2014 Season; March, April, May

Spring Chicken Road Race; 8rd March

Will rode this 3/4 category race outside Buckingham, It was a 47 mile road race. Will finished 5th out of 60 riders after being in a breakaway since the 9th mile. This was Will`s best result since he started cycling and was a good start to the 2014 season. Through this result Will gained 6 British Cycling points.

Sid Latchford Memorial Time Trial; 23rd March 

Will rode this 21 mile hilly time trial organised by Hemel Hempestead CC around the tough course that took in Bison Hill and Ivinghoe Beacon. Will finished in a time of 55:46, this time was good enough for 11th place out of 61 riders. 

Beyond Spring Crits; 29th March 

This was a 2/3/4 criterium around Hillingdon Cycle Circuit. Will finished in 28th place, a disappointing result for Will, but it was not his fitness that let him down but his movement around the bunch before the sprint. 

Beyond Spring Crits; 5th of April 

Again this was a 2/34 criterium at Hillingdon, Will finished in 23rd place after being active at the start of the race. Will was looking for a better result in future races. 

High Wycombe CC 10TT; 18th April

Will rode this time trial on the H10/22 course outside Marlow. This was a good day on a fast course with the start being on the Marlow sliproad by the bypass and the 5 mile turn at Maidenhead thicket roundabout. Will finished in a time of 21:57, good enough for 18th place out of 82 riders. Adam Topham won the event in a brilliant time of 19:19. 

Eastern Counties Festival Road Races; 3rd May 

This was Will`s second 3/4 category road race of the season, and he was looking for a top-ten position finish. This race was held at Redbridge Cycle Circuit, with a tough 12% hill every 1.5 miles. Will finished in 8th place after attacking throughout the race. This placing gave Will another 2 British Cycling points. 

VTTA 10TT F11/10; 5th May 

This time -trial was held on the fast F11/10 course outside Aston Clinton. Will after a proper warm-up rode a time of 20.51, averaging 28.8 mph. This was a personal best for Will with a previous time of 21:17. Will finished 28th out of 74 riders. Will was pleased with this time and his hoping to improve by 30 seconds by the end of the season. 

In the next few weeks Will is hoping for more top-ten placings in 3/4 category races such as the Thames Velo RR, Banbury Star RR and Hillingdon GP. Let`s see how it goes!!

North Road Hardriders TT, Sunday 23rd February

Will rode the North Road Hardriders Time Trial last Sunday. It’s a tough hilly course with 2,146 feet of climbing over 24 miles. Will finished in a time of 1:04:47 placing 20^th place out of 93 riders, averaging 22.5 mph. The event was won by Ashley Cox of Luton CC with a stunning time of 56:47. Only the top five riders rode under an hour. Will felt good until the 17^th mile where the course turned South-West and turned into a headwind, this is where he lost the majority of his time. 

January - The start of the 2014 season.

Imperial Winter Series 4th January

This race was run on Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, by Imperial Race Team. The 3rd category riders where to race with the Elite/1/2 riders. The race started fast, with Will maintaining a position in the top quarter of the bunch. After 4 miles there was a crash on the uphill section of the circuit, this meant the race had to be neutralized for a couple of laps to clear the crash of the circuit.When the severity of the crash was realized the race was cancelled. This was disappointing for both riders and organizers but unavoidable, given that emergency services where needed on the circuit.

Time- 11:56
Average Speed- 20.1 mph (including neutralized laps)
Distance- 4 miles



Imperial Winter Series 11th January

After the previous week`s unfortunate cancellation, Will was primarily looking to see whether his winter training had been working. As per the previous week the 3rd category riders where to race with the E/1/2 riders. The race start was manic with the bunch averaging 28.6mph. Will felt comfortable in the bunch and stayed in the top quarter of the bunch maintaining a safe position. A breakaway of two quality riders escaped from the bunch with 15km to go and gained a good lead, meaning the win was to be contested among themselves. With 5 laps to go Will lost his prime position in the bunch and struggled to regain it with the bunch fluctuating in speed and some riders desperate to gain places. He finished a disappointing 16th place in the 3rd category race.

This is a video from the penultimate lap, hear Will`s coach Scott giving some advice at 00:43.

