New personal best on Richmond Park Lap: 15:27 ; average speed 42.2 km/h

http://www.strava.com/goals/segment/95463

18. May 2014; LVRC NATIONAL ROADRACE CHAMPIONSHIPS, cat A (40-44), HAMPSHIRE, 11.Place

This was the LVRC equivalent of the BCF master championship, same riders take part in both, except that BCF excludes all non-UK citizens. LVRC permit them to take part. 
Nice rolling course with 3 good lumps, giving many of us quite some troubles on the 5 laps (a10mi). There was an early (too early for me) breakaway that stuck to the end and then the usual stop and go attacks after attacks in the peloton, with 2 laps to go we got probably a 20 strong through and off for about 10km and it looked like we could get closer to the breakaway who had on average 60-90 sec. But the unity broke and the attacking game went on. I put my eggs into 3 serious attempts in the last 20k, but when I got caught after one of them, with a lap to go couldn't go with the counter attack of another 2 riders, one of them the later winner Ian Knight. At least on the penultimate climb I attacked to break up the remaining field, and with the 5 up the road we came in as a second group of 10 or so. The final 200m my legs completely broke again, similar to what happened at Bletchingley a couple of weeks ago, could not sprint at all any more and only got in 6th of that group and 11th overall. During the race I had 3 occasions where my garmin started beeping like mad and displayed "your are above you HR max" and I couldnt believe to see 103%. Analysing the data later it turned out that I had spent a cumulative 49% of the race in Z5 and above, 19% in Z7.

Surrey League 3-Day Stagerace, 3.-5.May, 2014, 21st Place in GC

First Race of the season for me, not quite the best start to begin with a 3-day road stage race...
1. Day: Dunsfold, 120K
The big questionmark was, would I be able to survive it? Would I be able to finish the race? At the end it was ok, just died in the final sprint.  17. Place
http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/results/results2014/may2014/may3.htm

2. Day: Bletchingley, 120K
This circuit is said to be the hardest in the whole Surrey League. Climbing the Hill 7 times proved to be a real legbreaker. Having dropped my chain just at the foot of the hill on lap3 costed me quite some matches to fight back on. Generally ok  performance, went into the final sprint/climb second wheel but in the following had total shut down of legs and only got in the middle of the field. I was very happy again that I finished the race.  37. Place
http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/results/results2014/may2014/may4.htm

3. Day: Lingfield, 115K
21.Place
The last day of the stagerace was something very special for our club and for me personally, too. We managed to succeed as a team by making individual sacrifices.
http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/results/results2014/may2014/may5.htm

General Classification:
Got 21st place
http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/results/results2014/may2014/may3daygc.htm

Rusty, Reacesecretary of London Dynamo wrote:

Stage Three on Monday May 5th starting at 10:00 is promoted by Dulwich Paragon CC 
Lingfield circuit over 67 miles (6 and a half laps). 
Hot Spot Sprint Point: Marsh Green (16 & 48 miles)
KOM Point: Top of Hartfield Road cat 1 (28 & 58 miles)
KOM Point: Mutton Hill cat 2 (67 miles)
Finish Point: Mutton Hil

Well I'm very proud to be a Club member today, This was the last stage of the 3 day, and with Lee sitting in 2nd place after stage 2 the race was still open. I'm afraid we lost a few riders today James Captian Mickelburgh, with a bad case of fever over night, and Dan the Man Thut with a bad case of Girl friend  so both did not start this morning.

So the Team left..
Stuart Go from the Gun Spies
Lee Sprinter Star Comerford
Steven Diesel Noble
Jamie Junior Francis
James Turbo Local
Riko Ex pro Sibbe
and Me Russell Rusty ShortPlan was to keep Lee Sprinter Star Comerford and James Turbo Local safe, first lap and and out of the corner of my eye we see James pulling over back wheel problems, 10 mins later I again lose my front to a puncture - F*^K, if anyone knows road racing its pretty impossible to get back on to the bunch one your own once you given a wheel from netural service. (Its not like the tour dr france). So I set up and wait for the bunch to lap me, shortly later James catche's me up and I also convince him to hang on with me.

