Raleigh Militis Race Review

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to head down to Bike Motion to pick up my new 2015 Raleigh Militis Race; the bike I’ll be racing for everything draft legal this year. After riding it for a couple of weeks and making it round a 100km road race in grim conditions at the weekend I thought I’d share my thoughts on it with everyone.

The first thing you notice about it is the striking paintwork, a sort of velvety satin black with bold yellow detailing. I could see how it wouldn't be everyone’s cup of tea but personally I think it looks brilliant, and really stands out from the majority of bland coloured bikes of recent. It’s certainly been getting a few curious looks from people, both at races and as I’ve been riding it about. The frame is complemented well by a yellow and black saddle from Fizik and black finishing kit, mainly from Raleigh’s RSP brand, as well as a set of black and yellow Cole Rollen Elite Wheels.

The Militis Race that I’m riding uses an identical frame and forks to the Militis Team model as used by the pro team of Raleigh GAC, proving its pedigree. The frame weight is a measly 880g which is incredible considering the muscular downtube, headtube and bottom bracket area. With the SRAM Force 22 groupset and 1570g Cole wheels it comes in at under 7.3kg! I put my tubular race wheels on for the weekend and this knocked a further couple of hundred grams off the bike, getting it pretty close to properly light bike territory!

When first riding the bike, you’re instantly reminded that this is a race machine, and no corners have been cut in order to give you a super racy bike. The frame is super stiff under power, with only a small amount of flex being detected from the 1570g wheelset on climbs. The 53/39 carbon Sram Force Chainset, paired with the 11-27t 11 speed cassette gives you a wide range of options no matter what gradient you’re confronted by.  It powers along beautifully on the flat, and my 57cm top tube model, paired with a 120mm stem gets me in a comfortable, but efficient position with ease. Riding it for 100km in a race position at the weekend was a lot nicer than expected. I was dubious about comfort after being in the saddle for a few hours, due to the racy nature of the bike, but never did I notice any substantial road buzz or crashiness at all. It handled beautifully as well, with a really predictable and solid feeling nature, something that isnt always apparent on lightweight bikes. This thing really felt planted through the fast corners, even on the wet and poorly surfaced roads, and the brakes are super predictable and positive also.

Overall I have been super impressed with how its performing, and I’m super excited to be riding and racing this bike this year. The only issue I can see with the bike so far is the wheelset perhaps taking more maintenance than some to keep running true. I’ve had to give the rear wheel a little true up already, but to be honest I can’t imagine any sub 1600g wheelset being any different whilst training on Devon’s road surfaces through the winter! 

I'll keep you updated throughout the season on my progress with this bike.

Cheers,

Oli

2014 Race Season

Ok, so I've been pretty busy recently and have gotten really slack at keeping this updated. Since the last update I have raced 5 Triathlons, and numerous TT's, circuit races, road races, hill climbs, cyclocross and even an XC race!

First up was the age group British Sprint Triathlon Champs at Eton Dorney back in May. I was feeling pretty good going into, but didn't have the best week of prep before hand as I had all of my end of year Uni exams. I had a pretty terrible swim, but I felt like I performed well on the bike and run and ended up 5th in the 20-24 age group which came as a massive, but very welcome shock! I came out of it feeling pretty motivated and excited to see how I could perform going forward in the season.

The weekend after I had a fairly hectic schedule with a local cat 3/4 road race on the Sunday, and a 25mile TT on the Monday. I felt good in the road race but probably spent too much time on the front. I tried to break from the bunch with about 1 mile to go, and had a decent gap, but blew up on the final sprint to the hill, and ended up having the whole bunch come past me. I'll put that one down to experience and poor tactics! I was very tired going into the 25 the next day and ended up having a pretty poor ride, ending up way down the results sheet. Again, maybe I'll put that down to experience and will not try and race 2 hard races back to back.

