Ce Weekend.

Saturdays Gilbert Bousquet was a right little toughie! I had heard a lot before about it being a proper "guerrier" race (warrior!) with open exposed roads over the hilltops with lots of wind and usually lots of rain, however this last element managed to hold it in for the majority of the day, only letting out a little drizzle on the last several km's. It was a top amateur field lined up with 3 Belgian teams and the Russian team in the mix.

It started off well for me as after the first few k's i found myself sitting in the front line following attacks nd wheels however i guess i got complacent as not long after i was well and truely swamped on either side just on the approach to a long straight road with.... the all time greatest hit... Crosswinds! And today these bastads were out in force trust me! So i got re-aquainted with my new friend "gutter" and proceeded to spend a fair amount of time with him in early in the race!

After managing to move up a bit, i could see that a group had clipped off the front and were starting to pull away... actually no, they had pulled away as they were very soon out of sight! A quick check on the radio and we had Clement and Matthieu in the front, with 20 others for company. This was the break for the day and gradually things calmed down behind... for a little while at least!

We soon then hit the long open climbs of the Monts D'Arrée, well known around these parts and luckily i knew them too having spent a couple of days riding them on out early season training camp. A good positioning saw me sitting behind the Lombarden train (belgian) who weren't well represented upfront. As we headed over the tops to the exposed moors it was back int he gutter as the russian team put the hammer down. This shelled a lot of riders and we formed a first peloton and gradually started coming back to the group in front. In this group here, laurent and me survived and sat in the wheels until the finish laps where the gap was down to 40seconds, however attacks soon started left right and centre and the chase was up. The gap grew and they were away again up front. Up there, clement managed to make the front split of riders from which the 2 russians in the group (just happening to be twin brothers too!) rode away and won hand in hand! Not a bad family race memory i imagine! Clement finished 11th, and Matthieu 13th chasing on his own. I finished in the 2nd counter attack behind the break so somewhere between 30th/35th. I rolled across the line conserving what was left in the tank for round 2 tomorrow!

Sunday then was Boucles Guégonnaises, another elite race with the a similar field to the day bafore with the belgians and the russians staying over for the party. A full field of 205 riders rolled out for 105 km en ligne followed by 8 laps of 7+km. The plus side about todays race was that i wouldnt be seeing so much of yesterdays friend and the wind had dropped considerably!

So pretty much from the flag a group of 12 went away, we had one rider there, Enric, so we sat in behind as the break wasnt too much to worry about with several bigger teams having missed it, including Cotes D'Armor, 2 of the Belgians outfits.They pulled out to 3mins 30 before any riding really took place in which time i had a little "crevaison" (puncture) and dropped back for that. As the pace was slow i wound my way back through the cars nice and easily with several riders who had taken the same moment to have a "nature break". After about 75km the race started to hot up with a succesion of hard hills to get over. The pace on the front caused a split in the peloton with all of us making the front group confortably. These hills then lead us on to the finish circuit where the real war started. Infront, our man popped and eventually found himself abandoning from cramps, but his job was done, allowing us to sit in easy behind. As the finish laps passed i found myself getting stronger and did some towing on the fron to bring back a couple of moves and having the odd dig to bridge a gap of attack. But it was all together behind with 2laps to go, and there were still 4 riders left out front from the original break... long day in the wind for those lads! A small break crept away then as we neared the finish hill, a 5/600metre uphill drag to the line, i decided to torture mylegs for a while to get across to a good looking attack of a few big hitters. I got across after nearly the line however attacks ruined any sort of chance of us staying away. I kept on going with a few riders and found myself in 3rd wheel down the back straight with the bunch lined out behind. A short little hill followed on which i had one last big dig to see if i could break some elastic behind however 2 russian riders found their way with me, one infront, one behind. As the one infront (yesterdays winning brother) put the hammer down i started to lost his wheel and looked back to flick on the rider behind who just happened to be his brother/team mate who gave me a shake of the head which i took as "your on your own son!" As i proceeded to pop, several riders came past and it regrouped at about 2km out, sitting about 10seconds behind the leading 4 still. This lull allowed me to get back into the mix and as close to the front as i could before it hit the finish drag where all i could do was followed wheels and rolled in for 29th. The bunch caught the break on the line however 3 of the 4 held onto the top 3 places and the 4th was swallowed up in the last several metres! Pretty gutting for him i imagine. So the winner for the day was a Belgian, followed by a different russian, and our first rider was Vincent in 12th place. We would normally have tried to set the sprint up for resident sprinter Yann LeQuéau but he fell heavily on saturdays race and was happy to finish sunday (he did pretty well to even finish seeing as he properly stacked in on saturday, snapping his handlebars in half after hitting some road furniture... according to him he was looking away chatting to another rider at the time!!)

