Two Trips up to Worcestershire for Roadman Dean

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Two days after a Vets event at Maendy track, Committee member, Dean Cummings travelled to Worcestershire in mid-May for his next road outing, The Gerry Hughes Memorial RR. The venue was Martley, just to the west of the city of Worcester and  having ridden the event previously Dean was familiar with the course.  The route comprised of four 10.5 mile loops on testing roads.  Knowing that this was a tough course wasn’t an advantage on this particular day and with the fatigue of the track race still in his legs he was unable to maintain contact with the strong field of riders and packed in on the third lap. Knowing your own body and paying attention to the signs is always a good thing to give the aching muscles a chance to recover.

Having recovered from his efforts the previous week Dean returned to Worcestershire for the, very competitive, National LVRC  RR.  This time he was in the south of the county, just north of Tewkesbury.  This course is on the edge of the Malvern Hills and although the climbs are not long, they are very sharp. Today’s course would see the riders cover three 16.3 mile loops, 49 miles in total.

This Race was open to all Cats.  EFG up to age 75 set off first, followed by Dean’s  group CD with a 6 min gap, followed by AB another 6mins behind . Being the National Champs. the event attracted a very strong field of men and women. Prior to the start one of Dean’s fellow riders gave a Churchillian style speech on how his group should catch the front group. This set the tone and the CD riders went from the gun reaching a max speed of 42.7 mph in the first 6 miles. The group became disjointed early on and soon began to break up with only the strongest riders holding the high speeds. Dean managed to settle in with a small group and worked hard riding through an extreme thunder storm to finish the race.

Impressive statistics were recorded by Acme’s road man, 49.5 miles in 2hrs 22mins with an average speed of 20.8mph. Dean described the max. speed of 42.9 mph as a nightmare. In order to keep up with the group Dean needed to put out an average of 206  Watts with a maximum of 582 Watts.  Where would be without all this technical data.  Well done Dean flying the flag for Acme Wheelers on the road.

Ups and Down of Staffordshire

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Retired policeman Dean Cummings is certainly using his new found spare time to improve his race strength.  After his first race should he was in very good form he made the long journey to Enville in Staffordshire to compete in the LRVC Enville Road Race in the 50-59 age category.  This is a regular LVRC race held over the rolling roads of a 12 mile circuit.  Four circuits are completed and on each one there is a long 2 mile drag rising to about 4% before a left turn onto a false flat.  May’s sunny weather encouraged a large field on the day.

The first two laps went well with Dean sitting comfortably in the bunch, unfortunately he could feel that he did not have the zip in his legs which he had felt in his first race. On the third lap the race split with as the stronger C Cat riders attacked the bunch.  Committee member Dean worked hard to stay with a smaller group to finish only a few minutes down on the main bunch.  Dean said  “I was not too disappointed with this effort, averaging 22mph with over 3409ft of climbing”.   Dean hopes to develop his form with the Friday night Super Vets at Maendy.

Dave Singleton’s May Days

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Dave Singleton is taking every advantage of his race fitness this season and racing at every opportunity. Early May saw him heading to the familiar R25 3H course which is almost a second home for local riders. The Sportzmad event was held on a sunny day though the head winds seem to catch riders in both directions of the course.  Dave was reasonably pleased with his efforts on the day, posting a 56:22.  His legs were feeling good as he prepared for the Acme Open 25 the following weekend.

The Acme Open 25, again on the R25 3H, took place in near perfect conditions, warm with a little breeze.  Recently elected Committee man Dave Singleton was full of anticipation starting this event after his good ride the previous weekend.  Dave’s optimism was well founded as he raced around the course from his early start time.  With the experience of the previous week to help him Dave posted a PB of 54:47 and was extremely pleased with his efforts. Dave felt so good back at the HQ he went back out on the course to support the marshals who had been out since early morning.

