Save the Wales and the 2nd Week of Racing

Last week I posted from Swansea (in southern Wales), this time from Liverpool.  In between, I made it back to Manchester for some more training and racing.

On Thursday last week, I visited the Maritime Museum in Swansea, and learned about some of the shipping and metallurgical industry developed there during the industrial revolution.  Many Welsh emigrated to the USA and settled in Pennsylvania and Ohio, bringing metal-working experience with them.

On Friday, I went walking from Swansea through the Sketty area (near the university), over the hills to Cockett (where I had lunch), and then over to Gowerton and back.  Upon returning to the bed and breakfast where I was staying, I mapped out the route I had walked and found it was 16 miles.  Not a bad walk, eh?

Some friends from Crossfit Central Manchester were in Swansea on Saturday for a crossfit team competition, so Saturday morning (after the rain died down) I headed to the industrial park near Cockett and watched some crossfit.  After four workouts, one of the teams from CFCM was sitting in 3rd place and qualified for an opportunity to a head-to-head race with the other top-3 teams to determine the final podium positions.  Blood, sweat, and tears ensued.  Ok, maybe no blood, but definitely some sweat and probably a few tears.  CFCM ended up 3rd after two of the four on the team struggled with the rope climbs, but the team ended up finishing respectably and everyone was happy to be done.

 Part of the competition involved teammates carrying one another.

When Sunday morning rolled around, I caught the train back toward Manchester.  On the way to the train station, my carefully-timed and well-thought-out plan to pick up a snack from the grocery store was foiled by a misunderstanding about what it means to be a 24/7 business.

They are open 14 hours each day from Monday through Saturday and then for 6 hours on Sunday.  I'm not sure how they come up with 24 hours from that...

So, after missing breakfast, I boarded the train that would take me to Newport, where I would change trains and head to Manchester.  The train change went as planned, but then the train was steered onto the wrong track.  A part of me wondered if I would be better off sitting in a backward-facing seat if we had a head-on collision with an oncoming train.  After a few forward and back iterations, we eventually wound up on the correct track and were moving in the correct direction.  Upon arriving in Crewe, the PA system announced that this service would be canceled and for everyone to leave the train.

Crewe is a long walk from Manchester, but after consulting the electronic train schedule display board in the station, I saw there was a perfect 20-minute window for me to visit the restroom (good to rest after getting up early to catch a train) and stop for a sandwich before catching the next train.

While eating my sandwich, I noticed that there were no trash cans in the train station.  There were also signs indicating that littering was frowned upon (and some transit police were on hand to frown at me if any littering were to occur), so I just stuffed the sandwich wrapper into my jacket pocket and boarded the train.  On the train, a guy with a big garbage bag came by to collect rubbish, so I did not have to carry the sandwich wrapper all the way back to Manchester.

Back in Man-city, the Man-city Football Club was playing against some team with red jerseys, and the police were out in force to frown at any participants of civil unrest.  They might have had riot gear with which to do more than frown, but I don't think it came to that.  I didn't know that at the time, though, so I was kind of excited as I headed over to the velodrome for the Sunday night training session (the velodrome is about a quarter-mile from the Manchester City Football Club grounds, where the game was being held), thinking that this might be my first chance to see, with my own two eyes, real English soccer hooligans performing real hooliganism right there in my presence.  Sadly, whatever hooliganism may or may not have occurred was finished by the time the training session ended.  Maybe there will be a rain-check opportunity for real hooliganism at another home game later in the season...

On Monday there was another edition of the ACT (Association of Cycle Traders) track league, so I headed over to the velodrome again Monday evening, 81" gear in hand (on bike, really, but you get the idea...), ready to do battle on Madison night.  We had almost the same line-up of events as last week, with a 50-lap Madison in place of the 50-lap points race from the 18-Oct edition.  The first three events were so-so; I was definitely in them and active in making the racing exciting, but didn't finish in the top-3 in anything with the possible exception of the Courses Des Primes (point-a-lap for us Americans) where I finished 2nd on the last lap to pick up a small bonus.

