Heatwave

Today (October 1st!) in Bexhill…

The beach was crowded with day trippers

Pat went sailing…

Pat hauls the Laser 2000 from the raging sea

The sea was actually very flat. Some lovely reflections.

Reflections

…and the sun glistening off the surface…

Sun

Guy in the middle distance

Some nice photos by Tom Davies. I happen to be in them (GITMD) but I like them because of the contexts. Thanks, Tom.

West Parade from the beach at dusk. I'm the silhouette with the MD

Back to the camera giving the baker talk

This was taken at Bodiam Castle’s medieval weekend. That’s me presenting the Baker Talk to a small audience in front of the West Range. I’m afraid that the hat has since been eaten by a dog.

Race #16 – Is that it?

Raglan Castle

Last weekend we went to Ross-on-Wye for my now annual attempt to ride the Ross-on-Wye and District CC 25 mile TT. The race is run in memory of my father.

It’s a much longer trip now – over four hours of driving. We stopped at Chedworth Roman Villa on the way there. The torrential rain stopped just as we got there. It’s a fine site and will be amazing next year when the mosaic floors are back on view.

I had thought (hoped?) the rain might lead to the cancellation of Sunday’s ’25′ but it was merely drizzling as the event started. Quite a few riders elected not to ride. I hadn’t ridden in anger for a couple of months and not at all for two or three weeks. This was going to be an ‘exhibition’ ride.

The first half of the race is mostly downhill and had a tailwind. I reached the turn in around 31 minutes, so I knew it was going to be hard coming back. In fact it got progressively harder – the wind rising and the rain increasing as the slope went up. I was pretty much on my knees at the end. Last year I did a 1:3:14, this year a 1:8:53. It’s true that training makes a difference then.

Race stats: Time: 1:8:53 (21.78mph). First 12.5 miles: 31:09, last 12.5 miles: 37:44. Top speed: 30.4mph. Slowest mile (19): 3:22 (17.82mph), fastest mile (2): 2:14 (26.87mph). Average HR: 166bpm, maximum HR: 173bpm. Average cadence: 74rpm. 28th of 34 finishers. Winner: Simon Harradine (Leisurelakesbikes.com) 55:14

A big thank you to organiser Paul Stephens and his team, particularly the marshalls who got a real soaking while directing us around the course.

I have no more races planned now.

It was good to catch up with family and friends. We finished the trip with a visit to Raglan Castle before heading home. I may write about Raglan later.

One more race (at least)

I haven’t ridden a bike for a couple of weeks. Do I feel guilty? Well, yes I do… a bit.

This season had been difficult with the house move, but I’d caught up with my training and the fitness levels were good. When the new job came along it allowed plenty of time for training and the commuting potential would add another element to my schedules.

So why quit? I guess that I was looking for an excuse. My performances this year have been dire. Without the positive feedback of any improvement – in fact a deterioration in performance – sustaining interest was always going to be difficult when another obsession offered itself.

I love making progress, whether that be physical fitness or learning a new subject. I’ve taught myself to persist more than I used to when things get difficult, but there seems to be a limit. And I’ve reached that with the bike at the moment.

I’ve entered my dad’s memorial race on Sunday 17th July. It’s organised by his last club – Ross-on-Wye and District CC. It starts and finished in the splendidly named Llanvihangel Crucorney sitting below Skirrid mountain. It looks as if I’ll be riding it on memory rather than proper preparation. That’ll work.

I’m just wondering whether it’ll be my last ever race.

>Arghhh!

>I am suffering from frustration. I’d got back into the training groove – admittedly dragging myself up hills and crawling into headwinds – but now it’s all fallen apart again. I think I may have mislaid my cycling mojo. I have excuses – DIY to do, plumbers to wait for, it looks a bit rainy – but, in truth, I’m not getting out there because I’m under-motivated. The house is a (wonderful) distraction that I’m using as an excuse. Tomorrow I will ride¹.

