Racing in France

With the season drawing to a premature close in August in the UK I took the opportunity to spend 6 weeks racing in France. After racing out there in May and riding well I started messaging round to see if anyone had any contacts out there. Eventually, thanks to my coach, the chance to live in Limoux in the south of France came about and it was time to start planning races.

I arrived at the beginning of August and after 3 days settling in I was on the start line of my first race. The race was in Tarascon on a 6km circuit (15laps) with 2 climbs which suited me perfectly. The racing was super aggressive and after 15km a group of 5 went I bridged across with one other. 55km later we had begun to lap some of the field and it was time to start thinking about the win. I attacked on the steep climb at the finish and took 2 riders with me. We worked well and it came down to a sprint which I came 2nd in. It was great to achieve a podium in my first race but I came here wanting more.

Next up, Puy L'Eveque. A very good field turned out thanks to a huge prize fund and the racing was brutal. It was 28 laps of a 3km circuit which had a partially cobbled 1km climb. The amateur French TT champion, world masters champion and several DN1 riders turned up to dish out some pain and after a lot of grovelling I finished 18th. 

The following weekend the racing near us was a little quite so we headed to the Alps. There were two hill climbs taking place, one on the Col du Galibier and the other on the Col du Granon. We raced the Galibier on the Saturday where I rolled in 4th place overall and first espior (under 23). I caught two espiors in the last 3km and was pleased with my efforts.

On Sunday it was a chance to race the Col Du Granon which was a bit of a contrast compared to the Galibier. The 9.3% gradient average for 10km was unforgiving and I suffered, I finished 7th (2nd espior). The weekend in the Alps was a great opportunity to ride/race on some iconic climbs and after stopping off on the way back to ride Mont Ventoux I ticked off a lot of climbs I have always wanted to ride.

After a good block of training the next race came in the form of a pan flat 3km circuit which we covered 30 times. I felt pretty good from the start and after letting a group of 5 get up the rode I bridged across the 30s gap and that was the winning move. I spent a lap recovering then went to start working with the group and touched wheels with a lapped rider who was on the back of the group and came down. I was allowed a lap out which gave me time to straighten my gear lever and make sure I was still in one piece. I jumped back in with the leaders and it was damage limitation for the remaining hour of the race. I lost skin on both knees, my forearm, hand and hip but there was no way I was finishing second again. I made my move with half a lap to go and won comfortably.

I spent the next couple of weeks in a lot of pain when training and have just about healed now. I competed in one more road race which I finished 12th in and on my final weekend I competed in the Pic de Nore hill climb. It was a bunch start with a hundred riders at the bottom of a 17.5km climb. I felt strong on the first 9km and held my place near the front of the group. After this, there was a 2km plateau before the final 7.5km where the race really kicked off. One rider had a 30s lead going into the final 7km of the climb and the bunch responded with several attacks at the to try and close the gap. I found myself in a 3-man chase group which I stuck with until 3km to go. I started to go into the red and dropped the wheel so had to drag myself to the finish alone and had the final kick in the teeth of being caught by a rider on the line. I went very deep and came home in 5th in field of good riders.

Overall I am pleased with my efforts over the last 6 weeks and have loved racing out here. My aggressive riding was rewarded with some good results and I am hoping to get the opportunity to race in France again next year.

The Tour of Martinique

Following my victory at the eastern champs my focus turned to preparation for the Tour of Matinique. The 9-day race is based in the Caribbean and is a French colony which means to things, a hot/humid climate and aggressive racing as soon as the road goes uphill. 

I went into the race relatively blind having not ridden a stage race before (unless you count the 2-day tour of Northumberland) and this inexperience showed in my preparation and eventual outcome in the race. We arrived Thursday night and were greeted by the incredibly humid 30 degree heat getting off the plane.

Friday was spent recceing some of the course for stage 1 and before long we were signing on to the race Saturday morning. 

Sign on for Stage 1

Any preconceptions I had about this being a relatively small race were proven wrong when we were presented to huge crowds at signing on and the convoy of cars left town following the race. The standard of the competition was also an unknown but after averaging 45kph on rolling roads in the first hour I realised it was going to be a bit of a battle. Unfortunately I didn't know the French for 'chill out, there's another 8 days racing left' but I don't think it would have helped seeing as they went ballistic up every hill for all 9 days racing. Stage 1 ended with a group of 12 up the road and a huge ride from my team mate for the race, Josh, finishing 4th. I struggled with the heat a little but was comfortable in the peloton before being greeted by the unwelcome sound of a puncture. Our team car with spares was following Josh and no other car offered to stop until I'd been stood at the side of the road for 10 minutes. This dashed any chances of a good finish overall but meant I could concentrate on individual stage results.

