Spotlight On...Andrew Green

Name
Andrew Green

Who do you race for?
Addiscombe CC

What type of races do you do?

General rule of thumb is try everything. I’m basically a tester (all distances although my first 50, 100 and 12hr were all last year) with some Palace crits thrown in just for a bit of fun. I also did a couple of Herne Hill track leagues, a MTB race and a few cyclo cross last year which I really enjoyed.

In the grand scheme of the results I’m very much pack fodder, but just enjoy it. One of the things I like about TTs is the fact that they give everyone of any ability the chance to race, and compete against themselves to try and keep improving, whilst also cometing against the best in the country at the same time.



Where do you race?

Locally as there is plenty around. I’d rather do local courses where I can compare times and see friends than travel for hours to chase a fast course.

Briefly describe a typical training session -

Err, not applicable. I don’t do any structured training or sessions as I ride how I want to when I want to, not to what a schedule tells me as it would rob the enjoyment of cycling for me.

I commute 14 lumpy miles each way 3-4 days a week which are useful “free” miles, and I like long rides. Sometimes I’ll go harder than others, or throw in the odd interval during the ride, but only when/if I want to. No rides are that easy pace and the local terrain means there are always a few hills (I like to disprove the myth that small light people are good climbers!), and I ride fixed wheel quite a lot through winter – people will always argue ‘til the cows come home about whether that’s good or not, but I do it because I like it. That tends to give me a reasonable base and then I race myself fit with some early season Sporting TTs.

HRMs, Powertaps and the like are the work of the devil.

What are your Goals for this year?

PBs at all distances from the 700 yard Bec Hill Climb up to 12 hour TT.

To keep encouraging club mates to have a go at any type of racing. If you don’t like it don’t do it again, but if you don’t try you could miss out on something you’d love.

What have been your best races so far?

My 25 PB last year which was on a perfect day, my first 50 was okay timewise and introduced my to what could easily become my favourite distance. The 12hr, after the first 3-4 hours. The first 4 hours were miserable in persistent rain and starting in the dark on a horrible road, but after that once on to the circuits it was great. Superb atmosphere and camaraderie amongst competitors and all the support crews

Arsenal - Luton - Arsenal

Today was down as an interval day. But how could I incorporate intervals into a 64 mile commuting trip with a fat rucksack on my back. Yes the challenge was to execute 6 x 4 vo2 max intervals going to Luton and 2 x 20 threshold intervals on the return to Arsenal. Essentially I waited for long draggy bits and hammered it where I could on the outward bound journey. I seem to recall St Albans to Harpenden and then Harpenden to Luton were the best spots.

On the return journey I tried to ride at threshold for significant portions mostly where traffic lights and junctions were not present. I arrived home knackered, showered changed and got myself down Soho. More intense atheletic experessionism? Yes but in the musical form. Myself and some friends had a great evening out at Ronnie Scotts

Wakey Wakey Rise and Ride

5.20am: occasionally when lucky I can wake up at this hour and fall sleep again for another two more. Today however, "The Sleep Mummy" left me stranded, troubled and restless. I'd been awake for at least 30 minutes so there was only one thing to do!

6.00am: I had most of my cycling gear on except for my cleats. I was sitting with Steph's' Mum in the living room trying to decide whether I could squeeze in yet another spoonful of Quaker oats. Even for two early risers conversation was fairly muted; Jade Goody was on the TV but I couldn't really take in or hear what was being said.

6.30am: The beginning of a 3 hour round trip to Richmond Park began. An ETA of 9.30am had been assured. I think Steph's Mum thought I was a little crazy to be riding my bike so early in the morning but she didn't say. After all with crazy types its often best not to say nothing.

6.40am: I was soon cruising through Peckham at a speed that was not gonna be sustainable for 180 minutes, so I knew there would be a pay back. There were a few young people rocking from side to side near taxi ranks. I couldn't tell if it was the music they'd heard or whether they were simply trying to stay warm

6.45am: I had stopped outside a set of traffic light and two Nigerian cleaners outside a chain of Tesco were speaking in voluble Yoruba. My recent trip to Nigeria means my Yoruba has improved greatly and even in that brief moment at the traffic lights I caught every word they said. I'm not convinced the fat bloke will have a girlfriend for very long once he reveals his big secret to her.

7.00am: I met the first cyclist of the day riding in the opposite direction. He's bike was very dirty. I bet he wishes he'd cleaned his chain the night before just like I did

7.05am: I was doing my LA impression dancing across Putney Bridge

7.15am: I entered Richmond Park for the first lap. As always my pacing was slightly off and when I began the second anti clockwise lap up the main hill my paced dropped off significantly.

