April Races

On the 7th April I made the long trip down to Yeovil, Somerset for the Ham Hill Road Race. I was finally starting to feel like myself again in training and thoroughly looking forward to this race. The 2.5 hour journey was a good laugh with my team mate James but by the time we got there we were psyched and ready to go. I was right at the front before the start and set off right behind the lead car... for all of 1 mile. Punctured out before the race had even started, thanks to the organisers not bothering with a neutral service car, despite having 3 cars following the bunch nobody thought to put wheels in them. Fuming doesn't describe how I was feeling after that, waste of time and money. It wasn't an entirely wasted day for the team though as James rode strongly to make the break and bag a top 10!

The weekend after was a 2-day race down in Kent, the Toachim House GP, which consisted of a TT, a criterium, and a long, hilly road race. I borrowed a TT bike for the weekend and despite having not ridden the bike before rode fairly well to bag a top 20 on stage 1 less than a minute down on the stage winner over an 8 mile course, possibly lost some time through the corners but happy enough with that result.

For stage 2 the weather changed and the rain came down heavily making the course extremely wet. Due to recent accidents I seem to have lost my old confidence through corners (which I am working on again), so kept dropping the wheel in front on corners, and after 1 hour I got fed up of chasing the wheel in front after every bend so I sat up and rolled around at recovery pace saving myself for day 2 and accepting that the GC had gone. I ended up 12 minutes down on the stage winner.

Cornering badly in the Criterium

So after a lonely night in a travelodge I was ready to smash up the opposition on stage 3, a hilly 90 mile stage ending on a 1.5 mile climb to the finish. A few attacks came and went early on, but nothing looked like staying away. At 30miles there was a group at 1m30 and a quartet chasing these guys just in front of the bunch, with most teams represented it looked like a strong move to go with so I soloed across to the chasers and we rode up to form the winning break of the day. I rode as tactically as I could trying to make the stronger teams work harder to stay away, but did more than my fair share of work in the break and after 60 miles off the front I had very little left for the final climb and rolled in 11th on the stage. A good result and I was happy to spend a day in the break after my early season bad luck, things are finally looking up. The time gaps back to the remaining riders were large but not large enough to offset my deficit from the previous stage so my final GC placing was a mediocre 29th.

Attacking up to the break

Riding in the chase group

 

My last road race in April was to be my biggest race of the year, the Rutland-Melton International CiCle Classic, a UCI 1.2 race with 12 continental teams and a field of almost 200 riders. I was feeling comfortable in the bunch for the first 50 miles until I hit a large pothole just before the feed zone and my bars twisted down in my stem making it impossible to ride. I stopped to get it fixed by the service car but couldn't chase back on through the off road sectors and was eventually pulled out. A disappointing way to drop out but as the race went on it became clear I wasn't the only one with problems, lots of mechanicals and punctures, along with the nature of the course meant that about 40 riders finished the race out of a starting field of almost 200. The race was a great experience and a taste of a higher level of racing, it has definitely shown me where I need to be in terms of ability. Time to get there!

My next race is the Stockbridge Down Road Race near Southampton on 5th May, hoping to put on a good showing in this race and kickstart the rest of my season with a strong result. Then the next big race is the Lincoln GP, part of the UK Premier Calendar series.

Ciao.

Winter & Early Season

Over the winter I had a lot of ups and downs, two different knee injuries put paid to over 3 weeks worth of winter training, but by the beginning of 2013 I was starting to get to where I needed to be. I had put in ~3,000 miles of winter base training and my knee injuries were being well treated with massage and stretching sessions. A solid two week training camp in the canary islands saw me move closer to race fitness and make big gains in the build up to the season, I was losing my winter puppy fat and getting towards race weight, and I felt more powerful than ever before. Two weeks back in the UK continuing with steady miles saw me continue to build towards the season, I did a small race in Essex and felt very strong coming in 2nd place, a good start to my racing in 2013.

In mid february I was once again boarding a plane and getting ready to spend 2 weeks in Spain to fine tune my top end speed ready to hit the early season at full speed. I did a huge first week riding for 32 hours in 8 days, and in hindsight this was too much. On the 9th day I began to feel rough and couldn't finish the long ride we had planned and was struggling to breathe on the climb up the Col de Rates, I took an early loop home and that was my last ride in Spain. I couldn't ride for the next week and felt very ill, this was incredibly disappointing in the build up to my first race. On return to the UK I saw the doctor and got diagnosed with a Chest Infection, got put on antibiotics. Next week diagnosed with Tonsillitis, put on antibiotics... then had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics! It seemed like this wasn't going away and finally the doctor took some blood tests and it transpired that I had Glandular Fever the whole time. By now I hadn't trained for 3 weeks and was still feeling tired, but beginning to see improvements in my throat and the swelling was going down.

