Q2 Summary & Racing With Control



Q2. Where better to start than...


Lockdown TTs


28 March – Q10/18


Strava data


Started waaaay too hard – first minute @ 410+ watts – took the final corner too fast, hit the kerb and went off into the gravel, Formula One style (I wish). Would've been a very slight PB if I had actually finished.


TrainingPeaks data


Going Solo (again)

At the end of March I decided to stop working with Tim. He seems a good guy, definitely knows what he's talking about, but I don't think having a coach is right for me. I like to be quite flexible with what I do on a micro and macro level, and I think it's important to follow a coach's plan and I increasingly found myself not wanting to, for whatever reason. It was absolutely nothing to do with Tim, all on me. I wouldn't rule out working with Tim in future, and I'd recommend him to somebody looking for a coach.


8 May – Q10/29


Strava data


Good conditions. Started a bit too easily – first three miles @ 300 watts – but then upped the power and finished strong. Managed to PB by 41 seconds for a 21'11. Really happy with that. 321NP pretty solid.


TrainingPeaks data


26 June – Q25/12


Strava data


I did a 25m TT in training kit a fortnight prior to this effort where I scraped under the hour, so I was confident I could go sub-55 for a 25 in full race gear.

I wanted to average 300 watts for this, but decided to go out at 290 as I have very little experience of holding threshold – and a new position! – for the best part of an hour.

My new, higher hands, position felt more comfortable as the ride went on and I was thrilled to do 54'40 off 297 watts.


TrainingPeaks data


Those were pretty much the main key rides from March to June.


Post-Lockdown


19 July – Q10/19


Strava data


The 7oaks committee voted to not hold the Interclub series and, because Southborough were hosting a 10 on the A21, I joined them as a second claim member for this race.

In the days leading up to the race, I could feel my nerves building, and I kept thinking about how this would be my only chance to do a 19 on the A21 this calendar year. There is a 10 on the P881R course – which is usually faster – but I'm desperate to do a 19 on Q10/19, and I think that desperation got the better of me.

 On the day, I got up in good time, drove to Southborough, got on the turbo and warmed up just like usual. My first mistake was not saving the ride to the start.
Screen I had during race
So, when I started my avg. speed, current lap and lap power were all wrong. I realised my mistake just as I began descending the ski ramp around 15 seconds in. This rattled me; I felt out of control and the race had barely started.

 The rest of the race was quite erratic. I felt unable to settle and lay down the power like I had during the 21'11 on EP or the 54'35 on Q25/12.

 Although my numbers were distorted, the way out just felt slow. I passed a few riders, including David Bagge during a 1'27 effort @ 373 watts which I think sums up how badly I managed to control this ride. Most riders ride at 5-10% above their 10 power up that slope; I did 20% and hit 199bpm!
TrainingPeaks data
Most people seemed to agree it wasn't a fast day, but to go 47 seconds slower than in August 2019 was disappointing.

 I went home, did 2x15' @ sweetspot on the turbo and went through the data, but it wasn't until the following Wednesday, whilst driving to Iwade to do the Wigmore 10, that I really thought about the performance in detail.

 The word I kept coming back to, and I purposefully used it repeatedly above, was 'control'. In any TT, it's so important to control your emotions, control your position and control how/when you lay down the power. I can't honestly say I had any of those on the A21 that Sunday.

 But, you know, it was my first proper race in 7 months – and even though I had done solo TTs, they were nothing like an organised event.
22 July – Q10/20

Strava data


Wigmore CC held their first 10 on the Iwade course the week before with three riders doing long 22s, so I was hoping to go under 23.

 The course is 5-and-a-bit laps, the surface is pretty poor and the SW part is slightly uphill. There are two corners: the bottom one is quite sharp so you have to slow to ~20mph; the top one you can take at speed – you only have to ease off for a second or two, go wide and carry your speed around the corner.

 I started quite cautiously, unsure of what my legs would be like after the weekend. Although the course was quite slow, having a short break every couple of minutes made pushing higher power much easier so I decided to really up the power for the headwind section and recover slightly during the faster back straight. Numbers:

Lap 1 – 4'37 – 305w – 25.4mph
Lap 2 – 4'20 – 314w – 27.0mph
Lap 3 – 4'21 – 319w – 27.0mph
Lap 4 – 4'21 – 323w – 27.0mph
Lap 5 – 4'17 – 339w – 27.4mph
'A Bit' – 0'36 – 396w – 32.9mph

There were 30 riders on a 2mi/3km course – so on average a rider every 100m. I passed at least five people on the first lap, but after that I only seemed to pass two or three each lap.

Holding position was a bit tricky with dodging the rougher parts and the changing terrain, corners, etc.

I was happy with the time and power – 22'29, 328NP including 413 watts for the last minute – good enough for 2nd on the day, with Neil Harrigan doing a blistering 21'40, only 28 seconds off the course record!


TrainingPeaks data – avg power should be 322w


Got a Maccies on the way home, pretty content with the performance and having raced with control. It's so much nicer to finish a race thinking 'I should have gone a bit harder at the start' rather than the other way around.

Next up for me is the Medway Velo on Q10/1 – the same course I did on New Year's Day. During Q25/12 I actually went around a minute faster on the north/south stretches A2070 that you do on both the 10 & 25 even at a lower power, so I'm hoping to sneak a long 20.

Thanks for reading.

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