The following week, I once again had a pretty hectic schedule, racing Triathlon on the Sunday, a Crit on the Wednesday, the Club 10 TT on the Thursday and BUCS XC on the Saturday! The Triathlon was a pool based sprint Tri in Taunton. I had a solid-ish swim for me, and came out onto the extended, 18 mile bike course feeling good. I put in a decent ride and went into the run feeling strong. It was pretty warm in the sun, but I managed to run a sub 17 minute 5km off the bike, giving me the fastest run of the day and second position overall.

I came out of the Tri with renewed confidence and motivation and headed down to the Crit race in Exeter on the Wednesday. It was pretty bleak weather wise, but I had a good warm up and was feeling ok. I rode around with the bunch for the first half of the race and decided that I was feeling good and went for a break. I got away on my own and stayed away for the whole race, putting a margin of about 35 seconds between myself and the bunch to take the win!

A couple of weeks after was the Bideford Triathlon. I entered this one fairly last minute because I had a couple of weeks without much to race, and its really local to me. I won it last year so in my head there was a bit of pressure to try and retain the win. I came out of the water feeling pretty good and went to work on the bike, overtaking everyone fairly early on and moving into first position. I pushed on pretty hard on the bike and was still feeling really good, probably due to how much time I had spent on my TT bike in recent weeks. It ended up being one of those days where everything goes to plan and I went into the run knowing I had a decent margin. I relaxed into it and ended up running a PB of 16.12 for 5km, even though it didnt feel like I was pushing myself too hard. I ended up winning the sprint distance event by 4 minutes and knew I was in a good position going into the National Sprint champs a couple of weeks later.

The National Sprint champs were one of my A races for the season so I tapered properly and headed into them with confidence and a good feeling. My swim has always been my biggest weakness and this was evident again as I emerged from the water in a pretty bad position. I worked hard on the bike, and gained a lot of positions. I ran hard off the bike and left nothing in the tank, ending up in 5th position in the 20-24 category, another unexpected but very welcome result!

The British AG champs in Liverpool was my last A race of the season and, actually my first ever Olympic distance race! The water was pretty grim and full of jellyfish but I had a comfortable swim. I came out of the water and the usual game plan ensued; utilise my bike strength and claw back positions! At the end of the 40km I had moved well up my wave and was in about 5th position in my age group. I felt fairly awful at the start of the run and lost a couple of positions, but settled into a rhythm not long afterwards and ended up finishing my first standard distance race in 7th in my category.

In my head that was basically my season done, and I headed off to SW France to surf and relax. I took my running trainers and did a couple of jogs now and again but basically gave up training for a month. I had an awesome time and came back with a renewed motivation to train and race.

I entered the last race in the Cornwall Tri series in Marazion, for a bit of late season racing. Its an awesome venue and the swim takes you out near St Michaels Mount. I had a pretty bad swim, and due to the wind blowing the buoys about, it was definitely longer than 1500m too! I came out of the water 5 minutes down on the leaders and left myself a lot of work to do on the other disciplines. I did what I know and went as hard as I could on the out and back bike course, clawing myself up to 2nd overall. I ran hard on the undulating 11km course and held onto 2nd position. I was very pleased to prove to myself that I still had
some form of fitness after a prolonged period of not much training.

In the last few weeks I have really been enjoying my training and racing again, since being back at University in Plymouth. I've raced a couple of Hillclimbs recently, finishing 3rd overall at the Jennycliff HC, and joint 3rd at the Plymouth Corinthians King of the Hill.

I've got a few events coming up in the not too distant future; BUCS Hillclimb next weekend, and the Plymouth 10k the weekend after. No doubt I'll find some more XC and CX as well to supplement my training and to keep the motivation going throughout the winter.

I'm super excited for next season already, and keep your ears open for a pretty cool bit of news coming from me in the next couple of months.

Cheers
Oli

Early Season Prep Races

So here we are, nearly time for the triathlon season to kick off for me, and I'm feeling good. My training has stepped up from doing boring base miles, to doing some real speed work, and I'm really enjoying being able to push myself and go flat out once again.

