Well, did I win? Sadly, not and boy what a steep learning curve - more on that later especially the steep bit!
What I did get out of the weekend though was that Denmark is a wonderfully beautiful country, with great people and one that I'd be more than happy to go back and explore further. However, you can keep your Tuborg and Carlsberg and we'll keep our Adnams and Aspalls. I rolled into the men's road race final in good shape, however sleep or rather lack of it may have got the better of me! Can you imagine 102 miles flat out with 30mph winds? It's not for the faint hearted and I'm not sure it's really for me either. The race was on the Sunday so most competitors arrived several days before to prep and ride the course. Not us though. In fact, we technically only arrived the day before arriving at the hotel very early Saturday morning. We awoke (I say 'awoke' though I'm convinced I didn't get any sleep - can you imagine 3 blokes, 3 beds, 1 small room? Maybe it's the same for Wiggins and Froome, but I doubt it.) and peering out the curtains at 7:00am I got my first glimpse of Denmark in the light. When I say light, I really mean torrential rain and sub 10 degrees C temperature. Not inspiring but we had a race to prep for, bikes to build, so along with good friends, Ian & James, we cracked on in our own fashion, basically goofing around, walking round Aalborg for several hours finding spare parts and getting soaked in the process. Apparently, as I found out later, this was completely the wrong thing to do pre-race day!
The wrong thing to do pre-race day! Normally, we'd get the bikes and take them out half pace/distance and turn the legs over but the weather was truly apocalyptic! So, food and bed and no beer - the body's a temple of course! I lay there in bed listening to the Aalborg city traffic and my two mates snoring and kept checking my watch. 11:00pm, 12, 1, 2, 3, 4:00am. OMG, I need to sleep! Did I sleep? I guess, yes but I'm a light sleeper at best and my head was awash with the gruelling course that lay ahead. More gaffing in the morning and finally onto the bikes and out into the sun - yes sun. What a glorious if cold windy day.
You may think Denmark is flat but whilst Northern Jutland doesn't have any really big hills it has plenty of short sharp climbs and the course seemed to seek out each and every one of them, giving the race an Ardennes classic feel - i.e. tuff, very tuff! For the first hour of racing we had a strong tailwind. The course headed south and the speeds were breathtakingly high. I was averaging 28mph. I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain that but the event and surroundings make you feel you're a pro even at 43 years old. Leaving Aalborg the country roads followed fields of crops and at each 90 degree corner or slight turn caused by a farmer's wall a crosswind slammed into us causing momentary havoc as we fought for position. I saw several riders go down for one reason or another but worse was to come when we turned west and then north for the push for home with long stretches riding straight into the full power of the invisible moving mass of a horrid headwind. Echelon riding is an art and many of the competitors from less windy parts of the world found their lack of practice their undoing. Luckily, here in east Anglia, I've had a bit of practice but I'm by no means a master at it. To those who know me, this came as no surprise, but at the 86 mile point I took a 6 mile wrong turn! Yes, into a headwind 6 mile wrong turn up a dual carriageway. Only I could do this. Well, I say 'I' but I blame the Aussie in front of me! At the time, I was working in a group of 4 - myself, the Aussie, aSwede and a Dane. The local police pulled us over, full sirens going, to advise us we'd gone the wrong way and to turn around. I couldn't believe it but we'd gone straight over a roundabout instead of going right. The vent was marshalled by 400 Danish Military staff and out of 1500 riders just 4 went the wrong way but, hey, you might have know it would be me! Somewhat deflated I limped the last few miles but it's about finishing and no way was I going to quit. Given the time, effort and money to get there you've got to finish. I could not bear to be mopped up by the broom wagon! All in all I finished just behind my 2 friends. No podium finish this time but at least not last and it was the World Championship so I'm proud of what I achieved in my brief cycling career and whilst I;d like to blame wind/course/getting lost, the truth is I think I let the event get the better of me. I have to say those Danes were fantastic hosts of the UWCT finals and Aalborg is a wonderful city, traditional yet vibrant and cosmopolitan - a great weekend city break no doubt and probably note so without the bike!
Will I compete again if I qualify? I said, 'no' but that probably means' yes'!
OS
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