So another weekend passed and another weekend of improvement. I was happy with how it went however i know from how my legs were at the end of sundays race that i can be aiming for at least top 20's in all these races now. Just have to ride more intelligently i think!

So up next is another elite race this wednesday (tomorrow!), and only one race this weekend, Pontivy, on sunday. This not being an elite race, only 1,2,3 i should be in for a good result.

Also some good news this weekend, i got my place confirmed for the Tour of Brittany which i am very happy about! This being a preliminary goal for my early season. So everything is now leading up towards that, racing/training... bring it on!

O and the good weather is back this week. Dont think it will be as hot as before but sun is out all weel apparently so that is enough for me!

Keep following,

Tom

Complaints about la F-R-A-N-C-E...

Numero uno: La Poste!

Affectionately known back home as the Post Office. Generally this french service is passable, however ... de temps en temps ... its pretty dire at best! The prime example being a present sent for my birthday (18th feb) from a certain matt green (see web site links). So he probably sat there for a long time thinking "ungrateful bastad, not saying thanks", however this parcel just happened to turn up in my postbox yesterday morning... 24th march... about one and a half months after being sent! Not bad service!

Another habit they have is stuffing handfuls of "pub" (crap advertising!) into my postbox nearly everyother day... anything from supermarkets to bra designers ... made interesting reading the other day!). Now most people here slap a big sign on their box reading "pas de pub, merci"... roughly translated as stop putting your f'ing crap in my box, please!

I've been tempted to follow suit but i live in hope that once in a while something will be dropped in that will keep me entertained! Although on waiting for this, i am doing my part in destroying half the atmosphere!

numero 2: Peeing in public

I'm not really against this as i do my fair share while out training, however i think there is a line which only the french could cross! Today while in town, i caught sight of a regular looking guy (by this i mean not some stinking, alcy hobo!) having a quick wazz up against the church in the town square as dozens of people walked past without even a raised eyebrow! I can remember training with my dad a few years back when we rode for a bit with a french guy before he made a break only for us to pass him a few clicks up the road taking a pee on the town highstreet! No shame!

numero 3: Phone credit

This just annoys me out of inconveinience and the fact that its a french money making scheme... basically what happens is when you have a french sim card and you buy some credit, you only have a limited amount of time to use it before it is wiped off your phone! How stupid is that!

numero 4: Priorité à droite!

This silly french driving law gives the right of way to motorists turning onto the road you are on from the right. These places seem to pop up when you are least expecting so you can imagine my surprise last season when just popping out down the supermarché when all of a sudden i'm licking the steering wheel as i've slammed the breaks on as cars come flying out the junction right into my path... just plain stupid!

Oh and on this point, a similar peeve is the STOP signsat junctions at which it illegal if you don't come to a halt before turning, even if you can plainly see there is nothing coming either way... as i again found out last year when out on a ride as apparently this rule also applies to cyclists as mr gendarme policeman was waiting just round the corner to catch such severe criminals as me... however a quick few words in english saying i dont have a clue what you're on about mister! and they soon waved me on!

I could go on but i wont bore you any more! It's not all doom and gloom over here though as there are many things for which france beats england hands down in... one of which being the Far Breton (Flan with prunes) which the local bakers make across the street!! Yummmy!

Fleche de Locminé

All in all a much better race this weekend compared to last as the arm behaved and i managed to find some sort of legs again since the fall. It started off pretty calm before i followed a couple of moves as things came and went but nothing stuck much. The whole en-ligne followed a similar pattern until about 60km when a longish crosswind section split things up a bit. For once i was using my head and sat tight in the first echelon letting AC Lanester do the work. Always nice when you turn around and see a bit split having not really pushed too hard on the pedals, however the cross wind section soon turned into a longish climb meaning No Hiding!! there was me and Clement up front in the small group that had formed with some other hitters and teams represented but the chase was still on behind. We nailed it up the climb but lost the rhythm over the top and it started to re-group. 2 riders clipped off at this point and went on to spend the next 80k's along out front. Once they were gone it calmed down and everything came back together. As we neared the finish circuits there was a group of about 10, with no-body much to worry about, chasing the 2 out front, and i was in a split of 7 chasing at a minute behind the 10. We got across as we hit the finish circuits and the attacks started straight away. I followed a couple of moves but then heard down the radio that our team was leading the chase behind as we were only 2 in a group of about 20 up front, without our leader Clement who was going well so it was time to follow wheels. After the 2nd or 3rd finish lap it all came back together and a counter went immediately whiched turned out to be the winning move, luckily with Clement in it. They went on to catch the 2 still out front with 2 laps to go (there was 8 finish lapsof 7km each) and Clement countered with Salva Vilchez, a well known "strong" rider round brittany! Unfortunately he dropped clem on the final lap and clem was then passed by the 2 chasers, including last yrs junior world champ (johan le bon), who has a 4th and a 3rd in his first 2 elite/pro races! not a bad start! Clem finished 4th with Vlichez taking the honours alone, and behind i was in a group (the peloton having exploded over the final several laps) with most of our lads going for 18th place. I didnt even try mix it up in the sprint not wanting to risk anything for that type of position and rolled in 41st for the day. Pretty happy with how it went as i was in moves throughout and only faded on the finish laps after 2weeks of little training so i know things are back on the up now!

