As we come to Christmas it brings to the end a long season, with characteristic ups and downs.

Its been the first season of the new SSLL racing team, proudly supported by lead sponsors and SSLL Business owners Simon Fearnley & Keith Davey who have been strong advocates of ‘giving something back’ to grass roots sport.  The support given to the teams riders has been immense to ensure they have been able to focus on the sport to the best of their ability, and compete with the best utilising the best technology and kit.

On the cycling side the team have been fantastically supported by the below.

From a team perspective I am really proud to be associated with a  great bunch who have achieved some stellar results…

1. Over 50 Open race wins & multiple course records
2. World record – Masters 1hr Women’s            Clarry Chunghouse
3. National Silver Medal – Men’s TTT                  Andy Jackson / Jon Wears / Ali Wareham
4. Winner CTT Junior BBAR                                    Eugene Cross
5. CTT Junior Champion of Champions              Eugene Cross
6. Silver CTT Junior National 25                            Max Mcmurdo
7. Scottish Junior National 25 Champion          Max Mcmurdo
8. Age Group 10m record                                         Simon Beldon
9. Age Group 25m record                                         Simon Beldon
10. Winner Yorkshire Short BAR                             Andy Jackson
11. Winner Yorks Junior BAR                                    Eugene Cross
12. Winner Yorks  Short team BAR                         Andy Jackson / Joel Wainman / Jon Wears
13. 40-49 Age Group winner National 50             Andy Jackson
14. UMCA 6hr World Championships Winner     Andy Jackson
15. Circuit Champs Age group winner                   Simon Beldon
16. Winner Yorkshire SPOCO series                       Alastair Wareham
17. Welsh 25 team title                                               Jon Surtees / Andy Jackson / Jon Wears
18. VTTA 30 overall winner                                       Andy Jackson
19. Silver Women’s BUCS 10m                                Sophie Household
20. 4th Women’s CTT BBAR                                     Clarry Chunghouse
21. SSLL racing team were the organisers of the FASTEST 10m TT EVER producing a new Mens & Womens Competition record
22. Various wins overall and age group from Blair Buss, Jon Surtees, Mel Wasley

When its put like that I think we can say a pretty successful first season!

————————————————————————-

Personally it was a season of mixed fortunes for me, with some up’s and a fair few downs.  My season ended well with my main ‘goal’ achieved of winning the UMCA 6hr World Championships in Borrego Springs California.

November 5th – Well mission accomplished! UMCA 6hr World Champion and new course record holder of 145m.
Some UK testers get a bit snobby and look at ‘ultra’ racing as some odd side line.. but when you see the likes of Christopher Strasser whack out 550m in 24 hrs… a world and by far UK record… in this heat, on a single track, sucky course with absolutely zero traffic you should have renewed respect. Its a fab scene. Some amazing guys and was great to meet a bit of a ‘hero’ of mine in… Marko Baloh who did a great ride for 3rd overall.
Great to meet UK stars Catriona Archer and Jasmijn Muller. Jasmijn, desite having to finish at 19hrs still was 3rd overall. #respect.
Overall I have to be happy considering the start!  3 secs in I snapped my chain. The stupid mechanic (me) didnt put it on properly 😲😲. 6min20 down before we started. Great. But i knew i was on a ride. I did 7 big laps.. averaging 44.40… which meant most were strava KOM laps 😁😁🏁🚲🚲.
The heat was mental 33 degrees average and topping 42 degrees celsius near 2pm!
My helper was amazing! Helen Hall kept me going and a bag of ice down the neck every lap did the job. We had a plan of what to have each lap… Helen had it sorted, ready and was always bang on time… and the screaming at me to pick it up the last laps, when I was still pushing close on 300w was almost funny 😂😂🤔😲🚵
The last hr was a blur… 11min short laps and on 5hrs 52 I was stopped to finish..
It took AGES to get the result but job done. A win by near 4m, despite the small issue of the bloody chain 😂😂

Outside of the above I had a much more disappointing home season against my main targets that were:

1. CTT National TTT – Defend GOLD last year – RESULT Silver – Great team effort!
2. National 50m TT   – equal / better last years 4th RESULT – 7th / Age group win
3. National 100m TT – equal / better last years 4th RESULT – DNF puncture
4. National 25m TT – equal / better last years 10th RESULT – Awful!
5. National 10m TT – equal / better last years 6th  RESULT – DNS Illness

Although I was pleased to record PB’s over

1. 25m – 47:05 – would have been a n illusive ’46’ if I’d not gone round the turn twice!
2. 50m – 1:41:05
3. 10m – 18:11 – 2nd fastest time for me since 2014 PB of 18:02
4. 18 individual race wins from 29 starts

So in reflection?

1. I race too much, my fitness tailed off mid-season and only came back when I started to focus on the end of season goal and stopped racing
2. I am tired of traipsing up and down to boring DC’s on wet Saturday’s to hope for a favourable wind or traffic to gain a few seconds!
3. I like training and riding LONG
   1. To demonstrate this on ‘holiday’ I decided to aim for the ‘Hells 500 High Rouleurs club’ – you climb 10000m in one ride – see write  up posted before High Roulers Club – 10000m in one ride! and that was after completing ‘Everesting’ a couple of years ago … yes you guessed it climb the height of Everest 8848m in one ride.  See write up
      Now for something completely different.. Everesting

So what does all this mean?

