FIRST RACE POST ACCIDENT - Imperial Winterseries Hillindon Circuit, Cat 1,2,3 1h+5laps = 50km

According to my coach it was a good way to get some mixed speed and acceleration session. Yes and apart from that I felt great to be racing again. Had a proper dig after the first 10mins, bridged over to a group of 5 breakaways and we stuck together out at the front for about 5 laps. Unfortunately we were not fortunate enough and got caught again, the following break then made it to the end, but without me :-)
Will do some more of these, as they are a great opportunity to speed up the legs.

Progress through the Rehabilitation process

A comparison of my powercurves before the accident, 3 months after and following the first 6 weeks of structured training (since 1. December). Its still a long way to go!

Goodbye 2014 - Hello 2015

original file at SISU

A new chapter has begun

After 3 months of suffering, examination, testing and healing process I have now come to the beginning of the rehabilitation. Physiotherapy for the still hurting shoulder and a structured training programme to get my cardio-respiratory performance back on track. According to the recent CPET test it is currently as bad as 2012 levels, this is before I picked up the racing passion again. Two years of intense training and racing gone down the drain. At least I have fond memories and photographs of those almost 30 races.
I wont bemoan that I have to start next season as a 3rd cat again, but it wont be for long that I will be back where I ended so sadly this year. This is going to be another new experience, with the help of a personal coach and structured training using a powermeter. I am confident that this will give me the feedback I need to progress with the process within the limited given time I have for riding my bike.

11.October, 2014; it is official now that I won't do any further racing this year

There were still 4 roadraces on my calendar, for October and November, but complications following my accident recovery, i.e. onset of serious shoulder pain and respiratory issues are calling me to stop riding the bike again.. I had returned back to work 2 weeks ago and been commuting daily by bike, slowly and carefully in order to not strain lung and shoulder. Seven weeks post accident I am now taking ipuprofen 400mg three times a day but it kind of feels useless, there hasn't been any notable improvement for two weeks, now. My lung feels ok, though comparing this week's spirometry data with data from 2 years ago shows evidence of a 30% volumetric decline, a real shocker. According to my respiratory doctor I first need to get fully healed up and then we will be getting to the bottom of this and rebuild properly for the next season. According to my shoulder specialist he will need to use steroid injection if the inflammation doesn't show any improvement in the next week or so. Just pulled out off the remaining races I was registered for.

END OF 2014

20. September 2014 ; First time back on the Roadbike; Dynamo Saturday Clubride, Richmond Park

It feels like ages ago, that the accident happened. But it has only been 4 weeks! Originally I was told that I will need two month to recover from my injuries. The severity of my vertebrae fracture for instance, so I was told by a spinal surgeon just end of last week, is usually only encountered as a result of heavy car crashes. But its on the mend and the damaged shoulder ligaments that got diagnosed only last week (lol) will need to find their own ways to come back together too, no surgery necessary. Have tried twice to get off the painkillers, but its not working entirely yet, although at least I reduced it to two CoCodamol per day now, instead of four. My lung volume will probably take most time to get back to what it was before. As told by my Lung specialist at the Royal Brompton two weeks ago, I needed to take it very easy for another 3 weeks, was allowed to start exercising very carefully, not exceeding a heartrate of 110bpm for the first week. So, after having spent the first week exclusively on a stationary trainer at home, not exceeding this margin, I had a first attempt out on the road today. Thanks to clubmate Lloyd who encouraged me to get out and accompanying me in a slower group, that really helped, otherwise I wouldn't have done it. It felt really good to be back out on a bike, amongst the people I know and appreciate, my club. Psychologically for me an important step to not get depressed and fat. The race-season is over, but the year still has got weekends of beautiful riding to come. For today, I was struggling to get 50km together, felt like starting maybe not from Zero, but from half. Looking forward to the next half....

21.August 2014, a sudden end of the season

A holiday that started badly.
I didn't see the dog
Not much I can remember but the dog apparently ran at full speed into me, lifting me off the ground and I fell very unlucky head first on my left side. So I was told and so the injuries tell:
-Heavy concussion & brain trauma
-Fracture of the left eye socket of my scull
-Heavy bruising to the whole left half of my head and totally blood flooded left eye
-Ribs 2,3,4,5 fractured (on the backside)
-Pneumothorax caused by at least one rib puncturing my lung
-chest vertebrae #1 fractured

After a day at the intensive care unit and a week at Wolfsburg Municipal Hospital (Germany), I was released early in order to return to the UK and consult doctors for further treatment here.
After 3 weeks I am still in pain, primarily the broken ribs, the lung and my shoulder case discomfort even under use of strong painkillers. As a result I cannot sleep through the night, cannot do any physical exercise, and need to have a nap after lunch and am spend for the day past 8:00pm.

