Beasty’s 2012 cycling pursuits ….

manwithaplan

Well done to Beasty and the Beast (all you need is an Elton John soundtrack!).

Saw you at the race on Wednesday night and thought you looked like you needed a good feed - with the power output heading in the opposite direction, rewards were bound to come. Great stuff.

Beasty

After the races on Tuesday and Wednesday it was back to commuting on Thursday and Friday. I also spent the best part of an hour on the Wattbike tonight to bring my total for the week to 218km and YTD to 4,726km at 29.7kph.

It was the first time I'd been on the Wattbike for a month, and I focussed on sprints, with 3 "flying 200s" all under 12s, setting a PB of 11.7s (improving my previous best time by nearly a tenth of a second - I'd also only beaten 12s 5 times in the past so was delighted to do it 3 times in one session). The good news is I do seem to be maintaining if not slightly improving power through the weight loss. The other thing is I am getting much better balance between the two legs. My right leg still suffers from sciatica, and my right foot has been black and blue since I twisted my ankle when tripping on the stairs after the race on Tuesday, but I still maintained a very close to 50:50 split throughout tonight's sessions.

I'm travelling from tomorrow, and not sure if I'll get back to race on Wednesday evening. I should get a couple of commutes in at the back-end of the week, and hopefully will get out on Saturday. I'm due to be marshalling the vets race and final ras stage on Sunday, so it may be another Wattbike session to finish off the week (in which case I'll probably do an endurance test)

Beasty

Swords League 23/05/12 - the inquest

So after failing to hang on to Group 3 for even a lap in last night's race, what went wrong?

Part of it may be that I'm just not good enough for Group 3, although I did manage to keep up when we did the similarly flat Bog of the Ring course a few weeks ago. However last night was quite a bit faster, and definitely harder. I actually think my abilities lie somewhere between the 2 Groups, but there are some riders in Group 3 who should probably be in Group 4, and some in Group 2 who should be in Group 3.

Anyway, I don't think that's the main reason for last night's performance. I mentioned in my race report that my HR was getting high. In fact the cardiac drift set in quite early. My max HR recorded is 186, and for the first 5 minutes it hovered between 150 and 165 - a level I'm generally quite comfortable with. Then it started drifting up and by the first turn was around 170, increasing to over 175 just after the next turn. I then made the mistake of trying to come through to take a turn when I was probably starting to struggle too much. A gap opened up which I tried to close, compounding the issue, and eventually I had to settle back into the inside line, as the HR was staying around 178/179. I knew I would struggle big time up the hill through Garristown and decided to ease up and await the next group. Although I managed to hang onto Group 4/scratch for a while, my HR was back up in the high 170s and I had to back off again - I would have been better off hanging off the back of the faster group, but I prefer to contribute as long as I can - maybe I need to re-think tactics.

So what caused the high HR. I've been able to maintain it in the low 170s for a 25m TT, but I know I can only sustain it in the high 170s for a relatively short time. The speed of the race clearly contributed, but I suspect the fact I'd just got off a plane less than 2 hours before the race, had been travelling and involved in business meetings for the previous 2 days and was probably a bit dehyrated contributed to the stress on my body and in particular my heart. Maybe I just need to be better rested if I'm going to find myself in that group (I may have more chance of getting away with it in a slower group)

Another factor may be that my training has been a bit more focussed on shorter distances, particularly with the Wattbike. I've not done any TTs so far this year (hopefully that will be dealt with over the next couple of weeks). Maybe I'm becoming more of a sprinter! In fact my sprinting has come on very well, mainly I think because I'm putting out similar short term power to last year, but am nearly 10% lighter, making acceleration faster (the new bike helps also). But actually when I look at the power records, my power/weight ratios still lend themselves more to endurance/TTs than sprinting, with my 5 minute perforances being my best relative to others when looking at the Power Profile Chart in the "Training and racing with a Power Meter" book. I've not used a PM in a race so far this year, which is where I typically reach my peaks (particularly in TTs), . Having a good 5 minute peak is just what I need for my main focus for the year - the track pursuit over 2km - so I guess it probably means the training is delivering exactly what I want (and maybe I should try a few more breaks with a few km to go in races to take full advantage of that power profile)

kingoffifa

it must have been some buzz. well done boy!!

kumate_champ07

When are you doing some track? Duane Delaney memorial?

Beasty

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

When are you doing some track? Duane Delaney memorial?

