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.

Next seasons goals

Inspired by the lyrics of the number 2 hit from S Club 7 I have decided to ‘reach for the stars’ when setting my goals this year. With all of the support I am getting from friends, my team and the university there is no reason these goals can’t be achieved. Winter training has started well and assuming I stay fit then I will be in a fantastic position come the start of the season in March. Here are the 4 goals I have set for next year: 

·         Elite licence

·         Win a national B race
·         Top 10 in a national A race
·         5 Wins

For those of you non-cyclist I will try and put into context what this actually means. An elite licence is the top category you can achieve in the country and if I can achieve this at the age of 20 it would mean big things! A national B is the second highest ranked event which is open to riders from across the country. Finally a national A race is the top ranking event in the UK and the level below international races.

These goals are what give me direction and the thought of achieving them provides great motivation when out training. Training 6/7 times a week is made a lot easier when you know what you are trying to achieve. I find a lot of other riders just ride for the sake of it and by the time the season starts they have already lost heart with training. I feel goals are one of the most important motivators in life, not just in sport.

I thought in this post I would also talk about my inspirations and who I look up too in the sport. People would naturally assume that with the recent British success I may look up to Wiggins, Hoy or Froome. I admire them as riders and am very grateful to be in an era of amazing British cyclists but I can’t relate to them which makes it hard for me to idolize them. The corrupt nature of the sport in the last 20 years also makes it harder to find someone to look up to compared to other sports. I admire attacking racing and Alberto Contador’s break on stage 17 of the 2012 Vuelta Espana was one of the greatest pieces of riding in recent history. In modern times the favourites for the race will hardly be given a chance to race and stage 17 was a rare opportunity to see a solo attack by a favourite. It seems strange to admire a rider who has been caught doping but I genuinely believe he races clean so until another ‘shocking’ doping operation is discovered he will always be a rider I follow.

Next post will be an update on BUCS Cyclo-cross which took place yesterday so I will post once results and photos have been released! 

BUCS Hill Climb

So last Saturday was my first competitive event since the 15^th September which was the BUCS hill climb. I turned up relying on the form from my road season having not trained specifically for the event. As I got to 2 minutes into the climb I hugely regretted this decision as there was no power as I got out of the saddle and despite the amazing support nothing could summon my legs to deliver the required result. This left me with the very disappointing time of 6.26 and a harsh lesson taught. I thought I would be able to rely on my strong road season to find a result but as it happens I was left with a highly embarrassing 47^th place, not what I was looking for. Next year I will train and get on the podium, you heard it here first!

Alongside posting about my result at the BUCS hill climb I thought I would share a bit about my background in sport. The stereotypical cyclist seems to have had a shockingly bad childhood: Greg LeMond being sexually abused, Bradley Wiggins having an alcoholic dad and David Millar having to endure the difficult break-up of his parents being just some examples. I think the reason why a bad childhood gave these great champions success is down to them wanting to get away from the reality of life. I find a little bit of this in myself although, I will emphasis, for much less serious reasons. Another element in becoming a competitive cyclist seems to be sporting/competitive parents. Again I lack any sort of racing pedigree from my parents as I have probably cycled more miles in one training ride as they have in a life time! I have thankfully had a very stable upbringing however and have found the sport naturally from trying a bit of everything. Since a young age I have been involved in competitive teams yet didn’t find something I thought I excelled in or something I was confident playing.  

I had always cycled but more for enjoyment than competition and this was until I joined the Colchester Rovers. I began cyclo-cross training and then started racing in the discipline and before I knew it I was hooked. I found I was able to progress very quickly and that hard work actually paid off. Whereas in team sports where you are reliant on other people to fuel your success in cycling it’s purely down to your hard work and your ability to read what is happening in the race.  Obviously when it comes to higher levels of racing a team becomes more and more important but at a lower level the harder you train the more results you gain.

The next 2 months for me is where the hard work really begins. I now have a nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach thanks to the support of the university so there is no excuse for not having a fantastic winter. Next event for me is the BUCS cyclo-cross (if I can get a bike sorted!).

Start of winter training

Not only is it the start of my winter training plan looking at the view from my window, it’s also the start of a long winter. My first week has not been a great start thanks to the lingering fresher’s flu and a slight lack of motivation but the first few miles on the bike have ticked over and the first few metres in the pool have been swum.

