'Matt Rowe - Blog -3'
It's been a while since my last write up of bicycle experiences, and after a few positive comments from people on my 'Blogs', motivation is high to do another (it's not just my mum and dad who read them after all)!
Since my last insight into life as a full time bike rider, I have been ill with 'shingles' -a virus that affects the nervous system where you experience a burning sensation within the nerves, in my case across a narrow band in my lower back. Ten days or so, and it cleared up and it was back to the bike!
Saturday 26th July, I went to stay with a friend in Port Talbot James Lewis (I'm sure a lot of you will have seen him; you can't miss him at 7ft 2"!). A steady three hour ride (or so I thought), turned into a race - up over the Bwlch Mountain, and to the local café Ewenny Café! Coffee and Cake and back to it, racing (literally, attacks were flying left right and centre) the eight miles back home! Good fun!
Sunday and I returned the favour - James stayed at my house, and we went on the Cardiff Club run, meeting at Maindy for 9.30, where a variety of rides head out, from the young Maindy Flyers to the old vets. Most of the groups all head out together, turning off at various points along the way. Myself and James were both feeling the previous day's efforts in our legs, however I kept quiet listening to James moan about how sore his legs were, which made my legs feel stronger and stronger. After about an hour, James wanted to head home, however he was assured the whole group would be turning shortly, so we carried on, until we reached a sign "welcome to Monmouth" at which point I heard James cursing behind me as he knew we weren't going to be home any time soon!
Three Mars bars and two cans of coke, and we were back home, with 168km and a tad over 5 hours on the clock! A good day's work!
I suggested that James should join me for a quick roller session to knock the day up to 6six hours - however he didn't respond
Monday and the legs were sore (very sore!), so a quick hour to the local cafe it was for "Ham, Egg and Chips" where a good group met up to make the most of the fine weather!
Tuesday followed Monday, and it was a day on the track! The Olympic Squad were training on Newport Velodrome, so I went over an hour early to watch them! It was worth while, watching a variety of efforts by different riders, all at incredible speeds!
Six o'clock arrived, and it was our turn as the Olympians vacated the building! Straight up and into the 'Madison' - it was four teams (of two riders) behind the motorbike at 50k's for 20mins, with a 5minute easy spin on the "green" before another set was repeated! 40mins of quality training, which flew by, the Madison is the future!
I stayed on for the next session, which was again using the motorbike, doing a variety of efforts, all at high speed using the slipstream of the motorbike!
From here I went with my brother Luke, Jon Mould, Rhys Lloyd and James Lewis to a local baguette shop for a fresh, healthy and well earned baguette!
Wednesday and I woke up with very sore legs, that track session was a real shock to the system after some time off the bike! A good shock mind! Hence I did an easy two hour ride to the usual café, for the usual Coffee and a Gammon and Cheese Pannini, £5, well £4.90, but I live life on the edge!!! The café is conveniently located about 1km from the house, and its mostly downhill, lovely!
Thursday 31st July, the last day of the month, and we all know what that means. new month tomorrow! So a split day was on the cards, an easy spin in the morning to the café with my £5, then race at Castle Coombe motor circuit in the evening. Most years, I usually ride a few of these series events, however this year I haven't managed to squeeze one in, and with only a few more left in the series, I decided today was the day, being the last day in the month and all!
The morning ride started off pleasant; however the clouds darkened and proceeded to empty themselves on the group! The ride was cut to a long hour (hour and 10mins)!
The rain continued all day, however I was told it was fine over the bridge, so cleaned my bike and put race wheels in to head over to Castle Coombe.
I travelled with James Lewis and Jon Mould (last weeks winner), where we went to sign-on and get changed as soon as we arrived. Race time was soon upon us, and after one lap in the rain I knew I was in trouble! I have a habit of pumping my tyres up 2 bar (in pressure) past the maximum recommendation on the side wall, well I was to pay for this foolish mistake today, where I was drifting wide on all the tight bends. I thought about packing as I was dangerously close to kissing the tarmac a few times. However I carried on hoping for the best!
