by Nancy Arreola | Mar 12, 2011
12th March 2011
My second destination in this new adventure, beautiful Holland!
I thought Monterrey had a weird weather but I was so wrong, I have seen the weirdest changes in temperatures here in Avenhorn, one day it’s sunny and hot (7 degrees… ok maybe not that hot!) the next minute is cloudy and raining, then you have some snow! then a sunny day again and of course… its ALWAYS windy!
It’s actually the first time I get to see real snow in my life, Jetse said, “I don’t think you should go for a ride, you better stay on the rollers!” haha Whaaaaat?! There’s no way I was going to stay inside and miss an opportunity like that, I was like a little kid enjoying it so much. You could see my face full of smiles, we did two hours that day and it was lovely, I mean it’s always cold here but at least when it snows it looks cool!
I was impressed about how flat London is but now I have a new idea of what flat means, there are not even little hills in this place and if I thought I was going to be safe here (without having to ride on the other side of the street like they to in the UK) I was also wrong. I am afraid that the wind could take me back to Mexico! ohhh well… at least no one has to worry about me riding in the right place on the road now!
Staying on my bike with this wind is almost impossible… but I like the challenge, apart from the wind there are also some cobblestones! not so great when you only weigh 44kg! but I really enjoy riding here, this is an amazing country, you see bikes everywhere in the streets which is very cool! They have this “fietspad” (bikes pad) so you can ride very safe and avoid all the traffic (not that there’s much traffic here!)
This is a very good change after riding for many years in Monterrey, I always have to ride with a car behind me because it is very dangerous and here I can just go by myself and do my own thing and I really enjoy it! Even if I do have to deal with cold temperatures and a bit of snow! haha
If the wind doesn’t take me back to Mex or somewhere in the sea I will write another blog soon!
Nancy
by Anna Magrath | Feb 28, 2011
Getting All Artistic
by Jody Cundy MBE
Well here I am on the eve of the World Championships here in Montichiari, I’ve had 3 sessions on the track since arriving here, and each one of them has been more and more encouraging. The track feels fast, and my legs feels good, I just hope that feeling lasts for the next 3 days as I have a lot of racing to do between now and Sunday evening. First up is the pursuit, the big unknown for me, sure I’ve done pursuits before, but this is the first time I’ve focused on it and trained with the goal of competing at a major championship, and with London [Olympics] just over a year away it will be an interesting test. After the pursuit I’m into more familiar territory with the kilo and team sprint both, of which I’m aiming to retain my world titles in.
In preparation for these worlds, as a team we’ve spent 2 weeks training on the boards of Newport velodrome, mainly to get away from the chaos and busy track in Manchester as the able-bodied team prepared for the world championships, but also to prepare together as a team. Over the 2 weeks in Newport my training covered all aspects of my racing with starts, pursuit and flying efforts and team sprint practice. During the 2nd week we had the trial for the team sprint, with 4 riders going for 3 places. Rik Waddon and Darren Kenny were competing for man 1, and myself and Terry Byrne were trialling to see who would ride 2nd and 3rd man. The trial was basically 2 full team sprints, and everything would be recorded and filmed so all elements of the ride could be analysed. First up was Darren, myself and Terry, this turned into a mission, as on the first try I picked up a puncture in turn 1, meaning an abandoned attempt, then sat on the start line for the re-run my helmet buckle fell off my aero helmet, so with my road helmet on it was 3rd time lucky! (Hope it’s not going to be like this at the worlds!) With a smooth start and equally smooth changes our benchmark was set. 60mins later we were up on track again, this time with Rik leading off and myself and Terry switching order. This time the trial went smoothly with another really good ride in the bag.
Amazingly both rides were inside the current WR, so things were looking up and it was nice knowing that we had world class backup rider no matter what team we’d go with. The following morning once the coaches had analyzed all the footage and crunched the numbers, the team sprint was selected, Darren Kenny man 1, Terry Byrne man 2 and myself man 3, a new team line up lets hope our debut goes well.
