Ian Marsden

Karl Raise Czech National Circuit Road Race 3rd May 2008

I travelled to Louny in the Czech Republic 2 days before to race to ride around the course again, this was a race I had done with my Czech Team Handbike cr many times over the years. The weather was not bad warm with a couple of thunderstorms along the way (Just like being home again). I started to unpack my Handbike ready for a bit of training and found my left rear wheel was very loose. I had a closer look and found that the boss that sits inside the frame was damaged very badly. This means the wheel just wobbles a lot, and could come off.

That was it I thought my race over before it starts, Chris who was racing with me from the UK and made the bike tried his best to fix the problem, but it was impossible to do. I woke up the morning of the race, and after a long chat with Chris decided to give it ago as I had nothing to lose. We both took a steady ride to the start which was 30 minutes away, but my left rear wheel hit a pt hole and caused the drafting bar some how to flip up onto the wheels and cause them to lock and skid along the road to a stop. I shouted Chris to stop but he did not hear me, luckily there was a man walking along the lane and with my few words of Czech I got the man to knock the drafting bar down to release the wheels. Chris had waited for me further up the road (as he realised he was talking to himself), but due to this we had to ride very fast to the start because of the time we had lost. We had to ride that fast that our heart rate hit 180 bpm, not the best steady warm-up we had planed.

We mad it to the start with seconds to go, I was sitting on the start with my heart racing. The gun went and I made my way to the front to give myself more room to move. There are only two places to attack and make a brake both on hills, the first close to the start and the second right at the end. One of the riders John Vink made a brake on the first hill, no one followed so I pulled out from the pack and chased after John. Because I had made a move everyone followed me, I closed the gap on the decent doing over 36 mph. John Vink dropped to the back of the group and I stayed on the front riding at over 30 mph, I moved across several times and shouted at one of my team to come through and do some work, but no one did. Just before we turned off the main roads John Vink came to the front and nodded at me to sit behind him. This was a tactical move because when the group entered the narrow lanes it would be one of the last overtaking places on the course. We made the sharp right hand turn into the lanes, I was in second place a good position. But to my surprise two of my team mates cut in on the inside across the grass verge hitting my front wheel at speed I had to take evasive action to avoid a very big crash, this resulted in me crashing in the ditch on the left ending my race just 3 Km from the finish and finishing of my rear axle for good.

The tripe to Venice airport was trouble free and the weather was looking good for the weekend. The course was very fast and flat (apart from a couple of small climbs). It was a very early start on the Sunday morning I had to be up by 5am ready to be collected at 6am by the race transport, due to the race starting at 8:30am.

The weather was great, which makes a pleasant change this year, at the start I got myself ready and on the bike to start my warm-up. This was going okay until along the start came a dance troop, marching band and a lot of people. No one said there was going to be a parade at the start, I wish they had told me as I was stuck behind it for 15 minutes trying to warm-up. I eventually made my way to the start and was put on the front row for a change, but I was on the very far right tight against the sponsor's boards. When the gun went I shot right across the road towards the middle to give me a clear space, and at this point lead the race out from the start.

The pace was fast from the start and at first no one wanted to take over at the front to help, until the first climb the a group of riders attacked hard and started to split the group of 100 riders. I was in the attack and broke away with the lead group by this time doing 30mph (which is fast using just your arms). The course took the riders though many nice villages and small towns, but I did not have time to look at anything apart from the bike wheels in front of me. There were many little attacks along the way, and one rider even got away on his own. No one made a move to chase him I guess because he broke to soon with half the distance to go, and the group pulled him back after a short time. On the next attack I went to change gear and all I got was noise and no gear change, my gears were jumping every were. I had to slow down to sort the problem out which meant I dropped off the group and they gained about 500 meters on me by the time I had it sorted. I had to work very hard to make the distance and my heart rate was at 180 bpm, which was 96% of my maximum heart rate. At on point I thought I was never going to catch them, but I did after about 12 minutes.

I recovered at the back of the group and missed a few turns on the front to rest, but another attack came so I did not have long to recover. On the last 2.5 Km of the course I was taken by surprise by large cobbles (no one had told me about these), I hit them at just under 30mph and my chain decided to jump off which lost me a few seconds. The cobbles took a lot of energy out of my arms, and I thought my bike was going to fall to bits. The riders attacked just before the end of the cobbles and I looked up to see the finish in sight. There was a mad sprint to the finish line with the very large crowd shouting and cheering loud. I crossed the line in 5th place with a time of 1 hour 7 minutes (everyone had the same times). This was a new PB as my best time over 26 miles before was 1 hour 12 minutes, so I took 5 minutes off this time. That's the fastest time a UK rider has done over 26 miles, so not bad for a weekends work.