Mean While all hell is breaking lose in the race Lee Sprinter Star Comerford (remember he is 2nd overall) has a rear flat, Stuart Go from the Gun Spies notices pulles over offering him his wheel, So stu gives up his GC chances for Lee ending his own race the then arond the corner Lee finds the rest of the team pulled over also waiting to help Lee get back onto the bunch.. Stu is waiting nervously by the side of the road hoping that lee gets back on. Steve, Jamie and Riko drag Lee back to bunch, Jamie suffering with back problems Riko jeoparising his own chases for a good result Steve loving ever moment of it. They all mange to get Lee succesfully back on to the bunch. The race was pretty flat on the last 2laps with a group of 6 up the road at 30secs. Well the team did well to drive the buch back onto them leaving it up to Lee to makesure he finnished well in the bunch for the sprint for the line Lee road strongly not losing to much losing one place to strong finnishing Steve Calland. Lee Comerford 3rd overall Surrey League 3 day.

Well Done everone... Proud to be a London Dynamo member

Lee Sprinterstar Wrote:

Well said Russell Rusty Short. Can't thank the team enough for sacrificing themselves today for my GC. When I punctured and Stu pulled over and gave me his wheel, I thought to myself, is he serious?! What a legend! Before I knew it I was back on the bike going hell for leather, I get to the corner and a (kinda good looking) female marshall say's "your team will be waiting for you around the corner", at that moment it felt like the tour d france. There was Riko Ex Pro Sibbe and Jamie Junior Francis waiting for me. They got me back on the bunch in no time - complete power houses. At that point people were looking around thinking - did he not just flat?!! 
On we went, I just wanted to stay out of trouble then. Steven Diesel Noble chased down everything that went and still had enough fuel to stay on the front after each effort, can't believe how much time he has spent at the front over the WE working for the team. Riko Ex Pro Sibbe then jumps on the front and hammers it to catch the break - we all know the only chance of winning is if I win the race and at this point (after the team's sacrifices) I am feeling the pressure to do them proud.
We are 1.5 laps to go and the bunch is getting excited, the leader looks at me and say's "are you ready for this?" puts the hammer down and I am on his wheel. After that I decide to have a go myself (mistake!) because then a break goes flying past and I am left catching my breath. We chase for a while, low on LD's at this stage so I do some work and bury myself - can't lose the fricking break, if I do will lose my GC. All of a sudden James Local Turbo drops back from the break and say's come on Lee. Riko gives me a push from behind and I am latching onto James' wheel. He turbo's ahead to the break - motorbike speed. He's got me back on the break. I am spent, but know the close is near. Want to do the team proud. Put in my last (every) effort to cross the line. 
After the race everybody was saying how well our team worked together, by far the best organised. I kept my jersey on all the way home and had a think about the sacrifices made, hard work, sweat and (nearly) tears - thanks to London Dynamo for being a great club and especially 
Stuart Go from the Gun Spies
Steven Diesel Noble
Jamie Junior Francis
James Turbo LocalRiko Ex pro Sibbe
Me Russell Rusty Short

A long winter of illness, injury and no racebike (I.) The thing with the bike.

After a crack emerging in the downtube of my Tarmac SL-4 and handing it to Sigma, who handed it to Specialized UK, I waited for 6 weeks to get the same frame back. I was told that the frame was structurally sound and the crack only a cosmetic scratch in the paint. I was promised this diagnosis in writing, together with a guarantee that it was safe for riding, even on 75km/h descents. I was happy to have my frame back and buggered off. Meanwhile I had acquired a power2max powermeter and was eager to test where my form was. After two months on my 12kg and 23 years old commuter steel bike my confidence was shredded but my hope was high that being back on the Tarmac I would fly up the hills of Surrey. I wasn't too wrong with that, but soon I got sick with chest problems again, muscular pain syndrome and a cold or two. The bike though still had the problems on the descent and riding freehanded on the straight was almost impossible. Something was definitely not right, there. A chat with Rusty, our London Dynamo race secretary was followed by conversations in the background and our ever so kind and supportive Dynamo President Paul made a phonecall or two to Specialized and three days later a had a completely new frame and fully built with all my kit. Wow! The first ride on the replacement frame, the first minute actually, confirmed what I always knew, my previous frame was damaged, because this new frame filled me with this same awe inspiring feeling of "Jeez, whawhawhaats thaaat?" amazement as when I rode my old Tarmac for the first time. You go out of the saddle and the power generated by your legs is being translated so effectively into forward acceleration that you almost get frightened that your bike wants to throw you off and move on without you...Thank you so much Paul and Rusty and Alex at Specialized UK.

KOM Ballet School Hill

After yesterdays effort up the hill to the Ballet school, I thought I test how fast I can go, still on my 22 year old Basso steelbike, again with 7.5 kg backpack. And it seems it was quite fast..

http://www.strava.com/segments/6435409/

and if you are bothered to look at this, check the heart rate...still a lot left in the tank.