To top it off the nice weather is still here! Yesterday, monday, i had a nice easy 1h30 spin with some of the local lads, and today i have done a 2hr steady ride this morning on the TT bike to get back used to the position with a couple of TT's lined up in april, and i've got several intervals to do in a second 2hr ride this afternoon. Tomorrow is a 5hr steady/easy ride before a rest on thursday then prep for saturday and sundays alite epics! both are meant to be really gruelling races with lots of wind and lots of up and down over the hills so should be a good weekend!

For next month it looks like im on for the Tour of Brittany (not yet confirmed but pretty much), which gives me a programme running up to it of 3 one day races on the 11th/12th/13th (on the 13th it is a national espoir series race with a tt in the morning followed by road stage in the avo) so 4races in 3days followed by 2days team training of reconnaisance (spelling?!) rides for some of the Tour stages. Then no races the Weekend of the 18/19th, start resting up! Never done a weeks stage race before so am well up for it! Looking at the last 2winners you know its a hard race... Edvald Boassen Hagen vs Lars Boom in 2007 with boom coming out top, then 2008 Coen Vermeltfoort (paris roubaix espoir winner 08) again of Rabobank Continental. Haven't yet seen a full team list for '09 so will post it up when i do.

Rite i'm done waffling... gunna go eat some more before i ride again this avo. random stuff... i'm regained my obsession with the tv series lost, having found a stream site on the web and am already mid-way series 2 though after only starting last week!! Went out to the cinema last nite with some friends to see a french film called "Coco". I think it would have been better if i wasnt able to understand it as it was pretty pants to be honest! Was meant to be a comedy but even the gags were lame! Mayb all french films are like that?! ill stick to my dvd collection i think!

ok clocking out... time for more Lost too. I've just run out of golden grahams :-(

Photo finish

What a win! talking about cavendish in Milan San Remo today! That was pretty epic. After 298k's of racing, it was decided by the smallest of margins, within millimetres... that is part of what makes this sport so exciting.

Back to reality... race on tomorrow. Fleche de Locmine, the next of the Brittany elite classics. Hopefully i'll have further recovered with my elbow and can actually get involved instead of being held back by not being able to really attack out the saddle! It has been a lot better this week, however on thursday i decided that i'd book in to see the doc to get his verdict as it still wont straighten or bend fully and its not pain that is stopping it, it just wont budge... so i wanted to find out if i can do something to help it along or just to see what he thought really. He had a feel and a poke and made some umms and arrs and said he wanted me to get some more xrays done to soon to see how it is now after nearly 2weeks since i crashed. So saturday morning i was down the radiology centre getting an update... the verdict... nothing broken (again) but there is a lot of fluid on the elbow, caused by a traumatism?!, which is restricting movement and helping cause the pain and discomfort. The remedy... time! The good news though was that i'd be ok to keep racing as long as i keep it protected. Green light to me!

Conforting to know that there isnt anything broken in there that i'm worsening by not resting which is why i think i went to the doc in the first place, to get the green light.

All in all i've had a pretty good week for training. The weather has been superb, reaching up in the low 20's which seems a bit mad for march but i'm not complaining, let me get a headstart on 2009 tan lines!! Of which they were on show for a good steady 5hr ride on wednesday, followed by 2h30 ride with darren tiffen and aussie ben, round the plouay course. Brought back memories... painful ones to, of racing there last year... that course is pretty unforgiving and i'm already looking forward to smashing round it again in august but this time knowing what is round each corner and being in with a shot at a top result.

Friday was a rest day but couldnt resist the sun so went out for a very easy leg spin for 1h30, followed by 2hrs today with a couple of efforts to open up the legs for tomorrow.