8.12am: I began the 4th lap clockwise. There were a number of slower cyclists plodding up the main drag and I ticked them off one by one. At the top I caught a lone roadie and he stuck it out with me up on the steep climb. We took a couple of turns each but I finally pulled away from him on the descent

8.45am: I left the Richmond Park area and heading back to where I had been was elite rider Warrick Spence Feeling quite fatigued I nodded; with a confident smile he nodded back coolly.

9.45: after a trip to Tesco's to pick up some lunchtime goodies I arrived back at Stephs...

Spotlight on...John Heaton Armstrong

Name

John Heaton-Armstrong

Who do you race for?

Fit-For/Cycles Dauphin

What type of races do you do?

Road Races

Where do you race?

Mainly the South of England, but also going to Belgium, Italy and France this year. Considering Wales...

Like anyone, my training varies a fair bit throughout the year. Most winter training rides are between 3-6hrs, with a number of intervals thrown in. As the season begins and progress, the volume goes down and the quality becomes the focus.

I like nothing better than a long ride around the Hampshire countryside. I normally ride with one or two friends, and we'll do a hard hour towards the end of the ride, before stopping for a coffee, then spinning home.

What are your Goals for this year?

Win races! Support my team and get it running well and smoothly, and enjoy being on the bike. Improving in body and mind is always important.


What have been your best races so far?

It is rare that I don't enjoy a race, but those that stand out for me are those where I've worked very hard, regardless of the result. For me, getting a one/two with my teammate Andy Davies in an SERRL race (after an 80km break) stands out. This may sound a little strange, but I find the whole day of going to a race enjoyable - working really hard, seeing friends, chat after the race - it all contributes.

Arsenal - Ascot - Arsenal

This week I decided to commute to a sign language course being held on Tuesday and Wednesday at our head office in Ascot. With racing days fast approaching the chance to rack up 160 miles across two days was something even an anti-mile muncher like myself just had to take. The clement weather obviously helped to seal the deal so I got going at 6.20am on days and returned around 7pm.

Riding at 21mph-24mph on the A30 in heavy traffic isn't something I'd really recommend; indeed coupled with a big heavy ruck sac I can feel the evidence of my toils on my right shoulder this morning. Yesterday night after arriving back into town a dude on a fixie blasted past me just at the approach near Regent's Park. Now there's nothing wrong with this behaviour in principle even if it is on my home patch. However such blatant demonstrations of speed must never be tolerated from individuals who choose to cycle in annoying luminous green jackets.

Now of course jumping on some one's wheel feels a bit like cheating sometimes. The fact that he was spinning away at 120rpms's and panting like a greyhound meant it felt like blatant robbery. lol!!! Chapeau to the guy he carried the ferocious intensity up Camden Road and then stuck to my wheel when I finely decided that I'd taken enough of an advantage of his athleticism. I finally dispatched him on Seven Sister Road before turning off at Finsbury Park station towards Arsenal.

Riding in Essex

ACC's Keith Lea called it just about right. I was a little concerned about my enforced three and a half weeks off the bike back in late December early Jan. Keith suggested it should take a month to get most of my fitness back and I'd say he was just about right. So when Mr Phil Sheehan suggested a visit to Essex last Sunday for a 4 hour ride it was a chance to test my condition against a good 2nd cat. We got going from Manor House station and rode briskly towards Enfield where we met up with Adam Tranter who is now a journalist/photographer, but used to race as a Junior back in 2007 for the Merlin Development Squad. I had an idea that Phil was riding quite strongly so expected quite a feisty ride. I had know idea what shape Adam would be in but when I heard he's put on a little weight and hadn't ridden much I can't lie :-) :-) :-).

Phil led us up towards Epping forest and as I predicted jumped away on the first and most significant climb of the day. I kept things in slow burner mode an hung back with Adam. Once we'd left Epping forest Phil's Garmin navigated the rest of the our mini Tour of Essex. Having played things safe behind Phil's wheel for most of the ride in the last ninety mins I began to push things on the climbs. Myself and Phil had to hold back a little so we didn't drop and indeed loose Adam all together. Eventually with Phil's 12.30pm deadline approaching we headed back through Barnet and pushed things Team TT style (well me an Phil did;-))all the way. A good testing ride, Phil especially was quite impressive

Spotlight on...Adam Cotterell

Name

Adam Cotterell

Who do you race for?

