MOL Cup Criterium in Neuenhagen,  (2nd Pl. in my age group, 10th overall)

This was my one and only race of 2018, after the Berlin Velothon disaster back in May. Too much stuff regarding our relocation to Berlin, too much bother with the new job and generally not the time and energy to work on form, made 2018 a more relaxed year in terms of competitive cycling.

Towards the tail-end of the season and following a fantastic summer I wanted to give it one go and went to this small event on the opposite side of Berlin. Riding there by bike was 28km but as it was Berlin Marathon day it was almost impossible to cross the city with anything else than U-Bahn. As I watched the Marathon myself, I left it too late to leave home for my own race and had to race to Neuenhagen in order to not miss my start. I arrived there about 3 mins before the start, much more than warmed up from my "race" out here, got my start number and had to ask another fellow racer to pin it on my back. I think he managed just on the bang and off we went. The thing is, it wasn't such a small event as I expected, there were about 80 riders on this short circuit and all age groups mixed together. So I raced against a lot of 20-30 year old.
It was a very active race with plenty of attacks and the average speed panned out at just above 43km/h, luckily all breakaways got caught back and entering the final lap I had a plan. I just needed to get myself out of a totally hopeless position to the front of the peloton, easy as chips. Believe it or not, I did manage to get into the final bent first and shellshocked the flock with an explosive sprint with 400m to go. Too far out, unfortunately, as I couldn't sustain it to the finish and only got in on 10. Place. But for me it was sensational, it felt almost like victory although it was silly of course to start the sprint and also so early, but at the same time exhilarating.

Velothon Berlin 2018 - Crash

A year since my last race in the UK, half a year after relocating from London to Berlin, the Velothon was supposed to be a first contact to the German racing scene - It ended on the asphalt after 100 out of 160km.

After 60km of storming from the back of the 1400 riders peloton to the front: Centre stage

The Velothon I had signed up to as a motivation to keep on riding, at least once a week (after I rode daily for the past 10 years in the UK). Only when I found my start block I realized I was signed up for the “race”, not the sportive. It is like the Tour of Cambridgeshire, the first startblock is being fought as a race. Here in Berlin, we had 1.400 riders in that block and me in the last row. Great! So, imagine someone who has raced NatB races and held a Cat 2 license as recent as 2016, now supposed to look at things from the back? No way. The first 60km then where a frantic storm to the front, passing a neverending chain of stretched out riders. It was fast and furious, but not risking any crashes, still riding relatively safe. The picture which was in the Berlin Morningpost had been taken at about the time when I managed to get to the front, finally. At that time we were a front group of about 50 riders. At km 100 out of the 160, someone swerved into me and I had nowhere to go, pulled the breaks but couldn’t avert a crash, at just below 50km/h. It wasn’t a ‘touch of wheels’, instead it was a wipeout of the worst kind, as I was literally catapulted over to the other side of the culprits’ rear wheel. I have no recollection of what happened next, but was told that I somersaulted and landed on my head (helmet broken in 2 places and sunglasses destroyed, a quarter of my face open, abrasions symmetrically on both elbows, shoulders, knees and strangely top of my hands). Apparently, I had lost consciousness for a few minutes and in the following was brought to a nearby hospital and checked for damages, diagnosing a concussion, trauma and bleeding kidney, which thankfully didnt need to be operated. Magically the bike was ok, apart from the brake levers that need replacement, bar tape and rear wheel damaged. Losing my last set of (practically unused) LD race-kit like this was saddening, though. I am back on the bike now, but still seeing my GP every day, due to some healing problems with the road rash.   The biggest problem though was the shock at first and then following inconvenience all of this brought upon my wife and son, as they had to reclaim the bike, travel back and forth to the hospital and none the less seeing me in such state. Also the inconvenience at work, whilst still being on probation myself, I had employed new team members with their start date on the day following the crash, I had meetings that needed to be postponed and submissions lined up for the end of the week that needed to be managed. Not good for everyone around me. It will probably need some time to pass before I get permission to sign up for any event again. At least I am still allowed to ride my bike and I still can, that’s something to be thankful for, this crash could have taken a different toll, I was lucky

Starting in the last row of the 1400 riders field

staying positive

not so positive any more

proper hit on the head and face

A long forgotten memory rediscovered: Junior days with RV Braunschweig 1923

This photo may already be somewhere on this blogg but I really cant remember if I have ever uploaded it. It must have been taken in the late 1980s, I believe its not even showing the entire race group, but obviously also quite a few non-racers. Still a nice memory to have.