In the Madison, though, it was another story altogether.  It was pretty clear that I was the strongest rider in the race, but also on the smallest gear by a fair margin.  My teammate and I agreed that I would try to be in for as many of the sprints as possible, so if it meant skipping an exchange, so be it.  The plan went about as well as we had hoped, so I think we had the points fairly well wrapped up by the time the lap cards showed us 10 laps to go.  At the end, I was thrown in with three laps to go, and attacked right away.  One guy caught up and passed me on the finishing straight on the last lap, but we had enough points that only taking 2nd at the finish didn't matter.  We won.


On Tuesday night, I wanted to redeem myself for a somewhat unimpressive performance the week before, so I picked up my race wheels and set up the bike with a 92" gear (48x14) in anticipation of another hammer fest.  The Manchester Regional Track League did not disappoint.  A handful of very legit heavy-hitters showed up (attendance was a little lighter than the previous week) and made for some good, tough racing.

In the 10-km scratch race, I launched off the front with 5 laps to go, and built up a reasonable gap, but was caught by the eventual winner with 2 laps to go, and then caught and passed by one other rider on the finishing straight on the last lap.  After being way off the back last week, I was happy with 3rd.

In the 50-lap points race, I exercised patience and did not sprint for the first two point laps.  With 23 laps to go, another rider and I took off and worked well to stay away from the field.  I came around him on the back straight on the point lap, but then Ed Clancy came ripping past both of us as we exited turn 4, so I was left with 2nd place points on that lap.  I think I picked up 2nd place points again with 10 laps to go, and finished around 5th to take 5th place overall.

The Devil race was not overly kind to me; I was the 2nd rider pulled.  However, that left me an extra 90 seconds or so to rest before the 10-mile.  Groups 1 and 2 were combined for the 10-mile, which led to some spirited racing as the population of riders on the track slowly shrank from about 28 to about 10.  Near the middle of the race, I was in a good breakaway group with two of the fastest guys in the field, plus one group 1 rider, and we had taken about 3/4 of a lap on the main group.  Unfortunately, I was caught sleeping when the group 1 rider exploded and started going backwards with the two fast guys in front of him and me behind.  As I went up and over to pass, he swung up to get out of my way which in turn blocked me, and then he saw me and swung back down just as I corrected to drop into the lane and pass underneath.  This fooling around caused a huge gap between the two fast guys and me, so I ended up having to swing up the track and rejoin the group on even laps rather than a lap up.  At the end of the race, I followed an attack with two laps to go, and then put my head down and hammered away as the other rider sat up, so I was able to take the sprint for 3rd (behind the two guys who were up on laps).  All in all, this was a good night of racing that I was really happy with.

Today, I checked out of the hostel in Manchester and hopped onto the train to Liverpool.  Now I'm in Beatles land, checking out the sights and enjoying some British west-coast culture.  Cheers!

(Most of) Week 2 in the UK

It's been almost a week since my last update, so I thought it was about time to revisit my notebook and write up some thoughts on the past few days.

Last week on Thursday I retrieved my bike from the shop, with a new fork installed, and made it over to the track for my 4^th of four sessions in the expedited accreditation process.

On Friday, I picked up an ID photo from a local photo store and took it over to the track and was issued an accreditation card. I found running with a backpack to catch the bus to the velodrome is rather easy compared to running while holding a 20-kg plate. Thanks Crossfit! I also discovered that internet access at the track costs half what it does at the hostel for a pay-as-you-go arrangement.

Then on Friday evening, I met up with some family friends for dinner in Altrincham. We had a nice dinner, grilled sea bass for me, and then went for a couple glasses of wine at a nearby French restaurant. By and large, the food here in England has been much better than England's reputation would suggest. After dinner, on the train back to the city center (or 'city centre' as it's written on the signs in Manchester), I met a couple who were on their way out to meet co-workers for beers. I accepted their invitation when the Irishman asked, “Do you fancy beer?” It was a good night on the town, marred only by a foolish cocaine dealer who wanted me to purchase drugs on my walk home.