The pain in the chest and the shoulder pain are still being looked at by doctors. An mri scan of my shoulder from last week will be discussed on tuesday. There is suspected ligament damage which didn't get picked up previously. My left eye, although the healing of the bleeding has progressed well, will be investigated again due to perceived slight impairment of my vision.

So, not looking too bad altogether, thumbs up.
Still being off work for another 2 weeks helps. Not sure I otherwise could cope with sitting at a desk, look at a screen, have stress and long hours and the commute. Don't feel ready for work at all, yet.

Amazing selfhealing abilities
of the human body - 3 weeks post accident

10. August, 2014 London-Prudential-100 (shortened to 86mi)

What a feast, getting up at 3.00 in the morning (raining), meeting fellow Dynamo Rusty in Richmond at 5.00 (all wet, drizzly), charging out towards the Olympic park, keeping ahead of our scheduled 30km/h (starting to rain properly again half way), arriving with an hour to go to the start at the venue. Wet, wet, wet. Getting everything sorted, bag dropped, craving for a hot cuppa, forgotten the thermos at home...starting to feel cold. Then the news "Route has been shortened" - leaving out all dangerous descents and therefore all challenging climbs, too. Our start time 6:05, blue wave, whatever, off we go.
Racing speed from the start, hey this is not a race, but it is. We are London Dynamo Team 1, taking it out against another 800 (?) or so other clubteams. Our team consisted of Jamie Francis (our youngest),  Russel Short (as his name suggests, our shortest), Simon Barnes (our tallest) and myself (our oldest). I have made myself believe that we did a lot of hard work to stretch the group and didn't have too many supporters from other teams, but a lot of wheelsuckers. Ok, not going to be moaning here, but we (or I) wanted to catch the first wave, but didn't. So we ended in positions of 70th and further down. We lost Rusty on the way, but the rest of us four crossed the line together, which was a hard finish after 140k in the rain. Funny eh, how this still could have been enjoyable. Must sound totally manic for non-cyclists, but there you go, experiencing challenges is not everyone's cup of tea either.
3:27:33 was the time and this apparently was the 70th fastest time of 19,000 participants.
With the return journey from home 187km on the day, Almost 4,200 kcal burned, weighted average power 228W, Strava suffer score 217
Apparently at least I got two KOMs, but as usual won't get any free T-Shirt for it.

http://www.strava.com/activities/178174947

 Flyer with finish photo

Early hours, Sawyers hill in Richmond park
made me tempted to just get home back to bed
which was just around the corner.

After the finale, wet but content:
from left, Simon Barnes, Riko Sibbe, Jamie Francis
Thanks for the Ride.

Python Summer Roadrace, Holyport/Maidenhead, National B, E/1/2, 137km, 3h:10mins

 Very fast first half, breakaway of nine couldn't be brought back, other breaks were less successful, including my own attempt together with two others.  I punctured at the bell for the last lap, got a neutral rear wheel and back on to the peloton with 3km to go. Burned my last match in the chase. Bad luck being wedged just behind and between wheels of two riders who gave up sprinting at the 200m mark and i had to pull the brakes to almost standstill. Only consolation: Wouter Sybrandy finished behind me (sorry don't mean to be mean :-)

London Dynamo Summer Roadrace, Milland Hill, E/1/2, 120km, 10 laps @ 12km + climbing up the hill an 11th time to the finish

This was brutal! The climb was about 1,000m long with the last 100m exceeding easily the 23% gradient.
Although I was suffering from a week of intense office latenights, working also late the night before, having had crap food for dinner and subsequently diarrhoea whole raceday from the morning AND on top of that riding the race with a broken bottombracket, I did not give up and finished the race on place 29. More than half of the 70+ starters did not finish.

