The last 2 months have been a real eye opening experience, and a LOT has happened, but to save idle reading I will summarise what has been going on!
Breast Cancer Awareness Month October
As you may or may not know, I embarked on a mission to raise money for Breast Cancer Care which involved me wearing pink for the month, and donating all prize monies from the month of October. My target was £500. I think it's fair to say I smashed that to pieces with over £1400 raised to date. That's over 280%. I'd like to thank everybody who donated or spread the word of what I was doing, and I'm sure there are a lot of people on the receiving end who are also thankful!
Belgian TV Cameo Appearance
I did two weekends of racing in Belgium in October, culminating in the opening round of the Superprestige Series in Ruddervoorde. Last year here I crashed and was rushed to hospital. This year I crashed at Ruddervoorde but it was on film. Check it out at 50 seconds HERE (im in pink)!
First ever National Trophy Podium with a win
At the second round of the National Trophy Series in Southampton I stood on the podium for the first ever time, and what better spot on the podium than the top! I'm not sure how, but I seemed to have miracle legs on the day and I won with a 15 second gap to second. It was an amazing moment, and put me in 3rd place in the Overall rankings only 3 points separating the top 3 riders. After a disappointing opening round of the National Trophy with a 5th place at Abergavenny; a win put me back into place mentally!
Taking the Yellow National Trophy Leaders Jersey
Another really great moment of the season so far was taking 3rd place at the third round of the National Trophy Series in Durham, and taking the series lead with it. This was something that I never expected at the start of the season, and gave me a huge amount of motivation! I had the lead by 3 points going into the next round in Milton Keynes.
Riding for Great Britain
After a consistent spree of results in the National Trophy Series, I was overwhelmed to be selected to ride for the Great Britain team at the Koksijde World Cup. To ride for GB was something I dreamed of as a kid, and to do it at Koksijde, my favourite course, was a dream come true. The race itself was a huge learning curve, but an incredible experience. I finished 36th after suffering from a good start. Now my eyes are set on selection for the next World Cup in Namur, Belgium.
Retaining the Yellow Jersey
Milton Keynes National Trophy would be make or break for me with regards to keeping the Yellow Leaders Jersey. It is a course that I've never done well on, and favourites the more zippy and light riders. I felt good, and landed a 4th place finish which I am really pleased with. Due to some misfortune for my closest podium rival Danny Fox, my National Trophy lead grew to 19 points, so now I'm set on defending it to win the series. The next round is in Bradford on the 15th of December!
Winning the East and South Eastern Championships
I'm really happy to have won the championships on such a great course at a great venue especially after a hard week of training for the National Trophy in Bradford. I had bit of a nightmare start, I was in too big a gear, and then crashed and landed a bit further from my bike than I would have liked. I got back into the rhythm of it, and finished with a healthy margin! A huge thank you to Steve Grimwood and the organisation team for a truly exemplary event.
So now I'm going to be pretty busy until mid-January. I've got a string of Nationals, hopefully World Cups, and other races in Belgium coming up. I've also done a few interviews for Belgian and British websites which can be found on my media page.
As always, a really big thank you to my sponsors Ciclos Uno, Quest Sportswear, Neon Velo, Ventoux, and Forgoodness Shakes/Nectar Fuel for supporting me. Hopefully I have done you each proud!
Ciao
