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!