As you can imagine, it is always surprising to see oneself as other people see you, especially in such situation. The photographer Tony Smith got me old git right there in the moment of pain, heartrate 100%, every lap the same struggle up this incline, every lap the same  self-daubts  "can I stay on or will this be it?".  As it later turned out I had a defective bottom bracket, cracking like it would be breaking apart any moment, amplifying the dramatic struggle, costing me an extra 50-100W every turn of the pedal. 

I am grateful to Tony for this photo, it will tell my son (7) and future grandchildren that giving up is not an option, there is always a route leading beyond the struggle...

Arbis Colbert Roadrace, Toddington/Berkshire, Regional A , 2/3/4, 65mi, 6th Place (12 BCF points)

6 and a half laps on a rolling (coaster) 10mi circuit with a short ramp and following drag on the final 400m. Dream racing weather, except some wet patches following the rain of the night before. After neutralized lead out to the course the first lap was a bit of a recce ride of whats to come. A very steep long decent in dense (pitch black) forest tunnel with pottholes and very narrow road, basically to be taken single file. 3 guys nailing it down there on the second lap me in full on pursuit but unable to close the 30m gap on the decent. Only got them on the following short climb and we were away, far enough to not see anyone behind us anymore, but not far enough to give us a restart with time bonus when the lead car gets stopped by traffic and us caught back by the peloton. Apparently we had 20seconds, not enough to account for. Then a crash behind a corner, carnage piling up right ahead of me with probably 5 riders down and 3 needed to be treated by paramedics, again riders drilling it at the front, not sure if they knew about the crash but there was a clear sense of ugly opportunistic thinking...few miles later all back together, getting again to the decent the same guy as last time round tries his skill, this time I am on his wheel and on the following short climb again we have a gap, we are 5 riders and no sight of the peloton behind us. Heading into a downhill righthand hairpin a large oncoming coach swerving into our lane, right in middle of the turn, nightmare to get around his cantilivering front right corner.We must have gone for about 2mi when a moto pulled by but instead of telling us our advantage he neutralizes the race. What? So we are stuck again. Peloton get back to us and we pass the crash site, riders still on the ground, 3 ambulances there and traffic piling up on both sides of the crash. After a lap neutralized they stopped the race, for about half an hour, us chatting and basking in the glorious sunshine. No coffees being served...everyone a bit annoyed but accepting the situation and trying to stay positiv. Restart of the race with remaining two laps was difficult, everyone cooled down and kind having lost their mojo it took to the final lap to have proper racing again. One rider tries his luck, nobody else in the mood to take him serious, still more than 10mi to go..Then horses on the circuit, all slow down again. I stayed up there amongst top 15 taking turns, helping to keep the speed high, another rider managed to jump off at the front, hats off for his incredibly strong show off, despite high speed we could only see the second rider manage to break to the front rider but didnt get them back. Coming around a corner on the outside onto a wider road I got carried out too far to suddenly heading straight into an oncoming car, everyone next and behind screaming already horrified. Every lap this corner was marshalled, every lap cars had been stopped well out of reach of us, why not in this final lap? I suppose the marshall didnt get informaed about the race being stopped and believed it was over. Communication with the marshalls is totally crucial, marshalls need to be 100% reliable in stopping traffic. Unfortunately there are drivers and rather run the marshall over rather than stopping for a bike race, thats reality and I was reminded of that. Final 2k speed was mental but I managed to stay around 10-12 wheel when the peloton was fully strung out and began to fracture in bits and pieces. Getting onto the final ramp people ahead of me began to falter, swerving left right together, me in between shouting to make them stay where they were. This time I encountered triple body contact, had to pull the brakes on the ramp to prevent the worst, had to go around them, accelerate on the big ring on the ramp and then managed to make good 4 or 5 places and got 4th of the group which meant 6th overall. This time my legs didnt give up on me on the last 200m.

100. "Rund um den Elm", Braunschweig / Germany ; The second oldest German Roadrace, ( first edition in 1907)

