Click the links below to see the full report for each race. This page will be updated after each event.
- March 5th, St Helens CRC, Pimbo
- March 19th, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 1, Leicestershire
- March 25th, Tri 122 Teguise, Lanzarote
- March 26th, Battle on the Beach, Pembrey
- April 2nd, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 2, Milton Keynes
- April 2nd, British Cycling XC Series – Round 1, Pembrey
- April 9th, Stafford Road Club, Woodseaves
- April 9th, Ulverston Triathlon, Lake District
- April 22nd, Derek Smith Memorial RR, Halifax
- April 25th, Cheshire Series Event 1, Siddington
- April 23rd, Gran Fondo Conway, Wales
- April 29th, 8th Edition Mallorca 312, Mallorca
- April 30th, Tour of Ayrshire, Kilmarnock
- May 2nd, Cheshire Series Event 2, Siddington
- May 7th, Steve Gutteridge Memorial RR, Siddington
- May 7th, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 3, Bobbington
- May 9th, Cheshire Series Event 3, Siddington
- May 14th, TLI Crit Champs, Oulton Park
- May 20th, Iron Man Lanzarote
- May 21st, Steve Jones Memorial RR, North Wales
- May 23rd, Macclesfield Wheelers RR, Siddington
- May 28th, Maxxis RR, Clieves Hill
- June 4th, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 4, Stratford-upon-Avon
- June 11th, Epic Man Middle Distance Tri, Lancaster
- June 11th, Charlie Betteley Memorial RR, Swynnerton
- June 14th, Great Budworth RR, Cheshire
- June 18th, LVRC National RR Champs, Doncaster
- June 27th, Seamons RR, Siddington
- July 2nd, Buckstone Flanders, Halifax
- July 9th, George Darlington Memorial RR, Clieves Hill
- July 14th, Dave Hitchen Memorial RR – Event 1, Pimbo
- July 16th, LVRC Percy Stallard Event 5, Grimsby
- July 16th, Ironman UK, Bolton
- July 20th, Dave Hitchen Memorial RR – Event 2, Bickerstaff, Lancashire
- Aug 17th, Dave Hitchen Memorial RR, Event 6, Bickerstaffe
- Aug 20th, Monster Middle Triathlon, Cambridgeshire
- Aug 20th, TLI National Championships, North Wales
- October 2017, European Masters Vuelta, Mallorca
March 5th, St Helens CRC, Pimbo
Written By Andy Wright
This was a gruesome day of racing in terrible weather that Roy Holmes, Karl Smith and I would rather forget!
March 19th, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 1, Leicestershire
Written By Andy Wright
This was my first proper race of the season and I knew it was going to be a tough one. The wind was absolutely howling with the highest, most exposed part of the course having a horrible side wind which turned into a block headwind as we turned left onto the next stretch.
Splits started to occur almost immediately as riders struggled to hold the wheels in front. It took a few laps for a break to form and when it did, the lads involved had to work really hard to stay away. I finished safely in what was left of the bunch.
Congratulations on the win to Simon Bridge of MBC and thanks to the Phil Rayner and his team for a great event.
March 25th, Tri 122 Teguise, Lanzarote
Written By Julie Harrison
There was a choice of a long and short course but I opted for the long. The race distances for this comprised of a 2000 meter sea swim, 85 kilometre bike ride with a final 20 kilometre run all taking place in Costa Teguise Lanzarote.
I lined up on the beach with the long course athletes who were starting first, the gun went and off I trotted to the water. When I got to the water’s edge and noticed there were no pink caps (which were the females athletes) around me, I was also aware of the race compare screaming ‘chica chica’ down the microphone. I don’t know why, but I looked behind me and all the other females were still stood at the start line. That’ll teach me not to go to the race briefing there was a separate start of us. Ah well.
The commentator gave us a minute warning for the race start, “okay one minute to go” the minute came and went “okay one minute to go”. He said this five times and when the gun finally sounded it was a relief just to get going. I got in the water and started to hyperventilate for whatever reason, so I had to keep reverting to breast stroke and this continued for the rest of the swim. I exited in 46 mins – a tad slow for me. The bike was completed in 3 hours 20, which would have been five and a half minutes quicker, if the cop controlling the traffic hadn’t decided to stop the traffic, just at the precise moment I got to this particular junction. Ah well.
March 26th, Battle on the Beach, Pembrey
Written By Nick Shaughnessy
The now annual trip down to Pembrey in South Wales is a bit of a trek but this event is so special it’s worth the 5ish hours.
This time with a bit of van trouble, the trip was nearer 7.5 hours. This meant we didn’t get to do a course recce on Saturday and had to head straight to the hotel.
As per the last 2 years we had a function to attend at the hotel. This time it was a wedding which was preferable to last year’s 40th.
Anyway we refrained from indulging in too much alcohol as it was a big day ahead.
850 riders of all shapes and sizes lined up this year. Some serious and some not so serious. I was gridded on the front row due to my previous years finish place.
Once the horn sounded and the race was underway the pace was unbelievable with a tailwind along the beach. Speeds of 25 to 28mph made it tough going and I didn’t manage to make it into the front group. I settled into the second group just before the race came off the beach.
The tailwind along the beach meant a headwind back through the dunes and the forest, in other words a tough day out. One bonus was this year was the driest I’ve seen it. No puddles, no mud, so my brand new ruby slippers and my nice new bio racer kit stayed mostly clean!
After an hour and a half of hard racing I managed to finish 34th overall and 10th elderly person. That’s another front row start next year!
All that was left was the 5 hour drive home and then I get to drive back down next week for the national MTB series!
Off the bike and onto the run – I have been doing some good running training just lately and I was really looking forward to getting a good result on this particular discipline. I was not disappointed and ran really well to a 1.46 split, so the race ended on a high after the debacles before.
April 2nd, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 2, Milton Keynes
Written By Andy Wright
This was a lovely day for a spring bike race. The racing was quick from the start but lots of early season keen riders meant that none of the moves were sticking. A few riders got a very small gap around five miles from the finish and held on to contest the win. I finished near the front of the remaining bunch in a chaotic sprint.
Congratulations to Andy Turner of Element RT on the win and thanks to the Luton CC and the Bird family for putting on another great race.
April 2nd, British Cycling XC Series – Round 1, Pembrey
Written By Nick Shaughnessy
Back down to Llanelli this week for the first round of the MTB national series. No beach racing like last week, this was all the of best MTB riders from across the U.K. and me.
