With my winter training almost complete and the new season looming on the near horizon, I figured it was finally time to return to the keyboard and write about what I've been up to- enjoy!
Having started properly training again at the start of December, I was determined to step up my game and put my poor (and frankly embarrassing) 2013 season behind me. I took up a new, more selfish work ethic- training first, everything else second. Despite the obvious pitfalls of having to skip nights out with friends while they were back from uni, and spending 2 hours in the garage on my turbo trainer on Christmas Day, I was loving it. Progress was immediately obvious from such a regimented routine, and I couldn't wait to get back into racing. However 2013 had the last laugh- on New Year's Eve a car turned across the road in front of me, and I smacked straight into the bonnet at 20mph.
Thankfully (I can only put it down to dense bones or something like that) I walked/limped/slowly rode away relatively unscathed, albeit slightly shaken up. Crashes then became the theme of the first fortnight of 2014- a pileup at my first round of the Imperial Winter Series (I somehow stayed upright...) meant the race was called off, rapidly followed by two heavy crashes on black ice during training. What did I learn from this? Escape the cold, go to Majorca...
The trip to Majorca had been planned for a while, and it couldn't have come at a better time- while I was gone, the UK was battered by heavy rain and high winds; meanwhile, I was enjoying smooth roads, sunshine and long climbs.
Majorca is an absolute cyclist paradise, and reminded me just why I love riding my bike- a recovery spin could easily turn into a 3 hour ride around the countryside, just because being on the bike is so enjoyable. The Spanish way of life is fantastic as well; everyone is unbelievably relaxed, and for the whole time I was there I had no run-ins with angry Spanish drivers.
My favourite aspect of Majorca, though, is the mountains. Whether going up or down, they're incredible- the views are unbelievable, and being able to descend at 75kph without the risk of hitting a pothole is something that just happen in the UK.
My first race back was at Longcross driver training circuit- a 3.2km loop, with no obstacles or real corners, however a block headwind on the finishing straight would make for challenging racing. The weather changed constantly throughout the race, and I'm pretty sure the only form of precipitation we didn't get was snow. As a result of the inclement weather conditions, a crash involving one of my teammates occurred with a few laps to go. By this point I was riding blind, with spray from other riders covering my glasses- I heard the crash before I saw anything, and moved out of the peloton to keep myself safe. Thankfully nobody was seriously injured, and after a neutralised lap the race was back on.
As I figured it would, the race came down to a bunch sprint- with my teammate Richard sitting on my wheel, I swung across to the right hand side of the road before winding up my sprint. As I swung over to the left he sped through, narrowly missing out on the win to a Pedal Heaven rider. I hung on for 5th (officially, although I think I was 3rd...), which I was pretty happy with considering the way that the race had finished- I'm not a fan of bunch sprints...
With that out of the way, my next race is at the start of March- but not before another Majorca trip! This time I'll be going with Just Pedal, working as a ride leader. I'm pretty thrilled to be given the opportunity to go back out there, and hope to make the most of it.
I'm also off to Eastbourne with the VC Meudon RT guys this weekend, which despite the cold and rain should be fun- although I guess that depends on your definition of "fun"...
Anyway, thanks for reading and I shall hopefully write again soon!
Pete
