Show some manners unknown cyclist

I learnt my first cycling lessons sitting on "grandpa" Raul's wheel. One of those lessons is you should always wave cyclist riding in the opposite direction and if you pass a cyclist you always have to say hello, no excuses. Think about it, there is no good excuse to not saying a simple hello when you pass a cyclist, as simple as that.

In fact passing a cyclist and not saying hello was kind of a capital sin in Raul's book, and that meant it was the same not only in my book but also in everyone's that had learn cycling manners sitting on "grandpa" Raul's wheel.

Being close to a capital sin passing a cyclist, in particular, passing "gradpa" Raul and not saying hello had to be punished. In Raul's book when that happened it was totally justified to jump on the offender's wheel and sit there silently until the next obvious sprint appeared, being it a town sign or a hill; it was totally justified to jump out of the wheel without any warning and outsprint the offender.

Now, Raul is a mountain biker, and so I was when I learnt this lesson. Sometimes we would be riding on the road and a road cyclist would pass us without saying hello. Without a word Raul would jump on the offender's wheel and everyone riding with him having a gram of energy would do the same. At the next obvious sprint everyone would jump and outsprint the offender. Most of the times to the total surprise of the rider that couldn't figure out what the hell was going on with that bunch of crazy mountain bikers.

As you can imagine we were proper choppers (we still are) and every now and then a strong road cyclist would pass us saying nothing. It those situations we felt exempted from teaching the offender any lesson; but, of course, we would comment on the lack of manners and wish for a puncture on the offenders rear wheel.

All this came to my mind today. Denis, Mark, Richard and myself were in the final kilometres of our ride to Arundel. We hadn't ride full speed, it was more of an endurance, base miles ride but, hey, we had already something like 150k and 2,000m of climbing on our legs so it is fair to say we were tired.

Today was one of those days we had left our knifes at home and instead attacking each other we had been riding collaboratively all day, we didn't even "race" the hills. We were approaching the Esher sprint and I can assure you I had no intention to dispute the sprint. There was no point in a ride like today's.

But there it comes this cyclists and passes us without saying hello. As far as I can tell without even looking at us. Had he said a simple hello and I would had replied back "hi" and I would had carried at our own pace.

The destiny had it that I was in front of our group of four and without even thinking about it I did what had to be done. I jumped on his wheel.

I'll admit it didn't feel easy. The bad-mannered was putting some effort and very quickly got a gap that forced me to sprint to get his wheel.

But I got him.

And I sat on his wheel as silent as possible, riding toward his left to make sure he would not see me if he looked back.

I'm not sure if he knew I was on his wheel or not but he definitively tried to attack the two small ramps before the final one. But I had him and he was not going to drop me. I was certainly not fresh but he was not that strong (otherwise I just had wished him a puncture in the back wheel) and I could tell he was fading out. This made the case even worst for him, I started to suspect he had accelerated beyond his cycling capabilities just to pass us. Another no-no in any cyclist's book. I started to savour revenge.

When we approached the final ramp I looked back and I saw Richard was on my wheel. Excellent, double lesson to the offender.

I waited for it and when he was clearly slowing down I jumped out of his wheel and sprinted. I knew I had dropped him.

Richard appeared on my right and clearly took the sprint. I didn't care. I normally would, it would have been just another bad executed sprint, and I don't like to lose a sprint, even if I'm not a sprinter. But today I didn't care, all that mattered was we had taken the sprint from the offender, even if he didn't know why.

We stopped in Esher to wait for Denis and Mark, the rider passed and I wonder what he was thinking of us. A shame I'll never know.

While we were waiting I explained Richard the reason for my behaviour and when Denis and Mark I gave my explanation again. Another of Javier's rules said Denis.

Now you know, always say hello when you pass a rider, specially if it is a chopper, Spanish looking riding in the UK.

Take care
Javier Arias González

If there is a race someone has to come last...

but it wasn't me this time.

Take care

Javier Arias González

Milland Hill Surrey League Road Race 3rds - Race

TY, Andrew and Rupert warned me about Milland Hill (and the drag that follows), I knew the theory. I drove down it, saw the 25% sign and felt the fear. Climbed it during the warmup and I knew I wasn't going to last the whole race. Still, despite my low expectations I managed to surprise myself with a new poorer than expected performance.

