Giving it the 'Jens Voigt'
Race weekend and first spring road race of the season at the hitherto unridden, by me at least, Dunsfold circuit.
Race weekend and first spring road race of the season at the hitherto unridden, by me at least, Dunsfold circuit.
Something I learned at the weekend: downhill is NOT an easy discipline! Nope, if it was easy I would have woken up on Monday morning feeling fresh and ready to face the world. Instead I've spent most of this week feeling like this:
Morvelo Test Team rider Ray Samson is out on a Road Trip around California. Here's the first installment. Not that we're jealous or anything.
Who am I kidding?
After such a mishap-free winter, I knew I was due some sort of unfortunate occurrence, and if the saying is true that bad luck comes in threes, then I should be out of the woods now! Well, emerging from the undergrowth at least.
I initially left for Belgium on the 26th of January, full of enthusiasm and enjoying the feeling of my fitness falling into place. I spent a few days getting a few bits sorted – namely collecting my team bike and trying to get a Belgian racing license – before departing with the team from Bruxelles-Charleroi on 1st Feb for our pre season camp in Tuscany. You know, that place where it’s sunny and warm? No, that place where it’s minus 5 and snowing apparently!
In typical Belgian fashion we rode to the hotel from the airport, and arrived 3 hours later with frozen hands and feet, despite wearing every item of clothing in our suitcases and regular trips back to the car for a bidon refill of warm tea. The trend for the week had been set!
Despite the arduous conditions though, we actually managed to get in a really good week’s riding. Doing between 4 and 6 every day, the kilometres took care of themselves, and with the added viciousness of some of the climbs, so did the teeth clenching and handlebar slogging. Tuscany, despite it’s seemingly run down appearance in a lot of urban areas, certainly has it’s great training roads in equal measure.
Time to leave then, or so I thought. What would have probably aided my leaving the country would have been for my passport to have remained with me, and not in the team car, by this point a few hours into it’s journey back home. Alas, it was not to be, and I duly made my sullen way to Milan, and the British Embassy for an emergency passport.
On the plus side, I got to re-acquaint myself with Youth Hostel life, which I do miss from my cycle-touring days, and had a pleasant stay as one of 6 ethnically differing strangers cooped into a shoe box room. But with some conversations I wouldn’t otherwise have had, some very helpful WiFi, and breakfast, all for 20 Euros, what’s not to love?
I picked up my emergency passport with relative ease, and spent a day loitering in Milan before flying back that night, just in time for the team presentation.
The usual procedures of photos, interviews, sponsor parading and general mingling ensued, almost wrapping up a long week. I say almost because what really finished it was breaking down 10km from Calais on my return home the next day! The tiny engine of my Vauxhall Agila was dealt a heavy blow as the head gasket went, so the return home was spent in the cabs of varying pick-up trucks, assuring the drivers that “no, I haven’t ridden the Tour de France” and “no, I shan’t be at the Olympics this year”!
Number three then, was unfortunately something I was still feeling optimistic about – my fitness! I haven’t crashed since April last year, so I was probably due one of those too, to be honest. I could see the corner in question was slippery, and off camber, so approached it with caution to begin with, but it soon became apparent that I had been ambitious even at that speed, and came down hard on my knee.
I am due to go back to Belgium tomorrow, and had been selected for the first race of the year this Sunday, Brussel-Opwijk. After 3 days off the bike, and 1 day on the rollers (with discomfort), I am going to see a physio before I leave and get a professional opinion before I take things further. I think starting on Sunday is out of the equation though.
They say racing is the easiest thing about being a full time athlete, and the last few weeks have certainly backed that theory up well. All I want to do now is pin a number on and get going!
The road bike was sent back to Upgrade Bikes for a Reynolds Wheels video, the cross bike was missing tyres, the MTB was fresh back from an overhaul (and it seemed a shame to get it so dirty so quickly) so the only ride available was the track bike. It has a front brake so it's not a pure death trap on the roads and the gearing is set more for commuting (41:17) but it didn't make it easy.
We're still stoked that we have a World Champion on the Test Team, and looking forward to the years ahead with Lukas. He's been at the top of his game for so long but now faces a tough season ahead. He'll rise to the challenge we're sure.
I didn't make as many cyclocross races this season as I had hoped for. Although the ones I did make have been a blast and it's rapidly becoming one of my favourite forms of racing. I'm yet to figure out mid-race where the hell I am exactly (position wise) in the ever increasing field of racers but that doesn't seem the point. The closeness of the racing is everything. This season has had it all. 28 degree heat at Herne Hill. Bone dry 'dirt crit' super pace around Hillingdon. The steep, fast down and slow winch up of Penshurst and now, last Sunday, was the last race of the season, with a brand new course. For me. And a new bike - it was my first ride on the disc adorned Kinesis Crosslight Pro 6.