Race 2: Verneuil en Halatte

Photo 1: town of Verneuil en Halatte

Bonjour à tous! (Hello everyone)


Well, this weekend brought about race number 2 for me. I was a bit hesitant about participating considering I wasn't feeling in top health and my "form" (cyclo-lingo for physical performance level) isn't quite where I'd like it be. But after a strong week of training I decided to take the advice of my Aussie friend, "No worries, mate. She'll be right", so off I went.

The course really couldn't have been taillored any better for my style of riding. It took place in the middle of a small town with one good short power climb mid-way through the course and ended with a gently sloping downhill finish that was fairly straight and wide, permitting a good sprint at the end (my specialty).

Photo 2: Vestiges of an ancient castle


This week, my legs decided to show up to the race too. I felt really good and was able to fight my way to the front of the pack to make things "exciting" for everyone else. I attacked the main group on a few different occasions which always feels good knowing you're making others suffer. But one case in particular was memorable. There was a group of about 8 cyclist in an escape group ahead of the peloton when I decided to make a move. Ok, now for a quick lesson in Bike Racing 101: The main group of riders (known as the "peloton") usually stays together in order to conserve energy by drafting each other. Drafting makes it approximately 33% easier to ride at the same speed than going at it individually. Thus the Golden Rule of cycling is "If you don't have to put your nose in the wind, don't! Draft!" So I was at the front of this peloton watching to see if anyone was going to try to bridge across to the group of 8 "escapees" up the road. It wasn't long before two riders "attacked" (attempted to separate from the peloton) and I quickly followed their draft. Now, this is where team tactics makes things interesting. One of those 8 riders ahead was a teammate of mine. Now the goal of the peloton is to ride quickly to catch up to the escapees in order to preserve your team's chance at winning the race. But if you already have a teammate up ahead in the escape group, you get to follow that Golden Rule I talked about earlier - just draft and save energy. So since I had a teammate in front of me, I had no reason to do any work with the other two guys - I simply get a free ride. Well, obviously this isn't too well recieved by the other guys doing all the work, but they knew the rules when they rolled the dice. As the two individuals begin to tire, one of them put his hand on my shoulder and began to bargin with me "Hey, you're young," he said. "If we make it up front, I'll let you ride to victory by yourself if you do some work." I started laughing.


Well after a good 50 km (around 30 miles) at about a 24 mph average the rains came down making things a bit more interesting for the finish. As the final lap unfolded, I did my best to stay in the top 4 riders of the main group. My teammate and his group of escapees managed to stay away for good but there were still points to be won in the final sprint. I came around the last curve into the straightaway in third position with a careful eye on number 2 who looked rather nervous and twitchy. Just as I thought, he got antsy, and started his sprint too early. I quickly jumped on his rear wheel to draft, getting his rain spray in the face. I quickly saw my opening on the left side of the road. I accelerated hard on the left and as I begin to slide past Twitchy, he began moving futher left blocking me out. Suddenly I realized that I was nearing the 40 mph mark and I was running out of pavement! I slided out into the 4 inch-wide stretch of cobblestones covered in a thin layer of asphalt next to the dangerous curb. You could audibly hear an "Ooooooohh" from the crowd lining the finish as they expected my glorious tumble. Freaking out, I gripped my bars hard, hoping to go anywhere but left. Tightwalkling the curb for about 100 meters, I managed to gain control and pull my bike back into the street, but alas the sprint was over and I had lost my good placing. I screamed out in frustration, but it quickly passed as I was pretty happy to still be upright. After wheeling past the line I caught up with my teammates and found that Thibaud, our young superstar, took yet another race.

So in the end, the results may not have been there, but it sure was a good time. For the first time I got to be an active player in the outcome of the race. The results will come, for the time being I'm just having fun!





Photo 3: a more modern chateau in the village