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Assen race report
The European youth tour of assen is a 6 day stage race in the north of Holland. This is the 47th year of its running and Cameron and Is first time in the first year of the u16 age group
Prologue
The course is short, too short for my liking. Its about 1 km in total, straight up the canal then a 180 degree dead turn. Its important to have a longer warm up as the course is so short so I get on the rollers about 45 minute before my start. I head of just 30 seconds behind cam; the aim is simple; go flat out and dont mess up the corner. Sign on is about 10 minutes before your start time then you are entered into the line leading up to the start. The start is in a small trailer with a ramp coming down onto the course. One man holds me up whilst another counts down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO! I sprint all out to get to the end of the course. I click down my gears as I approach the corner and take it quite well. On the return straight I just cant get my speed up. I throw my bike over the line and ride to the rollers. 94th out of 134 with 1:25:25 isnt a bad start for me considering my usual performance o short events.
Race 1
The race is 44km on a 2km circuit. We rode the course on the recky, its mainly on tarmac but theres a 300m pave section (bricked road) and a turn on cobbles. After my warm up I head over to the pen. The pen is what you start in, its a fenced of area and on this race, numbers are called out and you go up if the last digit of your number is called. I am called second to last so I am in the last row starting. The race starts and it doesnt take me long to realise that Im not doing great. The idea in a race is to move to move up to a good spot in the peloton then it is easier and you wont get dropped. I was in the second worse place to be, at the back of the peloton, I just didnt have the strength to move up. Before assen I had broken my collar bone, this meant I was off for 6 weeks and only had 1 month to train before. I soon went into the worst position of a race, just off the back. It was there that I realised I didnt have the strength I used to. I fell back into a group of about 7 riders on about 8 laps to go I fell of the back due to a split and couldnt push to get back on. The next lap I was lapped, after that I was just spinning my legs to the finish. That race felt really bad, but my spirits were lifted my cams performance of staying in the group the whole race.
Prologue
The course is short, too short for my liking. Its about 1 km in total, straight up the canal then a 180 degree dead turn. Its important to have a longer warm up as the course is so short so I get on the rollers about 45 minute before my start. I head of just 30 seconds behind cam; the aim is simple; go flat out and dont mess up the corner. Sign on is about 10 minutes before your start time then you are entered into the line leading up to the start. The start is in a small trailer with a ramp coming down onto the course. One man holds me up whilst another counts down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO! I sprint all out to get to the end of the course. I click down my gears as I approach the corner and take it quite well. On the return straight I just cant get my speed up. I throw my bike over the line and ride to the rollers. 94th out of 134 with 1:25:25 isnt a bad start for me considering my usual performance o short events.
Race 1
The race is 44km on a 2km circuit. We rode the course on the recky, its mainly on tarmac but theres a 300m pave section (bricked road) and a turn on cobbles. After my warm up I head over to the pen. The pen is what you start in, its a fenced of area and on this race, numbers are called out and you go up if the last digit of your number is called. I am called second to last so I am in the last row starting. The race starts and it doesnt take me long to realise that Im not doing great. The idea in a race is to move to move up to a good spot in the peloton then it is easier and you wont get dropped. I was in the second worse place to be, at the back of the peloton, I just didnt have the strength to move up. Before assen I had broken my collar bone, this meant I was off for 6 weeks and only had 1 month to train before. I soon went into the worst position of a race, just off the back. It was there that I realised I didnt have the strength I used to. I fell back into a group of about 7 riders on about 8 laps to go I fell of the back due to a split and couldnt push to get back on. The next lap I was lapped, after that I was just spinning my legs to the finish. That race felt really bad, but my spirits were lifted my cams performance of staying in the group the whole race.