Probably a week on Weds - there's due to be a 500m TT I'd like to try before the vets champs, as I came last in it last year. My main issue is starting - partly gearing, but I'm hoping my weight loss will help.

I'll probably be down a bit more during the Autumn League, although the way it's going in the Swords League at present I may be tempted to do some more track

Beasty

After travelling from Monday until Wednesday I've managed to get out every day since, with the Swords League race on Wednesday evening, commutes on Thursday and Friday (including a couple of new KOMs) and local spins yesterday (with another KOM) and today. Total distance for the week was 247km, bringing the YTD to 4,973km at 29.7kph

Having marshalled the IVCA race this morning, I again found myself marshalling the final corner of the Ras this afternoon. Wednesday sees the next Swords League race on the Corduff course - I am due to be marshalling. I'm down to marshall the WW200 also. Hopefullly one day I'll get back to some racing

I'm planning commutes next Monday, Tuesday and Friday with an hour on Manchester velodrome on Thursday. I'm on track to complete 5,000km some time tomorrow

jimm

Beasty wrote: »

I'm down to marshall the WW200 also. Hopefullly one day I'll get back to some racing

Beasty, did you know you can choose to ride the W200 as a cycle marshall. That's what I'm doing, but maybe as a racing member you may not have that option. Will be more rewarding than standing on a corner for 12+hours

Beasty

jimm wrote: »

Beasty, did you know you can choose to ride the W200 as a cycle marshall. That's what I'm doing, but maybe as a racing member you may not have that option. Will be more rewarding than standing on a corner for 12+hours

I'd originally volunteered to mark the course, but it sounds like a lot of other people had the same idea;)

I know about the cycling marshalls, but there are too many hills on that course for me and I can't spend any more time away from the family. I'm aiming to be there around 5.30am with the promise of getting home for lunchtime. Don't know if that means I'll be doing stuff at sign-on, or marshalling a corner, but I understand they do operate a bit of a shift system so you're not standing there all day

Beasty

A slight change of plan meant I could get down to Sundrive for my first track racing of the year yesterday

I was racing at a higher level than last year, which did not mean much in the flying 200 (where I finished around 15th out of the 20 or so in my group - there was one from the scratch group slower than me also although I suspect he was still working the after-effects of the Ras out of his legs!)

When it came to the scratch race though it was definitely new territory for me and I did match my PB for a circuit of the track of 35s twice. It was a hard slog, and took more out of me than I realised at the time. I improved my lap time to 34s in the 1 mile dash, but had nothing left for the sprint.

It was a shame that we could not give the 500m TT a go, as I wanted to get a practice start in given this has been my biggest weakness. However it seems that racing at this level takes a bit more out of me than at the slightly lower level I was at last year. My legs are sore today, and would have been worse if I had done the 500. The short intense races on the track seem to require more recovery than most of the road racing I have done, and I perhaps need to take it easy for a day or two

The original plan had been to do the track league next Wednesday, but there's the Swords TT on Thursday (relocated, meaning it will only be 10km). I've not done any TTs so far this year (other than the Ardgillan Hill Climb), and the shortened distance will probably be a better preparation for the vets pursuit championship later this month. I'll probably give Wednesday a miss, as I don't think I'll be able to give the TT full attention if I've done a track evening the previous day

Total distance for the week was 176km, bringing the YTD to 5,150km at 29.8kph

Beasty

The new road bike does not (yet;)) have a powermeter (it's awaiting the Vector's eventual release), and hence so far this year none of my power data has been collected from races, except for the Ardgillan hill climb in April.

That all changed last night with my first TT of the year - just under 10km in the Swords League.

It was just under 15 minutes and had a positive effect on the CP curve, pushing my CP up from 239w to 261w. Bearing in mind it was on a TT bike I would suspect my best on the road bike would be an improvement on this.

Anyway, here's the new curve:



The power compares favourably with the TTs I did last year. My overall average was just under 300w, which would extrapolate to around 270w for the hour - that would be an improvement of around 11w on my best 25m TT last year, when I was around 7-8kg heavier

In terms of the overall TT, my average was 297w (NP 305w), delivering an average speed of 40.3kph

Breaking the details down into 4 x 2.45km segments:
Q1 - 311w, NP 318w, 43.83kph
Q2 - 271w, NP 278w, 40.19kph
Q3 - 291w, NP 306w, 41.32kph
Q4 - 312w, NP 323w, 36.81kph

There was a headwind on the way out and the first 1.5km was downhill which explain the difference berween the speed in the first and last quarter. Even so I put a lot more power out in both those quarters, but my average speed was still less than the middle 2. I guess this shows I left something for the end, and probably got my pacing almost as good as it could have been.

