After last week's interclub race at Camors and putting in a very credible performance I was slightly lulled into thinking, this racing malarkey in France ain't too difficult, sure it's a step up from racing in Angleterre, but not so massive because, really, how much difference can there be? A hell of a lot. Unfortunately I got confused post-race with the figures so the figures I gave were not true on my Facebook account, both were some of the longest races I have done, Saturday's was 130.5km, 87.9km point-to-point and then 6x7.1km laps this was the Melrandaisse. Sunday's race was 150.6km 118.2km point-to-point then 6x5.4km laps, this was La Route Bretonne. So my average speed for Sunday's race was only 44km/h compared to the 49km I suggested on my Facebook, sorry, but it's still bloody quick. Yesterday's race was also the longest race I have ever done.
Saturday morning, like most of Northern Europe, we too in Brittany awoke to some snow, but it was not settling, regardless we set out to Melrand for a big local race called Le Melrandaisse, which is raced around the roads of the GP Plouay before we finally do 6 laps around the town of Melrand. The race kicked off from the gun, unfortunately at a key juncture in the race after only 25mins, I punctured, fortunately I got a spare from the team car and I was off again pretty quickly. However, me in my nervous race state and having never been in a convoy was far too impatient to get back to the peloton and no had told me how hard it is to get back on to the peloton when it is hammering it until the right break is formed. 10km of sheer agony later I get back, but I was then spent for the rest of the ride, of which I just sat in the bunch. There were a couple of scary moments with two crashes on the last hill, before we hit Melrand and circuits 10km over the top, these were at the bottom and halfway up the climb. On the first lap of the circuits around Melrand Hamish did a good move, got away with some others to the second group on the road that had formed on that last hills. Unfortunately I couldn't follow either moves and we eventually got lapped by the first and winning break with a couple of laps left, after that the race was neutralised for what was left of the main bunch and we rolled over.
The French Army had turned up with about 12 guys and had just obliterated the field, it was not a fun day with not a single point of respite as the roads round here are often like rollercoasters, good luck finding a flat piece of road, the longest piece of flat in the race lasted approx.300m. I think I must got about 40th for what it's worth, but with 200+ starters, not too bad really. Here the results, http://www.directvelo.com/actualite/24537-la-melrandaise-classement.html
Bit disappointing not to get a top 30 when I know that I probably could of done, but the puncture and the effort to get back to the peloton finished me for the day, but it was a great experience to have and a skill that I am going to need to learn at some point. After the race, Sebastien took me, Hamish and George back to his for a lovely dinner Gael had prepared, before this though we all got a shower and massage and were allowed to watch Les Rosboeufs pound the French with Manu.
On Sunday I awoke feeling a bit rubbish, but I was looking to doing my first proper Breton Classic and an elite race that counts as the French version of the Premier Calendar. Having decided that I would wear what I wore the day before, long sleeve jersey, maybe shorts if I felt warm enough etc... I did not pack certain 'in cases' because if I am going to wear a long sleeve top, why bring arm-warmers with me? Unfortunately I decided to leave my long sleeve jersey on the radiator, not a good start to the day. Luckily the team had a pair of arm warmers for me to borrow and I had my short-sleeve jersey in a the bag as well, so it could have been worse. Moral of the story, prepare for any eventuality. Being English and seeing how heavily wrapped most French riders were, how much they were complaining about the weather and how cold they all were, I decided that, like a typical Englishman, they were all being a bit pansy and made-up my mind to wear shorts afterall.
After a figure of eight around the start town of La Gacilly, we headed north to Guer before going left and East to West to Vannes. The intial break got away in the first 45mins of racing and the only rest-bite during the whole race was the kilometres between La Gacilly and Guer as there was a Northerly wind of about 30km/h, however as soon as we turned left and headed towards the coast all hell broke loose. The wind tore through the peloton and with us racing on big wide roads, this further enabled the effect, as they are less shelterd too and so many an echelon formed, 60km of this really does take it out from you. The main bunch was managing to hold together, but people were getting shelled out the back all the time. One of them was Hamish, his echelon did manage to join back on to the bunch once the road was more sheltered and he had been chasing for 18km. Unfortunately as soon as the road became more exposed again he went off the back. It wasn't just the wind that was the problem, it was also the amount of hills we still had to contend with, absolute savage racing. At the point that Hamish was shot out for good, a big echelon of 30 to 40 went off up the road to catch the intial main break that were about 2mins in front at this point. They did eventually catch them, by the sounds of it, or at least some did. The peloton number was constantly diminshing so that by the time we began the circuit there must have been only about 60 people left. After this it was all small groups and they were stopped once they had reached Vannes and finishing circuits.
