Another hill climb this week, with all four of the South Wales regulars in attendance. When it comes to hills we’re spoiled for choice in this part of the world and having tackled the Rhigos mountain a couple of weeks earlier we switched to its sibling, the Bwlch, for our latest outing. These two climbs feature as end-of-season events hosted by the VCC — provided that we’re given the green light by the authorities, of course.

The Bwlch climb is a very popular one with locals and visitors to the area as the summit can be reached by any of three mountain roads — each starting in a separate local authority. If you’re going for a long ride in South Wales you’re never far from the slopes and the Bwlch climb[s] are bound to feature sooner or later.

This training ride started on the Treorchy side of the mountain, involved a climb of nearly three miles to the summit where all three roads meet, then a fast descent to the village of Nantymoel, a loop around the clocktower, and finally the return trip. More than three-quarters of the riding time is spent going uphill.

The starting order was chosen to allow for variations in climbing ability, with the aim of finishing close together. This meant that Simon went off first, setting a steady pace on the Boardman Air 9.0 and not seeing a co-rider until after the turn. Jeff was gaining quickly and moved ahead of Simon early in the return journey. Jeff had been the quickest rider at every one of our training sessions to date and was aiming to hold on to this honour by employing his familiar new-bike tactic. To be fair, it had been at least a fortnight since he’d last played that card so it was long overdue.

Dan was third on the road and was tipped to be the quickest on the night, having recently smashed the others’ PBs in his maiden journey up another local slope. We stuck him on an older heavier road bike for this outing to slow him down a bit.

Finally we had Rory in his colour co-ordinated bike/kit combo. At the post-ride meet-up he lamented a loss of time on the descents but it certainly didn’t seem that way to the others. More like a blur of orange and black.

The layout of the course means that we have split times for each section.

Quickest up the first climb was pre-ride favourite Dan who reached the top in 15:52 to earn advantages of 0:44 over Jeff, 1:07 over Rory and a massive 4:20 over Simon.

There was little change in the front three on the descent to Nantymoel, with Dan’s advantages to the turn being 0:46 and 1:09. Simon gained 22s on the leader during that leg.

Another climb for the third leg, which played to Dan’s strengths. Again he was quickest to the top, in 16:58 — a chunky 95 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Jeff (18:33). Rory was nearly three minutes further back with his 21:28 and Simon trailed the field, more than another minute behind (22:38).

We didn’t know it at the time, but when we started our final descents Dan’s lead was pretty much insurmountable. As it turned out, Jeff gained 11 seconds on him over this segment and Rory and Simon each gained just over a minute.

But the overall result was clear, Jeff’s unbeaten run was over. He’d done a superb job setting the pace over the previous five rides but the margin was just two seconds to Simon on a TT course the previous week. And now Dan had well and truly snatched his title on a course where his power-to-weight ratio puts him in a class of his own.

Dan’s time of 45:16 puts him in the top 10% on the all-time list that features hundreds of seasoned riders. Not bad for a kid on a heavy bike and just a few months of riding experience!

Following their successes and progress over recent weeks the South Wales faithful felt ready to take on their nearest 10-mile TT course, registered as the R10/22a, starting and finishing in Resolven. Thankfully, Derek the Weatherman was completely wrong with his long range forecast and we were able to sneak out for a couple of hours of self harm.

The home-made segments have been great and they’ve helped us chart our progress over the summer. They’ve also pushed us to compete against ourselves and each other, digging deeper than we would if riding alone. But there’s nothing like a ride on a recognised TT course, one that we’ve ridden dozens of times in the past, for putting a few more watts into the legs and pushing us harder (and deeper).

So we made the short trip to Resolven, minus Rory who was suffering from an avalanche of work following the relaxation of the COVID restrictions and that realisation that comes to us all from time to time — sometimes we need more than 24 hours in the day.

This being a real TT course, we needed to get Dan on a TT bike so we needed a bit of creativity with start times and equipment. Dan and I set off early, getting to the course with the Argon 18 TT bike and the aluminium 2011 Boardman. Context: Dan hasn’t used a TT bike on the road before and is a bit skittish when it comes to using the tri-bars on a road bike!