Stage 2 included two category 3 climbs, one at 25km which blew the race to pieces and another after 95km (10km to the finish). I was well placed throughout the stage and with the leaders until the final climb. 500m from the top I suffered with really bad cramp. I managed to haul myself over the top of the climb and use gravity to get me to the finish in 29th place. This wrote off my legs for the afternoon TT but with no ambitions for the overall this wasn't a concern.

Stage 3 had the largest climb of the tour with the summit 25km from the finish. Most of the racing had been done in the run in to the climb with 2000m climbing before hitting the final mountain. This included some 20% plus gradients and the bunch being slowly reduced on every climb. I made it to the foot of the final ascent in a group of 10 riders with 20 or so up the road. I knew the climb was steep near the bottom so attacked in a bid to close the gap to the leaders. One rider came with me and we slowly caught riders being dropped from the break. As we neared the top of the climb I dropped my chain and after getting off and making a mess of putting it back on lost several places. I rode the final 25km solo to finish 28th. I was gutted as yet another avoidable issue had cost me my chance of a strong finish. I still enjoyed the stage though and was happy with my performance despite the issues.

Go Pro in hand, I was a tourist at this point

The profile for stage 4 was uphill or downhill all day and was going to be a real test following a hard first 3 days racing. Unfortunately I only got to experience 5km of it before my chain snapped and with no spare or chain tool in the car and a spare bike which was too big I had no choice but to abandon. I've had a lot of bad experiences whilst riding but this was right up there. I put so much into my training for the event and worked more hours to afford it so to end in this manner was gutting. It took a while to get over it as I knew the next 5 days would be spent watching a race I was meant to be in and I felt confident that, having adapted to the conditions, a podium on one of the stages would be possible. 

Overall I'm incredibly grateful for the experience as it has opened my eyes to what racing should be like and am desperate to get more opportunities like this next season. Thanks to Velo-Schils InterBike for allowing me to guest for them and everyone involved with supporting us in the race. 

My focus now turns to a couple of races in the UK before heading out to the south of France to race whilst the calendar in the UK is non-existent.

La Cantonale, Lincoln GP, Eastern Region Champion.....

Before you know it, half the season has gone and ‘summer’ is upon us. It’s been a great 3 months and I have begun to turn my consistent performances into results. My season started a lot slower than I’d liked, despite riding aggressively and showing my face in several breakaways it wasn’t until a trip to France with the team that my season took off. La Cantonale under-23 race was held at the beginning of May in Northern France and took place on a 90km loop though 20 different villages before 3 laps of a 16km finishing circuit awaited us in Maresquel-Ecquemicourt. After missing the early break I put all my effort into a move that went after 75km of racing. The group swelled to around 20 riders and lost its impetus. On the second lap of the finishing circuit I attacked the group hard on the climb. I was joined by one other rider who refused to work but spurred on by the novelty of closed roads and support from the locals I committed to it. We were joined by another 6 riders on the final lap as we held a small gap over the chasing peleton, thankfully we stayed away to the finish. We were left sprinting for 6^th and having got a big excited taking up the sprint with 250m to go I finished 9^th. This was by far the best I have ridden both physically and tactically. Despite making a mess of the finish it gave me great confidence and I instantly fell in love with the racing in France.

A couple of weeks later I backed this up by getting round at Lincoln GP, part of the elite spring cup, which was a real battle after I got caught out as the peloton split in half going over Michaelgate. This left me with a lot of chasing to do and I was just pleased to finish but I still have a lot of work to do on my positioning in these big races. It let me down at the Rutland-Melton Classic and at Lincoln; it’s a completely different ball game trying to maintain your position at the front when there is a group of 160-180 riders. It’s a case of building experience in these races and having got round Lincoln I will now be more confident going into them and will be better prepared. 

