The Golden Gears

I’m sure my heart missed a beat in what was a nail biting finish, 3 riders had broken away from the bunch in the slight up hill to the finish. With a 150 meters to go two riders were hotly contesting the sprint when suddenly one racer stopped sprinting, sat up to take a large gasp of air before reaching back down to the drops to finish his sprint to take second place. You’d be hard pressed to accept these riders were in the 80+ age category of the world masters road race given their all out effort to win.

The week of World Masters races has a combination of UCI and non-UCI races, featuring a Hill Climb, a UCI Time Trial and 2 road races, one sanctioned by the UCI and the other an open event. Age categories start at 30+ going all the way up to 80+ with each race well represented and hotly contested by many nations, some as far away as Australia and South Africa.

This was my target race for the year, the one I’d put so many hours training into since the first week of January. From those hours on the turbo when it was snowing outside, to the hours on the turbo when it was blazing sunshine and I was indoors because I needed to do a structured session, this was where the truth would come out. Had I done enough?

The 40km race circuit ran through the valleys around St Johann in Tirol in Austria, with 3 minor climbs to speak of and a long, flat run into the finish, this was going to be more of a sprinter’s course than a climber’s course. The views were breathtaking, quaint wood chalets among the green pastures, chocolate box peaks and everywhere you looked cyclists on the latest gear, dare I risk a cliché “the hills were alive with the sound of carbon”.

Normally I’m a bundle of nerves before a race, thankfully I’d started using the Team Wiggle Tandem coach Colin Batchelor whose structured warm-up programme and visualisation sessions kept me largely calm and able to focus on the race ahead. To my left was a rider in French masters road champions kit, behind her the German and Italian champions, so really I should have been quaking in my boots.

The open race took place first and going up the initial climb the pace was incredibly fast so I dug in and stayed with the leading pack, heavily breathing ladies were being shelled out the back. It was at this point I stopped cursing Colin’s interval sessions and secretly thanked him. A break went on the second climb, I was sucking air in through my ears at this point when the wheel in front of me dropped off the pace, by the time I got around her we were cresting the climb and I was 10 metres off the lead bunch, with enough of a head wind to stop me from bridging the gap.

This left us with 5 ladies up front and 4 ladies in our group, 2 of which were not willing to share the workload. As I didn’t want to be caught be the chasing group, I kept pushing the group to work, but found only 2 of us taking up most of the effort. So when it came to the sprint I was determined not to lose to those who had done no work and when I saw that sprint line I threw the bike over the line with all my might. It was enough to get me 8th place in the open race and the biggest cup I have ever received in sports.

The main UCI race started in glorious sunshine and light wind conditions, considering the day before and after had been lashing rain and howling winds, we were very lucky. With the field doubling from Monday’s race, getting on the starting gird was key and keeping position going up the first climb was going to be tough. Having looked up last years speeds with the race averaging 37kph, I was expecting it to be fast, yet it felt quicker and as it turns out we had an average of 40kph for the race.

The pace was fast going into the first climb with a handful of riders getting away before the bunch could respond, so I positioned myself well on the second climb to instigate a second break and hoping to get a few riders to come with me, I gave it too much gas a found myself solo at the crest, I sat up and waited for 3 other riders who had escaped the main pack. Unfortunately we had the same coasting rider in our group from Monday, which left us being caught by the chasing group.

My worst nightmare was about to come true, a climber having to contest a mass sprint. The run into the finish was frantic taking in two bends with riders pushing and shoving to get into a better position, keeping a level head and the bike upright were key to not losing any ground.

The final 200 metres approached and I gave it full gas weaving around one rider who changed line to take a respectable 15th place in my first ever UCI World Masters race and another cup for the Team Wiggle Tandem cabinet.

With a bit of time on my hands post racing, I was able to take in a bit of riding around Kitzbühel. To do justice to the very lightweight Cosmic Carbones, kindly sponsored by Mavic, I took the Focus Cayo for a spin past the finish of the Hahnenkammbahn (I see how the skiers manage over 100kph down that slope) and up a few of the hills in the area. I’ve been waiting 9 months to go for an unstructured ride.