Dont think there is much else on in Brittany tomorrow so think everyone will be back on the start line again... there is a full field of 200 entered and we had a full team of about 15 entered so between us we should definately get a top result at the finish, hopefully the win! I've had a few texts from the other lads today saying that i need to put on my "cav legs" tomorrow!! not sure about matching the sprinting ability but ill be there at the finish to empty the tank and try to get there before the others. Someone has to win it... lets make that someone me!

Good luck to anyone racing tomorrow, if not then enjoy the last of the sun as i think it's meant to turn a little for the worse come early next week. :-(

The weather turns nasty just as another stage race comes onto the tv (well its on the french channel i've got!) where sean's out at the Castilla y Leon with an all star line up including Contador, Leipheimer and Armstrong who between them must be odds on for the victory. But then again i thought that about Paris Nice.

Oh yea nearly forgot to mention... i'm in cycling weekly this week, make sure you check it out!

Ill post again on monday hopefully for sundays race report.

Summer's early!

Yea ok i did say i'd blog yesterday avo but only got round to it today... been milking the sunshine instead of sitting indoors tapping away at the keyboard! As i write, i can still taste the coffee's i've just been slurping while sitting in the sunshine reading "L'Equipe", feeling like a proper frenchie!! L'equipe is the standard national sports paper, dedicated to only that, and its one of the main stream papers in frnace... makes a change to back home! Its pretty easy to understand and usually has at least a full page or even a double spread about whats going on in the cycling world. That is one thing that really annoys me back in the UK is the complete lack of coverage of cycling in the mainstream papers. (the rant has started!) In my crib! back in Eastbourne, the usual paper is the Daily Mail, apparently full of crap but arent they all! and even when the the Grand Tours are on with british riders competing somedays there is absolutely no mention at all. Poor show! Not sure on most of the other papers but i can't imagine there would be much difference.

Anyway, back to business, Sunday, Race on! Well the weekend was meant to have started with the "Louison Bobet" on saturday but the recovery situation with the arm was still ongoing and it was decided that i miss saturday and just do sundays "Circuit du Morbihan". On saturday the lads had a fairly good showing covering the breaks and then getting Clement (el capitano) in the main move after about 80k's. However it didnt look too promising as the group he was in was about 20strong, with mainly pros so he had his work cut out. As it happened a group of 7 clipped away and stayed away for the win. Jimmy Engoulevent soloed home (see below) followed by pro's taking 2nd through to 5th. 6th and first amateur was one of my local Quimper training partners and last season team-mate Yoann David who pulled a storming ride. Clement finished in 12th as 1st Bic2000 rider home with the others in the peleton bar Laurent LeGac who had a crash and pulled out on the finish circuits.

My day was a little less eventful with a nice steady 2hrs including a tempo 45minute leg stretcher behind the scooter with some race pace intervals to open up the legs for tomorrows efforts. The sensations in the legs were good but the arm did still hurt when out the saddle.

Sunday i woke to blue skies and little wind which made for perfect racing! After standard pre-race breifing i was again allowed free-reign as not a lot was expected of me due to the lack of training this week and not knowing how the arm would hold out over 160k's racing. It kicked off with an early attack but lillian jegou and 3others which although early days wasn't one to miss out on so as i was up near the front as it went it was up to me to bring it back which made for a good early leg stretcher! The race then stayed together with break s not getting more than 30seconds before the race reached the finish circuits (there were some eventful moments for me before this though, the main one being about 5/600metres of cobbled town street which did a good job of rattling the hell out of my arm just to make sure i was fully awake! Ouch!) The finish circuits weren't super hard but the last k had a short sharp climb followed by a false flat to the finish which, to be smashed 9times, took its toll! The race truely exploded on the finish laps with constant attacks and the main move going before me but i wasn't able to go with as we had 3 in it (clem, matthieu and laurent) out of the 10 so it looked good. i was then under orders down the radio to sit in front wheels and follow any attacks behind the break.... okey dokey! there were a few digs before Lorient took up the chase on the front of the main group. i sat in behind and watched them gradually pull it back to about 10/15seconds which was when all hell broke loose. I followed a couple of attacks before semi-exploding quite convincingly while watching about 15riders bridge across. That was curtains behind then as they pulled to about a minute by the finish and our group was left for 26th place. I rolled in 31st with one battered arm and a pair of nackered legs beneath! I wasnt too dissapointed with my ride, although i should have been in the front group, given the preparation and the busted arm. Team wise, clement finished 8th just behind 5that had clipped away nearing the finish. Matthieu was 12th and then the rest were in my group of behind.

I can feel that my form and confidence is building as i get more races under my belt and i know that once i get back to full health ill be back up the front. This is where i can see a marked difference already from last year as i was racing the elite races to finish as well as possible whereas now i am actually racing them proper, getting involved and learning from each one.

