hello people

well after aeasy week after france i had an epic Next race in the UK which everyone knows about, my form was good there so i was looking forward to the next Prem 'Chas Messenger 2 Day'
I managed a very poor 20th place overall and a 4th on the last road stage, the saturday road stage i felt terrible, no energy within my body and my left knee was aching for some reason, it had done so since my crash in france.
My head was rolling about and hanging on by a thread on saturday night, after a chat with the Boss Mr Herety, he told me it cant be good all the time and certain things you cant control tend to get to you, and they tend not to be cycling related.
A good sleep and i came out on sunday feeling a little fresher and managed a decent place but gained no time back as it was a bunch kick.

After a few days on the bike again and a little 2mm movement of my left cleat, yes 2mm thats all it seems to have been, my shoes feel like they are pedalling together again and my head seems to be attached again.

The good weather seems to help too 4 hours today (wednesday) in the peaks has been great, i even got the arm and leg warmers off.
Just hope the weather lasts til the weekend where we have the Lincoln GP, battle of the cobbles again..
Little Bro is flying again so see how this year pans out..

cy all there.
deano



hoping for better weather this weekend..

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hello people

yes i am back home after a few days well nearly 2 weeks in France, i was hoping to do a good ride in Tout du Loir et Cher after i surprised myself in Circuit Ardennes, with some strong riding..

Stage 1 ended in a bunch kick, i must have been a little out of practice..I paniced and hit out a little too early (250m) and in good company like there was, i was rolled 50m out from the line and took 4th on the stage.

Stage 2 was the big day out at 200km i havent raced over that distnace all of last year, it ended in a bunch kick again with the added rain falling, the last few km's were a little scary to say the least.
I ended up crashing twice in the last 5km, first straight on the grass avoiding falling riders, then sliding up the left side of the bunch after chasing back a mass pile up and i couldnt avoid it, so into a pile of bikes head first it was. I got up after checking myself out and i was fac ing the wrong way, big matt rowe was there too and towed me back to the bunch just as we rounded the last corner, man that boy has some Horse Power in his legs. Cut up knee, a head ache and a big chain ring mark on my left upper arm, i made it back to the hotel and it was ice all the way for me..

Stage 3 was a nightmare for my legs and hips, i couldnt hang on in the cross winds when the big teams went to the front and i lost some time, 14minutes to be exact. oh well for me, 4th place for Brigga was a big bonus for the team.

Stage 4 was much of the same for me, hanging on and hanging on some more, whilst doing a chicken impression, in that i mean flapping my arms and legs around until i couldnt hold the bunch any longer. Mr Herety could see all this from his car postion in the convoy, i think it made him laugh even though i was in agony, so back to the 2nd group on the road for me and another 12 minutes lost.

Stage 5 was a circuit race around Blois and a fast one at that, pretty non eventful for me, i had a job today in keeping KH and Brigga near the front for the finale, KH didnt need any help as he was mega up for it all race, and rides awesome at the front all the time anyway. Brigga needed a little help and i lead him out in the last few km's and he and KH did a top ten ride.

Since being back home i have caught up with little Beau our new puppy, been to see my Osteopath friend mr Hempsall and even managed a couple of easy bike rides.
Feeling better already.

next stop Rutland Melton Classic, the english Paris Roubais they call it, i call it something else, i said i never wanted to do this race again, but hey i will give it ago, 3rd time lucky maybe..

catch ya later.

deano

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hi people
well yes it has been a while since a diary post, but i haved tryed to keep you up to date with a little news story here and there.
My 2008 form has come along quite nicely with a few good results early season and a pretty strong Goats Cheese High Performance in the Bikeline 2 day, the first counting Prem of the year.
Since i lost the prem lead to little, well young brother Russ, things have been a little busy in the household of the Downing Residence.
We have a new resident to run around after, no not russ, but little Beau, a very cute Black Lab puppy. She is only 7 weeks old and the cutest thing ever, until she wakes you up at 12 am and 2.30am oh and 5.30am.
I had to cope with that for just one night which i have to admit i was ok, but my race trip to france only means i will miss her for nearly 2 weeks.



