7

A Few Changes Have Occurred

Since the last blog, a few changes have occurred.

I headed over to Belgium for the Frank Vandenbroucke memorial ride, over a thousand people took to the streets between Steenhuize (Herzele – Oost-Vlaanderen) and Ploegsteert (Henegouwen). The route can be found here: This was a ride to celebrate Frank’s life and join other like minded people. I have to say I had a tear in my eyes for most of the ride when talking to my father, who also attended, about magical moments of Franks career and how he used to train on the roads we were riding on.

The ride was a day after an absolutely roasting hot day. The ride was still warm, however, it rained, heavily. But in my opinion, this just added to the Flandrian experience. Some photo’s from the event that were kindly taken by my mother are in the article.

A circuit race at the Mountbatten centre on a prototype bike on the following Wednesday saw me ride with a little bit of a different position and with a compact chainset on the bike, this made the race interesting for me. However, I got in the points, claiming 14th place after a race full of attacks and on a different bike I was quite pleased with the result.

Then, my 30th Birthday came and went. It’s funny, friends and family wanted to make a big deal out of it. But those of you who know me, will know that I am not the type of person who likes all that kind of thing. I’d rather slowly/quietly get on with things. So my birthday came around, and the night before I had been racing at Goodwood. In this race we set off very fast, having to catch two groups in front of us. Upon catching the groups we still carried on the fast pace setting. I found myself in a few breakaways during the night and just struggling to get on top of the gear at times.

One of the moves i was in we were so close to bridging the gap, within 20 metres, then one of the fellow breakaway companions let the wheel in front go during a headwind section and this totally disrupted the rhythm. After battling a bit longer, we all decided to sit up as the breakaway had seen us coming across and decided to increase their pace… ah well, that’s racing.

Then with 2 laps to go, I jumped across to a group racing for 7th place. With 1/3rd of a lap remaining the group decided to not work together, everyone watching each other. I said to the others, we may as well carry on riding as we are still going for points, at this moment I looked over my shoulder and saw a bunch approaching us rapidly. What to do… attack or take my chances in the sprint. Having been pretty active already I decided the bunch sprint was the best option. I took 4th place in the sprint. I was quite pleased with it considering the level of attacking I’d already been doing.

I decided to also ride the Verenti Mountain Mayhem sponsored sportive at the Mountain Mayhem MTB Race. A nice hot day was the host for the ride, and some peaceful roads helped too. I rode the event on my own at a pace that was very comfortable and I only really pushed it on the climbs. I had a slight mishap on a descent and rode through a bramble bush after hitting a patch of gravel. This delayed me for a while whilst i removed thorns from my body and cleaned myself up a bit, including straightening my handlebars… whoops. I lived to tell the tale though. Thanks to road.cc for the photo of me towing a few riders into the finish! Thanks to all involved for organising the ride.

Another Tuesday, another visit to Goodwood. I got in the first 4 or 5 breakaways of the night, and we were always brought back. Quite annoying as when we were caught everyone just sat up, and then another attack, brought back and all sat up. Shame there were no counter attacks to get in, I tried but they just didn’t stick. A few more big efforts with crosswinds trying to make others hurt, and it worked, looking over my shoulder and seeing the bunch in one long line. I then missed the counter attack by some of my rivals and simply had to think about the bunch sprint. However, we were now out of the points, so the incentive drops… I led the sprint out and had about 70riders following me, I ended up 17th on the night.

Last Saturday I participated in the Wiggle Super Series Chichester Long One Sportive, again a Wiggle/Verenti supported and sponsored event. I had planned to ride the 200km version, but a niggling Achilles problem made me decide not to risk any further damage to it. So the 105km version it was to be, I rode this with team-mates Richard Pearman and Nikki Wheeler.The climb had a few short steep climbs that were covered by trees. A lovely ride in great company on nice roads. Thanks to the organiser for allowing me a ride at such short notice.

Next up is the Ras De Cymru, a 5 Day Stage Race along with Richard Pearman, Peter Kitching & Ben Simmons. Check out the reports!

Keep it rolling EURO lovers.

JC

6

New Cat, New Races

Since my last blog, and my upgrade to second category rider, I’ve had a few good races that I’ve been pleased with my performance in.

First race with my new category was at Goodwood on a Tuesday evening. The race was a staggered start and my group, the last to leave, started a couple of minutes behind the group in front of us.
We quickly got up to speed and soon caught the rest of the race, resulting in lots of attacking. I felt strong so was helping chase breaks and try and get into some. A nice “still” evening at Goodwood ensured a good constant pace. Eventually a few riders crept off the front and it was a game of cat and mouse with the rest of the race. On the final run in to the sprint, I was totally pushed out of it and ended up on the grass, finishing in 22nd place out of 90-odd riders.

