Dig in. Tour of the Mining Valleys.

Just why it's called the Tour of the Mining Valleys, I'm not sure.  Most of the mining in Wales, as far as I know takes place in the south east - about 100 miles east of Aberystwyth, the location of this week's road race.

Whilst the rest of the Team were racing the Python Road Race, I thought I'd see if I could race in the hills closer to home.

The terrain was lumpy, and the field was small but strong and before long, the race was strung out.

Each effort became crucial and as I learned, the tougher the course, the less room for dicking around with wasted efforts - like chasing back on after taking a leak - something I will rightly forever beat myself up about.

Regardless, I was well placed in the first group behind the break next to my 'men to mark', Brennan Townshend, Gruff Lewis and Colin Parry until halfway in.  However when the attack came from Parry I couldn't hold the wheel and I crawled round the last lap, finishing, I suspect just inside the top 20.

Carnage enough for the commissarie to call it a day on everyone with a lap left to go.

A tough day, but lessons learned.

Thanks Mammy for the bottle x.

Thanks Smwt for licking my legs clean.  Saved some wet-wipes.

Thanks Mam for the Welshcakes x.

Thanks Rhianon for the Instagram skills x.

Tour Series debut

Last night saw my first experience of a Tour Series in Colchester.

I spent the whole day leading up to it dreading the prospect.  I'd been told to just hang in and try to finish.

A pile-up on the first non-neutralised lap meant that the race was stopped and saw us line up for a re-start.  Only a few laps in, another smaller crash saw the field split in two, and I was chasing to get back on to the rear of the split.

Much to my surprise, I found my legs after half-distance and started to make headway in my group, the second on the road and at one point I bridged to the back of the front group.  The back at the front group was a much harder position to hold than the front of the 2nd group so before long I was back where I started but still in with a shot at finishing strongly.



I spend the remainder of the race taking turns with team-mate Dean Shannon and Magnus Backstedt before a sprint for the lower positions at the end.



An emphatic finish to a great event with a massive crowd by the end of the race.  The bad weather of the afternoon had been replaced by a bit of evening sunshine for the mens' race which mean that the centre of Colchester was overflowing by the finish.

Thanks to all for the positive feedback and encouragement.

Lincoln GP

In my inaugural participation in the famed Lincoln GP, I secured my first finish in a Premier Calendar.  I went in with the aim of finishing and I managed it despite puncturing with 5 laps to go and chasing back on.



The race had been extended to 13 laps of the circuit in and out of Lincoln and this proved to be a sticking point for me - I have failed to finish the Prem's in which I've ridden the last couple of weeks due to punctures etc, and my endurance was therefore lacking with 2 to go.  This saw me slip 20 places or so.  I had been solidly placed in the second group on the road near to team mate Wojiech and which for a while included Rob Sharman and Wouter Sybrandy for the most part of the race, however when we hit 85 miles Gruff Lewis of TeamUK Youth put in a couple of attacks which fractured our group and saw me shelled and I lost a couple of minutes.



Michaelgate was all it was cracked up to be.  The cobbled 1in5 climb was stunning to ride with the crowds cheering.  On the first lap, the edges of the road were crowded - by the last; overflowing.  There's nothing better than raucous spectators to make you dig in.

In all, a very positive day.  Thanks go to Stuart from Sigma for his calm when changing my rear wheel and for chasing me back on - and to Steve Skuse for his quick thinking in the feed zone.

CiCLE Classic

The sign-on in Oakham attracted spectators despite the rain.

Thanks to Larry Hickmott and British Cycling for their photos.

What a day...

I made it to the last 50 riders but after 65miles we were beyond the 10minute cut off.

Thanks to the organisers, the conditions weren't ideal by any stretch of the imagination - but they kept us rolling regardless.

Richmond Sausages

Credits to Mr Juliano Cunnington for the title of this post.

A tough introduction to the Premier Calendar.
From what I hear, I couldn't have chosen a more challenging route with which to inaugurate myself to the top level of road racing in the UK.
Enough excuses.

Clem and I drove North for this one. For general reference - the A1M is definitely a more reliable and flowing route than the M1, as we discovered on our way home. We arrived late Saturday afternoon and headed straight off the Motorway towards Richmond and beyond to the famed Buttertubbs to recce the circuit for tomorrow.

Yep it's steep. 1st gear in a diesel steep.

Luckily I'd packed my 11-25, but in hindsight I should have found the nearest LBS and invested in a 12-27.

Sunday. The civilised 11am start gave us plenty of time to get ready. We arrived at the sign on with an hour to prepare and lock up before the field was neutralised and we headed from Catterick Garrison to Richmond for the start ceremony.
Cobbles, Tannoy, Pros, Nerves.

Once we were off, it wasn't long before people started to chip off the front for early attacks. I almost got caught up in one of them as Sigma and Endura attacked, but I thought better of them and held back knowing that everything had to be saved for the climb.

We hit the climb about 1:30 down on a group of 4 that had made an early attack. 2 Raleigh, 1 Sigma and Andy Tennant from RCS. I had managed to stay with the front group of chasers until this point.
We began to climb and all was well.
Then it ramped up to 25% and people, then support cars started to pass me. It was all over.
I got to the top with a decent enough group, but it was no longer the main chase group.



Whoever said 'just get to the finishing circuits and you're laughing' really was having a joke. The 3 finishing circuits around Catterick are devastating. Open roads, wind and dead tarmac that seems to sap you of any ounce of energy. Motivation dwindled but there were still marshals out so we kept going.
Thank you to fellow ERRL rider Jamie Caldwell of StIves CC for pulling through for the duration.
Nothing like the commentator announcing 'there are still riders coming in' to cement your confidence.

I aimed to finish. I finished. Job done.

Richmond GP 2011 by rophowells at Garmin Connect - Details