Wednesday 9 March 2016

drive,launch,drive,drive,race,walk,drive,drive,drive,race,drive :(



So racing has finally started and I had picked the busiest weekend to start,

Team bottrill launch at giant HQ on the Friday which meant a 3 hour drive first thing followed by a day that I was very proud to be part of, especially standing for a team photo with the likes of Josh Williams, Charlie Taylor and Dan Barnett and thinking now its time you really have to put the work in lad.


A stay over then it was back in the car and off to Dan’s followed by more time in the car for the first race of the year the 2 up on the O25/11 in Doncaster.

Me and Dan had never ridden before even on a weekend cafĂ© ride so the 2 up was going to be interesting but I was looking forward to it, Dan’s a strong lad but I was happy my ftp was going the right way to at least hold my own and do my fair share, I had done my classic of messing about with my position in my endless quest to find that sweetspot position that I’ve convinced myself only a trip to the tunnel can find but my budget holds me back.

The day looked ok , was going to be cold and 3.4c on the Garmin confirmed that and it was going to be windy but it looked like the rain would hold off which was a small bonus.

I was riding the giant trinity advanced that had been loaned to me by giant uk whilst my new trinity tt came, it’s a quality bike but looking at it against Dan’s trinity tt al blinged up I knew it was going to be a tough day especially as I had no power meter on the bike so was a chance I could blow myself up early doors, or not do enough on the front as I’m like a robot and can sit holding a number for ages but I’m totally lost without it.

A quick warm up and some practice changes and we were set, we were going to enjoy it and give it all.

A few miles in and all was going well, I missed Dan’s wheel a few times as he came steaming through and had to fight to get back on but I was feeling good, I had a sore throat and a stinking cold all week but it was holding up well and I made sure I only blew my nose when I was at the back (this was a rule we had decided before the start as we both had colds).

Then the rain / hails came down and it was lucky these where long straight roads as I couldn’t see shit! , I kept losing the wheel and as we hit the headwind it only got worse and as fast as it came it was gone and the sun tried to come out.

I was wet and cold but the changes where getting slicker and I had regained a good pace, out of the last turn and the rain came down again briefly but enough to shake you to the bone but it was 3 miles to go then we could get warm, next thing bang, Dan then me through the same pothole, I was an instant puncture and came to a fast halt but Dan seemed to be fine, this was awesome as he could go back and get the car and rescue me.

As I started the 2 mile walk waiting to be rescued I could see Dan in the distance stood at the roadside, I guessed he was just waiting to make sure I was all good before going to the car, but no he had punctured as well less than 100 yards from me.so as we started the long walk back together in skinsuits frozen to the bone watching everyone else go past as we hobbled in cycling shoes down the road trying to tuck ourselves into a ball to keep warm it dawned on me this might not be a great weekend. Tucked under the hand dryer in the toilets at the HQ thinking I still had nearly 4 hours  in the car before the day was done and then I  had to change a puncture when I got home life was feeling pretty grim.

 

Saturday race was abit out of my control, you can’t odds a puncture, but after not much sleep and another 1hr 45 in the car I was in wales, 3.2c today and rain lush.

I was a lot more confident today though I wanted a result and I know I should get it, I was giving away time with riding a bike with clip on's but I was happy that my position I was trying looked sweet and should be good.

Let me explain abit about my endless position hunt, I’m convinced the only way I will get it nailed is a day in the tunnel , this is beyond my budget so I spend way to much time fiddling, I was lucky enough to go to the track with a aero guru last year and tested a high hands position and it was horrendously slow on me, for some reason I can’t explain ( probably due to the fact I was using clip on’s it was easy to try ) I thought I would try it again, it looked good on the turbo surely it will work I thought.

Considering I won this event two years ago with a 20:21 off of 316w I was very confident I could lose time by not having the most aero bike, my 10 mile power is way beyond that now by over 50w. so as I crossed the line with a 21:23 I think I was pissed off really pissed off , I’m lighter , stronger , better paced WTF had just happened, again no power meter so I couldn’t go back and look but really what had just happened?

Confusion was followed by anger , why had I messed about with everything , this was followed by the thought I had let everyone down ( no one ever sticks the pressure on me but I put a lot on myself to pay back the confidence others show in me ) which was in turn followed by tiredness and back to anger.

I didn’t hang around I even left my jacket behind I had used in warm up; I just wanted to sleep and pretend that the weekend was just a bad dream.

I always do things the hard way ,I’m not sure why but I think way to much about stuff I can do to go faster so days like that really hurt but they make me fight harder.

 

On the plus side the new bike turned up Monday morning and was straight into Greg at Bomber Bikeworks, I’ve decided to go back to the P4 position, I knew that was a fast position, I know I got good results on it when my power was a lot less than now, so it’s a great base to go back to.

( yes the white saddle is going ) 

So the season has started tough but maybe if I had got a result on Sunday I would have walked off blindly thinking that was a good position I could move forward with only to be hit with disappointment down the line.

The sore throat and cold has really fired itself up now, over 11 hours in the car two races in 3c and a two mile walk in a skinsuit really didn’t help, but as they say the show must go on.

I can’t thank matt bottrill , simon de burgh , billy harriss Richard cumes and Giant uk enough for the confidence they have shown in my and the continued support, it will all come right when it matters, I just need someone to weld down all the nuts and bolts on my bike so I can’t mess about with it.

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