Ben Simmons Blog: Big Weekend
25th, 26th & 28th June 2009
Thursday – Presidents Handicap Road Race
This race I used as a warm up event for the Friday and Sunday races and didn’t want to put too much effort into the event. With the previous Presidents Road Race being unsuccessful for the E,1,2 group by not catching the 4th category group due to big time gaps between the groups.
This time nothing had changed although we had a few more riders than last time, but the 3rd category group were lower in numbers. We caught the 3rd category group after a lap or so with the group working well together until this point. Then the pace slowed and less riders were working, me included as I was racing the following day. With the time gap still high I new we weren’t going to be successful catching the large 4th category group so sat in and finished in the bunch.
Friday – Wales Open Criterium
I always look forward to this event due to the high-speed tight circuit around Abergavenny town centre and the large crowds it attracts. Also being a local rider is always because I get a lot of support from the crowd that always gives you a psychological advantage but also puts a little bit of pressure on my performance. With a poor list of pre-entered rider it was even more disappointing that only half of them turned up for the event, there was still a good class of riders though.
The Race was shortened due to the lower number of rider that was good as the circuit was shorter than usual and extremely tight. The race stared fast and the bunch was lined out for the whole race due to the nature of the course. Within the first couple of laps I made an attack riding a lap and a half at full pelt in front of a home crowd, this was great as most of my friends were lining the course with a pint in there hand and shouting enthusiastically. After my attack many followed straight after which lead to a group of 4 rider escaping and managing to stay away. My group was whittled down to 6 riders with each of the riders having a teammate up the road meaning they weren’t going to chase. Every time I made an effort to bridge across I would have a line of riders sitting on my wheel, this was frustrating and not much I could do about the situation.
In the end I was in a group sprinting for 5th place on the last lap but I finished 3rd out of my group meaning I finished 8th overall in the race. I was pleased with my performance, this was the best result I have had in an Elite Criterium, and it’s just a shame that the event had a smaller field of riders than usual.
Saturday – Recovery Day
After two races in a row I didn’t fancy travelling to the 4th round of the NPS XC series at Crow Hill because I wanted to put in a good performance in the National Road Race Champs Sunday. So I just rode for 2.5 hours easy allowing my legs to keep moving and help aid recovery by removing waste products from the previous race efforts. I wanted my legs to be as fresh as possible so wore my 2XU compression tights for the whole weekend in an attempt to allow my legs to recover and save every last drop of energy possible for the race.
Sunday – National Road Race Championships
This is the biggest road race in the UK and the race every body want to win. With 191 riders entered and the best of the British riders racing in one event is not seen very often. The race was 170km long that included one large hilly circuit ending with one of the hardest climbs in the UK…The Tumble…3.5 miles long that gets harder the higher you climb. The race then finished with 10 7km circuits around the town centre, being a local rider I knew all these roads very well (if not too well) and knew the Tumble was the last of my worries.
The race started fast and was storming along at over 50kph taking up both sides of the road with everyone trying to move up to the front. I was riding well and was trying to stay within the top quarter of the bunch to lessen the chances of getting caught up in a crash. As we approached the rolling road everybody was trying to move up in the bunch to avoid getting caught out by the bunch splitting on the climbs. The first climb started just out side of Monmouth town where there was plenty of crashes including one big one that I just narrowly escaped getting caught up in.
I was towards the back of the remainder of the bunch and sure enough it had split but was in a strong chasing group and managed to catch back up to the main bunch even though all the race convoy of cars had come past us. It was a relief to catch back up otherwise that would have been the end of the race for me, I managed to stay comfortably in the bunch all the way to the bottom of the tumble. Once we reached the start of the climb riders immediately started to drift back off the bunch where I was overtaking them trying to stay in contact with the lead riders.
The tumble had a record number of spectators and was such an experience riding up the climb with so much encouragement. I was riding strong but gradually lost contact with the lead riders but still pushed hard to lessen the gap. I found my self in a small group of riders with some big names as we approached the top of the climb much to my relief of my burning muscles. We rode well together on the descent towards the finishing circuit and could see the leading riders that we were gaining on. The gap was around a minute and was looking forward to the crowd when riding around the finishing circuit but was sorely disappointed when we were stopped as we entered town. We were not allowed to continue in the race as we were off the back of the main bunch, even though we were gaining time on them. I was given a position 53rd never the less which I felt was respectable as many big names were well behind me.
There is also a photo of me in this weeks Cycling Weekly magazine going up the Tumble, 3rd rider from the front on page 135.
Ben