Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tour d'laude 2009
After my return to the bike after my break, I built up slowly doing running, gym and some riding on the bike in April, at the end of April I had a 10 day training camp with Fidea and AVB (who I will be riding with from the 1st of September) it was a really good training camp in Majorca. I did some good long rides with the guys and by the end of the ten days I felt a lot better on the bike, it was nice to get to know all of my new team mates and learn a little more Flemish too which is always a bonus!.
My plan after the training camp was to start racing, I did 2 big Dutch races (middag Humsterland and omloop de kempen) which my team from moving ladies won. It was a good kick start to the road season and I actually felt quite strong.
It was just after this I was called up to ride tour de laude with GB, I couldn’t turn it down I have always wanted to do this race and I knew if I could get through it would give me a great base towards the cross season and also some good form for the road.
I got a flight on the Wednesday from Charleroi to Carcassonne airport where I would be meeting up with the other GB girls. It was a bad start to the trip with me having my purse stolen at the train station on the way to the airport, but I soon forgot about that once I started racing.
The tour was hard, but very enjoyable, I learned a lot about how far I could push myself, and how much my body could cope with. For me its just what I needed and it has given me some confidence too, I felt very strong in a lot of the stages and was surprised that I was able to get up there on some of the days. I think the worst I felt was day 7 where we were right in the mountains, every day was flat out from the start but this day was especially hard with a 14 km climb 4km into the race. It was split to pieces and I had to really dig in to get into a good bunch in front of me. The other girls did really good too, for them its there first year as seniors and so it was more about getting through it which they all did (apart from Anna who ended up spending the whole of Saturday afternoon in hospital with gravel rash from a big crash!) not such a good start to her road racing career but she stayed out with us for the rest of the week and by the end she was back riding her bike! Im happy to have finished and look forward to a bit of easy riding and resting before my next race therme kassienomloop……
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/gbr/EventReports2009/20090526_TourdeAude.asp
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Puivelde
Asturias !
Just got back from the Vuelta Asturias a 5 day 2.1 stage race in Spain and the Subido Naranco, a 1.1 one day race the day after also in Spain.
I had a few problems a few weeks back with my knee again so I didn’t get much training done. So naturally I was going into this race with not much condition, but I was healthy and fit. I just wanted to get the race in my legs and find some form.
First day, lots of attacks in first few kilometres saw a group of around 25 go away after 20kms. I was there with 1 team mate. The group was a bit too big and wasn’t really working. I thought I may as well try an attack and see what happens. I ended up going away with 3 others and getting a gap of 8 mins. A good day out already, good TV time and good exposure for the team. We were about 30kms from the finish and we still had 5 mins on the peloton. Sooner or later my lack of condition caught up with me and I had a “massive death”. The last 25 kms looked flat in the race book but it wasn’t to be. 2 guys went ahead to fight out for the win and 2 were dropped and caught by the bunch, unfortunately I was one of the unlucky 2! Never the less it was a good day out!
The next day was a hard day with 3 categorised climbs. My legs weren’t good after my day out yesterday, really bad at the start but I rode into it towards the end of the stage. An early break went with a team mate David O’Loughlin and got a few mins on the peloton. The leaders (rock racing) controlled the race well, brought the race together for the last 2 climbs a d delivered Oscar Seville to the line for there 2nd stage win in as many days. I did my best in the run in, taking our GC men to the front and riding for as long as I could on the climb. With no GC ambitions in mind I rode in a few mins down in the gruppetto.
We did a bit of a test after this stage on our new Max Gear compression tights. We decided not to wear them for the day and see if we could notice a difference. We were all convinced off a big difference. We all found we had a lot more water retention In the legs and just felt generally stiffer and more tender the next morning. We wouldn’t be doing that test again!!!!