Saturday was a pretty low-key day, hanging out in the city center and generally making a nuisance of myself around the hostel. The previous weekend I had signed up for a guided pub crawl (kind of silly, I know, since some would argue I'm an expert already) which I did not attend due to the more appealing option of hanging out with my new German friends, so the organizers credited me for the following weekend. This weekend the event was canceled, so I hung out at the hostel and talked with my roommates that night, two Aussies and a guy from Singapore who was studying in Paris.

On Sunday I spent some time planning a side trip for the upcoming week, three full days plus a bookending afternoon and morning in Swansea, Wales. Then in the evening, I headed over to the velodrome for a structured training session with the A+B (faster and more experienced) group. We had only seven riders (7?!? This was the fewest riders I have seen at one time on the track so far, with the exception of a GB national team training session on Friday) so one of the coaches brought out the derny and we did some motorpacing work. I was rather surprised that most of the other riders in the session had not motorpaced before, but then again, when a typical session has 25+ riders, then a motor is not really necessary for endurance training...

On Monday, it was back to the gym for another crossfit workout, this time hang power cleans and burpees, 15 of each at a time, three rounds for time. I loaded up a 45-kg barbell and finished the work in about five and a half minutes. In the evening, it was back to the velodrome for ACT Track League racing.

This was my first racing here in the UK (or outside of the USA, for that matter), so I was a little bit nervous. I was still riding a small 81” gear, which I normally use for warm-ups in Colorado, but figured that I'd keep the 14-tooth cog on the shelf until next summer, so small gears it was. We raced a 12-lap scratch, 4-km team pursuit, 12-lap Courses Des Primes (essentially a point-a-lap for us Yanks), and a 50-lap scratch race. The scratch race was rather quick, and I ended up in 4^th place after helping to establish the winning break. Then in the team pursuit, we ended up shedding riders (both teams started with 7 or 8) until we had only three left. I was one of those lucky three, along with the winner and 3^rd place from the scratch race, spinning like a mad-man trying to hold out for the remainder of the 4-km. We finished in slightly under 5-minutes to take the win. Not bad for a bunch of guys who never ride team pursuit together...

In the Courses Des Primes, I broke away for a lap or two in the middle of the race, but was caught by a hard-charging chase group. I'm not sure how the points ended up there. The points race played out very similar to the very last points race of the season in Colorado Springs. It was not overly fast, and allowed for attacking the point laps and then recovering to sprint again later. Like the last night in Colorado Springs, that pattern worked ok for me, so I ended up taking the win in the points race as well. All in all, it was a good first night of racing, with a fairly young field (most of the riders in the Senior group were actually juniors).

On Tuesday, there was a race night for the premier devision of the Manchester Regional Track League. There were a whole host of top-notch riders who showed up, including 2008 Olympic gold medal winner, Ed Clancy. The program for the night was quite a bit tougher than the ACT league; we started out with a 40-lap scratch race, followed by a 50-lap points race, then an elimination race, and ended the night with a 64-lap (10-mile) scratch race.

As I approached the velodrome from the bus, I was greeted by a wonderful sight.

Somebody realized it was my birthday.

The 40-lap scratch race had an average pace of a little over 50-kph. To put that in perspective, I think the fastest scratch race heat at US nationals was a hair over 49-kph. Welcome to Tuesday night track league in Manchester. Part way through the race, I was following the esteemed Mr. Clancy's wheel, and successfully followed his surge when it might have been a better idea to sit up and let someone else chase, and then was hanging on for dear life for the remainder of the race. I finished on even laps with the field, but was nowhere near the front at the end.

The 50-lap points race went about the same as the 40-lap scratch. I was keeping plenty busy just holding the pace and didn't have much time to think or worry about going for points. Again, I made it to the end on even laps, but was still nowhere near the front at the finish.

The elimination race was a rude shock to the legs. I made it to the front once, but then was swarmed on the following lap and was eliminated about two laps later. At least it gave me a chance to rest before the 10-mile...

