London Phoenix

Think it was last year I was down there - they had U12 start straight into a dark tunnel (from bright light) then out into a blind 90 degree right hander onto the pavement or drop onto the road. At which point you’ve got to get back up the kerb (either a side bunnyhop or an acute angle to the direction everyone else is going). Also crosses public paths at several points which has all kinds of issues, plus racing between steel bollards, which I only saw two people hit in the time I was there. There were many points where the course edge was marked by lampposts and concrete benches, plus alongside a low kerb which you cut at a shallow angle and could very easily catch someone out.

You’ve seen courses I’ve designed - you know I’m not in the least averse to challenging riders and having them fall off, but the key is to try and reward skill not punish lack of it. The fact one of the organisers sits on the national comms panel kind of makes it worse from my POV.

Sorry for being a bit ranty.

Ah well. You have a different perspective, I see those as "urban trail features"

As a commissaire I’d be responsible for signing off on that and filling in all the incident reports. Urban ‘features’ are one thing but dangerous transitions are another. Soz.

Guess we’re not going to see you and the family out in Wales then?

No, unfortunately I'm working in Orlando so the rest of the family will go to Lee Valley.

Don't be so pessimistic! After all it's not a lottery - its an off-road time trial! From the data I've gathered over the years I think I can estimate where some one will place. You can expect:
>300w ftp and @>4.2w/kg top 10%
~300w ftp or @4w/kg top twelve
~280w ftp or @3.6w/kg top half
<260w ftp or @3.5kg bottom third.

I did a similar analysis which is quite depressing because I'm not a powerful rider genetically, so doomed to "bottom of top half" which often makes me wonder if its worth entering sometimes.

This year I'm finding it very hard to train so much just focused in the longer distance yet less frequent races e.g. in reality 5 races over the years. Seems like a lot of training for a little racing. Lets see if the results bear out.

On the plus side I'm +4-6% watt vs HR this year across the board, so getting their slowly.

I share your frustration, especially effort vs reward. As I told you I’m really focusing on making sure I enjoy the process (which I do), the challenge of the event and the internal battle to push myself to my limit.

Even if I do all the MSG that’s only racing once a month which seems not much riding for so much time on the turbo. That’s why I missed not being able to the weekly Beastway last year. It was doubly annoying, because I can’t fit social / club rides in too so it all becomes a bit Lone Ranger (oh poor me! Haha!).

The irony of all this is being time crunched, training and racing is an easier mix to fit in than commuting and casual riding.


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Steve Hanks wrote:No, unfortunately I'm working in Orlando....

Wow nice life! Are you wearing a big round head with two big black ears on it? ^O^

Ha Ha!

Well, its 4 days of working intensely, and then back. There may be a free bar, but I have an A race 2 days after I land back in the UK so no drinks and early nights for me and I have to keep a close eye on US portions....

On the plus side, my pay grade allows me a Premium Virgin Seat