After a whole month off the bike I finally began to ease back into training, and my first race back was a complete disaster... I lasted 20 minutes and it was clear to see the fitness I had lost. Nevertheless I have been training hard for the last two weeks and my fitness is improving quickly, I can see the gains being made and I am looking to be competing at the sharp end of races by the end of April, hopefully in time for the Rutland-Melton CiCle Classic on the 21st.

I am now back on track, looking forward to hitting the races hard and showing people the gains I've made over the winter.

I am proud to be representing AW Cycles Road Team for the 2013 season, we are a small elite team looking to score highly in the national rankings and surprise a few people with some big results in national b races. I will be riding a brand new Wilier Zero 7 for the year, a fantastic race bike and by far the best bike I have ever ridden. The team are supported by High 5 nutrition, exactly what we need to fuel us for the big races this year!

I am also very happy to be personally supported by BDL Group and Houston Cox Central, these guys are supporting me through my race calendar and I am very grateful for this. I am keen to repay the support from these businesses and will be promoting them throughout the season. Check out my sponsor page for full details.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to keeping you regularly updated throughout the season!

Ciao.

End of season update

It's been a long time since my last blog when I was in Belgium, I've had some great late season results, had a few weeks off training, and am already getting stuck in to winter training.

My last race in Belgium was a roaring success in a fast flat race, 75 miles at over 27mph and the last 30 miles spent in a break of 12 at the head of the race driving the group. I tried to attack the group but due to the sheer pace of the race there was no getting away and it came down to a sprint, I started well but cramped badly and ended up 8th. My best result of the season and I was over the moon to have finally made a break stick in a kermesse!

I headed back to the UK much fitter, much leaner and with much more race experience and wisdom which I was hoping to put to good use in my last few races of the season. My first race back in the UK was a Regional A race in Stratford Upon Avon, the GP Bicicielo Pinarello. It was quite a short race at 56 miles, and an early crash put paid to the hopes of over a dozen riders. I got in a move on lap 2 that was away for 10 miles but couldn't stick. With 15 miles to go, 6 riders attacked the bunch and built a lead of 1 minute, I knew I needed to react to this, and with 7 miles to go I followed an attack on the drag through the village of Inkberrow, nobody else came with us and I was suddenly away with one rider for company. We had to push incredibly hard with a minute gap to bridge up to, and time was running out! with 1 mile to go we still had about 10 seconds to get across, after a couple of hard pushes we finally got across with no more than 500 metres to the finish line, my breakaway companion was on the front and put in a huge dig to go straight past the guys in front. I then came round him and lunged for the line beating him by about a wheel length. Arms aloft, job done, win number 2!

Winning the GP Bicicielo Pinarello in Worcestershire.

 



Next up was a midweek national b crit in Portsmouth, not a big race but with a few decent riders turning up it was looking to be a tough race. That it was. Spent 30 minutes in a break of 6 trying to take a lap on the bunch, we were lapping at well over 30mph, which showed in the eventual race average of 31mph! We eventually took the lap with 5 minutes to go and Felt-Colbornes took up the lead out for their sprinter Justin, who duly took the win, I managed to cling on behind for second place and clinched my 1st category licence, my main aim for the season! Fastest race I have ever done and one of the most fun, a complete smashfest!

 

I now only had one big race left, the National A road race in Essex, the Jef Schils Memorial. There were a lot of big name riders from big teams on the startsheet, and it was looking like it would be a veyr hard race. At 93 miles it would also be the longest race I've ever done, which I was relishing as I often come good at the back end of a race. A group went away early on, 3 riders building a couple of minutes on the peloton and staying out for a long time. The race was fast and exposed so it was important to pay attention. I stayed largely out of trouble for the first couple of hours, made my way to the front for a while but the race was too fast for anything to happen. Eventually with 20 miles to go I initiated an attack by attacking on an exposed crosswind section, we ended up in a group of 12, with another 10 riders ahead of us, we worked very smoothly together until about 5 miles to go, when we had a clear advantage over the bunch and it all started kicking off, however nothing stuck and our group was together until with 1 mile to go I put in a massive dig on the drag before the finish straight, I gapped my companions and drove for the line, however with less than 100m to go 4 of the group sprinted past me and I ended up in 15th place. Another great result that made me very happy, and put confidence in me that I am ready to step up next year and compete in Premier Calendar races.

