Hillingdon Winter Series - Race 9

A massive turnout for the 3rds today - almost 50 riders! Positioning was obviously going to be critical in the last 2 laps...unless a break could stick?
A large contingent of Inverse riders drove the pace high from the off - I think they were trying to split the bunch but their tactics were never going to get results. I stayed in the middle of the field for most of the first half then moved up to the top 10. Jimbo and I had discussed making a break but I was sandwiched on the wrong side of the bunch when he made the jump on the back straight. He created a gap of 150m before I sprinted to join him before taking my pull half way up the home straight. Hard work though - the wind was unfriendly. By the back straight we had been joined by another 3 riders then about 3 others but the effort put in wasn't big enough to break the string with the peloton and we were reeled in after another lap. I kept my position in the top 10 on the regroup and soon the 5 laps to go board came up.
Kingston Wheelers played the game well throughout trying to disrupt the peloton whenever they had a man in the break. One of their riders, Jim, went off with two to go but ran out of steam. On the final lap I was in an OK position but found my sprint thwarted by riders going backwards. Impossible to make it through the gaps and ended up with 8th place. So, sitting third in the Winter league with 7 more BC points to play with before my spell in the 3rds comes to an end.

Photos from Lucy@Imperial Race Team

Place Club Series points
1stw 91 Ed Rose Progression Fitness 3 200
2nd w114 Ben Moores Norwood Paragon 3 150
3rd w111 jacek reder private member 3 130
4th w112 Gordon Kenneway London Dynamo 3 120

5th w 6 Mark Northover CC Giro 3 110
6thw 42 William Platt Kingston Wheelers CC 3 100
7th w150 Andrew Elderfield VC Revolution 3
8thw 41 Alan Strang Dulwich Paragon 3 90
9th w102 Phil Adams CC Ashwell 3 80
10th w109 Jon Lewis Charlotteville CC 3 70
11th w 87 Josh Maynard Welwyn Wheelers 3J 60

12th w 18 Andrew Harvey Kingston Wheelers 3 50
13th w 50 Stuart Stow Twickenham CC 3 40
14th w 16 Charlie Pearch Rapha Condor 3 30
15th w 88 Clinton Thomas lonon dynamo 4 20
16th w 55 Andy Edwards Kingston Wheelers CC 3 10
17th w 29 Ralph Keeler Cambridge CC 3
18th w 33 David Murrell London Phoenix 3
19th w 85 Simon North Hemel Hempstead CC/TORQ 3
20th w 5 Tom Neale Spalding CC 3J
21st w 43 Phillip Burgess Norwood Paragon CC 3

22nd w107 Stephen Hird London Pheonix 3
23rd w106 Christopher Wright Private Member 3
24th w 76 Peter Jones Hillingdon Cycling Club 3
25th w 93 Jai Watson Dulwich Paragon CC 3
26th w113 James Clark Inverse Racing/Bikefood 3
27th w110 Phil Roker Ful-on Tri 3

28th w 35 Andy Lack Kingston Wheelers 3
29th w 36 Tav InverseRacing/BikeFood 3
30th w 75 David Webborn London Dynamo CC 3
31st w 39 Dave Ryan Imperial Racing Team 3
32nd w 63 wayne thomas READING CC 3V
33rd w 60 Peter Dixon Willesden CC 3
34th w 92 Matt Treadwell Twickenham CC 3
35th w 47 Robert Wright Addiscombe CC3
36th w104 Corrine Hall Team Corridori 2Jw
37th w 62 Nick Franzini London Dynamo 3
38th w 81 Maryka Sennema Kingston Wheelers 2w
39th w101 Jason Evans Inverse Racing / Bikefood 3
40th w 64 Leona Kadir Kingston Whrs / SigmaSport 2w
41stw108 Rachel Przybylski Charlotteville CC 2w
42ndw103 james cartridge Inverse Racing 3
43rd ?
44th w 80 Jim Ley Kingston Wheelers 3
45thw 44 Nathan Smith London Phoenix 3
46th w105 Jeremy Hewitt Kingston Wheelers CC 3

Hillingdon Winter Series - Races 7 and 8

Race 7 was fell victim to Britain's mini ice age. About a foot of snow blanketed the Hillingdon track and sub zero temperatures meant it wasn't shifting anywhere fast. Instead I took to the MTB for some snowy rides round Richmond Park - great fun and a good workout.

Race 8

Like Team Sky's thin line between success and failure there's also a fine line between an ordeal and enjoying yourself when it comes to road racing. There was no snow left in London so the race was on. Heavy rain was predicted however so there was a fair bit of umming and ahhing about whether to turn up. It was dry when I set off but half way there the heavens opened and I got drenched. I made a futile attempt to dehydrate my kit under the air dryers but during the race the rain fell hard. Conditions were pretty tough - I was cold, wet and my eyes were puffed up with all the rain and grit flying into them. Nobody made any breaks (other than Jai from Paragons well-timed break for the prime) until Jimbo launched into the ether 20 minutes in. I sprinted to get on his wheel and forged ahead. I pulled for 3/4 of a lap them flicked the elbow for James to take over only to see him sit up! I was gutted - we'd established quite a gap and the 4ths peloton were only just ahead. Didn't feel up to 40 minutes TTing it so I sat up and joined the back of the peloton.
The 5 laps to go board came up so I moved my way forward steadily and with 3 laps to go I was nicely tucked away in the top 10. With 2 laps to go Andy from KW made a break which gave me a great opportunity to move into attack position and then on the final lap Jimbo went on the back straight keeping the line ordered. On the final curve I was able to sneak in right behind a couple of riders who started their sprints early before launching myself 200m from the line. 5 of us were in full sprint - 15m from the line I was just ahead but by the line I was just pipped into 3rd.
Post race I bought two teas but ended up loosing half of each to the cold shakes - I was that cold. 7 points, 9 away from 2nd Cat. Still think I could give it more in the sprint but that's a reassuring thing. So in the end just the right side of the ordeal/enjoyment line.