I read on BritishCycling too about the Bikeline 2-day being cancelled by police, a real shame for all involved but another blunt example of britains joe-public view towards cycling. Glad i'm not racing there.

Also this weekend, a one-up for me over here as england smashed france in the 6nations rugby!! Slight bragging rights there, even though we have been piss-poor so far!

The start to this week has been a lot better than last weeks and an easy ride in the sunshine (17degrees of it!) was on the cards for monday. I found after the efforts and the road rattling the shit out of my arm that it was pretty sore when riding on monday but today (tuesday) has been a rest day so hopefully it will be feeling better tomorrow for a long steady ride in what is forecast to be the hottest day of the week, 18degrees ... does that count as short sleeve jersey to work on the tan lines??! We shall see...

A la prochaine, Jens

(link to race finish video http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8otf7_video-arrivee-du-circuit-du-morbiha_sport)

Update coming....

870 odd visits since i put the visiter counter on the blog on 3rd march! Not bad, it cant be that boring what i write on here then! Weekends race report to come this afternoon...

The winner yesterday was Cyrille Monnerais of Bretagne Schuller continental team (Francais de Jeux 2008), Clement Mahé (Bic2000) 8th, Matthieu Jeannes 11th, me 31st :-)

Cycling Style Etiquette

While recently browsing the interweb during a period of "recovery" (i.e. pre/post training lying around doing not much at all!) i stumbled across an article on PezCycling News which made me chuckle! So i thought i'd share the love ... as you do!

Here are some of the best bits which although funny are also very true... you can easily look like a proper muppet on ur bike, stick to some simple rules nd your rolling in style! Take heed chippers...

Helmets. Face it, helmets just aren’t cool. Nothing looks more pro than the tour rider cruising down the boulevard wearing nothing but a broken-in cycling cap. However, concussions and drooling out the side of your mouth are really lame, so wear your helmet. But for heaven’s sake, take it off when you walk into the coffee shop! Are you afraid of slipping and hitting your head on the counter? When worn, the helmet should be tilted as far forward on your head as possible and never at an angle. Cockeyed helmets are a sure sign of an amateur.

To look Euro-cool, make sure to always wear your sunglasses on the outside of your helmet straps so the television cameras can see the brand logo on the ear pieces.

Legs. We’ve all been asked a million times, why do cyclists shave their legs? Our answers range from aerodynamics to massage to wound care. But we all know the real reason. It makes us look smooth (in more way than one)! So whip out the shaving cream and the Bic

and mow the lawn. I'll add: High socks even in training, NO GYM OR ANKLE SOCKS FFS!!

The Kit. Your jersey must match your shorts, which must match your arm warmers, which must match your socks. But under no circumstances should a replica pro team kit or a national/world champion kit be worn unless you’ve earned it. The only acceptable team kit is your own club kit.

To look cool if you don’t belong to a club or a team, wear a stock Castelli or Assos kit but don’t mix and match. To be Euro-cool, wear the kit of an obscure European amateur team, but only if you have a story about how you spent the winter riding with them in Majorca to go along with it.

Clipping out. Hard to believe, but this one actually deserves its own paragraph. One of the easiest ways to determine the experience level of a cyclist is to see how early they clip out before coming to a stop. A novice rider will clip out as much as a block before a stop sign or red light. To look cool, let the bike come to a full stop before clipping out. To look Eurocool, never clip out. Track stands are the only acceptable way to wait at a red light.

Group Ride Etiquette. Have you ever seen a pro team on a training ride? Side by side, shoulder to shoulder, quietly zipping along. Then, there is the club ride. You actually hear it before you see it. Slowing! Right Side! Stopping! Rolling! Hole! Then you see it. 25 riders spread out over an entire city block, three, sometimes four, wide.Keep your group ride cool with the following four rules of thumb. 1) Never ride more than two abreast. 2) Never allow more than six inches distance between your front wheel to the rear wheel of the rider in front of you. 3) Maintain a distance, no more than 12 inches from your shoulder to the shoulder of the rider next to you. 4) It only takes one person to call things out. This should be the person at the front of the pack.

To look Euro-cool, only ride with other cyclists wearing the exact same kit.

Carbon Wheels. Carbon wheels are for racing! Never under any circumstances should they be brought out on a training ride. Training wheels should be strong and heavy with lots and lots of spokes. Carbon wheels say to the group, I’m not strong enough to do this ride without my $2,000 feather weight wheels. If you have the money to tear up a carbon wheel set on the road, then you’d be better off spending it on a coach who will get you fit enough to keep up with the group ride on regular training wheels.