So we stuck him on the Argon and headed up the dual carriageway towards Glynneath. A nice smooth 3-mile stretch, with Dan leading the way and myself (Simon) on the road bike offering some fatherly advice in between the traffic noise. Dan was holding the TT bars with a death-grip, hating every second of the experience and spending an inordinate amount of time on the white paint that separates the carriageway from the hard shoulder. It’s a tooth-chattering experience. We reached the turn and stopped for a brief exchange before making the return trip. Dan was settling down by now and seemed to be warming to the feeling of riding at 20+ mph with only a moderate effort. We were buoyed by the tooting of Jeff as he passed us in his car, heading to the meet-up point.

The warm-up complete, we wasted no time and got Dan to the start of the R10/22a and sent him on his way. We wouldn’t see him for a while, so Jeff and I continued with our warm ups. About 20 minutes later Jeff was on his way. Soon Dan returned. He looked rapid over the last quarter-mile but there was no time for analysis. Out came the allen keys, up went the seat post, same bike new rider, and off I went towards the start.

We met at the completion of my ride, at the Resolven Canal car park. At the time of writing I know little about the experiences of the others — we talked about the weather (as the Welsh do) but were anxious to get home and watch our football teams go head to head.

For myself I know that I pushed hard from start to finish, felt like I paced things right, tried to repeat the aero lesson that I’d learned the previous week, and was quite satisfied with what looked like a “short 24” subject to checking. Dan reckoned Jeff had clocked a similar time. For himself, Dan had rolled in with a “short 26” which represented 23 mph for him and must have felt like warp speed at times.

In the final analysis we had times of 24:16 for Jeff, 24:18 for Simon, 26:11 for Dan (with a mere 15 minutes of riding experience in the TT position). Dan commented that he felt much more relaxed on the ride than in the warm up, which is a great sign. When he relaxes into the position, he’s going to leave the rest of us standing. But 2020 is a unique year in so many ways and we oldies will take this short-lived success while it lasts.

Regular readers will have noticed a pattern over this series. Across all five events our mentor Jeff has recorded the quickest time on the day. He’s a former Welsh champion in other disciplines of cycling but you’ll be hard pressed to squeeze any information about it from him. He’s a quiet achiever and if you watch him on the bike you’ll see an effortless rider who makes it all look so easy. It’s not. Jeffrey, please slow down.

After a twelve day break the South Wales posse gathered for another spin on their local five-mile segment in Porth, lower Rhondda. Our number included Dan who had joined us during his break from work and was using a heavier, MUCH older bike than on his previous efforts. Despite this he set off first and came back first, his finishing time of 14:26 representing only a modest step back from the PB that he’d set with far superior equipment three weeks earlier. It was still 36s quicker than he debut effort on the course, which is a quite a measure of his improvement — and he wasn’t exactly a slouch to begin with.

Next was yours truly, not feeling fully prepared after a harrowing experience on the bike 24 hours earlier. If the other lads had suggested a postponement I would have gleefully accepted but sadly none was forthcoming. So I set off second, as usual, and focused on getting as aero as possible. The supporting breeze on the outward leg helped but a hold-up on the first roundabout did the opposite. Coming home, against the breeze but with a slight down-slope, I couldn’t hit the top gears — not on the bike, not in the legs — but I tried to stay low and do what I could. The result was a very surprising 13:15, a massive 39s gain on the “season” opener. It was a reminder that at higher speeds aerodynamics are a much bigger factor than raw power.

Next was Jeff, who had lowered his tri-bars to a slightly less aggressive position and reported afterwards that he felt much more comfortable but was unsure whether the new position was quicker. Others in the group commented that over a 15-minute ride comfort was not a priority. But he needn’t have worried — the lifelong cyclist posting a stunning 12:46 on the night, the quickest of the year and the first of us to dip below 13 minutes. Jeff is improving with every ride and is hopeful that this fine form will carry him into some late-season TTs and/or some Welsh district CX events. We hope so too, Jeff, this form is too good to waste.

Rory completed the field and very nearly became the second rider to break 13. As it was, he had to settle for 13:03 but there was no shame in that — again improving on his recently-set PB of 13:25. He too had been held up at the first turn which undoubtedly cost him his “12” on the night, but it’s great to see his consistent progress with every passing week. He also set a PB for power on the night, which most cyclists recognise as the true measure of improvement because ultimately the time on the stopwatch is affected by factors beyond our control. Chapeau!

