Boardman TTE review

So we are in June, a month I thought we would have been enjoying some great results from early in the year and having everything spot on to hit races in the build up for the nationals.

This wasn’t to be but I’ve now got the Boardman TTE all ready and set up so it’s time to do a quick review on it, I have managed a few sessions on it now and it feels great to finally be a position I can build on, I think it still needs a few minor tweaks but all in we are looking good to go, I rode a local club event last week on a course I use abit for training and the few miles cycle out to the start was the first time getting on the bike so I was a bit nervous but it felt good , like a proper tt bike ,a feeling I had missed since selling the P4 which in turn brought on something else that had been lacking before a race lately a smile.

Before the race and the carpark bike top trumps and the TTE was holding its own and getting some well-deserved attention. The course I rode last year a few times and clocked a 22:02 and a 21:56 for the 10miles of pretty crap road to be fair, both set on the P4 both on pretty good days so I had a bench mark. The evening was not looking great a bit windy and not the float conditions you dream about but always miss, still the bike felt great and I clocked a 21:37 knocking 19 seconds off my old course pb, power was down on training efforts but being the first time I had rode a proper tt position since September I was expecting that and a bit of time it will all come right so a great start and a top feeling for the ride home.

So the review, ive scanned online a lot and to be honest there isn’t a load out there on the bike, I’ve struggled to find wind tunnel data especially against the other so called superbikes so I won’t be making the claims of huge saving over bike x at x yaw blah blah blah just a honest look at what I like and don’t like about the bike I get to spend the next however long racing.

 

Let’s start at the front end and this bike is super clean, the brakes are hidden well away from the wind and the stem and bars are a fully integrated unit meaning no visible bolts or cables ( not the cable from the extension to the front of the bar as I run mechanical shifting ).the integrated set up did slightly concern me to be honest as I’ve heard of some of the superbikes being a nightmare to set up and get right and a simple pad height change becomes a day’s work, this is the first area for me a lot of thinking has gone on and Boardman has really nailed the need to be aero but useable, the pads are easilystackable from underneath and comes with a ton of different spacers and bolts to get your exact height and a strengthening bar if you really want to jack the pads up. The pad holders themselves can be used two ways for a really narrow or wider set up and there is huge adjustability in the pads themselves in every direction and can even be slightly angled in or out (I’ve used my drag2zero ones but the standard pads offer so much adjustment and support I wouldn’t have changed them unless I already had the other pads).

The cables run neatly through the stem which can also hold a di2 junction box and then are fully integrated into the frame, if you order a full bike its pre cabled and really quick to set up out the box, I went frame only so had abit more fiddling to do but still easier than the puzzle that was the P4 to cable.

The forks are tidy with the brakes well hidden , the only thing that I don’t like is the fact you cannot adjust the brakes apart from on the cable itself so swapping wheels from training to wider race wheels becomes a problem but I guess it’s the toss-up between making something really integrated and aero again

 

The frame itself mates perfectly into the stem and blends its way down to the seat post which gets a single clamp bolt adding to the minimalist but practical feel of the bike. The saddle clamp offers different angles and positions all off one bolt .

Down to the wide bottom bracket that adds a stiff base for the rest of the frame with little holes added to let the cables pop out seamlessly that are hidden in the frame,just behind are the rear brakes that are more easily adjustable that the front but still well hidden from the wind and blend nicely into the frame ( im trying not to use the words blend and seamless to much but pretty much the first words I think of when talking about the bike ) . teamed up with the kit I already had makes this bike in my eyes something pretty special . I think it’sbeen very well worked out not only to hit the goals they set out when making it, but its very useable and handles like a road bike and not the usual handful tt bike that only wants to go straight so hats off to Boardman bikes, I looked at everything else and it’s been a long and painful at times wait but we are on track. It’s a shame still there isn’t more data out there on the bike, I would love to back to back test it against the P4 and others, I honestly think it’s going to be a quick set up for me but is that down to other things such as the way the bike integrates with my position compared to the P4, me losing weight or holding a better head position and creating a smaller frontal position, or is it all down to the aero dynamics of the frame? answer is I don’t know but I do know I’ve got a piece of kit that will allow me to really get the season going now and we can start putting all the work we have done in training onto the road come race day.

So the season starts now and the build towards the nationals.

 

Thanks to www.rnhfotografia.com for the photos used in the blog 

 

Turning this year around ( finally )

So as promised I'm back , and super glad to say so is the TTE, it's pretty obvious to anyone who reads the blog I've struggled this year with not having the bike available and the effect it has had on results and my mental focus, it's hard knowing your half the rider mentally but twice the rider physically you where last year,and I struggled massively without my trusted power meter on race day .but hopefully that's all behind me and its onwards and upwards and a whole new focus and the results will show what we have worked so hard for.

So I got to try the new NoPinz super suit today, it felt on par material wise with the smart aero suit but the fit was better thanks to the silicone grippers keeping the arms and legs exactly where they started, it's a super tight fit in all the right places but still allows free movement so it was a great first ride and look forward to getting a good season out of it. This week I rocked up at the bristol South club event sporting training kit and wearing the NoPinz championship suit 

and got some funny looks when I took all the pins off my number and proceeded to slide the number into the wallet behind, a lot of confused faces and poking and prodding of the suit ensuded to see what it was all about. It was a good ride after a 20 min TT effort 20 mins before they start and still put out a good power effort for the event despite really struggling to get the power down on the 9.4 position. I was expecting a real slump after a week off,to much beer and the added 4kg I managed to put on :) .

