Well it’s been a tough start to the season.
After winning my very first u16 race, with 3mins 28secs on
the second guy, I probably expected too much but even in my next race I started
well and was feeling comfortable. It was the St Geni Pouilly race. During the
race I was jumping from wheel to wheel, and keeping my place in the front
group. Before I knew it we had done 60km and I heard the bell ring and it was
already the last lap!! I was amazed, it went past so quickly! On the last corner
I was behind this guy from Besancon. We were flying! We flew round the
roundaboult with 200m to go. It came
down to a sprint and I came 5th!! I was
so Happy!
Before the first race of the challenge Zambon ( Overall
champion after 10 big races in Haute Savoie ). I was really nervous. We started
off very fast. We were 2 laps in the race coming up the hill when suddenly my
handle bars got locked with another riders bar and down I went. It hurt like
hell but I realised I hadn’t broken anything but had removed quite a lot of
skin from various places on my body. My bike was tangled and the paramedics
insisted I got treatment. By the time they had patched me up I felt ok so I
rejoined the race. Of course by then I was 1 lap behind but I did manage to
join up with the leaders and finished in the sprint. The next race was the next
day and I learned another valuable lesson. I was feeling nervous so I didn’t
eat much breakfast. So even though I had a couple of gels I ran totally out of
energy. It was a particularly hard course so I thought maybe it was just
tiredness, or a reaction to my crash the day before, but I think I just ran out
of fuel.
I had been looking forward to the race in Divonne. It is a
very easy course around a beautiful lake; 3km and flat – 22 laps. It was a
really fast race with attack after attack. After 5 laps Aurelien managed to get
a break with Maxim, Loann and Sacha. So the peleton followed but the teams of
Cluses, Annemasse and Evian wouldn’t chase so it was mostly me doing the work.
Incredibly I got a break with a few guys and we caught the escapees. There were
10 of us in the final sprint and I felt really good, I went for it, really
killed myself, and then got cramp 100m from the finish just as I thought I had
it!! 4th................... really cross!! Missed the podium by one
place!
The best bike of 2012 is the CANNONDALE EVO, with SRAM RED
2.
And I HAVE ONE!!! WHAT A BIKE,
beautiful and incredibly light. I am now sponsored by CANNONDALE, with the
support of CULTUREVELO in THONON-LES-BAINS.
I have been selected to be part of the Good Fight Team.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cannondale-Good-Fighters/115749715165255
This is a fantastic opportunity for me to ride the best bike
and receive great support.
Massive thanks to Laurent Sillon at Club La Santa! Merci
mille fois Laurent.
Already the help and advice I’ve had from the shop
CULTUREVELO has been invaluable, and their attitude has really encouraged me.
Just knowing my bike is in great shape and tuned perfectly is hugely positive
and makes me feel I want to repay them with good results.
The 1st race I had the chance to use my new
weapon was the departmental championship race at Samoens. I was the most
nervous I’ve ever been. Almost immediately after the start Cedric and Arthur
got a break and disappeared into the distance. Again I was frustrated because
that meant Cluses and Evian wouldn’t chase. It’s a massive disadvantage not having
any teammates to help and I couldn’t get any other teams like Passy, Annecy or
Annemasse to chase. So the gap grew to over a minute and I thought we would
never catch them. Then Aurelien attacked which I should have expected but it
seemed too late. We were flying!! He got
a small gap on me on the last big hill but not too much, then, as I changed to
my big ring, my chain came off and got stuck. I had to jump off and fix it, by
which time I was back in 7th or 8th. I think I had a real
chance of a podium but probably hadn’t got used to SRAM properly as I’ve always
used Shimano before. I went to CULTUREVELO and the mechanic adjusted the front
mech correctly. My fault as I had changed wheels for the race and not
thoroughly checked the tuning.
Next race, Passy. A
tough course but I liked it as it had everything. Long flat bits, a fast
descent, a punchy climb, but no twisty corners and the last 2km was fast and
downhill. I was disappointed to come 8th but, as dad said, it was
always going to end up between the powerful guys and I need to remember that
I’m up against guys much older and stronger than me – watch out though ‘cos
I’ll win it next year!
So, today.................... Bourg En Bresse.............. 2nd place!! Very happy. It was a
2.7 km course that we did 20 times. A total of 54km. It started very slowly.
But then with 10 laps to go I looked behind and there were 8 or 9 of us! I knew
that I was feeling good! With 4 laps to go I decided to go for it up the hill.
I killed myself! And at the top I looked and there was still 5 guys with me! So
told myself to stay in the wheels and wait for the sprint. With one km to go I
got on the guy who I thought was the best in the group. Stayed on his wheel all
the way until 150 meters to the line and tried to get past him but unfortunately
had to settle for 2nd place!
I have a busy weekend coming up and next week a track race
at Aigle, then some big events in June.
I also will be taking a week off to go to my uncle’s wedding
in Cornwall.
Now I’m going to go and clean my CANNONDALE EVO!
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