Comments
A 70km point to point race, mainly on pave, with about a 2km cobbled section. I have taken precautions to prepare my bike the day before. I am racing on tubulars with 32spoke wheels these are tough and the idea is I wont puncher or buckle a wheel. Every bolt is tightened the bike is clean and everything has been taped down. I have about a 5minute warm up instead of 20 as the riders are in the pen early. I manage to get in with about 30 riders behind. I really hate the pen, its horrible being in just before the start and its the only point in the race where I think I will never ride another race. So you can imagine I wasnt to pleased when I was in there for 40 minutes. The race was started and it began quite slowly. This allowed me to move up the group a little. About 10 minutes in I was riding next to cam the group, suddenly everyone slowed down, people in front went down, I slammed on my brakes and went into the back of someone who was falling off but I unclipped before I fell. I looked at cam on the floor, his face was on the covered in blood I went to help him but he wouldnt let me and made me ride on. As soon as the crash took place the Dutch guys accelerated, there was no chance of me getting back on. I get in a small group of about six, a neutral service car kindly pulls as a short way to get onto another small group. Its about 20km in now, I know this because soon the pave roads will turn to cobbles and then the feed station will appear at 25km. I have just done my turn at the front of the now larger group and get onto the back. I can see the turn onto the cobbles. Unfortunately the people in front of me take the corner slow and the group has now split. I have to put down a lot of force to get on to the right side and soon I am back at the front. The corner on to the rough pave is coming now, this is where I have to grab another water bottle and trough away my empty one. Its crucial that I get this as my 1986 pinerrelo (only steel bike in the race) only has one bottle cage. After getting the bottle successfully I can carry on in the group. Its hard work keeping the right position and there are a few hairy moments but otherwise things were going ok. Its about 30km to go Im near the back and another group is in sight. They step up the pace on the front and naturally someone causes a split. I try and bridge the gap but with no success the group has got away. 5km after trying countless times to loss it the broom wagon gets me at the end of the pave section with 25km left. The driver says now, your race is over then hands me a map of directions and drives of. I got lost a bit in assen but I get to the finish. After looking for 3hours we find that cam is in hospital. After a check up he is fine but with injures to the face and knees.
Race 4
A 9km tt, around the famous assen motorbike tt circuit. The start times were in reverse general classification order, so when I was called up 8th I didnt feel great. The first half of my tt goes well and I catch a person with a carbon tt frame disc wheels and aero helmet, on my 58cm drop handle bar bike. The second half didnt go as well but I finished with a 14:04:10. Unfortunately the seconds arent enough and Im only just out of the bottom 10 on the gc.
5 laps of a 9km circuit with pave and a short cobbled section. I start reasonably far down in the pen. The first lap I am with the group but loose it after a crash. I dint have the strength and probably wouldnt have kept the group. On the first lap alone there were 3 crashes. Im with a small group thats picking up people on the way unfortunately me and about 3 others are the only people doing proper work on the front. Its about 2.5 laps to go and I shout at my group to work nobody responds so I shout in German failing that I take 5 people of the front and we leave the group to get broom wagoned. The speed is fast and hard now; one guy on the front is covered in blood from a crash and looks very tired so I make sure he has smaller turns. I go on the front and click to change down a gear as Im doing a high cadence but Im in top gear. Unfortunately our efforts are not enough and with ales than 1 and a half laps to go we get broomed. A Dane, to Dutch and I simultaneously swore in our native tongues.
Race 6
This is the final race, a 4km circuit 9 times with pave. I really want to do well her and finish in the group. Luckily I start in 4th row of riders but by the end of the first lap I find myself at the back of the group again. Although I am weaker Im sure a harder warm up would help. I find myself in a good group working well as the laps to go board counts down. On the final laps Im making sure the breaks dont get away and I plan to sprint at the end but on the finishing lap I move up to sprint until I see the lap board with 1 to go. This was a huge error and I had knackered myself in the sprint I spent the actual last lap chasing down the group and I finished just behind it.
This was the hardest thing I have ever done, both mentally and physically. Even though I was just a first year of u16 I havent as strong as I could have been like cam who constantly performed brilliantly. Next year I will be stronger and finish high up. The racing felt professional and the 70km race felt like a spring classic. Miles better than any English race.