March to May

First and foremost, apologies for the lapse of updates. Life decided to take over a little so cycling and training had to take a back seat.

Since my last update, i was inducted into the Pearl Izumi champions team for 2017. In total there are 50 spread through different parts of the British isles, with a whole host of disciplines and ability levels. To see some of the people that have places, is does beg the question why me?? For the induction day, we were invited to Madison HQ in Milton Keynes, for a lesson is the roots of the brand, a discussion on where the brand is going and a nutritional chat from Tim Lawson (founder of SIS and Stealth Nutrition). Having never actually met any of the champions other than comments on Facebook, it was great to put people to the names. It was also a great opportunity for me to meet Andy Hampshire, who through the champions page had agreed to coach me for the year.

Whilst i certainly enjoyed listening to how the brand came about and where the design and development is heading, our nutritional chat was all a little over my head. I'll stick to everything in moderation and tapering off the rubbish before an event. After all the presentations, we were given our Champion Team kit to get changed into for the ride out. As i seemed to be going through a phase of breaking my bikes in the run up to the induction, I asked to borrow a bike which resulted in me being lent a Ridley Fenix SL, full carbon frame and 105 parts mix very nice to ride. Probably even nicer to ride if i'd set the seat at the correct height and not spent 2 hours over reaching causing injury. We live we learn. Having picked the faster paced ride of the 3 options, i figured Buckinghamshire was relatively flat, it is not. I realised that i might have been pushing myself a little too much, as i was blowing within 3 miles, a lot of the fellow riders i was with race on the road or time trials. Along for the ride was Tim Lawson which was a great opportunity for those that still had questions to ask about nutrition, needless to say when he was riding at the side of me there wasn't much in the way of conversation. It was certainly very picturesque in Buckinghamshire, after the ride we all said our goodbyes and thanked the team for putting on a fantastic day.

8 days after the induction i was taking part in the first round of the Midlands MTB XC league at Sherwood Pines. Whilst i certainly enjoy cross country racing, i figure i'm not cut out for the shorter stint races and better suited for the 3 hour ones. Those little whippets certainly know how to blaze a trail. At this particular race i had two supporters, armed with cowbells and horns. whilst this certainly added an atmosphere to the day, i'm not sure well received it was by fellow competitors. with a few riders not looking impressed by the encouragement. After finishing in a disappointing position and deciding to take a head first lunge into a tree, i ended the race and realised that the pain from over stretching had turned into a full blown hip injury. Which brings us up to now, having spent the last 6 weeks spending time with family and recovering, its safe to say i'm looking forward to getting back out on the bikes. That and spamming peoples instagram feeds with pics.

New perspective of training

Over the past 3 weeks I have been working with a new coach, Andy from PerfromanceMTB. All sessions have been based on the heart rate zones and times within these on a ride. Most of last year was consumed with my average speed on a ride and mile munching, which looking back was horrible. Always looking at how you weren't seeing benefits from 100mile+ weeks and being annoyed with a sub 17.5mph average. This year with speed not a data field on my activity tracker, I'm enjoying being out in the open riding my bikes. Only concentrating on cadence, heart rate and time. I already feel stronger a fitter so here's to the next 11 months.

KL MTB winter series

After competing in my first winter series and finishing round three to be 18th in the series, I was excited to be hitting round 4 running. From the second round to the fourth I had decided to tweek the bike set up to move away from the trail settings to a more stripped back xc set up. Removing the dropper post and excess weight of massive chunky tyres. Needlesss to say the latter was a massive regret for Sunday's trip around shouldham warren. Conditions were wet in the open and powdery in the undergrowth, so a nice mud tyre might have been a better choice. After approximately a fifth of a lap I noticed my seatpost had come loose and I was now riding with more of a bmx style, than a cross country. Unfortunately I couldn't rectify it so had to retire from possibly the best course I had seen on the series. Alas this is all part and parcel of racing, and leaves me with the desire to come back next year stronger and better prepared for next wint
  Hopefully the next series will see me fitter and stronger with the help of Andy Hampshire at Performance MTB UK coaching over the next year. This coming month also sees me finally take up the opportunity of becoming a Pearl Izumi ambassador. All in all a good start to hopefully a great year on the trails.

Hope are also sending me a replacement bolt free, happy days

Reflecting on 2016

So after a fairly crappy start to 2016 with personal circumstances being at an all time low. Losing yourself within yourself is always a good way to start your 30th year. A new son being born and struggling from the off set, we figured what more could this year bring that would test us to breaking. With a mixed bag of highs and lows on the bike also added to the mix, by October i was starting to lose love for it. Taking myself away to re find my love of biking with no punishing myself for not keeping up on set nights and just enjoying being out in the open.
  By the end of November i had rediscovered the pure joy of being off road in the forest with friends having a laugh, and mixing in a flying solo lap also. So decided to participate in a round of the Kings Lynn MTB Winter Series, setting up the bike in the same way i would riding pines or cannock chase. After next to no proper prep leading up to a 3 hour XC race coming in second last. not a great round performance but nothing that wasn't to be expected. A couple of days after the event the current series standings were released and to my amazement i was 26th out of 35 a massive confidence boost that i needed.
  Earlier in autumn my friend, Justin, sent me a link to apply to be a brand ambassador for a bike clothing company. All you needed to do was fill in a application with why you enjoy cycling and what drives you on. On the 9th of December whilst out riding cannock with Justin i received an email to say I'd been accepted into the Pearl Izumi Champions Team for 2017. Yet another massive confidence boost at just the right time. On this same day at cannock whilst crossing over the railway bridge, i unbeknowingly rode past one of my future team mates. strange coincidence it seems.
  All in all this year has taught me that in you need to get lost to find yourself, cherish those around you, appreciate the friends you have, and those that help put a positive spin on life.