Cat 4 Marks. Otherwise known as a chain tattoo, this is what we called them back in the day before Category 5 existed. Nothing gives away a rookie faster than a black streak of grease on their calf. The experienced rider can actually get through an entire ride without rubbing up and down on their dirty chain.

Just a couple of snippets there but i think u get the idea! And please remember, I don’t write these rules, I only live by them.

Injury update.

just a quick update on how its going since sundays attempt at trying to mount a bollard at speed ... on my bike. Dont try it trust me.
monday was pretty painful and i spent most of it sitting around in the sling and just resting really. Then tuesday i gave the turbo a go in the morning and found that i could ride fine with it in the sling... also got the neighbours feeling sorry for me as the walked by! So tuesday i did 2 easy spinning sessions of 45mins each to get the legs going again after the weekend.

Wednesday there was quite a lot of improvement and a lot more movement in my arm. I did a 2hr turbo session.... extremely dull but betten than not training! I was able to hold the bars this time but could not pull ont hem when trying to do a short intense effort, so i did a few longer less intense intervals to get the HR up with a very optimistic eye still on the weekend races!!

Then today (thursday) has seen another large improvement and i can now pretty much straighten the arm, but it will not bend fully yet. I have been reading up on it on the interweb and i think from what it feels like to me, that the damage may be on the tendons behind the elbow... tricep tendons... as that is where it hurts when flexing/extending the arm, instead of the bad damage being the fracture which i think must be small seeing the progress i have made in the last few days alone.
So feeling better today i ventured out on the road, fully equipped with 3 mitts on my left hand compared to one on my right just for added padding to take out any impacts from the road. i can hold the bars normally and felt strong on the ride however i cant really get out the saddle and accelerate as that arm movement causes pain. Hopefully though this will improve by the weekend meaning i can at least take the start line for sundays elite classic, Circuit du Morbihan, but unfortunately i will be resting it the day before so missing out on another classic, Souvenir Louison Bobet.

I'm hoping that the improvements will continue each day as they have so by sunday ill be good to go.

I hate being injured. Luckily i haven't had any serious injuries since i started riding but i have come to realise that small injuries such as this one come with the sport and sadly they are bound to happen so better to get one out the way now then!

i'm going to put a post up soon about an article i read recently on Pez cycling about cycling ettiquete rules... a funny read but soo true!

watch this space..

JENS

pour les francais ... je essayerai à faire une traduction! Alors... tous que j'ai dit ci-dessus est à dire que après ma chute dimanche, je uis beaucoup mieux et l'entrainement est bien passé sur l'hometrainer mardi et mecredi (mais c'était vachement enneyeux!) et puis aujourd'hui (jeudi) j'ai fait un sorti de 2heures et demi sur la route et c'était pas trop douloureux! Le seul problème est que je peux pas tirer sur le guidon alors je peux pas faire des intesités hors de la selle où grimper vite hors selle... mais j'éspère que ca va ameliorer encore par le weekend quand je pense que je vais prendre le départ Dimanche au Circuit du Morbihan, mais malheuresement pas samedi au Louison Bobet.

A+, JENS

Time for a little break... (stupid pun!)

manche atlantique 2009 will definately be one i remember but not for the reasons i was hoping for going into the race. About 70-80k's into the race i hit a fixed bollard in the middle of the road as we swung through a small town and hit the deck quite hard on my left arm. I got back on and after a few quick adjustements the chase was on. I got to about 50-100m off the back of the peloton before the crosswinds put me to shame and i was then left in no mans land! the cars then came past and nobody seemed to want to help me today. so after chasing for about 20/30K's i finally reached the finish circuits of which we had 7 to do, each time with a decent hill finish... about 1.5k's long. It was this hill that finally killed me off as the pain in my arm kicked in and i couldnt really move it much so after one lap of the circuit i pulled out when passing the team vans. The team doc checked it out twisting it this way and that way... and his verdict was that it may well be broken and i need to go and get some xrays done very soon. So after watching the end of the race ... in envy... i headed off to Quimper hospital where i spent most of the eve waiting and people watching before finally being seen to only to be told after some xrays that they werent sure if i'd broken my elbow... they thought that it was just a fracture. couple of painkillers and a sling later and i was home. but sleeping last night wasnt fun at all!

a quick note about the race... team wise, matthieu jeannes pulled off a stormer getting away after about 30/40k's with 2 Besson team pro's and they stayed away till the finish circuits, however he lost contact on the finish circuits and was swallowed up with only a couple of laps to go. his 2 breakaway companions held 2mins30 advantage at the finish after a super impressive display of strength! chapeau.
also racing were the brits at fougeres, matt jones, ali carr, nathan edmundson and rob orr. Matt and ali both finished in what was left of the shreds of the peloton after the race was ripped to pieces with crosswinds and the hill finish. a good ride by both.

for me now, well the docs recomended about 10days off the bike but that seems pretty mad! ill hav a few days rest till i get some more movement back (can move it more this morning that i cud last nite) then maybe ill be on the turbo by mid week. hopefully anyway!

hope that your weekend went a bit better than mine!

until next time,
the semi-cripple.

