The summer of 2012

I’ve moved back out to Belgium today, feeling that post-race buzz – (although it’s probably just the standard caffeine OD) and decided it was time to write a blog – so very self-indulgent, but then I’m not one to blow my own trumpet.

I guess you’re probably not wondering what I’ve been doing all summer since my last blog post. Well, not a lot really. Winter training went relatively well this year. In fact I wasn’t burnt out by the time March arrived, and my numbers were looking pretty good, 10% up at 20minCP since the end of last season. Nice.

However, too much time spent in the gym and too much ambition with an alan key resulted in my handlebars snapping during a recovery ride in March. Rolling along the floor with an inch separating your face from the grey stuff at 40mph isn’t much fun. The result was a snapped collarbone, but I guess I’m lucky that it could have been so much worse.  To be fair, entering the hospital as I left was a guy who’d been stabbed in the face. As you do. It was Leicester, if you’re wondering.

Because I’m always right about everything, I ignored all advice and continued with all the training I’d already planned to do, but switched to the turbo rather than the road, just to be on the safe side. I’m an idiot. Resting is for winners.

So it took much longer to recover than it should have, and 4 weeks later I fell on my left shoulder and re-broke it. Earlier in the day I’d ridden the BUCS 3-up time trial with Sandy King and Jonno Pybus. I think we were 4^th on the day, but racing after 4 weeks was again such a weak decision.

Eventually, I remembered that even God rested one day a week to admire his work, so it was probably ok to rest. I like to ease myself back into racing so decided to enter the Lincoln GP to test myself out. This was the first premier calendar race I’ve ever ridden, having based myself in Belgium since turning senior.  It was brutal. The first 2 laps up the infamous Michealgate climb were beyond ridiculous, and pretty much destroyed the race.  I stuck in, and eventually finished 39^th from the 160 odd starters I think. Considering I was riding with no team mates against 90% of the field who are full-time riders/unemployed but think they have a job, I was pretty happy with it!

Next, attention turned to the big BUCS weekend, Loughborough’s very own criterium and the following day BUCS road race. In preparation, the club had organised a weekend in the lake district. I’d never ridden there before but it was incredible, even if I ended up riding 10km down a MTB trail because my Garmin told me to. The views are just spectacular, akin to that of the deep Ardennes. But the climbs are one step further. If you get the chance to ride the passes of Wrynose and Hardnott, I recommend you take it. They’re savage.

Onto the crit. It didn’t really work out how it should have. Sandy got away early by himself and built a decent lead. All I had to do was mark the moves and have a free ride to the front. However, an ill-timed wheel change meant I missed the attack go, and set about chasing the gap solo for the duration of the race. The ‘campus crit’ is one of the toughest circuits I’ve ridden, and chasing 3 riders solo for an hour was one of the hardest rides I’ve ever had to do! I caught the group with 2 laps remaining and sat and waited for the sprint. However, a crash on the final corner caused by some ambitious line choices (you know who you are) ended the race prematurely. Sandy went down hard, and I just managed to avoid the carnage, but could only roll over the line in second. Sad face. I really paid for that effort in the road race the following day. Although I got into the break, adopting similar tactics to last years event, I committed too much gambling on it sticking. It didn’t and I rolled over the line exhausted in something like 13^th. It wasn’t the weekend of results I was looking for.

I carried on racing on/off to the races I could get to. Not driving is a ball ache. It went something like this:

2 Sep	Jef Schils Memorial Road Race(E/1/2)	Road	National A	10
5 Aug	Prijs Maurice Blomme - Oostnieuwkerke (Wijk De Most) 1-12B Elite-U23 Open Omloop(Elite/U23)	Road	Foreign National	8
2 Aug	Hog Hill Summer Series 13(E/1/2/3)	Closed Circuit	National B	3
29 Jul	GP Cafe Sportwereld - Zandvoorde Oostend 1-12B Elite-U23 Open Omloop(Elite/U23)	Road	Foreign National	47
26 Jul	Hog Hill Summer Series 12(E/1/2/3)	Closed Circuit	National B	7
10 Jun	British Universities & Colleges Sport MTB XC Championships(BUCS Championship XC Male)	MTB XC	MTB Regional B	3
4 Jun	Peterborough CC/Baxter & King Construction Road Race(E/1/2/3)	Road	National B	7

Draw your own conclusions. I’m running out of battery/motivation. Or just look at the nice pictures.

Anyhow, even I’m getting bored of my own voice. Today I moved back to Belgium to finish off/start the season, which wouldn’t be possible without the generous assistance of the Dave Rayner Fund.  The fund makes a big difference to young riders trying their hand on continent, and you can check it out on here http://www.daveraynerfund.com/ . Today I raced in Koekelare and came 11^th. I was pretty tired from the last minute packing, early start, and travelling so the sensations were not great, but I still got away and won the sprint from a small group. Standard. I’m back racing with Van Eyck for the next month until uni starts back up on the 1^st October, so I’m going to race every day until I’m a crippled mess on the floor. Some people never learn.

Oh and I’m sitting on a first from my second year at uni. Happy face. It’s not all about the bike kids. Try hard at school.

Ciao.