Duo 2019 - A Riders Perspective
13th November 2019
Ryan, Lydia, Anita & JPB all ventured off to the Duo Normand this year, it was a personal aim for all of us throughout the year.
Lydia had only started cycling in October 2018 under the wings of Anita & John. From her first ride out to St.Catherine’s & Back in the dark (nearly having a heart attack) to riding the Duo Normand in September 2019.
Ryan only started to get back properly into cycling in February of this year, he had tried to get back into it every year he was out but never succeeded to keep his motivation up. Joining up with the crew (JPB’s Crew), he has since come back and is training regularly with a couple of aims throughout the year.
Anita rode the Duo for the first time with John in 2018 (In the pouring rain) and their aim this year was to beat their time, which they did! This was not at an easy task, there was a lot of training and commitment from them both and I remember hearing “I have never done this much training in all my life” which ended up being work it every bit.
Well John, John doesn’t need much of an introduction as he has been with the club a number of years and gets to know everyone. John pulled us three under his wings at different times but we have now got a nice little crew together who train 2,3 or even 4 times a week together.
As we were all cycling together we all agreed that the Duo would be our aim for the end of season.
Soooo…
The Duo weekend started with a quick(ish) ferry over to good old St.Malo where we travelled to John’s static home 40mins outside of St.Malo.
The next morning we travelled a couple of hours to Marigny where our hotel was based for the Duo the following day.
Race Day…
The weather was great, nice sunshine and a very light breeze. Ryan & Lydia started at the top of the ramp which was an achievement on its own as Lydia had never had a holding start but we made it off the ramp all safe and made our way around the course. The race was good and Ryan & Lydia worked well together keeping good communication. Ryan remembers that they both had a plan, Lydia would take the lead up the hills to keep the pace where she wanted it and Ryan would lead downhill so that Lydia would feel more comfortable on new roads. However 30mins into the race that was chucked out the window and Lydia felt more comfortable in-front on the downhill sections and was nailing it doing 30mph+, this lead to the pair getting into a comfortable momentum. Coming into the finish was fast, it didn’t help that 500m out they thought it was the finish line
Ryan & Lydia had an aim of 2hrs (On road bikes) which they made it in under, coming in at 1hr 50min, they were not aiming for a world record time but to complete Lydia’s first French based race and to enjoy it to motivate us both for future races!
Since coming back from the Duo the whole crew has kept up with their training and moving into the winter none of them see this changing.
Thank you to Velo Sport Jersey for their support.