Not happy but I had a good race as I was riding aggressively. The following evening I raced at Portsmouth in a series of races, my legs didn’t feel great, due to the previous evenings race. Found it quite tough to get on gear, so decided to use it for training by riding hard in the chases and then riding the last 5 laps on the front of the bunch to string it out a bit, before eventually fading.

A week later, at Portsmouth again, I felt better, there was no race the night before, so the recovery wasn’t an issue. Another fast race with loads of attacks and at one point I was hurting pretty badly with the constant accelerations. One rider thought he’d be cruel on me and whenever I finished my ‘turn’ on the front he would attack, thus rising the speed even faster! Thanks!!! Rolling into the last few laps my legs felt good again, the annoying thing was, seven riders had managed to lap the field on the 500m circuit. I took second in the bunch sprint behind an old friend of mine. So pretty pleased as I’m getting licence and series points.

Living in the Hampshire region gives lots of opportunities to race. Goodwood again. This time the Elite race didn’t have too many riders, not sure why, but a very windy day, along with sunshine. Resulted in a race that saw a couple of very handy riders get dropped from contention. 4 riders had attacked and stayed away. I was quietly confident of being ok for the bunch sprint and keeping the points tally high. Then it struck, cramp. My old enemy. Damn. 300m to go, hamstrings were tighter than a tight spot. I was in trouble. No way out!. I hadn’t had enough fluid on board and now I was paying the price. Ended up in a sorry and angry 18th position, when I knew I could of done better.

Two days later, I returned to Goodwood, this time I wanted revenge for what the circuit had so cruelly dealt me two days previous. A wet evening with only seven riders in my group(only six were contributing), had to pull back at least 3minutes on the group in front to catch them….
Catch them we did, then two riders sneaked straight through the bunch, i hadn’t seen it due to the coming together of the whole race at once. Damn, or words to that effect. I decided to try a few times to get across to the two breakaway riders. But it’s always a tough task on your own. So, again, I was fighting for third position. I picked up some points along the way in the prime competition. The bunch sprint was a slippery and enjoyable adventure, due to the wet surface, and it being on a motor racing circuit, there’s always patches that are a little slippy. I managed to get fourth in the sprint, but had i had better positioned myself, felt I would of done alot better. Still pretty pleased.

This weekend see’s me head over to Belgium for the Frank Vandenbroucke memorial ride. Report to follow!

Until then

Adios.
JC

5

Tactically Boxed In

Since my last blog I’ve had good and bad races. The first bad race was the first round of a series being held at the Mountbatten centre. I was tactically boxed in well by other teams, who, I think, see me as a threat, due to having won the previous series held at the same venue. I suppose I should take it as a compliment, but in all honesty I really want to race and get in breakaways of more than two or three riders and not have people glued to my back wheel.

Ah well. I love riding/racing my bike and at the end of the day that’s all that matters. Having done lots of work at the front of the race along with my team-mate & colleague Richard Pearman, it seemed as though it was going to come down to a bunch sprint. So with two laps to go, I found myself in third wheel. Feeling pretty ok with this I was happy. Then suddenly, about five riders from one team surrounded/boxed me in on both sides. Not being able to go forward (as someone was in front of me), neither left or right, I had no choice. I let the wheel of the rider in front of me go. I then attempted to sprint, but was pushed right by what could be described as a dodgy manoeuvre and had to slam my brakes on, the dodgy manoeuvre then went left and put a fellow competitor off of the track.

A pretty heated sprint. The best thing that came of it was that the person who’s wheel I had previously let go, went on to win the race, a deserved victory and I was happy for him. I ended up in sixth place, which considering I had to slam the brakes on in the sprint wasn’t to bad. But I was still unhappy.
Following this race I decided to take part in one of the Goodwood Gallops at the Goodwood circuit, location of the World Champs back in ’82. This race is a handicap style, this means the lower category riders get to start a few minutes before the higher category riders, so basically, a staggered time start. It’s years since I had raced at this circuit, and even longer since I raced in the Gallops, over 10 years in fact.

