The influence of Spanish lessons in cycling style

 Back on the bike after pretending (and failing) to be a runner for the last couple of weeks.

I shouldn’t have had that coffee in the morning. 

All I wanted for today was to sit at the back of the group and enjoy the ride. 

The morning coffee got me too excited and before I realised I was at the front, riding parallel to GC Denis. Sometimes I can’t believe how often I fail to follow a perfectly designed plan.

Somehow I still managed to get a decent first half of the ride. 

I was able to hold GC Denis’ wheel going up Effingham despite all the help I gave him in the form of very strong moral support and admiration for all the work he was doing at the front. 

I took the very important sprint at Holmbury St. Mary attacking from the front, deploying an explosion of power that no one was able to match and that allowed me to celebrate with arms in the air such a great win.

Finally I did a decent job leading the pack in the last climb before Seale. Richard L. took the Seale sprint proving that learning Spanish also gets you into Spanish riding style. 

I say finally because that was it. Got to Seale, got a coffee and scone and realised I was tired. Dead. Finito. Kaputt. 

I sat towards the back of the group the whole way back. I struggled quite a bit. On a few occasions I was tempted to drop and let the group go. The pace was nothing crazy, just too much for me. 

By the time we got to Cobham I told everyone I was not going to sprint. I was destroyed.

But I changed my mind. 

It is not that my word can’t be trusted when it comes to sprinting, it is just that the approach to Esher was slow enough for me to believe I could take the sprint. 

That’s not my fault. 

What else could I have done if I found myself at the back of the group with a clear view on who was ready to sprint.

…flesh is weak.

So, from that privileged position I made my calculations and decided Jack, Nigel and Richard L. were the ones to look out to. I also decided to wait as long as possible and attack from behind, passing everyone and taking the (second) win.

Richard L. screwed everything though.

Once again, he showed the influence of his Spanish lessons and he went a bit too early.

A bit too early for me.

That was the moment when I realised that going at the back of the group was not that great. It turns out you have to close a bigger gap. Not ideal. 

I didn’t win. That’s probably all you want to know about the sprint.

But I’ll tell you that Richard L. took it. 

I am very, very, very happy. I mean, very, very happy. That the second most Spanish rider of the group won the final sprint.

Now you know. If you want to be a sprinter, start taking Spanish lessons.

 The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15579819367/

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

Trail run with The Pope and JFW

They were chatting all the way while I struggled at the back

Very disappointed with my performance in this run. 

I was expecting more of myself. I was expecting myself to be fine with the pace, to hold myself behind JFW and The Pope for the whole run, and, still, feel fine at the end. After all, the plan was to run “slowly” in the hills for “only” three hours.

Whenever you cross a river prepare yourself to climb. I learnt it works also for running

As soon as we started to run I knew I was up for a hard day. The Pope and JFW were running at the front, chatting casually and the effort I had to do to sustain their pace felt harder than it should have. I had to walk up the climbs four or five times, including the steps up Box Hill.

I used to think I was great going up the steps... until today

By the time the question of what to run next was asked, two hours and a half into the run, I begged to go straight to the car. I had been running slower and slower for a while and even if nothing felt particularly painful I was tired and really looking forward to stopping running. 

The further we run the further back I was

I thanked JFW and The Pope for taking me to the car, for slowing their pace to keep me in the run and apologised to them for my lack of performance. As I said above, I was expecting more of myself today.

Now, if I want to look at it from a positive angle, all I have to do is to remind myself that this has been my longest in kilometres, longest in time, and with more climbing trail run so far, that I have run it with two riders way stronger than me, and that I’m not feeling that bad after the mandatory siesta.

I’ll go with the positive view.

The run in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15567834683

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González 

Eaten alive by JFW

Jim left me well cooked yesterday (https://www.strava.com/activities/15475420410).

Well cooked but alive.

I stuffed myself during the day. I wasn’t conscious of it yesterday but today I realised that’s what I was doing. Stuffing myself like a turkey. 

(I might be getting my metaphor wrong as I believe you normally stuff the dish and then cook it, and I’m going I was first cooked and then stuffed but bare with me in this one. It is not the first time I get my metaphors wrong)

I don’t know if stuffed turkey is a dish JFW likes but he surely ate me, alive, today.

Look at the profile of the route. That’s a revenge profile. A profile that says I’m going to hit your legs in the first climb. I’ll go to your throat in the second one (I was coughing so heavily at the top that I had to make efforts to not throw up. Didn’t want to ruin JFW’s fest). I’ll eat you alive after the third one.

It was easy for him. The third climb was so steep I needed to use my hands to hold at branches to not fall. I was defenseless.

From that moment he just had the best time. Devouring every piece of me and my soul one kilometer at the time. 

I knew I had one more hour of suffering. 

That was because I listened and took note when he said we were going to run two hours. 

But he was making the route as we were going. I sensed this was going to last a bit longer.

Especially when he asked how we were doing in time and I told him we had been running for 1 hour 40 minutes. 