Also on the Newport camp I took part in a photo shoot with photographer Richard Booth, who is producing a coffee table book of London 2012 hopefuls. I’m looking forward to seeing the shots in print as the samples I saw a glimpse of looked amazing. Actually it’s been a month of photo shoots, as just before I left for the world championships I was invited by Sky Sports to take part in a shoot they were doing for their 20th Anniversary, again it was for another coffee table book, with all these books I’m not sure where my coffee’s going!
Once Newport was over it was back to the boards of Manchester, but not as a rider, entering a contest on Cycling Weekly’s facebook page I found myself the winner of 2 tickets to the Manchester leg of the World Cup. I had a great day, and was soaking up the home atmosphere, and imagining what it’s going to be like in London with twice the amount of people cheering that loud, London really is going to be something special, but lots of training to do before then!
Inspired by the world cup performances it was back to the boards of Manchester to put the finishing touches to our preparation and start the all important taper.
Outside of the cycling I’ve been busy working on my website, and after months of it being under construction it’s actually finished and fully up and running, so go take a look www.jodycundy.com any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Prior to coming to Italy I ended up getting all artistic, with my prosthetic cycling leg. I’d had a few conversations with potential sponsors and it became clear that for some reason my disability on the bike wasn’t visible. I guess my black carbon leg was blending into my black carbon bike. Anyway a quick trip to Halfords and I had sand paper, primer, paint, and clear lacquer. Now I just needed a paint booth, as the weather was awful outside, so our shower room became a temporary booth and masked it all off making sure everything was covered! (Thanks Christina! Can’t believe she agreed to it!)
Anyway leg all keyed up it was primer time, what a transformation that made, the leg looked completely different with just the white primer on, I couldn’t wait to get onto the next level of paint, but patience was the key and I had to wait for it to dry completely. Good job I wasn’t on the track with it for a few days. Once the paint was dry it was time to give the leg some colour, with some world bands applied with trusty coloured electrical tape, I then spent the afternoon printing out transfers, before spending hours carefully applying them to the leg. A quick clear coat over the top and it was all finished. A bright white leg, carrying the world bands, finished off with my name, a Union Jack, my leg sponsors logo, and my final finishing touch, 7 gold medals for each of my World and Paralympic cycling titles, if all goes well it would be nice to add a few more! Check out the pics.
Jody's Leg - Image ©Copyright Christina Kelkel
I have to say I’m looking forward to these championships, it’s seems like an eternity since I’ve raced at the very top level, and I can’t wait!
Also it will be the first time all the members of the Para-T team I helped set up will be together. The next time will be at out debut race, at the Good Friday track meeting in Manchester on April 22nd.
Well until next time, and stories from the world champs. Happy Cycling!
Jody
All images ©Copyright Christina Kelkel
by Cristi Ruhlman | Feb 22, 2011
This month at CyclingShorts.uk.com I’m bringing you an exclusive, we’re excited to feature a great article by my friend Fitzalan Gorman from www.usprocyclingnews.com She caught up with the riders of BMC Racing to get their thoughts on teammates and how that will play a part in their continued success on the world circuits of the UCI Pro-Tour.
Cristi.
American Riders on BMC Racing: Larry Warbasse, Taylor Phinney, John Murphy, George Hincapie show off 2011 team colors at Spain Press day - Image ©Copyright Fitzalan Gorman/ usprocyclingnews.com
Training camp is often the only time of the year that all riders, directeur sportifs and staff are all together in the same place. While officially it is work, these few weeks are the calm before the storm that is the long professional cycling season. At the end of January, BMC Racing held its training camp along the Spanish coastline near Denia. This area has fairly quiet roads with lots of options including flats and undulating, hilly terrain. While here, I got a chance to talk with various members of BMC Racing to find out a little more about the teammate side of cycling.
Cadel Evans and Tim Roe at Press Day in Spain 2011 - Image ©Copyright Fitzalan Gorman/ usprocyclingnews.com
So what do you think of your new teammates?
Brent Bookwalter: “These guys add a certain level of class and experience to the team. Many of the new guys have serious Grand Tour experience and are veterans at the pro tour level in both age and experience. I’m rooming with Ivan Santaromita. We are the same age, he was born in 1984, but he has been racing in the pro tour longer than I’ve been racing road bikes. Guys like that, guys who have been around the block, are very capable, classy and accomplished riders and there is a lot of depth there.”