Day 1: The Nocturne

It was a double event, starting with a 70laps=70km nocturne crit in the citycentre of Braunschweig/Germany
It had just rained until an hour before the race and the streets had not fully dried up yet for the start at 21:00
The starterfield of 67 riders consisted of a Dutch team (Jo Piels), a Czech team (Sparta Prague) and 5 German domestic Elite teams, plus individual Elite riders starting without teams.
On a pan flat 4 corner course the speed was super high from the start, topping out at 65.8 km/h !!! At every corner, also because of the wet tarmac, breaking down to 30km/h followed by full throttle acceleration to 55km/h again was soon to take its toll. While I was in mid-field of the bunch I could hear Stu's name announced through the PA and for a while it really seemed that London Dynamo was part of the action. Then Rob suffered a crash when he ended on a tramtrack inside the central reservation of one of the streets, but got back on the bike and was allowed to join back in. After one third of the exercise, so to say after about hundred corners and the subsequent accelerations I began to feel dizzy and 10 laps later realized that I had been riding "in the red" for too long and began to seriously jeopardize my abilities for the main race next morning. The already decimated field began to break up, one Dutch rider took it from the front for 36 laps and was caught back only close to the finale. Rob and Stu did great for hanging in there until the end of what ended as Dutch dominance. Following the nocturne we literally had 7 hours to eat, rest and recover, luckily the hotel which was organised for us by the hosting club "RSV Braunschweig 1923" was just next to the circuit.


Day 2: The Road Race Classic

Next morning we already met some of our competitors in the breakfast room and honestly we looked a little bit like misplaced characters on the wrong film set...They all seemed so incredibly young, it turned out that most of them were there with development teams, preparing and filtering the young guns for their future roles as followers of Kittel and the likes....
Two rider actually approached me and asked who we were and what we were doing there, they were astounded to see a "Club-team" from overseas.

The 143km Road race began exactly as I just had dreamed of it, or better to say had nightmares of it, as mental as the nocturne. We had just come out off the neutralized section and the accelerations began. Just imagine for a moment the images of frenzy during the final 20k of a Tour stage, imagine the pain contorted faces of riders gasping for air while a number of line-ups fend for positioning of their main riders. It is this nervosity in the peloton, this unpredictability and constant change of situation that is really stressful. Yes, that's racing for you. But if you have this in a 90mins nocturne or half an hour tue eve palace its heavy enough, but from the start of a roadrace, knowing there are 3.5-4h of intense and hilly riding to come? Absolutely mental! Then I saw a Dynamo jerseys and felt good. And then I saw a Dynamo jerseys at the front and felt wow, we are mixing it up. And then I saw a dynamo jersey heading off the front (Rob on his little excursion) and more Dynamo jerseys controlling the front of the field! By the time we hit the main climb (which we had to take 7 times) we had done just about 45km and I was cooked already. Not a big surprise as temperatures were soaring well above the 30' Celsius.
The peloton began to crumble on the first time climb already, when my HR exceeded the 95%HRmax we had just done half of it and the steep 800m where still to come. At the top I found myself a bit distanced somewhere between dropped riders and the peloton and it looked like a possibility to get back on. Other riders including Ray had gone back up to me and it looked like a little Grupetto with chances to work together. On the following 75km/h descent we were giving it beans to close our gap to the peloton using all tricks for further acceleration to give each others a push while sitting in the slipstream of the pushed...but unfortunately by the time we were approaching the climb for the second time our Grupetto had dissolved and I was on my own chasing the peloton, which was approx 200m ahead of me at the foot of the climb. What then happened is kind of really awkward. I caught one rider after the other who were dropped by the peloton, but nobody went with me. I must have climbed the second time as fast as the peloton because I could see them with the same distance when they reached the summit, I was still approx 200m behind. But when I eventually arrived at the top too, I couldnt see anyone. Even on the following descents there was no trace, they had gone and I still had 90km of riding ahead of me. As I hoovered up more dropped riders I did try to convince them to join me and fight back on, but only got shaking of heads as response. Lap after lap I saw more riders sitting at the roadside in the sun. But having had lots of old friends and family on the roadside, giving up was no option, I had to finish this race, too much I would have felt embarrassment to get off the bike and all of those people having lol.

