ROB ORR

UP / DOWN

2012-01-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well 2012 has well and truly started - a new year, a fresh start and opportunities - 2011 wasn't a bad year though, in fact all in all it was a good year! Like every year though really it had it's ups and downs - here's mine!

GOING UP
The year started brilliantly really - training for the start of 2011 season in Calpe (Spain) was brilliant. The other riders and I from the Forme-Impsport-SanLamere Cycling Team spent a little under seven weeks there training in really good weather and on great roads, and all based near the sea-front. Personally I think we couldn't have had it better!

The above photo is one that we did for 'Sue Me' whilst in Calpe

This photo was taken on a coffee ride from a cafe near Denia

Not long after we got back from Spain we went away again for a UCI 1.2 (one day race) and a UCI 2.2 (stage race) in Croatia. We were there for ten days and raced against some good teams including Michael Rasmussen and his 'Christina Watches - Onfone' team. It was a brilliant first big race of the season and gave us all the chance to see where we were fitness wise. Even the food in the hotel was really good, though this actually presented me with a problem as I can eat a LOT - not ideal if you're away for ten days and supposed to be a lean cyclist!

COMING DOWN

After Croatia we returned to the UK and moved into the team house in the Peak District (this was a very high point as the team house was brilliant all year) and settled ready for a some British races - first up was the UCI 1.2 Rutland - Mellton CiCle Classic. The race started well for us as we stuck to our plan and were riding well as a unit near the front - our overall plan was to ride for Jack and so keep him at the front coming off of the second lap of Rutland Water. As the race left Oakham on the way to the 'sectors' I punctured and after a wheel change I rejoined the peloton as it was splitting up and so that was my chances of doing well over - I finished (puncturing a second time with 5km to the finish) in a group that was never in the action. Jack rode well though and made the front group but dropped his chain on one of the sectors about 15km from the finish and so then lost contact with his group. He finished in 32nd place - a position that would have been much better without the bad luck!

After 'Rutland' we moved on to the next Premier Calendar of 2011 - the 'Tour Doon Hame'. On the first day (three day race) I was under the weather and so really struggled in the conditions (very bad weather and extremely cold in the rain) and so my race was over before it started really - I just had nothing to give. On stages two and three I was much better but still not great.

From the Tour Doon Hame we went on to the 'Lincoln Grand Prix' - one of the best races of the year, a British classic and a must do race for many British riders. I punctured after only 22km on a day when I felt like I was floating and could really have done something in the race. I punctured as the race approaches 'Michaelgate' through the centre of Lincoln, this is exactly where you would least like to puncture and so my race was over there and then.

GOING UP AND COMING DOWN, LITERALLY, AT THE SAME TIME!

The 'An Post Ras' in Ireland - a UCI 2.2 stage race (eight days). Although it went quite wrong for me the race was also bizarrely one of the high points of the season as I really took to the race and the people there around it. On stage one all of the team were involved in a HUGE crash that saw the majority of the peloton involved in a big pile up - other than a broken bike we got away with it quite well. For such a big crash no-one to my knowledge had any major injuries which was surprising. My crash on stage four shaped the rest of my season though as I hit the deck and needed stitches in my knee and my elbow (minor fracture) plus treatment to my hand which was badly cut up. My injuries later led to me abandoning the race.

Ready for stage one of the 'An Post Ras'

The 'Ras' though is a brilliant race and is organised by some fantastic people. I made some great friends there in Joe and Sean that helped us from 'Forme-Impsport-SanLamere', and Brona O'Sullivan and her team were great hosts and put on a really good race. No matter what I really want to go back to the 'Ras' next season - I've unfinished business!

GOING UP
The crash at the Ras affected me for pretty much the rest of the season, though at the Tour of Bulgaria I started to feel back to normal again. To be honest we started well in Bulgaria with two in the top twenty on stage one (ninth and nineteenth) and the young riders white jersey, though we also lost Jack on stage one due to a bad crash. The race was personally was very enjoyable though and it was nice to feel ok on the bike again - it reminded me somewhat of when I started cycling and was doing it purely for the pleasure of it and without thoughts of achieving this and that as on each stage I was simply enjoying being in the race rather than racing putting pressure on myself to achieve x,y and z. My favourite day was day two when we did split stages (110km in the morning and 140km in the afternoon) as it was a day when I felt good and just really enjoyed the racing.

Bulgaria was the last race of the season and was a nice way to finish. The whole season based in the Peak District was brilliant - it's a really beautiful place and it's great for cycling. Throughout the year I had support from some great people and so personally I've come away with some new friends and plenty of good memories. During 2011 I went to Spain, Croatia, Belgium, France, Ireland and Bulgaria plus all over Great Britain and had a great time doing so as I love travelling - a big thanks for the year though has to go to my team-mates and also their families plus Adam at Forme Bikes and Lauren at Moore Large, Peter at Impsport, Frank and Harry at Advent Business Sales, Tim Mac at Sue Me and Raph at High5.

Throughout the year there were other low points when things didn't work out though there were loads more high points such as the races we won and the team house which was more or less a constant plus and a great base for us. I learnt a lot during the year and travelled to some nice places, I did some brilliant races and so it will always have been a good year for me. Now though is the time to look forward and use what I learnt last year - planning is well under way for 2012; I'm expecting it to be a brilliant year and I'm really looking forward to the racing kicking off in February.

2012 - Faster. Stronger. Better.

GIVE US FIVE

2011-12-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

The VeloUK site ran by Larry Hickmott has recently been running a series of 'Give us Five' articles with riders talking about their winter training - below is my one that was featured on the site recently.

VeloUK: Have you started your winter training and if so, how long did you spend off of the bike post season and how many hours a week would you spend now training?

Rob: I've been back riding again for quite some time now really. May last race of the season was the Tour of Bulgaria that was on at the same time as the Tour of Britain (11-18 Sept.) - it was an eight day / nine stage race which was a good race to do at the end of the season. After Bulgaria I carried on riding a bit as for a while it looked like I may do another UCI stage race in October but it fell through which was a shame as after Bulgaria I had good legs. I therefore took about the last three weeks of October off of 'training' though I still did a couple of cafe rides each week and met Dave Clarke for the odd easy ride. At the moment I'm riding about 20 hours a week - I'm quite lucky that I have plenty of people to train with and that makes life easier!

VeloUK: What is a typical weekday ride for you (how long and what intensity) and what sort of rides do you do on a weekend (how long and what intensity)?

Rob: At the moment I'm doing fairly short blocks of training and so one week I may barely ride at a weekend and the the next weekend I may be doing eight or nine hours. In the past I've probably done too much steady riding and so at present I've got more specifics within my schedule. A standard training day at present is about 4 hours with some structure within it such as some over-geared work, time riding tempo or seated climbing on laps of a hilly 40 minute loop that I do near Bradgate Park (Leicestershire).

VeloUK: Do you ride Xmas day or New Years Day?

Rob: Most years in the past I've generally ridden on both of them and I expect to do the same this year. Christmas Day I normally try to get out for a few hours or so with a few of my mates. New Years Day this year I'll be doing about 3-4 hours as I don't have anything big planned for NYE - a day on which I normally try to do a long ride.

VeloUK: Do you intend to go on a training camp abroad and if so, what would be a typical training camp there in terms of time spent training and the type of training rides they would be?

Rob: All being well I'll be going away for a while in both January and February although I don't have anything arranged yet. This year I spent all of January and February based in Calpe in Spain and I did plan to go back there for this winter but that's not happening now. If I go away for only about a week I'll do in the region of 30 hours a week whilst using the terrain to put in some longer efforts within rides of about 5 hours, whereas in the past when I've spent most of the winter abroad I've just trained a similar amount to what I would at home, the main difference being the temperature!

VeloUK: Finally, what will be your first races for 2012?

Rob: At present I'm not sure where I'll be starting the 2012 season as the team I was going to be racing for in 2012 isn't going ahead now and so a lot has changed in the last week or so, therefore at the moment I don't yet know who I'll even be racing for! Hopefully soon I'll know more though if I'm going to be in the UK at the time I'll probably start at the Perfs Pedal Race in February as I'd like to do a similar race program to last year and so do a UCI stage race in March.

PEN TO PAPER / FINGER TO BUTTON

2011-12-19T03:25:00.001-08:00

The fact that you read my blog may be bad enough, but I've recently been asked to start writing regular articles for the Daily Cycle website, and so I'm now also asking you to direct yourself there from time to time. I'll no doubt post links from here to the site anyway, such as this one which is a link to my first article, though it can also be read below!

Andy from the Daily Cycle website asked me to write something about winter training. Now obviously being a cyclist and one that rides my bike a lot - even / especially in the winter - I know quite a bit about training. I'm not a qualified cycling coach however, though I could point you in the direction of several different people that I would recommend. Anyway, here's the article.

Best and Worst
Winter training can be one of the best and worst times for riding your bike. It's often cold and can also be wet, but it's also a time when many cyclists ride more sociably as the next race season is some time away and so people often simply ride their bike without worrying too much about doing more than enough to stay fit. The winter can therefore be an enjoyable period of the year for riding your bike, however it is a time pivotal in the progression of a cyclist; a time when riders can lay the foundations for the coming year. What many people I believe fail to consider is whether they have reached their current level because of the training they have done or in spite of it! In order to progress a rider needs to be open to change - to look at the training they have done and be prepared to approach things differently, rather than simply using the same methods of years passed expecting greater results.

Structure
A structured approach with structured goals over the winter months will help with progression and motivation throughout the winter and set you on the way to achieving your objectives come the summer months. The key is to be realistic - you may read about the top pro riders doing 20 hour plus training weeks on a regular basis, but for the very large majority of cyclists a weekly volume of anything remotely close to that amount is not attainable. A qualified cycling coach will discuss your goals with you and plan out your training whilst considering the daily factors of your life such as family and work commitments. However if you do not have a coach and are intent on working to your own plan then be sure to consider these factors. A balance is required: it's important that you don't ride continuously too easy or too hard - riding too easy will see you fail to progress, and continuously too hard can run you down and suppress your immune system. This is probably one of the biggest reasons to have a coach - the advice and direction of a qualified professional can be priceless.

Enjoy
The biggest factor though really is the most basic one - to enjoy yourself. The reason I assume all of us started cycling in the first place was due to an enjoyment of cycling. Make sure that you are enjoying your cycling, as ultimately if it stops being fun, then what's the point?

The challenge now is to think of / find regular material that will provide interesting reading for some articles :-) I'm just hoping that my articles are more popular than my old DJ sets from before I took up cycling, as it will mean that at least two people like them (I'm joking here, kind of)!

Regarding 2012 season, well it's almost 2012 the year! An update coming up on that shortly. Seeing at the majority of this post is regarding winter training I'll talk about it some more. Mine is going ok - I did several decent weeks of what I would call informal training when I was going out and getting the hours done but without worrying too much about specifics. At the end of November (as I was due to step it up a bit and include a lot more structure) I caught a really nasty cold / virus that was going around and so that messed things up for a couple of weeks, but since that's passed I've been doing ok. There's various things which I'm working on but I feel good and so I'm happy for now.

Only one week now until Christmas, then NYE will quickly be here and before you know it we'll be into January. The traditional British season opener the 'Perfs Pedal Race' is on Sunday 12th February this year, which seems quite close but at just under eight weeks away is really not that close at all!

Cheers for now. Have a happy Christmas.

Rob.

THE TOM CAMPBELL POST

2011-11-24T03:37:00.000-08:00

An explanation: In a moment of substantial humour (I'm being ironic) my friend Tom tweeted back at me recently when I posted / tweeted the web address for my blog by saying how much he enjoyed my blog post. In reply I said that as he loved it so much that I would dedicate my next blog post to him - so here it is. You can follow Tom Campbell on twitter - he's actually very funny (I think so anyway) though please ignore anything he says about me as it's (probably) not true!