I think I am the 5th guy from the right

Executive Summary 2017

A lot has been said about B(Rexit), which I don't want to expand on again, only so much as from early January I will be living in Berlin and commute back to London on weekends, whilst my family still remains in the UK for another month.  From mid-February we will all be reunited living in Berlin.
Cycling wise I have only begun to explore my new terrain and a very very harsh winter and weekends commuting between both cities has been taking my focus off the bike.
I am looking forward to 2018 and what it will hold.

Total km: 18,426   Longest ride: 263km   Cumulative Climbing: 20 times up Everest

basically every day on the bike

Farewell ride to the LONDON DYNAMOS

Brexit means "(R)exit" - I never made a secret of it, but the fact that more than 50% of the British population think German migrants should go home pushed me into an identity crisis. After 20 years in the UK I was still seen as a German immigrant and at the same time felt like a foreigner whenever I traveled to Germany. I don't want my son to have limited chances in his future because he is the child of immigrants (despite being British himself). British cycling differs in no way, as I had been excluded from competition from British championships year after year. Just the LVRC are a different bunch, they never had a problem with this. So after having paid more than a million pounds in taxes throughout my work life, contributed to the pension and healthcare system whilst being privately insured at the same time and sending our child to private schools for some 8 years, I can say me as an immigrant has given a lot, but received almost nothing from the UK. With one big exception. The London Dynamo Cycling club. Here I found the best of Britain and the best British people. Leaving this Club is one of the biggest regrets I have, leaving the country.

I felt truly humbled by such big bunch assembled for my last ride. Thank you!

A true gent, one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. Saying good-bye to Paul Harknett was not an easy ask.

What better farewell could there be, rather than having a last puncture on your last ride.

John Walker Memorial Roadrace - 20km Solo lead and then caught 50m before the finish

Well, there was one rider up the road, a relegated Elite rider and I was trying to catch him for almost 20km. Whilst I didn't, the peloton caught me just on the last 50m.  I still crossed the line in 14th place. The final 5km where on a straight long undulating road with tailwind, the maximum speed I could hold on the slight decline was just below 50km/h but a peloton of some 80+ riders easily rides at 60km/h and had me in their sights from far away. Totally gutted but also happy that I tried and almost did it.

Surrey League: Milland Hill, rode in the lead for most of the race and then punctured.

This one will be remembered, going full steam on the dual carriageway in order to initiate a breakaway. It stuck. I got 4 more riders to help and our lead grew steadily. When we had 3 mins ahead of the field and two more laps out of 8 to go I had a puncture and there was no neutral service car available on this day. Game over. Pissed off. The 4 other companions fought out the victory as I could only watch them at the finish.

puncturing is always the most frustrating thing to happen

The ultimate LONDON DYNAMO World championships 2017

How great, our club organized this year's Club championships at the Lea Valley Racecourse, just outside around the Olympic Velodrome. 

Despite weekly weekday racing there since the 2012 Olympics I personally never managed to race there. as it is on the other side of the city and timewise not manageable with my workweek. So this was the one and only opportunity for me to race this course. The race was practically all Amateur Club racers Category Elite,1,2,3. Luckily at current, we don't have any Elites in our club but a whole lot of young and fresh newcomers who couldn't wait to test against experienced riders (and old farts like me). As ever, the higher the category the riders had to accept higher handicaps, with a handful of 1st cats starting a good 2 mins behind the huge field of 3rd cats. I think the ratio was about 35 3rd cats versus 10 2ns cats versus 2 1st cats.
The 3rds worked pretty well together to hold the 1st and 2nd cats off until the last 10 laps.
I knew they would catch us pretty damaged and with my long known sprint abilities managed to clinch 2nd place, much to the upset of many 2nd cat riders. I leave this as another legacy to the club. Our all time sprint star Gavin Ryan, who is 15 years younger than me took the expected win and our new rising star Tobias Dahlhaus, who I think is 30 years younger than me, took 3rd.
After a cocked up season 2017 this at least brought some smiles into my otherwise grim face...

