Merry Christmas all!!
Hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed it as much as I have!
2 races to report on from this week and last week, neither of which went too well. I have been training and working a lot of late, and it has clearly taken it's toll as I felt exhausted both last week and this week. Both races consisted of me hanging on for grim death for an hour... character building I guess... Looking forward to toning down my work again in the new year and focusing 100% on training and resting like a pro!
From the 2nd week of January I am looking to increase my training hours to upwards of 15 hours every week, and probably taking a step back from the winter series racing. 2012 is arriving and it is time to focus 100% on the season ahead and hitting it with a great base of training behind me.
In Febuary I have a 3 week training camp booked in Calpe, Spain. Planning to go with 4 other young full-time cyclists for sun, fun, lots of pain and training. During these 3 weeks I will be looking at ~25 hour training weeks with a mixture of fast rides, slow rides, long cafe rides all gearing towards being race fit on my return at the beginning of March, then all being well after a week of easy riding I will start my proper racing programme for the season.
My race programme is to be based around my new team, Dream Cycling. I have signed for Dream in 2012 looking to race with the support of a Semi-Pro team setup, with a lot of sponsorship, and also riding alongside a young team of like-minded riders.
More to come on the team over the next few weeks.
Have a great new year and all the best for 2012!
Ciao.
Sunday 25 December 2011
Saturday 10 December 2011
Imperial Winter Series @ Hillingdon - 10th December
This weekend was round 2 of the Imperial Winter Series at Hillingdon, this week I had company in the E123 race from clubmates Nick and Andy. Conditions were very cold and there had been a few crashes in the 3rd and 4th category races so we had to start later than usual due to an ambulance on the circuit... I was feeling a bit nervous on the line because of seeing the rider being stretchered into the back of the ambulance, but that's racing so I just put it to the back of my mind!
Once we got going there was an immediate attack from the AW Cycles trio and a Twickenham CC rider, however they only lasted a couple of laps before it all came back together again. Next off the front was Steve Golla of High Wycombe CC, I jumped onto his wheel and we soon had a small gap off the front of the peloton, we stayed out for about 2 laps before Steve dropped off as the peloton closed in. I however kept pushing on and was joined by another HWCC rider and Rory Townsend of Prestige VC, and we stayed out for another 2 laps before being brought back again. A good little stretch of the legs early on for me and I felt fairly strong but with all the strongest riders still in the bunch it was always going to be hard to make the break stick.
Once we got going there was an immediate attack from the AW Cycles trio and a Twickenham CC rider, however they only lasted a couple of laps before it all came back together again. Next off the front was Steve Golla of High Wycombe CC, I jumped onto his wheel and we soon had a small gap off the front of the peloton, we stayed out for about 2 laps before Steve dropped off as the peloton closed in. I however kept pushing on and was joined by another HWCC rider and Rory Townsend of Prestige VC, and we stayed out for another 2 laps before being brought back again. A good little stretch of the legs early on for me and I felt fairly strong but with all the strongest riders still in the bunch it was always going to be hard to make the break stick.
2-up Break with Steve Golla
The race continued at varying paces and attacks continued going off the front, including a couple from fellow Zappi rider Nick Baker, none however stayed away for much more than a couple of laps. With about ten minutes to go a break of 3 had pulled out a 10 second gap on the bunch and were maintaining it every lap, I was helping with the workload on the front and steadily the gap was coming down, and with a massive effort from Jamie Pine of London Dynamo the gap came down and we caught 2 of the 3 riders out front...
Driving it on the front
However Rory Townsend had attacked the break with just over a lap to go and had a decent gap, I moved up towards the front and slotted in 2nd wheel behind Nick, however he was quickly running out of gas, so a few guys attacked round the outside. I jumped onto the wheel of Stephen Bradbury as he flew past and I started my sprint with 250 metres to go, I kicked hard and found myself in 5th right up until the line... When I had two guys lunge past me on the line, so I settled for 7th. Slightly annoying, but I was very happy nonetheless to see my sprint training starting to pay off. Steve Golla had taken the win with a last gasp surge past Townsend who was pipped into 2nd place.
SPRINT!
Overall a very good day out, felt strong and got in a few breaks, also managed to get my first points on my 2012 licence and I am now on the way to gaining my 1st category licence. Looking to build on this next weekend with another placing in the top 10.
Until then, Ciao!
Saturday 3 December 2011
Imperial Winter Series @ Hillingdon - 3rd December
Believe it or not, the 2012 season started today!!
