Fay de Bretagne (44) – Pass’Cyclisme (3.1kms x 22 laps – 68 kms)

Fay de Bretagne (Loire Atlantique - 44) is about an hour and a half away. The circuit had been promoted as a flat, fast course and after last week’s monster hill at Taupont, I needed a flat one. I hooked up with English mate Bob Jones on the way to the early morning start.

Start: Well over sixty of us lined up for the start of the dedicated D3/4 race. 

I was really surprised at the rather sedate start. In 56 they usually go off like there’s no tomorrow and I always have to work like stink to avoid (not always successfully), being dropped on the first lap. Not so in 44. The fairly gentle pace was just as well really as it took me ages to clip my left foot into the pedal. I eventually sorted my feet out and managed to catch up with the pack; 1 lap down, 21 to go!

As promised, the course was flat with fast corners and nothing too technical for a novice (read - coward) like me. The speed ramped up as the laps counted down, but, to my great surprise, I had little trouble keeping up with the leaders.

From the middle section onwards the race became tactical with local teams closing down anyone who attacked, keeping us all together as a large group. To my shame I did no work at the front. I was happy to allow the others to pull me along. Well, in my defence, I am still learning the sport and I'm not all that strong yet - that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

I was nearly dropped with 14 laps to go when I was edged into some curb-side gravel. I managed to stay upright but had to really dig deep to reattach to the main group – scary that.

Attack: There was only one obvious place on the course for a serious attack; a gentle 800m uphill section just after the finish line. Bob had been edging himself into a clear place towards the front of the main group for a few laps, so I was waiting for him to make his move.

He attacked with five laps to go. I was right behind him at the time, toward the front of the main pack (yes - that's right - I was still in the main pack after 17 laps). When Bob went, I thought (for about a millisecond) of trying to go with him, but I bottled it and stayed with the pack. His break was decisive - he rapidly bridged a 50 metre gap to two leaders and they rapidly edged away from us.

Finish: I finished in the main bunch, very satisfied that I was still in the mix although not exactly strong enough to figure prominently in the sprint (where’s Eric Coue when you need him?).

I did manage to pass a couple of riders on the sprint into the finish but my legs were cooked by that stage and I couldn’t do much damage to the bunch. Bob finished way ahead of us in a very strong second place and received a nice cup for his troubles.

Statistics: Result - 38th (out of 58 finishers); Average speed - 37.5 kph; Race duration: 1:49:55. 

Not a bad day’s work – am I becoming an actual cyclist at long last?

Post Script: Charlie and Max Cushway were in the mix again in a race near Redon. A very proud dad, Ian, emailed me this morning saying – “Max came in a close fourth and Charlie romped to another win.” Well done lads!

Taupont Pass’ Cyclisme – 22nd May 2011 – 5.1kms x 13 Laps

There was absolutely no doubt about it! The course was far too tough for me – a 5.3 kms circuit with a really stiff 1.5 kms climb into the finish.

Overview: Taupont Cyclisme hosted the race and, as always, did a wonderful organizational job on a beautiful sunny Sunday. Much credit for this must go to our excellent President Mickael Crete. It was another great achievement that matched our organisation of the Morbihan Cyclo Cross Championship. “Well done Mickael and everybody else who helped!”  

The race:  Despite my pre-race preparations, I had no idea how hard the other riders would attack the hill on the first lap. They went off like startled bunny-rabbits and I had fallen back to last place before I was even half-way up that first climb.

By the time I reached the top I could just about see club-mate Yves Oger in the distance, but the other racers were already out of sight. I did eventually catch Yves and we stayed together for the next nine laps or so, trying desperately to keep our speed up. We managed to overtake a few desultory souls along the way, but there were not many of them to lift our spirits.

We were caught by the leaders on lap eight and stayed with the main bunch until the next hill. Then guess what happened? Correct - I was dropped again!

Yves managed to stay with the group until the top, but soon dropped away and I managed to haul him in again fairly quickly. We continued our sad little progress for a couple more laps until Yves decided he’d had enough and pulled out at the end of lap ten.

I continued doggedly on (I am an idiot sometimes). Anyway, it was a nice sunny day with a tailwind pushing me up the hill and I resigned myself to treat the race as hard training ride - again.

Other Club riders:

Ian Cushway – As usual, Ian finished way ahead of me, but even he struggled around the course and finished in a group at the end of lap 12.

Old Fart – I stopped at the end of lap 11 when I crossed the finish line just ahead of the leaders at the end of their final lap. I averaged around 32 kph for the 58.3 kms I did complete (not bad considering the hill).

Yves Oger: Finished at the end of lap 10.

Andy Shaw: Entered the ‘big boys’ race as a Category 3 rider. Even Andy struggled and pulled up on lap 13 (of 18). In his defence Andy is busy these days renovating his house so cannot do the training he’d like to.