Saturday is practice day. Although I confidently rode 2 of the 3 technical sections one of them quite frankly scared the £&@* out of me!……..I was told it only cost about 5 seconds to take the B line so decided I’d do that.
Sunday morning came and it was time to race. I got a good start and was in the top 15 coming round to the first of the tech sections. I coped easily with the gap jump but shortly after came my nemesis “the root chute”. I skipped it. 5 seconds was nearer 20 and I came out of it miles behind the group.
I was leading. I tried to close the gap but it took all I had to maintain it. I comfortably dealt with the 3rd tech section which was an 18″ drop off a wall into a crater and it was onto the second lap. It went much the same as the first. I tried making up some places on the sections where I could get the power down and on the steep climbs but losing that and more on the one section that caused me problems.
As the race went on through laps 3 & 4, the gaps were bigger between riders so I only lost a couple of places per lap. I ended up in 26th and left thinking about what might have been.
2 weeks to my next race and it’s time to practice, practice, practice, as well as get a block of training in.
Thank God for the light nights and a few days of decent weather hopefully.
Here’s a short clip of the root chute
April 9th, Stafford Road Club, Woodseaves
Written By Andy Wright
This was another good day for racing bikes in the lovely English countryside. The racing was hard from the start with little attacks going in constantly. A small group of riders broke away but they never got a maintainable gap because too many people in the bunch were keen and strong. The race finished with a bunch sprint which was a bit messy and felt a bit dangerous. I finished safely and tired from my efforts.
Thanks to the organisers for a great event and congratulations to Dan Whelan of Onimpex Bioracer on the win.
April 9th, Ulverston Triathlon, Lake District
Written By Steve Stoneman
It is the 3rd time I have competed in this event and woke to a lovely sunny day, not much wind, which is usually a major challenge on the coast road bike course.
The event consists of a 400m pool swim, 18 mile bike leg and a 4 mile run, so is a pretty short event. I entered purely as I have been doing token running due to work commitments, however I have recently been upping my bike training as winter passes, as I really don’t train now during the winter months.
Unfortunately this was the theme of the day regarding my performance. I actually had a decent enough swim exiting the pool in 6min 30, then onto the bike; I have not done any high intensity training on the bike so I knew it would be a shock to the system. However you still hope you can perform above this!
A poor effort averaging 23.5mph – I had nothing in the legs and returned back to transition 3 half minutes slower than previous years and was the best conditions too, so not happy! To lose this amount of time in 18 miles on previous race times was worrying. Ha-ha!
On to the run, and again I wasn’t expecting much, but it far was worse than I thought! Running the 4 miles in 27.55 – a shocking effort!
Finished 23rd overall and 11th Vet.
At least time permitting, I will start pulling back some fitness as spring and summer approach.
Thanks to the organisers for another great event
April 22nd, Derek Smith Memorial RR, Halifax
Written By Andy Wright
The course and conditions for this race are always tough. The wind was really strong and the racing was hard throughout. A lone rider went up the road on lap 2 and stayed away for the win which was impressive given the conditions and strength of the riders in the bunch.
Congratulations to Rich Edwards of Luton CC on the win and many thanks to Halifax Imps for a top event.
April 23rd, Gran Fondo Conway, Wales
Written by Julie Harrison
I did this sportive last year which is organised by Always Aim High Events, as a warm up and training for Ironman Lanzarote and really enjoyed the course so decided to do it again this year.
The day dawned bright and sunny with just a slight breeze. The start of the race is just at the front of Conway castle and the course follows the coast through to Llandudno before heading up into the hills. I set off among the first riders at the front. I kept a steady pace throughout the 104 miles and finished in a time of 7 hours and 9 minutes, this was 10 minutes quicker than last year so I was very pleased indeed.
April 25th, Cheshire Series Event 1, Siddington
Written by Roy Holmes
What a horrible evening for a bike race. The rain was falling, skies very dark plus it was about 4 degrees before the chill effect of the rain. So it was with many layers before the start to try to keep warm. Thankfully it was only a short race of just over an hour, so not long to put up with the cold.
Right from the start Steve Davies from Onimpex raced off the front on his own and I quickly joined him, with Steve’s team mate, another Steve – Jolley this time, glued to my wheel. John Moore made it 4 in the lead group and off we went, never to be caught. The sprint was between me and Steve Davies and I got the win. We were all happy to get back to the changing rooms for a hot cup of tea to warm up.
April 29th, 8th Edition Mallorca 312, Mallorca
Written By Nick Shaughnessy
In a change from our scheduled programming of mostly mountain bike events, this week I am riding my road bike in Mallorca.
All sounds very pleasant doesn’t it?!
Now a few years ago a couple of other mates and I decided to do the Mallorca 312 which used to be a lap of the whole island – 312km hence the 312. We had a couple of punctures and ended up dissatisfied with our time of 10h 50, so the following year 2 of the 5 came back for another crack at it. Another puncture cost us a sub 10 hour ride with a 10:06. ‘Never again’ we said and when the course changed from the full lap we felt that was enough to justify not going back to try and beat our time. Well this year I found myself on the island again while it was on. I had no intention of riding it and until last Tuesday I had not entered the sold out event. The thing is I had re-tweeted something last week and I got a message saying I had won an entry.
So I registered but still hadn’t committed myself fully. From previous experience 312km and 4500m of climbing is not something to be done on a whim but I rocked up at 7am having done no more than a 70 mile ride since last October. The first 100k seemed to pass quickly in the mountains and I didn’t feel too bad. My left knee was a bit sore from a crash a few weeks ago but nothing too worrying. Over the next 100k that sore changed to painful and I was really starting to feel it, my pace slowed and I tried to rest my left leg a bit. At 215km you make a decision, turn left and you complete the 225km option straight on and it’s fully committed for 312km.
Some Danish guy I was with said “why would you turn left?” and we pressed on straight ahead – albeit with significantly less climbing the next 97km were the hardest of all. Grimacing with pain on every uphill and fighting strong headwinds, I struggled to keep my pace over 20mph. For a while I was alone thinking about how stupid I was but then a group caught me and I took some shelter from the wind. Struggling on the climbs I had to grovel a fair few times to stay with it, but I did and eventually made it to the finish 312km in 10h 44m 59s. Finished 90th place out of 4500 starters, some of whom I dare say might have trained appropriately. My body is only just recovering 3 days later. I managed a steady 3 hours today and my knee held up. Time to get a couple of decent rides in before heading back to the UK Mallorca 312… NEVER AGAIN!