The 3rd day was a bit of a nightmare, we woke up to thunderstorms and a lot of rain. Today was a split day with a 90km road stage and a 14km tt. It would have been easy to put a rain jacket on today and just be happy to finish and stay out of trouble but today was our big chance of a win, with such a short stage it was more or less going to be a bunch sprint. So it was full gas for Nico for the finish. It was a technical finish which we didn’t really know so we decided to get Nico to the front and leave him to do his stuff on his own. Myself, Dave and Steven Van Vooren did a good job getting him up there but unfortunately no result today! Big disappointment for us, but we gave it everything we had! The TT was a formality for me, with a kind 40% time limit (the amount of time we can loose to the winner before being kicked out the race) around 7 mins I cruised round the TT and got ready for the next day!
Stage 4 was a “proper” mountain stage with 3 HC climbs. Today was all about survival and getting to the finish inside the time limit. Half way up the first “berg” the gruppetto was called and a nice group of about 30 riders formed and rode at our own pace to the finish within the time cut. Still a tough day with over 50km of categorised climbing and over 5hrs in the saddle.
The last stage, normally a formality after yesterdays stage had more or less decided the GC, Mancebo of rock racing had the jersey so normally they would control the race, let a small group get a few mins and bring it together for the finish. There were 3 categorised climbs today but nothing as savage as yesterday. My legs were pretty sore but I thought I may as well have a bash early on. First attack of the day was from possibly the smallest guy in the race, a little Columbian guy, I went after him after 2ks and we quickly got a min on peloton. Luckily after a few more k’s 3 more riders came up to us, they were a bit bigger than this little fella so a bit more shelter was nice. There were no GC guys there so I thought we were gone again for the day. We hit the first climb of 10ks with 2 mins; half way up the gap was 1 min. The race was on behind. We battered over the hill and got to the top just before the peloton. The group was split to pieces and I immediately knew today was going to be tough. The whole day was attack after attack, windy sections, hills and descents. No rest today. What we all thought would be a steady day turned out to be the hardest day of the race! The finish was hard, 3 or 4 1km hills. Too many for me!
So that was the end of the tour, but we still had 1 more day of racing to go. The 1.1 ranked Subida Naranco. It was in the same region of
I was really really tired today and wasn’t to motivated to race. I thought I would give it all to get up the road early on and then just see how far I could get in the peloton if not.
So for the 3rd time this week I was away in the break and 9 mins up on the peloton. I was absolutely knackered and didn’t know what I was doing! There was a long way to go and a lot of meters of climbing also. I was pretty certain I wasn’t going to get to the finish in this group so gave it everything to try to win the intermediate sprint competition and get myself on the podium. My plan worked and I won it! After the sprints I was more than spent and dropped off the back of the break on the 2nd climb of the day. I kept plugging away on my own and somehow managed to stay clear until the 2nd to last climb. I was caught and dropped immediately and rode in a few mins behind truly dead! Another good day out, more TV time a trip to the podium and a good suntan!
I came out of the 6 days tired but not totally kapot so hopefully after a bit of a rest the legs will be good and some results will come!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Matts March Blog
Back to
The last time I wrote I was sat in the airport waiting to come home. 2 days later and I was back on “the grid” in a pro Kermess in Wanzele. It was a 170km race on a circuit of about 15kms, it was quite an interesting course with a bit of everything, a few hills and a few cobbles just to make it that bit more interesting. From what I can remember it wasn’t the best race for me or the team, a break went after a few laps with none from An post there, it was only a matter of time before we were on the front riding to bring the break back. It came back after a few ks of hard graft and the fireworks started again. We were determined not to miss the break this time. We didn’t miss one, but unfortunately nothing stuck. Last lap and I was riding to help Nico to the front for the finish. Nico and Kenny were a respectable 7th and 8th. My job was done with 1km to go and I went backwards like a stone and rolled in the middle of the peloton.
