Blackcat rider Stephen Swindley (PMR Toachim House) is on a break from his university studies in Sheffield and this has meant a return to his home area around Canterbury, Kent. Stephen has had a great winter training and this has really shown in his racing this year. He has been mixing it with the Elites (see my earlier post) at the Eddie Soens Memorial and has come up against some of the UK’s top riders in races local to Sheffield. A return to Kent has meant some outings in SERRL races http://www.serrl.com/ with varied success.

Stephen has, as I have said previously, a big engine and a big talent which is developing well. He regularly produces over 420 watts in a max test (your maximal aerobic power, reached as an average figure over the final complete minute of a progressive RAMP test) and is somewhat unusual in that his threshold power and heart rate is a high percentage of his maximal power and heart rate. This is a trait he shares with none less than Mr Merckx…..I should explain here that, to give an example, if my maximal aerobic power was 440 watts (this would make my w/kg just under the magic 7….I wish!)  then to be able to maintain 75%-80% of this figure for 60 minutes (The Functional Threshold – this would be your FTP or Functional Threshold Power) would be at a level considered to be  Elite. To put things into perspective, it is one thing to have a high MAP (maximal aerobic power) and quite another to be able to maintain a high percentage of it for a long period of time. It is what, arguably, distinguishes Elite riders from the rest of us and, in a sense, is the true definition of the term “Endurance” in cycling.  Recently, Stephen was able to maintain 370+ watts in a ten mile TT. Coupled with a very good TT position, a new TT bike and an avowed intention to mix his racing next year this should be interesting for fans of the V courses and, of course, the ‘Boro variations (non-northern TT anoraks please look away….or consult your course keys in the CTT Handbook) !

Stephen’s fortunes this season have been up and down but a local E/1/2 criterium at Fowlmead Country Park http://www.fowlmead.co.uk/ on the start day of this year’s tour gave him the win he has deserved all year. Here is his report:

Tour de Fowlmead,

The first half of my season has been rather barren on the results front and so the Tour de Fowlmead was for me a welcome return to BC racing around Fowlmead Country Park. Unusually for Fowlmead it was a fine day; bright and only a light breeze (my note here – Fowlmead is an exceptional purpose-built venue and a brilliant nature reserve also. But…we live in the South east and the man in the sky who hates cyclists regularly turns his hair dryer on to Mach 10….Great for learning how to ride in an echelon). This would usually suggest a sprint finish but, with a decent field, a break was more likely.

My team mate Ciaran O’Grady attacked from the gun and managed a good few laps solo, allowing me to sit in and follow attacks as they went. After Ciaran was reeled back in following a surge, we were rolling through and off and I noticed the rider following me was not quite on my wheel, so I just accelerated in the saddle hoping not to be followed. It worked nicely, giving me a small gap. Three riders quickly jumped from the bunch up to me and started working immediately and our break was away!  With all four of us riding for different teams and riding strongly our advantage steadily grew to over 2 minutes.

With 6 laps to go Rhys Howells from Twenty3c/Focus attacked hard to thin down the break, I hung on…just! Although they did manage to shell Seb Dickson (Thanet RC – great young rider) who had been working extremely hard in the break. Some cat and mouse attacking/counter attacking ensued for a couple of laps allowing Seb to re-join the break. I was now expecting attacks and was covering them comfortably. The rest of the break begun to work again, although only “soft tapping” to maintain their advantage on the bunch –  I, however, refused to take a turn as I was sure there were more attacks to come and sat on. Sure enough,  Rhys and Mike Barnes from Apire RT attacked again and shelled Seb for good. Coming into the sprint I was tucked nicely on the back, Mike led it out with Rhys taking it up strongly: I went late with only about 100m left and managed to get round for the win!

Stephen has had some more ups and downs since this race, including getting  in the winning break in  Nat B road race – he is racing this weekend and has great form so we will see how things go. In cycling luck has to be on your side and I wish him all the best!

More from Stephen later this year.