Most have seen my monstrosity of a training bike tarring up and down the a38 looking like it was on its last legs, so it was time to pay a bit of attention to the Scott frame I had in the garage and basically raid the boxes of spares I had in the garage, I mentioned before I met Tom Blease on a ride whilst visiting home and a long chat and the obvious attention to detail made a me think he would be the perfect guy to turn a box of spares and a frame into a training bike I might actually be happy to be seen on and not have to park it around the Corner  on cafe stops out of view.

I dropped it off before I set of on my hols, a box of bits and a frame and that's it, giving Tom a free reign to do what he could with the bike. I got back to something much better than I thought and a bike that would look top notch in any club run with the newest and blingest bikes rolling around.

Can 100% recommend and just a shame he's not a bit closer to bristol but check out www.facebook.com/bleasecycletech if your anywhere near the North Devon area, the man does a mean coffee as well .

Had a nice parcel in the post when I got back from indurance, I've been very happy and lucky to get on board with them and having a chance to try the new tt specific kits that are just out to check all the main bio markers to aid tt performance, the kit is slightly more involved than the standard pico kits you can quickly do at home but still only involves a quick visit to the local nurse for a quick blood test , all the kit is supplied and I'm in next week to have the samples taken then posted off in the supplied postage kit. I think it will be really interesting to compare some of the results to the earlier test done to really get a bigger picture of how my body is adapting to the training and the changes we made from the last results as we made some big changes from the last results and the indurance products allow me to track the season and plot where my body is at different stages in the year and how changes effect my body and performance, i like to think of it as training peaks for the body and something next year I can look at and get a even bigger picture of how things have changed and anything we need to look at again to keep progressing.

So now I'm thinking is when the season starts,excuses have run out and it's time to get on it, build my strength in the position ( without changing it every 5 mins like I normally do ) , build my confidence back up ,and really start living up to the potential I know I have and others have invested their time in helping me achieve.

One of my key goals was the national 50 tt but due to Mr postman not delivering my entry and missing the Internet entry cut off date I've had to drop that one , but on the plus side it gives me a bit of time on the new bike and a extra incentive for the national 100.

I think I owe some big thanks to the people who have stuck by me and kept the faith when I doubted it myself at time , you all know who you are :) .

Finally a win !!!!

It's been a few weeks of firsts this month, first win which was desperately needed and first week off the bike mid season ( not that this year has really started mind ) ,

The first win was something that looked like it wouldn't come ,but I was feeling confident and happy it was just a case of ticking the boxes and getting the tte set up and ready to go. The bike was ready to go , we had found a strong set up and I was feeling great for the first time all year,it was time to get the racing results to match what we had worked so hard for in training.

It wasn't ment to be and a bar malfunction on the TTE ment it was back in for a replacement,this put me back on the 9.4 for the race at the end of the week, a mad rush to get it ready and try and get some club events in before the holiday. Even this didn't happen with events cancelled due to road works and another stopped due to a accident on course,I had managed to get a few race miles in and pacing and power looked to be very good even though I was in a position I really struggle to hold and get the power down in on the 9.4,but I kept telling myself I had a holiday coming up and I've decided to stop worrying about the things out of my control and focus on what I can do to improve myself and not looking at every other thing that can and seems to go wrong.

Race day was here, a very up and down course not far from home which was ideal as I still hadn't packed and had to leave very early in the morning. I had to change the cranks to my set up last min which would come back and bite me in the race.

I set off for my warm up probably feeling the most relaxed I have all year, I had nothing to lose I was riding a different set up, no power meter again and we had really hit the training hard before the break so I was riding tired but none of that mattered really, I knew what I had to do and I just wanted to get out there and do it, the usual doubts and beating myself was gone it was just me and the legs doing what we had trained to do and the other bits didn't really matter.

I set out strong and was soon into my stride, a small hold up into the first drag was a minor glitch but the chain shipping off coming over the top of the drag had the potential to be a big time looser,I think the crankset swap without adjusting the front mech forced the chain into a to tight a angle but that was my fault and lucky it didn't tangle so I managed to roll off and reach down and flick it back on ring and get going again again.normally this would of been a big mental beating for me and potentially a roll to the side of the road turning a minor problem into a major incident in my mind.

The outward leg was fast with a strong tailwind which I paced well which is another area Matt has really got me working hard at,I had made good time but saved myself for the hard return leg.

The return was going great, I had worked hard and only had 2 miles to go and with a slight down hill coming up I really wanted to hit the drag before hard and really get the speed up,the chain was back to haunt me and I stupidly went up the cassette to much thinking I still had a few gears before I would risk  the chain angle getting to tight, but the fact I was really forcing the pedals and the cadence was up deemed to be to much and it came flying off again,this time it tangled and I had to think quick, the downhill was fast approaching, did I risk trying to get it back on whilst moving and have the possibility of hitting the bottom of the hill and then having to stop at the bottom of the hill with a climb up the other side.a quick skid in the road and a dive off was the best action in my head and proved to be right as it was pretty tangled, a quick bit flapping about and I was back on and rolling down the hill, the was no way I was changing gear again so it was a case of getting the speed up and just grinding out the drags into the headwind.

I crossed the line in two minds, happy I had set out what I wanted to do and paced the race well and the other half of me frustrated as it was again a race with its problems but hey ho I was holiday in the morning. I got back to the hq wondering how I had done, expecting the worse but honestly it didn't matter as I had done all I could so I was proud of my effort. The times started rolling in as I hung around looking for cake, I knew what time I had done and as the other times trickled in I was surprised I seemed to of pulled of a better ride than I thought,all results came in and I had somehow managed a win,it was a huge relieve and a feeling I hadn't felt for a while,it was nice to get back on track and finally have something to show for all the effort I've put in and the support I've been given.

