VORTEX RACE TEAM: 09/01/2012

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.