Copenhagen w/out the Queen of Cycling !

 

Regrettably Jeannie will not be at Copenhagen and the event will be diminished by her absence since she is the most accomplished woman racer of our generation !

 

As I write I have just discovered this item :

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/jeannie-longo-opts-to-miss-world-championships

　

Which news leads me to wonder whether the effort to get to Copenhagen is worthwhile . Each time I go to the “ Tour de Romandie “ and previous World Championship Road Races I have enjoyed the opportunity to ride with Jeannie and Patrice , the husband . Perhaps I have been lucky and it is serendipity but I do not set out with the intention to find them ! Indeed the first meeting at the Sydney 2000 Olympic was pure chance . Living on my friend’s yacht in Rose Bay , Sydney I would come ashore then float around on the bike not making any plan other than to enjoy the warm and sunny weather .

Centennial Park being the Road race start and finish was an obvious attraction and I enjoyed catching up with Dave Duffield on his Foldup bike , and Lance several times although he preferred to ride with Tony Doyle .

Eric Worlberg of Canada and the Danish & Austrian Mens’ teams and Italian and Dutch Womens’ Teams were some of the groups I was able to show the Race and TT courses . Early on I was able to say to the Aussies that Team Mobile were to be watched as I felt sure from seeing them ride together that they would work for one another rather than their individual Nations . Of course who was I to say this and was ignored and so the Podium was Team Telecom ! As Jan followed Vinky to the Podium I called out “ Gut Gemackte “ and Jan looked across and then pointed me out to Klody . When the presentation was over the Bouquets soared in my direction , to get Jan’s I had to reach out nearly toppling but Andy’s throw was just about perfect . These I later passed to the son and dAughter of a family who had befriended me as their yacht was in the same bay as the one I was living aboard . As time has passed regrettably I have lost touch with both parties with their moving house during the intervening years . Hard to imagine that 11 years have passed so quickly !

Before the Men’s Presentation ceremony I had placed my bike on top of the concrete support for the flagpole I was using as a support so my view over the two metre fence was unimpeded but a Police Inspector tried to tell me to come down as I was “ at risk “ and I later had him ask me who I was to receive the flowers . Of course there were some who made me welcome and one was David Millar who pulled alongside me after the TT Medal Presentation in the British team car and introduced me to James Quigly the Track Gold Medalist ! Getting kissed by all three Women after their Medal Presentation was a special moment as well particularly since I had ridden with them all as they surveyed the routes . Leotin also pointed me out to her parents whom I had met in Team Celebration at the 1998 World Champs , but whilst we waved I did not get to greet them as they were in the VIP enclosure .

Meeting Ray Godwin and Michael Milton was another interesting experience since I have caught up with them both in various parts of Europe . Michael at Para Ski Races and Ray at various Road Race Events . El Diablo was also a character that I came across and helped out as you can see from the Blog post about him .

 

 Haile Gebreselassie ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Gebrselassie

) was one of the runners whom I met as they used Centennial Park for training as did some of the Para Hand Bikers , so you can see it was a mixed bunch of Olympic Competitors that I came across but not unremarkably I came across Shane Warne sitting in the back of a Groundsmans’ vehicle as it drove through the park to the Sydney Cricket Ground . On the Thursday night before the opening of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games I rode up to the Sydney Town Hall and met the Waugh Brothers after one of them had run with the “ Olympic Torch “ .

WORM CRAWLS OUT

AS I start this blog entry the Giro is 87km from the line and they have just shown video of the worm on Deutsche Eurosport in a split section with the race where real racers are earning their living by suffering long distances and for the most part unseasonably cold and wet weather for this section of Italy.


Most of the commentary since the start of this transmission has featured an incident in 2006 which should have been long consigned to the dustbin of history as of no interest to cycling or the encouragement of sponsorship. However ever since a certain Jan was accused of engaging in “Unsporting activities” the Germans in particular have tried to distance themselves from the sport.