On to cycling. As I write this I'm not feeling too good as I've picked up a nasty cold so I'm just chilling at home and catching up on things - selling some old bits on eBay, updating my blog and tweeting like I'm getting paid for it! Training has been good (until now, obviously) and so I can't really complain there. I've been training quite informally to some extent - doing plenty of decent kilometres with some specifics, though the structure of my training will change slightly from December onwards. Last year I spent January and February in Spain - I'm still toying with the idea of going away again although I may opt to stay in the UK next year and simply go away for a couple of week long training camps. Much will be dependant upon factors regarding the team next season, and when and where we will start racing.

I was out training recently and met Andy from Daily Cycle who was out road testing a new bike for an article. Andy has asked me to write a short article about winter training for the website, so keep checking back on there for when it's posted up. I'll no doubt provide a link at some point anyway too.

Preparation for next season continues, though below is a picture of the 2012 'Forme Thorpe Elite' race bike. My 2011 race bike will be going back to Forme soon and so I'll be on a Forme Plateau training bike for a while. I'm actually quite looking forward to being on a different bike again for a while, though naturally I'm looking forward to season 2012 even more.

Forme Bikes will soon be selling the team bikes from this season, so if you're interested in a 2011 Forme Zenith (Dura Ace wheels and groupset) then search and contact the team on Facebook under 'Forme Impsport SanLamere Cycling Team' or use the 'Contact Us' option on the Forme Bikes website. All bikes have been professionally maintained throughout the season - asking £1800 or near offer.

If I'm honest I'd say that this blog post has said quite a lot without actually saying anything, which is quite appropriate as it is a bit like my mate Tom on twitter. Follow him anyway!

Cheers.

Pine Barrens

2011-11-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

Right then. Two things to mention. One is that the title of the post has nothing to do with anything other than it is my favourite episode of 'The Sopranos', and as I had that on my mind this morning, well, there's your title! Secondly, why so long without an update? To be honest it's due to a few reasons. Training in Calpe (Spain) at the start of 2011 for 6-7 weeks was great, but with only the wi-fi at bars and cafes to use, updating wasn't easy, especially with so many other things to do on the internet (legitimate things I may add, such as correspondence with sponsors ahead of the season). This all made it hard to update regularly. This pattern then continued with going back to the UK, starting to race, jetting off to Croatia for a UCI one day race and then a stage race, then coming back to the UK again and moving straight into the team house for the season. Once in the house, besides needing time for training, the majority of all team organisational issues were dealt with by me, again taking time. Not that I'm moaning, I like all these things, it's just that the blog was the one to bear the brunt of it, and once I'd left it a while, well, it became easier to then keep ignoring it!

With the above set straight, I'll sum up the season the best that I can.

Spain was great. I went there heavier than I wanted but came back at more or less race weight, but I feel in hindsight that I should have trained slightly differently, as the terrain there makes you strong but good at slogging away, and not necessarily 'fast'. I know what I need to do though and will change a few things in 2012.

The season started, and the first few months I was just finding my feet after not really racing properly for some time. The UCI 2.2 Istrian Tour in Croatia was good, with riders such as Michael Rasmussen in attendance, and it helped me start to adjust. The Tour Doon Hame Premier Calendar wasn't good for me though. Feeling great the day before the race, during the first stage I was simply terrible and so simply tried to help the lads on stages two and three. Jack made the front group on the last two days, coming home in the top fifteen, so it wasn't too bad. Other notable races were UCI 1.2 Rutland-Melton, where a puncture at literally the worst time possible meant I had to ride round just to finish once rejoining a group after a wheel change. At the Lincoln Grand Prix I felt brilliant, though a puncture at 22km in and the convoy avoiding the town centre due to the cobbled climb meant the end of my race; the bunch rode off with me stood at the side of the road!

The next big race was the 'An Post Ras' in Ireland, a UCI 2.2 eight day stage race. To sum it all up in one word - CRASH! Stage one, all of the team were at the front in readiness for a sprint finish. The biggest en masse crash I've ever seen saw nearly the whole bunch go down, Jack snapped his frame, and we all lost time! Stage two saw some big splits in the bunch - I rode too defensively and ended the day in the main group some time down. Stage three I worked to position Fox as we hit the finishing circuit climb, but with the break staying away it made little difference. Stage four however shaped my season. Having got barged off of the road into a ditch as the bunch squeezed to one side of the road at about 35km into the stage, I got up, dusted myself down and was rejoining the race through the convoy when we hit a particularly bad stretch of road. As the team car was next to me I hit a HUGE pott-hole which jolted me to the side. I hit the car, slid down the side of it and then rolled numerous times along the road, having been going about 60kmp/h just before. I was attended to by the race medic, who thought that was it and that I should get in the ambulance. After some time I managed to get myself together a little, took a load of painkillers and rode 110km by myself to finish the stage. I then got in an ambulance and was taken to hospital. I received six stitches in my elbow (which had a huge hole in it) and three stitches in my knee. My right hand was mangled with very little skin left on the upper part of my fingers, though luckily it wasn't broken, though I had fractured my elbow. I was treated for quite a while before being able to leave. I rode the next stage (160km) again by myself just trying to beat the time limit (which I did), all with a hand that looked like one of the big PMU hands from the Tour. The lads on the team started to refer to my hand as 'the claw' such was it's size! I started stage six but abandoned after 15km as I was simply nailed.

The long term effects of the crash were that I then got run down and ill from pushing myself, and so had no form at all until mid July, whereas the other lads that did the Ras were flying from mid June once they had recovered from the race!

With the lads getting some decent results and holding quite good form I then simply rode for them whenever possible for the rest of the season. Which although I was happy to do it was also to my detriment a lot of the time, as I didn't really get any results of note myself. I won two races in 2011 but neither of them were anything to shout about, just small races.

We finished the season though with the Tour of Bulgaria, which was a cool race. An eight day / nine stage UCI 2.2 stage race, with temperatures in the 30's every day and a max of 38 degrees, it was a good way to finish the season. The second day was a split day with a morning stage and an afternoon stage giving a total of 250km racing that day, which to be honest I think I enjoyed the most. The overall effects of the race has left me very motivated for next season but also with good legs, but no races to use them in. My season would really have been very different if I hadn't crashed in Ireland, but c'est la vie!

2012 will see me being part of a bigger set-up than 2011, and with a large role to play in the structure and organisation of the team. With a worldwide cycling icon as the Team Ambassador and riders experienced at the very top level of the sport, 2012 looks like being a good year. For now though there's lots to do, and some kilometres to ride as well. It's the first of November today and the sun has just come out, so I'm off out to ride. Catch you later.

It's an update disco!

2011-02-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

The last five and a half weeks have flown by, and there's now only three days left before I leave Calpe and return back to the UK.

With good weather and excellent roads and terrain to train on it's been great to prepare here for the new season. The thought of bad weather back home isn't particularly exciting, though I'm happy to be going back and seeing some friends for a week before the action really kicks off. With a really good race calendar everything really is set for 2011 to be one of the best years I've ever had. We start off in the UK but have numerous foreign races lined up. Subject to confirmation on La Fleche d'Armor the opening few months look as follows

06.03.11 -Severn Bridge RR - British National B

13.03.11 -Porec Spring Trophy - UCI 1.2 Croatia

17.03.11 -Istrian Tour - UCI 2.2 Croatia
18.03.11 -Istrian Tour - UCI 2.2 Croatia
19.03.11 -Istrian Tour - UCI 2.2 Croatia
20.03.11 -Istrian Tour - UCI 2.2 Croatia

26.03.11 -La Fleche d'Armor - French Elite
27.03.11 -La Fleche d'Armor - French Elite

03.04.11 -Dengie Marshes Tour - British National A

09.04.11 -France TBC
10.04.11 -France TBC

17.04.11 -Tesco Rutland Melton CiCle Classic - UCI 1.2 England

23.04.11 -Tour Doon Hame - British Premier Calendar
24.04.11 -Tour Doon Hame - British Premier Calendar
25.04.11 -Tour Doon Hame - British Premier Calendar

01.05.11 -Peterborough Classic - British National A

08.05.11 -Lincoln Grand Prix - British Premier Calendar

22.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland
23.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland
24.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland
25.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland
26.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland
27.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland
28.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland
29.05.11 -An Post Ras - UCI 2.2 Ireland

05.06.11 -Ryedale Grand Prix - British Premier Calendar

19.06.11 -Tour of Reservoir - British Premier Calendar

26.06.11 -British National Road Race Championships

After the Nationals I'm scheduled to go to Andorra in the Pyrenees for a week of rest then a week training again to prepare for the last months of the season. 2011 is going to be a season packed full of great races and hopefully good results. Let the fun commence!

Ciao.

Calpe, Spain

2011-01-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Without a regular internet connection here in Spain updating on here is tough, though as I'm here to train simply checking my email every few days whilst having a coffee is more or less enough.

During the first week here I had to take it quite easy as I was still struggling with a really bad cold, but over the last week I've felt much better and so been able to crack on with training. There's very few flat roads here but the terrain is great and I can see why so many pro' teams have been here. As I write the team staff from Katusha are at the table next to me, but I've also seen Saur-Sojasun, Quick Step, BMC, Astana, Vacansoleil, Rabobank, Radioshack, Top Sport, An Post, Willem Accent and Garmin Cervelo riders and / or teams here. We've had several days at 20degrees and so far no rain, so happy days. The villa is great and is a perfect training base, with the swimming pool being used as an ice bath after hard rides.

In terms of my personal progression here everything is on track, but as a team we are also doing well with a great team spirit developing. The race schedule for the first few months of the season has now been set and so all that is left to do is to keep training and get ready for the start of racing in March!

THE SUE ME - BUFF POST!

2010-12-23T05:19:00.000-08:00

Today started pretty much like any other day 2010 December day. Wake up, hit twitter for a bit, look outside, acknowledge the never ending presence of snow and ice, roll downstairs, put the kettle on, make a coffee and get a pint of water, watch a little bit of Top Gear on Dave, go back upstairs, put kit on, finish coffee, go back downstairs, make another coffee, make a bidon for on the turbo, get on the turbo and drown in sweat for an hour of tempo riding before breakfast. It then continues with getting out of horrid sweaty kit, have the first of many showers that day, go back downstairs for egg on toast (this sometimes DOES change), eat a yoghurt, get another pint of water, go back upstairs and check emails.

Today though I had an early Christmas present, and it wasn't yet another annoying Facebook email informing me of X,Y,Z that someone has said that added me at some point (artistic licence here, I like everyone on Facebook though barely use it). My early present was in fact a really cool email from Sarah at SueMe / Buff saying that they would be really happy to support the (my new) team and I during 2011.

I've known about SueMe and Buff for some time, and it's fair to say that they rule. They support some really cool people and also care a lot about what they do and how their products are made, this alone makes them cool, never mind the fact that their products rock the party. They sum themselves up below much better than I ever could.

Hi, we are SueMe®. We design and produce responsibly sourced sportswear. We will always endeavour to keep our costs and environmental impact down. Every little effort, when combined with everyone else’s little efforts will make a difference, and we’d like to share this with you. We love life, we live it to the full, and we enjoy our planet. We’d like it to be around for generations to come. What goes around comes around®.

The team (details forthcoming, for now check out the team blog whilst the website is being made) and I are really happy to be supported by SueMe and Buff, two brands which see life in a very similar light to us, so basically the relationship, like their clothing, is a perfect fit; excuse the pun!

