheel wouldn’t move.

At this point I had dropped back through the field again so I retired from the race and washed my bike off to discover that I had the string caught in my cassette which was blocking my freewheel from moving! It was camouflaged in mud so I had no idea what was wrong with my bike until that point. It was a shame to end my race but I have been lucky with mechanicals this season so can’t complain too much about my misfortune. Lee Williams won the race convincingly on a very fun and sporting course so a well deserved win there!

My next cross race now will be the National Championships on the 10th January but will start doing Newport Velodrome’s Tuesday night track league to keep my speed up through the winter months (and also to have a dry training session for a change).

Ben

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Revolution & Mallory Park.

15th November

Revolution Track Race – Manchester Velodrome

I was asked to help out at the Revolution track race as a Coach/Team Manager along side Kyleigh Manners for Team Slicks. Team Slicks were predominantly Welsh riders apart from Team Captain Craig McClean and one of the Yates brothers.

Team Slicks:

Elite Riders:
Craig McClean (Captain)
Luke Rowe
Sam Harrison
Yates Brother

Future Stars:
Owain Doull
Matt Cross
Robbie Westwood
Amy Hill
Amy Roberts
Rebecca Hunt

We had a strong team and had a good chance of wining the overall team classification.

We had our own allocated area with complimentary energy products and team jerseys, this was where the riders made there home for the night. The racing kicked off with a motor paced scratch race for the senior riders and Luke Rowe scored our first lot of points by finishing 5th.

The next 3 races saw 3 wins by Amy Roberts, Owain Doull and Craig McClean that put Team Slick in to the lead in the overall team competition. For the rest of the night all our rider performed perfectly to score points in every event to which eventually put us in to second place at the end of the night. Owain Doull is now leading the Future Stars individual competition so a very good nights racing for team slicks.

I am now looking forward to the next one in two weeks time where I think we will perform even better and be looking to win the Team Competition for the Overall Series as well as the individual classes.

Photos from the event

16th November

National Trophy Cyclo-cross – Mallory Park

After a long night on my feet at the Revolution, my late night McDonalds and not arriving in my hotel room until 1.30am I finally got my head down to sleep (Note: bad preparation for a race). I arrived at Mallory Park early raring to go the following morning and had a quick look at the course before going out for a two hour spin on the road. The course was very muddy and included lots of off camber grass banks to negotiate but with the weather being dry and windy the course started to dry up. By the time it got to my race the mud was more of a thick clay like consistency, this soon clogged your bike up within half a lap and was the culprit for over 50+ rear mechs/hangers being ripped off bikes. Fortunately I had two bikes to swap between each lap and a super pit crew who had a petrol pressure washer so I had a clean bike when ever I needed it.

My race started fast up a gravel track before hitting the grass sections, I didn’t have a great start but I didn’t have a bad start. By the time we had done half a lap people had already lost their mechs and were running, I kept ploughing through the mud and was inside the top 20. With me being light and having good technical ability the course suited me as I could float over the mud so to speak. By the half way mark I had been changing bike regularly and riding strong slowly picking off riders as they faded. By the last lap I was in a battle to hold off some closing opposition and chasing a rider at the same time. The last few hundred metres came down to a long sprint which I one giving me a finishing position of 15th.

This is one of my strongest rides of the cross season so far and I think this is because the way I have adapted my training to a quality rather than quantity philosophy. Also with the weather now being typical cross weather it is suiting my riding capabilities and am looking forward to the rest of the cross season!

Ben

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Wet & Dark Winter Rides.

6th November 2009

My Wet and Dark Winter Ride

The winter is now sadly upon us and with the weather being particularly wet last week in South East Wales makes your motivation to train decrease. The nights are getting dark by around 4.30pm so by the time most people finish work it is pitch black.

I finished work a little bit early on Friday night so thought while it was light I could ride up to Cwmcarn and do a lap of the trail before it got too dark. The weather was wet and cold so this was a good opportunity to get on my dhb waterproof clothing:

and Exposure Joystick MaXx 2 Wiggle Front Light.

I set off from my house up the canal towards Cwmcarn that takes around 40 minutes if you’re not in any particular rush. This is a good warm up before hitting the start of the climb on the Twrch Trail and by this time I was comfortably warm and bone dry with it still being daylight. After getting to the top of the climb I was very warm as I would be in shorts and jersey in the summer so had to unzip my jacket for the second half of the climb. At the top it was extremely windy and still raining so soon zipped up my jacket for the rest of the trail. By the time I got to the final descent it was getting dark so it was time to switch on my light and I sailed down to the bottom.

