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Hour attempt
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who have given me so much help and encouragement in pursuit of the age group Hour Record which sadly I have put on hold at the moment. This was a really tough decision and I hope that nobody will think the worse of me for it - it has actually been a bit of a tortuous process in many ways and I thought that I would give a little update here to outline my journey so far.
The original record I was going for was for 39.4 km (approx. 24.5mph) which I now know I would have been able to break comfortably. Having not even been on the boards my first hurdle was to check I could ride in the aero position without falling off and Max P very kindly put me in touch with a coach at Derby (Alan Petit) who was running a novice session and Tim very kindly (and bravely) lent me his track bike. I didn't fall off and I am pleased to say Tim's bike (while still in my dining room) is still in one piece. I then booked up 3 practice sessions and the date for my attempt having gone through many inner tubes practicing at Welwyn. The attempt was set for the 7th June. On the weekend of the 25th March I came back from the 1st RTTC classic TT to the news that the record had not just been broken but smashed by a huge margin, now standing at 43.2km - 26.8 mph. I was pretty devastated actually at the news because I really thought this was beyond me - I have never ridden that fast especially for an hour! however, with much encouragement from Stuart who felt I at least needed to see what I could achieve, with Tim's bike with Carmelo's disc wheel (thank you both very much) we set off for Derby with Richard G, James Mac and Stuart for the first real session. It was really hard keeping to the black line and Alan P kindly gave up his time to come and yell words of encouragement at me. I managed a block of 15 mins and a block of 20 and was exhausted. At the end of the session I tried a standing start using 108 gear - I'm not sure even now how I managed to stay upright - the pedals just did not want to turn. Looking at the numbers afterwards I was a bit down on lap times but had one more session before I had to make the decision as you have to give BC a months notice to organise all the officials and doping control. So at the end of May I went back to Derby, again with Richard, James and Stuart to try and do a 45 min block with a standing start on Max's bike with disc front and back. I can't really stress how hard it is to maintain that level of concentration, trying to keep exactly on the line for that long while pushing out your max - it really is gruelling. The last 5 laps I pushed myself to my absolute limit and again analysing the numbers afterwards realised that I was about 8secs ahead at this point. I am really proud of having managed this and it is a really positive thing I will take away with me as I didn't think I would get anywhere close to 26.8mph but unfortunately I still had 15 minutes to go and I was starting to lose 10ths in the later laps (I had to hit 20.7 secs per lap and it seemed such a big deal looking at the figures afterward when you put in a 20.8 or 20.9 which seems ridiculous but with another 60 laps to go it really matters) so I knew it was looking like a slim possibility
We were told by Alan and Max that Newport was a faster track so booked up to try a session there but availability was really difficult and in the end it just didn't work out. Advice from Graeme O'Bree at the LochLeven TT at this point to Stuart was to break both my ankles so that I couldn't do it! Stuart and I had a really good think about it and decided that time was now running out as we have a holiday booked in the summer and the 50 and 100 Nat. TT's are looming (after which I will be good for nothing) and decided that it was just too close to call and a bit of a gamble as we would need to spend about £1500 on the attempt. And that is my long winded story of how I have come to put the attempt on hold. as I said it has been a bit of a rollercoaster with some real down points but also some real highs. I am so grateful to so many people, Tim and Max for the bikes, Alan for giving up his afternoons to come and help me at the track, Carmelo for the wheel, Mark W (I think) for putting the idea in my head in the first place, everybody who bought raffle tickets to help fund the first couple of sessions, Jamie for putting up such generous prizes, all those people who have asked how it is going and continued to encourage me and in particular I would like to thank Richard, James and Stuart who have been a massive support throughout the whole process and who have made the whole thing a really incredible experience. I have really enjoyed sharing the track time with Richard who I am delighted to say is still pursuing the dream and doing really well - I have every confidence in him and think he is amazing!
