Hey "Wait for Bucko", (Note Shaun calls me "Wait for Bucko as he
is often calling that phrase out to the bunch when we are doing hills or
should I say more correctly climbing mountains)
How are you? Sorry it has taken me so long to get a report off but lets just
say France isn't the most technological country around...well not in the
town of 4000 people that I am living. We have an internet connection at
my house but to say "connection" is using a very liberal term at best.
Here is some information on the 2 Day Tour that I won.
Saturday 20th March ST-VULBAS to ST-DENIS-LES-BOURG(127km)
Sunday 21st ST-DENIS-LES-BOURG to THEZILLIEU(117,6km)
Saturday 20th March ST-VULBAS to ST-DENIS-LES-BOURG(127km)
This was the 1st two day tour my team did this year. There were around 200
starters and many strong teams present at this race. Joel Pearson ( the
other Aussie) went with the early break on Saturday morning and they gained
a lead of around 40 seconds and held this for 60km but with fast conditions,
averaging around 50km/h for the 1st hour, they were never going to get too
far away. At the 90km mark in strong cross winds a small group of 15 riders
managed to get clear of the Peloton with myself present in this and we
quickly opened up a gap of around 50 seconds. This group was working well
together and we managed to stay away to the finish were I finished 6th.
I was a bit disappointed as bad positioning cost me a better result.
Sunday 21st ST-DENIS-LES-BOURG to THEZILLIEU(117,6km)
Today was the day that was going to decide the tour as it was a very hilly
race and conditions were terrible to say the best. The temperature was 5
degrees and raining quite heavily. Off we went with a break going at around
the 20km mark once again with Joel in this break. I was ridding mindfully
knowing that the second half of the race is what was going to decide it and
trying to conserve as much energy as possible. We hit the first 6km climb 1
minute behind the break and several attacks went splintering the peloton
from around 200 strong to 40, with the break still 1 minute up the road. The
group wasn't really working well so on the next small climb many attacks
went once again narrowing the group to around 15 or so. Joel and I both
attacked and manage to ride across to the leading riders which now consisted
of a bunch of around 15 constantly tightening with every climb or attack.
Joel was riding the strongest out of our team today as the break the day
before had taken a big toll on me so he was our best chance of a result.
On the final climb of the day he attacked and manage to get a small lead
over the bunch with 5km to go. I was now trailing this group by around
15seconds on my own. Joel finished in a strong 4th position and myself came
in around 2 minutes behind in around 12th position. We quickly got changed
out of our clothes and packed the cars as quickly as possible as there was
snow surrounding us literally( all along the edge of the road), our team
manager came running across to inform us that my result was good enough to
win the tour overall and gain me the Malliot Jaune. I was very happy and
hopefully many more performances like this will happen over the up coming
season.
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Not long after this fantastic report, I got the picture left in my
email. No story no explanation other than I knew it was Shaun's
bike and was obviously in two pieces (Click on image for larger view).
I was kind of worried so I immediately rang Uncle Bob. That's
Shaun's uncle but everyone at Randwick Botany knows him as Uncle Bob. I
spoke to Uncle Bob early April. Uncle Bob informed me that that
Shaun had been away with a break and was going down a hill about 50kph
out wide. He said that all his other races have been in sterile
conditions. This time however he was out wide and was suddenly
confronted with a car coming the other way up the hill. Both broke hard
but had the inevitable "Head on". Luckily Shaun went over the top but
unfortunately came down on a shoulder. His collar bone is not broken
but he has put a small fracture in one of the shoulder bones. Uncle Bob
told me that it did not appear to be too serious and that with a bit of
luck Shaun would be back on the bike in about 2 weeks. |
Received this email from Shaun on 29 March in relation to above
collision and broken bike
Hi All,
If you would have told me what the outcome of this weekend would have been I
would have told you to wake up. During the race I had just bridged across
to the leading bunch on a climb with a small number of riders and we were
now the main leading bunch on the road with 3 riders just ahead by 30
seconds. On a small decent I was leading and I had just swung off the front
and moved slightly onto the wrong side of the road, my biggest mistake. The
roads are pretty much closed and myself assuming that the leaders had only
just gone through plus there team cars following and our lead bike wouldn't
allow traffic any chance to once again get moving.....Once again my
mistake. As we rounded a left hand bend disaster struck. A car came flying
around thid bend at around 40km/h and I was travelling at 50km/h. The car
managed to stop about 5 metres infront of me. "This is going to hurt" was
the last
thing I remember before I woke up in the ditch on the side of the road.
