On Saturday I raced what is likely to be my last race for some time; fittingly it was my host clubs annual John Bornhoft Memorial Hill Climb, up Leith Hill in Surrey.
The morning saw strong winds and a stronger field than last year with me setting off 3rd from last. The early pace was set by Tim Lawn, former National Hill Climb top ten finisher, before the seeded riders set off at the end. I had treated myself to a long warm up due to two days off the bike that included a good three minute full effort up Pitch Hill from Ewhurst. On looking at my watch I realised I had left it close for my start time so the warm up continued with a tempo effort back to the bottom of Leith Hill!
Starting after Matt Melville (AW Cycles) I made a solid start, aiming to hold 500watts up the climb. I was caught out by the flat section going into the farmyard walled area and probably eased off a fraction too much. Never mind, as I headed towards the mass of Kingston Wheeler Tifosi on the last few bends a second wind arrived as I made it over the line with lungs feeling ravaged and the legs bursting. Total for the effort was 495watts so pretty much on target.
The last two riders, Chris Mcnamara (Team Corley) and Pete Tadros (Ingear) proved the final seeding to be spot on with the podium the exact order of the final three starters. Tadros flew up in 3:43, a whole twelve seconds faster than myself. You can see his interview on London Cycle Sport and there is even a write up on Bikeradar. Full results are available as a PDF.
So this event wraps up my year neatly, although without the elite license I was going to chase to the death. The reason for this was an unforeseen and rapid change in direction, as my teaching career takes me to the Swiss Alps for January. I have no doubt I will be riding at every opportunity, but my own competitive racing will be playing second fiddle to what really is my dream job. One of the hardest parts of making the decision was going to be sacrificing all the hard work over years to get to where I am, indeed I had a strong feeling next year was going to be a big one for my racing. Sometimes life catches you by surprise and I firmly believe the opportunity of a lifetime must be taken within the lifetime of the opportunity.
So, a season in review. A quick look on the BC website reveals:
26 top-10′s
14 top-5′s
7 podiums
1win!
On top of this I managed to rack up some titles:
SCCU Road Race Champion
Surrey League TT Champion
KW Road Race Champion (not official yet, but pretty safe I think!)
KW Hill climb Champion
A win was my main goal, as was consistent top-5 results in big races and these goals have certainly been fulfilled. Dave Hayward sent me a great selection of images from the year’s racing, have a look at my Flickr feed when you get the chance.
Cycling has been a very big deal for the last three years, representing the Kingston Wheelers as a nervous 4th Cat at Chertsey back in 2007 to getting on the podium at the Revolutions stage race this year. Thanks to all the readers of this blog and followers on twitter- the thing I will miss most is the strong racing community, people I see every week who I have the utmost respect for. It is no mean feat balancing elite level racing with a full time job, yet there are many heroes out there who do just that and make it look easy. Let me tell you it is not. A club mate sent me an e-mail yesterday saying it would be a shame to stop racing as I had ‘natural talent’. I don’t believe this for one minute, and for me the best thing about cycling is that it rewards hard work and persistence. If you do the miles, and especially those hard miles you will go faster, it’s really a very simple equation:
“work out what you want to achieve, work out the cost of achieving it, pay the price.”
So many people in life know what they want, and many get to working out the cost of getting it. Very few seem willing to pay the price.
This is not quite a final goodbye, I hope to post on my mountain biking exploits between now and January, and of course if I’ll post from Switzerland in the new year. Until then, thanks for reading!
All photos courtesy of Nick Hussey
Steve, great post! I have raced with you a lot this year and last year as well, and you are always a competitor I respect. Your blog is always insightful and explains what it’s like to race at our level and what it takes to get there. We cyclists here in England will be the poorer for losing you, but it sounds like an opportunity too good to miss. I have raced a bit in Austria and Switzerland, and they are both fantastic places to ride (when it’s not snowing). If you get the chance, race the Chur-Arosa or Kitzbüheler-Horn-Bergrennen, they are both events you will never forget.
See you down the road.
Ishmael
Chapeau little brother. I’m f**king proud of what you’ve achieved, and of what you’re about to do.
“We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time.
The mighty pyramids of stone
That wedge-like cleave the desert airs,
When nearer seen, and better known,
Are but gigantic flights of stairs.
The distant mountains, that uprear
Their solid bastions to the skies,
Are crossed by pathways, that appear
As we to higher levels rise.
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern–unseen before–
A path to higher destinies.
Nor deem the irrevocable Past,
As wholly wasted, wholly vain,
If, rising on its wrecks, at last
To something nobler we attain.
(Part of Longfellow’s The Ladder of Saint Augustine; a poem about hill climbs if ever I saw one…)
Congrats on a great season. Good luck in Switzerland, your right you have to grasp opportunities when they present themselves. You sound like a very good teacher.
I bought some Sidi road shoes off ebay earlier in the year and the previous owner was Swtzerlands Nino Schurter this years Mountain Bike World Champion. Say Hello if you see him