The trail was running really well and offered plenty of grip using my Continental Mountain King Tyres. It was now time for my trip along the canal home in the dark but was illuminated by the awesome power of my Joystick light. I got home washed off my bike with ease and also hosed off myself to clean the dhb waterproof clothing with ease.

I was so comfortable and dry when riding with the dhb clothing and gives you no excuse not to train in wet conditions. I would recommend this clothing to any one even if it was not specifically for cycling, I often wear my dhb Jacket when coaching in wet conditions.

Also don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter for more up to date blog news:

BenSimmons – http://twitter.com/BenSimmons

Ben

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NT Rd 3 & Inter-Area CX Champs.

25th October 2009

National Trophy Series Round 3

The third round of the national trophy series took place in Ipswich, I had my best result two years ago here so was hoping to better 13th place. The 4 hour journey on the Saturday saw plenty of rain most of the way there so I was expecting to get muddy for the first time in cross this year. But I was wrong as race day it was sunny and mild, the course was dry but was very draggy. It felt like your brake was rubbing when practising the course so knew it was going to be a hard race.

The race started fast it to some 180 degree grass corners so I was cutting up the inside to try and move up through the field. After the first couple of laps I was just outside the top 20 and chasing with two other riders, but we were also being chased. We were riding well together but I was finding it hard to find a place to recover on the course, as it was all pedalling. We were caught by a rider who had punctured so I jumped on to his wheel, he towed me around the course to catch the next group of riders. I was now suffering as I was struggling to hold his wheel and was in the red zone too long and I started to drift back to my original group.

For the remainder of the race I was giving it 100% effort to hold my position but I did loose a few extra positions and finished 28th. I was a little bit disappointed as I was hoping for a improvement in my results but the standard of riders seems to be getting better and better with a few international riders being thrown in to the mix.

1st November 2009

Inter-Area Cyclo-Cross Championships

The week before this race I was working for British Cycling as a Carer for an Olympic Development Program (ODP) selection camp in Newport. This involved working long hours making sure the logistics and the riders were sorted for each day, this unfortunately left me no time to train. So my preparation for the race was poor and so was my motivation.

Lee and me were part of a 6 man Wales Team who on paper had a good chance of getting a good result. We were gridded 7th that meant we had a front row start which was nice. The race started fast and I was battling with a few aggressive riders so I could move up through the field. I was moving up in to a good position that was until I crashed on an off camber corner, this let a load of riders over take me.

From this point onwards it went down hill as I could feel my back going really tight and I was struggling to put any power out through my legs. I was holding my position well but eventually started to drift backwards through the field, I was no longer a counting rider for points for the team. Then to make things worse I punctured as soon as I passed the pits so had to ride half a lap on a flat by which point I had almost given up. I got my spare bike from the pits and cruised around just to finish the race.

This week I have started training properly, eating properly and structuring my day so I have time to train, work and also more importantly recover. I have started a new job this week working for Welsh Cycling as a Go-Ride Coach for Wales and am really enjoying it. I hope you are all still enjoying your riding even with this wet weather; I’m lucky as I have a nice warm Velodrome (Newport) on my doorstep if the weather is really bad.

Ben

More photos

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NT Cyclo-cross Series Rd 2

11th October 2009

National Trophy Series Round 2

The second round of the national trophy series took place in Derby on a course with plenty of corners and very grassy ones at that. It was a good job that the ground was hard pack although it was slippery on some of the corners because of the light drizzle of rain that occurred in the earlier races. This made the course a lot more interesting for the spectators especially when there were regular crashes and a manic start lap with every one fighting for positions.

After a good warm up on the road and a few practice laps of the course I was ready to race. As always riders get gridded on their series position or national ranking, I was on the third row from the front. The race started flat out in to what was essentially a few corners that acted like a funnel which made it difficult to over take or move up in the bunch. Then because every one is going at a similar pace it was hard to move up the field due to the tight circuit. I was riding well for the first two lap until I rode up an off camber bank following another rider and we both washed out. I then lost a few places but managed to move back up to a similar position that I was in.

For the remainder of the race then I was with two other riders and we worked well but never seemed to gain on the riders who were dangling in front of us or get caught by the riders chasing us. For the last couple of laps I felt comfortable and new that I could beat the riders I was with if it came down to a sprint. Sure enough we stayed together until the last few corners where I made my move to the front.

As I exited the last corner before the finishing straight I had to shut the door on a rider trying to over take me by cutting tight in to a corner so he had to brake and that left my in the position to win my little bunch sprint. I finished in 27th position exactly the same place as the first round but I thing the competition was better than the last round with a few international riders mixed in.

