Big Al

Well, this is morning after our Paris Roubaix & we all survived to tell the tales!
 
I just want to echo Billy's comment, indeed this was extremely HARD both for man & machine.
170km, 28 sectors of horrible pave which tried it's very best to throw you off the bike, but amazingly we all manage to stay up right and finished in one piece. In fact I don't think I've actually saw anyone fell off on the Pave, although Big Al Yullie had a wee incident, he clip the kerb on a road section while trying to "protect" me of some bollards ahead, what gent! :-)
We were also lucky on the mechanical front too, only one puncture, one dropped chain & a few lost bottle between the lot of us, not bad at all everything considered.
 
Personally, I think this was the hardest thing I've done on a bike!
I knew this was very hard but when having not done enough training due to my recent fight with a bollard, it wasn't ideal for me but I decided to do it anyway given the fact I paid & organized it already not to mention getting new set of wheels built for this.
It was an early 4am start to a really chilly day but weather improved as the day went on.
 
Anyway, 13 of us set off as a group eagerly waiting to hit the first sector of Pave. But when I hit the I first, boy did I feel like crying, it was nothing I've ever experienced before. I had my hands on the drops thinking if something happens I'm close to the brakes, I've been told only the either ride on the drops or top, never on the hood. While on the pave, you & bike are thrown violently from all directions with absolutely no control of the bike at all, this of course slows you right down & this just makes it much worse. I have to admit I want to quit after the first sector, I was deliberately looking out for some support vehicle or broom wagon. Luckily I got a toll from Tom & Andy (Martins Eastcoast pal) and manage to get through 6 sectors before we rejoined the group waiting at the first feed stop. By then I was still in sh*ty mood as I did not enjoy one second of it at all.
 
At this point I must say a big THANKS to all my fellow wheelers - Al, AllanM, Billy, Charlie, Greg, Iain, Mark, Martin, Paul & Tom and Martin's 2 friends Andy & Garvin for getting me through this. They waited, regroup, feed & water me along the way. I honestly think that I wouldn't have done it without you guys help.
 
As the sector came thick & fast I manage to felt a lot more comfortable on them to the point of date I say "enjoyed" them. But the 5 star "Trouee d'Arenberg" was the worst of all, big massive stones stopping every momentone of you have of going forward & it's long and straight. The sectors are graded 2-5 stars, 5 being the hardest of course and there was three 5 star ones. In a way, this wasn't a bike ride in the usual sense but more an obstacle course, as Chris Boardman said "the PR is a circus show"!
 
After a long day on the saddle, we all made it to the famous Roubaix Velodrome as one big group, riding the track & finishing altogether - pure brilliant. One fellow English PRer on the road summed it up quite well, "that's some Sunday Club run you guys are doing"!
To be honest, I got a bit emotional when I cross the finish. I honestly did not think I could make it, but again I want to thanks my team mate for getting me through this!
 
Now, we going to watch how it should be done proper!
 
Thanks for reading
 
Cheers
 
Chung

Thanks for the run today, I ended up getting a lift to miller street but cycled it back to Inchinnan via Linwood/Houston totalling 43.6 miles so pleased with that. Is there a strava group for the club?

Ride today brief was find the velodrome it's only 6 miles away
After 13 miles we found it a nice twenty mile warm up in the sun

Missed you invisible hologram, was a cracking night as well,

 

Allan, that's most of our 25 course that we're looking to move from for the 25's, thanks for the idea tho!

We could have started earlier but billy insisted he wanted a tow from the Renfrew bunch!
 
Iain

Dave, do you not mean the Comedy Store Paisley?
 
I'll be along, although wish I wasn't racing the next morning!

5 intrepid riders (2 sharing a top tube and wheels) showed up for a cold damp outing on an alternative course.
 
After some discussion we decided on 2 laps of the Red Smiddy to new roundabout on the A8 course.
 
First on the night was a chilly Sport Billy, with a good effort by Al(l)an's M & T, and also the 'F' family on a tandem
 
Red Smiddy Course 5.3 miles
 
1. Billy Mac 14:58
2. Alan T 16:17
3. Allan M 18:09
4. Jane and Graham F (Tandem) 18:40
 
Well done!

Just glad to get home for a heat (& to get the corset off)

Legs felt good today then when i saw alot of the fast young guys were missing (presumably with junior tour of Scotland coming up) i felt quite confident of making the breakthrough tonight in the Bs.
 
Shouldnt have counted my chickens though as there was not enough A riders tonight and too many B riders to fit them all in the same race, so two combined a/b races and i was put in with Davie Lines, Andrew Whitehall, Callum Watson and a couple of others. Wasnt too bad to start with but when the hammer went down with a few laps to go it blew things apart, was just about hanging on but someone drifted down and i had to ease up slightly that meant i lost the wheel and it was game over. Next up was a Kieren, didnt do great then it was a B group only scratch where i attacked with a couple of laps to go and managed to get either a 2nd or 3rd. Another Kieren next managed a 3rd in this however there were only 5 riders in that one so it was also 3rd last! Finished off with another A/B race when the split happened i had just joined the end of the line after taking my turn so completly the wrong place. Riders in front were pulling out meaning i kept having to try and close down gaps by the time things calmed a bit there was a group of 4 about half a lap ahead and a small chasing group which i was about 10 metres behind but just couldnt get back on, eventually got lapped by the 4 in front then chucked it with a couple of laps to go. Painful night but was enjoyable as well because the race programme was a bit different to normal.
 
Some good results from Alan tonight although i suspect he is just as pleased with avoiding crashing into a rider that went down right in front while they were both in the middle of a sprint. Very impressive save!

They start on the 2nd as far as I know which is Wednesday, unless they've gone ahead early?
 
