All Settled In

Covid and Cycling

Since my last post two weeks ago, Covid cases in France have continued to rise, which means the inevitable cancellation of races, both in France and in nearby countries. So far, almost all late February and even some early March races have been cancelled. An early April season start is looking more likely at this point. This is frustrating, since my last race was in August 2019, but it’s right back to training until the race season starts. The team has pushed back our two pre-season training camps so we don’t peak too early in a season that will likely run six months, through the end of September.

As for Covid safety measures, masks are mandatory in all businesses and public spaces everywhere in France – a fine public policy – and there’s a nationwide curfew from 6pm to 6am. As a Division Nationale 1 cycling team, we fall into the category of high level athletes, or “sportifs de haut niveau,” which exempts us from size gathering restrictions. This means we can train collectively as a team. The team has a few contacts at the office of the Ministère Chargé des Sports (Ministry of Sports), and there have been rumors circulating that a new lockdown (or “confinement” in French), is impending, which would effectively end the first few months of our race season before it has even started. On our end, we continue with prudence, wearing masks in all non-training scenarios, and keeping our distance from those outside the team. Fingers crossed that the curve in France begins to flatten and we can get back to racing, and that the broader world can return to health and normality as well!

In other news, here’s a picture of my morning view out the window earlier this week!

Training

This past Sunday, the team got out for a quality five-hour ride with 4×10 minutes tempo, three on the flats and one climbing. Temperatures were between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius (40-50 Fahrenheit). It was partly cloudy and a bit wet, but it was an excellent ride nonetheless. We covered 170km and 1,500 meters (about 5000’) of elevation gain: a relatively flat ride around here. While on the ride, I took some footage with my GoPro. I’m no master video editor, or even good by any means, but I’ve stitched some shots together into a six-minute video. Enjoy!

Interview

This past week I recorded an interview with Minnesota marketing, media and cycling figure Jason Lardy of Nomad Marketing, on his radio show Blast Beats ‘n Bicycles. Jason served as the longtime announcer at my home track, the now closed National Sports Center Velodrome, and continues to stay involved in Minnesota cycling. On the show, linked here, we talk about how I got into cycling, my development at the NSC Velodrome, racing at the national and international level on road and track, balancing my pursuit of a BA and elite sport, and my newest adventure, racing with AG2R Citroën U23 Team this season. Feel free to give it a listen!

You can find the interview here on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/blastbeatbikes/peter-moore-blast-beats-n-bicycles-bike-show-061-february-1-2021

And a link to the show website here: https://blastbeatbikes.com/

Fischer Skis

While skiing with the team at La Féclaz last week, I happened to run into Antoine Meynier of Fischer France. Fischer Sports, an Austrian company, is one of the world’s top manufacturers of Nordic and Alpine ski equipment. I skied on Fischer skis and boots for most of my competitive ski career, and although I wasn’t able to publicize it due NCAA rules, I received significant (but strictly amateur compliant) support from Chris Hall of Fischer USA. I couldn’t bring skis and poles here to France due to shipping costs, so Antoine generously offered to find a pair of skis and poles for me to use. He ended up grabbing a pair of Fischer Speedmaxes out of the test fleet of Hugo Rivail, a biathlete on the French national team, and sourced a pair of OneWay poles. A massive thank you goes out to Antoine and Fischer for their excellent support!

It’s been great to connect with my community back in the US through writing this blog! Stay healthy, stay safe, and I’ll be back in a few weeks.