I'm hugely greatfull for. All the support I get and the desperation to pay that back with results is massively important to me and as much as sponsors have put no pressure on me for results as they know as well as I do they will come when we are all set up properly, but there  is nothing better than being able to go back and say you have got a result.

It's been a busy month with some really cool new stuff so il bang another blog in later in the week,I got a new indurance TT specific kit in the post , it will be really interesting to see how the results compare to the early season tests with the bonus of the kit looking at all the bio markers that really matter for a tt racer.

I also got the NoPinz new super suit which is a great upgrade from the standard suit and really put it up there and past suits with much heavier price tags.

After a winter on a bike that was pretty much falling apart I decided to bling up the summer bike with everything in the spares box so it was off to Tom Blease at Blease Cycle-tech in Devon a small business but after meeting Tom on a ride on a trip home on a ride with sponsor rich from Jersey pocket and seeing the attention to detail he had put into his own training bike I knew it was the place to get the bike looking awesome so I dropped off a frame and a box of bits and what came out was pretty special and its a dream to ride.

So the holidays all done I've put on 4 kg and it's time to really get back into the training and get everything ready for the up coming national 50 that seems to be creeping up fast , which means il be spending a load of time training on the TTE when it's back trying to catch up on missed time on it early season , I've sort of gone the route of saying lets write off the start of the year racing wise but we have bagged the training that was needed and will help us be strong when everything else catches up.

Turning a corner and TTE time

Been a good few weeks now since the last blog and the season seems to be coming together slowly race wise,training wise its way beyond what I thought, I spend mytime staring at the powermeter looking at numbers I would be out the saddle screaming to hit before, butnow I’m thinking a few more watts push a bit harder and the jump to the next level is just that little bit closer, andit feels bloody awesome.

I also hit another huge marker today for me , the turbo is my kryptonite, the mere thought of getting on it fills me with fear and if I see I turbo session on my training plan I try and work out a way I could turn it into a road session.ive even been known to get off of really easy turbo sessions mid-way and throw all the toys out pram in rage as a simple session has turned me into a wreck and all the power I have in my legs and the drive to performs just disappears into smoke.Ive been working very hard on building my confidence and motivation the last few weeks, I thought it was really high I was ready to go and #smashitup but set up problems and not having my bike just destroyed me and I need to be stronger than that if I’m going to hit my max potential, Ialways think that’s its all about taking knocks and coming back stronger.

I got to the point I didn’t even want to race, I had two races booked in over the bank holiday and the doubts started creeping in, telling myself “you know that you’renot set up right “ you won’t race your best and underperform “ over and over again( just wanted to put one thing straight as a few have asked why I haven’t managed to get the 9.4 set up right, the bike is a shop bike very kindly lent to me by Andy at bike science, I could set the bike up very very close to the set up I run but just not with the bars and extensions etc. that it comes with it  as standard, and there is no way I’masking anyone to strip down a bike for me and fit it with all new parts when just being used for a few races).Idecided to ditch the racing until we were ready and focus solely on training where I knew where I was I knew I would be getting stronger ,and not spending my time beating myself up.

I can honestly say that was the best decision I ever made, I went off with the Boardman 9.4 ( its awesome I get to train on it ) in the boot and felt totally relaxed and enjoyed probably the best weekend and weeks training after ever.

I went out with one of my sponsors rich from jersey pocket and a few of the Bideford peloton boys on the Saturday for a steady 65miles and hit a really hard session on the Sunday which pretty much replicated the 25tt I had in effort and felt great just enjoying being on the bike which after all is what it should be all about.

So a huge sorry to the people I’ve been hounding constantly, moaning at about not being ready like the season ends in a few days, and I need to change this and sort that, think bike science now turn the lights off and pretend they are shut all hiding behind the counter when they see me stomping up the road with a list of very minor things I’ve been panicking about. I think I needed that step back from racing and look at what’sreally going on. I’m hitting training ,weight is down ,my TTE is here now ( she is a piece of art, need to give her a name ) we are going to the velodrome again to look at set up,ive got very good very patient people guiding me down the right path, what the F have I got to be panicking about? . its more a case of I’ve trained my bloody ass off and racing has consumed me now , I need the results to show on paper , I need to show the people who have backed me and saw the potential that its really there.

 

So the TTE has arrived and boy is she special, I went down the frame only route so where as if you buy a full bike they send it pretty much ready to go with cables threaded etc.so now I’m tinkering away trying to get it built up as much as I can so I can get it in bike science for the finishing touches, I won’t go into the bike to much until its all built up but I’m very very pleased with everything and very confident it will be a great bike for racing.

I’m off tomorrow to Newport velo on the shops TTE doing some position testing ( its been fitted with a rear brake and a locked off mech just so I can use it for track testing (I’m very well looked after ) so looking forward to trying to nail a position and spending the time getting stronger in it.

