Christmas Bicycling

     Another good week of riding this week with a few mishaps along the way. Starting on Monday a core session at home was all I managed to squeeze in around the festivities but I managed to get a lot of different exercises done. Christmas day involved travelling down to my Nana's in England so unfortunately I didn't get out on the bike again but instead had a very fun, relaxing day. After arriving back relatively late on Wednesday my dad and I headed out for a short hilly road ride around nearby roads (which gave me a chance to test out my new fancy garmin) which wasn't too hard and provided a gentle introduction of pedalling to my legs.
    
     On Thursday I got the car down to Calum's in Peebles and despite initially wanting to go on a long road ride the forecast of snow and strong winds forced us onto the mountain bikes which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We headed out and into a valley from which we slowly climbed out of to join the Glentress black route. As we gradually gained height the snow started falling and building up beside the track and by the top the whole track was covered in deep snow which was great fun to ride in (despite having an aspen on the back). From the radio mast we rode the rest of the black and had lunch before pedalling back up and down brambles.

     Friday I felt slightly under the weather and only managed a gentle 15 minutes on the rollers and Saturday morning I put on every piece of cycling clothing I own and headed out for 9:30. The rain stopped as I arrived so stupidly I took off my rain jacket but soon into the ride the monsoon conditions had returned and I was forced to stop and put the jacket back on. A very long hard chase then took place and I finally caught the bunch going into haddington. Shortly after though I punctured after hitting a pothole and by the time I fixed it my hands were frozen and my morale very low so I headed home, only managing 40km in total. This morning proved more successful though with the junior club run down the coast and back.

     Cheers for reading, feel free to share, over and out x
    

Lots more training

     Another big improvement this week to my training and despite a small setback at the start I'm pleased with the amount of riding I got in. Monday (once again) started the week with another rollers/core session, the last of this year. On Tuesday my dad and I headed out for a short hilly road ride in the dark up nearby hills and unfortunately coming down a road I didn't see a large pothole and got bumped over my bars and into a nearby ditch. The road rash was the only real injury fortunately although I had to ride 20 minutes home with half my lycra hanging off my legs. I showered and cleaned out the cut before getting an early night as I was heading off to the velodrome the next day for the christmas team pursuit race.
     I had found a late entry into the Union Jocks (Jack Crombie, Joe Nally and Lewis Mulholland) and after a shaky start by me we managed to qualify fastest, qualifying us for the semi finals in an hours time then potentially the final soon after. All didn't quite go to plan though and with a lot of confusion over gear sizes of other teams, ages and more the semi finals ended up being over an hour late. It then became clear that these were in fact the finals although we were lined up against the team that qualified in 4th but we were told we would just be riding for a time. After a shaky overtake when we came to lap the other team we came in 4 seconds slower than our qualifying time which was very frustrating and with all the chaos I left to get home early(-er) and didn't find out where we finished overall.
    I rested up on Thursday and headed out early Friday morning for a steady 75km in the drizzle with Ben and even though the ride was gentle my legs were still feeling quite tired by the end! An even earlier start on Saturday took me to the 9:30 ride and after a brutal outward leg to Haddington I peeled off as Grant from Perth had got lost so me and his brother pulled over and rode steadily back in but the ride was still over 80km which felt good.
    Sunday morning I got the car down to Glentress and met up with lots of people (Ben, Fraser, Lewis, Mark, Harry and Calum) for a fun social ride. We took it fairly gentle with a few efforts on the climbs but in general had quite a relaxed ride which was good craic.
    All in all I feel this week was good fun and hard work and I'm looking forward to carry on riding throughout the holidays. Cheers for reading, feel free to share, over and out. x
Oh and thanks to Yoda and his dad for the lift on Wednesday.
And that's ben in the first picture.

Improvements

     This week has definitely proved a lot more fun and varied than previous and I feel like I've definitely done a lot. The week started with another brutal core session on Monday evening which although hard was very beneficial. I then did a gentle rollers session on Wednesday, just refining my time trial position and spinning the legs and felt quite fresh afterwards. On Thursday I went night riding on the mountain bike for the first time in a while with my dad which was great fun and was good preparation for the big day the next day. The "Edinburgh schools cycle speedway championships".
    
