Not quite pro news but...

[Brahan]

No, donn't do that, you will earn zero gratitude! The key to a fast ride is smooth speed and changes, do what you can at the front to keep the speed high, no silly accelerations, but move through steady and a fraction above the front guys pace. That way you will do more turns, last longer, and make a possibility for your team mates to stay in the wheels longer. So when the screws really go on in the second half, they will still have almost everyone working, and then when someone can't do any more, they can hold on for one last time and drop off with not far to go. That way there is less pressure on the last 5, one of which will be suffering horribly and hanging on, knowing that they simply can't be dropped!
Smooth and quick, does the trick.
Have a great ride, the intervals (which is what your lamp post sprints are) will be more help than you can imagine when the pain kicks in.

The day before the event last year all 8 of us went out for a spin to get used to working together and maintaining a constant speed. We were practicing through and off where once the rider in front peeled off I'd have to up the ante to keep the pace for a few revs then take my turn to move to the back, so we constantly had 2 lines of 4. One coming through, the other dropping off and joining the rear of the quick side, waiting for another few seconds of hell. It was an amazing day,fully aero kitted up, smashing through long, smooth tree-lined roads at top speed with the sun on our backs. Everyone in the team egging each other on and suffering together. We did about 15 miles that day before heading back to the flat for a meal and a glass or two of Chianti, in preparation for the race. That was a fine day.

 

[rich p]

When is it Bra? Good luck!

 

[Brahan]

When is it Bra? Good luck!

Thanks Rich.

We're Flying out to Pisa on Friday morning so we'll have the rest of the day to get the bikes ready. On Saturday we'll be meeting the new guys of the team and spending some of the day getting out on the roads - but to too much hopefully....I need to keep the tank full for Sunday which is race day. Temp in Italy is pretty low at the moment though so I'm not sure I'll be topping up the tan

Training is easy, not having a couple of beers of an evening - that's the hard bit....

 

[rich p]

Heh! A man after my own heart - save them for the celebration/sorrow-drowning They're only Peroni-style anyway!
I'd be more afraid of wheel-touching than getting dropped but that's because I'm a complete novice!

 

[Brahan]

Heh! A man after my own heart - save them for the celebration/sorrow-drowning They're only Peroni-style anyway!
I'd be more afraid of wheel-touching than getting dropped but that's because I'm a complete novice!

It's an easily developed habit, to open the fridge and grab a beer, scoop it down and grab another. Training kind of makes use of the time, I'm not quite dumb enough to ride the rollers with a beer in my hand (although now I think about it...) so while I'm training I'm at least not sitting on the couch in front of the telly with a gut full of booze.

 

[Crackle]

Good luck Brah

 

[montage]

Good luck mate

 

[Brahan]

Thanks cracks and monty. (How's it going by the way ? ) We've had an update today regarding out team's 8th man: I don't know his name yet, but they Bartilo's ex team mate (who I thought was an ex pro rider) is racing in Milan-San Remo the day before. Uh-oh, this gets worse and worse for me by the day.

 

[rich p]

Hopefully he'll be knackered then Bra!

 

[Brahan]

I think there must have been a mix up, perhaps something lost in translation but the other guy isn't a current pro. I think he may have ridden as Bartoli's domestique. Anyway, I should have entered a local race yesterday to get at least 1 full pace race in my legs before we head out but I wasn't very prepared so missed out on getting my entry form in on time. I did 30 miles steady today after yesterday's club run and I have one more balls out 25 mile ride home planned for tomorrow before I rest up for the week. Well kind of rest, I'll keep the commutes nice and easy and make sure I don't play the, "must catch that bike up ahead." game.

 

[Brahan]

We're all watching Milan San Remo after a nice training ride in the sun. Looking forward to the evening meal and preparation for the big day tomorrow. We bumped into another team from UK, Ludlow CC and wished them all the best. We're the last team off so can at least have a relaxing start to the day. Hopefully I can hang on....

 

[fossyant]

Results ???

 

[Brahan]

Results ???

Of the 162 teams that started we finished in 21st place. A pretty good ride all round but the general consensus is that if we worked together properly then we could have cut off a fair bit of time....but everyone says that after a TT don't they. 10 seconds would have had us in 16th place and we could definitely have made that up. It was a fantastic weekend and I'd recommend anyone who has an interest in a TTT to get a team together and give it a go.

 

[fossyant]

Great !!! Well done !

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Wow! 21st out of 162 is pretty damn good. Well done.