Welcome 2014 Season

Here comes some good news, pushed a little bit this morning up the ballet school hill in Richmond Park. On my 22 year old and 12kg heavy commuter bike, with mega inertia wheels and a 7.5kg backpack on my shoulders...

http://www.strava.com/activities/112741937/segments/2477079282

not a bad start after an otherwise totally f*'%£;& up winter.

Have you been Specialized? Aka "The increasingly popular con with warranty"

Dear Sir or Madam at Specialized UK

I purchased an  S-Works Tarmac SL4 road frame at Sigma Sport, Hampton Wick, in February 2013.

The frame’s performance totally satisfied me for the whole season of 2013 and helped me to rise from BCF Cat4 to Cat2 level, to win two races and a getting  4^th place at the National road-race championships of the Masters B.

I only use my S-Works  Tarmac for club training and racing so that it has been ridden for only approx. 5,000 km max.

It is equipped with a Campagnolo Record group set and 50mm carbon wheels. All in all this has been  and still is my dream-bike, I would not want to exchange it to anything else. I decided to purchase this frame because of its great reviews for hill climbing and because of its lifetime manufacturer warranty.

In November 2013 I discovered a damage on the underside of the downtube that appeared to look like a crack. This came at the same time as an observed change of handling on fast descents,  which made it feel much more “wobbly” and unsafe then previously, usually at speeds above 45km/h.

The bike has never had any crashes or any other form of mechanical impact on the frame.

Right after new year 2014 I was about to turn the bike in for a service at Sigma Sport. When we started talking about that down tube damage, we concluded that this didn’t look like a scratch and inspection by Specialized would be recommended.

The bike got disassembled and sent to Specialized. This was more than 6 weeks ago. Specialized have refused to accept this damage as a crack, claiming it is only a superficial scratch.

Meanwhile I have consulted with a Carbon repair specialist who confirms that the damage undoubtedly is a crack in the carbon fabric, as it is in a location where it should not happen if it was only  a crack in the paint. Also, the morphology of the damage clearly indicates a crack rather than a scratch.

For this entire time of more than 6 weeks I had to train and prepare for the new season on my commuter bike, which is by no means comparable. In this time I have also missed various important winter series races

My racing season was supposed to  start next Saturday 15 Feb 2014 at our very own London Dynamo hosted Surrey League E123 race. I still don’t have my bike back.

Specialized claim that the discussed damage is a scratch in the paint, my quoted carbon specialist and Sigma staff all disagree and say it’s a crack in the carbon. The riding behaviour makes this bike unsafe for racing road races with fast descents.

Sigma Sport staff provided me with Specialized’s note saying that they guarantee that the frame's structural integrity is in working order but that they “recommend to observe the damage and if it is getting worse”.

I wonder if it can be right to sell a frame of your top-end line, with lifetime warranty, but deny a customer a replacement in such case of unprovoked damage, considering that it must have occurred within less than 9 months of use.

Can it really be that Specialized want me to ride a full season of races on a cracked S-Works Tarmac?

As a member of the largest London based racing club, London Dynamo (650 members), and as part of its Cat1/2 performance team with an international racing programme for 2014, I really cannot afford to be out of racing mid-season, if this damage eventually leads on to a fracture of the frame.

Not to mention the risk of injury if this should happen.

Kindest regards, Riko Sibbe

This email will also be posted to you.

I am also considering to send this out to various social media

The wettest winter in my memory - and the one with the most punctures I have ever had...

Since the end of October I have ridden about 2,500km, mostly through the daily commute to work and some weekend riding, on my own into the Surrey Hills. The unusual precipitation over the past 3 months and subsequent flooding of the country has had significant impact on the choice of routes and quality of rides.
The strong rainfall has flushed a lot of debris onto the countryside lanes, in particular in the hills where the erosion of the geology flushes razor sharp flint stone debris onto the road. In some instances the flint and the chalk, which it is embedded in, deposits as calcified beds on the roads, with flint splinters sticking out like nails from an oriental nailbed. Last Sunday morning I hit one of those on a descent at 55km/h and got the front and rear tyre exploding at the same time. Twenty minutes later my clubmate Dan got the next puncture. This same fate seems to catch up with many many riders at the moment, you hardly find a stretch of road where there is not any group of riders helping and waiting one of their own puncture victims. I have had 17 punctures since last October.
With a portable lightweight mini-pump you really don't get the right pressure back on the tyre so that any further riding is very compromised. With a single spare innertube you don't even get through a 4 hour ride anymore. You need two tubes, patching set, piece of tyre fabric (for lateral cuts in the side wall of the tyre) and 2 CO2 cardridges, plus your emergency pump. With your usual kit, containing mobile phone, housekeys, spoke key, allenkeys and tyre levers and of course your food supply you almost end up requiring a backpack to carry all this stuff. Looking forward to normal training days again, on clean roads.

