King of the World

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Out with my buddy Eric on the mountain bikes. Eric only lives across the valley, and although we ride on the road together quite often we rarely ride VTT together. But, as it was so cold we decided that VTT would be a warmer better workout than Road.

Sunny but frozen sums it up. Eric dived down the first off road descent like a total nutter. As an ex moto-crosser he’s great at that sort of stuff, and with the descent being just 200metres from his door he knows it well. Along the valley road in the shade, absolutely frozen. Onto the old pavé towards St Auvent, we got no chance, though we made 75% of it.

Onto some trails i’ve never been on now. Great, some new local stuff to learn. Back out into the sun, and climbing towards Cognac la Forét we’re warmed by the sun on our backs. The views from the top are just great. We can see the Monts de Blond, and behind them the Ambazacs. Gonna be covered in snow next week, apparently.

Whooping down the long descent into Cognac village I try the ‘jumping into holes’ technique that downhillers use to accelerate their bikes. When you get it right it feels right.

We’re heading home now with just under two hours done. Eric decides it’s not enough and takes us on a loop of the Forest of Rochechouart. There’s gangs of chasse (hunters) with guns! There friendly guys, but I make an effort to make more bike noise. Don’t want to be mistaken for a wild boar or deer.

Over the last few kilometres we pick the pace up. We’re working hard now, and not hanging about. The trails fly by. By the time we get back to Eric’s i’m cooked. I thank Eric for a great ride and head off home.

A quick shower, and next, the best bit! A cup of tea with a huge dash of Bowmore whisky. There’s a good fire going in the stove, as the sun sinks slowly towards the horizon. It’s gonna be a great sunset, i’ve a great ride in my legs, and I feel like King of the World. Simple pleasures eh?
King of the World drinks his tea!

Dernier sortie de l’année 2008

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Riders meet at the Chateau in Rochechouart
The last Saturday ride of the year for my local club the Rochechouart Olympic Club Cyclo (R.O.C.C.). It’s a bright sunny day, but very cold. There’s an easy 50kms circuit on the cards, though I wouldn’t be suprised if that doesn’t get extended. A good sized group of around 25 riders gathered at the meeting place. Handshakes and greetings all round, and just after 13:30 we’re rolling out of town in the direction of Vayres.

Along the valley road the sun is on our backs, and it feels warm, there’s the usual jovial banter. It’s nice just bowling along easy in a big group. As we start the long climb out of the valley SuperMax takes off, here we go! Those that want to chase do, those that don’t pretend they haven’t noticed. There’s four of us hammering up the climb. We catch Max just before Vayres, the pace eases, and we ride through the town together.

All regrouped again the next 10kms are steady. Through Champsac, then Oradour. Now we’re on the main road heading towards Chalus. It’s a super smooth roller coaster of a road, and SuperMax is on the front winding it up. The kilometers fly by as Max turns the screw. But it’s too much. Max takes a bollocking from his dad, and the pace eases.
SuperMax dishing it out
Through Vayres, on towards St Cyr. It’s a long climb, and it’s tough. It’s one of those long straight climbs where you seem to pedal and pedal and not get any closer to the top. I’m finding it quite tough. I’m just staring at the cassette of the wheel in front of me.

According to the published circuit we’re supposed to go left here to St Auvent. But we don’t, we ‘disrespect le code de le circuit’, and go straight on. There’s talk of Chaillac then Saillat, which is much much longer than 50kms.

Along the top road towards Chaillac, with two and a half hours done. This is a road that I know well, every twist, turn, rise, and so on. It’s also a road that I love to ride. All of a sudden i’m feeling great. I find myself on the front. With the responsibilty of keeping the group moving I work hard. I’m doin’ good, and I’m motoring. As we hit each rise I dig in a little to keep my gear rolling. I must be doin’ good because a detour is announced!

Our detour takes us within a stones throw of home. I could easily pull out and take the early shower. I decide to burn some calories. We cross the main Rochechouart to St Junien road and begin the long descent to Saillat. There’s quite a few riders gone missing by now, but we are still about 10 men strong. I take the sprint into Saillat – yeah ‘cos i’m the only one sprinting! 😉

We turn for home. Just the 3km climb back up to Rochechouart left to do. The pace is steady. Now we’re on part of the circuit that was used in the departmental championships. We chat about last years race, and about our hopes for the coming season.