Keeping the pace high, until it was clear that the 2nd and 3rd wouldn't catch us, which would have been unfair.

I had the feeling that some of the other old farts really had an eye on me...

It was the first full out sprint for me in 2017 and took me a week to recover from it.

Surrey League Race: Parham Park

This is a lovely course partially going through a private estate. We had perfect weather and a good race. Came in on 5th place.

before the start

Dynamos looking good!

taking the lead

Surrey League: Newdigate

After a long break from racing, due to all kind of health problems, accidents and workload, this was a first go for 2017. It came to a big mass sprint at the end and I took 7th place home.

(Private) Training Camp on Mallorca

Slightly different this year, instead of going with a team or club, just taking my family including mom and dad for their 70th birthdays.
The deal was alternate family and riding days, so when I rode I made the most of it and when I was off the bike, I was really off. Funny enough the weather was so much better than the year before when we came with the race team and had to endure rain, snow, crashes, and flu.
This year was absolutely brilliant.

Sa Calobra also my favourite

One day I did it 3 times in a row...

Nice to have a photographer present. 

Executive Summary 2016

GOOD BYE 2016

2016 was a very diverse and mixed year for me regarding everything bike related. With the onset of a previously unencountered decline of physical ability and performance, from around August 2015, I knew I had entered a new phase in my life. Somehow the ability to "go for it" to push myself to the limits, the "urge to win" had gone. Blame it on the many crashes in 2015, blame it on a somewhat prolonged recovery from my accident in 2014, or wonder as I did, if I was ill or suffering from some kind of cardiovascular disease. So, I went through a whole lot of medical assessments, again. The final verdict by the cardiologist was: "You are expecting too much from yourself, you are young at spirit but your heart has been beating for 47 years, which makes it much older than you may feel, otherwise."
That's great, isn't it? Being told you are healthy, but just getting older and these would be the signs of just that, aging. I just had to accept that, but I still don't buy it. Getting sharp pain in the left side chest when breathing to me is a clear symptom of something not alright and not an age-related sign of natural decline. So, it required a shift of my cycling related activities away from racing more towards enjoyment of riding. This also allowed me to invest time into the development of the London Dynamo Race team. From November 2015 to Nov 2016 I did my best to shape the format of a race team to something more significant, structured, managed and integrated within the club. I took them out for 18 Sunday training rides throughout the winter 2015/16 and coordinated the race calendar and entries throughout the 2016 season. I accompanied them as sports director to most of them.
Whilst this took a lot of my time (time that otherwise could have gone into my own cycling and family) it was also an interesting experience and the club rewarded this with the glamourous "Dynamo of the Year" award.  Now my responsibilities have been transferred to a team of three and I have got my life back.
From the perspective of my own riding a number of events really stood out this year. Starting with the 3rd best time at the "Kentish Killer" early in February (I won it in 2015) followed by my first ever training camp on Mallorca. The mountains with the beautiful climbs, in particular Sa Calobra really did it to me. Unfortunately, I crashed on day 2 and in the following caught out by terrible flu, which saw me on the bike for only 3 days in total. More memorable rides I had in Germany, where for the first time I climbed mount Brocken (at 1,142m the highest in Germany outside the Alps). A 20km climb within an epic ride through the entire Harz was something I had never done before.
Later family holidays to the Dolomites allowed me to experience Alpine climbs of the Giro d'Italia. The most memorable ride ever will be riding the Maratona route on my own, not within the event. This was truly spectacular, with so many iconic climbs and beautiful landscapes. The top of the list of climbs this year though must be the Passo Stelvio. I had only got to know it 4 years ago when researching about mountain road infrastructure but since then I had imagined to do it, until this summer's family holiday. It was a greatly rewarding experience.
The Prudential 100, the TMG Horizon Trophy Elite and a Surrey League Road Race concluded the competition season for me, only to restart the Race Team winter Training again, for the first 5 sessions until the end of November. This was my year, as animated by STRAVA:

Riko Sibbe 2016
https://2016.strava.com/en-gb/share/3651224

DYNAMO OF THE YEAR 2016

The London Dynamo annual Christmas party and awards night held an unexpected surprise for me.

