Firstly, as a "bonker"* I have to lay out my excuses. I've been under huge stress these past few weeks, I've been frustrated that I and my team are here scratching a living on the edge of professional cycling, when we merit a whole lot more. Anyway, I did enough to get some values for training.
The test went well. I didn't see how much power I produced but noted the my threshold must somewhere around 172. I did 445w last time this time I think I did 470w, that said I didn't see the results yet. This isn't a standard test and last two to three times as long as a normal VO2max test... Lets call it a "Ve" test as it's designed to find ventilatory threshold and power.
Classica Amarante:
Pic 1. Amarante
Amarante is a beautiful town on a tributary of the river Douro in the north of Portugal. But they like their races dangerous! The finishing straight is a narrow cobbled street, that is normally closed to traffic. It has like step about 1k from the line that requires bunny hopping at 60kph +.
But the route is interesting. There are a lot of hills and the race has a fantastic feel to it. Hard but not killer hard, just fun for racing.
Pic 2. Enjoying the job at the Classica Amarante 2010
Last year André Cardoso came second. So this year I am hopping we can go one better!
I'm "Equipier do Mês" again. I've extended my lead to 6 points. It's an honour to lead this classification. I think that it should spread into the broader cycling world. It acknowledges the work of the domestiques, work that is more valuable to a team that a 10th place finish**.
I found a dead Mongoose on the road. I was saddened by his death, they have cute little hands, nearly human like. I hate cars.
Pic. 3. The Mongoose
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*"Empeno" meaning buckle or bonk is used as a term for a cyclist who, despite their best efforts is mediocre. Such a cyclist is always looking out for themselves so will sprint for 12th, or attack the gruppeto. Such a cyclist buys all the crap, no matter how implausible the gains may be, things like: balance bracelets, silly diets, ever lighter components. The bonker hopes in vain that these will make up for weak genetics. Join my "Grupo dos Empenos" on Facebook. The only way not to be a "Bonker" is to cross the finish line in first (win) in your respective category.
**Next week I'll talk about the UCI rankings and why they are destructive to cycling. I will propose a better system.
This stage was awful. Some people here felt inconvenienced by the cyclists. I do not like racing when it isn’t appreciated. At the Volta Algarve, in appalling weather we were greeted with heartwarming support. Support is extremely motivating!
Then there was the hotel. I’ve stayed in this hotel over a period of 6 years and was never treated badly, but now, it seemed snobby. The restaurant was also terrible. The restaurant is a place that is always full, with a car park gleaming with new Porche Panemera’s and BMW X6. The irony was that here too we were well treated in the past. This time they presented us a days old almond cake, while saying they had nothing better… except we checked it out, they had at least twenty other deserts.
In terms of the race, the course was interesting we had 60 k’s that were flat, followed by some interesting climbs. Oh and the roads were shit, full of holes, rocks etc. We had to control the last 40k’s of the race and we did this well. At 20 k’s from the end I punctured in one of the many potholes. I never got back to the front and lost a bit of time.
Samuel Caldeira did well to get to the end in the bunch, but had an epic crash:
It wasn’t a good stage and our rivals Barbot took another win. Filipe Cardoso won it.
Day Two, Stage One: 16.8km TTT
We had an early start and a light breakfast before the team time trial. Now people had gone on and on about the hilly, somewhat technical course was. But as it happens the course was straight forward, despite the three round abouts and three hills. The road was wide which proved interesting. As the time trial was out and back, do you cut the corners and how much? There is a lot to gain in cutting corner. Check out a 400m world record and see the "discount" the people in the outer lane are given vs the inside lane.
As it happens, we didn't cut the corners at all.
The team time trial happened to be our first victory of the 2011 season! I was really happy with this, it was a relief after so many second places. It also proved our worth as a team. Not only did we finish in the fastest time (19:00.00) we also finished with all eight riders. We didn't ride perfectly, but we rode extremely well.
Our problem comes in translating work ethic and determination into victories in road races. I wont yet fault our leader, but rather the tactics we use.
We limiting ourselves to riding for one rider. Such a tactic works:
When others employ the same tactic.
When you have the strongest rider in the field.
When you have a pinch of luck to add.
The thing is, this grossly underestimate the opposition and has a huge physical cost. You can ask a rider to do one or two tasks in a race, but not more.
Day Two, Stage Three:
65km circuit
We had the lead and five cyclists in the top five going into the last stage of this race. But our method to defend this lead was to control the race utterly. And that is what we did.
This race was 10 laps of a 6.5km circuit. The circuit had a hard cobbled climb, a very rough decent, followed by a rough road full of dangerous holes and then more cobbles. The finish line was atop the cobbled climb.
Well, I having lost time on the first stage due to a puncture was put to work, together with Diogo Nunes and Luis Silva to control the first 7.5 laps of the race. Even so I hung on to the second group, just missing the split for the first. The last 2.5 last were in the hands of my team mates.
They managed the situation so that André Cardoso could keep the yellow jersey that (we) earned in the team time trail.
André won his first pro race and we won the first race of the season. All in all a good weekend.
This weekend the adventures continue with the first round of the Portuguese cup in Albergaria.
