Change

For the 2013 season i am no longer riding or racing for Torq or any team but going back to my roots and finding the enjoyment of the sport again. The weather has brought me down, energy levels sapped out of me and just lost interest and became lazy!
Well it all didn't last for long thanks to some new products i found and a new business! I was introduced to a 2.5billion dollar company in the health and nutrition sector by a friend and was showed an oppurtunity too good not to miss! The company is called Forever and deals with Aloe products which have a vast rang from health, wight management and sports supplements.
I started drinking the Aloe gel and wow its made a difference, more energy levels, skin is looking much healthier and smoother (noticed by friends who say i look different and more healthy). Sleeping much better and immune system is boosted :)
 
Health benefits include:

• Helps halt the growth of cancer tumors
• lowers high cholesterol
• Repairs 2 sludge blood2 and reverses "sticky blood"
• Boosts the oxygeneation stress
• Prevents kidney stons and prtects the body from oxalates in coffee
• Alkalines the body, helping to balance overly acidic dietry habits
• Helps to cure ulcers, IBS, Crohn's disease and othr digestive orders
• Reduces high blood pressure
• Nourishes the body with vitamins, minerals and enzymes
• Accelerates healing from physical burns, scars
• Replaces first aid products needed
• Helps to halt Colon cancer, heals intestines
• Ends constipation
• Stabilizes sugar level, really good for diabetics
• Boosts cardiovascular performance and physical endurance
• Speeds recovery from injury or physical exertion
• Hydrates the skin, accelerates skin repair

I couldnt reccomend the product enough and if you feel the same or want to aid any of the above contact me on sion.foreverliving@gmail.com and ill get back to you with more info and pricing :)
I am also looking for 5 key people to join my new business as It is my role in the company to help people who would like to build an extra or replacement income of £500-£3,000 per mth working flexibly,with the support of my team and myself.
If you are or know of anyone that is looking for work or a new opportunity,i would be grateful if you could refer them to me,as i am looking to expand the business.
We are looking for motivated individuals: part time retailers, full/part time coachers/trainers & managers to help me drive the UK group forward.
No experience necessary, first class training & support given - you just need to be a people person with an interest in helping others.
Generous pay package for all levels, potential for company car program, share of company profits & global travel. Email me on sion.foreverliving@gmail.com for more info, thanks for viewing :)

 

Wentwood 50 Enduro

After last weeks race in the hail, sleet, snow and mud, this weekend saw a complete contrast as the sun was blazing out with temperatures around 15degrees. The course was taken around the great wentwood forest offering muddy singletrack and plenty of fireroad to transfer over to the next part of the forest.

We started off on the road with 400 odd Entries and continued on the uphill road climb until we eventually turned left into the muddy, rocky and rooty singletrack. Since I didn’t have the best start I played catch up weaving in and out of people to catch my fellow team-mate (also brother) and Simon who was a 12 hr enduro specialist who finished 1st with Jonny Pugh last year.

After just short of 20km Anthony had a mechanical, snapping his chain. After a quick stop and check I was told to crack on and he would try and chase back providing he got his chain sorted. By this time Simon had left us and I had to go off in pursuit to chase him down. After catching him up we stayed together just before the 25km break point.

With gaining my first tag and stopping for some vital fluid, Simon caught me up again and off we went for a further 25km. After a few overshot corners I overtook Simon on the climbs and powered my way up them opening up a decent gap!

Again after some confusion with directions and which was the correct way, my lead was lost and back to square 1 as Simon caught me while waiting at the marshall point for them to point us in the right direction.
We rode together until the next fireroad climb where I was able to power away leaving Simon behind all the way to the finish.
However it didn’t go without a few hiccups as my freehub was playing up and I got a bit of chain-suck which caused it to wrap into my wheel and snap a spoke with 8km to go. However I managed to nurse it home and crossed the line as 1st rider home in the 50km in a time of 2hrs40!

Next race now is the 1st round of the National series at Sherwood pines in 2 weeks time!

First Race 2012- Welsh XC RND 2

So Eventually I managed to open up the legs at my 1^st MTB race of the year at the Welsh XC Round 2(Round 1 cancelled) with our typical weather of hail, wind and rain which turned what could be a pretty good course to an absolute mudfest!

The course was only 3km with a long uphill muddy fireroad before turning down a thick muddy descent that clogged your bike up adding a few pounds to the weight of the bike. Then it was a short ride across a fireroad to a steep uphill that was only rideable to half way up before having to dismount and pretty much run the next km of draining, calf stinging mud!

