Morvélo Test Team

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European Championships.

Hi guys.
I just came back from the European Championships from Ipswich. I was selected for the Polish National Team, and we came second. I also did well in the individuals, coming third after a three man run off  for the title.
I have my report of the events on my site:
http://lukasznowacki.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/ten-years-and-counting/

I also have a couple of photos attached if you want to use them.
I have them in small res, if you need them to be bigger please let me know.

Thank you for all of your support. It does get easier with your help and I really appreciate it.
Best regards, Lukasz Nowacki.

Posted by email 

Post Tour Crit ‏‏‏‏

Post-Tour Criteriums have long been a part of cycling history and tradition, so from literally the day after the Champs-Elysees, and for the following few weeks, towns across Belgium, France and Holland put up big bucks to secure the stars of the sport for their races.


The result is pre-determined, and in a throwback to the days of Hinault, Merckx et al, riders are told before the start when they can or can’t attack, and what place they have to finish in. To this effect they aren’t really “races”, but parades, for the town and sponsors to showcase themselves, for the public to see the superstars of their sport, and for the riders to make some money. After battering themselves around France for 3 weeks, there has to be some incentive for Sagan, Cav, Petacchi and Cadel to get kitted up again the very next day, after all.


The first is always Aalst. The Tour finishes on Sunday; Aalst’s post-tour crit is on Monday. Then comes Roeselare, and some other smaller ones. The Olympics meant that this year there were fewer big names than usual at these, but last night (the day after the Olympic Road Race) saw Cavendish, McEwen, Sagan, Nibali and Basso line up with a host of other ProTour riders for the crit in Ninove.


As it was only 15k down the road, and as my team mate got a wildcard entry because it is his home town, a couple of us went along. The crowds were astonishing, lining the 1.5km circuit, and all half-cut with a beer in one hand and a burger in the other. With Nick Nuyens, Johan Van Summeren, Maxime Monfort and Stijn Devolder all in attendance, they obviously had some guys to cheer for.


My team mate Sean was off the front constantly for the first half of the race, and was even in a 2-up with Cav for a couple of laps. A “threatening” move went clear at about half distance with Basso, Van Summeren and Kris Boeckmans in it, before it of course came back together with 2 laps to go. McEwen led through the final corner, which was where we were watching, before being passed by Cavendish just a few metres from the line.


During the presentation I found myself standing next to Cav’s Mrs, Peta Todd, so naturally sparked up a conversation, before some bloke in World Champs kit wades over through the crowds, gives girlfriend and daughter a kiss, and then disappears again into the throngs of people. Peter Sagan and Robbie McEwen then barrage their way past and out of sight again....All very surreal but pretty cool nonetheless!  

Everyone knows that the night is rigged, but it is a great spectacle all the same, with every bit of the buzz and atmosphere that any competitive bike race comes with, so long may the tradition continue.


As far as my racing is concerned, after a bit of a lull at the end of June and first half of July, I am starting to find my legs again. On Monday I did a kermis in Lierde, which I suffered a lot in, but came away with 17th after winning the bunch kick.

During the week I went over to Holland to stay with my house mate from last year, and get some quality training rides in around the hills of the Limburg region, on the tri-border of Belgium, Holland and Germany. We rode a lot of the Amstel Gold and this year’s World Champs course...boy there are some climbs around there, but after a hard race on the Monday and plenty of KM’s in Holland, I knew I would have some form back.

On Thursday we did ‘Internatie Reningelst’, a big race over in West Flanders. I got away with 14 guys after 15km of a 170km race, and we managed to stay away. Confident that I was the fastest there, I sat last wheel and when the attacks started coming I just followed, hoping it would come together for a sprint. Unfortunately 5 guys slipped off just as we went under the red kite, and we went on to contest the win. I even managed to drop my chain coming out of the last corner, so was left 20m off the back with 300 to go. I got going again though, and came past all but one of them for 7th place. Knowing if it had worked out differently I could have won was at first frustrating, but in hindsight I am very happy with a top ten in a race of that stature, and it’s given me my mojo back for the rest of the season, so let’s be having it. 

Filed under  //   Josh Cunningham  

Claymore Challenge

Hey Everyone,

Well I'm in America, At Highland Mountain Bike Park for Claymore
Challenge, Gold FMB event.