In the absence of official events, the South Wales branch of VCC has continued to keep busy by arranging informal unofficial training rides over familiar local courses/segments.

In a break from the usual TT-style efforts, on Saturday 13/6 the regulars made their way to the top of the Rhondda Valley to take on the Rhigos mountain road — a four mile climb followed by a three mile descent to the edge of Hirwaun, before circling a mini roundabout and making the reverse trip. More than 80% of the riding time is spent climbing in low gears.

First off was your writer, Simon, a reknowned non-climber who had made a couple of practice runs in the days leading up to the session. I was quite pleased and surprised to be passed by only one co-rider on the day. Mind, we did start at five-minute intervals so that’s no saying a lot! Finish time 1:03:04, a PB by a sizeable chunk so a satisfying result.

Next was Jeff, who passed me on the return leg. He did have the benefit of new-bike-first-ride syndrome and was strangely free of any ailment so it was no real surprise to him disappear into the distance on his way to a 57:26 finish, which turned to be the quickest on the day.

Third on the road was Dan, benefiting from the unfair advantages of youth and lightness. Not surprisingly he was quickest up the slopes but he lost time to Jeff on the descents and finished 89 seconds in arrears with 58:55. With a grand total of just three months’ cycling experience, this guy shows enormous potential.

Finally there was Rory also beat the hour-mark with his finishing time of 59:43 which, again, represented a huge improvement over his previous best over the course. He commented afterwards that it made a big difference to be riding in company (sort of) and having some friendly competition to spur him on.

For a Saturday ride it wasn’t the longest, but it was an intense hour of training and it got us all back home before 9:30 in the morning with the satisfaction of a decent training session in the books.

Following a successful outing a week earlier, the South Wales division of VCC returned to Porth for a second TT pacing session.

We knew that conditions had been in our favour the previous week so, all else being equal, improving on our previous times would be a tall order. This time we’d have to overcome a moderate breeze on the tougher outward leg. Undeterred, we set off in the same order as the previous week — minus Rory who had other commitments.

So first went Dan, again riding the Boardman Air 9.0 road bike, but this time having the benefit of knowing what lay ahead — and therefore able to pace himself more effectively. Gradients aren’t a problem for this fella and he absolutely flew up the course to the turn, then descended into the drops for a blast down the return leg. The result was a stunning ride of 13m 58s, a massive 64-second improvement on the previous week despite the tougher conditions. Without doubt the ride of the night. He lacks confidence on TT bikes at the moment but with a bit of practice and some guidance from the old heads, it’ll be fascinating to see how quick he could go. There’s huge potential there.

Next came your writer, mentally braced for a 30-second deficit on the previous week. I started too quickly and was gasping within the first couple of minutes, so I just had to settle in and live with the pain. The slopes slowed me down to what felt like a crawl, as they usually do, but I avoided the urge to sit up from the TT position and pushed through to the turn. Then the pressure was off, after a breather of a few seconds at the top roundabout it was time to strap in and go full gas to the finish. The time was slower than in week 1, but only by ten seconds, and there was nice compensation in the form of an improved power reading — and better aerodynamics, apparently. I’ll take that as a moral victory.

Finally there was Jeff, the quickest rider from week 1. He was having another great looking ride and wasn’t far behind me at the turn. He’d made some adjustments on the front end of the bike and appeared to have a more aerodynamic riding position. This would have helped him enormously on the return leg. He rolled up to the finish in another cracking time of 13m 20s, a mere twelve seconds slower than his weather-assisted ride a week earlier. This means that of the seven completed rides in this training series, Jeff has the quickest two. The guy is so consistent.

We’re all awaiting firm news on a return of time trialling to the UK and recent news from the CTT does sound encouraging. The VCC 10-mile event on August 1st could mark the return of the sport as far as South Wales is concerned, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Weather permitting we’ll be back next week — same time, same place and will potentially make a trip to the R10/22a course in the future. But for now by returning to the same track, week in week out, we’re able to chart our progress and get a gauge on whether our tweaks are having the desired effect.

Readers are welcome to join us on June 11th, meeting at 5:30pm outside Farm Foods in Porth, CF39 9BL. All we ask is that you do the right thing, COVID-wise.