I entered the Plymouth half marathon a good few months ago, to give myself some motivation to get out and run before the season starts, as I'm terrible for  just wanting to ride my bike all the time else! I also ended up entering the BUCS 25m TT which unfortunately fell on the day before the half. Here's a quick report of how each race went, and on how I'm feeling now with only a few weeks until one of my 'A races'.

On Saturday morning I was up at 5 to go and meet Alex and Nicola who were the other two Plymouth students racing in the event. We got the van packed up and headed off at 6 on the couple hundred mile journey up to Cumnor near Oxford. We arrived in good time and signed in at HQ, I was feeling relatively relaxed and started to get ready and warm up. In the warm up I could tell that it was going to be a pretty hard race as it was very windy, and on the undulating and open, A road course we were going to be very exposed to this. I had a decent warm up and moved down to the start position with a couple of minutes to spare before my start time. I set off and averaged a decent pace for the first few miles, as it started with a decent stretch of downhill. It was hard work with deep wheels on and blustery crosswinds, but I got to the turnaround with an average speed of over 25mph and was feeling good having gone past a few other competitors. The second half went surprisingly quickly and although by the end I was really hurting, it was nice to finish strongly with an average speed of 26mph and a time of 57.55. It was good enough for 31st place out of a field of around 100 guys, some of whom were very quick so I was very pleased.

After the race I had a decent length warm down, put on some compression wear and got about eating and drinking a lot! Big thanks to Alex for driving all the way up and back in a day, in a big hire van!

I woke up nice and early on Sunday morning ready for the race start at 9am. I was feeling quite stiff, and my calves were fairly tight but I wasn't too worried as I hadn't put any expectation on myself to do any particular time. I got down to the race start area with my Dad who was also running, and my Mum who was support crew for the day. I didn't really bother warming up too much, and just got myself into the sub 1hr 30 pen nice and early and relaxed. The race started and I went along with the pace of the pack and sat myself about 30 places back. We started out fairly quick as there was a decent bit of descent and everyone was jostling for position. I went with it and I think did around 5:50 minute miles for the first few. I then settled into a rhythm and my legs started to loosen up so I carried on at a similar pace and took a few positions. Before I knew it we were into the climb up Billacombe road and up to Saltram House, and I was still feeling good. I knew the course headed downhill and was basically flat from this point in, and after looking at my Garmin, I knew I was in a position to go for a sub  80 minute race. This knowledge really helped spur me on and I managed to hold onto a decent pace on the flat right through to about 11 miles, and during this time managed to make up another few positions. There was a last small incline up to the finish on the hoe, and knowing that I had 3 or 4 other guys pretty much alongside me I decided to have a little kick and see if I could hold onto my position. I did end up getting passed by one guy up the final climb but managed to drop the other few and got onto the final straight of the hoe with the clock time at about 1.19.30. I sprinted to the end and managed to come in, in a time of exactly 1.20.00 so I was very happy. It also sat me in a finish position of 18th overall out of well over 4000 competitors, which considering I'm not really a runner, and certainly not a distance runner, I was ecstatic with!

So after a successful weekend of racing, how am I feeling about the fast approaching start of the triathlon season? On the bike I'm feeling fit from the base training I did all winter, I just need to really keep on at the speed work now to set me up well for the flat sprint distance events such as the British sprint champs in a few weeks time. Running wise I'm feeling better than I ever have. I feel fit and I'm feeling like I'm really starting to get faster so from a Triathlon perspective it should bode well for a fast finish. My swimming is still my discipline that I really need to be working on, but I'm back in the pool now, and it wont be long until I can start with some open water training to try and start my races well.

I know these blogs can get a bit boring, so if you've made it this far then thank you for your support! Back to the joys of revising for my upcoming exams now! Cheerzen

Road Racing

So today was my first ever road race, and I may have chucked myself in at the deep end slightly with it as it was a cat 2, 3 and 4 race in Cornwall over 45 miles. Having never raced road before I was pretty apprehensive as to how quick it would be, especially as there were a lot of very good guys racing.

