VC Etoile

The week after the cycle kingdom race we were in Kent for the Toachim house GP over 85 miles,the weather wasnt great,overcast and gale force winds but it got worse after around 10 miles when the rain started,I got in a break of about 12 riders with everyone working well(Roger Smith was also in the break)and we had a gap of a couple of minutes heading into the 3 finishing circuits were before the start people were saying the hill to the finish was going to be a killer,I didnt think it was all that bad and rode tempo on the front all the way then attcked full on next time round,I had 30 seconds at the top when i got the bell and built the gap to around 2 minutes at the finish for my second win on the trot,Roger came in 5th and simon was 7th in the next group.this race had obscene prize money ,I won a grand for this so was dead chuffed!.

the following week was the london dynamo race at Handcross over 90 miles,the race was very hard with attacks going and coming back all the time but nothing sticking,I think i was a bit over confident after the previous weeks and didnt race very sensibly,by the time the break went i felt stuffed,i finished 5th but should have done a bit better.

After whats been quite a busy season we had a few weekends off for a freinds stag night and wedding so having drunk excessivley we got back into things with a trip to belgium,the first race was 23 x 3 mile laps in and out of the town,it was windy and overcast with showers,we all managed to miss the winning move but i got in the chase group and finished 13th,Simon managed to end up in ditch after leading into a corner and couldnt regain contact!.after a evening of steak and frites and a healthy selection of Belgiums finest beers we were racing again but in much nicer hot and sunny conditions,it was another small circuit but i managed to get in the break this time,there were 8 of us away but a couple got dropped,we stayed away the entire race but a chase group was closing in,we got the bell in front of big crowds( I love the PA yelling out LAST RONDE and everone cheering),2 got away and my group got caught but i just hung in for 9th wich i was dead pleased with as it was my first top ten in Belgium and as anyone will tell you who has ridden the Kermesse circuit its really hard out there,I also got payed off by the winner so with a few primes it paid for my trip,Simon rode well to finish just outside the top 30,it was a good weekends training for the 5 day coming up.

There is a moment on your bike sometimes when everything feels so good that you realise that all the slog of training was worth it. Mine came after a right & left swoosh onto the bleached Roubaix track, cheesy French pop music on the P.A, and ‘bravo’ ringing in my ears.

255km (158miles) earlier, around 4.30am, I was still pretty apprehensive. I had signed up for Scott Bugdens Paris-Roubaix trip after an end of season ‘discussion’ with some London League cyclocross mates. The mid distance, at 173km looked inviting - all the cobbled bits of the race, but without the 50 mile or so, wearing down bit, but, in moment of madness I signed the dotted line for the ‘full Monty’. (more…)

Just thought i would do a few posts to let people know what ive been riding.

Simon and I rode the Cycle Kingdom classic on Sunday June 29th.   The break went really early and after 10 miles there was a group of 15 of us away with a gap getting bigger all the time. This race was super hilly using 3 cicrcuits around the Milland area.  On the finishing circuits i got away with 2 others and dropped them on the hill to the finish for the win.  Simon (Mac) had a bit of a off day and came in around 25th, but was back on form tuesday night at Dunsfold getting 5th after doing loads in the race!

Paris Roubaix, the ‘Queen of the Classics’, is a road race that’s been run since 1896. The race today follows much the same route and uses many of the ancient pave roads as in those early days and it is because of this that it has such a unique status in cycling legend.

Perhaps this is best summed up by a quote about the race…’thousands line the route in this rite of spring, cheering their larger than life heroes and helping to will them on to victory. They ride in the tracks of bygone legends and dream of glory. But this glory is not without a price… These muddied, bloody and battered warriors, struggle thro the rain and cold, or if it is a dry spring, the dust clouds thrown up by the race cavalcade, on roads better suited to oxen carts than bikes. For the winner there is immortality and a place amongst the giants of the road, where since 1896 the greatest bike racers on earth have come to test their very soul in this brutal and beautiful spectacle’.

The Paris Roubaix Cyclo is a randonne, run every other year, that follows vitually the same route as the race. (more…)