A brief (cycling) history of me

Earlier today, having got a bit bored of endless differentiations and integrations of y=f(x), I found myself mulling over something someone said a few months back- "If someone had told you when you started racing that you'd be where you are today, would you have believed them?"

A slightly round-faced me, sometime in 2010

The basic answer is a resounding, "no." 

Now like every child, I spent absolutely hours riding up and down the road on my bike, with the occasional escapade into Circle Hill, where (as you'd expect) the main objective was to get "air". Then sometime late in 2008 I got persuaded to go mountain biking up in Swinley Forest- to sum up that trip, the memorable quote of the day was "aaahhh crap, a corner!" Not much has changed. 

But despite the crashes, cuts and bruises, I somehow got persuaded to ride again, and again, and again- until somehow, despite being short, fat (see on the right), and a rather temperamental asthmatic, I was persuaded to race. Here are the results. 

1	2	00:46:00		436	Martin Turton		00:22:56	00:23:39
2	2	00:49:00	00:03:14	434	Edward Moesli		00:24:29	00:25:20
3	2	00:50:00	00:03:50	430	Joe Broadhead		00:24:47	00:25:39
4	2	00:51:00	00:05:15	431	Darren Pyke		00:25:02	00:26:48
5	2	00:53:00	00:06:52	433	Isaac Pucci		00:26:16	00:27:11
6	2	00:58:00	00:11:32	441	Charlie Meeran	Herne Hill Youth	00:29:11	00:28:56
7	2	00:59:00	00:12:56	432	Robert Tinn		00:28:36	00:30:55
8	2	01:01:00	00:14:42	437	Sam Rodgers		00:30:11	00:31:06
9	2	01:03:00	00:17:18	442	George Neave		00:32:03	00:31:50
10	2	01:15:00	00:28:47	439	Daniel James		00:36:13	00:39:08
11	2	01:20:00	00:34:09	440	Peter Hitt		00:37:48	00:42:56
12	1	00:34:00	1 Lap	435	Jamil Gaida	Palmer Park Velo/RATz	00:34:04
13	1	00:37:00	1 Lap	438	Aled Williams	BECCS	00:37:39

So as you can see, I was pretty crap- I finished over 30 minutes down on Martin Turton, one of my best mates and now a regular training partner. But for some reason, I decided I enjoyed this cycling thing, so I went away "trained" (I think I rode my bike once or twice a week...) and came back in 2009 with high hopes. I finished 1 up from dead last- brilliant! I kept grinding away on my bike, moving up maybe one place  every few months, but loving it regardless. I think I eventually plateaued at 7th in a round of the Southern XC series sometime in 2011...

*Skipping forward a few years*

The generic "I made it" pose...

So in early 2010 I was still rolling around near the back of the field at every XC race I entered; then, having seen an advert for a London to Paris bike ride in The Times, I persuaded my dad to buy me a road bike. Bearing in mind I was a slightly pudgy 15 year old with no natural ability on a bike, I was somewhat surprised when he said yes! And that was when I discovered road cycling...

London to Paris remains one of my favorite memories of being on a bike- it was unlike anything I'd ever done before, and I finished every day absolutely exhausted. But every morning I was eager to go again. I (bizarrely) enjoyed the feel of pushing past my limits on a bike- gritting my teeth and just blocking out the fatigue had a weird sort of satisfaction to it. 

Then on the last day, someone suggested I should try road racing. It was possibly the most expensive suggestion anyone has ever made to me.

National 10 Mile Championships 2012

My first road race ended in a similar fashion to my first XC race- I attacked from the gun, blew up within about a mile of the start, and finished last. Dead last. 

But I was determined to get this right- I went away, bought a turbo trainer, and spent an hour every day doing interval training. Over the 2010-2011 winter, I lost over a stone in weight. And it worked- the next road race I entered I was straight into the top 10 in a field of over 40. RESULT!

Skipping forward again to 2012- I'd been persuaded to start doing time trials. And I was good at them. The first one I entered I won by a convincing 45 seconds over 8.5 miles. The following weekend I did my first 25- finishing in 1hr 3mins with no aero kit. 

Within the next year, I went from local time trials up to a 9th place finish at the British Junior Champs, won my first road race with a 13 mile solo breakaway, jumped from 3rd to 2nd cat and picked up a sponsor in the form of VC Meudon RT- my current team. 

So to sum up- I don't quite understand how I ended up where I am today. My early results show (as fas as I'm concerned) that I have absolutely no natural talent on a bike. I guess hard work may just pay off sometimes...