Condor Cycles 3 day stage race 3-5th May 2014

Over the May bank holiday weekend I participated in the Condor Cycles 3 day stage race. It consisted of 3 x 50 mile crit races at Lea Valley Velopark, Cyclopark Kent and then Hillingdon. So roughly 2 hrs of racing a day.

 

Report by Paul McGrath

Stage 1 was held at the new closed road circuit at the Olympic park. It was the first race to be held on the circuit so quite sizable crowd massed around the many vantage points around the course. The course itself was undulating with many changes in elevation and lots of corners.  BC points were on offer for each stage then again for the overall GC. Each rider had a transponder attached to help calculate overall time. As the stages were all crits the time gaps where going to be very small so time bonuses were on offer for the 1^st 3 riders at the 2 intermediate sprints and then again at the finish. Even though the course had multiple levels of elevation and many corners it was not that overly challenging with many riders being able to hang and stay in touch at the rear of the bunch. With the pack being rather large, it would be strung out through the multiple corners then would bunch back up for the hair pin. The elevation changes where only very short, so as long as you maintained speed you would clear them with relative ease.

On hindsight I probably road too aggressively. Trying to get a break formed and tried multiple attacks off the front. I managed to get a group of 3 going, got pegged back then a group of 5 but the mix was just not quite right. Many clubs had multiple riders with one in particular having 6. Bar a few riders, people seemed extremely eager to chase but very reluctant to put the effort in to make the break successful. At the 1^st intermediate sprint I took 2^nd place so a nice time bonus in the bank. With 2^nd intermediate sprint approaching I went solo the lap before in attempt to better my previous attempt. With around 50m to the line, just as the course kicked up I was swallowed up by the accelerating bunch. No idea where I placed but nowhere near the time bonuses as there was a bloody crash. Due to the crash a group of 5 had splintered off the front. They would stay away till the end and contest the win. Each rider in the break had at least 2 team mates in the bunch and disrupted chase efforts very well. I made multiple efforts with a rider from VC Meudon to bridge but the pursuing teams had us marked. The rest of the pack was happy to sit in and contest the sprint for 6^th place. I found this extremely frustrating considering Dulwich Paragon had 6 riders in the race and no-one in the break but still refused to do any work and sat happily in a line at around 3^rd wheel the whole race. I had a few strong and colourful words which fell on deaf ears but made me feel a little better. With the laps counting down I knew I was not going to get away, so to keep any GC aspirations going I went to the front and pounded out the laps with a couple of other riders to minimise any increase in time gaps to leaders. With around 2 laps to go people were getting twitchy in preparation for the sprint for 6^th place and the all-important 1 BC point on offer. This stupidness resulted in a quite a bad crash with at least on rider going to hospital in an ambulance. This fragmented the pack, I would roll over in 37^th place after a bit of Cyclocross and be given the same time as the rest of the field. In the end a whole lot of effort for nothing really. With the time bonus included I was currently sitting in joint 7^th place in GC just behind the 5 break way riders. 50 secs of the lead and 30 secs from 3^rd. Roll on stage 2.

 

Stage 2 was held at Cyclopark Kent. It’s another circuit I hadn’t ridden before and took the edge of the thought of another 50 laps of people sitting on. This was by far the hardest circuit out of the 3. It had a long half mile uphill drag of around 3% down one side of the circuit which took you up to quite a sharp uphill corner with a prevailing head wind. This was wearing people down lap after lap. Those that were able to hang on at the Velo park where getting shelled like peas. Even though I had said to myself I was not to be as aggressive today I could not help myself but attack. The race started off at a pedestrian rate. People tired from yesterday and watching the GC leader like a hawk. The 1^st lap took what seemed an eternity. I wasn’t going to do this for 50 laps so decided to stretch the legs. The rider from VC Meudon followed plus another rider and we stretched out a good gap of around 45 secs. If we could hold this my GC aspirations would be looking good. Moping up the intermediate time bonuses as well it would look even better. With 22 laps to go I had taken to the front and done a big turn on the fastest section of the course, I swung out a bit wider at the corner to let the other 2 riders through when suddenly I heard a very loud BANG. My rear tyre had gone and blown completely off the rim. The tyre become all entwined somehow round the brake calliper and jammed the wheel causing it lock up. Somehow I kept her up and ventured off on the grass and managed to come to a safe stop. No injuries but definitely some new shorts were needed! I put my bike over my shoulder and carried her to the pits. The commissionaire said for me to start tomorrow I had to finish the race and ask me if I thought it was it worth it. As I would incur a time penalty (so GC chances gone) and be riding round in no-man’s land until the finish. It was also unassisted pits, if you were caught getting help you would incur another time penalty. So did I want to retire? I had travelled too far to give up and I wanted the back to back racing as preparation and training for hopefully the Tour of Wales later in the year. This meant I had to go back to the car to get some tools to remove the calliper to get the bloody tyre off. I banged in a rear wheel and set off. Training time!  I managed to catch up and tag back on the back off the main bunch which by now was probably only around 20-25 riders. My break away companions were in the group and the VC Meudon rider said that once I had gone the other rider just was not strong enough and they got pulled back within 3 laps. A lead group of around 6 riders had countered and had stretched up to around 1 mins advantage. Wanting to make the most of my time out on circuit and the bunch apparently happy to sit on, I, the rider the from VC Meudon and one of the Dulwich riders who had been on the receiving end of tongue lashing the day before went to work trying to tow the break back. We got the gap down to 25 secs and in sight on the main straight but some excellent disruption and blocking by the team mate of Look Mum Know Hands rider did just enough to ensure the break was never caught. Another rider that took a bit of tongue lashing! I apologised after the race, I said he did a great job and played the part of the perfect teammate, I would of the done the same in those circumstances. As we approached the flag for the finish, the usual sprint for the minor positions ensued.  I kept pace to the side in preparation to continue for a couple more laps thinking I had to make up the distance so I could race tomorrow. This was not the case. I wish it had been explained a bit better as I was placed 18^th or 20^th for the stage even though I was around 5 or 6 laps down! If I had of known I could off gone for a better stage placing as few riders had been shelled from the break so up to 4^th place was available at the line. At least I could have got a couple of points to show for the hard graft but never mind. In my opinion, to be able to place after taking laps out shouldn’t be possible.  I would later find out I was to be issued a 22min time penalty to my GC placing following my mechanical. This left me siting pretty much last in GC but having finished the stage I could compete tomorrow.

