VC Meudon 3rds SL road race

It's been 18 months since my last road race so my expectations were certainly low.

But not as low as to get dropped 8km into the race. In the first DESCEND!!!! Shame on me.

There came the first climb and I finished it among the top of the bunch. The climb was followed by a descend, as it normally happens, and I was going backwards.

Not sure what happened I wasn't (too) scared but people was passing me left and right. Grant passed me and shout me something encouraging me to join him. But the reality was I saw the gap to the peloton growing bigger and bigger.

The commissionaire car and the ambulance passed me when it was clear I had lost contact. That tells you clearly you are not doing that well.

I fight to get back. The road was now a false flat and I pushed to try to get back. I recover some ground to the peloton and I was very, very close. In fact at some point I thought I was going to make it. But it didn't happen. I was definitively dropped.

True that I wasn't happy about it, but also true I didn't worry too much. Very quickly I got to the conclusion that today was a great day for riding and I decided to get the most out of it. I started to play games in my brain.

Like a child my imagination convinced me that I was doing great keeping a sustainable pace and that I should aim to not being lapped before the end of the race.

And there I went a cyclist (?) having fun in a parallel world that only existed in his mind. But who cares, the point is to have fun.

I really had a great time. Only had to go back to the earth when a Land Rover decided to turn right at the same moment I was passing. Luck was I was turning left to the same road the Land Rover was entering. Should I tried to go straight and this report would have had a different ending.

I didn't swear, I just shout a loud "EEEEHHHH!!!!" that was answered with the middle finger from the female driver of the Land Rover. That typically could have made me swear but I was having such a great time that I didn't even bother. Put my head down and kept pedaling fantasizing with getting to the last lap before the bunch could catch me.

It didn't happen. It was a close one though. I was close to finish my penultimate lap when I heard a motor bike behind me and I new it was over. First it was two riders at a pace that let me  astonished, then another two riders, one of them Colin from Paceline. I tried to shout some encouragement but hey, behind my apparent slowness I was putting some effort and I doubt anyone could hear it.

A few seconds later it was the main peloton. I couldn't even dream of joining them. There it went my illusion that I was doing well.

As soon as I lost sight on the peloton the final climb came and then the line. I'm still not sure why but I crossed it with a smile in my face and felt happy. I was dropped in the first descend, lapped and made notice I wasn't riding that well and, still, there I was happy and looking forward for the next race.

VC Meudon 3rds SL road race results

I don't have a race for next weekend, the weekend of 5th of June is Milan San Remo and Sunday 12th of June is the Oxted 2/3rds 65miles road race There is a limit for words to explain silliness so I won't even try.

The ride in Strava

Take care
Javier Arias Gonzalez