 

I’ve had all my results back now from www.indurance.co.uk and it highlighted some areas where I could definitely improve not just performance but my general health and well-being, after a chat with will where he explained what the results meant and how they effected things I’m now armed with ways and means of making sure I’m always performing well, I don’t want to go into the details of what the advice was, as in me being very low in vit D and having to take certain supplements to manage it might be the totally wrong thing for someone else to do, the results are so detailed its so very individual that there is no way one person’s results could match another’s and someone could say taking supplement A,B or C is the way to go or avoiding this and that is a good idea for all, the guys behind it have medical back grounds and know there stuff when it comes to advising athletes so il leave that side to them, but I think it’s something that will keep me hitting good form when I would normally be dying off from the hard months before, we’ve all seen the riders who are heroes in the early months and do nothing later in the year when the big races come around. I’m due a follow up test in a few months just to track how the changes have worked and making sure other areas are still in good performance, I’ve had a poor start to the racing year so June and onwards is going to be key and not a time to start fading away.

 

So what’s the aim now then? basically just roll with it, get the bike ready , do a few club events, if a race comes along and I’m not ready I will just train.

Stop being a brat and enjoy the confidence of knowing things will get sorted, I think I’ve pilled a ton of pressure on myself to be hitting maximum from day one and keep that going and its all come from me, not people around me, not sponsors or at coaching me, if anything these have been the people trying to tell me there is no pressure. Its still all a huge learning curve its my 4thseason racing ,my 1st one taking it very seriously, mistakes now are what make you stronger later and be sure when its time to step up i will be ready ;)

Rabbit in the headlights

I think I’ve reached that rabbit in the headlights phase of the year, just stood in the middle of the road staring at the lights wondering which way to go, you know in your head diving left or right is the safest place but somehow you are drawn to that light in the middle. I look at peoples set up and it feels like its turning into a cash race ,you smash yourself to pieces in training looking for ever last 0.5w knowing in your head a few hundred quid can buy you 6w and so on and so on. But that’s life I guess I don’t begrudge anyone for splashing the cash you’ve got to find a way of catching up or staying ahead of the game anyway you can.

Small things are making a big difference this year and there are so many big positive (even though I’ve just had a sulk about being priced out of the game) im just a very need everything sorted straight away sort of person and go diving in head first hoping to bypass all the steps it normally takes to get there, I can’t help it it’s just the way I am.

Big bonus has been having the use of the Boardman 9.4 the last few weeks which Andy was kind enough to let me use to train on and its been great, I was kicking about on a 3 year old cube road frame with some clip ons most of winter and its not a patch on having a tt set up using all the muscles you use in racing , I’ve really missed that over the winter not having a tt bike and a few have asked why didn’t you keep the p4 for training and as a backup and the honest answer is I would of loved to but I needed to sell it to fund other parts and pay some bills, I put every spare penny I have into the racing and a lot of other things suffer because of it so the pleasure of something like a p4 as a training /back up bike for me is never going to happen.

I think we have made big steps in my set up and the use of the services at bike science the last few weeks have really be more than I could of asked for , the velodrome testing in Newport was great to test a few positions but we found this was zapping my power for very little gains, so we tested moving the bars up and down to see where my power drop off was in the aero position and found that there was a big difference in heart rate and lactate between positions, despite coming up 60mm from my previous position and still looking really low I feel I’ve got close to something I can work with,the Newport tests are a great way to check the differences between what I think is fast and what is fast, plus it’s a great experience going round the track after the first bunch of panic laps when all I wanted to do was run away and hide and not get back on the track again . and a few other tweaks from the retul fit has helped with power delivery along with the switch to the cobb cycling saddle it feels like I’m really making head way now and we are chipping away at where I need to be.

I think once the TTE is ready I’ve got the rotor power cranks on and I’ve got a solid set up that we can play around with and tweak il be in a much better place. For a guy who needs everything to be right to really perform its been a crazy whirlwind lately but if it was easy everyone would do it as they say.

The huge bonus has been training, im almost at the point I can push to the next stage and move the training zones up another level, I’ve been hitting the sessions hard and in the tt position and this has brought my power on the tt bike close to what it is on the road bike, I’m still abit down but I think with more time to adapt I should really close the gap right down.ive had two sessions in a week which I couldn’t have completed last year so it’s a huge testament to how far ive come with matts coaching which has really shown me whats needed to get results and just how far you can go if you want it bad enough.

 

Let’s keep the positives coming; I’m very happy to be supported this year by www.indurance.co.uk after Blake Pond kindly put in touch with them. Performance is key for me it’s the area I’m going to make the gains in, I’ve been smashing my weight down, getting my power up and generally working hard to improve myself the one thing I have total control over on bike. In_durance blood profiling in simple terms tells you what is going on inside, if your pushing too hard and on your limit, if you’re not even taping into your potential, what your lacking in to reach that potential and how to reach it.After a long chat with Will from In_durance I was very keen to get on board and over the moon when they said they would support me in 2015 and 3 kits where winging their way to me to get the testing started.

Taking blood at home seemed like it could be a lot of hard work and messy but it was very simple and easily laid out and obviously well thought out buy people who really know stuff when it comes to testing athletes right down to the handy holder for the sample pot. A quick watch of the how to video on the site and I was all ready to go, 2 minutes later it was all back in the box and off in the free post envelope, and 3 days later the first results where back for my vit D3 and being someone on a good diet and already supplementing with a Vit D3 supplement I was expecting a glowing report.

Pretty shocked to see I was boarder line dangerously low in Vit D3, it was all laid out what this meant for performance and overall health, how to address it, best sources to improve the readings and what making these improvements will make to my overall wellbeing. The harder I train the more I push myself these this sort of information is essential for keeping me pushing on to the next training block rather than slumping into a pit of doom when you start under performing and get frustrated and over cook yourself because you think your just being soft and not trying hard enough even though people around you are telling you that you look like a sack of crap (we’ve all been there).