Although it hasn’t been a big week on the bike I have still been busy helping to progress my cycling career. The big news is that I am now part on the universities elite sports performance scheme. For now this means I am able to gain free access to the gym, nutrition advice and a strength/stability coach for the year. I am hugely grateful of the support offered to me by the university and I am sure this will help improve my season next year

Over the next few weeks I will gradually begin increasing the mileage on the bike and spending more time in the gym pretending I want to be there. I will try also try and find some form before the BUCS hill climb on the 26^th of this month. Although I will not be training specifically for the event I still want to represent the university well and help win at least the team gold medal if not more.

I will try to keep you up to date with my training over the winter months and give you an insight into my inspirations and opinions on events in the world of cycling (as requested my Mr.Gordon).

First Cat Licence!

Goal Achieved

This post has come a little later than planned thanks to me catching up on a summers worth of partying in one week. The big news is that after 7 months racing I have finally picked up enough points to secure my first cat. Despite what some people thought my ‘first cat’ isn't actually a pet as a reward for racing this year but it is in fact a first category licence allowing me to race in higher ranked events across the country. 

Going into my last race of the season I needed 7 points which is equivalent to 15^th place. It was another quick race and I knew it was going to be difficult to get in a breakaway so spent majority of the race in the peloton looking after my legs before the inevitable bunch sprint. The breakaway was caught with 1km to go which set me up well for the sprint and with copious amounts of gurning I held on for 10^th place. In reality it was a disappointing result as had my legs have felt better I should have won it. However I was so happy to achieve my goal and it instantly made every hour of training worth it.

Season Summary

Overall I am very satisfied with my season having achieved my main goal although it was far from perfect. However that fills me with confidence for next year as if I can avoid injury I will be strong enough to win elite races.

This season was a vast improvement on last year due to three main factors. The first being the volume of training I did during the winter. This laid the foundations for my season as it makes your body become incredibly efficient at using fats & sugars when exercising. I started the season stronger than everyone thanks to the training and was able to continue this through the year.

The second factor was finally finding some confidence. I have always lacked confidence but this season I was going into every race thinking I was going to win. That doesn't mean I was the guy walking around telling everyone I was going to win but I kept the thought in my head. As it happens I only won two road races this year which wasn't great but I was still happy to have 10 top 5 finishes having had just 2 last year.

The final factor was the support of Russell Ford and other during the season. I ran every training idea, race plan and problem through him for the whole season. It was a massive help having someone to tell you what you were doing was right as it stops you over thinking. His help this season means I have just about forgiven him for swearing at me in a race 2 years ago!

Now my season has finished I will start looking at goals for next year and will be helping Sheffield University continue their outstanding results in BUCS competitions this year. Winter training begins next week and I am already looking forward to next year.

August/September Update

In the Break at the Glendene RR

Having had a busy month racing in July I took a well earned rest to prepare my legs for the rest of the season. It was forced up me slightly thanks to a knee injury that took a month to get over but that has now been resolved thank to Sportsmed East. As a result of my injury I only raced twice in August once at Hog Hill and the other in the Glendene RR. A DNF in both races knocked my confidence but it was all I could expect after a long time away from racing.

September has had a much better start and I have had three races in three weeks without any knee problems which was my main concern. The first was the Jef Schils memorial which is held near my home town. This is a big advantage as I knew the roads we were racing on and where I needed to be to get shelter in the crosswinds and more importantly allowed me to have a lay in until 11am for a change! It was a fast race with a 27mph average, so fast in fact my mates riding out to watch managed to miss the finish. I remained in the bunch despite two punctures and got 95 miles of racing in my legs which felt good.

The following weekend saw me line up against the best field I have competed against in the UCS Ipswich Coastal race. It was a surreal experience as last year I would have been watching this event and now I was competing in it. I felt comfortable in the peleton riding alongside some of the finest talent in Britain most of whom were preparing for the Tour of Britain. Eventually thanks to my poor positioning in the bunch (near the back) I got dropped after 85 miles. I learnt a lot from the race and am sure next time I compete at that standard I will at least finish or even get a result.

Jef Schils Memorial

A week after the UCS race was the Shaftsbury RR. I went into the race knowing that 3rd would secure my 1st category licence for next year. My legs felt great and having raced at such a high standard in the previous two weeks. It was a strange race with people prepared to chase each other down for majority of the 70 miles. Unfortunately I missed the decisive break of 4 riders and didn't have the legs to bridge across on my own. Instead I decided to launch a late attack to avoid the carnage of a bunch sprint and managed to stay away with 4 other riders who I comfortably beat in the sprint for 5th place. Although it was not the result I wanted I was happy with my performance as it leaves me with just 7 points to achieve my 1st cat.