Through Rochechouart riders peel off. There’s just four of us left now. Heading back out of town on the Cognac le Foret road. Almost home, just one last drag, a final opportunity for SuperMax to inflict pain. I chase after him, not because I can, but because I can’t stop myself. 🙂

Last ‘sortie sur route’ of the year. First time i’ve been on my road bike for ages. Enjoyed every minute of it.

Meilleurs Voeux et Bonne année.

Our gig at the Lawrence d’Arabie…

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First Friday of every month, down at the Lawrence d’Arabie in Chalus, there’s a musicians night. Thought it might be fun to go and do a few numbers. So Peter (Beta Biker), and me worked up a blinding set of 5 songs…

  • Drift Away – Dobie Gray
  • Can’t get Enough – Bad Company
  • Teenage Kicks – The Undertones
  • Try Me – Ry Cooder
  • Swing Low – Claptonesque version

I put some backing tracks together with bass and drums on my trusty old Roland VS1680, and stuck ’em on a mini-disc. We also recruited a second guitartist from the Correze to help with the twin lead bits in Can’t get Enough (thanks Carl). We were ready to Rock!!!

We invited just about everybody we could think of along, and by 9pm the tiny bar was packed. Here’s a picture of us rocking!!! 😉

Rockin at the Lawrence d'Arabie

We went down a storm(ish). It was a great night. We were first on. After us there were a string of musos performing acoustic and electric. Towards the end of the night, none other than Wreckless Eric along with Amy Rigby got up and stole the show. When we left, at around one in the morning, the place was still heaving.

It’s not all bikes y’know….

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When I’m not biking, or boozing, I like nothing better than playin’ me geetah! Been playing a long time now. In fact, I first started playing after a motorbike crash put me out of action! What a suprise. 😉

Anyway, before I moved to France I stoopidly sold most of my small collection of guitars. The only electric I have left is the one that nobody wanted, a Fender Big Apple Stratocaster. Here she is…

My Big Apple Stratocaster - Blue on Black

A beauty eh? In the right hands such a guitar could make a grown man weep, and make a young woman go weak at the knees.

So, with a gig coming up i’m getting some practice in, wringing every last emotion out of her when my B string snapped. It’s nearly always the B that goes first. Ever tried buying guitar strings in rural France? Not easy, especially when I’m fussy about what I play. So instead of treking into Limoges and supporting the local guitar shop, which I know I should do, I went online at Strings Direct and ordered some of my all time favourites – Fender Super Bullets. Thanks to Rick at Strings Direct for the rapid service – they arrived within 48hrs.

GHS fast fretWhile I was on, I ordered some new Fast Fret. It’s a String and neck lubricant. That…

lets fingers slide freely, keeps strings clean and is good for wood. Glides on wipes off, specially formulated for stringed instruments.Fast fret cleans strings, lets you play faster, brightens sound, prolongs fingerboard life, long lasting, won’t damage your frets…

Last time I bought Fast Fret it came in a tin! If you’re into guitars you’ll know how long ago that was. 😉

UFOLEP 2008 season prize ceremony…

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All the prize winners on stage together
A Friday night deep in the heart of the Haute Vienne. More than 200 cyclists and friends are gathered for the prize ceremony for the 2008 season. There’s roadies, and mountain bikers, national champions, regional champions, young stars of the future, and old veterans who are still kicking ass! At the end of the ceremony all the winners are called up on stage for a group photo. Right there in amongst them, standing proud, there is an Englisman. Yep, an old veteran mountain biker with a dodgy shoulder. He’s won the VTT Challenge Competition. 🙂

Les Gantiers – 17th edition – VTT Raid, St Junien

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Les Gantiers 2008Remember when I rode this last year? A true blast of a race. One big loop run off at road race speeds, only off-road. Thing is, last year I was flying, and had super form. I’m not quite there this year. Though I’ve been looking forward to this one for weeks.

The start – Following the startline antics from last year the organisers have made the start a little wider. Yeah, but it still goes into the same gravel strewn 90 right after 50 metres! Chaos ensues, and again after another 50 meters the 90 left onto the road. I manage to get away in the first twenty riders. It’s fast. I’m breathing hard. On the road climb out of the river valley I manage to get up to the lead group. By the time we swing off into the first Chemin I’m looking at top twenty.