First Surrey League Roadrace 2014, Longcross MOD testtrack, hosted by London Dynamo

We organized 3 races, Cat4, Women Cat3/4 and Elite/1/2/3  handicap
I didn't race yet and decided to volunteer as "Finish Line" coordinator.
We went out there for 7:30 a.m. in order to build up all the kit required for such an event. The first race started at 9:00 a.m. The Elite Handicap race at 11:30. The weather condition was alternating between brisk and sunny to "armageddon like". To start with, a strong gust lifted the brand new London Dynamo gazebo off the ground and trashed it by tumbling it a few times over. Fortunately nobody was hurt.
The racers had a tough time, fighting the cold, the strong gusts and generally winter fatigue. Everyone still seems a bit in hibernation mode...nobody to blame.

2013 Race Results: Summary

It has been a fantastic year, a first full season since my revelofication had begun. 

Following the inaugural victory at Hillingdon in August 2012 and the subsequent promotion from British Cycling Category 4 to Category 3 I had set three main goals for this season: 

a. Do 10 races spread over the year

b. Be victorious at one of them

c. Participate in the National Roadrace Championships (Masters)

1.    09. Mar       Surrey League Roadrace, Dunsfold, Cat3, 88km, 3^rd 

2.    12. May       Surrey League Roadrace, Cutmill Circuit, Cat2/3, 115km, 16^th

3.    19. May       GS Henley Roadrace, Maidenhead, Cat3/4 , 87km, 1^st

4.    26. May       Surrey League  Criterium, Cyclopark, Gravesend, Cat3, 64km, 5^th 

5.    08 June       London Nocturne Kermesse, Smithfield Market, 30mins, 32^nd

6.    16. June      LVRC National Criterium Champs Hillingdon, 90mins, CatA, 7^th 

7.    23. June      Surrey League Roadrace, Kirdfold circuit, Cat3,  96km, 4^th

8.    30.June       TMG Horizon RR ,Wing, Leighton Buzzard , cat 2,3 121km, 16^th

09.   06. July     LVRC National Roadrace Championship, Wing LU7 0NY, 120km, 4^th

10.   04. Aug     Prudential London 100, Super-Sportive, 164km, 29^th best time, 4:06h

11.   11. Aug     Surrey League RR, Norwood Hill Circuit, Cat3,  96km, 10^th

12.   08. Sept    Spirit bikes RR , 75km Cranfield Univ., cat 3/4 , 3^rd

All my goals for the season got accomplished, but the results exceeded my own expectations by far:

-Raced at about 18 races but had to abandon 3 due to injury or material defect.

-Was Victorious at the Henley Roadrace

-Succeeded in both British National Championships

 7th place at the Criterium Championships

and 

4th place at the Road Race Championship

(despite having had a puncture after half race and having had to catch the peloton again)

-One of the most memorable events of this year definitely was the Prudential London-100 sportive in which I achieved the 29th best time out of more than 15,000 participants.

-Finally the great reward, being in business again! Managed to get promoted to British Cycling Category 2.

John Bornhoft Memorial Hill Climb, Leith Hill, Surrey, 28.September 2013

Although I hadn't fully recovered from my recent cold and cough yet, I thought I give it a go. I didnt know the south climb of the hill too well, only from the Prudential 100, some 7 weeks earlier, which was already a bummer, but 1.5km hillclimb didn't really sound too serious. I rode all the way there, 35k relaxed ride with plenty of time. The weather turned sour, it began to drizzle, was getting freezing cold. Warm up was a bit of a laugh, as the headquarters were 4km from the startline and once you have stripped of your warming longlings you are exposed to the cold for until your startime. Long story cut short, I went to fast into the climb, after 300m I realised my breathing got quite heavy already, my heartrate was on max and my calves and thighs began to get locked up. The rest is up for your imagination, the photo below might illustrate a bit what I went through on the remaining 1,200m.

This undertaking was a mistake. Even days later I still got the taste of blood in my mouth when I coughed. I developed a chestinfection from this again, the third one within a year, again being treated with penicillin and dragging on for 5 weeks.

2013 London Prudential 100; Results

Here the official results list. Not too bad 29th of more than 12,000 riders....

And a pict for the record...the face says it all!