April 30th, Tour of Ayrshire, Kilmarnock
Written By Andy Wright
This was the first time I’ve ridden a Gran Fondo event which is an age group timed road race in simple terms. This one was a qualifying event for the Gran Fondo World Championships which are to be held in France this year. Karl Smith and I rode in our respective age groups.
Our two groups started together and I found it really hard to believe that we started so hard and fast when we were going to be racing for 70 miles on hilly terrain with a fierce wind thrown in for good measure. The wind was horrible and caused splits right from the start. Karl managed to get into the front group and I ended up in a little group of five who were all determined to get a good result. In my group there was an Irishman, a German, a Dane, a chap from Jersey and little old me from Wigan! We worked really hard for the 50 remaining miles but had no time gaps information and I didn’t see any distance markers either. This meant that we didn’t know how far behind the leaders we were.
The whole 70 miles of this event were on completely closed roads and every single town and village we went through had hundreds of people spectating, giving lots of encouragement to all the riders. It really felt like being a professional cyclist for a day.
I was absolutely shattered when we finished and knew from the numbers from my power meter on my Garmin computer that I had tried really hard. Karl finished 6th in his age group and I finished 13th in my age group. There were 292 starters of all age categories in the race group. Karl was 33rd overall and I was 73rd overall.
We both qualified for the Gran Fondo World Championships!
May 2nd, Cheshire Series Event 2, Siddington
Report by Roy Holmes
What a difference from the previous week – It was a pleasant evening and dry this time. A larger front group of about 8 or 9 soon formed, however it was a bit disorganised and with a lap to go I put some pressure on through the finish (which is uphill) and split the group so now there was only 4 of us again. Steve Davies, Steve Jolley and Steve Wilkinson were my breakaway companions this time. What is it about riders called Steve? ☺ Down to the sprint again and I took another win from Steve Davies again with Wilko third and Jolley 4th.
May 7th, Steve Gutteridge Memorial RR, Siddington
Written by Roy Holmes
The Siddington circuit was the venue once more for this one. This time I was up against the Over 50 riders, as well as the Over 55’s which to be honest I prefer. A big group of about 9 escaped and we worked very well to establish a good gap. We were never in danger of being caught, so it would be down to a sprint again up the hill at Siddington. This time I could only manage 2nd place to Andy Bennett who is a very strong rider. He won convincingly but I had the consolation of being first Over 55.
May 7th, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 3, Bobbington
Written By Andy Wright
I rode this race last year for the first time and got absolutely mullered! I’ve been training very well and have done quite a bit of specific stuff to cope with the long climb in this event. I knew from the quality of the riders on the start sheet that the race would be hard. We tackled the long climb six times and I made sure that I was near the front to allow myself some sliding room each time. There were a couple of times when I thought I might lose contact because the effort was so intense but I kept digging in and I was really relieved to get over it on the last lap.
Once over it for the last time, I started to think about the finish which would be a sprint for what was left of the group. I felt ok for the remainder of the race and was really well positioned for the start of the sprint with around 200m to go. The sprint started properly with about 100m to go and as I stood up on the pedals to give it a go, my legs absolutely refused to join in! The efforts I’d made to get over the climb had taken their toll and I slipped back to finish 8th in my age group and top 20 overall. Still no points in this year’s series for me but I’m getting closer.
Congratulations to Jason Meyer on the win and many thanks to Richard Coleman and the team for another great event.
May 9th, Cheshire Series Event 3, Siddington
Written by Roy Holmes
Another dry evening and this time I had some work to do. Very early on Steve Wilkinson and John Moore got away and established a good gap. Time to chase. Steve Jolley was again glued to my wheel and came with me as I jumped away from the bunch to try to catch the leaders. Jolley was not feeling too good and could not help me bridge the gap. We made it but it was a tough chase. Once across we worked well and again I took the win. This was becoming a habit – a good one though ☺
May 14th, TLI Crit Champs, Oulton Park
Written by Roy Holmes
This was my first main target for the year and it was held on one of my favourite circuits – Oulton Park. Lots of people fancied their chances for this title and the racing was aggressive from the start, with many attacks and several small groups trying to establish a break. I went with 2 or 3 groups but all were brought back, so with 5 laps to go it was all together and I started to think it was going to me a bunch sprint for the line. But then a guy from Glasgow (don’t know his name) jumped away on the drag to the finish and got a small gap, I jumped across to him and caught him as we passed the lap board saying 3 laps to go.
We both fully committed to work to stay away and we made it to the final lap, still off the front. Into the finishing straight and I jumped right across to the right hand side of the road to get a good gap – help on and took the win. Nice to achieve the first objective of the year.
May 20th, Iron Man Lanzarote
Written by Julie Harrison
This was my 10th Ironman Lanzarote so I knew the course and race logistics pretty well. I kicked off my stay in Lanza with the sailfish 3.8 open water swim which took place in the same location as the ironman would a week later, managed to get round in 1.11 very comfortably despite the huge swells appearing in the sea on the second loop, very happy with that.
The weather leading up to the ironman was variable on the Thursday the wind was mad and I was so glad we weren’t racing that day. Race day dawned and I was feeling confident and rested so it was a complete surprise I didn’t quite perform to the level I wanted to. Swim was fine 5 mins quicker than last year, but I could not quite get going on the bike I just felt flat.
Worked my way around the very hilly hot and windy course and climbed off after 7.30 hours, my longest time yet in Lanzarote. The first 3 miles of the run felt ok then I just blew and started using a run/walk strategy then at 13 miles I started to come around and managed to pick the pace up finally finishing in 13 hours 51. The temperature was a scorching 36 degrees making for tough racing conditions.
I have been over and over in my head trying to figure out what went wrong but have come to the conclusion that it just wasn’t my day, it happens. So onward to the next race which is a new race called epicman watch this space I’ll be back!
May 21st, Steve Jones Memorial RR, North Wales
Written by Roy Holmes
A new circuit near Wrexham was the venue for this one. I wanted to ride this race because this would also be the circuit for my second target for the year – the TLI Road Race Champs in August. The circuit was not hilly but had a few short drags. The wind played a big part with lots of long straight exposed sections.
Like the TLI Crit champs the week before, the racing was aggressive from the start with lots of groups trying to get away but it was really hard to establish any gaps, so into the last of 5 laps of the race and it was still all together.
This sometimes happens, 4 riders just quietly slipped off the front and that was it – everyone let them go. I won the sprint for 5th but I was disappointed not to have made that front group. Anyway it was good to have checked out the course for August. I have some work to do on my fitness if I want to be sure of retaining my title on that course.
