not much going on.

Not much going on at the moment here on the sunshine coast... the best thing is probably the weather at the moment which is pretty awesome. 17/18degrees at the moment in the day, not bad seeing as we had snow this time last year.

I've just about finished getting the winter bike ready for the off next week. New cables and bar tape to go on tomorrow and it will be complete. Good stuff.

So this is my 3rd week off the bike now and i'm pretty eager to get back out there. I've had 2 weeks of pretty much complete rest and this week i have started a bit of running and also riding the mtb to work and back!! Talking of work, i've been working at the local bike shop dozn here (triathlon shop really... www.thetristore.com) and god does it hurt my legs standing up all day! You would think that with the amount of hours i put in on the bike that they would at least do me the favour of holding out for a 9hr working day here and there... but no they have to feel like they are going to collapse from underneath me even before the lunch break. What a pansy!

Tommorow i've got a day off work and the weather is meant to be good again before turning a bit grim for the weekend so i might venture out on the MTB over the downs and get a ride in that way. I start on the road again officially from the 8th November but i'll be getting a few hours in next week just to get the bike set up perfect and get the legs ticking over... basically i cant wait that long!

I'm quickly going to shout out a mates blogspot for you to check out- his name is Kris and he's heading out early next year around the world...with just his bike for company! We can all follow his progress on here - www.riding-east.blogspot.com/ check it out.

Another thing to check out is www.bartape.net. If you don't already know of the site, it's got a load of videos from the Cervelo Test Team from here there and everywhere this season. If you got a bit of spare time on your hands check a few of them out.

Things are coming together for next year now. Laurent, Gwenael and myself are on the hunt for a house for next year near Brest. Oh and while talking of accomodation, my landlord from Quimper this year has decided he's going to try and shaft me for a big wad of money by claiming that there is loads of work to be done after i left the flat a few weeks ago. Let battle commence!

Home!

All is winding down now i'm back home chilling out. I've just about unpacked - didn't realise how much stuff i had managed to accumulate over there in my "room"!

I would just like to post a quick message to anyone reading. Is there any one that would be interested in helping me out financially for the coming 2010 season as i head back out to Bic2000 for my second year in the Division 1 ranks, in the form of sponsorship - in return for the appropriate publicity of course - or does anybody know of any possible contacts that would be of interest. This isn't a call out for money, i just would like to know if anybody knows of any organisations which help out young aspiring sports people in pursuit of their dreams. I have applied to the Dave Rayner Fund but am not sure on my chances.

If so please contact me on tomcopeland11@hotmail.com .

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Tom Copeland

Heading home

Well Paris - Tours came and went last sunday without a bang. The day was marked by strong crosswinds with the break clipping off in the first 10kms. Just after mid race the peloton, including yours truely, swithed into Grupetto mode... basically everyone has realised that the race will be decided by the guys up the road and there is no point attacking each other for another 90km just to snatch a 40th or 50th place. This made the day even longer with an already long day of 200km taking feeling even longer. With a lot of riders pulling out, i finished with a few mates from different teams and finished the race partly to get to know the special parcours for next year and also because i dont like pulling out of races! (Grupetto mode was switched off in the last 15odd kms as everyone started winding up to do a bunch kick for god knows what stupid placing... such a stupid place that i got involved and pulled out a good kick to come 5th in the sprint, placing me... a long way down but a few places infront of the lads id been laughing with for the last 90km!

So now its time to switch off for a few weeks and chillout doing stuff i dont really get to do during the season, such as eating a bit of whatever i feel like and going out to consume a rare beverage by the name of "alcohol"!

After getting changed and washed up after the race we got the chance to watch the pros finish. A storming ride by Philippe Gilbert, snatching the victory out of the hands of Tom Boonen in a three-man sprint finish.

This is my final week out here for the season as i'm heading back home in 3days for the winter, working, training, catching up with everybody and getting ready for a storming season in 2010!

It will come round quickly!

see you soon

the start of something... dont get your hopes up!

Fabio Cannavaro, ex player of the year and world cup winner with Italy, currently playing with Juventus has failed a dope control for the banned substance Cortisone!

I'm sure this will soon be swept under the carpet and he'll be back playing in no-time. From what i've read, it was apparently part of a medicine he was given to treat a wasp sting... cough cough ok!

