Post by crummy on May 3, 2011 20:38:37 GMT 10
St Albans Classic
Lead up to the Classic was terrible and training a disaster, with some days relegated to the gym, a spin bike, just to clock up a few hit-outs. The weather was the cause, probably on the for front of many a registered rider for the annual escarpment climbs which makes this event unique from the other 100km races. I could already see it, the sapping clay and laying water.
After considering the possible conditions we were about to face I set three goals with the first one being, finish the race. It sounds simple but the circumstances under which I had to complete my first goal included riding all the climbs, bar the couple of technical rocky setups between the 50km mark and the main decent to the canoe bridge. First of all and one of the most daunting obstacles is the initial climb up onto the escarpment. I remember speaking with a 50km rider last year as he was about to complete his first 50km Classic after two attempts, his first attempt finished at that initial climb and he rode back to St Albans along the road. But it is a major challenge, riders all around me peeled of to the sides, pushing their bikes up the hill in front of them, this was the first wave after the Elites. I can only imagine the torture it would have been for the back end of the 50kers as the hill was torn apart by studded MTB shoes. I reached the summit, elated and already exhausted, I rode the first climb, then I pushed the thoughts of the remainder from my mind.
Lead up to the Classic was terrible and training a disaster, with some days relegated to the gym, a spin bike, just to clock up a few hit-outs. The weather was the cause, probably on the for front of many a registered rider for the annual escarpment climbs which makes this event unique from the other 100km races. I could already see it, the sapping clay and laying water.
After considering the possible conditions we were about to face I set three goals with the first one being, finish the race. It sounds simple but the circumstances under which I had to complete my first goal included riding all the climbs, bar the couple of technical rocky setups between the 50km mark and the main decent to the canoe bridge. First of all and one of the most daunting obstacles is the initial climb up onto the escarpment. I remember speaking with a 50km rider last year as he was about to complete his first 50km Classic after two attempts, his first attempt finished at that initial climb and he rode back to St Albans along the road. But it is a major challenge, riders all around me peeled of to the sides, pushing their bikes up the hill in front of them, this was the first wave after the Elites. I can only imagine the torture it would have been for the back end of the 50kers as the hill was torn apart by studded MTB shoes. I reached the summit, elated and already exhausted, I rode the first climb, then I pushed the thoughts of the remainder from my mind.