May 21st, Steve Jones Memorial RR, North Wales
Written By Andy Wright
This was the first time a new course in Holt, North Wales had been used for bike racing. I travelled down with my racing wife Tony Greenhalgh and his daughter Maisie. The weather was really good and everyone was looking forward to getting going. Karl Smith and I rode in the 45 -54 yr olds race and Roy Holmes rode in the 55 & above race.
Our race had plenty of strong guys in it and I knew it was going be hard going. The attacks started immediately with either me or Karl covering them. Nothing stuck for the first few laps because of the strength of the field but that didn’t stop lots of trying! Karl managed to get in to a move with 4 other guys who all worked really hard together to make it stick. They managed to stay away to contest the sprint for the win. Karl was 3rd overall and 2nd in his age group. I was 9th overall and 5th in my age group. Roy was 5th in his race.
Thanks very much to Keith Jones and the team from GWRT for a cracking event and congratulations to the category winners
Many thanks to Marcus Fluegge for great photos and videos of the whole event
May 23rd, Macclesfield Wheelers RR, Siddington
Written By Andy Wright
I was the only Bott and Co rider at this event. The sun was shining and it was a lovely evening for racing bikes. The race was 3 laps of the Siddington circuit which is 33 miles. These short races always start really quickly with attacks going in from the flag dropping. The first lap was one attack after another and I was doing ok following the ones I thought dangerous. I followed a move near to the finish line and was just about getting to them when I heard the dreaded shout from behind of “HUP HUP HUP!” which usually means that a small group is coming across to you at the speed of light!
They came past me like I was standing still and by the time I’d gathered myself, a wagon and a van had overtaken me and a few others but were stuck behind the leaders (there was no need for the drivers to do this, they were just being impatient)…….by the time the vehicles were out of the way, the front group had disappeared in to the distance.
A group of 6 of us worked really hard to catch them but it took us a lap and a half to do so. 3 riders from the original front group had attacked again and were long gone. We continued to work but the lads we’d caught wouldn’t help so the last half lap was really negative. The sprint was messy and felt a bit dangerous and I think I was about 5th in our little group.
Congratulations to Jim Duffy on the win and many thanks to Ant, Jill & the Macclesfield wheelers for putting on a great event.
Many thanks to James Russell for the superb photos of the event
May 28th, Maxxis RR, Clieves Hill
When I woke up at 6.30am, it was raining heavily which made my heart sink. As the morning went on though it got drier and by the time the race started, it was mild and dry. Karl Smith and I rode this event. It was a British cycling event and covered the 2nd, 3rd & 4th categories with riders from 18 upwards which meant it was going to be hard. The course is grippy and always seems to have the wind blowing.
The race started off with the usual flurry of attacks which make it difficult to settle in to a rhythm. A few little groups clipped off the front of the bunch and as they merged, it was evident that they wouldn’t be caught. This didn’t stop people from trying and the pace was constantly high for the whole race. Both of us finished in the bunch with Karl 25th and me 30th.
Thanks to Paul Woodrow and the organising team for putting on a good event and congratulations to Matt Hallam on the win.
Many thanks to Ste Lally for the photo.
June 4th, LVRC Percy Stallard – Event 4, Stratford-upon-Avon
Written by Andrew Wright
I was the only Bott Cycle Team rider at this event. I rode this race last year and got absolutely mullered! I travelled down on Saturday with my wife and as I drove round the course, I knew it was going to be hard a race again the following day. The course is in a wonderful location in the countryside just outside Stratford upon Avon. It is really grippy all the way round and has 3 climbs, 2 of which are pretty tough when you’re under pressure. The start & finish are at the top of the longest climb with race HQ at the bottom of it. Thankfully, the race was neutralised to the top of the climb for the first time but as soon as the flag went down to signal the start, the attacks began!
The weather was lovely and sunny when I arrived at HQ and I never had a thought that it might rain. When the weather is dry, I and most other riders put a lot more air in our tyres. Dry days would be around 120 psi and wet days would be around 80-90 psi. On the 3rd or 4th lap, it absolutely poured down for about 15 minutes which made the course a bit slippery with 120 psi in the tyres! We had to take the corners very slowly to stay upright for a short while.
A small breakaway group got away from the bunch and worked hard to get a good gap. The pace stayed high in the bunch and the attacks were constant which made it really hard going. I looked behind me the 4th time we went over the finish line and was amazed at how few riders were left in the group! The group got smaller as we went on and at the end, there were only around 15 finishers. I was pretty relieved to finish because I was on my limit and actually thought that we had another lap to do which filled me with dread!
Congratulations to Simon Bridge of MBC on the B category win and huge thanks to Ian Cowan and the team from Solihull CC for putting on such a great race.
June 11th, Epic Man Middle Distance Tri, Lancaster
Written by Julie Harrison
This event was organised by Epic event and was the first time it had been run this year. Unfortunately due to the great British weather, the swim part of what should have been a triathlon had to be cancelled as the river Lune became a raging torrent after heavy rain in the week preceding the event. Fortunately on the day there was no rain just strong wind to contend with.
We were set off on our bikes in number order in two’s every 15 seconds – I had a high number so was set off near to the end. The bike course was 56 miles long and started off in Lancaster then came over 5000 feet of ascent over the trough of Bowland and surrounding villages, so it was a testing but beautiful route. I felt good from the off and tried to keep up a good pace and I averaged my highest power of the year and completed the ride in 3 hrs 30.
Onto the run and I was still feeling pretty good. The route was billed as flat however we had to get up and down some pretty steep steps to get to the flat bit. On the return leg the organisers had placed a sign at the bottom saying ‘welcome to hell’ – they weren’t kidding either! I was quite embarrassed at having to hold onto the hand rail as my legs were threatening to seize up completely. I finished the run in 1.50 and was pleased to learn I had won the Female vet 50 age category.
June 11th, Charlie Betteley Memorial RR, Swynnerton
Written by Karl Smith
The weekend is here which saw Andy and I ride the Charlie Betteley Memorial Road Race. It’s always a superbly run race by Stafford Road Club on the great sporting Swynnerton course. With a winner’s jersey and trophy it always attracts a good quality and large field.
