Quite a while since my last blog and lots been happening, some good, some not so good. There been a lot of racing going on, and a lot going on at the races!
After the Scottish Road Race I rode a very wet and windy 25mile TT in Ayrshire on the Wednesday night, setting a pretty quick time (55.19) and beating a few good riders pretty convincingly. The following weekend there was the National 10mile TT up at Laurencekirk. I wasn't expecting a podium finish, but was hoping to at least manage a top 10. Being an early starter on the day I didnt think my time of 21.02 was going to be good enough, since the ceeded riders all start at the end of the sequence, however my time held up, and I finished in the bronze medal spot, only 3 seconds behind Evan Oliphant. Things were looking pretty good, especially following the dissappointment from the champs. I've developed a bit of a mentality where I always want to do better. In some ways this is a good thing as it pushes me to work harder, but in other ways its a curse as I'm rarely satisfied with my performance. 3rd place at the 10 was a great ride, but it was a shame not to get under 21 minutes and miss 2nd place by 3 seconds.
The same weekend as the 10 there was the Dundee Stage Race (which I won a couple of years ago but am now unable to ride). This years race will unfortunately be remembered not so much for the racing, but for the stage that had to be abandoned on the Saturday. An unfortunate fall out between the host club, and a well know local rider lead to the police attending the race, and taking a dim view on some of the riders behaviour on a section of main road where there was a strong cross wind. The subsequent aftermath will no doubt have an effect on road races in Scotland for some time to come, as Commisairres look to stamp authority on races and cut out dangerous riding. At the Davie Bell RR the following weekend the race was stopped in the early stages and we were all warned about crossing the white line. At the Eastern Promise RR last week the winner and runner up were DQed. There has also been much debate and controversy this year about the requirement for motorcycle outriders (NEG), since they provide a great tool for policing the bunch and making the race safer.
My view is that it should be possible to hold road races without NEG, although I agree that they are definitely good to have. I dont like hearing about races being cancelled because NEG are not available. With regard to dangerous riding I agree that commisairres should sometimes be stronger in pulling riders out of races if they break the rules or endanger others. Waiting till the race has finished to DQ is not ideal, but without NEG I can see how it would be hard to remove individual riders. Assuming the offence isn't severe it might be appropriate to follow the example set in continental races and demote the riders finish position - for example to the back of whatever group they finished in.
The Davie Bell was an exciting race on paper - the first Scottish road race to go 'off road', the race featured 2 sections of gravel forestry commission road - about 12 miles in total, out of a 70 mile race. Exciting from a spectators point of view and I know a few riders were really pumped up for it. Out of the 80 entrants only just over 60 actually turned up to sign on though which was a bit disappointing, but I don't know if anything should be read from that. What I found a shame was that of the 60 odd starters there were only a little over 30 finishers, and I was one of them. I punctured along with many other people on the gravel section. I was in the lead group at the time, but my tyre gradually went down and it wasnt safe to continue. Since so many other riders had punctured the service vehicle was nowhere to be seen, and by the time I'd got a spare I was 20minutes down - no point in continuing really. The service guys did the best they could, but as an amateur race there just wasnt the equipment available that there is at a race like Paris-Robaix. The race therefore became something of a lottery - will you puncture or wont you? Puncture and its all over and thats a shame. What would improve that race would be proper service points along the gravel section or supplying the NEG riders with wheels.
Coming away from the Davie Bell I was once again feeling pretty dissappointed - 2 road race in a row with results I wasnt happy with. Time trailing was going well though and there was the national 25 coming up, where I was hoping for a good result. The 25 was yesterday however, and it didnt go as well as I'd hoped. I rode a reasonable time - 55.02, but it was only fast enough for 13th place on the day. I dont feel like it was a particularly bad day or paced it wrong. I had expected to go faster, but when it came to it that was the time I rode. I was a bit surprised and dissappointed to be beaten by so many riders that I've gone faster than recently, but cant explain that - they just rode faster than I did. I suppose thats the beauty of time trialing - if you ride faster and stronger than the competition you'll get a result, where as in a road race you can be strongest there but still not win.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season the focus is mainly on TT from now on, but I'm even feeling a bit flat about that at the moment. Every Sunday for months now I've been racing. I've already done a seasons worth of racing. July will provide a good break and maybe I'll have new enthusiasm in August..... The season so far has been a total mixture of highs and lows. Podium finishes in several big races interspersed with races plagued by punctures and dissappointing results. Road racing highlights have been the 2nd place at the Dick Londragon, 3rd at Rosneth and 54th at the Tour DoonHame - seems like a long time ago! Time Trial highlight has to be 3rd at the 10, but also my ride at the Couriers 25 showed what I can do. Maybe theres more to come on the TT bike....