When I look at the relatively steep first (downhill) 1.5km and the return last 1.5km the impact is even more marked. Effectively I averaged 328w (normalised 339w) for an overall speed of 39.1kph. For the middle (relatively flat) 6.8km I averaged 282w for an ovearall speed of 40.8kph. I would expect some overall slowing at the same power output because of the hill, but this seems particularly large and the only explanation I can think of for such a large discrepancy is that the "hilly" stretch was much more exposed and therefore the wind had a disproportionate impact.

What this data does indicate is that in the right conditions on a flat course I should be able to average 40kph if I can maintain a power output of 280w or so. I should not be too far adrift at the 270w that I mentioned above is what could be extrapolated as my anticipated power output for an hour or so.

I also took the opportunity to experiment with my position on the TT bike, and felt very comfortable last night. It's as good a position as I've experienced, so hopefully I'll be able to get the track pursuit set-up the same.

Dermot Illogical

No idea wtf you're on about, but congrats on the win.

Shadow78

What software are you using for getting the chart?

Beasty

Shadow78 wrote: »

What software are you using for getting the chart?

That's Golden Cheetah

Beasty

In addition to Thursday's TT, I've done a couple of commutes (1 KOM), and got out yesterday (2 KOMs). I spent some time on the Wattbike this evening and managed to improve my 4km pursuit time by 8s to just over 5m 20s (average power 341w) - I reckon I could have improved it further if I'd been completely fresh

Total distance for the week was 213km, bringing the YTD to 5,362km at 29.8kph - that's over 1,000km ahead of the same stage last year

Next week should see a couple of commutes and probably the Swords League on Wednesday

Beasty

So having done no TT's all year, 2 come along in a week...

Last night it was the Leinster Championships - very tough conditions but a combination of some shelter on the way out and a tailwind on the way back resulted in some very fast times for anyone who had the confidence (and in my case ballast!) to push on.

Anyway, last night I sustained pretty much the same power over 23m 44s as I had over 15 minutes last week (in similary wet, but not so windy conditions). This has had a very positive impact on the power curve, pushing my CP up to an all-time high of 274w:



Average power was 296w, NP 299w, which means I was putting out a reasonably consistent power output, with only the initial surge (when NP was well over 400w for the first minute or so). That's an improvement on what I was doing on the road bike with clip-ons a couple of years ago (where the riding position allows higher power output but at the cost of aerodynamic drag)

In terms of the stats, I again had the autolap set, this time at 4 km intervals:

Q1 - 311w, NP 315w, 39.4kph
Q2 - 287w, NP 288w, 37.4kph
Q3 - 293w, NP 294w, 42.5kph
Q4 - 295w, NP 301w, 43,5kph

All in all I'm delighted both with the absolute figures and the consistency. I didn't have the helmet visor on last night, so no problems with steaming up, and I could see the data (albeit still with some difficulty given the conditions!), and maintain a reasonably steady output.

Looking at where my CP is and extrapolating over on hour or so, I'm hopeful of improving my longer TT time and hopefully pushing the CP curve up a bit more in the Swords 25m TT in a couple of weeks. This data basically gives me the confidence to try and maintain a power output of 280W+ over the distance

Beasty

Things didn't quite go to plan this week, with total distance covered being less than expected at 132km. I did the commute on Monday then rested on Tuesday ahead of the Swords League race on Wednesday (I needed the car at work anyway). In the meantime I'd signed up for the Leinster TT Championships so when I got to Wednesday's race and found they were short of marshalls I was happy to volunteer. It all worked out well, with my PB and bronze medal in Thursday's TT

The main reason I wanted to do the TT was it's a discipline I've neglected a little this season - trying to fit everything in can be difficult, and I've not found the opportunity to do one of the vets TTs so far this year.

You can't really practice usng the aerobars at Sundrive and the League racing does not include any pursuiting, so I think a short TT is good preparation for the vets pursuit in a couple of weeks. I've been more than happy with the set-up for the 2 TTs I have done and have tried to replicate it on the track bike.

