Castle Combe 10m TT

My first realization of yesterdays ride was that apparently 10 miles is quite a bit longer than 10 kilos. For me, it took 21 odd minutes to figure that out. I did my first 10 miler in Castle Combe motor circuit yesterday. The course was hard and my legs just weren't quite amazing. Not to exaggerate things, eventually I did alright.

All the same, it was five and a bit laps around the circuit to complete the ten miles. My first thought was that a race around relatively flat motor circuit sounds like a quick course, but as there was like five rhythm changes including corners and chicanes, which unfortunately is not my strongest ability, it was very tough go. By rhythm changes I refer mostly to hills, or in this case mountains, which were more like Col de Galibier or Mortirolo climb. Just kidding. In time trialling constant minor inclines are hard enough.

Now I've hopefully given enough excuses for not going as well as I hoped, I think it is time to give some data: I averaged around 45kph, 370+ watts and placed fourth. There were some decent riders in front of me, so I got some decent references. Besides, that was my first 10miler, so I really didn't know what expect or how to pace myself. After all, I was doing 10 miles in same(ish) pace than 10 kilos at best last season, so numberwise I was going quite OK.

It was second serious effort this season so far and I'm quite certain that after couple more outings I'll start to do one level better. I'm looking forward to that!

At last, I can't help but praise the Wednesday evening event. The atmosphere was so nice and the organization of event was really good. The thing that struck me the most was the toughness of the course, not to forget the safety measures. Closed racing circuit provided a beginner friendly environment for time trialling and it also provided a tough effort for more experienced riders. Only thing was that when I finished it was nearly dark, due to the time of the year. All in all, this is something I'd love to see and ride in Finland as well!

BUCS Track Champs

Today was racing time. I rode the individual pursuit and kilo in the British University championships. The schedule was tough and I knew it beforehand so that's no excuse. Anyway, this morning I went out for a solid wake-up ride in the Welsh countryside and felt pretty much alright.

The schedule was tight due to high number of entries. At the end of the day I found myself qualifying for IP and riding kilo and IP finals inside 45mins. Tough love, I say. In the qualifiers I gave my best and finished with 4.45.581 breaking my previous PB by nearly 4 seconds. Happy days, but my opponent in the final, Sebastian Pancratz, smashed us all by cruising a classy time of 4.35,726.

Next up was the kilo. I surprised myself by riding a new PB (1.07,026) and eventually winning the event. And there is always the if-factor, which in this case is that I could have gone under 1.07 if didn't have to overtake my pair. But that's just exaggerating. These things belong to the sport, and rightly so. Next up, after ten mins of catching breath, was the IP finals, which I entried with incorrect gearing and empty legs. No wonder Sebastian caught me, and honestly it could have happened with or without the kilo. Congrats Sebastian, that was some good class pursuiting. I was all too happy that it was over.

Overall, I really liked the event and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. Thanks for the organizers! Plus, it was cool to ride in my own neighbourhood. Tomorrow will be the medals ceremony and I watch my friend, Tom, riding in the points race and sprint. It is a shame that we don't have teams for team pursuit or sprint!

I got loads of confidence from today and our bit of experimenting with gears worked very well! I'm not telling what I did, but the main thing is that it worked. Anyway, tomorrow I already have to switch my focus to time trialling as next week has three ten milers to offer. Stay tuned!

Coming up: Spring races.

A week before the spring races begin, I'm starting to feel like it. I'm really looking forward to getting the bib on my back and going for it. Although, this block is more for building towards the bigger goals in the future, to raise the bar for next macro cycle, to see where I'm currently at – but still racing is always racing. I'm just curious to see how my form is now after winter season and looking forward to some solid performances and further development. There is quite a lot of time trialling in the schedule, to build up the power for individual pursuiting. Please, see calendar for more info about the races.

Now that the dissertation is gone from my mind, I'm lot less stressed and the distractions to training are gone. After handing it in on Tuesday I've had bit of funny moments of not knowing what to do, since there has been nothing that I should or would have to do. It's been nice, but kinda weird. It's not only been mental stress, but I've been feeling a lot better in general and I've been able to set some pretty nice training sessions. And besides life is far more enjoyable now!

As said, these races are for raising the bar, they are not primary targets. The primary targets are a way in the future and all this is just building for those moments. Those days will eventually come and then I will be ready.

It is gonna be tough couple of weeks, but it definitely is worth it. I'm looking forward to give my all and see how it all goes.

P.S. 10.000 visitors today, thank you!

News flash!

Lately, I haven't been too active on updating my blog and for that, I apologize. The reason behind it, however, is quite reasonable and understandable: I've been working all day long on my dissertation (opinnäytetyö) and have barely had time to for cycling.

Now to the news! It is all completed, done, handed in and so on. This feels amazing, simply amazing. It goes under the title of: Competitive anxiety and self-confidence among talented Finnish alpine skiers and impacts on the athletic performance. Altogether 76 pages around the topic – I've never done anything up to this scale

If anyone fancies a read, just drop me a message. I gotta warn though, that at times the text is fairly scientific, which is another way to say almost impossible to understand.... ;)

Stress relief is major. Now I can again concentrate on my training spot on as the racing season begins in two week. My calendar can be found by clicking here. Quite a hectic April coming up, but it is nothing compared to the stress this piece work caused. In terms of cycling it is all okay; nothing spectacular has happened and I haven't lost it too much during the distractions to training.