Onto the racing in france 2.2 Circuit des Ardennes the first trip over the water for the RCR team and a hard one to start the international campaign with.
stage 1 was run off over some hard cat 1 climbs and 160km of very lumpy terrain. The race split on the last cat 1 climb after KH had been in a great looking move, i had taken some sprints points along the way with a nice leadout from Rob P. The last climb was 4km long and was where the climbers came to the front and split the peleton in half, Rob P made it, myself and KH chased in at 1m30.
stage 2 was pretty much of the same hills and lumps, first hour fast attacking and then i made a group of 4 that got 4mins up the road and made a race long break away, with 40km to go the splits were appearing in the bunch and 3 guys made it to our group and the gap went to 2 mins again.
10km to go and i was the last remaining original breakaway rider, 120km away and i was getting cramps chasing the 2006 Tour of Britain winner Pederson ex CSC up the road.
500m to go and the chasing bunch caught the 2 of us a swooped past us.
i won the most aggressive rider and a cuddly toy for my efforts.
stage 3 some how i made the 3 man break away again and hovered at about 40 secs for 40km, until i decided the bunch were playing with us and went back to them. I was riding with empty legs and just needed a rest really.
stage 4 17km time trial, why oh why what is the point at the end of a hard 3 days, my legs were buggered and empty so i grovelled my way around a undulating circuit with some french dude pipping his horn at me, as it pissed it down on me and blew me around.
all i could think about was sitting on the sofa messing around with our new puppy Beau. damn.

well now that i have free Wi Fi in my new hotel for the next 8 days Hotel Campanile i can check all the messages on my guest book and keep my fans upto date with my goins on.


keep out of the wind.
livin the dream in france.

deano

ps who drinks coffee out of a cereal bowl??, with the last bits of cereal in it...
answer NOT ME...

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courtesy of Andrew Kennedy at www.kennedyimages.co.uk here are a couple of images from a good race in bad weather.


3 amigos with 1 lap to go..


content with 2nd behind Chris.

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Hello people
After a hard week getting used to the cold back in the UK, the weekend finished pretty good for me and the team.
Tuesday how ever, the weather never reached above 0 derees here in Rotherham, actually my new address, "Sunnyside" didnt really live up to its name, as i never saw the sun that day. Of course i didnt go on the bike, but some of the local lads did apparently crazy dudes..
I managed to get out with brother Russ and a couple of the lads on wednesday and thursday, but friday i looked forward to visiting Friar Tucks near Clumber Park for my weekley pre weekend Cafe stop, bacon egg butty, nice. Owner Eddie never fails to make us laugh thats for sure..
The last Revolution track race of the winter series was a great time too, i wasnt looking forward to racing with mr Newton who is in great form on the track, He just won the World Cup Points Race series in Copenhagen last week, but i went pretty good on the night and we just got rolled in the team points race for the win.
I have been looking forward to the 1st road race of the season and it seems to have come around pretty quickly, last year i did the same race Clayton Velo Handicap and got my ass kicked by the young lads, this year i did a little bit better and got my 1st result of the 2008 campaign, 2nd. The last 2 laps of the race we did a team time trial with the 3 of us, me, chris and graham, then a few km from the line Chris attacked us and crossed the line 10 seconds in front of me with Briggsy 10 seconds behind me.
4th, 5th and 6th went to the RaphaCondorRecycling team too, to top off a good start to the season.
Good riding from the young lads in the team to start the race and good riding from the old boys at the finish.
So after my time in mallorca training with the team, the 1st race of the season ended up being a great team effort too.
keep loggin on and thanks again for the support.
catch ya later
deano.




hurting legs going full gas at Revolution 20. Madison Night.
photo Copyright John Hewat 2008.

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hi people
Well i am back in the cold UK, and shit it is cold, -1 deg today and fog all around my house, has made me stay indoors most of the day.
I have actually done a bit of moving boxes into my garage, that was enough time outdoors.
After such a great training camp away in what i can now say was decent weather, i didnt really want to throw it all away, just for a day out on the bike.
In 10 days out in majorca i managed 43 hours with some high quality as well as high quantity too. I even got my 1st podium of the season in a time trial, i was beaten by BIG engine Matt Rowe and Kristian House.
With 12 from 14 riders out in majorca it was a great time to get to know the lads, i keep forgetting how young they all are, or maybe its me thats old, who knows?
This coming weekend will be my first UK race of the season Clayton Velo HCap road race. The winter seems to have flown by again, with 3 training campos quezzed in i think my condition should be OK, lets just hope i am as good as i was last season.
anyway hope to see some of you in the near future.
keep loggin on
and live the dream boys.
deano


Coffee in the sunshine is great!