Well maybe a change of focus in 2017… I have really enjoyed the longer races and I feel it as a draw, although I am also enjoying loads of swimming at the moment – Great cross training and breaks the monotony of the ‘pain cave’ and @ZWIFT (I am becoming addicted to this bloody computer game!)

Then the really exciting plans come along in 2018,  along with Multiple UMCA world Champion  Chris Hopkinson  at sometime in 2018 we will be racing the 2-man Race Across Europe aiming to smash the existing record
http://www.theraceacrosseurope.com/The_RACE/RACE_Home.html
It looks amazing, taking in some iconic roads and climbs across Europe.
We’ll be going for it so I am honestly not sure I will appreciate it – especially Alpe D’Huez and Ventoux after (probably) 6 days on the go pretty much …non-stop !
We’ll be hopeful for some like minded nutters to come for the ride and help crew with us too…

 

 

SSLL racing team have proved their pedigree and depth this season with a clear domination of the Yorkshire Short Distance and Junior BBAR competitions.

Eugene Cross wins the Junior and Max McMurdo places 3rd

Andy Jackson wins the Short distance with Joel Wainman 3rd and Jon Wears 4th.  This also secures the team victory too.

YORKSHIRE  2016 – JUNIOR (Boy) – 2×10 miles 2×25 miles.

Pos	Rider	Club	10	10	25	25	Av
1	Eugene Cross	SSLL RT	19:15	19:25	49:27	51:59	30.315
2	Nathan Allatt	RN & RM CA	19:23	19:25	51:58	52:40	29.800
3	Max McMurdo	SSLL RT	19:43	19:43	51:23	54:03	29.452
4	Thomas Booth	Birdwell Wheelers	21:16	21:16	1:00:48	1:01:48	26.342

Yorkshire Cycling Federation SHORT DISTANCE CHAMPIONSHIP 2016 – 10/25/50 miles.

Pos	Rider	Club	10	25	50	Av
1	Andy Jackson	SSLL RT	18:11	47:05	1:41:05	31.511
2	Philip Graves	Clifton CC	18:19	46:25	1:42:15	31.471
3	Joel Wainman	SSLL RT	19:01	49:36	1:42:50	30.322
4	Jonathan Wears	SSLL RT	18:55	48:31	1:47:22	30.192
5	Mark Wolstenholme	Team Swift	19:18	51:50	1:45:17	29.507
6	Michael Cross	Yorkshire RC	19:22	51:10	1:47:35	29.394
7	Duncan Mullier	Harrogate Nova CC	19:28	50:54	1:47:38	29.388
8	John Brearley	City RC (Hull)	19:12	51:45	1:48:16	29.315
9	Peter Greenwood	Team Swift	19:51	51:55	1:44:23	29.286
10	Richard Sharp	York Cycleworks	19:14	50:30	1:53:16	29.128
11	Blaine Metcalf	Team Swift	19:55	50:20	1:50:35	29.019
12	Mark Thaxter	HD Revolutions	21:27	49:59	1:43:30	28.989
13	Alex Russell	City RC (Hull)	19:22	52:53	1:49:49	28.888
14	Nick Rogers	Team Swift	19:22	50:46	1:55:39	28.823
15	Dave Bramley	Team Swift	19:46	51:50	1:53:22	28.585
16	Andrew Askwith	Bridlington CC	20:11	53:01	1:49:54	28.439
17	Mark Flannery	Team Swift	21:43	50:31	1:47:24	28.418
18	Jim Trevor	Hull Thursday RC	20:02	53:09	1:50:53	28.409
19	Lawrence Burrows	Team Swift	19:43	51:24	1:58:14	28.329
20	Gareth Metcalfe	Otley CC	20:52	51:26	1:52:20	28.208
21	Richard Dixon	Team Swift	19:05	53:41	1:59:07	28.189
22	Stu Wood	Wetherby Whs	19:42	54:52	1:52:44	28.136
23	Stewart Pickard	Vive Le Velo	20:31	53:19	1:52:16	28.033
24	Daniel Shaw	Halifax Imperial	20:29	53:49	1:52:39	27.932
25	Anthony Ashworth	Wetherby Whs	21:27	52:49	1:49:26	27.929
26	Ian Mitchelson	Albarosa CC	19:46	54:46	1:55:57	27.872
27	Richard Lunt	Rossington Wheelers	21:05	55:07	1:49:14	27.712
28	Neil Skellern	Team Swift	23:22	51:03	1:47:49	27.629
29	Simon Ward	Scarborough Paragon	20:39	54:28	1:54:57	27.565
30	Duncan Gell	Drighlington BC	20:34	53:58	1:57:00	27.536
31	Phil Barnes	Team Swift	20:46	53:41	1:57:04	27.487
32	David Leckenby	Ilkley CC	21:53	54:10	1:56:01	26.990
33	Roy Burne	Team Swift	21:41	54:21	1:57:16	26.951
34	Mark Johnson	Yorkshire Road Club	21:02	55:17	1:59:28	26.924
35	Stephen Dodds	Scarborough Paragon	20:36	56:09	2:01:31	26.843
36	Lee Cairns	Team Swift	20:36	57:41	1:58:15	26.833
37	Steve Gelder	Team Swift	20:07	58:03	2:01:04	26.815
38	Greg Melia	Clifton CC	21:28	56:59	1:55:14	26.769
39	Mark Symons	City RC (Hull)	20:56	56:42	1:59:11	26.763
40	Randle Shenton	Team Swift	22:21	54:09	1:57:08	26.719
41	Matthew Asquith	East Bradford CC	21:01	57:47	1:57:37	26.671
42	Andy Whitehead	Rockingham CC	22:28	54:59	1:55:35	26.647
43	Norman Griffin	Vive Le Velo	20:59	55:18	2:06:08	26.501
44	Gary Rhodes	Drighlington BC	22:04	56:27	1:58:53	26.332
45	Richard Durham	Team Swift	21:08	57:25	2:02:34	26.331
46	Stephen Scott	Elmsall RC	21:47	56:02	2:02:13	26.287
47	Chris Harris	Holme Valley Whs	21:20	57:38	2:02:01	26.246
48	Roger Bromiley	Harrogate Nova	23:48	55:41	1:54:27	26.126
49	John Lancaster	Ravensthorpe CC	21:51	57:33	2:01:44	26.056
50	Ian Galbraith	Drighlington BC	21:36	59:49	1:59:14	26.005
51=	Mark Rowland	Selby CC	20:40	59:54	2:05:19	26.004
51=	Nick Hanson	Seacroft Whs	22:22	57:35	1:59:21	26.004
53	Kirsty Smith	Team Swift	21:44	56:27	2:06:08	25.988
54	Danny Sampson	Selby CC	21:34	58:29	2:02:35	25.981
55	Tony Stott	VTTA Yorkshire	21:51	58:03	2:02:09	25.953
56	Andrew Coulbeck	Hull Thursday RC	21:11	58:24	2:06:23	25.914
57	Walter Wilkinson	Harrogate Nova	21:34	56:22	2:09:10	25.886
58	Ross Burton	Calder Clarion	21:27	58:11	2:06:14	25.839
59	James Grainger	Wakefield CC	21:36	59:07	2:03:41	25.802
60	Karen Taylor	East Bradford CC	22:37	58:10	2:00:30	25.738
61	Richard Walker	Hull Thursday	21:56	56:57	2:08:04	25.707
62	Rich Banks	Calder Clarion	21:11	1:00:30	2:07:32	25.547

