RnR time…..rels and a school re-union

Between the Tour of Cambridgeshire GF 135km with very little climbing and the GF Sportful Feltre medium course  which is 133.8km with  2,750m of climb I have time to kick back and be sociable.

I confidently anticipate being very slow

Sooo..

Marlborough White horse

Currently I’m staying with my niece in Wiltshire..home of chalk downs/white horses, near to horse racing stables at Lambourn in the Valley of the Race Horse (Dick Francis fans anyone?), steep escarpments and thatched cottages. 


The terrrain is very lumpy, which is  good practise after riding in the  Fenland...and the weather has been good.

  I’ve been on 2 rides, the second one up Hack Pen Hill which has a significant stretch of 14% climb ...it's the strange wiggle on the SW travelling road and  where there was another white horse giving me a good excuse to stop and take a photo but it turned out to be  rubbish as I couldn’t get close enough.

Somewhat different to riding  back home(!) on  this ride I also rode past a Long barrow, and the standing stones and henges at Avebury.

Thatched pub and standing stones, Avebury

A final pix from the event at Peterborough:

oop north tomorrow for the school re-union...55 years on  ;-0

Tour of Cambridgeshire

http://www.tourofcambridgeshire.com/

First there was the TT

with a VERY nasty hill  in it. 

The start was inside a big building and with 60 ergos set up for one’s use if required was all set to be very efficient.  However……..first of all the  person holding me was useless tipping me first one way..clip out, then the other…clip out and finally let me go  almost sideways down the ramp…over a minute early!  Luckily I have enough experience to banish all that from my mind and start racing.  I was supposed to have  company in my grade but she didn’t turn up, so once again I won..and was  also last!  I would have placed in the M 70+ and every women’s class down to 55-59.  I  felt I’d given it a good shot despite being  barely off the plane.

Then the was the gran fondo, which despite the pix below was actually 135km..a bit of a psychological blow at 129km when it was obvious we were in far too rural area to be near the Peterborough Arena.

The weather was kind as far as sun goes but unkind when talking about wind……the first and last part of the race was lumpy…the middle bit  really flat as only fenland can be and so  extremely wind effected.  Towards the end of the race I had to decide on battling the wind solo or risk being in a tiring group who were exhibiting sketchy behaviour.  I saw at least 10 bodies on the road being attended to and many many punctures. 

My time was 4hrs 21 mins.  Sadly there was a stuff up with the timing and so there were  no presentations although I went back stage and explained that I was the lone 70+ women racing and please could I take the jersey, medal, flowers and gift voucher anyway..save posting them to me in Aus?

The people living in the villages where there was a whole day road closure were wonderful…..sitting out on the grass, in pubs, etc cheering us on, with no harsh words or tacks to endure. 

This is an event I would recommend..there are  few wriggles to iron out, but generally it was quite quite brilliant.

A First Class Start!

When an upgrade on Frequent Flyer points is offered, the answer is YESSSSSS! 14 hours of luxury which I enjoyed thoroughly but wouldn’t actually pay for as I didn’t arrive any fresher.




France and especially Calais on the coast was very ++ cold and windy.  The car is good, the Tunnel crossing uneventful and driving a LH drive car in UK no issue so far.
I’ve driven the TT course..lumpier than expected and maybe a dead road…on the bike today to check it out.
More anon.

Tour of Cambridgeshire – Granfondo and TT

13 days to go to lift off! 

Communication is all important in every aspect of life and of all the events I have entered in my sporting life, none has been so incredibly pro active as the Tour of Cambridgeshire. I have received regular email updates since entering and  with the TT on June 4th and the Granfondo the day after I have already had my TT start time sent to me...10:34:20. 

 I'm a bit fascinated about the :20 bit...does this mean the starts are at 20 sec intervals? Also my class is 70+ and with the first start at 10:30...can I assume there are quite a few in my class?? hope so.

So...these are the first 2 races I’ll be doing in Europe this year.  Both are qualifiers for the World Championships in Perth in September and both are  longer than I usually race..TT slightly longer,  Granfondo considerably! 

I hope to do well in the TT and will be happy to finish the Granfondo without having to resort to getting a lift back to the start/finish in the sag wagon!

Itinerary 2016: the lead up to the World Championships

With just over 3 weeks before I fly out, this is my itinerary:
31/5       dep
01/6       Paris then drive to UK
04/6      TT at Tour of Cambridgeshire
05/6      129km Granfondo ..same place    not too much climbing but probably windy.
06/6      Wiltshire visiting rels then oop north to Cumbria and a  boarding school reunion
13/6       2 days in Austria, then Italy
19/6      Sportful GranFondo..Feltre   122km/2,560m
20/6      Dolomiti. Altitude/mountain climbing training Pordoi circuit, Passo Rolle, Pellegrini, Fedaia
10/7      Bellagio to see the Madonna del Ghisello climb and  museum
11/7      Trento and the Charly Gaul Granfondo. 57km/2000m
18/7      Treviso and flat land TT training
23/7      Feltre and more of the same + the Palio
09/8      Hartberg and 8 races
20/8      Sankt Johann
22/8      fly out hopefully fitter and leaner than when I flew in!
23/8      Perth
01/9      World TT
04/9      World GF
06/9       back home

at various times  I am joined by my sister, my son and a friend and her partner.  I have raced for so many years in Austria that the regulars,  from USA, Russia, Germany, UK and Slovenia, are in essence family.

a very long test GF ride

                                                

Black Rock to Arthurs Seat and return with  a few scenic unintended side trips.  132.2 km

 

Competitions

jump  forward quite a few days and we are now in Denmark..or rather my sister and Iare...Alex is in UK visiting his cousins.

The competition standard has escalated and after a highly successful yellow jersey week in Hartberg and a hard fought for 2nd place in the TT in Sankt Johann in what was my2nd best time ever, I scored a much desired win here in Denmark in the TT World Championships.

Only the RR to go-before we fly home, although I am full of cold and am not sure if I will start.

1st off and 1st back

The course was good..a challenge...lumpy,technical and with a vicious cross wind.