During 2011 the team and I will be looking sweet wearing SueMe and Buff clothing, and you can too, simply click on the images at the side of my blog to be directed to their websites. Don't just treat your loved ones this Christmas, treat yourself too and get in there, you know it makes sense.

Catch y'all soon. Rob.

TWO WEEKS ON & FOUR TO GO

2010-12-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

It's been two weeks since my last post during which time I occasionally felt like I was living solely for my turbo trainer, with road rides not possible due to snow and ice it was a case of hitting the turbo regularly each day to stay on track for 2011. Four weeks today though I'll be in Calpe in Spain where I'll be finalising my preparations for the season with a six week training camp together with my team for next season.

Good progress is being made on all fronts and the early season race calendar is now more or less finalised, though we are still waiting for confirmation of a few dates as official race dates are still not published for many elite races in the UK, as well as France.

My motivation is good and the sensations when training suggest that 2011 is going to be a great year. I love this time of year for training, with everyone back into their stride in anticipation of a new season and a fresh start. It's the best that I've felt since 2007 in fact, so good times. The 'worst' thing that's happened in my preparation is coming off a few weeks back due to compacted mud on the road and even that was minor and actually quite funny, though if you asked me to slide along on my back again before finishing upside down in a ditch then I'm sure I'd decline the request!

Everything is going great, and with only four weeks until Spain the future looks bright. Catch you at Christmas.

a bientot

FALLING INTO PLACE!

2010-11-27T13:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things can take some time to organise, which can occasionally lead to frustration for those involved and waiting for the final outcome, but I'm glad to say that some of the arrangements for next year are now falling into place.

The team for which I'll be riding next season will be supported by High5. Having received personal support from them for the last two seasons I'm glad to be continuing to use their sports nutrition, which I believe to be amongst the best available. Today I was fortunate to collect some 315 bidons from High5 for use by the team and I next season, starting with our six week training camp in Spain from January 9th. Thanks go to Raph at High5 for his help.

Financial backing has also been agreed with support throughout the 2011 season coming from Advent Group, specialists in business sales ranging from small independant concerns to large corporate clients.

Over the coming weeks I'll be able to announce further information on the team and it's sponsors, plus details of our early season race calendar, the finalisation of which is something I'm very much looking forward to! One of the first races the team hopes to compete in is Manche Atlantique, an Elite-National race in France. It's one of the biggest races in France and is a Bretagne classic, and so will be an ideal test for the team as it prepares for the opening Premier Calendar races of the season.

Right now though it's snowing in most of Great Britain, so for me it will be a case of getting some sessions done on the home-trainer rather than the usual miles out on the roads. There are days when the season seems a very long time away, and there are others when it seems like it's almost upon us, either way though the hard work continues. 2011 is going to rock!

A POST THAT ISN'T A POST!

2010-11-26T11:57:00.000-08:00

The pain. The pleasure. The suffering. The dispair. The elation. The culture. The scenery. The stars. The fans. The mountains. The descents. The wind. The rain. The heat. The cold. The joy. The Tour de France!

A brilliant short film on the 2003 Tour de France.

Watch it. Be inspired!

2011 - A BIG YEAR

2010-11-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened within the last month with regards to my plans for next season. As things currently stand I'll be based in Belgium from the start of March, racing the Belgian kermesse scene and various Interclub races plus Elite National races in France, all in preparation for the Premier Calendar series in Great Britain, together with select other National A category events.

The British scene is at an all time high in terms of the quality of riders that are competing; Commonwealth Games medalists, plus National, Olympic and World Champions racing, as well as riders that have competed and won in the Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana) and also the biggest one day races in the world such as Paris-Roubaix, a monument of the sport. Due to the quality that is now within Great Britain the Premier Calendar series is a top level series of races, and so will be the focus of the team in 2011. Due to this we will be travelling back to the UK from our Belgian base in order to race in our focus events; races in Belgium and France will all be competed in and used as a tool in order to be on top form for the British races.

There are still some matters to be finalised, and so at present I am not able to name team sponsors or equipment providers, or even the other riders on the team. A very promising group of riders has been put together however, and we are due to spend six weeks training in Spain together in January and February in preparation for the season. The time in Spain is something that I'm very much looking forward to, as from our base near Alicante we will have some fantastic terrain on which to train, and all in ideal weather prior to the start of the season. As a rider, whenever I have been able to train in the mountains my form has progressed a great deal, and so for me the area where we will be training should see me back to my very best, which is something I'm really looking forward to. When I started cycling, ultimately my decision to give up my career and future security in the form of a house could have been seen as one big bet as to whether I could reach the level that I wanted to; professional status and earning a living from my sport. In some respects you could say that I got there in the form of the contract that I signed, even though the team collapsed before the season started. My subsequent illness could not have arrived at a worse time, however the current opportunity that I have will allow me to get back to those levels, and prove a thing or two. I can't wait!

In my previous post I wrote how I'm an all or nothing person at times, and I can't wait to get back to the ALL side of the coin again, riding full time and in some great races. As you've been reading this post you may have looked at the pictures that fit inbetween each paragraph and wondered why they were there, as they're old pictures, the race picture has very few spectators even, and they don't fit the context of the post, therefore an explanation; to me cycling is about the purity of the sport, racing in the elements, getting stuck in and giving everything that a rider can. To me, whether you finish first or last, if you have put everything into the race or the sport that you can, then you can look yourself in the eyes and be proud of what you've achieved; this is something that I'm looking forward to doing in 2011. Fortunately I'm going to be back in that position due to the sponsors that the team has, something for which I'm extremely grateful!

RIGHT NOW

2010-10-20T02:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sat here at the moment drinking coffee waiting for it to warm up just a little more before rolling out for a few hours training; my second day back on the bike after about a month off.

What's happened in the last month or so? Well, in mid September I went training in the Peak District with my mates Tim and Twigg, as they were doing a big training ride in preparation for the Challenge Barcelona Ironman triathlon. We started in Ashbourne, then rode via Leek, Macclesfield, Buxton, Chapel en le Frith, Bamford, Glossop, back to Bamford, Chapel en le Frith, Buxton, and back to Ashbourne to finish! It was a 200km ride that we did in 6hrs 40mins, so 30km per hour so not bad given the terrain, but I just didn't feel great. I was tired, had no kick or real power, and so having been considering it anyway I finished my season there and then. At one point earlier in the season I wanted to keep racing into the middle of October, but as I was tired there was no point. Since then I've been going out at weekends, and generally living a more rock n roll lifestyle, which is all good for a while, but as I'm quite good at doing that (events over the weekend of my birthday are testament to that), it's not sustainable in the long term.

Bizarrely, the evening that I got home from the Peak District I received an interesting offer for 2011 that if it works out will be very good, if it doesn't though, at the moment I've no idea what will be going on next year. I'm very much, in sports terms especially, an all or nothing person, and I'd rather be racing full-on or almost not at all. Rocking up to small races against riders and teams (most often a collection of individuals rather than an actual team in the true sense of the word) that I have no knowledge of doesn't interest me that much. A top twenty ride in a big race brings me a lot more satisfaction that a top five in a small one, but that's just me. If I'm racing I try to give it as much as I can in terms of training (if I'm honest I let myself down a fair bit with my diet when in the UK, mais c'est la vie) and so cycling becomes very prominent in my life, to the detriment of other things, and if I'm not racing as I want, I'm not sure if the sacrifices are worth it.

Now though it's time to get back on the bike and start training again, lose some of the weight that I've put on from the party lifestyle, and prepare for next year come what may. If things don't work out the way that I want them to, then that's a bridge that I'll cross when I get to it!

Catch you soon, Rob.

TWO MONTHS ON!

2010-08-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

I knew that it had been quite a while since I last posted, but I didn't realise that it had been two months! Where to start, what to leave out? There's been some minor highlights, and some minor downers too, but it's still been fun.

Over the last two months physically I've progressed again. At this point in time my legs are certainly the best that they have been since 2007, not quite back to where they were but not too far off either. My weight is still a fair bit more than it used to be "back in the day", though the difference is now that I know I can lose weight and not get ill, when previously if I tried to drop a few kilos I normally felt worse for it! Results wise, in terms of actual race finishes, things haven't been great, in that I've been lacking that instinct needed to get into the moves that count. There has been other factors involved but I'm not going to whine on about them, simply get on with things. Within the races I've done I've felt strong, and have made a difference to the way the races have gone, just ultimately without getting the results that I want. The most enjoyable race that I did recently was the Python Road Race, where I rode in conjunction with CyclePremier.com - Metaltek, which worked really well. As a team we all rode pretty much exactly to the plan, the only problem was that we ended up with second with Tony (Gibb) rather than the win that the performance deserved. C'est la vie, that's racing I guess.

Most recently I rode the Blackpool Nocturne crit (picture above) in which I felt quite good, especially seeing as it's a crit' (not always my speciality) and against some very good crit' riders, that have been racing them since mid season, something I've not done. Unfortunately I got a really bad start as I was behind a rider that couldn't clip in (thanks JJ) and so instead of being mid pack I got a stalled start and so was straight to the back - not a good place to be in a crit'. A few laps in however there was a crash, with half the field stuck behind it, and so a lap out was taken by most (it's supposed to be for a mechanical only, but the rules get bent). When going to rejoin the race however, I suffered the same fate as JJ at the start and couldn't clip in (stupid Look non slip cleats - they're crap) and so was straight onto the back again once I clipped in. A few laps later, with the pressure being on at the front, the race started to split, a rider a few in front of where I had moved up to couldn't hold the wheel, and so eight of us got split off into a small chase group. Rob Smail from CyclePremier - Metaltek and I then did all the work (it's fair to say I did more however) and tried to close the gap. We held it at a very close distance for quite a long time, but couldn't quite close it, annoying considering the six riders sitting on, and so that was that in the end, as I pulled out before the finish to try to save my legs for the CDNW Road Race I was to do the next morning. The next morning however, I felt quite bad, as I'd struggled to sleep (I got four hours only), plus my legs were wrecked (numerous riders stayed up north for the CDNW Road Race, and all suffered in the same way) and so I pulled out at half distance, wanting to go to sleep!

The season might be drawing to a close now, but as long as there are races, I'm going to carry on racing, as it will help me continue to fight back to being a better rider again, and will help me for 2011. The last race I can find on the calendar is on 17th October, so there's still some racing to do! The UK team / rider merry go round has already started, though for now I'm trying to concentrate on my racing, get a result or two, and look at what I can do to get back to my best - I feel that I'm on the way for sure, I just want the chance to show it.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

2010-06-28T02:21:00.000-07:00

The Tour Series started in late May, which was the time of my last post, and since then lot's has gone on, as I've been extremely busy, though there's not a huge amount for me to "report" so to speak.

At the end of May I raced the Dumfries Bikefest Grand Prix (Premier Calendar) and rode well throughout, though indecision towards the end meant that I rolled home in 39th place, rather than potentially a much higher position. The race was 164km of undulating terrain, though most of the hills could be rode in the big ring, with me only switching to the little ring on some steeper ones towards the end in case of a need to respond to an attack. As we got towards the last 20km I was quite happy with how I had been riding, as it was the first time since illness in late 2007 that I had been as strong and comfortable in a decent race. In the finale however I paid for my indecision, as I couldn't decide whether to try to jump away (we were going for 12th place) or get positioned for the sprint, which with it being a headwind sprint would have been ok for me, as it would have been difficult for riders to pass in the wind. In the end I did neither, as I waited too long to decide, and by the time it was too late to try to jump away, it was also too late to get positioned for the sprint. I effectively rode well for 160km and then poorly for the last 4km.