Race results: http://www.masterswm.org/en/ergebnisse-2010

Here Endeth the First Lesson

So in the end it was not to be for our first attempt at a long distance record. It is bitter, bitter pill to swallow when you finally have to make that call but it does come and it comes to just about every rider who attempts distance records, often more than once in their riding career.

It came at 230 miles. Although the decision was made quickly it wasn’t a problem that suddenly reared its head but the return of long standing physical problems that we hoped were behind us. We didn’t have the perfect start to the day inexplicably dropping the chain off the inside ring on the very first hill of the day, It had never happened before and it could have easily unsettled us but we took a deep breath, reminded ourselves that there was over 360 miles to go and popped it back on.

In the end it was purely a matter of whether Jez could continue at record pace suffering again from ‘Hot Foot’, an affliction that has plagued him all year and feels like someone driving a kitchen knife up through his sole with every pedal stroke. The switch to super-stiff, mouldable Bont shoes has without doubt helped but after 9 hours riding it had returned strongly enough to know that the last 1/3rd of the schedule would slowly, inexorably slip away.

There is no shame in making that call, it’s not ‘packing’, it’s knowing when to stop battering yourself and go back to the drawing board to iron out those problems that have stopped you. Even so it was a very emotional few minutes when we knew our last stop…was our final stop.

In preparation the whole team was faultless and brilliant. In execution we learnt more than we could possibly imagine about riding long distances against the clock, often quite surprising details that would never occur to anyone who had never attempted a distance ride against the clock, but will be all too obvious to long distance time trialist or record rider. For example, it doesn’t matter what the current wisdom is on hydration is, every time you have to stop for a ‘comfort break’ you lose minutes. Equally, wearing a skinsuit makes having to stop an absolute, there is no way to relieve yourself off the side of the bike, pro rider style, its impossible! There are probably a dozen tiny but vital tweeks to make and next time we’ll nail it.

Until then Team Wiggle Tandem is far from crawling away and licking its wounds. Jez and mechanic Suzanne Duncan-Gilbert will now turn there attentions to the Three Peaks cyclo-cross race and as you read this Peta McSharry is ready to take on the world at the World Master’s Road Race Championship in Austria this week. I will be training with the great Sean Kelly over the course of the Vuelta and the rest of the team will be adjusting the plan for the next 3 months efforts.

Ride safe

Photos

Follow Team Wiggle Tandem on the Wiggle Athlete‟s Diary www.wiggleblog.com

Or at the team‟s website, www.teamwiggletandem.com

Alternatively find the team on Facebook and Twitter

L’Etape du Tour

I would love to see a satellite image over the Col du Tourmalet on 18 July 2010, it would look like a swarm of army ants on the march towards the majestic mountains of the cycling gods from yesteryear – 10,000 cyclists making their way through the lush valleys, past fresh mountain streams, munching their way through countless energy bars and gels to their final destination at the top of the anthill, the legendary Col du Tourmalet.

Celebrating 100 years in the Pyrenees, the Tour organisers included the Col du Tourmalet in 2 stages of this year’s race, with the Etapers completing the Pau to Tourmalet stage. Taking the Barèges ascent to the 2115m summit where an average gradient of 7.5% over 18km was surely going to take its toll after 160km.

As one of the “must-do” sportives for many cyclists, L’Etape du Tour has grown from around 7,000 riders four years ago when I first took part to an incredible 10,000 this year. Where else can you ride on closed roads and pit yourself against the professionals in one stage of the Tour de France? The attrition rate is fairly high, where it is normal for around a quarter of the field not to make it to the finish line within the cutoff time, this year 6888 finished the event.

For a second year running, I had the privilege of riding the Etape as part of the Sky employees’ team, starting last year with a small group of around 30 it grew to an incredible 118 members of staff this year, with full support from British Cycling and Face Partnership.

The mass start is something to behold, the cool, early morning air feels electric with nervous energy and a buzz of noise from cyclists held in pens waiting for the count down. 3, 2, 1, and we’re off, a slow trickle out of the pens towards the first categorized climb of the event, the Marie Blanque. On paper this didn’t look like such a bad climb, bar the last few kilometers, which had a gradient in the red zone, usually around 9-10%.

