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I don’t like to speak too soon but just maybe the weather tide has turned and we are beginning the long journey to another glorious English summer (ok, that’s being a bit hopeful but one can but dream). The signs are all around - the Mosquito workshop is full of bikes as hibernating cyclists make a re-appearance,I am suddenly finding myself poring over racing calendars and planning the season ahead, and last weekend, the first ride of the year with a warm sun on my face.

Saturday was three hours in the Surrey Hills with a local cycling buddy and a glorious ride it was too. Training on your own you forget the extra effort required to stay with a riding companion as the inevitable element of competition creeps in! Having been doing some extra strength training over the winter I was interested to see how it would help my climbing, well after the ride with Niall I am still no wiser - all I can say is that one-legged squats the day before a hard ride make the legs sore! I started off with clothing suitable for the snowy conditions of previous weeks so spent much of the ride peeling off layers, not quite time for shorts and mitts but the time will come - although I expect the weather has a few more tricks up it’s sleeve before it finishes with us.

Sunday was the LondonCycleSport Test Ride Day at the recently opened Hog Hill Cycle Circuit. A fun day and well attended, there was plenty to do with bikes to ride from Mosquito and several other local dealers, Roller racing on the famed Rollapalluza rig, demo bike fits by our very own Roger Graver and a showing of cycling films. It was great to get so much positive feedback on the bikes we brought along. Of course after saturdays glorious sunshine the clouds returned and a bitter wind blew, oh well I’ve always been an optimist.
It was particularly pleasing for us to have Celeste Milani and his colleague Evo in attendance - they made the journey up from the Milani factory in Gallarate north of Milan to be with us. Leaving at 7.30 pm on friday evening their plan was to drive as far as Dijon for a stopover, unfortunately they missed the turning and kept going to Reims by which time it was 4am. Understandably they were pretty tired when we met with them for a meal in Islington on saturday, but a few glasses of wine soon revived them and a convivial evening of bike related talk ensued.

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As I slogged around the muddy playing fields of Wilmington Grammar School, Dartford, last Sunday it suddenly occurred to me that A -Â I am not very fit at the moment, B -Â I’m not cut out for this muddy cyclocross game and C - perhaps I don’t actually enjoy cyclocross racing! This last point is the one I’m most worried about to be honest - everybody is meant to enjoy cyclocross, but as I trudged away, on the limit, for over an hour I couldn’t help but question my sanity!
The good thing about this particular race was that it was the last of the season - meaning that I would no longer have to lie in bed on a Sunday morning feeling guilty that I wasn’t out there supporting my Mosquito team mates. Not that they need the support of a mid-field plodder such as me - Matt Seaton admirably won the Veterans category of the Mosquito London Cyclocross League ably supported by Ian Cleverly who himself achieved a top 10 position at the National Championships.
In fact I only managed three races throughout the whole season - a bitterly cold race in Footscray at Christmas, a bitterly cold and snowing race in Brighton and last weekends sorry effort.
There is something excrutiatingly painful about cyclocross - you basically ride at your lactate threshold for an hour (making it a rather good way of determining LT) without any chance of the freewheeling one gets on a road ride, and just when you have hade enough you get to run up a muddy bank! Having said that, it is great training for both one’s gut fitness and bike handling skills - it is pretty impossible to go as hard on a training ride.
So having put away the ‘cross tyres till next winter my thoughts turn towards spring training, and summer road racing. After a lacklustre winter I am now trying to put in some good base miles before switching to higher quality work in a few weeks time.
This is the season of Reliability Trials - traditional early season events designed to test the mettle of club riders before the season proper kicks off. These days many have converted themselves into ’sportives’ and achieved popularity well beyond the old days of a few score local clubmen riding out. I had hoped to ride the Morden CTC Hilly 50 event last saturday but unfortunately they had to cancel due to the state of the roads - a pity as it was a beautiful day, the views from the top of Leith Hill being particularly spectacular. The next event on my radar is the South West Road Club 100k on March 8th and then it’s pretty much full swing into the road season.
This weekend I’ll be up at Hog Hill road circuit with Gill and Roger and a bunch of beautiful bikes for the onCycleSport Test Ride Day - a great chance for people to get a ride of some great bikes not just from Mosquito but other London retailers also.