Beasty's 2011 assault on the vets

.... of the Ring circuit

7 points for my 8th place - I claimed to have achieved my objective to

get at least one extra point (beyond those awarded for simply turning up!) in the Swords League

with my 4th place in the Club 10m TT Championships a few weeks ago, but as they are not actually awarding League points for the TT results this year last night's result puts this one beyond doubt!

In terms of the stats:

Total time 1:22:13, average speed 36.5kph, max 49.8kph
Power – average 250w, normalised 280w, max 858w, work 1180kJ
HR – average 161, max 182
Cadence – average 87

Breaking it down between the 5 laps (power excludes zeros)
L1 - speed 36.2kph (max 49.8kph), Power - average 267w (max 858w), HR - average 155 (max 169), cadence 87
L2 - speed 36.3kph (max 48.5kph), Power - average 268w (max 795w), HR - average 161 (max 171), cadence 88
L3 - speed 36.5kph (max 48.0kph), Power - average 260w (max 703w), HR - average 163 (max 176), cadence 86
L4 - speed 36.0kph (max 48.1kph), Power - average 248w (max 767w), HR - average 159 (max 171), cadence 85
L5 - speed 37.3kph (max 49.8kph), Power - average 268w (max 720w), HR - average 164 (max 175), cadence 87

One of the really pleasing things is the consistency, and that I still felt quite strong at the end - maybe I should have tried to have a dig with a couple of KM to go, perhaps trying to join the guy who had broken and eventually won

Back to Batterstown on Tuesday evening for my 3rd (and probably penultimate) 25m TT of the year, this time in the vets league. I hope to take part in the vets championships at Moy Valley in a few weeks to complete my 25s for the season.

The vets run 25s and 10s at both Batterstown and Moy Valley, with the 10's being basically on the same course as the 25s. Of the two locations I find the Batterstown course is better for the 10s, and Moy Valley for the 25s, partly because of the profile of the respective courses and partly because of the way you can get shelter in certain places

My previous two 25m TTs have been affected by strong winds (almost gale force for one of them), but tonight the forecast was very good -just 11kph from the WSW, which would be a slight head wind from the left on the way out, and should allow for some shelter from the hedges

My "official" target was 64 minutes, but given the conditions I was actually hoping to get nearer 63 minutes. Anything under 64m 52s would improve my vets handicap, and give me a chance of some points in the handicap league

The autolap was set to 4km, allowing me to compare with some of my 10m TTs on the same course - my best 10 had been set by hitting almost spot-on 6m 6s for each quarter. would need to be hitting just over 6m 20s for each 4km segment to get under 64m in total.

I started off at a decent enough power output, with normalised initially hitting 400w and then slowly drifting towards 300w. The first 4km was done in 6m 26s, slightly outside target, but I was averaging over 280w and there was an incline and slight headwind to contend with.

In the next 4km I passed my 2 minute lady. Again it was generally uphill, and the power eased back to 255w, with the autolap recording 6m 46s, so now I was over half a minute behind my target pace

In the next 4km I passed 2 others. The fastest guy in the field started 2 or 3 minutes behind me, and I was expecting him to whoosh by at any time. However there was plenty of downhill in this section, and I did it in 5m 54s, clawing back 26s or so, meaning I was only 6s down on target, Power was down to 229w though

In the 4th segment I picked the power back up to 245w - again there was a bit of a decline, and I managed to clock 6m 3s, bringing me ahead of schedule for the first time. I was suffering some discomfort from the new saddle, but nowhere near as much as in previous rides, and there was certainly no numbness.

In the final segment before the turn I was overtaken, but I didn't think it was the guy I had expected to get past - it subsequently turned out it was him, but as he was in the new Usher gear I had not recognised him. I reached the turn in just over 31m 30s, which was quite a bit ahead of schedule, but the next 10km or so would be the most difficult given the amount on incline involved. Hopefully it would be tempered a bit by the tailwind though.