So the end of the season has finally come, a really mixed bag of ups and downs.

The season started well with several good results in the Yorkshire Spoco series, which was a target for 2016. This was followed as most of you know with a serious illness mid-April to the end of May.

Having to miss out on quite a few important races, June started a return to racing and the results were okay, but plenty of room for improvement. With more training and racing my form steadily improved. I still continued to race the Spoco series and managed to win the Vets and 3^rd overall.

In August I managed to help the Yorkshire group win the National Vets 25 team title, this was soon followed by the Emergency Services TT Championships in early September. With a poor ride in the 10 mile race on Saturday , a big effort was required on Sundays 25 mile, luckily I was able to do this and came away with the British Fire Service Vet Time Trial title.

I decided to prolong my season until the middle of October to have a go at the closed circuit champs at Thruxton, it was very hard to keep motivated after a long and difficult season ,but the champs went well and I gave it my all, finishing 6^th in my age group (the old farts) 50-55.

This season would not have been possible without the continuing support of Simon Fearnley and Keith Davey at SSLL. Also a massive thank you to Matt Clinton for his coaching advice this season, and to our main sponsors #Nopinz #OTE.

A new team in the creation of SSLL Racing Team with sub sponsors NoPinz and OTE Nutrition left me excited for the 2016 racing season.

Additionally a first for me in my 25 years of cycle racing was letting a renowned cycle coach take control of me!

Set in my ways, old school but open to suggestion Bob Tobin’s role was to turn  a 42 year old ‘has been’ into a 42 year old ‘will be’ come the start of the my first race of 2016.

So October 2015 Bob took charge of things.

Doing it my way , man of routine and all that bollocks would be me riding solo and straight in at the deep end at the start of December with a 200 mile weekend after just riding a few hours tempo during the months of October and November.

Not this time though . Things started steady with Bob’s weekly plans, all power specific which was also relatively new to me but apart from the very top end efforts I was coping with my instructions.

So , first race of the season arrives , a comforting 10 miler in February .There I sat on the start line resembling a Bernard Mathews Christmas reject with my freshly plucked skimmed milk legs and boney zero fat percent arse!

As expected the effort made me consider my decision to race a push bike at this time of the year at this effort , there must be some kind of mental derangement occurring and a urgent appointment with the medication station is required I thought after only 5 minutes into the race.

The result was a bad one , well off the pace and a worry that my normalized power for the race was only mid L2!!!

OK, lets try and take some positives out of the result , 1 , I didn’t puncture (actually think I would have preferred it) , 2 , I didn’t get caught (It was only a 10 ffs!) , 3 , I achieved a top 10 result (9th place , borderline!).

OK there were no positives apart from it being cold and training in warm clothing is quite different to racing in just a skin suit and a Death Star operator helmet.

The next few races were inconsistent and the power still lacked when it needed to count but I plodded on and longed for the warmer weather to come along and pleasure my 62kg frame and encourage a sweaty brow!

As the season progressed (or ‘continued’) the odd thump of bad luck arose with 3 50 mile races being cancelled , races I was to use in preparation for the National 100 mile Champs.

I wasn’t contesting the BBAR this year as the 12 hours just left me physically unwell for weeks afterwards and I never felt naturally well during them.I was just too fragile for the respect they deserve so the 100 was to be my longest distance this year.

So National 100 day and I rode a controlled race , picking the pace up in the latter half to achieve a creditable 10th place out of the 100 plus starters beating riders I hadn’t beat all season and being the fastest SSLL rider which I didn’t expect. I had also changed my position radically before the start which may have had an impact on my time after recalling a conversation with Xav of Aerocoach.