Jackie
The original record I was going for was for 39.4 km (approx. 24.5mph) which I now know I would have been able to break comfortably. Having not even been on the boards my first hurdle was to check I could ride in the aero position without falling off and Max P very kindly put me in touch with a coach at Derby (Alan Petit) who was running a novice session and Tim very kindly (and bravely) lent me his track bike. I didn't fall off and I am pleased to say Tim's bike (while still in my dining room) is still in one piece. I then booked up 3 practice sessions and the date for my attempt having gone through many inner tubes practicing at Welwyn. The attempt was set for the 7th June. On the weekend of the 25th March I came back from the 1st RTTC classic TT to the news that the record had not just been broken but smashed by a huge margin, now standing at 43.2km - 26.8 mph. I was pretty devastated actually at the news because I really thought this was beyond me - I have never ridden that fast especially for an hour! however, with much encouragement from Stuart who felt I at least needed to see what I could achieve, with Tim's bike with Carmelo's disc wheel (thank you both very much) we set off for Derby with Richard G, James Mac and Stuart for the first real session. It was really hard keeping to the black line and Alan P kindly gave up his time to come and yell words of encouragement at me. I managed a block of 15 mins and a block of 20 and was exhausted. At the end of the session I tried a standing start using 108 gear - I'm not sure even now how I managed to stay upright - the pedals just did not want to turn. Looking at the numbers afterwards I was a bit down on lap times but had one more session before I had to make the decision as you have to give BC a months notice to organise all the officials and doping control. So at the end of May I went back to Derby, again with Richard, James and Stuart to try and do a 45 min block with a standing start on Max's bike with disc front and back. I can't really stress how hard it is to maintain that level of concentration, trying to keep exactly on the line for that long while pushing out your max - it really is gruelling. The last 5 laps I pushed myself to my absolute limit and again analysing the numbers afterwards realised that I was about 8secs ahead at this point. I am really proud of having managed this and it is a really positive thing I will take away with me as I didn't think I would get anywhere close to 26.8mph but unfortunately I still had 15 minutes to go and I was starting to lose 10ths in the later laps (I had to hit 20.7 secs per lap and it seemed such a big deal looking at the figures afterward when you put in a 20.8 or 20.9 which seems ridiculous but with another 60 laps to go it really matters) so I knew it was looking like a slim possibility
We were told by Alan and Max that Newport was a faster track so booked up to try a session there but availability was really difficult and in the end it just didn't work out. Advice from Graeme O'Bree at the LochLeven TT at this point to Stuart was to break both my ankles so that I couldn't do it! Stuart and I had a really good think about it and decided that time was now running out as we have a holiday booked in the summer and the 50 and 100 Nat. TT's are looming (after which I will be good for nothing) and decided that it was just too close to call and a bit of a gamble as we would need to spend about £1500 on the attempt. And that is my long winded story of how I have come to put the attempt on hold. as I said it has been a bit of a rollercoaster with some real down points but also some real highs. I am so grateful to so many people, Tim and Max for the bikes, Alan for giving up his afternoons to come and help me at the track, Carmelo for the wheel, Mark W (I think) for putting the idea in my head in the first place, everybody who bought raffle tickets to help fund the first couple of sessions, Jamie for putting up such generous prizes, all those people who have asked how it is going and continued to encourage me and in particular I would like to thank Richard, James and Stuart who have been a massive support throughout the whole process and who have made the whole thing a really incredible experience. I have really enjoyed sharing the track time with Richard who I am delighted to say is still pursuing the dream and doing really well - I have every confidence in him and think he is amazing!
Jackie
Comments
I didn't know you were considering this. I read this with mixed feelings. On one half really pleased and proud for you to even consider doing this as well as the amazing TTing you already do and disappointment for you.
Gareth
45 minutes on the black line at threshold? A 108" gear? I suspect the Geneva Convention would outlaw that!
You continue to inspire.
As you say above this is the "journey so far" and the attempt is "on hold". with all the careful planning and thought that goes into something like this, and the support you mention above from other club members, i am sure whatever you decide to do next will also be an inspiration to us all.
Good luck.