Another set-back, but chins up all-round

After my birthday weekend I had two races the following week, the 1/2/3 GP Lorient, in the heart of the city on a Friday night as the race was meant to herald the beginning of the annual Inter-Celtique Festival that occurs here every year. Then Sunday was a 2/3 race and part of the series of the Roi Morvan Challenge where I was hoping not only to do well in both races, but hopefully improve my overall position in the series by doing well in the latter.

Both races were windy, but completely different courses. Lorient was flat and fast with two cobbled sections close together and not far from the finish line and this was raced 36 times giving us a grand total of 100km approx. The race was incredibly fast from the start and at about a third of the way through a front group drifted off the front, I was unable to get across, I think because of my discomfort in the saddle due to a mixture of cobbles and saddle sore, these two really aren't bed fellows. So I managed to get into the next group that was still fighting for 18th place. Gradually our group whittled down to just 8 riders and with only 3 laps to go for us, we were lapped by the lead group of 6 sadly. This is where confusion reigned as some competitors like myself went for the sprint thinking we were finishing on the same lap as the leaders and I thus got second in the sprint securing 19th place as a result or so I thought. As some people from the group continued to do another lap of the course, but it was too late for me to get back into the race so I just stopped and hoped that the organisers would rectify the situation as the last group came through to do another lap too. As it turned out from 18th place onwards the organisers just randomly assigned places and times giving me 23rd, now my rankle here is I was either 19th, thus securing more money and some points towards my first cat. license or I was a lap down on all riders and came about 34th. How the hell did they come up with 23rd? So no points and less money than I may have otherwise received, very gutting, but at least I won 10 euros.

Me and my group on the cobbles over the G.P. Lorient

On Sunday, the race was a 2/3, short, sharp race of only 88km, but very hilly as in that time we amassed a mile of vertical ascension. The finish line was on a hill, but one had a very fast downhill before it so you could smash up the whole climb in the sprint in 53x11. The race kept on splitting apart and coming back together, I didn't do especially well at the start, but I believe my stamina is probably my greatest strength, George managed to get away in a group of 5 and I managed to get away from the yellow jersey with another. George got 4th and I got 8th, me and my escape companion were caugght by two other guys at the foot of the climb and they managed to carry that momentum around me, I was a bit gutted to miss out on 6th, but I won another 10 euros. Also my result put me into 10th place in the series overall, only 20 points shy of 5th place, so hopefully I can break into the top 7 or more by the end of the series.

Me attacking the yellow jersey at the hilly race

Not too bad a weekend, but I was hoping for me, however this week was meant to be exceptionally busy and with me finding form, leaned up, I was planning to win one of the four races I was going to be contesting this week. Thursday night, began and ended at Corcaneau, where, on a technical, I was really keen to do well, due to the many English on holiday there at the moment and to justify the good sensations I have been feeling recently as well as to properly bury any last, lingering doubts about my right knee after my injury.

Unfortunately the dead turn on the course was to prove my undoing as with a third of the race gone, the break began to form, of which I was in, but going into the dead turn someone stuck there front wheel between my rear wheel and rear mech, causing the rear hanger to shear in half and the rear dérailleur to go into my rear wheel. I subsequently fell off my bike fortunately not bringing anyone down in the process. Sadly though, even with my bike being fixed in a day by Stefan the mechanic in our local bike shop, I will not be riding the planned three races today, tomorrow and Monday, one of which I felt I was sure to win. Instead I will be sitting on my bum again resting my left hamstring, as I managed to pull that in the process of coming off my bike at Concarneau.

Obviously I am very gutted, but at the same time not too disheartened as my hamstring feels much improved from yesterday already and I believe I will be fine for next weekend's race, but I needed this little strain like a whole in the head and my aspirations to reach my first cat. license have taken a bit of a blow now. However if I am consistent still in the last few races and win one then it is still possible to reach it, if not, then I would have come close, which I suppose is an achievement in itself considering the trouble I have had this year with my knee. I'm cheering myself up though with my plans for racing over here next year and a lot of good things seem to be slipping into place, hopefully they do so that I can really show people how good I am properly, next year as well as in the last few weeks of this season.

I hope you are all well and racing is going swimmingly, I shall see a lot of you quite soon, in about 5/6 weeks I think, so until my next post, enjoy yourselves.