 

And that was that, a couple more small races but I wasn't training much and got no results to speak of. My season ended on September the 23rd and I was relieved to be able to rest. It had been a long hard season and I was ready to take some time off and kick back for a while. It was a very successful season for me, I achieved most of my goals for the season, took two victories on the road, and gained my 1st cat licence. I would like to thank all the guys at Dream Cycling for their help in 2012, without whom it would have been a very different story.

 

What will 2013 hold for me? Who knows, but I have some big aims both in the UK and in Europe, some serious training and lifestyle changes planned, and a new team to ride for. I can't wait, but for now the excitement goes on hold as I start to build the foundations for 2013... Base miles and lots of them. Long rides, wrapped up warm, getting fit again.

 

Until then,

 

Ciao!

Learning some tough lessons

Hi guys,

So as I mentioned in my last blog I am currently in Belgium, staying near Gent in the Oost-Vlaanderen region, and trying to gain some much needed experience of racing on the continent. My first two races were mentioned in my previous post, but just to recap they went very well, bare the mechanical in the 2nd race. My legs were feeling good and I was excited for my next race.

Next up would be my first U23 kermesse, these are apparently even faster and even harder than 1.12B category races... oh joy. Kruishoutem was the latest Belgian town to be gripped by cycling fever as the townspeople came out in force, blasted their music, and cheered on a bunch of random guys in lycra. The Belgian attitude towards cycling and the atmosphere at races is simply incredible, something the UK could really learn from. Kruishoutem was a tough course and with strong winds it was bound to split the race as the strong guys 'stuck it in the gutter' to try and force gaps. This was more or less how my race went, I wasn't feeling fantastic, but being me I obviously had to have an early dig off the front of the bunch, bridging across (almost) to the break... I spent a few minutes off the front at 30+mph on my own trying to get to the lead group, got about 20 metres from their wheels... and my legs went pop. This would be the break that stayed away for the entirity of the race, so good tactics, bad legs. I managed to hang in the bunch for another 25 miles but eventually packed after 30 miles of furious racing. The race proceeded to break up completely and out of 108 starters, only 55 were placed, and less than 20 guys completing the full race distance. My legs weren't up to it today, but nevertheless a fun day out and a great atmosphere.

Chasing at Kruishoutem

So after a poor showing at Kruishoutem I was keen to jump straight back in to it, so the following day I was heading off to nearby Evergem for a 75 mile 1.12B kermesse. This was a smaller field than usual with only about 50 riders taking to the start line, but the field was insane, 2 national champions and about 20 of the top riders from Belgian teams. This was going to be tough. The race started fairly sedately for the first couple of miles, then a few attacks started going and the pace rocketed. A 10 man move went off the front after about 10 miles and got a gap that stayed just under a minute for a long time, the bunch were rolling through keeping them pegged, but eventually a few guys attacked and I followed their wheels, and a group of 12 of us escaped the bunch. We worked tirelessly for 30 miles to bridge the gap over to the lead group and at around 50 miles we linked up forming a 22 man break... unfortunately this is where my race ends, after working my arse off for 50 miles I lost contact sprinting out of a corner and was pulled out with 5 laps to go. We had averaged 28mph and this was by far the toughest race I had ever been in, I was placed 22nd and got my first bit of prize money out here in Belgium. Pleased with that. Gediminas Bagdonas won the race... he rode at the olympics and will be at the Tour of Britain in a few weeks time.

Just one more race to speak of now, a really fun course at Wambeek-Ternat that took in a sharp 500m cobbled climb no more than 13 times. Ouch. This was also by far the hottest conditions I have ever raced in, 35 degree heat is not fun for racing. Needless to say I didn't make it up the cobbles 13 times, but I did take in 7 laps of the circuit and was pulled at 35 miles, placed 52nd out of about 80 starters. I was dissapointed at not making the full distance, although only 15 riders did...

In the bunch at Wambeek

I figured after this race that I am doing too much out here, the dilemma is that I want to race as much as I can in the 2 weeks that I am here to gain experience of these races, but it seems by doing so much I am tiring myself out and not able to complete the full distances. My plan now is to rest for a couple of days before having a double day of racing before I go. Overall I am happy with how it is going out here, I am getting a feel for how good you need to be, and it is motivating me to train harder, for longer, and I am already looking forward to coming back next year, hopefully in much better condition!

