Rain has settled in

I'm really glad that the rain has timed itself to my off-season break. Since it doesn't rain here much I'm pretty happy we're getting early rain into the dry, caked soil. That means we'll have some beautiful greenery and flowers pooping up soon, seeing as it doesn't take much water to get them going. We've jumped pretty quickly from summer to winter with the temp's dropping like an anvil in a loonytoons cartoon. The good thing is that the rain will probably be sparse after this stormy week we're having meaning that the trails will be firm and packed and all that dirt thats been building up will be wached clear of the trails.
I saw my pump track was well under water this morning so it'll be a good time to finish it with the soil being workable. Then in summer it'll bake the clay soil into a awesome little track to play around on. I went around on it the other day and I think the turns are a bit too sharp so I'll need to get the sharpness out of them and make for a smoother pump.

1% gains

So I finished the book on the track cycling revolution of the Great Britain side. It actually ends before the Olympics with the director of "The Squirrel Club" [their development center] saying that the best was yet to come, this after sweeping the worlds with nine medals. well they definitely did that in the Olympics and more.
The book also touched on a subject that is rather tender to the cycling nervous system at the moment. Not a week goes by without us hearing of some doping related story, either someone being busted or a new procedure to catch the cheaters. After reading the book though i gained a new insight into the doping scene.
How much of an advantage to you have doping? Firstly you'll be looking over your shoulder all the time, that knock on the door in the later afternoon will startle any doper not wishing to be caught. You would be on your nerves and this would effect your sleeping, seeing as recovery plays such an important part in training how do these chaps get a descent nights sleep in. I've also read that in earlier days the blood would thicken therefore you would see the riders with their bikes attached to rollers and a alarm would wake them in the night time so they could circulate that heavy blood around. No doubt you would gain over the non dopers but all the cloak and dagger needed to keep the secret would keep any conscientious rider on his nerves. You would also not focus so much on the smaller things that aggregate to making you a better rider but rather rely solely on the drugs flowing through your veins. An advantage? Maybe not so much.
Brailsford mentions something that makes me smile and realize that the correct way is through hard work. He calls it performance by the aggregation of marginal gains. Basically it boiled down to making small percentage gains in all areas that then add up to big advantages. Improve your climbing skills by 1%, get fitted to your bike and add another 1% of power, new wheels that are lighter and stiffer add a little more speed with less effort. You get the picture that in the end you're left with a much better all round rider. This is how I'm going into the new season, 1% gains.

The real McHoy

I'm tucking into a great book that really is getting me pumped for the season already. I'm not sure if I'm over doing it and not taking a complete break but the emotion that you feel from reading the development of a sport that is so close to home is fantastic. We're still in the doldrums here in Israel with regards to competition so reading "Heroes, Villains and Velodromes" by Richard Moore gives me hope for some sort of future for the sport over here.
I've just read about Chris Hoy's Olympic gold in Athens 2004 for the kilo. I know nothing about track cycling but reading this book has whet my appetite to try and see more of this gladiatorial cousin of ours.
The Ausie coach had sent into the British camp to spy and the report that came back was as follows: 'In the lead-up to the 2004 games we had reports from people who'd seen him [Chris Hoy] in training' says Barras, 'and I had people saying it was the most impressive thing they'd ever seen in their sporting careers. He would put in these sessions on the track, come off, puke his guts out, go back and do it again.'
If that doesn't send chills down your spine then watch this video as the top four placings in the kilo one for one destroy the Olympic and sea records. The Frenchman Tournant is the first ever to break the 61 second mark that is then smashed again by Hoy.

F1 Start

Coming from a Formula 1 enthusiast background I must say that I have my chops salivating at the start of this years Tour. The unique feature of the Grand Prix of Monaco is that it is a street race, for 364 days of the year this is a road used by the high flying principality. The race track is tight with few overtaking abilities although this would be the the last thing on the cyclists minds. The equivalent of Phil Liggett is Murray Walker, also a Brit with the same enthusiasm for the sport. Although retired I would love to see him come out of retirement for one day and sit next to Mr Liggett and hear the absolute madness that ensues. I', sure Sean Kelly would be sitting stunned on the side as these two sounded off of each other, Murray Walker in his excited tones and Phil Liggett mistaking the Prince for Contador. It would be fantastic, but dreams aside, Monaco see fireworks from the get go and with the Tour tackling the Pyrenees much sooner than usual. With Cavendish making his intentions clear about the green jersey I think he may have selected the worst suited Tour to try and accomplish it.

