3 out of 6

 After I moved back to my home in Bricquebec I settled in quick and started a hard weeks training. For the first week I was on my own which was no problem, it was very windy most days and I did most the training on my own. My Italian house mate ( Davide) returned to Bricquebec on Thursday 5th Feb, we spoke about our winter away from France and the upcoming season but he was tired after a 12 hour train journey from the Alps and soon retired to his room. On Saturday 7th Feb was the team presentation at the local cinema like the year before, it was good to see my team mates, it was a quick affair unlike the year before when I was left with cramps after kneeling down for so long. On the Sunday I went out with the local club ride, and for the first time in a while did a bit of sitting in the wheels which was nice we went out and did a loop toward Cherbourg (the big city) and then came back. The next week I had an easy week I started riding my new Orbea bike to try and find the perfect position before the racing began on Saturday

 

I had it spot on by Thursday apart from the possibility of descending 1 spacer to bring the front end down a bit. It was Friday afternoon when we headed off to a new base for the week in the Vendee region, we arrived at the HQ about 20:00 and all sat down and ate our evening meal together as a team. The next day was race day, the first of a series of 6 races known as La Plage Vendeenes, I lined up and the race got started, it was strange to begin with as I am now riding with my brakes continental style (Front brake right, back break left) I kept doing big skids round slippy corners thinking I was using my front break. As the race progressed with the flat windy conditions it was very important to be near the front in the cross winds, I had started near the back and payed the price in the first crosswind section getting dropped in a smallish group, but we soon made it back to the peloton only for the group to split again but after a while of riding through and off we got back to what was left of the peloton again, a couple of groups had gone up the road and already established a big gap so the race was over in our group, after the eventful first 3/4 of the race I hadn't really had chance to go in my back pocket and eat something so when the pace eased I was starving, I had to ask our team captain for more food. I finished toward the front of the group and that was day 1 over.

Day 2: It was colder and there was to be a small hill early on but the peloton hit it at a quick pace and the race started to split big time I got caught out again and with a lot of my team mates in what could effectively be called the 2nd peloton, I worked at the front for some training and finished another days racing.

 

Day3: I was feeling good with 2 race days in my legs and a nice relaxed rest day the day before, I mentally prepared myself and started on the front row always sitting toward the front in the race, when the important attacks started to happen I was at the front following moves and on a small rise there was a big acceleration with 3 of the best amateur team in France going up the road, I crossed over to it with another rider but as the pace went up again I was looking straight down at the road and clipped the riders back wheel infront of me, my left foot unclipped from my pedal and I veered off to the right and landed in the stone ditch, I lay their winded as the peloton passed by and soon enough medical assistance had stopped to help me out, they tried to get me to stand but I couldn't, the saddle or the frame had gone straight into the right side of my crotch. They put me in the ambulance and drove me back to our team van where I managed to get changed with some help.

 

When the race was finished my team boss (Jean Marie) came to check I was ok, I explained to him I couldn't walk and he made a plan to drop the rest of the team back at HQ and then take me to hospital after, as we approached it wasn't clear on how to get into the car park so we drove around for a while slightly confused but eventually after asking some people we found our way, I tried to stand up again when we stopped in the car park but just fell on to Jean Marie so he put me back in the car and got me a wheelchair, it seemed like forever waiting to be seen and I really needed a wee to the point where I almost didn't care about the x ray result anymore, we got called up only to wait for another half an hour whilst I was trying to focus on other things than the fact that I felt like I was going to burst at any second. Finally I got taken to the x ray room which thankfully was a pretty quick procedure, and after the nurse took me to the toilet, but unfortunately it was occupied so we had to go back to my waiting room, eventually a guy came in and gave me a container which I filled right to the top, I did get a bit worried at one point and thought it might overflow. The doctor came back and explained nothing was broken, it was a tendon and it would be a month before I could start to ride the bike again.

