bizarre events in Super U

Bizarre...the best word to describe  yesterday.

It all began at 8:15am when Tony arrived to pick me up for what was to be a very long day of travelling and racing. Bag and bike packed we drove the fifteen or so minutes to Hennebont where we met up with Sam Allen and the Hennebont Cyclisme Team van. The plan today was to get a lift with Sam's team to Plancoet, near St Malo.


With the mechanic, myself, Tony, Sam, one of Sam's team mates and his brother all packed into the van it was a squeeze. Still by 9am we were off on our way to The GP Super U Elite National race!

After what seemed like quite a long drive we arrived to rain, dark skies and wind...savagery! From what I can see most French races seem to start in supermarket carparks, in this case a Super U. Arriving a good two hours before the 1pm depart we had time to have a bargain, yet very good and strong, one euro coffee. Perfect to wake us up after the drive. Signed on and back to the van to pin numbers, get bike ready and decide how to tackle the next 142kms of racing.

After a discussion with some of the Hennebont riders ideas about race food  (the French are very old school it would seem) I got out for a warm up. With drizzle and a biting wind I was soon back to the car to put another undervest on. This process of going out for a warm up then deciding I was still improperly dressed for the conditions was carried out at least another three times until with 2 undervests, arm warmers, mits and knee warmers I was relatively happy!

1pm and we were off. Just over 100 riders making one of the smallest fields Ive ridden in since being out here. Yet the quality of the field was very good with Saur Sojasun u23, AC Lanester, Cotes d'amor, UC Nantes, Veranda Rideau, Hennebont Cyclisme and Vendee U, to name a few, all fielding teams. Off we rolled under dark skies.

After the last five weeks of racing I have learnt positioning, especially at the start is key, so I made my way nearer the front. From previous races I was expecting the flag to drop and the pace to explode, yet for some reason this didn't happen. Maybe the weather, maybe tired riders, maybe lack of motivation. Whatever it was the peleton weren't their usual lined out selves. After a few kilometres a break went. Thinking surely in this 142km race it was to early to attempt a break, I tried to position myself in the first 20 or so riders, stay out of the biting crosswind and bide my time.


Little did I know a lot of the big hitters had gone up the road. Soon after an hour or so racing the pace began to lift and coming down what was described as a dangerous descent (not wrong there) we hit climb where the bunch decided to blow to pieces! Slightly to far back, some good riders began losing wheels and cracking. Still feeling ok I managed to weave round them and get back onto the remanants of the dwindling peleton.

Glancing back I saw the remainder of the bunch disappear backwards, this was pretty hardcore! Yet this effort needed to move up ultimately cost me as over the top groups began clipping off into the headwind. Still paying for my efforts I hid and tried to survive the battering the much smaller bunch was giving out!

So after around 85km of racing, some steady, some definately not, there were a number of groups on the road. I was in what was left of the bunch along with Sam and thirty or so other riders. Hitting another climb and realising the race was literally riding away I put in a dig and was followed by a Veranda Rideau rider and one other. Working well together we were soon pulling away from the bunch. After a couple of kilometres a group of five or so, including Sam and some AC Lanester riders,came across and we continued to go through and off.

Yet it wasnt to be as AC Lanester in the bunch decided to chase us down, including their own team mate! Very strange and disappointing. Even more disappointing was once caught the bunch sat up and basically decided they'd had enough. So after 90km of racing we were plodding along at 30km/h talking. Annoyed, confused and frustrated, after another 15km myself and the majority of the bunch decided enough was enough and called it a day.


To say I'm confused with the events of the day was an understatement. There was still a top 30 placing up for grabs, which I know is not great, but in a race of this quality is still not something to be sniffed at. Gonna put this down to experience and the fact that most people just weren't that motivated today. Just need to make sure I'm in the break next time to avoid this!


Positives:

sprinting has definately improved out of corners and onto wheels, the training is paying off

starting to work out which riders are worth watching, not easy when everyones good!