(right: the finish, above: matthieu in the break on finish circuits)

Stark contrast!

This week has been a hell of a lot better than the last so far and it can only get better with a good race at the weekend. Since the race on sunday i have my appetite back to normal which means a lot of eating has been going on to compensate for the extreme lack of it last week. As an idea of how much my digestion slowed in the race on sunday, i took a High5 caffeine gel as we entered the finish circuits... 30/40km to go but the caffeine only hit home once home that evening after the race!! well that was worth every penny for a sleepless night then!
no, since then alls been good. monday me and some of the lads from the team went out for a fairly brisk 4hrs in anger after sundays poor show, then a rest day followed which consisted of a walk round town and..... that was about it actually! I did get round to watching Slumdog Millionaire, the new bollywood blockbuster produced by Danny Boyle (also produced such films as Trainspotting, 28days later, The Beach to name a few) and that film made my day! Its about a slumdog (i didnt no what this was until watching the film but its just a child from the slums in india, living on and from the streets) who grows up in the slums in india and it follows his life in poverty and hardship ... this kid is one tough guy!... until he is a teen and gets a break on india's no1 tv show... "who wants to be a millionaire", i wont give too much away but the show would be his escape to freedom and also his opportunity to get the girl he has been after since the slums. Its not straightforward tho.
All in all a brilliant film, one of the best i have seen in a long time, so good ill probably watch it again tomorrow as the weather forecast is 90-110kmh winds with heavy showers, so apart from poking my nose out for 3hrs with a few set intervals to do, ill be rapped up indoors, watching again!

Then wednesday, which is today, i had 4hrs with several set intervals to do including my strength endurance hill reps which involves finding a 5minute hill and smashing it at 50rpm (53-11!), descend, then smash it again at 90-100rpm (down a few sprockets!). descend again.... this is one set complete... REPEAT 3TIMES IF YOU PLEASE... = mal au pattes (pain in the legs)! include 3sets of 15mins 70-80% hr then you got a fairly good ride. i did my intervals eitherside of riding with a few local lads... the David frères, Yoann (AC Lanester) and Nico (Cotes D'Armor), and Matthieu Halleguen (also Cotes D'Armor but soon to be Pro with Bretagne Schuller). werent going to hard here so had a good catch up on sundays race... Matthieu was in the days break and came 3rd after going all out at 1.5km... guts for glory! nice guy, pretty mad though... but very strong. The best part of the day was getting home as just as i put my bike in the shed, a bike rain storm came over and didnt stop for a good 15mins! Timing to perfection! sweet.

this eve has been pretty chilled, ben cooked up a huge chicken risotto with loads of veg ... all gone! Bah oui! however this means that it's me who has to do the washing up... hmm that can wait till morning!

just been thinking about the race on sunday and getting excited for it already. in training this week i have felt really strong and especially today on the hill reps it seemed i was going deeped and fasted than the last time. I know from how i'm riding that i am much stronger and still progressing so i just have to put this into practice now! Sunday's start list has been put up, a few big teams there, enough to make whats going to be a very hard race but i know i can be up there and i know i will be so watch this space.
link to the start list : http://www.directvelo.com/direct-velo/actualites/2265/manche-atlantique-les-engages.html
russian national team, Bretagne Schuller and Besson Chaussures are the big teams of note.

one last point... a link to this blog has been put up on the team site www.bic2000.net which means i may have a few french readers who dont have a clue what all this means (i've already had some asking to translate for them) so i mite start to add some entries in my attempt at written french which could be interesting! So if next time its u reading thinking that the site language has changed... dont worry, ill write it in english as well.

pour les français... je vais faire des prochaines "blogs" en francais aussi... de temps en temps! peut-etre tu va comprendre mais je pense pas! On verra!

bizous, tchuuuuuus

Pretty pants week to be honest!

think the title pretty much sums it up! to cut a long story short i've been ill all week, starting with a standard cold on monday - no worries.... until you're up all the nite with cold sweats and having ur head over the bog thinking ur about to fill it! so waking up tuesday morning u could say i wasnt feeling too fresh. actually i felt awful and couldn't get out of bed. when i tried i was so light headed i nearly passed out! so cold has turned to fever. after the longest day of my life tuesday, wednesday came a little easier with the fever dying down a bit but a beast of a dodgey stomach was next on the menu! This made for the 2nd consecutive day of eating very little... actually nothing sums it up pretty well! hmm the weeks going well so far... looking good for the first elite classic of the year on sunday! dam!