Dropped the third time we went up Milland Hill, managing to slow down poor Ed on his way up. That's how unfit for road racing I am. As little as three one minute efforts at 400W is enough to empty my legs and drop me like an stone.

Once dropped didn't see any one. No one passed me, I didn't pass anyone.

The typical mental games started.

First it is the hypochondriac. "There should be something wrong with me".

Well, maybe, ride another lap and you'll take a good rest (next two weeks i'm travelling).

But the marshal at the top of Milland Hill said "well done" and I didn't stop, I kept riding.

Then was the "What am I doing here, I shouldn't be racing". Well, I told myself, finish the lap and retire from racing.

But when I got to the top of Milland Hill the marshal shouted "carry on, carry on" and I carried on.

Finally was the "You are embarrassing Kingston Wheeler colours" and when I was ready to stop at the top of Milland Hill someone next to the marshal shouted something I didn't get.

Somehow I managed to shout back "What?" and I understood "Maryka (!!??) would be proud of you!" (he might well have said something totally different but it doesn't matter, that's what I understood).

Well, I definitively didn't want to disappoint him (or Maryka) so I kept riding.

I knew it was going to be my last lap (if your are dropped you are pulled out in the last lap) and I was feeling better so I tried my best. Managed to finish just seconds ahead of the race.

I, obviously, once again, was last in the race, but as soon as I finished I thought "That was great fun, I like racing".

How can I be so silly!

The ride in Strava

1st full lap - 18:09 - 247w (normallized)
2nd lap - 18:36 - 246w
3rd lap - 21:26 - 226w
4th lap - 21:44 - 226w
5th lap - 21:19 - 230w
6th lap - 20:55 - 242w

Take care
Javier Arias González

¿Que llevaré en la bolsa trasera para le LEL2017?

A cuidarse
Javier Arias González

Chris Boardman on pacing yourself

There's an equation that goes through your head: 'how hard am I trying?'; 'how far is there to go?'; and 'can I keep this up?'. 

If the answer to the last one is 'yes', you're not going fast enough. If the answer is 'no', it's too late you've already blown too much. 

The answer you want to the last part is 'maybe'.

Chris Boardman

Quebrantahuesos 2017 (English)

My objective was to go below 6h30m.

How is it possible that I'm feeling happy about my ride if my time was 6h49:02? Well, it's all in the context.

QH's profile. Somport-Marie Blanque-Portalet-Hoz de Jaca

I was doing very well, matching my fastest time all the way to the top of Somport despite of having head wind. But two minutes into the descend, when I was riding at 52km/h, my front wheel blew out. I managed to brake and keep the bike controlled although the final stop was against a wall at slow speed. I managed to stay up right but the bike took a tumble. I was quick changing the inner tube, but maybe too quick because when I was about to jump back on the bike I hear a second blow. I guess I had pinched the inner tube. Was a bit more cautious with my second (and last) inner tube and my second (and last) CO2 canister. All in all 11 minutes stopped.

That meant two things. The first one is I descended the rest 15 km quite tense and not trusting the bike. The second one, and even more important, is I had lost all the fast trains for the 25 flat kms between Somport and Marie Blanque. More time lost (although I took the time to relax a bit after the stressful descend).

When I got to the Marie Blanque I still had great legs so I set a good pace, I was passing riders left and right. But at km5, when the hard section starts, I tried to load the 28 at the back and the derailleur started to rub against the spokes. I stopped to check what was going on and realised the derailleur was bent from the unconventional stop descending Somport.

I took this picture after the ride, no time for pictures during the ride

Tried to unbend it a bit by hand and all I managed to do was to block the derailleur. One of the cyclist that passed by said "It's not the bike, it is your legs!". I didn't lose my cool, but I was confused, I was not understanding what was happening, it took me a while to realise the derailleur had gone into protected mode. Did a reset of the unit and it was operative again, the 28 was still rubbing against the spokes though. I didn't want to lose more time so no 28 in the hard last 4 km of the Marie Blanque. 4m30s lost at that stop.

