AFRICA!!!! Part II

Ok so the last blog ended quite abruptly, I'd like to say it was a cliff hanger but.............. it wasn't, it was my crap computing skills.

This blog contains content of an adult nature....... ish...... 

At the time of the last blog I was nursing a dicky stomach, a pass time that seems to be very popular amongst the europeans who race in this part of the world........ Of course many hours were spent on the toilet and this gave me time to reflect on my condition.............

yeah....... thats pretty much how it was......

I came to the conclusion it was a mixture of the heat, fatigue and completing a stage of 120km riding through sewage washed out of the drains in heavy rain, a lovely day for drinking from the bidon. Many others suspect the food but I'm not so sure, as others on the trip didn't ail anything.

Got shit faced in my homemade under jersey Gilet, fashioned from a coach seat cover...... snazzy eyyy.

Washing machines are hard come by in this part of the world, however brummies bribed with cups of tea....... aren't, and as luck would have it.......

Moving on from this short sharp bout of illness we went into a very hard mountainous 3 day. The Tour of Setif, Setif is a sizeable town which sites at the same altitude as the summit of mount Snowdan in wales.

The first stage was a 130km day with 2 main climbs and constant rolling roads all the way into the finish. After 3 days off the bike it's fair to say I didn't feel great and this was clarified when I attempted to get in the break in the opening kilometers and instead of putting others in the red I managed to go from leading to last man within about 500 metres

                                     and there I stayed for some considerable time, about 125km as I recall. 

About 1/2 way up the first climb I was shelled along with many others and from then on it was a case of recovering over the top and getting to the finish..... it was only 65 km...... The 2nd climb came in quick succession and I was distanced from my group, clearly I hadn't quite recovered from the Delhi Belly but I grovelled on and got over the climb, then came the suffering, the group i'd been with were literally 500 metres infront, but sods law was in abundance this day and me and them were doing exactly the same speed and so the gap stayed the same for 30 extremely frustrating kilometers. Eventually after a few descents, 3 gels, a banana and 2 bidons, I started to get closer and one big push got me up to them, I was relieved to finally sit in the wheels and for 20kms I sat on and died a thousand times...... theres a song in there ...... With 10 km to go I popped again and road in on my own,.....I took the coveted lantern rouge that day and picked up some serious man points. 

                                                                            Just a picture...... because I like it

Stage two was a similar set out to stage 1, an hour of gutter racing on a big open motorway road before we hit the KOMs of the day where the race would be split to shit and see the GC contenders do battle. We covered 53 km in the first hour and on the flat atleast I felt cracking, However as we hit the first climb, the efforts of the previous day began to show and I came to stand still on the steep accent and my day was done. As I made my way to the top of the climb the heavens opened and the descent was treacherous, I wasn't going to regain contact by this point and taking risks on the slippery downhill was silly and I decided to abandon and recover for the coming races. Which were only in the next few days. Crash your bike out here and your knackered, of course when your in the running risks are taken but in the situation it was silly and so the bus was the ride home. 

                                   Could'v done with him...... either for his horse or his sword to make it less painful

The next race was a criterium in the centre of Setif, a pretty dull circuit to be honest a point to point between 2 roundabouts making a distance total of 96km. For 28/30 laps I didn't feature at all in the race but with 2 laps to go the perfect opportunity arose to attack and I did, I got a good gap of around 10 seconds "according to the lads" but bridgestone Anchor weren't letting anything go and  by the lap bell they had shut me down, however there was a slight gap and we had maybe 10 of us, George Moore went over the top and gave the signal but I was bollocks and couldn't react. This was the final lap I got myself in a good position up the front for the gallop but a serge came on the right hand side and I was too pussy to forge a path through gaps and I was out of it, I rolled in at the back and was pretty pissed with the outcome. Bad Day.... 

                                                                             A lot of lurking tashes.....

So thats week 2 In AFRICA, not a great do but It could have been far worse....... I'll right a final blog about my rest day with a difference, the Tour of Constantine and our final Criterium before heading home to a meal that didn't contain  A- Chicken or B- Rice......

Hope you enjoy

2014 of to a start with a difference.

Hey there to all my fans and welcome back to this top blog, I'd love to address you all personally, but lets face it we aint got time for that.

Right the title... 2014 has started very different for me as opposed to previous seasons. Firstly Ive not headed off for a season of racing in France or Belgium like previous seasons, I've had a 2 week mallorca training camp and I've been dry this winter..... oh no thats not right, I've been soaked since November.