DYNAMO OF THE YEAR 2016: Riko Sibbe
For his outstanding contribution and achievement for the first London Dynamo Racing Team.

I was rather moved, by the rich commendations through our club president Paul Harknett but also by Team captain Stuart Spiess who just returned from the Gent 6-day and had some good words and crate of Belgian beer at hand. The team prepared a nice picture collage and great bottle of Red.
Thank you very much for this honorable award, by London's biggest and best cycling club!

A message to the London Dynamo National Squad, from their departing DS

A message from your departing DS

Dear NatB Squad,

I announced at our end of year meeting, a few weeks ago, that I would be stepping down by the end of this season, by the time of our LD awards night the very latest. As we have been able to find you more than adequate replacement for your departing DS, it is now time to take my hat. The troika of Giles, James and Gavin are not just going to replace me, they will bring NatB at London Dynamo yet to another elevated level of excellence. I wanted to write to thank you for the support you have given our NatB initiative during my year as DS.

Since its inception in 2015 the number of riders who have been selected for the team has increased to 14 and is yet to rise again in 2017. Your active engagement and persistent racing over the year means we now speak with a much louder voice within the wider club.

In my time with the London Dynamos, 4 1/2  years in total, I have been extremely privileged and proud to be a part of one of the most amazing initiatives our club has produced, as part of the selected squad to start with and this year as DS, working with some old hares and young rabbits alike. From today, I will just simply be a fan of you, may ask you for autographs for my grandchildren some time in the future and look back with deep satisfaction to “those days”, in 2016…

Having done my turn on the front, I’ll now be happy to drop back into the bunch but I’ll still be one of you, an ex-National B Squad member and I’ll still be a member of London Dynamo, volunteering and doing my bit for the sport I love. I’ll begin to race Masters races more regularly and a few Surrey League races with the 3s and maybe have another go at the  German Masters RR champs next year but foremost and that’s the main reason for my departure have my son have a substantial part of his dad back as otherwise there won’t be many years left before he leaves me.

Best wishes

Riko

(with special thanks to Ian Drake)

What does a club level DS do? A job description.

     Ever wondered what it actually means to volunteer as a sports director for an amateur cycling team?

     Organise the pre-season preparations (Winter-training)

     This means coordinate with the riders what kind of workout their individual coaches have prescribed and set up a schedule that brings them all under one single program. You would say this is impossible? You are right, almost.  We agreed to have one long endurance ride per week, every Sunday morning, from October to February, in order to build team spirit and offer the opportunity to simulate a race situation. The riders ride out as a compact and disciplined group into the Surrey Hills, approx 90mins from West London, to our selected 10K training circuit which includes a 10-15% and 2km long clinb. The squad is riding 5-8 laps in 3 different groups, "full gas", "medium" and "zone2".  The riders chose the group they want to ride with, aligned with the instructions through their individual coaches. The "full gas" group simulates a race, the other groups or more interested in consistency. After the agreed number of laps the groups reassemble again in one single compact unit and ride back to West London. The route varies between direct or undulating, taking more other climbs in, too. The ride usually lasts between 4.5-6hours or 130-160km. Mostly, the rides get concluded with a social coffee stop at the end. This means, for friends and family, you won't be seen back home before 2.00pm, likely significantly later.

     Organise the team-kit for the following season.

     You can only do this, once you have determined who is on the team. You need to order the whole set with the individual sizes for every rider. This is Jerseys, Shorts, hoodies, gloves, socks, bottles and hats.

     Once you got all the stuff, you need to hand it to them. Handing over usually is a great opportunity for a photo shoot.

      Team photo shoot

      Find a photographer that matches the budget. No budget, find one who does it as a favour,   but be aware  that this often brings copyright issues.

      Find a time that suits every rider AND the photographer

      Hope for good weather, as the worst is looking at dull lit team photos for the rest of  the year

      Hand out team-kit and do shoot, with sponsored products (for the sponsors)

       Prepare social media release

       Announce the team on FB, Twitter, Instagram using the team photos and CV's

       Release goals for the new season and key target race events

       New Season Team meeting

       Organise venue, date and agenda

     

      Target Event calendar set-up (pre-season)

 Have a look at my spreadsheet on Google docs. For next season you can assume the  same events (slightly changed dates though), its just the question of adding in a few more  events where there were particularly long gaps. This would mean increasing the radius of  action slightly.

