Friday was all about sprinting and I was delighted to post a new personal best and the fastest flying 200m qualifying time for the women, across all age groups, with 12.451.  I had gone into the championships feeling good and this was just what I needed to get my campaign off to a good start.  Qualifying fastest, I earn the easiest route to the final and duly clinched gold there.

 On Saturday morning the heat was rising in the velodrome as we kicked off with the 500m TT.  This time I failed in my quest to be the fastest woman overall and had to settle for silver. 

If nothing else, it gave me huge motivation going into the scratch race.  I really enjoy the bunch racing and with 18 women on the track, it was a good size field and the racing was fast and aggressive.
 
British Cycling reported this race by saying “Janet Birkmyre (Orbea – For Goodness Shakes) was clearly going to control the race as she chased down each attack for the first half of the event.”  However, at just over half distance, a broken chain cause the bunch to fracture and seven riders managed to break away. 

I had been on the wrong side of the rider who lost her chain and had to chase hard to bridge to the breakaway, happily I did so in time to recover and win the sprint to take the race, securing my second title.

 By the Sunday of the championships, I am usually starting to flag a bit.  The morning session was pursuiting and happily my seeding meant that I rode last in my category.  So I knew what I had to do to win and my husband, David (who also is my coach, mechanic, tactician…) selected a schedule to do just that.  He then walked the line for me to ensure that I kept to the plan.

And then, just as the adrenaline from the pursuit has worn off, it was time to start warming up for the final event, the points race.  It had been a long hot weekend, but there was no lack of commitment from any of the riders, with a very close fight for the first sprint.  My intention was to score some points but not to give too much in this opening sprint, as I expected the attacks from the more endurance based riders to come in thick and fast and I wanted to be able to cover the moves.  There were some digs off the front, but none of the attacks came to anything and I was able to score in all of the sprints.  I had come over the line third in the first sprint, I then took second in the next and won the last two, accumulating 16 points – a winning margin of 8 points over the second placed rider, to take my fourth title of the championships.

 My next race will be the National Omnium at the Dudley Grand Prix on 11 July.

The elite criterium was the main event of an afternoon of cycling based activities, ranging from the fixed wheel skid competition to the world famous folding bike race. As ever, the atmosphere had built as the day went on and, by the time the darkness fell for the big race it was electric, and the racing in the elite criterium didn’t disappoint.

The race was flat out from the start and an early break of four featuring Jack Bauer (Endura), Ian Bibby (Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta), Darren Lapthorne and Zac Dempster didn’t blunt the enthusiasm of the chasing pack as riders attacked throughout to try and get across to the leaders. The Orbea-For Goodness Shakes team for the night were active throughout, attacking and making moves, with Dean Shannon showing himself in more than one of the small chase groups that were chased down.

(pictures courtesy of British Cycling & Larry Hickmott)

As the race entered the finale, team captain Andy Lyons hit the front of the bunch to try and make one last effort to drag the leading quartet back. Andy went full gas at the head of the race for two laps, lining out the entire field and pulling the gap to the leaders back to under 20 seconds. With the laps running out, Andy wasnʼt able to do all the work by himself and pulled off the front as Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta took the pace up further for the final few laps.

As Ian Bibby took the victory from Zac Dempster and Jack Bauer, Motorpoint- Marshalls Pastaʼs Olympic team pursuiters Andy Tennant and Ed Clancy hit the front of the bunch, taking the pace to a ferocious level and forcing a split in the field on the final lap. In perfect position, Marcel Six made the split and sprinted to a fantastic 8th place, just behind experienced Professional Malcolm Elliot (Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta). Marcel is something else, he has so much natural ability to place so highly against full time professional cyclists with every advantage, after working a full day in a bike shop. With Marcel in the roster, the future’s looking very bright for the team. Andy once again showed his class hasnʼt faded in his fortieth year as he rounded out the top 20. Weʼre really pleased with how well the riders did as a team. So many of the top riders in the country were being dropped simply because of the speed of the race and Orbea-For Goodness Shakes! worked hard throughout to make our presence felt, getting stuck in, being name checked by the commentator and showing our
colours to the thousands watching. A fantastic result after a thrilling nightʼs work.