As we set of on a nice morning (no arm warmers for Andy!!) – must be warm or he means business! With it being nice riders started racing hard from the start. We had highlighted Simon Bridge as the rider to watch, and it seemed others were too. Eight riders suddenly had a gap; I decided to cover this and jumped across the 10 second gap. It proved to be a wise move, no Simon Bridge but some quality riders and we were pulling away. But on to the long hill through the finish 50 miles to go Simon Bridge crossed over, to make us 10 and we quickly opened up a good gap.
After a lap, off we were back on the long hill and Andy Prince & Ian Holbrook set a high tempo which sent 3 riders out of the back. After another lap the same happened on this tough climb, so with 2 laps to go, four of us were going for the win – Bridge, Prince, Holbrook and me.
Half way round this penultimate lap on another climb, Bridge attacked and I jumped across to him, two against two. It took a few miles but suddenly Bridge & I started to distance them. Working well together we started up to the finish and the bell for 1 lap to go (10 miles).
As the climb continued up on to the hardest section and Bridge attacked me, I fought hard and got his wheel but he kept pressing on. I would like to say I held him, but no, the gap started to open, by now I was panting so hard I was blowing myself backwards! Over the top he was gone on his way to the win. I battled on and held on to finish second overall and 1st in my age category, with Andy Prince sprinting in for 3rd Ian 4th. Andy finished 17th overall and 8th in his age group.
It had been a hard 60 mile race and Simon proved why so many of us made him the man to watch.
Many thanks to Ade Robinson and the gang from Stafford RC for great day out.
June 14th, Great Budworth RR, Cheshire
Written by Andrew Wright
What a lovely evening and great course for a midweek bike race! Myself and Karl Smith took part in this event – the Derek Smith Memorial Road Race. Even though we are in different age categories, we both rode in the same race (45-54 years of age).
When I looked around on the start line, it was really impressive that so many top riders from the North West had turned up to race. It was obvious that it was going to be fast and tough!
When the flag went down, the hard work started. It was one attack after another and a little group of 4 riders clipped off the front whilst the big guns were all watching each other. A bit further on, another little group including Karl managed to get a bit of a gap. As we turned left on to a reasonably fast section of the course, I decided to have a go at riding across to Karl’s group. My initial effort got me a good gap, but I soon realised that it was going to be very difficult to catch 4 guys on my own.
I got to within about 50 meters of them and died a thousand deaths! I was hugely relieved when I looked behind to see that 3 other riders had pinged off the front of the bunch and were fast approaching. I had to dig deep to get on to the back of the 3 lads and managed to cling on to them until we’d bridged the gap to Karl’s group and I’d caught my breath a bit. I really struggled with the pace for about 20 minutes because I’d gone so far in to the red to get across.
The pace was relentless and I was really struggling. Karl was comfortable and was able to react quickly to the changes in speed and intensity. At the end of the 2nd lap, we managed to catch the original breakaway group at the front of the race. This made 12 of us in the front group in total.
For the whole of the last lap it was one attack after another with the lads who can’t sprint as well as others trying to get away on their own. I was suffering but Karl continued to look good. We lost a couple of riders on one of the harder parts of the course which left 10 of us.
A small split occurred about 3 miles from the finish and that was the end of my reserves. Karl managed to make a big effort to get across to the front guys but this left him empty for the sprint.
Karl finished 5th overall and 2nd in his age category and I finished 9th overall and 6th in my age category.
Congratulations to Andy Turner of Element RT on the win and huge thanks to Paul McGowan and the team from Warrington Road Club for a fantastic event.
June 18th, LVRC National RR Champs, Doncaster
Written by Karl Smith
This Sunday was the National Road Race for vets aged 50 to 55. The LVRC Nationals always attracts the best field of the year. This year the race was in Towcester which is down near Silverstone race track. Having left home at 5am and stopping for breakfast, I arrived with an hour to go before the start – with a nice day forecast all was set for a good race.
With the circuit 4 miles away, once changed into my Bott Cycle Team speed suit I used this as my warm up. On arriving at the start and finish line it was not long before we were off racing with 58 miles to go. Strangely the first few miles were quite steady and after just 4 miles two riders made a little speculative attack. Off up the road they went whilst the rest of us continued along steadily for a few more miles. The two riders were Campbell Noon & Martin Webster and they soon had 1 minute lead. Now the bunch started to race and attack each other, with each attack the leading two’s lead would come down to 30 sec then the bunch would slow for a bit and the gap would go out to 50 /60 sec.
The laps ticked down with this pattern continuing their lead would be 50 sec then 30 then back to 50 and the average speed up at 25 mph on a rolling course and a strong wind blowing. By now a CC Luton rider Rich Edwards (a regular winner around this area) was putting in some big attacks. After one of these attacks a rider called Julian Bray made his move as the bunch slowed, he bridged across to Noon & Webster so 25 miles to go three riders are out front.
The bunch continued to attack, ease then attack again and riders begun to leave gaps. With 10 miles to go Edwards tried again and he dragged about seven riders to open up a 10 sec gap. I thought I had missed the boat but up the hill to the start finish line with the bell ringing eight miles to go the bunch all came back together as I and others tried to bridge across to the seven.
Up front still 30 sec in front Webster lost contact. Now turning into the headwind with seven miles to go I attacked hard and Andy Bennett decided to also have a go. We opened up the gap on the bunch that we needed to continue with the move and we quickly caught Webster and went straight by him. Noon & Bray were now being chased by Bennett and I with only 4 miles to go.
I kept putting in hard turns both hoping to catch the leaders and also to keep us in front of the bunch. As we hit the 1 mile to go board we knew we were racing for the bronze medal, they still had a big enough gap. On the uphill finish Noon took a great win (54 miles in a 2 and for a short while 3 man break) from Bray.
In my Sprint for third place I had got behind Andy and as we got to 200 metres to go I launched my Sprint, I flew past him on his right a pressed hard up to line and Andy sat up with 100 metres to go, third and the Bronze medal for me.
Very happy with my race and third place. Well done to Noon & Bray, great rides.
Also thanks to David Price and his helpers for such a well-run event.
June 27th, Seamons RR, Siddington
Written by Andy Wright
I was the only team member riding this race. The talk in the HQ car park was will it or won’t it rain? Our race was for B group riders 45-49 yrs old & C group riders 50-54 yrs old. I warmed up well on my turbo and was determined not to miss the breakaway group should one form.
The first few miles were fast and chaotic with constant attacks. None of them stuck and as we were about 3 miles from crossing the finish line for the 1st lap, my big mate Andy Bennett told me exactly where he was going to launch his attack and to be sure to be on his wheel when he went……..he attacked exactly where he said he would but have a guess who wasn’t on his wheel when he went?!