No rest from racing, Dave travelled to Llandovery to compete in the Bynea CC 10, the 3rd event of the Celtic Series.  This is a very “lumpy” course through the lanes of Carmarthenshire and Dave’s main aim was experience the course, which was new for him. Not satisfied with using this difficult 10 course, the organisers also added some damp and misty weather for good measure. Dave’s time of 24:35 disappointed him slightly but he said “The course was very lumpy and I found it difficult to get a rhythm and therefore could not go fast”.  Hopefully Dave will enter further Celtic Series events with other Club members to compete for the Dudley Thomas Trophy.

National Record Broken at Acme Open 25

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The Acme Wheelers Open 25 was meticulously planned by Event Secretary Simon Kinsey, nothing was left to chance.  The only variable which could not be controlled was the weather.  Well the forecasters were on our side.  The event took place on a warm almost windless day and there was an expectation that records might be broken. Newly crowned WCA 25 Mile TT Champion Marcin Bialoblocki (NOPINZ) had signed on and after his Competition Record on the same course a week or two early Club members were excited that it could go again.  Keiron Davies (DRAG2ZERO) had also signed on to defend the title he had won the previous year with an Event Record.  The scene was set for battle.

In the end Bialoblocki posted an Event Record of 43:21, just 23 seconds off his Competition Record but setting an Event Record which is likely to stand for some time.  Keiron Davies was second with a time of 45:48.  He commented that he might need a motor bike to overhaul the new Event Record.

The 20 Lady starters had and equally tough battle with Alice Lethbridge (DRAG2ZERO) leading the field with a time of 51:22.  She was closely followed by team mate Vicky Gill 52:08.

 Lethbridge’s time was a little way off her 50:10 set on a previous visit to the course but she didn’t feel in top condition on the day.  “I wasn’t feeling very good today but considering that I took the win” she said “I was surprised to win with how I felt during the race, a win is a win.  It was also a bit more blustery than I would have liked.”

The Junior entries were of a particularly high standard, Joshua Sandman (Team Backstedt-Bike Performance) posted a time of 41:29 a mere 2 seconds off the Junior Competition Record.  Pride of place must go to Pfeiffer Georgi (Liv CC Halo Cycles) who posted a time of 52:54 to come 3rd in the Ladies Event while breaking her own National Competition Record.

Many thanks for all those members, spouses and friends who help out on the day to ensure that, once again, the event was very successful.

WCA Championships

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The WCA Championships were organised by Martin Heritage-Owens’  RealTeam organisation on the very fast R25/3H course.  The event attracted high quality of entries with 171 finishes including two tandem teams. It would appear that the organiser has a good eye for the weather as the event took place in sunshine with alight breeze,  an improvement upon conditions leading up to the weekend.

Two Acme riders made the start line with both of them looking for P.B.’s on the fast course.  Last year’s Club Champion, Gary Flower, had to make changes to his regular training schedule to support his efforts to post a PB. Iron Man Triathlete, Gary, had to reduce his running in the week before the WCA Event in order to ensure that his legs would be a bit fresher on the day.  Realising that the weather conditions would give an opportunity for fast times Gary wrote “sub 53” on the back of his hand as a reminder of what he thought was possible. 

Tucking himself into an aero position on the downhill section Gary attained a top speed of 50mph without pedalling and he advises would be racers to work on their aero position.

Gary’s plan was to build up to a greater heart rate on the last 5 miles than the previous 20 and to dig deep at the end.

Dave Singleton was back on the R25/3H soon after his OVW event in April.  He too planned to take advantage of the conditions to post a P.B. after his good start to the season.  The change of weather conditions may have caught Dave out as he advises members to ensure they have plenty of liquid

The training plans and race strategy of both riders seem to have been well founded for the day as both riders achieved the target they set themselves.  Dave Singleton achieved his P.B. with a time of  56:16, with this coming early in the season it suggests that there is more to come are the season progresses.  Gary Flowers reminder on the back of his hand also seems to have worked as he posted a 52:19.  Well done to both riders and especially to Gary Flower who retains the Ken Harrison Challenge Trophy as Club 25 Mile Champion for 2018.

Dave and Gary take very different paths in the coming weeks and months, Dave travelling back up to Hirwaun for another event organised by Sportzmad.  Gary, on the other hand, has plans much further afield  with an Ironman event in Austria in July and the Ironman Wales event in Tenby in September.