In the 4 months since my last blog I have done more training than I ever have before and feel way fitter and faster than ever. Nopinz Symec Race Team have put me on the team. I am so happy and proud to be a part of the team. Their support and belief in me drive’s me to push harder in training and dig deeper in races. I can’t wait to see what next season brings.
At the beginning of July I had a rest period to recover from the previous few months of training. After this rest period the plan was to do 2 really hard weeks then taper for a track race at Herne hill on the first of august. The race got cancelled.
Racing at Mountbatten has started along with my local chain gang and Tuesday night’s at castle combe.
Wednesday night at Portsmouth round 1 August 5th
race 1
attacks pretty much from the gun, small group got away, lapped the field. In the sprint I was on reds wheel. Started to come around him but didn't leave enough of a gap to rush. I almost came around him but ran out of track. Came second to Red by about ¼ a wheel
race 2
again, was in a break with red and Jamie, we stayed away for the whole race, red was on my wheel in the sprint he kicked, I had a gap to rush on him but left it too late to come around. Came second to Red again by about half a bike length.
race 3
got in a break with Jamie red and Jacob were away for most of the race. Worked together well, in the sprint was on reds wheel. Tried to force it to be like a match sprint. Didn't work. Came second in the sprint to Red again by around half a bike length.
Overall I was pretty happy with how I raced, obviously disappointing to not manage to get a win but coming a close second to a 21 year old elite licence holder is not too bad.
After the race I was thinking about ways to beet riders on bigger gears than me as this was a large part of why I was unable to come around Red in the sprint. My plan was to set it up like a match sprint to make the sprint about acceleration rather than top speed.
Wednesday night at Portsmouth round 2 August 12th
race 1
I was thinking way to much and doing too much work to make the breakaway work so I could make it a match sprint. The breakaway which I was in lapped the field. Was abit cooked for the sprint at the end. Made a really half arsed attempt at making it into a match sprint, the peloton caught us again. Ended up being a real messy sprint. Got caught off guard and lost the fast wheel of Red. Came 3rd
race 2
Was being overly conservative because of how the first race went, missed the breakaway because I was out of position, 4 went up the road. Tried to bridge but couldn't, swung up and went back into the group. 2 came back in the closing stages of the race. I won the bunch sprint for 3rd
race 3
Not many attacks in this race, made sure to be in a good position for the whole race. In the sprint I kicked before red rushed the gap and forced him react to my sprint, I was then on his hip and gaining abit around the corner. When I held him on the final corner, I knew I had him. Won the sprint by about half a bike length. really happy with how I timed the sprint. Also am happy with how I raced the whole last race. I was racing with my head without overthinking everything like in the first 2 races.
Plans for the rest of the season.
Race as much as possible and train as hard as I can. Now that gyms are open I would like to build as much sprint power as possible. The Richard Kell memorial race series should be a good period of some high-quality races. Hopefully track league at reading/ other track races will start again soon as I am really missing racing my track bike. I would also like to do some local TTs. The main focus will be preparing for the races next season where there will hopefully be lots of high-level racing.
