Cheshire Classic

Sunday 26th April, 2009
Hosted by Weaverham CC
Pics by Andrew Patterson

Some say road racing is a lottery. Others argue that you make your own luck. The Cheshire Classic was another frustrating day for our Altura Patterson Training team, with no results to show for our work, but nonetheless it was an exciting race.

It was a group of about 50 women, ranging from Elites through to 4th cats, who rolled out onto the 10km Weaverham circuit for the first of 8 laps. Our team comprised me (Jenn O’Connor), Annabel Simpson and Nadine Spearing. With just three of us we didn’t have much of a game plan, except that Annabel and I would stay up front, chase breaks and try to get away, whilst Nadine would sit in the bunch and wait to see if it came together for a sprint at the end.

The action started on the first lap, when Paralympic Champion Sarah Storey MBE jumped off the front and headed up the road whilst most the peloton were still clipping into their pedals. No-one else wanted to try for a break this early in proceedings, and we half expected Sarah to ride up the road a bit, then sit up. She didn’t. We had to pull ourselves together and get composed for a bunch chase as Sarah powered on ahead.

A group of about six of us started the work, with another six to ten doing the occasional turn. The rest of the bunch were along for the ride. As such, it took about three laps to bring Sarah back, during which time she stretched her lead out to 29 seconds, the biggest gap of the day. The bunch continued to splinter, and the slower riders were shelled out the back, but the main group stayed together as we moved into the second half of the race.

Weaverham is a difficult circuit for breaks. There is one short, steep climb, Acton Hill, and the only natural point for a break is at the top of the climb when the bunch is strung out and the weaker and heavier riders are puffing. However, the circuit then rolls down steadily for about 3km, and inevitably the bunch comes together, gathers momentum, and usually sucks up any plucky riders trying to open a gap. The next section is a draggy and exposed dual carriageway, where the peloton effect is at its greatest, and any lone riders still out in front can be easily brought back by a working bunch.

So it was on Sunday. There were plenty of plucky riders in the bunch, including our Annabel, Annie Last, Dani King, Hannah Mayo, my good friend Paula Mosely (another mountain biker) and a number of others I didn’t recognise. We all had a few digs, especially Annabel and Annie Last, who for one lap attacked repeatedly. The biggest gap was never more than about five seconds however, as the main group was strong and determined. On the last lap it looked like a bunch sprint was looming.

It was Sarah Storey again who made the final attack on the last run up the dual carriageway, but this time there was no getting away. I made point of sitting on her wheel and the bunch stretched out behind us. We tossed away our drink bottles in preparation for the sprint up to the finish line, halfway up Acton Hill. I was in the perfect position, which made me a bit uneasy as I have no sprint to speak of, and I would much rather have had Nadine or Annabel in my place at that point.

Sure enough we rounded the bend at the bottom and I pulled out around Sarah, hoping my team mates were not boxed in behind me. Annie Last pulled up beside me and I could feel the rest of the bunch breathing down my neck. Then I saw a blue and white flash as Nadine, who had managed to get around the bunch, unleashed her sprint and came flying past. Get in! She and the rest of the bunch, including our Annabel, streamed past me in the rush to the line.

But it wasn’t to be. To my dismay I saw Nadine start to labour in the pedals and she seemed to almost grind to a halt. I thought she must have gone too early and blown, but it turns out that, in the heat of the moment, she had started her final sprint with her hands on the brake hoods instead of in the drops. The force of the sprint had pulled the brake hood over, and jammed the front brake on just 30 meters from the line. Our Annabel, who had been battling a nagging calf cramp throughout the race, was unable to muster her usual turn of speed and was not in a position to challenge for the line. We all finished in the bunch.

It was young rider Annie Last, also a mountain biker, who took the win a good couple of bike lengths ahead of Dani King in second. I have to give Annie full credit for her win, as she worked hard throughout the race and timed her sprint to the line perfectly. Credit must also go to Sarah Storey, who livened up the race and did more work than anyone, albeit to no avail on the line.

It is apparent that road racing is a trade that must be learned through experience, as well as training. The “she who pedals fastest wins” approach of XC MTB racing simply doesn’t work on the road. This is a whole other sport. The Cheshire Classic was our second race in our first season as a road team, and so far it has been a lot of frustration with little fruition. But we are fit, and we will get it right! Next week is the Bedford 2-Day, which is a stage race with two time trials and two road races. Our team will be more fired up than ever!