     We arrived after a slightly cramped car journey, got changed and went for a slight spin round the track. My legs were feeling good, although I was slightly unnerved by the sight of the professional liberton team in matching tops who were rubbing their tyres with sandpaper then carrying the bikes to the line before the start of every race (to heat them up or something). I needn't have been worried though, as I managed to win all four of my races which were all really good fun and to top it off our team managed second place overall! I arrived home and then did russian steps on the rollers that evening as my legs still felt really good.
    
     Saturday was an early start for me, as I squeezed into a bus with my school mates headed for newcastle to watch newcastle take on man city. It was a really enjoyable experience (and my first ever football match) despite newcastle losing and the opposing fans throwing a smoke bomb at us! I spent around 6 hours on the coach that day though and my legs were feeling horrible went I got home, so I headed straight for bed and didn't get out on the bike. Sunday morning was again an early start as I went to a 3 hour session at the velodrome. It was really good fun and after not riding my track bike in a while it was great to get back on track (get it? back on TRACK). To round the day off I've just got back from watching the hobbit which was really good as well.
    
     Cheers for reading, hope you enjoyed this weeks edition, feel free to share, over and out. x

     And thanks to Keano for taking the smoek bomb picture x

And some more winter

     This week, I was once more restricted to gentle rollers as again I felt slightly under weather but I still feel I managed to get a lot done given my condition. I did a couple roller tri bar specific sessions and feel my position has really improved after them. My core was given another workout as well with three session throughout the week which should really benefit all aspects of my riding without being too physically demanding when doing the exercises. On Friday afternoon I returned to the Jack Kane center for the second cycle speedway training session which was great fun again and I'm really looking forward to the schools championships next weekend.

     I have emailed to try and get some track time next Sunday at the Glasgow Velodrome so hopefully I'll be able to get back onto the boards and with a doctor appointment booked to try and finally clear my stomach bug up I should be raring to go by Christmas. Although I have been slightly disappointed by the lack of riding I've managed over the past month or so I'm trying to take the positives from it and with terrible form at the end of the season, a long rest will have done my body no harm and I will hopefully have got a lot of miles in by the time new year comes around.

     The release of the British Youth Road Series was really exciting for me this week with lots of races on the calendar although sadly two major stage races in April/May next year clash with two exams for me so I won't be able to participate in either but hopefully with the time of school for exams I'll be able to get some really good training in for good form around June/July.

     Sorry for the uneventful post but I promise next week will be better, share around if you could, over and out.

Cycle Speedway and Duathlons

A couple weeks ago the school offered me and some friends the opportunity to ride cycle speedway after school and I jumped at the idea having heard wonders about it from people in talent team. So this Friday we piled into a minibus to go the jack Kane centre ( / prison ). Inside they had set up a track in a large pe hall and had the bikes waiting and for the next two hours we hammered round the course cutting each other off, sliding into one another and crashing. I was knackered by the end and having gained a lot of confidence I'm really looking forward to the 'Edinburgh schools championships' in a couple weeks time.
This Monday offered another new session to me with a core strength and conditioning class after rollers in the evening. It was good fun considering how hard it was and I've learnt there is definitely room for improvement in my core! This will now be a weekly fixture so should really help with all aspects of cycling for next season.
Today (Sunday) I also competed in my second ever duathlon near Selkirk. I had previously hoped to do lots of running training coming into the event but my stomach bug helped put a stop to that so I was quite pessimistic before the start. The start itself was much scarier than any bike start as 100+ people sprinted up a Tarmac icy road with bodies going everywhere! I managed to keep myself upright and got round before blasting it on the bike to finish 21st overall which I was really chuffed about. I also finished first in the u18 category although being the only u18 not in a pair that sounds more impressive than it actually was.
Next week I hope to start getting the miles into my legs but with the prospect of snow it may be a week of mountain biking and sledging which is no bad thing! Off to do Spanish homework, feel free to share around, over and out.

