Damian Lopez Alphonso is Hardcore.
In cycling we are used to hearing
about people suffering, about the Belgian flahute,
the Scottish hardman, the bad-ass that trains in all weathers and
the ‘shut up legs’ mythology of the
World Tour Pros. All very well but over the last 2 weeks it has been my inestimable pleasure to have been
training daily with Cuban Paralympic cyclist Damian Lopez, a man who defines
tough, a rider who has transcended known boundaries of difficulty, pain and
disadvantage to become a truly great cyclist now riding on the world stage of
the Paralympic Games 2012.
Things are not easy for Damian but
he does not complain, does not shy away from his dreams and does not stop
riding his bike with very great skill and utmost determination.
My hook-up with Damian came via my
pal Jake at GlasgowLife who put word out that Damian was going to be in Glasgow
along with the rest of the Cuban Paralympian team, all doing their tune ups
prior to competing at the Para Games in London. I didn't know it then but I do
now - Havana is twinned with Glasgow.
Luckily my schedule, or perhaps more
accurately my current lack of schedule, allowed me to commit to turning up to
each and every one of his planned training sessions to help out in any way I
could. The idea of course was to grant Damian time to adapt to the roads and the
weather on this side of the Atlantic whilst getting the rides and efforts that
his coach Rafael determined necessary in this, his last vital last block of
hard training before his journey south to compete in the Games.
So I found myself a bit sloppy and
sluggish on the bike with 3 weeks to go before he was due in town - I really
had to get my finger out to ensure that I was going to be of at least some use
to him as a training partner. I've not been anywhere near race fit this year
but I did what I could in the time available so that on Damian’s arrival in
Scotland I was a little skinnier and a bit faster and certainly I was mighty
curious and excited about meeting the man.
You can read more about him and his
story in the links at the bottom of the page.
9am at the Malletsheugh Inn was the
call arranged by Tom O’Hara who was co-ordinating the sessions. Sure enough
when I got there on the first day a man in a red and blue CUBA skinsuit whipped
past me as I faffed in the car-park - so I set off in pursuit. I first
introduced myself to Tom and Rafael in the following white van before drawing
up alongside the slender rider up the road. He initially seemed a bit
non-plussed by me and my idiot Spanish, but we spelled about tentatively down
the A77 into the usual headwind. We burlyed round at the roundabout south of
Eaglesham then relaxed a little and found time to check each other out a bit
before hitting the open road back north with ever increasing speed and
enthusiasm. This was going to be fun! One or other of us initiated what was to
become a signature of our rides on this circuit, a mighty holler in the echoey
bridge under the motorway, before giving it all we had on the drag up to the
‘finish’ line. Damian was proving himself to be a great rider and excellent
company. Language barrier be damned – we had the communication of 2 riders on
the road and that was easily enough.
So on we went, day after day, rain
or shine. For 2 weeks we met up and smashed it on the lanes and braes according
to coach Rafael's chuckled demands out the window of the van. “Venga, venga!”
“mas rapido!” etc. etc.
So some days it was 80kms of A77,
mostly ridden at threshold, whilst other days we hit the Stewarton circuit as
used by the Arthur Campbell RR, doing the loop 3 times before adding the extra
leg down towards Kilmaurs and back through Fenwick making for 100kms at race
pace. The Cubans referred to this circuit as having ondulaciones – lumpy we might say. The hills he hit at a steady and
predictable 550 watts - these powerful, smooth, seated efforts are a speciality
of his and mighty impressive.
Of course given his physique he
doesn’t really have an option in this, he cannot get out of the saddle more
than a few milimetres, but he has developed a rock solid, central core
that always positions his legs in perfect alignment allowing him an efficient
and breathtaking technique on the road which has to be seen to be believed.
He carries no extra weight and has
impressive souplesse, spins a high cadence and has a great position to the wind – truly he is a wonderful
sight to behold in full flight.
This man set his mind to being a
bike racer 20 years ago and has learned how to deal with anything and
everything that might come his way. I saw him observe, calculate and then
quickly master the Ayrshire lanes, the sudden storms, the whipping crosswinds,
the draggy moor roads, sudden farm traffic – whatever came our way, he rode
through it, safe and efficient. It was a real privilege to ride with him.
On the road he rides a Fuji with Di2
gearing and Dura Ace kit, sucking his juice up through tubes from his bottles. There
is a nice touch of the Caribbean here in the shape of a small wooden block
attached to the stem, which keeps the tubes separated. His trademark bar set-up
sees the ergo shaped bars turned upside down, allowing him good access to gears
and brakes. He contains the end of the bars when steering and tucks his short
arms within the bars when he’s tucked. 50mm Dura Ace clinchers. Skinsuit, no socks,
no glasses.
On the track he’s riding a carbon
Argon 18 with Mavic 5 spoke and Comete disc. He has a relatively new bar set-up
and position on the track which seems to be working out well for him. Standings
starts look to be incredibly tough given his lack of forearms to brace off but
he practices, experiments and has nailed it as best he can.
You can follow Damian and the rest
of the Cuban teams progress in the Paralympic Games here,
I met some of them during their time
in Glasgow and found them super cool and relaxed whilst clearly fully focussed
on the job in hand.
You can, and I recommend that you do,
watch Damian racing his bikes live on Channel 4 at the following times:
Fri 31st
Aug 14:00 Men's Individual C4-5 1km Time Trial
Sat 1st Sept
10:25 Men’s Individual C4 4km Pursuit
Wed 5th
Sept 10:30
Men's Individual C 4 Road TT
Thur 6th
Sept 10:30
Men's Individual C 4-5 Road Race
Go Team Damian.
Hardcore.