Hiding when needed and climbing well


Negatives:

Top end speed! When pace is really on I am still struggling. I still need to work on spinning that 53x12. Think some more motorpacings in order

Positioning, still an issue sometimes. Hard when with point to point sometimes not sure whats coming up! Still staying in first 20 riders needs to be a priority, although easier said than done sometimes!

Aggressiveness, or lack of it. Again another easier said than done one! Need to get stuck in and try to attack or follow attacks more, better to try and fail than not risk it. A real shame as I usually like to be attacking but maybe feeling a bit in awe in bigger races.

So plan is to try and get away more, work on that top end, V02 like effort and concentrate on the positioning. Lots to do but lots of races to do it in!


next stop a local race in Colpo this Sunday, bring it on!

Scaer-Guiscriff!

Scaer Guiscriff. Sounds like something out of a Harry Potter book, but was infact the two towns which made up the race I competed in yesterday.

Sunday 27th March

Woke up confused. Confused due to the clocks changing. Not usually to much of a problem but in a foreign country and not knowing if my French phone's time changed automatically, I had an interesting 10 minutes switching on multiple electrical appliances to find the correct time!


Shouldn't have worried really as was up at 9am and was due to be picked up by the two Tonys at 11:30pm to travel to the race.

Drizzle greeted me as bike and kit were packed in the car and we set off for the hours drive to the start town of the La Route des Lutteurs Race in Scaer. Part of a series of more local races this was a good race to get back into the swing of things after missing 2 weeks of racing.

winner with me in group behind going for 3rd

Arriving at Scaer we were early! Very early infact! Not a bad thing at all as we still had to find the sign on and start. Not an easy task it would seem. After a good fifteen minutes driving round the town (bigger than we thought!) we found the start and sign on. Two hours early I had plenty of time to sign on, change, talk to my team mates and manager and get a good warm up in. The weather from the drizzle in the morning had surprisingly brightened and there was a warm sun beating down on us.

2:30pm, at least 140 riders and a relatively short 114km ahead of us. This was my first local race after a few weeks of Elite National races. The race consisted of an en ligne section (basically a big loop of 80km) followed by a 5.2km finishing circuit. After a good 20 minute warm up I made sure I got to the front of the bunch for the roll out. No rush it would seem as after about 20 minutes of standing around we were finally off!


Now the main difference from  the word go between a more local race and an Elite National is the style of racing. Elite Nationals, from what I've experienced, are controlled by bigger teams, very fast and basically stay fast throughout! Local races are abit more uncontrolled meaning lots of attacks and splits. Positioning myself in the top 20 I kept an eye on the moves and followed the wheels. The pace was quite high and as with the KOM hills coming thick and fast splits were occuring. Not feeling to great I knew I can climb well enough so sat near the front and bided my time.

Then it hit me. Well more to the point I hit it! A pothole, which in turn tilted my saddle down. Not able to get it back level and after an hour of racing this was gonna be an uncomfortable ride!


Soon the elastic broke and over one of the kilometre or so climbs a split had occured. More importantly I had made it! About fifteen of us and we were moving steadily away from the splintering bunch. With the hills coming thick and fast (not helped some very skinny AC Lanester riders finding every opportunity to sprint up them!) The group were all feeling it. Coming into the end of the en ligne section and there was a lull. With a few Lanester riders and BIC 2000 riders in our group I was not keen to do any extra work. Unfortunately neither were anyone else it would seem!


Soon a big group of around twenty riders came across to us including one of my team mates. Just as they got across we hit another hill and the splits formed again. Some how even feeling pretty rubbish I made the split of 10 or so. But it was short lived. Coming onto the finishing circuit and the group had swelled again. Up the finish for the first time and with banners up and big crowds, oh and the beer tent, the race had really come to town! Through the finish and I was at the sharp end of the race, about time!


Completing the first of 7 finishing laps I was disappointed to see there was no serious climbs and nothing to really break the group up. After numerous attacks nothing was sticking. Coming into the finish and with an AC Lanester rider and VS Scaer rider dangling off the front (nearly caught on the line) it was left for our group of 35 riders or so to sprint it out for third. With my sprint not that good and feeling a bit knackered, due to numerous attempts to get away on the fast finish circuit, I rolled in mid group. Just over 40km/h on the clock...a good days racing.