So to kick of this blog I'll begin from January, Team wise I had multiple chats with several teams over winter but nothing came of any of them and I was set to start 2014 as a man in black, "unattached". However as the first races became ever closer the Green Jersey Bike Shop in Clitheroe told me I could ride for them, they've helped me a lot this winter with one thing or another and I was more than happy to represent them in their jersey, "its not green". Unfortunately for my first races in the UK there was no kit and I was back in Black, theres a song in see......

I had some cracking training this winter, coming into training fitter than ever carrying through from last year, spending most of it with the usual crowd, Superman Wilks, Old Hopkin AKA Big JON, Robbie P and Big Sambo. November/ Decemeber were pretty soggy, reckon I had about 3 rides with dry feet, so when my bank account told me I could go to Mallorca for 2 WHOLE weeks I was more than over the moon. I went out there on the 31st of Jan and got 2 really good weeks in, doing the majority on my own and a few days hooking up with random dudes on the sea front, sounds suspect eyyy......

Fair to say I didn't need overshoes on here.

So 2 weeks in Mallorca gave me some nice dry miles and a load of climbing which was  perfect and fair to say tired me out for a good week. Now unfortunately 1st race of the season was with in a week of getting home and I wasn't going too well, some illness picked up on the journey home knocked me back abit and made sure all I was doing that day was "getting" round. But I knew what it was and know it wasn't condition. 1 week later was a double weekend, Eddie Soens on the Saturday and Ronde Van Pimbo Sunday.

Something about Hennebont...... Misty the cat maybe

Soens always attracts some good names and a result here was a big aim for me, get up there someones going to take notice. Cut a long story short, well 30 laps..... in the last lap around 500 meters to go, going for 4th best a top 10 definite, I was took out and straight into a horse racing fence, yes pretty painful at 50 kph+ but more painful for the bike which had been finished been built up 9:30 the previous evening. The forks were smashed but everything else was ok and a spare pair of forks slotted in "again The Green Jersey came to my rescue" and so Ronde van Pimbo was a go go.  

I started the race a little nervous in the bunch but soon got back in the groove and was well away. I had good legs but not good enough, unfortunately at a crucial part, I jumped away to get to the break, 2 Rapha boys came up to me and fair play to them I just couldn't get on the wheels to bridge and that was the day done, but it's early days and they've had 2 months racing so you got take that I suppose. Managed to get away again near the end in a group and rolled 19th so from 80 I guess it wasn't too bad, but lets face it not good. 

Nice Matching forks

And so to my biggest adventure on a bike yet, yes I've gone to Belgium and France, but you kinda know what to expect... but my season has been properly kicked off with 3 weeks of UCI races in Algeria, YES AFRICA !!!! Lets just say it very very different to anything I have ever done or for that matter seen in my life.  I've been here 10 days now and raced 7 of them. 

My first race was a criterium in the capital Algers. I've never known anything like it, people wandering all over the road, kids asking you for your sunglasses, bidons and Garmins!! "MR can I have your Garmin?!! haha, As for the race it quite well considering Id had 3 days travelling and no spin to prep the legs, and a finish in the bunch was a nice opener.

Straight after this the 5 day Tour of Algeria Started, which on paper looked like it was going to be good, and it was, I'm not certain of my GC placing but out of the 120+ riders who started only 50 ish finished, I'm happy to say I finished the race, every stage was hard and racing day after day at such intensity has given me great confidence in my ability and form, and to say its only march I'm very happy. I know for definite that if some days my positioning had been better I'd have had better results avoiding splits and crashes that happened in the windy sections.

As I write this blog there is a 3 day which Im not doing, I race again wednesday in a mountainous 4

The end is near

Ok so I'm a week into my last month out here in Brittany, France. With the short time I have left here I thought I'd take some time to write a blog to talk of the places I've visited,what's happened since I arrived and how it's been made possible.

Accommodation-
Of course the most important thing when you come to a foreign country to race is having somewhere to live. My living arrangements were sorted by my team and they were very nice too. The second day after I arrived in February I was taken to my new home, bikes out, bags out, "here is where you'll be staying young English man" said My Team President as we walked up the unfinished, perishingly cold garden path. My first impressions were, "well its certainly going to quiet", for a lad who lives in Northern Terraced street this was quite the opposite, the nearest house several hundred meters away, big garden, trees all around and a river a short walk down the road.

My view on a wet February Morning

 I was introduced to my Land lady, Marie Noel, a very nice French lady who thankfully spoke English, after a short tour and chat about finances and other boring stuff like washing machines Sebastien left me to it. It was strange at first living in somebody else's home, okay I've lived away for two previous years in Belgium but that was in a shared house with other cycling lads, not an individual, it's a completely different feeling. However it's not like I was here alone the two lads from the team were only living a short distance away across town and we have the Mills family an hours ride away in the village of Baud. But I'll speak of them later, trust me they deserve a whole paragraph.