Waasland
Next was a UCI 1.2 race in the waasland region of
Nokere Koerse
Next was Nokere. A semi classic in
Road Trip
Next was an 8hr road trip to the
Ronde Van Grone Hart
2 days later and I was pinning my numbers on again in a Dutch 1.1 race. I was still feeling a bit under the weather but felt well enough to race. When I hear these 2 words together “1.1” and “
Bad Times
Next up was not a good few weeks for me. I won’t go on about it as I don’t want to bore you all with my misery. I picked up yet another virus and had to rest for 6 days with no bike. I missed 2 of the biggest races of the year that I was really looking forward too. Dwaars door Vlaanderen and the Brabantje Pijl. Both Huge semi classic races in
After my virus I got back on the bike, keen as ever I squeezed in 18 hrs in 4 days. This, I don’t advise! A few days later I was back in the Doctors and was diagnosed with a dose of tendonitis. Another forced break from the bike and more sofa time. Not good!
Home Race
Yesterday was the Dwaars Door Het Haageland in Aarschot. A race about 10km from my front door. Luckily im all fixed up, the knee has recovered and im feeling healthy at last. The race went ok considering my last few weeks nightmares, I rode well for the team. Helped to get 2 of our boys in the move and got some good racing ks in! It was almost another disaster with just a few meters to go. I hit the final corner after a fast decent, I was going well over 70kph and was full gas in a lead out for Nico. I hit the corner and gambled on not using any brakes, my heart skipped a beat as both my wheels slipped suddenly from underneath me. Somehow I held it up and survived to live another day! I took the boys as far to the line as I could and they were 1st and 2nd in the bunch sprint. It must have been the lead out ! Hmmmm. The guys in the break finished 2nd and 4th! Another good day out but still no win for the team! It can’t be long now before we get one!
I don’t want to get into a habit of saying this but I sure hope I have something a bit more positive to write about in the next few weeks! Keep all your fingers crossed for me and the team!!
Until Next time
Matt
Next races for me :
19-04 Beavechain 
1.12
20-04 Outer 1.12
28-04>02-05 Vuelta Ciclista Asturias 
2.1
03-05 Subida al Naranco 1.1
10-05 Omloop Der Kempen 
1.2
15-05>17-05 Tour De Picardie 
2.1
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Matts Blog - Jan - March 09 !
I say its time for racing but I’m actually already 1 month into my year! Seven months and counting so I better get stuck in.
So what have I been up too the last few months?
I finished my last race last year and had a break from my bike for 2 weeks. I spent this time doing “Normal” peoples stuff and trying not to get fat! I soon got bored of doing nothing and started thinking about 2009. After a few weeks of negotiations I managed to secure a contract with my new team An-Post – Sean Kelly . The first thing on my mind was getting back in the gym and getting these legs fixed up. I did 2 months of gym sessions with a bit of bike riding too keep the weight down and was well on my way to being fixed.
Mid way though December we headed out to Guadamar in the South of Spain for our first team get together. “A bit of a get together with a few spins” is what I was told to expect. This was good for me at this time of the year, however Nico and a few of the boys had other ideas! To cut a long story short we ended up doing an 8 day camp of 4-5hrs every day with no signs of “a few spins”. I came back from the camp pretty tired but pleased to have got a good block of training in. Next was a bit of a rest and then back into a 10 day block of long riding over Xmas.
January arrived and the weather in “sunny Belgium” turned. We were gifted with a 15 day long spout of minus temperatures. For 15 days the thermometer didn’t rise above -5. This was all well and good for a few days, I found that I could only train for a maximum of 3 hrs without feeling totally worn out. So I would set of training with 28 layers of clothes and 15 pairs of gloves and ride for 2-3 hours before stopping at a nice warm café. I found a nice café in Hoegaarden (where the beer is made) they had a roaring hot fire and did great coffee and pancakes. So that was me for the week, 2.5hrs then coffee, pancakes, warm up a little, a little more coffee and then another 2.5 hours! It wasn’t ideal but I was getting the hours in and eating pancakes so I was happy.
Lucky for us season was fast approaching and we were off again with the team on our second training camp to Calpe.