The week after the Dumfries BikeFest Grand Prix it was the Ryedale Grand Prix (Premier Calendar), which I pulled out of after only 30 minutes as I wasn't well. On the days leading up to the race I had gotten quite run down through my work with the team at the Tour Series, and on the day of the race I knew that I shouldn't race, but start I did, though straight away I didn't feel right. The Beaumont Trophy Premier Calendar was the following Sunday, but I didn't go to the race, as I was still unsure of my condition having just been ill, and didn't want to push myself, especially with as it was going to be another long, wet race (171km in cold rain).

At the end of May, June looked like it could be a good month results wise, however it's not turned out that way, although it has been a good month in other ways, as the Tour Series has been good, with the two extra races in Ireland especially so.

Overall the team did ok in the Tour Series. Tony won the first race at Canary Wharf, and although after that point there were some ups and downs, it's been good for the second year running, though this year I was helping the team rather than racing. The biggest low point really was the Chester round (round nine), as some riders from the break crashed in the last corner, and then numerous riders from the bunch went down as they rode into them a few seconds later. Of the team ( Cycle Premier - Metaltek ), only one rider was not affected by the crash, as four of the first five riders into that last corner were from the team. The overall affect of the crash was that Team Raleigh, who were one point behind us at the start of that round, managed to pull out a five point gap on us, as our counting riders had to collect themselves from the crash, and either slow pedal or run up the finishing straight to cross the line to finish. In the last round, especially with the lads feeling the affects of the crash, such a point deficit was almost impossible to overcome, and so we had to settle for 7th on the Team General Classification, rather than the 6th place we looked likely to achieve!

The National Championship Road Race was yesterday, but after having been run down recently and so missing a fair amount of training due to the Tour Series, I decided not to race, a decision proved to be the correct one in the end, with only eleven riders being classified as finishing. Instead I spent the weekend training and catching up with friends, which was really good after such a hectic few weeks. Missing out on racing the Nationals was disappointing, but the bigger picture won at the end of the day, and I'd rather miss the Nationals and see the team do well at Tour Series, hopefully helped by my small contribution, than race the Nationals quite anonymously due to it being on a course not suited to me!

From here it's back to training for a few weeks, as there's not much on the calendar at the moment, and then it will be time to crack back into racing. Until then, a bientot.

The Month Of May

2010-05-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

Things seem to have picked up a bit this month, during which I've been rather busy. Training wise I've been able to start "banging it out" a bit more, doing harder sessions and pulling in some more specific training. In terms of racing, the month has been better; I've been comfortable in my races but needing to break a few habits it seems.

A quick run down.

Nigel Meason 2-Day: I could only race the first day of the race, as I had a wedding to attend on the Sunday. In the time trial I couldn't get comfortable using the tri-bars that I had fitted, and so never truly got going, and finished about 30th out of 75 riders. In the road stage I was 7th in the bunch kick, having mis-timed my effort when really I should have more or less won it, though we were only going for 20th place, having missed the break. I was quite active during the race, having been in a few small moves, but unfortunatly I was blocked in on the left when the move went, and I couldn't get out straight away to do anything about it. The move ended up getting away and that was that. In the last 10km I had another go at getting away, though after a brief period off of the front I was brought back.

Lincoln Grand Prix: I was quite up for "the Lincoln", and with the weather being quite favourable everything was set for a good day. As is often the case at Lincoln though, people do not change gears correctly when approaching the 16% gradient cobbled climb, and someone roughly mid bunch dropped their chain, which resulted in 60 odd of the group having a standstill for 30seconds or so. The overall result of the above, especially due to how Lincoln is raced together with that bit of the parcours, was that we were then a large group, significantly down on the front of a very fast moving race. The group rode on, rather than raced on, probably averaging low forty something kilometres per hour, it was just that we knew that the game was up, and that we wouldn't catch the front, so no-one busted a gut to go after them. With only a few laps of the circuit to go the group was 4minutes down on the front of the race, and so we were classified then, rather than stringing out the rolling road closure. I felt good on the day, and so was disappointed for things to go the way that they did!

Hillingdon Grand Prix: At Hillingdon it seemed obvious to me all along that it would come down to a sprint finish, and although my sprint isn't great, where the finish line was situated actually suited what type of sprint I do have, and so I was content to wait until the end. With ten laps to go however, it started to rain, and the corners / bends, all taken at high speed, became a bit trickier. After having crashed twice during April, I half decided to stay safe, half bottled it, and positioned myself out of danger somewhat, keen not to crash again. With roughly 800m to go, there was a touch of wheels in one of the bends, and a load of riders went down. No-one was badly hurt, though two different teams both had a bike to replace, as the outcome was two snapped frames! Having slowed right down, clipped out and skirted past the crash, I, like the other riders around me, rode to the finish, where I crossed the line in 42nd place, though only the front 15-20riders raced the last 800m or so, as they were the only riders infront of the crash.

East Midlands Regional Champs: I went into the Regional Champs confident of a top five position, and should definately have got one, though once the winning break (of four riders) had gone away, I switched off, and only really jumped back to life during the last ten to fifteen kilometres, and ended up finishing 13th place. I was active early on during the race, and after roughly 30km I attacked solo and went up the road (see picture below), getting to a maximum of forty-five seconds or so I believe. When I attacked it was exactly the right time for such a move, and with two decent hills only three kilometres down the road, I thought there a good chance that the race would split, that a break would get away and come across to me. This didn't happen though, and the race stayed together, meaning that the hammer was down when I was caught. I could tell at that point that the bunch was close to splitting meaning that a move would go off of the front, and only a few kilometres after I was caught the move went, I couldn't quite go with it and so that was that. I then sulked a little, and seemed to just switch off rather than looking for the next move. Riders weaker than I therefore got up the road and finished ahead of me. On the last lap I seemed to come to my senses, and so attacked with roughly 5-6km to go, easily going away from what was left of the group, which had wilted significantly in the 27 degree heat, and catching two riders that were up the road, passing them with about 250metres to go.

Tour Series - Round One @ Canary Wharf: This year I'm on the other side of the show, and rather than racing, I'm helping the Cycle Premier - Metaltek Racing Team at each race. Last night was a good night for the team, with Gibby winning, although a crash with five laps to go put Jason White out of the race at exactly the wrong moment. With Jason scoring for the team we would have more than likely been top five, though we finished seventh out of ten, which is below par in terms of what is expected this season. A win is a win however, and although the series is team based, winning the race itself always gets plenty of coverage. Round two is tomorrow in Durham, and that is expected to be a totally different affair to yesterday.

Straight from Durham it's up to Dumfries for the first of the 2010 Elite Criterium Series, where I hope to show my improved form and get involved, with the next Premier Calendar the Dumfries BikeFest Grand Prix being on the Sunday. It's all go now though, as next week there are trips to Portsmouth and Exeter for the Tour Series again, before the Ryedale Grand Prix Premier Calendar on the Sunday. The next few weeks could become a case of make or break, let's see what it brings!

I'M GLAD THAT'S OVER!

2010-04-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

April, that is, not the CiCLE Classic, though how that race went was typical of this month for me.

So then, the East Midlands International CiCLE Classic (Rutland-Melton); basically it didn't go too well for me, so I'll keep it short. The first 50km passed without incident for me, as we raced the roads around Rutland Water, during which time I was too far back, and catching too much wind. After 54km or so we turned off onto a small lane where there is normally a crash or two, but again, nothing major to report apart from a bottleneck as we went up the hill at the end of the lane, which meant that most riders had to change to the little ring, chill for a bit, then smash it onto the big ring over the top and ride hard for a few kilometres whilst the race came back together. There is (was) then a few kilometres of rolling road. About 70km in some numpties almost crashed into a car parked on the verge as we exited a bend (despite their being a marshall warning the riders about the car) which split it up a little, resulting to frantic chasing for 2km before the first proper sector that goes through the feed zone. All ok at this point, it then strung out a fair bit more, there was some twitchy moments on a fast descent where people either can or can't descend and it causes grief, then going through Owston I came off, giving my knee - and body in general - a kicking. I eventually pedalled on by myself for another 20km before stopping in Owston the next time through, as that was where my mate Tim and his girlfriend Suze were to cheer me on. Race over, the CiCLE Classic never seems to go well for me, though I like the race and like the sectors, so one day it will go ok I'm sure. In reality though I blame myself for how things went this time, it wasn't bad luck that put me out of the race if I'm honest.

Basically then April was the month where I wanted to kick on with training, adding in some quality, but it's just not gone well. At the start of the month I did the Tour Doon Hame, crashed then cramped on the first day, limped through the second and then abandoned on the third. At the end of that week I went to Belgium for a few races, got screwed over on the first race there, messed up the second race (a day where so far this season I had my best legs) and was simply tired on the last day after four races in four days. I came home, picked up a virus, missed a weeks training, then did three days ok training, went to the CiCLE Classic, crashed, and have now had another three days off of the bike. I'm back on the bike now, though my left knee is still sore and bleeds a little, and my neck and back are a bit battered from the crash.

Hopefully then May will replace April as the month where I can bang in some more intervals etc and start addressing the things that I know I need to work on. I've got a simple training plan for the next few weeks onwards, which is cool: Monday I'll recover from the weekends racing, Tuesday is intervals and then chaingang in the evening or a local time trial, Wednesday a long tempo ride including some sprints, Thursday I'll ride in the morning, nothing more than three hours, then race at Mallory Park in the evening, Friday a steady-easy ride of up to three hours, Saturday nothing major, recovery ride really, and Sunday I'll race.

The upcoming race schedule is as follows.

01.05.10 Nigel Meason 2-day
02.05.10 Nigel Meason 2-day
09.05.10 Abstraction Lincoln Grand Prix (Premier Calendar)
16.05.10 Hillingdon Grand Prix (Elite Crit Series)
23.05.10 East Midlands Regional Road Race Champs
28.05.10 Dumfries Bike Fest Criterium (Elite Crit Series)
30.05.10 Dumfries Bike Fest Grand Prix (Premier Calendar)
06.06.10 Ryedale Grand Prix (Premier Calendar)
13.06.10 Beaumont Trophy (Premier Calendar)

Unfortunately the team that I was to be racing the Tour Of Serbia for are no longer doing the race, due to logistical and management reasons, so that's off of the agenda now, but that's life I guess. It does mean that I can definately race the Beaumont Trophy though, as it looked like I would have to miss that race, which is one that suits my characteristics, and so I'll look to go well there!

I'm looking forward to May, a month in which hopefully my knee will have stopped hurting from my crash, I'll not pick up any stupid little bugs, I'll start racing better, getting results, and also when I can stop moaning!! Until then,

a bientot

Vlaanderen, Part Two!

2010-04-20T01:16:00.000-07:00

After the Sunday had turned out to be an annoying day, I hoped for more on the Monday. As races in Europe are generally an afternoon affair, rather than first thing in the morning like in the UK, we went out training in the morning, driving out of Antwerp and then riding alongside the canal and back for 45km, before then getting back to out accomodation for a quick shower, something to eat and then heading off to our race at Sint-Gillis-Waas.