2005/2006 Season Race Results

• Stoke on Trent Sports Council Male Sports Personality of the Year
• 1st Stafford Grand Prix Race (Breaking the course record)
• 5th EHC Race France
• 1st IPC European Cup Road Race Slovakia
• 2nd IPC European Cup Time Trial Slovakia
• 1st Czech Republic National Circuit Road Race C Division (Breaking Course Record, Beating Current Paralympic Gold Medallist Marcel Pipek)
• 1st Colwyn Bay Grand Prix Road Race
• 1st Colwyn Bay Grand Prix Time Trial
• 6th EHC Time Trial Louny Czech Republic
• 4th EHC Team Time Trial Louny Czech Republic
• 1st Preston Grand Prix Road Race
• 1st British Cycling National Disability Time Trial Championships (Handbike Division) and 2nd overall, which includes all Disability classes.

European Handcycling Circuit Round 1 Rosenau France

The journey to Heathrow airport went smoothly with no traffic problems. To my surprise checking in was smooth and fast, its not to much of a surprise to have problems with the handbike so I always give myself lots of extra time on the day.

After arriving at Basel airport, I had a quick look over the Handbike to see if there was any visible damage all looked in shape. When I arrived at the hotel I unpacked the Handbike, I had to sort out the gears, as the cable seemed to be stretched and tighten a few bits on the bike. I wanted to have an early night but due to sorting all the little bike bits I got to sleep after midnight.
 

In the morning I went down for breakfast and the weather was not looking too good as it was very cold and a high risk of snow, which would be the first time ever doing this race. Down at the start time was going fast and it started to get even colder, when the course was open I started my warm-up with one of the Polish riders as there was only a couple of my Handbike CR team mates at the race. I think this was due to the weather being so cold as the team had been training in Spain over the winter.

When I was doing my warm-up the brake failed on me, I went to the pit area as fast as I could and tried to fix the problem, which was a challenge, as I did not know what the problem was. After a few adjustments I went back to the course and as it was getting late was directed to my grid position on the second row. As I pulled up to my position I applied the brake and there was nothing there again. Now I had a big problem I was at the front of the grid with around 160 riders behind me. I kept pulling the brake but nothing happened, I had to think if to risk doing the race using the second brake which was attached to my seat but to use it I would have to take my left hand off and steer / change gear with one hand. The riders were ordered to the start line a few meters in front for the off, I decided to put my hand up and let all the riders come around me, and when it was clear I moved over to the grass off the course.

It would be impossible to ride the French course with no brake I could keep my hand on and use due to the very fast speeds and very sharp corners and turns. When the race started and all the riders had set-off I turned the bike around and went up the course to get to the pit area so I would not set the timing chip off on the bike and record a start resulting in a Did Not Finish (DNF). This is the first time since starting the sport I did not start a race, I was very disappointed and upset I really wanted to race as I have worked very hard over winter and I am now a race down with no points.

Stafford Half Marathon Road Race

The build up to the first race of the season was not the best I have had before. I managed to get two chest infections within a space of a month. This put my training back a couple of weeks, which was an important time due to the build up of the race program.

I had been training on the course a number of times as part of my program, but I was not aware that the last part of the course had been changed until the day before. I was asked to try out this new section by the race organisers to see if a Handbike could make the very tight left turn down a steep ramp and the a very tight right turn which joins the river bank ( If you missed the right turn at the bottom you would end up in the river). I gave this section of the course the all clear, but there was no room for mistakes and you had to slow down a lot.

On the morning of the race my stomach was not too good as I was still on a course of antibiotics for the second chest infection. I got the bike ready and got on the bike to start my warm-up, which was needed as it, was bitter cold and strong wind with gusts of 27mph. The warm-up bit not go to plan as I was sick on the bike and could not stop coughing my guts-up. I sat on the start line with 5 minutes to the start chatting with the other riders. The countdown started, and of we all went, the first lap around the town centre is always a steady one due to lots of very tight turns. Its really so the crowd can see all the riders before it really picks up the pace, we cross the start/finish line again and the speed picks up as we make our way out of the town.

I lead the riders out (same every year as know one wants to take the front) I increase the pace instantly and can feel the other riders breathing down my neck. We get to the first of the hills, which is along climb; I put the power down and work as hard as I can because this part of the race decides the winner. As I go over the top I managed to drop the other riders and made a gap of over 20 yards. I picked up the speed and the gap got bigger until the other riders were not insight anymore. Now it was just me and the two lead rides (Shaun and Dave from Mammoth lifestyle) on road bikes making sure the way was clear and hazard free.

The wind was very strong in parts, with lots of cross winds making it hard to stay in a hard gear and maintain the pace. Towards the end of the race along the riverbank I had a slight problem, a big fat dog was blocking the entire path and would not move. This caused my to slow down a lot as the only place for me to move was left taking me in the river! Shaun managed to move the dog (with force) as the owner decided not to help in anyway. I was on the final section taking me back into the town centre, I took the final left hand bend to the finish line lucked up and in front of me was a wall of people. A lot of shouting went on as I approached the finish line, but I still had to slow down to prevent any accidents. This has not happened before, and due to my speed over the course I don't think they were ready for me at the finish this year. As you may guess I came first with a time of 46:12, about 4 minutes ahead of the next rider.