It was a 5 lap race of a really nice undulating 9 mile course. I went out pretty easily and sat in the middle of the peloton to try and gauge how it all worked and how quick it was going to be. Within the first lap the pace started ramping up, and then I cornered pretty fast and hit a pothole, sending my only bottle flying into the road. I was pretty annoyed but got stuck in and got on with it, and was very lucky that Max Suttie had my back, and offered me his bottle each time he drank. I think without this I would have been pretty ruined, as it was so sunny, and 40 miles with a super dry mouth would have been horrendous. 

I sat quite far back in the peloton until about the 3rd lap, when I started moving up and getting a bit more stuck in on the front. By this point a lead group of 5 riders had made a break and it had stuck about 45 seconds ahead of us. A couple of these riders dropped off and came back to us so we were able to deduce that the lead group had dropped to 3. By about halfway round the 4th lap, I was feeling strong, and as we rounded the sharpest corner on the course, I decided to make a break and see if I could get away. One guy went with me and we got a decent gap on the peloton. Another guy bridged the gap and came to join us, and for about 7 or 8 miles we took turns on the front and ramped the pace up desperately trying to get to the leadout group. We got within about ten seconds, but by this point we'd all been pushing pretty hard and could see the chasing peleton behind us so decided to return to it. 

We joined the peloton again with about half a lap to go, and I sat a little way back and started spinning my legs as I knew it was going to come down to a sprint. It was at this point that I saw Max Suttie and Chris King again, both looking very strong and I knew that they are both very good sprinters, so I sat on Max's wheel and tried to stay out of trouble. About 1 mile before the end there was a crash in the group, but I was in a good position and was able to avoid it. We got onto the final straight and everyone started pushing really hard for position for the sprint. With about 400m to go, there was another big crash just in front of me (which resulted in a cracked top tube for the guy involved!) but somehow luckily I avoided it again. I gritted my teeth and really sprinted for the line following Chris King. I went past a fair few people and ended up 9th overall and 6th in our sprint (the lead group never got caught). Chris put in an awesome effort and ended up 3rd in our sprint and 6th overall. Max unfortunately got boxed in for the final sprint so was unable to fight for the line, but had an awesome ride on what was also his first road race. 

Im ecstatic with my position, as I genuinely thought I'd get dropped within a couple of laps! All in all it was an awesome day of racing in the sunshine. Massive thanks to Max for driving down and for all of his help with water etc, and a big thanks to Chris for all his help in the race also. Absolutely loved it, so am racing the same course next weekend. Think I'm addicted! The picture below (courtesy of Tavistock Wheelers- Northshore Gallery) is of the sprint.

Winter Fun

Hi, I haven't posted for a little while so I thought I'd give a quick update as to what I've been up to over the last couple of months. Training wise, I've been getting in the pool a lot more and am already noticing improvements in my swim fitness; I can swim for an hour without my shoulders feeling like they're going to fall off like they used to! On the bike I've been cracking through the base miles, and am utilising the hills that are on my doorstep to try and keep myself in form. Living in the middle of the city makes running very tedious, and without heading a few miles out of town its pretty bland and boring to be honest. I've been cracking on though and have managed to get out of the city a couple times and run in more interesting places.

One of my cycling training buddies Max Suttie approached me a few weeks ago to see if I'd be interested in partnering up with him in the Stinger Duathlon at Newnham Park. I jumped at the chance to race something slightly different as both of the run legs are pretty technical and all off road!  I was a bit apprehensive before the start of the race as I knew Max was on amazing form at the moment and had been really working hard putting in the miles on the bike, and I didnt want to let him down. My game plan for the race was to go off hard and try and hang on to the lead group for as long as possible.

The start of the run was straight up a decent sized climb so I went off pretty quick and tried to keep my breathing in check as I stuck with the leader. I followed him in second place for the first couple of kilometres, but he started slowing towards the middle of the course so apprehensively I moved past into first place. I hate leading races out because its so hard to judge pace and you know that everyone is hanging onto you waiting to go past. I held on for a couple of pretty technical miles, with lots of slippy ascents and descents which were pretty fun! Eventually with about 1 km to go I did get passed by one guy, but stuck with him and managed to tag Max and get him out on the bike with only a 7 second deficit. 