He changed direction immediately and suggested we had 40 more minutes to run.

It was a whole hour. 

Enough time for him to finish his digestion. 

Ps. I find it funny how it turns out I had my best 400m time of the season in this run. 1m 14s, one more proof that I’m a sprinter.

The run in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15487629357/

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

Half a marathon before breakfast with Jim

 

That is for Jim of course. I made sure I had a proper breakfast before heading to the Roehampton Café.

I know all too well that if I don’t have a proper breakfast there is no way I can survive a run like this. I’d be bonking massively, probably before finishing the first lap.

Not Jim. He was solid. Keeping the pace there. Not too fast, but not easy either. Not killing me, but not giving room for me to aim for a sprint finish. Challenging enough to make me happy with my performance at the end but relaxed enough so we had great moments of chat (none of them running uphill in case you were wondering). 

The promised coffee and almond croissant at the end was very welcome. 

The brunch (third breakfast for me) later with the family was fantastic.

In the early afternoon I sat on my sofa, closed my eyes, and one hour later tried to convince everyone in the family I didn’t sleep a one hour siesta. 

No one believed me.

The run in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15475420410

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

Back to trail running in the hills with JFW

The farthest I have run this year. 

I begged we run slow as I knew the impact of LEL was still affecting my body, a cold sore in my lower lip is a very reliable clue.

To his credit he ran slow all day, chatting all the way. I just managed to match his pace.

When we were running for about an hour he asked how I was doing and I answered I was doing just fine. That I wouldn’t mind running another hour or two as far as we kept the same pace. That was about half of my talk for that whole hour. The rest was him talking and talking about things I didn’t understand (limited blood in my brain affects my capacity to understand English, or any other language for that matter).

My answer was an honest one though. I was talking very little but with honest words. Until the “big” “climb” in the middle of the run came. About 20 minutes after I felt so optimistic. By the time we got to the top of the steep section I was done. Properly done. More than honest, those were delusional words.

That meant I went even quieter than in the first hour. JFW kept chatting away, saying “good morning team” to everyone we crossed paths with. I wasn’t even saying good morning to any of them. Politeness gets out of the window when I’m tired. And I was very tired.

JFW noticed my silence and inferred my struggle. He wasn’t tired enough so he was polite (JFW was polite to me!!!) and asked whether I prefer to go straight to the car or to take a longer route. 

I broke my vow of silence to just say “I had enough now”. 

We went straight. Which meant downhill. Which was great despite feeling in my feet every single irregularity in the ground. 

I thought we were about to get to the car when I saw a “climb” in front of us. In the profile is the last one but at the moment I didn’t know it was the last one. I couldn’t recognise it from previous runs (like 90% of the route), it looked long and steep for me. 

That felt hard. JFW asking me questions. Me questioning why I was doing this and forcing myself to keep running. I wanted to avoid having to walk at any price. My arrogance almost killed me. 

JFW kept talking all the way to the car, in the car all the way to Cobham, all the time while we were having a coffee at Gail’s, all the way back home. 

By the time we were arriving home my Garmin watch showed a message I had never seen before. “Higher than normal stress detected. Start a breathing exercise to relax?”.

While JFW was talking I tried to take a picture of the message. Between nodding to him to pretend I was listening and having to take my phone out but the time I was ready to take the picture the message was gone. Anyway, I found a picture on the internet, that will do the trick.

I am amazed how great these Garmin devices are. I don’t know if the stress it was referring to was the run or JFW constant chatting, but I got home, did a short breathing exercise (I’d never, ever, would do that in front of JFW) and fell asleep immediately.

Amazing what an hour of no hearing anyone talking to you can do to reduce your stress levels.

The run in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15410834903

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

Sumners Ponds with Javier, Nestor and Quico

Probably one of the easiest wins of my cycling career. All down to strategy and race craft.

I knew Javier, Nestor and Quico are strong riders so, when they said they wanted to ride one of the Kingston Wheelers route I offered them a menu of a short and flat ride to Windsor, a short ride to Tanhouse and a decent ride to Sumners Ponds.

Apparently they don't like cinnamon buns, nor are they interested in short rides to a farm. They chose Sumners Ponds. They took the bait.

I gave them all types of details about the Esher sprint as we were riding out. Not that they needed them, we were coming back through a different way. I just was building with them a reputation of a fair competitor. 

We rode all the hills at a friendly, chatty pace. Being tired from the (skimmed) LEL was an adequate excuse. Saving my legs was the real reason.

I saw Javier taking a cheeky sprint at the top of the last ramp before the coffee stop. I duly took note of who to mark at the sprint. Maybe there is something in the name of Javier that makes great sprinters.

At Sumners Ponds I went for a latte (and a scone with cream and jam). I didn't feel the need to disclose the effect caffeine has in my performance. They didn't disclose the effect the cakes they devoured had either so it was all a level playing field. 