I remember travelling with my dad down to Chichester on a summers evening all the way from Bristol. It was great as a junior to be riding around in a bunch of upto 200 riders, the pro effect. These days I am simply more EURO than pro. The race got underway, and again, Richard Pearman and I were keen to get the group working together. Richard was videoing the race on a tiny little camera on his stem. Having seen some of the footage, the quality of the camera footage was fantastic for such a small product. Our group caught the group in front of us after a couple of laps and I took two sets of full point primes in this period too, as well as Rich sneaking some points under his jersey in a prime.

Once we were caught by the Elite group, it was a big shock, I didn’t have a clue there were on their way. Not that I think I would of had the legs to hang in there if I’d been able to of gone with them. So a breakaway of eight riders went away and my large group/peloton didn’t get organised in chasing quickly enough or organised enough. A shame as I think we had enough strong riders to of brought them back. Not to worry though. I think a few riders were confused that we were still eligible for points in the chase group for the prime classification. As they appeared to be really sprinting for the line every lap. I even had to check with a fellow competitor as I was confused.

Coming into the penultimate bend before the chicane there were riders everywhere, battling for spaces and places that weren’t there. Having been in a fair few bunch sprints in the past, it all came flooding back to me. However, the risks people take sometimes does amaze me, but hey, that’s bike racing and I love it!, fortunately nobody hit the tarmac as far as I know. I managed to get tenth in the bunch sprint, which wasn’t bad, as i was in at least 20th place heading into the chicane! I really enjoyed the racing at Goodwood and it continued the good memories of the past that I had there.

Last night I competed in the second round of the new series at the Mountbatten centre, the weather was dodgy, having rained quite heavily an hour or so before the race, the circuit was a little slippery in places. I won’t go into it, but this race was very much a game of cat and mouse with teams playing off against each other. The wind picked up quite a bit during the race, so my initial plan of attacking with about eight laps to go was put on the back burner.

I was looking around for Richard Pearman to see where he was and if he was going to do his trademark attack. No sign of him, seemed he had a slow puncture and was not going to take any risks. I positioned myself perfectly at the head of the race for the final sprint, then, bang boxed in again! “NO! Not again” I thought. A repeat of last week. However, this week I really had the bit between my teeth and wasn’t allowing this. So I managed to squeeze my way out of the situation and got the gear wound up for the sprint and cruised through to victory. This has moved me up to 2nd category rider, which I’m pretty chuffed about as I haven’t raced much but when I have raced, have done pretty well, I think.

Until next time.

Tot straks

JC

4

Ray Martin Distance League

Been a while since I last blogged. Part of it was to keep it hidden from my competition at a series I have been competing in ;-)!

I decided, since working so close, to take part in the Ray Martin Distance League at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth. Having missed the first round of the series I decided to target the second event as I thought that the series was out of my grasp. At the second round, I had a slight hiccup. I forgot to pack my shorts, fortunately one of Wiggle’s suppliers was at the race and had a new pair in the back of his van! (thank you Justin). So, with 5minutes to go before the start of the race I was putting the shorts on, with a very little warm up I thought to myself, “great, you’ve really wasted your time bothering tonight JC”. However, the race was quickly underway and attacks flying in left, right and centre. To cut a long story short, I managed to get on top of the gear I use in the sprint and smashed it into the headwind, taking the win! Not bad considering five minutes before the start I had no shorts!

The third round was a similar kind of race, lots of attacking going off, but the problem i find is that nobody is really prepared to let a group of two or three riders get away, knowing that being on such a small circuit, the possibility of gaining a lap on the field is achievable pretty quickly. Again, the race finished in a bunch sprint, this time, a friend of mine got the better of me in the sprint, coming off my wheel with 100m or less to go, he had a good leg speed and took the win by half a length, but I was pleased as it was a good sprint. Just wish I didn’t lead it out!

Round four was a real different affair, this week, I was heavily marked. It felt like I had 30 riders on my bike…. again, I decided to lead out the sprint, as by this round of the series I am thinking about overall series victory, I didn’t want there to be a chance of being boxed in. I took third in the gallop, with team mate Pete Kitching taking a well deserved second place.

Into the final round, I had an 8 point lead in the series over the second placed rider. The nerves kicked in for this race, “what if I puncture? What if I crash?” All these negative things going through my mind. Nobody was prepared to let me go in the race, I had a few efforts but was quickly sat on and people not prepared to fully co-operate in the move. I don’t understand this negative style of racing, i kind of think if it’s a two man breakaway, then you have to co-operate, otherwise, come across with others. There is no way I am going to tow someone around!