The support I received was tremendous, I got applause every lap, I got bottles with electrolyte drink from the DS of Team "North Germany", I got chilled waterbottles at the summit handed by my father and brother, and I got the encouraging smiles of my mum. So why giving up? Because 99% of the lap I was on my own and there were no riders anymore to catch. I remember at 4 laps to go I almost shouted at the guy with the lapboard because I knew I had already climbed the hill 4 times, so he should have shown 3 to go. The following lap he showed 2 to go and I realized he realized his mistake. Then last lap and I felt kind of ok and my mum on the summit also shouted "last lap" to me. Arriving again at the roadjunction with the lapboard I was guided towards the route back to Braunschweig, 0 laps to go, just 22km to the finish and I was even given a jury car following me. The final 22K were like a timetrial for me and I did managed to mobilize every bit of remaining energy, hydration was ok as I must have consumed 8 or so bottles en route. I had no idea where I was, how far behind the peloton or how far ahead of any chase group, real no-man's land. On the return journey I imagined to be a solo breakaway and the field was chasing behind me, this helped tremendously to find some motivation. Suddenly a lead car overtook me and motorbikes and a jury member informed me that the head of the race will overtake me and I would not be allowed to hang on to them. That's how I eventually arrived at the finish with only 2 mins behind the leading breakaway, awsome I looked like having taken 16th place. It turned out that Lee actually was in 19th position until he was misguided by some marshall, he must have been very close behind me when that happened, when of course he was effectively 10km ahead of me. Luckily the jury got all of this sorted and Lee got his deserved placing, I was just the placeholder for him for a few minutes  Rob also managed to stay on and came in at 23rd. For myself I had finished the race although I still cannot believe how in this world the lap count got wrong, at least it wasn't my fault, my count was the same as the race officials count and the same as my family's count, somewhat mysterious.
The race was won by a Dutch hattrick, they had 5 of their 6 riders in the top 25. The best German rider was on rank 4.

In summary this was a real highlight of the season. The two races were organised totally professional, on both days we raced practically on closed roads, particularly sunday must have been very difficult for them to fully close 10km of main road network with major regional connectivity. For us team the planning for this participation started back in November last year, the negotiation with the organisers "RSV Braunschweig 1923" were pretty straight forward as this club was one of my ex-clubs I was racing for until 1990.

The Team, from left: 

Rob Reid, Riko Sibbe, Stuart Spies, 

Lee Comerford, Simon Barnes, Ray Wilson

Battling up "Amplebener Hill" 7 times

obviously  was not an easy task.

Arriving back in Braunschweig after 147km, 

solo ride for the final 80km, approx 30th place.

Totally spend!

Sun 29.Jun, TMG Horizon Elite/1/2/3 Roadrace, Wing (Leighton Buzzard), 141km, 1,550m Alt

Following the effort of the previous day I was considering to pull out and only last minute decided to drive up to Wing. Still clearly feeling the effort of the previous day I was just hoping to finish this race in the bunch, not getting dropped or giving up. It began totally manic, after two laps I thought there is no way I will stay that through. We must have had an average speed of well above 45km/h when first  small groups of riders broke away. I couldnt believe it, how...while I was just about managing to cling to the rear wheel in front of me, riders managed to peel off at the front, clearly some riders couldn't  follow the wheel they were following. Suddenly a guy ahead of me hits a hole and swerves straight into the field and ditch on the roadside, not without tumbling over his bars twice, frightening sight, but he had a soft landing despite the 50km/h we were doing at the time. Every lap we went through a little village with traffic islands and parked cars at full throttle, although the road was flat we never had less then 55km/h, totally mental. Of course, the hill, quite a legbreaker, not unlike Bletchingley, which I really started feeling from lap 4 out of 7 (because of neutral section we had to get up the hill 8 times). All breakaways except the one that went from lap one got caught back on the final 500m, pretty messy situation, riders being totally fatigued hardly getting up the hill anymore and a slightly fresher field charging up the hill. My final ascent was the same scenario as Bletchingley in May, legs broken, actually had to get off the bike and on the grass after. I got in 22nd of only approx 42 riders who finished the race (of 67 starters). This was the hardest race for me so far this year and with 240km of racing over one weekend will probably take me a week to recover from it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHvoBzpSer8#t=283  (look for no 34)

