posted Dec 12, 2007

London Dynamo are a pretty serious club and have c400 members so they would be a good start. There are regular weekend rides, normally taking in Surrey or Richmond Park. I also live in NW3 and do try to get out to Surrey as it has some of the better riding round London. The only issue is the 25 miles, both ways just to get to Epsom!

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posted Dec 12, 2007

Thank you for the kind words Phil.
I wouldn’t beat yourself up about last weekend, if the strongest rider always won it would be a dull sport. You were unlucky with where and when the bunch split and in good company. In those conditions even the smallest gap can become significant very quickly. You made the effort to race to the end which is very important in my mind. It is a shame you were just out of the points but I suspect the work you did through out the race cost you at the end.

I can't race this weekend due to family commitments, but I'll be checking the Imperial site for the results.

How many points do you need to move up to 1st Cat?

Jon C: Just do it. The only real way to judge is to participate. If you don't last the distance there is no shame, riders get dropped all the time. The worst that can happen is you may get shouted at by another rider for a percieved misdemeanor, I know I did. The language may be flowery but that is just the stress/pressure of racing and really everyone is very friendly.
The London Dynamo do a good ride around Richmond Park which would get you used to riding close to other riders.
Great bike by the way.

Phil, Sounds like you should organise a group ride out to Essex.

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posted Dec 14, 2007

How did I get into cycling? There's ticket for a long rambling comment...

Well I'll ramble on a bit but I hope to answer anyone’s questions on how to become an amateur cyclist with my story.

I started cycling 9 years ago (ignoring childhood, in which case I was 4 years old) as a cheap way to commute in London. I entered the first Blenheim sprint triathlon 3 or 4 years ago as a reason to learn to swim. I came 4th in my group and after a couple of Olympic length races I came to the attention of the British Olympic committee. But with a young family I knew I couldn’t fulfil my potential and dreams in the sport and keep them happy. So I stopped racing, I wasn’t prepared to watch my times go up instead of down.

When I was a young teenager I used to watch the Tour on Channel4 despite my Mum’s best efforts to serve tea at that time. Cycling was always my favourite discipline in the triathlon and I was still riding my bike thanks to my commute, so although I no longer ran and swam, cycling was always going to stay. While killing time at work on the internet I came across the Hillingdon Winter Series, I rang Doug Collins the organiser who agreed to let me race but said I’d probably get dropped.

I loved my first race, I made loads of faux pas. I wore my day glow yellow commuting jacket (referred to by a fellow rider as a yellow parachute). I was shouted out a little after a few laps for not keeping my line which unsettled me a bit. I then rode of the front and held my own for a couple of laps (felt like Merkx briefly). I finished in the bunch a very happy man and felt like I’d really achieved something. I was hooked. Three races later I came 8th overall, 1st in terms of the 4th Cats and propelled to the dizzy heights of 3rd Cat. Not wearing a parachute really helped!

In short, don’t be scared of trying a race, anyone can do it. The one thing other riders and race organisers want is new faces coming into the sport. Don’t be put off by my triathlon history, it was just my introduction to cycling seriously and why I bought a drop handle bar bike. Most of my fitness from then had dissipated by the time I entered Hillingdon, thanks mainly to a fondness for beer and cigars. My race bike was a £500 Cannondale, I wasn’t a member of a club, I’d never ridden in a group before and had no idea of what the pace was going to be. My only training was my 6 mile ride to work.

I’m still a 3rd Cat because I’ve only raced 3 or 4 times a year over the previous 2 years due to 3 house moves and doing the Etape du Tour. If you like I’ll post a bit on my training but I doubt I’m a good example, apart from proving you can balance family\work\cycling. My approach is more Sly Stallone than Dolph Lundgren but seems to work.

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posted Dec 14, 2007

can i make one observation? no bbc member posts since 1pm. nothing to say or down the pub?

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posted Dec 17, 2007

I'd be interested to hear a bit more about your training Alex. I'm 48 - almost 49 - and really got into cycling seriously about 5-6 years ago via my local bike shop. I joined a club (Derwentside CC) who run a TT series over a hilly 10 mile course in the summer which I've enjoyed and done ok at. PB 25m 37s but only about 26m 30 the last couple of seasons. I graduated from an alu Fondriest to a carbon Look with ultegra 2 or 3 years ago and have got slower!! With work (5 nights out of 7 on call) and wife and 3 children to support training consists of getting out when I can so I'd be keen to hear a bit more about your methods.

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