We got to the race and everything was very well co-ordinated, and with the amount of barriers covering the start finish section, it looked like there would be quite a few spectators, and so probably a decent field too. To my knowledge there was just under 140 riders on the start line, and we were to cover 15 laps of a circuit slightly under 8km long. The roads were bigger than those used on Sunday, and changed direction more often, meaning that the wind would be hitting us from different sides at different parts of the circuit. We started and I felt good, and although I didn't go right to the front during the first few laps, I sat in a nice position most of the time, and found that I was able to ride up the side of the group in the crosswinds to move up when needed, also judging the rhythm of the group at times so that as soon as it eased slightly I would jump up the side as it grouped up nearer the front, which meant that I could move up without using too much energy. I followed this pattern for the first 50km, figuring that I'd be best to simply be on guard and look towards maybe doing something in the second half of the race. After 70 something kilometres I went right to the front to start following more moves, I went in a few very minor splits, though you could see that it would come back together very quickly again. A short period later I was sat positioned to go with a few moves, and was simply tagging onto riders as they attacked or followed an attack. There was a period where there were quite a few attacks in a very short space of time, so after a few had been shot off I figured it could be a good time to have a go, as the riders at the front had just been jumping back and forth following them all the time. I attacked as we went through the town, taking one rider away with me. We then rode for a while before taking a left turn to head out of the town, which is where I hoped that a few other riders would be able to slip away and get up to us, however the elastic didn't snap, and all the attacks must have been well covered, as a few kilometres later my companion and I were caught, just as we took another left hand turn towards the cross wind section. In a lapse of concentration though, instead of riding hard into and out of the bend as we were being caught, I let myself get swamped by riders, and so fell quite far back into the group instead of riding hard in and then filing into about 15-20th place in the line. Unfortunately I paid for my error a few kilometres later, as I assume riders sensed that it was a good time to try their luck again in the crosswinds, and the group fragmented in the wind, with myself plus about twenty riders getting split off the bunch. In true Belgian style, a few riders decided they wanted to be 'Spartacus' Cancellara and ride over by themselves, none of them made it. They took a few kilometres to event start to ride together, despite me shouting in English and French (I don't speak Flemish) to ride together. When we finally did, either they were spanked, or the reason they were too far back in the bunch when it split was because they weren't so strong, and so although we started rolling through, we didn't make much impression on the gap to the other group. One by one they decided to abandon, until there wasn't many of us left, and so another race finish of anonymity beckoned. The race went up the road, we rode but not so fast and that was that, a good opportunity out of the window, part bad luck that I slipped so far back at the wrong time, but mainly my own fault, as I should have been closer to the front! Eight riders were away at the time, and I don't see any reason why, errors apart, I wouldn't have made the front group based on how my legs were, as I was as strong or stronger that the majority. With the eight riders up the road and fifteen finishing in the front group, a top fifteen placing would have been on the cards I expect, but you never know, I could have gone two more kilometres up the road and then punctured! Oh well, c'est la vie.

Tuesday started the same as Monday, up to ride, back to the accomodation, shower, food, pack car for the race and go. After the race we would be heading home, so there was a little extra to sort but not much. Off we went to the race: Evergem-Belzele, where there would be numerous Brits on the start line, which was nice, especially as I knew the large majority of them already. The race was similar to Sunday's race, in that it was on narrow roads, although not so windy. Two hundred riders started, and the only real place to gain many places was on the road through the town, which was into a headwind with road furniture in the middle. Off we went, lined out straight away, some rough sections of road and not many places to move up. Although I started in the front half of the group, I felt slightly apprehensive about the race, and lost a fair few places on the opening lap (7km). I was riding round thinking "I need to move up, this amount of riders and lined out all the time, when it splits that's it, game over", but at the same time I was kind of thinking "I'll nail it, move up gaining fifteen places, but it will still be lined out and there will still be 150 more places to take to get to the front". I raced round until about 40km in, with the two thoughts smashing into themselves in my head, until split it did, the back third of the race started to fragment and off we go again. I jumped round a load of riders and onto the back of the group into the headwind whilst it was going full gas at the front. "That was close" I thought, only to then look up and to see that it had split again, and six riders in front of me a gap was opening up to the real bunch. So again, pull out the line, give it some beans and try to ride back on. I didn't make it, neither did a couple of other Brits that were split off at the same time, and so that was it. Again, we rode a little, but then as I was already starting to feel a bug coming on, as I'd had a slight sore throat in the mornings for two days, I pulled out, though we would have got pulled out later on anyway. Two other Brits were in the group that go split off with me, so we went back to there team van and sat in the sun for a while. Another Brit turned up a lap later, then an hour later a few more had come and that was more or less it. The race had exploded completely not long after we had left, and only 50-60 riders finished out of the 200 that started!

Clarkey and I packed our kit, and headed off to Dunkirk, making the earlier ferry than previously planned by the skin of our teeth, which was good as otherwise we would have had a two hour wait before the next one departed. It was a good trip, but this was about the only bit of luck that I had it seemed.

It has been a few years now since I was a cyclist based on the continent, and the main thing that it reminded me is the necessity to concentrate throughout in those races, where in British races, apart from the Premier Calendar races and Tour Series / Elite Crit Series races, you don't have to be 100% switched on all the time. If you're not attentative, you won't make the move etc, but you won't get canned out the back in a splitting group either!

My calendar is quite full now until after June, though I'll go back over the water at some point this season, I have unfinished business with Belgian Kermesses, and some placings to claim! Anyway, onwards and upwards, it's the "Rutland-Melton" East Midlands CiCLE Classic this weekend, and although today is my first day feeling 100% since getting a virus whilst in / coming back from Belgium, as always I'm hopefull, and have been riding on some "sectors" of my own near my house, getting used to the handling of the bike over rough ground, so hopefully things should go ok for me on the rough stuff, fingers crossed!

Vlaanderen, Part One!

2010-04-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend and the start of last week saw me racing in Vlaanderen, or Flanders as it is known in English, for a few days. Going to Flanders was a very last minute decision. My friend David Clarke and I had discussed going, but not agreed on anything, it had merely been something that we had spoken about. On Saturday morning he sent me a text message saying should we go, a few (very) quick calculations, and a phone call later we had decided to go. I would be leaving my house only a little over an hour later, and so had to very quickly get things sorted and packing done, ready to roll.

On the way to Dover, we stopped off at Hog Hill to race there, as we were passing on the way down South, and had time to race having booked the ferry crossing for later that evening whilst in the car travelling down. As it was such a late decision, we rocked up to the race with little time to spare before it started. Dave won, whilst I never really got going, having done a hard four hour ride including sprints the day before. In an ideal world I would have had an hour or so to get warmed up into the race, but as the race was only an hour long, that wasn't an option. A break of six riders went away, shortly afterwards I attacked and pulled three riders away, only to then struggle on the hill due to my tired legs, and so had to watch the move ride away from me. Having to go that hard that early in the race, with tired legs and no warm-up was not going to work for me really, but of course, you have to give it a go and try your luck! Once back into the bunch I decided to wait until close to the end before trying something. with four laps to go I attacked and went away solo, but unfortunatly was caught just before the bell, as a counter attack was made by Steve Adams of the Sigma-Sport Specialized Racing Team. I ended up rolling over the line a lap later mid group.

That night we stopped in a hotel in Calais, then after breakfast and a short ride the next morning we drove towards Antwerp in Belgium. Unfortunately, on the way to Sunday's race we took two wrong turnings, and so only got to the race fifteen minutes before it started. We quickly managed to get ourselves signed on, made the swiftest of clothing changes ever and got to the back of the start-line just in time. I was more or less pulling up my armwarmers and putting on my race mitts as we started, with my training wheels in, and no idea what tyre pressure I was running, as there was no time to pump up my tyres, not that any of this mattered in the end. The field was 190 riders strong, started on a normal sized road, but then after less than 1.5km moved onto a small, pan flat, twisty and exposed set of roads for the next 4km, before another 1.5km of more normal roads back to the start / finish. The flag dropped and we were straight up to speed. The race announcer had said over the tannoy beforehand that the roads were small and twisty, so with this in mind, and being so far back, I knew I needed to move up the field as much as possible, as quick as possible. Immediately I managed to take about fifteen places, and then a few more as we almost came to a halt turning off of the larger road and onto the narrow ones. As soon as it hit the narrow roads, the field lined out, and people started getting chucked out the back of the race, with riders struggling to hold the wheel in front due to the cross winds. Dave hadn't managed to move up as far as I had, and said that people were getting dropped straight away. Just before the circuit got back to the start / finish village (Haasdonk), there was a right turn, and I could see that the back section of the peloton was starting to fragment already, and that there was a split about five or six riders in front of me. Immediately after the turn I pulled out of the line and drilled it as hard as I could to try and cross the split, not wanting my race to finish after only a few kilometres. Unfortunately though, the gap was slightly too big, especially as I had to ride past a few riders whilst trying to bridge across. I was riding at 55kmph with a cross wind, and only needed to go a tiny bit faster to get all the way across, but couldn't manage it. Dave, also having seen the split, had moved up onto my wheel (though I didn't know this at the time), and managed to sprint off of my wheel just before the next bend in the road, and got across, back into the race. I didn't make it. A small group of us formed to try and get back into the race, but I think that they had splipped so far back in the race already simply because they weren't strong enough to stay in it, and weren't much use at trying to re-join the peloton. We chased for about 20km but didn't close it enough, and eventually the race rode away from us. As I was already on my training wheels, I continued to bash it around for another hour as training. Despite the race braking up through it's course, Dave managed to move up sufficiently over the next few laps, and eventually came home in 21st place. The race was won by a Belgian rider, with a Dutch rider that rides for Davo (the feeder team for the Omega-Pharma Lotto Pro Tour squad) in second place. Click here for the results.

After the annoyance of such a start in Belgium, I hoped for better over the next two days racing. . . . to be covered in part two.

TOUR DOON HAME, or TOUR DOOM HAMMER?

2010-04-07T00:20:00.001-07:00

The Tour Doon Hame Premier Calendar didn't go well for me. The three day stage race based in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland was the second installment of the 2010 British Cycling Premier Calendar, and my first Premier of the season, having missed the Tour Reservoir. I went to Scotland fairly confident of a solid performance, though the race turned out quite differently to how I hoped.

Although not quite as planned, the journey North for me was quite stress free as I travelled up in the CyclePremier - Metaltek motorhome, and so it was quite relaxing really. Stage one though was where things started to go wrong. After two successive harsh winters, the roads were not at their best at times, with significant pott-holes on some roads. For many riders, stage one was a case of puncture, wheel change, rejoin the race, crash, puncture, wheel change, and so on. The Raleigh team especially seemed to be going back and forwards through the bunch regularly due to punctures. At 22km into the stage however we were belting along at a decent pace, and I was sat nicely in the middle section of the bunch, tucked away on the right hand side of the road. I'm told that someone hit a pott-hole on the far left of the peloton, and started to crash, this caused a ripple effect through the group, as riders tried to avoid the crash. Some riders touched wheels, and with there being gravel and crap that had been washed into the road at the same place, the crash basically went from the left hand gutter to the right, with riders in front of the crash ok, and anyone behind it in a spot of bother. Being on the far right of the group, as it happened I swerved off of the road onto the grass verge in an attempt to avoid the carnage taking place. I couldn't go too far off course mind, as there was a huge pond to my right, which wouldn't have been good to go into. As I hit the verge, I had a split second thought of "I might get away with this", only for that to be swiftly replaced by "oh dear" as I saw a bike cart-wheeling towards me. The bike struck me and down I went. I cut my left leg, left wrist, ripped up my leg warmers, and had bruising down my side. My bike got away fairly damage free, as the only evidence of the incident was a few scratches on the forks. I quickly picked myself up and checked myself over, then un-tangled by bike from the others around me, then turned around and it was then that I saw the casualties from the crash.

There was riders all over the place, even one a good ten metres up the road, though he didn't look too worse for wear. The two riders that came of the worst though were right next to me, which is what I think shook me up a little. Joe Skipper, who I had been talking to before the start was on the foor in significant pain, was later taken to hospital and received ten stitches in his face and treatment for a broken arm. It was the injuries to James Millard though that got to me, as he had blood pooring down his face, and wasn't "with it" when I tried to speak to him. His body and bike got away rather injury free, though he had very significant road rash to his face, and once the swelling and bruising had kicked in a few days later, was almost un-recognisable when looking at one side of his face. On the journey home though he remained in good spirits, so hopefully he'll be back soon.

