Making sure The Pope had a great day

He wanted to have an easy day.

So Richard L. leading the group dropped him at the Suspiro del Moro climb. 

GC Denis and I worked together in the second climb to make sure he wasn’t anywhere near the front at the top of the second, and main climb of the day.

I honestly don’t know who took the third climb of the day, I couldn’t be bothered to contest it (can 5k at 3% be considered “a climb”?). For the sake of this report's accuracy let’s all pretend it wasn’t The Pope.

He tried on the fourth climb of the day but this time it was me who decided where the top of the climb was and it turned out it was exactly at the same point I was first crossing the line after a short but magnificent sprint. The Pope was second though.

I am not sure who took the fifth climb either. It could very well be that it was The Pope. I was nowhere near to witness it. So let’s give him this consolation prize.

He’ll need it because what came was hellish for him.

An echelon on a windy road got him dropped from a group that Bidders was motoring at the front. 

As soon as he connected with the group again he hitted a section of the road that looked like a mixture of Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix. Probably the section TY enjoyed the most in the whole trip.

A bit of riding into busy traffic, plenty of traffic lights and hot temperatures to finish the day.

Well, none of this spoiled his day.

He was first into the swimming pool. A beer was in his hand when the rest got home. 

The Pope knows how to win.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11562778850

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

Giro d'Granada

GC Denis was G, Bidders was Ganna and I was Arensman.

The Pope was Pogacar. 

Richard L. was riding for that team of Spanish speakers.

Mark was JuanPe Lopez. Liked by everyone but not in his best form for this Giro.

TY was riding for one of those small teams. Only invited to the Giro to make some noise. To put on a show more for the TV than for real cycling aspirations.

The DS was very clear with his orders in the morning. Today was a day for the breakaway. A short stage with a climb at the beginning. Let the breakaway go. With 30k to go put Ganna on the front, get the breakaway back and save the stage for the GC rider.

Have you ever wondered what the hell the Ineos team is doing?

That happened today.

Before we knew it we were in the breakaway. Ganna setting the pace in the front. G on his wheel and I glued to G’s wheel. Giving him that extra 5% of efficiency. Amazing domestique work.

The peloton, led by Pogacar, caught us just before the climb. Well, at least we made him work hard.

I saw any aspirations to the GC (which I will never admit I had) disappear in this first climb. 

In the second climb I offered my leader a gel before being dropped a few meters. A gesture that was rewarded with his demand of putting “a solid hour of power at the front”. A demand that made me question my loyalties.

Luckily for me TY attacked and all I had to do was to sit on his wheel. He started to move his elbows. I thought he wanted to imitate a butterfly. Maybe that was a new way of getting more aero drag. He started to complain when he almost dislocated his shoulder. Apparently he was expecting me to take turns with him. I played the “my leader is at the peloton” card and he eventually sat up.

As soon as the peloton caught us, Pogacar attacked. 

Who followed him?

Me.

It looked to me like a very dangerous attack. Our GC aspirations were at risk. 

It was all in my mind though. It turns out he was only going for an intermediate sprint. Just for the fun of it. 

A shame for him I spoiled the party by taking the sprint. I don’t remember the name of the town but I’m sure that gave me enough points to comfortably lead the sprints jersey classification and the end of the day.

A left turn came and with it a change in wind direction. Before we knew it a breakaway was formed.

Ganna, the Movistar rider and TY, very active all day, got a decent gap.

Pogacar panicked and started the chase.

I sat on his wheel guiding my leader through this critical moment.

At some point Pogacar, like TY before, started to imitate a butterfly. 

In your dreams, I thought. We have a man in the breakaway. You want to catch them? Work harder man. Get yourself tired. We are happy to sit comfortably on your wheel. Race craft at its best.

I repeat myself, have you ever wondered what the hell the Ineos team is doing?

G decided to start working with Pogacar. Even JuanPe started to collaborate in the chase. I felt forced to contribute too, clearly against my will and best judgment.

It took us a while but the strength of the chasers, especially when I started to contribute, was too much for the breakaway. Soon enough the peloton was all together.

After the feed zone it was clear the stage was going to finish in a bunch sprint. One of those that no one is interested in. 

At the end it was a very entertaining stage from the GC point of view but without changes in the positions.

If anything it was one more day confirming what an amazing domestique I am. Some would argue that I’m more interested in defending my 6th position in the GC (out of seven riders) but that is the sign of the untrained eye of the amateur, incapable of appreciating all the work that happens behind the scenes.

I, for one, don’t miss any of those details.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11554684829

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

What makes a ride hard?

The first and obvious answer is distance and amount of climbing. 

But if you have cycled enough you know that doesn’t paint the whole picture. Circumstances are what make a ride hard.

And the first and most important circumstance is who are you riding with as it will determine the pace. Ride with a group that is riding at a high pace for you and very soon you’ll find the ride hard.

