Since my last race the winter has been and (supposedly) gone. My early season training has gone ok, with a couple of tough weeks in the very hilly terrain of Northern Croatia setting me up quite nicely for this weekend’s Sloan Trophy Road Race. This was the 60th running of the race promoted by the club I was a member of as a boy, the Gosforth Road Club. The Sloan is the sister race to the Beaumont Trophy which is now a Premier Calendar race, and last year was the National Championships.
The first race of the season is often a difficult affair. It is tricky to train hard enough to get properly race fit, and so the first outing of the season can be a painful affair. Sunday dawned bright and sunny, although the forecast was ropey at best. This raised the problem of what to wear for a race that could have turned out to be sunny and warm, or wet with hailstones. I opted for the cautious approach and wore intermediate jacket, with overshoes, full finger gloves, and ¾ length shorts.
The Sloan is held over 67 miles on the Ogle circuit which is well known in the North East. While it lacks any proper climbs, it is a real hard man’s circuit with several long drags where the wind can be a real feature. (Click here for a guide written by someone else). The 80-strong field was pretty good with several teams from out of the region fielding 5 or more 2nd cat riders. My tactics – in so far as any were necessary – would be to not get dropped, and follow wheels. If I could get round in one piece then I felt that would be a reasonable achievement first time out.
The race begun with the sun still shining, and two riders went away almost immediately the flag dropped. The run up through Blackheddon is gently uphill most of the way followed by a rapid descent to a dead-turn where the drag up to Wallridge crossroads starts. I would have to interrogate my Garmin but I would guess that it is a mile and a bit long at 4-5% gradient. First time up either I was very rusty, or the hammer properly went down. The bunch was lined out in single file the whole way up the climb, and there were gaps appearing all over the place. I was pretty close to the limit and severely worried that I wasn’t going to make it up there another 4 times if this was what it was going to be like. I later learned that 20 people got dropped on this short stretch. Given I was trying not to swallow a lung I missed the break forming. It may well have been first time up to Wallridge with 3 going across to the two who attacked from the gun making a group of 5. In any case as I looked up the road it felt that these guys meant business, and so it turned out as we never caught them.
The second lap was pretty rough as the heavens opened and by turn hailed and rained on us for a good 20 minutes. There was standing water everywhere and in no time I was soaked to the skin, filthy and absolutely freezing. It was about now that my hands went numb and didn’t recover until half an hour after the race had finished. At this point it felt like it was going to be a long race although this photo (taken on the last lap - remember 80 started!) doesn't quite capture the full glory of the weather (yours truly on the outside of the bunch in white)
It was an odd race thereafter, but as time went on I felt stronger and stronger. There was lots of attacking but nothing that stuck, and there was never a chase that got going. The gap to the break hovered around a minute for a long time, and I felt that if the bunch had got a chase together we could have caught them. Having said that I was in no mood to either try to organise a chase, nor to get involved in any breaks. With hindsight perhaps I should have ridden more aggressively and might have got a better result as reward for it.
By the last lap the bunch had slimmed down to perhaps 30 riders, and I suspect a few more were clipped off the back with the last run up to Wallridge. A small break of 3 or 4 riders went up the road shortly thereafter and hovered off the front at maybe 15 seconds – a gap they were to hold to the finish. Over the last lap I had been finding it increasingly difficult to change gear and despite trying to get some feeling back into my hands the problem was getting worse rather than better. I couldn’t get gel out of my pocket, and was unable even to squirt the liquid out of my second bottle! (I ended up chucking it to a marshal).
The finish was at the top of Stamfordham bank, a short and not terribly steep climb but enough to sap cold tired legs. It’s one of those where you don’t want to go too early. Thankfully I had positioned myself near the back of the bunch as we hit the climb, and paid the price getting switched into the verge and then baulked twice thereafter. I actually finished reasonably well in the last 50 metres (despite cramp in both my thighs) and crossed the line probably 8th or 9th from the bunch. I suspect that had I positioned myself better I’d have been top 3-4 in the bunch sprint. I would think that this put me towards the bottom end of the top 20 overall. I
On reflection I am pretty chuffed with my performance today. I didn’t find the racing that tough, and got round in the (depleted) bunch strongly. That I lacked the final kick at the finish is not that surprising, and is more likely a reflection of my lack of race miles. More importantly I really enjoyed the racing, and I’m sure I’ll look back on today as being a good building block in what I hope will be a successful season.
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