Sprint for 5th at Shaftsbury RR

I have one race left this season on Sunday and after that I will be heading back to Sheffield to start my 2nd year at University. I will have a couple of weeks off before I start training again but I can't wait to begin my winter miles for next year now I know what I can achieve. Hopefully my next post I will have got my 1st cat licence, thanks for reading!

Suffolk Cycle Race Series

A small goal for this year was to win the 'Suffolk Cycle Race Series' which is held at Trinity Park. It is an hour long crit on a relatively technical course so it suited to my cyclo-cross background, this was shown by my results in the series:

Cycle Series 1 3rd
Cycle Series 2 2nd
Cycle Series 3 4th
Cycle Series 4 1st
Cycle Series 5 1st
Cycle Series 6 DNF                                                              

Cycle Series 4- 1st 

I had fantastic form for all of the races and was very happy to win the series overall. In the final race of the series I was in a break with one other rider, had a 15 second lead heading into the penultimate corner... *BANG* what a fantastic time for my tire to explode. Despite my best impression of Usain Bolt running to the finish I was caught by the main field.

Now the series is complete my week is now built around training to complete my hardest goal of the year which is to win an E/1/2/3. I have a good foundation to build on but still have a lot of work to do in August to become strong enough to win an elite race. My other goals for the season are almost completed as I only have 29 points left to get my 1st cat and 4 wins out of 5.
This weekend I have what is likely to be my last 2/3/4 for years (hopefully longer). It is set up perfectly as a win would give me 30 points and complete 2 of my goals for the year!

Start of July

Racing this month had the best possible start with my first win of the season at Suffolk Cycle Race Series on Wednesday. My last win was in January 2011 which was a 4th cat race now, 2 and a half years later, I have won my first elite race which puts into perspective how far I have come in the last few years. I am hoping this is the first of many wins this season!

I was able to follow up my first win with a solid weekend of racing finishing 2nd on Saturday and 4th Sunday. I was in a break with 4 others on Saturday in a crit and having gained 2 minutes on the bunch it was a sprint for the victory. Unfortunately due to some 'interesting' cornering from another rider I was left with to much work to do in the sprint and finished with 2nd.

Sunday was the VC Norwich race, last time I raced there I ended up on the floor with 200m to go and a broken gear leaver! This time round my legs felt strong and I was able to cover several of the early moves. Eventually a break with 8 or so riders stuck and we were left to chase down a group of 5 that had already formed. We caught three of them but after some mucking around another rider got away and we were left fighting for 4th. I took advantage of everyone sitting up before the sprint and rode away on my own with 3km to go. I stayed away and came within 5 seconds of catching two of the riders up the road. I was happy with the result despite not achieving my aim of winning the event but my legs were there and I am sure I will win a road race before the end of the year!

Return of The Legs

Having started the season so strong I then found myself struggling for form during May. This was down to a lack of racing and a lack of decent miles during the exam period. However, since finishing, June has been a fantastic month on the bike and I am feeling stronger with every race I complete.

Stats for June:

Miles: 904

Hours: 47

Average Speed: 19.2

Points: 61

I scored points in every race in June so was really happy with the consistency of my results. I am currently leading the series in the 'Suffolk Cycle Race Series' thanks to a 4th, 3rd and 2nd place in the first three nights and have backed this up with results at the weekend races. 15th Eric Buddolph, 6th Suffolk Cycle Racing Sunday Races, 14th Circuit of the Fens, 2nd Elveden and 6th at the Lea Valley RR. Next month I will look to build on this form and win a couple of races to close in on my 1st Cat licence. 

       Sprint at the Circuit of the Fens

Back to Essex for summer

So my 4 month summer has now begun and its time to complete all of my goals for the year. My season is still a work in progress at the moment but I am now back home with a lot of races to enter and more importantly win.
Just a quick update of June so far. It started with the Eric Buddolph RR which involved an interesting (3000ft of climbing) ride out and an OK race. I still don't have the power I would like to bridge across gaps and therefore I made it half way across to the break before my legs gave up. This left me around 15th in the results although I am still awaiting confirmation.
The master plan for my weekend coming back was a lift back from Sheffield on the Saturday, call in at Elvedon on the way back, win it and get back in time to to see my mates. Alas a lack of turbo on my dad's trusty van meant I turned up just in time to see the bunch role past 2 laps in which was not ideal. I forgave him eventually and turned my attention to the Ipswich Cycle Series race that was the day after.

