Waller Pain 2023

 

 

Year milestone number one. The Caterham Round Table Waller Lane hill climb. Last year it confirmed I was back to fitness and apart from just getting over a cold, full health and strength.

I arrived just as the course setup was finished so signed on as rider one. It meant I had almost an hour until the start. Rather than wait as I had done in the past I rode a shallower hill a couple of times to loosen the legs. I've learnt from the TT's that this helps. I also wanted to see how I felt after a big ride the day before. 

I was eager to see if my new bike would improve my time.

I returned from the circuits just in time, and after ensuring I was in the gear I thought I'd need, they counted me down and I was away.

Too low a gear meant I peddeled furiously before changing up. Not a good start. I settled in and tried to ensure I was in the right gear for each section of climb. 

I heard the next person being counted down and it seemed I hadn't gone very far by then. Each person starts a minute apart and I expected to have been closer to the end by the time rider two was sent on his way. I tried to focus on the task at hand and giving it everything I had.

I crossed the finish line and looked to see when the next rider would appear. I now can't remember who it was, but it did seem to have been too soon. How much time had I lost?

I got the answer later in the day.

I had gone much faster with a time of 02:16. An improvement of 22 seconds. Each year I'd be around 10 seconds quicker, so I was very pleased.

 

What could have made me quicker? A lighter bike, better preparation, maybe I'm fitter and stronger than ever.

What could I have done differently? Rode the hill beforehand on my new bike; I would have started in a higher gear, had a less taxing ride the day before.

Maybe hill climbs and not TT's are what I'm built for? The next TT will be in a few weeks after my cycling adventure. The hill climb season doesn't start until Seprember so I have a while to think about it.

TT time again

It's finally time to see if my new bike has improved my TT results. Link to blogs about it. Link to 2022 TTs.

Times from last year:

02/08/2022 28.59

16/08/2022 28.42

23/08/2022 28.50

And this ride:

02/05/2023 29:28

 

Since taking delivery in December I've covered 1,204.6 miles on the Le Vita. Right from the start it felt faster. That feeling improved again when I removed the mudguards. The club rides have given me a good idea about the potential boost. There are many variables for each TT, hopefully I'll see an upward trend.

 

I wrote about what I thought might be helping me go faster. Link. 

 

In the end I didn't use the TT bars. The test ride didn't build my confidence. I'll come back to them; a work in progress.

 

Report:

 

I was slower, which is disappointing.  Compared with last year's fastest time I lost out on the second lap. I did encounter horse riders on the first, but looking at the two events in Strava I didn't appear to loose much time on that section. It was very windy and I had ridden over 60 miles the previous day. A combination that may have caused me to tire as I hit the long back straight for the second time.

 

All being well, I'll be back next Tuesday. I'll take it easier the day before and try to push harder towards the end.  

I'll need to schedule some more time with the TT bars, and investigate how I might train differently. 

My cycling club. Host club.

I said I wouldn't but I did

A couple of weeks ago I did my first time trial. Finding time for it in on a Tuesday evening isn't easy. So I was happy to put my racing career on hold.

However.

And this will please Russell, the Oxted CC chairman; I may be hooked. By the Thursday I was eager to do it again, and couldn't wait eight or nine months. So I booked an afternoon off work. And started looking for a time trial specific bike, I couldn't help myself. I didn't buy one though. Not sure I could justify such a focused bike.

I arrived a little earlier, and did a longer warm up ride. I covered a greater distance, varying the intensity. 

It seems to have worked; my time improved. Taking into account that I had to slow down to pass some horses on the fastest part of the course, and come to a complete stop at a junction while three cars passed. I am very pleased being seventeen second quicker at 28:42.

It felt less windy too, which helped. I wasn't at my max heart rate for anything like so long.

I tried to adopt a lower riding position, and really push hard away from junctions. 

There is only one more chance this year, I'm not sure I can get to it. Watch this space.

Against the clock

My plan was to sample competition this year, TT's to be precise. I didn't fancy the cut and thrust of group racing or track events. Hill climbs are another discipline, but they don't run until the end of summer going into autumn.

The course I choose for my debut was 10 miles, with a target time of 30 minutes. I have often ridden the roads so I had an idea what it would be like. Pacing was the main unknown. Going too fast at the start could mean I'd be exhausted quickly. But not pushing enough would also produce a slow time. 

There is more I could do to the bike and what I wear; but that's for another day. And will depend on how seriously I take it. This time I just wanted to see what's involved. The season will finish before I can attend my second event.

Arriving early to sign in and do a warm-up ride helped control the nerves.  Russell, Oxted CC chairman, was also competing. He does a lot of these and took me through the prep. A ride around the course to stretch the legs and open the lungs. It gave me a chance to checkout the lanes, paying attention to the junctions. I didn't do too bad, posting a time of 28:59. 

How do I improve it? 

I was at my max heart rate for nearly 90% of the time.

So I can't increase that very much.

There are eight junctions; I could attack them harder. And accelerate out faster. 

The human body causes most of the drag so a lower profile position is more aerodynamic. A bike designed for speed would also be an advantage. 

Stronger legs would get me up to speed faster, and allow a higher gear. As would a lighter bike.