The laps were on quite small, technical roads, with two hills, one a steep bugger and the finishing hill that had few strips of cobbles to make it interesting, George and a small group clipped away half-way round the third lap, I did so likewise with 2 laps remaining, not too far from George's group at the end, not that it matters as I came 77th. I was the second-to-last person to complete the entire course as the what was left of the peloton was pulled out with a lap to go, so not a bad achievement just to complete the race. I got 17th 2nd cat, also which is another silver lining. What is quite harrowing as shown by the facts of the race is that with over 160+ people starting it seems that only 100 people even managed to do just one of the finishing circuits, about a third of the field had been put out the back-door. Here's the results http://www.directvelo.com/actualite/24532-route-bretonne-classement.html
Now I feel rubbish, like I always thought I had gone hard and deep in races before, but clearly not. It was great to experience proper echelons being formed for the first time and just to experience and compete at this level. After the performances at the weekend the team pretty impressed with us three English boys and we have been ordered to do the Queen of the Breton Classics, Manche-Atlantique, where a couple of British teams are also meant to be racing. Should be interesting especially to rest against fellow Brits next Sunday.
Congratulations on Mike Barnes grabbing his first win of the season and hoepfully Aprire's tally for the year can keep on rising regularly.
Hope you are all well and keep on enjoying cycling
Monday 25 February 2013
Tuesday 19 February 2013
Mid-week update
I thought I'd give a little mid-week update to you all rather than writing a bloody novel late on Sunday night (to avoid the sensation of last-minute uni essay job) containing a bit more about my day-to-day experiences of this amazing place and my thoughts on the various branches of French culture compared to ours and others as well as talking about cycling and sport in general.
I know I'm a bit late for mentioning this, but better late than never, the Australian doping scandal really did shock me and is damning indictement of where sport really is at across everywhere as well as the revelations coming out from the Operation Puerto trial and the match-fixing stories that concern even games in Western Europe, cycling has shown that it is merely the tip of the iceberg. At least this sport is going a hell of a long way to combating the issues afflicting it, or should that be 'have previously afflicted it' with over 30% of all drug tests being blood ones, by the far the most effective test and where the likes of Mark Cavendish will, during a year, get tested into triple figures. Compare this to Novak Djokovic, who, at the time of speaking, had not been tested at all for the past 6-7 months. An absolutely huge and disgraceful disparity!
Here's all the links to the relevant articles:
I know I'm a bit late for mentioning this, but better late than never, the Australian doping scandal really did shock me and is damning indictement of where sport really is at across everywhere as well as the revelations coming out from the Operation Puerto trial and the match-fixing stories that concern even games in Western Europe, cycling has shown that it is merely the tip of the iceberg. At least this sport is going a hell of a long way to combating the issues afflicting it, or should that be 'have previously afflicted it' with over 30% of all drug tests being blood ones, by the far the most effective test and where the likes of Mark Cavendish will, during a year, get tested into triple figures. Compare this to Novak Djokovic, who, at the time of speaking, had not been tested at all for the past 6-7 months. An absolutely huge and disgraceful disparity!
Here's all the links to the relevant articles:
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/21415819 Australian doping
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/21330805 Andy Murray's view on doping within sport
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/21139622 Novak Djokoivc's stance too
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21227052 Operation Puerto trial
Australian sport has been further hit by the report into their dismal performance in swimming at London 2012 that was published today whereby the whole squad was described as toxic, here's the link to the article; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21501881
Having said all this we have seen some great cycling so far this year and hoepfully there will be much more to come. Likewise I'm pretty chuffed that I've got into Le Route Bretonne this Sunday, a big French Elite totalling 110miles, where those that do well often turn professional by the end of the year, as well as racing a good, hard local race, Le Melrandaisse, the day before. Can not wait for these races!!
Also I would like to further comment on France; their garlic is amazing and cheap as to be expected, with even the worst stuff costing half price, but having as much flavour as the organic garlic over in Britain. The same goes for the olive oil too. Their honey and jam is quite expensive though, if you buy French, but then again it's organic and the flavours are gorgeous. Interestingly the cheaper honey is exported all the way from Romania of all places, but I bought honey from the Champagne region, unfortunately or fortunately it didn't taste like champagne, however it is the loveliest honey I have ever had the pleasure to try.