The next 3 segments were a struggle, at 6m 37s, 6m 27s and 6m 47s respectively, putting me back behind target. I managed to pass a couple more riders though, making it 5 of the 11 that had started ahead of me. Power was pretty constant at just over 240w.

I was now entering the final 8km - very familiar territory from my 10m TTs. I knew it was largely downhill and this was an opportunity to take advantage of the tailwind and push on. I passed one more rider, clocking 5m 54s and 231w for the penultimate segment, and pushing it up to 261w for the final 4km which took exactly 6 minutes - there were a few more seconds for the extra quarter of a km or so to make up the total 25m, and I crossed the line in 1:03:32 - a 1m 20s improvement on my previous best

It did feel hard, but I don't think I was as fresh as I could have been, and hope there is something left in me to help get nearer if not below 63m. When I checked the weather later on it turned out that it had been around 19kph from the WNW, making it a straight-on headwind on the way out, and easing back to nearer 11kph on the way back, so the wind had probably been a bit more of a hindrance than I had expected

Other stats:

Average speed - 38.1kph
Power - average 247w (slightly up on my previous attempt), normalised 254w (again slightly up), max 567w
HR - average 159, max 174
Cadence 87

The segmental power analysis shows my highest power outputs were in the first and last segments, and lowest in the 3rd and penultimate ones (although these were also the two fastest segments!). Indeed throughout the ride the respective segments on the same bit of road but going in different directions were almost mirror images, with average speeds being very consistent when aggregating again across the two segments on the same bit of road.

EDIT - results are now up - 15 beat handicap, and I managed 7th place, which gives me another 4 points. The guy who passed me clocked 56m 19s:eek: (and there were 4 others under the hour)

The wheels are supposed to save me getting on for 40w in the right conditions, - not last night though as it was relatively calm (they perform better in comparison to standard wheels in a cross wind)

I was hoping to be getting 260w+ (I've been over 300w on a normalised basis on similar length club races), although as stated above I was not quite as fresh as I would have liked last night. IIRC I was hitting this sort of level with the road bike and clip-ons (when I did my previous best of 1:04:52 actually), but the aero position on the specialist TT bike does seem to cost me getting on for 20w (still gains me nearly 1kph though). I'm still getting used to it though, and think I could get a bit more aero yet

2 day event at Sundrive. Yesterday was the 500mTT and 2km pursuit, and today the 200m flying TT and scratch races

What I've clearly established is I am a very poor starter, a poor sprinter, but not so bad at endurance events

The 500mTT did not go well, as I finished last in my age category. I could not get going, and actually did not hit the sort of speeds I was able to later in the pursuit. I'm still sussing out my best gearing on the track, but I think part of the problem with the 500 was I was more focussed on my main event, the pursuit, and probably had that at the back of my mind, I definitely think there's plenty of scope for improvement, particularly if I can practice my starting a bit more. I also think inertia is an issue - I was probably one of the heaviest riders and I need to work on translating the weight into a more powrerful initial surge.

And so onto the pursuit - as a reminder from my OP:

Beasty wrote: »

My primary aim is to improve on my 3 fourth places in the IVCA track championships. I want a medal, and my best chance is in the 2km TT, where I was just a few seconds off 3rd place in October. Given it was my first experience of track racing, all those ahead of me had specialist aero wheels, and were using TT bars, I am hopeful. But ultimately it’s down to form on the day, and who turns up. My time for the 2km TT on the Kanturk track was 3m 4s, and I am confident I will be able to break 3 minutes at Sundrive. Indeed, if I get decent conditions I would hope to get down to around 2m 50s

So I came into the year considering tjhis my main event - my primary aim was to try and get a medal, and I thought this was my best chance

There were 3 pairs riding, and I was in the final race. I had sussed out the fastest time before me was something slightly over 2m 50s (about 2m 54s as it turned out)

I set off slowly, and my opponent was clearly ahead after the first (of 4.36) laps. This is where I put the foot down, and with 2.5 laps to go I sensed I was back on even keel with him. Another lap and I thought I was slightly ahead, so I continued pushing, although I felt I had a little left in me at the end. I was pretty sure I had beaten him, but it took a while for all the times to be confirmed. I did 2m 49.43s - not only had I beat the 2m 50s target, but I had struck Gold:D. My opponent came second in around 2m 53s. Having gone back through the previous 3 Championships my time is the best for the age group (albeit by 1/100 of a second!).