Race time
After a few days steady at home I was on the TGV and off to Marseille for the season opener GP Marseille. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say it wasn’t a good day for me. The weather was bad, so the whole race was full gas, sprinting up the climbs, sprinting out of hairpins on descents and crosswinds on the flats. No Fun. After 80ks and 2 mountains I was down and out!
Again it wasn’t a particularly great race for me. A few tough days in the hills, but I got through it and came out of it satisfied and not dead!
Algarve
Next on the teams agenda was the Vuelta Algarve in the south of Portugal. I had had some problems again with my back, my Psoas muscle (the one that joins from the top of your hip to the bottom of your spine) was still pretty weak after 3 months of doing nothing last year so it needed some work. We decided it was better for me not to race but to train instead, I travelled to Algarve with the boys but got stuck into my own Physio and training programme. Good weather, good training. Faultless.
“Proper racing”
Back to Belgium and time for some proper bike racing! Spain, France, Portugal. They were all nice but we all know where it’s at! 1st of March and the fun Begins! Kuurne Brussels Kuurne. Kuurne is one of the early season openers and apart from the Ronde, it doesn’t get much bigger out here in Belgium. I was nervous to be here but also excited. My preparation had been good, training had gone well, I had eaten well, lived in my compression stuff so I had nothing to be scared off. Team orders for me were to try everything to get into the early break. My race was the first 50km full gas. I started at the front and didn’t drift back for the first hr, I was determined to get up there. However, nothing went. We had covered over 50kms in the first hr and people were starting to think about the hills. The pace hotted up and a few crashes later we were at the first hill. It was in these few ks I made my mistake. In races like these the race doesn’t happen up the hills it happens the 5ks before the hills. I was mid bunch, climbing well but just too far back. I found myself in no mans land in between the break and the 2nd group. I made a last ditch kamikaze effort to get across but soon realised it wasn’t going to happen. My director had other ideas. After a few groups caught us up we were ordered to the front and told to ride full gas. So 80kms later we were at the finish, well and truly spent. So what did I make of my first semi classic? To be totally honest I loved it. Although the end result didn’t look good from the outside, I was really pleased with how I felt today. I really think this is a race I can do well in one day!
Posing & the Soens
Next on the agenda was a trip back to the UK. I had a Photo shoot to do at Max Gear for some of there new advertising. Luckily my family live just down the road so I was able to fit it in quite nice and also I got to ride a bike race for good measure. After a few hours of piss taking and posing in head to toe Lycra and I was thinking about the race. While I was back I was going to ride the Soens in Liverpool. It’s a race that I always wanted to win, since I was a kid. I remember myself and Cav every year when we were kids. We had a master plan to use our handicap advantage early on and lap the field. It never worked. Anyway, I was here with good form, a lot of racing in my legs so I thought I’d give it a bash. The legs were good, I followed a little move mid race and ended up in a good group about 1 min up. The finish was closing in and I realised that I had a good chance of winning. We had only a few laps left, were 1 min up and I hadn’t actually pushed on the pedals yet. I was just planning my master attack when I punctured! 4 laps to go. Race over. I tried a frantic chase but it was to no avail. I was pretty disappointed to say the least so I took my anger out on the bike and did a few hours after the race.
Home time
So I’m sat here in the airport waiting to go “home” and thinking about my next races. My legs feel good, I wouldn’t say I have good form but I have good condition and all I want to do is race!
So hopefully next month ill have some races and results to write about!
Schedule March 09
Omloop van het Waasland
1.2
18-03
Nokere Koerse
1.1
22-03
Campina Ronde van het Groene Hart
1.1
25-03
Dwars door Vlaanderen
1.1
29-03
Brabantse Pijl - La Fléche Brabanconne
1.1
Labels: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pxid_BmLem4/Sbv20U6psVI/AAAAAAAAADE/PIdu_Z4JCkY/s200/sean%2520kelly.jpg
Monday, February 09, 2009
Feb 2009
So…. Where do I start?
.
