The Ward Effect
Last weekend Simon Ward and Jonathan Durnin raced the Eastern Region VTTA Time Trial on the E2/25 course on Saturday. Simon enjoyed his best performance of the season, stopping the clock at 1:01:52, and Jon squeaked a PB at 55:20.
Another weekend, another Open TT result, nothing else of note? Not at all. Read on to find out how Jon fared training with Coach Ward.
As many members will know, Simon Ward took and passed his British Cycling Level 3 coaching qualifications earlier this year, and I was one of his ‘guinea pig’ riders. Level 3 is quite a step up from Level 2 and involves a coach working with individual riders to improve performance.
Over the past few years my performances had been rather mixed, with available time, other responsibilities, and a couple of what can best be described as ‘mishaps’ whilst riding, converging to the point in 2022 where I did not start several events I had entered.
Simon set me a training plan each week, tailored to how much work I could do, a weight target and ongoing core exercises and nutrition advice. We agreed my goals would be to do a 50 TT in under 2 hours, to improve on my 25-mile PB (55:27, set in 2017), and to be competitive in Club events. At first this seemed to me to be rather ambitious, but early in the spring I found his approach was working for me, I began to feel good, and my season goals started to look achievable.
My performances continued to improve. In June I did a 50-mile TT in well under two hours, did my fastest time on our Kibworth Course, and was regularly competitive in Club TTs. However, whilst happy with performances in terms of power and placing, several cancelled races and ‘entertaining’ conditions (such strong block headwinds, and 30-degree days in September) meant there were limited opportunities for the perfect ‘float’ day that is need for riders of my calibre (and indeed age) to get that elusive target time for a 25 in July, August, and early September.
So, on Saturday (23rd September ’23) Simon I headed to Newmarket on Saturday for one of the last races of the TT season, the Eastern Region VTTA Time Trial on the E2/25 course on Saturday. We often travel to open TTs together, and this time we made sure we drove the course first, as it was the first time either of us had raced there. Whilst Simon has a couple more 25s to race this year, it was the final open of the season for me, and whilst I had come very close to a 25 PB this year, I was keen to get that PB to end the season. 130 riders had entered, and it was a very high calibre field.
Simon was off at 34, and I was 63. We knew it was a fast course, but after the first couple of miles I dismissed any thoughts of a PB – the out leg was grippy, exposed and straight into a headwind. My expectations shifted to making sure I went under the hour, and at the turn even this seemed tight, but on the return leg I was able to kick on and my average speed began to quickly increase, and after 20 miles it was clear that a PB might, just might, be on. The course is known for being about a quarter of a mile ‘too long’, for safety reasons, and whilst my average speed was slightly ahead of schedule at the end, I needed to dig deep over the last mile. I crossed the line in 55:20, a PB by 7 seconds, with nothing left to give. Simon finished at 1:01:52, his best ride of the year.
Simon’s approach to coaching has been to fit cycling in around life, adapting week by week, and paying as much attention to mindset as to numbers, taking a ‘whole person’ approach, but also recognising the relative place of cycling in the most people’s lives. This was most welcome. Simon has got me to love riding and racing my bike again, and I am delighted and relieved that I did not let him down.
Simon’s always more than happy to chat with club members, and you will often find him at events, and coaching at Whizz Kids and Mudlarks (indeed you will typically hear him before you see him….Simon did not need to develop a ‘coaching voice’ as part of his training!)
Thank you Wardy, looking forward to next year already.
Jon Durnin
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