The 10-mile was another exercise in hanging on for dear life. Being pushed by really tough fields of really tough riders is exactly what I came to Manchester for, so that was good. When I started to lose my 2^nd lap, one of the officials waved me down on to the apron as a mercy gesture. It was rough. On the plus side, I came back to the hostel and had about 75 birthday wishes electronically delivered right to my inbox and/or Facebook account, so that was pretty sweet.

Then this morning I got up, had breakfast, showered, packed, and caught the train to Wales. The English country-side is pretty sweet. Not as rugged or breathtaking as the scenery in Colorado or Utah, but it really does look nice. In the late afternoon I arrived in Swansea, and made my way over to the hotel. Here is a view out the window:

After dinner from a nearby Chinese take-out place, I walked down the street to the local pub and had a pint of some delicious cask beer, Brains SA:

The Rest of Week 1 in the UK

After a rather rocky first 3.5 days here in Manchester, the last four days have thankfully been a bit steadier.

On Monday I spent some time on the phone looking for local shops that either stocked track forks or could obtain one quickly. The local track league promoter suggested one that panned out well, so in the afternoon, I took the track bike with damaged fork over to Eddie McGrath Cycles on the south-west side of the city. It was a short walk to the Oxford Road train station, and then about an 8-minute train ride to the Urmston stop, where the Eddie McGrath shop sits just a short walk from the station.

After dropping off the bike at Eddie McGrath Cycles, I stopped for a fish and chips lunch which I took to-go from a cafe between Eddie McGrath and the train station, and then ate the meal while sitting on a bench at the Urmston station, waiting for the train that would take me back to Oxford road. I have to say, fish and chips with a bit of vinegar and salt are pretty tasty. If not everyone likes them, then start calling me “not everyone” because I dig 'em!

Monday evening I headed over to the velodrome again, but was unable to race (no rental bikes for race league, and no accreditation yet) so I sat in the stands and ate a sack dinner while watching the first couple events. Based on the number of juniors racing at the Manchester track on Monday night, it is no big surprise why GB does very well on the track at international level competitions. With a talent pool that big, they are going to come up with some absolutely brilliant riders.

On Tuesday, I was down to my last set of clean something-or-others, so I headed over and did some laundry. Washing clothes here in Britain is expensive! Or rather, after talking with some new friends from Australia, everything in America is cheap. Next time I think I'll spend the extra pound or two and get some more dryer time. Having damp clothes for the rest of the week is no fun.

What is fun, however, is the Tuesday night A+B SQT training session at the velodrome. I turned up and had to ride the 81”-geared rental (hire) bike again, but had quite a fun time riding with the more experienced and fitter cyclists. About an hour and a half into the 2-hour session, we did a 30-lap scratch race. Everyone took 1/2-lap turns until we saw 10 laps to go, then we accelerated until 5 laps to go. With 5 to go, game-on for the last 1.25-km of a scratch race finish. I got on the wheel of a fellow with Zipp 808's, figuring that he looked pretty fast. With 5 laps to go, we were sitting about 5^th and 6^th wheel respectively. I was happy with that position. With three laps to go, we were on the front (he was on the front, I was on his wheel). He was ramping the pace up and I think at that point we started dropping folks from the field. With 1 and a half laps to go, I jumped around him on the back straight and drilled it for about 375m to take the win. I thought for sure that with the wimpy little 81” gear on the rental bike that somebody would come around me in the last half lap, but nobody did. I looked around while crossing the line and it appeared I had about a bike length gap over the second rider.

Between starting laundry and winning the practice scratch race in the Tuesday night SQT session, I booked a room at a different hostel through this weekend to the middle of next week, and started a list of places outside of Manchester where I intend to visit before returning to the USA. It's good to keep busy...

On Wednesday, I dragged my carcass out of bed a bit earlier than usual, and headed over to Crossfit Central Manchester for a morning workout. A few of their athletes who are preparing for a regional affiliate-cup type competition were practicing a modified version of one of the team workouts that will feature at the event. After running a mile (as a team) with a 20-kg plate, wall-balls, 24-kg kettlebell swings, 25-kg push-presses, 90-kg deadlifts, and another mile (as a team) with the 20-kg plate, we stopped the clock with a time somewhere under 30 minutes. That workout was a kick in the butt, but I think the CFCM team is going to do really well. I held my own on the running, wall-ball, and KB swings, but felt like I was the weak link on the push-press and deadlifts. I'm pretty sure they have someone else for the team, so they should be good.