Furthermore what's great about Brittany is that it is still a massive agarian area with a similar climate to Britain, but just not as harsh in the Winter, this means all the root vegetables, apples etc... we grow, they also grow too, but as I live right next to the fields that supply the supermarkets around here as well as what is sold at the market, I know where it's come from with the benefit of them also not having any or as many chemicals put on them to help survive the Winter.
Thanks to Hamish Graham I can now watch some British T.V. via the website filmon.com, which is brilliant because it also includes a channel called FilmOn Football, basically shows all the best and worst stuff from the first 10 years of the Premiership, probably the best 10 years of football ever. I have since become addicted to this channel and I can't help, but wish the football today was more like that, I now feel very old for saying that.
Another one of my friends, Graham Howell has also set-up his blog and basically what I did during 2012 and what that has led me to do in 2013 he also wishes the same, it's a great blog check it out here at http://grimcycling.blogspot.fr/
Thanks to Hamish Graham I can now watch some British T.V. via the website filmon.com, which is brilliant because it also includes a channel called FilmOn Football, basically shows all the best and worst stuff from the first 10 years of the Premiership, probably the best 10 years of football ever. I have since become addicted to this channel and I can't help, but wish the football today was more like that, I now feel very old for saying that.
Another one of my friends, Graham Howell has also set-up his blog and basically what I did during 2012 and what that has led me to do in 2013 he also wishes the same, it's a great blog check it out here at http://grimcycling.blogspot.fr/
Finally I would just like to say how humbled I was reading this article, have a look; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21499068
Sunday 17 February 2013
Le petit fleur
Well I have just had my baptism of fire with my first French race being a small Interclub, local race between nearby teams in the lovely town of Camors and to say I loved it is an understatement! I've had a brilliant time over this past week getting to know the area and George and Hamish that bit more, the race today was the icing on the cake. We arrived at the start and signed on with the other 150+ competitors on a really sunny, but obviously mild, day, there was music pumping from the speakers, a big crowd and a stage lorry parked right next to the finish line with a large 'Arivee' banner above. After meeting a few of our new team-mates and our D.S. with a few photos or two we were called to the start line for a mental 13laps totalling 67 miles. The course from the Start/Finish line was thus, two sharp successive right handers followed by a long descent to the bottom of a short 5% of about 800m that led out onto exposed farmland with some proper rough stuff that lasted for about 3/4 of a mile, then fast flat section on good tarmac with two 90 degree right handers on leading to the finish avenue that stretched for about a 1km in a U-shape, so on the avenue you come down the hill and back up to the finish. This was not at the top of the hill, but it was an uphill kick meaning any sprint had to be timed perfectly.
Anyway, the race. It all kicked off straight away with a sizeable group of around 8 getting off the front in the first lap, but the bunch never let it get too far away, numerous other groups formed and rejoined the bunch with me deciding to attack the bunch after about 4 laps, however the move didn't stick and so a lot of wasted energy. After about 7 laps it went mental and there must have been about 10 echelons on the road during the middle lap, however the bunch all came back into one. A couple of laps later I decided to have another dig, but again the move didn't pay off and soon after, the lead group were hovering only around 40 seconds from the main bunch, this was because with 3 laps to go a team from nearby Lanester decided to get all their men on the front and drill it as they had missed the break and had the men and will to try and bring it back, but on the second to last time up the hill most completely blew from their efforts, it was at this point that George and Hamish decided to go and jump across to the lead group. George did so succesfully, however Hamish didn't due to hesistation, costing him dearly. I could have jumped to, but was not willing to as that would have meant jeopardising both Hamish's and George's chances of making the lead group as well as th fact that I was not entirely confident the peloton would let three riders from the same team simply ride away to join the front group. So I stayed put near the front of the peloton meanwhile about a mile after his attack we caught Hamish. On the last lap it was a bit nervy, but George managed to make the front echelon that formed on the last climb on the last lap, eventually finishing a brilliant 5th. I however put a bit of an effort in on the latter half of climb, the last time up, but I was feeling it and had no desire to drag the rest of the field with so I let several guys come past me and dropped behind them, but at the top I looked around and saw that the 5 of us must of had well over 10 seconds on the peloton in a matter of moments and with no hesitation from any of us we all began to pull trying to catch-up to the second group, those that had been dropped by the front group the last time up the climb. However I was clearly the strongest, a few guys missed turns etc... and the goup just ahead saw we were coming and had got their act together. Regardless, I won the sprint from our group fro 17th, not too bad with a lot of positives to take.
