"Recuperation"

Recuperation...recovery, Something as cyclists we sometimes don't get right or for that matter dont get the balance right.

I am definately one for not always getting this right. Unfortunately over the last few days my body has reminded me of this!

So after last week feeling pretty lethargic on the very hot team ride I took Thursday off completely. Checking my resting HR in the morning I could see and feel I was tired and not right. Usually around 34bpm when rested it was hovering at 42bpm. A very lazy day was had but still feeling tired I knew this wasn't to be a quick fix.

A long 10hr sleep Thursday night and woke to find HR still around the 40bpm mark. I also awoke to feel as tired as I did when I went to sleep.
Not sure what to do as racing Saturday and Sunday I needed really to get a spin in today. After a morning debating what to do I headed out in the very warm sunshine for 45 mins very easy. Returning although feeling slightly better I still felt half asleep. A lazy afternoon followed.


Saturday

Awake and feeling the same run down self. I was off to Circuit d'Armorique, the otherside of Brest. Picked up by my team manager at 10:45am we headed to the team's lock up to meet my team mate Gurvan and his girlfriend and to pick up the team car.

Away we went and a 2hr drive ahead of us. Now neither my team manager nor team mate or his girlfriend spoke much English. This was a perfect opportunity to show them what I've got! (or not got) After a few broken exchanges I'd even managed to make a joke! Surprisingly the conversation flowed well and other than a few questions about certain words I was pleased to get immersed in the language.

Arriving at the race and it was a hype of activity as team cars, vans and riders milled around. A 2:30pm depart meant sign on, kit on, shake lots of hands and get out for a warm up. Off I went for my warm up yet within 10 mins I heard a hissing and realised I'd punctured, better now than in the race I guess. Back to the team car to swap wheels and continue the warm up.

Warmed up and very warm I was too (27degrees again today) I lined up with the 80 other riders for the start. 15 laps of 8.6km. Basically flat and kermesse like with lots of corners, wind and the Katusha feeder team! Off we went and boy did we go.

Soon up to 50km/h with Katusha lining everything out. I moved to the middle of the bunch and hung on for dear life! Through the first corners it was manic and coming round after 10 mins we'd already completed a lap! Quick was an understatement. Soon though breaks were forming and splits occuring. Unfortunately I was in no state to be participating in this rip up!

A mixture of sprinting constantly out of corners and the fact I still felt rather off colour I tried to hide and survive. Yet it wasn't to be.

After an hour the elastic split and I cracked. Back to the team car I was gutted. Changed and bike away I watched as the field ripped to pieces over the next 2 hours. With Gurvan finishing in what was left of the bunch, 15 or so riders, the time gaps were huge. Surprisingly the winner was a skinny 60kg Lorient rider actually not from Katusha at all! Just shows you don't need to be big to win a kermesse style race like this.



So a long drive back and a pretty big waste of time for me. Even if I was feeling 100% was never gonna be a great course for me but that's racing. A good talk with the manager about my "recuperation" and training and I was home, fed and ready for a good long sleep.


Sunday

To say I was worried after yesterday was an understatement. A 3:30pm race meant a morning of chilling out and trying to kill time.

Picked up by my team mate Sebastien , his wife and son at 2pm. We were off for the 20 min drive to Moreac for the second round of The Trophee Job Morvan Series. Again giving me plently of practise for my language skills! Arriving it was a much smaller affair than yesterday's Elite National but still is a big deal with a podium lorry, sizeable crowds and the ever present beer tent!


Parked up, off to "dossard" (sign on) where I completely forgot the French for number 85 and was given 45! A quick change of number and was off for a couple of laps warm up. Another 25 degree afternoon of racing lay in store. After 2 laps (just over 5.6km a lap) warm up I realised I'd been brought to another kermesse, A very flat one with the only thing not horizontal being the motorway bridge each lap!

Ah well at least the corners were more flowing. Big roads and not much wind, was gonna be a fast one!


128 riders lined up for the 18 laps. Lots of team mates present meant lots of hand shaking, kissing and "saluting!".


3:30pm and we were off! Moving to the front of the bunch I wanted to keep an eye on the series leader and guys who had been in the break the previous week. Wasn't hard to keep track of leader at least. At 6ft 7 and in a bright yellow leaders jersey he was probably the easiest man to spot! Following the wheels the pace was on. Soon a group of 6 or so got away. The race leader wasn't there so I stayed put.

With the series leader's team mates on the front of the bunch the pace stayed high and even though the break did go out to a minute after a few laps it was all back together. Positioning myself in the top 15-20 riders I followed a few attacks but nothing was sticking with such a high pace. Eating and drinking well we were coming into the last lap. The pace now frantic a split suddenly occured of 6 or so riders, dangling off the front of the bunch. I needed to get across, I had to do something, even if I wasn't feeling great.


Up the motorway bridge for the last time and 2 riders clipped off the front I jumped and got onto them. Soon we were doing through and off. Yet a cursory look round and the 100 rider bunch was only a few hundred metres behind. We were giving it full gas but so were they!

So 2km to go and caught. I was spent. Sitting up I got myself into the bunch. Into the finish and sprinted in mid bunch somewhere, tired but content I at least attempted to get away at the end.

Finishing it was a quick one, 44km/h average. A hot, fast race done.


So two races, two kermesses and two not very impressive performances. Although feeling better than yesterday I'm still not right.

Plan is a week of "recuperation" so keeping an eye on HR and very very easy and short rides or days off depending what body feels like.

A race in Bignan next Sunday. En Ligne (big loop) with a hilly finishing circuit. Hopefully will be more my cup of tea and hopefully after a week easy I will be fresh and ready to get that result I know I can get!