Mon Taxi Parti! – A group of about 6 riders is moving clear. I should be sat on the back of them. My taxi is leaving without me! I move up where I can. I’m working with a couple of roadies. We’re sharing the work well, and we’re making progress, slowly catching riders. There’s a long drag. One of my co-workers does a big turn on the front and blows himself up! Why? So just the two of us. We’re motoring.

Into some mucky sections. My friends chain sucks up, somethin’ gives, and his chain is broke! Too bad for him, and too bad for me. I’m on my own now. Two kms further on I spot one of the main contenders fixin’ a puncture. I’m hoping he gets it fixed fast so I can catch him when he comes flying past. He never does.

Economique – Looking ahead down some of the long straights at what must be two to three minutes into the future I can see half a dozen riders, though the nearest looks at least a minute ahead. There’s nobody close behind. I’m riding as fast as I can. 100% concentration so that not even half a pedal turn is wasted. It’s tough.
Les Gantiers 2008 - I made the vets podium
Into the last few kms. I’ve made a little progress, and I’m closer to the rider ahead than I was, but I ain’t gonna catch him. I cross the finish line in 15th position. I’m second Vet B. Beaten again by Jean Claude Sansonnet (US Nantiat). The first 7 riders are home together! With Jean Phillipe Menneteau (US Nantiat) taking the win. I’m some 5 minutes off the pace. It’s OK, I know what I have to do. 🙂

Specialized Stumpjumper HT Comp versus S-Works Stumpjumper Carbon HT

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Stumpjumper HT Comp 2009 and S-Works Carbon HT, choose your weapon.
The Stumpjumper HT Comp is the least expensive is Spesh’s Stumpy range. I reckon it’s fantastic value for money, and good enough to race on. In fact, up until I got my S-Works carbon this year, that’s exactly what I did. Since 2005 I’ve used a standard Stumpjumper Comp as my main race bike. Had some good results too. If you can’t win on the Comp, you can’t win.

The 2009 Stumpjumper HT Comp is even better. It’s now made of the same M5 alloy that was reserved for the S-Works alloy bikes. With it’s 28 spoke front wheel, flat bars, and 90mm travel forks, this ain’t no trail bike. It’s for racing………and i’ve got one…..and I rode it for the first time this week at the Armistice day VTT rando at Isle.

Wanna know how it rides? Well, I dunno! Why? Because after the first few minutes when I had to ‘brain shift’ into SRAM mode I was so busy enjoying the ride I forgot that I was riding it. I was so busy hacking up and down the sides of the Vienne Valley on super steep climbs followed by fabulous singletrack descents strewn with damp leaves covering rocks and roots, that the bike just disappeared.

Whether the bike became transparent, or part of me, or whatever doesn’t really matter. It’s the fact that it rode so well, and I felt so at home on it. It was only when I queued up at the Lavage Velos (bike wash), that I noticed it. Ridden standard, as it came, out of the box. Oh, and ridden hard too. I was third rider home out of 300.

Compared to my XTR equipped S-Works Carbon hardtail, it’s a little heavier (though much lighter on the wallet!!!). But in terms of performance, and being a XC race tool…..If you can win, you can win on the Comp. It’s that good. 🙂

Thanks to the crew at Pearce Cycles who supplied mine.


Armistice Day

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11 November 2008 will be the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day…. the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning — the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”.

Take a ride through any French town or village, and there’ll be a monument, or memorial to those lost in the First World War. Stop and read the names, and you’ll see that a lot of families lost more than one. Yet the French equivalent of the poppy, the paper cornflower whose blue colour recalls the French sky-blue uniforms, is rarely seen in the buttonholes of television presenters or politicians, and it is almost impossible to find one on sale.

Every year, a dwindling number of first world war veterans attend the Arc de Triomphe wreath-laying ceremony but this year none of the surviving 15 Frenchmen – aged between 105 and 109 – are well enough to take part.

Well, I’ll be doing my tiny bit tomorrow…. sporting a flower and a ribbon. Lest we forget.

On the podium in the 17th Frederic Mistral VTT Raid

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On the podium in La Frederic Mistral
One of the best races of the season. I’ve been looking forward to this one. A ‘full on’ mass start race. One big 42km loop. Raced as seen. Last year I finished 3rd scratch, and won my category. I ain’t got that sort of form this year, but I’m gonna race hard for a category podium place.

