Spain Training camp

Well I'm back from a week of training camp in Spain.

It was a really good week, even though I was sick the whole time, lost my voice and felt pretty crappy.

Apparently the rain in Spain doesn't mainly fall on the plane... it also falls on the coast! A week of very slow miles in the rain with a few nicer days here and there won't have helped my cold, but at least it was good fun and I met some great people. And of course there were a few beers to go with the endless miles logged on the bike.

No Shepherd, I am NOT lost. We are looking at the map BEFORE the ride has started!

Our resort/hotel for a week, with endless all-you-can-eat food, great views and great roads to ride on. Life could be worse!

Racin'n'Snowin!

Shhhhtttt. I'm not supposed to be wearing that blue clothing, it's not my team kit, but it was so cold I went back to the car before the start and put on all the clothing I had. Keep in quiet though! ;)

(Click on pics for larger image)

Sunday's race: Had 4 hours sleep night before as I awoke in the night and couldn't get back to sleep because of my cold. On the start line it was 4 degrees (I went back and piled on all the clothes I had... not many.) shortly after the start it hailed... it hailed twice during the race, SNOWED 3 times, rained... was very very windy... basically... it was all a bit Belgian with a sadistic twist. The roads were small, covered in mud, some weren't even fully paved, we ended the race looking like we had ridden a wet and muddy Tour of Flanders (which was on today BTW).

A group went off the front and after a while I dragged a few other guys up to it. It seemed to take ages to bridge up there. Then by the half-way point in the race I got dropped from the 10-12 man break. I got dropped ON A CLIMB would you believe!!! Shocking!!!

Sim got dropped from the break on a climb

But there you go, I wasn't feeling too hot, my legs didn't seem to move, and as everyone knows, I hate the cold weather with a vengeance! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. So I was back in the chase group. :-(

Bridging back up to the front of the race on wet and dangerous corners through town and through noramally beautiful vinyards

As things progressed and we got nearer the end of the race I somehow got myself away from the chase group and back up to the sharp end of the race, which was now the small remnants of the break, and, with 2 k to go I was chasing alone trying to catch 2 guys in front of me (1 guy was off the front solo for the win). I caught the 2 guys ahead of me right on the line, but there were too many spectators not behind the barriers and I couldn't pass. I wanted to pass them on the right, but it was blocked, the left was blocked, I even tried to go through the middle of the 2 riders but by then we were on the line. So I got 6th.

Blocked at the finish

Not bad really, especially as that kind of weather REALLY doesn't suit me, it's early in the season, I'm sick and I'm not even properly race fit yet.

Apart from the horrific weather, the race did yield some stunning views of the Sancerrois vineyards and hills.

It's off to (hopefully) sunny Spain next week for a week long training camp. Anything beats the snow of northern France!

Freezin' Racin' Belgium Style

There's nothing like coming back from "hot'n'heavy" Aus to race in the freezing rain and horrific winds.

Sunday's race was something else. It remained dry until we got on the start line. A couple drops came down during the Neutral zone and by about 30k into the race, it was raining hard and freezing cold.
I felt surprisingly "easy" for a race of this size, at this time of the year and considering my fitness and lack of racing. In the end however the rain and cold got the better of me! I had a really bad head-ach from the cold, and I couldn't feel my hands, my arms, or my toes... my teeth were chattering at over 160beats per minute. Believe it or not it took me 2 hours after the race to feel my heals again. Yep, my HEELS. I was so cold my bones were hurting. Strange!
Anyway, my teammate Guillaume Soula won the race, I finished just outside the National Ranking Points in 21st spot, but still in the money. Over 100 riders started (not many probably due to the rain), and only 30 or so finished. The race was dealt with from the back... as people got shelled they where eaten away by the cold and miserable conditions... a typical Belgian style race of attrition (only with hills). Only 3 of us from the team finished. So I wasn't too disappointed with my first real race of the season; especially considering I thought I'd get shelled from the early season races and my aim was just to see if I could finish.

"Gigi" takes out his first race of the season...

Apart from that I've been getting in some good rides overall. For some reason I've been creeping on the bike though, I feel like I'm hardly moving in training. Might be my body still trying to get used to temperatures, or maybe I've got something of a cold... not sure, but that's cycling I guess. I may go down to Spain for a little training camp around mid April, we'll see.