There must have been only a minute 10secs spread between the winner the peloton arriving so it was all very close, so I know in different circumstances, I might be able to go for the win at some point. Also I was pleased with my own fitness and form though I do feel a little bit too heavy for the slight climb we had on the circuit, having said this I mashed the sprint, executing it perfectly as well as feeling strong and good on the rough stuff.
The race is comparable to Belgian races, though more civilised as befits those that have given this planet the spirit level and the discovery of oxygen, but this race was the fastest one I have yet done, an average speed of just over 29mph really does laugh in the face of the races in Britain, George, who did some Premier Calender races in 2012 said that today's race was faster than most of them. It was also good to race in front of a crowd numbering around 200-300 rather than just the organiser, his wife their adopted son David and their labrador whose blind in both eyes.
Alas I didn't win though and so came away empty-handed and was unable to give the flowers to Marie that she asked for from her 'petit fleur'. Yes that's right, my team principal's mother-in-law and my landlady nows refers to me as her little flower. Hopefully Seb don't tell all and sundry otherwise that might be my nickname throughout the rest of my time in Brittany.
Big race coming up this Sunday so hopefully I can report more good tidings then. Here's the results from the Breton website
http://www.sportbreizh.com/Resultats-Camors-_-Cordon-et-Jeannes-au-top-_-1315-21734-0-1.html
Photos of me sprinting to 17th and me with Hamish and George before the race
Anyway, the race. It all kicked off straight away with a sizeable group of around 8 getting off the front in the first lap, but the bunch never let it get too far away, numerous other groups formed and rejoined the bunch with me deciding to attack the bunch after about 4 laps, however the move didn't stick and so a lot of wasted energy. After about 7 laps it went mental and there must have been about 10 echelons on the road during the middle lap, however the bunch all came back into one. A couple of laps later I decided to have another dig, but again the move didn't pay off and soon after, the lead group were hovering only around 40 seconds from the main bunch, this was because with 3 laps to go a team from nearby Lanester decided to get all their men on the front and drill it as they had missed the break and had the men and will to try and bring it back, but on the second to last time up the hill most completely blew from their efforts, it was at this point that George and Hamish decided to go and jump across to the lead group. George did so succesfully, however Hamish didn't due to hesistation, costing him dearly. I could have jumped to, but was not willing to as that would have meant jeopardising both Hamish's and George's chances of making the lead group as well as th fact that I was not entirely confident the peloton would let three riders from the same team simply ride away to join the front group. So I stayed put near the front of the peloton meanwhile about a mile after his attack we caught Hamish. On the last lap it was a bit nervy, but George managed to make the front echelon that formed on the last climb on the last lap, eventually finishing a brilliant 5th. I however put a bit of an effort in on the latter half of climb, the last time up, but I was feeling it and had no desire to drag the rest of the field with so I let several guys come past me and dropped behind them, but at the top I looked around and saw that the 5 of us must of had well over 10 seconds on the peloton in a matter of moments and with no hesitation from any of us we all began to pull trying to catch-up to the second group, those that had been dropped by the front group the last time up the climb. However I was clearly the strongest, a few guys missed turns etc... and the goup just ahead saw we were coming and had got their act together. Regardless, I won the sprint from our group fro 17th, not too bad with a lot of positives to take.
There must have been only a minute 10secs spread between the winner the peloton arriving so it was all very close, so I know in different circumstances, I might be able to go for the win at some point. Also I was pleased with my own fitness and form though I do feel a little bit too heavy for the slight climb we had on the circuit, having said this I mashed the sprint, executing it perfectly as well as feeling strong and good on the rough stuff.
The race is comparable to Belgian races, though more civilised as befits those that have given this planet the spirit level and the discovery of oxygen, but this race was the fastest one I have yet done, an average speed of just over 29mph really does laugh in the face of the races in Britain, George, who did some Premier Calender races in 2012 said that today's race was faster than most of them. It was also good to race in front of a crowd numbering around 200-300 rather than just the organiser, his wife their adopted son David and their labrador whose blind in both eyes.