Mid August and the continued inconsistent form prompted my decision to part company with Bob. It was an amicable parting and he gave me some pointers for future training.

He accepted that I may well be at or beyond my peak fitness and my training may be optimized due to what I have been doing on my own for so long.

OK , now riding back to my own regime , no pressure and rides back to how they used to be which is basically several hours @L2 / Sweet Spot going into L5 up the hills with the sensation of totally smashed legs once home.

I’ll admit the power didn’t increase once back to my old unchangeable self but I was popping in the occasional win even with low power . Some wins were sub 270NP for 62kg which I’m putting down to my probable improved position and aero clothing from NoPinz.

Before I could get excited to notice it my last race had arrived , a 25 miler on the A46 near Stoke. A killer of a headwind on the outward leg and speeds over 46mph on the return netted me a 3rd place with 50.58 only 38 seconds behind top star Brett Harwood and 30 seconds down on Matt Sinclair who has had his best season to date.

Just this one race gave me hope and encouragement to carry on and remain keen to hurt myself for yet another year.

I must also take this opportunity to mention Simon and Keith of SSLL for supporting a team of riders who have had a mixture of fortune this year . Our charity 10 organised by Si Beldon was a great success and the team has had countless wins.

Thanks for reading and look forward to seeing you back at the result board in 2017 whinging about how the early starters got less wind and more Stobarts!!

Joel Wainman

 

 

Andy Jackson  19/9/16

For the past few season I have decided on an ‘end of ‘season’ epic..  2 years ago I decided to ‘Everest’.  A simple concept dreamt up by the mad people at ‘Hells 500’  http://www.hells500.com/

Simply pick a route, and climb the height of Mt Everest, 8848m in one ride.  Piece of cake – 4.3x up Mt Teide in Tenerife should do it!  Here is the write up https://ssllracingteam.com/2016/04/15/now-for-something-completely-different-everesting/

Last year I went for a simpler,  circumnavigation of Tenerife (*note a theme appearing here!)

So this year, there was only really one thing for it,  it had been nagging at me for ages to go for the BIG Hells 500 challenge… the ‘High Rouleurs Society’.  Another ‘simple’ premise.  Climb 10000m in one ride ‘The limit’, or on 2 rides in 36hrs ‘The Journey’.  There was only one thing for it.  ‘The limit’ for me!

http://www.highrouleur.cc/

So after a mediocre few weeks due to a combination of a virus I struggled to shift,  work travel, moving and doing up a house the prep wasn’t ideal.  Also TBH I was only ever half set on the idea, so the week before saw no specific training, no taper at all.  All combined with arrival to Tenerife on Friday night followed by 2 swift pints and half a bottle of Vino Blanco all was perfect!

So Saturday we were go,  Bottles made up (OTE of course!)  countless gels and bars and kit laid out.

I have already had countless comments (Thanks Team mates 🙂 !)about why no SSLL racing kit?  well Hells 500 ‘The keepers of the clouds’ produce limited edition kit ONLY for those completing challenges and ONLY to be worn on epic days… This had to be one.  So, for once the SSLL racing kit stays in the drawer and its time to get ‘epic’.

Alarm sounded at 4.45am… really?! Holiday?!  so I jump out of bed, quick breakfast and the obligatory can of Monster and off we go.

My plan was loose TBH,  ride straight up high a couple of times and see how we were doing, then potentially in the afternoon I’d identified a 6% gradient loop I could use to try and bag some decent climbing.  Today was about 1 thing VAM – vertical ascent in metres.  Nothing else mattered.

Everesting took me just over 14hrs, so realistically I was aiming for 15-16hrs.. LONG day!

The first 4-5hrs were honestly boring, I probably started too hard with 2.5hrs in Zone 3… Hmm I could pay for this.  After 5.5hrs I headed back to the apartment for a quick refill and solid food. then off again.  I started on my chosen loop, but soon realised it was a bad idea.  after nr 8hrs I had done 18k ft.  not bad I thought, then I switched to Metres on the Garmin.  5600m.  Bugger near double to go.  and it was HOT.  feet were overheating and hurting in my shoes and power was dropping.  I was in trouble at this point.  I got rescued via a ‘home made’ ice vest of Ice in carrier bags, stuffed in my helmet and bacon sandwiches and coke.

At this point I was honestly in debates with myself.. do I finish this, do I just make up an excuse and can it… you go through so much self talk in hrs of solitude on the bike.  The only thing keeping me going was the innate knowledge that IF I didn’t do it today, I never would, and to be that would be a failure.  After a rough 3hrs between 5-7km (*noticeable by how quiet my copious (!!) social media posts went… I was back!).  I hit 7.5k and I knew I’d make it.

I also discovered a ridiculously steep road, 3k, 15% avg gradient.  3x up there added a few Metres elevation! The pics don’t lie, I was literally weaving for Z4 power at 60-70 cadence – insane!  I checked after , 57th on Strava segs… TBH what I expected – I aint no climber!

 

By now it was about 5pm and I was, depressingly calculating that at the VAM I was hitting 630-650 / hr I was in for a LONG night.  The biggest issue with the whole thing is the time it takes to descend.  Its totally wasted time against the challenge so picking the balance of steepness (for VAM) but also the ability to recover was a challenge.