It was very busy for me over the Christmas period and even now after being a month into the year all things are still a bit crazy with racing and I have 3 weeks of racing left now before the end of the cross season which finishes in Oostmalle on the 22nd February.
I will start with what happened after I last wrote on here. So I went home for Christmas and came back Christmas day afternoon, after opening all of my presents and sitting down for Christmas dinner my focus turned to the world cup at Zolder the following day.
Zolder 26/12/08
Luckily my dad was able to come back with me for one of the biggest cross races of the year, Zolder world cup on Boxing Day. We caught the train from Folkestone and headed back to Belgium to get here around 9pm. The next day we had an early start travelling only 40 minutes down the road to Zolder. I had a few laps of the circuit which was one of my favourite so far J very fast and quite technical. The crowds were great and it was probably the biggest race I had been too since the start of the season, also it was the best field of riders I had ridden in. I was yet again gridded at the back due to my lack of uci points. I had a rubbish start but worked my way through the other girls to finish in 16th. I was happy and looked forward to my next few races.
Video from YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAMdGSjOkRQ
Report- http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross/2008/dec08/worldcup7_08
Loenhout uci race 30/12/08
It was the day of my 22nd Birthday; I had woken to a room full of balloons and cards with a fantastic chocolate cake made by matt (However I did wait until after I had raced to eat the cake). We didn’t have to leave to early as again the race was only about 30 minutes from me. The weather had turned very cold this week and the ground was very hard. I arrived at the race to watch the end of the junior boys race which looked more like a criterium, with the front group being about 20 strong!. I again liked the course, there were some long fast straights with corners coming back on yourself. There were a lot of women today, 60 lined up. I got a great start and found myself in the front group on the likes of Hanka kupfernagel and Katie Compton’s wheels. Unfortunately I made the mistake of being last wheel and got stuck behind Mirjam Melchers who wasn’t so good on the technical pieces which slowed me down and I ended up loosing the wheel, I was left hanging about 8 seconds off the front group for the last three laps and I finished with a 7th place, my legs felt great and my confidence was improving.
Video from YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjHIXGpq1ks
Report - http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=cross/2008/dec08/GVAlazencrossloenhout08/GVAlazencrossloenhout083
Teuveren-4/01/09
Another good day out for me here. I loved the circuit again; it was a hard course with a little drag after the start finish area as well as some tricky little pieces in the woods to contend with. I had a good battle with Helen Wyman and Pavla Havlikova , we were fighting it out for 3rd place. We all came in to the last corner and Helen was just in front, I ended up focusing too much on the third place when I should of thought about getting forth and Pavla came round me in the finish so my position was 5th.
By this point everything was going well toward the National Championships this is when 2 days after this race I came down with a chest infection, I went to the docs and was put on a 7 day course of antibiotics, I travelled home as planned on the Wednesday as I hoped I would be feeling well enough to race by Sunday but It wasn’t to be and ended i up spending the whole time I was home in bed. I was very disappointed, I really wanted that jersey but it looked like I would just have to wait till next year for that.
My next plan was to get recovered and well enough to be able to compete in Roubaix world cup which was the following weekend. During this week I was told I would be going to the world championships due to my results over Christmas which I was made up with, it was 3 weeks away which just about gave me enough time to get my racing legs back.
Report - http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=cross/2009/jan09/tervuren09
Roubaix World cup 18/01/09
After 5 days back on the bike, I was on the start line in Roubaix. I didn’t feel sick at all now, but was still coughing quite a bit of rubbish up from the infection. This circuit was completely different to the ones I had last done over Christmas. The weather had gone much milder and it was pouring buckets of rain. The course was very muddy and I knew it was going to be a tough day; however it was a fantastic course with the start and finish being on the famous Roubaix track. My start was great, but then I just lost some time toward the end with having lost some of my top end from the time I had off. I finished 20th position today, which doesn’t sound so good but from the way I had felt that time the week before I was satisfied with the race and looked forward to getting back with some hard training for the world championships.
