145km with 3820m Elevation gain
06:15:56 Speed 23.1kph Power 249w
100th Age Group 55 – 59
I have not historically posted about bike racing as I don’t really race bikes, but I thought the world champs was probably worth a short note. We last competed in the UCI age group world champs back in 2017 in Albi and I guess it was time to have another go not least because my running rehab is frustratingly slow and therefore meaningful triathlon racing is out the question.
The UK qualification race was the Tour of Cambridgeshire in June held on my doorstep in Peterborough. With the way the bike racing at the front end is conducted, this is only a race to enter when there is no serious tri racing in the following few weeks. It’s a broad church is road racing with some variable skill levels. Last time around there were some nasty crashes with riders not holding a line, barging and plain poor handling so keeping at the front and picking the wheels to follow and not to follow is an essential element of racing. It’s a 100m race with only 600m of elevation gain, pretty much a bunched ride with big surges as those at the front try to break the group up. Anyway, I managed to hang in and cross the line in 12th with a time of 04:09:07 just 10s off the podium.
Italy would be a completely different race with two huge climbs, nearly 20km each and 1500m change in elevation. The realist in me said that there would be no way I could be competitive in a race on that terrain and with my height and weight never mind the fact that my descending skills had been honed on the Fens. This would be a road trip and nothing more but nevertheless a world champs and just to get there as a triathlete was a buzz
We were held in age group pens on main road by the river in the beautiful city of Trento, a gem in the Dolomites. We were released in 3 minute intervals and of course we were the last age group off as the next age up were on a 85km and only one mountain ascent. The first 10km was on the flat so that was a complete smash fest as everyone rode hard to try and split the group up but we pretty much arrived at the base of the climb together. I certainly didn’t want to get dropped on the easy kms. As we entered the climb the front group just kept powering on as I settled into a hard effort but one I felt sustainable but it turned out it was a 90 minute power PB for the year so that plan didn’t work.
At last we came to the base of the hill again and this time I was definitely going to ride much more conservatively, less through choice than the onset of fatigue from the first ascent. As I climbed up the second time it was clear who had qualified on a flat course and didn’t have the body morphology for an out and out climber’s course. There was some dark humour amongst us back markers as we all wrestled our way up, yearning to get to the top and finally allowing in the thought of heading back into town and the finish line. By this time there we a few of us that were swapping places depending on who felt good, then getting re-passed as they flagged again.
After what seemed like an age the summit finally came and the same kamikaze descent for what seemed like an age, the tired body adding an extra element of danger. On my own again on the valley floor and now in traffic as they had reopened the roads once the leaders had gone through. The last part was a short climb, 600m of elevation gain then left and down the hill on a poor road surface and sharp switch backs, more danger. I took it very steadily on this final part as I was so close to finishing on one piece and there was no point in racing just gain the odd place, I wasn’t going to trouble anyone wanting an extra placing.
Nevertheless, as I finished the descent an Australian guy came by me for about the fourth time and he was racing for that extra place. The road flattened out and was pretty easy riding, so I stuck with him. He let me by then just sat on my wheel and to be honest I didn’t have much fight left in me to put a surge in to try and drop him. We turned the final corner to the finish line and he sprinted by me all guns blazing, my legs just went pop and I rolled across the finish line perhaps 100m behind him.
It had been quite a day, I was shattered and to be honest I got the result I deserved. I hadn’t really trained for it having mentally opted out once I knew how challenging the course would be for a lad from the Fens. It was a great road trip and we finished off with three nights on Lake Garda. Maybe we will do it again in another 5 years. Now to set some goals for 2023, starting with smashing RAW!