InGear Development Squad/OneLife

What type of races do you do?

Mostly Road Races, but the odd TT in there for a bit of a laugh! Also maybe a bit of track here and there, I have been learning the craft at Calshot over the winter.>

Where do you race?

All over now, previously I have been based mainly in the South East. But now my licence says 1st, I'm forced to travel further afield. But thats OK, there's some awesome races outside of the South East. With my team I'll also be heading over to Belgium quite a bit this season with a view to moving out there full time next year. It's looking likely that I may get to go to Ireland at Easter, with the Surrey League, to ride the Rás Mumhan. Fingers crossed...

Briefly describe a typical training session

-A typical training session!? There is no such thing! Now I'm coached by Alan Denman, my training is about as varied as I could ask for. Some standout rides include multiple climbs of Box Hill, using the 53x16, and sprinting from the last bend to the café. Also, doing so called ''Power Workouts''. These involve doing 15s sprints x5 with a minute rest between each... x5... and now... x6! It's definately not easy, but I'm definately stronger for it now.

What are your Goals for this year?

Well, thats a difficult one. Ultimately the goal this year is to reach a stage where moving to Belgium is the logical progression for me as a rider. But how to get there? Well obviously winning a few races this season is going to be important, some that spring to mind: Dengie Marshes Tour, BUCS (previously British Universities Sports Asscociation) Road Race Champs and the Regional Champs are on the menu for the squad, so who knows. As important to me this year will be to help my team mates win some races too, I'm looking foward to being a domestique for some races! One slightly optimistic dream would be to ride the proper Rás (Now ranked a UCI 2.2 stage race, one rung below the Tour of Britain) in May, when speaking to Keith Butler last it was mentioned fleetingly. That said, it's going to clash with my uni finals, so something will have to give. Even if it means doing my exams later on in the summer if possible, getting a ride in the Rás and going OK would be a major boost to my aspirations on the continent.

What have been your best races so far?

Well the ones I've won mainly! I think September last year was probably the best few weeks of racing I have done so far. It all kicked off with the London GP, the support race to the Tour of Britain. I watched Mark Cavendish win it a few years back as a youthful 17 year old new boy in the world of cycling, and there I was thundering round a damp and slippery Westminster Crit clinging onto the wheels of some of the fastest guys in the country. Was probably the most fun I had on my bike all year! The week after I matched the likes of Dodd, McNamara, Higham and Meadows to get a respectable top 10 on the Cutmill circuit. The crowning moment though was two fold, first winning my old club Addiscombe's Club RR. Then the next day, winning the Martin Newell Memorial in Oxfordshire, by dropping the break on the final climb. Yes!

Lunch Time Special

A lovely little treat!

Preparation time: Five minutes
Total Riding time: 60 mins
Serves 1

You’ll need

1 Turbo Trainer
1 Pair of cycling shorts
1 MP3 Player with motivating tunes
1 Large Fan
1 Manky Old Towel
A pair of good legs
A brain that can block out boredom and nullify pain
A Laptop (optional) playing a film - Shaw Shank Redemption works well
One bike locked on to the trainer of course!

1. Warm your legs by riding low gearing for three mins (53/21)
2. Switch to a 53/19 for two mins
3. Change to 53/17 after five minutes
4. Maintain a cadence of roughly 90rpms
5. Its perhaps best to pick up your MP3Player if it slips to the floor after 10 minutes (I chose not to, very unwise!)
6. Stay focused, this is a sweet spot ride
7. Change up to 53/15 every 15 minutes (hold for five mins or till burning in your quads becomes intolerable), initially via an out the saddle stomps
8. Don’t look at the stop watch until you feel at least 30 minutes has passed
9. If you made it to 40 mins – well done! Hang in there. If your lucky the resolve this requires won’t make you too nauseous
10. Try to amuse yourself by thinking of 10 things you can remember from the summer of 1975 (oldies only ;-))
11. With a minute to go congratulate yourself! – your breathing may be a little ragged by this point.
12. Wipe bike (if necessary) - go to fridge, food cupboard etc and eat absolutely anything that takes your fancy.

HERE'S THE 10 THINGS I REMEMBER FROM THE SUMMER OF 1975 !