After illness hampering my chances the following week on a grippy course up north it was time to prepare for one of my big goals for the year, the eastern region championships.The toughest part about cycling is being able to take repeated disappointment and then come back a couple of days later for a block of hard training before doing it all again at the weekend. I put absolutely everything into the 4 months I had out training in Girona so to start the season without any significant results was a bit disappointing. However, every week after a disappointing result on Sunday I’d be back out training giving it my all in each session and I could see my performances in races improving. This translated into me putting in my best display of the year at the regional champs. The race panned out perfectly, I had a team mate in the first move that got away so could save my legs. I waited patiently until the gap came down to 15s before bridging to the leaders in a small group of 5. As soon as we reached the leaders I attacked with one other rider knowing that the group was going to get caught. We rode 2-up for the last hour establishing a 1:30min lead on the chasing peloton. It eventually came down to a sprint and after leading it out I won comfortably to take my biggest win so far. I don’t really need to explain how much it meant to me as the picture says it all.

Final preparations and the start of the season

I've been back in the UK for two weeks and a lot has happened since my last blog post. Last weekend, after finishing my four month training camp in Girona, I started the season with Catford Equipe/Banks.

I had visions of my last ride in Girona being a tour of some my favourite roads with the sun shining as it had been doing so for majority of trip. Alas, 5 days before my flight back home I hit a car whilst descending. Although I got up and initially thought I'd got away with it, I found that when I went to pick up my bike I couldn't lift it. I had a 2 hour ride home in agony followed by a trip to the local A & E to confirm I had damaged ligaments/tendons in my shoulder. The nature of the injury meant there was no definite timescale for recovery and left me facing the prospect of missing a month or so of racing. A couple of days rest followed before I couldn't resist one last ride out there. Aided by some Spanish ibuprofen (it works wonders) I was able to get out and stretch the legs. That evening I went to see a physio who spent 10 minutes manipulating my arm in all directions and cracking my neck & back. I felt considerably better after and had gained full movement back in my shoulder, albeit in a lot of pain still. Although the injury wasn't ideal it could have been a lot worse and the fact I was still able to ride meant I could continue with my preparations for the season. 10 days riding later and I was on the start line in Belgium. 

1.12B Geluwe

It's amazing what a race can do to take the mind off an injury. I could hardly sprint out of the saddle the day before racing but before I knew it I was in a group of 120 guys travelling at 30mph fighting for position. It took a few laps to get my head around the course and just how aggressive racing in Belgium is. I finished the race safely in the peloton but with some serious lessons learnt for next time. I'm already looking forward to my next trip out there and am confident I can get a result out there.

7th- Crest RR

After a 6 hour trip home I was back in the UK resting and preparing for Sunday's test, another 110km race but this time in hilly back roads of Essex. The race on Sunday was a completely different test to the madness that I had taken part in on Saturday. I spent the first couple of laps with sore legs but they came to me as the race was being made. A group of riders got away just before the main climb on the course. I buried myself to get across with a couple of other riders knowing that it was going to be the winning move. A group of 8 riders formed and had 3 minute lead after just 1 lap, this eventually grew to 6 minutes by the end. Unfortunately Saturday's efforts had taken a bit out of me so I was in no state to contest for the podium but managed 7th place. Of course I didn't spend 4 months training out in Girona to get 7th in a local race but I was happy with my performances this weekend and the signs are looking good for a strong season this year. The hardwork I put in this winter is clearly paying off but it's just the start of the training I'm going to put in.

Thanks for the all the support and messages asking how I've got on. It felt great to be racing the Condor this weekend so thanks to my sponsors as well.

Next on the calendar:

12th Roy Thame 

13th Jock Wadley Memorial

20th Wally Gimber

Girona and the 2016 Season

Just a quick update for anyone who I wasn't fortunate enough to see in the couple of weeks I was back over Christmas. Having graduated from the University of Sheffield in June I made the decision to work for 4 months over Summer which meant I could spend the winter training in Girona.

Views over to the Pyrenees

Why Girona you may ask? It's probably best to have a flick through some of my photos as words really don't do it justice. Kilometre after kilometre of pristine tarmac accompanied by just a handful of cars provide the perfect training grounds and the added bonus of 2 days of rain in 2 months forces you out the door on those days when training starts toget tough. I have only touched the surface of what Girona has to offer in terms of training roads/mountains but am consistently overwhelmed with each new road I discover. 

Girona-Old Town

The city itself is a picture of beauty and the relaxed lifestyle allows you to optimize recovery and complete the best possible environment for training.I have just completed my 15th week training and I am very pleased with how my legs/body have reacted so far and am growing in confidence with every pedal stroke. I'm in an incredibly privileged position with a supportive group of friends and family around me, a very talented coach and in the perfect place to train so am determined to make the most of it.




