Home race, Ashwell and Superprestige Ruddervoorde.

I havent blogged over the last 3 weeks, been a bit busy!  I'll wrap up the eastern races quickly to get to the Belgium story asap!

The 3rd round of the Eastern Cross League was held less than a mile from my house at Springfield Park, where most of my training takes place! I knew i would have to win this race as people from the area would be watching and i had to impress so straight from the gun i went for it and managed to get a decent gap, helped by my in depth knowledge of the venue.

The course had 3 sets of steps, cambers and lots of corners which i loved so i was riding around the course and enjoying it to the max! I finished with a two minute gap over second and enjoyed my victory!

Next up was the CC Ashwell cross race in Baldock. This was probably the hottest cross race i have ridden and the fast terrain made it hard to get a gap. After the first lap i was leading by a matter of meters but i managed to pull out on the technical bits.

I was suffering towards the end with the heat but managed to fend off Cam Woolsey who was riding incredibly well by over a minute. I was planning on riding the London league race at Herne Hill the coming day but with the heat i decided a ride to the Blue Egg would be much better for me! 

Last Saturday me, dad and Ivan ( AKA Peanut) travelled to Ruddervoorde for the first round of the Superprestige. 

We met up with Hugo Robinson the national Junior champ, and his dad,  Hugo and I rode the course a few times. We both liked it, it was quite fast and included some switchbacks up and down mounds so it was technically challenging!

We returned back at the apartment and i rested up whilst dad and Peanut went for a few drinks. Overnight it rained and rained so the race would be muddy.

We arrived at the venue with 3 hours to spare, and whilst returning from signing on i met Stefan Wyman and Helen, a brilliant way to start the day! I then went back to the car and prepared, made wheel changes etc... 

I went and warmed up, before being gridded on 3rd row which is great considering im normally gridded 3rd from last! On the start line i was thinking about how tough the start would be, pelting it down a road and then doing a tight right between two houses and through a backgarden. Crashes would be inevitable. I got a great start and spent much of the race in 19th place, battling with a swiss rider. 

I really blew in the last 2 laps and finished up in 25th place, one which i know i can improve on. Afterwards we spoke to The Wymans and Ian Field who i can honestly say are thoroughly nice people, and they gave me some tips and advice! Overall it was a great weekend and i cant wait for the next belgie trip!

Photo by Dirk Bruylant, you can see more from the race on his website here. Bedankt Dirk!

Photo: Dirk Bruylant (website)

So, as usual a massive thanks to Ciclos Uno's Trev, Jane, Ewan and James for keeping me constantly kitted out. Also, thank you to Ivan Burch for helping out massively and keeping spirits high! Colnago/Windwave for providing me with framesets for 2011/2012 (Watch this space!), Stefan and Helen Wyman and Ian Field for the chat and advice, and finally to Dirk Bruylant for the fantastic photo!

Second race of the season and second win!

September the 17th- Hog Hill, Redbridge. 

Well, i cant say i was expecting a win to be honest! I knew that with it being a double weekend of racing at hog hill, the competition would be a lot higher with London League riders coming over to get extra points. U14 National cross champion, National Crit Champ Dan Tullet and U14 national series round winner Tom Franklin were amongst the line up!

I would have been content with a top 3 but once the race got going i wanted a win. I arrived at the start line having missed my gridding but a place was saved for me on the front row. I was out of breath before the race had started as i had to ride up the Hoggenburg once the whistle for gridding had been blown.

I knew that Tom would get a good start but the speed that Joe and Dan set off at was phenomenal and i was in 4th place going onto the rough stuff. I quickly made my way to the front and from there i had to put in a massive dig to get away from Joe and Dan but i couldn't shake Tom from my wheel. 

I knew that tom would be gunning for a win so at the bottom of the climb i went all in and got away from Tom, maintaining and extending my lead to 59 seconds by the time i finished. 

Photos by Cross Crazy and Kevin Barker.

As always, a massive thanks to everybody at Ciclos Uno for keeping me going 365 days a year! 

Au revoir.

Writtle- First Race, First Win.

Last sunday saw the first round of the eastern cross league only 5 miles from my house at writtle college! I was hoping for a win at this race as it was promoted by my team, PCA Ciclos uno and i helped in the course design. The course was very Belgian with lots of flowing corners but then twisty cambered U turns on mounds which helped break up groups. 

I decided to race despite breaking the scaphoid bone in my wrist at the UK School Games two weekends earlier. I assessed how my wrist felt carefully the day before and felt it would be okay to ride.

From the start i managed to stay clear, and going into the first technical section i saw i had a few bike lengths on second. I could use the first technical section to judge the gap back as on the way out you get a good view of the course. 

Every lap i could see the gap growing significantly which made me strive to go harder! 

I came up to the line and let very cruelly let a couple of back markers do another lap to ensure i had a clear finish photo to show off my sponsor Ciclos Uno's logo on my skinsuit!

Here are a couple of photos by Kevin Barker:

I would like to thank the following people specially:

Trevor Maddern for keeping me kitted out 365 days a year and the amount of support he has given me.

Ewan Hendon for keeping my bike going 365 days a year, the rider is no good without a well run bike!

Ivan Burch, for well... Being Ivan! 

Kevin Barker for the support and photos!

Roger Barker for taking me here there and everywhere and helping me so much!

James Whatling for the support and being my training partner! 

Andy Nichols for helping me with training!

Mark Walker for assisting me with training and arranging the use of the college! 

Mum & Sister Ciara for doing tea and coffee at short notice following a last minute catering problem!

Colnago for the bike.

Finally My dad because without him i would not be riding at all! Cheers mario...

To finish off i raced at the Maldon CC Evening cross race for seniors on tuesday and won, a few photos by Andrew Harper...