Moving on to day 2, and the first event was the flying 200m. Again I pushed hard, but felt I was spinning out a little. I'd increased my gearing slightly overnight, but didn't feel I was able to use all my power. I finished 5th, and with the top 4 riding off this gave me a chance to rest for the scratch race.

The two who met in the final were very fast sprinters. I was hoping they were fatigued after all their sprint rounds, and my tactic for the scratch race was to try and stretch it out and hopefully split the group with the sprinters dropped. I put a higher gear on for the race

After about 6 (of 12) laps the pace picked up, and one rider tried to make a break. I went with her, hoping we could get perhaps one more into the break. I took over at the front and pushed it (I actually did one lap about 7s faster that I did the first lap of the 500m TT yesterday). I looked back and no-one had gone with me. I was about 50m ahead of the group and faced with the dilemma - do I push on or go back into the group. I was actually feeling quite comfortable, and if the group had split I would probably have pushed on, but with them all still working together I thought I had little chance of staying away.

With hindsight I should probably have pushed harder to try and break their spirits, and hope they became more worries with each other, letting me go. But I actually just maintained the gap (which allowed me to recover quite well). With a couple of laps to go they did close a bit, and I let them catch up. Onto the final lap and the pace picked up, but I was still feeling relatively comfortable. A couple of riders came round me on the final bend and another in the straight, but I still managed to hold 4th place quite comfortably

Anyway, I can now tick off number one objective for the year. I remain tactically naive on the track, and feel I could have done better in some of teh events, but if anyone had offered me a Gold in the pursuit before the event I would have snapped their hand off

The vets track championships over the weekend were nice climax to the first part of the season. I’m away this week, so will be getting a bit of a break before returning for the second half. Hence this is an opportune time to review my achievements to date, and refine my objectives for the rest of the season.

It’s been a very positive 3 months, with a lot of my racing going pretty much to plan. I managed to win my first vets handicapped TT (10 miles) back in May – my first ever race victory, and followed it up with extra points in all but one of the other vets TTs I have done. The Clubs league TTs have gone particularly well, finishing second club member (4th overall) in the 10m, and 4th club member (10th overall) in the 25m. I’ve managed to improve my 10m PB by 26s to 24m 23s, and my 25m by 1m 20s to 63m 32s

In the club league racing I’ve scored my first points, and managed to stay with my group for all but one race - I’ve only struggled in one of the vets races, the first one of the year when I was suffering with back problems.

On the track I’ve managed to get down to Sundrive for one Summer League event, and hit gold in the 2km vets pursuit over last weekend

In terms of my specific objectives:
IVCA track championships – “get a medal” – achieved
10m TT – sub 24m – current best 24m 23s – so far I have not had decent conditions, but with at least another couple of opportunities I’m hopeful of getting there
25m TT – sub 63m – current best 63m 32s – only one further attempt expected – I think I will need particularly good conditions and will have to be on my best form to get this one. I’ll give it a go anyway
40k in the hour – unlikely to get a chance to do this, unless the new indoor Dublin Velodrome gets off the ground and I am able to hire it for an attempt later in the year
Extra points in the Swords League – achieved

With regard to the RobFowl “specials”, I’ve managed to avoid him so far in all the TT’s, and likewise he’s not been around whenever I’m “sprinting” in a road race – maybe these two will get resolved later in the season

I’ve a couple of big opportunities left to make inroads in the vets TT league over the next few weeks, and my success, or otherwise, will determine to what extent I will continue to focus on this league during the remainder of the season.

