Who is Morgan Lewis...?

Morgan Lewis is someone just like me and you.  Someone who rides the bike for pleasure not for profit.  Despite a personal family tragedy during his preparation for his event he battled on to bring us his funny, poignant and bitter-sweet adventure. 

These are all his own words and this is all his own story.  If this doesn't inspire you to take on a sportive, nothing will...

[To be spoken in a grave tone with excited twinkle in eye...]

I have done a mad thing. I am approaching only my 3rd year as a cyclist, with about 11 sportives behind me. I'm 42. I have never raced.

I have just signed up for the Giro de Sardinia, a 6-day stage race in April. I read the description and was captivated, smitten within minutes. It sounds unique - a stage race populated by riders ranging from semi-pros and ex-pros through to people like me - utter novice racers who fancy a crack (and probably will, on a daily basis).

I have a training plan and am working hard. Physically, I will be as prepared as I can be. Only time will tell how adequate that will be. My aim is to stay in the GC - ie, finish inside the cut-off time every day and complete the 6 days. I have never cycled hard for 6 consecutive days. I've never cycled at all for 6 consecutive days for goodness sake!

Knowing the level of the best riders I realise I will not see them apart from at the start, and at dinner, if they haven't finished dessert by the time I come in. Apparently, however, on each day the race tends to split into 3 large groups, so you can have your own mini-race within your group, including breakaways and sprints to the line. I hope I can stay in a group to see that happen - I think I'll have a lot of fun if I can do that.

I know I will be exposed to some serious suffering every day, but I don't mind that (he says from the comfort of his PC - what a hero). But what scares (and excites the nuts off) me is that I have never raced. I am reading as much as I can to acquaint myself with what I might expect, but I realise I will only know what it's like by doing it.

So... why the posting here? Well, I might benefit from some of you racing heads, past or present, to post some "If there's one thing you need to remember, it's..." advice. It could be a good read and may also have some transfer into the sportive scene.

Any tips on any aspect of my journey into the unknown will be very much appreciated, whether in terms of preparation, or for the event itself. Remember, I'm not going there to get a top-ten placing or anything above my station. I am going there to compete (with the people who are around the same level as me), but I also need to make sure I survive and come back saying I want to do it again because I enjoyed it so much.

Here's to having fun getting outside your comfort zone.

 

(Rather disturbing that in my excitement at that time I thought I'd signed up for a 6-stage race when in fact it's 7. Mmm, bodes well for pacing myself.)

 

What am I doing to prepare? As I write this, I have just had the week off work with flu/tonsillitis, so my training has gone on pause.

© Morgan Lewis 2008