The 'Sports Beans' Team had five riders present in the race, so I knew I was going to be up against it, and I was right! After a series of attacks, a group of 3 formed without me in, and with the blocking manoeuvres within the bunch, the race become very negative, and combined with the rain lead me to question my sanity. Anyway, the group of three stayed clear, and I won the bunch kick for 4th. Straight back to the car to get changed and within five minutes we were on our way back home. Half way home James Lewis cries from the back "oh boys, I forgot to get my license back" so a quick U-turn back to an empty car park where we just caught the organizers in time for James to be reunited with his long lost license!
This time we left for good, onto the M4 and home
Until next time, enjoy your bike!
'Matt Rowe - Blog -2'
Posted 15/07/08
July 6th was the date of my first race back with team mates, and it was the Charlie Caines Memorial Road Race in Oxford. The rain on the Saturday was nearly torrential; however I luckily got out on the bike in the morning, and managed a swift 1 hour pre race ride in the dry - bumping into Sam Harrison on the way. Ride over, my next job was to get my bike ready to race the next day, so I replaced by Ultegra training wheels with some Dura Ace ones, and filled up the bucket with hot soapy water to clean my bike, in the rain!
Bike cleaned, it was time to pack my kit bag, I always fear I will forget something, so I pack it the night before, and check it over in the morning.
6.00am Sunday morning arrived and I was woken up by my alarm, to discover the rain outside was just as heavy as the previous day, where I seriously thought about rolling over in bed - but I figured it could be a different day weather wise in Oxford. So I got myself sorted and went to meet Rhys Lloyd who I would be travelling to the race with. On the way I got a call from my mum, updating me on my brothers race (he was riding the European Road Race on Sunday), where the last update I got before my race was that he was off the front in a small group. Change of focus, and there I was in a village hall in Oxford, sheltering from the rain.
Race underway and without a warm up, for the first 10minutes I was struggling! The race settled, and breaks were coming and going, with the team well represented in all moves. After about an hour of racing, the elastic snapped, and the break was established, however I was left back in the bunch and with two team mates up the road, I had a long day ahead of me! 115km later, and we arrived at the finish, where I rolled in mid way down the bunch, to find out that the team had secured 2nd and 5th.
Back to the HQ, coffee and a cake, and we were on our way back home!
Monday was an easy day for me, as my legs were tired from the race, and any training I dared to attempt would be for nothing as I was too tired to train properly. I drove to Starbucks with my Dad to meet Jon Mould and Sam Harrison for a coffee and a cake - what dreams are made of!
They dont look much better than this.
Matt with Sam Harrison and Jon Mould in Starbucks
Back to it today, and its 10 weeks to the national track champs, so the track is going to become more of a feature in my training in weeks to come. I did an easy 2 hour spin this morning, light gears to the café and back. The evening then I rode the track, doing some steady efforts behind the motorbike, I felt good during the session, and left the building with tired legs!
Wednesday came, and I was going to do a long steady ride of around 4 hours. However the rain was torrential (apparently a months worth of rain fell today), so I decided to jump on the turbo, half hour later I was in the shower! I was going to do another roller session in the night, however I heard of a track session on, so I decided to head over to Newport to jump on the track, which was a youth session, where I was surrounded by around 15 "nippers"! It was an enjoyable session, gaining a lot of track time, all low intensity, however today wasn't intended to be intense!
Thursday 10th July, a steady road ride was on the planner for the morning, where I did a swift hour to the local coffee shop! From here I went home to watch today's stage of "The Tour" which I am really into this year. I think Cadel Evans is going to be the man in Paris! The evening I went over to the track for some more track time, walking through the doors I thought to myself "man, I come here too often" having been in the Velodrome for the past 3 days in a row! Some more track time, and home I went!
