English
I’ve been forced to move swiftly this week, to deny rumours that the reason I have chosen to ride Sportives next year is because that, from April, I can officially race as a veteran. I will be taking Sportive riding as seriously as any road races, but I won’t be following in the footsteps of one individual spotted in a Kent Sportive last weekend wearing a skin suit.
As the Road Racing season comes to a close, with only a few major races left, thoughts turn to other disciplines. Cyclocross and track are the usual favourites for those wishing to maintain their riding through the winter. Both Cross and Track expose my poor bike handling skills terribly so typically I’ll chose to spend the winter on the turbo. This year though I’m hoping to improve my track skills and I’m hoping that a few rides on my Focus Raven hard tail will see an improvement in an area I really must concentrate on.
Among the stories to catch my eye this week has been the Issue of 2-way radio use in the peleton. The UCI seem to want to eradicate their use while the riders and team management are very keen to use them. This will only mean one thing of course. They’ll have a big old “tear up” in the weeks prior to the first race. They’ll be a boring stand off between the 2 parties which may include a “slow ride” and the only ones to loose out will most likely be the watching public. I can’t see why the UCI have got such an issue. Sure, back in the day when there were no radios, the racing was often exciting but everyone evolves with technology and people develop different skills. Look how much impact a decent director sportive can have on a race now.
Whilst the UCI appear to have created one “yawn fest” situation with the radio issue, they may have saved us another one. By looking to remove the 4km Individual Pursuit from the Olympic cycling programme, the threatening tedious questioning of weather Bradley Wiggins would defend his Olympic title or concentrate on the Tour de France in 2012 could have been removed. I also applaud their desire to remove the Madison and Points races. The Madison is a true test of skill and endurance for the riders, but does nothing for my cause when trying to convince Mrs Carter that cycle racing is exciting and not confusing. The fact that both races are not often won by the person crossing the line first can make the anti-climax confusing.
My training has gone well this week. I’ve used the lovely weather to get some base miles in. By far the “sweetest” ride of the week was a Sunday morning 2 hour ride in the New Forest with a friend. What made the ride pleasurable wasn’t the lovely brisk morning, or the chance to catch up with my pal who I hadn’t ridden with for some time. The satisfaction came from the cunning skill and engineering that created the 2 hour time slot. Both of us have families and time is precious at weekends. So many texts and other messages were passed backwards and forward and many good turns for our “significant others” were carried out in return for 2 hours of fantastic riding. If you’ have a partner who does not enjoy cycling then you will know where I am coming from. One day someone will be brave enough to write an article on the “just popping out for a cheeky 2 hours love” ride.
We even managed to ride past a few triathletes who were competing in a local event, struggling to cope with an uphill section of the ride course on TT specific machines.
I’ve eventually decided to visit the Cycle Show in London rather than take part in a New Forest sportive next weekend. I did fancy rounding the year off on familiar roads, but the lure of shiny new bike kit and the chance to catch up with some friends won the day. For now I’m going to concentrate on preparing for next year. With many Kiron supported events to focus on there’s going to be plenty to keep me occupied.
