Been a while since I last blogged, so apologises. Had a fair few races in the meantime which included a freezing, rain soaked pro kermesse, couple of normal kermesses and a double weekend racing in France. The legs have been feeling good and I’ve been hanging in the mix. Closest I came to a win so far was an U23 Kermesse in Zwijnaarde. But not close enough. Legs are getting better each week though so I’m hopeful that things will come together. The French weekend was cool. Rode 2 elite national races in Brittany. They were tough races going over very undulating and hilly roads, with tough finishing circuits. Both races being the usual 160km ish mark.

Riding out to the start of the Boucles Guegonnaises

We kind of stuffed up the Saturday race (Prix Gilbert Bousquet) after a big season ender of a crash went down 7km after the start. Bunch split in pieces and we ended up having to take responsibility for the chase for most of the race. The front group of 15 riders that went away at the crash were never seen again and that was that. Bit of a bizarre one. The Sunday race (Boucles Guegonnaises) was a good one. With 220 starters over French roads it was pretty nervous and chaotic at the start.

I stayed out of trouble and kept my legs fresh for the finishing circuits where the race would surely be decided. Felt good on the climbs and entering circuits was feeling good with 50km to go. Went with a few moves as was sure it would split but nothing was going. Gave it one last ditch sneaky attack when everyone else sat up. Felt like it had potential but we were brought back. So from there with about 10km to go my legs blew to pieces and I rolled over the finish in the bunch. I was happy because i’d given it everything I had and I like that feeling. Would of liked to have had something left to give Chris a lead out for the bunch finish but oh well, he should be more complimentary of my cooking in future! Haha. He got 14 in the end which was a solid result. I must say we actually stayed in an awesome French hotel with, for once, awesome food. I was in Heaven! I had 4 puddings and so much mains from the buffet that I was man down for quite a while. Was a bit of an epic drive back home through the night, always a fun experience. Next races coming up for me are a hilly Kermesse this weekend, 2 days of Gaverstreek (a hilly 2 day stage race pretty local to me), then the Cote Picardie and ZLM nations Cups. Should be good!
Life in the house is good. My spinach is sprouting, I am the now chief gardener. We have also worked out how to play our ipods through the 2 old massive speakers… I feel pretty sorry for the neighbours as Mike has now bought a subwoofer as well! My cooking is going strong as usual and I actually made a spag bog that didn’t look grey yesterday. Weather has been sublime, which made for an awesome rest day in Gent soaking up the sun in the cafe. Can’t beat it. Also managed to earn some money the other day. Me and the guys went down and rode our bikes for some tv commercial. Just rode up and down some cobbles for the cameras whilst all these extras cheered us on… it was a bizarre bizarre experience. But got paid 50 euros for 2 hours work haha! Beauty! I have also reached a new low in how ruthless I am at shopping. Yes, I have been eating and buying horse from lidl. Its cheap, its tasty and it feels so wrong. Also been on the 1 euro for 300g of liver hype, which leaves my housemates horrified.

I'm sure this guy was at the RAS

There will be more sophisticated blogging and English grammar from me shortly,
Cheers Conor

Well it’s been a long year that seems to have gone in the space of a few days. Bizarre feeling really. I have my last race on Sunday, a 32km TTT, which is part of the Belgium Topcompetition series. Then I’m off home with Dad in the trusty Volvo.  Going to be a bit strange going back but I’m looking forward to some good food, clean house and seeing my friends again!!.

September has been quite a fun month on the bike really. Matt’s old friend Tommy Nankervis came over from his American team and stayed with us while he rode the Pro-Kermesses. Was good having some more company than we were expecting because I think me and Matt would have gone mad had it been just me and him. The other guys had all gone home earlier in the month. Was a sad occasion; after living with someone for so long it is definitely a bit weird when they go. I ended up riding a few Pro Kermesses myself just for the fun. Was cool getting to ride with some big names in the pro peloton! I had a stage race in France the end of the month (Tour de Moselle) which was a 3 day, 4 stage race. Felt the strongest on the climbs I’ve been all season and there were some pretty big climbs in there! Turned round one corner and we went straight up what was like a never ending wall. Couldn’t help but say ‘ohh shit’ when I saw it! Ended up 60 overall in that and brecht from our team got 2 on the first stage and 6 overall so a good result for the team. Chilled out a bit after that race because I was pretty well shot. My cooking also reached new lows in the coming weeks after this race as well. Was just about to finish up making my pasta when the fan above the oven caught fire and exploded due to much fat in the fan! Full house power cut, flames, smoke and cue the panic! I spent a good amount of time running in circles yelling ever swear word under the sun. Before someone made the decision to call the fire brigade, get our valuable and get the hell outta there. The fire brigade arrived in time and put the thing out with only the cabinets above the oven and the ceiling across the kitchen destroyed. Big  relief. I was pretty devastated that dinner was wrecked to be honest but also a bit shaken up cause it was scary as!

I’m pretty proud of my season really. I didn’t achieve any wins or big stand out results but that was never in the plan. I put myself in a lot of different styles of racing, most of which didn’t really suit my best points as a rider but I definitely learnt a lot from those races and I feel I improved in those areas. I think most of all I just learnt how to look after myself on my own over here. I remember at the start of the year I was pretty stubborn in doing things my own way and Matt/Chris would always tell me to do things this way. I’d stick to my ways for a while before admitting defeat and quietly doing it the way they told me. Which was annoyingly always a quicker/easier way of doing things. There has been some good/funny times over here that I will remember for a long time. Been some moments where I have never laughed so hard in my life and then a week later I’d have laughed even harder and beaten the laughing record!

I’m pretty excited about next year now really. I’m super motivated for getting a good winter in then hitting the races in Belgium that I now have some knowledge about. Next years plan is different from this years one; I want to get some wins! I’m riding for the same team in the same house and I’m hoping the stability will benefit me. I’ve made some good friends over here this year and that has made me feel very at home, so I think that will also be a big help.

Well I’ll keep writing through the winter every now and again on how training goes and any funny stories provided by the myth, legend and hero that is Julie Dunne.

Thanks for reading and all the support I’ve had from my family and everyone back home. Would never have survived out here without you all!