My many shadows

On Thursday night I took part in my first race since winning two in 72 hours last weekend. No real surprise then when I say that I was ‘keenly observed’ by my fellow push-bikers: they stuck to me like shadows. The race was another semi-nocturne town centre criterium around the port of Concarneau, one of my favourite places in the region. It’s absolutely gorgeous there and has heaps of history with a fortified town and lovely beaches. With all these pros it’s no surprise that it’s a tourist hotspot, but that didn’t take away from the awesome setting, and it added to the crowd support!

What a place!

So yes, it was an exercise in strategic warfare for me, trying to sneak off when my followers least expected it. Unfortunately a hairpin turn on the course made things rather difficult, or rather the course wasn’t quite hard enough, so in the end it just came down to brutality.

This was roughly the point when I had a sense of humour failure. 

A group snuck off and of course I wasn’t allowed in it, so I attacked relentlessly for the final 10k, more out of sheer pigheadedness than anything else. I was pretty mad and nothing motivates like anger!

'Snot my day today!'

I think it made a good show for the crowds anyway, which is something. I won a nice Breton hamper including some cidre (French is coming on!) and dodgy salty caramel for a prime, so everyone was a winner. 6^th place at the end for me wasn’t anything special really. Also of note: fellow Brit George Moore got 3^rd which was really good to see and a great ride by him.

George Moore (in blue) on his way to a solid podium finish.

After the race I treated myself to a paddle in the sea and that helped me cool off, in every sense! This weekend holds two more circuit races up near the north coast but honestly I’m looking forward to the end of crit season. I’m no circuit racer and going round in circles is giving me a headache. That said if I can eke out a few more podiums I will not be complaining! Oh and finally, I got shorn a few days back and in a word it’s short! Talk to you after the weekend guys.

Heaven?

When you're sure, you're sure.

I won on Friday. I knew I was going to. I had been thinking about my victory celebration for the past few days which, in the end, I didn't have time to use. I was so confident that I’d even spent time choosing socks which looked cool for the photos and I’d bought a couple of beers to celebrate. I don’t want to come across as headstrong, but I had such good feelings it would happen I felt unstoppable. And now for a little story about the race…

DodgeBall fans: "You've gotta get angrrrry!"

Peloton politics can be such a ball ache. When you see the pros on telly they don’t really do much pissing about until the final few kilometres, or at least it looks that way. At the level I’m at right now it happens literally all the time. Even if you’re in the breakaway of the day some jerk-off will miss a turn and then you’ll be shouted at even though it’s the guy behind you who’s the lazy one. Then everyone starts attacking each other. In criteriums this is even more of a truth.

On Friday night I missed the break of eight riders clipping off, so I rode across alone (well there was a guy on my wheel, but he couldn’t give a turn). As soon as I got there the self assigned ‘Patron’ of the break decided to give me a hard time for missing one turn, as I was feeling a tad jaded at that point. He made a friend in me there and then. Needless to say when I attacked at the end I made damned sure he was unable to follow. Revenge is sweet, mate.

The group shredded in the final 5km lap and it was me and one other rider at the front, with me driving it. I decided to attack him but he clawed me back, then obstinately sat on me. Fair enough I suppose. At this point I thought I was riding for second; I’d gone pretty deep to escape. It came down to a super fast tailwind sprint which I led out (big ring eleven of course) and thank god won! Geeks out there, I really wanted to win and the proof? 1585 watts peak power. Yes that’s a new record, by miles!

Me and my buddy the commentator bloke. 3>

I’ve got more to report on from the weekend but you’ll have to wait guys, I’ve got to do some food shopping! À tout à l’heure!