Video YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MvsF7futYQ
Report - http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross/2009/jan09/worldcup8_09/?id=results/worldcup8_093
Zonnebeke & Wilrijk 24/25th January
I skipped going to Milan world cup this weekend, I thought it was a lot of travel for one week before the world championships and also I couldn’t really justify going as the amount of uci points wouldn’t really change my positioning for the start grid at the worlds.
I had two solid days racing with the junior boys, both very hard going courses with a lot of running, the weather was wet and I came away happy to have the races in my legs and now feeling like me on the bike again ready for the following weekend.
World Championships Hoogerheide Holland 1/2/09
I travelled to Bosschendhoff on the Thursday before the championships which is where the team hotel was, around 20 minutes from Hoogerhiede, I was very happy because since the previous weekends racing, the weather had turned much colder and the ground was now frozen, so instead of me thinking the race was going to be a mud fest with a lot of running, now it was going to be very fast. Which I think was great for me going back to how I was going in the fast races after Christmas.
I had a few good days on the course training before Sunday’s race and I loved the circuit, it was great for a championships. I wasn’t so nervous before the start to be honest, I just tried to treat it as another race, although when I seen the amount of people as I stood on the start line I realised this wasn’t just another race it was the world championships!
I was gridded at the back on the left. As I stood waiting for the traffic lights above to turn green I focused on the race ahead. I got a good start……until the first corner ,by this point I had passed a lot of girls on the right and coming in the first corner I was around the top 10, then some girls came down and I was right behind them I had no where to go but on the floor. I didn’t panic and I quickly got back up, got my bike out of the tangle and carried on, by this point nearly everyone had came passed me and now it was a case of chasing hard and passing as many girls as I could. By the end of the 2nd lap I was in 12th position and I could see the main group of 11 in front of me only 100m or so. I was trying so hard to get up to the group but on my own with a headwind it was very hard. I gave it everything in the race and the atmosphere and amount of people that were cheering me on was crazy. I came away with a 14th place in my first world cross championships which I was very happy with, but also came away with thinking what if…. If I hadn’t of crashed in the first corner, I think maybe I could have been with the group just in front.
I stayed to watch the men’s race afterwards and it was brilliant there were literally thousands of people watching. I had a great weekend.
Thank you for everyone who was supporting me J.
Video youtube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaiG1VXLw2k
Report- http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross/2009/jan09/CXworlds09/?id=results/CXworlds093
I now have three big cross races left in Lille, Heerlen and Oostmalle, and also I’m planning on doing het volk on the road before a good rest.
Here are some interviews and reports with me from the world championships
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/cyx/News2009/20090204_nikki_harris_interview.asp
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/gbr/EventReports2009/20090201_cyclo_cross_worlds_day2.asp
pics on www.nikkiharris.co.uk
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
At last...... A WIN !
I’ve been wanting a win all year, I have raced a lot in Belgium and Holland and always come close but hadn’t got that illusive top spot on the podium, which I wanted so much. It was at a road race in Wilrijk, Belgium where I got my win.
The race started out and it was a typical Belgium race, twisty roads, mainly flat with a bit of a drag around the back which really got to your legs after a few laps. There were around 70 riders which set out for the 18 lap 90km race.
The first few laps were quite negative, people would attack but with everyone so fresh I knew nothing would go, I sat in near the front and tried not to make any massive efforts. I was sat on the side of the bunch just behind the Belgium National Champion Ilse Geldhof, I could see her flicking through the gears and I could tell she was going to attack, I went with her, we got a gap of about 150 metres but down the back of the course It was very fast and it ended up coming back together with a few serge’s from the peleton behind. I decided to take a breather and just be patient.