Team set-up (get all the riders details, set-up rider details on BCF website)

Following our discussions the pool of riders will rise to around 20 riders. We all felt that team selection should be more race specific and form specific. This means that the best suited for a specific race should be preferred for entry. Last year, I sent a link to the spreadsheet to all riders before the start of the season and they had to mark the races  the “preferred” racing (green with an “X” and the ones they were available for but not so keen (just green) . They also had to mark dates they were absolutely unavailable (red). For every race I had to make sure to have a full team of 6 + 1 contingency. Really important to remind the riders all the time to update the spreadsheet, ensuring it reflects any changed availabilities or preferences.

Race-Entry (including team selection)

Usually via BCF website, with a few exceptions via RiderHQ. Most importantly, race organisers vary in their approach to deal with entries. Some of them accept entries on first comes first served. Others make a selection for acceptance after an entry closure date. Those often cause the weakest riders being denied/rejected. The most stupid thing is, you as the manager who enters the riders, don’t even get informed if your riders made the selection. You then have to enquire who actually got in and who didn’t. Sometimes this becomes clear only a few days before the race. Don’t expect your team to tell you if they got in or not on their own behalf. The facebook page proved very useful to get feedback from the riders and saved some emailing traffic.

In some cases the acceptance rate is so low that you need to write an email to the organiser or better call them and tell them an amazing story about the riders they rejected, about our wonderful club and how you have seen little Ben’s development since he was four and that he had prepared throughout the entire season to race THIS race…you know what I mean.

You then just have to take account regularly and send an invoice to Wendy to get your money back. I did 3 collective invoices over the year and reimbursement was always spot on, thanks to Wendy’s great support.

Pre-Race preparation and strategy

Every Friday before raceday we had a race-tactic preparation meeting at the “Dynamo”. Important to have ALL racers of the day there. Usually more show up, just to be part of that discussion, give their 2cents, but also, be part of the social energy. I usually printed the route map and profile on an A2 sheet or had handouts for the guys. Sometimes we had a laptop and looked at the course in Google streetview, but technology was not really needed. Just need to know where the important rises and descents are, the important corners and of course, where the break will be going… Start-list should be available, too. Crucial to identify potential strong individuals but also ear-making the important teams in order to develop a race-plan, together with the squad. Everyone who races on that day should know what his job is, before leaving the Dynamo.

Raceday

We have got a bottle cooler box (in nice blue), take riders personal bottles and prepare additional “neutral” bottles, one set with energy/electrolyte mix, the other set with water only. Have gels attached to them with a rubber band or tape. Numbers of bottles required by riders vary EXTREMELY, I was shocked that some riders get on with just the bottles they take from start of the race, others need 5-8 additional bottles…quite concerning sometimes.

Handing the bottles is a bit of an art, particularly if the receiver is not particularly well trained to receive them. So you need to find the best spot for handover, where riders are slow. This sometimes means arguing with the BCF commissar, because some of them are stupendously stubborn and want you to feed your riders in the most dangerous locations. If you ignore the commissar, the team might be DQ’ed, if you find other DS thinking same as you, get organized, speak to the race organizer who then will speak to the commissar and stubbornness sometimes changes to acceptance.

Neutral services are not always a given. If there is a neutral service following the race, make sure they have got out LD set of wheels, clearly labeled as “LONDON DYNAMO” in the boot. Otherwise park the wheels next to you so riders have to make the wheel change at feed stop. If you have enough helpers, someone may be able to follow the race in the convoy, although that again needs a special permission. Rusty and I think Ray know how to obtain this through BCF. After the race the riders come together to get their recovery shake, I usually have them available right there at the finish. Other teams often look rather envious when our FGS bar opens and the Dynamo riders can enjoy a nice recovery shake together, right there.

Post-Race

A good chat after the race is important, was the raceplan executed? How well was it executed? what went well, what didn’t, where were opportunities? Unused ones? If something is to be celebrated, celebrate right there. Those are the moments this is all made for. It is super important that everyone leaves the place satisfied, happy and positive. Everyone needs to get his credit for what he did. It must not leave tainted memories.

