There’s a thing that some French riders do, and I think it’s cool, so i’ve done it. I’ve got a little Limousin sticker from the tourist office and stuck it on my seat post. When you do big races, it tells the other riders where you’re from. I’ve seen riders from lots of regions stickered up in the same way.

I think it’d be a useful thing to do for categories in MTB (VTT) racing. It would help you know who you’re battling against when cats get mixed up. All it needs is a little splash of colour down the back of the seatpost….. and it’s so cool 😉

Oh yes, any fool can ride a bike on a nice day when they’re feeling good, fresh and fiesty.

But when you’re shot, just hanging on to the wheel in front, every last half pedal turn is agony, and the bunch engines are turning the screw. That’s different…

Or when you’ve made it into the break to find out that you’re the weakest there, you either go through, or they take it in turns to take you off the back. That’s when it counts…

Like when fate has forced your hand and you’ve taken it on with 5kms to go. All of a sudden it’s like your tyres have gone flat and your riding uphill in porridge against a headwind going no where. That’s when you ask yourself…

Maybe you’re climbing, right on the limit, just staring at the block of the rider in front. Almost at the top, you know there’s gonna be a surge. The rider in front clangs up a gear, gets out of the saddle and kicks. Then you just know…

Any fool can ride a bike 😉

“if you suffer enough you suffer the most, then you will win. That doesn’t only mean the pain in sport, it means the things that you give up in life generally. You have to make sacrifices to be that successful, whether it’s not going out to parties, not drinking, not eating certain foods! Suffering is definitely there, but it may not always be physical soreness, and pain, it can also be heartache. But I think if you can handle it, push it and give it out and take the most pain then racing is easy. And the more you can suffer in training, sometimes you will experience more pain than competition, and if you can do that, it makes competition even easier.” – Article in sports journal by Dr Phlip Moore

Carla, my wife, lover, friend, life-partner, significant other, training partner, co-driver, manager, consultant, massuese, celebrates her birthday today. Happy Birthday XXXXXXX 🙂

Here she is…

Right, can you name these three very famous cyclists? Score one point for each one you get right…

Once you have the names you can get extra points if you can give a reason why each one is an ‘odd one out’ from the other two.

Update and answers РThe famous cyclists are, left to right, Raymond Poulidor, Andr̩ Dufraisse, Eddy Mercx.

For odd one out you could have said…
Eddy Mercx – he’s Belgian, the other two are French.
André Dufraisse – he’s a cyclo-cross rider the other two are roadies.
Raymond Poulidor – he’s the only one of the three that didn’t win a world championship.

The thing that brings all three of them together in this picture is the L’Echappe Belle cyclo-sportive held here in the Limousin.

Who does? Théodore Molina, the president of the Cyclo Club Beauvallet that’s who does. He’s been after Carla for some time now. Even taken to giving her gifts!

Why? Well, first of all, Carla’s no slouch on a bike, she’s been on the podium in XC races before, and has the potential to do it again if she choses. Théo might not know she has podium palmares, but he’s seen her ride, and can see she has class. Secondly, there doesn’t seem to be many lady riders mountainbiking out here in France. Any that do ride are treated like royalty. For example, once when we were out on the trails we came upon a group of walkers. They heard us approaching and were more than happy to let us through. I was leading at the time, I got a ‘bonjour’, and a smile. When they saw Carla, she got a cheer, a clap, and ‘bravo’. See what I mean?

If Théo could get Carla to wear his club’s jersey it would be good exposure for his club. Though I don’t think that publicity for his club is his main objective. I think it’s notoriety….. you know, Théo, the one with all the girls! 🙂

Seriously though, cycling in France is all about the blokes. Théodore’s is working hard to promote ‘girls’ cycling, and he should be applauded for doing so. Well done that man!

By the way, the CC Beauvallet annual VTT rando, ‘Virée des Copains’ takes place on 3rd February. Starting at Thouron, with circuits of 40, 27, and 12kms on offer. Why not go along and see whose riding? As if you couldn’t guess 🙂

Got myself a Compex MI-Sport! A what? An Electro Muscle Stimulation unit! Yep, like this one…

I first came across them when I was riding the GTL last year. At the overnight stop there were quite a few riders using them to help with their recovery. Anyways, after months of researching/reading/agonising I bought one. Had it a little while now, been using it mostly in ‘active recovery’ mode, but also trying the ‘capiliarisation’ programme, and the ‘endurance’ programme. Early days yet, but I’m sure it will help.

Oh, forgot to say, we used it on Carla’s back after she overdid it in the garden. Worked wonders! I tried it on the way home from a race. While Carla drove I zapped my legs and had a can of beer! Decadent or what?

There’s lots of info’ about them on the Compex website. I got mine from Perform Better in the UK, they were extremely helpful. Even gave me a free pair of Linebreak tights!

Compex sessions can be carried out outside or during voluntary training (see training plan). If you wish to do both types of training at the same time, we recommend that you start with voluntary training. In some cases, particularly for resistance work, it may be beneficial to start with a Compex session in order to generate a state of “pre-fatigue” in the muscle fibres.

