EDIT= i didnt realise sylv had posted before. wow they read like mirrors! great minds....
just sylv, paul H, paul T and myself up for a training group ride today.
paul T was going to go with us until reigate, although he only made it to the M23 split bit i think
it was fairly pacey up the reigate steps. although it pains me to say it, paul H is definately getting stronger, he did his first turn up the reigate steps since about november
we kept it fairly brisk through the lanes, managed to avoid any spills on the ice. we didnt go full bore, like the last few weeks, and we didnt attack eachother, so it was very flowing, with all of us sharing the work and riding strong.
for the through and off we dicided to do 30 seconds on the front, then pulling to the side, and so on and so forth. impressively the speed stuck between 29-34 mph, apart from at the round abouts. i dont know if this is faster than when we do the normal through and off, anyone know?
sylv won the sprint on his new bike, but only because i was stuck behind a bus, no not paul, but a proper one.
went back the box hill way, pretty soon it was just paul sylv and myself again. we all rode strongly , sharing the work well, and keeping the ride flowing.
as i had missed out on the sprint i wanted to make box hill mine, but i wanted to do it with some honour, so i made sure i led along the duel carriage all the way to the bottom of box hill, giving paul and sylv the rest i new they would need
at the bottom i pulled aside and sylv came through. still on the first straight, paul decided to start playing games and let go of sylvs wheel giving him a 30m gap...im not sure why though
i quickely bridged it towing paul along with me, and then took a turn up the next straight. i went fairly hard, to warm my legs up for my impending attack
. at the 2nd hairpin i pulled aside, and sylv came through again. i thought it would be paul, but he was playing cadel evans and just following sylvs (levi leipheimer) and my (alberto contador) wheels. it became clear sylv wanted the double today, and he didnt go very hard on the front, only 12-13mph.
i needed a plan, so i pulled aside and waved paul to take sylvs wheel, pretending i was cooked. as we approached the half way mark of the last straight i slowly clicked up my gears hoping paul and sylv wouldnt hear. then i pulled to the other side of the road and attacked contador stylie
. predictably evans sat on leipheimers wheel
i got on the drops, but stayed in the saddle and cained it as hard as i could. i looked at the speedo and i was doing 22mph, but it didnt seem to be enough, as leipheimer was looking like was going to get onto my wheel. i was about to give up, but i noticed leipheimer was dangleing about 5m back and evans 20m back, not quite able to get onto my wheel, so i held the pace for another 20 seconds or so at 20mph but it was crippleing me. thankfully i managed to shake leipheimer off, and i rode through the wooded bit at a more modest pace, and then sprinted up the last slope to consolidate my win by about 100m. was that good enough for you ajay?
we cained it back towards kingswood, but my chain came off on the hill before chipstead, and got stuck, so i had to go the rest of the way on my own, but it was nice to be able to go easy, as i was cooked!
stu