My apologies to the other TC rider who entered the senior race, I did not catch your name. 


Post Script: It was good to see Loic Guimard a the end of the race - he looks to be recovering well after his spill at Lizio. 

Chateaugiron – ‘La Marc Gomez’– 14th May 2011 – 100kms Cyclo-Sportive

Chateaugiron is another pretty place southeast of Rennes. Club-mates, Daniel Dunot, Yves Oger, Ian Cushway and I arrived in plenty of time for the 09:15hrs start. I’d had to set the alarm for 05:30 in order to meet the team car – yuck! A moderate easterly wind lowered the temperature considerably and I shivered a little in the weak morning sun.

Start:  Interestingly, there was a speed restriction of 30kph imposed for the first 30 kms of the course. This safety feature created a few problems as the 300 or so riders remained tightly bunched together on narrow roads that wound through small towns and villages. Every so often the group had to split quickly to avoid an island or roundabout. We had to brake hard every few minutes as the bunch concertinaed together, then sprint hard after the obstacles were passed. It was quite scary at times, and I could see a number of riders shaking and flexing their hands to ward off the cramp caused by the constant braking.

Released:  At 30 kms the lead car finally pulled far enough away for the racing to begin.  There was one benefit of the speed restriction tough - we were all well warmed up by this stage and the speed ramped up quickly.

We rolled along on lovely country roads winding through woods and villages at a good speed. I had to work hard, but by 55 kms I was still with the main bunch and feeling pretty strong. I could see the damnable orange flash on Ian’s bike helmet just ahead of me; I was determined to stay in contact with him for as long as I could.

I was finally dropped on a long drag at about 65kms. I tried my best, but my quads were on fire by the top of the climb and I simply had to ease off. I found myself in the second group of twenty or so riders, including Yves. We worked hard for the next few kilometres trying to reattach to the leaders, each taking turns on the front, but we were just not strong enough to catch them.

Yves and I took our turns at the head of the group and our average speed crept up as we tried to maintain the pressure. In a worrying moment I fell back on a hill at 85 kms, but Yves passed me and called for me to follow him. I managed to catch his wheel and he dragged me back the group. It was touch and go though, and I only just made it in time for a long recuperative descent.

I don’t quite know where it happened, but after 95 kms Yves was no longer with us, somewhere along the run in to home he had dropped off the group; fatigue and the lack of training miles had taken its toll. Yves is a busy man these days; a young family and running a large business enterprise leaves him very little time to train.

Wrap-up: I managed to attack and pass a few riders on the uphill sprint into finish which pleased me no end. As ‘La Marc Gomez’ is a charity sportive and not an actual race, the organisers haven't published the results so I don’t know my actual finishing position. As for our team times:

Ian Cushway - 3:01:30 (34kph) – Finished with the leaders and was almost certainly inside the top twenty – an excellent result from this strong-man (who cut his cycling teeth on Time-Trials in the UK).

Old Fart – 3:08:00 (33kph) – Quite happy with this result. The course was undulating and predominantly flat, no monster hills, but the wind was tricky in places. I probably finished in the top fifty.

Yves Oger : 3:12:30 – a good effort but his lack of training showed during the latter stages.

Daniel Dunot: He came in some time after us – he deserves an honourable mention for cheerfully driving us there and back in the club car. Merci Daniel. 

Lizio – 8th May 2011 – 9 x 7km Laps (Pass' Cyclisme)

Lizio – 8^th May 2011 – 9 x 7km Laps

Lizio is a beautiful little place half an hour away from my home. Perched on top of a hill, it has old stone buildings, a magnificent church and a well-maintained cobblestone road wound through it.

Start:  My race started at 10:02; I don’t like early starts. I sat on my bike, shivering in the early morning chill, waiting for the race to begin. Then we were off in a mad dash for the first corner!

The course was quite technical with narrow roads, tight turns and sharp little climbs. To make things worse, early on the roads were damp after the overnight rain and I was a little tentative on the sharper turns. However, the sun soon broke through a blanket of light cloud and the roads dried out enough for me to relax a little after the tricky start.

With three or four tough little uphill climbs, most of which were into a moderate headwind, the Lizio course was a hell of a lot tougher than last week’s event in Penvins.

For the first two laps I found it easy to stay with the main group, which included club-mates, Eric Coué and LoÏc Gouimard. Then there was the inevitable split. It happened on the hill through the village at the start of lap three and it was entirely my own fault. A burst of speed from the pack took me by surprise. I lost the tail for a split-second and the gap formed. 

Accident: The gap continued to grow for half a lap but I did catch up with LoÏc and before long a group of about fifteen had formed around me. After a lap of modest work, our speed began to ratchet up. Each time the road opened up we could see the leaders in the distance not too far away and I genuinely thought we had a chance of catching them. By this time we had even caught a couple of the D1/D2 riders including another club-mate, Jean Bernard Leblay.  It looked to me like our group was large enough to reel in the leaders if we worked as a team. Then disaster struck!