The Tour on its Head

I must say that the announcement of the Tour de France route has come at exactly the right time. With me planning a two week hiatus to get the legs well rested and also freshen up everything I can concentrate on the blog and more importantly immerse myself in the Tour. Amazingly I have not been scared away by all the scandal's that have wracked the sport over the last year. I'm firmly in the group that says its going to get worse before it gets better, I mean the culture of doping has been around for decades so why would it suddenly stop just because they're testing. There's always going to be a way around for the cheats or so they think and the profits often outweigh the risks.

I am quite excited about the tour, already being labeled the upside down Tour. Could this be a good omen for the man down under Mr Evan's. This is a course built for climbers with the time trialist being short changed with half the regular amount of TT. There is however the return of the team time trial that I think shoul dbe a regular fixture. When I first started watching I heard all about road cycling being a team sport yet the TTT was never a regular stage in stage races. If this is such a team sport why not include the one event that is tailor made to show how well a team works together. The added bonus of the Tour is that its a climbers dream. Steephill has a graph showing the previous years stages to this next years and you can see how biased this course is for the climber.

Winter is Here

The holidays have come and gone so its back to work. The fist thing i noticed was that it wasn't that difficult to get back into the swing of things, normally it would take a day but I had some important tasks so the first day flew by. With the announcement of the Tour it did break up the day a bit so sure that helped.

On the way home though I soon realized that winter was here, this is not the onset of snow or cold weather but rather driving home in the dark. I'm not scared of the dark but I am scared of driving on the roads of the Holy Land. The madness that ensues on these roads during rush hour would make even a Hell's Angel squeamish so driving home in the dark makes matters that little bit more nerve wracking.
As i left i saw over the Carmel mountains flashes, I thought it was just the lights of the on coming traffic as they wizzed by. I finally realised that they were indeed bolts of lightning illuminating the sky. I was glad we were getting rain but really hoped that it decided to come down more towards the east in Nazareth. As I got closer to home the the frequency was increasing and I had dwindling hopes of missing the storm. There is a hill raising up out of one of the valleys that doesn't seem as steep as it looks yet you can really belt it up the side. most people do but as I crested the hill someone decided to flush the toilets upstairs. There was no preamble of a few drops or a light shower, I basically drove into a wall of water. All around I saw red brake lights as the shock of this torrent hit the people around me. I was just worried that the guy behind me would see the crimson and brake on time without rearaanging my rear bumper. With the wiper blades going at full speed rocking the car from side to side I mad emy way down the other side. Cars on teh side of the road not wanting or able to continue in the down pour. Either it was that or they were truely amazed by the severity of the storm.
So summer is over and now we go into the green season. The fantastic thing about Israel is that I'm not forced off the bike because it basically means I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to miss the heat. a ten o clock kick off is just what the doctor ordered for the winter blues.

The Tour is launched

A few pics

Trying to get into the zone

The punisher

It hurt all the way up

Keeping the legs pedalling

Winding down

So the season is slowly grinding to a halt and unlike most things that slow down and break I'm actually looking forward to this one. I've had an exciting season and one with many achievments and there have been a few new character building drills during the races and training.
Today went out for a easy ride. The group got together and we went over the race that was as well as make some jokes. I'm glad I went out and just enjoyed the bike again. It wasn't a training session and we simply bombed up and down the single track that makes up our training playground. Erez and I were also discussing a merger between us and another team in the area. We're pretty small although eash of us enjoyed success at the Championships. They took a few podiums in the lower age groups while we did well with the older guys. I think that by joining up we could become a more potent force to reckon with. Ego's will need to be set aside and of course you have team names and colours as well as sponsors. Not an easy situation to overcome but I'm sure if the powers that be can get around a table with a few beers something might happen.
As for pictures from the race, I will be getting hold of some during this week and posting them as soon as I get them. We're ending the holiday spree that makes up some three weeks of stop start holidays. Two days here and another one there and suddenly you have three weeks where work seems a distant memory. Well from next week its back to the grind stone but as for tomorrow I will enjoy it with all the enthusiasm I can. Decided to learn to play tennis in the off season so might go hit a few balls around the court and while I'm at the country club may as well relax in the sauna.

