At the Eiffel tour watching the premier of Home

Riding down some street they call Champs- Elysees

Taking the car out for the first time I had to

quickly find cover as it started to hail

Paris - Rouen

White Cliffs of Dover

Driving a left hand drive car in England where

they drive on the left hand side can be interesting.

The Past Month and a Bit

Well as you can tell I am very inconsistent with this blog, so sorry for that. The last month has been a bit up and down with me getting sick a few times. But if there was a time for me to get sick and have a bit of down time now is the time as there hasn't been a lot of racing. This is due to the regional and national championships going on throughout June, which I am not able to race in.

Also in the last few weeks I have hired a little Fiat Panda that is great even if butterflies can out strip it. On my first outing with it I drove to Calais and then got the ferry across to Dover, England where I met up with some friends for a few days which was really good fun. The first morning I was there I went and got a nice fully cooked English breakfast, so good.

I have been told just recently that I will be riding the Tour of Guadeloupe that is just of the coast of Venezuela from the 7th - 16th August. We will be flying in on the 6th and out on the 18th which will be really cool as I will have my 21st the day after the finish of the race.

Matt

Paris - Rouen

With a good weeks rest after 3 hard one day races the previous weekend, I was feeling good and looking forward to Paris-Rouen.

Paris-Rouen is a very old race being the first cycling race between two cities. Back in the 1880's it would take the winner around 10hrs to finish and most of the other competitors over 24hrs. I am not sure why but they had two rules then and they were that you weren't allowed to take your dog and that you weren’t allowed to put any form of sail on your bike.

Anyway todays race is raced from just outside Paris, I am not sure of the village so we will just say that I was so focused on the race to notice and it finished with 3 laps of an 8km course in the centre of Rouen. This totalled 155km.

We rolled out at 2pm with a neutral of 5km before we were stopped for the offical start. Where they started the race you could see down the road as it was straight and maybe after a few hundred metres there was a sizeable hill. Sure enough as the gun went off for the start people started to attack and the peleton was in single file in no time at all. Luckily I was at the front of the peleton for the start and was in about 20^th wheel going up the climb. As we crested the hill a break of about 10 skipped away. Not long after that I joined them as some one had attacked and I just jumped onto their wheel. The break now being 12 after only 5km started to work pretty well together as all the main teams were well represented. Within the first 50km we gained an advantage of 3.30min and it was still going out. Then after about 70km the official's car pulled up in front of us and tried to make us stop which really confused me. All the others in the break just rode around the car and continued on so I just followed them and then the car came up beside us and started to argue with a couple of the riders. By now I was totally confused. After a very heated agument the car pulled back in behind us and let us continue on our way. I decided to go back to our car and get a few biddens and ask our director what was happening as he spoke English. They said that the peleton had stopped chasing. This seemed quite wierd to me as there was still 90km to go. It was not til after the race that I found out that the lead motor bikes had taken the peleton the wrong way which cost them maybe a minute or two.

So the break just rode along easily and we continued to get time gaps that went from 5minutes to 13minutes and then 21 minutes. With around 40km to go the first attack from our group was launched but nobody really went after him for about 10km preferring to leave him out there for awhile. It was not until we hit a hill that I attacked the group and rode away quickly catching and riding past the solo rider that had been hovering around 20seconds ahead of our group. I had a nice gap of around 30 sec on about 4 riders one being from my team coming into the start finish line where I was given 3 laps to go. Straight after the start finish line I turned right into a 2km hill which I knew as I had taken the opportunity to ride it a couple of days before. I knew that I just had to keep a nice even pace for the first 80percent of the hill and then really dig deep for the last bit of the hill. After the hill it flattened out for a couple of km before descending and then a slight rise for the last 500m to the finish. Now I had two laps to go and still felt pretty good. The gap now hovered at around 25 – 30 seconds for the second lap. Now on the final lap I just gave it my all up the hill. Getting to the top of the hill I now had a 40sec gap on the chasing group but I did not know who was in it or how many people were chasing. With 2km to go I knew it was my victory as I had 45sec. I ended up crossing the line 53sec ahead of second place which was taken by my team mate. So that capped of a good days race for me.