I've been away for a couple of days so there has been no cycling on Friday and Saturday, and only a session on the Wattbike this evening, when I improved my flying 200 by 1/20 of a second, and did a 3 minute TT, beating my previous best distance by around 30m, recording 2,317m. The really pleasing part of that test was I built up after a steady start, recording average speeds of 45.2kph, 45.7kph and 48kph in each successive minute interval. Hopefully this will help my pacing in the pursuit

Next week I'm planning 2 or 3 commutes, plus Wednesday's Swords Club Championships, when I expect to suffer the ignomy of being dropped on the hill first time up, and caught by the "B" race second time up. Anyway, I suspect I will be treating it as a training spin;)

Over the weekend I'll probably do another Wattbike session, with particular emphasis on preparing for the vets pursuit.

YTD distance now stands at 5,493km at just under 29.9kph

Beasty

The race bike’s staying in the garage for the next week or so, as attention turns to two of my season priorities.

I’ve made no secret of my desire to defend my vets pursuit championship and I would also like to improve on my other showings in last year’s IVCA Championships. This year’s event takes place at Sundrive next weekend.

Another priority has emerged following my success in the Swords 10k TT a couple of weeks ago. The league points I picked up have put me in a decent position in the league, certainly so far as the vets cup goes. The only other time I’ll have a good chance of picking up extra points is in the 25m TT which takes place on Wednesday. This event tends to attract quite a few fast outsiders and I’m sure there will be quality competition from club members also. It takes place on Wednesday on a course I am familiar with, from Batterstown to Trim and back. I would hope to improve on my 10th place last year. As this may be the only 25m TT this year a PB would not go amiss (although that may be largely influenced by conditions on the night).

In terms of the track championships, the first day will be a 500m TT and 2km pursuit. The bike this year has quite a bit more of a TT geometry than the one I used last year, and I’ll be using the aerobars in the 500 as well as the pursuit.

The bars are a bit narrower than the ones I used last year. My main weakness, particularly in the 500, is starting. I’m hoping it will improve on the back of my weight loss and I’m hoping to practice a bit on the bike over the week. The narrow bars may make it a bit more interesting – assuming no high winds control should hopefully not be an issue. I’ll also hopefully benefit from the 5 spoke front wheel.

The Wattbike has given me an idea of what sort of “cruising” speed I hope to do in each event. The issue is how much time is lost in getting up to speed. That will be largely driven by the gearing I adopt. If it’s not particularly windy I’m planning 52/15 (93.6 gear inches) in the 500, and a bit higher (50/14 or 96.4 gear inches) in the pursuit, when starting is far less critical. I think one of the mistakes I made last year was adopting 96.4 in the 500 (I actually did the first 500 of the 2km about 2s faster than I did the 500 last year!)

One change on last year is the programme includes both qualifiers and then run-offs in the pursuit (last year it was simply one ride against the clock). TBH I don’t mind the potential extra ride. It’s an event that I only get to try at these championships and getting two chances will give me more opportunity to practice. It remains to be seen whether they do actually run it this way though.

Sunday will bring the Flying 200 and scratch races, with the stem being raised around 20mm and specialist track bars on. I anticipate using similar gearing as the pursuit in both events, but will take a final decision after Saturday’s events when I see the wind conditions on Sunday.

Beasty

3 commutes and the Swords Club Championships during the week, then out for a spin yesterday, and a go on the track bike tonight (after a warm-up on the Wattbike) added up to 263km for the week, bringing the YTD total to 5,757km at just under 29.9kph.

I hed contemplated using the Focus for the Club Champioships to give me some power data, but ended up doing it on the Cervelo. With hindsight perhaps I should have used the spare as I suspect my power output would have been season if not all-time bests.

I'm not expecting to quite crack the 6,000km by the half year as next week I'll be taking it easy except for the Swords 25m TT and vets track championships. In fact other than for the TT and track racing I think I'll be mainly turning the legs over on the Wattbike and getting the track bike out to practice my starts a bit (maybe experimenting with gearing a little) for a couple of evenings during the week.

Toblerone1978

Beasty wrote: »

YTD distance now stands at 5,493km at just under 29.9kph

Savage going.

RobFowl

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

Savage going.

My Average speed is far less than yours Beasty but for once have you on the distance!
YTD I've over 6000
Tues commutes, wed races, Thurs spins and Sat an club runs with a few sportifs the Sunday after really clock up the kms... ( still dont count the 50 a week cmmuting ones as I really saunter on those!!)
(and yet still can't climb a hill to save my life !!)