Gradients have different meanings to different riders, so here is my personal rating:

5-6% is a good tempo where you can still talk with ease
7-8% starting to work a bit more, 3-5 word answers
9-10% digging in, one word answers only
11-12% out of breath, I can’t speak at all
13-14% did someone put the back brakes on, I’m going backwards!

Analysis of the course in the media had said to get to the Marie Blanque in the early groups as there was bound to be a bottleneck with riders getting off their bikes to walk. Having an early start number helped but there was still the drive in the bunch to ride hard to thin out the field and we arrived at the foot of the Marie Blanque, still shroud in mist with small enough groups to ride the whole climb.

I had cleverly displayed the gradient setting on my Garmin, or so I thought, until I started seeing 11-12% consistently on the last section of the Marie Blanque, before it hit 14%… that was the point I got off the bike to check the back brakes, sadly they were not touching the rim. Over the top, and then onto the best part of the ride – descending on closed roads. This is where the Etape comes into its own, with no traffic to contend with, you can give it horns on the descents. My preferred style of descending is to draw a straight line through the middle of the bends and point the bike in that direction, only braking when I really have to.

The next climb was the Col du Solour with its majestic rocky peaks jutting into the clouds. We faced a long steady 22km to the top, luckily most of the climb was still in the shade. The tranquility of the beautiful scenery was disrupted by a lone Vuvuzela echoing through the valleys – who would have thought that pesky little plastic trumpet would make it’s way into such a quiet corner of the Pyrenees. Having heard the horseflies were quite bad on the Solour, my strategy was to out ride them and luckily I found my legs here so only had to fend one off from my arm as it tried to hone in on the salty residue left over from the Marie Blanque.

Entire villages were out in full support, cheering, clapping, Mexican waving – what an amazing love of cycling the French have, I can’t imagine the reception they give the pro cyclists if this is how they supported us mere amateur mortals.

The Tourmalet is one of my favourite climbs having ridden the La Mongie ascent a number of times. I’ve never attempted it from the Barèges side and I can safely say, I may not choose to go up this side again. The massive 10% through Barèges went on forever and the road never dipped below 7%. It was at this point I rewrote my system for grading climbs.

4-5% is a good tempo, should be compulsory every 3 or 4km up any climb
5-6% ok it’s kicking up now, pray no-one asks a question
7-8% checking for an extra gear, oh dear I’m in the smallest gear already
9-10% where’s the button to switch the motor on
11-12% cue uncontrollable swearing
13-14% look for a ditch to hide in if the bike grinds to a halt

The ascent of the Tourmalet, or last climb of any Etape is unusually cruel, but ironically, often what gets folk coming back after swearing never to do the ride again. The road is lined with caravans ready for the Tour, supporters cheer loudly all along the route “Allez la petite blonde”, pouring water over your head, handing out sweets and giving the odd push up the hill. The support in the last kilometer makes you feel like you are winning the race and when you cross the finish line you forget the pain of the last 180km.

Having missed a gold time by 9 minutes last year, I was determined to make it happen this year. To understand how tough the organisers make it, there were less than 100 gold places awarded this year, so I was ecstatic to be one of them. What’s left to explain is how all that pain and suffering converted into numbers, here are my results.

8th in age group
12th lady overall
2nd British lady
1041 out of 10,000

One of my favourite events, for the closed roads, feeling like a pro for the last few kilometers up the climb and the incredible support both on and off the road.

So to put this all into perspective, here are the times from others who rode the course.

Andy Schleck: 5h 03′ 29″
Ist Etape male: 5h 59’ 10”
Ist Etape female: 6h 30’ 35”
Peta McSharry: 7h 55’ 02”
Cut off time: 12h

Stats from my Garmin:

Ride time: 7h 55’
Distance: 180.7km
Max speed: 73.6kph
Avg speed: 22.6kph
Total ascent: 4368m
Total descent: 2547m
Calories: 6943
Avg HR: 157bpm

Riding across the backbone of Wales, across the Cotswolds and central England and finishing with the open prairies of East Anglia taking in 380 miles across the widest part of the UK David Harmon, Eurosport’s Cycling Commentator and Jez Hastings, a wilderness guide, will attempt to make the Side-to-Side record in under 17.5 hours. They will be joined at the hips, literally, as they pedal in unison on their state of the art tandem, Rocket 1.

