sábado, 8 de febrero de 2025

KW - Jo.Co

Fantastic ride. 

Riding steady. Moderate efforts up the hills. Feeling easy for the whole ride. 


Great coffee stop as well. Very good coffee and two pastries for me (can’t resist the temptation of a good Pastel de Nata).


I was forced to sprint for Juniper’s KOM when JFW got in parallel with me. For a second I panicked and put a stronger effort than strictly needed.


At Horton roundabouts I played it safe. I let JFW and Denis take turns at the front while I was taking the free ride.


It felt very comfortable. Although it is fair to say we were taking it easy at the roundabouts as the tarmac was wet. 


Being an experienced sprinter I moved to second position at the right time. JFW at the front. Denis behind me. Perfect positioning when we entered the final straight.


I still had time to fill my brain with doubts. I couldn’t tell if JFW was completely cooked or if he was pretending to be cooked. 


I moved parallel to him and looked at him. He looked completely cooked to me.


I looked again to my left. He was definitively cooked. There is no point in sprinting. I can just turn the pedals two or three times a bit stronger and I’ll take the sprint. 


Looked at him one more time fearing he was tricking me. That is how much I trust the man. 


I looked at the front right on time to see GC Denis passing us both and taking the sprint. 


Not really a big fan of this new breed of GC riders that get involved in the sprints. Huge distorsion to the results.


The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13572446557/


Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González


sábado, 1 de febrero de 2025

The Pope in killer mode.

True to tradition, he arrived at his typical time. 

Something tells me he was in a hurry. Maybe he had to be back home at some impossible time.


He let us lead the first few kilometers so everyone had a nice warm up. 


Then he hit the front.


And that was the story of the whole ride.


The Pope leading, everyone else praying their favourite litany. 


He took all the KOMs and all the sprints.


All but the one DD took.


He didn’t take the Esher sprint either.


He was going to, but he had me on his wheel all the way and he didn’t. 


Not because I passed him in the last 10 meters, arms in the air celebrating just another amazing win in my fantastic cycling career, but because the sprint was neutralized due to too many cars.


I feel for him. All that effort wasted, without reward. 


I don’t feel too much for him though. He was not in my team today.


Still, I’m such a nice guy that I hope he wasn’t too late back home.


The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13509476294 


Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González