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olliejonesmod-blog · 6 years ago

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So…here it is! I am now two cross races down into this “season”. Here’s roughly how they went… The first race weren’t so fantastic, but I learnt a hell of a lot very quickly! All be it my second off road ride in about 5years, since I last rode cross. It was at Hilly Fields, Colchester on a fast, dry but technical course. What a way to start! bomb holes, roots, loose ground and tight woods. At least I could make up time on the straights! I was actually gridded nicely, in the centre of the third row, although I was rather soft off the line and gave way a few places. Before hitting a long steady drag where I hit the power, come off the racing line and started barreling my way back up towards the top ten. Then it happened. BANG! Oh shit! My rear tire was flat immediately. So that made for a long run to the pits, while every single person came cruising past me. I made it round to the pits, losing as little time as possible (it was a LOT of time), managed to get a wheel of someone, I think my exact words were “well that was 1minute 56seconds of fun!” Then began the trek of working my way through people to try and get as close to the front of the race as possible. I gradually started to pick people off, and the final result saw me in 32nd. Not to bad from a 60-something man field, seen as 2minutes in I was 60-something! Race two. This time at Welwyn Garden City. Awesome! All my mates are there! So that made it an awesome day, I got to catch up with all the guys, some I hadn’t properly seen since last year. This time the course was incredibly different, Open with little technical work, but it was absolutely hammering it down with rain. So during sighting laps the course was not that bad, you could take the corners fast and there was minimal sliding. But come race time and the previous races had cut up the corners it was a different story! Letting out some PSI pre-race was nessacery…according to Tom, I have no clue what I’m doing!

After the previous week my gridding was not ideal this week. Last row, second to last row, something like that. Either way there was some wall of bodies between me and the sharp end of the race. So I was always going to be playing catch up. I started the grind, negotiating the mud, running was necessary. But already some serious ground was already between me and the front boys. But I kept pressing on anyway. Getting in the odd battle with riders before just using pure strength to dispatch them (I certainly can’t get rid of anyone in the technical sections). I think with all the time trials I have done it has helped to pace an hour race, looking back at the lap times they are all consistent and I didn’t drop off towards the end meaning I started catching quite a few riders in the final 20minutes. A surprise to everyone, I had managed to make up 40-something places during the race, and rolled across the line in tenth! Been a long while since I’ve been in the top ten of a bike race. Now I am certainly feeling healthy again, which is a massive plus for me. I am happy in myself on and off the bike (apart from the single thing, ladies?), and I am completing training sessions successfully. Something I haven’t done since back in April time. Only one fall this week, beats the five in the practise from the week before I guess! But as my first ride in a long time in the wet I am very happy. I think as I am pretty much only riding the cross bike at the moment I am starting to pick up the basic skills. Still miles off the top boys, but the groundwork is being laid and hopefully I can find some proper racing legs soon enough and contest the top five or maybe a podium.

You may have noticed that this week I wasn’t in a black skinsuit. How very observant of you. Well you’ll have to wait for that one…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qMTILsyod0 Cross is here! So...here it is! I am now two cross races down into this "season". Here's roughly how they went...

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olliejonesmod-blog · 6 years ago

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So you may have noticed I have been some what quiet over the last couple of months. Long story short, I’ve had a lot of s@*t to deal with since returning from France in June and it hasn’t been an easy time for me. There has been a lot of things to get straight in my mind and a lot of hurdles to over come to get to where I am now. And that place is happy.

But I don’t want to dwell on that. But one of the things that have helped along this bumpy journey is the Simpson Magazine Eels Foot Ride. A proper bike ride. One where everyone is friendly, chatty and simply loves bike riding.

Having worked one hell of a long shift the night before, as it was the Ipswich Maritime Festival that weekend. So when you work at a pub on the waterfront, it’s the busiest weekend of the year. Running off Redbull till the early hours of the morning fighting off endless waves of boozed up punters. I think I just about managed 2 hours sleep, before rising early to make the 8am breakfast at Kesgrave Kitchen. No better way to start a ride than with good chat and a bacon sandwich! We went around the cafe like a new class at school, everyone introducing themselves. I have to tip my cap to Terry, getting one hell of a group of guys together for this ride!