So far as road racing is concerned, I will continue to use this to maintain and hopefully improve my fitness for other events. I will be looking for any opportunities to impress in either the Swords or vets leagues, but this will not be to the detriment of my other objectives

Finally the track. I’ve proven what I pretty much knew already – I’m not bad in endurance events although need to suss out the best tactics for scratch-type races. I clearly need to improve my starting and sprinting, and with this in mind I’ll be looking to do at least a couple of the Sundrive Autumn League events, and also get down to some of the training sessions over the next few weeks. There is a vets Omnium championships in September that I’d like to give a go also. I’ll have absolutely no chance as it will be across all vets age categories, but I will use it to get further experience, and hopefully benchmark myself against some of the other guys in my age group.

After a week's break it's been back to racing with a vengeance ovev the past couple of days.

Last night was a vets 40km DMS at Batterstown - basically 3 separate races with a staggered start, the fastest off first and slowest last.

Tonight was the Swords League race over 40km on the Bog of the Ring course - a Chase Pursuit ("CP"), which is a single handicapped race.

The DMS tends to involve a lot of speeding up and slowing down, which can take a bit more out of you than a CP (which tends to be a continuous slog) at the same power output

Last night's race was not particularly different from most DMSs. It actually felt a bit harder than normal but I put than down to my lack of recent cycling activity. A lot of riders tried unsuccessfully to break until right at the end when one of the Swords riders got away with another guy with a few km to go. They just held on to take the first 2 places.

I had intended hiding in the bunch, knowing I had the Swords League race coming up tonight and with my main focus being on next Sunday's 25mTT. I only hit the front 2 or 3 times, although a couple of us tried to make a break with half a lap to go. In the end I managed to get into the sprint, finishing 11th, However as 2 handicap groups were mixed I was actually 4th in my group, gaining me a couple of extra points.

The interesting thing is comparing power records. Normalised power (the effective effort) was 276w last night and 290w tonight (a 5% difference) - so tonight was a bit harder overall. However average power (including zeros) was around 240w last night and 266w tonight - a 26w (11%) difference, highlighting how much more a DMS can take out of you

Anyway, I'm knackered now, so having another break from the bike until Sunday ...

Beasty wrote: »

I will not be looking to do up to 3 hard races a week.

... well that one went out of the window this week:rolleyes:

I did a vets race on Tuesday, which was a bit harder than the other vets races I have done. The intention was to do a bit of sitting in during the Swords League race on Wednesday, but the return of shaungil put paid to that - it was probably my hardest road race of the season (actually the first Swords one on the Ardcath circuit was probably harder, but it was quite a bit shorter than Wednesday. And then there was the vets 25m TT earlier today

Total distance for the week was 214km at 31.9kph, bringing the YTD total to 4,765km at 29.2kph

Next week there's another vets race on Tuesday, and I'll probably try the track league on Wednesday. Depending on how I feel I may give the vets age CP Championships a go on Sunday.

Plan was to do the track league at Sundrive tonight, but the weather was looking dodgy and the alterantive would have been the Swords League race

It was still clear when I finished work, so I headed off the Sundrive, where a couple of other boardsies, Caroline and the Crunch, were also racing. I was in group C, along with Caroline. I think she was a bit concerned seeing me lining up against her in the first race, but I'm a novice in track racing and Group C is where novices go (at least initially;))

The first race was a "Hare and Hound". We would be given 3/4 lap start against the fastest group (A) and they had to try and catch us over 8 laps. I checked the protocol at the start - we didn't have to work together and it was everyone for themselves, first over the line winning.

I started last but one in our group, and when we set off some from the front shot off in an apparant attempt to catch Group A. I managed to pass most of our group and thought I had a chance myself of bridging over. I'm not sure myself when I actually caught them - after the race I thought it was towards the end of lap 1, but riders were starting to get detached, and I was not sure if they were from our group or Group A.