At a time like that however there is nothing really you can do, so I jumped back on the bike to get going again, as the race doesn't stop for a crash. I quickly had to stop again, and re-adjust the bike, re-aligning wheels and brakes. I jumped back on to get going, but then had to stop again to re-adjust things. Once I was then back on the bike, it was a case of making a big effort to re-join the race. The majority of riders had a team car there that was able to pace them back to the race, though without anyone available to do that for me, I had an effort ahead of me to rejoin the peloton. Luckily the race had eased up a little, due to the severity of the crash really, and although it hurt I got back on. From there though I was on edge, even though crashes (being involved in or seeing) normally do not affect me. I sat too far back, often out of the line slightly as I didn't trust the roads for a while. For the next 60-70km it later became evident that I didn't drink hardly anything, and with 30km to go I started to cramp whenever the road went upwards a little. With 20km to go I had to sit up and steady ride to finish, as the cramps had progressed and I wasn't able to press on the pedals on the hills. Stage one therefore wasn't great.

Stage two started ok, but the affects of the cramp and crash were still in my legs, and I was having problems with my left knee. At 42km we hit the first K.O.M, and at the bottom I couldn't get going, I slipped to the back of the peloton and that got gapped slightly. The gradient eased up slightly and I was able to hold the gap, but not close it. Over the top of the climb and then on the flat the gap increased, and so I found myself in a small group of six or seven riders. The group quickly split up, and I then found myself having to ride the rest of the stage with very few riders. At one point there was four of us riding through and off together, though that then became two, and then there was only myself and a rider from a Dutch team remaining. It later became obvious that I was much stronger than him, and so rode probably 65-70km of the 105km we were together on the front. Unsure whether the commisaires would enforce a time delay, I rode at a decent pace, calculating roughly what time we would need to finish in to make the cut.

I didn't feel too bad on stage two, and despite the Dutch rider asking me to ease up, I didn't think that I had rode that hard. Unfortunatly after the stage however I had no-one to give me a massage, and with stage three starting in cold, very wet and windy conditions, my legs refused to work, and I struggled straight away. The affects of the crash, cramp and then a long stage riden mostly solo had taken their toll. So the 130km stage turned into an 80km training ride for myself and a few other riders.

For me the Tour Doon Hame was 1 x crash, 1 x cramp, 1 x stage (almost) solo effort, and 1 x DNF overall. Not what I wanted, but that's racing I suppose! Onwards and Upwards though. A good few weeks training now, a potential trip to Belgium, and then it's "back on it" for the CiCLE Classic at the end of the month, and the Abstraction Lincoln Grand Prix on 9th May, which is where I'm hoping to start hitting it harder!

TICKET FOR NEXT TRAIN FROM FRUSTRATION

2010-03-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things with cycling is that you can often know exactly what you're doing wrong in a race, but then find it difficult to stop doing it. This is exactly what's happening to me, and it's leaving me with a frustrated feeling after races. Things going wrong but being out of my control I can generally take, but it's rather annoying when I'm the one to blame.

After the Severn Bridge Road Race, where I had sat too far back and so was behind the split with two laps to go, I went into the Jock Wadley Memorial intent on getting accustomed to maintaining my position at the front again. The Jock Wadley was an improvement in that respect, although at the crucial time when I needed to be right at the front I wasn't, and in the head / cross-wind section a selection was forced. I was then in the second split of many, and although moves later came and went, I ended up finishing in a rather anonymous group that came home going for about 24th place.

The Wally Gimber Trophy at the weekend was at times a similar story. I only went off of the front with a couple of moves that came to nothing, and generally floated through the peleton, ranging from the front to the middle of the group. In a moment that is typical of how I'm currently racing, I was positioned more or less perfectly to go with an attack that saw three riders bridge over to the break, though I disregarded the move and away it went, leaving me sat in the peleton! One of the riders that went away was Jason White, which meant that CyclePremier - Metaltek were represented in the break together with other teams, which led to the race taking a breather for a few kilometres. Jason later punctured and so came back to the peleton, which led to CyclePremier - Metaltek riding on the front for the last 60km to try and bring the break back, which also meant that nothing else would get away. It then became obvious that the best tactic would be to conserve energy, sit out of the wind and then re-assess things towards the end. Going into the last 10km, half of the break were about to get caught, but there was still four riders up the road. I decided to wait for the sprint, and knew that with a little over a kilometre to go there was a left hand turn, and that I would need to be in the front ten at that corner if I was to get anything in the sprint. Again, symptomatic of how I am currently racing, I waited too long to move into position, then was unable to do so due to road furniture, and so when we reached the corner in question I was too far back. I actually moved through quite well during the last kilometre and was taking positions all the way to the line, but you would need to be a magician to win the sprint when coming from so far back, and so I crossed the line in what I imagine was about 24th place overall.

As previously mentioned, I know what I'm doing wrong, I just need to give myself a kick up the arse and actually do it! With about 30km left I set out a plan at the Wally Gimber, but then didn't execute it, even though it shouldn't have been too difficult to do so. The case can be said for others, but I'm not fussed about them, I knew what I needed to do, and how to do it, but I didn't, and that's what is causing the frustration at the moment. It's all about picking up good habits again, and shedding the ones picked up last season when racing again though still being weak at the time!

In other news, I'm now racing on my 2010 bike. It's a Basso Astra frame, Sram groupset, Deda components and Reynolds carbon wheels, all of which are available through cyclepremier.com. It's good to be on the new bike, though my position has had to alter slightly, and so I now need to adapt to the changes. At only 15.5lbs fully built up with race wheels, it's extremely light though, and so will be fun to race over any terrain once I've got used to it's characteristics a little more.

One piece of bad news I received last week was that I wasn't given a starting place at the Tour of Reservoir Premier Calendar (28th March) and so my programme has changed slightly. I intend to race this Saturday instead at the Darley Moor circuit in Ashbourne, Derby, as part of a heavier week of training, with the focus now switched to the Tour Doon Hame Premier Calendar, a three day stage race based in Dumfries over Easter. My schedule after that I've not yet confirmed, though at the end of April I'll be racing the East Midlands International CiCLE Classic (UCI 1.2), and then the Abstraction Lincoln Grand Prix Premier Calendar in early May.

Things in life don't always go to plan, but it's how you deal with it, adapt and move on that shows your character, something I intend to do this season!

LOOKING FORWARD

2010-03-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of the season came and went without much fuss really. On Saturday I raced the Eddie Soens Memorial, which is one of the first races of the UK season that receives a lot of press coverage. The race is a handicap, with junior riders off first, then fourth category riders and third category riders etc until the scratch group rolls out, which was three minutes after the juniors started. Now I'm not sure if it has happened before, but the first group off (containing some good juniors, and a friend of mine in Josh Edmondson) caught my group (the scratch group) a lap or so after we started. I'm told that they basically treated it like a three lap race, and calculated how fast they would need to go to get towards the back of the scratch group as it started. They basically therefore smashed it as hard as they could for three laps, and latched onto the back of the group, in doing so they had lapped the field, and so effectively ended the race there and then. Moves came and went, but no-one was going to get away it seemed, and certainly were not going to gain a lap on the field, and un-lap themselves. I went with a few moves towards the end, basically doing what I had agreed I would do when speaking with Rod Freeman, my team manager, but it came down to a sprint finish. Tony Gibb (CyclePremier-Metaltek) won and got the team's result, from Ben Swift of Team Sky, with Josh Edmondson being the first rider from the junior group to cross the line, making him the winner. I was pleased for Josh, and it is a high profile win, though everything points to him winning bigger more high profile races in the future (he's one to watch for sure). Although it wasn't a race victory, Gibby winning the sprint was good, it certainly pleased the team management of Rod Freeman and Andy Swain, especially as the tactics set out before the race were followed very well, and effectively got the desired result.

Sunday saw me heading to the Severn Bridge / Felt Bicycles Road Race. The start sheet showed what will probably be one of the strongest fields the UK will have this season outside of a Premier Calendar, and so it was due to be a good race. As is often the case for me at the start of the season, I use the first race simply as an opportunity to see how things are, and don't set myself major goals. I will always go with moves etc when in the right place, but after last season especially (when I went to Severn Bridge as my first race and simply felt very weak and off colour - like the rest of the year basically) I went to the race simply to get some race kilometres in the legs. A large move went quite early in the race, and with 16 riders in it would be far too big to work 99% of the time, but work it did. They must have simply got themselves organised and started rolling through and off, which meant that they were not to be seen again. In the bunch things for me were ok, I simply rolled round quite safely and out of trouble, until the group split with roughly 30km left to go. As the race went up a long drag, the wind was more or less head on, though there was a slight amount of cross wind, and the pressure that was applied at the front saw a group of roughly 15 riders split off and get away. Having been very comfortable in the wheels, I had become slightly complacent, as I didn't think it would split (basically because I wasn't finding it hard), but people were dropping the wheels and really struggling. I moved out of the line and went to the front of my split, but I thought the gap too large to bridge alone, and so I rode hard on the front to pull away a small group, with the intention of us working together to get back to the group ahead. No-one would work however, and a few kilometres later we were caught by the rest of the peleton again, and a few kilometres later it seemed everyone had accepted their fate, and so we rode piano for the last 25km simply to finish.

The weekend I guess taught me two things. One, that I'm back on track towards my old capacity pre illness, and two, that due to point one I need to start riding accordingly again, meaning I need to start riding more aggresively again rather than sitting back riding defensively (two years of feeling weaker than a primary school child will do that to you). Although the field was quite a good one, I didn't see anything during the race to suggest that I need to do anything more than I currently am, and so am happy to carry on with the schedule I have set, and keep working away. Although I'm not overly heavy at the moment, the one thing I'd like is to be a little leaner, though even when I was at my leanest, I always would have liked to shed a little more (aslong as I could keep the power that is).

This week I've had an easier week, which I've been glad of, as my training has caught up with me leaving me feeling quite tired, so that's good planning I guess, seeing that the two things fell at the same time. Although I've been ok, this week has also seen me feeling like I've been battling a cold or something, though as I write this I feel ok. Fingers crossed then that things will fall into place for the Jock Wadley Memorial Road Race this weekend. The parcours is 134km of flat and rolling, quite exposed roads, which should suit me rather well. Unfortunatly my 2010 race bike is still not ready, due to a mix up over some of the components for it, and so I'll still be on the bike I've ridden through the winter. The winter has gone well though, so hopefully that feeling will continue on Sunday. I'll let you know!

Prêt à Rouler

2010-02-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

So then, it's time, I'm ready to roll, the 2010 season starts next weekend for me, and what better to do the week before than hit the Peaks for a long ride? Yesterday my mate Craig Twigg (training for Ironman) and I went to the Peaks with the sole aim of getting some decent riding done, covering as many of the main climbs in the area as possible.

We started in Hope, then rode towards Derwent Reservoir to go up Snake Pass. From there we went through Glossop, got slightly disorientated, then made our way to Holme Moss. We climbed as much of Holme Moss as possible before the road was completely blocked off by snow, and so therefore then descended back down and had to ride Woodhead Pass to get back on track direction wise. Later in the ride as we were about to start the Strines, the weather took a turn for the worse and started to sleet, therefore a quick cafe stop in Langsett cafe was in order, seeing as we were right outside it at the time. 30mins later and although the weather was still not great, it had got better, so off we set back to ride the Strines, which seemed far easier than I recall them being when I last rode there in November after my end of season break. Once off of the Strines we descended down a little back to Snake Pass again to climb back up there for the second time. Whilst in the cafe we had decided to ride Snake Pass harder than our previous ascent, and so as soon as the road started to level out and drag back upwards we pushed the pace, which resulted in us reaching the summit a fair few minutes quicker than it took us at the start of the ride. Although we intended to have longer in the legs by that point, we were still four hours in to our ride, and so it was a good time to bang in a longer period of intensity.