Max did a cracking job on the bike and went out super fast and confidently, especially considering he was on a bike that he'd only ridden for ten minutes previously! It was 4 laps of the bike course so I was able to watch and see how he was getting on each lap as he passed. He held second place and pulled out a pretty decent gap on third place going into the final run.

The last run was the fabled 'stinger ' section which I had been told was pretty brutal and boggy! It didnt disappoint and I found myself in bogs up past my knees at times. It was super fun to run something different like this though and I really enjoyed it! I managed to hold onto second place and was fairly close to catching the leader, and looking at the results afterwards it turns out I had the quickest run of the day by over a minute so I was pretty pleased with that. 

Overall it was a really enjoyable day of racing in the sunshine, and I'm looking forward to racing it again in the future. Big thanks to Max for getting me involved in it and for smashing the bike leg!

Some pictures from this year....

After winning the Bideford Tri

 Falmouth Tri into T1, feeling so ill!

 Training in France, take me back!

 Training on Dartmoor

 BUCS Duathlon, feeling good on the bike

Bideford Tri

 Into T1 in Bideford

Season Overview...

Now that I have completed my first season of racing I thought it might be useful for myself to do a bit of an overview and sum up how I felt it went in order to be able to assess my goals for next season. I originally was just going to race a couple of triathlons this year, just for fun and to see how I could get on. This reflected in my training prior to the season which involved very little. I was probably running once a week maximum and riding my bike for 30-40 miles a week. I was swimming sporadically and had no plan at all. I knew that I was generally relatively fit from a winter of surfing at least 5 or 6 times a week, and I knew that I was able to ride my bike to a reasonable standard.

In April I started racing a few of the local North Devon Wheelers evening 10 mile time trials, and although my times were pretty terrible to start with (around 26 minutes!) I was really enjoying the racing. After a month or so I was really starting to knock decent amounts of time off each week and was feeling better and better with it. I was lucky enough to be leant a colleagues TT bike to race one week and it felt amazing. As I was really enjoying it and knew that id be racing all season, and doing a few tris I ended up purchasing a time trial bike for myself. By this point I was starting to feel pretty good on the bike, and had got down to sub 23 minutes so I entered a few races for the season.

The first multisport race of the season was at the end of May at Marazion in Cornwall. It was scheduled to be an Olympic distance tri but unfortunately the water temperature was too cold for BTF regs, so the decision was made to make it a duathlon. I was feeling generally fit going into it, but I really surprised myself and finished fourth, which I was super pleased with considering the first couple of guys are both regular Super Series competitors who have a hell of a lot more experience and training behind them than myself. I was most surprised with my run which I assumed would really let me down, but I only ended up losing out on one place on the 11km run. I came out of it feeling really good, and my confidence was sky high.

The next race was on the 2nd of June, and was a sprint distance, pool based triathlon at Taunton in Somerset. The standard of racing was nowhere near as high as at Marazion and I ended up winning by a clear 4 minutes in a time of 57.18. I was pleased with my splits, and it was nice to get a win in only my second ever multisport race.

I raced next at Falmouth in Cornwall, and this was a sprint distance open water swim in the sea off Gyllngvase beach in Falmouth. It was my first open water swim of the season, and although I surf a lot at home and am very comfortable in the sea, I had a terrible swim. I got stuck in a really bad position in a very large group, and was getting pummelled from every direction! I ended up swallowing a lot of seawater and coming out of the water feeling horrendous. This coupled with the 7am start didn't do great things for my digestive system and I ended up being sick 3 or 4 times off my bike over the duration of the cycle course. Despite this somehow id managed to get myself up into the top 5. I got off the bike feeling terrible and had my Dad and Brothers not been there, cheering me on I would seriously have considering dropping out. I carried on and lost one or two places on the run, but considering how terrible I felt throughout the race I was pleased with 6th overall. Again the standard of racing was pretty high so I was surprised at how high my finish position actually was.