Friday was a rest day, and the legs needed it! Saturday and Sunday both involved some steady km's in the saddle, where I did three hours with the club run on both days. Sunday I went to watch the Cardiff JIF "Tour of the Marshes" road race down the Vale, which was comfortably won by Russell Williams, legend!
Enjoy your bike!
'Matt Rowe - Blog -1'
Matt and the Rapha-Condor team training in Mallorca
Team - Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk http://www.raphacondorrecycling.cc/home
Recently I have suffered three weeks completely off the bike as a few symptoms of glandular fever which I suffered from last year returned the feeling of being tired, lethargic and useless on the bike. This hit me hard as the form was good, and I was really enjoying the hard training along with the racing which I always enjoy. Thankfully I am now feeling better, but am being careful not to over do it too soon.
Monday 23rd June was the start of my training again, where I eased back into it slowly, with a 2 hour easy spin to the cafe both Monday and Tuesday, with a rest day Wednesday. Thursday came, and Luke (my brother) was racing the 'Presidents Handicap' near Glyn Neath. I caught the bug as Luke was getting ready, and after almost 4 weeks without racing, I was keen to get a number on my back! Off we went down to Glyn Neath, to find near on torrential rain setting in. Ahh well, at least I'm racing!
The race got under way, and within no time I was soaked to the bone! Through and off we went chasing the front markers, being the 4th cats and behind the 3rds, which proved very tough to catch. 100% commitment from everyone in the scratch group and we made the junction with the front group about 2km from the finish, on a small climb, where myself and Luke attacked and went straight past, taking a fresh James Lewis (Port Talbot Wheelers) with us. Over the top the pressure was piled on, and the elastic snapped, leaving myself and Luke to come in 1st and 2nd! A quick U-turn, jackets on and back to the HQ for a hot coffee!
I woke up Friday, and my legs felt like lead! That's what 3 weeks off the bike does to you! A day off I thought would give my legs a chance to recover, after which I was contemplating racing the next day at Maindy on the track at the Cardiff Grand Prix. An early night it was to give myself the best possible chance to recover!
Saturday I woke up, and the legs were tired, but not smashed, so it was good to go - track bike in the boot and off I went! The weather looks gloomy - but thankfully the rain held off, and the meeting went ahead un-scathed.
A good warm up was in order as I had the day before as a rest day. I got on the track nice and early, and rode round, just turning the legs, which felt better at the end of my warm up than they did at the start!
Racing got under way with some sprint events to start, followed by a "Wine Race" where each lap there is wine for the first rider across the line; I managed to win a bottle to keep my mother happy!
The next race was a devil, where I got down to the last three riders to sprint it out, and managed second! The final race was a Derny race (each rider has a motorised Derny to set the pace for them) which had heats. I was in the second heat, and decided to put my gear up a bit, I chose 52X15 which works out to be 93.6". Riding down to the start, I heard riders from the first heat saying "man, I was so under geared, I was spinning out on 96" oh my I thought, but it was too late, and I knew it was going to be a fast pedal!
Away the race was, and I found my Derny being driven my Andrew Davis, where we took up the front, and held it to the finish, leading me through to the 9 man final!
Time for a gear change! I went up to 98" (51x14) and as the race started, I noticed it being a lot more comfortable. I settled into second position behind my Derny, where we stayed for most of the 15km (35 laps). 4 laps to go and Andrew made our move as we moved into pole position at which point the legs were screaming, however we maintained the pace to the finish to win by 100metres or so from Andrew Magnier in 2nd and just behind Jon Mould in 3rd. I got home and went out for a half hour spin to spin the legs, helping them to recover for the next number of days.
The Cardiff Grand Prix carried over onto the Sunday, however I thought it would be best for me to get out on the road, as I am lacking road miles since my period off the bike.
Out on the local club run it was where I did a very steady 3 hours on sore legs. Pain = Gain!
Monday and my legs were feeling sore, so I had an easy day riding to the cafe and back, just keeping the legs turning.
The rest of the week I will spend getting some steady km's under my belt, before my first real road race back on 6th July! I will keep you update with the result!