Every second will count as the timekeepers start the clock at 4am from Pembroke Castle on Saturday 21 August and stop it once the team touch down at the Britannia Pier in Great Yarmouth. Contending with regular traffic along the route, Team Wiggle Tandem may not receive any outside assistance. Where you’d see a team car assisting riders in a road race as it drives along side them, David and Jez will only be able to pick up musette bags (food bags) from crew who are posted on the roadside, they will need to make all their own navigational decisions as their support vehicles ride behind them and keeping an eye on the clock they will need to judge their pace to stay within the record time, yet ensuring they don’t blow up before they reach their destination.

With two delayed attempts due to injury and unfavourable weather conditions, Harmon and Hastings have been chomping at the bit to get underway with the attempt since March. Fitting the attempts between a busy commentating schedule has been tough, however the changeable weather patterns this year have seen the riders and team wait with baited breath until the very last minute to make the decision to go ahead with the record attempt.

As the team gather in Pembroke in Wales, weatherman Ian Michaelwaite has given the thumbs up with a South West South wind of around 8mph, whilst a good westerly wind is what is needed the more southerly wind is a far cry from the Easterly head wind the team would have faced earlier in the year.

Whilst the attempt is scheduled to start at 4am, the riders have a few hours either side of this time to make a start should the wind turn behind them. Their progress can be tracked on Map My Tracks once they get underway, with the route link and updates being posted on Twitter under WiggleTandem.

Roadside support would be an added bonus for the team, with their proposed route and schedule posted below. Cheer them loudly if you see them along the way and overtake safely if you happen to be caught up behind them.

For further information:

Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/WiggleTandem
Website: http://teamwiggletandem.com
Routemap & schedule: http://www.teamwiggletandem.com/side_to_side.html

The Moment of Truth

They say that time trialling is the ‘race of truth’. Against the clock you can’t hide in the bunch, can’t shelter from the wind or exercise any tricky sportsman’s games in the pursuit of your goal. In time trialling you can’t cheat the wind, can’t run for cover behind the group, or sandbag and fool nature into accepting your ruse.

It looks like finally, after months of delays we have come to the point where it is just us and nature. All our injury and health worries seem to be behind us. We have, against some expectation remained in good shape despite the interference of work, travel and families. There is always more that could be done, or situations managed differently but nevertheless we now stand less than a week away from knowing whether we will enter the record books by the time we roll into Great Yarmouth on our attempt at the Side to Side record from Pembroke.

The schedule that has been filed with the Road Records Association calls us to maintain an average speed of 21.6 miles per hour, over 380 miles with the worst of the terrain presenting itself during the first half of the course but crucially the better wind conditions over the faster second half of the course.

As always work has proved the biggest stumbling block to full on long hour training, most especially the Tour de France, with it’s constant travelling, long hours and often inconvenient routes and so for the final run up to the record attempt I have reverted to the fixed wheel bicycle to do tune up the legs and adjust to the speed that will be required to work in harmony with Jez. Throughout the Tour of Poland, which Eurosport covered from it’s London base, I trained with team colleague Peta McSharry in Richmond Park and commuted to work and back. Little did I know it would lead to doing my first fixed wheel TT in 10 years when Peta entered me for the London Dynamo Richmond Park 10.5 last Sunday.

I’d forgotten just how impossible it is to chase anyone on a road bike in a time trial when you can’t freewheel and than goodness for the generosity of Dave Atkinson at Road CC who rode to the rescue with a 5 tooth sprocket for the White Industries rear hub on my bike that has an unique carrier system. These sprockets are like hen’s teeth at the moment but at least it meant I could still see riders in the distance by the end of the 2 long fast downhill sections of the course.