I have to say a thank you to OTE for supporting the ride with bars and gels to keep us all going. Considering this way my longest ride since probably May, I needed them! Caught ‘gramming by Matt Grayson, check him out here.

We then promptly headed off into the Suffolk lanes. That is the great thing about Suffolk and the reasoning behind bringing the ride to this part of the country. The immediate divide between being in and out-of-town. It’s just like switching a switch. It was certainly a crisp morning, although from looking at my entire compared to everyone else, clearly I am just a big softie!

It was really fantastic to finally meet Terry, the founder of Simpson Magazine. Having spoken over the phone about my article earlier in the year, being able to put a face to the name was really nice. Clearly just a true cycling enthusiast that loves everything about the sport.

Along with Terry I got to catch up with Clive and Paul, two of the old boys from the Ipswich Bicycle Club which pretty much taught me everything I know about bike riding. Having not seen either of them in a long time because of racing commitments, it is really warming to have a chat and just make up for missed time. Clive lent me his cyclocross bike about 4 years ago now to do my first ever bike race, and here I am this winter heading back into the discipline that started it all off for me. Bike check coming soon…

As we headed out through forests and rolling lanes towards the coast at Thorpness, sadly it was time for me to turn round and head back. Work commitments getting in the way again! With something like an hour to get back in time for work, the chain was well and truly tight, and all the OTE gels went in.

Just about making it back in time, uniform on, fixie out and smash it through town to clock in with a minute to spare. I haven’t done a ride over 100km in a long time, so on little sleep and having pressed home, thankfully there wasn’t many customers to serve that evening! I was a bit of a mess to say the least.

Finally, I have to say a massive thank you to Terry and the Simpson boys for making this adventure possible, I can’t wait for the next one! See you there!

But for now…

#crossiscoming

Photos by Matt Grayson

Click the images below to read the Simpson article on the ride or about me!

Simpson Magazine Eels Foot Ride So you may have noticed I have been some what quiet over the last couple of months.

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olliejonesmod-blog · 7 years ago

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No one said it would be easy

No one said it would be easy #itsokaynottobeokay @PedalPotential

As you may have noticed, you probably didn’t, but I have been pretty quiet recently. I think it is fair to say not a lot has gone my way so far this year with illness, crashes and general bad luck and this came to a crescendo last week. My body was clearly fighting something, but despite my best efforts it wasn’t going away. This drove me to go and get a blood test to see if there was any deep…

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olliejonesmod-blog · 7 years ago

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Now this is a race I have wanted to do for a very long time! So I am very happy to say it is my first experience of a UCI race and a classic style of race! That’s to say, long and fast!

I flew home early in the week, it was really nice to catch up with everyone. I’ve been following and everyone at home has been going really well this year, and that is really cool to see.

We travelled up to Melton Mowbray on the Saturday morning and I met with the team for the recon ride in the afternoon. It took us all by surprise with the severity of the sectors. But it became clear how important the positioning would be, with the roads being so rough and so narrow.

The evening was then very chilled out, the bikes were prepped and we were stuffed to the brim with carbs in anticipation for a big day out!

The race started with two laps of the reservoir before heading into the lanes and starting the onslaught of gravel sectors and steep bergs.

I got stuck in early on, getting into a couple of groups off the front, none of which stuck and then I ended up settling back into the bunch to try and recover. the break went and the bunch sat up and filled the road. This made it very difficult to move around the group and everyone was pretty much stuck where they were. The bigger teams lined the race out as we headed onto the turn off the main roads and into the lanes and very quickly onto the first sector. As we had been told, and as I found out, if you are in the second half of the bunch and someone ahead punctures, half the group comes to a stand still un able to get round the people stopped in the narrow roads. From here on it was a game of survival!

around 90km in as we hit one of the sectors I got a rear wheel puncture. Just as everyone had told me, getting a wheel takes ages. with the cars being so far back as they are unable to pass dropped riders. When I finally got a wheel, I set about the mission of regaining contact with the peloton. It took about half an hour, but I finally got on, even if it did burn all my matches!

