Dunsfold Park Series #4 & #5

Tuesday nights couldn’t be more different now than 2 years ago. Instead of slogging away on the decks working through a six pack of red stripe, Tuesdays now involve slogging away in the wind and eating handle bar tape. The Dunsfold Park Series of 15 weekly handicap races started a few weeks back and offer awesome training and race experience. Last year my first ever BCF race was at the last of the series and was a baptism of fire. As usual it was a windy affair and I lasted 7 laps in the bunch before getting spat out to solo ride home. It was an unforgettable first experience, dealing with riding in a bunch of 80 riders at speed, learning to shelter from the wind, dodging cones, pot holes and dodging riders dodging the same.

Dunsfold #4 - 12th May

I’d missed the first few Dunsfold’s with being away in Belgium and the USA so my first return to racing after a 4 week break was last Tuesday. Severe winds were lashing the course though this time the wind direction was different, with the usual slog down the back straight being a eased by a tailwind. As a result the start/finish line was into a headwind so from the beginning it was heads down working hard. A change from the norm was the organisation of the handicap, this week the 4th Vets went off first with a 2-3 minute lead followed by the 4ths, then 3rds, 2nds, E/1s. The larger field of 4V’s were soon disappearing round the first bend before we set off guaranteeing a high heart rate start to the race chasing them down.

Of our group of 10 or so 4ths only myself and 2 others were willing to work to chase them down. In the strong head wind we barely made 50m on them before they regained the deficit once into the tailwind. The first 3 laps I spent at 97-98% of max HR and knew I was on borrowed time. With no more helped being offered from our group I slowly lost contact and spent a lap on my own trying to recover. Soon afterwards I was picked up (literally!) by a group of 2nd/3rds and buried myself to catch their wheel. The remaining 5 laps I was able to recover enough to work with this group, soaking up other 4ths and 4V’s who’d been dropped. The winning break of E/1’s was long gone and our bunch came in equal 42nd place. It had been an insane race with riders scattered all over the course individually or in small groups, people getting lapped, people packing.

After 4 weeks off it had been exactly what I’d needed to catapult myself back into racing. Average HR was 95% of max for the whole race, my hardest workout yet. Unfortunately because I was so concerned about the amount of energy I’d expended I over ate in preparation for Hove Park on the following Friday and spent the whole race with stomach cramps. Getting the diet / recovery balanced correctly when racing more than once a week is proving to be tricky!

Dunsfold #5 - 19th May

This week was all about survival (actually, all Dunsfold’s are all about survival!). A sunny evening guaranteed a big turn out with 80+ riders. The wind direction was back to the usual, tailwind down the start/finish line and what felt like a headwind for every other section of the circuit. In warm up I could barely reach lactate threshold even during max efforts so I knew this was going to be a painful evening. This week the 4ths weren’t separated and we started off together at a steady pace.

The splits had also been changed from the 2-3 minutes of last week and before the first bend we’d been caught by the 2nds & 3rds. Before we’d reached half a lap the E/1’s caught up and the race started proper, head down chewing bar tape into the wind. Still struggling to kick in my engines I hovered around the rear 3rd of the bunch for a couple of laps before eventually getting that feeling of daylight slowly growing from behind. Thankfully Mick and Viv from the Mitre were near the back and opened up a space for me to slip into out of the wind.

The next 5 laps were groundhog day. Clinging on by fingernails to the back of the bunch down the long back straight trying to keep out of the wind, digging deeper into depleted reserves each time, snatching at chances to recover and freewheel as the race pace waxed and waned. Then down the finishing straight, the tailwind helping to regain position in the front 3rd of the bunch before hitting the bend and smack back into the wind. Snot and spit on my face, gloves, thighs, grabbing moments to sneak a drink, the position gained on the finishing straight slowly slipping by as the bunch powers into the wind at 25mph. Coming into the home straight clinging onto the wheel in front it’s time to repeat the whole process. Recover. Position. Pain. More Pain. Even More Pain. Repeat.

Add to this dodging cones marking the route flying into the bunch left, right and centre, plus riders dodging the same, people screaming to hold your line, people swearing, snot rockets zipping past your glasses and then Bang! Speed increases 5mph again and your scraping the energy barrel for a response, legs screaming, snot streaming, eyes blurring. 30 seconds later its back to normal and you’ve survived another kick in pace.

Miraculously I started to recover more each lap and found myself hovering around the front 20 riders for the last few laps. I actually began to think I could get a good finishing position but the final kick of speed into the home straight left me with no response and I cruised over the line with the back markers of the bunch.

Though some may see Dunsfold as boring, riding 10 laps round a bleak airfield, it makes for awesome racing and an unsurpassed workout. This week my average heart rate was down just below lactate at 89% of max. Though I couldn’t get going it felt like a better performance on last week finishing with the bunch. The rest of the Mitre riders did well, all surviving to the end.