Last week in the Cuneo area I was fortunate to ride with Eric Zabel as I have done many other times in past years. One occasion that comes into sharp focus is the Vuelta Rest day in 2001 at Barcelona
Most Spanish teams stayed in the same neighbourhood so the were about 50+ in the group including yours truly. Training on rest day starts out at a moderate pace through the suburbs and as we were going along I got my leg pulled unmercifully as there were any number of the racers who knew my story and wanted to know why I support “Disabled Sport” even though some of them remembered me from the 2000 Olympic in Sydney.

Not sure who started it but I had paper thrust under my nose and the request for autograph, “are you kidding” I asked but the straight face answered their family had seen me on TV so were asked to oblige. Well I went to the back of the group and tried to do the bike autograph, I was then doing like Stephan Roche as I wobbled down the road. This got to be a bit of a joke as some of the Telecom boys joined in as well. Later the group broke up into several sections and together with Telecom I rode up to the observatory behind Barcelona . Returning to the hotel in the traffic a little fat local hopped out of his car with a tyre iron to threaten the Telecom guys, Eric broke out in laughter as did the others , the lights changed and we took off bemused as to what the rabbit was raving about..



Back to the return ride to Cuneo, following Eric was a long haired Italian looking guy in a red uniform letting Eric ride point. I saw them coming towards me and having seen Eric in Savigliano early that morning was surprised so turned as quickly as I could to chase but was 150m behind so was red lining to catch the draft. After I got on I found that the pace was uncomfortably high so with a strong wind in the face decided to draft rather than chat.

Now here’s the thing that stands out, we were easily going faster than I have ever gone with him on “Rest Days” regardless of the head wind, closer to 40kph if not more. This amazing guy is not racing and yet he is pulling us both along quite easily ,and he is not named by the worm as a user. The next day with Moser, Motta, Bettini & Fondriest started out at a lower tempo but the return trip was equally as fast again Maurizio is not named by the worm. Fact is he seems to have a grudge against his countrymen and US Cycling and their connections but then he was looking for attention at the Tour of California and caught the attention world wide.

What a sad day it is when “helping someone” in past years is rewarded with this type of behaviour. As I was growing up I was taken to the beach and would build sandcastles and at home like other kids would throw mud at the wall hoping some would stick , well we all know that Media Circles have deep pockets and access to teams of lawyers so what’s a little mud between reporting on Iraq and World Cup Soccer?

Earlier this week I thought it was “April Fools day “as I caught an article about tiny motors being buried in the frames of bikes. YUP there are those who think that a bike can be assisted by a tiny motor! Where do you hide the batteries that are needed to transform the power of the athlete into mechanised assistance?

Marco Bugnotti made a comment as a member of the UCI that was reported in Cyclingnews.com which I thought summed up their attitude to the Media’s interest in this subject. Looks like it has been overtaken as a matter of speculation by the worm!



Two grand tours on the go and both with Aussies wearing the leaders jersey with 20+ Aussies vying with each other to achieve recognition the rest of this week will be great viewing. Another thing I notice regularly is the Columbia team spends consistently more time on the front of the peleton than other teams, is this my imagination or is this fact.



Perticara has been passed with a 6min lead for the breakaway and it reminds me of Linus running out of steam before the finish in an earlier etappe, disappointing to see someone have “Hitting the Wall(usually in marathons) syndrome” in a bike race and within the final kilometre.

PLEASE IF YOU ENJOYED THIS BLOG click the “FOLLOW” on the navbar and LEAVE a COMMENT as “Sponsors react to interaction and I cannot help “Disabled/Physically Challenged Athletes without their support! Helping Para Athletes is why I make this blog available!

RIDING WITH THE RACERS

When you wish to ride with a Racer or Team of Racers it is important to find the “Main Man” and ask their permission. Of course they could say no ! That, is their prerogative, they are out for training and really need to relax and enjoy their colleagues company also you are an unknown and perhaps a danger. They do not know how you will react in an emergency. Being hit from the rear can disrupt their day, even worse you go down and take others with you!