So after 2 weeks of just training it was great to get back racing. With a local race it meant I could ease back into it. After 3 hard weeks of training I guess it was no wonder I didn't feel great but being a bit fresher next time I know I can get a result in these sort of races.

Disappointed no result but I gave it a good few digs and knowing who to watch/follow and a bit more about the style of racing the result will surely come.


Other positives were leg held up and felt good, which is a good sign. Next stop Grand Prix Super U on Wednesday. An Elite National race near Dinan. Can't wait!

Big thanks to the two Tonys for driving me to the race and helping out and to Bob Downs, for advising me on how to treat my injury over last couple of weeks.

Back into the swing of things and loving it!

third time lucky?

hello, from a very summery Brittany!

In a spell of ridiculously unseasonal weather a storm has been raging! Ok slight exageration, but thinks havent been going anywhere near as smoothly as the weather!


This is mainly due to a couple of factors, firstly the injury. Now pretty much undercontrol. It has taken a while but have found the source of the problem to be the glutes (lots of rolling around on a foam roller,stretching and doing strange, unsightly things with a tennis ball has seemed to improve the situation) With this now undercontrol I did though miss a weekends racing. No problem I thought Fleche Locmine Elite National last Sunday would get me back into the swing of things...how wrong was I!?

Sunday and arriving for another big race, keen to get stuck in and test the leg and get back to some hardcore racing. Not much point giving to much background info on this just a couple of factor's that ruined the day really.

Firstly for some reason this was the only race we didnt have a team car in the convoy at and secondly there is no literal translation for "pace me back on".

So if you haven't already guessed a mere 15 minutes into the race I hit a massive hole and punctured. Not panicking, thinking there was neutral service, I raised my arm and rolled to the back of the bunch. How wrong was I soon the convoy were speeding past as was the broom wagon! Where's my wheel!? Then out of the blue a car did stop, a good two minute wait, threw me a wheel took mine and sped off! So with no one to pace me back on the bunch moving at 30+ mph my race was over before it even begun. Annoyed was an understatement.


Not wanting to waste the day completely I headed back to the start, picked up a long sleeve and leg warmers and headed off for a three and a half hour hack instead. Not ideal but better than moping about.


So with Sunday a washout it did mean I was able to train  properly Monday. Quite worried now about the lack of speed in my legs (due to two weeks raceless) I did a couple of hours steady then headed out for some motor pacing behind the car with Tony. If you don't know motorpacing is basically recreating the speed of the race in a controlled fashion, speed you can't create by yourself that easily.

So a couple of inches from the bumper we flew up and down the nice straight 7km road. Four loops and with speeds of 49mph one way (ran out of gears!) and 42mph into the headwind the other I can happily say I got an hour of speed in my legs! A good days training and three hours on the clock.


Tuesday, Warm, windy sprints, Lovely. 10 sprints and a spin afterwards. My sprintings improving as is my lunging for shadows on the road! two blustery hours done.

Wednesday group ride and an easy one! No one very keen to push on today. With beautiful sunny skies and 26 degrees it didn't really matter, 140km of cruising with last 15km a bit more tempo. Feeling pretty tired after a solid block of intense training an easy few days coming up before race on Sunday!

So a good four day block of training done, not ideal as would have rather raced, but guess did all I could with a tricky situation. So third time lucky? A more low key race this Sunday followed hopefully by another big Elite one on Wednesday. After the last couple of weeks I am feeling stronger than ever before, due to great training, but am also aware I haven't had a block of racing. So for the next couple of races the aim is to mix it up and see!


Fingers crossed, no punctures, mechanicals or anything else to get in the way!

back into the swing of things

16 degrees, sun, sea, summer?

Well not quite, but for March this week has been one of the barmiest weeks of weather I've experienced. Not complaining though as it has allowed me to get some great training in.