Good training with some good descents too boys!

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After Xmas.
We had a great xmas in our new house, we had a full house too, with the in-laws around for dinner. I had a trip to Belgium to visit the belgie side of my family, 3 days wasn't really enough, but hey 3 days off the bike felt like a long time.
Since the new year i have been getting in some good training, with a short week after new year it was 15 hours. This week however has been crap weather and the hours are not too good.
No training camp as in previous years has been a bit of a blow, but i have managed to get a spot in the upcoming Revoltion track meet, indoor riding, nice.
Most of my afternoon's have been spent searchin and adding people on the facebook website.
hope you all have a great 2008 and see some of you soon.
cheers
deano.



it's been bit cold here in UK so i purchased one of these....

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Hi Guys and Girls
Yes it has been a while for a diary, so I thought I would use this page on my website for once, haha.
What can I say about my last week in training. I decided to step it up a little and go away to the warmer climate and go and visit my good mate mr Cannings and his Girlfriend Ute ( and their crazy dog Dobby ) who are now residing in Benicasim at a complex for cycling and motor cross, InturSports.
Jon told me that Predictor-Lotto and LiquiGas would be staying in the hotel at the same time, so I thought I would at least bimp into them around the hotel.
I met Charly Wegelius on the 2nd day here and he invited me out with the lads, what an offer, so i quickly said yes and have been with them each day apart from today (Sunday) when i did 3 and half hours on my own, in the hills..
The roads around here are great for training, not so many cars around and perfect terrain Flat and climbs too lots of them, you generally have to climb to get away from the sea, but when you are on the top it is great scenery and riding with the ProTour team was surprisingly not super quick like many of you would imagine, we were averaging 32 to 33 kmph each day and doing 3 to 4 hours with 1 rest-day in there to keep us fresh ish.
There is an awesome gym on site and that is where I did a bit of core work with the help of Ute.
So this week has been a little bit more than I normally do at this time of year, but I guess I am going to be racing in 6 weeks time so I thought I should pull my finger out. In total for the week (well 6 days) I have put in bang on 20 hours and a maybe 3 in the gym to spice it up a little, its all in the legs now and hopefully when I recovery from how cold it seems to be back in the UK I can have a chilled out Xmas and start again in the new year.
thanks for logging in.
deano

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until now, the weather has turned shite again and i am well and truly fed up of training and racing in the rain, 2 good days this week has been ok though, with a day on the flat 4h30 and a day in the hills 4h30 too.
i did however have a good weekend at Le Tour with Rapha and Face Partnership on saturday watchin the prologue fly by whilst chatting to lots of people and drinking a few glasses of bubbly.
i chatted to a lot of people down there but most of all really enjoyed chatting to a dutch lady, she didnt realise i spoke dutch so i never tryed to embarress my self, she was very attractive too.
actually very fit.
anyway enough of me going on, back to racing this coming weekend and over to Sunny Blackpool i just hope it holds off, i cant see it but what the hell i love racing in the rain every month of the year, NOT.
so Crit friday, hit the pleasure beach saturday fish and chips then Prem Calander sunday, hoping to gain a few more points back overall.
catch you all later.
deano

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Hi People
well after recovering from my minor crash i have had to contend with the British Championships being cancelled, that struck my morale pretty low and then Rotherham my home town was flooded with the day after day rain we have been having.
So trying to get out on my bike inbetween showers, Road Blocks and with no Championship to ride was pretty hard work. I was thinking of going out to buy a Canoe.
So I have been out in a different way, was great to see some old faces and talk about old times. Nice to relax too.
I have a had a 5th place this week too at the Rochdale Criterium part of the British Criterium series, Mr Newton the man on form won yet again with brother Russ in 2nd.
I thought i would write a diary too as my morale is back a little, its amazing what a bit of sunshine and a new date for the Championship does.
Tomorrow (saturday 7th) i will be down in the Big Smoke with my sponsors Rapha and Condor largin it up at the Royal Yacht Club sippin champagne and watchin Le Tour riders fly by in the Prologue.
should be packed down there too, hope all you guys enjoy it.
Maybe i will see some of you down there during the weekend.
enjoy
deano

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