The national criterium series
A double espresso, two red bulls and a caffeine gel at half past 7 is not an ideal combination if you want to sleep that night but it is the perfect combination to get you pumped for an hours full gas criterium.
5 rounds formed this years series, starting off with my home town round in Otley. Hoping the home advantage was going to play into my hands since I walk half the course each morning on the way to work everyday it was one of the races I was most looking forward to this season. The first race was won, making it onto the front row ready for the drop of the flag, no neutral or sighting lap meant being at the front from the off was imperative as there is nothing worse than trying to wiggle your way through the bunch as things are completely strung out over the first few laps, worrying about missing the early moves.
The countdown was on and the flag was dropped ready for the sprint up the drag to start the series off. Roughly a two kilometre course with only a handful of sweeping bends meant things were quick, averaging 46 kilometres an hour and 341 watts things were tough. The elastic kept stretching but never snapped until the final 3 laps where two riders managed to slip clear, unfortunately the legs were not quite there to make the split but I managed to avoid the big crash on the back of the course on the final lap and just snuck in the top 20.
It wasn’t long until I had another opportunity, two sleeps later and I was lining up on the start line again in Ikley, only a couple of kilometres up the valley from Otley ready to race again. Quite possibly the toughest course in the UK cycling scene the Ikley criterium is brutal, a 20 second steep kicker climb followed by a 30 second drag and then a 40 second descent to the finish. Simply put an hour of on/off efforts. With the corner into the climb a tight dead 90 degree right hander, only narrow enough for one or two riders at a push wide it was proper fight to get that prestigious front row start, unfortunately I wasn’t so lucky that night and found myself much further towards the back, not ideal since the race went from the gun.
Cross skills came into practice well, being able to carry momentum through the corners and to be able to go for it right from the off meant that I soon found myself at the front of the bunch after three laps, although three laps too late as a group of 8 had already distanced themselves from the main bunch. I had a dig of trying to get across solo but just couldn’t quite narrow those last few meters and was caught by the bunch who were chasing furiously, bring the gap down to less than 10 seconds at one point. I missed the jump and two riders managed to get the bridge to perfection so the next 45 minutes were just spent trying to hang in to the main group which was only probably around 12 to 15 riders by the end. Finishing 15th I was pretty contempt but knew there was more to come.
Barnsley, chicanes, dead corners to the left, dead corners to the right it was one hell of a wicked circuit, a proper town centre criterium in my eyes and I was well excited for it and was buzzing from all the caffeine. The legs felt proper good tonight, I knew I could podium but my tyres had other ideas. Clipping a drain cover I tore my front tyre and all the air came flying out as I hurtled into the chicane, lucky to keep it upright my race was over before I had even got 10 minutes into it.
Still I had two rounds to redeem myself, first up was Colne. Another fast pretty flat ish circuit similar to Otley similar tactics were presumed. I was flying the flag solo for Embark-Bikestrong tonight which made things tricky as the likes of Wv, team inspired and Wheelbase all kept sending riders up the road and my little legs could only cover so many moves. I did what I could but ultimately missed the winning break of three riders which came after about 750 attacks. With 10 laps to go things got interesting, a fat crash in the peloton took out a fair few riders and led to the barriers cascading into the course, narrowing it from about 10 meters to more like 5. A cheeky little brush up with one of the barriers kept reality in check but I managed to hold it up, just coming off with a lovely big bruise on my shin and a pump of adrenaline as we kicked into the final 5 laps. The finishing straight was bumpier than some rock gardens I have ridden on my mountain bike so it was another pretty sketchy sprint into the finish and in the end I rolled in in 10th position. Again happy to break the top 10 but still not the result I was after.
Unfortunately there was an error with entering Newark and so I would not be able to try and break into that top 5 I was aiming for and instead got to watch what looked like an amazing course on YouTube.
Now it’s time to reset, refocus and get ready for the next goals.