After a late-ish breakfast on Wednesday, I walked to the Museum Of Science & Industry (MOSI) and toured around the open exhibits. There was an air and space hall that featured some old bicycles. I particularly liked the “Boneshaker”:

In the engine and train hall, I enjoyed the exhibit about hydraulic power distribution here in Manchester. At one point, it must have seemed like a really good way to power the 2,400 or so industrial machines connected to the 35-mile network of pipes and pumping stations that served the city. Here is a picture of an old ad for hydraulic power:

The other exhibit halls covered the development of water and sewer utilities in Manchester, and the communications technologies used here in Manchester over the last 300 years or so. Mobile phones and fast computers sure are nice...

On Wednesday evening, two new friends from Australia and I walked over to the Marble Arch pub for some dinner and brews. The food was standard pub fare, not bad but not terribly exciting either. The house beers, on the other hand, were fantastic! Someone who works there really knows how to make delicious beers. I had a Dobber golden ale, an IPA, and the standard Pint, as well as tasters of the chocolate stout and the ginger beer. The Marble Arch IPA made most American IPAs seem like over-powering steamrollers of flavor. After the IPA, though, I was still fully able to enjoy the other beers I tried. Brilliant!

Today there was a bit of luggage juggling as I moved hostels, followed by a trip to Eddie McGrath Cycles to pick up my track bike with the new fork. I was really excited to be back on my bike, so after picking it up from the bike shop, I pretty much went straight over to the track for another SQT training session. The new fork handled just like the old one, and looks pretty sharp too. Here is the bike with the new fork:

In the background, the careful viewer can see the old fork, with a tear in the carbon fiber in between the 'F' and 'E' in FELT on the rider's right-hand side. When I return to the states, we'll see if Felt has a good, bad, ugly, or existent crash replacement policy...

First 3.5 days in Manchester

I arrived in Manchester, all on one piece, or at least in the correct number of pieces.  The plane from Atlanta landed in bright and sunny Manchester around 8:30am local time on Thursday.

Going through customs, the officer working there told me about how Mark Renshaw had come through that very same customs check.  Cool!  After making it through customs, I picked up my luggage (which was all there, thankfully!), bought a train ticket, and made my way over to the Manchester Airport Station to catch the train to downtown.

Here is a picture taken from the outside of the downtown Manchester station after I had departed the train and was figuring out which direction I needed to walk to reach the Hostel.

Upon reaching the Hostel, I checked in, deposited my luggage in the luggage room, and then set out to take care of a few chores: finding lunch, obtaining a UK-carrier compatible SIM card for my mobile phone, and finding the way over to the local Crossfit gym.

After taking care of those chores, I packed some cycling clothes and tools into my backpack and dragged my bike box to catch the bus to the National Cycling Centre.  The first session at the track did not go as I had hoped.

I think it is safe to say most folks who have ridden on the velodrome with me would agree that I am an ok track cyclist and generally do not bring death and destruction to everyone in the vicinity.  However, I do not possess the skills necessary to either cause or prevent a rider from crashing three spots ahead of me in a paceline.  Unfortunately, the crash happened, the two guys between the crasher and I piled up as well, and I was taken out by a loose bike before I knew what happened.  13 hours on an airplane in the previous 24 and eight hours worth of jet-lag probably did not help my reaction time...  This was very frustrating; five years of track racing, 8 state championship wins, 2 times CVA rider of the year, 3 trips to US elite nationals, and then my first-ever track crash happens during the warm-down at a beginner rider session in Manchester while I am trying to work my way through the "probationary track accreditation" process.  To add injury to insult, a hard/sharp part of someone's bike made a tear in my fork, leaving it unsafe to ride.  My session was done.  Then, to add further headache to the situation, the person in charge of bike storage space rentals was gone for the day, so I had to take my bike back apart, and then drag the 70-lb bike case back to the bus stop and back to the hostel.  What a pain in the neck!

