Pic de Nore

This weekend saw two races go up the pic de Nore climb. Sat we climbed from Jalabet’s home town of Mazamet to the summit, and on Sunday we climbed from the other side in near Carrcassonne to the summit.
John felt a little down after Sat's race. He was fairly happy with Sat, though I was pissed off because we watched the break go up the road and did nothing... I tried to bridge but couldn't, so came back to the chase group where John attacked to bridge up as soon as I was back in, he sat in no mans land all day, at the end I kicked it away from my group to finish just behind him (7th and 8th). Sunday we went with the break, but these guys go SO fast up hill it was hang on until you drop. I dropped and set into my own rhythm, I ended up in a group of 4 when we reeled in John. We sat in on the steeper slopes, one guy went so I let the gap open a bit and bridged taking just john with me. We sat on him making breathing noises to make sure he wouldn't ask for any help. Then John started to get gapped, but I wanted him to hang on as I was planning to attack our guy with about 2k to go (it was around 8 or 9% slope at this stage), John dangled off the back for a little while, then got on. I attacked with 2k to go, john couldn't follow and the other guy stuck to me for a bit, so I kicked again and whipped it from side to side... I got a big gap real quick and held it to the finish, the other guy was picking up the speed, he came in next with John just behind him. We were around 12th and 13th or something like that. I was happy because we did all we could, but dissatisfied because I would like to do better… as usual. I'm not sure why John isn't happy though, because he didn't miss the break, he gave it all he had... so...

John actually cracked his frame, so that changed things a bit, as he will tell you bellow…

BY JOHN PARKS:

Well this past weekend did not go quite as planned, but it was a worthwhile experience nonetheless. We woke up Saturday morning to heavy rain and fog so driving three hours or more to the Pyrenees where the weather was sure to be worse seemed a little risky. Sim and I opted to try a different race about an hour or so away. The race was a mass start hill climb that started in the town of Mazamet (Laurent Jalibert?s home town) and rose 25k to the Pic de Nor, 1000m above the start line.
At the start I jumped out front and pulled the first few kilometers out of town and up the hill at pace just fast enough to discourage attacks. Just as I was pulling off a group of seven guys attacked and got a gap that Sim then tried to bridge. Not quite able to catch the lead group, Sim dropped back to the pack and as soon as we caught him I countered with my own attack. Unfortunately I was never able to bridge the gap between the leaders and the rest of the field and spent the remainder of the climb by myself in no mans land. Halfway up, I passed a member of the lead group being helped into an ambulance for whatever reason. An hour after I started, I reached the top several minutes behind the leaders in 7th place. Sim, in a group of about five, attacked 3k from the top and dropped the riders around him and crossed the line in 8th place about a minute behind me. All the race officials and locals seemed to really enjoy having the both of us their because neither of us are French. At the small awards ceremony after the race they even gave me a trophy for being the first foreign rider to reach to top.
On the descent back down, a couple times my crank seemed to slip a little or so that?s what I thought, so I just took it easy thinking I would just tighten it when we got home. The bad news came when we discovered that the chain stay was separating from the dropout and my frame was shot. Knowing we had a race the next day, that night Sim and I swapped all of my components on to aluminum Go Sport bike that Greg Sonnenburg had left here. Greg, if you read this, thanks, and I owe you. However, now you can always take pleasure in knowing that you own a bike that?s been raced in Europe.
The race on Sunday was similar to Saturday with many of the same riders, but we attacked the climb from the other side of the hill and finished at the same point. The backside of the climb was shorter but steeper which was not good for me. The pace started extremely fast and dropped most of the riders quickly. I held on for about two or three kilometers but was not able to maintain the pace. Once again I found myself on my own, this time occasionally being passed by a rider or two. Two-thirds up the climb I was caught by Sim and a small group of four others. I managed to sit in with them just as the grade got began to get steeper. All the riders in the group dropped except for Sim, another rider, and myself. About 1k from the top Sim had the legs to attack the other rider and get a few seconds gap and hold it to the finish with the other guy chasing and me coming in about 15-20 seconds back. Not a great day but we both still managed top twenty finishes. I guess not bad considering most of the other riders were from towns around the area, and are used to this type of terrain. By the way these climbs have Liam?s name written all over them.
Yesterday we took my frame to a local fame builder who said he could repair it no problem, so I should have it for the upcoming races this weekend. Thanks to everyone at the shop for jumping through whatever hoops to get a new bike to me. We are not exactly sure what races we are going to do this weekend but it may involve a road race that finished on a climb in the Pyrenees, and or a regional time trial championships, we?ll see. Thanks again for everything.

John P.