1.Going around to my mate Paul Williams house and borrowing his Red Chopper every afternoon, once he’s mum had gone to work (He couldn’t ride it because he’d broken his ankle. I had to watch out for his big sister Beverley though coz she'd grass me up if she saw me trying to do Evel Knievil style stunts on it

2. Playing end to end football with Henry Riley (the most skillful kid in the flats). A one on one game where you stood at one end of the playground and try to score with long curling shots

3. Playing Run-Outs :a great team based game where 'hiders' go up against 'seekers'. One group go off and hid some place and then have to get back to the home (base) without being caught by the 'seekers' team.

4. Going Apple and Pear scrumping with the McKnight brothers. The coolest little Irish kids – we scaled walls, trees and garden fences all for pretty sour fruit

5. Captaining our flats team that thrashed the cocky Pendarin Flats 9-0. Ha! they had all the gear and no idea

6. Avoiding my Dad and his wrath at all costs. The old man was very angry back then – I’m not sure why

7. Going to Boys Brigade great fun apart from weird old Mr Wyman who insisted on holding my hand even when were not outside crossing the busy Seven Sisters road.

8. Eating sweets lots of sweets – curly wurly’s, aniseed balls and lucky sherbet dips, black jacks, rhubarb twists, gob stoppers and my favourite red liquorish.

9. Playing kiss chase at primary school especially if Michelle Alonis was playing (mmm!).

10. Waiting outside Tracy Hammonds House for my teenage mate Mark Davis (Mrs Hammond always gave me a big bottle of Tizer to drink while I waited) Mark always laughed when I asked why Mrs Hammond only ever answered the door in a pink towel)

Arrrghh!! Its short intervals time

Yes those painful suckers you have to do on the turbo before racing starts, especially if you're not lucky enough to join a weekly chain gang . I hadn't planned on starting them for another fortnight but having read Steve Saunders blog yesterday morning I decided it was time to see what being close to my maximum heart rate feels like again. Ouch pain!! Now I tend not to do the 1 min off 1 min on variety. My intervals are just pursuit style/VO2 max efforts: 4 x 6 mins or 5 x 5 (which I did yesterday)all above your one hour threshold. For the first time in a while I hit 94% of my maximum heart rate which lets be honest is never fun. I'll probably do one set a week now until racing begin in late March

Phil, where you at?

A brief text volley between myself and Mr P Sheehan on Saturday night had us down for 8.30am meet at the R.P. Er...well despite our good intentions it was a plan that didn't quite materialise: the Sunday morning Match of the day re run, some last minute kit changing, back tyre pumping, left glove searching etc - you choose they all featured on the 'sorry I'm late' excuse list. Shit! now where did that hour go? Anyways by the time I hit Central London number 1 cycle-training spot the little hand was almost on number ten.

Soon enough I’d hitched a ride on the back of a brisk moving two man train. Ever the talkative one I asked if ‘we’ were taking turns and was met with a cheery smile by the rider at front. There was a bit of confusion re elbow flicking and what side to peel off on but before you could say "small ring only please!" we were up from 18/19mph to a slightly more exciting 23mph on the flattish sections. There’s always peeps up for a threshold party at Regents Park on a Sunday morning and we were soon joined by three other riders. After a couple of laps there was still no sign of Phil. From no where though Jason Pidd appeared and three people were immediately blown out the back just after he took a turn. 53/17...YEAH baby!! Not one for LSD heads in February I guess ;-)

After nearly an hour Jason finally caught sight of Phil up ahead and pressed hard on the pedals. I was caught out by his jump but skittled around a couple of riders to get his wheel. The man we’d been looking for was his usual blingy self - resplendent in Finchley RT gear and of course matching red Beanie hat. The pace dropped to around 17mph for half a lap and three way discussion ensued where we managed to 'power-point' - kids, bikes, breakaways, sprinting, partners, turbo trainers and cocky Elite & 1st cats riders.

Now if you hangout on the right 'cycling forums you get a feel for what power output 200-300 watts feels like. I’ve never had a power meter but I said to Phil I bet I can guess what power output you're riding at now. 'Go ahead' he said, I guessed 230watts and I was spot on. Cool! My ninety minutes were officially up a few attacks later so I left Phil, J, Chris (Mosquito Bikes) and some others to keep riding.

Following the disappointment of Arsenal’s draw with Spurs I needed to vent. Stuck indoors with fresh legs it meant a late afternoon session with Kylie (Kurt Kinetic trainer). The question was which type of session? Well a 2 x 20 of course! Steph understood that I needed to be alone with Kylie and went to do some laps around Regents (apparently sat on some blokes wheel the whole time, outrageous :-0) while I got down to the dirty business of riding fast and going absolutely no where. I haven’t worn a heart rate monitor for a good few months, cheers Steph) but the stats were quite encouraging after just three weeks of training. Average heart rate for the session 161bpm. That’s 87% of my max – not bad!