So after a confusing race start time between riders I lined up at 2 o’clock ready to test the legs. The start for me didn’t go amazing, I think I got into 5^th position to start and the legs hated every second from the word go!

I decided to hit this event with ride at my own pace attitude and slowly bring the legs into it and try and push harder as the race went on. Without realizing it I was moving my way up the field each lap going from 5^th to eventually 2^nd by the halfway point! The next half I was feeling stronger and legs weren’t as shocked and screaming like they were at the start. With 3 laps to go I was closing in on the leader and thought I could catch him since he was only 20 meters or so in front of me on the unrideable climb. However with the amount of mud and no traction it was hard to breach the gap in the short number of laps remaining. So with settling for 2^nd and gaining on the leader every lap I eventually finished 10 seconds behind with a bike that weighed more than a complete steel bike!

Next outing will be at the Wentwood 50km, which will help the legs come on more as I prepare for the 1^st major race that I dread every year, Sherwood Pines National XC!

Team Bikes For Sale

So after a long season that didn't start too well, I managed to achieve some pretty decent results and surprised myself aswell. However it's that time of year to part with the bike that got me those results and to those important races including the Olympic Test Event.

I'm selling both my Brothers' and my Kona Kula Watt Carbon Bikes with the following spec:

Bike 1:

Frame:                  Kona Kula watt carbon 16” Frame

Brakes:                 Shimano XT

Chainset:             Shimano XT Triple

Front Mech:       Shimano XT

Rear Mech:         Shimano XT 10 Speed

Cassette:             10 speed XT

Forks:                   Fox Float 32 Terralogic 100mm kashima coating

Wheels:               Brand New Whyte XC-22

Tyres:                   Brand New  X King 26” x 2.2”

Saddle:                 WCS Ritchey White

Headset:              Superstar

Bottom Bracket: KCNC BB30

Skewers:             KCNC Lightweight

Ritchey WCS finishing Kit, Flat Handle Bars, 90mm Stem, WCS Seat post

Fully equipped with Orange Jagwire Cables and hoses

Few minor paint scratches as shown but rides amazing still!

Asking Price: £2000. ono (Sensible offers welcome)

Any questions please feel free to contact me on the email below
Email sionpaul@hotmail.com reference Bike Sale

Bike 2:

Frame: Kona Kula watt carbon 16” Frame

Brakes: Shimano XT

Chainset: Shimano XTR Double

Front Mech: Shimano XT

Rear Mech: Shimano XT 10 Speed

Cassette: 10 speed XT

Forks: Fox Float 32 Terralogic 100mm kashima coating

Wheels: ZTR Olympic 

Tyres:  Schwalbe Racing Ralphs 

Saddle: WCS Ritchey White

Headset: Superstar

Bottom Bracket: KCNC BB30

Skewers: KCNC Lightweight

Ritchey WCS finishing Kit, 10 degree sweep Flat Handle Bars, 90mm Stem, WCS Seat post

Fully equipped with Orange Jagwire Cables and hoses

Asking Price £2000 ono. (sensible offers)

Will post photos of this one soon, but essentially the same just with XTR Cranks and ZTR Wheels :)
Email sionpaul@hotmail.com reference Bike Sale

In other news my first race of 2012 was cancelled so now have to wait till start of march for my 1st race :)

Oktoberfest Team Event

The last team event of the year was upon us over Ashton court in Bristol where a short course of around 25mins takes place. The course has been developed to take away all the bumps and dirt to give a clean gravel singletrack which would be awesome to train on over the winter months but for racing becomes a different kettle of fish! Due to the designated specific track there are few overtaking places and when there is a place to pass it is hard to get through them quick enough to avoid any disturbance to other riders.

This year we had our work cut out even more with the additional competition of 4 Pro riders, two riders from Rapha containing Tour of Britain king of the mountains winner John Tiernan Locke and 2riders from Sigma Sport Specialized.

Our usual end of year chill out just became a full on race as within the first lap we were down by a minute and a half and towards the half way mark we were down at a further 3 ½ minutes. At this time we were thinking were in for a beating, however as we ticked into the half way mark I come in from my lap to be told we were gaining on them and the gap was closing. This gave us an extra boost to chase down the pros and within the next few hours we managed to catch up with them, overtake them and start putting some distance between us taking it to 3 ½ minutes up!

With an hour and a half to go we did another time check and found out we were 9 minutes ahead but as with these races it wasn’t enough time incase a mechanical happened. With this in mind we still pressed on and coming into the last half an hour way we were debating whether our rider presently out would get back in time for us to do another lap.