So I’m really excited to see the next results from the other tests, the third one I did yesterday was over and done in about a minute, once you have done it once it’s so simple it’s done in no time and the turnaround for results was brilliant. Its worth checking out the site at www.indurance.co.uk as the people involved with it have a very impressive back ground in sport and Will has been involved as a doctor for the tour of Britain as well as I quality athlete so the whole team know the importance of health and wellbeing on performance and I can honestly say I’m very lucky to be part of it and really looking forward to making the gains that come with it.

 

So a blog that started alittle in the dumps has finished positive , it’s a long old year and yeah I would like to be on it straight away everything perfect and sat back in the chair at night with my feet up  knowing every single box is ticked but to be honest if that was the case as I’ve said before I would probably start going slower in the long run, I might moan about not having the cash to have the best of everything , and spend a week training somewhere sunny with  days in the wind tunnel ,but il fight harder than anyone for the gains I can make from my training and areas I have control of, it will all come of that I have no doubt ,I have great people supporting me this year and wouldn’t even like to guess where I would be without them ( probably taken up darts buy now ) , so we keep chipping away little improvements here and there aiming for the bigger goals one 0.5w at a time .

puzzling it all together

Before I start I wore shorts on a ride this week no leg warmers or bib tights so I’m officially calling an end on winter J . Now the season has sort of started with a few dipping my toe back in the racing water events which have become a mass change everything program for me it seems. I think having so many options and so many ways we can test stuff and try different thinks I’ve sort of got lost in it all, I want to try every little thing and jump massively from one set up to another in a crazy whirlwind of parts and kit and frustrating myself as I know I’m hitting the training targets, I know my power is way up and my weight now 7kg down from last year, everything is there I just can’t seem to click it all together.

Lucky for me Andy has a logical mind and the tools to get the job done which is the opposite to my headless chicken grab everything off the shelve and try it ,dismiss it then try it again.to get to the bottom of everything he has come up with a great way of testing my power drop off in certain positions, as my il slam it as low as it goes two days before a race without a power meter to actually test anything and see how it goes is a pretty crap way of testing anything J.
This involves getting set up on the turbo with a power meter and basically raising and lowering the front of the bike and seeing where my power drops off and comparing it to hr and using the lactate testing in each position to see what stresses each position puts on my power output, then finding an area of hip angle I can work in then going to the velodrome to get the best position in that range.
We had a meeting of minds last week and looking at the position I had tried I was crazy low to the point I was putting out over 40w less than normal and the fact that I had to raise my head to see was un aero as well, and I had been stupid enough to race like this and still scratch my head after wondering why I was still going so slow.
I think part of my problem was not having time to adapt in different positions so Andy has very kindly let me train on the 9.4 so I can train in the tt position, once the TTE is ready and sorted I will train a lot more in the tt position in a set up that works then I’m gluing everything down and just getting stronger in that position before swapping to anything different, to that end I’ve decided to not race until I’m sorted as me going out and performing way below where I should be I don’t feel is in anyone’s interest.

 

Anyway the point of this blog was to basically tie up all the little bits I keep missing and forgetting to add to my blog, so many things are going on ( most excited about working with www.indurance.co.uk but I will go into that fully next time but it’s the future I’m sure in performance management ) , I’ve got the Dursley road club 10 tt on the 11^th April ( shameless plug ) which I’m organizing ( I say I’m organizing I’ve had a lot of help from the club so everyone deserves a shout out ) and was really honoured how my sponsors stepped up to support it especially Nopinz who have been super kind to me and supported me a lot even though they don’t officially sponsor me and offered over £200 worth of prizes , plus bike science offering two lactate test and the likes of jersey pocket and science fitness uk and Jwhiting nutrition offering top prizes it should be a great event, with coffee from Veloton and cakes from Little gems cakes as local as it gets from the town of Dursley.

 

Talking of Nopinz the funky Velotoze overshoes dropped through the letterbox this week , as my smart ones are pretty much falling off my feet and these where about a fifth of the price and come with Blake’s aero guarantee I thought it was worth a try,

Getting them out they felt like a elephants condom but once on the they are awesome, super snug fit even on my small child like ankles and  no wrinkled up areas anywhere, and at that price point I’m going to get a few spares so you can pull a shiny new pair out just for the key races. I haven’t had change to test them or see how they wear but initially on fit hugely impressed.

 

It’s been a busy week for my postman as some serious carbon bling winged its was over from Ireland this week ( I will try and add some pics of the velotoze and the carbon loveliness later but its all on my twitter ) from a little very part time business called prologue Performance ( I say very part time as David works to many hours in his day job ,juggles a family and training and basically does the carbon work for the love for a limited amount of people ) .

I’ve had a berner style cage made for my sram red rear mech which really looks the business and a cover to clean up the cranks around the bb , completely one off bits and very skilfully done and super cheap for the amount of work that must of gone into getting it done. Just search for David Heagney or prologue performance on facebook and check out a lot of tt race prep stuff, I just wish I could get the TTE over to Ireland when it’s ready to get him to spend a bit of time working his magic on it.

 

The focus now is fully on getting the set up right, I’ve spent all of winter working on me as a rider and that area is going super strong much better than I hoped ,but now I need to look at the bike and position , it’s been hard not having a tt bike all winter as its normally a time I would spend looking at little changes and making improvements but the year is young and I have the support to fast track a lot of changes and equipment and hopefully be where I should be very soon.
It’s been a frustrating start to the racing year but that’s all 100% down to me , everyone else involved have done their part perfectly its just some of these things take time to fully click ,but that will just make ever success that little bit sweeter.

