My first race

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

I had my first race yesterday and things went very well. I placed 11th in a large field of over 100 and there were Elite & world cup racers and our U23 national champ in the field. I am very pleased with the result. My team from the university won the team category which was for the fastest three racers so I got to the top step of the podium in my first race.

Exposure Lights Big Night Out and Chain Reaction Cycles Marathon Series Rd1

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Date: 10.4.2010

The Easter break means one thing for me each year. A trip to Wales to weekend double header at ELBNO and CRC Marathon. Both events are technically non competitive because of restrictions on the trails used but put a number board on anyones bike and you’ve got a race on your hands. The field is usually very large and very strong up at the front.

The Saturday night is the first event. The course is a single loop of 45K with lots and lots of climbing in the dark with over 300 riders. This year Nick Craig, Johnny Pugh, Antony O’Boyle and Matt Page were among a list of 10-20 strong riders. Up the first climb I hit it as hard as I could to stay with the front group. After 4-5 mins the field broke into two packs with the top three clear and myself and 5 others behind. Once recovered from the initial effort I was really pleased with how I rode. On the final climb I managed to take an extra position and then through an awesome technical decent I got another rider. I felt super fast through the woods! Then the trail spits you out on the road and a 6K time trial on the road to the finish. With two riders close behind this was a real effort to stay away so I had to drill it to the line. With plenty of experience in road time trials I was pretty confident and managed to stay clear to take 5^th finisher. Over 1:45 I came in 7mins down on Nick Craig which I was pleased with.

Being so early in the season consulting my coach I decided just to use Sundays 75K marathon as training. I was strict about my HR zone for the first 3 hours and then let it open up for the last 45mins or so. My recovery was pretty good despite a XCO level effort on ten hours before. The weather couldn’t have been better and I got some great trail time chatting with riders on course and meeting up with old friends with a field of over 800 enjoying the sun. All in all it was a great weekend and another promising result on Saturday night. The Grand Canyon HT was perfect on the hills so stiff and only 9kilos and still managing to be super comfy for 4 hours!

Poisen Cup Boos

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

… und plötzlich war sie da, die Saison 2010. Um in den Rennrhythmus zu kommen und um die ersten Fotos von Team zu machen, sind wir zum Poisen Cup nach Boos gefahren. Klingt erst  mal nicht wirklich spektakulär, wenn aber einige Profis die Gelegenheit nutzen, um sich auch endlich wieder ordentlich weh zu tun, kann das Ganze anstrengend werden.

Zu erst war Kim im Seniorenrennen an der Reihe. In bester Crosser-Manier drehte er gleich mächtig am Gashahn. Das Rennen glich mehr einer One-Man-Show. Kim siegte nach knapp einer Stunde mit mehreren Minuten Vorsprung.

Das sich Hausumbau im Endstadium, Job und Training nicht wirklich gut vertragen, war mir klar. Für was es aber wirklich reicht, sollte sich im Rennen zeigen. Nach einem Raketenstart ging es für mich nicht ganz so schnell, dafür aber gleichmäßig ins vordere Mittelfeld. Letztendlich hat es zu Platz 12 gereicht. Das ist nicht wirklich gut, passt aber. Denn wenn erst mal alles tapeziert ist, Parkett verlegt ist und die Küche steht, wird das mit dem Radfahren auch wieder.

Jetzt gehts los!

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Bald ist es wieder soweit: 12h-Rennen!