I decided to take a good hour run up high and managed a VAM of near 1000m.  a quick blast down and repeat and I was now over 8000m… ‘just’ 2000m to go!.  One more long trek down and then up should do it.. By about 11hrs in I actually started to feel good, anyone who has done a bit of long distance cycling will know the weird stages you go through.  for me I was average and ‘forcing it’ for hours.  by hrs 11-16 I was flowing.  Power was good,  cadence good I was supple and gliding.  mad!

I hit the ‘Everest point’ 8848m around 8.30pm, just outside Arona – deserved celebrating…

One last push. I just knuckled down, I was debating dropping to sea level and then going back up,  I was unsure on the descent in the dark (*my lights were crap and my ‘moon light’ the battery died)… I decided to just keep going, gambling that the full moon of the previous night would rise and give me a moon lit hurtle down.

Thank God it did…

So around 10pm I hit the magical 10k metres.  I was now near the top of El Ratemer (1800m) and getting cold.. so time for a quick (last!) pic

… Yes I looked tired by now…

So now for a moonlit descent – FUN FUN FUN!  15m in 33mins was epic fun.  quiet roads, follow the white line and hope.  the way I love it.

So at near 10:40pm I arrived back cold, elated, with the worst saddle sores ever and ready for a bath.  But its done and will be in the HRS ‘hall of fame’ alongside my first ever Everesting of Mt Teide.

The Ride – strava

https://www.strava.com/activities/717223725

The stats:

10019m climbed

213m total covered

16hrs 23mins

13mph avg

VAM 610m

241NP watts

13k calories burned 🙂

10 Bottles OTE Vanilla

20 OTE Gels

2 cans Monster

3 bottles coke

5L water (over me as well as in me!)

4 bacon butties

bag of haribo

Saturday the 10^th of September was the date that we had all been told was the day we must keep free for the clubs 10 mile TT.  Most of the work before that point had been done by Simon Beldon, we just needed to be there on the day and look useful.  The event had been planned from before I had even heard of SSLL, so to not have turned up to help out would have been a real death wish.

On the morning of the 10^th I went out on my bike first thing in the morning before setting off to the HQ to arrive (40 minutes later than half the team) at 12:30.  In Newport Village Hall the usual smell of stale sweat at the results board had been replaced by the smell of coffee.   Cakes were piled high in the kitchen and Andy was setting up the projector for the results.  For most of us though we just stood around drinking coffee and discussing how it was unfair that we wouldn’t get to ride on a day that sure looked quick.

Simon and Keith (our generous sponsors from SSLL) turned up not long after with fleeces and high-vis jackets for those of us that had 2 hours 30 minutes of standing on the roadside coming up.  Not long after we piled into the team car and headed 5 miles up the road to the turn and took up our places.  I assume all people took up their positions at start finish and HQ as the event ran as smoothly as we could have hoped for.

The next couple of hours are hard to elaborate on from my point of view.  I stood at the top of a slip-road and prayed cars didn’t come around the roundabout at the same time as a cyclist.  Around half way through I received a message to say that the Women’s Comp Record had been broken by Anna Turvey (Tyneside Vagabons CC) with a time of 19:08 beating the previous record of 19:18 set earlier this year by Hayley Simmonds.  It was clear that as we feared it was a quick day out there and we were all missing out on PBs.  As we got towards the end the job became slightly more entertaining.  Marcin Bialoblocki (ONE Pro Cycling) came storming up the slip-road at a noticeably quick speed.  Around the roundabout is one place where you can really see who is going well.  Marcin powered right onto the roundabout rather than slowing up as you take the right turn.  James Gullen (Pedal Heavan) had the same determined approach, racing around the turn which had already seen one rider (Clarry’s Husband David) hit the deck earlier in the race.

At the turn Joel had been asked by James to give a time check as to how he was doing at the turn compared to Marcin.  The answer was probably not what he was expecting considering how well James was going.  Marcin was 26 seconds up at the turn (a little under half way).

We cleared up the signs that had been stuck up around the course and headed back to the HQ whilst debating what whether or not the Comp Record had been broken.  Before we even reached the HQ we got a text saying that Marcin had done a 16:35 and James a 17:09.  Both had broken previous the Comp Record but only Marcin Bialoblocki gets the bragging rights on the occasion.

We got back to the HQ and everyone you walked past outside was discussing that Alex Dowsett’s record had been broken by 40 seconds.  I walked briskly inside, partially to see the results board partially because I had heard that they had nearly ran out of cake.  Fortunately I managed to get some Victoria sponge.  Other marshals weren’t so lucky.

A few minutes later Marcin walked in to hand in his number and received a round of applause from the room.  The best part about it being a quick day is that everyone is happy, almost everyone has a new PB.

The prize presentation was soon delivered by Simon Beldon as he announced £2000 had been raised for Erb’s Palsy Group and we had 2 new Comp Records.  The event had been more successful than we could possibly have hoped for and will be remembered for years to come.

As a team we would like to thank everyone for taking part and SSLL’s backing for making the event possible.

We hope to see you again next year.

