London Cyclist

I'm enjoying the time away from school.  I'm still in a routine: up early with Sam, coffee, exercise and then some work. I've also managed to catch up with friends and see family.

This week I've been getting on with some cycling jobs.  I hope to race the BC National TT in September and my bike needs to meet UCI standards for me to be able to do so.  Normally I worry about this in the week before the race and then end up riding in some gawd-awful position. This year I'm being organised.

On Tuesday I dropped into Cyclefit with an Adamo saddle I've borrowed from teamie Jo McRae.  Earlier in the year I found my position so uncomfortable and the saddle so hideous that I badly screwed up a 25 when I should have ridden myself to a new PB.

I still feel part of the Cyclefit family and it is always lovely to see Jules, Phil, Kim, Bana and the rest of the bunch. In less than an hour but with a great deal of attention from Jules and new recruit, Matt Wakeford, my position was completely altered, saddle fitted and bars brought back.  Jules took another look at my shoes and replaced the stack under my left foot to improve my contact with the pedal on that side of my body. 

 

The new position makes me feel as if I'm riding a different bike.   I'm excited about trying it out at London Dynamo's Richmond Park TT this weekend.  I'm hoping that it is going to make a big difference to my ride.  We'll see!  In the meantime a massive thank you to Jules and Phil for sorting me out.

Today, after another of coach Simmonds' turbo sessions, I jumped on my bike and pedalled over to Look Mum No Hands! to catch up with some of my teamies for lunch and to watch the Tour de France on the big screen.  The cafe is beautifully decorated for the Tour and the sunflowers which are on show in the window never fail to make me smile.  By the time I arrived, the cafe was already starting to fill up for Stage 19.  There was a fantastic atmosphere and plenty of shouting at the screen as the favourites battled it out over the alps.

I'm so proud of the cafe and what has been achieved in such a short space of time. Well done, Look Mum!

My self-help group

My team are awesome: diverse in our professions and interests outside of the sport but great friends and happy to be riding together.

 

The balance of riders means that while some of us were stronger earlier in the year, others are coming to the fore now.  Yesterday, Lydia rode brilliantly to become SE divisional Champion.

 

Collectively we've been through the mill  lately. So it was lovely to be able to ride out to Box Hill today and just enjoy each other's company.

It's put a little sunshine in my day.

 

"The race - every race - is a fight" Gino Bartali



Today I rode a time trial which felt like a fight.  I was fighting the bike, the wind, my demons and my desire to stop. The last three miles alone (of twenty five), felt good. I've finally perfected my race preparation but only to result in a pretty terrible performance.  My muscles feel like I've been in a fight.

One day everything will come together.  Of this much I am certain.  It probably won't even matter to me how fast I go.  Just that body and mind will be on the same page.

The beauty of time trialing is that you've ridden best part of 50km before 10 o'clock in the morning.  This means you still have the rest of the day  to find consolation for a hopeless performance.  Being the lucky girlfriend of a famous cafe owner, I found my comfort in meeting Guy Andrews, Mr Kadir Guirey and Herbie Sykes at the signing of the latter's new book "Maglia Rosa: Triumph and Tragedy at the Giro d' Italia".  Three more lovely gentlemen you could not wish to meet.

I have to confess that I haven't read the book yet, but am able to say that it looks beautiful.  I stole the headline quotation from its pages.  It seemed appropriate. 

Good Friday; a year of LMNH

Last year on Good Friday, Trudi, Alice and I (collectively the LMNH's girlfriends), trooped down to Herne Hill Velodrome to hand out flyers for the cafe.  It was chucking it down.  We got very wet, handed out a few beautifully designed postcards and didn't watch any racing. 

We spent most of the Easter weekend in the cafe painting.  I think I also tidied the bamboo in the courtyard and picked up some of the endless litter that had blown off Old Street and into the yard. It is incredible how far the cafe has come in a year.

Angels of the North Road

Beautiful sunshine, hearty climbs and heaps of support from team mates and friends put me in a positive frame of mind for approaching today's race.  The North Road Hardriders is an iconic, early season time trial which claims hardmen such as Chris Boardman amongst its winners. The course had been shortened due to road works but was still hard enough for me.

I felt focused and calm approaching the startline.  I think I rode a good race and am happy with my result.  Most pleasing is the feeling that I've knocked seven bells out of my legs.  Today I hurt in a good way.

There was a good atmosphere back at HQ and some faces that I've not seen in a while.  Wouter Sybrandy again proved that he is an incredible tester and won the day.