Was going to aim for Thursday next week for number two, if they were still there and people were keen?

Tough night in the Bs but an improvement on last week - got some points in the points race (2nd and 4th) but then suffered for those effort and eventually the elastic snapped and i was off the back and just hanging on hoping not to get lapped. Last scratch was alright was in a breakaway of 3 that then became 2 that stayed out for a few laps, eventually caught then too far back to do anything in the sprint (not that i had a sprint left in me). End result was the same as last week did not get any podiums but at least this week it felt like i was racing rather than hanging on so much more enjoyable!
 
The Cs looked fast tonight, thought you were a bit unlucky to lose the wheel in front just before the pace picked up making it difficult to get back on again. If you'd been mid bunch then you'd have been alright i think - you were doing well for the first half of the race.

C's turned out to be brutally quick, with me being in trouble in the first third of the race, blowing up halfway and coming off before being lapped 5 laps later. 20 laps completed of a 30 lap race with nothing left. Back to the D's for the next 2 races saw me pick up 2nd and a 1st in the sprints for the points race and a 2nd in the final race. Emma was competing in the D's too and picked up a couple of podium finishes
Ian had a good showing in the B's, picking up points in the points race.

Paul,
 
I can't see anything at all in your picture!
 
Cheers

Ok here goes, i suspect im going to type too much as im still buzzing
 
As it was my first crit i'd read alot beforehand and also asked Paul and Billy for some advice at the track the other night - how important it is to be near the front, always be moving up in the bunch and things like that. So i made to sure to position myself on the first row for the start. So far so good - It was a neutralised lap to see the course then back to line up and start for real. However by the end of the neutralised lap i found myself right on the back! I stayed near there for the first 15 minutes struggling with the pace (i dont think i did a hard enough warm up) but after that started to find my legs so on the hill/ramp on the finish straight i put in a dig to see if i could move up to a better position managed that alright and stayed up for a lap before drifting back again to hide from the wind feeling a bit more confident that i could move up if needed. By this point there were a couple of guys up the road and managing to maintain a good gap (mostly out of sight of the bunch) then another couple of riders tried to bridge - when we eventually caught those two they were a couple of others with them and i thought that was everything back together. However it was 2 lapped riders and the 2 out in front were still there! Was about 5 laps to go by this point and things starting to heat up, final lap i made an effort up the hill to get near the front but i maybe put in too big an effort as i found myself on the front going through the carpark and onto the backstraight as we hit the first speedbump. I wasnt wanting to be there after the turn onto the home straight as there was a headwind on what was also the fastest section of the course (this section would be from about 500 to 100 metres before the finish) so let others come past - slipped back probably a bit much to about 10th, then it was down the sweeping bend onto the straight and right into the headwind. The sprint started as soon as we exited this corner which was good for me as i could pick my way through as others were starting to tie up however there was still one rider in front who managed to get to the roundabout first (this came before by the final corner) so i had to brake a little and couldnt carry momentum, then started again but that was that. Was a strange mixture of being really pleased but also a little disappointed because i didnt feel like i'd been able to give it everything. However in some respects it is just as well i didnt overtake him as i'd have looked a right spanner celebrating 3rd place as if i'd won the race
 
 
I should add if i had known there were 2 riders still ahead i wouldnt have been able to do anything about it, they rode a great race and were by far the strongest on the day.
 
Overall though really enjoyed it - i was worried beforehand partly about what the pace would be like but mostly about what the riding would be like as i'd read so many horror stories of Crits - particularly 4th Cat early season ones! There was some dodgy riding at times (i was almost put into a barrier due to someone diving up the inside of a corner then drifting over and rubbing shoulders) but overall it was pretty good and nowhere near as bad as i was expecting it to be. Good weather and a good course - nice mix of fast and technical - the highlight being a fast downhill corner where you could smell burning rubber with the tyres on the limits of their grip. Could have done without the speedbumps they werent pleasant at all. Also great to see so many out racing from all age groups to the elite riders and a world champ. On another note the Jets look really pro, this was my first time seeing their set up at a road race and i was impressed! Well done to all the riders, coaches and support

Entering the C's this week. A wee bit of help.
 
Mid-bunch finishes will be acceptable.

Surely the art of miscommunication

Well done to Danny, what a ride and what a sprint. Iain, you were not last in the scratch race as a fair number of people (ahem) had been lapped, well done on first time in b's.
Al, I have your towel, I am making a habit of collecting sweaty things after taking Iain's helmet home the other night.

 

Only took part in 2 races tonight as I was called away before the first race. Picked up a third in the 25 lap scratch and a disappointing 4th in the 20 lap. Hey ho.

Tough debut in the Bs
 
First up was a points race, first half of the race wasnt too bad closed down a breakaway then came to the front and stayed there a too long hoping that i might hold on for some points. Wasnt to be, after that the pace picked up and i was just hanging on. Next a 40 lap scratch, fast from the gun and stayed fast most of the race. Was near the back for virtually all of it. Great win for Danny here, ride of the night. Last was a 30 lap scratch and felt ok, poorly positioned though so couldnt contest the sprint. I doubt i'd have done anything in any case but at least i felt like i had something left by the end unlike the previous race where i was having to go in the red repeatedly just to hold wheels and ended up totally spent and just rolling round the final lap in last place.

Good result guys and girl.

Well done all

The out leg on that course seems to go on forever!!!!!! You can see the turn from miles away but it doesnt ever seem to come to you. Good early season indicator of form. Good rides by all,
 
Colin.

well done to one and all. by chance i was out stirling way today and did notice how windy it was, it gets a bit tedieous (spelling?) after a while.
 
iain

Excellent Al.
Not the best out there today.