Alas I didn't win though and so came away empty-handed and was unable to give the flowers to Marie that she asked for from her 'petit fleur'. Yes that's right, my team principal's mother-in-law and my landlady nows refers to me as her little flower. Hopefully Seb don't tell all and sundry otherwise that might be my nickname throughout the rest of my time in Brittany.
Big race coming up this Sunday so hopefully I can report more good tidings then. Here's the results from the Breton website
http://www.sportbreizh.com/Resultats-Camors-_-Cordon-et-Jeannes-au-top-_-1315-21734-0-1.html
Photos of me sprinting to 17th and me with Hamish and George before the race
Wednesday 13 February 2013
There, but not back again, just yet
Wow, where to begin? How about last week? Well I took that pretty easy after a solid block of training and having one of the joys of cycling, a lot of saddle sore, centred on the left groin area, meanining I couldn't really train even if I wanted to. Also I had a new headset put in to my Dogma before I came over to France, however, as I did not recieve my bike back until Saturday afternoon I missed the regular Hog Hill race. Not to matter as the next day I made up for it by winning a round of the SERRL Winter Series on Sunday morning, it was a great race in awful conditions, a race that I'm pleased to say I won, giving me 2 victories for the year so far, check out British Cycling's report here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20130210-road-Road--Lawless-wins-SERRL-7-0
Unfortunately they got the name of the club I am riding for over here wrong, that's Union Cycliste Hennebont Lochrist by the way, but nevermind. Also on the same day there was the Perfs Pedal race where Fabio and Phil from Aprire raced, a great early season opener and here's British Cycling's media report of the race:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20130210-road-Road--Bialoblocki-wins-Perfs-Pedal-Race-0
I would have done the Perfs race, but I didn't have time as straight after the race and watching England control Ireland I headed in a rented van courtsey of my Dad over to Battersea to meet up with Nick Mills (part of the Mills clan that live not too far away over in Baud and who are key to help setting up everything over in France). We then drove down to Portsmouth where we met Hamish and George and got the ferry to Caen. The overnight sleep on the ferry left much to be desired with the four of us sleeping in the same 8ft by 8ft by 4ft room, unfortunately for Nick he then had a further 200 miles to drive to our destination and his home, Baud. There we met the rest of the Mills family, a lovely bunch, had lunch and headed out on a little loop around the area and through where the three of us should be living.
The roads are gorgeous and quiet with motorists giving cyclists plenty of time and respect with the majority giving us right of way, even when they didn't have to! Anyway following the river down towards Hennebont out of the corner of my eye I spotted a young woman waving as she entered her barn. Now I'm not want to be rude so I enthusiastically waved back, but both Hamish and George failed to spot her and so both said that it was merely an apparition, placed there by my mind. With this banter going on we approached a T-junction when from our right a big boxer and Golden Retriever approached, the latter just barked a bit, but not too aggressively, but a s soon as the Boxer saw us, he set himself and was looking fierce. Hamish attempted to scare him off by shouting and it seemed to ork as he pelted into the garden of the house on our left, however this was not to be the end of it. We ttok the left at the junction going past the front of the house and all the dog had done was run into his house's garden to build up speed to cannon at us from the side. As he went to dive at me and George to tear us apart, guess what?
A Renault Clio smashed into him at 50mph.
He ran off yelping, but I do not know what happend to him as we have been back past the house and he is not seemingly there. The sound of the dog being hit by the car though still makes me gag.
That evening after the ride we met the team principal, Sebastien, a smashing fellow who sorted us three out with some kit and I have to say it is sweet. Afterwards I was taken to my accomadation and I am now living with Sebastien's mother-in-law, Marie, a lovely woman who has bent over backwards to make me feel welcome, I can't speak highly enough of her, for as soon as I arrived she was making sour pancakes with cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn in, delicious! The house is lovely too and so is the room, I am extremely lucky where I am living about a mile or so outside Hennebont, however, neither me nor Marie speak that much of each other's first languages. Cue a lot of funny moments that really should be part of a Fawlty Towers-esque sketch on UK Gold.
Since I've been here I've tried to speak as much French as possible and really throw myself into it all for I am not one to waste such a great oppurtunity and I am in a incredibly fortunate position and I know how many other people would just love to swap places with me so I don't want to do this any disservice.