Come June, the garden was landscaped a very peaceful place to have a BBQ

Places to visit-

Of course most of the places I've visited since coming to Brittany have been via pedal power but the odd time they have been in the car. For those of you not aware, Brittany is on the North Western part of France and most of the regions borders are the ocean, with this abundance of coastline your never far from a great beach, walled coastal towns or a mouth watering seafood restaurant. But it doesn't haver to be a long ride or drive away, sometimes a short wander into the town for a coffee or a relax by the river is enough for me.

People-

Now all of the above and all my other blog content "i.e" racing out here would not be possible for me if it wasn't for the support of The Dave Rayner Fund. Up until November 2012 I had no idea where or what I was going to be doing this year. As soon as I got that confirmation email from Keith Lambert I had funding I could start to think realistically where I might go. For those of you not aware of the Dave Rayner its a Non Profit Organisation which raises money each year for a number of riders both male and female to go abroad and race in the country of their choice to better themselves and succeed. Reasons for the Funds set up are rather sad as Dave was an extremely talented young rider from Yorkshire who went to Italy to ply his trade but sadly not only his pro career but his life was cut short with a violent ending in Bradford, where Dave was from and so today the fund supports riders with his ambition. There are several ways in which the fund raises money. All three of which I have been part of for several years.

The Etape du Dales is a cyclo sportive held in my back yard "The Yorkshire Dales" a gruelling 112 mile route taking in every climb worth riding in the National Park.  Why not give it a go.....  http://www.daveraynerfund.co.uk/etapedudales

I had a go in 2009, got a silver certificate you know.....

The Fred Whitton Challenge is another leg breaking sportive held in the Lake District "my back yard also on a big day!!" Which gives a considerable amount to the fund .... http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.org.uk/

And finally at the end of the year in November the Fund hosts it's own dinner and auction in Bradfords Hilton Hotel. The dinner always comprises of 2-3 special guests "cyclists" an auction of world Tour signed jerseys and other goodies from the years season.

So now I had the finances, where to go and how. Well through sheer fluke a friend by the name of Daniel Patten "also a funded rider" mentioned the name "Mr Tony Mills" and just by luck he's a friend of my Mums Husband. Doug and Tony raced together hundreds of years ago and hadn't been in contact with each other since the turn of the last century, Tony Lives out in France with his family, and I mean his family.... His wife Barbara, 3 sons Tony "Junior", Nick and Tim along with Tims Wife and 2 children, its a real Southern Commune, so of course when I arrived a translator was drafted in to help out with the chit chat.

Tony, thats young Tony sorted me out a team with in matter of days over the Christmas/ New Year period and I was good to go. Nick met me, George and Josh at Portsmouth and brought us over.

I would really like to thank the whole family for welcoming me in and for doing everything they have. Not so bad after all aren't them Southerners......


Other English out here include.......

This guys aero...

This guys sore.....

This guys half dressed

and this guys HOT!! I mean over heating

Aside from our own Little Britain Out here, I've met many lovely people and despite the language barrier, which I'm pleased to say has improvement no end since I came I've managed to chat and get on with so many people.

Talking to Seb, Pre Race, he's laughing so either my French was appalling or I'm a funny guy.

and Finally I've come across a few animals while out here, some more than others were grateful of my company......

He lives over the road, always happy to share my baguette he is....

Say No More.... That's misty my house mate.

only met him once, he got the hump and I never saw him again

He definitely didn't want to meet me and I doubt a second meet is likely  

as I write this blog she is by my side.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog about life Living in Brittany of the bike........

I tried, I failed, I'll try again

The weekend before last (24th August) I had three races in 4 days, all part of the TAM series. I had great moral for this series to finish the season off well, however as we lined up for the criterium on Saturday evening the 4 jerseys of the series, "Yellow, polkodot, Green and white" were all been ushered to the front for photos. Hmmmm so thats great I've already missed the first few rounds!! What a great start......

 Anyway couldn't let that bother me and the race was soon under way, 31 laps of a 3.1km circuit. The course was great, a mixture of small lanes running through windy corn fields, corners, road furniture and a big wide open road to the finish which was right in the centre with a few bars and boulongeries to keep the crowd happy between laps. 