After that it was just hang in as long as possible. Spending a fair bit of time in and out of the cars as the bunch was splitting and the cars were moving through. I finally lost contact with the bunch at around 130km but stayed in the convoy for a long time and was determined to get to Melton.

Gradually slowing down due to the crazy effort. There were people pulling out everywhere, taking shortcuts back to Melton, but I was determined to get to Melton the correct way. I rode the whole course, minus the final finishing lap, so 175km in total. And I crossed the line. So I cant be too displeased with that for my first race at that level.

I have to say it was the hardest race I have ever done by a fair margin! But it was great to experience the level of racing I want to be competing at in the next few years. I have to thank Team OnForm for allowing me this experience!

Nathaniel Rosa Photography

Alex Duffil Photography

Nathaniel Rosa Photography

Alex Duffil Photography

Brother cycling

As always…check out my sponsors here!

CiCle Classic - First UCI Race @PedalPotential Now this is a race I have wanted to do for a very long time! So I am very happy to say it is my first experience of a UCI race and a classic style of race!

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olliejonesmod-blog · 7 years ago

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Primeviere Montoise:

After a chilled out week, including a couple of days away from the bike, I was feeling refreshed and motivated ahead of the double header weekend of elite races.

It is pretty fair to say, after realising straight away in the race that I had refound my legs and was out of the slump, I might have got a little bit excited. The first 20km or so of the race went out on a massive dual carrageway which we then turned off and hit the first climb. The parcours was pretty simple. Flat. VERY bergy. Flat. With the realisation my legs felt pretty good, I may have got a bit carried away. The first hour my normalised power was a fair chunk over threshold. Not entirely sure how that happened. But it was good fun! I rode near the front for the first hour, following moves, trying to get away. I was just really enjoying racing again, which I hadn’t done for a while.

There was a couple guys who had sneaked off the front really early on, and I wanted to join them before the race got hilly. Unfortunatly I didn’t manage to get in a group then bunch would let go, so had to settle with entering the hilly section in the bunch. For the first of the climbs I was well positioned. But clearly the big boys were coming out to play now. I hit a 2min power pb just to stay in the bunch up the climb. This meant that as the climbs came thick and fast, all around 1km but all steep, i started drifting back. I would squeeze through the bunch on the descents and slide back up the climbs. But I managed to keep myself in the group and survived until the race got flat again.

By this point one of the big local teams had hit the front to try and bring back a breakaway they had missed, so there wasn’t much to do but sit in a surf the wheels for the final 40km. The roads were flat and with a strong tail wind the pace was high, but the bunch wasn’t close to getting lined out.

Having done 150km of hard racing, annoyingly I started to cramp up in the final, so I couldnt’t contest the bunch sprint. Thinking back maybe I should of just pushed through. But that is easy to say now, not when you have both quads cramped solid.

It was my first signs of decent legs though, so the moral is a fair bit higher than the previous weeks.

check out the ride here

Mont Pujols:

I have to say this is probably the scariest looking parcours i’ve ever seen! I’ll be honest, it wasn’t really for me.

Being the first double header weekend, the legs weren’t quite adjusted to back to back racing yet and I woke up pretty tired.

I don’t want to make any excuses, I was never going to win this race. But on the line, we got gridded in sign on order. And having entered on the day, that meant we were right at the back. And what made this worse, the line was at the top of the climb. So when you are lined up in 70th place, you are half way down the climb. I’m not even exaggerating. The breakaway had gone before I got my feet in the pedals!