Beasty

Report on last night's TT here

Updated CP curve:



The whole of the CP curve between 9 and 63 minutes has been established in the 3 TTs I've done this year. With an expectation that I should be able to put out more power on the road bike I would hope to up it a bit further in due course. I may need to use the spare bike (with PM) in a race to deliver on that though (I suspect it may have been a bit higher if I'd been able to record power output in last week's Swords CC Championships)

And now to the stats:
Time - 1:03:52
Average speed 38.5kph
HR - Average 162, max 174
Cadence - Average 92, max 108
Power - average 259w, normalised 265w, max 742w

Breaking down the data into 4km segments
1. 6m 10s, 38.9kph (max 45.8kph), 285w (291 Normalised), 159bpm
2. 6m 23s, 37.6kph (44.5kph), 261w (269w), 163bpm, 97rpm
3. 5m 34s, 43.1kph (56.6kph), 249w (252w), 160bpm, 95rpm
4. 5m 42s, 42.1kph (49.7kph), 250w (257w), 163bpm, 93rpm
5. 5m 43s, 42.0kph (49.1kph), 246w (247w), 160bpm, 94rpm
6. 6m 48s, 35.3kph (43.1kph), 257w (261w), 163bpm, 92rpm
7. 6m 54s, 34.8kph (41.9kph), 258w (262w), 162bpm, 92rpm
8. 7m 03s, 34.0kph (47.7kph), 253w (262w), 163bpm, 92rpm
9. 6m 10s, 39.0kph (46.9kph), 256w (261w), 162bpm, 90rpm
10. 6m 01s, 39.9kph (46.1kph), 282w (284w), 167bpm, 91rpm
remaining 250m - 50kph (51kph), 270w (296w), 174bpm, 93rpm

So what does this show - I think it shows I got my pacing pretty consistent throughout - picking up the effort on the more difficult bits and getting some respite on the easier bits

I was a bit disappointed with the overall power output, but I was conscious of the track championships over the weekend (which incidentally are no longer being promoted by the IVCA - it's being put on by the Track Commission), so perhaps left a little in the tank.

Another 10w should reduce my time by up to a minute or so in similar conditions, so hopefully there's scope for further improvement (it may well be next year before I do another 25 though)

Beasty

Due to "unforseen circumstances" thie weekend's track championships were re-branded the 2012 Masters Track Championships, promoted by the Track Commission. Hence I would not get an opportunity to defend my IVCA 50+ pursuit championship. However the Track Commission put on an equivalent event, giving me the opportunity to become the inaugural Masters Champion

Yesterday's events were rained off, meaning we turned up this morning with my "favourite" event, the 2km pursuit, taking place first.

Because of insufficient numbers the 60+ riders were included in the 50+ event. Although this may not appear too much of an issue, the 60+ IVCA pursuit champion from last year, Hugh Davis, beat me by over 3 seconds last year. Hugh had won many titles and championships on the track over the years, and continues to win most of the IVCA age handicap TTs. In addition we had a new rider to the Championships, Eddie Lynch who was very fast (he won all three of the other events put on today), and World track champion Orla Hendron, as well as sprint specialist Hugh Byrne

I was in the second heat, after the 2 60+ riders. I did not know their times, but had an idea of what time I wanted to do. I was up against Eddie. Last year I did it in just over 2m 49s, and the wind conditions this year were far worse. Indeed looking back at the Garmin record I seemed to add about 70m (about 3%) to my overall distance, and at times was being blown above the blue "stayers line" which is 2.5m uo from the inside of the track

I had the benefit of starting with a slight tailwind, and managed to get up to speed quite quickly. Indeed my first lap at 40s was a PB, but I was still behind Eddie. Second lap was 35s, very fast given the conditions, and maybe I pushed it a little too hard, but I was till behind Eddie. 3rd lap was starting to hurt - I clocked 37s, but by this time felt I was ahead of Eddie, and I managed to go slightly faster in the 4th lap at 36s. By the finish I was about 7s ahead of Eddie, clocking 2m 41.something, an 8s improvement on last year. I would have loved to go under 2m 40, but given the wind conditions I'm not complaining. I reckon the extra distance alone could have cost me 5 seconds. Those 5 seconds would have brought me pretty close to my Wattbike performances, and I'm hopeful that I could improve further on an indoor track

Anyway I had to wait for all the other riders to complete their rides before it was confirmed I had won, with Eddie and Hugh Davis also being sub 2m 50s and picking up the other medals