I flew in on Tuesday last week, met up with a few buddies and was
stoked to see the course and what was in store for us riders. Got to
the bike park around 8pm so had a quick look at the HTC which is a
sick indoor training facility with Foam Pit Resi and some fun box
jumps. We checked into the hotel and went straight down for a swim and
chill in the hot tub. Had my first day of practise on Wednesday, built
up the bike then played a bit in the HTC learnt a few things then went
up to check out the course.

The course was amazing zigzagged down the hill with drops, Boner Logs,
Berm jumps and some sender jumps. Had a good day of practise never
came off which was good and managed to whip the boner log which i was
stoked on. Went back to the hotel and of course straight to the pool
and hot tub with a beer in hand. chilled there with a couple of the
riders then headed out for dinner. Thursday was Qualifying day and I
was feeling nervous with this being my first US comp.

Had a bit of practise in the morning then found out what heat I was
in, it was the last one and I was pretty much last. it was a 2 run
best 1 counts format. I dropped in for my first run and it all went to
plan. flip table the step down to whip on the boner x the drop 3 table
the Geax booter Whip the death jump down whip the quarter hip flip
table death jump no:2 table out the wall ride to flip no hands on the
last 30 footer. stoked I got my first run good and after waiting what
felt like hours I was up for run 2, wind had picked up but dropped in
did pretty much the same run but 3 whipped the Geax booter. second run
went even better than the first. Had to wait ages for the results and
out of 60 riders that were there they only took 15 so it was very
tight.

Results came in and unfortunately i had missed out by 2 places so i
was bummed about that but still happy to have experienced the whole
event. For the rest of the time there I trained in the HTC got some
new stuff and learned to 360 drops so I should be good for the next
event which is Colorado Freeride Festival. I had an amazing time
chilling, riding, meeting new people and learning new stunts. Ill be
posting loads of pictures on my Facebook and Instagram so keep
checking to see what I'm up to. Just waiting in Boston airport now.
got loads of time to kill before i fly to Denver for my next
adventure. So until then look out for photos and updates of my trip
through Facebook and Instagram.

Filed under  //   Ray Samson  
Posted from Tilton, NH
Posted by Morvélo 

We have a National Champ!

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Massive congratulations to Morvélo Test Team rider Joe for storming to a win at the DH National Champs!

With Katy Winton taking 2nd in the Scottish DH champs (to go with her 2nd in the National XC Champs and 2nd in the Scottish Road Champs!) it's safe to say our friends north of the border know how to ride bikes - fast!

Here's Joe's report from the hot seat

2012 British National Champs – Moelfre

At the last couple of races I’ve had a bit of bad luck which has meant that I’ve not been able to show how I’ve really been riding, so coming into this Moelfre, I put in some good preparation to ensure I was in the best possible position to win at the weekend and to show people how I was really riding.

On Friday afternoon, my Mum and little Sister drove down to Wales for the 2012 British Champs. The journey was a bit eventful, the back tyre on the camper van blew out on the motorway so we had to wait an hour to get help from the AA before getting back on the road to Moelfre! When we finally arrived it was pretty late so we grabbed some grub before getting some well -earned sleep.  

On Saturday morning I got up at 7.00 am to go and walk the track, the sun was already up and it looked set to be a great day. The track had a few new changes that had been made by the BDS which looked pretty cool. The track was pretty dusty which was bonus after riding wet tracks for the last couple of weeks up in Scotland. After walking the track I got kitted up in my POC gear and headed up the dusty Welsh hillside for my first run. I cruised down, sending jumps, sliding about in the dust and just generally having a load of fun riding my bike. Throughout the day I just built up my speed until I was happy with everything. After I stopped practice I got my bike cleaned and prepped for race day, a good clean, bolt check and fresh Intense tyres and my bike was ready for Sunday’s racing.

On Sunday morning I got at 8 am, filled with excitement to go and smash out a couple of practice runs before racing in the afternoon. After two solid runs on the now very windy Moelfre track I got some food and then headed up for seeding. The wind was pretty dodgy and as I came into the third turn of the track, I got caught by a gust of wind, which sent me over the top of a berm which lost me a bit of time but I got back on it and pinned the rest of the track. I crossed the line with a 2.33 which put me in third for qualifying. After my run I was confident that I could take a few seconds off in my race run.