After taking the decision to miss Circuit du Morhiban race last Sunday, due to leg issues, I made a last visit to the physio on Monday. Now I'm gonna be quite blunt and to the point here. I'm not that convinced or impressed with the service I got. This is mainly due to the physio being quite laidback and really not seeming bothered about finding the source of the problem. To be honest he seemed more interested in dealing with two other customers (at the same time as my session) than trying to concentrate on getting one customer sorted. Not impressed.

Anyway as you probably guess I wont be rushing back. In better news I did though get a good massage from my team mate on Monday, for free and an hours session which was really appreciated, and needed!

 So is my leg sorted? Possibly. I say possibly as I think I have diagnosed the problem, with a bit of advice from a couple of other people. I actually don't think its the leg at all. The trigger point I think could be the glute/hip abductor/back area. Not entirely sure but I have been stretching, foam rollering and compressing like a mad man this week and it seems to have eased/got rid of the symptoms.

With the leg feeling 10 times better I now need to know why I got this problem and if the source is the gluteal area!? Possible options are bikefit? cold in muscles (was incredibly grim first few weeks here) or just bad luck? Either way racing this weekend will be the true test to see if problems gone for good.

Anyway as the title of the post suggests I have been getting back into the swing of things and with such good weather and my leg feeling good I've managed to get a good block of training.






Monday: rec spin, not much to say just keeping legs turning

Tuesday: Best session of the week this was. Did an hour steady then met up with Sam Allen for some sweetspot/hill efforts. We used the climb upto Quistinic, a couple of miles long, with a hairpin and such sections hitting 9%.

With the great weather (both ridiculously over dressed for the session! Sam in a thermal undervest!) and such a great climb it felt like we were in Majorca. 5 efforts up the hill some sweetspot some above. A good session followed by an hour and a bit steady afterwards made for 3 and a bit hours on the clock and a great days riding. Only downside was me forgetting to charge the Garmin the night before so only got an hours worth of data and the fact we could have done it in shorts and short sleeves and not ended up cooking!


Wednesday: team ride. Another 2pm start so did an hour and a bit before. Compared to yesterday's structured session this couldn't have been more different! Six riders and tapping along nicely a shout soon began to start through and off. Yet within the space of a minute riders were soon sitting on and after 10 minutes only three of us were going through and off. Not surprisingly it was stopped!

Only for a few miles later to start, a more gentle, through and off again, again ending in just Sam and myself doing through and off with the occasional turn from one of the others, not ideal.

After a few random sprints and attacking one another for no apparent reason! I was home. 140km on the clock and ready for some dinner.


Thursday: Out by myself, working on my poor sprint, 10 sprints along the canal, think I'm getting a bit more of a jump. Only time will tell! Bit of a spin afterwards, again in the sun, to end a nice 3 day block before easing off next couple of days for the race on Sunday.


So a good little block and now the real test will be Sunday. Fleche Locmine Elite National. 100km loop then a "save some energy" finishing loop with a 300 metre steep climb every lap to make approx 150km.


After missing last weeks race I can't wait to get back into it again..its gonna be hard and fast but will be a good test to see if injuries sorted, Fingers crossed for a good race, good sensations and if possible a good result!

un mois..reflections

un mois..one month


Yes I have now been over here in France for just over a month, and has time flown by. So much has gone on, lots has been learnt and there's still lots to be done and a long way to go! One thing I will say about this first month is I've loved every minute of it...roll on the next 7!

After sitting out Circuit du Morbihan (leg still wasn't right and didn't want to make it worse) on Sunday, I've had a bit of time to reflect on my first 4 weeks and these are some of the things I've learnt....


1, The weather over here is either terrible (torrential grim rain) or beautiful (sunny and a barmy 16 degrees in March)

2, The French roads are awesome..so quiet, hardly a car in sight,got short/long hills, flat sections, even cobbles to train on!

3, Shopping for food is not cheap, Lidl is definately the way forward!

4, The French love an afternoon training ride, still getting my head round this one! Sure my fellow Essex riders would find this strange as well.