The final stage was 50 laps of Hillingdon. There was no chance of making up 22mins on this circuit so stage honours where the plan of the day. I’m no sprinter so I wasn’t going to wait for the inventible big bunch kick that 99% of the time occurs at Hillingdon. I made several attacks and efforts to stretch the pack and get the pace up but the peloton was being excellently marshalled by ELV and PCH. I wasn’t given any room; why I don’t know, I was 22mins down now so of no concern or threat to any placing’s. 2 riders who I hadn’t seen for the other stages where allowed to get up the road. The pack showed no concerted effort to get them and they disappeared off in to the distance.  Those at the front of the pack all started looking at each other at who was going to move on, with the rest of the field as they had done all week just sat behind them waiting for them to move. At this point I had the choice to track stand on the side of the circuit to hold my position and wait for the rest of field to move on or attack. Like usual I disobeyed the voice in my head and attacked. A rider from PCH and 1 from Farnbourgh Uni followed and I bridged us to the 2 up the road. We got working well but it was obvious the Farnbourgh Uni rider was not strong enough and was hindering our progress. The pack was closing in fast so a shout was giving to up the effort, which the PCH rider duly did, nothing explosive just slight notch up pace. In the space of one corner we had dropped the other 3 riders. The lad from PCH and I kept it going and restored our healthy advantage. We cleaned up both intermediate sprints, which I didn’t contest. No point, there was no money on offer and 2 x 10 sec time bonuses when you in 47th place a 22mins down have no value but to the other lad it moved him up 5 places in GC and into a good overall point scoring position. We could see that there were plenty of flurries occurring off the front of the pack with several other strong riders wanting to get away. These constant flurries caused the pack to keep accelerating and began eating into our advantage. On the back part of the circuit the wind had picked right up and we now had a strong block head wind. We passed the lap board for 9 laps to go and half a lap latter we were caught. No to be countered by the pursuing masses but for the bunch to sit directly on our wheels. The rider form PCH just laughed and said ‘sod it we have been out front all day, let’s keep going’. Head down and we bolted off down the circuit at full gas. Stupid I know but hey what the hell. With the pack strung out for a couple more laps in pursuit, eventually we sat up tired from our efforts. For the next 5 laps the pace dropped with no significant surges or attempts to break away. Just after the 2 laps to go board was passed a rider, probably the only one lower than me on GC and one that I lapped no less than 5 times at Cyclopark attacked. Not one person even flinched and he disappeared off round the corner. Another rider then saw his chance and he went. They would hold on for 1^st and 2^nd, would you believe it! I was spent at this stage and boxed right in the middle of the bunch, as per Hillingdon was still together. With a lap to go PCH took back to the front as they needed the win time bonus to challenge for top spot on GC. They upped the gears but duly ran out of steam in the head wind. The usual carnage of Hillingdon sprint then occurred and I dully rolled over in 18^th place.

So after all my efforts, not one single point to show for it. Overall good training and I got some positive comments from some very good seasoned racers. Would I do it again, No I wouldn’t. Apart from the Cyclopark (and the wind played a significant part there) it was to easy for people sit in and be taken for a ride. If the competition took on more of a team format with a possible TTT or TT included it would in my opinion make it a little bit more interesting.