First of all as a taster have a look at the pictures on the official website: There are some good ones of me 'suffering majorly' on the pave, as Sean Kelly would say.
Me and my brother went for a 1 hour spin in the rain on Friday morning. I was feeling a bit tired after a harder day yesterday (1:30 ride + roller session), but very excited. Bumped into fellow TCC member Briand up in the park which was nice as haven't spoken in ages. We travelled to Folkestone in the afternoon but not without a few hiccups. At lunch I managed to slice my finger open with the bread knife.
On the Saturday we drove to the hotel in France and had lunch with the French, Italians, and Belgians. It was just normal stuff like bread and pasta, no crazy surprises. We then went for a 1 hour practice ride over the pave. I took a few pictures of my bike prepped for the ride. All of GB rode Bontrager race x lites with vittoria pave tyres on. I did a few efforts over the cobbles and the double bar tape felt good. I had to tilt my saddle up a bit to stop me sliding forwards. Spent the afternoon chilling in the room doing stretches and stuff. The French were getting massages naked in the hotel lobby, not pleasant. After listening to my Ultimate Cyclist hypnosis track, I had a nervous night's sleep. Not even Levi's shrink can calm nerves before roubaix.
Dan and the GB van preparing for the ride
Bike pre-Saturday Ride
Breakfast was awesome. Luc De Wilde the soigneur made some stuff called Belgian Muck. The exact details are secret but basically he mixes a load of Weetabix, nutella, soy milk, dates, bananas, honey, and other stuff into a big bowl the night before and puts it in the fridge overnight. I had lots of it but it fills you up pretty quick.
The start was in Amand- les- Eaux. I was pretty excited as my hypnosis cd last night obviously worked. My calves were bigger than ever and I had my lucky socks on which boosted morale. My training was good after lots of long races and I wasn't sick. No excuses!
Finally the race! Basically I stayed at or near the front for all the Pave sectors and found myself in the 3rd group coming into the finish. There was a belgian who was way ahead but the 2nd group were only 10 seconds ahead at some places. I wanted a podium so tried to bridge across but wasn't able to. I was pretty stuffed for the sprint after my bridging efforts, but what's the difference between 11th and 7th in the big picture?
My family was there to watch and my Dad got some video:
Nobody on the team had any punctures or mechanicals. I had a few problems. I missed my mussette at the feed and had to take a German one, which had some nasty drinks in. I kept them but then one bottle bounced out, so I had no drink for the last 30k. It wasn't too bad though cause I didn't cramp. My bar tape looked pretty epic with blood all over it. Not from my many blisters but from my bread knife injury opening up.
Pete's and my bike post race
I got interviewed by cycling weekly then watched the pro race go by. Hammond was unlucky to miss the split but hey.
Comments
Post a Comment