The next couple of laps I just watched at the front, to see who was attacking , chasing etc. It was with 12 laps to go I made a do or die move, the pace had been high and a few attacks had gone and come back it was then I decided to attack out of a corner through a twisty section of the course. I sprinted flat out and got a gap of around 200m I looked behind to see everyone sit up and look at each other, I knew with a little gap and some speed I could pull out a bit of a lead, a lap later and I was still out on my own, the lead car had come past me. I looked behind to see a girl chasing me but I didn’t want to wait as if I did the peleton may have come back to us, she eventually got up to me and for the rest of the race we shared the work and ended up getting a lead of over 2 minutes. The legs we screaming and with 4 laps to go my team manager passed me up a bottle of coke which was great, it just gave me that last little bit of energy I needed to keep digging in on the front. I attacked with about 350m to go and crossed the line with my hands in the air, I was so made up and happy with the way that I had won, we were over a minute in front of 3rd place isle geldhof and 2 minutes in front of the peleton. My dad was also there, he had came over to watch me for the weekend so I was made up to have won when he whilst he was there watching.
I had a break at the end of August and since then I have been preparing for the cyclo- cross season where I’m planning to stay in Belgium and hopefully compete at the top level in world cups and super prestige’s, this is definitely the place to be for the cyclo cross season and it’s the first time I will be taking it seriously since I was a junior so I cant wait. I’m sure I will get a good kick-in at first but if I want to improve this is where I have to be!
Thank you to everyone that has supported me this year, you know who you are.
Friday, September 05, 2008
POwerCranks
How long does it take a bike rider to recover from 2 broken legs? Last November Matt Brammeier a cyclist from Liverpool picked a fight with a truck whilst out training. Unfortunatly the truck won and Matt had both of his legs broken!
3 months later and he was back on the bike, 5 months and he was racing and just 7 months until his first win! How does that sound!
After a lot of hard work Matt was looking for that extra bit of help from whatever he could get. He had heard about a new training aid PowerCranks and thought he would give them a go.
He was lucky enough to be supplied with a set of Powercranks too see if they could help!
Congratulations on your first win and your comeback so far, are you happy with it?
Yes, for sure. After what happened in the winter I just wanted to get injury free and enjoy racing and riding my bike for the year.
You’ve done a bit more than get back on the bike?
Yeah I’ve done alright I suppose, I won my 3rd race a couple of weeks back, which is 1 more than last year so I cant complain.
So, you were supplied with some PowerCranks? How did you hear about them?
I was recommended to use them by a friend and Physio, and as soon as I looked into them I knew I had to get some.
Why?
I broke my left femur, so I couldn’t put any weight on it for a long time so there was a lot of muscle wastage not only in my leg but my hip muscles too. These muscles are really hard to work, so the PCs made me work specific areas more than I could have before.
What are they? What do they do?
They are basically 2 independent cranks. They don’t allow you to cheat when your pedalling. They work the muscles that you wouldn’t normally as much on normal cranks and help with your pedalling.
What were your first impressions of the cranks?
They day I got them they were straight onto my bike, they were real easy too fit and only took 10 minutes or so. I thought I would be able to ride them right away so set off out on the road. I got about 5 pedal revs down the road and had to turn back! They were hard work! All my weaknesses became obvious in a matter of seconds.
So where are you at with the “PowerCranking” now?
I’ve worked up to be able to ride them for about 40 mins max. Most of my training on them is to work my left hip muscles though so it doesn’t take long for me to fatigue and have to stop.
So you think they are helping?
Yes 100%. I ride my normal bike on the road and don’t feel a thing in my hips. 5 mins on the PCs and my hip in burning!
Will you continue to use them after your injuries are all fixed up?
Yes defiantly, I’m going to set up a PowerCrank bike and try to use it as much as I can. They teach you how to get the most out of your pedalling. Normally we only put power out through 70% of the pedalling circle. So if I can use 100% surly it will make me faster!
Does anyone else you know use PowerCranks?
Not personally but a lot of the top pros are using them season long. There’s a full list on the www.powercranks.com
So, what are your plans for the rest of the year?
I saw my Physio last week for the first time in a while. Lets just say she gave me a kick up the arse! I’ve got a long way to go to get back to 100% so a long winter of hard work I think!
Thanks Matt, and good luck for the rest of the year !
