Wednesday, 6 July 2016

RAS de Cymru: Stage 6 - The Tumble

So it's here, the final stage of the RAS. Similar to last year, in that it was fairly flat circuit, with a mountain top finish. All pretty epic really. Although similar to last year, this stage was held on a different circuit which was based around 3 laps of a 17 mile course and then finishing on The Tumble. I'd never ridden The Tumble, i'd heard it was quite tough at 2.6 miles and 8%, around a 15 minute effort, so my aim was to stick with the bunch and be in a good position for the climb, and then hopefully, make up some times/places on the climb.


We rolled out of Abergavenny, with all the riders looking quite tired now, myself included. Out of the town, and after a 3 mile neutralised section the hammer went down, at precisely this point I herd the unmistakable sound of carbon and wheels hitting the floor. There had been a crash at the back of the field, around 10 riders down perhaps, I didn't want to look over my shoulder too much... apart from this the bunch rode quite well, the pace certainly was too hot and for the first of three laps nothing much happened. A few attacks and sprints for the KOM and sprint primes, but nothing else really. I stayed in a good position, and coming into lap two felt strong. As with previous days my heart rate was getting lower and lower, with an average of around 138 for the 3 laps. I was pretty fatigued now. Again, nothing much happened on lap two really, people saving themselves for the final lap and final climb. Onto the final lap now, I was feeling good, rode well upto the KOM, but certainly kept some energy back...



3 laps done and we were on the way to The Tumble. The pace was high now, the road wide and riders were jostling for position, all the usual shouts as somebody touches their brakes were heard. Just before the climb we touched the village of Govilon, I was in a good position now, maybe in the top 30, riders were already starting to peel off, clearly having done the work for the team. Now onto the climb, the bottom sections are steep, and two hairpins and subsequent ramps around 12%. There was a flurry of attacks, all of which I managed to stay with. 3 riders had a pretty large gap at the front, a few bridged over to join them, but I was concentrating on distancing myself from the bunch and trying to make up some time. I was riding well, it bloody hurt, but I was reeling people in, who dare I say it, had gone out far too quick. I was on my own now, and could see a group of 5 up the road, I had to pass these. The climb opened up and we were on the moors, I passed the 2km to go mark and just after passed the group of 5, they jumped on my wheel, but i'm pleased to say they were dropped! 500m to go now, there was another group of 5 up the road, but I didn't have the legs to get across. I look around and see an NFTO rider on my wheel, where did he come from? I clicked down and sprinted within the last 200m and distanced him. Crossing the line I was empty, had nothing left and proceeded to just stand there in a daze. Great ride by Paul Double who got the stage win, very impressive climbing.



That's it. The RAS is done for another year. I'd done better than I had thought, thanks mainly to the TT and this final stage. On Stage 6 I had placed 20th, which rewarded me with some valuable time on GC. I finished in 17th overall on GC at 2:49 to yellow. The RAS has a reputation for being seriously hard, and this year was no exception, the number of junior & U23 teams is impressive as is their ability. I did wonder if after 5 stages some might crack on stage 6, obviously not the case! 17 of the top 20 in GC were either juniors or U23, serious riding ability.

Thanks again for reading and hope you enjoying following my posts. Huge thanks finally to all the BC comms, organisers, NEG and static marshals, timing judges etc... you were all brilliant, the race was a huge success.

Saturday, 2 July 2016

RAS de Cymru: Stage 5 - Glasbury

I was starting to feel it a bit now, and despite going well in the TT yesterday I knew today would be hard, mainly because I rode the course last year, and the main hill is pretty painful, only 0.6 miles at 5% av, put peaks at 12%. We had to do this 6 times. 

60 miles in total, with 6 laps and a final turn off for a flat sprint finish. Probably not a stage I was going to contest. Today for me was about keeping our of trouble, saving some energy and more importantly not loosing any time on GC.

It was quite a twisty, technical course, with plenty of road hazards, bollards, parked cars etc... certainly a course where you had to pay attention. First time up the hill, and as expected it hurt, I was perhaps poorly positioned in the back half of the peloton, so couldn't really get into a rhythm. The next section of the course was flat and fast as we turned into Glasbury, I seemed to make quite a few places on the B road toward LLyswen, and found myself near the front on the 3rd lap, I knew the sprint was coming up so attacked, taking one rider with me. It felt like I was out there for ages, reality was it was probably more like 20 seconds, but as the sprint came into view I got swallowed up by riders, who attacked again. Much like yesterday I didn't have much in my legs to respond, so latched onto a few wheels and then made contact with that small front group. The peloton however now all back together. 4th time up that hill, and it probably hurt the most, plenty of people getting shelled from the bunch, some managing to rejoin on the fast descent after. The pace was picking up a little now, some nervous riding and of course, the inevitable happened. A high speed crash, around 5 riders in front of me when another rider tried to cut in front of a bollard... I somehow avoided it, 4 other riders not so lucky as they were strewn across the floor, not nice. I was distanced a little from the bunch now, but chased back on with about 20 other riders and we were all once again back together. Final bloody time up that hill, and I was keen to get in a good position, put in an extra dig and was perhaps top 20 going over. I knew that if I could hold this position I maybe had a chance in the sprint as it seemed most other riders were knackered as well... Unfortunately at 3km to go there was another crash, this time right in front of me, another bollard/rider collision, no real idea how, but I managed to stay on the bike... We turned into the finishing straight and I had caught back up with the bunch, wasn't really sure what I had for the sprint, and given there was no time gaps to be awarded I kind of just  rolled across the line, maybe top 30. Save myself for the Tumble tomorrow. 