That's me appearing at 00:46 on the right hand side of the screen

I never managed to feel comfortable descending the Marie Blanque and, also, I realised the 11 didn't load because of the bend in the derailleur. So no 34-28 and no 50-11... Still looking at the numbers I see I was only 30s slower than my time in previous QH (2014) .

In the flat section between the Marie Blanque and Portalet I face the same problem as in the last flat section. The group I was in was riding too slow. This time I moved to the front and started to work to keep the speed as fast as possible. At the end I only lost 25s to my fastest time in that segment, which is not that bad at all. The difference is on that occasion I was just sitting on a fast peloton and today it was me doing most of the effort. Not ideal.

As soon as the Portalet started I set a good tempo and, again, I started to pass a lot of riders. The Portalet is a long climb (28km) and you have to pace yourself but at some point I thought "why is everyone riding so slow? Is it me the one that is getting it wrong?". But I felt ok so carried on. The problem was I realised the front wheel was low on pressure. Didn't have any more inner tubes or Co2 canisters and it looked like the pressure was being lost very slowly so decided to carry on and not stand on the bike all the way to the next feed station where I could do something about it. 2m30s lost finding a pump and pumping the wheel up.

I made it to the top of Portalet in a decent shape but that was 5h28m after the start so I knew it was going to be impossible to meet my objective but decide to give it my best shot anyway.

In the flat before Hoz de Jaca I matched my 2014 time despite riding on my own that section while in 2014 I rode it in a group that was working together taking turns on the front.

And then, finally, in the descend/flat section from Hoz de Jaca to Sabiñanigo (25km) a group formed very quickly but seems to me no one wanted to do any work on the front. I guess, in a way, it made sense, everyone was tired, they also knew they were not going to be below 6:30 and they were going to be clearly below 7:00 and there was still a tiny climb to deal with just before Sabiñánigo. I had other idea in my mind and so, it seems, another rider, so I think everyone felt more than happy to let the two of us take all the work. Together we managed to get a PB for me on that segment, although only for 14 seconds.

When I crossed the line I saw the watch on 6:50 and the official time turned out to be 6h49:02. A clear miss on my objective of going below 6:30:00. But looking at Strava I see moving time was 6:32:54 so I "know" on a "normal" day I would have gone below 6:30. Not by a lot, but I'm convinced I would have got it.

No excuses in any case. The objective for next year is going to be more ambitious and I will have to think what I have to change to make sure I don't fail again next year. For a starter I'm going tubeless. I'm a terrible descender yes, but riding a mountain stage not trusting your bike on the descends is too much of a burden if you want to make a good time.

On the other hand a bunch of things went very well.

• The tumble I got on Wednesday didn't have any influence today
• I set a PB at Somport (despite the head wind) and at the Portalet (despite of the stop and the front wheel on low pressure the first half). I also set my PB on Mean Maximal Power all the way from 9 minutes to 30 minutes (at Somport)
• My nutrition plan worked to perfection. In fact I think I'll keep it very similar for next year. 

Yes, I know, I missed my own objective, as I did in 2014, then I was disappointed because I knew I had failed for my own fault, but not today, I'm very happy with my effort, and that is what counts for me.

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Dorsal	Pos.	Nombre	Categoría	Somport	Escot	Bielle	Portalet	Biescas	Tiempo final
4	1206	OSCAR PEREIRO SIO	E (Hombres 35-44 años)	1:38:12	2:26:09	3:29:44	5:29:23	6:12:25	6:50:10
5	24	ABRAHAM OLANO MANZANO	F (Hombres 45-54 años)	1:29:15	2:15:29	3:02:04	4:37:43	5:14:58	5:51:08
10	249	MIGUEL INDURAIN LARRAYA	F (Hombres 45-54 años)	1:34:09	2:21:46	3:16:07	4:58:59	5:36:30	6:11:43

Take care
Javier Arias González

Quebrantahuesos 2017 (Español)

Mi objetivo era bajar de 6h30m.

¿Cómo es posible que esté contento con un tiempo de 6h49:08? Bueno, todo depende del contexto.