My first race will be this Sunday, one that I am really looking forward to and is an inter-club race, all the local clubs up against each other, so bragging rights are definately up for grabs. Here are a few things that are intreseting about France and Brittany in particular, I will be adding to this list throughout my time here:
Until next time stay safe ladies and gents
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20130210-road-Road--Lawless-wins-SERRL-7-0
Unfortunately they got the name of the club I am riding for over here wrong, that's Union Cycliste Hennebont Lochrist by the way, but nevermind. Also on the same day there was the Perfs Pedal race where Fabio and Phil from Aprire raced, a great early season opener and here's British Cycling's media report of the race:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20130210-road-Road--Bialoblocki-wins-Perfs-Pedal-Race-0
I would have done the Perfs race, but I didn't have time as straight after the race and watching England control Ireland I headed in a rented van courtsey of my Dad over to Battersea to meet up with Nick Mills (part of the Mills clan that live not too far away over in Baud and who are key to help setting up everything over in France). We then drove down to Portsmouth where we met Hamish and George and got the ferry to Caen. The overnight sleep on the ferry left much to be desired with the four of us sleeping in the same 8ft by 8ft by 4ft room, unfortunately for Nick he then had a further 200 miles to drive to our destination and his home, Baud. There we met the rest of the Mills family, a lovely bunch, had lunch and headed out on a little loop around the area and through where the three of us should be living.
The roads are gorgeous and quiet with motorists giving cyclists plenty of time and respect with the majority giving us right of way, even when they didn't have to! Anyway following the river down towards Hennebont out of the corner of my eye I spotted a young woman waving as she entered her barn. Now I'm not want to be rude so I enthusiastically waved back, but both Hamish and George failed to spot her and so both said that it was merely an apparition, placed there by my mind. With this banter going on we approached a T-junction when from our right a big boxer and Golden Retriever approached, the latter just barked a bit, but not too aggressively, but a s soon as the Boxer saw us, he set himself and was looking fierce. Hamish attempted to scare him off by shouting and it seemed to ork as he pelted into the garden of the house on our left, however this was not to be the end of it. We ttok the left at the junction going past the front of the house and all the dog had done was run into his house's garden to build up speed to cannon at us from the side. As he went to dive at me and George to tear us apart, guess what?
A Renault Clio smashed into him at 50mph.
He ran off yelping, but I do not know what happend to him as we have been back past the house and he is not seemingly there. The sound of the dog being hit by the car though still makes me gag.
That evening after the ride we met the team principal, Sebastien, a smashing fellow who sorted us three out with some kit and I have to say it is sweet. Afterwards I was taken to my accomadation and I am now living with Sebastien's mother-in-law, Marie, a lovely woman who has bent over backwards to make me feel welcome, I can't speak highly enough of her, for as soon as I arrived she was making sour pancakes with cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn in, delicious! The house is lovely too and so is the room, I am extremely lucky where I am living about a mile or so outside Hennebont, however, neither me nor Marie speak that much of each other's first languages. Cue a lot of funny moments that really should be part of a Fawlty Towers-esque sketch on UK Gold.
Since I've been here I've tried to speak as much French as possible and really throw myself into it all for I am not one to waste such a great oppurtunity and I am in a incredibly fortunate position and I know how many other people would just love to swap places with me so I don't want to do this any disservice.
My first race will be this Sunday, one that I am really looking forward to and is an inter-club race, all the local clubs up against each other, so bragging rights are definately up for grabs. Here are a few things that are intreseting about France and Brittany in particular, I will be adding to this list throughout my time here:
- Dogs are allowed to wonder, like dogs used to back in the '50s or earlier in Britain
- Cycling is a big sport over, my little village has two finish line permanently painted and a town like Baud for example has 5 cycling clubs.
- The French don't really do milk, juice, frozen food or sliced bread, instead it is cheese, fruit, fresh food and baguettes
- There are not many fences in places, even in towns, as due to French law, one can come up to 30metres to your house and not be trespassing.