The pinacle of the season

Finished reading the article on the patron saint of cyclist on the cyclingnews site. Great story about the church that has hosted so many a Giro d'Italia and Giro di Lombardia. I then came across the picture of the statue that is outside this hillside chapel. It summed up my season so well I had to include it in my race overview from yeasterday's Championship. This season I started with some highs and ended off with more challenging lows. Call it beginners luck but my season start in the Sport Category had me thinking that this sport was easy. And thats exactly where I made the mistake, this sport is everything but easy. My first season saw me go from winning my category to suffering in the Expert category. Did I jump to quick? Its something that I couldn't and don't want to answer because I had a challenge in the last half of the the season that can only build character. The injuries in the later part of the year probably didn't help but might point to the fact I was pushing a bit too hard too early. So my season like this statue had me practising victory salutes and also grovelling asking why I was putting my body through this medievil torture.
Yesterday however ended in a mediocre finish. I started the race too hot. I burned myself in all the hype of the race and trying to get a good position in the start. I blew after the first long climb and the single track swallowed me up to the back markers. I was down and out thinking that this was not the way I wanted to end my season. I kept the pedals turning and the energy levels slowly returned although I had by this stage kissed away podium chances. Then I saw one of my rivals up ahead, he became the mark. I got into a rythm that was strong enough to be catching other riders and not to fast to burn myself. I gave it stick in the hills, my strongest area, and then recovered somewhat on the technical singles track leading back down. By this stage I had made it up to sixth and all I kept in mind was that if a rider came undone I could still land somewhere near the top. No one ended bailing out but by pushing on I had a real race on my hands for fourth place who went into the penultimate lap about two hundred meters ahead of me. I clawed up the wall of a climb and was only about fifty meters behind him at the top, I could smell fourth place. I pushed on and we came down the hill almost together but that final thirty meters wouldn't come down . In the end I sprinted my heart out but missed the first loosers spot by ten meters. I was dissapointed but looking back at my season I think its a fair result and it gives me something to aim for next year.
The next week will see some easy pedalling and then the bike goes into storage for three weeks. You may have to look fowrd to sorry-lame-arse-looking-back-at-the-season posts. It might also give me a chance to get my blog looking like something a bit more personal. I hope everyone had a great season of racing and those in the southern hemisphere keep their blogs up to date to give us some much needed inspiration for the winter months.

The Championship in Pictures

Peaking

Today went out onto the track to do some race pace training. woke up to pregnant greyness just waiting to burst. Well the drive up to Ma'alot I had a huge smile on my face becasue the rain would clean up the track a bit and settle some of the dust. Well that was the idea as I thought that becasue Ma'alot is higher than the coastal plain where I live there would be more rain. Well I was mistaken, the rain petered out the as I got closer. It was a touch cooler so that was already a bonus but as soon as we started warming up the front moved in and thought it a good idea to soak us. Dilema arose because we couldn't get on th etrack without having clay stick to everything, the mud here is like super glue and the little rain and turned the loose soil into a sticky mess. Choices, choices.

We headed back to misgac for the training as we knew that rain would not turn the soil into anything like it was at Ma'alot. Half an hour later we were all in our gear again waiting to get started. A quick warm up and we were off to the races, at least against each other. I went out with the main aim of getting my head ready for the race and it worked. I was in tune with my body, relaxed and pushing the power to the max. I ended up staying with some of the elite riders which should put me in good steed for Saturday. Its the first time in a long time that I felt so pumped to get onto my bike. I'm really glad that it finally came before the Championships. The only problem in my way was the fact I had forgotten to sign up to the race, the closing date was yesterday.I was so dismayed becasue normally it wouldn't be a problem to sign up but becasue it was the national Championships they get a bit more antsy. Ofir got on the phone as soon as practice was done and we luckily got it sorted out. All that was going through my mind was that they would say no can do and all the hard work of the year would have been for nought. Focussing on the race had taken over making sure all the small things are taken care of. Well I'm signed up now and the bike is in super condition. Tomorrow there's just one more small ride to keep the legs working and a solid rest afterwards.

Walking the course

After a rather well rested day yesterday I woke up staring at the ceiling at half five this morning. I decided to get out of bed and make some tea. I caught some type of head cold a with snotty nose that kept me bed ridden after the yesterday mornings exertions. I was pretty well rested you may say when I woke up today and had a quite relaxing morning. I had planned to go out later in the morning to get some pics of the course. Mirit was still sleeping so I decided to head out earlier and glad I did. The short excursion ended up taking well over two hours but I'm so glad I walked the course.
This is so important and I highly recommend to anyone not just to ride a course but to actually hoof it. I saw some new lines that I'm sure will save me up to a minute dues to cutting and floating up obstacles that I was riding purely the way the track was going. I will test some of the lines tomorrow morning for my last big effort ride before the weekend. I took plenty of pictures and when I get home later I'll load a few up to the Picassa for your viewing pleasure.
My thoughts are just to keep calm. There's so much work on the first half that if you don't keep things smooth you'll blow it big time. I know this because this is how I've been ridding the first part so hopefully tomorrow will go better to get the nerves in order. I need to get the course well under my belt in order to do well but seeing that the race is three days away things are on the edge. "Fly like a butterfly" - this is what i just need to repeat to myself.
After that tough exploration I cooked myself in the sauna again. Its getting better but still can't stay in as long as I'd like. The weather has thankfully taking a turn downwards and they have even mentioned rain. I really hope for coller conditions and plenty sleep.