Paralympic Champion Sarah Storey MBE made the only real break of the race but was brought back by the chasing bunch

Altura Patterston Training riders Jenn O'Connor (left) and Annabel Simpson lead the bunch up Acton Hill

Annie Last wins the sprint for the line

PowerBar Midland Series Round 1

Cosford Park, nr Rugby
Sunday, 19th April 2009

Pics by Rob Crayton
www.robcrayton.co.uk


The first round of the Powerbar Midland Series kicked off in style down in Rugby last Sunday, with a warm sunshine and fast, dry trails (with the notable exception of one enormous puddle, hence the muddy bikes).

The Midlands is organised by Altura Patterson Training team rider Nadine Spearing and her partner James Hampshire, and is sponsored by our team sponsor Powerbar, so we were all there for the opening round. Annie and I flew the team flag in the Elite Women’s race while Nadine took care of the signing on and race admin, and coach Andy Patterson had his first MTB race of the season in the Master Men’s race in the afternoon. Full credit goes to Nadine and James, as the whole day ran smoothly. Charlie Wigfall kept us entertained with commentary and 30 years of Hip Hop, and we even had a great bunch of hecklers with cow bells in the feed zone.

Annie and I had our work cut out on the racing side, as we were lined up against top Kiwi racer Rosara Joseph, the rider who pipped me into second place at the first round of the NPS. Rosara set the pace from the gun, and soon opened a gap on us both. The course comprised short power climbs, sweeping off-camber descents and twisty, rooty singletrack. It was a tough and tiring course as there was little chance to rest or drink, but it made for fast, fun racing. Rosara won, with myself second and Annie third. Andy raced in the afternoon and finished 11th in his race.
Lee Williams (Wiggle) had a great race in the Elite Men’s event, winning ahead of Paul Robertson (MSC/Sportstest) and Andrew Cockburn (Ticket2Ride). For a full list of results and lap times, including kids’ races, go to www.timelaps.co.uk.

The Elite Women gridding up for the first race of the day (from left) Rosara Joseph (no. 192), Annabel Simpson (no. 190) and Jenn O'Connor (no. 191)

Buxton Mountain Time Trial

Good Friday, 10 April 2009
Photographs by Chris Lees

Known by locals as the "Buxton Hilly" this is one of the toughest TTs on the circuit, being as it is, as the name suggests, a bit hilly. Starting and finishing in Longnor in the heart of the Peak District, it comprises three laps of an 11 mile loop, up a savage climb, along a blustery ridge (the Leek Buxton Road) and down a hair-raising descent back into Longnor.

The Altura Patterson Training women swept the board with the three fastest women's times. Conditions were cold, turning to rain for the latter part of the race. The fastest overall time was posted by M Bottrill for De Rosa TT (who also took the team prize). Times below are from my own memory and not official!

M Bottrill: 1hr 26mins (fastest man)
A Patterson: 1hr 36mins (he reckons 1hr 33mins but we'll see)
J O'Connor: 1hr 45mins (fastest woman)
A Simpson: 1hr 55mins
N Spearing: 1hr 57mins

Andy Patterson (what's with that face, coach?)

Nadine Spearing

Annie Simpson


Jenn O'Connor

British Mountain Bike Series Round One

Sherwood Pines Forest Park
Sunday 5 April 2009

Race Report by Jenn O'Connor

Pics by Rob Crayton

I rode my heart out yesterday.

My race started in near disaster when riders from the second row of the grid barged into both me and German rider Mel Spath on the front row, causing us to run into each other and tangle up our bars. Mel got away again OK, but I dropped my chain and had to fight to get back up to speed. The rest of the field streamed past me, and I had to jostle for a place amongst the backmarkers, as we hit the first corners and out onto the fire road straight.

But there was a little voice in my head telling me I had the legs to win this race, and I refused to believe it wasn't going to happen, even as the lead bunch disappeared into the distance.

I buried myself in the chase. I soon caught up with a chasing group including my team mates Annabel Simpson and Nadine Spearing. Both had had great starts, but Annie had collided with a tree early in the lap and taken a bad fall, hurting her back. She was battling on, but later pulled out.

