Coward of the County

I'm exhausted, that was my best, and hardest TT ever. The Southern Counties Cycling Union’s centenary 100 mile time trial. I rode this event last year in five hours, thirty minutes and forty three seconds. It took me several days to recover.

This year, A crocked shoulder (hadn’t ridden the bikes since a 50 mile TT one month ago) and a bad cold meant I'd set a target finish time of 5 hours 15 minutes. Mrs Snoop and others had advised me against racing. I wasn't going to miss the start of the 100th SCCU 100, no sirree.

Music tends to worm its way into my head on the longer TTs - some kind of weird way of concentrating on something... Today's offering was "The Coward of the County" Couldn't shift the bloody thing all race.

Started riding on my TT bike. Forgot to pin number to arse - timekeeper not happy. Luckily I had the shoulder number on so they let me ride (failure to start due to complete rider stupidity could have been very embarrassing).

“Evryone considered him the coward of the county.
He’d only stood one single time to prove the county wrong.
His teammates named him Snoopy, he raced in black and yeller,
But something always told me they were reading Snoopy wrong.”

Sections of the course are familiar as the local 25, 50 and 100 follow some of the same roads. As I set off I quickly remembered how hellish the 100 course is though. The first ten miles is lumpy, and me no like. No rhythm, gear changes all the time. I pushed through this section and settled into a good pace. I managed to hang onto a 20mph average for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth ten miles. I knew I couldn't keep it up but it was good (for me) to clock 60 miles at that speed.

I got held up at the lights on the A24/A272 junction. Must've lost a few minutes there easily (it was 37 seconds when I checked later).

Mrs Snoop met me at Bolney on 67 miles and I swapped bikes. I didn't think my shoulder would hold out for the remainder so I wanted more position options. I don't think I'd do that again mind. I started getting some really (and I mean really) painful muscle twinges as my body tried to adjust. Thought they would force me to stop but I ironed them out after a few miles.

Sure enough I began to fade as the roads got worse, more undulating, my speed slowly ebbed away. It was piggin hot by now too and like others I was feeling it. At the 75 mile mark I reckoned I could just squeeze my target time and so I ground on as best I could. The last ten miles are a complete kick in the teeth. A rotten undulating country lane nightmare. Country - don't talk to me about it.......

“Promise me, son, not to do the things I’ve done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
It won’t mean you’re weak if you turn the other cheek.
I hope you’re old enough to understand:
Son, you don’t have to fight to be a man.”

I ain't quittin’ pa... My feet were on fire, needles of pain blasting out of every nerve. In the intense heat my head was spinning and I just grit my teeth and tried to push as hard as I could. Two miles to go and I hit the final stretch of dual carriageway. Knowing the end was in sight I dug deep and floored it. I had just enough left to sprint for the (county) line.

So pleased to be off the damn bike, seeing some of my teammates quickly lifted my spirits and we had a few laughs about how bloody hard things were today.

I was keen to know how I did so went into HQ and there - on the board.... 5.10.43. So - I PB'd by 20 minutes dead and I beat my target time.

For the last time, I let Kenny Rogers back in….

“I promised you, dad, not to do the things you done.
I walk away from trouble when I can.
Now please don’t think I’m weak, I didn’t turn the other cheek,
And papa, I sure hope you understand:
Sometimes you gotta fight when you’re a man.”

As I left HQ I saw many folk hobbling away. It had been a mega effort to finish in the gruelling conditions today, there were no cowards in this county.

Easing Back into a World of Pain...

...but this time most of it was self inflicted. Crikey, work, life, fun and everything else have kept me waaaay too busy to write. Camping, fire side sing songs, too much to drink and some belated hard core veg planting have all been achieved. More later......maybe.

So - after a nightmare on the ESCA 50, how would I fare on the Southern Counties 50 at the end of June? Well I'd been to see the Doc after my shoulder pains refused to sort themselves out. A thoroughly unpleasant cocktail of valium and diclofenac didn't agree with me. So I stopped the former and used the latter when it became necessary.

Shortly after the ESCA 50 I attempted some interval training which went disastrously wrong, I was getting over a cold and just.....crap. In the build up to the SCCU race all I did was a few short twiddles on the bike to make sure everything still worked (me and it) and a 45 min easy session the day before. I've been feeling too tight to train, worried that too much exertion might mean I had to miss the race.

Race day comes and off I go in breezy conditions. I felt much better than on the previous race, got my drinking regime into better shape and with a good knowledge of the course I knew when to push and when to save a bit. I began to feel some pain in my knee after about 30 miles. This was due to some adjustments I'd made to the saddle which had cured some other discomforts, one door shuts, another opens.

The final four miles I had the wind behind me so gave it everything (well everything I had left anyway) and blasted over the line with my heart rate well into the red, and a time of 2.22.38. That's a PB by 3 min and 14 sec. Happy with that, oh yes indee.....ppppsssssssssssssss. My tyre blew about 15 metres after I crossed the line, boy that could have been a real bummer.

A plus for the day - I managed to stick my tongue out for the camera, well you've just gotta do it.

Two days after the race and I've made the shoulder a bunch worse straining to take the pedals off my daughter's bike :( Back to the Doc again this Friday. Got the SCCU 100 at the end of July, worried how I'm going to fare with so little training these past few weeks....we'll see.