Strength or Stupidity

Yesterday I competed in the first of three one-day races that I have scheduled for this weekend. The race was called Grand Prix du Muguet, it was 110km road race consisting of 4 small laps each being 12.5km and 3 big laps of 20km with a steep hill of about 1km only 3 km into the lap.  As soon as the race was out of the neutral zone an escape of 5 riders formed gaining an advantage of around 30sec, after 10km I broke away from the peloton with Florent who is a team mate of mine and 3 other riders.  Within five kilometers of our group forming we caught the front, now with 10 riders in the break the time gap went out to and stayed at about 1.20 min. On the first of three big laps going up the climb I found myself with a small gap on the break. I decided to keep going and see what happened, by the time I was at the top of the hill I had taken the KOM points and had about a 20sec gap. I decided to take it one lap at a time as there was still 60km to the finish and I was by myself. For the next 40km I found a pace that I felt comfortable on and thought I would be able to hold for a prolonged period. Now that I had been away for 40km solo I had about a 1min gap on the break behind me. When I started the last lap with a 1 min gap I thought that it would be quite possible to stay away as I felt pretty good considering what I had done already.  With 10km to go the break behind me was caught by the peloton, I still had around 1min so pushing myself through the red zone I rode on, I knew that the peloton could quickly close a 1 min gap in 10km. Fortunately I held the peloton off and went across the finish in first place recording my first win of the season and also taking the KOM jersey. I am still unsure as to how I managed to pull this off as the odds of a single rider holding off a peloton for over 60 percent of the race coupled with the fact that I didn’t drink much throughout the race as I had taken water bottles that had pure cordial in are quite slim, but I will take it none the less.

   

French Cup Time Trial

Until 2 day before the time trial I was to ride a road frame that was converted to a time trial bike, then the team went out and bought me a brand new Pinarello FT1 time trail bike which was a big boost to confidence for the race, even though it shouldn't really have mattered. So I only got to do very minimal kilometres on it before the race and looking back at some of the photos now I can see that my position can be changed alot to get into a more aerodynamic position. It was a French Cup Time Trial which con-sistered of one 24 km lap that was undulating. On the day of the race I felt confidant of a good result as I had been over the course twice the day before and I felt it was a course that suited me well. The plan was to take it out strong but not to hard as I still needed to be strong for the last 8 km as it was a straight highway with a head wind to the finish line. Just before I left a time of 31.01 min had been set by a french rider as the fastest time. With in the first few km of the start my legs had already started to feel quite heavy and I had not even hit the gas hard yet, so this wasn't a good sign to start. When I approached the first of 2 hills I went to change down form the big chain ring to the small one, as I did this the chain was flung straight off which cost me a few seconds as I fixed it. Then at the top of the hill I went to change to the big chain ring but it just didn't want to do it so I had to use my fingers. So the first 10 km didn't go to well but the rest of the course I felt quite strong and even over took the person that went off in front of me after about 15km which was a good sign as we were 2 minutes apart. The final 3km was where I lost a lot of time as I died really quick even after I had been conservative though out the race. I finished in a time of 32.47 minutes, the winner ended up doing a time of 30.22mins.

Here is a link to my profile on the USSAPB web site;