As Andy steamed off up the road on his own, I was really annoyed with myself for not paying enough attention when it mattered. I decided that I was going to make sure that I got a really good workout from the race and just kept attacking constantly to see if I could form a small breakaway group. I was joined on most of my attacks by a lad called Mark Fenton who has been a constant breakaway & chasing group partner all season. With about 4 miles to go, I launched myself again but was chased down.
I immediately attacked again with Mark and Ron Plumbley for company and when we looked back, we had a good gap. The 3 of us worked really hard to stay away from the bunch and it was looking more and more likely that one of us was going to win the B group race.
The bunch were catching up pretty quickly as we approached the finish line so I launched my sprint with everything I had left and was lucky enough to take the B Group win!
Huge congratulations to Andy Bennett for taking the overall and C group wins and thanks to Seamons CC for putting on a great event with the best post-race buffet I’ve ever tasted!
July 2nd, Buckstone Flanders, Halifax
Written by Karl Smith
Sunday so Andy and I ride the very tough Buckstone Flanders RR. This course has a 3 mile climb with a 1 in 4 section of 200m just before the finish line, not easy.
With 5 laps to race and the race starting at the bottom of the 3 mile climb, off we went in perfect but very windy conditions. Tony Grassby set a high pace and half way up the climb he and Melvin Hartley started to ride away from the rest of us.
Down the long descent and through the finish, 4 to go Andy punctured shame as he is showing good form. The rest of us raced and I found myself in a group of 4 chasing Grassby & Hartley. It proved a hard chase and took one two and a half laps before we became six. The race was now between us six (Craig Moody, Steve Ellis and Andy Hickin) and not much happened until 2 miles to go, when Ellis launched a strong attack.
The group countered and at the start of the steep descent, the local rider Hartley tried his luck. We were now heading to the steep 1 in 4 ramp and Grassby, the strongest climber of the group made his move. I came up the climb last of the group trying not to go in the red.
Over the top and 600m slight up hill to go and I started to give it everything, the group was spread out due to the ramp but I was quickly passing riders. Inside the last 200m I passed Grassby (he finished 3rd), then Moody (2nd place) and the win was mine – really over the moon for myself and the team.
The event was really well run by Condor Road Club and I will be looking out for this event next season.
July 9th, George Darlington Memorial RR, Clieves Hill
Written by Karl Smith
The George Darlington Memorial RR always attracts a good field and this year was no exception. Riding for Bott Cycle Team was Roy and myself in the over 50s race. On a nice day a full field with 4 national champions in the race, of we went, with me feeling confident after last week’s win.
In no time 4 riders were clear with Roy amongst them. With Andy Bennett, Mark Hammersley and Roy (the other rider was Steve Wilkinson but I did not know that at the time) it was a group I wanted to join. I used the climb to make my move and went full tilt as I wanted at most only a couple of riders to come with me, with Roy up the road. In the end three riders came with me: Steve Blaney Green, Dave Crowley and John Cosgrove. We quickly made the bridge and the 8 of us really powered along for the next 30 miles with the average speed up at 26+ mph.
Into the last ten miles and Blaney Green made the first attack with many more by Bennett, Cosgrove and me but nothing was getting away. Into the last few miles and Crowley who had been strong up the hill each lap found himself on the front and he kept a good pace up so no one attacked. Sharp left and we were on Clieves Hill and half a mile, all up hill to go. Blaney Green made his move and I went with him, side by side we were as the hill steepened I start to edge him. Could it be another win or had we gone too early. Either the latter or two riders were just too good for me but within touching distance of the line first position Hammersley (great win), then his team mate Wilkinson past me, 3rd for me from a quality field, happy.
Roy who has not raced for a month finished 8th. This was a Liverpool Century RC promotion and what an excellent job they did. What a great race!
July 14th, Dave Hitchen Memorial RR – Event 1, Pimbo
Written by Andrew Wright.
This was event 1 of 6 in a series in memory of our big mate Dave Hitchen who was killed by a motorcyclist whilst on his bike. Because the courses are quite short, there can only be 2 racing groups which are under 50 and over 50. This isn’t really a good situation for me because at 48 years old, I’m racing with lads aged 16 upwards! Some of these youngsters are fabulous bike racers meaning that every race in the series will be eyeballs out!
The race started really quickly with attacks from the usual suspects and a breakaway group of 5 formed on about the 4th lap of 10. I decided to try to ride across to the front lads and just about made it before my legs gave up. Another rider came across after me which made 7 of us in total. We worked really hard to fully establish the gap on the bunch and the efforts of getting there in the 1st place and then doing some work put me in real difficulty and I suffered terrible cramps in my calves, to the point where I almost climbed off. I managed to hang on when the big guns started attacking each other in the final laps but could only manage to roll in at the back in 6th place.
Despite the awful pain, I was thrilled to have been involved in the front group and need to thank the “kids” for taking it easy on me!
Huge congratulations to one of my favourite kids, Ryan Pike on the impressive win and thanks to the organisers and to Steve Lally for the photos.
July 16th, LVRC Percy Stallard Event 5, Grimsby
Written by Andrew Wright
A beautiful sunny day and a beautiful part of the world to race bikes in! I warmed up well knowing that this race would be a tough one. The attacks started from the gun and the pace was really high. A few riders managed to escape but all other moves were closed down pretty quickly.
The finish was at the top of a hill that we climbed 6 times. Apart from a few riders up the road, the remains of the bunch came in together for a sprint finish. I had worked really hard throughout the race to try to get in to one of the little escape groups and paid the price for this when I stood up to sprint and my legs firmly said “NO”!!
Congratulations to lads that stayed away because it must have taken a huge effort. Well done to the category winners, Rob Watkinson (A) and Simon Bridge (B). Thanks very much to the organisers for a great event and to Darran Moore for the superb event photographs
July 16th, Ironman UK, Bolton
Written by Julie Harrison
This was my 40th Ironman and I don’t really know how I got here, I started in 1996 just wanting to “have a go” and never looked back really. So, I started the swim on a very wet and miserable morning at Pennington flash situated in Leigh, I completed the 2.4 miles in 1.17 which I was a bit disappointed with but put that to the back of my mind and got on with the 112 mile bike leg. It rained for the first couple of hours but then the sun came out for a beautiful ride around Lancashire, the crowd support was fantastic and before I knew it was back at the Macron stadium for a quick change to the marathon.