The start – they’ve changed the start this year. This time instead of an out and back around a field, it’s an uphill start on a bumpy field for 200m a sharp left, a 200m dash along the top of the field before diving down for a sharp right onto the tarmac with greasy wet tyres! 🙂

My Plan – Flat out for the first 5kms to try and get myself into the best fast moving group I can. Then ‘economique’ – try and stay there.

The Off – You just know it’s gonna be chaos on the inside of the first bend as everyone squeezes in. I line up further out to the right. My clubmate Eric lets me in on the front line just in front of him. The tape goes down. A few words from the commissaire. A countdown from 5. We’re away on two. As I climb onto the pedals Eric gives me an almighty shove! Thanks Eric 🙂

Up around the first bend with the leaders. Hold my place along the top. Left down towards the tarmac. Easy onto the road. Lock the forks out and kick. Jean-Phillipe (Nantiat) comes by, I get his wheel. We’re hammering up the short road section all desperate to get into the first narrow off-road in the best position we can. I dive past a couple of rider as we go in.

Onto the rocky climb now. Chances of riding it are slim. Slippy damp rocks and leaves. I don’t even try. I dismount and run up the right-hand side to keep my bike out of the way. It’s chaos. There’s a lot of ‘jovial banter’ as bikes and bodies clash.

We’re over the top and away. I reckon I’m in the top twenty-ish. Not great, but I’m in good company. Stephane (Ambazac), Lionel (Nantiat), and me old mate Jean Claude (Nantiat). All good riders.

For the next hour and a half we race on some of the hardest, fastest, unforgiving, fabulous trails in the Limousin. There’s lots of action as riders come and go. I’m climbing well enough, and I’m fine on the technical stuff, but on some of the fast descents……

Well, on some of the fast descents I’m losing ground. Still lacking a little confidence. But that’s OK ‘cos I’m going like the clappers on the flat, and i’m able to motor back onto the group.

Over half distance now, and just like the last race Jean Claude edges away ever so slowly. It’s tough now, and there are some steep rock strewn granny ring climbs. Lionel slips, curses, remounts, and curses some more. Up ahead I can see Christian Boutin, we’re catching him. Over the top, then a short descent. Lionel is dropped, i’m on the wheel of Christian, Stephane has a 50meter gap.

We turn onto a tarmac section. I want to chase Stephane, but I don’t want to tow Christian up, he’s a vet, and a fast descender, he’ll beat me if I don’t get rid of him. I jump past hard and go after Stephane. There’s no response from Christian. He must have blown.

Stephane of the Ambazac Sprinter ClubI work together with Stephane, we catch Marko (St Leger La Montagne) another demon descender. I ride past him as hard as I can. I’m feeling pretty good. I stay on the front, I open up a gap on the two.
Not a big enough gap though as they both catch me on the descent from the Frederic Mistral memorial. We’re almost home now, and it’s mostly downhill. Marko comes flying past making the most of his Specialized Epic. Stephane gives chase. I chase Stephane. We ain’t gonna beat Marko, but if I can stay in contact I’ll have a sprint against Stephane.

I push my lack of downhill confidence out of my mind. Wrap my fingers around the bars and ride hard. We’re really motoring. There’s a huge mud hole up ahead. Marko goes right. Stephane goes left, catches an edge and shoots himself into the bushes. I manage to miss Stephane’s rear wheel.
I ease to see if he’s OK. He’s back on his bike and chasing.

Into the finish, a couple of zig-zags, a sprint to the line. I’m 11th scratch, and second Vet B (over 50). Jean Claude Sansonnet is first Vet B in 8th scratch.There’s only one other vet in, that’s Bernard Soulier (AC Cosnac), a Vet A (over 40), he’s 3rd scratch!!!

Wrap up – I’m happy with my ride. My form is on the up, there’s more to come. I’m just two minutes down on Jean Claude, and I’m well ahead of some of the riders who’ve been beating me lately. I come away with a nice trohpy, and I’m looking forward to my next race already.
Got a nice trophy

Choise of weapon – I rode my Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper Hardtail with some new Rock Shox SID World Cups (100mm). I ran Hutchinson Piranha Tubeless tires at 2.5bar (35psi) with sealant. I carried no tube or CO2 cannister just in case! But I did carry a SRAM quick link, and a small micro tool. I used a bottle and cage with a 500ml bottle of water with gear mixed in. I carried no food. I knew from previous years results that the race was about two hours long.

Find out more about this great race here http://www.guidonbellachon.org/