Unfortunately Simon had a crash whilst instigating a break on the 2nd lap, hitting a car and a wall. He's ok, snapped forks and some road rash means he couldn't finish and is out for tomorrow's stage, gutted. 

GC wise I didn't loose any time, but I didn't gain any, so i'm still 19th at 1:49. That's going to be some effort up the Tumble...

Friday, 1 July 2016

RAS de Cymru: Stage 4 - TT

This is the double day, this is the day you do a bloody TT in the afternoon. We hadn't ridden the course, instead deciding that sitting in Cafe Nero was a better option (probably was really). I was off at 4:10, with the rest of the team at 1 minute intervals. The course was 4.6 miles with 400ft of climbing, so i guess you could call it sporting. A 0.7 mile climb to start with at 5% followed by a rolling A road and small B road.


I like TTs and I like hill climbs, so in theory this should be a good course for me. In practice though I could tell I was quite fatigued, and I wasn't really sure how i'd feel.

Off I went, basically sprint up the hill and settle into a rhythm. Actually, I felt quite good, the climb went well, heart rate seemed quite low at around 175bpm though. Onto the A48 and I could feel a good rhythm setting in, aiming to get as aero as possible, and maintain my low cadence riding. The A road was quite "draggy" some some rises kept it interesting, and the speed changing a fair bit, but the key thing was my heart rate was stable. 

I passed the 3km to go sign, just before the turning onto the B road. I misjudged the corner and wasn't sure just where the turning was, so lost a bit of speed there, but got back on the hammer and smashed those pedals. There was another small rise at 1 mile to go, nothing long and less than a minute of effort, but I felt like I was going backwards here. Final push as I go past the 1km to go sign. Cross the line with a time of 11:26.7 (official).



I'd no real idea if that was good, I mean it felt good, and I couldn't have pushed much harder. But we shall see. Back at HQ and results confirmed as me in 8th. Very pleased with this indeed and moved me upto 19th on GC at 1:49. Kudos to the winning time of 11:12 by Paul Double. 



RAS de Cymru: Stage 3 - Cowbridge

This was a new circuit for the RAS, and not one I had ridden before. With that in mind we arrived with enough time to drive the circuit. Seemed fairly tame, a few hills, but nothing like the previous day. Today was best described as rolling. 54 miles in total, 3 laps with a hill finish of the A48.


First section of the course was on the A48, fast, wide and plenty of opportunities to pass meant there were plenty of attacks. I was keen to ensure I was near the front all race so made my way up with some of these moves. A little dig off the front with a rider from Audlem saw a gap appear, I did think for a brief moment, "ah, maybe we can TT this for 50 miles" before quickly rethinking that as a group joined us and they attacked... I sat in the bunch for the rest of the lap, the pace didn't seem too high and my heart rate for the first 25 miles was only 151bpm (144bpm for the last 25 miles) that said, unlike yesterday this course had less opportunities to rest and stop pedaling due to the descents. Coming onto the second lap and going up the slip road onto the A48 I was feeling it, thankfully it seemed everybody else was, so the pace was slow. Maybe everybody was just saving themselves for the TT in the afternoon? There was however a break of about 10 up the road. The bunch didn't really seem to be making much of a dent into their time, so I moved up after the KOM section with the sole aim to catch the break. I dug pretty deep here, perhaps too deep, but I managed to bridge across and joined the back, unfortunately I appeared to bring most of the bunch with me, at which point there was another attack. My legs said no. I drifted back a few places and settled into the pace for the last lap. Now 7 riders up the road, despite that, and despite it being the last lap it was the slowest of the three so far at only 25.1mph ave. Maybe I could have pushed a bit harder, maybe I could have got off the front, I doubt i'd have caught the break who had 1 minute. Either way, I didn't and sat in the bunch towards the front, good positioning coming into the final 3 km, but then getting cut up on the tight left hand bend pushed me back. Off the course now and onto the A48 dual carriageway hill finish. This was pretty cool, with the NEG riders running a  rolling road block at this section, very pro. The surface was crap, riders were all over the place, but more importantly I was dead (thanks to a Finchley rider for pointing that out) he was right though, thankfully everybody else was and I picked my way through the bunch, finally finishing in the top 20.



I was hopeful for some time gaps to be opened up, but that wasn't to be and most of the bunch got the same time. Now sitting at 30th in GC with the TT in the afternoon...