Onion River Racing

My adventure began on August 7th on a cheap AirTransat flight from Montreal to Nantes.  After an easy train connection to Lorient, I  was met by my gracious hosts at the bar run by the organizers of the Velo Club du Pays Lorient (VCPL), a successful local amateur squad.  The team director, Monsieur Trehin had arranged for me to stay for free in the unoccupied team clubhouse apartments – where I could sleep, and cook for myself.  I was  flabbergasted by this generousity.

VELOCITY CHALLENGED
Adapting to the higher wattage euro racing again after some time off was tough.  My only peloton miles beforehand were a couple hours in the Montreal-Quebec Classic before I crashed. Despite adequate base, the lack of speedwork and race legs showed:  Although  the day after I arrived, I survived a 90 km criterium for Category II-IIIs and finished an Elite level 100 km race in the remnants of the peloton on the third day, I generally lacked the speed to survive at the front in the normal cycle of attacks and single file echelons encountered here.  Because the VCPL team was preoccupied with stage races elsewhere, I usually rode considerable distances to each race by myself. This was great training and nice sightseeing but tough for getting results.  At the races, I  soon gained a reputation as some strange “touriste” who showed up at races on bike with a big backpack, camera and roadmaps.

There were some fantastic touring moments in the rustic Morbihan and Finistere  regions , but my racing never really hit its stride.   There is no excuse except old age for getting dropped in three elite road races  and only finishing one.  I did  finish three out of four 90 km Cat II-III criteriums that I entered, I was more or less just hanging on for dear life, except for an easier one in Southern France, where I got off the front for most of the last lap until I was swallowed by chasers, 200 meters from the line.   In Brittany, if you don’t attack out the peloton and into the breaks or chase groups, usually the peloton will eventually be a receptacle for the weaker riders and it will give up, and you will thus become  part of the laughing pack.  If I dared to race again in Brittany I would prepare the same way I would for Belgium with strong doses of one, three and five minute intervals and motorpacing. Climbing App Gap just doesn’t help for this stuff.

French races are often  held on unbelievably narrow and  hilly but well paved circuits which were almost always completely closed to the car traffic, well marshaled and much safer than in the US – also because the skill level of French riders is higher than chez nous.  French road circuits are fairly turny and often only 4 or 10 kilometers long so they almost feel like the criteriums. On the other hand, the criteriums I encountered had longer 2Km + circuits with little hills,  and were at minimum 80 kilometers long- making them less much more like road races.

FRANCE VS. BELGIUM: WHICH HAS A BETTER RACING?
I’d recommend Brittany over Belgium to any aspiring racer with an entire summer or spring to invest in racing. The cost are about the same: once you get over their its’ really much cheaper than racing in the US because the teams in France will host you and take you to races which cost about $8 to race in. Breton races have more hills, less wind, and the speeds are steadier than Belgium, and the riders are possibly less juiced up- although local races do not seem to have dope controls at all.  On the other hand, Belgium would still be my pick for anybody who wants a race quick fix in 21 days or less because, you can race any day of the week there and usually locate yourself where it is easy to ride your bike to races and thus avoid needing a car.  Below are some photos and links to race vids (posted on YouTube)

VIDEO LINKS:

Cornering  in Concarneau

Cherves – Race Scene

Hilly race near Poitiers

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