The next race was something a bit different and something that I had stupidly signed up for well in advance. It was an off road, extremely hilly marathon in North Devon where I live. I was supposed to be doing it with my brother for a bit of fun, but unfortunately he had broken his collar bone the weekend before racing his mountain bike. This meant that I had to give it my best shot, as opposed to just getting round it for fun. The furthest I had ran in training was 16miles and that was on the flat so it really came as a shock to the system. I was feeling really good over the first half and after about 8 miles was in 4th position out of a couple of hundred, and feeling strong. I ended up inadvertently taking a wrong turn and ended up running an extra half a mile and losing about 8 or 10 minutes of time as I tried to find the route again. This was so frustrating as I had lost  a lot of places, but it also spurred me on to try and regain positions. I completed the first, less hilly half in about 1hour 40, and was still feeing good going into the second half. It really started ramping up and the elevation was pretty ridiculous but overall I really enjoyed it up until about 23 miles, where I just wanted to drop dead! I completed it in 3.48 which was good enough for 8th place and about 30 minutes off the race winner.

I raced the following weekend at the Roseland Triathlon in Cornwall. I wont say too much about this one as I'm still a bit bitter about it, but basically I finished in 3rd place (which I wasn't particularly pleased with anyway!) but was disqualified for apparently running a red light. It was a shame because it was an awesome location for a race, and I really enjoyed it but the organisation was terrible, and they took the word of another competitor over mine, and didn't even consult me about the incident until after the awards ceremony when the BTF ref had already gone home!

After this I took my van to France for a month and surfed a lot, ran a lot, and ate a lot of good food. I came home feeling super refreshed and the best that I had all season.

I raced the Bideford Triathlon which is extremely local to me, and the bike route even goes past my house! I enjoyed it from start to finish and had a relatively good open water swim, coming out around about 6th or 7th I believe. I got on my bike and was feeling good, by about 3 or 4 miles I was in the lead and stringing out a decent gap. I guess the familiar roads and setting, and the glorious weather all really helped and I was absolutely  loving it. I got through T2 and knew I had around about a minute lead which I held onto through to the finish. It was so nice having all of my family and friends around and although its not a large event, the whole atmosphere for me was brilliant. There's a race report from the local paper here- http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Improving-Wright-wins-home-turf/story-19722235-detail/story.html#axzz2mniuJKBw

Aside from time trials and a few crit races, that was the main brunt of my season. I ended up racing the BUCS (British Universities and College Sport) sprint duathlon, a couple of weekends ago for my Uni. The standard was so much higher than anything I'd raced previously and I went into it not expecting to do very well at all. I would certainly have been happy with a top 100 position out of the 481 competitors. I started pretty badly and got stuck behind a lot of people on the first 2 mile run. It didn't feel like we were going that quick and I think I was in about 50th place. Looking at splits afterwards it turns out even that far back we were running 5.15-5.20 minute miles! I got on the bike and was feeling quite good so I got spinning and it felt like I was moving up positions but it was very hard to judge. Once again I surpassed my expectations and ended up with 5th bike split of the day! I got onto the second run after another bad transition and settled into a decent rhythm. I ran a 10.50 for 2 miles which at this point of the year I was very pleased with and I ended up in 14th place overall, which frankly I couldn't believe! Considering 5 out of the top 8 finishers were from Loughborough University, Plymouth University finished 15th in the team standings, and it would have been around about 10th if Sam Parker hadn't got unlucky and been given a disqualification penalty on the bike leg.

So overall, I ended up doing so much better than I had ever expected, and off very little training. I've started training a lot more, and have been plugging away at the base miles. After Christmas I will be settling into a proper training plan to try and get myself up to speed for the season. I'm going to be in the pool lots, really trying to work on my swimming as I feel this is the area that could certainly do with improvement!

With regards to racing next year, I am going to be trying to race a lot more high key events, and will be doing a few qualifiers as well as BUCS events. I'm going to give it a proper go, with a decent winter of training and just see how I get on.

Cheerzen