LVRC National Road Race Championship, 06. July 2013, Wing / Leighton Buzzard, Cat A (age 40-45), 8 laps @ 15km = 120km

With a mix of Elite, Ex-Elite, Cat1/2/3/4 but all of the same age group, it seemed likely to be an active race from the start. The scorching heat increased the likelihood of this to become a race of attrition.  Huw Watkins and myself took on the challenge, in Cat A,  Ralph Carter took on the Challenge in Cat C.

For a Road race championship I strongly anticipated an element of difficulty, at least a hill that would help to get e selection of riders. But not so on this course, just undulating up and down. Instead the riders provided the element of difficulty, in form of relentless attacks, again and again, some stuck for a while by chance other promising ones got closed down very quickly. I think it was a field of very strong riders, most riders I talked to  after the race were BC cat 2 or 1. A duo made it though, for a few laps and only got caught back with half a lap to go.

The other selecting element were potholes, some of them dangerously deep, but generally marked. Unfortunately, I hit one of those monsters with 3.5 laps to go, no warning from the guys in my line ahead of me and it hit straight through to my new carbon rim and ripped the tubular. That was that. Thinking the race was over for me I stopped on the roadside, the peloton rushing off in the distance, when a neutral service car offered me a back wheel.  Amazing! I didn’t even know there was such service on offer. I probably lost 2 mins as the quick release didn’t open immediately and the  mechanic couldn’t find a campy cassetted wheel immediately and then the rim width was different, we quickly had to alter the brake span.  “Have you ever ridden behind a car?” he wanted to know. “Sure enough, some 20 years ago?!”  And off we went, with me in the slipstream as I wasn’t allowed to hold on to the car.  I remembered how Cav deeply impressed me on stage 6  this week, when following a crash 30km before the finish in  Montpellier, he got on a replacement bike and charged after the peloton and jumped from car to car (and across roundabouts) to still manage to get back to the peloton and finish 4^th on that day.  With this in mind I followed the neutral car in front of me, him getting into the bends like Lewis Hamilton throwing up a lot of dust and debris so that in one critical downhill bend I couldn’t even see the edges of the road…it was like a rollercoaster ride, just faster, three quarters of  a lap in fast forward mode and with 2 laps to go I was back in contention, or maybe not as I felt really cooked then.  Sitting in the bunch for a lap helped recovery and with one lap to go there was light at the end of the tunnel, despite being in the last quarter of the peloton at 2k to go  I managed to be a the front of the peloton at the 500m mark.  Someone else thankfully started the sprint and cut me in such way that we were shoulder to shoulder and almost crashed, I pulled the brakes and fell back to 6-8^th position but was able regain ground on the final 200m to end 4^th.  Huw got in 6^th I believe.  The race was won by Mark Smith of AWcycles, with about 4 bike length. Despite having just missed the medals I am happy with the result, considering that the race could have been over for me  if there hadn’t been a neutral mechanic service that helped me out with someone else’s wheel.  Sorry for the lengthiness of this race report. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzy8V3xFmHM

London Nocturne 2013; Kermesse, 7th June

London Nocturne, Kermesse, 30mins + 3laps

I had watched the race from the side for the past 5 years and was super excited that I got selected for the support race this year. There would be a lot to write (not very interesting though from the perspective of the back of the race) but not much to report for me , EXCEPT THAT YOU MOs AT THE EDGE OF THE COURSE WHERE ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! Thank you so much for the enduring frenetic support even for one of your fellows in such hopeless position. Your cheers and screaming my name made this race a memorable and positive experience, despite my hopeless riding.  Simon, thank you for the brilliant photography, nice memorabilia to keep of the race…

My family wanted to watch the race too so we decided to travel by car and got terribly jammed near Waterloo due to a nudists bike demonstration and lost a lot of time, arriving at the HQ just before the deadline for registration. Panic.  I got straight into the race without any warm-up and without having ever ridden the course before.

At the start I was actually in an OK position, next to Mike and he kindly had a few words for me that the first 5mins  would be totally mental. Mike,  thank you for this and you were so right, I thought I might stick to your back wheel for the first 5mins but had lost it already before the first right hand sharp bend. Those two right handers at the bottom of the course where totally awful, not a single lap that I got through them anywhere decent, that’s were it got all wrong for me,  totally “shell-shocked”. After the first lap I had already lost ground, second lap almost crash in the bottom bend, third lap cracks start appearing further ahead of me, fourth lap taste of blood in my mouth, fifth lap I felt the lactic locking down my legs, game over. Soon there was a group of six or so around me and we saw just fragments of rider ahead of us., recovering a bit on the following laps but still not getting around the second bottom right hander, almost crash again. Others had same problems, there  were probably a dozen riders  crashing in those bends. After 17mins my first look at my computer and I thought “blimey, the race is almost over”. After 21 minutes I see Mike again, opposite where the uphill meets the downhill and suddenly it dawned on me we might ( -:  get lapped.  At 26mins  I saw Mike again, this time in full swing flying past our group and for a 10th of a second I though to try and follow this  lead group and maybe get back on to the main peloton in case they are about to lap it too. 