I have really struggled with the run for a while and was a bit nervous starting this one but I got into my stride almost immediately and cruised around, I had one of those magical days where it all felt good and so after 12 hours 33 minutes I passed under the finish line in Bolton town centre feeling very emotional and very proud of what I had achieved. I was almost 20 minutes quicker than last year when I finished 3rd in my age group but this year I was 6th! The quality of older women’s ironman racing is amazing, will have to look somewhere to find another gear to keep up.
Bolton Ironkids by Fin age 5 and half
[written by Julie on behalf of her grandson Fin!]
This was my fourth time at the Ironkids event and I must say I am getting very good at them. It rained this year but I didn’t let that bother me as I am very fast in any weather. I was running this with my Gran.
The announcer shouted at us to do the warm up and everyone started doing dances, they looked so funny, I told my Gran I had already done my warm up so I didn’t have to do another but she insisted so I had to jump around like a loon too just to keep her happy. We set off on the 500 meter course which is a very long way on the cobbles streets in Bolton town centre and before long we were finished, I high fived some nice ladies and got my well-deserved medal at the end, can’t wait for next year.
July 20th, Dave Hitchen Memorial RR – Event 2, Bickerstaff, Lancashire
Written by Roy Holmes
A warm and dry evening greeted us all for the second of the Super6 TLI races which was the second Dave Hitchen memorial event.
Myself and Karl Smith would take on the Bickerstaff circuit in the Over 50’s race and Andy Wright would be taking part in the under 50’s race.
Karl got himself into a group of three at the front on the second lap and they were quickly joined by young Thomas Stewart from Liverpool Century – still a junior rider who went straight past the three riders to spend the rest of the race off the front on his own and take a very impressive win.
I found myself in a small group chasing the three riders just in front and still containing Karl Smith so I sat on the back not wanting to give any assistance to catching Karl. Eventually Karl’s group was caught with a lap to go but Karl had another go with ½ lap remaining only to be caught again with 200m to go.
I took the sprint for 2nd place overall which was enough to claim the win in my age category with Karl finishing at the back of the group after a hard night’s work off the front for most of the race.
Next week we will take on the race at the Pimbo circuit in Skelmersdale.
Aug 17th, Dave Hitchen Memorial RR, Event 6, Bickerstaffe
Written by Roy Holmes
Like the rest of the previous 5 events in the series this year we had dry weather for this evening race around the Pimbo circuit in Skelmersdale.
The event was in memory of John Cavanagh, a local rider from Kirkby who rode at the highest level in the UK and was National Road Race Champion in 1983. I raced with John for a lot of my early racing careers and at one point we were in the same team together rider all over the country in top level races. In 2016 I crashed with 200 meters to go in this same race whilst looking odds on the take the win so this year I was determined to do my best to take the trophy.
As it turned out the race was very straight forward, after an steady start and attack from Andy Bennett of the Bioracer team got a gap and I quickly sprinted across to him and we were away. We were joined by one other rider but after a lap he fell back to the bunch and it was just me and Andy out front. We worked well together for around 6 or 7 laps establishing a minutes lead by the time we took the bell for the last lap.
Round to the back straight with ½ a lap to go and Andy stopped working, staying behind me to get ready for the sprint and forcing me to take the lead. I slowed to a crawl to save my energy for the last 200 meters. Andy still refused to take the lead. Into the finishing straight and it’s a finish I know well. 300m to go and we were at walking pace but we had a good lead so there was no danger of us getting caught. 200m to go and Andy cracked and started his sprint. I kicked immediately and we were side by side with 100m to go with Andy ½ a wheel in front. I changed up to my biggest gear and in the last 5m just threw my bike over the line to take the win by the smallest of margins.
After the finish I also discovered the nights win had also secured a win for me in the overall series so I was presented with two jerseys – one for the John Cavanagh race and one for the Super 6 Series overall.
All in all a good nights work.
August 20th, Monster Middle Triathlon, Cambridgeshire
Written by Julie Harrison
The swim of 1,900 meters being in the River Ouse and the start was in a boat moorings, swimming alongside the boats was a bit surreal but I managed to complete this leg without incident in 37 minutes which I thought was a reasonable effort.
The day had dawned bright with very little wind which was in direct contrast to last year. The bike course was very flat but once out onto the Fens, the wind was howling which plays to my strengths as a bike rider.
I averaged 19.6 mph over the 57 miles and got off the bike ready to tackle the run which was 13.7 miles over 8 laps taking in a hill through Cherry Park which was at least 200 yards long.
The first time up felt reasonably easy then the legs started to get heavier as the laps wore on. After 1 hour 55 mins I finished to find out I came 6th overall female and 1st in the 50-54 age group.
Aug 20th, TLI National Championships, North Wales (over 55’s)
Written by Roy Holmes
This was one of my main targets for the year i.e. to defend my title as TLI RR Champion for 2016 and the right to wear National Champion stripes in TLI races.
He event was help on the outskirts of Wrexham in North Wales on a flat but challenging circuit around 9 miles round. Race distance was 67 miles so it was going to be a tough one as this is longer than most events for my age category.
A full field of 50 took to the line and immediately after the start 3 riders, including Graham Balshaw who had won several events already this year from long breaks, went off the front and establish a good lead of a couple of minutes. I was very happy with this as the bunch just rode steadily so I would get a good 15 miles done with no stress.
With 4 laps to go I tried to split the field and get another group off the front but we were chased down. This effort did have the effect of bringing the leading 3 back to the main bunch so it was altogether with 3 laps to go. More attacks from lots of different riders followed over the next 2 laps but with 1 lap to go it was still altogether and it was starting to look like a bunch sprint for the title.
Then just after we had started the final lap two riders, Graham Balshaw (again) and Nick Giles got a small gap and I jumped across to them and looked back to see the bunch had slowed so this was our chance. One more rider, Kenny Grey made it across to us making 4 of us in the lead with ½ a lap to go. We worked well to establish more of a gap as we knew this was the best move of the day and that we could stay away.
Strongest rider of the 4 of us was Nick Giles from Wrexham and he was really pushing the pace to make sure we did not get caught. Just before the 1 km to go sign Nick attacked up a short rise but we were all ready for it and it was the four of us that would fight it out for the title with 1km to go.
At 500m to go Graham Balshaw started his sprint. I’m sure he thought the finish was closer and his legs were dead from his earlier efforts but I stayed behind him as he started to slow, wanting to leave my sprint as late as possible for the up hill finish.
Past the yellow flag indicating 200m to go I was still behind Graham and keeping an eye on Nick and especially Kenny, who I thought would be the one to beat in the sprint.