We took on Box Hill as the final climb. I thought it was a nicer hill to show off than Juniper. Nice stop at the top to admire the scenery (the real reason being to recover my legs) and the first challenge appeared.

My di2 ran out of battery, I was stuck in the small chainring. A bit of a setback if you want to take the Horton roundabouts sprint. 

But you know me. A man of infinite resources and capable of coming out with a winning strategy even in the most adverse circumstances.

As soon as we left Epson I told them "this section is a bit tricky to navigate with so many roundabouts, let me lead the way" (notice the detail that I didn't mention how many roundabouts we had to pass. genius touch).

What a clever move. They all agreed thinking that would be me killing myself at the front. 

And I pretended to work hard. At the very least I was pedalling fast. But I was taking every roundabout with care, showing them the way. Making sure they got the impression the line was still far away. Looking back to see who was still in contention. A bit worried seeing all three were still there. Javier very well situated at the back of the group. Not looking good for me. 

I did the same in the last roundabout. Approached it with care, got out of it without pushing it too hard. I knew there was a slight downhill section before the finish line. It was critical to keep them thinking the sprint was still far away. I knew they were ready to sprint and I wouldn't beat any of them on my small chainring.

About 30 metres from the line I increased my cadence, looked back and I saw a gap opening. I took them completely by surprise. 

I looked back again and I saw I had time to celebrate. Arms in the air, smile in my face, satisfaction in my soul. Nice and easy win.

They complained saying I wasn't clear explaining where the line was but I put it down to the typical Spanish bad loser attitude. How quickly they had forgotten how fair I was explaining all the details about the Esher sprint.

Can't wait to ride with my British friends, they are much better at losing sprints.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15387980356 

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

KW - Punchbowl via Tilford

 Totally out of tune with myself.

I felt fresh after a rest day yesterday. I didn’t have any problem starting at the front, riding next to Bidders. It felt steady and easy. I was feeling optimistic.

My Garmin said we had four climbs today (yeah, I know, you look at the profile and you wonder how Garmin classifies climbs. Me too 🤷‍♀️).

The first one was Hogsback and it felt unusually “easy”. Soon I felt myself at the front with Bidders. I stood on the bike and pushed a bit. I see now I got a PB and I wasn’t really trying. Mostly because I don’t know where the segment starts. 

So I was feeling optimistic for the second climb. All the way to Punchbowl. As soon as I recognised from what side we were tackling the climb I did what I had to do. Got a gel, drank some water and soon moved to the front setting a pace aiming to take me as fast as possible to the top.

That lasted 5 minutes. At that point Bidders passed me. Behind him Rupert, GC Denis, Dan and Nigel. Not sure in what order. At that point I was blowing up. Incapable of paying attention beyond my own surprise. I had to slow down massively. I was dead.

A latte and a scone with cream and jam at the coffee stop did the usual trick. Caffeine kicked in and started to feel great. 

Didn’t have any problem hitting the front again. And, believe me, this is very unusual for me. I was back to enjoying the ride.

Third climb (according to Garmin) came. A short one, only 1km. Again, I moved to the front and set a pace that felt sustainable. 

And it was. Got to the top with Bidders on my wheel, hearing his gears changing, which is never good news, But it was a good effort, it felt good (looking at Strava now I matched my PB to the second), I was optimistic again.

The fourth climb was Coombe Lane. Rupert got a gap. That was perfect. Something to aim for. I immediately moved to the front and set a pace aiming to bring Rupert back slowly. 

That lasted 2 minutes. Bidders, again, passed me. Behind him GC Denis, Dan and Nigel. Again, not sure in what order. (let me copy and paste my words from above) “At that point I was blowing up. Incapable of paying attention beyond my own surprise. I had to slow down massively. I was dead”.

Creme Brulé, who had been doing 25 (!!!!) hill reps up and down Combe Lane rode with me and dropped me like a stone in the steep part. 

All alarms went off in my brain. Get to the back of the group and don’t get anywhere near the front. Get yourself ready for the final sprint at Esher.

From Combe Lane it is all flat or downhill until the Esher ramps. Good opportunity to recover.

The approach to the Esher sprint was perfect for my interests. Creme Brulé led the whole way and I was towards the back keeping an eye on everyone. 

After the third bump I thought this was my sprint to lose. I was in the best position and breathing was relaxed, legs were feeling fine.

I waited for my distance and launched the sprint from the back. 

Dodging it massively. 

I attacked standing on the bike. Somehow, suddenly, my bicycle was up in the air. I feared I was going to crash in front of everyone, embarrassment being my main worry. I sat back.

I stood up again. I guess I was trying to gain speed, but who knows what I was trying to do. I seem to remember that I also tried to get in better gear. 

To no avail. Rupert passed me like a missile and took the sprint by a country mile. 

I believe I was second, but let me copy and paste my words again. “At that point I was blowing up. Incapable of paying attention beyond my own surprise. I had to slow down massively. I was dead”.

A couple of hours later I am still dead. Still surprised. Totally out of tune with myself.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14941711490/

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González