The first time that we climbed Snake Pass the road was very quiet, and at the top we simply gathered ourselves, put on our rain capes and descended to Glossop. Unfortunatly though the road wasn't so quiet this time, and as we crested the climb there were numerous mountain rescue vehicles there, plus an ambulance and what I assume were the vehicles of several volunteers, all attending to some form of emergency on Pennine Way. Although the descent back down the way we had came, past Snake Inn towards Ashopton, is quite a nice descent and not overly dangerous, we took our time going back down, during which time another four mountain rescue vehicles passed us, which wasn't a good sign regarding events at the top! Once we had descended, it was simply time to head back to Hope to finish our ride. We got back to the car with five hours in the legs and light starting to draw in, and so it wasn't a bad ride, although we had intended to do six hours and head towards Edale and over Mam Tor before climbing off back in Hope.

With races on the schedule now every week from next weekend until mid April, it was good to get to the Peaks for a weekend ride with one of my mates, as generally when I train in the week people have other things on and so we'll ride more locally, rather than spending a few hours in the car to get to that type of terrain. I'm planning another trip there, if possible though, in late-ish March as preparation for the Tour Doon Hame 3 Day Premier Calendar, as I'll do a Peaks ride on the Saturday and then race on the Sunday, with the intention of getting the body ready for a three day race.

This coming week I'll be changing bikes and getting on my 2010 race bike (Basso Astra on Sram) and so with the first race - possibly races - of the season next week too, the week looks like being a good one no matter what! My form seems pretty solid for this time of year, and is a million miles better than I've felt for the last few years, and so hopefully I'll have a result or two to mention when I update next. Until then, train well, ride safe, be happy!

THAT TIME OF YEAR

2010-02-19T08:05:00.000-08:00

The end of February, and the start of racing. Lot's can obviously change over the next few months. Form can be built. A stupid crash can ruin it all. Objectives can still be set. In fact much is still possible of course, though it's generally at this point where the hard work that has been put in (or not as might be the case for some people) starts to show itself, and we get a better idea of what level people will be at during the season. There won't be many people that will be absolutely nowhere now, and then flying later in the year and smashing races to pieces!

The winter period has gone well for me, though as is always the case, I'd have liked it to have gone better, but then that's just part of the make up of what makes a cyclist I think. If a rider wins a race in a sprint, ask them and they would be likely to say they would have prefered to ride away solo to win by a minute. Ask a rider who rides away solo and wins by a minute if they would have prefered to have gone earlier, and won by a bigger, more epic margin, they would probably say yes. It's the striving to improve aspect within us I think that always makes us want for a little better, and so although my winter has gone well so far, I'd have liked it to have gone better. More hours ridden perhaps? More intervals completed? Maybe being closer to optimum race weight? A training camp or two in the legs? At the end of the day though, what's been has been, and it's a case of doing what we can here and now to improve, and to get to where we want and so fulfill our objectives.

Just this week one evening I was thinking about the weather, a little fed-up of the cold and dull winter, and wishing I was somewhere like Spain riding in the sun and preparing for the season there. The next morning though I went out and did a good five hour ride with some sprint efforts, riding back home into headwind driven snow for the last 1.5hrs. A long ride in crap weather you would think would put me off, but it just made me love it even more and topped the "desire levels" back up. Training can be like that, one minute you can be fed up of things, but when something goes well, it just re-lights the fire, and everything seems good again.

My first proper race of the season is now just over two weeks away, with the first key race, Tour of Reservoir Premier Calendar, just over five weeks away, and I'm quite happy with how things are going. Next week onwards sees me step it up a little again in training - there won't be a huge change, but there will be some extra work being done on a weekly basis. Hopefully the step up in training will be part of a very good and solid, hard four week block, ready for the first two Premier Calendar races of the season, as the Tour Doon Hame 3 Day Premier Calendar starts the weekend after Tour of Reservoir. After the Tour Doon Hame at the moment I'm scheduled to go to France for two weeks training and racing, although I haven't got the race schedule through yet, so I don't know any exact details.

Right now things are going ok. I've felt pretty good throughout the winter, which after over two years of struggling with illness, has been great, and so everything appears to be in line for a great 2010 race season. The true test starts now, but I'm ready!

LES ANGLAIS EN FRANCE

2010-02-04T03:47:00.000-08:00

It's been some time now since I first moved to France to race. My first season based there was in 2006, in which year there were numerous British riders racing in France, though mainly I only recall those that were based in Bretagne for the full season, like I was, though there were others that came and went quite quickly! With the exception of 2008, a year during which I barely rode my bike at all due to illness, I've raced in France every year, and this year will be no exception.

Like 2006, this year there will be numerous riders based in France, though again I mainly only know of those based in Bretagne. For the people of Bretagne, cycling is a part of the culture and is HUGE, Bretagne really is the heart of cycling in France, and is also the region of France's best ever cyclist; Bernard Hinault.

In an age where the internet is available nearly everywhere, it's natural that most riders have a blogg or website. Whilst based there I didn't have one myself (though where I lived we did have a pool table, which meant my team-mate Tom Walters and I spent many hours playing pool after training) though it would have been good to have one, as writing a blog I feel is good in that it keeps people up to date with how things are going, it gives you an outlet and something to do in the hours after training that are to be passed everyday as a full time cyclist!

Below is a list of the British riders whom I know that will be based in France in 2010, the large majority of which will be based in Bretagne. Those riders that have a blog or website that I am aware of are shown in blue*, click on their name to be forwarded to their relevant site.

Matt Jones COC Fougeres
Nathan Edmondson COC Fougeres
Josh Andjelkovic Hennebont Cyclisme
Phil Gale Hennebont Cyclisme
Shane Leadley VS Scaer
Richard Meadows VS Scaer
Ali Carr AC Lanester 56
Tom Copeland BIC 2000
Joshua Hunt Sprinter Club de Nice

*Some of the riders only update their blogg during the race season, though if I know of one that they have used I've given the link on the basis that they might start posting on it again. Les gars, je vous souhaite un bon saison!

As it happens, the team for whom I currently race in France; COC Fougeres, may have a place for a rider for 2010. If you are interested, or are aware of a rider who may be interested, see the About Me section above for my contact details (and email to me some details about yourself, results and motivation for the season etc). The 2010 season is about to start, but it's not too late to start it in France! I'll be over for a few races this season, but other than a few that are set in stone that I'll definately be at, time will tell which races I'll do.

Merci, a bientot

CHANGES

2010-01-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

There's so much that can change in twenty four hours or so. Yesterday I was really looking forward to the first race of the season, The Perfs Pedal Race on 14th February, in fact I still was even this afternoon as I was finishing my ride. I've now found out though that the race has been cancelled, as after having earlier this week been moved to a motor racing circuit due to poor road conditions on the original circuit (caused by the recent freeze-fest), the organisor has now been told that the circuit has been double booked and so the race can't go ahead there!! The next race on my current schedule is the Eddie Soens on 6th March, with the Severn Bridge Road Race the following day. I'll still be doing those races, but with Perfs having now been cancelled I'm once again looking at what's on where, and the prospect of a trip to France (or Belgium) to get some decent racing done. Arrangements with my French team have been quite low key this winter, which suits me, as I don't really want the pressure of numerous trips at the moment - I'm planning to race there more later in the season apart from trips for a few specific races. What will come though I don't know. The reason for doing Perfs was that as the first race it receives decent media coverage, and would also give an indicator of how my legs are, as although training has been going well, there is nothing like a race to show "what's what"!

On a positive note though, it looks quite possible that I'll be racing the FBD Insurance Ras in Ireland this season. The Ras is an eight day UCI 2.2 stage race, with a particularly tough parcours this year (from what I've read), which would be a great spring board to some decent form later in the season. Like the Perfs though, things can change, but for now at least it's on the cards. Some other European tours have been discussed too, but nothing has been decided on, and invites will need to be sorted anyway.

Some things don't change though! Today it's been revealed that Riccardo Ricco's girlfriend has been found positive for EPO CERA at the Italian Cyclo Cross Championships. I'm normally not someone to tar people with the same brush simply due to their association with someone, but this doesn't look very good does it? Ricco is due to return to competition in March this year having sat out a (off of the top of my head) twenty one month suspension after being found positive for EPO CERA himself, and now eight weeks or so before he is due to return his girlfriend is caught. Really does make you wonder whether he will be up to his old tricks, i.e doped up to the eyeballs and riding like a motorbike! His recent interviews in the monthly cycling press certainly didn't provide any reasons to be confident that he will be clean!

One good change compared to the start of the 2009 season though is how I'm feeling on the bike, and in general. As it happens I'm writing this feeling quite tired, I've not had an overly hard week training, in fact it's been an easier week than normal, though it has been a busy week, with things to sort out each day meaning that I've had to rush around quite a lot. I always knew that this would be the case this week though, and so I'm really looking forward to next week, when it will be time to lift it up a level and start pressing on more. Training has been going well, and most importantly, health wise I'm on a totally different level to twelve months ago, so basically everything - Perfs aside - is looking good. 2010 really does look like being a good year, bring it on!

THE HORIZON POST Part II - SEASON OPENERS

2010-01-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

My racing season is starting early this year. Having deciding against racing the Tour du Cameroun (UCI 2.2) next month - an eleven day stage race from 15th to 26th February - it's been time to start putting the race schedule together.

Ideally in March I will get some racing done in France, taking to the line in either big races both days of a weekend, or at least one three stage "stage race". Racing in either short stage races or decent races on back to back days always helps with my conditioning, so it's what I look to do early season. At the moment though, what racing I'll be doing in France is unconfirmed, and whether to go to Belgium for a short period or two in March is also undecided upon, so for now a race schedule based on British racing only has been put together. It's still early(ish) days really to be finalising for March - things can and probably will change over these last weeks in January - but for now, the schedule looks as follows.

- 14.02.10 Perfs Pedal Race
- 15.02.10 Alicante Training Camp (departure)
- 22.02.10 Alicante Training Camp (return)
- 06.03.10 Eddie Soens Memorial Cycle Race
- 07.03.10 Severn Bridge Felt Bicycles Road Race
- 14.03.10 Jock Wadley Memorial Road Race
- 21.03.10 The Dulwich Primavera Wally Gimber Trophy
- 28.03.10 Tour Of Reservoir

The Tour Of Reservoir is the first Premier Calendar race of the 2010 season, and so racing up to that point will be more about preparation than performance. On the day I'll always race 100%, though if my schedule remains as shown above, it will be likely that I will train hard in the days leading up to races, in an attempt to simulate short stage races for the conditioning benefit.

The first race though is the Perfs Pedal Race, the traditional British Cycling season opener (the picture above shows my regular training partner Dave Clarke leading the break in 2006 whilst riding for the Nippo Professional Cycling Team). For now it's "The Perfs" that I'm looking towards, though it will be nice to go to Alicante the following day for a short warmer weather training stint. There's a lot of hardwork to be done between now and then though, and now that the snow is thawing, it's all good!

THE HORIZON POST

2010-01-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. So here we are, 2010, the start of the new year, which for me always means starting to look ahead even more to what is coming up on the horizon! The start of the 2010 season is not far away now really, and so if you've not had your head down already, it's time to start putting in some hard work ready to start racing.