Lots of Italian cyclists being banned for doping at the moment, a footballer doing the same thing... unthought-of!

I've just been working out how many days racing i've had this year... turns out i've done 73 days racing in total between the 19th february to the 11th october! Not bad and may explain the reason my legs have been on strike recently. This includes...

- 2 wins
- 10 top 10's.
- 3 UCI 2.2 stage races
- 9 stage races
- 1 National Champs
- Lots of travelling around france...
- A lot more kms covered on my Félino Gatopardo

Looking ahead to next season, i'll be staying with Bic2000 with a couple of major changes... firstly, i'll be leaving Quimper and heading up to Brest to a team house with a couple of other riders from the team, namely Laurent Le Gac and Gwenael Simon... Yvon is moving on as DS, to be replaced by Christophe Gouyon, arriving from Nogent DN1 so he already has a handful of experience given he is only 23!! A couple of new signings include Sylvain Cheval (Lorient) François Lancon (UC Nantes A.) and moving out are Matt Jeannès (Cotes D'armor) Vincent Rouxel (Not sure), Yann LeQueau (Leucimie Espoir Quimper), Arnaud Le Boulanger (hanging up his racing bike) and Clement is still waiting on a couple of Professional teams final decisions... good luck to him there.

Some details such as kit and equipment are already being sorted out... we will once again be riding Félino bikes, the Tigre frame, equipt with 2010 ultegra and the new ksyrium SL wheels with Aksium wheels for training. In terms of team kit, this is where things get a bit wacky!... the president has obviously developed a fetish for Rock Racing team kit as he wants to incorporate their designs in our kit for next season!!! minus the skulls and cross-bones etc but with the wacky colour designs. This with the already very "stand-out-ish" apple green colour will surely get some heads turning! Just have to wait and see.

I may also be getting involved in an interesting business enterprise ... to be confirmed in the next few days... watch this space.

keep spinning

Being a tourist in Paris!

The Wilier TT Bike (above) was a real eye opener infront of the Lampre team bus (below). They didn't have the full range of bikes on show however as 3 had been stolen over night!

Another awesome TT bike, the BMC TT01 (above) and below the Pinarello Prince à la Valverde!

Moving out of the bike show... below is the Renault Megane Sport in the Renault Sport shop. Below that, a Renault racing machine!

Finally below is the Peugeot Sport Le Mans racing beast! This was one of the best shops with proper loud music giving it a really good atmosphere.

the end is nigh...

What does nigh actually mean? the end of my season is nigh... ?! On writing this i am in my final week of the season with one final race to shine on... just a little 200km espoir classic Paris-Tours espoirs...normally i would be super up for a race like this however given my current form it may well just be a case of survival!

Last weekend is where i realised that a long season racing elites week in week out has finally taken its toll and to put it lightly i'm cooked!

The first of two races last weekend was a race which normally would be a good one for me being a tough circuit with a two good lumps to get over, and 28 laps making it a tough day... however after an active start i hit a bad patch after about an hour of racing. Going up the harder of the two hills i had no power and quickly went out the back. I carried on in a group just out the back and ended up a lap down... i still finished 22nd but it's the first time i've ever finished a lap down so took a hit on the self-esteem there. Two days after i was lining up on another tough local circuit race which had the same outcome with the legs not recovering from the efforts i was putting in... this time i pulled out after an hour of racing knowing that it wasnt my day and there was no point killing myself to stay in the peloton.
Following this weekend i took a few days off the bike and started preparing for Paris-connere, a 180km one day classic which i would use as training for the following weekends Paris-Tours.
Paris-Connere went pretty good seeing as i hadn't done many miles in the week and lacked a long ride, however i was active throughut, but missed the split of 20 odd riders in the crosswinds which went on to the finish. Behind i finished in the peloton, happy to have finished given over 100 of the 220 starters had dropped out. So thats the race reporting done...

... i went up to paris on the thursday before the race as, with Laurent Le Gac, we had managed to get 2 "press" passes to the Salon du Cycle - Monde de deux roues which is a big cycle show on the Champs Elysees with all the brands showing off their new products. I'll post up a few pics after this blog.
While in town we had a quick scoot round paris taking in the standard tourist spots and doing the shops up and down the Champs...like the Renault Sport shop which was by far my favorite!

pics to follow...