It seems like I'm talking myself into buying another bike doesn't it? That will have to wait for quite some time, unless a premium bond number comes up.

For now I will work on free improvements: strength, position and technique.

Waller Pain - year three

The last time I rode this hill climb was in 2019. I wish it had happened last year. I was in the best shape I'd ever been.

Here is a link to the posts.

And this year; well I'm sure you know how I started 2022. Link.

It's for a good cause and would be a test for me. I've been riding with Oxted CC and Matt for a while, as well as on the trainer. I hoped to be fitter and stronger than I was in 2019, I'm certainly lighter.

For the first time Oxted CC had a few riders, so I wasn't alone; quite a few supporters too.

I didn't know how to approach it this time. I was still getting over a cold, and I'm not as fit and strong as I was. So no standing up, I wanted to keep my heart rate in check. But still put as much as I could into the attempt.

The rider behind me made up the minute gap quickly and went passed me like I was standing still. 

I did beat my last time so that was good. I did it in 2:38:08.

smiling at the beginning

gets a bit tougher

the end is in sight

Waller Pain year two

It was that time again. The Waller Lane hill climb organised by the Caterham Roundtable. Last year I did it in 2:59. I wanted to beat that time.

I went out yesterday, just a short ride to the bus stop with Matt. It was raining as I left the house, but stopped quickly. I really needed to get out, and I'm glad the showers didn't persuade me not to.

Last year I was pushing harder on the hills during rides leading up to the climb. This year I have ridden more miles than normal. And acquired a new to me bike. Lighter and a better fit. Last night watching the Giro d'Italia for inspiration. The last week is all about hills, so it was good motivation.

Road cycling is the only sport I watch, I think because I could almost see myself doing it. Not racing maybe but cycling all day with nothing else to think about it. In 2011 two friends and myself cycled to Paris; a brilliant four days. The next year it was the same group and two days for the South Downs Way.

I cycle every weekend for twenty to thirty miles and I wouldn't miss it. Chatting during our tea stop is equally relaxing. But it's only for an hour or so, and then back to real life.

I'll try to do a few all day rides this year, via a pub for lunch.

There were less people lined up so my turn came round quickly. An interesting bike was a very old tandem.

They had a couple of test starts, the weight and gearing meant a run up and pushers were needed. They started after me so I don't know if they made it to the top. It looked like it would have been tough.

The starter announced my name and the age group I was in; 40 plus. He did say I looked just old enough. Which was nice.

I started off faster then last year, which may have been a mistake, about half way up I began to wilt. But I got a second wind and as the last third flattened off a bit I managed to change up gear and accelerate. And my time; 2:49. So I was a little quicker than last year, but not as fast as I had hoped.

I remembered to press the record button before the start this time.

Please add your address to my mailing list, or click the follow button to be kept informed about future posts.

Follow me on twitter. 

Leave a comment about this post. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this or any blog post.

For more of my work, go to my Facebook page.

and  
website

Waller Pain

Waller pain hillclimb Caterham nearly finished

The day finally arrived, but how did I get here?

I saw the posters for the hill climb last year but it was too late for me to sign up. I kept an eye out and a few months ago I saw the event on Facebook. The hill climb is a very old event, (here is a bit more info about it) dating back to the 1890's. Back then it was run by Catford Cycle Club, nowadays it's the Caterham Round Table.

The confirmed booking meant the training had to begin. During my weekend rides I attacked hills harder than normal. It surprised me how quickly this extra effort improved my pace and stamina. White Hill Lane, Gangers Hill, Tandridge Hill Lane, any hill in fact is still not easy but is less of a strain.

Yesterday, it was time to prepare the bike. This is where every gram counts, so I took off the lights, and the pump. I also decided I would be leaving the backpack that normally carries food, tools and my camera at home. And lastly I inflated the tyres to max PSI. It's all about speed, not comfort.

This morning it was cereal, coffee and some chocolate. I hoped the coffee and chocolate wouldn't be considered performance enhancing substances. When I signed on, there were no awkward questions, so all good.

I accepted the extra weight of the GoPro was worth it to have a video of my climb. I was thinking about the start so much, I forgot to press record before the off, only remembering after a few peddle revolutions. If you listen carefully you can hear my breathing getting more laboured.

So what was it like?

It was raining hard as I left my garage, but within minutes it stopped and the weather was perfect after that.

Waining at the start

It was very busy at the start but I had booked early so I didn't have to wait too long. Before I had much time to think about it I was at the start wondering how hard I should push early on. The riders leave at one minute intervals so it was a little depressing to hear them count down the next rider before it felt like I had gone very far. There were a few people cheering everyone go past which was nice. All I wanted was not to get overtaken, some of the other riders before me had gone off at a high pace, including kids, a bloke on a Brompton and another with his daughter on a seat behind him.

My time was 2:57, definitely the fastest I had climbed the lane, but still a little disappointing. Next time I'll do better.

Please add your address to my mailing list, or click the follow button to be kept informed about future posts. Follow me on twitter. 

Please checkout my website and Facebook page. And leave a comment about this post. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this or any blog post.

For more of my work, go to my Facebook page.

and 

website