The downward spiral

It seems the sport of cycling grabs the headlines for all the wrong reason's. A rider I really liked, Bernhard Kohl, has returned a non-negative CERA test. The baby faced Kohl was probably a revelation for the tour even too much so. It just goes to show that as in life, when something seems to good to be true it normally is. I will continue to watch and support cycling but I must say that watching and following a sport with such a pessimistic view cannot be healthy.I place the blame purely on the power hungry UCI, I mean as a governing body they are pretty useless. The French agency has been the one uncovering all these new cases outside UCI boundries and being a three week persiod wherein they do all the testing just puts into focus how useless the UCI is. They have these biological passports that I really thought would be a great idea. Some teams have used them to get rid of riders but the UCI is still to have a breakthrough with these passports. Also there is an alarming dissparity in the world of cycling with regard to bending the rules. I'm all for Armstrong rejoinging the ranks of cycling elite, I'm not sure he really left, but the fact that he has been given grace to rejoin the sport earlier than the rules states show's yet again that there is preferential treatment going on. I would just like to see some hard rules being set.

Also the rider cannot be held soley responsible for doping. the pressures from the team and sponsors are palatable so why is it that they are turning a blind eye to all of this. Why is it that they do not have a more transparent testing system working in conjuction with the UCI. I belive that should a positive be found in a team the entire team should be removed from any of the tours and if it is a classic race then banned for a certain period. The entire team, this is after all a team sport so why not give everyone the responsibility. If you want to tell me that these guys do not know when a team mate is doping or at least have some sort of idea then they are obviously as bright as english winter skies. The people have to work together to root out this problem and tougher measures need to take effect, I mean this is killing the sport so why can people who doped be allowed back into the sport after two years. Give them a life ban becasue at the moment in two years this sport may be so far in the gutter that the dammage would be irrepairable. I mean Basso is now coming back into the sport and already talking about winning, this is disgusting, he should not have his head held high. The time for forgive and forget are over, we need consistent measures in place.

Also for the race organisers side, esspecially ASO, they need some consistency in their methods of choosing who can take part. It was an absolute farce that the strongest team in the peleton was not allowed to take part. There were many other teams, Rabobank for one, that had brought shame to the Tour so why were they invited. If you was to not invite a team then make sure it is based on a solid foundation that is applied to everyone.

Championship Looming

All idea's of posting when there was actually stuff going on has come to nothing. Pretty disappointed that I couldn't keep this up in the last month or so, especially seeing as quite a bit has been going on. Had the race in the Isle of Mann and then this last weekend had my first XC race since bailing out of the prep for the Championship. Well there's only four days till the Championship race and I'm about as prepared as I can be. I've been tapering to get the form just right but the intensity has left the immune system wanting. Ofir, my coach, has been saying that vitamin C during this time of the year is vital. I of course thought that I was made of steel and no mild virus could get me down. Today after intervals on the race track I came down with some heavy head cold. Luckily its a holiday for the next two days so was able to sleep it off today, feeling much better now.
As for the track, its gruesome start basically is a wall that takes just over three minutes to climb. I suffer up granny although I enjoy climbing this just pushes you that little bit too much. The rest of the first half is a tricky single track that loops up and down with a tough little rocky section that has been my undoing. The thing about a XC race is that its over so quick, there is very little grace for mistakes and you pay dearly for any made. Thirty seconds can be an eternity to make up especially when the terrain is either heading up or down. No breather and no time to start thinking about what to do next. The last half of the track is not as taxing which I have to keep in mind as this is where the recovery can come in.
I raced over the weekend but because I fasted the day before I was left lacking for energy but still had a good race. The heat has been beating me to pieces and the one 'o clock kick off on Saturday means that we'll be starting at the warmest part of the day. My preparation for this? Well we have a country club on the kibbutz with both a wet and dry sauna. For the last few days I've been sitting about 25 minutes punishing my body to take the heat. Every little bit helps but I may have left the heat acclimatization, probably not helped by the fact that I sit in an air conditioned office all day.