100m to go and I kicked hard and changed up a gear. 50m to go and I looked round to see no one else had reacted and I had a good gap. One final push and the title was mine again – YES. National Champion again for 2017. Nick was second and Kenny third.
This was to be my final race of the season and a fantastic way to finish the year – bring on 2018
Aug 20th, TLI National Championships, North Wales
Written by Karl Smith
On a perfect morning for cycling, I joined 40 other 50 to 54 year olds hoping to become the Tli Cycling National RR champion.
The race was to be 68 miles with a finish of the circuit on a private road. After a quick briefing of we went. Probably with it being so nice we did not set off at too high a speed.
But after a couple of miles, some started to try their luck and in trying to start a break. After only six miles I had a dig and was joined by Mike Twelves (a former milk race team member of mine), Andy Bennett (a multiple winner this year) and Paul Thursfield (a recent winner in Belgium). We quickly opened up a gap and soon pushed up the average speed to 25mph. After 36 miles we were joined at the front by four more riders (I later found out that it was a group of nine that had chased us down, that split just a few miles before they caught us). The four where Rich Edwards (multi. national champ), Dave Williams (ex Pro and current champion), Mike Harrison (a strong rider) and Mark Hammersley (another multiple winner this season).
For the next few miles we worked as a group but the fireworks were about to start. This was a top class group and as such things would start to happen – attacks, more attacks and counter attacks. They started with two laps go (18 miles). Rich Edwards was the main attacker and the group kept splitting into two riders chased by two chased by four, then a regroup. After a lap of this and with the bell sounding one lap to go Thursfield and me could not make it back onto the group after yet another Edwards attack. Six left up front and they kept up attacking. Edwards and Mike Twelves finally got a gap and in the sprint Twelves won a great race with Edwards second.
In the sprint for bronze Williams got the better of Harrison, Hammersley and Bennett, with Thursfield taking 7th myself 8th.
It had been a great championship organized by Graham Weigh and his team of helpers from GWeigh Cycle Team.
What a great years racing I have had with my Bott and Co. Cycle team, thanks to all our sponsors and Andy for running the team. Off on holiday now.
October 2017, European Masters Vuelta, Mallorca
Written by Steven Stoneman
I just returned from the European Masters Vuelta a Mallorca. This is an event for UCI Masters category riders so this is for any category of rider Elite, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Cat riders who haven’t been professional for at least 2 years who are over 30 years of age. Then its split into 30-40 then 40-50 age groups, so you can imagine it’s a very high standard of rider.
The format is racing over 5 days so is a tough week. It consists of the European Road Race Championships on the Monday then a 4 day stage race from Tuesday to Friday.
The event has been running for 20 years now and I won this event both the Euro Road Champs and Tour of Mallorca 18 years ago this week and a lovely prize of a 3 week Caribbean holiday.
I haven’t really trained or raced this year as I have had a busy year with new job along with my Wife’s work being long hours struggled with child care and I also have had a niggling hamstring and hip injury. So end of July towards the end of summer I was ready for some good training as the injury eased to target the TLI Road Champs. Unfortunately this didn’t go well as I picked up a chest infection so that event was aborted. So to Majorca it was.
I continued to train following my illness an wasn’t feeling too bad so spent 5 weeks up to the event with specific training including longer rides, hill intervals and turbo (like to old days.) and finished my build up with a 80 mile sportive in North Wales with 8000ft of climbing and average 17mph so was happy with that, so all things considering I was not in bad shape (albeit a little overweight..) but we’ll ignore that. I’m happy considering no real focus this year.
There were 120 riders at the event from all over Europe including Ukraine, Belarus. We have to race in 1 event 30-50 age group and being 48 I’m at the thick end of old. The event had been dominated recently by the Brits and this year no exception with 4 very well drilled UK teams, bit of a shock for me how professional they were along with some very strong German and Spanish riders.
Anyway Monday was the 65 mile Euro Champs on a flat circuit in S’Arenal, the speed was very high touching 38mph. So due to these teams there was very little opportunity to get away but of course being me I did have a few goes, surprising myself with how good my legs were, must be the sunshine. I made a last ditch attempt 2 miles to go touching 36 mph on my own but I was caught 1500m to go and finished 51st. With a 28 mph average for 65 miles I was happy that I could mix it with the younger guys and never out of the top 20 of the bunch.
Tuesday was the start of the Tour of Majorca this was a 64 mile stage in Cala D’Or a very grippy course with two climbs and tricky parts through little villages and tricky finish area. Again feeling good all day but still very difficult to get away as the teams controlling the front being on my own had to just follow and hope I could get a position. Again super-fast with a 25.6 mph average with 3200ft of climbing too. I made the front split with two laps to go as one of the UK teams drilled it up the climb so ended in a bunch sprint of maybe 30 guys I finished 21st on the stage.
Wednesday was a 65 mile stage in the hills of Majorca with the climb of Lluc to be tackled after 50 miles. I was feeling better with every day so again the race was controlled right up to the climb, but it was pretty hot this day and for some reason starting feeling a bit iffy on the climbs before the big climb so hit the climb too high in my rev range and overheating a bit, I was dropped on the climb, I recovered near the top but was too late then and finished the stage 6 minutes down on the winner, again I average 24mph with 3900 ft. of climbing.
Thursday was very wet fortunately it was only an 8km time trial. Again had pretty good legs and showing no fatigue at all I whizzed round in 10min 39 with 3 dead turns and wet roads so a 25.5mph average finishing 30th out of maybe 100 guys by now.
To the 4th and last stage, again a grippy but fast 65 miles of course by this point one of the UK teams was in yellow so I predicted a bunch sprint. Again I had no fatigue at all and felt as fresh as the 1st day, I stayed near the front up the climbs and with 10 mile to go was a very difficult main road climb near the top saw myself in the top 5 so I launched an attack and took a Spanish guy with me, I was going great pushing 30mph into a headwind and blew the bunch into 3 groups, but was chased down by the yellow jersey team even though I was 7 mins down on GC. But they took their time catching me.
5 mile to go was near 40mph to the finish I stayed at the front but lost a couple of placings running into the finish with a roundabout with 150m to go madness. Anyway I finished 15th on the stage again super-fast at 27.6mph average for the stage.
I’m very happy with the legs even though one of the oldest and fattest there. I was sticking it to them at times with very little training compared to some of these guys. Next I will be more confident in my ability so even though I’ll be nearly 50 they better watch out.