Time-1:11:31
Average Speed- 26.3
Distance- 31.3

Imperial Winter Series 18th January 

This race was similar to the previous weeks race in terms of layout and how the race was going to be run. will again tried to stay in the bunch and focus on getting into the top ten. Will finished in 18th position in the 3rd category race and was disappointed not to place in the top ten. This was due to not being in the top twenty during the final five laps and not being able to get through bunch and getting to sprint properly.

Time - 1:14:49
Average Speed (including warm-down)- 24.9
Distance- 31.1


Imperial Winter Series 25th January

In this race Will was hoping for a top ten position in the 3rd category race. The race started fast as usual, this race was more aggressive than the previous weeks with more people attacking and breaks forming and then going back to the bunch.Will was briefly involved in a breakaway with a Cambridge CC rider and a High Wycombe CC rider, although this was quickly brought back. With 5 laps to go Will was placed in the top 20 of the race and looking good for the sprint. With one lap to go the speed quickly dropped and the bunch grouped together making it hard to get to the front. During the final bends and the final corner Will maintained position and came 8th in the 3rd category. With one more Imperial race Will is going to race he is hoping for another top ten position.

Time - 1:09:26
Average Speed -25.5
Distance - 29.5

High Wycombe CC Flat Reliability Ride 2nd February

Will rode this event, with a 50 mile route around Watlington and Benson. It turned out to be a lovely ride with Will riding with the Hillingdon CC and Under-23 squad. Will finished the ride in 2 hours and 46 minutes, with him moving from the medium group towards to the faster group.

Maidenhead CC Hilly 30 mile Time Trial

With a tough criterium race at Milton Keynes the day before, Will had no idea what to expect with  it being the first time trial of the year and a new training regime being started the week before. Will started off a at medium intensity having only ever done a 10 time-trial before not wanting to blow up before the end. Will maintained a steady average speed of 23mph until the last climb about 27 miles in, where Will ran out energy and crawled to the finish at an average speed of 21mph, Will finished in 1:22:41, good enough for 15th, which is respectable with a field of 60 riders on the start-sheet  And first junior, after having a close race with a another junior the last 10 miles of the course. He was pleased with the time-trial as he overtook six riders on the course and was only overtaken once, Geoff Powell who went on to finish third. 

The next race is a National Junior Road Race Series Event, the Cadence Junior Road Road Race on the 24th of March around the Brecons, these are normally ferociously quick and are usually won by world-class juniors, Will is hoping to have a good start to the series and finish within the main bunch at the end of the 68mile race.  

East London Velo Race 5

On Saturday 9th of February Will Houghton raced at the Redbridge Cycle Centre, in a category 3/4, hour long criterium. With a solid week of training and improving numbers along the week, it was to be a good race. The previous week there had been a breakaway which Will did not get into, so the first 30 minutes of the race Will was in the top 10 making sure that if a break went away he was in it, or in a position to chase them down.

When the 5 lap marker came up, Will tried a mini-attack at the top of the hill, his aim was to raise the speed and try to force a selection and get a breakaway going, this is the video below. The attack failed and the bunch was brought back together again.

By the last lap Will was in prime position in the top five of the bunch, it was coming down to bunch sprint.

The last 500 metres of the race is uphill and averages about 12%. When people started attacking from behind in the bunch and overtaking Will, they where travelling to quick for him to accelerate up to  them and go fro the win. He was left in between the top 15 riders who had come from behind in the bunch and riders at the back of the bunch who did not have the final sprint.

To correct this next week, Will is  going to attack further down the hill to gain more of a gap, or get into a breakaway. If the race does come down to a sprint again, being further down the bunch maybe 10th or 15th position will be better to get a slipstream and give him more chance of a sudden acceleration.

Imperial Winter Series Race at Hillingdon

Will rode the first Imperial Winter Series Race on Saturday at Hillingdon. He rode in the 3rd race, with medium sized field of around 50. Will attacked and tried to get away, only succeeding once and being caught very quickly.   

The race was frustrating as despite being one of the few who where trying to get away they where regularly caught by the bunch who wanted a group sprint. Will finished mid-way in the sprint despite a promising 4th position going into the last chicane. 

This was a good first race of the 2013 season, Will showed good fitness to stay in the bunch after being in attacks.

Instead of flogging away at Hillingdon for the rest of winter, during January and February Will will swap to Redbridge which has a 12% hill and that will hopefully be better suited to hiss abilities. 

Inverse Points Grabber 1

The race was 1 hour long around Hillingdon circuit, and was 3rd category. 

