This week the weather has been awesome, i've been out on the bike tanning in 30 odd degrees every day. Can't complain really, training seems much easier when the weather's like this. At the weekend i had a first category race on Sunday, and with no elite cat race anywhere near, the field was large and a good quality. The first 50kms or so was absolutely pan flat, and so holding position was difficult in a big field but my team mates helped to keep me near the front for this section. A break of 10 or so riders went up the road very quickly but i was in good company with most of the favorites still in the peloton ahead of the five stiff climbs in the last 80kms. On the first climb, which was around 5-6kms all of the favorites were watching each other and one team was setting a moderate pace on the front, so i decided to attack and by the top i was with around 15 guys.
Now i told you that i did a bit of reconnaissance in the week, well i clearly didn't remember the route very well! as we descended there were a few attacks and i was a few seconds ahead with four other guys and the motorbikes who normally do a great job of directing the race, didn't do a great job. And so me and the other four missed a left turn and continued down the decent in the wrong direction for around a kilometer. i was pretty pissed when the guy on the motorbike told us this, so i had a good shout at him and got on with trying to get back to the peloton, it was a fair task, but i was on a damn good day, and after climbing back up, doing the decent( and having to stop after almost going wrong again) climbing the next 5km climb in the big ring alone after i'd got rid of the others, the team car came back and gave me a tow back up to the peloton which had regrouped behind the break of 10. At this point i was pretty stuffed and it was less than a kilometer to the next 5km climb, but i managed to hang in with the front group here and we were closing in on a break-away which was depleting in numbers. after this we had two steep 2km climbs which i was managing to feel better on and so gave an attack on the last climb, we separated to 5 guys over the top but a large amount of rain had fallen on the decent just ahead of us, so we were forced to crawl through the last 5km and it regrouped a bit. In the end i came in just behind the 5 remaining breakaway riders in a group of around 20 and ended up 16th.
It was frustrating as i felt good, but it must be difficult for the motorbikes to cover every turning and obstacle in a point to point race and so like everyone they will make mistakes sometimes, i just wish they wouldn't affect me.
Ah well same again next weekend except the course isn't as challenging, but i'm starting to get some form so i'll give it a good dig.
a bientot!

Fatigué

This week i'm mostly doing very little other than eating and sleeping which i've been very busy with, after last week which was a very hard week of training followed by two races at the weekend. The first race on Saturday was the gp st. etienne which is about as bigger race as you get as an amateur in France in the elite catagory, so i had expected it to be hard as well as pretty hilly. It was hard and it was pretty hilly, there were a lot of attacks on the climb which was done four times, some of which were done by me, but nothing stayed away and so it ended in a bunch sprint won by a fella called Yannick Martinez. i felt ok though and so went home content with how i had ridden although a little disappointed. it was however nice to see some other English guys at the race in the shape of My good friend Jack Kirk, and Kieren Frend who i haven't raced since first year junior, it proves it was an unlucky day for the English, when both of them withdrew after crashing or being caught behind a crash, which i can understand after what was a very sketchy race.
The following day was a first rather than elite category and so the field, although still a good level with 140 riders was not a demanding as the day before, and it took place on a rolling course so not usually the kind of terrain that would suit me. But as luck would have it i ended up in the right place at the right time and was in the front group of twelve after a hard section where the race split to pieces. unfortunately it was the work of one team which caused this split and i ended up with seven of them in the front group, and with no real climbs it was difficult to split it up. Never the less i tried and eventually after a number of rain soaked, wind swept kilometers i was in front with two riders of the same team who persisted to attack and counter attack me all the way to line, and i ended the race in third. It was disappointing not to win, but i finished the weekend happy that i was getting into fitness ahead of some of the more mountainous races which i have targeted a bit further into the season.
But for now i'm a little tired and so am watching lot's of my favorite show "how i met your mother" while outside it seems to be getting all the rain for the rest of the year out of the way as i do that, perfect.
Just the one race this weekend a first cat which comes close to where i live, so i did a recon yesterday with some local guys. The last half of the race is pretty lumpy with some tough climbing near the finish, hopefully i'll be nicely recovered for that one.

the season begins...

..a little later than planned as There was a problem with my application for a racing licence, but better late than never. There has also been a bit of time without a blog as my new apartment didn't have internet and that took some time to sort out.
But here it is my first blog from Issoire, and so far it's been great here the town is right in the mountains of the massif central so training here is great, there are a few good guys to train with and it has been great fun exploring a new place and finding new roads to ride on. The team is great as well, they have all tried to make me feel welcome and on Saturday we had our first race together.
The race was an elite category race with a 5km climb which we climbed 5 times. It was hard work and i made a good race of it and was always on the attack on the climb, but my fitness isn't quite there yet, and there was a headwind on the climb which made it difficult to separate the group and so i ended the day around 15th.
On Sunday i was at it again, this time in a criterium, a 2.2km flat circuit done 40 times. This kind of race is never great for me, but was perfect as training to get into race fitness, and again i made a race of it always racing aggressively, but couldn't prevent a bunch sprint and finished in the peloton.
Not a great weekend for results but i got a lot from the weekend and am continuing to train hard. Next Saturday is the GP St Etienne elite race which looks very tough, so i'm hoping to go well there, and the following day is a mostly flat first category race, so that should help get me to top form.

Whats new....

Sorry it's been a while, but it's been busy and exciting times in the Edmondson household, i promise future updates will be very much more regular than they have been recently. Since the last post training has gone well and i am getting close to being ready for the new season. Also me and my brother have been lucky enough to be sponsored by SueMe, who have provided us with some great casual clothing which has been excellent. You rarely spot us without our (very warm) SueMe hoodies and very comfortable t shirts, and of course i never leave for a bike ride without a buff around my neck and usually under my helmet, they cannot be beaten, an excellent product. I'll get some pictures up soon, until then follow the link on the side of the page and check it out.

Eureka!!!!!

Most cyclists in Britain have heard of the Eureka cyclists cafe in Chester as it's been running for over 77 years and as far as cafes go it's pretty awesome. But yesterday i visited the cafe for the first time, and it lived up to it's legendary status. Owners Keith and Anne are great guys and were kind enough to spend the day fueling me on toasties and excellent coffee before taking me for a bike ride in the surrounding countryside, and for a tour of their bike shop; Eureka cycle sports. The shop was as great as the cafe and had a great stock including Scott bikes, which i am excited to say will be my bike sponsor for this season. I am looking forward to my partnership with Eureka Scott and hope you will follow the links at the side of the page to check out the great things they have to offer. Throughout the season i will post through this blog events that we will do together and updates on the Eureka bike shop and cafe.

Happy new Year!!

Welcome to 2011 and to my new blog, this year i will be based in Issoire for the racing season and will keep you updated with my progress throughout the year.
My training got off to a good start in December after my winter break, when i spent 10 days in Lanzarote getting in the miles with some top guys and my brother, who were all staying at club la santa, which proved to be a perfect destination for chilling out after long days in the saddle. We came back to again face the challenge of training in the snow. So most of the days in the close run up to christmas were spent freezing my ass off on the mountain bike. Fortunatly, i just happen to live in The awesome Yorkshire valley of Wharfedale. And so with the combination of a great selection of off road trails, beautiful scenery, and great people to train with, such as my brother and the Brownlee brothers, the snow passed pretty quickly.
This led me up to christmas, which was spent at home with the family, relaxing, and eating....alot.
And so now, the snow has pretty much melted so some good Yorkshire Dales miles have been done, and preparations for 2011 are going well,so lets hope for a good year all round.