Wish me luck for my last 2 kermesses!
Ciao.

Moving ever closer to 1st category

The last few weeks have been about going through the motions and getting my form back, which has largely been working. I have slowly been picking up points, getting some good placings in road and circuit races. I have been putting in more training time and really aiming to finish the season on a high, so far this has been going very well. The results are coming much more easily, as they were at the start of the season when my form was good.

The late season begins for me with 2 weeks in Belgium, I have been here almost a week now and have done 2 races so far. Now I have heard a lot about Kermesse racing in Belgium... mainly that they are bloody fast, bloody hard and bloody good fun! My first race was exactly this... the Merelbeke 1.12B Elite/U23 Omloop was around a 4k circuit with 3 straights, and 3 sharp bends... one of which was a dead hairpin... Oh and a cheeky chicane thrown in for good measure. It was flat out from the gun and lined out in the gutter along many stretches. At one point I managed to break off the front after about 30k, bridging across to the lead group, but they then stopped working and after a lap we were brought back by the bunch. I then sat in the line for the middle part of the race as those at the front kept the pace high, but as we moved into the last 15k I moved towards the front and tried a few digs, all of which got a small gao but never lasted more than 2k, with about 1500m to go I went for a flyer to the finish with a couple of others, sadly I got caught with 500m to go and led out the bunch sprint. I finished 50th out of 80 riders, but this was irrelevent, I had finished my first Kermesse... 110km at over 44km/h, fast and furious... and I LOVED IT! Mixing it up near the front and generally feeling strong!

The second one was not so successful... my freehub broke after 75k... so I had to hop straight in the broom wagon!! That's racing right? Nevermind.

Next race is Wednesday evening in nearby Kruishoutem, I can't wait to get back amongst the cobbles and in the infamous Belgian gutter!

Until then,

Ciao.

Injury, Maintaining Focus & Coming Back Stronger

Fellow Cyclists,

The last month has been a difficult one for me in terms of cycling, having suffered a setback just a few days after the National 10 Mile TT Championship. I had put in 2 big days on the bike Monday and Tuesday after the 10TT, and my right knee was experiencing some dull aching. I just shrugged it off as a normal niggle that all cyclists get every now and then. On wednesday evening I went down to Mountbatten Centre (Portsmouth) for a circuit race, and about 15 minutes into the race felt some sharp stabbing pains on the side of my right knee, this pain grew over the course of the race and whenever an attack stretched the bunch I was grimacing and fighting to keep contact. In hindsight I probably did more damage here and should have pulled out, however I did finish the race and somehow took 10th. I was worried though.

Thursday morning I went out for a short tester ride, short being the operative word. I turned round after 5 minutes, again grimacing with pain. I was advised to go and see a doctor, she wasn't particurlarly helpful and told me to just take 2 weeks off training. Thanks doc, that should sort it... Next piece of advice... Go see a physio. I got in touch with Sarah Tombs, a member of Zappi's CC who is also a sports massage therapist, and she diagnosed me as having ITB Tendonitis. This is a condition brought on by muscles which feed into the Iliotibial Band becoming extremely tight, and causing the ITB to pull on the side of the patella (kneecap). I was treated with massage, painful massage on the muscles most likely to be causing this, and it soon became clear that the main protagonists were my Glutes and my Frontal Quads. I started doing a sequence of stretching every evening, and using a foam roller on the ITB and quads. I was soon told no more training, and it was becoming clear that it would be a race against time to be fit for the Ras de Cymru, arguably my biggest race of the year. So I put in some more shifts at work, and let the treatment run it's course.

After 2 weeks I wasn't very hopeful, and Sarah advised me to see another doctor, one who specialises in sports injury, he confirmed Sarah's thoughts and also diagnosed ITB Tendonitis, he also advised checking my bike position, cleat position and saddle height. I compared my new bike with my old bike and mostly it was the same, however the saddle was clearly too high... I took it down by 8mm, I also adjusted the angle of my cleat on my shoe. Hopefully these would help. Another week of massage and my muscles were beginning to feel looser and more comfortable, so I tested myself again on the bike. It was clear that I was nowhere near fixed, but rather than a stabbing pain it was just a discomfort, and this told me that the massage was beginning to work, along with the position change on the bike.