I was very keen to do well as I felt great and wanted to prove I'm equally as strong as others. Despite it been quite a blustery evening the race didn't split as I expected and gaps only began to really open at the half way mark. I got in 3 or 4 moves which all gained good gaps but once attacks came from the bunch we were brought back. Eventually a move did go and to this day I still don't see where it did but hey ho!! So we were going for 9th, a great result in 1st cat race if I could managed it. With about 5 laps to go I got in 2nd move, no way were we going to bridge to the leaders but a top ten was a possibly. However Bic 2000 weren't represented and with a strong bunch of guys they pulled us back. A few countered and stayed away for 9th, 10th and 11th... So could I get the bunch gallop for 12th??... 

George did a great job from 2km out and road on the front all the way to closing few hundred meters, little did he know I was locking up with cramp behind and my 12th place would be a miracle, I tried desperatly to sprint but rider after rider flew past and I had to settle for bloody 25th Not a happy bunny I'll tell you. However at least it wasn't a half hearted job, both hamstrings, both quads and both calves seized after the line.... 

After a spin out Sunday, Monday was the next target part of the same series but this time a 15 lap race along the beautiful Finistere coast, On my warm up laps I remember saying to the lads, "jeez I've raced in worse places". The race was full of everyone who mattered and I really wanted to get in the break and get a solid performance.

The race face was on

 A good breakaway group was established on the first lap, I was in it, we got a great gap in no time and the guys featured really pushed on, I was hanging in the first few kms of the effort but still rolling through to do my turn. After a lap or two my legs were beginning to come round and just in time.... There were a few passengers on the breakaway train and the lads who counted in the series i.e the yellow jersey, green jersey didn't want them having a free ride and soon the attacks came, I kept with them all and showed them I wasn't going to be lazy. Unfortunately in doing this our speed dropped and with Armee De Terre smashing away on the front of the bunch we were caught!!! very disappointing.

 Not as disappointing as what happened next though..... After just shy of another lap another group chipped off, I was right on the wheel of the last guy and for some reason I hesitated and didn't jump with him!!!!!!! After this small groups kept chipping off and I was in none, I rolled round in the bunch for the remaining laps and came in 45th, a disappointing day to be honest.

The race face was obviously off by this point

 And Finally to Tuesday and the race of Scaer, also part of the same series. The circuit couldn't have been more different to yesterday. A short little steepish kick up followed by a long drag and then terrible roads for the rest of the circuit, as my bottle cage fold out later on. The race got under way very quickly with an attack in the first 10 meters this group stayed away for a good few laps before been joined by another group of riders, these riders jumped from the bunch on the long drag which was a sufferfest.

LOOK!! A gap!!!

 Now unlike the day before where I was behind a rider who attacked and I hesitated and didn't follow, today I couldn't even get out the bloody saddle to follow him never mind sustainer an attack.

Sorry lads, you'll have to do it, I'm capput

And so by about lap 5 of 16 my groups race was over, yes people tried to jump clear and form chase groups but they weren't getting anywhere and when I had a go the same thing happened, there was one where it looked like we may get away but half a lap later we were all back together again like one big happy family rolling round. If I'm honest I just wanted to complete the race and get it finished with.

I had a go in the sprint, "can you tell" I mean you never know, the 30+ guys infront might have stopped

 Now I finished in 36th in one piece, a very fatigued one piece but one piece nevertheless, the same wasn't to be said for my trusty 3 year old bottle cage. The rough roads of the day had taken their toll on the old fella's lower welds and unfortunately he's had to concede he's no longer the sturdy bottle carrier he once was, he's done a great duty for the likes of Elite, energize, maxim, SIS, Gatorade and finally its High5 thats finished him those 750ml bidons were just too much for him.......

As you can see the poor chap suffered a terrible ordeal, now he lays to rest in bottle cage heaven...... my wheelie bin.

Return de la Blog

Now I know I've said this on numerous occasions but I will try and update this job more often than I have been. Since my last post which shamefully was over 6 weeks ago, I've had quite a bit going on. A bit of family time with mother Hubard and Co.., meeting friends on holiday in the area and a spot of bike racing. 

In the first week of July I had a good few races, all of which went well and prior to my family arriving on the 9th I was told by the team to take a bit of time off and recharge the batteries. I raced once in the 2 weeks they were here in a scorching 37 degrees, the race was a first cat event and I was happy to come 16th place from a starting field of 60+, considering I'm a cold skinned Northerner I think I coped rather well.

Riding round like an headless chicken.....

  

The first race back after my break was extremely painful, a real mans course which showed me the back of the bunch however in the words of "Tim Mills" I gave it some Yorkshire spirit and made it to the finish line in some sort of style, "bedraggled" would be my description. The 30 kph ride home was great I loved every minute of it..... Trainings Gaining......

