Facts About Me:Name: Henry Latimer
Born: Oxford
Age: 20
Height: 181cm
Weight: 71kg
Years Cycling: 4
Rider Type: Time Triallist / Rouleur
Proudest Cycling Achievement: 2nd in Central RR Champs 2013
10 Mile PB: 19:53
25 Mile PB: 51:28
Team: Catford CC Equipe/Banks
Team Sponsors: Catford CC, Jeff Banks, Condor, Garmin, Campagnolo, SIS
Other Interests: Golf, Arsenal FC, Cricket
Favorite Training Camp Location: Calpe, Spain
Hero in Cycling: Fabian Cancellara or Ian Stannard
Coach: Sean Yates
My Cycling Story:
My life in cycling began very much as a hobby alongside my main sport of cricket in 2009. I was playing for the Under 17 Oxfordshire county side and for my local club Didcot so this meant there was very little spare time. My love of cycling grew throughout my first year, probably helped by the target of completing the epic 'John O'Groats - Lands End' bike ride to raise money for Didcot Cricket Club.
Finished the ride at Lands End
I wasn't really training at all due to school and cricket commitments, however I was one of only two of our group to complete the entire route. This obviously had a huge impact on my passion for the sport, not to mention my times for the local club 10s starting dropping immediately. By the end of my first year of riding, I had ridden a handful of club time trials for Didcot Phoenix and finished with a modest PB of 23:56 on the local 10 mile course, and 1:00:19 for a 25. My gradual improvement in 2009 saw me win the DPCC Castle and Junior Best All-rounder trophies, small successes but everyone starts somewhere!
Despite my improvements I was still focussing on cricket, and cycling would fill the gaps. 2010 was much the same, I was now at college and had little time to train other than an hour on Wednesday afternoons, and the obligatory Sunday club run. Nevertheless my times were still improving, albeit at a slower rate, and I had my first taste of National competition... A rather sour taste I should add. A quiet year in general but I took good time off both of my personal best times.
Roller racing in 2009
I dropped a subject at college for my 2nd year and most days I now had a free morning or a free afternoon. I had heard about a big club in Oxford Called Zappi's CC and started rocking up to a few of their midweek training rides as I had Tuesday mornings off college. The club was led by Flavio Zappi who is always full of training tips and advice, not to mention great stories of his days in the pro peloton. Flavio pushed me hard in training and would always drop me on the hills, but I was definitely improving and he was keen to push me into the road racing scene. I started turning up to circuit races at Hillingdon and immediately loved it, and I soon got on the start line of my first ever open road race. In typical TT style I rode away with 12 miles left, got caught less than a mile from the line and finished a minute behind everyone else.
1st Road Race - Solo Attack
The rest of the season was spent tearing around the county early in the mornings trying to cram races in before cricket matches. August was a big month for me, I suddenly found some form on the bike and after a couple of long road trips to fast courses, I was suddenly in contention for national prizes, ended up taking 3rd in the Junior National Best British All-Rounder, and the Junior National TT Series. I also smashed my previous bests doing 19:53 for a 10 and 51:28 for a 25. I also gained my 2nd category licence with a couple of wins in criteriums.
Chasing at the Andy Morrison Memorial Road Race 2011
I was absolutely hooked on road racing now and decided not to go to university, I trained hard over the winter months and wanted to hit 2012 hard! I managed to sort out a team for 2012, my first proper cycling team with really good team support making the season a lot easier for me. Dream Cycling was a great group of 2nd category riders all wanting to improve in the sport. I backed off from riding Time Trials in 2012 and the road season went really well. 2 road race wins, numerous top 10s in both Regional A & National B races, and a top 10 in Belgium. I easily gained my 1st category licence and started giving a stronger showing in bigger races.
Reading Road Race Breakaway Group
GP Bicicielo Pinarello - 1st Place
2013 was a huge failure for me. I spent the 2012/13 winter preparing massively for the season, put in some big miles and was feeling really good at the start of the new year, during my second training camp of the year in Spain however I was struck down with an illness. I was laid up in bed for weeks, and after many incorrect diagnosis' I was eventually told I had glandular fever... fantastic. So the season was more or less over before it began, I tried to race but it just didn't work. Despite a couple of decent results I decided to end my season in July and completely stop pedalling for a while as I knew I just wasn't myself.
I didn't ride my bike at all for 2 months, during this period I pondered whether I would get back into training properly at all, but this thought soon disappeared and I set my sights on finding a ride for 2014. I was lucky enough to be given an offer by the Catford CC Equipe / Banks team, it seemed like an exciting prospect back in October when discussions began, so I joined up! 4 months later and the team has gone from strength to strength, amazing backing from our title sponsor Jeff Banks, alongside equipment sponsors that can be found on my sponsors page. The 2014 season is set to be a big one for the Catford boys, and I am proud to be one of them!