 

The only way is up

So the season began with a horrendous day and I was desperately hoping that things would change for the R10/22a but there was little chance of that.

After a busy promising week with a great day at Newport velodrome with bike science and aero guru Rob Barrett we got very good position on the TTE and learnt a lot and I'm looking forward to going back and trying a few things we didn't get chance to test on the day, it's a great way to test things in a stable environment and we got some constant data that showed the difference in the changes we made, so much so bike science Bristol are now offering a testing day at the velo as part of their extensive service which is great as it also gives me another area to explore future set ups.

I was feeling confident and ready , illness has gone and I'm feeling strong again and the tte was ready to roll out,that was until a broken front brake part put everything out as the part needed to be shipped and wouldn't get here in time.

Luckily I could fall back on the boardman 9.4 the only downside is being a shop test bike it's set up and ready for customers to test so I can't go taking out cranks ,extensions , bars etc etc to get it just right for me, that being the case I thought I would try something new and very low at the front for Sunday's race ( needless to say it was a disaster but at least I learnt something now rather than at a key race ) 

Looking at the forecast it was going to be wet,but I thought I would chance it and pray for a dry spot for my ride,on the road to the start it was savage,a lot of spray and foggy,I was thinking it might not be run until I seen a small figure emerging from the mist on the other side of the road, the rain seemed to clear for a short spell but it wasn't going to carry on and was soon raining hard again.

I started my ride already soaking wet from warmup hoping I would soon be back in the car and dry,I was again running without a power meter, I ride like a robot and have got so dependant on it that I am totally lost without it,people say listen to your body and the power meter makes no difference but when you train fully focused on it taking it away for a race is a bit like someone blind folding me spinning me around twenty times then sitting me on the bike and telling me to go for it.

It was tail wind out and I went out far to slow as I didn't even have the garmin on as in the rush I forgot to stick the garmin mount on so I really was riding blind as I could of got a bit of a indication of pace off of heart rate,I couldn't even make it back on the return leg as I was running out of leg speed on the fats way back on the 53t front ring, I finished and the legs felt like I had just finished a decent warm up not a 10tt, I knew I was going to be a lot slower than normal but In truth it was a disaster in my mind and a waste of a trip.

Looking back its a race in my legs,I learnt something from trying a set up that didn't work and found out I need to ride to data or at least just destroy myself on the way out and hold on for the return.

It's been a frustrating start to the year and looking back I should of just backed off if the set up wasn't spot on and trained instead of racing,it's really hard to jump on a bike totally different to everything you normally train on day in day out and be at your best,and I guess I can't expect to just jump on any set up and everything will be fine.

It's crazy as the form is there, the power is up everything is going great but I still have the thought of letting people down in the back of my head,it's at times like that the people behind you make the difference and put you back on the path,Matt assured me we are hitting all the targets and building strong and we are where we need to be for the bigger picture,and Andy has everything sorted on the bike side and we will soon be set up and rocking a rotor LT power meter to give me the data I need,and I'm going to spend some time in bike science riding the TTE on the turbo in the tt position until the brake parts are in and everything is just the way I need it .

If I've learnt anything this last few weeks it's to hold back until everything is right and focus on the big goals.

I guess learning the hard way is tough but it makes you stronger and push that little bit harder to get it right and despite a rocky start I'm feeling good and knowing it's going to be awesome when everything clicks.

The podcast which I recorded with Mark Florence at cyclingtimetrialpodcast.libsyn.com came out Sunday and man I sound bad with a cold, but it was great to have the chance to do something new and it was great to be asked to do it as a three part series over the year. 

Next up is the R25/7 but we have decided that if everything isn't spot on we will just train on through and focus on the next race.

It's easy to forget how long the year is but we will keep building and learning until we get everything right,I have huge total faith in the people that support me so it won't be long before everything clicks and the ropey start is but a distant memory.

And so it begins

The day had finally come and the first race of the season was about to start.

It seemed to have come around so fast and it was a mad rush to get a bike sorted for me to race,I hadn't touched a tt bike since the last race of last year so I was considering just bashing down the course on my road bike, luckily for me I didn't have to,Andy sorted me out with the loan of the very impressive boardman 9.4 . As it was just a run out we didn't change much on the bike and made do with pretty much the set up we had apart from a few adjustments to the bars, I wanted to try my new wheels so it ment I was running without a power meter as I'm running with just my training powertap,and we went with the standard 53t chainring and 172.5mm cranks .

We managed to get a position I was comfortable with but nothing as strong as I would normally have for racing in but it would get me out there and that was the aim.

Race day weather had been looking terrible all week but there was a outside chance it would not come in till later in the day but this wasn't to be.

I got to the hq early as I always do,it was freezing cold but looked to be staying dry and the wind was fairly light so it was a case of getting cold but I was happy to live with that as long as the storm stayed back.

I got my skinsuit on and the number in my NoPinz speed pocket without the usual hassle of pinning myself to death and covering my number in double sided tape and I was ready to go.

Warming up it was very calm and a day that had the chance of being awful was starting to look up so I warmed up feeling very confident watching a few riders on there last mile looking fast in the conditions.

I rolled up to the start and started taking off the extra kit I had on for warm up and a few spots of rain started to drop, still hopeful I carried on getting ready as my minute man went out.

It was almost like someone flicked a switch, everything went dark and I could see the pusher offer desperately hoping my start time would come faster so they could all run for cover. The strong wind seemed to hold back the rain slightly to start ,with a few bursts and nothing more, I just kept telling myself a hour and you'll be back in the car nice and warm.

