Monday 26 September 2011

Bridlington CC Open Hill Climb V491 Flixton Brow

Today i was hoping to get my first open hill climb win but it was not to be. It was going to be a long day as i was also doing the Scarborough Paragon club event in the afternoon. The Brid climb is mostley just a long steep climb which you can see just about all the way to the top. It had rained in the morning so the road was wet and there was a head wind.



I rode the fixed bike again but this climb was a lot more suited than last weeks. I felt good until the last 30meters of the steep section of the climb and the legs just seemed to lock up. As i crested the hill the wind hit you straight in the face so trying to get the speed up on the false flat was tough. I knew i had gone slower that last year but hoped that was down to the wind.

So second it was going to be today as a Brid rider powered up the climb after me and took the win.

Top 3
1. Miles Flather Brid CC 3:15.73
2. Me 3:32.18
3. David Thompson Scarborough Paragon 3:35.7





Then it was over to the Scarborough Club event in Hackness. This event is going to be an open event next year. The climb has 3 step haipins in it and a good gradient all the way to the top. It is tree lined until you reach the last 200m. There was a lot of leaves on the road and it was very wet but i knew this was going to be a climb that i would enjoy riding and it was ideal for the Fixie.

Top 3
1. Me 2:48.61
2 David Thompson 2:53.61
3.Chris Turner 3:05.06


This is going to make an excellant open event next year and is one i will definatly be doing again.

Thanks to Bridling Cycling Club and Scarborough Paragon for putting on 2 great events.

Sunday 18 September 2011

ABC CENTREVILLE HC J9/11

Another sunday another hill climb. Today i was doing a new climb. Rode out to check it out in the week and thought on my recce run that it was fairly hard. So i got there early today as i wanted to ride up it on my fixed bike to see if this was the way forward. I have to say that it felt prity easy so i thought that the gear was probably a bit to low but didn't have the one i needed but decided to stick with the fixed and ride that.
The start so i thought was flatish for about 200 meters so new that i would lose time here but riding fixed is a compromise. I finished my warm up in the car park at the top of the climb. Then rode down. This is where i realised i had made a big mistake. The start was actually a further 300/500m further down the road which was prity flat so new i would lose a bundle of time but thats life.

I felt good today even tho i knew that i should have used my geared bike. Once i was on the hill proper the fixed bike rode like a dream. The tubs felt good and the cadence was good and high. My finish time was 8:53.8 in 7th place. The winner was Dan Evans (Rhos on sea CC) with 7:57.5. The start cost me a good chunk of time but it would have only moved me up 1 place but was happy with the fixed.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Buxton CC Hc Long Hill Sept 11th 2011

So today was Buxton cc open hill climb. A dry run for the national later on in the year. This is a climb i haven't been up before so on arrival i got kitted up for a slow ride up the climb to check it out. On reading a few reports on the climb i was expecting it to be flattish but the gradient is not to bad. It will defiantly but a strong testers course. The wind was a head wind for most of the climb which meant speeds would be down on last years time's. The climb is roughly about 4.5miles long with a gradient of about 3%average.

The hq was Whaley Bridge bowling club which has a very large car park which is needed as there is very little parking on the climb and only a few viewing spots so i think that crowds will be sparse at the national.
I felt that my warm up was ok but was still unsure how i was going to tackle the climb. I was on my road bike but i did where my tt helmet. I had planned to keep my cadence above 95rpm and try and keep an average speed of between 28/29kph.

I started ok and quickly got into a rhythm with a good cadence and the speed i was hoping for. Certain sections had a terrible head wind and the speed did drop. There is one slight down hill section but the headwind was so bad i was actually going slower than on some of the uphill section's. After this section you turned to the left and hit the only tail wind and it felt good to get the speed going again. Even tho i had been up the climb once i was a little unsure how far to the finish from here so just keep ed it going but this is were you really need to push on and i didn't quite do this. At the finish i averaged 27kph so was semi pleased but felt i didn't give it 100%.

My finishing time was 15.57.1 in 20th place.
Winner Tejvan Pettinger 13.49.3
Total starters 70

http://connect.garmin.com/activity113483595

Thanks to Buxton CC for putting an excellent event on.

Monday 5 September 2011

Glossop Kinder Velo Hill Climb (Snake Pass)

My first open hill climb of the year. I did this race last year and really enjoyed it as this is one of my favorite climbs. Conditions this year were ideal as it was mild and very little wind. A stark contrast to last years head wind. The event had 50 starters, 20 up on last year.
Some big hitters had made the trip to glossop. Peter Tadros, James Coleman and Dan Evans as well as a few of the Blackburn Ctc and Buxton Cc lads. Myself and Paul Smith from Huddersfield Star Wheelers. My warm up went well but a problem with resetting my garmin didn't help me go of with a clear head. I am the sort of person who needs everything to go well or it just lets the negative thoughts enter my head.
I felt my pacing was good all the way up the climb and my cadence was around the 88 to 90rpm mark and my heart rate was a consistent 185bpm. I finished with a time of 14:47.1 and 11th place.
I was a little disappointed with my finishing position but it gives me a platform to work from and close down on the people in front for the national.
1st Peter Tadros 13.19
2nd Dan Evans 13:27:2
3rd James Coleman 13:34.2