In the end I caught 4 men in the road class for 2′ in total and ended up top fixed in the road category, which I have to say rather surprised and pleased me. The time might not look spectacular at 28′50″ but I simply couldn’t have pedalled downhill any faster….mind you I couldn’t have pedalled uphill much faster either!

Come Thursday night the entire team will have gathered at the most westerly point in Wales, Pembroke Castle will be the starting point for what has turned into more than a record, into a voyage of discovery and with 17 hours we will know whether we can open the record books to see Harmon & Hastings next to some of the greatest distance riders of all time.

Ride Safe

DH

Getting close to ……

It has been a long game this record seeking team. we have been beset by injury the weather and luck but now after 8 months it really looks like we are the cusp of something big. It is a wee bit like looking into the crater of a live volcano. All being well we will survive.

miles have been munched, training digested and kit to get us there has never let us down. The Focus bikes, the dhb clothing and footwear are beyond reproach. The shorts and three quarter bib knickers are without doubt some of the most comfortable I have ever worn. The dhb eVent jackets have been tested to beyond their promise and even after the filthiest winter and wet spring and summer( after all, I do live off the West Coast of Scotland) they are still as waterproof as the day I went out in the first downpour. I am really impressed and would highly recommend these to everybody!

I noticed this week having organised and done the Ride of The Falling Rain, our local Islay sportif, that I am fitter than ever before. The L2P was a great success for us and ironed out all sorts of niggles and gave us others to consider too: the dreaded Hot Foot for me and more miles to be ridden for David. We ride like a team now, silently communicating, knowing when to push and when to ease back on Rocket 1. We lived together for a whole month training , eating and laughing together.

We know what cheeses each other off and there were certainly times when we both could have easily walked away from the whole project. However, it was the team that kept us together, the faith that all the members and sponsors had put into us. The belief that two ordinary guys, with the correct support and vision could do the extraordinary. It is extra-ordinary. Extraordinary, because of the amazing togetherness that a small and highly skilled team can achieve fantastic things, extraordinary that as Wiggle Athletes we are followed and supported globally (thank you), and extraordinary because we are still able to go for the S2S record for a third time (having lost the first attempt to injury and the second to the weather). We still feel good rather than worn out and that is all due to all of the above. We are a team and we are getting closer to breaking the record….soon…. 19-21 August 2010

There are races and there is the Tour de France. This bizarre cross between a medieval army on the march and a circus takes over my life every July. Over 8000 people, live, work and travel with the Tour as it rampages around France laying waste to each town in besieges and invading the media until finally Paris itself falls to the marauding peloton on the cobbles of the Champs Elysees.

Stuck in the middle of it all,in a tiny tin box sit Sean Kelly and myself. It’s a peculiar space to occupy in the Tour de France caravan. We sit at the very peak of a media network that brings the images of these warring knights of the road to millions worldwide, just 2 men in 2 square metres of ground.

And it’s a long history of warfare too. 2010 sees the centenary of the Tour de France visiting the Pyrenees for the first time and all the famous climbs used in that first foray have been revisited this year, culminating in the showdown between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador on the slopes of the Col du Tourmalet. Hundreds of thousands lined the road as the two strongest men in this years tour went shoulder to shoulder, eyeball to eyeball to see who would crack first, neither did,but it was so vastly removed from those first stages 100 years ago won by Frenchman Octave Lapize as to be as if from another planet.

Sean prefers to limit his exercise to running whilst on the Tour but this year, as last, I have borrowed a bike from a team and taken to the road at every opportunity, often riding a part of the route each day and having a relaxed spin in the mountains on each of the Tour’s two rest days. I can’t get out everyday as the logistics of the job often prevent it but come the second, and rather late, rest day in Tarbes this week I was looking forward to a ride up the Tourmalet, a day bound to be more pleasurable as Sean had agreed to the request of a former team mate and former Champion of France, Marcel Tinazzi, to join a party of riders on quiet spin up the Col to celebrate the achievements of the early Tour pioneers.