I went out trying to keep it steady, not having a power meter I knew it would of been very easy to smash the first few miles and pay for it later.

The course was part of the A38 with two loops off it and back, I caught my minute man just before coming on to the first loop but knowing it was a sharp turn and very greasy on the road I thought I would wait till the turn was done before getting past,little did I know he would go into it at full speed in the drops and then have to do a emergency skid and somehow manage to keep it up right ( great save  ) . I shouted I was going on his outside and off I went the next corner was a fast but tight corner and as I approached I could see a ambulance on the corner,lights flashing but I convinced myself it was for someone living in the few houses on the corner ( later found out it was a great little rider with a ton of bad luck but luckily he was ok ,get well soon mate )  .

I had already decided with the temp just getting above 1 at 11am there was no way I was taking the back loop like a mad man, A / I was on a bike that wasn't mine and there was no way I was risking dumping it on a minor race in February, B / after being ill for a week there was no way I was risking crashing as well .

I took the first few corners very steady getting up off the drops and scrubbing off speed just to be safe, the rain was getting heavier and the wind really picking up now and I was only just finishing my first loop, I got to where the course re joined the A38 and had the moment of thinking shall I just turn right and get back to the hq before it got to bad, I've rode the course before and my avg speed wasn't to bad even though I was taking any kink in the road very steady so I cracked on hoping it wouldn't get any worse.

As I got onto my second loop rider traffic was building up as conditions got worse and I came to a hard part of the course as I came up on a selection of two other riders all trying to navigate themselves around the complex parts of the course. 

About half way through the second loop is when the storm really kicked in ,the wind was really driving and the sections that where more open where really fighting against you, with the rain smashing down the potholes that seem to be multiplying on a crazy scale on that course where becoming very hard to spot and I hit one hard just before coming to the end of the second loop, I skidded to a halt on the side of the road as I was sure something had gone ping , a quick look and all seemed ok so off it was onto the last section which was about 8 miles to the finish.

The calm conditions where a distance memory and this was just a case of holding on now and getting back ,I looked at my avg speed and it was dropping and with a very tough last 6 miles coming into a block headwind it wasn't going to get better, I was hoping that I could pull something back on the run to the turn and just bury it back but I only gained a very small bit to the turn. The return leg was going to be horrible, I know the road well I train on it loads and the wind on the way back is sometimes like trying to ride through treacle, add driving rain and just under 2 degrees and it's enough to make you cry . I found a tad of motivation to get home as I past a guy who had gone out a long time before me and knowing I would be back before him at least made me feel as if someone had it worse than me at least .

Heart rate was climbing fast trying to push on through, the flo 90 was doing all it could , you could feel the wind really pushing against it but it felt stable and controlled and just drifted you slightly giving you the chance to correct your line( well that's how it felt anyway I was probably all over the road like someone had just pushed a wheel along and it was wobbling away on its own down the road ) position was all over the place,I stayed in the extensions but my head was up like a meerkat desperately trying to spot out potholes and just generally see where I was going, I spent the last 3 miles in the middle of my lane ,teeth gritted I think cars where to scared to beep at me for being out so far as I looked like I might chew through their bumper.

I crossed the line shaking my head wondering what the F had just happened ,body shaking as I was so cold and wet just rolling back to the hq.

I got back and luckily Andy had dropped by and took the bike from me giving me chance to bumble some clothes out the car and rush inside to try and get dry, I spent the next 30 mins shivering under a heater in the hq wondering how far down the list I had finished , I knew it was going to be bad news as I was over 3 mins slower than when I rode the course last year. I had somehow scraped 2nd well beaten but just happy to be back, the garmin file told a good story ,hr was good and even but the speed drop off was crazy,it was great to be back on a bike and racing again I think if I'm truly honest it done me good , gave me a real battering on the bike and was a tough way to get back into it , I think if I had rocked up ,perfect set up and on great form and won the race it would of not motivated me as much as having a mare did, I feel now I've got something to fight for and prove, my race calendar doesn't hit the important races until August and as much as I would like to hit every race on great form it's just not going to happen if I want to train to be better for the big races. It's a hard one to grasp for me as I want to go out and destroy it every race and show what I can do but it's great to have Matt holding me back and keeping me focused on the bigger picture, people always used to say to me be a hero in February / March and you will die off times the big races come, and I understand that now and see if your training and building racing takes a back seat and you have to use it as a test bed for those future targets.

I'm going to race more locally this year which is good as it's not taking a whole day out with travelling and planning the days eating etc etc, I can get up go out race and get back and recover for the following sessions training.

The R10/22a next on the 8th and a pretty straight forward course, fingers crossed the tte will be ready and il be back in a set up I'm very happy with.

Huge thanks to bike science this week for getting me out there racing in a week when all the customer boardman tte bikes came in so it was really manic but they made time to get me sorted .

So onwards and upwards I think I'm pretty much over the illness now as well so can really focus on getting the training back to normal after having to drop some key sessions .

Ps if anyone's interested I'm on the cyclingtimetrialpodcast with Mark Florence in a few Sunday's times  , I did question mark why on earth he wanted to get me on there but he suggested it might interest his listeners so sorry if it's crap, and how on earth are you supposed to follow on from Matt bottrills podcast from last week.

looking back at the setup from pretty much exactly a year ago

 

 

seems crazy it was pretty much a year ago that photo was taken and I'm soon to be back on the same course , be great to com pair the pics and the race .

i said i would so lets go through that set up and what and why has changed.

i look at it and don't really think it was a case of it wasn't a strong position and i did get some good times in it ,but the more i look at it the details and changes are vast and get smaller and smaller .

start from the top, rider and clothing , i found the giro a good helmet but in my position looking up the road was hard as the tail really flattens off and the tail piece meant i couldn't stay aero and look up the road which is just asking for trouble , the javelin sorts this problem nicely .