Cadel Evans: “I’m rooming with Yannick Eijssen. He has so many questions and is so motivated. I can only hope that I am giving him good advice. Along with Tim Roe, I hope that I can help develop these young riders better. I’m also excited about having Manuel Quinziato for the Tour de France. He will probably have the biggest influence on my results.”
What do you think of your mentorship with Chris Butler?
George Hincapie: “I have a bit more mentorship role with Chris than with the other riders because I train with him all the time. He has a ton of potential. He had one of the highest watts per kilo at camp for this time of year, which I was excited about. He needs to learn how to ride in the peloton and how to ride on the flats, but when it comes to his climbing, he is definitely world class.”
George Hincapie at BMC Press Day interview in Spain - Image ©Copyright Fitzalan Gorman/ usprocyclingnews.com
As a rookie, how do you take advantage of the wealth of experience offered from your veteran teammates?
Chris Butler: “I definitely try to soak it all up. I live 2 kilometers away from George in Greenville, so I am definitely biased towards him but there are so many resources on this team. I feel like Karsten Kroon can ride a bike better than anyone else in the peloton. I just want to follow him around and learn all of that information.”
BMC Racing feels different from so many other pro tour teams: There is no other agenda here other than racing. Do you feel this way?
Brent Bookwalter: “Obviously the objective here is to win and to get results but I think we are really fortunate that our head sponsor, Andy Rihs, the head management, Jim Ochowicz, and the heads of this team are not “win at any cost” kind of guys. They place a lot of value in creating a team more than just bodies pursuing results. They are creating a real family with the hopes that true results will arise from that. I feel that we are fortunate to be in this type of environment over one that demands winning.”
John Murphy: “I feel that if you took the same group of guys, and put them first in a situation that demanded they win, and then you put them in a situation where the team provided everything they needed in terms of products and support, 9 times out 10, the supportive environment is where the riders will succeed. I think it is the best approach to anything competitive. Demanding winning isn’t the right psychology.”
Many hours are spent riding for someone else. Tell me a little bit about the mental side of riding in support of one of your teammates.
Brent Bookwalter: “Whether it is George, Karsten, Cadel or anyone else on this team, you step up. I think anytime you care about a person, on a personal level–more than just a coworker level – there is a greater incentive; there is more at stake than career success. There is personal success because you can honestly be happy about that person stepping up on the podium at the end of the race instead of yourself.”
How hard is it to put your personal agenda aside to support your teammates?
John Murphy in Spain at BMC Press Day - Image ©Copyright Fitzalan Gorman/ usprocyclingnews.com
John Murphy: “You work for the team and know that you will get your time. It has to go both ways and it is a constantly revolving circle. As much as you want to be the one winning and putting your arms up in the air, nobody does that by himself. If you are lucky enough to be that person, then you have to appreciate everything that everyone else is doing for you.”
Brent Bookwalter: “At this point, we are all professionals. You create longevity and professional success in this sport by fulfilling that role. To some extent, you can have satisfaction in it. You can think, it is not my job to win at the end of the race but it is my job to cover the pack for the first 100 km and I am going to turn myself inside out to do that. It definitely isn’t a thankless job.”
Final Impressions on Teamwork and BMC Racing:
While here in Denia for the BMC training camp and press day, I was impressed by the individual strength of each rider, but it was the overall spirit of cooperation amongst the team that left a lasting impact with me.Cadel Evans explained the uniqueness of BMC Racing perfectly when he said; “I am allowed to be myself on this team”. This team just feels different; the respect and attitude between the staff, riders and coaches can be seen in every interaction they have with one another. While everyone’s goal is for BMC to win races, it feels like they are working towards this goal collectively, much like a family.
BMC riders: Jeff Louder, Chris Butler, Brent Bookwalter, Chad Beyer, Chris Barton at Press Day 2011 - Image ©Copyright Fitzalan Gorman/ usprocyclingnews.com
Many thanks to John Murphy, Brent Bookwalter, Chris Butler, George Hincapie and Cadel Evans for taking a few moments to talk with me about the team and for giving us an inside look into how teamwork plays into the fabric of BMC Racing. Best of luck to BMC Racing with all their goals in this upcoming season!
by Nancy Arreola | Feb 13, 2011
13th February 2011
Its been 4 days since I arrived in Europe, I’m staying in London now with my friend Stuart and his family, they are all so friendly an I feel at home already but OMG! the lifestyle here is so different!! The first thing I noticed was that I don’t have to worry about being caught up in a shooting anymore! We went to the supermarket that night and it was so weird to be walking alone at night without feeling insecure!
