24 and 25/04

Had two flat races this weekend both cat 2 races.
The first race was on saturday in swiss and was 4 laps of 30km it had a few rollers in it but nothing to hard. The hole race was fast slow fast slow and really surgy, which caused a few crashes but most were at the back so didnt really affect me. The crash i had earlier on in the week still had its affect on me as my legs just felt really stiff and sluggish especially my hip and knee so wasnt feeling the best through out the race. I had a few attacks to try get in the break but nothing seemed to stay away. But on the third lap my team mate kieran got in the break which managed to stay till the end with kieran getting 2nd, I just finished mid bunch about 30th.
2nd race was pretty much same sort of thing as the first mostly flat with a few rollers and a lap course of 90km. Again i felt average and didnt get in the break but keiran got in it again with another team mate alex. In the end Alex got 3rd kieran got 10th and i finished mid bunch again.
So average weekend of racing, but on the bright side it was really good weather and atleast i could still race after my crash during the week.

Crash

Well just had my first crash of the year. I gotta be honest it was pretty epic.
Me mat and kieran were having a no pedalling downhill race into Morteau and about half way down I smoked them on a corner and got a mean lead, then some crazy lady that said she was blinded by the sun, was driving up the hill and turned into a side street right in front of me. At this point I was going about 60km/h, I then locked up the backwheel and went sideways and hit straight into the side of the car and somersaulted over the bonnet and landed 10m away from the car with my bike landing somewhere down the side street.
All I did to myself was graze my knee a little. so I just lay there thinking hows my bike as nothing really hurt that much. all this attracted a lot of attention and after a few minutes I had a small crowd watching and an ambulance come.
The guys from the ambulance but me in a neck brace and some thing that looked like a body bag which was pretty stupid as I kept telling them I was fine but no one spoke english so no one could understand me.
So I was taken to the hospital in morteau and they took me inside and told me I was fine which I already knew, patched up my knee. Then told me to walk home.
Turns out kieran won the race.. my bike has a prety decent chip probly fuked forks and a major buckled front wheel but the care got a massive dent in the side and on the bonet.
So its time for new helmet, shoes and kit sweeeet. and to top it off we are having wraps for diner choice

prix de la ville d' Ornans

We were told before the start of this race that it was supposed to be really hilly and hard with 4 or 5 5km climbs, it semms that the director like to exagerate things as it was wasnt quite that bad but still really hilly and finished up a steep 2km climb.
I had really good legs before the start of this race and had a good weeks training so I was in it for the win. the race was 120km and had about 150 starters. it started in a small village and was neutral up a 5km climb and the race started at the top, so right at the start a break of about 15 got away and we had no team mates up there so a couple of guys from the team were doing a bit of chasing, then about 20km in a guy that looked real strong attacked up a small rise and I followed him, this guy motored almost all the way to the break which had about 30 seconds on the peleton and I kicked past him and got on the back of the break.
The break worked pretty well together and at about 50km a group of 20 caught on to us which just at the base of a 5km climb, about 2km from the top I went with an attack and got away with 4 other guys, and 3 of them being in the same team ACB I think it was called. so we lapped it out pretty hard and got a big gap and then I had the team car come up to me and the director started yelling at me not to roll through and got all angry, he said I shouldnt roll through the front because there were three from the same team, so I then just sat on for a bit and did the occasional lap and I had the other guys goin mental at me yelling stuff at me in french lucky I couldnt understand them. We got to another big climb about 5km again and the bunch was getting pretty close again so I started to lap and put in a couple of accelerations and dropped two of the ACB guys but they ended catching us on the downhill by this point the gap was out to 2 minutes or so and I had the director start yelling at me from the car again, it was like he wanted the bunch to catch us or something. So didnt want to upset him anymore and sat on again.
at the 20km mark the attacks started coming from the ACB guys, it seemed it was only me chasing them down aswell, at 15km we came 2 a 3km climb and I attacked them at the bottom and only one ACB guy and the other guy could follow so I kept the pace on and dropped the ACB rider. So I rolled over the top of the climb with just me and another rider and we lapping together pretty well. but with 6km to go we were caught by a group of 5 and then everyone started attacking each other and I started to feel shit I was cramping up pretty bad so I just followed the best I could.
We got to the bottom of the climb all together and one rider attacked and got a good gap I tried to follow but could barely stand up although I seemed to be in better shape than everyone else as they all dropped their anchors, then my legs started to come right but I stil couldnt pull the last guy in and came in 2nd place about 15 seconds down.
All in all I had a good race and rode really strong just a shame I didnt have that last kick at the end.