The weather on the morning of the rest day didn’t look particularly favourable with spots of rain blotting the windscreen as we drove to St.Marie le Campan at the foot of the great Col and somehow I think Sean was hoping that one good downpour would mean the ride might be cancelled. I once remarked to Sean, on a training day when the clouds hung leaden in the sky, that it was only a spot of rain likely. His reply came back quick as a flash; “I spent 17 yeas as a professional suffering in the rain, why would I want to now go and ride it it for fun?”. If the weather failed to provide an excuse not to ride the coup de grace was revealed when the bicycle and kit promise by Tinazzi emerged from the back of a support van.

And what a bike it was, the very finest racing machinery and clothing available…in 1910. For years I have been trying to get Sean to ride the great retro event l’Eroica in Italy, where you race across the white gravel roads of Tuscany on period bikes and for years he has steadfastly refused. Now, faced with 25 other members of the Velo Club Ancien, he had no choice but to don the woolen jersey and shorts, pull the spare tire over his shoulders, adjust his goggles and face the Tourmalet on one gear.

For the record, he made it easily to the top as you would expect for the rider with the 3rd best palmares of all time and actually quite enjoyed it but what an eye opener on the world of Edwardian racing. My superb Team Wiggle issue Focus Cayo weighs in at about 7.4kg with my own light Shimano DuraAce race wheels on, Sean’s pre First World War machine weighed about 20kg. Added to which there was no super slick 10 speed, just a single freewheel of 24 teeth, driven by a 40 tooth chainring. Braking must have been more of an aspiration than a reality with a single ’spoon’ type rod operated front brake that applied limited pressure to the top of the tire and as for the saddle…well let’s not even go there.

And yet, feeling totally incongruous in my Team Wiggle Tandem kit and modern bike I had the best ride of my year, riding up and down the line as a domestique, fetching and carrying water and food for the group as they displayed just how hard the men of the early tour were.

How has this helped the tandem project? Well physically not much but I am a man who needs motivation, who needs to be in love with the bike and the romance of riding it in order to achieve and you could not in 1910, or now, ride these mountains on these machines without a real fire inside for the joy of the bike and that is utterly inspiring.

If you want to see exactly how much fun we all had away from the Tour for a day, check out the Facebook site run by the German Eurosport commentators; “Radsport on Tour” and go to the video section. A picture can say a thousand words!

Now, do Wiggle do 20kg, 100 year old single speeds?

Ride safe.

Team Wiggle Tandem first racing tandem to Paris

Team Wiggle Tandem riders David Harmon and Jeremy Hastings made history over the weekend, becoming the first tandem ever to compete in a race from London to Paris.

The pairing, who have been preparing for an assault on a series of road records over the next 18 months werepart of the elite racing group on the 2010 London-Paris Cycle Tour which started from Imber Court in Esher on Thursday and raced towards Paris over 3 days.

Their tandem, known as Rocket 1 had been stripped from time trial trim and set up for road racing to comply with the regulations of the event providing a useful shakedown for the machine which continues to function as the working prototype for Rocket 2, an advanced all-carbon tandem already on the drawing board of fame manufacturer Terry Dolan.

“It’s a challenge piloting a tandem at speed in a bunch,”

commented Jez Hastings who’s job at the front of the bike was full on for all 3 days,

“you have to ‘re-learn’ how to ride. The braking points are different, it’s longer to integrate in the bunch and you lose out dramatically on the steep ascents.”

Having had the disappointment of seeing a record attempt window slip by earlier in the month due to adverse headwinds Team Wiggle Tandem were pleased to get a competitive run out amongst some very good opposition.

“I think it was crucial for us to get this one under our belts.”

Added stoker David Harmon.

“Over the past few weeks we have struggled to get quality time on the tandem, time that allows us to pinpoint where the weaknesses lie either technically or in our riding.”

Harmon is still fighting to regain top form and shed excess weight having been sidelined after a training crash in February left him with a torn achilles;

“I should be good for the next window of opportunity to have a go at the record from Pembroke to Yarmouth. I will be riding everyday on the Tour de France and with former professionals Graham Jones and Rolf Sorensen for company, I don’t think there will be many places to hide!”