Three hours later and I was sat on my turbo-trainer warming-up for my run at the top of the hill. I was sure of what I needed to do and after a good warm-up I headed to the start with my Zerode. Before I knew it, I was sprinting out of the gate, speed tucking and then shifting down a gear before the crucial turn that I had messed up in my qauli run, I nailed that bit and that pretty- much set the tone to how the run went from there.  I hit all my lines, and pinned it pretty much everywhere except for a few sections where it was necessary to back it down a notch in order to carry good momentum and not stall or make a mistake. Coming into the last three jumps near the end of the track, I could hear the commentator saying that I was up at the split so I knew I had to keep it smooth for the last 30 seconds. I squashed the first two and the on the third one I actually nose- cased it and nearly lost it but I held it and then gave it everything to the end. I crossed the line and went into the lead, I knew there was still two riders left to come down the hill so I hadn’t won yet. Both riders came through, but slower than me, I took the win by 1.77 seconds with a 2.31. I was so happy to have just won the National Champs after crashing metres from the line at last year’s Champs, it made a good weekend of riding in Wales, into an absolutely awesome weekend in Wales! Next stop, The Val Di Sere World Cup!

I just want to say thanks to all my sponsors and family for their never ending support and help! Big shout out to Stephen, Paul and all the guys at Prestige Cycles, Rob at Zerode Bikes, Morris and Jake at 2pure, POC kit, Crank Brothers Pedals, all the guys at MORVELO clothing for keeping me hooked up with awesome t-shirts and casual wear, Intense tyres for giving the grip that I need to win, Pedros for keeping my clean and shiny, Cliffbar for keeping me fuelled,  RRP Products for keeping the mud off me and SRAM for their awesome forks, brakes and components!
JC

Filed under  //   Joe Connell  
Posted by Morvélo 

A Day in the Life ‏‏‏


I mentioned in my last blog the controllable aspects of improving as a cyclist – training well, eating well, resting well...

It’s with this in mind that I thought I would do a blog about the day to day happenings of me, or most other guys doing the same thing – living and racing abroad on the continent. Days of the week, dates, birthdays, is for the most part irrelevant to us, with everything coming down into two categories – race days and training days.


Training day

8:30 – Wake up, take pulse and neck vitamins. If I’ve had a particularly hard day previously, timings can get extended (strict discipline needed here to define what a hard day is!)

8:45 – Breakfast. The most yearned for meal of the day after going to bed with a gurgling stomach and waking up chewing the corner of my pillow. A bowl of porridge with banana and some sort of condiment. (fellow Morvelo TT member Katie Winton can tell you more on this subject). Speculoos paste and Peanut butter are prime candidates, though.

My various housemates have their respective rising times, and I gauge the progress of the morning based almost entirely on this, in the mean time fiddling around getting my bike ready to ride and making excuses for “just one more coffee”.

10-11am - Ride. The first highlight of the day (usually). Some days it is the bane of my existence, and I feel bad for thinking like that when I do, but with one solitary thing consuming most aspects of life, it is inevitable to feel like that sometimes. If I have a long ride to do I’ll leave earlier, but as a general rule of thumb I try to time it so that my return coincides with lunch. Once back, it’s time for a stretch, protein shakes and a shower, before:

1-3pm – Lunch. I go through phases of what I have for lunch. Like a fickle school dining hall, there is always some sort culinary fad going through the house kitchen. Tortilla wraps were particularly successful a few weeks ago, omelettes have been big in the past. Your stock standard salad sandwich is currently my prime suspect, though.

2-5pm –These hours of the day have a habit of either passing achingly slowly or fast. I am still unsure as to the factors that determine which, it is a mystery. The afternoon hours are spent doing any errands, like going to the shops, visiting people, tinkering with bicycles and other things. If there happens to be cycling on TV, then you can be sure that the afternoon will be spent watching full coverage on Eurosport. Any excess time on your feet, or doing anything remotely tiring, is wasted recovery time, so the more time spent sat down with a cup of tea the better!

