Joe Connell Pre-Season Training
Well I'm back from Cali now, had an amazing time riding, chilling and making new friends. We spent 4 days at Woodward shredding the step up, learning and dialling in new tricks. Getting ready for the start of the season. Had an Amazing time thanks to Jake Kinney for sorting it out. After we rode woodward we basically chilled out down in San Diego plus I have broken my Toe so I couldn't really ride.
Partied a bit chilled at the beach and watched the guys ride a local spot.Thanks to Mike, Lobes, Kevin, Chris and Jake for helping us out and sorting places to ride. Cant wait to get back there soon.Here is the last video and link to some pics from our last days in Cali.
It doesn’t happen very often in Belgium, but at this time of year one doesn’t need to be on one’s own bicycle to be entertained. For 11 months of the year you could be forgiven for opting for a ‘weekend away in Gravesend’, rather than Flanders (said with the same sort of masked affection you would employ when calling your best mate a pleb), but this Belgium’s moment in the sun - quite literally too, at the moment. There’s so much excitement and buzz revolving around the arrival of the cobbled classics that one weekend flies to the next faster than Tom Boonen ascends the Taaienberg.
The best way, in my opinion, to get any real sense of the races from a spectator’s point of view, is to get out amongst the hubbub of it all and go race-chasing. Similar to the popular hobby, Storm chasing, but with more drama and risk involved.
It’s the done thing to do for a lot of locals at the big races – Het Nieuwsblad, E3 and of course De Ronde. Last year I joined the masses and chased the Tour of Flanders around, testing my local road knowledge and managing to see it 6 times. With so many other people doing the same, the scenes can only be described as resembling the type of frantic mass exoduses you see in films like Independence day or Godzilla. With the berg locations so close both geographically and in time, the lead car is often rolling past while hundreds of people are still arriving, and the last rider in the bunch as barely come into view before everyone is running back to their mode of transport – off road things like quad bikes and motocross bikes are often popular for ‘short cuts’.
Anyhow, as my Mum and Girlfriend were visiting last week, it would have been rude not to join the masses for E3 Prijs. We managed to see the race 5 times, which wasn’t a bad effort. Ok you don’t get to see the race unfold, but there are no lack of crowded bars to watch the finish in once you have seen the gory bits and managed to piece together what’s happened so far.
The pictures are roughly as follows - Crowds gathering on The Muur.
Protestors on The Muur (about it's absence from The Tour of Flanders).
The back end of the bunch cresting The Muur.
The bunch rolling over La Houppe.
Crowds massing on the banks of the Oude Kwaremont.
Boonen, Pozzato, VanMarcke and Sagan get the gap on the Oude Kwaremont.
Sagan leads the pursuit of Chavanel, Muravyev and Gatto on Le Cote De Trieu.
Now, by tactfully choosing to race this coming Saturday, I'll hopefully get out and beat last years effort of 6 viewpoints in 'Vlaanderens Mooiste', the Tour of Flanders.
Ever since last weeks exploratory trip to work through the city parks and hidden alleys of Brighton, I wanted to do it again. This time it included some old favourites and the dawn mist was burnt away.
On the way home last night I lost the feeling in my legs. Of comment like this of course, generally would spark some concern, but not if you're a cyclist. As rare as a solar eclipse, for me at least, the time where you can push the pedals as hard as you like and you can't feel a thing. Not in a numb way. In a way that makes you feel turbo charged. I think two races back to back and a hillier route to work could be paying off. It could also be the late evening calm spring air or the first time the whole ride back was done just before the sun slipped beneath the horizon. Whatever it was, I want more of it. Just wish it would happen during a race.
Second part of our super cool amazing road trip video and blog is up check it out.
Basically we have been riding a lot of trails and thanks to Kalin Law aka Lobes we have been able to hit up some sweet trails. not to mention giving us a shower to use, cooking us tasty BBQ's and letting us chill in the hot tub. I am now up in Tehachipi riding Woodward, this place is so sick rode with so many BMX pro's today, met Steven Murray which was so good and to top it off Nasty invited us to a jam at his trails tomorrow. This week is going to be Epic...Stay tuned for the next video, its going to be interesting haha Cheers Yaaall
Ray
First classic of the season last weekend with Milan San Remo, so it was fitting that last Saturdays Road Race at Barcombe involved rain, hills and filth. I turned up typically close to the race start time and asked if their was a spare place going, hoping the thought of 60 miles in the wet would deter some racers. My luck was in and I'd just pinned my number on when we rolled out. It's quite strange going to a race, getting your kit and bike ready, but not actually knowing that your going to get a ride.
Not in as in a 100 mile expedition but as in a 10 mile commute. I kept seeing off-road paths snaking their way between houses on my road ride to Morvelo HQ. So today on the way to work I roamed around Brighton, under the pretense of getting to the office. As it turned out it was perfect for the cyclocross bike. Small pathways, open city centre bridleways, steps, some cracking woodland trails with some great whoops, banks and drops. Don't know if it was the spring sunshine or not but I just couldn't help but hop up, over and around all the numerous obstacles that crossed my path. Like a spring lamb. But not quite so fluffy. More roaming on the way back.