Introduction

The British XC series continues to grow, with a 70 strong field at the UCI class 1 race at Dalby Forest, Yorkshire on Sunday. Country wide wet weather during the proceeding week, turned even the man-made World Cup course into a mud fest. In this report, we take a look at John Whittington’s race, racing the Elite race for CNP-Orbea.

Method

One practice lap in ‘dry’ conditions, followed by a lap in constant hail, meant John was prepared for all conditions on the course by mid-afternoon on Saturday. A change of brake pads (these lasting the race being the main concern) followed by a viewing of 8 Mile in the back of his van and this racer’s Saturday was complete.

John followed his standard warm-up, under the cover of the team easy-up and was ‘feeling good’ for the race. The cover of the easy-up was proved unnecessary by a gap in the morning’s rain - lasting the length of the race. The damage to the course had already been done by the morning races however, leaving a considerably stickier course than Saturday’s practice section.

Figure 1

The start tussle was hastened by the field’s personal battles to stay upright, navigating 90deg grass bends with standing water; John maintained his 24th position and started moving up. Catching a group in contention for the late teens mid-way through lap 2, he decided to ‘bliz’ the Death Climb, distancing himself only to loose the time back when he couldn’t control the handlebars at the top. Still, he rode through with the group in 20th for lap 3 with suffering riders on the horizon [Figure 2].

Figure 2

The remaining 2 laps John suffered chain-suck [Figure 3] and a loss of composure, rhythm. Conceding places rather than gaining the possible ground, applications of CNP ProHydrate could only provide slight relief to the mud laden chainring.

Figure 3

Results

John finished 23rd. His final 2 laps were 1.5mins slower than his 3rd. Average heart rate drops from just outside threshold to L3 [Figure 4].

Figure 4

Discussion

Although 23rd can be considered a fairly solid result when considering the field - a C1 attracts nations vying for Olympic points - John was left frustrated and felt his legs had a better result in them. The considerable reduction in lap time could be put down to fatigue but according to the rider, he ‘felt golden’ and that he had a lot left in him to give. It is true that he does not normally flag towards the end of races, often the contrary. Still, the move on the Death Climb was ignorant of any tactics, could have been better applied and it certainly strengthens the fatigue case.

The chain-suck problem clearly had effect on the result but perhaps more so than it warranted. The rider could have simply ‘stuck it in the big-ring’, after all, he had ridden the first two laps solely in the large chain ring: ‘I don’t even know what I was doing in the small ring, I’m Big Ring! But once in, I was unable to get it to move back up.’ Indeed, the trim seemed to have slipped on the front mech but a quick stop to manually move it back and leave it would have been a better solution. Instead he became pre-occupied with the problem, possibly exacerbating it and lossing concentration on the task in hand - the race. Through this we can explain the large drop in heart rate; John wasn’t trying as hard.

Conclusion

John achieved a solid result but wanted more. It is hard to face mechanical problems on a good day but the conditions were tough and he certainly wasn’t the only one with issues. In fact, the problem was negligible in comparison to some, but was escalated by how it was approached. The discipline is hard, requiring as much mental as physical strength to maintain concentration and keep the pace high. With each race, experience is bolstered and lessons learnt, as in this case.

A bit tacky but when not able to garner the spirit to write a race report, this idea came into my head having just finished my dissertation and went with it!