That’s what happened to me yesterday. Riding in a group of five and from the start feeling the pace was a touch too hard for me. It took no time for negative thoughts to visit my mind. I’m the weakest rider, I’m going to need to drop, this is too hard for me… That’s hard.

Another circumstance that makes a ride hard is weather conditions. Add low or high temperatures, rain or wind to a ride and it gets harder very quickly. Especially if you violate the principle of "There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong gear" like I did yesterday showing up for the ride in my summer kit. What an amateour!! 

Yesterday we had wind and rain.

I wasn’t conscious of the wind in the first 100km which means we probably had tail wind. But the moment we hitted the flat section of the ride I was very, very conscious of the wind. At that point I was riding with Bidders, a very good time trialist, and Richard L, who had aerobars on his bike. I struggled big time just to hold on to their wheel. That, for me, was the hardest part of the ride.

Now, let's add rain to the mixture and you are getting into a really hard ride. I waited a bit too long to put the rain jacket on when it started to rain, which meant that I was very cold in the last third of the ride. 

So there we were with 200km in the legs, riding on to a head wind, wet and cold heading into the last hills of the day. What could possibly make the ride harder?

A mechanical.

And mechanicals we had (and saw) plenty. A broken spoke, a rear wheel hub that didn’t engage when pedaling, a puncture when we were cold and wet.

But we also were lucky with the mechanicals. A bike shop in New Romney managed to repair the broken spoke and the rear hub. A Dynaplug sorted out the puncture with speed. Bad luck can also make rides hard.

Yes. You wouldn’t say it looking at the distance and the amount of climbing but yesterday's ride was a very hard one.

And because of that I’m very happy now. Because I managed to survive the first two thirds of the ride. Because endurance showed up and I felt strong in the last third. Because I loved the solidarity we showed with each other while riding. Because it was a well organized event and a nice route. Because it feels great when you finish a hard ride.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9501990031/ 

Take care

Javier Arias González

Four times lucky

Not from today's ride but close enough

13 days without touching the bicycle.

A trip to Argentina. Ate a bit too much. It turns out I like Malbec so I also drank a bit too much. Walked a lot, although I’m not sure if that is good or bad for cycling.

Still slightly jet lagged this morning you could argue I was a lamb on the way to the slaughterhouse.

But I’m a lucky man. Four times lucky I was today.

First time was the route we were riding. We were NOT going to Sumners Ponds. Almost five years ago I wrote: “Believe me, I have seen this happening to a lot of riders. Doesn't matter how strong you are. You go on holidays for two weeks, come back on the bike after a cold or simply join the wrong group to Sumner Ponds and you'll be slaughtered. That's a fact.” (https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2018/10/you-need-to-read-this-if-you-are.html).

If we were riding to Sumners Ponds nothing could have saved me but we were riding to the Devil’s Punchbowl and that gave me hope. 

Hope is a dangerous feeling. Instead of riding conservatively I went a bit too hard in the first hour.

Yes, that was a decent effort up Green Dene but as sure as eggs is eggs (I just googled this expression) I paid for it in the second hour. To the point that I blew up massively as soon as the Devil’s Punchbowl climb started. 

It was so bad and obvious that when I got to the top Rupert sang Don’t cry for me Argentina to me and it felt very appropriate.

But that also was the moment I was lucky for the second time. We were stopping there. 

A stop that lasted almost 40 minutes, a visit to the loo, a scone with cream and jam and, crucially, a latte and I managed to recover a fair bit. Enough to feel comfortable in the ride.

The third time I was lucky was at Hogs “hill” (https://www.strava.com/segments/1150170). I hate that climb. I prayed and prayed for it to be full of traffic so we couldn’t go all out on it.

As we were approaching it I saw lots of traffic and almost cried with joy. The perfect excuse to take it easy and save my legs.

To save my legs for the final sprint of course. 

The Esher sprint.

A sprint I had perfectly planned. I was going to sit at the back of the group the whole way and outsprint everyone with 100 meters to go. Infallible.

The problem was my plan didn’t last long. As soon as we hitted the first ramp a gap was created in our group. Richard and Denis in the front group. Tom, me and Rupert (in that order) in the second group. 

I saw Richard and Denis starting to work together and the gap growing. Time for a new plan.

I was going to wait for Tom to finish himself trying to close the gap. Then I’d attack, drop Rupert, close the gap, sit on Richard and Denis’ wheel, wait for the last 100 meters and outsprint them. A seamless plan.

That was when I was lucky for the fourth time. The only traffic light on the road was red. Denis and Richard had to stop and we caught up with them. 

Didn’t feel too much shame for not having the opportunity to test my great plan. I’ll admit the situation was now much better for my chances. Especially when Rupert discarded himself for the sprint.

When the time to sprint came it was me and Richard contesting it. 

Somehow I managed to get it and that saved my day. 

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than strong or clever.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8977190234/ 

Take care

Javier Arias González