The skinsuit was on its first outing and only seemed to bag a tiny bit around the elbow and neck ,plus the neck was to high and tight so i had to have it undone a tad which wouldn't of helped ,as for the rider i think i was about 83Kg there and I'm 77kg now so a good 6kg of unneeded weight gone :), overshoes the renowned smart aero.

the bike itself has obviously changed from the P4 to the Boardman TTE , which has lead to some component changes but alot of that is through choice as much as forced through bike change ( i.e tt has inter grated bars and brakes etc).

wheels firstly, the rear is a powertap G3 built into a 32 spoke cyclops rim , its my training wheel and weights a ton , it has the very smart Raltech disc cover on which used to rub the super wide rear stay of the p4 due to the large bulge in the cover but not always , a great piece of kit mind for using a training wheel for racing, standard bearings and a shimano 11-23 ,tyres used front and back where the 23mm conti supersonics .front wheel was a old hed jet which was pretty good but a bit scary as soon as the slightest bit of wind came along .

cranks and chainring where the FSA neopro in a 180mm  really cool cranks but i remember i massively overtightened them a few times being hamfisted and they would hardly spin ( love making life harder for myself ) ive been trying to get a set in 170mm but just cant find them anywhere. And a 56t osymetric .

ive always ran just a single ring so that wont change this year, was running a sram rival rear mech with token standard 11t jockey wheels but thatnks to David at Prologue performance im replacing that with something very special.

the adamo saddle stays as its mint but the 3t ventus bars have made way for a fully intergrated front, i never liked the fussy area as i called it of cables that used to go to the brake and back into the frame for the gears and rear brake so its great to clear this area up ,   the sram R2C shifters stay as i think they are great , I'm not running Di2 either this .

the more i look the more i spot out tiny things ,  before i forget someone was asking about front brakes on tt bikes i used a standard shimano 105 front brake with nokon cable, it was a great fit on the P4 and with the nokon you could pretty much get the cable out the way , i looked at the tririg etc but couldn't justify it over what i had tbh.

so that's pretty much this time last years set up, just from me and equipment changes i think I've saved 7kg plus on overall weight and can spot of immediate savings over everything from better fitting skinsuit with the nopinz speedpocket etc etc

just need to get out and ride now, found out today we have a date for aero testing at newport velodrome which will be awesome and a good chance to get some solid data.

 things seem to move along so fast in racing its pretty refreshing to go back over old stuff and  look at what you've changed and try and spot out the improvements or maybe even find something you might need to go back to ;)

 

 

Where am I really , and the first race of many

Illness never seems to pick a good time and boom there it was just as things where getting to the point I get to finally race, two ways of looking at it, one - it's the first time I've been ill all winter so it's a bonus since we have been pushing me hard and building strongly , two - I get to plan a stronger comeback when I'm fully better and do some of the bits I just haven't found time to do.

First race is ment to be Sunday the 22nd on the lumpy U17 , a course that doesn't suit me really but a good test course and a good time to see where I am.

Where am I is a great question , we have been changing so much it's hard to tell until we finally get out there and get racing , the training has been going great it's something that is in the back of my mind really as I know if I hit the sessions set that side is very well covered so it's a good place to be on that , 

New bike , which we haven't had any setup time on so will be really good to get some ride time in and really start hitting training on the tte.

So as for where I am it's a pretty unknown , we know what I can do in training , what the potential is but it's still got to be all put together , but this is what early season racing is all about ,finding my feet and getting everything in place for the rest of the season.

So my flo cycling front wheel made its trip over the water safely and I'm very impressed with it , it's very obvious that a lot has gone into the wheel , it has a shape that really shows how the newer wheels have moved on , the bulge mid way down the rim smooths off to a rounded inner rim , gone are the harsh sharp edges , the hub is pretty minimal and the bearings very smooth and spins brilliantly , the coolest bit is something I think was just done as a design choice which is the black braking surface which looks really smart and I prefer that over a carbon surface that can be a tad jumpy in the wet , 

The veloflex record 22mm clinchers fits perfectly on the rim and gives a very smooth transaction between tyre and rim, I really want to test the new specialized turbo cotton 24mm but I think the veloflex will take some serious beating .

I'm writing thinking there are a million things I'm forgetting, seems so much is going on at the moment and I'm super keen to just get my head down and race , nutrition with jwnutrition is going great , today it's at 77.5kg which is the lowest I've been at since I started racing 3 years ago and I've never felt better, we are recovering better and hitting sessions stronger , I'm still making a few mistakes with nutrition but Ive improved massively from where I was and getting better all the time.

Fingers crossed that the TTE is here Wednesday which will give us basically 3 days to get it set up and tested before Sunday's race but I'm sure we can get it sorted ( again fingers crossed ) using Di2 will be pretty cool but I will be running it with mechanical shifting for a few reasons which I will go into when we are fully set up , will be a race without a power meter as well as I'm waiting to sort hopefully a set of Rotor  power cranks , so the first race will be a crazy one but hey I will just go out and give it everything and see what happens :) 

The mission now is to get better and try not to miss anymore training , this is probably the busiest week of the winter coming up,so much to sort and get ready , you wouldn't think I've had about 4 months to get ready for the first race :)