Bored Ducks

Andrea sent me the link to post to the Schlapp blog. What was she thinking? Must be all the fresh air.

Anyway, I thought you might like to know what we were playing at in Bordeaux.

The Schlappers were represented by Ellen Hunter piloting Aileen '100% MBE' McGlynn and myself. Also in attendance was Jon 'Coaxing, not coaching' Norfolk, who was there to absorb the atmosphere and learn a bit more about this para-cycling thing. He has been a bit quiet ever since.

This is the second year that the champs have been affiliated to the UCI, so there were stripey jerseys up for grabs. Ellen and Aileen were there to defend their Kilo title from last year and were going to have a go at the pursuit (Para-cycling has an unusual points qualifying system for Beijing next year so the more events we do well in, the bigger the team.)

The kilo is their forte and after a false start (there were a few all round - the UCI are going to adopt start gates for the tandems from now on) they got the hammer down and a gold medal was the result. I think they were after a faster time but, considering having to do two starts, nobody is going to mind too much.

One rest day later they got up for the pursuit. Imagine the bemused smiles all round - a 16 second PB and fastest qualifier! Not bad at all considering they did not specifically train for it. Maybe it was the caffeine, or perhaps they have not been trying hard enough before? Or maybe it adds weight to the argument that track tandeming is more about strength than speed?

Anyway, once they had realised that they had at least a silver medal it was smiles all round. Then they went off for lunch (Ellen had more caffeine - always good for a laugh) and returned in serious mood, and it was clear that they were going for gold. Although their Aussie competition was not at it's best, Ellen and Aileen were still the underdogs, but they got an early lead and the Australian duo only managed to close the gap a little bit.

So, an unexpected gold for the girls and a tantalising glimpse of what they are capable of.

At this point it is only fair that I mention Jon Norfolk, who did a great job of coaxing Aileen in the run up to their rides. Cool, calm, collected and good with any coffee machine.

I was there with Barney Storey defending our kilo and sprint titles from 2006. We did, which was nice.

And Bordeaux? Full of French and you can't get a large cup of coffee for love nor money. The city centre is (the Aussies told me) very nice and the surrounding countryside is full of vineyards.

So there you have it. Another two minutes of your life you won't get back!