In the following days remind the riders to write a race report to be placed and the LD website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

next race

Sponsorship

This would usually be part of the job too, trying to bring in sponsors, keeping the existing ones happy, etc. (Un)fortunately this part of the job is not required at our club, as we try to be independent from commercial sponsorship. Trying to find sponsored, or discounts on products like helmets for the team this year turned out to be an utter waste of time. There is just very little interest to throw any kind of money onto a club based team.

Would you want to join the Squad?

Prospective NatB racers 2017

With the closure of the 2016 race season and all our attention now heading towards the winter training we are also looking beyond, the prospective NatB team for 2017. As you may know, some of our riders will depart, others will get a chance to join. Currently, we are in the process to refine what the NatB team is all about and what it means to the club’s racing scene. More to that in the next newsletter.

If you have ever wondered if it is open to you, then read on, it is open to every member, almost…there are a few “minor” conditions though, to qualify for racing in the LD natB team.

1.       You hold at least a cat2 licence

2.       You have had road racing experience, of at least a few Surrey League 2/3 level road races, ideally with the majority of your points gained there.

3.       You are willing to dedicate at least 7 weekends of your 2017 race season to racing with the team and for club interest.

4.       You are willing to actively take a share in team responsibilities, such as additional 2xtimes team support at the roadside of races and writing the forum race report for 2 races.

5.       You are willing to be racing with the team even if you may be chosen to sacrifice your own ambitions in support of the team’s ambition. This means you have to accept a support rider role, if required from you.

6.       You need to engage with the team throughout the winter training series, which means out of the 18 scheduled winter rides you should cover at least 12 rides.

If you are able to satisfy all these conditions then you qualify perfectly to join the team. In this case read on.

What will you get out of your placement in the team?

1.       You will have the opportunity to race at Elite12 road races against some of the strongest Elites in the country, within the structure of an organised and managed team. Your race entry will be organised and funded by the club.

2.       You will learn and experience what it means to race as a team, understand first hand what you otherwise only get to see on TV in pro-racing.

3.       You will be one of the selected LONDON DYNAMO squad and have a good chance to make it into the club’s hall of fame

4.       You will be integrated into a team of riders who all fulfil the same conditions, committed to you, dedicated to prepare and race the best they can to make their club proud.

5.       You will get access to the NatB team’s private communication platform and enjoy your new friend like a family.

6.       You will be invited to regular pre-race strategy meetings, every Friday before an oncoming race.

7.       You will have direct access to experience and knowledge of the more experienced team members and team support

8.       You will benefit from race support through reserve wheels and bottles/food handed from the road side and recovery nutrition post race.

9.       You will receive post race performance analysis and feedback

10.   You will be integrate part of a great initiative supported by your club, this means you won’t need to volunteer elsewhere.

11.   You will receive a set of club kit to ensure you look like part of the same team

12.   You have made a big step towards racing at highest level, quite a few previous riders developed well enough to be offered contracts by semi-pro teams whilst riding for the NatB team.

The Dulcie Walker NatB Race: Another day out as DS with the team

Directeur sportif - you organize the race-calendar, sign up the squat for the race, ensure you send the team, motivate them the night before the race, drive out there and pin their numbers on, hand them bottles and gels when they need feeding and organize their wheels for the neutral car. Hand them recovery drinks after and of course take as many pictures as possible, for sponsors and spouses. It is fun but also a lot of work.

The fun stops when riders are telling you that they will ride for another team the following year. Great, thanks a lot!

27 August, Surrey League, Parham Park, cat 2/3, 80km

Only my second race this year so far and probably my last race altogether.
My cardio respiratory response has worsened so much that I basically can't go full gas anymore. When I do, i get so deep into the red that I won't recover anymore. Having gone through a whole cycle of medical assessments this summer, including tilt test, Vo2 max exercise test etc, I was told that I am expecting too much and should come to terms with getting older. Holy crapp, is that also the reason why I get stinging pain in the chest and almost faint when I climb three flights of stairs? From feeling super fit and being able to train and race just a year ago to not even be able to train anymore, not to mention racing,  is a bit of an "un-natural" decline which I believe cannot be attributed to progressing aging, alone. Look at the picture, it tells it all, open mouth and feeling shit.

