Oxygene 2

No, it's not the name of the latest wonder drug, but it does have a bike racing correlation. Well, maybe only in my twisted mind.

It's part of a suite of electronic muzak by Jean Michel Jarre and was used in the 1981 film Gallipoli. I remember seeing this with a friend, aged 10, and it was the saddest ending to any movie I've seen, including Borat.

Rewind to Thursday night in the pub, when I had a long discussion about Italian composers with a friend of an ex-colleague's. He kept asking me about Albinoni, and I told him that he's only famous for one piece (Adagio in G minor) and he didn't even write it. Another Italian did in 1958, using Albinoni's bass line.

Friday: race (see previous post). Castle Combe, big open track that almost looks like an oval. Green grass in the middle, gently curving circuit on the outside, nice sunny day.

Saturday: 140km to Hungerford and back, feeling really good - 20 minutes quicker than the last time I did it. I love this new bike.

I got back and looked up Albinoni on Wikipedia, and found that it was used in Gallipoli. So of course I looked that up and it led me to this music. 25 years ago, and it came flooding back.

I remembered a scene from the movie where Mark Lee (Archie) and Mel Gibson (Frank) were running against each other at a sports meet around an oval. And in a beautiful tie in, it reminded me a lot of the race on Friday. Cue: 'What are your legs?' 'Steel springs.' 'What are they going to do?' 'Hurl me down the track.'

No, I still can't come to terms with winning a sprint by 20m after starting from last wheel in a 50+ rider bunch with 1km to go. Twice!

I am not a sprinter and I've done a total of one (1) sprint in training in the last six months. I've also consumed rather a lot of beer, with the emphasis on 'a lot'. I suspect it says more about the strength of the field, the beer and my new bike than it does about my sprinting abilities, but hey, I'll take it.

Sunday: had to help out at our demo day at Thetford Forest. I left Bath at 5:30 and didn't get back until 9pm. But I get Tuesday off in lieu, in addition to Monday. Almost like having another weekend. No Easter eggs but.