Again, great work by the Wiggle Team to bring back any breakaways and helping control the race. Another fantastic leadout from Richard Pearman & Ben Jeffery, leading me out with 3.5laps to go to ensure I was kept out of danger. Really appreciate it, as thing tend to “kick off” coming into the last half lap as people fight for positions. A rider, who I hadn’t seen during the race, came on the inside of me as I was slightly boxed in and romped away for a win in the sprint. I took another third place and sealed the overall victory. Pretty pleased so far on how the racing is going, especially as previously mentioned I haven’t raced for five years.

I’ve already thanked my Wiggle team-mates, but I’d also like to thank the Susan, Tim and Anthony Knight , for organising the series and always being friendly and approachable faces whenever I see them. Also, my old team manager, Mick Waite, always there to judge and commissaire the races. Thanks.

Also, I raced at Hog Hill in East London. I was feeling terrible the night before and on the day, but decided as I was in North London at Mrs C’s house, I would race as it was such a nice day! Off we set, I was so hot in the car, at that point Mrs C reminded me that I had a pair of 2XU Compression Tights on under my jeans. No wonder I was hot! Anyway, due to me not feeling 100%, more like 70% I found it tough to make any real efforts as I was getting terrible stomach cramps/pains. I decided it was best to ride a steady tempo and see if it would disappear, unfortunately not, and things are just about back to normal as I type this. I finished in 16th place, which wasn’t that bad considering the pain I was in at times, and found it hard to breathe.
Photo Credit, Londoncyclesport.com

Keep pedalling circles
JC

4

Thruxton Circut Races

Well, what can I say. I decided to race at Thruxton Circuit in late March. This location, I think, was the last place I raced before an almost 5 year lay off from racing. My preparation for this race was somewhat hindered, but in a nice way, by a trip to Poland with Mrs C the weekend before, plenty of lovely food and everything that goes with it left me feeling not very much like an athlete!

Nervous? Me? A tad yes. I was my normal relaxed self before the start, to relaxed in fact. I was then rushing to pin my number onto my jersey, rushing so much I managed to prick my fingers multiple times. Great start. While all this was going on, I noticed a familiar looking car coming into the car park. It was my parents car. It turns out my dad had come to race too. As I haven’t had a licence for a few years and British Cycling gave me a fourth category licence(?), I was racing with my dad! Both of us were a little shocked at this.

So, the race is about to start, not forgetting my 25seconds warm up. I was reminded by a fellow racer about having my Exposure lights on my bike, having opted to use my training bike for the race for extra training. I removed the lights. The he reminded me about my pump, so off that went, then the saddlepack, off that went too. What next I thought?! Oh yeah, my big jacket keeping me warm. Off that went! At this point, my legs had nothing in them, the whole change of racing again for the first time in ages had the butterflies fly from my stomach to my legs and firmly remain there.

The riders in the race were keen to ride fast, but not work by “doing turns” or “bit and bit”. Some of the riders mentioned to me after the race that they appreciated my advice and how it benefits them etc. Anyway, back to the race, On the second lap, up the hill towards the finish I decided to test the legs a bit. Put a half hearted attack in to see if anyone would come with me, one champ from Wales decided to chase, but I told him that I’ve raced down here dozens of times and it’s best to have a break of 4-7riders to all get a good workout as well as having a chance to stay away. He nodded and agreed. I decided to basically sit on the front as much as possible as the idea of swapping turns didn’t appeal to many, possibly due to the wind that was apparent.

Plenty of spinning in small gears and chasing attacks and moving around the bunch, including going and having a quick chat to my dad. With a couple of laps to go I figured it was going to come down to a bunch sprint. So, my knowledge of the circuit and positioning was very beneficial to me. Decided to put it in a big gear for the final climb and attack either just before the chicane leading into the finish or wait. It turned out I was slightly over geared. On leaving the chicane, being second wheel, I dived up the inside and hugged the pit lane wall to ensure nobody could get any shelter from the wind if they were close by. Had a few sneaky looks under the my arms and could see the win was pretty comfortable and I didn’t have to enter the “red zone” for the win.

So first race in almost five years and a win! Should I retire as unbeaten? No….. The following weekend I visited the Ronde Van Vlaanderen with some good friends of mine, including photographer Camille John McMillan. With a press sticker for the car we were able to have some access to the route and this proves valuable to get around! The Ronde, to me, sums it all up. You need to have power, mental toughness, luck, and be able to read the race. Leaving South London at 4:45am to go over was a slight challenge for a lover of sleep, that I am! Leaving for Belgium in the dark and returning to my house in the dark, Belgium in one day including seeing the World’s best battle for the title of winning the RVV. For me, this is always a highlight. This year, following a Milram soigneur between climbs and cobbled sections was very helpful as well as hair-raising.