I was trying here..... And I think doing a great job with appearance. Looking Sharp 

That was Monday, the next race would be a Criterium in the local town of Lorient on Friday, a nice evening made for a good ride out to the race with the lads and the crowds were pretty big too. The circuit was so glamorous, along the docks and through red light district, and no I didn't spend any priemes down there. Of course it was fast from the start and didn't really ease up at all, I followed a few moves but none of my efforts came to anything and soon was back in the main bunch and that is where I stayed for the rest of the night. At the business end of the race fellow Anglais and ami Doug Dewey rode to a fantastic win out of the break away in a close ending Sprint for the line. 

Could av done with a Tandem

The following Sunday was a round of the Roi Morvan series, all of which have been on difficult grovelling circuits with no recovery, still I was getting my legs back and was capput by the end and just about dragged myself up the final hill to the end. However another good hard few kilometers in the bank. 

Now 4 days later was the first of a good block. Thursday I would race a 1st cat crit in Concarneau, Saturday would be a 2,3 RR in hilly Melrand, Sunday an Inline race with finishing loops and Finally another Crit Monday afternoon in the local village of Locmicquilic. 

Thursday- After some good feelings in the days prior I was keen for a good weekend of racing, maybe a little too keen...... I attacked in the first km thinking yeah I'll have a dig see who comes across, however no one did and soon I was on the bumper of the lead car only to realise the first lap was neutralised, ahh well worth a do. I had a good few goes in this race but just didn't have it when the winning move stuck, however I managed to get in the 2nd group and finish well in the sprint, of which we had 2 as they were sure how many laps we had to do... Team mate George Moore got 3rd, a great result and I was 26th from 70 ish starters. 

On some dudes wheel, he was pretty strong

Saturday- Todays race was in Melrand, a village I often go through out on the bike and a circuit I have raced on before in Melrandaise in February. Me and George road out to the race "30km" and arrived in plenty of time, pinned on our Dosards and had a coffee in the sign on cafe. We had a good chat with each other, the plan was I'd get up the road in the first move and George would get a tow across. Pleased to say it worked perfectly, I was gone in the first 2 kms and just after the first lap I saw another blue and white jersey coming to my aid, along with another, more the merrier. It was a good tactic which saw us have 3 riders out of 8 in the break, most of the work was left to us, but this was understandable and we just got on with it, with 4 laps to go me and our french friend went bang and were passed by all but a few of the remaining riders, now it was left to George to bring home the bacon..... and he did!!!! a lap and half solo from the bunch saw him finish 50 seconds infront of 2nd place. I came in a few minutes behind in 16th absolutely shot but over the moon, fair to say our 30 km ride home was pretty full of moral. 

Typical, no photographers but we got a mention in the Paper. Some more than others haha

Sunday- After 150km the day before I was well and truly opened up for Sundays race and was very active all day, a fast hilly inline section made for attacking racing but no moves stuck and we did most of the inline as a bunch, a nasty steep climb up to the finishing loops killed my hopes of a breakaway success but I almost manged to get across on the loops, literally metrs away but not close enough. The loop was 5km round, 1 side all up and 1 side all down, I tried very hard to get away and almost did numerous times but just couldn't get a little move to work, I came 4th in the fast up hill sprint and 25th overall, not good enough considering how well I felt. 

And Finally Monday- After 3 races in 4 days I thought I would feel pretty tired today, but just shows with good food and sleep recovery is an amazing thing. I felt a little heavy legged at the start but as the laps went by I became stronger and stronger. Unfortunately I was still in my heavy legged place when 2 groups snook of the front, I went after them with George but we just couldn't get there, there was a little hill and we were so close but I was dying.

Can't lie I did skip a few turns for a lap or two

However we did have a gap from the bunch and so with 1 other bloke we pressed on and gained a healthy lead. We were holding the 16 man breakaway at 30 seconds but just not closing in. A few laps later it was just 2 of we worked really well together and were joined by a further 2 who pulled their weight and we kept our race alive. Slowly but surely we began to catch dropped riders from the break "not enough of them though" but at the time I was wondering whether we could be on for a top 10 however we only caught 3 which left us fighting for 13th.

That beer looks nice and refreshing...

I was beaten in a good final sprint by one chap with left me with 14th. Not too bad, but again not where I wanted to be... To say 4 of us held the break at 20-30 seconds for 72km shows we were more than capable of getting podium places.

Yeah mate, you got me...

But you gotta be in it to win it!!!! next time....