The second thing is the diet… everything is different from what I am used to, nothing is as spicy and they don’t have tortillas! but then we went to another supermarket and found a cool mexican section, so I guess I can survive now! Another different thing people do in Europe is the time they eat, they have dinner at 6, when in Mexico we do it at 8 or 9pm, so I get hungry at midnight sometimes. :) There’s also the weather, so cold and rainy! My wish will finally come true: NO more tan lines! yay!!
The second day in London Stuart took me to the city, we were just walking around, what a beautiful place! I almost got killed by every bus because I always look the wrong way in the streets, this is too complicated! I hope I can survive this while riding my bike!
I haven’t been able to ride yet, I think my bike will arrive tomorrow and I really hope it does because without any training I am too hyper and I am afraid I am gonna drive Stuart crazy, but hopefully I will ride tomorrow and everything will be back to normal.
I miss my family so much and also my dog Rocky, but I can’t wait to start racing! We have a team training camp in Italy for two weeks, I am looking forward to the food and meeting all my new teammates after that we have races everywhere including my nationals in Mexico so this is going to be a busy year for me! Racing in Europe will be very different and hard, but I think I am going to have so much fun here!
So, keep in touch! I will give you more updates about my new adventures here soon.
Nancy.
by Anna Magrath | Jan 31, 2011
The Para-T Cycling Team is Here!
by Jody Cundy MBE
Wow, nearly missed this being a January update, my god this month has flown by.
2011 already! That means the Paralympics are next year! It’s all starting to sound a little scary, however I’ve still got 576 days to train and perfect everything before then!
Well 2011 started with me switching to a new cycling team. A team I helped setup with my girlfriend, to be honest she’s done a great deal to get it up and running.
Here’s a little bit of information about the team I’ll be competing in.
“Para-T” (Paracycling Team) is a unique cycling team made up entirely of some of the best Paralympic cyclists in the world. The team has been formed to help promote Paracycling, and demonstrate the skill and speed of athletes who compete at the Paralympics.
Through promoting the amazing ability of our riders, and not their disability, we aim to increase the interest in Paracycling and push the boundaries of the sport as well as to show that sport is something nearly everyone can do.
In the first year of racing, the team will be mostly focused on track events, but a number of road races and time trials will be attended whenever possible, with athletes competing in both Paracycling and able-bodied events.
The team is a mixture of British and German riders, and hopes to expand in the future with increased rider numbers and racing on the road.”
For all the up to date information on the team, and a look at the amazing looking kit I’ll be racing in, head over to our website www.paracyclingteam.com.
With the world championships fast approaching (March 11th-13th) I’ve spent many hours on my bi- cycle and things are going really well. This winter I’ve spent more time on my bike getting in the endurance miles than ever before, because in addition to the team sprint and kilo I will be also competing in the 4km Pursuit at the world championships. The GB team is on a point scoring mission to make sure that we have the most athletes available at our home games in London, and that translates into yours truly doing the pur- suit! The pursuit training, is quite a challenge for me, and is quite different from the out and out sprint train- ing I’ve previously done for the Kilo. It’s all about measuring your effort, and not giving too much too soon, but making sure you get everything out by the end. As part of my learning process in the event I’ve painfully found this out in training, and it really does come back to bite you before the end of the 4km if you go out too fast! However with GB’s rich history in the pursuit I have a wealth of advice on hand from coaches and riders, and fingers crossed if all goes well, there may be another medal in it, which would make all the hard work worth it. But one step at a time!
With the poor weather in the UK over the winter, it was really nice to get away to Majorca for a 10 day training camp with the GB squad. The weather gods were really on our side, and we were greeted with bright sunshine every day. That made such a nice change to our rides, being able to head out in shorts and minimal layers, so much nicer compared to multiple layers I’ve been used to in the last few months! The camp was a huge success, with the whole squad getting in many quality miles, and making the most of the beautiful weather. It was definitely the time to be on the island as we spotted many of the professional teams in their preseason training, including Sky, Leopard Trek and Lotto.