That’s it for now, have a few more races lined up, will let you know how they go. Keep pedalling circles.

Until next time, “tot straks”.

JC

3

Apologies

That’s my first line. I have been pretty damn busy and hectic of late. And have thought about all the Wiggle blog fans missing out on my tales of adventure and life. Where do I start? How about the news of training? OK. As for nearly everyone in the UK, the bad weather has disrupted training plans and the thought of smashing the km’s indoors is really quite hard. I spoke to a friend of triathlete friend of mine last week, he had done an obscenely high amount of turbo trainer sessions, I had a lump in my throat upon hearing the news!

However, I’ve tried to fit in as much as possible when I can/could. I had a week in Fuerteventura training. It was fantastic to leave the really cold spell of weather in England and head over there. The roads are generally in pretty good shape and the island is very similar to the neighboring island of Lanzarote, my former home of two years. Managed to get some long rides in with the added benefit of being in shorts and short sleeved jerseys everyday! A day I will not remember in a hurry was a 170km ride, with an 85km headwind, before i turned to head home, and the wind also turned, giving me another 85km headwind all the way back! Wind-burnt, not sun-burnt.

I also met some nice cyclists from Denmark whilst out on the roads, did part of one of my rides with them. Before I decided to do some more hill efforts on a suitable climb that I discovered. I must also mention the weather again, it was between 25-30 degrees Celsius. This was ideal to test out my new Catlike Whisper Plus Helmet. I’ve been interested in these helmets for some time, and the stand out from the crowd design of them certainly appeals to me. It’s very lightweight and the fit is very comfortable. In the heat it performed brilliantly and never did I feel “hot-headed”, as I have done with some other helmets in the past. Visits to the Gym at the sports resort every day to increase core strength/stability too. I slept very well every night! And the

Then onto personal news, I decided to leave London, departing Rouleur magazine, and joining the staff at Wiggle! I start on the 1st of March and cannot wait to be part of the strong and enthusiastic workforce. This should also hopefully be better for my training as it’s much more accessible to the countryside, where I love to train and enjoy riding my bikes. I shall be lodging with a mad keen cyclist, he shall remain anonymous for the time being, but let me tell you, he does more miles than a space shuttle.

Until next time, “tot straks”.

2

The Off Season

Traditionally the off season for me has been a period to unwind, relax and reflect on the seasons racing. This year has been different, in-fact, since 2005 I haven’t thought that way. 2005 was the last time I pedalled in true anger. Moving abroad to sunnier climes where the possibility to road-race was non-existent, I cycled for fun/my job.

OK, those of you who know me and where I was based could argue I could of competed in triathlon. However, my time consuming preparation before a bike ride would mean that I would probably be eliminated from a triathlon due to taking longer than the permitted time allowed, or such like. So, when I moved back to the UK in late 2008, the plan was to race in 2009. That didn’t happen due to one reason or another.
I decided in the summer of this year that I want to return to competition in 2010. So here I am. Thinking what to write. OK, my off season. Well here it goes…..

This has been spent mainly getting sick, visiting friends and reunions. One such reunion was in Copenhagen of all places. My first time to Scandinavia, and certainly not the last. Meeting up with a great bunch of ex-colleagues and workers from my time spent working in Lanzarote with a predominantly Danish bunch was fantastic.

Then a couple of weeks later, out to Belgium to watch the Ghent six day track race on a Saturday night and the Koksijde cyclo-cross in the day. The dhb waterproof kit was well and truly put to the test at the cyclo-cross event!

On the Sunday I organised a ride along with a couple of good friends of mine. The results have already been posted on the Wiggle blog along with all over twitter! Great photo’s I am sure you agree. I shouldn’t have cycled, as I was sick, but the guilt of organising and then sitting on the sidelines due to the bad weather & being ill would have been on my mind all the way home, soft-tapper I ain’t! Oh yeah, I managed to win the sprint along the Schelde canal as well as first to the top of the Molenberg, sorry, had to get that in!
So, now, onto next season. One more soiree to attend, the Wiggle Christmas party, then it’s full on continuing the preparations for next season. A training camp in late Jan/Early Feb will round it all off nicely I think.

Until next time, “tot straks”.

1

dhb Clothing Proves Great Again

Me in Belgium at the weekend. dhb clothing proves great again!
I have flu at the moment but had organised a bike ride so felt obliged to do it rather than have a torrent of abuse aimed at me…. Not that I wouldn’t have plenty of abuse prepared in return.

Hope you like the photo.

Jon