Pat has flown away to China. I’m missing her already. I always worry that I will sort of disappear if she’s not here. She has instructed me to talk to people if I feel the invisibility coming on. I hope I don’t scare anyone.

I am sending CVs to potential employers. I expect to be flooded with job offers at any moment. If you need a playwright on the staff² you’d better get in touch fast.

¹ Check back later to see if I held to this.
² Will also shine shoes, mow lawns, build Zeppelins, etc.

>Miles in the bank

>When I were a lad we used to talk about ‘miles in the bank’. Structured and scientific training was the province of the few (we had heard of ‘intervals’ and ‘fartlek’, but we didn’t quite know what they were and we  certainly didn’t know anyone who used them). Coaches were pretty thin on the ground and running a coaching business unheard of. Training started at the Boxing Day ’10′ time trial and continued through January and February with a series of unstructured, longish rides to knock the edges off. Pace and pain was added if you went out with faster riders. Racing started at the end of February and from then on in most people were ‘racing themselves fit’. Most of my PBs happened in July and August.

Nowadays, of course, even if you don’t have a coach, you have access to myriad coaching manuals, magazines and on-line forums. I train far less than I used to – last week I rode 230 miles, which is the most I’ve done in a week since the 1970s. I used to clock up 300+ miles a week regularly and once, memorably, rode over 600 miles in a week.

I know the new methods produce results, but habit makes me think of getting the miles in the bank. And I’m hoping there’s something in it.

After a stressful couple of weeks, where we thought the house buying chain might crumble, we finally exchanged contracts yesterday and we’ll be moving to Bexhill in a couple of weeks. This is great news but will lead to a reduction in training. My focus is elsewhere and there’s a lot to do between now and the move. I’m going to be cashing in some of my miles in the bank.

I hope that I can get back into full training again in April and start racing properly in May. I will try and ride next weekend’s ’10′ just so that I can say the season has started! It’ll be interesting to begin late. My recent seasons have seen performances peak in May and early June. Perhaps we’ll see a reversion to the old pattern.

Yesterday’s news about the house was topped by wonderful family news. Tonight we have a meal with friends and tomorrow is Pat’s birthday. It’s turning out to be a pretty good weekend.

>Merry Christmas everyone

>Have a great time. I’ve managed to engineer a rest day from the bike. Looking forward to a great day at home with Pat.

It’s been great following the Kiwi Christmas on FB and now Skyping to Beijing to catch up with J and V. I’m not always a fan of new technology, but I appreciate it at this time of year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

>Watch Dowsett Go

>On Thursday night I took my third kicking in three weeks at group training. This time I lasted 30 minutes before being blown out of the group. I’m supposed to be group leader. I see the sack beckoning. I finished the session in a more even paced group. I was quite ill when I got home.

On Friday we went to the Barbican for Pat’s (sorry – Dr Pat’s) OU graduation ceremony. I was as proud as punch. I like the OU – It’s great to see so many people celebrating what is a considerable achievement.

I almost didn’t ride Saturday afternoon’s North Hampshire RC ’25′ on the Bentley course (H25/8). I did not feel good in the morning and only the effects of vitamin I (Ibuprofen) persuaded me to set out. Once there I did a gentle one hour ride to try and get mind and body in the right place. It was a nice day and gradually things seemed to improve, so I headed for the start line.

The race itself was pretty tough. The breeze got up throughout and the second time towards Alton was, as it so often is, a bit of a graveyard. Apparently I was climbing all over the bike in an effort to keep it going.

At about 19.5 miles I was caught for 13 minutes by Alex Dowsett warming up for the U23 TT World Championships in Australia. He went on to record a 46:58 – an incredible time for this course. He already held the course record with a 47:50 earlier this season – another ride where he caught me!

I went on to finish in 1:2:25 – my fastest ever ’25′ in September (I used to finish the season on the first weekend of September, so I’ve not ridden many 25s this late in the year). I was quite pleased that my form seems to be coming back, though probably too late now.