I arrived at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit early so I could watch my team mates Nick and Andy in their respective races. There was a lot of anticipation within our club of how Nick would do in the 4th cat race because he had been smashing everybody to pieces on club rides. Low and behold, he looked at ease in this afternoons race, sitting in a good position throughout the race and testing his legs a few times before letting rip with half a lap to go and beating everyone by a good 50 metres. More to come from this boy.
Andy played a tactical game in the 3rd cat race by saving all his energy hanging in the bunch, unfortunately this meant he missed the decisive break of 6 that stayed away till the end. He did however have a big kick at the end and managed to take (we think) 8th place. Well done!
Since my 2 week break after the summer season I have done mainly base miles on my winter training bike, and it was nice to get back on my Cervelo race bike. I thought I had lost a lot of top end speed and felt I would struggle in the race, I did however surprise myself and felt a lot stronger than I had been in training. The race started with 2 guys shooting off the front and staying away, for the whole race. Bye bye... The bunch experienced lots of little attacks and the pace was going up and down for the whole race, come the final lap I sadly found myself on the front taking the wind, I didn't fancy leading out the other racers so I slowed the bunch right down before popping off the front with 3/4 of a lap to go, probably too early but i stayed away until about 150 metres to go, when almost everyone went past me. Think I may have scratched the top 20... Oh well... generally felt good throughout and looking forward to the rest of the series now and hopefully getting some better results!
Until next week - Ciao!
I arrived at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit early so I could watch my team mates Nick and Andy in their respective races. There was a lot of anticipation within our club of how Nick would do in the 4th cat race because he had been smashing everybody to pieces on club rides. Low and behold, he looked at ease in this afternoons race, sitting in a good position throughout the race and testing his legs a few times before letting rip with half a lap to go and beating everyone by a good 50 metres. More to come from this boy.
Andy played a tactical game in the 3rd cat race by saving all his energy hanging in the bunch, unfortunately this meant he missed the decisive break of 6 that stayed away till the end. He did however have a big kick at the end and managed to take (we think) 8th place. Well done!
Since my 2 week break after the summer season I have done mainly base miles on my winter training bike, and it was nice to get back on my Cervelo race bike. I thought I had lost a lot of top end speed and felt I would struggle in the race, I did however surprise myself and felt a lot stronger than I had been in training. The race started with 2 guys shooting off the front and staying away, for the whole race. Bye bye... The bunch experienced lots of little attacks and the pace was going up and down for the whole race, come the final lap I sadly found myself on the front taking the wind, I didn't fancy leading out the other racers so I slowed the bunch right down before popping off the front with 3/4 of a lap to go, probably too early but i stayed away until about 150 metres to go, when almost everyone went past me. Think I may have scratched the top 20... Oh well... generally felt good throughout and looking forward to the rest of the series now and hopefully getting some better results!
Until next week - Ciao!
End of Season
Here is a quick rundown of my results from 2011:
Time Trials:
Junior Best British All-Rounder - 3rd Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project Time Trial Series - 3rd Place
Junior National 10 Mile TT Champs - 15th Place
Junior National 25 Mile TT Champs - 11th Place
British Junior Time Trial Championship - 12th Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project TT Series Round 7 - 2nd Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project TT Series Round 8 - 1st Place
Road Racing:
2 Wins
2 Top 5 Placings
4 Top 10 Placings
2nd Category Licence Achieved
2012 Aims:
1st Category British Cycling Licence
At least one National B Road Race Win
Top 5 Ras de Cymru Stage Race
Top 5 Under 23 British Time Trial Championship
Top 30 Senior National 10 Mile Time Trial Championship
Top10 Central Regional Road
Time Trials:
Junior Best British All-Rounder - 3rd Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project Time Trial Series - 3rd Place
Junior National 10 Mile TT Champs - 15th Place
Junior National 25 Mile TT Champs - 11th Place
British Junior Time Trial Championship - 12th Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project TT Series Round 7 - 2nd Place
RTTC Junior Rudy Project TT Series Round 8 - 1st Place
Road Racing:
2 Wins
2 Top 5 Placings
4 Top 10 Placings
2nd Category Licence Achieved
2012 Aims:
1st Category British Cycling Licence
At least one National B Road Race Win
Top 5 Ras de Cymru Stage Race
Top 5 Under 23 British Time Trial Championship
Top 30 Senior National 10 Mile Time Trial Championship
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