4th Ride-London-Surrey-100, 31.July 2016, 160km mass sportive event

This year an alleged 30,000 or so participants, I was lucky again to be selected through the ballot, although not for the first start group but the third. Bollocks. We had just returned from our fab holiday in good old Germany back home at midnight, then unpacking and rebuilding the bike, so I got to bed at 2:00 a.m. In order to make it in time to the start at 6.05 a.m. at the Olympic Park (28km ride through the entire city) I had had to get up at 4:00 a.m the very latest and leave home by 4:30 the very latest, as the start pens were supposed to close at 5:30.  Of course, I overslept, left home late and had to drill it all the way to the park to have a beating chance to get into my start pen. Despite being late I got in, literally 5mins before the start, rear row of riders. Felt a bit tired, but at least I was properly warmed up and didn't freeze like in previous years. As soon as we had started I realized I made a very very big mistake. Not only that I didn't get anywhere near enough sleep, not the fact that I didn't have a coffee (which I usually must have before anything, otherwise won't function), the worst that should not have happened, shit happened: I didn't go to the toilet! So the pressure built up so much that after more than an hour, just entering the Surrey hills, I had to make a poo-stop at Abinger Hammer. You know what that means, you lose your group, you lose any chances for a good time. The relief on the portaloo was heaven, the wooshing sound of passing follow up groups a total motivation killer. I lost 7:40 through my poo-stop and when I got back on the bike I was totally by myself, no other riders in sight. What was I going to do? Chase on or wait for the next group? So I just rolled a steady pace until I caught some riders who then latched on to my wheel, we caught more riders and soon where a group of like 8 or so riders, some of them getting involved in taking turns. When we got to Leith Hill we caught the splinters of the group ahead of us, dozens of small group and passed so many riders until we got to the core of that peloton. On the final km, up Wimbledon hill we got some good race action, breaking away with two others, charging furiously down and across Putney bridge before getting into the real city. The finale again terrific experience , despite not winning the sprint of that group, at least there was a properly fought finale. This years time was expected crap, with 4:15h possibly around 500th. But still, it was a memorable ride on a beautiful day, getting home with 220km in the saddle.

you can't possibly not have a finale on the Mall

on legendary Box-hill

just passing House of Parliament, 1km to go!

My first race since last October! TMG Horizon Trophy, Buckinghamshire, Elite 1/2/3, 160km

It was not easy. but after 60km into the race I started enjoying it again, until after 140km cramps set in....

Mallorca Camp 2016 (3/3) - When shit happens it usually comes in loads

Day 3 was then the first mountain ride with a larger group. We went up Col de Salva and had another go at Sa Calobra. Unfortunately this turned out to be a rather chilly ride and even on Sa Calobra I did not manage to warm up any more. The downhill back to the Villa was extremely cold and not surprising I felt rather exhausted after this relatively short ride. In the evening at Tolo's I began to feel ill and believe it, ended up with fever and chills and mostly sleepless night. I had man-flu, which in the following days developed into a nasty chestinfection and being back in London there was suspicion it had developed into Pneumonia.
Below are a few shots I took, whilst being a sick tourist on this lovely island.

Mallorca Camp (2/3) - When you think its all Shit then you might begin to realize it really is

Day 2 was meant to be a nice long group ride with both teams, flat and fast for 150km.
Again it was cold, but at least the first 2 hours of the ride we enjoyed a bit of sunshine.
On the return leg for some reason we entered country lanes that seemed to be rather muddy (probably manure) and slippery and ouch, that was that. Slipped in a curve, fell onto my ever so sore knee and hip and elbow that I had fallen on seven times in 2015. Immediately I knew that this was to compromise my stay on Mallorca. My road-rash tends to take about 2-3 weeks to heal, these days.

Mallorca Camp 2016 (1/3) - Finally we found winter, only where we expected it the least...

We arrived on a sunny and blue-skyed Saturday afternoon, a mixed group of 6 Dynamos and 6 Praetorius riders heading for a large villa near Port Pollensa.
Unfortunately, it was too late to get a ride in on the arrival day.
Even more unfortunate, the following day was grey, wet, cold and miserable (even worse than winter in London). Some of us still wanted to get out.
So, this was my first ever proper climb since I quit cycling in 1992: Sa Calobra
it basically means 30-40mins of riding continuously uphill, with hairpins and average 8%
(I loved it so much that I did it 3 times in the first 2 days)