It’s 7 am and I am awake, not sure I can call it rested. My alarm is set for 7:30 so no reason to not stay awake. Back home we have an antique gas stove from my grandparents, sentimental remembering, I don’t do much sentimental, but that’s our homelife. This tiny kitchen has an espresso machine, a microwave, a kettle, a toaster and a two-burner electric cook top. I am just challenged to turn the cooktop on. Seems every day a different sequence of buttons needs to be pushed to get it going and I keep asking myself, how do I turn this thing on? Thanks to You Tube I get it going and I have a fried egg sandwich and pain/bread x 3, with peanut butter, jam for breakfast.
Off to the track and the good news is I am getting the route sorted to a point where I don’t need navigation, well not much navigation, some around the construction. At the track, I think I have registration sorted and I will be able to race. I’m not sure but Sebastion says the web rider list will update soon after I am checked in and officially registered on Saturday. I am still a bit worried but there is not much more I can do.
My trainer session is at 10-11 today so out I go. 50/16 to start on the portable trainer I brought along. This time I am trying out a new Feedback Sports trainer versus the old 10” wide Krietler rollers I usually bring. The feedback is slightly lighter and a bit more stable as I haven’t used my skinny Krietler set for a bunch of years. The new set up is ok but has zero resistance built in so I really am not sure it is worth the effort, but I am hoping it is. Just to keep my stress level up, my SRM PC8 bike computer is giving me problems, it won’t start. I go through all my known PC8 resets and eventually get it sorted, I think. I brought my Stages bike computer along as a backup and it seems to work. Like a lot of bike riders and racers, data is important not while racing but after for analysis so not having it work is just another little annoyance. Onto the track for 10-15 minutes with a 50/16 warm up gear which seems easy as it should be for a warmup gear. The PC8 is still not synching to sensors so a few laps on the slow roll lane as I sync it to all the sensors, dang! Onto the track for about 10 minutes, back in to change to the rear Zipp with a 14-cog race gear which is feeling better. I am feeling like I can drive this gear. Back in again to put the Comet rear disc race wheel and 14 cog on which is still feeling ok. I tried 2 hot sprint lane laps felt ok and fun and then chased some pacelines, mostly ok catching them but they are younger racers so I can’t stay with them for long. I’m back in again, on trainer with 14 cog for 5 minutes to ease my legs down. This was my last training session with my races planned to start on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
It’s a bit of a casual day for me so time to pack up hoping to get to the pâtissier for a lunch sandwich and 2 treats and then back to the lodging to eat. Into bed for a nap. Slept good, 2 hours. I’m awake, groggy but feeling better after my nap. I never take naps, so this is just unusual! Shower, off to Opening Ceremonies that are scheduled for tonight. The last time I remember being at a ceremony was in Portugal, 2010 and that was impressive. Let’s see what this will be. Well, the Ceremonies was a handful of UCI officials, showing 10-15 attendees the tunnel of Look bike hardware and talking about the velodrome in French so not a lot of interest to me. I guess official big deal opening ceremonies are no longer something that attracts attendance. I’m a bit sad about that but times change.
I wanted to install a new battery in my power meter before racing started but I neglected to pack the tiny screwdriver I needed. So much for thinking I packed everything I needed. I’m not sure if I have ever been to a big National or international event without a hardware store visit and it looks like Roubaix will be another normal. Navigation in the car found me a DIY store and after wandering the whole store I found the tiny tool department and found a screwdriver that hopefully will work. The place is near Auchan shopping mall where I seem to find all the things I need. I am happy that this shopping area is very close to the track and my lodging.
Time to call it a day, I drove back to lodging. Somehow got the cooktop to work again, just kept pushing controls until I got a burner going, not sure how. Pasta night with some extras from my grocery buy, not very fancy but nutritious.
Wind down time catching up on today’s blog doc, watching some You Tube on my iPad. The “not so big” lodging TV is very basic, seems to be the new rental way. There is no viewing apps installed, just a TV that each renter needs to log into their own accounts or try and stream from your device to the TV, but this one is quite cheap and not cooperating so entertainment via iPad is going to have to do. I am hoping to sleep well, it’s been 4-5 days so I should be acclimating to the time change soon. Just before bed, 9:00 p.m. I get official emails announcing protocols and communiques listing official registration and number pickup is open from 10:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Communiques are arriving at some awkward times, but at least I am getting them so there is hope for me getting officially registered.
If you want to catch up on some of the pics and video, click the link below for Friday’s gallery or, as always, MENU, top right, scroll to the bottom of the list.