5, Races are brutal, well I am starting season with hardest races but still full on and really, really good! Just need to rack up some results!

6, en ligne, a big loop before finishing circuits, every race seems to include this.

7, The French are quiet laid back about paperwork, still have my licence in letter form rather than a card

8, The physios over here don't like massages, would rather hook you up to a machine it would seem.

9, The French are the most polite people you can meet, so much hand shaking goes on here!

10, In France it seems ok to literally urinate any where! Has to be seen to be believed...

11, Far Breton, the regional cake is awesome, only after a race of course.

12, French like you giving the language a go even if you are pretty useless at it!



So there we have it, a few of many reflections on my first month here. A completely different, more relaxed way of life and the best racing I've ever done.


I'm sure lots more learning and new experiences coming up, and yes a lot more racing and hopefully some big results as well!

taking the bad with the good

Salut! From a slightly damp France.

After my last blog update its been an up and down week. It all began on Monday, the day after Manche Atlantique so a rec spin was in order. Not much to report on as sun was out and I tapped along admiring the view and still marvelling at the lack of cars and amazing roads. Monday evening, and still with this lingering pain in leg I ventured to a recommended physio in Bubry.

A short 15 min drive away, I arrived for my 7pm appointment. Unlike the physio I'd seen the week before this one spoke English and we were able to converse without hand gestures (always a bonus!) Soon I was wired up to a machine sending pulses through my leg and basically making my legs look like they were attached to an amp. Very strange, but was told it would get all the toxins out of my legs.


An hour later, and slightly cheaper than other physio, I was interested to see if this treatment would have the desired effect.

Tuesday, an easy couple of hours was prescribed to me by the physio, pain free as well, fixed??

Wednesday, Leg seeming ok I went back to training. Today consisted on working on weaknesses, namely my poor excuse for a sprint! I am very lucky to have a perfect few kms of pan flat road literally a km from my house, along the river.

A 30 min warm up and I began my sprints of 20-30 secs or so varying the gears and with a couple of minutes easy in between to recover. Managing 10 sprints I can say was enough! Great timing as I then met up with Sam Allen and we rode to the team ride meeting in  Lochrist. Arriving early, a quick coffee, and we met with the other 4 riders and headed off in the direction of Lorient. Heading back and with just over 4 hours on the clock and good days training had been had.


Thursday

Sweetspot! A session working just under threshold to raise threshold and work on the engine. A favourite session of mine and one I always seem to go well after. Again an hour steady before and then headed for climb into Bubry which I did 4 times at sweetspot.  The first 3 of these were good yet soon the dreaded leg began to play up! Easing off and very frustrated I rode back home, not sorted it would seem.

The good news today was Russell Clarke of The John Ibbotson Fund http://www.johnibbotsonfund.com had arrived for a few days. After all the help the fund and Russell had given me it was nice to catch up and see how things were progressing. A meal with The Mills', Russell and Sam Allen at a nice restaurant that evening ended a busy day on a good note at least.


Friday

A day off the bike. After a few jobs to be jobbed and lots of lying around watching day time tv I headed up for another visit to the physio. Again more massage and another session on the machine. Diagnosis is inflammation in the IT band, not serious, so he says, possibly due to position (although not sure), overuse or just bad luck. Either way I am told to try a short ride with a couple of efforts tomorrow and more ice on it and if pain free to try and race Sunday.


Today

 Well an hour and a half with some efforts and leg felt ok, so gonna try racing tomorrow. If problems tomorrow I think rest and bike away till problems reside is the only option. So will see.

Good news though is phone and internet back at house, so no more extra strong coffees at internet cafe in town but does mean I can save a small fortune on coffee at least!

Baud-Moreac, otherwise known as Circuit du Morhiban tomorrow. Another Elite National event. Starting a mere 7km from my house I think thereforethis can be described as a local event! 101km point to point then 8x6km finishing laps.

Will keep you posted if leg holds up and how it goes!


Wish me luck!

gurning...