Some training stats from the last 3 months for people who are that way inclined:
Kilometres covered: 6000km
Calories burnt: 124,000 calories
Average Temperature: 15.4 degrees

I am also pleased to announce I will be riding for Catford-Equipe-Banks for the 2016 season. A last minute move will provide me with a lot more support than I was expecting and is a real bonus to my prospects for this season. It has made me even more motivated for next year knowing I will be riding with strong team mates and attending some of the biggest races in the UK. Thanks to my new sponsors for getting on board: Jeff Banks, Specsavers, OTE Sports, Scott Sports, Condor, Campagnolo and Santini.

It's a great feeling knowing I am doing everything I possibly can to achieve my dream and with my degree completed I have a nothing to lose. Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far, I am looking forward to showing what I can achieve in 2016.

Training camp and first race of the season

It's been a while since my last update as there is only so much you can write about cycling in the winter but some of the adjectives I may have used are: freezing, wet, grim and hilly.

With that in mind I decided to take the opportunity to go on a team training camp to Lanzarote. It could not have come at a better time as I was getting to the point where I wasn't enjoying waking up early every weekend to go and cycle in apocalyptic conditions (weak I know). 

The camp was very successful apart from one day of excruciating cramp. I got around 20 hours riding in with the team and more importantly some very defined some tan lines. It was also a good opportunity to get to know my new teammates for this year. I already knew some of the team from racing against them but there were a few I had never met before and got to know on the trip. I think the team we have are capable of winning huge races this year so I will look forward to racing with them.

I arrived back in the UK last Thursday and after a quick turnaround I was racing in Liverpool on the Saturday at the Eddie Soens Memorial. The race is cycling's answer to a demolition derby with several high speed crashes thanks to the range in ability within the field of competitors. Without going into too much detail there were 3 big crashes in the 30 lap race, the first 2 I managed to avoid. The final crash was with 500m to go and involved around 15 rides who decided to crash in front of me leaving me no where to go other than into the Tarmac. Thankfully I was able to ride away from the incident and rode back to Manchester velodrome via Manchester high street at 2pm on Saturday (thanks to my garmin).

The end result of the crash was a swollen knee and some lost skin. Crashing always puts doubts in my head whether it's worth racing. After a contemplative ride back and watching an afternoons racing at the velodrome there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to recover and have the successful season that my hard work over the last 5 months deserves. After a couple of days off the bike and a week of walking like I've shat myself my knee is almost recovered in time for my next race.

My next race (tomorrow) is the Jock Wadley which is my home race and attracts the best riders in the country. Last year when I raced the event it was arguably one of my best performances of the year having finished 13th in atrocious conditions. I am looking for an even better result this year and hoping my knee holds up!

BUCS Cyclo-Cross

This post has been a little delayed partly because I was hoping to find some pictures of the race and partly due to the fact I have actually started reading for my degree!

To say I was unprepared for BUCS cyclo-cross would be a massive understatement. There are some golden rules to follow when preparing for a race and I followed none of them on the basis that I was just going to see how it goes. However, once the race started, I quickly remembered that I am the most competitive person on the planet and that ‘taking it easy’ wasn’t really an option.

Just to give you a bit of background about the discipline of cyclo-cross it sits between road cycling and mountain biking on the cycling spectrum (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAA014IZTf0). It is the discipline I first competed in and won two eastern region titles as a junior so I have a relatively good pedigree. The ‘golden rules’ I previously mention include: Training for the event, warming up, knowing the course and a pretty basic rule of knowing your bike and kit. So jumping on a steel bike I have never seen before 10 minutes before the start of a race was…less than ideal. I wasn’t going to let any of this get in the way and after a few good battles I finished in 11^th place and 2^nd BUCS team thanks to great rides from my team mates, Andy (7^th) and Joe (17^th).

As you can see the picture the bike I was riding was probably twice my age which made it so much sweeter to beat people with all the gear. It also proved that, in the words of Lance Armstrong ‘it’s not about the bike’, shame everything else that has ever come out of his mouth has been bullshit.

In other news winter training is continuing to go very well every time I get on the bike I feel stronger and I am lifting more weight in the gym each time I go. It’s all building well for a successful season and I am going to make the most of my last three weeks in the peaks before heading back to Essex for Christmas.