http://www.ussapb.com/STEVE/COUREURS_2009/1ere_2eme_Categorie/KING%20Matt.htm

2nd Race, 2nd Place

Well it was another good Sunday for a race with the temperature maybe a bit cooler then what i would have liked, coming in at 11 degrees. The race was called Torigni sur Vire Maillot des Jeunes, the race consisted of 12 10km laps with 107 starters. As i was getting ready for the start of the race our director pulled me aside and said that for the first 3 lap he wanted me to attack and keep attacking until I got into an early break. So I did a good warm up as I prepared to attack from the gun. As it happened I attacked from the get go and stayed away for about 5km. Just before the pelaton caught me I started to have trouble breathing as my lungs had become irritated from the cold dry air because they wont use to it. So I retreat into the safety of the pelaton where I tried to recuperate. After about 30 km I was all good and ready to go again but unfortunately a break of around 11 riders had already form, so I was forced to take turns with my team mates at covering any other breaks that might try to form as we had one rider in Kenji away in the break.
With 40km to go a 2 man break got about half way to the lead group with Florent who is a team mate of mine again about half way between the pelaton and the 2 man break. I basically just rolled off the front of the pelaton and when I had about 50m I put the hammer down and went for it quickly catching Florent. We then preceded to work together and catch the 2 man break and then just before we got 3 laps to go our group of 4 had caught the lead group. Now with 14 in the lead group including three from my team about half of the 14 started to swap off as the others had some sort of excuse why they could not work. Anyway after crossing the line and getting the 2 laps to go sign we had put over 2min into the pelaton. Now It was time for tactics to come in to play. With Florent only knowing a bit of English, Kenji who is Japanese not knowing french or English and myself only knowing a bit of French we had a hard time deciding what to do as we were forced to use sign language to communicate. anyway some how we agreed on a plan and it was that 1 would attack and as soon as he was brought back the other would attack and so on till one would stick. This went on for about half a lap until myself and another guy ended up getting away on the hill. we swapped of together till we got the bell lap because Kenji and another rider had just joined us. now we were a group of 4 with about a 40sec gap on the chasing group. Kenji and I went back to attacking one after another until with 4 km to go I broke free with one of the riders. At the 2km to go sign going up a short hill the other rider attacked me, I tried to get onto his wheel but my legs started to cramp, however as I got over and crested the hill on to the flat I started to reduce the gap and finally caught him with 1km to go where I decided to sit on him and attack him with 500M to go. unfortunately I was not strong enough and he came round me with 250m to go and I had to settle with 2nd which I was still very pleased with considering it was my second race for the year. Kenji ended up just getting out sprinted for 3rd.
My next race will be this Saturday being a French Cup Time Trial of 25km, so I am looking forward to that.

DirectVelo.com

While looking on directvelo.com, which is a website for all French cycling news I have come across an article that was written about me. I have translated it, but if you fancy reading it in French here is the link:

http://www.directvelo.com/direct-velo/actualites/2479/un-espoirs-australien-a-pavilly-barentin.html

Australian Matt King was hired in early March with the USSA Pavilly Barentin, learned www.directvelo.com. This specialist TT rider, who will celebrate his 21 birthday this year, last year wore the colors of the Continental team SouthAustralia.com. In 2008 Matt King won the u23 Australian time trial championships and placed second in the u23 Australian road race championships. He also ranked 3rd in the Tour of Berlin gerneral classifcations and 4th on stage 5 of the Ronde de l'Isard Tour in France. In 2007, King won the time-trial of Thuringen Rundfahrt where he outpaced Jorg Lehmann, Jérôme Coppel and Tony Gallopin who all now race with professional teams.

"We were looking for a rider to replace Fabien (Taillefer). We did'nt find anyone in France, so we looked abroad and we had the opportunity to hire Matt" told the director www.directvelo.com sports club Normano Laurent Genty. The Australian raced Club last Sunday DN1 Montataire (Oise). A test of all categories where he took third place. He will be racing the French Cup Time Trial on the 4th April, where his name can be added to the list of contenders for the victory.

Not a Bad First Race

On the day that marks 3 weeks since my arrival in France I finally got to ride my first race. The race was 7 laps of an 18km circuit which had a 1km hill half way around, with the feild numbering 177.
With an early break away of 5 forming in the first 20km there was not a lot for me to do except to sit in the peloton and cover any more breaks that might eventuate as I had a team mate in the breakaway. Unfortunately with 50 km to go the break was stopped at a train crossing allowing the peloton to catch up. 10km later a big break accrued with around 20 riders in it. We had 2 riders in this which really wasn’t very good. So as we came to the hill and 30 km to go I attacked by myself and rode across the 40sec gap catching the break with just over 25km to go. Totally wrecked by my effort to get across, I sat on the back of the group to recover. As we came around for the bell lap and 18km to go, I continued to sit on the back of the peloton taking a turn every now and then. As we approached the hill I was feeling quite good again and lead the group up the hill. As we were about to crest the hill, Kenji, who was one of my team mates in the break, attacked with another rider. I continued on the front but dropped the pace significantly until some other riders decided to start chasing. I once again sat on the chasing bunch in case they caught Kenji so I would be fresh to attack if he was brought back. With 6km to go Kenji and the other rider had about 1min on our chasing group and we had about 1min on the peloton. At the 5km sign a lone rider attacked and got away so as the 4km sign approached I attacked with every bit of power I had left, I quickly got away from my group and could see the solo rider in front of me. As I came up behind him with just under 2km to go I tried to attack him but he quickly got on to my wheel. I then swung off and to my relief he pulled through and did a massive turn to get us to the 1500m to go sign where he pulled off and I attacked him once again. This time he was unable to get onto my wheel and I rode to the finish in third place getting within about 10sec of Kenji and his opponent. Kenji ended up winning the sprint between the pair.
So it turned out to be quite a good race for the team and also for myself as I surprised myself with how strong I was at this stage of my training block. I will be racing once again this coming Sunday the 29th which will be 12 laps of a 120km Circuit.