Results:
1.) Ian Bibby: Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta
2.) Zak Dempster: Rapha Condor Sharp
3.) Jack Bauer: Endura Racing
4.) Darren Lapthorne: Rapha Condor Sharp
5.) Dean Windsor: Rapha Condor Sharp
6.) Ed Clancy: Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta
7.) Malcolm Elliott: Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta
8.) Marcel Six: Orbea-For Goodness Shakes!
9.) Matt Cronshaw: Rapha Condor Sharp
10.) Andrew Tennant: Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta

20.) Andy Lyons: Orbea-For Goodness Shakes!

Bristol Bikefest? What can I say? I guess I’ll just start at the beginning: I’d been looking forward to the event for a while. I’m settled here in Bristol now and it feels like home, so a home race on my home trails. The weather was looking like it would be kind to us, the trails were running well, and I was starting to get all the indications that I might be in OK shape. Certainly I’m in a very comfortable place as a rider and my thoughts on the event and racing in general are all based on enjoyment and fun rather than any great outcome.

I’ve also been working much more on the mental side of things with regards to what I want from competition. I know I can win races, and I’m sorry if I shouldn’t say it and people find that arrogant, but I know I can win solo 6, solo 12 and solo 24 hour races. I proved that a long time ago now and I’ve moved on from any need to prove myself as an athlete. I do like competition though, I do like the process of training, the fun times we have when we get together, and then putting that all into a heated environment to see what we can do under pressure.

I’ve been looking at my mental game and a view to enjoyment. I’ve been looking at racing intelligently and using the truth of what science has taught us about pacing, about power output, about energy. All that information is out there and many of us already know it. It fascinates me that so many otherwise intelligent athletes throw all that information straight out the window come race day! I’m trying not to and it’s very, very tough not to react to the attacks o others and the early pace in a race. Bristol was my first attempt at making pacing work as the number one goal of my race.

The week leading up to Bristol had been a heavy week of training for me and my last block before I taper back for Mountain Mayhem. This worked pretty well for me in that I couldn’t get to preoccupied with Bikefest other than to do my training on the course and simulate some race pace as part of the block. I knew from those rides in the week that i was going to be able to comfortably average 25 minute laps around the slimmed-down Bikefest loop. I also knew that had I wanted to I could have gunned a couple of sub 23’s if I’d been racing on a team. So if you look back at most solo race results you’ll see that most riders gun a few, then slip back a bit to a sustainable pace, then pay the price for the early fast laps and fall back a bit.

I figured that gave me a window of 23 to 27 minutes so anyone going consistently faster than 23 was going to beat me. Anyone faster than me early on but within that window who hadn’t paced them self properly was probably beatable by the end of the race. That is all assuming that I don’t pace myself badly and fade also. The plan then was to start fast to avoid the traffic and then settle in with laps that were no faster than 24 minutes (but if I were really sensible 25 minutes) and then keep the pressure on as others started to fade.

Looking at the start sheet it looked like it was going to be a really good indicator of my fitness. Ant White and Ian Leitch, who are both also on the Mayhem start sheet, were entered. Along with Adi Scott and Graeme Forbes. All 4 riders who I know can race hard and fast for six hours (and beyond) Only the best 3 would make that podium and they’d need a bit of luck and some good solid pace to be there at the end. As it happens neither Ian or Ant turned up for the start, at least I didn’t see them there, and I can only guess that they either had a great day racing the day previous and decided to head home early to celebrate, or a not so great day racing the day before and so decided to head home and rest up for Mayhem. Either way I hope they will both recover and be at their best for Mayhem as I’m really looking forward to the competition.

