the other day, i had the chance to race in france (normandy). i jumped at the opportunity.
i'd received authorization from USAC (yeah, you have to ask) & the appropriate license to race while in europe; it wasn't that big a deal, but knowing what to ask for is non-trivial. figuring out the european race calendar is another thing altogether.
seven whole euros (!!) gets you closed roads and full support..
the race started at a civilized 2:15pm -- perfect for this non-morning guy -- and would last ~3h. things are a bit different here as far as race categories go. there is only ONE race, but depending on the type of race it is it might be restricted to national teams (invitation only), open to a few, open to more, or open to all. this race was open to cat 1s, 2s and 3s. it wasn't until after the fact i learned it was >80% cat 1s.
in france, to keep your cat 1 you need to get a certain number of top placings each year; it's unlike the US in that regard where you can park the license. also, the cat 1s are generally professionals (paid) or aspiring professionals. if you don't have a career or potential, you basically don't enter this stuff. a racer friend here told me the US-equivalent of the talent would be like a p12 race where 80% of the riders are from UHC. i can tell you that not a single cat 3 finished the race, and only a couple cat 2s were even scored.
they produced a program for the event (guess that is typical), which included my name as a registered rider; they also announced all the riders' names before the start. there are fans there...like super-fans who know ALL the riders. there was some curiosity about me. that didn't last long after the start.
the course was a circuit with a ~2-3' climb out of town, rollers to a descent, a gentle climb, then another ~3' climb back to town center. the 2nd climb was, apparently, the 1st KOM for this year's TdF; you could still see riders' names painted on the road -- sagan's name was at the base.
the race filtered from ~20 riders wide to 4 or 5 in the span of 20 meters. we went through a traffic circle 50m later which involved 2 turns >90* in the span of 5m. on the climb out of town the road was fairly clear (i didn't know this as i really couldn't pre-ride), but there was SO MUCH going on that it rattled me. riders were jumping on and off the sidewalk, weaving in and out. it was all safe, just frenetic. motion from all sides. i shuffled myself backwards. i can't even describe our routing at the next traffic circle. i got dropped (along with a bunch of others), then chased back on. a break started to form on lap 1; i climbed with a 2nd group, but then on our 2nd trip through town i got dropped again.
let half a wheel gap open up? someone's grabbing that spot.
it's weird: things were REALLY crazy, but i never felt unsafe. i've definitely had a 'this is sketchy/unsafe' feeling in the US; not here.
took a couple laps for me to feel more comfortable; by this time i'm riding in a small group and the race is gone. i can tell my fitness is good enough to be further up but the overall package is not. it gave me a chance to get in a hard workout and appreciate where i found myself.
regardless of what group you're in, these riders RIDE.
eventually we got lapped. the etiquette is that one can jump on the passing group and not pull (easy). what i didn't understand until
after the race, is that when someone bridges to the group you're supposed to give them a hand-sling ahead of you. apparently i got yelled at a bunch; it was nice to be completely oblivious to this while it was happening.
this is the first race where i've gotten dropped from a lead group not once but twice!!
there were fans lining the course -- several deep in spots. people on the sides have notes and mark down the numbers of riders. they cross off the names of riders as they drop out, circle the numbers of riders in the break, etc.
legit people hold up traffic. we had full use of the roads (even if they were narrow!). no cars got anxious and jumped on the course.
i was a lap down but rode an extra lap just for pride.
to put it in perspective, i rode >4w/kg AP for ~3h and was dropped so hard.
it was so much fun. i know lots of folks who have come to europe to ride; it was special to jump in a race here. i plan to race more. i think it will take a few starts under my belt and become more comfortable with the flow through towns & road furniture -- stuff you need to learn before you can actually
race.
i was told the winner of the race was just called up to fortuneo-vital concept (a french team invited to the TdF). he was in the same patisserie as me post-race, getting cookies. i asked him who had won -- he said it was him.
haha!
i am DEFINITELY coming back for more.
they give you two sanely-sized numbers for the back pockets, and no one gives a $hit if you fold them! you've gotta return them after the fact or they WILL hate you. rules are rules.
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racing in a town more than 1,500 years old, NBD:
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the guy in white won; this gives the illusion i am actually racing:
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this is the 2nd climb:
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post-race refueling. cookies in normandy are square!
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this guy had a bad day. apparently a trip in the ambulance is free and a visit with the doctor is 23 euros (reimbursed if you are french) -- a bit different than the thousands you might pay in the states.
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