I have now been racing bikes for almost 10 years. I was inspired to start racing after watching the Commonwealth games in Manchester in 2002. Progress was slow in the early years. Many a weekend was spend coming last (or near to last!) at the Eastern Region series in Thetford. One particular memory was my first race using clipless pedals. I missed the pedal on the start and crashed within 2meters of the start line and everyone laughed as they raced off!
Entering 2003 things began to come together a bit more and I began to move up the results sheet. I also entered my first National Points series race. I didn't do that well, around 20th, but the racing seed was well and truly sown. From that point on it became an obsession which has never gone away!
In 2004 things really picked up. I was still in the youth category but was becoming a regular in the top 10. I was also selected to be part of the British Cycling Talent Team Programme. This was a brilliant time for me. I learnt loads of new skills across all the cycling disciplines, met loads of pros who I worshipped and most importantly for a teenager I got my first free bike!
Heading into my years as a junior things began to go even better. In 2005 as a first year junior I was doing ok in the national xc series placing in the top ten consistently. I seemed to go better at the longer races though. I was 'first finisher' at a number of the mtb marathon series and seemed to enjoy these more aswell. Little did I know that I'd take the long distance thing the extremes later in life!
2006 was a major life changing year. I trained super hard, got super fit then blew it. I was keen to hit the podium in the nationals and potential make the Olympic Development Team. But I over trained big time. I learnt a valuable life lesson that year... REST IS GOOD FOR YOU!!
It took me a year to recover from over training. I just didn't listen to my body and paid the price. I also began university towards the end of 2007. This cured the over training. First year was spent drinking and partying which resulted in me loosing all my fitness but also allowed my body to recover from the over training.
Heading into my second year as a student I began riding again. Not too seriously to start with, but then I finished 6th in elite at Enduro6. That was that, I was now an enduro racer! From there things snow balled. I won my first 12h race, admittedly against a weak field, but then backed it up my finishing 2nd at Dusk till Dawn at the end of the year against the UK enduro big guns.
The following year (2009) I continued to progress with a string of top 5 finishes in UK 12h races. My big goal, however, was to race a 24hour race. I did this at Relentless 24 and managed to win it! Now I was a REAL enduro racer!
I was still not satisfied though. I had won my first 12hour and first 24hour race but none of the real fast guys were there.I wanted to win against the best. That winter the first UK solo national championships were announced. I knew immediately that this was the race I wanted more than anything. All the fast boys would be there and I wanted to beat them all. I know you are supposed to build up to these things but I'm impatient and wanted to win the title and beat the established names even though it was only my second ever 24h solo. I nearly did it too! I led the race for 18hours building up a stupidly big lead. Unfortunately I blew it. I guess I didn't quite have the stamina required to race for 24hours flat out and I imploded big time. I still finished 3rd though and made my self a name to watch.
So now I'm trying to make the most of my potential. I gave up my job, moved to Brighton and live the 'Bike Bum' lifestyle. I work to pay the bills and spend the rest of my time on my bike, preferably in a sunny country. Life is sweet..enjoy the blog!