I anxiously waited just incase we could squeeze another lap out but it was looking very tight, until Ben came in with less than 25 minutes to go which meant I had to do a very quick lap to get in before the cut off time. With my legs stinging I nailed myself around and managed to get in with 10seconds to spare giving us a lap up on our Pro team rivals to take the Male team of 4 Win.

It was the toughest team race we’ve had and really enjoyed the tough competition to keep us on our toes!

Now time for off season and to take a few weeks off the bike and relax!

Final Round BMBS Newnham Park

The season took a long break over the summer with few races around and not in my calendar. Towards the end of the school summer holidays the one but last team event of the year took place, Torq12:12 in which our male team of 4 took the win by a lap. We did have a scare towards the end of the race when one of the riders had a mechanical and had to run the last section of the course loosing us around 10-15minutes, however we were lucky enough to have enough of a time gap back to 2nd not to loose our winning position which we held from the start.

3 weeks later the final National Series took place in Newnham Park which always provides an excellent course and tough sections to make you feel the pain. Going into this event my legs were a little bit tired and needed a few more days rest from the hard interval training I had been doing to get myself up to the same form that I had at this year’s National Champs!

However arriving late on friday evening due to unable to get time off work, we had no chance to pre ride the course. This meant we had to get up early in the morning and do a light pre ride but nothing major so as not to tire the legs out from the race in 3hrs time.

After fuelling up with some breakfast, we got our cycleops turbos out and got ready to warm up. I was called up to the line in 14th position which has been my highest gridding all year where I started 47th in the first national round in Sherwood pines. This pretty much resembles my year having a slow start to the season and getting quicker and better as the year has gone on, climbing my way up into that top 10 position.

With the race underway I managed to get a good start before a huge crash behind me occurred as I just escaped with someone, or a flying bike, touching my rear wheel. I got myself into around 12th position but my legs weren’t to be. They weren’t as fresh as they have felt before and they just felt heavy so I knew it wasn’t going to be a nice race for the legs. With a couple of laps gone I was still finding the legs having difficulty progressing on and was just staying in my new position of 14th in which I was happy with considering my legs felt rubbish! This was the story of the whole race really as I just managed to spin and cruise around keeping myself in 14th position not loosing any time from the guys in front but not gaining any. I managed to make my time up on the technical sections where I caught a lot of riders back up as they struggled to ride the course and just plodded behind them up the climbs which was frustrating as I knew I can climb so much quicker than I did in that race.

So with the final round of the National series done and dusted I took a happy 14th position, considering the legs were rubbish, my mind was set on a top 10 without a doubt if the legs were feeling good but it was just one of those days. Season wise is almost over for me, just a team event to do at the Oktoberfest in Bristol in a couple of weeks and then time for a good winters rest and plenty of massages off Marie Kellett, Sports Therapist, who has helped me out so much over the year with my leg problems.

Huge thanks to all my sponsors this year as I wouldn’t have been able to achieve anything without them! Chou!

P.s Heres a few videos put together from my mum whos taken all my pic and vids not long but just a few snap shots from this years races!

Olympic Test Event

With the opportunity of a lifetime, thanks to Martyn Salt, I was invited to race the Olympic Test Event at Hadleigh Farm. With over 5,000 spectators I could imagine the atmosphere being huge.

My brother and I headed over to the course at Hadleigh early Friday morning to pick up our training number and get some practice laps in both on Friday and Saturday. The course was mainly all man made with boulders mixed in along with long grass climbs and swooping descents.

With the high standard of riders and my first International experience I wasn’t expecting a good result but just to get the experience and have a good fight for positions.

At 2pm on Sunday with temperatures reaching 26degrees the gun went and we were off, starting on the last row being gridded 43^rd it was going to be a battle to try and move up the field.

After the 3^rd corner of the small 0.5km start loop a few riders went down in a crash just in front of me, luckily I managed to hop around them and chase for a higher position.

After fighting with elbows, stopping, starting and queuing, we waited at the top of the descents due to a high number of us trying to get onto one singletrack. After making my way up to approx 38^th, I suffered a crash damaging my knee and loosing valuable positions.

After a minute my knee stopped hurting and I could eventually push on and start chasing back I only managed to get back to my starting position of 43^rd before coming under the 80% cut off time and finishing after 4 laps.

Although I had really good legs, the start was so fast and being gridded on the last row doesn’t help if you don’t move up a few positions before the first singletrack.

However I was there for the experience and atmosphere which was amazing. So many people were cheering me on which made me push harder than ever, so a big thanks to everyone for rooting me on! The atmosphere is going to be huge when there is going to be over 20,000 spectators for the actual Olympics.

Now its time to take a break from racing and chill out taking it easy before racing the Team Event at Torq 12:12.