Until next time stay safe ladies and gents
Monday 4 February 2013
Deadline day and failing to live up to expectations
Firstly I forgot to mention in my last post that after Sunday's race I had a meal with my Dad, Sister and Grandparents (Dad's parents) to sort of see me off before I go to France. It was a lovely meal in a local Greek restuarant and a great way to say goodbye, well, to my grandparents at least. This has set the tone as now that I found that I am finally going on Sunday 10th I will be doing the rounds throughout the week and bidding farewell to my rather large family. The dog is counting down the days on his little calendar as he can't wait to have my bed all to himself as well as everyone else because no longer can I be the annoying Son who has to cut-down people's opinions nor the obnoxious Great-grandosn who constantly raids the fridge everytime who comes around, nor the obtuse Grandson who does not answer questions that he feels are stupid and pointless. Oh how they will miss me.
Training has been incredily tough this week for a couple of reasons, firstly because this is the last week of my block before I relax fo a week to prepare myself for France and seocndly beacuse I've got some quite bad saddle sore, don't worry the disaster area has been cordoned off!!! To finish the block off with a flurry and did the 4th round of the Winter Series at Hog Hill, but the 3rd race due to bad weather cancelling the second round. Anyway there were a lot more people who had turned up to this race, numbering about 20 which is a fantastic turnout, again there were not too many team-mates only two sets of two, so everyone had to keep a watchful eye on each other. The wind was incredibly strong on Saturday with it being a block headwind up and over the climb, usually the decisive factor in the race, whoever attacked and went here would have to go incredibly deep and at the right moment to get away. So after 23mins or so that I was I did, I hit the hill perfectly and raced away gaining 10seconds pretty quickly and by the end of the lap, up the hill again I had stretched out my lead to 20seconds. At this point the better guys in the bunch started to get their act together, the bunch really stretched out with lots of little gaps appering when up the third time up the hill I was joined at the top by the eventual who had managed to gap the peloton on the climb and bridge across to me. We were really motoring at this point with the gap extending back out to 20 seconds by the time we reached the top of the hill on the next lap again. However, again the bunch got their act together and chased us really hard, again with them all strung out and little gaps appering. I saw a small group clip off the front the bunch, only a little bit, on the climb beneath so I sat up as I was really suffering at this point and I thought either we were properly caught or some of these guys would be able to help me and the eventual winner stay away. That wasn't to be as the eventual winner attacked again at the top and the bunch seemed quite content on having swallowed just me. At this point Richard da Silva attacked over the top of everyone and I tried to bridge across the 10 second gap to the leader, he couldn't and at this point the bunch got their act together and began chasing the first two down, after a lap and a half we eventually caught Richard and was holding the leader at just 10 seconds in front. However after a couple of laps his lead all of sudden start to extend by 10 seconds a lap as the power really dropped in the bunch. He eventually soloed to a great win having done what I did to everyone last week. The race was still on though with lots of attacks coming and going, but none sticking. At this point I was really paying for the efforts earlier in the race as well as launching some attacks later still so I sat in for the last 7 laps trying to conserve as much as possible. Unfortunately on the last lap the third wheel let the wheel go to the two in front, these two got a little gap a sowed up second and third between, what a stupid mistake. That meant with podium places now out of the window, I couldn't really be bothered to plan to launch my sprint at the right time so off I went right at the foot the hill. I eventually was overtaken by several people and I got ninth overall. This was failing to live up to expectations, especially after last week's win.
By the way the story I just told will be some what in conflict with the media report on British Cycling on this race, so if you just switch for the Palmer bloke they mention as having done the attacks I did with me, then you will the truth. For some reason they confused me with him on these attacks and believe me I did and suffered for them.
Here's the link to photos of my win at Hog Hill the previous week, very muddy and I'm on the later pages http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubbishjumper/sets/72157632621976280/
On Sunday I then met up with Nick Wilkinson, William Pratt and Harry Evans from Aprire Bicycles to top off the block and weekend with a flurry of pain, however it was not quite as good as we planned. Inevitabely on any sort of team rides there will be mechanicals, unfortunately it was me and Harry, fortunately we had been doing a really good ride for quite a while beforehand and inbetween the problems, neither issues were that bad either so all good.
Time I think to rest up and try and cram in as much French as possible and I know I'm moving to France, but I couldn't help be pretend to be Italian yesterday afternoon during the rugby. What a win and a wicked weekend of rugby in general, lovely performance from England too. The Premeir League is providing plenty of goals each week, the Champions League is returning soon and this year's cycling has started off with an absolute bang with yesterday's Tour of Qatar's first stage providing plenty of excitement from the off.
I am going to be racing both on Saturday and Sunday before I go so hopefully I can finish my time in Britian adding to my tally as well as trying to be top of the National Rankings before I leave, I'm fourth at the moment!!! Anyway this week off gives me time to recover from the saddle sore.