Onto the 500m, and unfortunately like last year my time was slower than the first 500 in the pursuit!! I did not have the advantage of the tailwind, but even so I should not have been a second slower over the first lap compared to the pursuit. Having said that I did beat last year's time by nearly 4s, coming in at 42.9 or so to take 4th place. Half a second would have got me second - I have been working on my starts and used a lower gear than in the pursuit, but I do need to focus a bit more if I'm ever going to have a chance in this event

Next up was the flying 200m qualifiers. Again I clocked a PB at 14.11s, over 0.4s faster than at the recent Duane Delaney event, and 0.7s faster than last year. Not only that but I was 2nd fastest, putting me into a semi final against Hugh Byrne. I thought about doing a Jason Kenny, but decided to lead out at a decent pace. This is an event where my tactical naivety really shows and I need to think about my approach going forward, but today Hugh came past me in the home straight. I managed to pick up speed and regained some distance on him and was definitely going faster over the line, but he had me by at least half a wheel. That took me through to the bronze medal race which would take place later.

Then the scratch race. We managed to drop a couple of riders early on, and then 3 of us pulled clear - Eddie, Orla and me. I was hoping we would keep it that way, and indeed only one other rider, Hugh Davis, was trying to get back on. Unfortunately he succeded and I found myself leading heading into the final lap. Again tactically I was very poor - I should have moved up the track, but actually stayed on the white line and slowed the pace down. I felt all the disc wheels whirring down the back straight as the other 3 attacked and came past me in the final 200m - I didn't have time to respond and took my second 4th place of the day

The bronze medal run-off against Hugh Davis was next. He was leading out and dictating the pace. I stayed about 2-3m behind - I should probably have gone up the banking to get some acceleration. I managed to get pretty close but Hugh held on by a few centimetres at the end, so it was another 4th place

Final event was a 135+ Team sprint - basically combined the age of 3 riders had to be 135 or over. Orla and me teamed up with one of the 40+ riders, Aiden Reade. Orla has a far better start than me and was off first, with me second and Aiden 3rd, each of us doing half a lap at the front before pulling up the track. Orla's start was a lot better than mine, and she opened up a 10m or so gap. Once I get going though I can maintain a fast pace and I caught her just before the change - by that time I was quite a bit faster than Orla and had to shout to her to move up, otherwise I would have had to slow down. I was doing the bend into the wind but still managed to keep going at around 50kph - I'm sure I could have gone a bit faster if I'd managed to get onto Orla's wheel at the start. Anyway, we managed to take the bronze medal, with a team with a couple in the 40+ category plus Eddie taking gold and a team of Sundrive track specialists taking silver

All in all I'm happy to take a gold in the event I really wanted to do well in, particularly given the margin I had. There are few opportunities to do the pursuit given the amount of track time it takes. I think my time last year was the fastest in the IVCA championships for the 50+ age group, so to improve that by so much time is very encouraging (my only other pursuit was at Kanturk in a time of around 3m 4s). An added bonus was the team sprint bronze, but I do need to work on my sprinting to hopefully improve on some of those 4th places

Beasty

As anticipated in last week's update, this week comprised preparing for and competing in the Swords CC 25m TT and the Masters Track Championships.

As can be seen above, I achieved one of my main objectives of the season taking the gold medal in the track pursuit, improving my PB by around 8s. My average speed, based on the Garmin, was just under 47kph, and I think there is still scope for improvement

In the 25m TT I achieved one of my other season objectives by dipping under 63 minutes.

So overall, although distance was well down at 143km, it was a very successful week.

YTD total now stands at 5,900km and hopefully I should break through the 6,000 barrier next week.

With the suspension of the Swords League priorities will move a little, and I hope to do the Drogheda League race on Monday, Wednesday's track racing at Sundrive and the vets Age CP Championships at Kentstown on Sunday. Again the amount of racing will leave little scope for commuting or other road training and I suspect it will be a case of turning the legs over on the Wattbike between race days

Beasty

My first track league evening of the year at Sundrive last night. I turned up with a bit of trepidation, as I knew I'd be moving up a group from last year, but as it turned out a lot of others had also moved up meaning I was racing against a number of familiar faces. However I ddn't feel my legs were up to much, having done the Masters on Sunday, raced the Drogheda league on Monday in addition to a hardish commute on Tuesday.