Results

1. Marcin Bialoblocki 00:16:35
2. James Gullen 00:17:09
3. Stephen Irwin 00:17:49
4. Simon Wilson 00:17:52
5. David Allonby 00:17:53
6. David Crawley 00:17:54
7. MARK JONES 00:18:06
8. Philip Graves 00:18:19
9. Daniel Barnett 00:18:26
10. Peter Barusevicus 00:18:28
11. Gavin Hinxman 00:18:38
12. Adam Coffey 00:18:39
13. PAUL ELCOCK 00:18:41
14. Alex Foster 00:18:43
15. Sam Henning 00:18:46
16. Oliver peckover 00:18:47
17. jon wynn 00:18:48
18. Stewart Gormley 00:18:53
19. Stuart Travis 00:18:54
20. Richard Harrison 00:18:56
21. Aled Roberts 00:18:58
22. Neal Parkin 00:18:58
23. Christopher Jones 00:19:00
24. Harry Walker 00:19:06
25. richard dean 00:19:06
26. Anna Turvey 00:19:08
27. PAUL DABLE 00:19:10
28. Shaun Eden 00:19:18
29. Neil Palmer 00:19:21
30. Carl Ruebotham 00:19:22
31. Michael Cross 00:19:22
32. Nick Rogers 00:19:22
33. Tom Thornely 00:19:25
34. Alex Russell 00:19:25
35. Dave Elliott 00:19:25
36. Jack Levick 00:19:27
37. mathew Eley 00:19:28
38. Eric Grill 00:19:28
39. James Lindsay 00:19:30
40. Matthew Hallam 00:19:31
41. Philip Jones 00:19:32
42. Nick Nettleton 00:19:33
43. jeremy stone 00:19:34
44. Liam Bosley 00:19:36
45. Simon Cannings 00:19:39
46. Christopher Bates 00:19:40
47. Jason Swann 00:19:41
48. Paul Deen 00:19:41
49. Stu Wood 00:19:42
50. Robin Brennan 00:19:42
51. Ed Neilson 00:19:45
52. Steve Colloby 00:19:45
53. Alex Leek 00:19:47
54. Greg Plummer 00:19:50
55. Mark Morgan 00:19:52
56. Dael Sidwell 00:19:53
57. Shawn Gough 00:19:55
58. Kris Bowditch 00:19:55
59. Chris Henderson 00:19:56
60. Stuart Wells 00:19:56
61. Simon Gibbs 00:19:57
62. mark bembridge 00:19:57
63. chris sleath 00:19:58
64. Steven Fullerton 00:19:58
65. Alastair Semple 00:20:01
66. Richmond Denton 00:20:03
67. Edward Priddy 00:20:03
68. andrew cutts 00:20:04
69. Neil Cleminshaw 00:20:06
70. Andrew Wright 00:20:07
71. Dave Robinson 00:20:08
72. andrew ASKWITH 00:20:12
73. Justin Ford 00:20:15
74. Martyn Shore 00:20:17
75. MICHAEL WILLS 00:20:18
76. Ross Holland 00:20:18
77. Neil Holden 00:20:18
78. andre dyason 00:20:19
79. Daryl Maffey 00:20:19
80. Simon Coates 00:20:21
81. Tim Wheeler 00:20:25
82. Paul Mason 00:20:28
83. Daniel Shaw 00:20:29
84. jeffrey regler 00:20:30
85. Mark Woolford 00:20:31
86. michael lawrenson 00:20:33
87. Ian Manders 00:20:33
88. Ritchie Towers 00:20:33
89. Paul Arnold 00:20:33
90. John Martin 00:20:34
91. Robert Cooke 00:20:37
92. paul granger 00:20:39
93. Richard Hey 00:20:39
94. Jim Trevor 00:20:40
95. Ashley Roue 00:20:40
96. Dave Hudson 00:20:42
97. robert grainger 00:20:43
98. Steve Burrows 00:20:47
99. andy gates 00:20:49
100. Lee Watson 00:20:54
101. Mark Symons 00:20:56
102. Mark Rowland 00:20:58
103. Steve Mountford 00:20:59
104. Ian Garbett 00:21:03
105. Adrian Humpage 00:21:04
106. Steven Loraine 00:21:04
107. Rich Banks 00:21:11
108. Mark Haynes 00:21:13
109. Simon Geraci 00:21:18
110. RICHARD HEMBROUGH 00:21:19
111. Ray Gullen 00:21:30
112. steve wilkinson 00:21:32
113. Anthony McNamara 00:21:45
114. Tony Stott 00:21:51
115. Oliver Wright 00:22:08
116. Francesca Rust 00:22:09
117. Mark Philipson 00:22:09
118. ANDREW CARROLL 00:22:14
119. Barry Teal 00:22:24
120. Andy Fretwell 00:22:32
121. allen bell 00:22:41
122. Joanne Burnett 00:23:00
123. Sue Cheetham 00:23:25
124. Michelle Morley 00:23:43
125. Tracy Rowlinson 00:23:56
126. tony jackson 00:24:30
127. Cheryl Trueman 00:25:07
128. Helen Hudson 00:25:38
129. Gill Henshaw 00:27:05
130. mickie Hornby 00:27:46

Andy Jackson    11th September

Well I think today brings (prematurely) to the end a very ‘up and down’ season for me.

RTTC Circuit Championships in Alcester today, ended with a disappointing 3rd place in the Vets (40-45) and 13th overall in a time of 53:46.

Huge congrats to a great guy Ryan Perry, and deserved winner of the race and Champion of Champions! Its been great watching him dominate this year!

Also special mentions to Matt Smith (Team Bottrill) , for an excellent 2nd place just 6 secs behind the winner.  Also to David Crawley who won the Vets age group after a stunning <18min ’10’ on the V718 in the SSLL racing team event yesterday.

Team mate Simon Beldon did a fantastic ride to end in 53:44 and win the Vets (B) category.  Simon has been a team mate for years, yet the progression under the tutelage of TT god Matt Bottrill has been astounding.  His race and Vets win have been great, as well as setting (now beaten) a Vets age 10m TT record earlier in the season.

