Hillingdon Race

Off down to Hillingdon again. I like the circuit, this being the third visit, but it is a good venue with a really challenging and exciting bend (what I call the bottom bend and others call the bomb crater). This time Tanya was with me, along with her mountain bike. Holly was away on a school geography field trip to Dorset and we were off for a curry that evening with some great friends. So she reluctantly agreed to take part.

Getting two bikes ready was a bit of a faff but I managed to get some warm up laps in. No Squeaks!!! Woo Hoo. Even IanP noticed the lack. So this was good.

A one lap time trial was first and we all lined up. When I got my turn I pushed hard, only to realise I was in the wrong gear and couldn't get clipped in either. It took me a good 30-40m before I finally clipped in and could get away. Not a clean start. I did my lap, albeit not very quickly and it seemed at first when the results were published that Tanya had beaten me by 10 seconds or so. Damn that start. This was rectified later when the results were corrected as the timing system had screwed up. So I had beaten Tanya and normal order had resumed.

Race start was for a 40 minute plus one lap event. Tanya was just behind me, mid grid, when the flag dropped and we were off. This was a better start and saw me take position behind one of the Twed's (S). She's quick and I was happy to stay with her for a lap. As the field strung out I was lapped by the leaders but also lapped several people twice. I had managed to get away from my usual rivals and stay away from them as well. I tried to keep with Fraser on his low racer, but couldn't as he cycles a lot more than I do. Essentially I had an uneventful race but unfortunately crossed the line 20 seconds before the 40 minute mark and had to do another lap. Boo!

After the race finish, which wasn't at a super quick speed due in part to a back straight head wind, I had finished 9th out of 18, which I was pleased with at 50%. I wasn't completely knackered (maybe I should be trying harder!) but I hadn't faded during the race and I didn't have a single squeak. Tanya wasn't last either at 16th. About where I finished my first race at Hillingdon.

Championship tables are out but I am refusing to comment until after Hog Hill on the 10th October.

As an aside, after the race I had arranged to try a carbon low racer (which is for sale) it has a tail fairing and is very LOW. It took me several attempts to get going the right way, then several more the wrong way, then a few more the right way. One of my problems was that the normal brake lever position is taken up by the gear change up lever, so every time it went wrong I grabbed the "brake" only to change up (again). I eventually managed to get going by pedalling with one leg until I had some speed and then clipping my second foot in. I don't think I got into top gear (10 speed). I did two laps and boy did it feel fast. I enjoyed it but I'm going to have to search for the finance if I want to buy it. All I can say is I'm thinking about it.

Until Hog Hill,

Laters

MBG

Darley Moor Race

Well, it's about time I got my blog up to date.

The 22nd August had me travelling up to Darley Moor race track in Derbyshire for a days racing. I left early to give myself plenty of time and arrived at the circuit gates at 9am.

Once I was inside the circuit I got my bike ready and had a chat with some of the regulars. The weather had turned out to be good as opposed to the forecast which was going to be rainy. It's always preferable to race in the sunshine and warmth.

The plan was to have two twenty minute races, one anti-clockwise and the next clockwise. The plan was also slow and fast races. I went out for a warm up only to discover that my chain squeak had returned. I had changed the chain tube from a convoluted one I had in the shed to a smooth bore plumbing tube, but the pulley squeak was annoying. So it was back to the "pits" to grease where I thought the noise was from. Back out again and I hadn't improved it, so much so that IanP commented on the squeak from his velomobile mount (and he's deaf :-) ). Oh well, race is coming up.

So I lined up for the race start and as usual really screwed up getting clipped in. Chasing again I managed to catch up the usual suspects only to get dropped really quickly. The next 20 minutes (remember it's usually 40) was just hell, and by the end of the race I had so little energy that I could hardly hold my head up. I didn't finish last but it was a dreadful result. Lunch called.

Second race started in the opposite direction and I managed one lap before calling it a day. What a disastrous day all round.

I headed home before the second fast race had finished, a little rude of me but I was in a foul mood (which is why it has taken me this long to post). Once home the BHPC website came to the rescue and pointed me in the direction of a new pulley which I so badly needed (or so I thought) to replace the squeaker). All I can say is, check the whole system. Once the pulley (1) had arrived I fitted it and tested the bike on my turbo trainer, but something was wrong. I removed the other pulley (the original one) only to find that it had catastrophically failed. I couldn't turn it by hand, but could by pedalling, was this the source of so much drag? It had to be replaced so I ordered another 3 pulleys from the same place in Holland with spacers to suit as I was going to remove the chain tube as well. I figured that I might as well take out as much drag as I could while I was at it. So after waiting another week, the new pulleys arrived and were fitted. I tried the new system a couple of times on the turbo trainer and it seemed OK. I had also done some more work on the head rest which still wasn't quite right. But as with all these things only racing would really show if the fix had worked, so it was off to...