The race was just lined out straight away. No hope in hell of being able to move up. Then we hit the descent which was quite technical, which didnt help. That was followed by a long tailwind road, where everyone was fighting for the front to hit the climb first. With a group already gaining time on the bunch the race was fierce. We hit the climb and I started parking pretty fast. A 1.5km climb at 7% but with multiple ramps up at 12% it wasn’t the day for rouleur me.

A grupetto formed, and we rode round a couple laps in the cars, before I dropped off the back on the climb. But then to my surprise, the next time round, they had all abandoned. they were stood at the side of the road. So I just kept riding. And riding. Every lap, more and more riders were stood on the final climb. So I just kept going.

Way down on time, but I finished. 35th. I will take that.

check the ride here

Route des Vignobles:

After some good sensations in training up to this race I was hoping for a good performance. Especially seen as it would be the first TT of the year, even if it was only a 4km prologue. But at least it was something familiar, something I know I can do. And that is always good for the moral.

We got there nice and early so we could drive the course and meet up with the team. It was pretty cool to arrive with the turbos lined up and the chairs out ready to go. We un packed the van and put the TT bikes in the turbos and all set about our own pre-race routines. For me I find this crucial before a time trial effort. You know you are going to the limit, so you have to be in the right place mentally.

It all starts one hour out, once I am in my skinsuit and put on the Rule 28 socks, tighten up my shoes and rub down my legs. Once the headphones go in and the cap goes on, that is it. I won’t talk to anyone till after the TT then, I just focus on getting in the right place and prepared for the effort. Then 40mins to go I get on the turbo and run through my 20min TT warm up. Once off the turbo, the TT helmet goes on and it is off to the start line. All about visualling what is to come.

Down the start ramp, there were a couple of corners out of the HQ, but then onto the main road which was wide open and flat. I got myself up to speed and tucked in, and then it was just all about holding the speed as high as possible over a few very slight rollers. Pushing on and over the climbs to keep the speed high. To be honest it was so short I didn’t even look at my garmin till 1.5km to go. By that point I thought I really had to get a move on. Up the final roller and into the town to cross the line.

It was the first time I had ever ridden a time trial with a radio on and the team car behind. So it was a massive relief to hear I had posted the fastest time by 30 something seconds as I crossed the line.

I hung around at the finish as I knew Oli and Harry wouldn’t be far behind. Apparently the time keeper told Harry before he started I had set the fastest time, to which Harry clarified I was a “chrono specialist”, to which he was asked “en la montees?” and replied merely “no”. Thanks for that…

I was stood with about 20metres to go, and I hear a team car going crazy with the horn, over the crest of the hill comes Harry with Thierry in the team car going mental! He spun the team car around and with a massive smile on his face tells me that we are currently 1,2 with only a couple riders still to go.

We cooled down and headed back to the van, but quickly had to rush back to the podium. We had been confirmed as 1st and 3rd in the standing. Which meant trophies, wine and some jerseys for us!

That afternoon was a 100km hilly road stage. I have to say it was pretty cool rolling to the front of the bunch in a yellow jersey. It soon became clear in the race that a majority of the field seemed more interested in following me than racing the race. My advantage over second place was only 15seconds, maybe 1min over most of the field. Not enough to really shake up the race. But with everyone following me and a breakaway up the road, i’d have to bridge the gap, or tow the bunch with me. And with two teammates up the road I couldn’t do that.

With a big lead out from one of the culture velo boys I tried sending one over the big climb of the day. I got a small gap and started hammering down the descent. But with a strong headwind as we turned back towards the sea, and a 60man peloton content on not letting me do anything I soon got caught. I tried driving over all of the remaining climbs, but there was nothing I could do.

I ended up rolling in with the bunch a couple minutes down on the winning break, losing the jersey, but still sneaking in the top 20 on gc. Not a terrible days work!

As always…check out my sponsors here!

On The Move! @PedalPotential Primeviere Montoise: After a chilled out week, including a couple of days away from the bike, I was feeling refreshed and motivated ahead of the double header weekend of elite races.

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