Snoop

Learning from a Painful Personal Best

Up at 3am to go racing last Sunday. Had a stinker of a cold the previous week just to top off my gardening related self inflicted crippling. So - having not touched the bike for a fortnight I wasn't expecting great things, good job eh? My motivation for doing this was to put a mark down for the SCCU 50 @ the end of the month. I haven't ridden my bike that distance for a long time - would I make it round? Secretly I was hoping for a PB but not by much - want to hit form @ end of the month and who knows....

Things didn't get off too well, the timekeeper was late. When I'm late I get a late start penalty, I reckon we should all get 10 mins off our time to make up for this administrative shabbyness.....

I roll off in my customary casual stylee. The road surface was not up to much, lots of bumps and more than a few 'oles. As I began to push on I'm afraid I started to expel the remains of my cold - this unpleasantness continued the whole way round, eeewwwww. At the half way mark I wasn't feeling too bad, I hit that point @ 1 hour 11 mins, well ahead of where I was expecting. I should've bailed out here. The second lap just sapped me of everything. The final 13 miles was the most draining experience. I hit that mark at 1.45.37. I crawled back and even had to use the small ring for a short distance. The final kick up to the finish was just cruel (I survived this by thinking what must it be like to pull your finger nails out - more painful than this, surely).

I came home in 1.25.52, a PB by 45 seconds. Mission accomplished in a most forgettable style. Much better efforts from t'other fellow agreeables and ye Tri Sport news crew. Dave Palmer's shouts en route helped to keep me going (he could see how f***ed I was - we spoke after). Jim Burdett, 2.3.40 (PB), Dominic 2.8.39, Dave P 2.9.44, RRE 2.10.15

It's now Friday and I don't think I've managed a full nights sleep this week. Shoulder and back, chest in a lot of discomfort. Eases a bit through the day but not good at night. I've had to pull out of the Horsham 10 tomorrow. Going to take it as easy as I can in the desperate hope of being fit for the SCCU 50.

I'm learning that as I push myself, then my body pushes back.....hard. Hindsight's a wonderful thing but I'm sorry that I raced last weekend.

Publish & Be Damned!

Last week I wrote about a piece of "agony aunt" advice I offered up to The Independent newspaper. They only went and published it in yesterday's copy! Sent me a nice box of chocolates for my trouble too, who'd have thought it eh? Here's the link to the article.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/healthy-living/virginia-ironsides-dilemmas-847711.html

So, if you have any personal problems you've been wanting some common sense solutions too, why not drop me a line. Then again.......maybe not.

Snoop

How to be in Two Places at Once

I read this in the paper today:

"My mother died five years ago, and I have her ashes in a plastic bag in the attic. The time has come to scatter them, but my sister wants to scatter them in New York where she had a house - and I want to scatter them in Hyde Park, where my mother loved to walk. It seems awful to divide her in half. Can you suggest anything?"

In response, I've just emailed in the following "advice":

"On the one hand you think it would be awful to scatter your late Mum’s ashes in two places with which she had a strong connection, yet it’s OK to leave her tied up in a plastic bag in the attic for five years? Whilst alive most folk would love to be in two places at once. Now she’s passed away, you and your sister can make that a reality for your Mum. When my Gran died we saw to it that she went to as many places that she had loved as we could manage. These range from the River Dee to my vegetable patch and many more places in between. A permanent residence in New York and Hyde Park sounds rather grand – go for it!"

Whaddya think - can I cut it as an agony aunt?

Snoop

Super Toks Puts the Hammer Down

Hey is this guy cool or what? Fellow Agreeable and all round bloody nice bloke, Toks Adesanya waved the Addiscombe flag big time at the Smithfield Nocturne last Saturday. A storming effort from all the ACCers leanin' over the barriers shouting out his name. Toks didn't do too bad either. No time for tongues out - a great ride!

http://theademerckx2008racingfiles.blogspot.com/2008/06/smithfield-nocturne-support-race-234.html

What a great evening out. Loads of familiar faces out enjoying a warm early Summer evening. Tip top racing, tip top company, tip top food and a few bevvies thrown in for good measure.

I'd recommend this to anyone regardless of whether or not cycling is your bag. It was great fun - can't wait for Nocturne 2009.

Punk, Piano and Papayas

It's been a beautiful sunny morning with a light breeze. Perfect cycling weather. Looking back at my lawn laying exploits last Saturday and still feeling the pain I'm gazing out of the window feeling frustrated. I've been taking paracetamol and ibuprofen like smarties all week and I continue to hobble around. My fault, lesson learned.

So, instead of enjoying a hard 45 miles on the bike with the Addiscombe Cycling Club I've done the weekly shop. Woohoo that's exciting....you might think? Well I took my Ipod and wandered up and down the aisles in a blissful state, listening to an excellent random music mix including The Clash, Franz Ferdinand, Massive Attack, Groove Armada and the pianist Daniel Varsano. The fruit and veg has not looked so colourful and interesting in here for a long while. With a little twist I made a mundane activity so much more engaging. Going to make a delicious prawn & leek risotto for lunch.

Muscle-wise I hope things realign and knit back very soon otherwise the ESCA 50 mile time trial next weekend may be my first Did Not Start of the season. This is an important race in the build up to the SCCU 50 at the end of June, which will contribute to my season goal of completing the SCCU Best All Rounder competition and improving last year's average speed by at least 15%.

Hoping to make it up to the Smithfield Nocturne this evening, more ibuprofen anyone?

Take it easy - I intend to.

Snoop