SHREWWWS and roots MTB racing.

Sunday I did the Midi Libre MTB race in the Gard area of France. It was a return to my roots… remember… roots… shrews…?! No? Well, you had to be a part of the Subaru MTB series with me back in 1999. Oh well.

So I was up at 4am to get to the race over in the middle of noplace in the Seveen something region of France. It was a big race (I found out once I got there)… I was just going to ride around with my buddy Alphonce. So, there were some good guys there, guys from Lapierre, Maxxis etc. I guess some of the guys who didn’t want to go to the World Cup in Canada. There were 170 of us on the start line. Wow, for an MTB race… and that’s just in my category. Seeing as the race was part of a series, I had to start way back on the start line as it was my first race. It was one big loop, and get this, it was such a hard race, that it took us almost 3.5 hours to do the 45km loop!!! Anyway, I surprised myself and managed to finish 12th. I was very happy with myself. Maybe I should put the result down to my careful choice of equipment. I got my bike loaded with all the aerodynamic advantages I could… I used spinergy wheels.. etc… OK fine, so I went down to the basement before the race and pulled up my dusty MTB, it just so happened to have those wheels on it… great, they are heavy and it was a very VERY hilly course. Duh!
Maybe I’ll start MTB racing again….

My thoughts go out to Jeremiah who flatted while in 4th place at the Canada World Cup on Sunday…. That’s gotta suck!!! I’m gonna be looking out for the big man himself at the next round this coming weekend… lets all hope he has a flawless ride and pulls of the result he deserves! He’s obviously in good shape, so… Go JB.
If JB stopped fucking around on his MTB though, I bet he could save himself some serious electricity bills with the watts that bastard puts out! Hook his turbo-trainer up to a capacitor… use his wheel as a fan to cool the house down… ecologically sound Bishop housing.
Have I been drinking?

hoooooooooo..........

Shit me… Have I mentioned it’s hot over here…?!

Summer Plans

So… I’m trying to figure out my summer. Right now it looks like I’ll be working following the Tour in July, then coming back home and doing the Ronde du Gard Elite stage race here in France in August. It’s a 5 day event… but it’s a French style stage race… none of your crits or circuit race bullshit! J It’s 5 days of 130kms per day… in a hilly area of France… and in bloody HOT weather… OUCH.
Then it looks like I will be going to the US where I will do the Virginia State Time Trial Championships as well as the MABRA Time Trial Championships. This will be interesting as my thing is more short Time Trials. These are both 40k TTs. Although our road races are longer here, our TTs are shorter, so it’ll be interesting to see how I do. It looks like I will only arrive in the US 2 days before the TTs (they are back to back Sat, Sun) so the jetlag will no doubt have an effect. Then it looks like there is a small chance that I might do the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont, and then the Univest Grand Prix, a UCI event in Pennsylvania.
Of course the main reason for my going back to the US is for Tim’s wedding.. yep.. that’s right.. the “drunk” is getting married… “who’da thunk it.” J
So.. that’s the plan for now… of course I’ll probably change my plans a hundred times between now and August, but that’s normal… some things never change.

July

I will be away again in July, working for Bikestyletours.com during the Tour de France. I have to get myself and my bike up to Paris for the 8th. I’m looking forwards to riding around and sharing this great riding country with the people on the bikestyletours.com trips. It should be a great TDF… I can’t wait!

Grounded

My thoughts go out to Greg who’s lying at home with a dislocated arm that he sustained upon his return from Airbus training a few weeks ago. Poor Greg is going to be housebound during the Tour de France… I’m sure we all feel really bad for the poor guy. We’ll be thinking of you there Greg, sitting in front of OLN, watching the Tour with a big old Belgian Beer in your one good hand. Maybe we should all come round in case you need to change the volume on the TV and your hand is already filled with a beer bottle.

Sadly Greg is unable to ride his beautiful carbon Lemond bike however… It’s Ok Greg.. I’ll put in the miles for you. :-) (well.. actually I think John Parks is putting in the miles for all of us!)

The last couple days

Well here we are again.. it’s summer! The weather is blisteringly hot… the roads are melting and my bike tires are dragging tar back into the house after every ride. I’m getting through litres and liters of water a day, and the sunscreen has become as vital as the air we breath.

I thought that once I had finished with school, I would have a lot more time to catch up with this sort of stuff.. but that hasn’t been the case.

Yesterday I went out on an MTB ride in the morning (I’m racing the MTB Midi Libre this weekend) and I discovered a stunning view. After riding through a bunch of fields, I found myself on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Tarn, with a view that covered everything from Albi to Gaillac. In the distance I could see the heat hazed Mazamet Black mountains. I couldn’t see the Pyrenees though, it was too hot.

So after my MTB ride, I came home and had lunch on the balcony. Even though I sat in the shade (of course) it was a sweat fest of a lunch. Then I relaxed a little bit with a coffee to digest, before heading out for a 50k ride on my time trial bike in the afternoon. I chose a hilly loop as I wanted to really get a feel for the TT bike on hills (it sucks). So I headed out in possibly the hottest weather we’ve had yet, with only one water bottle. I did the hilly ride in 1h30, but when I got home I actually got a little scared. I was in a bit of a state. My body wasn’t reacting too well to the effort and fatigue from the ride in such heat… I think I pushed a bit too hard considering I was already tired and obviously dehydrated… still.. it was fun and a cool ride. So to cool off, I went over to hang out in a friend’s swimming pool in the evening.

After a stifling night, I woke up this morning feeling crappy. I’ve consumed VAST quantities of fluids since yesterday evening. It’s stupid hot again, and I’m about to head out for a ride. I was planning on doing my very hilly 100k loop, but seeing as there are no places to stop and get water on that loop, I’m going to do a different one.

Dead Tired. Need rest.

Well here we go again. The seriously hot weather is back. I love it.. it’s so hot you can’t do anything.

After 2 straight weeks of intervals, TT intervals, uphill sprint intervals and motorpacing, I rode Plateau de Beille and col du Chioula with my buddy Alphonce on Friday. I was so so tired. The intervals really took their toll. I was totally totally dead Friday evening. Yesterday I did 2 hours easy, and now today I’m heading down to the mountains again to watch the Route du Sud (where TIAA-Creff are racing) but mainly to ride the Col du Portillon with Stephane. Depending on how he feels, we might do it twice, and we might add the col de Peyresourde. After that I think will force myself to take 2 much needed and deserved recovery days.

Next week I plan on going down to Limoux for a couple days, and hanging out with James Hewitt, a British cyclist racing for the Bouygues Telecom development team Castelsarasin. We’ll hang out, drink coffee, and ride a little… but we’ll mainly do some relaxing and “battery recharging”.
So until next time.. A bientot.

still alive?

woahoooo.. it's about time I updated this thing!!!
I've busy as a .... erm.. well.. I've been busy! University, training, racing... drinking coffee... you know how it is!

Rick MArtinez emerged the other day... so it was good to hear from him...

Ok, I'll try and keep this thing unpdated a little more...

Later y'all
Grim Seen