Tuesday
After the pan flat Belgium-like race the day before, today was promising to be completely different. Another round of the Trophee Aven Moros series and if Monday's race was anything to go by was going to be another fiercely contested race.
Awoke at silly a'clock again! Body seems to think 7am is a good time to go to the toilet. Great, only problem is I never get back to sleep and with the race not starting till 3:30pm it makes for a long day!
Still sun was out and I was promised a hilly more suitable race for me, what could be better. Bike cleaned and new tyres put on. I know it is never a good idea to use new equipment and especially new tyres on race day but I needed all the help I could get! Nice set of blue Vredsteins fitted, the colour alone I hoped would add a few kilometres an hour more speed.
So away to meet Sam again. 1:30pm and on the road. Finistere bound. All races at the moment seem to be in this direction. Might consider booking into a hotel for the last few weeks racing as spending so much time in this region.
A 45 min drive and arriving at the town of Scaer. One thing I have learnt since being out here in France is the French love getting to a race early. Arriving and riders were already kitted up and beginning their warm up, with over an hour before the race! Myself and Sam weren't quite as eager for extra chamois time. Still signed on we met Mike Cuming and Tony Mills.
All ready, I headed off for a warm up round the circuit. A 6.2km loop made up of a false flat finish, a right onto a short sharp kick of a hill, a tight left onto a long wide drag of a hill, a tight right, some descent, another tight right onto some smaller roads another short hill, a descent with a fast right hander before a gentle climb back round to the finish. Warming up it didn't feel too hard. Come the race though it was bound to be a different story!
Lined up. Field was pretty good. Lots of the same guys from yesterday's race. UC Nante, UC Cholet, BIC2000, VCP Lorient, Hennebont Cyclisme (with on form David Chopin present today) Vendee U, AC Lanester and Cotes D'Armor, just to name a few. For UCL Hennebont just myself and Rene. So 86 riders and 16 laps...lets roll!
Away we went. Pace on from the gun, in typical French fashion. Straight up the climb and it was lined out.
This is now where this blog gets simple, for me at least. The next 14 laps were pretty much identical in that I hung on for dear life! About 20-30 riders back I knew I needed to be further up but knowing and actually being able to get there are two different things! For what was meant to be a hilly course, expected to blow the bunch to pieces it wasnt happening. Yes it was hilly but the bunch were intact and the speed never dropped.
Eating and drinking and riding the rollercoaster that was this race. Breaks would go yet with a number of strong teams nothing stuck. This meant racing was full on. I was struggling sprinting out of the corners and after a few laps getting frustrated with myself I decided big gear and roll it over rather than spin would be better. I was right, massive gear and hack! Much better.
Not entirely sure of the size of the bunch over the next few laps (was just transfixed on holding wheel infront) but the race wasnt shredding riders out like I thought it would.
One and a half laps to go. The bunch eased momentarily. Lots of tired legs by now. A break of 3 had managed to escape off the front and had built a 30 second lead. With Vendee U, AC Lanester and Cotes D'Armor each having a rider in it.
I have said in previous blogs how I'm starting to feel effects of a long season. Both legs and rest of body starting to slowly crack I think! One strange thing though is I dont seem to get any worse as race goes on. I seem to finish the same as I start. This is compared to the other riders who start fresh and seem knackered by the end.
This sometimes plays into my hands. As a lap and a bit to go I attacked. Legs felt ok, good job it took over 2 hours of racing for them too! No luck though.
Last lap and it looked like a bunch kick for 4th. A few kamikaze moments into the finish and I chickened out of the sprint. I know I should have tried it but some real dodgy riding going on! So across line. Says I came 24th, not sure about that but I'll take it! Sam and Mike came in in bunch as well after what was a strange finish, for on paper a hilly race.
Race was won by a Vendee U rider with his brother from Cotes D'Armor coming second. A nice family affair!
Only looking at the photos afterwards did I see how close the break was to being caught. Shows how a hilly 100km and strong riders can keep the race pretty much together throughout. 42km/h average not a slow day either.
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| bunch within sight of catching both 2nd and 3rd place! |
So there we have it. August racing done. Not the month of results I hoped for and feeling a bit run down now. One more month of racing and determined to get some good results in it.
Next few days its a case of recovering, trying to get rid of mouth ulcer (sign of tiredness I think) and also trying to get some more sleep.
Next race is a very local one on Sunday, 2km away from me in fact, in Hennebont. 18km of climbing in 90 or so kilometres, gonna be fun!
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