Watching it from the side makes the race look kind of effortless but riding it is the total opposite. This was the most technically challenging course  I have ever ridden. Every lap I was fearing for my health. Anyone who manages to get around this course fast and furious and still get into the top 15 earns my sincerest respect.  Anyone who manages to get onto the podium is a star!  

http://www.londonnocturne.com/

Surrey League Crit@Cyclopark Gravesent, 26.May 2013, cat3, 25laps (total approx 68km)

First time for me at Cyclopark, I think this is the most technical course I have ever ridden. The wind direction gave us quite a tailwind on the final straight uphill and headwind on the undulating other side of the course downhill. It proved difficult to break away as the bunch had more synergy on the downhill than any breakaway group could bring up, due to the headwind. I had a few successful bridgings and one own attempt . Alexander also tried his luck and chased and was a regular at the front. Any break got caught back within a lap or two. We realized that it would end up as a bunch sprint. With 10 laps to go I realised something else too, my rear wheel displayed some well dreaded bounciness and began drifting in the numerous fast bends. Again a puncture, but a slow one this time. With 4 laps to go the tyre stability at 45 degree lean-in angle in the bends had entirely gone and I felt like riding on jelly tyres, I thought to abandon because I didn’t want to expose any riders to the risk of me slipping out of any bend and cause a crash. But there seemed to be a way to get around the symptoms, always staying on the outside line (in order to not take anyone with me if I crashed) and going really slow around every bend, which meant losing like 10 positions at every corner and making good again and again on the straight portions. Going into the last lap I was cooked and could feel the rim kissing the perfect cyclopark asphalt with every turn of the crank. I must have been around mid field when I could see a Twickenham rider attacking and nobody following him. I was still too busy with roping myself around the bends as surely somebody was to bring the TCC rider back. But no, they even let a second guy go off the front. As it had cost me a lot of energy to make ground again after each curve I was too cooked to chase them out of my hopeless 20 something position on a flat tyre. Then we got onto the final straight, I chose 53/16 to start with and soon clicked down to the 12, now practically deflated tyre running on-ground on my nice rear carbon rim but made ground, a lot of ground and got 3rd of the bunch, 5th in total. No smiles, though.

GS Henley Roadrace, Maidenhead, 19 May 2013

Cat3/4, 6 laps, 88km, 2:08h. Sunny weather, 16-18centigrade. The race was held on a circuit between Bracknell and Windsor - a fast, flowing on mainly wide and open roads, only 2 sharp turns, and with a mix of flat and undulating terrain (original pre – race description by the organisers). The difficult section was the approx 3km long descending finishing straight, with 45degrees tailwind today but a 3-4% rise on the final 500m metres. This meant potential mayham on the final Kilometre.

As the course description promised the race had very fast intervals, usually followed by “legs up” periods. The average speed I think was above 41km/h but peaked on most laps at 60km/h on the gentle descending final straight. There were two kind of serious breakaways which showed potential but I was in the chasing packs on both occasions. In fact the course and the wind direction was all thumbs down for any breakaway, as it repeatedly confirmed that with a fully charging pack any escapee was brought back easily. I had a dig myself during the third lap and realised quickly enough that it was hopeless. The race was quite active though every now and then someone else trying their luck. But at the end the inevitable was to happen, a bunch sprint on that horrifying final straight. The tension was already full on with the final lap to go and only grew more nerveous, accounted for by permanent shouting, swearing and riders swerving around others from all sides. It was the worst scenario anyone could have hoped for. Oncoming traffic at the 1000m mark, peloton in full charge towards that final 500m “climb” to the finish. I had made sure to stay amongst the top 10 on the final 3000m which was not so easy at all. At 1000m I was boxed in around position 15, when the action started. Some riders took their legs up and where handed through the middle. At 500m to go I was in about 6th position when a guy started the final sprint on the opposite side and nobody followed him. “Shall I go or wait?” Still nobody going and the guy got several bike length, maybe even 30m. At 300m I had enough of the wait, I was in 4th and had a clear run, put the afterburner on and started “my“ sprint up that hill. At 100m to go I flew past the guy in front and turning my head realised that I was clear by a safe margin to my followers and crossed the line with both arms stretched into the blue sky.

