Cold, Rain, Mud, Cobbles - not the sort of conditions most cyclists look forward to.
On a cold and windy Wednesday morning, nine riders of the Cervélo TestTeam spent a couple of hours training on the parcours of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, including a couple of sessions on the Belgian pavé.
They were trying out a new kit for cold and wet racing, based on some ideas that came out from a focus group with the Cervélo TestTeam “Wet & Cold” Spring classic riders last summer. “Luckily”, the weather cooperated by swinging from beautiful to nasty and back with regularity.
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My first taste of European bicycle racing came to me in the form of beautiful, color photos taken by Graham Watson and printed in the pages of Winning Magazine in America.
I still recall one of the story headlines: The Master is an American, which recounted the story of the World Championship road race.
For the life of me, I cannot remember the words, just the fact that Greg LeMond had won the World Championships. Further in the pages of that magazine, I caught my first glimpse of Lo Scorpione.
It was an amazingly simple, yet spellbinding logo that I had never seen before. I knew instantly that it was Greg’s team’s clothing brand, and, as I went on to discover, was the same brand being worn by many other greats in the sport of professional cycling of the day.
“Only the great teams had clothing
emblazoned with the Scorpion”
Less than three years later, I signed my very first contract to become a professional cyclist. Unfortunately, my team’s clothing brand, although Italian, did not bear the Scorpion logo. At first it did not matter; I was getting paid to do exactly what I came to Europe to do, and racing in events that I had only read about in the pages of my magazines. But as time moved forward and I became more schooled in the ways of the professional peloton and more particular, I noticed that only the great teams that had clothing emblazoned with the Scorpion.
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As soon as you think you know it all, a squirrel will run into your spokes and send you flying over the handlebar. Or, you might catch a bad flu and have to stay off the bike for a week or two. Make sure to always wear proper clothing and learning from other riders, then you’ll always be one step closer to achieve your next goal.
Have patience is easy to say, but not always easy follow.
My 19 years of cycling, including 9 years of racing taught me many lessons. Here are some of the little things which helped me to achieve my personal goals.
HAVE PATIENCE
Every January and February for years, my cycling mates won the sprints on training rides, or could stay up front leading the pack for a longer time even in higher wind resistance while I just hung on. When May came, I left most of them in the dust and took all the hill-sprints.
REMEMBER TO RECOVER
It’s great to want to improve and push your limits. But many riders work too hard without allowing the body time to recover. Building aerobic power takes years of consistent training. To become a better cyclist, you must manage your energy levels. For example, if you have been riding hard for three weeks, dedicate the fourth week to recover. If not, it will leave you with ‘dead’ legs, and could also decrease your performance for a longer period after.
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Castelli’s futuristic BodyPaint Bibshort and Cervélo TestTeam’s all-time favorite seatpad (ProgettoX2) were introduced to the global media and partners last week in Mallorca, Spain. Product introductions took place along with several group rides with the new SRAM-equipped Apex groupset.
The Media Performance Camp 2010 was held near the beautiful coastline of Alcudia, a popular place for many cyclist to go riding during the spring months. Although, Mother Nature decided to have her way by sending us dark clouds and windy conditions, the ride camp was a full four days of 2010 product overview, riding, tech seminars and most importantly, good times!
Some 16+ media guests and five pro riders including Team Saxo Bank pros, and Madison World Champions, Michael Morkov and Alex Rassmussen, along with EU Long Distance Triathlon champion Virginia Berasategui, as well as Milram pro and Athens gold medalist (team pursuit) Luke Roberts.
Enjoy the images!
For more information: www.theroaddiaries.com