I’m back from Majorca now, and my training has now switched focus, as I’m back on the boards of Manchester Velodrome trying to convert those miles into some race speed. Things have been going really well, but with the Manchester round of the World Cup fast approaching track time’s been a bit crowded. However inspiring as it is to watch the GB Team Pursuit team in full flight in training, it’s never a great situation to have to rush your efforts on track, so next month we have a 2 week GB training camp at the Velodrome in Newport with just the GB Paracycling squad in attendance. Once the world cup is over, it’s back to Man- chester to put the finishing touches to my preparation before heading out with the team to Montichiari on the 7th March.
Well that’s January all done, were there really 31 days? Catch you next month for another update.
Jody
All images ©Copyright Christina Kelkel
by Anna Magrath | Dec 27, 2010
A Topsy Turvy Year
by Jody Cundy MBE
As 2010 comes to an end, it’s time to look back on what has been a bit of a strange year.
Starting in January with a “warm weather camp” on Majorca which ended up in snow, it was a sign of a topsy turvy year I was going to have.
By the time March came around, our World Championships in August had been cancelled and my training goals where turned on their head. In Easter my first proper race of the season: The Herne Hill Good Friday Meet. Unfortunately, once again the rain brought a swift end to the racing, but hopefully 2011 will be luckier as the meet moves indoors to Manchester. Without Worlds to prepare for, Ride Across Britain was a perfect chance to keep the miles and legs over the summer and also to help raise money for Paralympics GB. Sharing the mileage with tandem pilot Barney Storey, the nine days from John O’Groats to Land’s End were some of the most enjoyable days I’ve ever spent on my bike. Even though I was soaked to the bone for the first three days in Scotland, the scenery made up for all the wetness and pain. And by the time we reached Land’s End, the sun was shining and myself along 600 other cyclists had completed 1000 miles and raised over 300.000 Pounds!
With RAB done, it was back to the track and to prepare for the National Track Championships and a potentially rearranged World Championships. With all the miles on the road in the summer, my track legs really came to me and my training went really well. The Nationals were filled with highs and lows, the highs being my New World Record in the Flying 200m and my first able-bodied podium in the Men’s Team Sprint and Team Pursuit. The lows, becoming really ill after Day 3 and not being able to perform to how my training had been going and loosing out on an almost certain Gold medal in the Team Pursuit due to a crash.
October brought us final confirmation of the World Championships after many rumors and many cities had been mentioned. From March 11-13, the new velodrome in Montichiari in Italy will play host. My training is in full swing now and I am working hard on retaining my World Championship titles in the 1KM Time Trial and Team Sprint, and also hopefully getting close to the podium in a new event for me: the 4KM Pursuit. However, for the first time I wont be able to win the Kilo in a World Record time as it might hinder my changes to win in London due to the unconfirmed factoring rules that the UCI will be applying to the Paralympic Games in 2012.
All that leaves me to is to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year and thank all my sponsors and supporters for their help and hard work and I look forward to your continued backing on my path to 2012!
I think that’s all from me, enjoy the remaining days of 2010 and I’ll see you in 2011!
Jody
PS: You can catch me on BBC4 on December the 30th at 8pm as I made a guest appearance at the Royal Institute Christmas Lectures.
All images ©Copyright Christina Kelkel
It’s actually the first time I get to see real snow in my life, Jetse said, “I don’t think you should go for a ride, you better stay on the rollers!” haha Whaaaaat?! There’s no way I was going to stay inside and miss an opportunity like that, I was like a little kid enjoying it so much. You could see my face full of smiles, we did two hours that day and it was lovely, I mean it’s always cold here but at least when it snows it looks cool!
Staying on my bike with this wind is almost impossible… but I like the challenge, apart from the wind there are also some cobblestones! not so great when you only weigh 44kg! but I really enjoy riding here, this is an amazing country, you see bikes everywhere in the streets which is very cool! They have this “fietspad” (bikes pad) so you can ride very safe and avoid all the traffic (not that there’s much traffic here!)
You must be logged in to post a comment.