Happy New Year!
How did I ring in the new year? Watching euro CX videos. Pretty exciting, I know. Really, though, watching Nys race is instructive. The guy always seems to be in control. He's Mr Cool. Having his talent helps a person stay cool, I suppose.
If he gets a bad start he coolly moves through the field. If he puts himself in a small lead group of two or three, he will push the pace and maybe open a gap but its not uncommon for him to slide back again. Then, he will tuck in behind the guys who just had to chase him down and bide his time until his the next acceleration. He is just so patient.
Nys' attacks hardly seem like attacks. They just seem to materialize. If you were to make a comparison to road racers, he is not Pantani. There is no flair or panache. No out of the saddle theatrics. More often, he seems to be more in the mode of Indurain or Ullrich. The pace gets harder and harder. Soon he has a 5 second lead... 10 seconds... and the gap grows almost imperceptably. You look at the screen and think 'How did he get that lead?'
Speaking of Sven Nys, today was the GP Sven Nys race. There has to be a little pressure being entered in a race named after you as if you are a living legend. Naturally, he won solo after a first lap attack. Dominating.
He hasn't been as dominating this year but he seems to be rounding into really good form one week before the Belgian Championships. Wellens was ill today so Sven's odds of winning got a boost today. That leaves Vervecken and Albert as the next most likely contenders.
The bad news comes when the World Championships roll around. Sven is almost sure to find a way and not win that weekend.
Enough of that stuff. As planned I knocked out a couple hours on the trainer this morning. Nothing specific. Steady big ring pedaling is all. I felt average. My legs got heavy during the last half hour. Like Sunday, my ribs bugged me a bit.
How did I ring in the new year? Watching euro CX videos. Pretty exciting, I know. Really, though, watching Nys race is instructive. The guy always seems to be in control. He's Mr Cool. Having his talent helps a person stay cool, I suppose.
If he gets a bad start he coolly moves through the field. If he puts himself in a small lead group of two or three, he will push the pace and maybe open a gap but its not uncommon for him to slide back again. Then, he will tuck in behind the guys who just had to chase him down and bide his time until his the next acceleration. He is just so patient.
Nys' attacks hardly seem like attacks. They just seem to materialize. If you were to make a comparison to road racers, he is not Pantani. There is no flair or panache. No out of the saddle theatrics. More often, he seems to be more in the mode of Indurain or Ullrich. The pace gets harder and harder. Soon he has a 5 second lead... 10 seconds... and the gap grows almost imperceptably. You look at the screen and think 'How did he get that lead?'
Speaking of Sven Nys, today was the GP Sven Nys race. There has to be a little pressure being entered in a race named after you as if you are a living legend. Naturally, he won solo after a first lap attack. Dominating.
He hasn't been as dominating this year but he seems to be rounding into really good form one week before the Belgian Championships. Wellens was ill today so Sven's odds of winning got a boost today. That leaves Vervecken and Albert as the next most likely contenders.
The bad news comes when the World Championships roll around. Sven is almost sure to find a way and not win that weekend.
Enough of that stuff. As planned I knocked out a couple hours on the trainer this morning. Nothing specific. Steady big ring pedaling is all. I felt average. My legs got heavy during the last half hour. Like Sunday, my ribs bugged me a bit.
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