I was definitely with them during the second lap although more riders started to drop off. I assumed they were from my group and thought I was the last one remaining. Then I thought am I supposed to do this? Am I going to forgo my first win for cheating? I hung on for a couple of laps then eased off the back and soloed it for the rest of the race, until the final lap when I passed a rider dropped from the Group. I eased off in the final straight thinking I had half a lap to spare, and this other guy sped up. It subsequently turned out he was from my Group and actually got 2nd place. Another rider had managed to stay with the A Group, so I was 3rd. Anyway, apparently it's perfectly acceptable to latch onto the faster group, so I got my 3rd

Next it was a 1km race, with separate races for the men and women in our group. The guy who had taken second in the first race and another (I think the winner from the first race) were clearly strong and pushed on at the front. Another rider - a vet who I'd pipped in last night's race, tried to close a gap and I was coming up quickly behind him. The first guy had broken away, and the vet couldn't breach the gap, so eased up the track. Unfortunately I was on his outside and was forced up the track having to slow, meaning the one rider had got away (and went on to win). I managed to get onto the wheel of the other guy and stuck there until the final straight when I managed to get past him to take 2nd

We were then due to do a team sprint - I had teamed up with the other vet and the Crunch, but the rain came before we could race and the meeting was abandoned

This week's activities included the vets DMS on Tuesday (5th place), Track League on Wednesday (a couple of placings), an extended commute on Thursday, and today's vets age CP (abandoned after about 50km). Total distance 190km at 32.8kph, bringing the YTD total to 4,955km at 29.4kph

I've learned I don't like 80km CPs - certainly not ones handicapped on an age rather than ability basis. However today's race was not originally on the calendar - I can at least console myself that it was a decent workout, and I hit some new power records. I could probably have hung on for longer and extended the power records if my heart was in it, but I was more concerned about keeping something in reserve for Tuesday's circuit TT (20.5km).

Wednesday Swords League is in the Corduff circuit, so I'll probably be giving the Track League another go. I'll probably be commuting again on Thursday and then trying to rest before the vets Age DMS on Sunday, which again will be more about getting a decent training worout than actually placing

It will be the 3rd week in a row of racing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, and at this stage in the season I'm getting very little additional training in. I'm basically using the races to train and I guess the key is not to overdo it in the less important ones and allowing recovery time for the ones that do matter. The main focus this week will be the TT. The advantage of the track racing is, although intense, the races are short and don't take too much out of me.

Beasty wrote: »

I will form a plan once the respective race calendars are out, but I will not be looking to do up to 3 hard races a week.

So after the Swords League race on Wednesday, it was back to Batterstown for a 10m TT yesterday. All four of my 10 milers this year have had quite strong winds, and my times have only varied by 5 seconds - my fastest being 24:23 and slowest 24:28. Yesterday the winds would turn out to be quite blustery, and in the form of a cross-wind probably from the SSW to SW direction - more in my face on the way outr. The other TTs have had more of a headwind/tailwind, and there were a few more wobbles than usual yesterday

The target, as usual, was to break the 24 minute barrier. I hadn't been on the bike since Wednesday, but was still a bit concerned about the toll that and last Sunday's vets race may have taken on my legs. I knew I would probably need to up my power by around 10w or so to get under 24 minutes

It was quite overcast and drizzly, particularly on the way out. The first 4km split was 6m 13s - I needed to average around 5m 58s for each quarter to get under 24 minutes, but my average power was 300w - probably a bit high, but reflecting the incline involved and impact of the wind

Second split was 6m 16s, but the power had dropped to 250w and I was about 30s behind target. Because of the wet I had to take it very tentatively round the roundabout - my slowest speed was 24kph, compared with over 30kph on previous attempts. This was the only time throughout the ride my cadence dropped below 80

I picked it up a bit by the 3rd split - 260w and 5m 48s, and then pushed on in the final segment.

I stopped the computed just after the finish - 24:06. The official time was actually 24:04 - only 5 seconds away, and I suspect I would have made it in drier conditions.

Average power was actually pretty similar to my previous 10 milers this year at 268w, suggesting the wind had not had any particularly detrimental impact on my time.