Four riders, one of them the luckless LoÏc, collided and took each other down in a mêlée of arms, legs and bike parts. We were travelling fast at the time, but there was no real reason for the accident. It was a relatively flat and open part of the course and the road surface was now dry.

How I managed to avoid the fall is beyond me. I jammed on the brakes, darted to the right, luckily there was a large enough gap, and ended up on the grass verge. I managed to stay upright though, and soon found myself in the clear alongside Jean Bernard.

I wondered about the fate of my friend and eventually managed to signal to our motorcycle escort who alerted the medical support, so I knew he and the other fallers were being looked after. I had had a lucky escape and was shaken by the experience; narrowly avoiding crashes in successive races can affect you like that.

By the time the group reformed we had no chance of catching the leaders so we settled down to our work. For me, the race had now become a tough training ride.

Finish: By the time we reached the finish my group had been whittled down to three. Along the way, we had even managed to pass a few riders, which lifted my spirits at the time. I eventually finished 20^th out of 31 starters; an adequate result but no more. Eric Coué finished in the main group in a very creditable 13^th place. My English friend Bob Jones finished 9^th, an indication of how tough the race had been; he normally manages a podium spot, but the presence of an aggressive Tandem team caused him some discomfort.

Wrap-up: I caught up with LoÏc after the race and although he was battered and bruised and not at all a happy bunny, no bones were broken and for that he must be thankful.

Race Stats: Distance: 63 kms; Average Speed: 33.5kph (20.9mph); Race Time:  01:53:00 (approx).

Penvins En Sarzeau - 1st May 2011

Penvins En Sarzeau – 1^st May 2011 – 13 x 4.3km Laps

This will surprise my regular readers – a short(ish) blog!  

Photo (Left to right): Cedric Brule; Jean Bernard Leblay; Old Fart

Start:  As promised this was a fast, fairly flat, anti-clockwise seaside course (a ‘Links’ even). A sharp left-hand turn near the start was a little tricky, and caught one rider out towards the end of the race. The middle bit was straight but the surface was lumpy and another left-hander took us onto a long, smooth uphill drag. At 3 kilometres a 270˚ turn at a roundabout pointed us towards a moderate uphill climb into the finish.  Mercifully, the coastal winds were light and only a single shower dampened our spirits during the race.

A bunch of six riders managed to break away from the pack and, despite the fast start, I managed to stay attached to the main chasing group. Our club secretary and former Morbihan sprint champion, Eric Coué, was also with us.

During the race Eric attacked from time to time. His sharp sprints were punishing, but he was never quite able to jump the gap to the leaders who remained resolutely 150 meters ahead.

Accident: Round about lap nine our group suddenly sped up; someone had decided to put the hammer down in a concerted effort to catch the leaders. I dug deep, desperate to stay with the group; I wasn’t going to be dropped this close to the end.

Up front, a couple of riders must have had a ‘coming together’ because two competitors took each other down in a flurry of arms and legs and shouts of warning and pain. I saw the debris late and only just managed to avoid the carnage. I actually rode over a jettisoned water bottle which was really scary!  

Eric skilfully avoided the fallen riders and encouraged me to latch onto his wheel; this way I managed to stay with the pack.

Finish: After the spill, my group settled down a little, and I found it quite easy to stay with the bunch until the end. I even took my regular turn at the front, not wanting to be accused of having a free ride.

On the last lap I even thought about attacking, but I bottled it. I had the chance after the final roundabout but as I considered my move I was swallowed up by the group and lost my opportunity. I regret not having a go now, but there's always next time. I did howeve manage to stick with the bunch in a sprint for the line. 


Positives:  We averaged 38.8 kph (my fastest average speed ever) and I contested the bunch sprint at the end to come 13th. I cannot tell you how pleased I was with my result. 

Wrap-up: “Merci Eric for taking care of me during the accident. Your experience was very helpful.”  
Honourable mentions must go to the other two Taupont Cyclisme riders who competed in the D1/D2 class: Cederic Brule (20th) and Jean Bernard LeBlay (24th). 

Results: The D3/D4 winner finished in a time of 1:26:05, Eric Coue finished at the head of our group in 7th place in a time of 1:26:35. As I finished with the main bunch I was given the same time as Eric.  

Race Stats:
Total distance: 56 kms
Average Speed: 38.8kph (24.3mph)
Time:  01:26:35

Finishing Position:  13^th (D3/D4), of 20 finishers

Next race: Lizio – 8^th May. 

Post Script: Congratulations go to Charlie Cuswhay for another excellent podium finish today (3^rd place). Max Cushway also maintained his fine form finishing 6^th. Both competed in big fields and on a tough course near Pontivy.