Friday went quite a lot better.  After a post-breakfast jet-lag recovery nap, I spent some time browsing the web, looking at maps of Manchester, and putting the Thursday night track disaster behind me.  Then I headed out into town and went for a workout at the local Crossfit gym, Crossfit Central Manchester.  During the WOD, I put up a new PR for the clean and jerk at 75-kg (about 165-lbs for us Yankees), and then posted some good numbers for a three-round AMRAP workout that featured 100m sprints, wall-balls, burpees, and barbell thrusters.  We finished out the day with a 1/2 Tabata round of air squats for a little bonus leg burn.

After the gym, I made my way back to the hostel and made friends with a group of German students who had spent the week here in the UK.  After dinner, I joined them for drinks and dancing at a local night club.  It ended up being a late night, but with the 8-hour time difference between California and Manchester, I felt like it was only about 7:30pm when we returned to the hostel.  Upon returning to my room, I was joined by a group of Australians who were touring around in Europe.

On Saturday, I spent some time looking around for shops that might carry new Forks.  I visited a local shop in person, and they had one fork, but it was reserved for a specific bike.  They recommended another shop that would be able to help me, so it was back to the Hostel to get on the web/phone and continue fork searching.  In the afternoon and evening, I hung out with the German students and then was joined in the Hostel room by a group of 6 Brits who had been thoroughly enjoying the Manchester nightlife.

Sunday saw the departure of the German students, and then in the evening I headed back to the velodrome and picked up a rental bike for another structured training session.  This one went much better than the previous session, and my legs started to feel quite good for the first time since departing the airplane on Thursday.

A moment ago I received a call back from another local shop that can obtain a fork for me this week, so I will be take my track bike over there this afternoon.  Up, up, and away!

Departure for UK and last night of CVA

I'm sitting in the airport with about one hour before my journey to the UK begins.  I will fly from San Francisco to Atlanta, and then on to Manchester, arriving around breakfast time on Thursday morning.  It appears the flight will be quite full, so I may have to gate-check my backpack.

Here is a picture taken in the Atlanta airport by an exhibit for "jook houses", a social gathering place by and for American Blacks in the rural south:

Over the last few weeks, things have been hectic and I have not posted a blog update, so there are several stories for me to write down in order to catch up.  A quick preview of the stories:
The end of the CVA summer track racing season
A week spent piloting a tandem at the Olympic Training Center
Meeting a strange cyclist in Boulder
Driving to Los Angeles for track nationals
Racing track nationals!!
Heading to the bay area for a couple days before leaving for the UK

The CVA summer track racing season ended on Thursday, September 9th.  We ended up having four events; a 1-mile handicap race, a Miss-n-out, a 50-lap points race, and an invitational Australian pursuit.  The handicap race was a little disappointing as I was one spot short of qualifying for the final.  The miss-n-out was slightly (but not much) better.  I sat up front for the beginning of the race, but then had no jump when it came time to accelerate.  I think I ended up 6th place there.  The points race went well, though.  Before the start, I told myself that I would be patient, sit in, and only put in real efforts if I knew I could take 1st or 2nd place points.  For the first couple point laps, I just sat in and followed wheels, but then started attacking and taking maximum points.  At the end I was in first place with an insurmountable lead (which I didn't realize), but since I did not realize that was how the race had played out, I went charging hard to chase down a late attack by Ryan Luttrell with three laps to go.  He gapped the pack, I reacted and gapped the pack, and I chased after him for the last three and a half laps, bringing back about a bike length or so, and taking 2nd place points at the finish.  It turned out I didn't need those points, but it always feels good to bury myself at the end of the last endurance event of the regular season.

The final event, the Australian pursuit, turned into a three-way battle among Charlie, Danny, and Kevin.  Charlie eventually won with a late sprint for the line against Danny.  It was a terrific end to the summer season in Colorado Springs.