6-8pm – Dinner. The second highlight of the day and something which I have likely been looking forward to for a while. Time not being an issue, I try to be as adventurous as my culinary skills allow when cooking. Diet is a big part of being a cyclist, and you get what you pay for, so I like to buy good quality food and cook it as best I can. This year has even seen a small vegetable patch be cultivated in our back garden, which is now churning out mange tout, courgettes, lettuce and spinach aplenty.

8-10pm Farting around. Evening hours are spent reading, watching TV, going on the computer and generally not doing much. Once a week we might go into town for an Ice Tea, for the boys to embarrass themselves trying to speak Dutch to the local girls.


Race Day

7am – Wake up. Exactly the same routine, but an hour or two earlier to leave enough time before pre race meal.

9am-12pm – Travel. Team races usually start around 1 or 2, and as we have to get a lift with the DS or Soigneur. This means getting there 3 hours early for them to go to the briefings and such like, which leaves a couple of hours to chill out, look at the race handbook, and eat the by now cold, stodgy pasta cooked that morning.

If it’s a kermis race, which are done individually, there is time to eat pasta at home, and then ride out as a group to wherever the race is as they don’t start until 3pm.

1-6pm Race.  The big ones can be anything up to 180/190km, and so range between 3.5 and 5 hours long. I’m guessing I don’t need to describe what happens here though!

5-7pm is spent doing the normal post race rituals of showering, eating, getting a congratulatory or disheartened talk from the manager, and driving back home.

8pm. Arrive home, get dinner on the go. Something pre-prepared like lasagne or shepherds pie works wonders at times like these. Depending on the standard of the facilities at the race, a second shower is often necessary!

9-11pm Nothing changes here. The same as any other day, the evening is spent chilling out not doing much, and feeding the appetite which is by now setting in after the afternoon’s exertions.  

11-12pm Bed. A combination of late exercise, late dinner, and too many energy gels usually means bed is a bit later on race days. Despite being physically tired it can be hard to switch off, especially if the race has gone particularly well or badly (another excuse for a post race lie in).


Since I arrived in Belgium in early March, the vast majority of my days will be a carbon copy of either of these. Having a routine can be really good at times, when you are going well usually - keeping within the lines, doing what you need to do, and enjoying the discipline because of the results it is giving you. On the flip side, the mindless routine and regimental layout can at times be exhausting and frustrating. It is mentally pretty difficult sometimes, and the lack of freedom is hard to overcome. I’m pretty sure this is what ‘cracks’ most people, not the severity of the racing.

When these rough patches do occur, it is just a case of putting your head down, carrying on with the routine, and waiting for it to feel normal again. 

Filed under  //   Josh Cunningham  

Mountain Mayhem. View from the (Mud) Pack

You know you're in trouble when cars, vans and caravans are having to be towed INTO an event. Such was the case at this years Wiggle Mountain Mayhem. Lashings of rain was on the cards well beforehand so most people made preparations, both mental and tyre related, for some hard going.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who emptied their entire wardrobe of cycling kit into the boot of the car before they set off. I'd be needing ever bit of it. So I wasn't disappointed when high winds and heavy rain blew through the previously picturesque setting of Eastnor Deer Park. I say previously because now it has a large brown 9 mile stripe going all the way around and a swamp in the middle. As you may have guessed the 2012 edition of the UK largest MTB race was a wet one.

The Kinesis Morvelo Project had entered the mixed team of 5 category. Three of us have been riding and racing together for about 18 years and the other two, Katy and Liam were newer, faster and considerably younger. Not that this in any way helped as I tried to convince them that they should do the lion's share of the laps and our favourite wee Scottish racer, Katy, was subjected to a 24hr assault of "This must be like summer in Scotland" jibes. She coped remarkable well and Liam always had a smile. I think it was a smile but quite often when it looks like someone has shovelled 4 bucket loads of mud onto your face, it could have been a grimace.

Naturally we sent the young lad out to do the run. He made the fatal error of saying he had packed trail running shoes. Well volunteered Liam! He blasted around the course and not a half a lap in he suffered a puncture and couldn't get the pump locked onto the value. The first of many events that made not just the course conditions challenging. Next up Gareth set about treating his new KMP kit to some tough love. He came back pushing what looked like a tank made out of wattle and daub. Turns out his bike was under there. Somewhere.