Pre-fatigue? Now there’s a thing. I wonder if that’s like going out training when your’e still tired from the day before?

200kms of pure pleasure! That’s three days racing your mountainbike across the Limousin region of France. Racing one way only on unseen terrain stopping overnight in sports halls being looked after in a way that only the French know how to do. 200kms of pure pleasure indeed!

You don’t even start and finish in the same place. Nope, they take you to the start in coaches! This years race, and it is a ‘full on’ race, starts at Nantiat in the Haute Vienne, and finishes in Chátelus-Malvaleix, by way of Benevent l’Abbaye and Guéret over a profile that looks like sharks teeth. I’ts gonna be tough. It’s gonna be great. Im in, are you?

It’s the end of my first season racing again. After I broke my shoulder in 2003 there were times that I thought I’d never race again. I even sold my beloved road bike. However, things gradually improved, and after dipping my toe in the racing water in the December 2006 Pearce Cycles runners versus riders I decided to give it a go in 2007.

Well, I reckon it has been one of my best seasons ever. Moving to France and riding virtually full-time may have helped. I’m certainly lighter, and have more miles in my legs since my peak in the 90s. The success that I enjoyed early in the year made me even more motivated, which in turn brought about more success. It was simply fantastic to be racing again, and holding my own in the scratch group. Not bad for an old bloke with a dodgy shoulder.

I’ve already made plans for races in 2008. Got the calendar pinned up on the wall. Even sent race entries off. Big targets for me in 2008 will be – Haute Vienne VTT Departmental Championships, Limousin VTT Regional Championships, and VTT National Championships. Getting a win in one of those would be really something.

To me sporting activity is a celebration of life, and I realise that I’m in a privileged position to be racing at all, part of the reason I want to do really well. I also realise that I couldn’t do it without the support of friends, and the love of my wife.

So here goes, I’m going into 2008 with a mission to celebrate. I hope 2008 goes well for you, and you get to celebrate too.

Bonne année!

I bought it (mostly), I built it, and finally I got to ride it!

Some background – When Supawal, my bro’ came to visit us he flew out with his Cove Hummer. Now it’s always a headache flying with bikes. Not only is there the struggle to get the damn thing to the check-in desk there’s also the risk that the nice ‘baggy jandlers’ will damage it. So, the idea was to build up a ‘guests bike’ with second hand bits sourced from our collective collection of bits, and bits from the classifieds on singletrackworld.

The build – we got a 2004 Cove Hanjob frame and a pair of Rockshok Coil U-Turn Revelations from STW as the base. LX shiters and mechs, XT wheels, DMR wingbars and Conrod stem, Spesh chainset, Hayes brakes. The whole thing took a couple of months to put together. Actually it came together in a different guise first with some bits stolen from Carla’s bike, which is why she was the first to ride it.

OK, I’m getting there – not! So, Carla takes a real shine to it. She just rides it. That never happened before. Normally we spend weeks tweaking things until it’s just so. But with the Cove, she just rides it. Eventually Supawal shows up for a flying visit with the Revelations, which are the final part of the jigsaw. So he rides it for the weekend, and loves it, while the stolen bits go back onto Carla’s Spesh, and she rides that. Supawal flies home, Carla goes back to riding the Cove. “But it’s got huge riser bars on, and a blokes saddle”, I say. “It’s fine as it is, I’ll just ride it”, says Carla. So what with events where we both ride, days that we both ride, and serious training days on my own, I never got the chance to try it. Then weeks later, we’re due to go for a ride, Carla decides she hasn’t got the legs, and it’s my chance at last. Change the saddle height, rock the brake levers forward a touch, and I’m set.

First impressions – Haven’t ridden a steel bike in years, first thing I notice is how much lateral flex there is from the relatively skinny tubes. How slow/stable the steering feels with it’s 68deg head angle. I can take my hand off the bars at virtual standstill. I stop and check the travel I have on the forks, 100mm, exactly what the frame was designed for.

Up through the woods, she climbs well, feels light, nimble. At the top of the forest now with a long descent in store. Firing down the first rocky section it feels as though I don’t have enough weight over the front of the bike, maybe it’s the huge high DMR bars. I stop and wind the forks down a little to 90mm. Now it feels just right, and I launch down the second half of the desent, fast. There’s a huge rock, I flick to the left, there’s a low branch that I didn’t see in the late afternoon sun that whips my face. I’m off line, all over the place, into all sorts of ruts rocks wood and mud. There’s a drop off that I didn’t really want to ride. With total lack of style I plop out onto the main trail. I made it, I’m thinkin’ maybe these Cove Handjobs have got something.

I’m musing over the Cove + Revelations combination, and at some point over the next hour and a half I forgot that I was riding the Cove, I was just out on my bike having a great time. So easy to ride, so comfortable, schweet handling, such fun……. maybe I should get one! 🙂