the longest day in the saddle

so we got up in mallorca on the third day and we had set out to do 100 miles ,the century, we set off at 9am local time and we had 2 big climbs to tackle but they where in the first half and then the last 10 miles was on a long straight road. The first climb was the valdemosa and this one was my favorite because of the stunning views across the mountains and the roads that were winding around the mountain, from the top of the valdemosa at 516 metres high we had 15 miles until the bottom of the  soller. we came out of port de soller off a brilliant descent along the coast and then there was a junction, straight on into the tunnel or left up the soller, but unfortunately cyclist aren't allowed through the tunnel so there was only one way out. UP! 31 hairpin bends, 497 meters of climbing, average gradient 5.6%  and 7.6 kilometers. this climb was more challenging because it was trees surrounding you and you have to concentrate all the way up. on the way down we got stuck behind a lorry and had to go past it. With 49.8 miles to go we had cafe stop number 1 and  from then we thought it was plain sailing but at 60 miles i bonked. With a gel down me I soon recovered and i got better as i went on. With 86 miles done we had a stop and from here on in it was unknown territory. With 10 miles left we got on the straight road and we did some steady through and off that soon turned into a tear up and with me refusing to miss a turn on battled on feeling really sick and when we finally got to a set off traffic lights we had 0.5 miles to go until we reach 100 but we still had nearly 4 miles left and in the end we had a total distance of 103.3 miles and the total riding time of 7 hours.

Belgium race 2 10/9/16

My second race abroad and third time this year in Belgium. My race was on the Saturday so we went on Friday and came back on Sunday, the race was just outside Ghent. On the Saturday morning we got up reasonably early to have some breakfast. We set of at about 8:30am local time because my race was at 12:30 pm and it took just under 2 hours to get there, we got to the race and there wasn't many people there so we went for a few laps but the circuit wasn't closed yet so there was still cars on it so we had to be careful, when I was warming up I looked out of the norm because I was on my rollers and others were just riding around steadily. On the start line I got gridded first so I got a good start, the style of racing is different in Belgium because if someone attacks they really go full on to get away. The race split a lot of times and most of the time I was hanging on to the back of the front group but the one time I got caught out was the one that it actually split on so I was chasing in a group and halfway up the hill an attack in my group went just as I'd done a big turn so I couldn't respond and they bridged across but I was on my own 10 metres of the back and when an attack went in the front group I knew I would have to work hard to even hold the gap. I finished 9th and I said before the start that I'd be happy with a top 10 and that's what I got but I would have liked to finish in the bunch.

       After the race we went into Ghent for something to eat and a look around. It was really good fun in Ghent just walking around and having a laugh one of the good things was a t-shirt canon which was on a boat and a lot of people where crowding round just trying to grab a t-shirt. For my the best bit about this weekend has been the either the atmosphere for the race, walking around Ghent or just the general experience of racing away from home.

Belgium race 1- 6/8/16

This was my first ever race outside Great Britain and it was in Belgium. We left on Friday at lunch time and got to the hotel late Friday night. My race was at 1 o'clock European time and it took us about 2 hours to get there from the hotel and when we got to the village in a lot of time so drove around the course. The course was a 3.29km circuit on normal but closed road and with a big hill to finish on. I got gridded on the front row  and I got a good start, the first half lap was almost neutral so I got myself on the front but then someone attacked and I didn't jump quick enough and ended up in the middle of the group and the group was going to fast to move up. When we got into the headwind it all slowed down but I couldn't move up because the road wasn't very wide and everyone else was moving about a lot. Then with about three laps to go a big attack went on the hill and when it plateaued over the top for about 50 metres the bunch expanded a lot  and the next time up the hill one person in front of me blew up and that was it for me it would be a hard chase into the head wind. I was a bit disappointed with 18th place but realised it was a good experience and an alright result for my first time racing abroad. There was a lady parked next to us who said that this is the hardest and the longest race in the Belgian calendar and she said that the winner of my race (the one behind me) wins every race he goes too.

Mallory park r league 26/7/16

I went into this wanting to do almost exactly what I did 2 weeks ago. I got a really good start and was at the front straight away and started attacking but this time I wasn't attacking every lap just attacking when it felt right but when I saw 2 to go on the board it was sprinting head on and one of the under 10s caught us and he was at the front of our group and with half a lap to go I was switching wheels a lot but I used the slipstream of the under 10s to get into second wheel and then I left some room to rush and came past the rider in first with about 75m to go and I was sat down at 130 rpm and won my first Mallory park race of the season. I was really pleased with my first win at Mallory of the season because I had to work really hard to do these attacks and to finish it of with a sprint like that gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.

France holiday 16/7/16 - 23/7/16

In France we had really nice weather so we took that opportunity to do a lot of riding and we did about 180 miles in 6 days but the good thing was after we got back from these rides there was a cold swimming pool to jump in. On the first day of riding which was Sunday we rode up and down the coast on an easy bike path just to loosen of after sitting in the car for 5 hours on Saturday. On Monday we did a long 40 mile ride but expecting there would be a cafe in every village we rode for about 10 miles after where we expected to stop and ended up in a McDonald's with a large coke. Tuesday we went out later and did an easy ride in the opposite direction to the ride on Sunday. On Wednesday we did a 30 mile ride and found a cafe in the furthest village to have a drink and refil our bottles. Thursday and Friday where the same types of ride just going where we want to but not going miles away and I also did some efforts as well.

Mallory park r league 12/7/16

I went into this race without a real plan in my head but once I got on the start line I knew exactly what to do. So I got a terrible start with my foot slipping of the pedal and straight away I was at the back so I had to work hard to get to the front, then once I was there I had 2 laps of riding in the group steady but then set about smashing the group and I think I did that pretty well with at least one attack every lap for afew laps. Then when the bell rang for last lap it was no late attacks just focusing on the sprint and I was moving about quite about in the last half lap trying to find the right wheel and in the sprint I went around the right and the other rider came round the left but I couldn't stay out the saddle that long so I had to sit down and I think that is what cost me the race. Overall I was really pleased with the race and how I tried to win it but it was just a tiny bit of stamina that was the difference between 1st and 2nd.

Week ending 1/5/16

On Monday I did another sprinting/gap closing/attacking session on the sa,e triangle as last week.

I was in the yellow jersey at mallory park on Tuesday and it was the points race which meant it would be hard for me to keep the jersey and although scraping a couple of point I couldn't get enough to keep the jersey but I was still really happy because I'd worn the yellow jersey.

On Wednesday at prestwold it reminded me about what it used to be like there and I really enjoyed it having to try and stay in a group.

Thursday was roller night so I did two sets of Russian steps and they where really good.

I had an easy night on Friday because of the hard nights I had before.

On Saturday I went to Harvey hadden to practice on the circuit for the regional champs which is my big goal for the year.

Sunday I did 30 miles at a pretty hard tempo and I put a couple of sprints in there as well.