The organisers did a great job with marshalling all the potentially dangerous corners. It was a nice move to have a prize ceremony after, cash prizes for the top 6 and champagne for the 3 podium riders.

 

Opening of Surrey League 2013, Roadrace at Dunsfold, Cat3, 88km

All smiles, Dynamos take 1-2-3 at the inaugural Surrey League 2013
season opener (from left: Riko Sibbe, Jamie Francis, Rob Reid)

The win at Hillingdon in September 2012 seemed so long ago and  it was a long winter with a number of surprises, i.e. Hernia operation in December, garage burgled and Racebike stolen in January and little to no race preparation until March. All I had done was junkmiles on the way to work. There was also the question if the the win at Hillingdon was a one-off being lucky and wheather now as a cat3 rider I would be able to find my ground at the brink of a full season ahead. This race was kind of pivotal in my decision to set goals for the season or to drop them from the start.

That's how the race started as well, neutralised and a serious breakaway right from the start in the neutralized phase. I was kind of shellshocked, what was going on around me. About 8 riders had broken away and it seemed a few of my own clubmates amongst them. Was that it? 5k into the race, barely warmed up, I attempted to bridge across and it looked promising, as nobody followed me. I got joined by one other and another and soon we were a handful and caught two as it looked like dropped souls who couldn't stay with the front group. After half the race we were one front group of about 12 riders and our advantage was stable at about 90sec.
About half of this group were Dynamos and it must have looked totally overwhelming with some 15 or so of us at the start.
The decisive race action was started by clubmate Junior Jamie who went 100% about 2K to the finishline and no Dynamo was to start the chase. Jamie gained sufficient advantage to not be caught and Rob Reid and I sprinted it out for 2 and 3, seeing him crossing the line half a length ahead of me. We got a 1-2-3 and two more Dynamos in the top 10. We were all happy. Except me, who was super super happy as this was my first roadrace in 20 years and I got 3rd place in my first cat3 race, what a promising start into the season.

Rob Reid takes 2nd place just half a length ahead of me, a thrilling finale!

Race Report: BC West Thames Race at Hillingdon, Cat4, Sat. 08.Sept.2012

This was my first race after an 18 year break from cycling&racing and only one year back on the bike. I think without London Dynamo's encouragement to have a go and try, I never would have, in particular after a tough Sat Richmond Park clubrun with 2^nd and later 1^st group in the morning of the same day.  

The race: What a beautiful day, although quite a bit windy out there, it wasn’t quite that slow race I wanted,  with an average of 40.8km/h, although it was more like fast and slow pace in alternation. I tried the “Contador” tactics for the first half hour, with about 10-12 rather serious attacks, but couldn’t break away for more than 10 seconds, always until individual chasers got me and then apparently didn’t see any reason to support the work to make it a successful breakaway, they just got hung to my back wheel and wouldn’t lifted their legs. I couldn’t sustain any of the breaks on my own.

The second half was then more the reverse. I was more chasing rather than being chased. With this game we got all the way to the final lap and things started getting hairy. Not wanting to end in a pileup (my alarm bells were ringing very loud)  I took things very cautious and got around the final bend only in approx 12th position or so and already though all was lost. Knowing that my earlier “Contador” tactics didn’t fruit,  I suddenly remembered how I did it 18 years ago, Zabel style and...did it work well! Got first to the finish line, but about 20m ahead of the closest contester. Although it was just a cat 4 race, this win came  totally unexpected to me and therefore made it a rather sweet experience at the age of 43. 

I need to give credit to the London Dynamo clubrides for this, in particular hanging around 1^st and 2^nd group on Saturday mornings and the super fast Wednesday evenings with the Cat1/2 guys. Also the interval training with Paul (Ucanfitness), which I managed to join 4-5 times in the last 2 months did a good job in preparing for this. Many thanks to all of you.

The genuine origin of my revelofication was on the 15. July 2010, during a lunch with Lord Norman Foster in Hongkong.  We had just presented the competition winning scheme for the West Kowloon Cultural District and Norman took the team out for lunch. We had a relaxed conversation about Design in general, about Architecture and Cities and somehow got talking of those in terms of performance. At the time one of our consultants was suffering from a leg injury inflicted through a cycling accident. Performance and Cycling, those two themes kicked of a conversation about the amazing human experience of cycling. The independence won through a free mode of transportation, the challenge of staying on the bike over long distances and high altitudes, the experience of speed. Norman revealed himself as a keen cyclist, enjoying the swiss mountains on his MTB but also roadbike. He also revealed that he enjoyed riding in Richmond park when he was still resident in London. I felt awkward, having given up cycling eighteen years earlier and now feeling inspired by my professional principal to get back on the bike. I actually felt kind of embarrassed to admit that I, an ex semi-pro racer had given up that once life filling passion. I felt adrenalin in my veins. My old passion was reignited. After all I still had my old BASSO LOTO from 1991 parked in the living room.

