Race Report - Birmingham CC Circuit Races

Sorry, a bit of a delay posting this one.

Birmingham CC Circuit Races
Category - E/1/2
Location - Birmingham Business Park
Course Profile - Pan Flat, 3 Left hand Turns
Conditions - Windy, dull but dry

In the realm of competitive sports and training for competitive sports, there are certain races during the year which you mark out as your targets or aims for the year. The number of these A priority events varies from athlete to athlete, some will have target a series of races while other will peg there entire season on one event. Either way, theses target events are what we train for during the winter and we focus everything else towards, this also includes other races.
If you ask most a lot of riders what the best form of training is then a lot will say that racing is the best form of training, we all see the pros do a similar thing. Many will use the Criterium De Dulphine as preparation for the Tour de France, other will use the Vuelta as prep for the world championships. There argument will be that if you want to get better However, is someone wanted to replicate the exact demands of competition or that of there targeted event then i would say that there is no better training than racing its self, especially if the race used for training is of similar nature or over similar terrain as your target event.

With one of my target races of the year, The Midlands Regional Road Championships, very nearly up on me, i decided it was time to get specific and engage in some training that would replicate the demands of the race. With no road race of similar length or profile available, i had to get creative and make the best with what i had.  Birmingham Cycling Clubs annual circuit race was the only event that was accessible to me this weekend, the big problem was that a 35mile pan flat circuit race wasn't quite like the 90 mile rolling road race that would make up the Regional Championships. So, with in mind i decided that the best thing i could do in order to replicate the intensity and distance of the race was to ride to the event, race and then ride home. This was i would be getting the rough duration in to my legs and also implementing so race specific intensity and tactics. Perfect!

My race, the Elite category race, was scheduled to start at 1330 with signing on closing 20 minutes before hand. My Garmin calculated that the distance to the race was 18 mile so i decided to leave at 1145 in order to allow my self a casual Level 2 ride to race with time to spare. One problem, the Garmin calculated the distance as the crow flies, the actual route it would take me was almost 25 mile. I didn't realise this until i was half way there and cutting it very fine, so at this point i had to get my head down and essentially TT my way to the start. to cut a long story short, i got there but with about 1 minute to spare before signing on closed. Not quite the relaxed ride in that i had in mind but instead one that had used up a fair chunk of my already suppressed glycogen stores, but at least i was nice and warm!

After getting my old Echelon team mate, Joe Page, to help with my numbers, i did a few laps to keep warm before heading to the start. In typical circuit race fashion the start was pretty brisk with a few powerful moves coming early, i found my self towards the back of the group still trying to get my legs in to race mode. In fact i was very nearly dropped early on in the race when i made a very amateurish mistake by exiting a corner on the wrong side of the bunch whilst heading in to the cross wind section, the echelon formed the other side from me an i was left with no shelter and a gap to make up, thankfully i managed to crawl my way back on. I made sure i never did this again.
Breaks shot off the front but came back as fast as they went, the pace would ease up and then fire up again, micro bursts of accelerations and changes of pace were rife as the typically are in races and one of the many things that are hard to replicate during training. Although jumpy, the race felt fairy rhythmic, that was until the rider they call TANK due to his large presence sprinted from a corner, unclipped both feet from the pedals at 35mph, slammed on the top tube and snapping the front of the bike clean in half before hitting the deck complete with sparks. The incident didn't cause anyone else to crash and thankfully TANK was fine albeit a little annoyed about breaking his bike.

With only a few laps to go a break had managed to go clear and the bunch was getting jittery and aggressive, attacking its self rather than working together to get the break back. On the last lap we were closing in ob the break but discovered it was too little to late which meant that the bunch the spread across the road and initiated the sprint. my legs were pretty empty at this point but i had a bit of dig but just ended up rolling in with the bunch, safe and sound which is the main thing. I ain't no sprinted, i have a bit of kick which is effective at the end of tiring road races after sprinting from a small breakaway group but against the big bunch sprinters it just not good enough so i tend to keep out there way.
So with the race done and my numbers handed back in, i had some food and a gel and set about my 25 mile cool down ride back home. Actually my legs were feeling alright so i managed a god pace back home sticking to a solid Level 2 power and still feeling good when i arrived at my door.
With just over 4 hrs on the clock and an Elite Level Circuit race in the middle, i can say that i had a good day of event specific training and am feeling pretty ready for the Champs next weekend. Now i just need a few easy days to let the ride take effect.

Dan