edinburgh rc cycling club

Well I guess with what comes up must come down and the last two weeks i have come down with a
thud and slap in the face with reality check!!.

With two UCI races started but no finishes there has been a distinct lack of cake eating!Again with my
stupidity of sitting at the back of peleton its only a matter of when i get punted.
The first was the Ronde van Gelderland (UCI 1.2) which was 140km with the first part on a very exposed
windy location. The start was crazy going through city centre and the mad panic to get to the front
knowing what was to come. Even despite a small incident with a fellow biker and a fairly solid tractor which i
could use as an excuse which lost me the rear of the peleton i think i know that i would of been off and out the
back.  Being UCI they appear to be very strict on chasers and once they feel you will not get back on they remove you from the race. So with a huge total of 30km done my race was over. Unfortunately this was also the case for my team mates. Although two were going much better and removed along with a very big group 30km from the finish, which in my opinion was ridiculous. So a bad bad day.

The next week was Borsele, again UCI. 120km of flat roads, all be it small side roads. This time i lasted 70km of the race before the broom wagon came along side and gave me the look. Again only myself to blame, at the back!!!! With the level of race its not possible (for me at least) to float on and off the back. I was in a small group with two team mates and we chased for as long as possible before we all knew it was over despite some good riders including Global team riders it wasn't happening. Unfortunately (again) the rest of the team was in the group ahead and they too (again despite being a large group) were also pulled out.  So as before another bad bad day.

One thing im starting to notice at the start is that when your lining up riders are there 15mins before the start!
The deperation to get to the start at the front is amazing. However when you look behind the rows and rows of riders the big pro's like team DSB/High road etc are all quite calm at the back. Within 5/10mins the whole thing is turned and who was at the front is now back and vice verse!! How the eck do they do it!!!!!  I look to the right side of the road there is nothing but back wheels and bum's, i look to the left side and its the same, I then look to the middle and think its impossible.......but it can't be.  Maybe a i could buy a bell and try that, say 'excuse' me and the waves of riders would part and let me through.

On a more cheerful note, i completed my first TT of the year and it went well. I was wondering if i had forgotten
how to time trial but the pain is just the same as it was last year! Plus i squeezed into a 'small' skin suit so
maybe with the lack of good results in last two weeks and therefore no cake celebrations its doing my waist line
a favour!  Silver lining and all that........