Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

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David Cole
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Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

Post by David Cole » 31 Oct 2017 20:13

Congratulations to Dave Hughes
LVRC National Track Championships Derby 28th 29th October

Track Sprint Gold
500 m 2 lap Standing Start Gold
40 lap Points Race Gold
Overall Champion in his age group

Well done Dave - great stuff

Dave
David Cole

Beacon Roads Cycling Club

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CakeStop
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Real Name: Steve Smith
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Re: Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

Post by CakeStop » 31 Oct 2017 20:40

Impressive stuff, congratulations Dave.
Eat cake before you're hungry

Dave Cox
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Re: Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

Post by Dave Cox » 01 Nov 2017 11:53

Well done Dave and best wishes for a quick recovery to Ann

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George
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Re: Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

Post by George » 02 Nov 2017 09:27

Get that man dope tested!

Yosser
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Real Name: Dave Hughes

Re: Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

Post by Yosser » 03 Nov 2017 11:53

Results are positive, Confirmed, I AM a dope.

Yosser
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Re: Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

Post by Yosser » 05 Nov 2017 17:21

You mean you have only just found that out!! Annex

Yosser
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Real Name: Dave Hughes

Re: Dave Hughes LVRC National Track Champion

Post by Yosser » 07 Nov 2017 07:18

Thanks to all for the kind words. I didn't initially put anything on message boards as I felt somewhat self conscious about it. However since people already know what I did and have already posted on the matter, I thought I might do A View albeit late. Here goes.


VIEW FROM THE OLD GUY NOVEMBER 2017

Well its been some time since I checked in and a lot has happened. I ground to halt in September having started my racing in February. I started to relax, put on a pound or two (okay, 5), and spent some time supporting Anne and her voracious appetite for world domination in triathlons. It was highly satisfying. Then I went back to Derby track for a couple of SQT sessions and a track league evening. People I met all seemed to have one last 2017 agenda, the LVRC National Track champs. Hmm, maybe. No, no I won’t, it’s been a long season. Well maybe if I can get fit enough … And so it came to be that I also entered the LVRC Track Champs. One last hurrah, how hard could it be? It turned out to be very hard indeed.

Simon “OK Dave, lets see what condition you are in at the moment. One Flying 200m”
Me “arghh.” “How was that?”
Simon “13.6s!”
Me “That’s bloody awful. Any suggestions?”.
Simon “This time you could try actually sprinting!”
Me “**** **”

And so a month of hard work was planned. This included numerous bad-ass sessions. Saturdays getting up at 4:00 am in order to be warmed up and on the track in Derby by 7:00 am. Regular twice a day Turbo sessions aptly titled Double Trouble. Worst of all, VO2 sessions, causing all sorts of pain.

In the end it worked it’s magic.

Day 1 Sat 28th October
Anne and I were up at 4:30 and at the track for 7:00am. Track warm up at 8:00 and comp started just an hour later. Unfortunately the event was stunningly popular with a field of over 170 riders attracted to the bright lights and the lure of vests and medals. The sprint event went on all day, only interrupted by the points race final. In the points I was pushed all the way by some very good opposition including the European Scratch race champion of last month. He (Bob Barber) took the first sprint but I managed to take the next 3 sprints, including the last one for double points, and secured my the win. Gold medal! I could hardly have dreamed it just a few weeks ago. I had not entered the next morning’s event, the pursuit and so was not scheduled to be racing till after lunch in the 500m TT. I just had the final of the sprint to go today and then hotel, sleep and a lazy morning with a cooked breakfast, followed by coffee and Sunday papers. That was the plan. Then I heard;
Official “Sorry folks, we have run out of time tonight because of the large number
of riders. You will have to do the sprint finals tomorrow”.
Me “Tomorrow lunchtime?”
Official “No, far too many riders this year, we are short of time. We will do it at 8:00am, before the other events start”
Me “**** ***!”

Day 2 Sun 29th October
Up at 6:am, track by 7:00 sprinting by 8:30 (ish). Managed to win this before collapsing in chair by side of track. Tired as hell and only halfway through yet. And no proper breakfast, just a bowl of Museli! Not promising.

Next up the 500m standing start TT. It should be a strength event for me but it has been a disaster on both previous championship occasions, coming 5th and then 4th. Consultation with several friends. General consensus was “Stop messing around, just give it everything from the gun”! So I did and hey presto, Gold number 3. I could now relax. To win the Overall Track Rider for National Champions it was your best three events that counted. With three Golds I could now not be beaten. Relief. Only the Scratch race to go, and I was the reigning BC champion at this, what could possibly go wrong? Well folks, this is what could go wrong? You get a good thrashing, that’s what could go wrong. And this is how. Take one circumstance, two mistakes and one piece of bad luck, and mix in suitable bowl.
The circumstance. “Sorry riders, due to the large number of competitors we will have to merge some of the age categories for the scratch race. The E’s will be racing with the F’s”.
That brought some serious endurance fire-power to the final race. Not what I wanted. However that also happened at the BC championships and that ended well.
Mistake one, I trusted that the instruction, “OK, roll off from the back” would be honoured. I was starting at the back. I should roll through to the front. They all ignored the starter and promptly p*****d off from the front!
Mistake two, It’s really no problem, I can easily catch up that small distance. I should be fine.
There’s a gap opening up. No problem this early in the race.
Err, that’s a big gap opened up. Na, I’ll be fine.
Uh-oh, that gap is huge. Let me out!
I was then boxed in for some time with the back riders. I watched as the lead grew at an astonishing rate to almost a third of a lap and still moving at pace. Race over. Well no, not just yet. I finally cleared from being boxed in and went for it. All I had to do was bridge the gap as fast as possible. On my own. Against many of the younger age group. All working hard.
Sprinting eyeballs out for about 45 seconds doesn’t sound that hard, until you try it. Go on try it. And I don’t mean try a bit, try flat out. I made it to the break, in about two and half laps but was exhausted. “Just sit in for a couple of laps and you could be OK” I told myself. “Please, just don’t anyone attack for a short time”.
So dear reader I bet you can’t guess what the bad luck is can you? Yep, the break attacked again. Immediately. Moments later we were lapping the main bunch. The very bunch I had just left just a short time ago. The bunch had been lapped in just over 10 laps from the start of the race! Now that is fast I had nothing left. I desperately tried to hang on but slipped out the back and rather than ride around for the duration, I packed. Not exactly how I wanted the racing to end.
Never mind I got to win the overall Rider award and with it the National Jersey, for my age group, and 3 gold medals. I couldn’t have dreamed of this a year ago and in truth, not even at the start of this meeting.
Now some thanks. Thanks to Simon Reavill for his astute (if brutal) coaching regime. To Geoff Cooke for taking the p*** out of me for two days solid, Dave Ellis for showing me how it should be done (yes I know Dave, FOUR Gold medals), and Steve Wilkinson for his advice on how to ride a standing start 500m TT. Finally thanks to Anne for all the fetching and carrying and support. (As Geoff said, “What’s a nice lady like you doing with ...”)

Thanks to the Beacon for being so supportive and all the kind comments. It was the “Captains meeting” in Stirchley last year that got me thinking about riding the track again.

Whilst on the subject of thanks, thanks to Rob Murzio and all the volunteers who made this such a memorable event.
What a meeting it was.

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