Ben

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Welsh Cyclo-Cross Series Rd 1

4th October 2009

Welsh Cyclo-Cross Series Round 1

The first round of the Welsh Cyclo-cross series kicked off on my birthday weekend in a small local village called Goytre. As you can imagine your never going to be feeling on top form when it’s your birthday weekend but with the sun shining and a great atmosphere at the venue made for a very relaxed enjoyable race.

After almost missing the start because I was too busy chatting, we were off and I was off to a bad start because I couldn’t clip in quick enough. But I soon put down the power and joined the leaders before completing the first lap. Eventually there was a group of four riders who had a clear advantage over the rest and with each of us trying to attack one another made for a rapid race and I was on the limit all the way round.

I had good support all the way round that was very encouraging and as the laps were counting down and each of us closing down attacks I knew it was going to come down to the last lap. The first half of the lap we were all watching each other and then a strong attack saw just three of us in the mix for the win. On the last climb before the finish I moved up in to second position and with only a few corners to go I didn’t have the legs or time to come around the eventual winner and had to settle for second place.

I was pleased with my performance especially as my preparation was not the best but we all have to have a break and enjoy ourselves some times. This race is good preparation for the following weekend where I’m travelling to Derby for the second round of the National Trophy Cyclo-cross series.

Ben

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Welsh Hill Climb Championships

27th September 2009

Welsh HC Champs – Llangynidr

Hill climb events always tend to take place at the end of the road and time trialling season when the air is fresh at it hurts your lungs the most. I decided to enter this event because I feel that climbing is one of my strengths being the build of a mountain goat. The event took place on Llangynidr Mountain that is local to me and also this was the climb I won the 2007 Ras De Cymru on.

With hill climbs no matter what you do to prepare for it, it’s going to hurt and there’s no easy way to go about it! I started off by riding the 2.2 mile climb about an hour before I was due to start and forgot how steep it got in places. After my pre ride of the climb it was on to the rollers for a long progressive warm up so that my body was as prepared as it could be.

I lined up on the start line ready to go with oil bas oil up my nose so my air ways were clear and the timer counted down and I was off. I started off fast and felt good pedalling comfortably until the climb got steeper. I started to loose my rhythm, getting in and out of the saddle and changing up and down the cassette to try and find a comfortable gear. My lungs started to burn shortly followed by my legs but I persevered and was past the half waypoint.

I started to feel really uncomfortable and felt that I was going to put in a bad performance, so much so I almost turned around and went home! But once I hit the hairpin corner I knew it wasn’t far to go but it felt like a lifetime, I got out of the saddle to try and up the pace but it was short lived. I was in agony and with the finish line in sight I barely had enough strength to sprint for the line!

Once crossing the line I had to lie down on the grass and try and replace the oxygen debt in my body for a good few minutes. Then after feeling completely unaware of how I did I rolled back down the hill to warm down and get changed. I was pleasantly surprised that I had managed to get second place with a time of 11 minutes and 11 seconds only 11 seconds of the winner.

On reflection I feel that if I hadn’t doubted my performance half way up and had fully committed to getting every second I could up the climb I may have been able to snatch victory; but every one feels like this after a close race I am sure.

Ben

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National Trophy Rd1 – Bicton Arena

20th September 2009

National Trophy Round 1

The cyclo-cross season is now upon us and seems to have started a lot earlier than previous years. Also the stereotypical weather of cyclo-cross was put on hold as our late summer allowed the first round of the national cyclo-cross series to be one of the driest and fastest races I have ever done; it was like a road Criterium. I have not done a cross race for over a year due to my knee injury and was a little bit nervous about how I was going to perform in the race.

Like every national cyclo-cross race all the riders were gridded on the start line depending on how many points a rider has for that discipline. As I hadn’t raced for a year I was unfortunately been gridded a couple rows from the back which immediately gives you a disadvantage and a lot of fighting to do in the first few laps.

The race started fast and being at the back was riding through a cloud of dust that is never pleasant when breathing extremely heavily. The riders soon spread out and hit the not so dusty grassy sections of the course where I was giving 100% effort to move up through the field. I was riding in the top 30 for most of the race and pushed hard all the way through the race and managed to pick off a couple of slowing riders.

On the last lap I was in a small group which I decided to put pressure on and lead the whole last lap which worked well and I finished the race in 27th place which included both senior and espoir riders. I finished the race strongly and didn’t feel as if I was completely knackered at the end, this shows that I do have some form and a good bench mark to work from. I honestly forgot how much I enjoyed racing cyclo-cross, I get such a buzz from the fast aggressive riding and am now looking forward to the rest of the season.

Ben