My first race is likely to be what is the traditional British Cycling season opener, the Perfs Pedal Race, which is on 14th February. The following day I go to Alicante in Spain for a short training camp with two friends of mine, being Will Fox of Team Zappi and Jack Adams of Pendragon Le Col Colnago, which should be a good week. Once back from there, my next race will be the Severn Bridge Road Race sponsored by Felt Bicycles, then it will be a case of racing regularly and getting some more decent training done in preparation for the first Premier Calendar race of the season, Tour Of The Reservoir on 28th March.

As I write this though the snow persists, and for me it's still dodgey outside and not worth the risk of falling on ice, so I'm doing numerous sessions on the home trainer (three today alone) to keep my fitness moving along as it should. When times are like this, there's not much to report really, train on the turbo, eat, sleep, repeat, and so on. Not much happens and so life isn't exactly exciting, not very rock n roll, which is why I keep what's coming up in the forefront of my mind. It helps keep me going and doing what I need to do. It's always good to have something to look forward to, and for me Alicante is just that. I'll be back updating on here before that for sure, but for now, spending hour after hour sat smashing it out on the home trainer, it's the thought of training in the sun in Alicante next month (as per the pictures) that is helping to ease the boredom of the turbo!

Nice one.

GOING NOWHERE FAST!

2009-12-21T00:30:00.000-08:00

Well, with the weather having taken a turn for the worst, at least from a cyclist's point of view, it's been a case of riding the turbo for the last few days, and at the moment it appears it will be a case of riding the turbo for the next few days as well. The weather here is far too dodgey to go out on the road, the risks/negatives far out-weigh any positives, so I'm keeping it safe, and getting the hours in on the turbo, even though I find it quite boring.

A friend of mine was out training on a group ride the weekend before last. He tells me that they were riding their usual roads for that ride, but came across a patch of black ice. One of the riders came down on the ice, with everyone that was behind him in the group going down too. Most of them jumped up straight away, though one appeared to be in quite a lot of pain and couldn't get up. An ambulance was eventually called, and the rider was taken to hospital with what turned out to be a cracked vertebrae, which means that he will be in a back brace for the next eight weeks! An injury like that is no joke, eight weeks in a back brace, then the rehab' work involved and so on would mean a VERY long time off of the bike, and the 2010 season in tatters! Something for many people to bear in mind?

So, keep it safe, though maybe not as safe as these guys below, they seem to have taken turbo training to an extreme! Cheers.

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?

2009-12-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be nice to be somewhere where the sun is shining, it's warm and dry for the winter? Lots of riders are, numerous riders I know either are, have been, or are due to go away, though for now I myself am stopping in the UK. At the moment, on numerous cycling news websites there are often articles on how Columbia HTC are training here, Rabobank are training there and what riders like Armstrong are up to etc, though I am yet to see an article on riders getting in their pre-season training in Great Britain, though naturally there are numerous decent riders that are! As I write this it is snowing outside, and the road is covered in either ice, snow, or both, though for me training has been going well and as long as you prepare correctly for the sessions that you are doing, wear the right clothing, eat the right foods and take care of yourself after training then 95% of the time there's not too much to worry about. Of course it's great to go away, but if you can't, then no matter what the reasons are why you can't go away, you can't, so it's best not to worry about it and just get on with the job at hand.

As it's almost Christmas it's obviously the time of the year when weather like we have now becomes a factor, so rather than letting some of the hard work that has already been put in go to waste, it's a case of doing what you can. It's time to get the turbo out and do a few sessions to keep up the momentum (something for me which is very important) and keep the legs ticking over. It's time to go to the gym and maybe do some core work or some weights, then jump on the spinning bike to keep the souplesse in your legs. Obviously much will depend on a persons programme as to what they might do. Personally I've been getting a lot of hours in since the start of December (I've been training at a volume similar to my old level pre 2008), and so with it having been snowing for the past two days, I've took it as a luxury period and taken two days off, but will now hit a few sessions on the turbo and in the gym until the weather clears, and it's fine to go back out into the lanes again.

It can be tough during the winter, but when it's the summer, the racing season is going well and you're hitting your objectives, you realise how worthwhile all the sacrifices made and the training in the cold and wet weather were. On Wednesday of this week I did a six hour ride with my mate Dave Clarke, the weather was pretty crap and it rained on us for most of the day, yet beforehand we wrapped up warm and then just got out there and did it, yes it was cold and wet but it was still fun. The day after, my friend Craig Twigg was out riding, after his ride this was his tweet on twitter:

I've had more enjoyable 3hrs, just when it started snowing and I couldn't feel my fingers, I get a puncture! Try getting your tyre off with no fingers! FUN, FUN, FUN!

Now, of course he was joking about not being able to get his tyre off with very cold fingers being fun, but he was out there, doing what he needs to do to be a champion. It may be tough, but it's all worthwhile. At the time I imagine that he was fuming that he had punctured, but now, a few days on, I can guarantee that he'll see the funny side. When we're all old, unable to ride, train and race, it's stories like the above that we'll be telling people, and also stories about how someone did this, did that, and then won this or that race and so on.

At the end of the day, it would be nice to be in Spain, training in the sun, but this is a hard sport and no matter where you are, the hard work still needs to be done. Come the season, races will go ahead virtually no matter what the weather, so whenever it's safe, get out there, get the miles in, get the efforts done, enjoy it, love it, and rip it up.

TRAINING

2009-12-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

At times the start of next season seems as though it isn't far away at all, at others it feels quite the opposite! In reality we're still two to three months from next season (depending on where you're starting your season) but for me the start of December meant that it was time to step my training up a little, therefore doing a few more hours on the bike, and also including some more specifics.

My first week riding again after some time off (and then food poisoning) was the week commencing Monday 19th October, so I'm now a day short of seven weeks in, and so far so good! This past week I've been putting in more hours than in previous weeks, plus doing some sprints and efforts within rides. I'm not doing huge amounts of intensity - I'll ramp that up more at the start of January - but what intensity I am doing is with a view to preparing the body for more intense, and potentially heavier, workloads in the coming months. Earlier in the year (at the start of my 2010 season preparation) I spent several weeks concentrating specifically on pedalling correctly, and riding seated on all terrain in order to improve my pedal stroke. In previous years when I've done this it has worked really well and resulted in a much improved acceleration, which is obviously ideal for when exiting bends or corners in a race, plus moving with accelerations within the peleton etc. The other, for some people, less thought of benefit of pedalling well however is with regards to economy, as being able to pedal a smaller gear during periods of a road race can help preserve a riders legs for when the hammer really goes down, and the move or race "selection" is made.

In life, generally speaking, people do not realise what they have until it's gone, and so don't appreciate what they have whilst they have it. I'm not too sure how much that applied to me or not in years past when I was healthy and based in France, but the improvements in my health that I've noticed the past few months certainly have been noticed and appreciated, not only myself but by other riders / friends when training. I now feel much healthier than six months or so ago, and much more in control of my training. Prior to Glandular Fever, obviously when in a period of heavy training I would "feel it" at times, though I can't really recall any (or many?) occasions when I had training scheduled but wasn't able to do it, though I'm sure they did exist. Since early 2008 that hasn't been the case, and I've often not felt in control of my own body, having to ease off on certain rides, sometimes not even riding at all if my body was telling me not to. Of late however I've started to return to my former self, happy to be under a heavy workload, and also able to complete it without having to worry about it too much. After tomorrow, this week I'll have completed 24 hours of training, with some decent riding within it too, rather than 24 hours of trawling the country lanes at 20kmph. The next twenty days or so are going to be a bit of a test for me, as I intend to keep working hard until Christmas Day. If everything continues to progress as it is now, then I'll be confident to say that my body and health really has turned the corner. The last two years or so have been difficult at times, but for me the sun's starting to shine again, meaning that 2010 is starting to look very much like it will be a bright year!

MOTIVATION & INSPIRATION

2009-11-17T03:15:00.000-08:00

Motivation - a definition. Noun 1: The reason or reasons behind one’s actions or behaviour. 2: Enthusiasm.

Inspiration - a definition. Noun 1: The process or quality of being inspired. 2: A person or thing that inspires.

Unlike on the Passo Gavia in the 1988 Giro d'Italia, the weather here in the UK, although a little wet and windy at times, has generally been good to us recently, with mild temperatures having continued from October into mid' November. For many this time of year can be difficult. The season has not been too long finished, next season can seem a very long time away, and with the weather starting to take a turn for the worse - cold and short days, long windy nights, wet, sometimes greasy, sometimes frosty roads - it can become a period for some when taking the easy option, and not training, becomes the norm.

This is when motivation is required, for some maybe more so than at other times of the year, and if you need it, a quick slap in the face of inspiration can do wonders.

Often at this time of year some people won't train, having convinced themselves that they don't need to, that it's "too dodgey" outside, and that they will still be able to achieve what they want to next season, without putting in some hard work. Motivation though comes from what you've set yourself, and those that fall into the category mentioned above do not have it, and are normally the people that do not achieve, and are happy to just float along! Different people have different goals to motivate them, for some the goal may be to finish on the podium at the Tour de France, for others the goal may be simply to "get round" the local chaingang without getting dropped. There are numerous other factors that can be a cause of motivation though, but at this point in time I'm not motivated to write a thesis on the subject!

In the UK, for numerous people the "reason" not to ride is actually a lack of determination, though very few people will actually say "I'm not motivated to ride", and so will blame the weather instead. However it's now over twenty years on from the photo here of the infamous day on the Passo Gavia in 1988, plus those below of Franco Cioccioli, Johan Vandevelde, Andy Hampsten and others. The clothing available means that riding and "freezing" on the bike isn't a factor anymore, besides the fact that there is nothing stopping someone intending to do four hours training, from doing two hours, then getting changed into fresh and clean clothing and completing the final two hours of their day. If a rider is truly determined to achieve their goals, and so is motivated, they will do the required training.

Recently I received a text from a friend of mine, whom when referring to his training said that "champions are built, not born", which stuck in my head. Natural talent can take someone a long way, but without the dedication required they will never reach the top. We all look out of the window at times, wish that it wasn't raining, or that the sun was shining so that training that day would be more pleasant, but it's the motivation to succeed, to achieve and to fulfill our objectives that gets us out there. Every now and then though, when I feel the need, I look at some past events to help with the motivation to get out in the elements, to draw a little inspiration to go out there and get the job done, a reminder not to become complacent. For me, images from past races of riders battling the conditions and prospering inspires me, and helps with the motivation to succeed, as without that, they themselves would never have been the rider having their picture took whilst on their way to making history.

A token proper old school photo below of a Molteni rider descending the Kemmelberg in snow, descending the Kemmelberg in the dry is hard enough, just ask Jimmy Casper, never mind in the wet, with slush and snow to contend with aswell!

2010 - BIG THINGS

2009-11-05T01:13:00.000-08:00

As always, the start of a new year offers many things, new aims and objectives, a clean slate and a fresh start, but most importantly, opportunities. I've started this blog, which in part is a continuation from my website http://www.roborr.co.uk/, because of what for me it represents: a fresh start in 2010.

The last two years have been crap but in 2010 I'm going to be back to my best and able to show on the bike in races what the score truly is. I missed the 2008 season through illness and 2009 was a very hit and miss year again due to health, though more miss than hit to be truthful, in all honesty that was always likely to be the case, 2010 though is going to be a different story altogether. It's going to be a season (and winter build up) of going back to basics, putting my head down, pedalling hard, ignoring the crap, the politics and the negative people, and just getting on with it and winning races!

My last race of the 2009 season was the Grand Prix de la ville de Fougeres (French Elite National) on 8th September, after which I took some time off to re-charge the batteries and assess things. I've now been back in training since early October, with the first two weeks being a relaxed affair, and the last two or three weeks being more "full on" and pointing towards a good winter build up to next season, 2010, the year when I return to the top.