(Photos from London Cycle Sport and Lucy Collins)

Place Club Series points
1st w 31 Steven Jackson Rollapaluza CC 3 200
2ndw 44 Nathan Smith London Phoenix 3 150
3rd w 41 Alan Strang Dulwich Paragon 3 130
4th w 91 Ed Rose Progression Fitness 3 120
5th w 6 Mark Northover CC Giro 3 110

6th w 46 Andy Angwin London Phoenix 3 100
7th w 17 Calum MacLean Edinburgh RC 3 90
8th w 87 Josh Maynard Welwyn Wheelers 3J 80
9th w 60 Peter Dixon Willesden CC 3 70

10th w 77 Paul Stedman Reading CC 3 60
11th w 55 Andy Edwards Kingston Wheelers CC 3 50
12th w 63 wayne thomas Reading CC 3V 40
13th w 97 Andrew Stronge London Dynamo 3 30
14th w 86 James Dunsbier London Dynamo 3 20

15th w 10 Gregg James Behind The Bike Shed 3 10
16th w 85 Simon North Hemel Hempstead CC/TORQ 3

17th w 2 Paul Redman Thames Velo 3
18th w 93 Jai Watson Dulwich Paragon CC 3
19th ? Aragon bike
20th w 76 Peter Jones Hillingdon Cycling Club 3
21st w 29 Ralph Keeler Cambridge CC 3
22nd w 92 Matt Treadwell Twickenham CC 3
23rd w 94 Gareth Welch Dulwich Paragon 3
24th w 43 Phillip Burgess Norwood Paragon CC 3
25th w 42 William Platt Kingston Wheelers CC 3
26th w 4 Robin Osborne London Dynamo CC 3

Hillingdon Winter Series - Races 5 and 6

Racing on the January 1st - crazy right? Yep, that's what my friends all thought when I left the boozer sometime between 1 and 2am when the drinks were flowing. It was a 50:50 decision but some how the urge to race overcame my desire for another Laphraoig. Maybe I need help.
Race morning, hangover, no time for prep or even porridge - Bran flakes instead. Cold and chilly at Hillingdon but a good turnout of T-Totalers and the race obsessives. Tim Benham was on the start line so he was the man to watch. I spent most of the race near the front or at the front and jumped on to all the promising breakaways. Really enjoyed the race today. Ended in a bunch sprint - I was in a great position again but just drifted off the front 3 to end 4th. Tim Benham won.

Imperial Winter Series - Race 6
Perhaps a degree warmer than yesterday and a massive turnout for the thirds. Started racing near the front again. Even pulled a breakaway with 2 others round an entire lap only to see the peloton close down on us all too easily. I think I'll need to go into the red to make a break stick rather than hoping for an amicable split from the pack next time. Decided to move to the back to see who was there and spent the rest of the race in the shadows until the last few laps. I was badly positioned on the second last corner so sprinted to move to the front. Loads of shouts alerting to my move - think I'm a marked man. Unfortunately I made a shocking decision to ease up to find a wheel before the final charge rather than just going for the line. Soon found myself surrounded and blocked in. No points, not even series points! 16th - meh.

Aviemore - best snow in 20 years

It's a rare event when you can plan a ski trip a week in advance when Scotland is the destination. It's even rarer when snow covers the whole mountain, the roads are still open and the lifts are all running.

It was a bit dicey on the road up from Edinburgh on the 27th. We hit the road round about 4.30am with the snow still falling. By Perth it was like a scene out of 'The Day After Tomorrow'. The snow was tumbling - one narrow lane open on the motorway and that was coated with an inch of ice and topped with 2 inches of fresh snow. We passed 2 jacknifed lorries whilst we followed the pioneering trail cut by a 4by4 just ahead of us. No other vehicles were on the road. It was touch and go but eventually it cleared up just south of Dalwhinnie. We later heard the police closed the road - just after we got through!

Arriving at Aviemore - the town was like a winter wonderland. Our accommodation was still closed so we changed in the car and headed for the mountain.

The snow was incredible - as good as I've ever had in the Alps. Light, fluffy and deep! The visibility was rotten though. Still a good day despite all of feeling like we'd forgotten how to ski.

Good night out in town - great food at the hotel next to the Bunkhouse (veal stew and chocolate brownies for pud served by a saucy Polish girl) and a few pints.

Early start the next day and the skies were crystal clear. Loads more people queueing for the first lift however. Up on the mountain the conditions were perfect - could not be bettered. A great days skiing with queues and broken lifts being the only issue. Anyway, more of this in Scotland would be great!
On the drive back to Edinburgh temperatures plummeted to -16.5C just north of Dalwhinnie. We, and every car driver, had to pull over and scrape the ice off the windscreen (inside and out) every 30 minutes!