Eventually on Tuesday 12th June I finally began easing back into my training, over 3 weeks since my last training session, and a month since my last race. Needless to say my legs did not appreciate the time off, and I took a battering on a local training ride that evening. I took that week steady, doing mostly 1-2 hour rides and looking out for any discomfort in my knee, of which there was some, but none as persistent as before. All looking promising! So having tested my knee in training I now decided it was time to test it at race pace, I was supposed to be doing the Kalas Cup 2-Day race that weekend, but decided that was too much, too soon. I instead headed down back to the scene of my injury, Portsmouth. This was a 2-stage race, a short 1km TT and a 50 minute circuit race, all on a flat circuit with no hills, perfect to test out my fitness and the recovery of my knee.

A field of 40 riders signed on, and some strong guys turned up with Peter Hansford Racing, Pedal Heaven RT, Felt-Colbornes all bringing teams to the event. I was expecting a battering of epic proportions. The time trial went better than expected with me taking 8th place, 3 seconds down on the winner, Tim Elverson (Pedal Heaven RT). My knee held up fine in this fast explosive TT, and I was looking forward to the circuit race. It kicked off early in the race with a large group of 15 riders all taking a lap after 15 minutes, I was safely tucked in here and made it round with very tired legs after less than a third of the race. I sat on the back trying to recover for a few minutes before another group clipped off the front, after a while I made an attempt to bridge the gap, despite my burning legs... Somehow I got away with 2 others and we opened up a 15 second advantage, with the lead group a further 12 seconds in front. We spent the whole race agonisingly close to the lead group but never made the junction, with those guys taking a 2nd lap, and my group finishing just behind the bunch. I just got rolled in the sprint from our group so took 7th on the stage. Two consistent finishes meant I had done enough to secure 4th place on overall General Classification. This was one of my best results of the season and far exceeded my expectations for my comeback race.

With my knee now feeling 95% better I have gone back to full training, with 2 hours steady on Sunday, a hard 3 hour session Monday and a long steady 5.5 hour endurance ride in the sun on Tuesday. I'm now confident I will be racing at the Ras de Cymru, and even think I might still have the legs to pull off a decent result. Now really looking forward to getting some form back, and pushing on towards gaining my 1st category licence. 133 points gained, 67 to go.

I'm racing again tonight at Mountbatten, wish me luck.

Ciao.

RTTC National 10 Mile TT Championship

The first National championship of the year has come around very quickly, and it was a return to the village of Sawtry near Peterborough. This village played host to the 2011 British Time Trial Championship in September, and I had a nightmare of a ride... I was hoping to put those demons behind me and put in a solid performance. Conditions were chilly and pretty windy, it was a headwind out to the turn, and a tailwind home, so the first 5 miles would be crucial to the result. While covering the rolling single carriageway 10 mile course, riders would have to tackle no less than 7 roundabouts meaning that a traffic-free run would aid riders a lot.

I was #120 so had a long time to wait before my start time, this gave me plenty of time to get everything sorted and have a  solid warm up. I spent 30 minutes on the rollers before rolling out to the start a mile or so down the road. Standing on the line waiting to start it was very breezey, and the chill was rippling through my skinsuit.

I started off hard, knowing that there was lots to be gained on the outward leg and the lactate was immediately there in the legs. I negotiated the first 2 roundabouts with ease, I took the third slightly wide and locked up slightly on the 270 degree turn, I slowed right down but sprinted out hard and probably only lost a couple of seconds. The next straight section was extremely tough with the headwind, but I eventually got to the turn with an average speed around 25.5mph. I turned and the tailwind was obvious, but the last 5 miles were still tough as I had spent a lot of effort in the first half of the race. I kept pushing hard and a few people along the course were cheering me on, so I kept the pace up right to the line, sprinting out of the last roundabout and lunging over the finish line in a time of 21:56.

Turns out that 5 of us recorded that time, including Dan Barnett who went off 1 minute behind me, very good seeding by the organisers! So I learned today that the step up from junior to senior is a large one... I finished in joint 40th place, over 2 minutes down on Michael Hutchinson who won the event in a phenomenal 19:40. I was happy with my performance as I know I still have a long time to develop and gain more strength to match the top guys.

I have a hard week of training planned over the next seven days to get into my new regime of training. Incorporated into this week will be two midweek criterium races at Portsmouth on Wednesday and CastleCombe on Thursday, followed by a round of the National Time Trial Series on Saturday. It's going to be a tough week, but I want to keep improving and training hard so I am stronger, fitter and faster for the latter part of the season!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao.