I am quite thankful to have taken today off, because I feel totally wrecked; last night at Palace was very hard indeed.
It has been a while since I have raced at Palace. Despite the successes I've had since my last outing at the circuit, I was still a bit anxious before the race; Crystal Palace is a special circuit that demands respect. Add that to a restless sleep the night before and too much coffee to try to compensate, I wasn't feeling my best.
My goal for the race was simple enough: stay in the pack until the finish, the "stretch target" being to contest the sprint. I wanted to race aggressively and test myself. Having ridden 98km solo in a sportive on Sunday in 3:18 and having recovered well, I was feeling confident to try shaping the race a bit rather than just hanging on.
The race was quick right from the start with a lot of jostling for track space. It was probably the second lap when a Dynamo rider made an attack on the hill - seeing he was getting clear, I decided to join him. It was clear he was a strong rider and working together we stayed away for three laps. That said, we both soon realised we were killing ourselves with little chance of staying away, so we rolled back into the group.
I stayed pretty much at the front of the group from then on. When the E/1/2 groups came by, the front of our group splintered with a few attacks, but none came to much and despite a few breakaways (some that I got into), the group remained together for the final sprint.
I was sitting pretty at the front for the women's bell lap, two before ours, but at the start of our penultimate lap the pace increased and I found myself uncomfortably in the middle running into the sprint. Boxed-in I had nowhere to go; the riders ahead started sitting down well before the line. In all honesty through, my legs were pretty cooked by this stage so not sure how much difference this would have made.
All in all a great evening. I am thoroughly knackered through, but it was well worth it to tick the "goal achieved" box. The last race of the year is next week, I just hope the weather is as glorious as it was last night.
Showing posts with label Crystal Palace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crystal Palace. Show all posts
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Getting into the Palace groove
I feel really good.
Racing is funny sometimes. It usually takes you to great highs or monumental lows, but rarely does it leave you feeling quietly satisfied. Today is one of those rare occasions.
Don't get me wrong - I don't do this for quiet satisfaction. I do this for the extremes - but still, a day like to today is rewarding and is far preferable to a kick in the teeth.
Following my friend Andrew's advice, I got myself a nice spot at the front for the start - got off quickly enough and found myself lapping fairly comfortably within sight of the front of the group - spot on! All previous nervousness with the corners was replaced by an easy flow, if a bit of frustration with other riders slowing up too much. In those opening laps, this meant bursts out of the corners to stay in touch that nudged up my heart rate. This would have been OK if it were not for the rapid increase in pace, and one particular acceleration up the hill that had me hitting the red.
Within a lap I went from comfortably riding near the front to hanging on at the rear. I hung on for a few laps in this way, but the concertina effect of only being able to take the corners as fast as those ahead of me meant that the repeated accelerations were kept bumping me back into the red and I was battling to hang on. Inevitably one fast run up the hill unhooked me, leaving me in no mans' land.
Alone I was making good, smooth progress, and surprisingly not losing too much to the group, but it was hard work. Our 3/4 race had split fairly early on, and the second group was quite far down the road - waiting for them wasn't an option. Trying to get back in was. A lap later, another Dulwich rider fell off the back. I caught him and we worked together for a while until gradually a group formed with others who had suffered the same fate as us.
From there on it was a fairly easy race - the pace wasn't too hard, but it was nice and quick. But importantly it was more all important track time, and I felt like I was starting to get Palace under my skin.
Overall, it felt like a good test. The legs were good, but I know where I need to do some work. Everything felt like it was coming together.
Thursday I plan to race at Hog Hill - it sounds like it should be a lot of fun but, more importantly, good training.
Thanks for reading my blog - and watch this space for news on The Hill.
Racing is funny sometimes. It usually takes you to great highs or monumental lows, but rarely does it leave you feeling quietly satisfied. Today is one of those rare occasions.
Don't get me wrong - I don't do this for quiet satisfaction. I do this for the extremes - but still, a day like to today is rewarding and is far preferable to a kick in the teeth.
Following my friend Andrew's advice, I got myself a nice spot at the front for the start - got off quickly enough and found myself lapping fairly comfortably within sight of the front of the group - spot on! All previous nervousness with the corners was replaced by an easy flow, if a bit of frustration with other riders slowing up too much. In those opening laps, this meant bursts out of the corners to stay in touch that nudged up my heart rate. This would have been OK if it were not for the rapid increase in pace, and one particular acceleration up the hill that had me hitting the red.
Within a lap I went from comfortably riding near the front to hanging on at the rear. I hung on for a few laps in this way, but the concertina effect of only being able to take the corners as fast as those ahead of me meant that the repeated accelerations were kept bumping me back into the red and I was battling to hang on. Inevitably one fast run up the hill unhooked me, leaving me in no mans' land.
Alone I was making good, smooth progress, and surprisingly not losing too much to the group, but it was hard work. Our 3/4 race had split fairly early on, and the second group was quite far down the road - waiting for them wasn't an option. Trying to get back in was. A lap later, another Dulwich rider fell off the back. I caught him and we worked together for a while until gradually a group formed with others who had suffered the same fate as us.
From there on it was a fairly easy race - the pace wasn't too hard, but it was nice and quick. But importantly it was more all important track time, and I felt like I was starting to get Palace under my skin.
Overall, it felt like a good test. The legs were good, but I know where I need to do some work. Everything felt like it was coming together.
Thursday I plan to race at Hog Hill - it sounds like it should be a lot of fun but, more importantly, good training.
Thanks for reading my blog - and watch this space for news on The Hill.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Crystal Palace
London traffic is bad enough. Driving into London in rush hour is never a great idea if you want to get to your destination quickly. So you can imagine how much it added to my nerves when I tried to get from work (Essex) to Crystal Palace (South East London) for a Tuesday night race with a tail-back on the A13 near Tilbury due to a snarl up on the Dartford Crossing (the notorious M25) and further queuing traffic one the same road closer to town due to a broken down car in the Blackwall Tunnel. After a few more hold-ups due to accidents and several wrong turns I was ready to pack it in for a bad job and head home.
But I figured that it would make sense to at least get a flavour for the circuit as a spectator, and familiarise myself with the route there, so I plodded on. On arriving in the car park at nearly 19:00 on the dot I noticed that the Juniors were still racing - perhaps I could still make it.
I got dressed as quickly as possible, and got the bike together while keeping an eye on the Juniors who thankfully kept circulating at race pace. Excellent. A friendly marshall directed me to the sign on desk and soon I was hurriedly pinning my number on with nervous hands.
I barely had time for a quick leak before rolling out onto the track for the first time to suss it out. I was hoping for a few laps to get a feel for it, but basically I got two circuits in before we all stopped at the line. I'd had enough time to work out that the corner at the bottom of the hill would take some learning, but otherwise thought it would be a nice, if demanding, circuit.
The pace was quite quick right from the get-go. Wanting to keep out of trouble while I got used to the track I decided to hang back; in retrospect a bad idea on such a narrow and technical track.
The Cat 3/4 group rapidly became quite strung out, and I found that I was battling through the corner at the bottom of the hill (originally Fisherman's Corner of the pre-war race track) and, to a lesser extent, the hairpin at the end of the start-finish straight. Fisherman's corner is a blind double apex with a huge bush/hedge at the apex which effectively makes the exit completely unsighted. I found approaching the corner at 50+km/h can be quite unnerving, especially as I was unsure of the appropriate entry speed or correct line. These will come with time, but last night it meant I lost ground every time through the corner which I had to make up on the climb back up to the start-finish straight.
The climb, previous known as The Glade, is mean. It is long and steep enough for you to know about it, and you need more than momentum to get up it. So playing catch-up on every lap up this drag really didn't help at all.
After a few laps I was dropped, but I kept the hammer down knowing that some of the weaker climbers would succumb and I'd have a few riders to work with. And so they did, but one of the guys seemed more intent on making pointless attacks to hurt the rest of us rather than working together. Eventually he attacked too hard and dropped himself. The rest of us never really got to cooperating properly and so splinted until eventually I was solo for the last few laps.
So overall, a hard outing on a wonderfully demanding circuit. This is the criterium racing that I've dreamed of since I was a teenager with a silly tan. I'm sure my racing will improve; I just need to learn the circuit, and work on my bike handling. A bit more proper time on the bike, like the hill hunting ride my mate Paul and I did on the Bank Holiday, can't hurt either.
I can't wait for next Tuesday, hopefully with less travel chaos so I arrive calmer, and some get return on the saddle time I plan to put in over the next few days. Of course, it should also set me up nicely for the Smithfield Nocturne which is now a week and a half off.
Onward!
Bonus blog inclusion: Crystal Palace, from the saddle of the Ribble
In the Pre-War period, Crystal Palace Park was also a motor racing circuit. Motor racing ceased in the late 1960's, but much of the original circuit remains. The cycle circuit uses part of the original Pre-War infield track that loops around the fishing lake.
On a bicycle, the lap starts easily enough on the straight on Terrace Straight (top right of the map) roughly level with Pond Hairpin in what is the wrong direction for the original track. The tarmac of this straight must be pretty old because it is quite broken, but is perfectly rideable and adds character.
The Link is now configured the other way around from the original and is fairly quick, but also fairly straightforward once you've sussed it out; only a little bit of broken tarmac at the entry makes it more interesting.
Out of The Link, it is a fast run to Pond Hairpin, which is fairly sharp but drops off viciously at the apex making line choice important - thankfully it is smooth. Because we are going the wrong way, Fisherman's Rise is a fast, full speed, meandering descent which leads down to the blind, double apex corner called Fisherman's Bend.