Sunday came and I made sure I was there in time to see one of my old team mates Mark cruise to victory in the 3/4. With just 12 riders signed on in my race I was fairly confident of my first top ten of the year and some points. The legs felt good and I was able to cover any attacks that were made. It came down to a sprint which I usually enjoy unfortunately the rider in front of me rolled his tire off on the final corner leaving me with 7th overall.
The second race in the series came on the Wednesday after but this time the race was handicapped so 4th & 3rd cats were given a head start. In wet conditions we set about chasing down the groups and caught them with 2 laps remaining after a few twitchy moments in the corners. I knew the finish was going to be dangerous as there was a tight right-hand corner on slick roads 100m before the finish. After a bit of a battle I sat third wheel before the corner and the two riders in front both fell on the corner. I felt my back wheel going and was able to hold it finishing 3rd in the end. I am still trying to work out how I didn't win but a top 3 was a good result and something to build on for the rest of the series.
Next for me is the 125mile 'Circuit of the Fens RR' on Sunday which will be a good test to see if all those winter miles have paid off.

May

Not a lot to post about recently as I haven't raced since the end of April. This is due to a number of factors but it is primarily due to exams and a lingering cold. I keep telling myself (and other people) that I am not fussed about my first year exams but sub-consciously I can't let myself get a bad grade.  It also puts my head in a bad place when I am out training as I think to myself I should be revising, This means that I have trained half as much as I would like.

Low mileage for the last 3 weeks left me with shocking legs in the race today and I was disappointing to finish around 20th. I am taking the result as the kick up the arse I needed to get out on my bike, train hard and realize my full potential. 

I only have 2 exams left next week and then I will be able to focus my summer around achieving the goals I set earlier in the year. 

Stats

Whilst studying an accounting degree I was always going to have to share some statistics for my year so far and here goes.

January-April:
Distance- 3350 Miles
Time- 192 Hours
Rides- 97
Climbing- 181,316 feet
Average Speed- 17.44mph
Points- 24

So to summarize I have cycled up Everest 6 and a quarter times, spent 8 days in the saddle and cycled from Land's End to John o'Groats 3.83 times all in the last three months.

As for April:

Distance- 777 Miles
Time- 42 Hours
Rides- 28
Climbing- 52,906 feet
Average Speed- 18.5mph
Points- 13

April was my first full month of racing so I will use this as comparison with the next few months and fingers crossed there will be another statistic for the amount of wins I have had this year!

BUCS 25 & Out of the Saddle RR

Last weekend was the first time I have competed on both Saturday and Sunday this year. Saturday was a 25 mile time-trial in Cambridge which was part of BUCS. I went into the race with no real expectations as I knew I didn't have the equipment to be in the top 10. This left me with the only real goal of a PB which realistically I could have achieved riding a BMX round the course. Ok that might be a slight exaggeration but even so I smashed my PB by 12 minutes and finished frustratingly close to a sub 1 hour time, 01:00:15 by my watch. This leaves me with a solid benchmark to beat over the coming season. 

After a quick removal of my clip-on TT bars and a nights sleep I was ready to compete in the Out of the Saddle road race. I decided to ride over to the race to give me a chance to spin the legs out and get a few extra miles in. It also gave me a good chance to assess the conditions which were: a. Cold and b. Windy. I knew the conditions were going to be hard enough to blow the race to pieces so I looked for the early break. Eventually I bridged across to a break which swelled to 15 or so riders with another 2 up the road. I then stupidly missed the split in the break I was in so only ended up with 11th place. Another top 15 but still no top 10 this season which I am gutted about. 

Overall I feel I can take a lot of positives from the weekend, PB in the time-trial, competitive in the road race and more importantly my legs felt OK both days. So onto the next weekend of racing which is in a fortnight and I will make sure my season does improve at some point! 

Beeston Road Race

Sunday saw me take part in my second 2/3/4 road race of the season. It was a relatively flat course, benign conditions meaning the chances of a breakaway were slim to say the least. My team mate, Andy, worked hard to attack early on but his efforts were in vain as the bunch were in the mood to chase everything down. I left my efforts until half way through, again the bunch allowed me to get a gap of 30 seconds or so before frustratingly chasing me down.
Everyone was gearing up for the sprint and I had positioned myself wheel. However not knowing the course I opened up the sprint very early which blew the race apart. It left me and 6 riders effectively off the front one of which was Andy. He managed a very respectable 3rd place and I held on for a top 10, or so I though until the organizer left me of the results!
Fingers crossed the result will be corrected and I will maintain my run of top 15 results this season. Next for me is the BUCS 25 Mile time-trial and the Out of The Saddle Road Race.