Race stats: Time: 1:02:25 (24.03mph). First 12.5 miles: 30:40, last 12.5 miles: 31:45. Top speed: 34.2mph. Slowest mile (15): 2:53 (20.81mph), fastest mile (9): 1:59 (30.25mph). Average HR: 166bpm, maximum HR: 172bpm. Average cadence: 73rpm. 50th of 89 finishers. Winner: Alex Dowsett (Trek Livestrong) 46:58

On Sunday I rode the Willesden CC 100km Dulcie Walker road race for 3/4 category riders. I was dropped after a couple of miles and span round for two laps (stopping for coffee at one of the marshalling points). It was a duty call. In the afternoon I helped marshall a junction for the E123 John Walker road race.

As the season draws to a close (last race scheduled for October 17th) I’m beginning to think about next year. We’re moving to the South coast, so I’ll probably be looking for a new club/team. And a new job or jobs. I suspect the Winter will be rather busy, so training might be disrupted.

>…a3crg ’10′

>After recovering from last week’s lurgy and then going down with a bad case of I can’t be arsed to train-itis I finally got back on the bike on Thursday after a six day lay off. Self delusion being what it is, I rather imagined that I would be rested and ready to rip the other riders’ legs off. After twenty minutes my group dropped me. Hubris I think it’s called.

On Saturday afternoon I rode the …a3crg 10m TT on the A3 South of Liphook (the P881r). It’s a fast course and it was a nice day. I did a 24:30 which looks like a decent time for me, but I finished 76th out of 96. Not good.

Race stats: Time: 24:30 (24.49mph). First 5 miles: 12:35, second 5 miles: 11:55. Top speed: 32.2mph. Slowest mile (4): 2:45 (21.82mph), fastest mile (10): 2:04 (29.03mph). Average HR: 164bpm, maximum HR: 168bpm. 76th of 96 finishers. Ave. cadence: 74rpm. Winner: Stephen Whitewick (UTAG Yamaha.com) 19:45


On Saturday evening we were scheduled to see Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1 at The Globe. I arrived late and so viewed the first half from the side. Those bloody pillars can’t be right. For the second half I was re-united with Pat and our friends and managed to see the show from the front – much better. Roger Allam has been highly and deservedly praised for his performance as Falstaff.

Sunday was a long drive to Ross-on-Wye and back for my mum’s 80th birthday lunch – nice to meet family and old friends again.

>DNS and Walter Stokes

>I was meant to ride the Finsbury Park CC ’25′ on the fast F1/25 today but did not start. The saddle soreness, which finally seemed to abate last weekend, came back with a vengeance after a hard training session on Thursday. At 5am this morning I decided that it would cause more damage to ride than to sit it out. Actually, sitting is not that easy.

Naturally I feel guilty. But I hope it was a proper judgment call rather than taking the easy option. There are still a couple of months of the season to go.

Meanwhile…

Years ago I did a bit of family research. It turns out that I am not of royal descent nor the heir to a great fortune. The Woodmans were agricultural labourers from the 1700s to the mid-to-late 20th century. They’re never in the same place from one document to another – always moving on.

My paternal grandmother’s family is, I believe, similar. The Stokes were originally basket weavers from the Upton-on-Severn area. My great grandfather, Walter Ernest Stokes, was a postman. He lived in Powick just outside Worcester.

But Walter was an amateur athlete as well. He ran for Birchfield Harriers (how did he make that contact?). In 1899 he won the AAA Championship 2 mile Steeplechase title at Molyneux in Wolverhampton. In 1908 he represented England in the International Cross-country Race at St. Cloud in France (coming 9th and part of the winning team). I  am trying to find out more about his athletics career.

I remember a family photograph of him and his trainer posing before an array of trophies and prizes. It would be good to find a copy of that picture. There’s some great video of the 1901 AAA Championships here – I wonder if he appears anywhere?