It's like buses
3rd again on Saturday at the Sant Joan sprint - the final in the Catalan series in the picturesque north of Catalonia near the Pyrenees. Luis Buscail, the Catalan champion made it look easy in first with Manu Juarez in second (both club Reus Ploms).
The first 5.5k was basically an up and down hill run, climbing 100m altitude over 2.5k. I got dropped by a fast running group of 4 but dug in to keep the gap at 15 secs going into transition. I was shattered going into the bike and struggled with my shoe change, the initial climb on the bike didn't help but i was fortunate to catch Joan Capdevila (2nd @ Banyoles last week) who also had problems with his shoes. We then quickly caught and dropped his teammate Jimenez and worked together well on the bike to try and close the gap to Buscail and Juarez. It was the first time someone has worked with me on the bike over here and it was a pleasant change. It developed into a two-up time trial against the Reus Ploms pair and we closed the gap from 40 secs to around 10-15 secs on the out and back 20k loop - a great atmosphere created by the dozens of roadside cafe drinkers and local farmers ringing their cowbells.
We ran out of ks on the bike though, and perhaps then a bit wary of each other, started the final 2,75k up and down run around 20 secs down. Climbing that hill again was sore but i steadily dug out a 25 second advantage to nab the final podium spot. The gap came down slightly to 2nd placed Juarez but Buscail again showed his class by running 27 secs faster than my next fastest run split for his 2nd consecutive win and the overall series.
Full results for the Catalan series available here.
The first 5.5k was basically an up and down hill run, climbing 100m altitude over 2.5k. I got dropped by a fast running group of 4 but dug in to keep the gap at 15 secs going into transition. I was shattered going into the bike and struggled with my shoe change, the initial climb on the bike didn't help but i was fortunate to catch Joan Capdevila (2nd @ Banyoles last week) who also had problems with his shoes. We then quickly caught and dropped his teammate Jimenez and worked together well on the bike to try and close the gap to Buscail and Juarez. It was the first time someone has worked with me on the bike over here and it was a pleasant change. It developed into a two-up time trial against the Reus Ploms pair and we closed the gap from 40 secs to around 10-15 secs on the out and back 20k loop - a great atmosphere created by the dozens of roadside cafe drinkers and local farmers ringing their cowbells.
We ran out of ks on the bike though, and perhaps then a bit wary of each other, started the final 2,75k up and down run around 20 secs down. Climbing that hill again was sore but i steadily dug out a 25 second advantage to nab the final podium spot. The gap came down slightly to 2nd placed Juarez but Buscail again showed his class by running 27 secs faster than my next fastest run split for his 2nd consecutive win and the overall series.
Full results for the Catalan series available here.
posted by stevenmac at 9:42 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home