First race, First win. I like this title.

So after months upon months of bar-chewingly hard training from my coach Mark Walker of Intelligent Cycle Coaching, the first race of the season kicked off proceedings on Saturday.

This summer has been unrelenting for me, but I've had good times, and have spent a very large amount of time in Nandos. Nandos time is happy time. One of the exceptionally good times was in Switzerland. I went there for 2 weeks for some training, it's ideal really as I have family there! I have this weird sort of affinity with Switzerland, it's my perfect place. Everything is quiet, and the scenery is something else. The whole place is perfect. 

Training around Lake Zug

Zuri Fascht

Breakfast every morning

Whilst in Switzerland, ITV4 aired the episode of 'The Cycle Show' which featured my few seconds of fame, I was doing motorpace training. Famous. 

I've been spoiled rotten by my sponsors with amazing bits of kit, like the Normatec System from Neon Velo, the amazingly practical luggage from Ventoux Ltd and the few box loads of kit from one of my closest sponsors Quest Sportswear.

Saturday was an odd day for me, first races of the season usually are. I was pretty organised which was especially odd. The course was 'different' shall we say, not my cup of tea, nor my forte, but it's the same for everyone. Last season on this course as a first year junior, I won my category and got 6th in the senior race, starting from the back as I was ungridded. Anything less than that would have been disspointing!

So I was getting into my race gear about 45 minutes before the start, and that's when this massive load of nerves just amassed in me from nowhere. I'm not sure what I was even nervous about as I had nothing to lose, and nothing was particularly expected of me. But nerves can be good I guess.

I got changed into my race kit, and went to warm up by the start. There was a bit of confusion about ranking and gridding due to a technical fault but at least I was well in the front row at the start. So with the masses of nerves i was up against, I had a really good start, so good that it was completely irrational and ill thought out. I led the race up the start straight to and up over the first climb... And then for the consequent 2 laps. 

Yep, I was on the front in a group of 6 for 2 laps before it occurred to me to let someone come through. I was riding fairly strong, gapping other riders on the longest climb of the course, but when Dan Stevens of Neon Velo caught us from behind, the pace rocketed. Soon enough, with 2 laps to go I started to flag, and was dropped. 

I raced on for a win in the junior category and 6th place in the adults race; exactly the same as last year. This wasn't a disappointment by any means though, as the riders I was up against were very strong and had nearly all just come out of a Road season. I'm happy with how it went; I got the Strava KOM for the course. 

This weekend is my home race at Springfield park, literally 400 meters from my house. It's so close that GPS data for Strava won't show up because it's within my 500meter privacy zone. A real home race. I'm hoping for a win there, as I am for every race, but especially at Springfield. Now the season is winding up, with things really getting busy in October. I'll report back as and when. 

Check out Anna Buick's report from Saturday here.

As usual, thanks to my sponsors for keeping me going, I really appreciate the help. 

Ciao mateys. 

Follow @seanmdunlea

My sponsors feature: Quest Sportswear

“A budding sportswear company offering the highest quality Cycle and Triathlon kit at highly competitive prices” is how I’d describe Quest Sportswear in once sentence.

 With John Brame at the head of operations in London, the word of the brand has quickly spread with some of the biggest names in the Sports and Corporate World using  the offerings from Quest Sportswear. The staff at Quest Sports Wear UK have a great deal of experience as professional athletes, in sports retail, product buying and in art and design. All of these attributes have been combined to guarantee that their clients get the best in quality of service and product.

My partnership with the guys at Quest has blossomed over the past year and a half. October 2011 was the first time I put on their kit, as they were the supplier of choice to my cycling team Ciclos Uno. I was immediately impressed with the fit and performance of the kit, and I was interested as it was a brand I had never come across before. After a successful 2011-2012 cyclocross season in which I used amazing kit such as thermal skinsuits, I decided to start directly contacting Quest to let them know what I thought of their kit, and to say thanks.

After keeping in contact over the summer, they sent me a bit of their kit to use during the Cyclocross season including the impressive Autumn Jacket. I continued to stay in contact, and in February 2013 met with John Brame in Majorca whilst I was on a training camp. It was then that we discussed and confirmed official sponsorship and exciting plans for the future. 

Quest Sportswear now supply me directly with Custom team kit and pieces from their retail ranges to use and give my valued feedback on.

Find out more about Quest Sportswear on their Website www.questsportswear.co.uk or via Email at questsportswear@gmail.com

Follow @questsportswear

Belgian Road Racing/Majorcan Training/And Swiss plans. A very multinational blog.