Something has come into being

Revelofication = Velo + Revivification


The following  blog is an attempt to capture and share an important side of my life, with friends, family (although most of them will have to wait for the German translation) and clubmates:  My history as a cyclist. 

Whilst most of the "historic" parts will be written in retrospect, summarizing key stages of my cycling history from 1982-1994 purely from memory and material still available in 2013, the "contemporary" parts will be quoting detailed race reports as written chronologically throughout my "revelofied"era and hopefully continue as a cycling diary in the future.

Beyond that it might also inspire people who, at a mature age, would never consider a return to performance sports, i.e. cycling. This blog might convince them that it is possible, even after a very long break, to return to reasonable levels of fitness in order to compete again, possibly in all sports, but in this my case just focusing on competitive road cycling.



It does happen to some people,  that they have been occupied by a particular interest or obsession throughout many years of their life and all of a sudden they are forced to compromise their interest, due to other new demands in life, i.e. family, university, job, etc. Some people are able to make some sacrifices and still continue to follow their long term interest, just with a slightly "reduced" intensity. I have always envied those people. Others can't even bare to think of  a "half-hearted" interest, or sharing their passion with other things in life. Not being able to bare any sort of compromise those people may decide to drop their interest alltogether, once and forever!?


My best childhood friend  got his first race bike when we were 10. It was silver, had ten gears, a dropped handlebar and 27" narrow wheels. I was gobsmacked. I had an orange "Bonanza Bike" with one gear 20" fat wheels and a "banana" saddle. I was sooo out!

One year later my parents coughed up my first race bike and despite being grass green, having 26" standard wheels (not narrow) and having only five gears, it made me infinitely happy. It had a "tachometer", an analogue mechanical version of a cycle computer, measuring speed and distance. I got it for my eleventh birthday and did a staggering seventy kilometres on that day. My dad was gobsmacked...

Another year and some three and a half thousand kilometres later it didn't need anyone's convincing when I introduced myself to the president of the local cycling club. Hermann ran a little sportshop in Vorsfelde and was the president of the "RV Wanderlust Wolfsburg". He wanted to talk to my dad before I could join the club, so I had to introduce them to each others. I had just turned 12. A week later, Herman and his club loaned me a real road racing bike, in order to support me and my family to get into racing. It was awesome, a white Reynolds 531 based "Kalkhoff" frame with TA cranks and pedals and Shimano deraillers. The frame was too tall so that initially the seat post had to be completely submerged in  the frame. 
But most disappointingly they took the ten gears off my bike and made it single speed, compliant with U14  race regulations. There I was, facing my yet unknown future in racing, being introduced to my very first cycling team and coach, youth category "Schueler B"

Although this is not my bike, it is exactly
 a same copy of the one I got loaned by my first club.

Rolf, my first coach, was an incredible cycling enthusiast in his mid fifties and dedicated most of his private spare time to volunteer as the youth coach of the club. He took us little ones out for training  3 times a week, on rides between 30 and 45 km. Our first team consisted of 6 riders aged 12-14, all of them had been riding races for a few seasons before, already. I was the novice and it stayed like that until we dissolved 4 years later. We didn't have any newcomer entering our youth race team in 4 years!



Rolf is in his mid eighties now and last thing I heard was that he is still going strong at St Johann every year! Meanwhile he had even beaten cancer and a heart attack and he is still riding his bike at a top international event. I will write more about Rolf later in this blog.

Our first Team was going strong, between 1982 and 1986 we won the regional 4-up TT and the Federal State of Lower Saxony 4-up TT  three times and ended 8 times on the podium.

In my first year of racing, aged 12!!! I raced at 42 races, mostly in the northern regions of the German Republic. I still remember my very first race, Syke-Okel-Syke for youth category 12/13, there where around a hundred racers and I got 4th place. Won by a girl who later become my menace. Girls were allowed to race with the boys age group of two years below. 

My first good bike after I got back into cycling - but not for long

I afforded this after insurance payout following a hit by a car. Crap wheels but the rest was ok. Got stolen out of my Garage a year later. 

Canyon CF Ultimate Evo (or however it was called)