gradually day by day i got better with everything dying down a bit and the main thing i was left with by friday was stomach cramps and very little desire to eat anything. Friday i managed to go out for a small spin for 1H30 but i had such little energy that just trying to push the pedals in circles was an achievement trust me! a visit to the doctor on friday (bit late by now i know!) resulted in a fair wad of "medicaments" to keep me occupied at varied hours of the day, but sadly nothing that would have any affect on making me go quicker on the bike!

Friday night i managed to get up to Brest for the Teams presentation and put on a brave face .....wasnt really feeling to bad by then but you gotta milk it hey ;-) .... but the main problem was eating. the portions i was managing to get down wouldnt even be considered a starter by my normal standards.... this explains for the lack of energy.

saturday was ye or ne day for whether i was gunna ride sunday at route bretonne, and amazingly i felt better on the bike so was pursuaded to start the next day and to follow the wheels to get the k's in for training..... easier said than done when it's a pro race but hey why not!

saturday night (oh forgot to mention that on wednesday eve i picked up Ben Izaksen the aussie who was at quimper with me last year, as he's signed for Hennebont cyclisme for the season, and he's been kipping round mine until he gets sorted.... this results in not a lot of breathing space in the appartement but we'll live!) and a quick repeat visit to go watch the Quimper Womens volley ball team was on the cards! this is a gud laugh but quite sad really as i know nothing about volley ball and the girls aren't really that great... i can say this safely knowing that none of them will every get round to reading this let alone understanding it!! followed by an earlyish nite for the race.

sunday morning i woke for the first time all week with a stomach which didnt feel like someone had pumped it up to 150psi and then played the drums on it for 17hours and 3minutes ?! the amount of gas i was putting out the day before might have been a good sign for this! even if i did nearly kill ben and the jeannes brothers while we were trying to watch Het Volk ( or Het Niewsblad if you wanna get arsey) on my tv.... silent but violent and some very loud ones too just for good measure!

although i was feeling relatively normal i wasnt expecting much having done 1H30 friday and 2hrs saturday as my only training for the week and having only really eaten properly for the first time in days on saturday night! so the DS gave me free reign for the race and just to keep everyone informed on how i felt on whether i was strong enough to help the team or whatever. rolling out to the start line i stopped to have a pee and Lilian Jegou (FDJ last year and one of the race favorites) stopped next to me for a piss.. "u hold mine ill hold ur's" not the time nor the place i decided, but some eager beavers of photographers were looming and snapping him up as he stopped so im sure some lucky star has a cheeky photo of Mr Jegou, with a certain MR COPELAND relieving himself in the background... if they got a good angle then it was a cold day can i just point out ;-)

soon got serious though with the racing kicking off from the gun and several early attacks nullified, BIC2000 launched Ferjeux Beauny off the front after a hard effort on a hill. He dwindled off the front on his own for a bit before a counter move crossed and break was formed. 8 guys with most of the big teams represented so it soon pulled away as we proceeded to go to sleep behind. think we overslept as by about 70k's in they hav 7 mins with the max lead touching 8 i believe. towards the end of the 110km en ligne section, Bretange Schuller (previously bretagne armor lux) started to ride and peg it back a bit and then as we entered the finish circuits full on war was unleashed! the finish circuit is one of the hardest around i reckon with no let up, up down up down, flat windy section then start again. this is where my lovely week started to catch up with me. the hard efforts on the climbs were forcing everything in my stomach up towards my mouth and the inevitable happened on the final lap... a cheeky spew while sitting near the back of the front group! i had done well to hold this as the race was being demolished out the back. i got tailed of on the final climb and finished in a small group just behind the first peloton and was annoyed to have been hadicapped but happy to have finished all the same. i did lack a fair bit of power from the week before but that mite be due to losing nearly 2kg's in the week ..... if you've seen me in person or on the bike u will know that i dont really have any weight to lose too! but it'll be sorted for next weeks classic Manche Atlantique.

for the team, Ferjeux finished 6th, with 6 of the 8 staying away with still about 3mins to spare, laurent le gac 10th, Clement Mahe 15th, Vincent Rouxel 19th. not sure on the others or me yet.

shame to have missed out on a good race opertunity being ill but the season is long and there are plenty more big races to domiante so not ill just make sure im fully better before putting the gas back on!

ah just seen a result for today... 62nd! poor show!