Our laps times were long and slow but fortunately enough everyone else's where longer and slower so we had a lead! Just. It wasn't a race as such. Conditions meant you just had to get out there and go around, whatever and however you can. Pushing, running, dragging, walking and some occasional riding later you hope to be back dry and warm in the arena once again. Taking it easy on the bike, avoiding mechanicals and riding with perseverance and preservation firmly in mind. 

Once my mindset had switched to viewing it more as a cross race I did find myself enjoying bits of it. Most of the big climbs I liked for no other reason that I could ride my bike and get into a rhythm. It was a nice rest from wrestling the bike which was behaving like an angry child. Strange as it may seem most people were praying for the rain overnight, in the hope that it would loosen "The Clag"! It did. But only on the last half of the course. The first sector was a death march of unfeasibly thick and sticky mud. Seeing groups of people wealding sticks and pocking them in bikes was not uncommon. The grimmer the conditions became the better the camaraderie on the course, with most people I passed happy to joke and laugh about the conditions as well as giving me some much needed encouragement and a quick push when I got stuck! What nice people mountain bikers are.

With dawn breaking we now had a good lead in our category and things were looking up. No sooner had I thought this then 20 minutes after Katy should have been handing over to me, she was nowhere to be seen. We then saw a small speck in the distance running. Katy had had a major mechanical halfway around the course and was forced to run the rest of the lap. This probably wasn't much different to what most people were doing anyway!

Myself and then Liam nursed the bikes around the next couple of laps trying to avoid chainsuck through enforced singlespeeding and ever fading brakes. Just up to Gareth to bring it home. An hour after the midday finish he's nowhere to be seen. This would make his lap about 2hrs! Luckily Phil had spotted him but he'd crashed 3 times in the wood and had sprained his achilles. Shite. Gareth soldiered on and crossed the line just ahead of the 2nd place team meaning we had won our category! It does feel strange to have won a race yet it not feel like a race. It was more everyone fighting the conditions and seeing to could last out the longest. I'm immensely proud of the team, Liam, Katy, Phil and Gareth. We kept each other going and kept our spirits high. Which is exactly what all the other brave finishers did and for that we doff our muddied caps. You're all mental.


Filed under  //   The DS  
Posted by Morvélo 

Politics ‏‏


Despite being different from the norm in a lot of ways, the career of a cyclist is no different from any other career in what factors determine success, status, and positions on the social or professional ladder.


On a physical level, there is not really much arguing with how to progress. You train hard, you rest easy, you eat well, you go to bed on time, you stretch, you get massage...yada yada yada. If there is a gain to be made, the chances are any full time athlete is and doing that and all they can to make sure their body is in the best condition possible. It’s the easy part.

Upstairs, between the ears, it’s a whole different ball game. The mental side of competing, as everyone knows, is where the real gains are to be made, because it’s so subjective and uncontrollable to some extent.


 Tactics, will power, focus...the mental side of competing is a sea that one could get very lost in numerous books that have been written on the subject, so I won’t go there. From a personal point of view though, I think you’ve either got it or you haven’t. (I am still unsure as to which side of the fence I lie).


The other major player in factors which determine success is one that often gets forgotten, but which plays an ever increasingly important role. The romantic days of sport, when the strongest man won and that was that, are long gone, and although what the spectator sees are athletes competing mano-a-mano, it is just the final product in a long line of widely diverging events that have ended with a sports contest.


As the years have gone by, I have found that it is the same story of WHO I know, that has helped me as much as my performances. Mingling at the start or finish of races, following up on contacts, emailing, general networking skills and the assessing of every situation have all contributed to where I am today, and will certainly contribute to wherever I end up.

Ones status within an organisation (or team) is based largely on interpersonal relationships that every member has with each other. Whether it be for a promotion or a race start, it’s the same game. It is a fact of life that I dislike, but it’s the nature of the beast so I do my best to keep my head above water in this web of gossip and backhanders.


Everything from team selection, to race invites, to sponsorship deals are subject to politics. Even racing itself. Riders forming alliances against others to gain the upper hand, blackmail and bribery are all as common in the last 10km of a race as they are in the wider world.