 

In all honesty I think that's very cautious, I've  been on crutches since Wednesday and already I'm  starting to be able to use my leg and walk a little bit so I can't see it being more than 3-4 weeks until I'm back racing. It could have been a lot worse and it's all a big learning experience, I will keep head strong and come back stronger soon ! :)

 

 

From one year to the next

After a great finish to my 2014 season winning the climbers jersey in one of the biggest 2nd Category races in France It was time to take a break from cycling and head home for a recovery period, I was in Bricquebec (my home in France) for another week after I finished my final race so I carried on training just to keep me busy. Me and 2 of my house mates rode out to Barneville Carteret, the nicest seaside town In the area for sure ! We all bought a bottle of beer from the café and then headed up to the cap (a really cool viewing point where you can see right out to sea from the top of a huge cliff) we sat down on the edge and drank our beer looking out to sea.

   just before I left I did a 4hour30 ride with my Japanese housemate Naoto and did a bit of site seeing, we rode out to the Sainte-Mère-Église

had a quick look and then out to Utah Beach

. My Dad came to collect me on the Saturday and we went to say our goodbyes until next years season to Jean Marie (Team Manager) We had an end of season McDonald's just before the ferry and then it was back to England, it was good to be home and see Family and friends and my dog. Really the first thing I did was look for part time work, I got a pub job for a couple of weeks until he decided he was overstaffed and let me go then I had another pub job at a local not far from me but after a week it was clear the shifts weren't going to fit around my training, finally I got a job at my local village shop which was great and I had some good fun working their as well

, as for cycling during October I took it easy café stopping a lot. But as it came to November time I was back into the swing of things. Things got pretty busy over Christmas with full time training and working most evenings but it was all good fun and after my final shift before Christmas on Christmas Eve my boss gave me a can of Guinness and I headed off to the pub to meet my Family where we had a perfect Christmas Eve. After Christmas and New year had passed I arranged a trip to Calpe with my mate Sam Lowe, we went out their for 10 days and worked hard training every day in mostly sunny conditions I saw one of my French mates as I was climbing the back side of Col de Rates

we had a quick chat but he was with his team so we couldn't speak long, that day it was a 5hour30 day and I did it all on the front with specific efforts, the riding was amazing out their so many breath taking views ! we had one day out of the ten where it lashed it down with rain and the wind was pretty strong as well, me and Sam both had efforts to do but as I got closer to the top of the back side of Col De Rates

 

 it was clear things were getting ugly, the wind had picked up and the rain was getting heavier also we were the only ones on the rode (on the bikes) I decided it was best to head straight back but I had to go back down the mountain to let Sam know because he had gone back down to do another effort, the roads were dodgy and even worse with my Cyclo-Cross brakes. I saw Sam in the distance coming round a hair pin we stopped and had a chat he wanted to go back down and do his final effort, I didn't see this as a good idea but it was better that we stuck together on a day like this so I descended down with him, I was going down ridiculously slow at about 10mph just to be cautious with my brakes, I turned around when I saw Sam coming back up the Mountain and started to climb again but just before I reached the top I saw Sam standing at the side of the road, he had broken something on his bike so we had to stop and go inside a restaurant where we waited by the wood burner for a Taxi to take us back to Calpe, the next day after I finished my final ride of the training camp we flew back to England where unlike Spain it was Snowing,I spent a fair bit of time on the turbo in the next couple of weeks, I did do a pretty epic 6hour30 day with my mate James Shaw we rode out to the legendary parrots ride which leaves from Lowdham in Nottingham and we hardly did any sitting in the wheels, by the time I got home I had 190km on the clock, a very memorable day on the bike for sure. The next Saturday it was off to France again time to say goodbye to my home for a while and head back to my other home in Bricquebec I said my goodbyes and headed off with my Dad, we got up at 4:00 in the morning and took the Ferry from Poole to Cherbourg my Dad stayed until the evening, we had dinner together and then it was time for him to head to Caen to Catch a different Ferry back to England. I've been in Bricquebec for a week now and I had forgotten how amazing the roads were always up or down and it's nice to be able to do your training by the sea on the coast. The team presentation is tomorrow on Saturday and the next Friday we will go to a new base for 8 days where we have six 130km races on the cards called the Plage Vendeennes , I'm  really looking forward to it !