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!