At the bottom of the hill Fisherman's Bend kinks and then disappears left behind a big fat bush/hedge that completely blocks the view of the exit as well as the large tree and grassy drop-off that wait to punish. This corner spooked me, but I'm sure will become easier as I learn it. I think it is much like T1 at Zwartkops in that sense.
Next up is Fisherman's Bend, a lovely double apex, decreasing radius which drops away to start with, but then lifts up, and can be taken pretty much as fast as you can arrive at it - which is great because it leads onto The Glade - a hard climb back up to the start-finish straight.
But I figured that it would make sense to at least get a flavour for the circuit as a spectator, and familiarise myself with the route there, so I plodded on. On arriving in the car park at nearly 19:00 on the dot I noticed that the Juniors were still racing - perhaps I could still make it.
I got dressed as quickly as possible, and got the bike together while keeping an eye on the Juniors who thankfully kept circulating at race pace. Excellent. A friendly marshall directed me to the sign on desk and soon I was hurriedly pinning my number on with nervous hands.
I barely had time for a quick leak before rolling out onto the track for the first time to suss it out. I was hoping for a few laps to get a feel for it, but basically I got two circuits in before we all stopped at the line. I'd had enough time to work out that the corner at the bottom of the hill would take some learning, but otherwise thought it would be a nice, if demanding, circuit.
The pace was quite quick right from the get-go. Wanting to keep out of trouble while I got used to the track I decided to hang back; in retrospect a bad idea on such a narrow and technical track.
The Cat 3/4 group rapidly became quite strung out, and I found that I was battling through the corner at the bottom of the hill (originally Fisherman's Corner of the pre-war race track) and, to a lesser extent, the hairpin at the end of the start-finish straight. Fisherman's corner is a blind double apex with a huge bush/hedge at the apex which effectively makes the exit completely unsighted. I found approaching the corner at 50+km/h can be quite unnerving, especially as I was unsure of the appropriate entry speed or correct line. These will come with time, but last night it meant I lost ground every time through the corner which I had to make up on the climb back up to the start-finish straight.
The climb, previous known as The Glade, is mean. It is long and steep enough for you to know about it, and you need more than momentum to get up it. So playing catch-up on every lap up this drag really didn't help at all.
After a few laps I was dropped, but I kept the hammer down knowing that some of the weaker climbers would succumb and I'd have a few riders to work with. And so they did, but one of the guys seemed more intent on making pointless attacks to hurt the rest of us rather than working together. Eventually he attacked too hard and dropped himself. The rest of us never really got to cooperating properly and so splinted until eventually I was solo for the last few laps.
So overall, a hard outing on a wonderfully demanding circuit. This is the criterium racing that I've dreamed of since I was a teenager with a silly tan. I'm sure my racing will improve; I just need to learn the circuit, and work on my bike handling. A bit more proper time on the bike, like the hill hunting ride my mate Paul and I did on the Bank Holiday, can't hurt either.
I can't wait for next Tuesday, hopefully with less travel chaos so I arrive calmer, and some get return on the saddle time I plan to put in over the next few days. Of course, it should also set me up nicely for the Smithfield Nocturne which is now a week and a half off.
Onward!
Bonus blog inclusion: Crystal Palace, from the saddle of the Ribble
In the Pre-War period, Crystal Palace Park was also a motor racing circuit. Motor racing ceased in the late 1960's, but much of the original circuit remains. The cycle circuit uses part of the original Pre-War infield track that loops around the fishing lake.
On a bicycle, the lap starts easily enough on the straight on Terrace Straight (top right of the map) roughly level with Pond Hairpin in what is the wrong direction for the original track. The tarmac of this straight must be pretty old because it is quite broken, but is perfectly rideable and adds character.
The Link is now configured the other way around from the original and is fairly quick, but also fairly straightforward once you've sussed it out; only a little bit of broken tarmac at the entry makes it more interesting.
Out of The Link, it is a fast run to Pond Hairpin, which is fairly sharp but drops off viciously at the apex making line choice important - thankfully it is smooth. Because we are going the wrong way, Fisherman's Rise is a fast, full speed, meandering descent which leads down to the blind, double apex corner called Fisherman's Bend.
At the bottom of the hill Fisherman's Bend kinks and then disappears left behind a big fat bush/hedge that completely blocks the view of the exit as well as the large tree and grassy drop-off that wait to punish. This corner spooked me, but I'm sure will become easier as I learn it. I think it is much like T1 at Zwartkops in that sense.
Next up is Fisherman's Bend, a lovely double apex, decreasing radius which drops away to start with, but then lifts up, and can be taken pretty much as fast as you can arrive at it - which is great because it leads onto The Glade - a hard climb back up to the start-finish straight.
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