The race started at a quick pace but quickly slowed down to a medium tempo with a few attacks going off the front of the bunch. I tried to escape the group 4 times, with my most successful attempt being scuppered by a crash in the 4th cat race and our race being neutralised for a couple of laps. 

The last five laps where complete chaos and manic with people flying through the group and then dramatically braking, it was very hard to maintain a position up the sharp end of the bunch with so much erratic riding. In the sprint i was to far down the main bunch to be in contention so came about 15th.. 

For the next race, i will concentrate on staying in the bunch until the last five laps, and then try and attack then, we will see how it goes......

Will Houghton Team Cycle Tech UK 

Will Houghton Road Race Season Write Up – 2012

Results

·         Three top-30 placing’s

·         One top-20 placing (Thames Velo RR)

·         Four top-10 placing’s (Banbury Star, Abbeygate Development Milton Keynes Crit, Omega Stage Race Crit, Omega Stage Race General Classification)

·         22-46 10 mile time trial- VC10 Evening TT. (Personal Best)

Overview

The season started off with two criteriums at Hillingdon at the start of February. I tried to gain as much experience as possible i.e. tactics, nutrition, bunch racing, with my results improving over the course of the two races. I then did my first road race in Botolph Claydon, it was an enjoyable experience. I lost contact with the bunch on the last hill to finish 20 seconds behind the bunch over the 47-mile race. From that race I learnt that calories and lots of them were needed to race for over two hours at race pace.

I then did a trio of crits at Hillingdon over three weeks, in which I came 29, 27, 21 which was pleasing as there were usually around 50-60 riders racing. To gain better placing’s next year at this time of the season aggression and less conservative racing are needed, to start to contend for the win.

I then completed my second road race in Oxfordshire, The Thames Velo road race. This was around the popular Great Milton course, with rolling roads and one slight hill. I stayed in the bunch throughout the race and placed around 15^th place just outside the points in the sprint. This was to be a recurring theme of getting myself to the finish but not getting into contention in the sprint and not being in the first line of the bunch at the sprint enabling me to open up fully.

I completed my first Stage Race this year, Tour of The Milburys, this was to be a tough affair with a hilly time trial in the morning and 70-mile road race in the afternoon, it was also a 2/3/4 category race. I got lost on my way to the time trial, so finished last with an extra minute added to my time. In the road race I lasted 40 of the 70 miles until I ran out of gas, up one of the steep and frequent hills. This was good experience though as I got an insight into what racing at second category is like and the speed at which it happens at.

Then the highlight of the season the Banbury Star Road Race, This race during a very wet June morning, was a tough one with a long steep 14% climb, Knowle Hill. I finished 6 out of 50 racers, which was very pleasing as it was a confirmation that I am stronger on hills than in flat short criteriums. This was the start of the strongest part of my season. I also finished first junior and won £25.

I then raced my first ten mile time trial of the season later that week. It was on the very quick F11/10 course in Tring. This was also a pleasing result as I completed the course in 22.46, with an average speed of 26.4MPH. This was a sign that both the uninterrupted month of previous racing and training was coming to fruition. The next race on June 16th was the Omega Stage Race around the Mountbatten circuit in Portsmouth, it comprised of a short time trial in the morning and 1hour race in the afternoon. I finished 9^th overall after coming 11^th in the time trial after struggling with my restricted gears along the tailwind sections, and 7^th in the criterium race in the afternoon. In continuing with my rich vein of form I raced at the Milton Keynes bowl on the 5^th of July. This was a frustrating race for me. I attacked many times throughout this quick race but could only manage 9^th in the sprint after being brought back many times by the bunch who wanted a bunch gallop. My last race of my pleasing form was the Oakley village road race again a 2/3/4 race over 53 miles. This was a good race for me until the last two miles. Throughout the race I had consistently been in the top 20 and feeling comfortable and strong for the sprint. I then hit a pothole and punctured in the last corner, this was hugely disappointing, as I felt I was on for a good result.

Since then I have been on holiday and have had a couple of injuries that have held me back causing a couple of DNF`s, that have resulted in a disappointing end of season.  I have one 25-mile time trial left and a couple of ten-mile time trials.

Next Year/Season

Next year I am going to be embarking on season with the aims of getting a second category license and placing well in the Junior National Series Road Races across the country. I have learnt many new things this year that will be essential when racing next year and will be hoping to start racing next January, and gaining my first win soon.

Will Houghton