Being a successful bike rider is a lot more complicated than it often appears, but this is just another reason why I love it so much (and sometimes hate). I am not incredibly gifted physically so it’s probably a good thing that it’s just one part of the puzzle.


Anyway, if it doesn’t work out I’m sure I could pull the right strings at a job in PR or something. 

Filed under  //   Josh Cunningham  

Catching Up with Joe

 

Morvélo Test Team DH ripper Joe Connell has been a busy boy recently. Here's what he's been up to:

 

SDA Rd.2 - Glencoe - May 2012

On Friday afternoon I headed up to Glencoe for the 2nd round of the SDA series. After setting up, I walked up the hill to check out the track. I was surprised with how good the track looked, usually after a winter of rain and snow the track is pretty nailed but it looked as though some hard graft had been put in to fix some bits. With the little changes that had been made to the track, the weekend looked set be pretty fun! After walking the track, it was time for some dinner and a good night’s sleep.  

On Saturday morning I got up, got myself sorted and then headed up on the chairlift to do some practice runs. The track was running well, it was dry, rolling fast and plus the sun was out on form!  I felt good on the track, I had worked on some good lines for the race and there were no midges!  

On Sunday I got up early and did two runs in practice before getting myself ready to race. My first race run didn't go too well. I came back to the van and thought about a few things that I could do to improve on my time. A couple of hours later and it was time to head up for my second race run. In my run I did the things that I wanted to do and I ended up taking quite a bit of time off my first run. In the end I got 2nd in the juniors and 4th overall which I was pretty happy with as I have always crashed or had mechanicals at Glencoe in the past, I guess not having a rear mech helps! 

 

IXS European Series - Leogang, Austria - May 2012

On the Monday after the Glencoe SDA, Me, Ronan Taylor, Gaz Neale and Emma Neale packed up the camper van with all of our bikes and kit and headed across to Europe. The journey to Leogang in Austria wasn't too bad mainly because I could just chill out in the back of the camper whilst Gaz drove the whole time! When we arrived in Leogang on Wednesday night we just hit the hay as we had been travelling for most of the day.   

On Thursday morning we got set up and built our bikes. In the afternoon I walked the track, it looked like it was going to a sick weekend of riding and racing, there were some open turns at the top, Flat out wood sections and some jumps on the pedaling sections that are good for a few whips in practice and flat landing in race runs!   

The format of the race was pretty relaxed as practice didn't start until 2pm on Friday. The track was so much fun to ride in practice and it was also pretty easy to remember so there was no rush to do loads of runs. After practice we just chilled in the evening sun, we finished off the day with some of prime pork stir fry that Emma kindly cooked up for us.  

On Saturday I headed up the hill to get in some more practice before qualifying in the afternoon. Half-way through practice I had a bit of a digger which knocked the wind out of me pretty bad and grazed my arm up, after this crash I decided to stop early for practice as I was a bit shaken up. After I got some good lunch inside me I still had a five hour wait until my quail run so I decided to go and hit up the A-line style track that Leogang has, I was following Ronan down and just having a sick time insiding the turns and sending the jumps, It felt good to break up the long wait with something that was fun and not going to tire me out for quails. Eventually quails came around and it was time to head up the hill for my run. I wanted to use my qualifying run as a gage of where I was at and no more. I came down with 3.42 which put me in 49th in Elite, my run was pretty solid but I made a few mistakes that I knew that I could fix for the finals.  

On Sunday I had plenty of time in practice to check out some stuff on track and get it dialed in before my race run. Mid-afternoon and it was time to race, I had a pretty solid run and managed to take five seconds off of my qualifying time which put me in a solid 42nd overall and 3rd in the juniors. Overall the weekend was a whole load of fun and it was great for some preparation before the WC Val di Sole! 

 

UCI World Cup Val di Sole

On Wednesday night we arrived at Val di Sole after having spent a few days riding in Schladming, following the IXS in Leogang. Gaz managed to get the campervan into a prime spot for us to stay for the weekend, about as close to the finish as we could possibly get. 

