Why tired? Well in the following blog you will see why!
It all began on Saturday. First proper race of the season for myself and a 1/2/3 cat affair.
Now in England when you think of a 1/2/3 race you think of 60 riders, a village hall in the middle of a field and a man and his dog as the only spectators. The racing's usually predictable and negative and once you've paid out a small fortune for the pleasure of rolling round the British countryside, probably with irrate motorists trying to drive you off the road, you're usually ready to go home!
Well I'm pleased to say France is the direct opposite. With a couple of 1/2/3 races in France under my belt over the last 2 seasons I knew the sort of quality and profesionalism these events were run at. Basically they were near to, if not quite Premier Calendar standard...I couldn't wait.
Plan of action was a 2pm start in a town, 10 miles from my house, called Melrand. Picked up by Nick and Tony Mills and Sam Allen we headed off for the HQ. Arriving and already with just over an hour to go there was a convoy of team vans,buses and official vehicles. Into the HQ and a hype of activity greeted us.
Then a problem...Over to sign on and my name wasn't down on the start sheet. Explaining my team manager had entered me at the last minute they wanted to see my BC letter to say I could race in France. Unfortunately I, stupidly, hadn't brought it out (thinking my French licence had been sorted by now) Luckily a quick call to Tony senior and my letter was picked up from my house and dropped off to me at the race.
Due to this delay I only had 30 mins till the start and a rush to pin numbers on in torrential rain made for a very rushed warm up before lining up on the line to await my fate.
What lay ahead was an 87km loop with a couple of KOM climbs followed by 6 laps of a 5.4km finishing circuit, similar to a Belgium kermesse course.
2pm and we were off. Around 170 riders all keen to show in the first big race and very wet roads, this was going to be interesting. The lack of a warm up meant legs felt slightly on the sluggish side and sitting around 50-60 riders back this was not the place to be when attacks went flying off the front. Soon a break had gone and being to far back I could only watch. Soon a gap did appear and I followed a 20 rider split into a windy section of the course. Yet as soon as it formed we were brought back into the fold. The pace was not steady fast as I had previously experienced over here as the bunch surged and lulled in an uncomfortable way. Before long a few groups had formed off the front but I was't feeling it. Legs were heavy and sluggish. New plan for the day was to finish.
Coming into the final climb of the day a 4km affair into Bubry. I got myself to the front and followed the wheels to the top. By now the bunch, still of at least 100 riders were losing interest. Coming onto the finishing circuits became a bit of a procession as we rode round. With the next days race now in my mind I sat in and rolled in mid way in the bunch, about 70th place overall. Feeling very average all day I was glad it was over and was really ready to get my teeth into the next days race.
La Route Bretonne
Sunday dawned and I awoke to feeling surprisingly fresh. Checking pulse confirmed this. This was a good sign as what was to come would be one of the biggest races of the Breton calendar and it was only February!
Another afternoon start, I was told a bit of a drive this time, still only 45 mins in car to La Gacilly, a very picturesque town to the east.
Today's race was an Elite National race. This basically meant some of the top teams in the region and country were down to ride. If the day before was bordering on Premier Calendar standard, today was practically a pro race!
Arriving and it really did look like a pro event with Saur Sojasun, BIC2000, AC Lanester and The National Army Team all sporting team cars, buses and lots of staff. Signed on with, thankfully, no drama today! I pinned up, changed and got a good 20 min warm up in.
1:15pm and we were off for our procession lap. Around 150 riders again today. Soon back through the start, lead car away and we were off the pace exploded the bunch expanded and soon a long line in the gutter had formed!
Now I could explain every aspect of this 150km race but I think I'll just summarise...very fast throughout, although steady fast, lots of gutter action, lots of wind and rain on and off all day!
We basically had a 116km point to point followed by a 6.4km or so finishing lap to be done 5 times. I'd been told to save myself for the finishing lap as it contained a 500 metre or so Belgiumesque 20% climb. With the bunch splitting due to the headwind all day around 100 of us headed for the finishing lap. With the all day break still only 20 seconds or so up the road (their lead had been hanging at 20-40secs all day!) the race was still very much on as the bunch hurtled onto the finishing circuit.
What a savage circuit! Lots of 90 degree corners, mostly down hill in the wet, a small pave section and the 20 % hill, felt like trying to do a Tour Series race after 3hrs of flat out racing!
Soon the rain began coming down again and the splits in the bunch, due to the immense pace, were forming. With such a tight finishing circuit I was to far back and knew it! Trying to move up when I could it was soon to late as riders began getting dropped, sitting up or forgetting how to corner! Now I'm renowned for not being good in the corners but the French in the wet are a whole new level! Soon the cold and wet, mixed in with the splits meant I was in a new group of 5 or so with a number of groups behind and a fair few in front. Annoyed as it was positioning rather than strength that let me down I plowed on to a disappointing 65th place.
Cold, wet and tired I could barely get kit off. Route Bretonne complete, only about half the field finished this savage test.
So what have I learnt in last couple of days...Best is to look at it in positives and negatives
Positives: Seemed to recover well in between races, actually felt better on the Sunday race than the Saturday, I am eating and fuelling myself well on the bike, When the hammer does go down I have the strength to stay with it and finally I had 270km of racing in my legs and 370km racing in total and it was only February!
Negatives: Positioning!!! However strong being 50 riders back won't help, Measuring efforts, there's 100 riders all of the same level, unlike England, and gauging the effort can really help later in the race, No results this weekend and disappointed not to be at sharp end of races which I usually love to be. A good warm up is needed especially over here where neutralised zones aren't very neutral! Finally my jump (or lack of it) something to work on there mixed in with some motor pacing in next couple of weeks!
So all in all lots of lessons learnt, experience gained, a whole new style of racing and good training for later in season. Can safely say I love the style, speed and way French racing is run, can't wait to show in these races in coming months what I can really do fully race fit....watch this space!
Now for an easy week I think!
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