I hope you're all well and training is preceding along at a rate of knots, probably post again when I'm in France so on that note https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g
Training has been incredily tough this week for a couple of reasons, firstly because this is the last week of my block before I relax fo a week to prepare myself for France and seocndly beacuse I've got some quite bad saddle sore, don't worry the disaster area has been cordoned off!!! To finish the block off with a flurry and did the 4th round of the Winter Series at Hog Hill, but the 3rd race due to bad weather cancelling the second round. Anyway there were a lot more people who had turned up to this race, numbering about 20 which is a fantastic turnout, again there were not too many team-mates only two sets of two, so everyone had to keep a watchful eye on each other. The wind was incredibly strong on Saturday with it being a block headwind up and over the climb, usually the decisive factor in the race, whoever attacked and went here would have to go incredibly deep and at the right moment to get away. So after 23mins or so that I was I did, I hit the hill perfectly and raced away gaining 10seconds pretty quickly and by the end of the lap, up the hill again I had stretched out my lead to 20seconds. At this point the better guys in the bunch started to get their act together, the bunch really stretched out with lots of little gaps appering when up the third time up the hill I was joined at the top by the eventual who had managed to gap the peloton on the climb and bridge across to me. We were really motoring at this point with the gap extending back out to 20 seconds by the time we reached the top of the hill on the next lap again. However, again the bunch got their act together and chased us really hard, again with them all strung out and little gaps appering. I saw a small group clip off the front the bunch, only a little bit, on the climb beneath so I sat up as I was really suffering at this point and I thought either we were properly caught or some of these guys would be able to help me and the eventual winner stay away. That wasn't to be as the eventual winner attacked again at the top and the bunch seemed quite content on having swallowed just me. At this point Richard da Silva attacked over the top of everyone and I tried to bridge across the 10 second gap to the leader, he couldn't and at this point the bunch got their act together and began chasing the first two down, after a lap and a half we eventually caught Richard and was holding the leader at just 10 seconds in front. However after a couple of laps his lead all of sudden start to extend by 10 seconds a lap as the power really dropped in the bunch. He eventually soloed to a great win having done what I did to everyone last week. The race was still on though with lots of attacks coming and going, but none sticking. At this point I was really paying for the efforts earlier in the race as well as launching some attacks later still so I sat in for the last 7 laps trying to conserve as much as possible. Unfortunately on the last lap the third wheel let the wheel go to the two in front, these two got a little gap a sowed up second and third between, what a stupid mistake. That meant with podium places now out of the window, I couldn't really be bothered to plan to launch my sprint at the right time so off I went right at the foot the hill. I eventually was overtaken by several people and I got ninth overall. This was failing to live up to expectations, especially after last week's win.
By the way the story I just told will be some what in conflict with the media report on British Cycling on this race, so if you just switch for the Palmer bloke they mention as having done the attacks I did with me, then you will the truth. For some reason they confused me with him on these attacks and believe me I did and suffered for them.
Here's the link to photos of my win at Hog Hill the previous week, very muddy and I'm on the later pages http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubbishjumper/sets/72157632621976280/
On Sunday I then met up with Nick Wilkinson, William Pratt and Harry Evans from Aprire Bicycles to top off the block and weekend with a flurry of pain, however it was not quite as good as we planned. Inevitabely on any sort of team rides there will be mechanicals, unfortunately it was me and Harry, fortunately we had been doing a really good ride for quite a while beforehand and inbetween the problems, neither issues were that bad either so all good.
Time I think to rest up and try and cram in as much French as possible and I know I'm moving to France, but I couldn't help be pretend to be Italian yesterday afternoon during the rugby. What a win and a wicked weekend of rugby in general, lovely performance from England too. The Premeir League is providing plenty of goals each week, the Champions League is returning soon and this year's cycling has started off with an absolute bang with yesterday's Tour of Qatar's first stage providing plenty of excitement from the off.
I am going to be racing both on Saturday and Sunday before I go so hopefully I can finish my time in Britian adding to my tally as well as trying to be top of the National Rankings before I leave, I'm fourth at the moment!!! Anyway this week off gives me time to recover from the saddle sore.
I hope you're all well and training is preceding along at a rate of knots, probably post again when I'm in France so on that note https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g
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