Ben Simmons: National Trophy Rd 3 & Inter-Area Cyclo-cross Champs
25th October 2009
National Trophy Series Round 3
The third round of the national trophy series took place in Ipswich, I had my best result two years ago here so was hoping to better 13th place. The 4 hour journey on the Saturday saw plenty of rain most of the way there so I was expecting to get muddy for the first time in cross this year. But I was wrong as race day it was sunny and mild, the course was dry but was very draggy. It felt like your brake was rubbing when practising the course so knew it was going to be a hard race.
The race started fast it to some 180 degree grass corners so I was cutting up the inside to try and move up through the field. After the first couple of laps I was just outside the top 20 and chasing with two other riders, but we were also being chased. We were riding well together but I was finding it hard to find a place to recover on the course, as it was all pedalling. We were caught by a rider who had punctured so I jumped on to his wheel, he towed me around the course to catch the next group of riders. I was now suffering as I was struggling to hold his wheel and was in the red zone too long and I started to drift back to my original group.
For the remainder of the race I was giving it 100% effort to hold my position but I did loose a few extra positions and finished 28th. I was a little bit disappointed as I was hoping for a improvement in my results but the standard of riders seems to be getting better and better with a few international riders being thrown in to the mix.
1st November 2009
Inter-Area Cyclo-Cross Championships
The week before this race I was working for British Cycling as a Carer for an Olympic Development Program (ODP) selection camp in Newport. This involved working long hours making sure the logistics and the riders were sorted for each day, this unfortunately left me no time to train. So my preparation for the race was poor and so was my motivation.
Lee and me were part of a 6 man Wales Team who on paper had a good chance of getting a good result. We were gridded 7th that meant we had a front row start which was nice. The race started fast and I was battling with a few aggressive riders so I could move up through the field. I was moving up in to a good position that was until I crashed on an off camber corner, this let a load of riders over take me.
From this point onwards it went down hill as I could feel my back going really tight and I was struggling to put any power out through my legs. I was holding my position well but eventually started to drift backwards through the field, I was no longer a counting rider for points for the team. Then to make things worse I punctured as soon as I passed the pits so had to ride half a lap on a flat by which point I had almost given up. I got my spare bike from the pits and cruised around just to finish the race.
This week I have started training properly, eating properly and structuring my day so I have time to train, work and also more importantly recover. I have started a new job this week working for Welsh Cycling as a Go-Ride Coach for Wales and am really enjoying it. I hope you are all still enjoying your riding even with this wet weather; I’m lucky as I have a nice warm Velodrome (Newport) on my doorstep if the weather is really bad.
Ben
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