First race was a hare and hound - our group (B) was being chased down by the scratch group over a 10 lap race - we had half a lap start. For the first 4 or 5 laps we did quite well, actually increasing our lead slightly, benefiting from a larger group than scrath. However when I looked round a lap of so later there were only 4 of us left and the group behind had grown to encompass scratch and were making inroads. With 2 laps to go the catch was inevitable, and I eased back to await it. I let the other 3 go on and sat in front of the scratch group allowing a gap to grow, just to give the 3 a bit of a chance. Eventually the scratch riders cottoned on and swept past. I latched onto the back and as pulled round to the end - there was little point in competing the sprint against those guys so I trundled in at the back of the front group

Then it was a 1km dash - our group was split into 2 races of around 7-8 in each and I managed 3rd place in mine

Next up was the points race. I've had some success at these in the past, the key being to target particular sprints to optimise your points. I was no-where for the first (of 3), but made sure it didn't take much out of me. On the second one I pushed hard from half a lap out - I didn't look back but had the feeling that I was well clear when taking maximum points. Onto the final sprint, and I think I was the only one to notice the lap counter stuck on 3 for an extra lap. I was wondering if my mind was playing tricks though and maybe I'd gone lap early on the previous sprint. Anyway when it came down to the final lap there were three of us left in contention. I took the lead off the final bend and pushed on, feeling my nearest rival coming up but I held on by a few centimetres at the line. When I checked my 2 sprint wins were confirmed giving me 10 points - the extra lap may well have been a blessing, giving me a bit more time to recover from the 2nd sprint. The guy coming second in the final sprint took the same place in the other 2, giving him 9 points, making me the winner:D

Finally it was a 4 lap handicap, with the handicapper looking kindly on me - There were 3 small groups of 2-3 in each with the remainder doing the full 4 laps. I was in the 3rd group with 2 others, having perhaps a 100m or so benefit over the large group. We worked hard to reel in most of those ahead of us, but everything came together on the final lap. I had little left for the sprint and did not contest it

Overall I was pleasantly surprised with my first and 3rd places. Depending on what happens with the Swords League I may be back next week to try a race I've never done before - the devil - one that I'm looking forward to.

Beasty

I managed to do the Drogheda League race on Monday, followed by the track league on Wednesday and commutes on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was a quiet day - up at 4 to get a flight to Newcastle and a couple of trains to Chester-le-Street to watch England beat Australia at cricket. I thought it was going to be rained off, but ended up getting sunburnt.

A delayed return flight meant I didn't get home until around midnight last night, and I was sorely tempted to stay in bed this (damp) morning - but no, off to Duleek for a vets DMS starting just after 9.15. I felt very good for the first couple of laps, until I hit a big pothole at speed. I knew something wasn't quite right - couldn't work out what it was at first, but after a minute or so it was clear the tyre was deflating - don't think I can complain too much, as that's my first ever mechanical in a race.

I replaced the tube and set off with the intention of TT'ing a lap just to get some practice in, then the replacement tube blew. It was clearly a bit more serious than I had initially thought, with the wall of the tyre fraying where it had initially punctured, and so I had a 20 minute walk back to the car. I replaced tyre and tube but decided to call it a day as I thought I may as well give tomorrow's Drogheda league another go.

Hence instead of the 260km or so I was expecting to do this week, I only managed 218km, bringing the YTD total to 6,117km at 30kph.

Next week, as indicated above, I'm hoping to do the Drogheda League on Monday. Depending on how I then feel there's a vets DMS on Tuesday and the Track League on Wednesday when another hare and hound, this time with my group chasing, on the agenda, together with what would be my first team pursuit - a race I am looking forward to. I'll probably then do a commute towards the end of the week, with the possibility of another vets race on Sunday, although as that's an age-based CP it will in all likelihood be very hard and totally fruitless, as the handicaps given to the older groups tend to make catching them virtually impossible!

Beasty

So after the blowout in Duleek on Sunday and monsoon in Donore last night, everything was relatively calm in Batterstown for tonight's IVCA DMS

All the vets Tuesday night DMSs start in Batterstown - traditionally the Green Sheds circuit has been used, but I believe that course is currently unavailable due to roadworks.

The last time I was out on a Tuesday night resulted in my one and only road race victory on the Mullagh circuit. Tonight it was a bit more challenging - twice up Dorey's Forge for a total distance of just under 52km, compared with the usual 40km or so for a Tuesday evening

First time up Dorey's Forge and a couple of riders got away. One of them came back to the group - the other we never saw again. We probably never will as after his solo victory I'm sure he''ll be promoted to the next group up.