On Thursday I got sorted and headed up the gondola for a track walk. On the way up on the gondola I could already see the newly taped sections for the race coming out into the open under the lift. The track had had a few changes made to it over the winter, now some of the rough rocky sections had been taken out and replaced by some fresh loamy turns and off camber sections. The track had a few newer sections but most of it remained just as rough and flat out as in previous years. 

Friday practice started off pretty early, I headed up for my first run to find that the track was just as rough as usual, even thought it was the start of practice. The new turns were super soft and easy to blow out, but still fun to ride. As per usual, the many rocks that litter the track were hidden under an ever changing layer of dust which meant that line choice was just as much about getting a line that would last rather than just finding the ‘fastest’ line. I was getting on well with the track and I had a few good lines that I felt smooth on.

When qualifying came around on Saturday afternoon, Val Di Sole was living up to its name as the Sun was beating down! In my run I set off out of the gate and sprinted towards the start of the first rough section, 20 seconds in and I was coming in to a right turn on the first new section of track, my front starting going and before I could even start to unclip I had hit the deck. I got back up and got going again, when I went down I must have eat some dust literally as the whole way down after my mouth was like an old ashtray, horrible! I got to the bottom and looked around at my time, I hadn’t made the cut for qualifying which I was pretty bummed out about. I headed back to the camper got cleaned up and came back to watch the rest of qualifying, it was good to see fellow Scotsman, Fraser Mcglone get a solid 49th which secured his place in the finals. After qualifying I just chilled out and got my stuff sorted. In the evening there was some pretty wild 4X racing going off so that made for some good watching!

Although the weekend was cut short, I still gained some very valuable experience and it was good to be back at the world cups for the first time this year. Thanks to Gaz for all of the driving and keeping my bike running smooth the whole time. JC

Filed under  //   Joe Connell  
Posted by Morvélo 

Gravel road dragstip

Dusty_cross

For some reason, despite the hot and dry conditions I can't leave the cross bike alone. Especially now I have to get in shape for this years Mountain Mayhem 24hr MTB race. So this straight line gravel road is getting used as a dusty drag strip to help me get up to speed. Full gas, stones kicking up, dust swirling, eyes streaming, heart pumping. Love it.

Filed under  //   The DS  
Posted by Morvélo 

Getting Somewhere ‏

"Trying to become a pro cyclist" has been, for the last 3 years, the standard response when someone asks me what I’m doing with my life at this moment in time. But, truth be told, until fairly recently not even I knew what that really meant.

Sure, it was a goal, but one so out of reach that it didn’t bear thinking about, which I think disconnected me from what ‘pro cyclist’ actually meant. The perception of a professional bike rider has gone from being a supernatural being; to a peer, albeit a much more advanced one. That’s a big wall to get over (almost as hard as the Muur).


Don’t get me wrong, I have always tried my utmost to improve and move forward, but the steps have always seemed so small in comparison to the colossal end goal. It is like laying one brick every day, and sometimes even accidentally knocking one off again, in a bid to build a mansion. It is sometimes easy to get lost in the complex vastness of it all. 

However, as I said, in the past few weeks and months the big objective seems to have come into a better focus. I have made a lot of progress so far this year – physically, mentally and professionally, which probably helps, and as a result the route to the top tiers of the sport has become a lot clearer in my mind. 


Riders who a year or two ago I would have classed as ‘way out of my league’, could now respectably be classed as beatable; races which even last year I would have been pleased to start, let alone finish, I am now aiming for results at. More importantly, I feel like a racing cyclist again, attacking, sprinting and playing poker, not just another young buck in lycra getting his head smashed in every week trying his best to hold on to the wheel i n front. 

I am not saying I’m almost there by any stretch of the imagination, but maybe I’ve just finished laying another storey with my ‘brick a day’ tactic. 


Cycling is both the most complex beast I know, yet also the simplest. At the end of the day, it’s just riding a bike, but the amount of factors that contribute to being able to do that successfully are infinite. 

In the last couple of weeks I’ve made the winning breakaway twice, coming away with a 5th and 6th place, and an ever growing confidence and motivation to outweigh the initial disappointment of not capitalising and taking a win. The fact that during my three years in Belgium the disappointments have gone from not finishing, to not making the breakaway...to not winning, shows the progress I’ve made though, so hopefully that will continue. 


Josh

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