Week 1 in France

The first week of my season in France has come and gone without any problems. I arrived at the central train station in Rouen at 9pm Sunday night where Didier (who is the club president) welcomed me and drove me to Pavilly where the apartment is that I am living in. It is a comfortable 2 bedroom apartment which is in the center of Pavilly and as I write this while sitting in the lounge I turn my head to the left and look out the window on to the centre square and village church. I share the apartment with one of my team mates Thomas who is from Poland and speaks French and English flawlessly which is a blessing as he helps me out with my French allot. When I awoke to my first day in France I went straight to the local boulangerie (Bakery) and bought a baggett which was unbelievably good. After breakfast Thomas and I went a few km down the road to the club house where I picked up my new bike a BH G4 and the new clothing that I would be riding in. Over the next couple of days I went for a couple of short rides so that I could perfect my riding position and get use to the bike. Thursday I didn’t get a chance to get out on the bike as it rained and snowed for the majority of the day. I had planned that come Friday I would ride part the way to Dover, England and then jump on the train for the remainder of the trip as it’s a total of 240km. I left at 7 am as the sun was rising and the mercury still below 0 to be persist -2. I rode to Abbeville which was meant to be about 110km but ended up been 150km as I ended up getting lost a couple of times. So I had lunch in Abbeville and then jumped on a train to Calais and then a boat to Dover where I road to a friend’s house about 20km out of Dover. I stayed until Sunday where once again I left bright and early to catch the boat to Calais and a train on to Abbeville. I then rode back to Pavilly where I had a massive head wind all the way and an average speed of 21km/h. With about 20km to go I somehow ended up getting lost again and added an extra 30km onto the ride which took close to 7hrs. I have now just got back from testing at the local hospital as it is obligatory to have a vo2 test and other test to make sure you are able to race.

England

After spending a few days in Singapore with a friend walking around indulging in the local culture and generally haveing a great time, I have arrived in Dover, England. I will be spending this week here before I travell by train from Dover to Newhaven then hopping on a ferry to Dieppe which will take around 5 hrs and then finally catching another train to Pavilly, where the Journey will really start.

Flights Are Booked!!!

Its cutting it quite fine but I have finally booked my flights today and will be leaving Friday night and heading to Singapore for the weekend before flying on to London Sunday night. I will make my way down from London to Dover to see some friends for a couple of days before finally traveling on to Pavilly, France which is where my team, Saint- Austreberthe, is based and where I will be living for the next 7 or so months. 

Time Flys

This is a piece of footage from when I rode home from the crit on Thursday. It is filmed at 1 frame per second which means that 1 second of the video footage is equal to 25 seconds in real time. It was filmed by Micheal Hamilton.

Good Bye Adam

As Adam prepared to embark on his travels through Asia yesterday with his bike Andy, Malcom, Bill, Jenny Kia and I had one final chance to say good bye while having breakfast at the Cav. It was a sad moment to see him leave as he was always up for a coffee an breakfast after the mornings ride, sometimes just sitting there for hours chatting away. Dam Adam I am going to have to find another friend now.

Safe travels old man.

Welcome

Welcome to Matts blog which he has created for documenting his travelling and racing in Europe. He'll keep us all up to date with his adventures on and off the bike. Please feel free to make comments or questions.

Cheers

Jenny