I got a bit carried away at the start. I guess I’ve not raced a whole lot of enduro in recent years and being in a good event. I ran to my bike hard, got clear and then hit the first singletrack at a good lick. As I reached a safe point for team and pairs riders to pass I eased a bit and waited for the other solo contenders to appear. Graeme was pretty much on me straight away and rode off shortly afterwards. He looked comfortable, not like he was hauling his ass, we would have to see if he was just faster and fitter or just looks really comfortable at pace.

Adi caught me about halfway around that first lap. He was riding as Adi rides, such a strong guy, aggressive attacking style and strong on the climbs. I kinda resigned myself a long time ago that I’m never going to be a flyweight climber. I live in the power sections of the course, lots of ramps and short hills work for me. I’ve built my own style of racing enduro around my strengths so I climb sensibly, descend well and then hit the flat or rolling stuff that others tap through with a good solid pace. I didn’t react to Adi climbing away, I just rode back up to him when my strengths suited. We continued like that for some laps.

So my early laps were a tad to fast but I settled well and I wasn’t losing too much time to the two riders up ahead. Graeme took 45 seconds out of me on lap one, 42 seconds on lap two, 46 seconds on lap 3, and then only 25 seconds on lap 4. If he was pacing his ride well then he was clearly fitter than me. If he wasn’t then time gap simply wouldn’t be enough when he faded in the second half of the event. I was a little over pace but not enough that I expected to fade massively. Adi never really got away and we swapped second place repeatedly.

Approaching the two, to two and half, hour mark always give you the first indication of who has overcooked it slightly. I felt OK although I knew that I’d burnt a couple of matches and so couldn’t afford to get into a fight until the last couple of hours. Adi had clearly burnt a lot of his and the sting was suddenly gone from his attacks. for the first time in the race I caught him on a climb. The temptation to go right then was immense but with over three hours of racing I decided that a slightly slower lap at his pace was better than using my energy just yet. I followed and observed for half a lap. He was either bluffing or I was now stronger.

We approached the end of that lap and I clocked Graeme with an upturned bike and fixing what looked like a puncture. Adi seemed cooked. Time to find out! I took the pace straight back up to the previous pace and didn’t look back. Friends around the course started giving me time checks. It looked good. Settle in, stay on a sensible and sustainable pace, wait to see if Graeme had anything left to hunt me back down. From that point on I just reacted ever so slightly to the riders behind whenever I needed to. If the gap shortened I’d lift my pace a notch, if the gap opened then I’d allow myself a slightly easier pace.

It made me smile a lot. Riding an awesome bike – I rode my slightly heavier Blur LT which just excelled in the Bristol rocks – in the sun, through the dust, pushing my body, executing the plan, leading the race. Absolutely bloody marvelous, what an incredible buzz! It was good, a really, really fun ride.

The guys behind started to slow a bit more towards the end but I decided to see if I could get out with enough time to complete a 14th lap and also to see if I could stay on the pace. I did and I could, and that felt bloody marvelous too! My average in the end was 25:17 which if I’m honest with myself is a bit disappointing as I held a better pace than that on my six hour training ride on the same course 7 days previous. It does prove the point to myself that I can go faster overall if I don’t react to others early on. I reckon I could have held that for a 12 hour no worries, and given that I start 12’s slower…

So now I’m really looking forward to Mayhem and seeing what sort of pacing strategy I can execute there. I wasn’t expecting to find this sort of fitness this season, I was hoping to be here in 2011, but who’s to complain? I don’t know if it’s good enough to take on racers like Ant, Ian and James (Leavesley) in a solo 24 hour. I will be looking to enjoy Mountain Mayhem as much as I did Bristol Bikefest. Nine days to go and I just can’t wait…

–
Rob Lee
Team Syncros Endurance
Seven Deadly Spins
Follow the adventure @RobLee7ds