Track

     Well, this week hasn't been quite as successful as anticipated, with my illness returning on Monday putting me off my bike for the majority of the week. I went along to the velodrome yesterday as the team pursuit session started with a 2 hour off the bike workshop which I intended to do along with the track warm up before leaving. My body held up fine in the warm up and after I decided to do the whole track session which was really enjoyable. I struggled in the efforts and standing starts but 3 weeks off the bike probably wasn't ideal preparation and I came out the session having learnt a lot.
     Exams have gone well so far as well (I hope so anyway) but with over half remaining they're still not over for another week. The illness still hasn't left me quite yet and as a result I'll keep my riding relatively gentle over the coming week with a new core session tomorrow evening and the possibility of an "off-road duathlon" next Sunday which will be a new experience. Cycle-speedway is another discipline I'll be giving a try me and some friends are riding the edinburgh schools championships in a few weeks which should be great fun and hopefully help with bunch skills for the road season (cornering, elbowing, committing to a line etc.).
     That's about it for now, cheers for reading, feel free to share with muchos people, over and out.

Winter and Exams

A week on from first posting, I have finally ( I hope so anyway) recovered from my stomach bug and was able to go out for 40 miles steady this morning with the club. I'm still going to take it relatively gentle until Wednesday when I will make my first outing on the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome on my new shiny track bike (see previous post). The following Saturday will also another opportunity to get back on the boards with a team pursuit training session again in Glasgow and I'm really looking forward to both. The only downside of the oncoming week is my first proper exams start annoyingly just after recovering from an illness so the time spent on my bike over the next few weeks will still be relatively little I imagine. 

From now until Christmas I am hoping to spend as much time as possible on the velodrome as the track there is amazing, although I am hoping to ride a couple of chaingangs every weekend to give me a good balance of hard efforts and steady miles. After deciding to ditch the strathpuffer and cyclocross this season, I have relatively little big goals before the start of next season but after a "team meeting" I am really excited for next season and eager to get racing already.

Fingers crossed I'll stay illness free from now unlike previous years and can start next season with a bang.

Cheers for reading, feel free to share, over and out.

Mayo International Youth Tour 2011, me looking angry coming across in first

Winter Intro

Well, here goes, first post.

After some discussion earlier today with Stuart Balfour (yes, THE Stuart Balfour) whilst watching a local cyclocross race, it was decided that a blog would be helpful to promote my cycling and give an insight into the life of a young aspiring cyclist. I brushed the idea off, blogs are pointless aren't they? Well, here I am...

I have ridden from an early age, racing on the mountain bike as an under 10 and on the road as an under 12. I could whine forever about my early years but the main factors in me starting racing were my Dad, Edinburgh RC youth section sorting out training sessions and helping take me to races and Peebles CC for putting on small dirt crit races for riders as young as under 8.

Quickly my riding progressed and as my racing calender increased I started getting better results. Around 12, I started proper "training". Since then I would hope to think I have had a successful few years riding as a youth travelling the length and breadth of the UK with medals in Scottish Road, Mountain and Cyclocross championships. The standout results for me thus far must be winning a stage of an international youth road race in Ireland last season (2011) and winning the Strathpuffer 24hr Mountain Bike race as a team of four (all riders under 15) competing against 60+ teams of 4. Another highlight of my time on the bike was being selected for the Scotland South mountain bike team at this year's British Inter Regional Mountain Bike Championships, where although my form was definitely on a downward slope, I feel I helped contribute to our 3rd place overall in the team's classification.

Rugby has also been a large aspect of my life up until now, with many clashes between the two sports resulting in performance in both lacking at times. As a result this winter I have decided to focus solely on road and track cycling in an effort to try and become one of the top youth road riders in Britain. I really believe this is achievable and, once I recover from this small stomach bug, am ready to buckle down and get some proper hard winter training in.

Lastly a huge thanks to everyone that had made my progression in the sport so far possible, to all the coaches and parents at ERC, to my parents for driving me up and down the country and buying me bikes, to Andy at the bicycleworks who does wonders fixing my bikes and to the Magowan/Balfour/Borthwick Lamont/Forsyth (probably more, sorry if I forgot anyone) families for putting up with me on long car journeys ferrying me to and from races.

Muchos thanks for reading, over and out.