The doctor just kept saying to me "No no your bike is broken" repeating this
and I couldn't work out why....until I realised in my semi conscious state I
was telling him to put me back on it to finish the race!!
I went to hospital where they told me I had broken a small bone in the back
of my shoulder and wouldn't be able to race for 4 weeks. They way I saw it
was I now had 2 options... 1 I couls sit there and cry about it or 2 I could
deal with it and do some home trainer and be fitter than ever for my next
race. Number 2 is the option I am taking. If I inherited one good
thing from my old man, it was his hard head, my head didn't even hurt at all
yet my bike was in little pieces is an understatement. I had gone from bike
to bonnet to windscreen to over the top to stone wall to ditch. I am in
good health now and in extremely high spirits, somebody up there loves me
and I don't know why however I am very very thankful for it!
Cheers
Shaun
I sent an email to Shaun about our
Easter Jindabyne Training Camp. Shaun had been on our
January
Jindabyne Training Camp just before he left for Europe. On April
16 I got the following email from Shaun:
Hi Wait for Bucko
Sounds like I missed out on a weekend of good training, not that I would be
able to get amongst it. The ergo is about as far as I voyage these days.
I have just started doing ergo's. I am super keen to get back out on the
road and get some quality k's in and start loosing my weight, I am
currentlyaround 71kg's and looking forward to dropping down to 67 or so and
maybe lower if its possible.
What's the Higgo story? Theres not a lot really. My team is called
Centre De Formation and is the a small town called Le Cheylard around 200 km
south of Lyon. The town is around 4000 ppl big. Haha now big there's an
oxymoron. It isn't as bad as what it sounds however when your not riding
you realise just how small it really is and how little there is to do.
Joel Pearson is 3rd year Espior ;one year older than me. He has been
racing in the team and I live with both him and Chris Young a 2nd yr U/19M.
We have both had numerous top 20's with my worst result being a 21st and his
being a peloton finish. There have been over 100 starters every race we
have competed in with a maximum of 200.
Now over Here Bucko racing works a little different to back home or club
races on a Saturday hehehe. You have elite 1 here which is all the pro
teams that includes all Professional teams from division 1 down to division
3. Now I was offered to ride division 3 pro's however that's a big riskand
you here about some of the conditions they endure and you wonder why they do
it. After Elite 1 you then have Elite 2 and Elite 3. There are different
levels on Elite 2 and Elite 3 depending on the quality of the race. As you
aware in the professional ranks their races are ranked on both hardness and
length. So to are our races. Elite 2 are for the top espior teams and
usually the feeder teams for the professional teams. We have raced 1 Elite
2 race so far. It was our second race here and an early break went with 13
riders in it. I missed this break and punctured. I managed to get back
onto the bunch and then attacked with a little distance left and came 14th
on the day. It was a bit disappointing missing the break and puncturing but
that's racing. Now the winner of this race is riding stagier this year.
"Stagier" means they are trialing for a professional team. Same with 2nd
place and third place was a former professional.
In Elite 2 and Elite 3 races they are not strictly espior races
only. All ages can race these racers and you sometimes find yourself in a
bunch up against 20 ex professionals. Now my team mainly does Elite 3 races
and that was the level of the tour that I won. You get points based on your
results and with so many points you get moved up a division and are then
hence unable to race at that level, which when I get back to fitness I am
hoping to achieve this year. To be kicked up out of Elite 3 is a huge huge
ask but I am going to set myself the goal and why not try.
I am trying hard to get you some photos but will take a little while as I
will have to wait until I race again to get a photo of me with the team
in our kit. Our kit is just basically Identical to the professional Credit
Agricole team. Our Bikes are a brand called "EXS" and we are riding 10speed
Centaur. The bikes are really of high level at all but over here the bikes
they race on aren't anything special. They are always usually not thetop of
the line but 3 models down or so. I am not sure why but mainly because of
the costing for the teams.
After only being here a real short time me and Joel have already
become known Bucko. In races we were watched and very quickly lost the
surprisefactor. Now I need you to send me some Randwick Botany sneaky trick
tactics on how to fake being tired and then attack at the finish??
Any help
bucko??
Suffice to say I sent Higgo some very top secret strategies which should
see him continue to wear the Malliot Jaune. Obvioulsy I can't
divulge these highly secretive winning tactics/strategies on a public
forum. Hopefully Higgo is now over his broken shoulder and back on
the bike. Stay tune for more of the Higgo story as it comes to hand.
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