My own season started well, with 17 wins and I was going well to the National 50 after a close Team Silver in the TTT champs earlier in June.  I was pleased to win the Vets at the National 50, but since its been a slow death…

Still PB’s at 50m 1:41:06 and 25m 47:05 were highlights.

So the last few months have been blighted with a  nagging virus that’s started mid July that I have struggled to shift.  The odd highlight since , but generally a disappointing end.

Its been a busy weekend after the hugs success of the SSLL Racing team promoted event on the V718 on Saturday that saw stunning records in the men’s and women’s events, and great rides by 6 riders (WOW!) to go <18mins.. Special mention to a great guy in James Gullen (Pedal Heaven RT) who has had a fantastic year, who after equalling the 10m record 2 weeks ago beat it with a fabulous 17:09 yesterday, only to see OnePro Cyclings Marcin Bialoblocki go even faster with a simply stunning 16:35!! And to top it all he finished off with 44:04 (another record!) in the 25 in South Wales today.

So after a busy day yesterday sorting time sheets .. which proved what everyone who works with me knows, I am CRAP at Excel, and 5hrs driving.. it was up early for a quick trip to Alcester today.

On arrival, first things first,  the ‘pic’ of the newly livered ‘team Jag’ and the race bike..

Special thanks to Simon Fearnley, SSLL main sponsor, for the decals!

Well on the warm up you just know when you have ‘legs’ or not… Not today they told me. Anyway,  man up Jackson,  You are here!

So 12:42pm arrived,  was good to chat to eventual winner, and newly married Ryan Perry, my 2 minute man, on the start line… then BANG off we go.

I head off at stupid watts (standard) flew (*well for me!!) up the first hill and settled in, to watch the watts drop… ever so slowly!  I was bloody trying though!

First lap in 27:27 (I think) .. and I hadn’t been caught… yet!  So plough on… The drag through Dunnington and Harvington was hard.  head wind, heavy roads, then the turn onto the fast run home to the DC and via Salford Priors.  Past the Best Western I used to stay in when working down there and home.

2nd lap saw Ryan catch me before the DC, what a rider!  I kept him ‘in sight’ to the line and TBH his carrot helped me up it a little to the end.

Crossing the line I knew at best an ‘average’ ride 338w NP.  Put it this way I did 367np at the National 50. Not great… Anyway its over!

So.. what next?  I have in the RTTC Closed Circuit champs on 23rd October.. but we will see… Main target now is the ‘World Long course Time Trial Champs’ in Borrego Springs in Cali in November.  Such a ‘USA’ race – world champs – anyone heard of it?!  NO!  ah well be a good excuse to do what I do best.. ride long and average hard!  Can’t wait!

So… the inaugural season for SSLL racing team is coming to a close… but its been a privilege to ride with some great long term friends, new friends and great athletes… the team have achieved some great things, lets just remind ourselves…

1. WORLD 1 hour AG record holder Clarry Chunghouse
2. National TTT silver medallists  Andy J / ALi Wareham / Jon Wears
3. Vets National 50m Gold  Andy Jackson
4. Vets (B) 10m TT record  Simon Beldon
5. Scottish 25m Champion  Max McMurdo
6. VTTA 30m (fastest time)  Andy Jackson
7. Yorkshire SPOCO winner   Ali Wareham
8. BUCS silver Medallist  Sophie Household
9. Multiple race winner Joel Wainman
10. Junior BBAR WINNER  Eugene Cross

And many more I can’t even recall!

So, maybe not exactly what we hoped for… but still its been a great journey and great season.

Thanks to all my team mates and competitors and special thanks to:
Simon Fearnley & Keith Davey (SSLL)

NoPinz- Blake Pond

Aerocoach – Xavier Disley

OTE nutrition – Matt Harrison & team

Cyclesense – Paul Stainthorpe

Bob Tobin – Coach

Matt Bottrill – Coach

 

 

 

 

It was a weekend that CTT had billed as ‘quiet’, little did they know that not one but 3 comp records would be set. Not that I would have called any race with Hayley, Angela and Racheal Elliot going head to head on the V718, quiet. Then throw Anna Turvey into the mix on Sunday at the R25 and it turns into a bloody tough couple of days but you know, women’s racing…

4 hr drive up to Hull. I’d forgotten what it was like to race a 10. The prep to race ratio is just all wrong. One tiny mistake and your race is ruined, your entire day wasted. And f-up I did. Yeah, still not learnt to clip in properly. Still not learnt to take a roundabout faster than 10mph. Nevertheless my form was good enough to take my PB down from 21.29 to 21.06. But I’d had my heart set on going under 21 so there was a massive grump going on. I could tell myself that conditions weren’t any good but when Hayley rocks out a class 19.31, I’ve no excuses. And then a junior well and truly shows you how it’s done with a 20.21. Now that I’ve worked out I’m old enough to be her mother I don’t feel quite so bad.

Quick slice of cake then it was into the car for another 4 hours to Neath. Post race adrenaline and pre race nerves all bundled up into an unfamiliar bed made for a long night and all too soon I was back on the start line with a slightly too soothing voice counting me down.

Onto the slightly rolling SC, then left onto the main road. Speed is good. Down the ‘gift hill’, speed is still good… Speed is too good, I can’t control the bike in the aero position and I keep touching the brakes to avoid silly velocity. After that it was a long slog to the turn. I wish I could remember what happened but all I can say is I worked hard (heart rate was just 2 pips lower than in the 10) but my average speed just kept dropping. At the turn a mid 53 was still a possibility but the Golden Arches signaled a death knell for me as I groveled those last few miles to the finish. I might as well have been going up Mont Ventoux.