prix de gaillard

So my laptop crapped out for a couple of days but its all fixed now so all good.
Any way the race on sunday went pretty well for VCCMM we got 1st 3rd and 4th. the race was 100km of a 3km circuit with a big crosswind section and then a 300m climb straight after. I attacked in the 3rd lap and got away solo for a bit then one of the guys we were supposed to watch bridged up to me so it was me and him for a lap then 2 more guys bridged up to us and one was a team mate keiran from NZ. then a couple laps later a big group of 20 or so bridged up to us then after about two laps with them I went with an attack with two team mates and another 3 guys. So I ended up staying away with this group, the team had 3 guys so we had to win or the director would be pissed. So 5 laps to go one of my team mates, Mathieu attacked and got away solo he was out front for 3 laps then at 2 laps to go the rest of the guys in the break looked smashed so I attacked and team mate clement went with me, we then bridged up to Mathieu and we were rolling real well together then Mathieu said the win was his because he had been away on his own. I was thinking that was a bit weird but didnt want to piss off the team. So I lead us up the last climb to the finish then some muppet from behind got up to us and attacked past us so clement got on his wheel and just sprinted him on the line for the win I rolled in 4th.
turns out Mathieu was real pissed because he didnt win so he was real dark for the rest of the day.

Circuit du Printemps

Felt great today though kind of disappointing I didnt get the result to prove it..It turned out to be a clear day with the sun shining which was good for a change, didnt even have to wear thermals or arm warmers. the race was cat 2, and a 5.5km circuit with a 1km hill, 17 times round. The team went with most of the early breaks but nothing seemed to stick till after about 4 laps 2 guys got away (1 guy from ag2r) then there was mathew from our team and another guy chasing behind them. the break got out to about 1 minute 30 and mathew wasnt looking to catch them so the director told the team to bring back the break so we had what was left of the team all rolling through the front I felt real strong and was pulling big turns, my team was also telling me to slow down on the hill as I was dropping them. So in no time we had the break reeled in. All the attacks were going on the hill and I was easily folowing them I got in2 a few breaks over the top but no one would work together so nothing was staying away, then on the 3rd to last lap a guy slipped of the front I didnt go with him as he had been pulling really weak turns the hole race and I thought we would pull him back, turns out he was some really good pursuiter on the track and he managed to stay away for the win, so last time up the hill I put in a big attack at the bottom of the hill and went over the top on my own, I was caught on the downhill by a group of 5 which included mathew. So me not being the best sprinter I told mathew id lead him out, so coming into the finish I put in a half decent leadout but as mathew came round me his chain slipped or something so we had no chance and we rolled in for 4th and 5th. was prety disappointing but at least we got a bit of prizemoney, also next time il have a better idea of the better riders in the race.
Sam

Prix de Valentin

felt much better this race after a bit of riding the past week. The race was a another cat 1 race and was 130km of a 22km loop, the loop included a 1.5km hill and heaps of short pinches. there were 140 odd people starting the race so was a very big field. my race plan was just to sit in and see how my legs felt as i havnt done many big rides in the past weeks. the first kms were hectic with everyone fighting for position at the front on such a tight course. there were people crashing very often and the sound of carbon cracking as someone went down was very frequent. i had alot of near misses and had 2 guys go down right in front of me but i was lucky to ride through the middle of them. i managed to spend most of the race at the front only occasionally slipping back.
There were a few breaks that went but nothing would stick for very long, then at about half way a break with my team mate clement got away and was away for 60km but on the last lap the bunch was hauling and the break was puled back real quick. then last time up the hill i hit the front and went with an attack and by the top i was in group of three, we rolled together for a bit but were caught by a group of 30 or so. I was unsure exactly were the finsh was as we turned of the lap course for a couple kms to the finish, so was really hard to judge when to put in another attack as was feeling good, turns out the finish was closer than i thought and rolled in with a bunch of 25ish for about 20th place.
was pretty happy with my race as was felling good on the hills and finally starting to get my race legs back.
cheers
Sam