So since my last post; my life has got progressively quieter at just about the same rate that my college workload has got heavier. Probably just coincidence...

Well, now all that is left for me to do in terms of college is sign out for my first year. That's a relief, the amount of work we were thrown in the last few weeks was really having an effect on my ability to train properly, and I know that the general consensus is that education take priority over a sport... But I am 16 after all?

Cycling-wise the last few months has been up and down. But I'll write mostly about the ups, naturally. I returned to Majorca for another weeks training with my Teams sponsors Pollensa Cycling Amigos, which was a massive step up from my last visit there as I knew what to expect and how to set out my week (with help of my coach- Mark Walker!). I enjoyed it, and I loved the climbs out there, most notably the Puig Major. Those climbs suit me to the ground, I can get into a rhythm and keep the pedals turning, but the chances of finding a 14km climb in Britain quite like that are pretty slim. I can only hope I'm wearing my Quest Sportswear Pro Mesh jersey when they find that climb. 

I spent the week with Ciclos Uno star mechanic Ewan Hendon, and the man himself- Dan Kogan. Dan has raced for top British teams and spent time in France mixing it up with the big boys, so he wasn't a bad training partner for the week by any means. Although the weather was probably worse than that in Britain, we still had a good laugh, and as per usual: i really bloody miss Majorca. Uno Cafe con leche and a Normatec recovery system supplied by Neon Velo por favor. 

I travelled to Belgian recently too for my first Junior road race abroad. Well my first proper Junior road race at all really! The race was an 85km closed circuit race around a 7km circuit in and out of a seafront town called Bredene. Bredene is a pretty sentimental place for me, the finish of the road race was on the same stretch of road as the finish of the Versluys cyclocross where I finished 2nd in 2012 (http://seandunlearacing.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_01_archive.html). I didn't really know what to expect to be honest, apart from agonising pain and crashes. They were both consistent throughout the 2 hour race. 

We started off in a neutralised zone. The first crash was literally about 300 meters in, and it was a rider who was probably the Belgian version of a chopper. He was being bit of Jack the Lad looking back at a camera and he ended up face first on a motorway, but I'm sure he's glad to know the camera was still looking and got a great shot. He looks fantastic in the photo, see for yourself:

So anyway, the pace kept going up then down, then up again and down again, so I just kept a constant speed and found myself inbetween the peloton, and a two man breakaway. Yes, my first ever junior road race, in Belgium, and I made a solo breakaway. Some may say I am a 'nutter'. Surprisingly I bridged the gap to the leaders on my own and we were joined by two more shortly after. I spent about 30km in the lead group, and  got a preme. I dropped back to the bunch though as I was aware there was still 40km left, and there was a slim chance of me finishing if I'd tried to keep with them. I ended up rolling over in 27th, after a hard and rewarding day in the saddle. I got back home that night and got straight into my Normatec Recovery Pants supplied to me by Neon Velo in hope of being able to train, or even walk the next day. I trained the next day, hard, thanks to the Normtecs. For those interested in Strava, here's the race data: http://app.strava.com/activities/57740979

So now I have one thing on my mind which is of course the cyclocross season, and my Coach Mark Walker has got me his best torture training plan! I'm hoping to make up for disappointment in the form of illness and injury that I had last season, and do some good rides come this winter. I'm lucky to have the support of some great sponsors keeping me going on my quest for success and to be the best and beat the rest (Utilising GCSE poetry skills in hope that Mrs Crickmore may stumble upon this). Quest Sportswear, my team and personal kit sponsor should have something interesting regarding myself coming soon so be sure to keep an eye on them (see links to the right!) and Neon Velo should also have something cool coming to an internet near you... 

On the subject of sponsors, I'm also very pleased to announce my latest sponsorship from Forgoodness Shakes and Nectar Fuel who will be helping me recover and fuel myself during racing and training! I've been using these products for a long while so to have their support is great, and I look forward to working with them for the foreseeable future! 

So now I must leave you all, in a rather literal sense seeing as I'm off to Zurich, Switzerland in 6 days to train and see my best euro bro Johan Jacobs!

Mention for my good mate Alex Dowsett who won the National Time Trial Championships on Thursday despite being battered and bruised. Nicely done Alejandro.

Thanks for reading, and please do be sure to follow me on Twitter and share this blog. Each follow and share helps a young cyclocross rider, and it's free (that's the best part).

Tot ziens. 

Follow @seanmdunlea