Maybe I’d set myself up to fail with some tough goals for the weekend but to not PB was pretty gutting. And a 54.22 suddenly becomes very average when Hayley breaks another record with her 49.28.

So what went wrong? I’ve condensed most of my season into a few weeks so I’m pretty sick and tired of racing now. I could blame Waitrose for not having my preferred pre-race snack in stock (iced Belgian buns since you ask). I could say that Zoe’s been teething and if she doesn’t sleep then I don’t either. Or I could just admit that I’ve done the best I can given my circumstances and it wasn’t quite good enough on the day.

But in the end, this week has made me reassess my goals and my priorities as I can’t keep leaving Zoe at home whilst I gallivant round the country with my bike, it’s just not fair on her #MassiveMumGuilt

 

Well at last the on-going saga of  many others and myself awaiting the arrival our new Giant Trinity TT frameset is over!

Was it custom made encrusted with diamonds or even handmade cuts of gold? Nope just an off the peg size small in standard colours.

I had many sleeps and stresses so can’t remember when my order was officially placed but I reckon November 2015 or thereabouts.

So what is the going ‘rate to wait’ for a bicycle frame? Bearing in mind this is a carbon (common material in the Far East) frame which is the same small size as every other small size as is the paint design.

This wasn’t a bespoke design of art engineering I was ordering , it was a frame set produced by a company who produce thousands of frames every year so personally , waiting 7 1/2 months warrants me to slate this companies customer care policy!!

Ok rant over and onto the build of this carbon lego set.

Getting a new frame set mid season is not healthy as late nights and rushing around missing training disrupted things even further.

I already had a  vision of the bike in full once finished (certainly had time didn’t I?)

So the build started and I was committed now. Not that the world would stop and wait until I’d finished , no life carried on so the reality was that I may have got on average 1 hour a night to work on it with more time allowed over the weekends.

As I was struggling, and with the weekend approaching faster than a day back at work, I desperately pleaded with my manager for a day’s A/L to which he granted so 6am the day before the Belper BC 25 I got zoned in once in the workshop, phone off, radio on and here we go.

My making good progress came to rotating halt once I discovered that the already pressed in BB wasn’t compatible with my chain set which Jon Surtees had painstakingly painted for me.

A quick call to Ed Neilson At Vive Le Velo then a rapid drive over for a bearing got me going again but there was too much axle exposed so after much pondering I finally gave up and informed my team mates via our foul and disgusting FB chat that I would have to be a DNS the following day. Time had ticked too far now and the bike shop opening times had long gone.

Hey, at least I could relax , calm myself down, stop and have a cuppa knowing I am no longer in a rush.

That was until Ali bloody Wareham announced to us all on the chat that he had the BB I needed!!

No, no , shit , surely it must be the wrong size?, nope BB86……

Agh I don’t want ceramic , it’s not ceramic  it’s standard…..

You sure it’s SRAM as not that common , IT’S SRAM!!!!…..

Yeah but you live in Huddersfield!! , it’s an hour away……..

FFS WAREHAM couldn’t you have been on baby duties or trying out the latest aero dummies ??!!

Finally a picture comes through that confirms it is the BB I need.

Argh Ali , my hero and my saviour , I’m on my way…………TWAT! (after convincing the Mrs she didn’t really want to go and watch that rugby match she has a season ticket for and would rather stay in and look after the boys wouldn’t she!!)

So a  guided Vauxhall Insignia Missile sped to Huddersfield and back and back into the workshop until 10pm with the chainset at last fitted.

Race morning , back in my new home with my new family of Park tools , Keeley Hazell posters  and cracking on .

Just before beans and toast time it was ready to ride but not finished and not tested.

A few hours later with a dense head of stress and tiredness I for the first time cocked my leg over Wonder Woman and ventured into my warm up.Straight away the bike felt stiffer than my previous Scott Chazma but the extensions where angled too low but nothing to be done now. Also a big bonus was that both brakes worked really well!

The result of the race was a bit of a let down in the end though as I was one of the riders who copped for the sky water dumped on them before the first TI on the D/C which ruined the potential of my race performance.

Until next time……

 

Special thanks to SSLL  and  Paul of CycleSense in Tadcaster for the grateful gift of this framset.

Tech Spec;

Giant Trinity TT   SMALL

Specialized Power saddle

Zipp 900 rear disc 10 speed tubular

ADR front 3 spoke tubular

Planet X titanium skewers

Dura Ace 10 speed cassette 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,21 , Token alloy lock ring

Vittoria Crono Pista CS tubs  , 22mm rear , 19mm front

KMC DLC 10 speed chain red/black

SRAM standard press fit BB

SRAM Rival crank arm modifed 172.5

SRAM Stages power meter

Fibre-lyte custom 58 tooth aero full carbon chain ring

Custom made chain catcher

Dura Ace 10 speed rear mech modified, ceramic over size j wheels, custom made carbon inner/outer cages , lightweight bolt upgrades.

Speedplay red cromo pedals

40 degree USE extensions

Dura Ace 10 speed single gear lever modified

Fibre-lyte carbon arm rests , trimmed

Custom carbon Garmin mount

Jagwire gear and brake cables

All bolts upgraded to titanium or light alloy.

 

Weight 18.2lbs