El perfil de la QH. Somport-Marie Blanque-Portalet-Hoz de Jaca

Todo iba muy bien, igualando mi mejor tiempo hasta Somport a pesar del viento de cara. Pero a los dos minutos de empezar el descenso, cuando rodaba a 52km/h, la rueda delantera explotó. Conseguí frenar y mantener la bici controlada aunque la parada final fue contra una pared de piedra. Yo conseguí mantenerme en pie, pero la bici se llevó un buen revolcón. Cambié la cámara a toda leche, tal vez demasiado rápido porque cuando iba a subirme a la bici volvió a reventar. Supongo que con las prisas había pellizcado la cámara. Con un poco más de cuidado puse mi segunda (y última cámara) y use mi segundo (y último) cartucho de CO2. En total 11 minutos parado.

Esto significó dos cosas. La primera es que bajé los restantes 15 km bastante tenso y sin fiarme mucho de la bici. La segunda, y quizá más importante, que había perdido todos los trenes rápidos para los 25 km llanos entre Somport y Marie Blanque. Más tiempo perdido (aunque aproveché para relajarme un poco después del stress de la bajada).

Cuando llegué a la Marie Blanque todavía tenía bueas piernas por lo que puse un buen ritmo. Empecé a adelantar a ciclistas a diestro y siniestro, pero en el km 5 del ascenso, donde empieza lo duro, intenté meter el 28 y noté que el desviador rozaba con los radios. Me paré a ver qué pasaba y vi que la patilla del cambio se había doblado en la heterodosa frenada del descenso de Somport.

Tomé esta foto después de haber llegado, durante la ruta no hay tiempo para fotos

Intenté desdoblarla a mano pero lo único que conseguir fue bloquear el desviador. Uno de los ciclistas que pasaba chilló "No es la bici, son tus piernas". No perdí lo nervios, pero estaba confuso, no entendía qué coño pasaba. Me costó un buen rato caer en la cuenta que el desviador había entrado en modo protegido. Reseteé la centralita y empezó a funcionar aunque el cambio seguía rozando con los radios si metía el 28. No quise perder más tiempo por lo que sin 28 para el resto de la ruta, empezando por los cuatro kilómetros más duros de la Marie Blanque. 4m30 perdidos en esa parada.

Ahí aparezco yo en la parte derecha de la pantalla en el minuto 00:46

Tampoco conseguí encontrarme cómodo bajando la Marie Blanque y, también caí en la cuenta que la patilla del cambio doblada también significaba que el piñón pequeño no entraba con el plato grande y el piñón pequeño otra marcha que no iba a tener por el resto de la ruta. Aun así los números dicen que sólo fuí 30 segundos más lento que en mi última QH (2014).

En el llano entre la Marie Blanque y el Portalet me encontré con el mismo problema que en el llano anterior. El grupo en el que iba rodaba muy despacio. En esta ocasión me puse delante y empecé a tirar del grupo para mantener la velocidad lo más alta posible. Al final sólo perdí 25 segundos con respecto al mejor tiempo que tenía en ese segmento, lo cual no está nada mal. La diferencia es que en aquella ocasión estaba tranquilamente a rueda en un pelotón y en esta era yo el que hacía la mayoría del trabajo. Nada ideal.

Nada más empezar el Portalet puse un buen ritmo y, otra vez, empecé a adelantar a un montón de ciclistas. El Portalet es una subida larga (28km) y te tienes que regular pero llegado un punto pensé "¿por qué coño van todos tan despacio? ¿soy yo el que se está equivocando?". Pero yo me encontraba bien por lo que seguí a mi ritmo. El problema fue que me di cuenta de que la rueda delantera estaba baja de presión. No me quedaban cámaras ni cartuchos de CO2 y parecía que la presión se perdía muy lentamente por lo que decidí seguir y no ponerne de pie sobre la bici hasta el siguiente control donde lo miraría. 2m30s segundos hinchando la rueda.

Llegué a la cima del Portalet bastante decentemente pero ya habían pasado 5h28m desde la salida por lo que sabía que iba a ser imposible cumplir con mi objetivo. Aun así decidí seguir intentando ir lo más rápido posible.

En el llano antes de Hoz de Jaca hice el mismo tiempo que en 2014 a pesar de que entonces hice ese tramo en un grupo y hoy lo hice yo sólo.

