May Madness

A very hard second period of my block out here in Spain. More hard miles in the legs challenging races and an untimely bout of illness.

The month started by preparing for a focus weekend for the team which was the Galican Copa España races. We rode climbs, routes, descents and more all to give us the best heads up of whats to come.

In the middle of the preparation we raced in Portugal at the Bruno Neves memorial. Another race up against the Portuguese continental teams. It was a fierce race from the off, teams drilling the front to obliterate the race. A showcase of the current ability these riders have. The disparity between Continental and Amateur is mind blowing. A race spent in the gutter.

A little bit more training completed and eyeing up that challenging weekend to come. The Saturday Copa España would take place in Padron. A similar circuit to the Easter Classic I raced, but in a slightly different format. Unfortunately I woke up on the morning of the race feeling under the weather. Not what you want for this level of racing. I went into the race hoping it wouldn't affect me too much.

The team set out a plan and I was tasked with being proactive on the first climb of the day and following whatever goes. With the race being over 100 mile long and 10,000ft of climbing going out guns blazing is a hard task to follow through with. Nevertheless I placed myself right at the pointy end entering the climb and followed the wheel infront. Subsequently setting new power pb's in 5 and 8 minute efforts.

Over the top of the climb the group eased up. A rider took a flier and I jumped straight on the back. We rode as hard as possible for the next few minutes, and got away from the rest. However the big teams weren't messing around and we were shot down in flames. I spent the next part recovering from this effort and focusing on whats next. It wasn't long before we reached another mountain. Feeling the effort and lingering illness in the body. Struggling to clear the lactic I knew I was up against finishing the day and made my way back to the van in hopes for a better day tomorrow. Rolled the dice but didn't come out with anything.

The next day was the Vigo Copa España. A home race for the team. We travelled a mighty 3km to the startline. We rolled out along the coast and the flag was dropped after the longest neutral zone I have ever been apart of. Around 30 minutes.

The pace instantly ramped up with the bunch being strung out on roads I knew all too well. Hitting the first mountain pass we were all out sprinting up the 15% gradient. (At the start of a 30 minute climb). Spanish races have no time for messing around. The race blew to pieces with groups and riders everywhere. I gave what I could until I was out of the convoy and had to call it a day. Once again being the nail. Its a big disappointment with all the work put in and wanting to experience the full race. I knew all I could do was move on and keep trying.

More races to come. Heading back to the UK for June so hopefully some results to follow off the back of this hard block. Always learning and developing in this scene which proves to be more challenging every race!