Llandow crit

Made more of an effort this time around with a few turns on the front of the bunch before a group finish, my legs leaving me a little slower in 11th.

Teifi 10

Welsh champ event the field quickly gathered and showing some fast runners. A steady run with mike until 8 miles then put the hammer down to a fast finish in just over an hour. Beaten by a 70 year old who happened to set a world record fastest time, 4 minutes quicker than my young legs. Painful

Ras gwyl Dewi

A local run which is 10k in length and looks easier on the maps than on the legs. An open field of mainly local runners the weather was against us a little with the strong winds. A group of 4 of us took off and settled to a easy pace, 3 k gone it was still easy so put the hammer down to get a little bit of excitement going. Turned at the 5k point in the front 2 but was struggling to increase the pace. Dropped to 2nd and with 1k to go I was happy to take the runner position. Leader gave me a glom our of hope when he strolled to the finish and having made up ground I failed to push enough to take the win. 36min in those conditions was a gd result and gets me ready for nxt weeks duathlon in pembs.

Llandow winter Crit

With the Wife down the Rugby in Cardiff and leaving me with a Sunday free to sort the house out, I decide last minute to grab the new bike, hitch a lift and attend the first race of the cycling calendar down at Llandow. As you do.

Arrived with the sole objective of finishing and finishing with out a scratch on the new bike. With only a handfull of miles on the wheels It was a case of tweeking. New seat height and length adjustment and new Cleats the night before was always going to be a worry but fear not great day of cycling.

Entered the 4th Cat and the 2/3/4 race. 50-60 in each race a lot of concentration was needed with 2 narrowing turns to slow the pelaton, and 2 long stretches to catch up with the group. Seated at the back of the group proved to be a big mistake with a lot of ground having to be made up to the front of the pack after each corner. (Note for the next race)

Finished comfortably in the pack, bored with the limited attacks.

With the second race starting as we finished I was dropped from the front group early on and settled to a 2nd group which was working well and catching the front runners. Put in a big push on the front and failed to hang on to the next chase and dropped in no man's land. Good few laps on a solo TT I puled out 2 laps from the end as the front runners where catching my wheel. Watched them finish with young Steve winning with a emphatic solo breakaway.  Top Day.

Team Pursuit 2013

Always a tricky race, the first outing of the season and the a true measure of the power of Mince pies. Doubt over the race due to the huge snow falls in crymych over the last few days but with a big thaw over the last 24hours it was go go go. Solid team again for Sarn Helen even with a stand by coming in last minute which still manage to hold on to our title of fastest team, and with myself the 3rd fastest and 1st out of our Team a very good day it turned out to be. The course suiting my ability with a downhill start to stretch and clear the legs and a hilly finish.

Brilliant Kit bag for the Win which will be used on my Ski trip to Chatel. Missing the Tregaron Half in the process.

Season update

Let's start off with -

New Bike - Cube Litening Super HPC Pro 56cm compact. Having been looking for years to upgrade to the world of Carbon Road bikes this bike suddenly appeared on the Tredz web site having been rejected by paralympic athlete as he preferred the standard gearing rather than compact. Full carbon set up and Ultegra all the way around, the problem now is the excuses are out the window.


Trip down to Cardiff in the summer I test rode the bike but the price tag was a little steep, with the winter sale It was a snip at £1750 down from £2250

The weather still completely miserable there has been no date set for her first ride, carbon tri bars next purchase for the spring duathlons. Pembs and Welsh champs.

Getting Married, New Job, a trip to Sin City and turning 30 this year was not the best to set a target but with glimpses of pace through out the year and with my first out right win on the Devils Race it wasnt all bad. Managed to miss Aber 10k and Carrington Cracker with Stomach troubles so a quiet Winter before targeting the Spring races.

 

Twin Peaks 2012

Top event of the year, local, hilly and usually full of top runners to set the pace high. Coming into the event on the back of some decent training I was optimistic of a PB and with the football boots finally hanging up under the stairs it was time to up my game.

Arenig fawr the week before got the mountain legs tested and with the overnight rain it was promising to be a damp route, I chose the new road shoes thinking of the long tarmac section in between the climbs. Stayed with the top 4 until the Pen dinas climb where the lack of up hill training hit me for six, struggled to the top holding on to 5th with runners closing in behind. A fast decent down to the marina I was comfortable in 5th but to far from 4th to chase. A steady climb up Consti hill I turned around to see 3 runners closing in, luckily down hill legs were on form and managed to put 1-2 minutes on them and a few seconds off 4th place. 50min 4sec. PB and getting quicker.