Y para acabar en el descenso/llano desde Hoz de Jaca a Sabiñánigo (25km). Ese tramo tenía el tradicional viento de cara/derecha; se formó un grupo con rapidez pero me daba la sensación de que nadie quería ponerse al frente. Supongo que en cierta manera tiene sentido, todo el mundo estaba ya muy cansado, también sabían que no iban a bajar de 6:30 y que bajar de 7:00 estaba asegurado, además quedaba una pequeña subida justo antes de Sabiñánigo. Yo tenía otros planes y parece que otro ciclista también por lo que imagino que a los demás les pareció perfecto dejar que nos encargásemos nosotros dos de tirar del grupo. Juntos conseguimos mi PB en ese segmento, aunque sólo por 14s.

Cuando crucé la línea de meta vi el reloj marcando 6:50, el tiempo oficial resultó ser 6h49:02. Claramente había fallado en mi objetivo de acabar en menos de 6:30:00. Aunque en Strava veo que mi tiempo en movimiento fue 6:32:54 por lo que "se" que en un día "normal" habría bajado de 6:30. No por mucho, pero lo habría conseguido.

De todas maneras no valen excusas. El objetivo para el año que viene será más ambicioso y tendré que pensar qué es lo que voy a cambiar para asegurar de que no vuelvo a fallar el año que viene. Para empezar me paso a las tubeless. Yo bajo de pena, eso lo tengo asumido, pero hacerse una Quebrantahuesos sin confiar en tu bicicleta en los descensos es mucho pedir si quieres hacer un buen tiempo.

Por otro lado ha habido unos cuantos detalles que han salido muy bien.

• El revolcón que me dieron el Miércoles no tuvo ninguna influencia hoy
• Hice un PB en Somport (a pesar del viento de cara) y en Portalet (a pesar de la rueda baja de presión en la primera mitad y la parada a hincharla). También he conseguido mi PB en Mean Maximal Power desde 9 a 30 minutos (en Somport)
• Mi plan de nutrición funcionó a la perfección. De hecho pienso que lo mantedré muy similar para el año que viene.

Si, lo se, no cumplí con mi objetivo, al igual que en 2014, entonces me llevé una decepción porque sabía que había fallado por mi culpa, pero no hoy, estoy encantado con mi intento y eso es lo que cuenta para mi.

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Dorsal	Pos.	Nombre	Categoría	Somport	Escot	Bielle	Portalet	Biescas	Tiempo final
4	1206	OSCAR PEREIRO SIO	E (Hombres 35-44 años)	1:38:12	2:26:09	3:29:44	5:29:23	6:12:25	6:50:10
5	24	ABRAHAM OLANO MANZANO	F (Hombres 45-54 años)	1:29:15	2:15:29	3:02:04	4:37:43	5:14:58	5:51:08
10	249	MIGUEL INDURAIN LARRAYA	F (Hombres 45-54 años)	1:34:09	2:21:46	3:16:07	4:58:59	5:36:30	6:11:43

A cuidarse
Javier Arias González

Excellent Sports Nutrition Videos

The IOC Diploma Sports Nutrition YouTube channel has a collection of very interesting videos about Sports Nutrition.

Short and to the point videos, providing specific answers by the world leading experts on the field to questions like Can caffeine improve fat loss?, What carbohydrate intake would you recommend for an ultra athlete? or  What is the best source of protein?.

Be warned, if you are interested in the field these videos are really addictive. I can't stop watching them.

Take care
Javier Arias González

My cycling objectives for 2017

I'm now ready to draft my cycling objectives for 2017. 

My main objective is to ride the Quebrantahuesos and finish it in less than 6h:30. My best time was 6:44:56 in 2013, in 2014 I did 6:48:21. In 2015 and 2016 I didn't get a place in the ballot.

My second objective is to finish the London Edinburgh London 1400. I don't have any target time, I just want to make sure I have a great time riding it.

Racing objectives

• Sunday 19th March. Man of Kent 200
• Sunday 2nd April. The Shark 200
• Saturday 22nd April. Oasts and Coasts 300
• Saturday 29th April. London Wales London 400
• Saturday 13th May. Bryan Chapman Memorial 600
• Saturday 17th June. Quebrantahuesos
• Sunday 2nd July. Maratona dles Dolomites
• Sunday 30th July. London Edinburgh London 1400

Take care

Javier Arias González