Spotlight on - George "The Smiling Assassin" Brent

Name
George Brent

Who do you race for?
Addiscombe CC

What type of races do you do?
Time Trials, Cyclocross, Road Race, MTB

Where do you race?

Just like to keep it local in the South East, there is so much choice around London for bike racing that there really is no need to go further afield, in the summer I could race every day if I wanted.

Briefly describe a typical training session

I love going out on a good hard chain-gang at least twice a week, training with other people can really help get the most out of yourself as you don't want to look weak infront of your mates, so you really push yoursef much harder than you could on your own. Good old fashioned no pain no gain, thats what I Like.I like to ride at least 250miles per week and believe I get most of my strength from this, most of my riding I try not to hang around too much.

What are your Goals for this year?

Early season your gonna be seeing team Addiscombe dominate the local 3rd cat races and I aim to be right there in the middle of all the action.This year my goals are mainly time trial based, sub 4 hours for a 100mile tt, 270 miles in the 12 hour tt and try break at least one club record along the way.Cyclocross I would love to win some more cross races and be more consistent by handaling mechanicals correctly.Oh I nearly forgot be the first cyclist in the Big Brother House.

What have been your best races so far?

12 Hour TT has got to be my best day on the bike.Everyone did everything for me, I got fed, I got watered, I got directed, I got great team support, on boy oh boy all I had to do was watch my speedo and see all those mile flying by.Winning a London League Cyclocross in my first Cross year, I was gonna race it last season but unfortunately I broke my neck in a Road race.Smiling my way round the Smithfield Nocturn to 2nd place in 2007, Toks was cheering me on and I was on a complete high all evening absolutely felt like a pro and my legs felt awesome. Completing the Revolutions 5 day stage race buy that was HARDCORE, on a whim had the time off work so decided to give
> it a crack on the day before
>

Snow, wassup???

You can get with this?





Or you can get with that?



MP3 player Check
Towel for bike. Check.
Large Fan. Check
Motivated and Ready. Hmm (a little scared to be honest)
Here's how it went

10 mins warm up starting from 53/21
Quick sip of water
20 mins @ 25 mile TT pace/intensity/power in 53/17
8 minutes recvovery break - bloody tough, siped a coke and then fruit tea and put on best of Cycling Weekly tour DVD
15 mins @ close 25 mile TT pace/intensity/power
5 min break (more drinking and sent text message to my boss)
20 mins @ close to 25 mile TT pace/intensity/power
Phew! five mins warm down
How did yours go?

MP3 Tunes
3rd Base: Gas Face
Grandmasterflash and the Furious Five: The Message
Boggie Down Productions: I'm Still Number One
Eminem: Stan
LL Cool J: Rock the Bells
RunDmc: Beats To the Ryhme
Ice Cube: A Good Day
De La Soul: Buddy
Tribe Called Quest: The Scenario
LL Cool J - Till The break o' Dawn
Eric B and Rakim: Microphone Fiend

Chilling with J

It had to be five today. Yes indeed, I wasn't gonna get cold for nobody. Now, five layers of thin lycra - great outside in cold wintry conditions very bad inside in warm centrally heated house. Moral of the story - be ready. Don't spend ten minutes hunting for door keys because the chances of overheating and passing out on the sofa are far too great.

When I got to Regents I was joined a lap later by a very strong rider called Jason Pidd, who along with Phil Sheehan (Finchley RT), Marek (Addiscombe CC) and myself spent a season riding for Mosquito Bikes. Jason only rides one way - fast; he is not really the guy you want to meet when you're in base mile training mode. Anyway I didn't need to wonder about him half wheeling me slowly to death because he was only just getting back into endurance rides after the christmas break. Hmmm!

After an hour of good tempo riding three guys latched on to our wheels and almost immediately an unofficial thru and off began. Er...nice!... Oh no, Jason went to the front and ramped up the pace till two of the guys were dropped. Then Jason and this American dude began to duke it out a little bit on the descent. I let them carry on with their playground scrap before catching up with them both just before the drag.

On the drag I watched as Jason's rear derailer began to move the chain across the block and down to smaller cogs. I remained stuck to his wheel for a couple of minutes as the speed increased. He then eased up and began to complain about not being fit but nevertheless happy because all three wheel suckers had been dropped. My nice two hour ride came to an end a few laps later