https://flic.kr/p/nSErH6

https://flic.kr/p/obUL6t

https://flic.kr/p/nSDiVK

https://flic.kr/p/o85bp7

https://flic.kr/p/obTAKB

Sat 28.Jun, Portsmouth North East 2/3 RR , Owlesbury, 95km, 1,850m Alt

From the start a group of two or three went up the road, to be followed by another 5 or so later on. After approx half race Will soloed away, followed by a later companion. By that point I started to get involved at the front of the field, trying to disturb the surges that threatened to become chases. Cam who is riding for LMNH come along to ask me if  Will was up the road and I said  "Yes, why t f do you think I am slowing things down...?" It s kind off a weird situation to try sabotage chases with one man on his way to the front made of 8-10 riders in total. The remaining laps went like that, attacks, chases, pull backs, conterattacks, with one lap to go another two tried there luck and it didnt look promising. I was thinking to bridge but hey, there was no way it would stick. The  usual hesitation as the gap expanded, then I had enough of that and had a go myself, that must have broken the remaining field apart as we where then a group of 8, but again only 4-5 doing the work, 3 just hanging at the back. It took me a while to understand that the guys where not doing tactical games, they were just simply on their limits...On the final 2K I went off that group on my own, just to be joined by one fellow to have a bit of a final with at the end. We did do a full out sprint, for place 16 as it later turned out, the two guys ahead of us which we failed to catch got in on 14 and 15th place. So I just missed the points on 16th place - but at least I felt totally smashed up, I gave it all I had.

Have you ever wondered what a breakaway looks like from within the race?

If it works, it looks a bit like this....
http://youtu.be/C-9AniTf2ss

Have you ever wondered what's so special about the "red kite" or the final 1K?

Well, simply spoken the race enters a "slightly" different phase...
http://youtu.be/13BENuYp19w

Is this arrogance?

I kind of like going to my office on a monday morning, legs still feeling the efforts of the weekend, but in a nice pleasant recovering sense of sweet after pain...
While chatting with colleagues about the just ended weekend, what they did, except of lying in the park or drinking coffee and having had pissups under the sun. When being asked just saying I rode my bike for 220km, people usually look a bit astounded but when I say I rode a bikerace it is different, people usually shut up.

21. June, 2014 Surrey League Roadrace, Ditchling Common, Cat 2/3, 10 laps = 105km, 11th place (5 BCF points)

As the third leg of the Bayeux Racing Series (I missed the first two due to illness, earlier this season) everyone was keen to get points in order to qualify for the final timetrial, open to the top 20 of the series, only. On a new and relatively unselective fast course it took to mid race for some serious action to happen. I punctured mid lap 6 and following a rear wheel change tried for one and a half laps to get back on to the peloton. This was quite a gruelling exercise as the neutral service car repeatedly got stuck in traffic, while I easily overtook the queuing cars, he had to wait behind. So it happened that probably 50% of my battle to latch on to the peloton I was on my own and the other 50% in the slipstram of the neutral service car at about 50-60km/h charging around bends but then again being faster than him on the descents. Eventually I got back on with one and a half laps to go. Although my legs still felt relatively fresh,  I must have burned quite a few matches during my pursuit of the field. After a while I learned that  Jamie had gone off the front and had something like 50 seconds, looking like he could make it to the finish. The speed was getting quite high here and there, when we caught up with Jamie who got stopped due to the lead car being stuck in traffic, too. Subsequently the race had to be restarted with one lap to go and Jamie getting awarded back his 35 seconds lead. This amazingly lasted until the final 300m when the Peloton sadly caught up with Jamie, despite LD attempting to hold off any counterattacks. Rob finished it off with class outsprinting everyone as wanting to say "Here you go, you didnt want it any different!" Jamie still hung on to take 4th, Lee got in on 9th and myself on 11th, all together totalling 59 points for the SL team classification.

picture taken by Glyn Durrant, during the pursuit of the peloton after having had to change wheels

Racing Free Weekend

One of the few weekends without racing, unfortunately the weather was rather pittyful...still got 187km into the legs, though.
I went out for a 125K from 11:45 to 15:30 via staple lane area, Shere, Winterfold, Alderbrook lane, Peaslake, Holmbury Hill, Leith Hill, Whitedowns, Ranmore, Boxhill. Basically anywhere west of Dorking totally totally horrendeous conditions. Biblical downpour. East of Dorking and Boxhill suddenly all fine. There where roads totally covered with debris and a meter wide running streams downhill. Especially the Peaslake area very concerning. Without exageration Saturday was worse than any of the most muddy winterdays. If you have one, take your cyclocross bike or better even your mountainbike, because this is not made for summer roadbikes...At the very least double up on innertubes. Still, the temperature was pleasant, so at some point I was imagining doing an offroad trip in the rainforest, that made it kind of exotic..Cautioun on the descents, they were very slippery and breaks on carbon rims had troubles. Then climbing Boxhill in the sun, mud drying up on the skin, a layer of pale matt grey. Charging back north towards Kingston against the wind. Back home, totally chuffed, Traininstressscore of 339pts.