I got away from that group and started reeling in the other chasers. I could occasionally glimpse the lead bunch, headed up by Rosara Joseph, an Olympian and NZ National Champ, with British National Champ Jenny Copnall, Australian Kate Potter, Mel Spath and newcomer Annie Last in a tight bunch. They were nearly a minute ahead of me, and it seemed like a huge gap.

Further back was another newcomer, Lily Mathews, who I quickly caught. She stayed on my wheel for a while but seemed unwilling to work with me in the chase, so I was happy to drop her and close in on Sharon Laws. Sharon had been dropped from the leading bunch and I thought she would be a good bet for a chasing partner, but she was either unwilling or unable and soon disappeared behind me. No doubt she was still recovering from her stage racing effort in the Cape Epic.

On the second of five laps I started to pull back the lead bunch. I was on my own in the chase but managed to close the gap to just 25 seconds. Their pace was surging, as a bunch does, and they seemed to yo-yo away from me at every turn. I nailed every piece of singletrack and hammered every fire road, and whittled away at the gap. I’ve never chased so hard in my life.

Onto lap three and the gap was just 10 seconds. It sounds like nothing, but 10 seconds is still a big gap to cross, and the leaders were getting edgy and starting to push the pace. Finally, on a long sweeping section of singletrack, I got back onto Mel’s wheel with a shout of “got you, you bastards!”. What a great buzz it was to finally catch the bunch after an hour of hard chasing. It must have seemed to them that I had appeared from nowhere as I worked through to the front of the group.

It seemed to me that Rosara was doing most the work at the front, while the others were biding their time, waiting for something to happen. Sure enough, we caught up with some lapped riders, and that’s where I got a bit lucky. Rosara and I both slipped past just before a couple of tight turns, while the rest of the bunch got caught up behind.

I stayed with Rosara and we opened up a small gap, just a few seconds. I was ecstatic. I came around her shouting “come on, we’ve got a gap, let’s go go go!!!!” Rosara didn’t need pushing. The two of us started working together in earnest and opened the gap. Through the twisty sections I could see the rest of the bunch – the tables had turned, and now they were having to chase hard to try and catch me. As we passed through the arena for the final lap I heard the commenter say “this race is now an all-Kiwi affair…” Now that’s a feeling money can’t buy!

The last lap went like clockwork in our little two-person break. We gave each other space in the corners and singletrack, and shared the work on the front - a refreshing contrast with the early part of my race. At every turn I could see the chasers, but they weren’t gaining on us – if anything we were gaining on them. I couldn’t believe how strong I felt, and stayed glued to Rosara through the last few turns.

Now I’m no kind of a sprinter. My sprint is a bit of a running joke amongst our team. On this occasion however, I locked out my forks (something I very rarely do), pulled out around Rosara and gave it hell for the line. I nearly got it. I’d love to say I won the sprint and won the race, as it would have been the fairy tale ending that I’d worked so hard for, but unfortunately I didn’t morph into Tom Boonan just because the situation called for it. I lost the sprint by half a wheel and finished second.

But I’m very proud to be able to say, in all honesty, that it was close.

Mel Spath outsprinted Kate Potter and Jenny Copnall to take third, and I was pleased for her, as she’d done a lot of chasing herself during the race. Nadine finished further back, in another chasing group. Meanwhile, our Masters racer Ruth Mordaunt won her first race in convincing style, which was a delight, as Ruth has been hampered in her training over winter and genuinely didn’t expect to win.

With a field of 20 Elite women, including a big international contingent and some top racers, this was always going to be a big weekend and a tough race. It looks like British XC racing is back with a vengeance. Round two in Dalby Forest (May 10th) will give us some hills to play with, which will certainly sort the women from the girls. The Altura Patterson Training team will be ready.

The front row (from left) Maddie Horton, Nadine Spearing, Jenn O'Connor, Mel Spath, Rosara Joseph

Jenn in chase mode

Jenn's little Cannondale Scalpel in full flight


Kiwis Rosara Joseph (left) and Jenn O'Connor drop the field in the last lap



Rosara wins out in the sprint to the line


Masters racer Ruth Mordaunt was delighted with a win in her first race on her new Scalpel

The Elite Women's podium (from left) Mel Spath (GER), Rosara Joseph (NZL) and Jenn O'Connor (NZL)

For full results please visit: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/mtb/EventReports2009/20090405_british_mtb_series_rd1.asp

For a full gallery of Rob Crayton's great images from the weekend please visit:
www.robcrayton.co.uk