The year 2016 is marked by the most important sporting event in adaptive cycling, the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. All paracyclists who participate in UCI International Cycling Union events and achieve good results contribute UCI points to their country. Depending on the number of points achieved for Spain, certain places will be assigned to Rio.
Spanish men’s paracycling has achieved 8 places for Rio, which will be distributed between track and road cyclists, and among all the adapted cycling specialties that exist such as blind tandems, bicycles, tricycles, handbikes…etc. Handbikes do not compete on the track, losing medal options compared to other specialties that can qualify for both (track and road), therefore the classification of a handbike for Rio is very, very difficult… or are you in a position to compete? medal or it is not possible to attend the Olympics.
My goal for 2016 is to participate in high-level international competitions and see what medal options I can have. As a litmus test, he decided to attend the first adapted Cycling World Cup of the year, which was held in Pietermarizburg, South Africa, on May 6-7-8.
A long time trial with accumulated gradients, along with a tough road test along steep slopes, made it an ideal World Cup for my characteristics.
Flying to South Africa requires several air stops since there is no direct flight from Spain. Leaving Barcelona in the afternoon, stopping in Paris, we arrived in Johannesburg early in the morning. Here we had to take another flight to Piertermarizburg but it would be more than 24 hours of travel and we decided to spend a night in a hotel and travel the next day, by rental car, the 480km that separated us from the race site. A trip beating that leaves the siren forces.
My highest expectations in South Africa were placed on the Time Trial test, to be held on Saturday, May 7 at 2 p.m. A total of 18.45 km and steep slopes. After recognizing the route several days before, analyzing the dangerous curves and where I should push, my impressions were positive although I expected a little more unevenness. The list of entries was not extensive and although some of the best handbikers in my category were missing, there were riders who I had never beaten, such as former World champions or Paralympic medalists. The goal of the medal was more than difficult but I was going to fight for it.
The day before the time trial I rested quite well, which was difficult since my nerves normally get to me. The day dawned sad, somewhat rainy but it got better as the hours passed. Set the roller to warm up 45 minutes before my departure. My feelings the days before the race had been good, reaching optimal watt thresholds, enjoying the hard slopes, recovering perfectly. Depending on how hot I am, I know if the time trial will be good or not. This day my feelings were somewhat worse than the previous days. I try to push away these negative thoughts, “it’s nerves, I tell myself, everything will be fine.”
I started strong but without going overboard, I calculated that the time of the best time trialists would be around 30 minutes, too long to waste energy at the beginning. As soon as you leave, a constant slope begins, long but without excessive unevenness.
I had to travel 18.45km, 3 laps of a route of more than 6.15 km. Before completing the first lap, the former world champion, the Austrian Walter Ablinger, who was starting 1 minute behind me, had reached me. When a rival overtakes you, spirits go down but I tried to think that I always finish better than I started, “come on, there is still a lot of time left.”
My sensations were worse than in previous days and it was difficult for me to maintain the watts I had established. I rode the second lap better, I found that good rhythm that allows you to have a high pulse and a good feeling. I knew that in the third I had to give everything and so I did. I finished the last few kilometers with everything I had, drawing strength from where there was no energy.
I did each lap in around 11 minutes, at more than 32.5km/h. With a final time of 33:21 minutes. I was very average but I was not satisfied. The average watts were lower than other time trials I’ve done and this year I was prepared to surpass my average power. Somewhat disappointed and with a sad face, I went straight to the roller to deheat. While I was pedaling on the roller, I was reflecting on what had happened, “maybe I have lost power on the downhills,” I told myself, when suddenly, I heard my name over the public address system. I didn’t pay attention to it since I thought they were talking about the participants, but when I heard it for the third time, I got nervous and asked them to come and see the results.
A very fair result but one that rewards my work and effort throughout the year. Far from the first by more than 3 minutes and very close to the 4th classified, only 14 seconds difference and the 5th to 22 seconds. The goal was achieved and my joy was enormous.
After a day with great emotions, that is when it is most difficult for me to sleep. The next day I had the road test, 49.2 km, 8 laps of the previous day’s route. I had to rest to perform, it is difficult for me to recover when I give everything. At 6:00 in the morning the alarm clock rang.
On Sunday, May 8, at 10:45 a.m. the start of the road test took place. It was raining. Running in the wet is very dangerous for any bicycle and even more so for a handbike that only has a single brake on the front wheel. Bad day and almost 50 km and almost 600 meters of positive elevation await me.
I don’t like the starts I usually make since I always lose my head in the race in the initial starts. My approach: go out to the maximum and maintain the wheel of the best, to try to overtake direct rivals at the end of the event and once again compete for the medal.
The call camera places me on the first starting line after placing third in the time trial the previous day. Greeting left and right. There is silence and the countdown. She started with unusual force. I am positioned in first place in the group. I imagine that soon my rivals will pass me and that is when I must keep their wheels. Nobody passes me. I go like a motorcycle. I enter the first corner 400 meters from the exit in first position. The slope begins and he decided to open me up to make way for some relief.
The relief arrives, but it is a devastating relief. I’m up to my ears in lactic acid and my arms can’t handle it anymore. I try to keep the wheel, I manage it for a few meters but that is not my rhythm. I struggle to maintain the wheels but I am not capable and little by little an unbridgeable gap opens up with the rivals. Decided to pace myself. «Regulate the intensity, there is a lot of racing left, you always go from less to more,» I tell myself. Although the reality is that I have lacked experience, exhausted, I have not known how to regulate my strength in important moments.
From these moments, a lot of nonsense appears that irreparably distances the medal. After a few kilometers, my right leg falls out from under the front bumper. My foot rubs on the ground when cornering to the right. I look for a place to stop, it must be close to someone who will put my leg in its place and on the downhill to launch the handbike again. I see some spectators and pull on the brakes to stop. The ground is wet and causes braking for 15 meters where I slide across the asphalt without being able to stop. They come to me and position my right leg. I start hard and after a few kilometers, on another speed bump, my right leg comes off again. I pedal a few kilometers taking precautions when turning to the right. After a while, I look at my right knee and see that it is stained with grease. The chain is rubbing on my knee causing an injury. I stop the handbike, open the belt, sit up, loosen the knee straps to let them fall, reposition my leg and start off. After a while the right leg is back under the defense and I only think about finishing as soon as possible so that the knee injury does not get worse. Make sure no rivals come from behind and with my right leg out of place, I finish as dignified as I can.
I always try to control all aspects of the handbike to avoid problems like today. I don’t know if the wet rain loosened the tension on the straps where I support my feet or by rushing off the roller the day before, I released tension in the supports. The issue that the road test was a real nonsense.
I am always better at time trials than road tests. I compete better against myself than against rivals. Despite the problems on the route, I ended up very satisfied with the participation in South Africa. I had achieved my goal, taking home a World Cup medal.
Thank you to all the sponsors who have made my presence in South Africa possible. Thanks to all of you who encourage me, I receive your strength and energy to continue achieving good results. Everything is possible. WANTING IS POWER.