Case in point was a rest day in Bordeaux with the tour. In the morning I was riding with US Postal. I got to rag Salvodelli about the Italian Diving Team playing the Aussie soccer team in the World Cup Going down the road I spotted the Lampre Team so I did a quick U turn and rode with them for a while of course I was well known so they were up for the banter. Further down the road i then joined another team, Team Telecom and returned with them to the hotel area. After lunch I spotted Stuey on his way out so I galloped up alongside. He was on the mp3, when I caught his attention I asked and he said he would rather listen to the music so I left him to enjoy the ride in peace.








Mentioned before that I rode training with “Jaffa”, Freire and Garate at Monaco. I asked the guys to go easy on me as they were “fooling around” in the city area, sprinting then slowing down looking around then going full bore up the slopes. Well I don’t get up the hill as quickly as they when the muscles are cool and that day was overcast and chilly . After about ½ hr I was happy for them to get on at their training pace as they were going around the Time Trial route which I had done several times by then and was aware that I would get smoked.









When Kelme was riding the Vuelta one year I was at Jaen for the rest day. I had checked in and was welcomed. Along the route we were joined by some good local riders they continually separated me from the team and as I didn’t know the dynamics I put up with having to chase back to the back of the team. After a while the leader dropped back to the “locals” said some things and then told me to go to the front to ride tempo for a while. As the ride progressed the locals dropped out and we pulled up at a service station café for drinks . We then carried on ,caught and passed the locals then there was another café stop. On the way back I started out in the middle of the pack but soon found myself struggling to maintain the pace. After a while a team car draughted me back into the pack at the top of a climb. I arrived back in Jaen with a lot of ribaldry from the guys.





The Thursday starting at Strasbourg I was riding in towards the Start/Permanence area when Euskatel was riding out for training, they called out to me so I turned and caught up with them. The ride took us west into a variety of climbs. There was another Aussie there and he was able to draught most of the climbs but I was struggling on the last so the team car gave me an assist for the last part of the climb. When we reached the top there was a racer waiting to pull me back to the group. The descents were easier as I am heavier and it was only when we got closer to Strasbourg they decided to practice Team Time Trial on the final part of the route into their hotel.

Liege one year the start of the ride was with the Lotto team but as the pace quickened and then started up a strong climb I gave up the chase as I saw another team heading back into town. Enjoyed chatting to Ciaran Power for a while as the other AG2R racers were mostly French and whilst I can muddle through it is harder when you are struggling for breathe. Later as the weather changed I found myself riding to the “Permanence” in heavy rain with the Euskadi team. We were crossing tram tracks at a quick tempo and on a tangent so I was glad to be at the back as I was expecting trouble at any moment. It was almost impossible to see the racer in front let alone the road surface because the sunnies were fogged up and the rain and water off the tyres were splattering into the eyes.





Another year we had a rest day in Pau, I went out with Team Telecom towards the west and after an hour the weather started to look iffy. When the first drops arrived the guys decided that the hotel was a good idea and so the main group with me in tow started back. The tempo got to be pretty quick and hanging in was getting difficult. As I was losing touch the team car came past with Jan and others in tow. Well I tried to get on but just as I was feeling the draught a local who was on pulled across with chain problems and left us both floundering, I got back to the hotel well behind the others but luckily the rain storm did not arrive.



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For many years I have tried to ride the Rest days with the team wearing the Principle Jersey, so at Limoges I rode out to Raymond Poulidor’s village with Tomo Voekler. With Cunego and Simoni in the Giro d’italia and Carlos Sastre and Roberto Heras in the Vuelta. Many times there are media there so it is necessary to try to stay out of the picture, even riding behind the team car on occasions. When they get too far behind ,playing catch up can be a long tiring ride. On rest days for the teams I sometimes find I am riding more kilometres than on a race etappe. Gets to be a long day when you go from the day before’s finish through the night to be there in time to join the ride . Even worse when the weather is adverse as happened in Montpelier one time when I hooked up with CSC. Getting there was during a rain storm but it blew through before the team started down the road. Many times I ride the etappe in the rain and watch the race on Tv and see the racers in sunshine, timing is everything.

Many more memories at a later date. I feel like the “Professor” in his study with you acting as “Harry Potter” ,pouring memories into a bowl for us all to relive.