Anyway, that's my first time at over 40kph, which is a bonus. The final 10 miler was due to take place in a couple of weeks, but they've realised it will be too dark for a Tuesday evening, so hopefully it will be re-arranged for another Saturday morning, and I can have a final go at breaking 24 minutes

Then today it was off to Kentstown for a vets 72km CP. I was feeling tired after yesterday, and wondered if I would last the race. We actually set off at a relaxed pace - normalised power was around 250w for the first lap (it tends to start off nearer 300w in the Swords League and then drifts down during the race)

We were caught by the next group at the end of lap 1 (of 3) and the pace picked up. I did few stints at the front but was more concerned with hanging on at this stage. We caught the second group after another half lap, and then disaster nearly struck. The group had getting on for 30 in at this stage, and on a slight incline I found myself heading back through it. There were riders on both sides of me coming up from behind and converging! I felt forced to the left a little and ended up bumping into the rider on my left - my balance went and I was sure I was going down, and taking him with me. He gave me a scowl and a shove and I regained balance to allow me to the apologise to him and carry on

The next lap was mainly a matter of hanging on - keeping somewhere near the front for the corners to avoid the risk of getting dropped coming out of them. We were then caught by the 2 fastest groups with around 7-8km to go, and it was definitely then a matter of hanging on.

I managed to stick with them and even found myself at the front on the home straight. However the group was very large and I was quickly passed by a number of riders. There were too many riders across the road to be able to dig deep in the sprint, and I was probably around half way down the group at the end (although probably around 3rd or 4th of my ability group)

So having done 3 races in the past 5 days, I'm now looking forward to another vets race on Tuesday, and either the Swords League or track racing on Wednesday, which would make 5 races in 8 days - so much for my suggestion that 3 races in a week was too much!

Last year I think I did 24 races with a total distance of around 750km. Today was my 31st of the year, and I went past the 1,000km mark - 1,049km to be precise. I guess I've got to make the most of it while I can ...:)

Results are up for the weekend's racing. I managed 7th on handicap in Saturday's TT. It gave me a couple of extra points, but as I suspected a couple of other contenders did better than me, and I remain in 5th place with a couple of races to go. The good news is that for the first time I was in the top 10 on a non-handicapped basis, taking 9th position with only one rider who is older than me posting a faster time

In Sunday's vets CP I managed to pick up an extra point by getting the third unplaced position in my group. Then last night there was a 40km vets DMS in Batterstow. Although the results are not up yet I'm pretty sure I was in 9th position picking up a couple of extra pointrs by being 2nd unplaced (3rd overall) in my group

Tonight it was back to Sundrive for the track league. With Kumate_Champ07 being "promoted" up to the next group I was hopeful of picking up some points. It was quite calm and I could probably have done with a slighter higher gear, although my legs didn't quite have it in them after all the racing in the last week.

The first event was a handicapped scratch race with the slower riders being given a half lap advantage. We would be doing 11 laps.

We managed to catch the other group with 3-4 laps to go, but I was outsprinted in the finish and took second

Next was a 3-up - basically 3 riders over one lap. I was up against the guy who beat me in the scratch race, and he managed to get away when the other guy was between us, meaning I ended up second again

We then had a run-off betwen the second placed riders, and again I didn't quite have it in me in the sprint and took second

Finally it was the kierin. I managed to get second wheel behind the derny and when it pulled off with a lap and a half to go I stuck to the first guy's wheel as he picked up the pace. I didn't realise a gap had opened up with the others, although the guy who had already beaten me twice managed to close it and bring someone else who beat me in the sprint - so I got my 4th second place of the night.

Anyway, I'm staning off the bike now ahead of my first 50m TT on Sunday.

Another week of racing, with Tuesday's vets DMS. Wednesday's track league and today's vets 50m TT. Total distance for the week was 164km at 34kph, bringing the YTD total to 5,444km at 29.7kph.

That makes 15 races (including track league evenings) since 20 July when I returned from holiday, over a total distance of 577km

Perhaps it's time to ease off a bit, so the plans for this week will be to do the track league on Wednesday and hopefully get out on Saturday morning for the final vets 10m TT of the season