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...