Dubbed ‘the professional event for amateurs’ the London-Paris Cycle Tour uniquely accommodates racing with leisure riders in ability groups across 3 days. With jerseys for best climber, sprinter and overall as well as a women’s race, the event has attracted riders of the calibre of Stephen Roche, Sean Kelly, Magnus Backstedt and Scott Sunderland aswell as a fist full of celebrities such as Nigel Mansell, Will Carling and James Cracknell over its 7 year history.

As well as the tandem, TWT also fielded masters athlete Peta McSharry who took the fight for the women’s overall jersey to former GB rider Tanya Slater (Team SiS) ending up on the podium in what was her first London-Paris Cycle Tour as a competitor. McSharry, who gained colours for South Africa in triathlon has only recently taken up road racing and has capped offan extraordinary month which saw her 1st vet/master home in the inaugural Tour Series women’s GP in Stoke, 14th in the Smithfield Nocturne and top 3 in London-Paris.”

Follow Team Wiggle Tandem on the Wiggle Athlete‟s Diary www.wiggleblog.com

Or at the team‟s website, www.teamwiggletandem.com

Alternatively find the team on Facebook and Twitter

Bike racing should come with a health warning: Caution ADDICTIVE.

It’s 3am and a pair of hot, restless legs has invaded my sleep, my heart is pounding and I’m sure a heap of adrenaline is still coursing through my veins. A cold shower has settled the legs, but not the buzz.

12 hours ago I was lined up at the start of the Inaugural Woman’s race at the Tour Series in Stoke-on-Trent, where the prize money equal to the men’s race drew in some top riders. Needless to say I was a bag of nerves held together by the support of the Team Wiggle Tandem crew – David and Jez. Talk about jumping in at the deep-end as a novice to crit racing and looking at all the youthful faces on the start line, most half my age, this was going to be one tough race for a Master.

It took about 5 laps for the nerves to settle and to get used to throwing the bike through the corners at high speed as the barriers zoomed past in close quarters. Jez was yelling from the pits and I only caught a word or two every other lap, David was at the finish line but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying as the crowds were banging on the boards, yelling support in a thunderous roar, which made you kick in a little harder up the incline to the finish line. Past the finish line and crowds thin out but no respite from the pain as the TV cameras lined up to capture the moment, another dig for the cameras, looking like you’re working it. Actually I was working it, in the red zone.

Straight into the first tight right bend, a bit of respite from the wind and a small downhill where you collect your breath, gain a little additional momentum before sweeping through an S bend leading to a little climb, crank the legs up and dig in hard. Round the next bend and bam, into a head wind. Grind the legs past the pits, get yelled at by the crew and then prepare to look effortless as you wind it up the home straight past the cheering crowds. Cameras again, looking cool. Start again.

Boosh, out the back of the lead group as a break goes away. Never mind, ride hard, try not to lose too many places. Another rider blown out… and another. Phew that made me feel better, dig in hard, reel them in. A wheel to sit on for a bit, recover, drive forward and chase down the next blown-out rider. Wind, suffer, hill, suffer, cameras, suffer. 5 laps to go, drop the other riders, hammer it down the hill to the growing sound of a motorbike coming up the rear – the lead riders are going to lap me.

Heart drops, motorbike overtakes. Look good for the cameras, dig in deep, keep on the wheel of the motorbike. Lead riders go past. Sit up momentarily. Sigh. Back to racing, jump on the back of the lead group, hang in for 4 laps and sprint for the finish as the now deafening crowd are banging the boards and yelling like you’ve just finished the Tour de France.

Pull off the course, catch my breath, when a complete stranger comes up to me as says “I was rooting for you”. How could I still be buzzing when I was lapped by the leaders, you tell me. I’ve heard club mates talk about racing, but until now it was like some secret handshake I was not a part of.

So if like me you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, wondering what it’s like. You won’t know until you try and don’t leave it until you’re a veteran or worse a master like me to have a go. Jump in now, racing for ladies is a growing sport, the support is brilliant and the camaraderie amongst riders is great. It’s a buzz like nothing else.

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcycling/sets/72157624301384096/show/

Series website:
http://www.tourseries.co.uk/Newsdetail.asp?Id=242

Woman’s race report:
http://www.tourseries.co.uk/Newsdetail.asp?Id=247