http://www.strava.com/activities/153528900

08.Jun 2014, Paul Simon Homes Roadrace, Witwell in Berkshire

Despite my stomach cramps on sat afternoon (thanks to a strange tasting chicken sandwhich, I believe) I went to Witwell near Luton to join the Paul Simon Home Roadrace. Despite still suffering from severe diarrhoea in the morning (race started 8:30 !!!) the legs felt surprisingly good and as I had rented a car on sat morning I didn't want to let all the "investment" for car and sign-up fee go for the bin. My plan was to sit in first half of the race and if anything left in the tank get active in the second half. I stuck to it. Unfortunately, by halftime of the 120km race there were two breakaways of 5+8 riders, the lead group with 1:30 mins. The speed in the pack was extremely on and off, attack, nobody to follow, chase, stop, again...I then had my first own attempt and quickly got out off sight of the bunch, was soon after joined by a follower. We hung out there for about 5K when for some reason the bunch had decided they didn't like us to get away, either. Maybe we were not quick enough or couldn't hold a minimum average pace to stay away, but as soon as we got caught, nobody was going to overtake us, just locked onto our back wheels. How annoying, chasing just for the sake of getting us.  I had another two of such full hearted attempts and many others did try, too. Nobody made any successful break in the second half of the race but we caught a few who couldn't keep the pace in the front groups, which had by the end whittled down to still 8. Crazy final 2K , rolling up and down like a rollercoaster, having a bottleneck over a bridge then final rise, a ramp over potholes and finish just after the crest on a bend. Not good for bunch sprints.  Got across the line somewhere around position 12-15 of the bunch, so just outside the listed top20. This was my most awful race of the season, in particular as I still had quite a bit left in the tank, not enough in the head though. Really strange experience to race there all on my own, no other Dynamo around. It really makes a big psychological difference to race together and feel like being part of a team, well to me at least...
http://www.velouk.net/2014/06/08/result-paul-simon-homes-rr/

The touching story of a young man's recovery from the deathbed to a role model for human perseverance to live.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/get-inspired/27733036

1. Jun 2014, Neil Gardner Memorial Roadrace, Elite, Cat 1/2/3

Near Cranfield, Berkhire, hosted by Luton CC, 9 laps = 155km; 3h:35mins; hot weather; National Points category B, 17th Place (5 pts)

Approx 1,200m altitude meters, beautiful morning but at 10:00 a.m. temperature feeling quite hot, already. This was National B roadrace with points for the top20 rather than the usual top10 or 15. It attracted a flock of riders totally different from the usual Surrey League peloton.

This was my first Elite race since 1992! (I think) and I had not even ridden this distance in training since the Ride-London-Prudential-100 almost a year ago.

A fully booked peloton of 80 riders, half of those Elites and Cat1 the other half mainly cat2 with a very few selected cat3. Amongst the likes of Pedalheaven and Genesis, Richardson-Trek etc, we were represented by Jamie Francis (cat2), James Local (cat 2 and arguably our strongest rider at the moment) and myself (cat2). 

My plan was simply to survive the race in the bunch and see it as preparation for the German Roadrace Classic in 5 weeks time. The race was not really dominated by any of the Elite teams, the average speed was high, although quite inconsistent throughout. Extremely fast surges, with a few interspersed slow sections where nobody wanted to do any chasing work. Lots of attacking, but even larger breaks got caught back by the super charged up bunch. On flat sections we were usually hitting the 55km/h mark. Somehow the whole course felt like going mostly downhill, but obviously I only imagined this due to the high speeds when in fact there were same uphill meters as downhill. Three riders got away on the last few miles, I think leaving the rest of us for a bunch sprint, but nobody seemed to know. Due to some misinformation I understood we would be going onto a 7 laps minicircuit before the finish, but with 300m to go and me somewhere in the last third of the remaining bunch I realised I must have gotten something wrong and picked up sprinting with everyone around me waggling their tails, already. Managed to make about 10-15 places good in the sprint and got in on 17th , earning my first national BCF points ever and my first 5 points this season. Personally it was a good step in the development of my form. Still not feeling punchy and not getting enough oxygene, but managing now to work with my problems and not against them anymore.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/101948/Neil-Gardner-Memorial-Road-Race---CC-Luton#results

http://www.velouk.net/2014/06/01/report-result-neil-gardner-memorial-rr/

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.