The rest of us played a bit of cat and mouse. A few were dropped, but we still had a relatively large group left at the end. There was no safe way through on the uphill finish so I sat up and satisfied myself that it had been a decent workout.

I've convinced myself that I'm using races to train this week, so with that in mind, the track bike is in the back of the car and ready for a trip to Sundrive tomorrow evening;)

Beasty

Off to sunny Sundrive this evening. As I was approaching there were some very ominous clouds heading in the direction of the track, but by the time I got there they had pretty much cleared

A nice 15km warm-up helped get last night's exertions out of the legs. We sorted out out team for the team pursuit, then the first race for my group was the hare and hound - This was the first time I was a member of the hounds, chasing down the slower group who would have a few more riders and be gettibg half a lap handicap over a 10 lap race

Because of numbers there were 2 races, and I was in the second. As the first was reaching a conclusion ot started raining. We managed to start off with just a few spots coming down

Setting off reasonably fast we soon got our prey in sight. We closed them down with 3 or 4 of us taking additional turns to keep up the speed. I was at the front as we made the catch with 4 or 5 laps to go - I didn't want to make it easy for them so I came round and pushed on

Before I knew it there were 3 of us clear and we pushed on. One was from the slower group and could not quite hang onto us - stiil he didn't do badly for a 69 year old.

Coming into the final lap I wasn't sure if someone maybe 50 metres behind was still in the race, so I pushed on again. I then moved up the track and then found someone ahead of me on the blue line. I had to take an instantaneous decision and lapped him on the outside as I wasn't sure there would be enough room on the inside if he moved slightly down the track, given the other leader was coming through

It was probably a mistake, as I must have lost 6 or 7 metres. I closed him down in the home straight, but couldn't quite make it, losing by perhaps 10 cm or so

Then the heavens opened. We hung around until the rain stopped and rainbow appeared, but then there was another shower and the meeting was abandoned. By the time I got back to the M50, the road was bone dry ...

Now I wonder what Thursday will bring;)

Beasty

Back to Dundalk this evening for another 10m TT courtesy of Cuchulainn CC, the scene of the Leinster TT Championships last month (see post 77 above). Conditions were considreable better with a slight ESE wind - a massive improvement on the gale force one last time (well it felt like gale force anyway), Oh, and I stayed dry tonight ...

A slight hiccup at the start when they couldn't work out who was next and by the time I sussed out it was me the count was down to 5s. I therefore went off without a holder and lost a couple of seconds clipping in.

I was experimenting with a new helmet, this time with a visor - again I didn't have time to pull it down at the start as I was too busy resetting the computers

I won't bother with the CP curve for this one, as it's virtually identical to the one posted above, although pace was much more even

Average power this time was 294w (last time 296w), NP 294w (296w), with splits as follows

Q1 - 306w, NP 306w, 42.2kph
Q2 - 284w, NP 286w, 39.5kph
Q3 - 295w, NP 296w, 39.9kph
Q4 - 292w, NP 298w, 39.9kph

So the power records are virtually identical to last time, which I'm not complaining at given all my other exertions this week

My official time was 23m 55s, 11s slower than last time, although according to the Garmin my time was virtually identical. Just shows I guess that the very high winds last time made next to no difference with my set up.

So what will Friday bring? Well having raced on 5 consecutive days, I think I'm going to have a rest (unless they decide to run the remainder of Wednesday's rained off track league:D)

Beasty

So looking back to my OP, how's it looking after just over 6 months?

Beasty wrote: »

and one of my 2012 objectives is to try and get a podium position in a road race.

Check - 3rd in Trader's Cup Masters/Ladies race plus a win in a Vets DMS (and first in Club 10km TT)

Beasty wrote: »

I’d like to improve my TT times for 10, 25 and 50 miles.

10m check - improved by 20s, now under 24m
25m check - improved by 40s, now under 63m
50m - not done, and unlikely to be done this year - deferred to 2013

Beasty wrote: »

I’ve been doing around 200km per week over the past couple of months or so, and will be looking to increase this to 250km

check

Beasty wrote: »

I would like to defend my Vets pursuit title

check

Beasty wrote: »

I would also like to attempt the European Masters Championships

deferred to 2013

Beasty wrote: »

If that goes well I would then like to give the Worlds in Manchester a go in October

still hoping to do this

Beasty wrote: »

... oh, and hopefully I'll have a new road bike in time for the racing season

check;)