Local Results - World & European Results
Cyclosportives in France (May 2007) - here
Classy Nicole Cooke claims 2007 Geelong Tour crown - full report here - official web site - here
And now the 2nd Round aswell - full report here
Womens Cycling Home page - worth a look
Sunday 03rd July 2006 - JCA 50m Time Trial St Ouens 0700hrs
Time - 2hrs 13min 50sec
Sunday 18th June 2006 - 25m Time Trial St Ouens 0730hrs
Time - 1hr 03min 10sec
Place 17th of 52
Reports
Well as it turned out this was to be my last race under the VeloSportJersey banner. Now the DFS Bikers is born. Anyway back to the race, pretty hot - for the time of day - 1st off 0700hrs, doesn't bother me, the sooner you start the sooner you finish! So as pre warned some of the marshall's might not be awake yet, so a little bit of care is needed. Game plan? Yep, try a 'level split' for each 25. Which might be a bit tricky as I have not really done a lot of pacing, anyway upwards and onwards. Marshall's I hear you say, not sure really sure what happened there, the regulars turned up, thanks, but there was several others missing, and unfortunately all at major Junctions!! You cannot run a race like this safely with the amount of Marshall's missing. But hey not my problem now......anyway back to the race, being 1st off allowed me the pleasure of having no one to chase down but have everyone chasing me! Once I'd realised several Marshall's were missing an air of caution took over, its not worth the risk. The wind seemed to be circulating around, a little variable but nothing to tricky. Reached the turn point in 66min (want around 2.15 total) so this was in 'target range' again took certain parts easy, encounted bits of traffic, not a lot you can do about that, but on the whole the 'extras' didn't make a lot of difference to the final time.
Stayed away till halfway way the second loop, 2 went passed, one checking out the others back wheel setup, if you get what I mean!! bit drafty in here typing this report! They say it takes 2 to draft, why only 1 DQ then?
Anyway enough of that, tested the SIS energy gels on the way round, working on the theory of using 1 every half hour. They seemed to work, although I think the 1/2 hour is the limit. I will be using them during IMC. The race? oh yes, everything going well, not completly flatout, no need, returned to the finish in a time of 2hr 13min 50 sec, so the spilt was near as dammit level, thats OK. The other test is of course the recovery, not just after the race but the next day. After the race fine, tired - to be expected - the next day, up and training, swim/run sessions, no stiffness.... the gels working during the race? Who know's ( Bet Mr Williams know's).
Well thats the race season over for me in Jersey, final assessment done, overall feelings are I just need to keep the mileage up for the next month, shoudn't be to much of a problem...hopefully.
Some say that conditions were perfect, others wonder, personally a little breeze does wonders for cooling down and concentrating the mind. So 22c, light F1/2 variable 52 riders lined up for this 25m hack around St Ouens and St Martins. It is a hack because your just flat out all the way, no let up, burst your legs and lungs, now thats where the wind helps, helping the latter - lungs - to cool down a touch (my opinion). So really as its just flat out there isn't a great amount to write about. For me it was a test for the bike, position/feeling/etc for IMC, with a further assessment on July 02nd (50m TT), you see speed hasn't been on the agenda, endurance has, so to finish with a time of 63min 10sec was a pleasant 'happening' - its not easy to cool down on a TT bike is it, tried for 90mins and thought better of it, home and food, then flop, nice. So as reporting goes, that's it, sun shined, wind dropped, legs stayed in one piece, no arguements (sorry polite conversations with fellow road users) with traffic, awaiting next race (oh and by the way, raced under Velo flag, DFS not quite ready yet, July 3rd launch date)