Two Days To Go

With two days now until the National Road Champs I'm feeling quite good. I have been riding into work each day this week in the sun topping up the tan and fitting my training in when I get home.

On Tuesday evening I rode at one of my local ten mile time trials in Hapton near Burnley. Two roundabouts at either end with a long drag in between makes for a good training session, only my second time riding it also on my road bike(no TT bike yet) and I was 35 seconds quicker, only 22 seconds behind the winner.

Here is my first and second go at the time trial;

Hapton TT 1

Hapton TT 2

Friday ill be riding into work again then Saturday we are travelling up to Glasgow to stay the night before Sundays race.

Sam

A Different League! National Champs

The rider list was announced on Friday for the National Road Race Championship next weekend in Glasgow.

Cavendish, Millar, Dowsett, Stannard and many more will all be riding the 115 mile race. Its quite daunting seeing my name on the same start sheet but the race also contains fifty U23 riders, so its also a race within a race.

I am aiming to give it my best shot and also learn a lot as the next month of racing is one big race after another. Its a tough period but it ll be a good chance to see where I stand.

Ill be giving you a regular taste of my training & how the racing is going.

Yesterday I met up with my teammate Joe Moses for a short ride and I then went on to add a few extra miles, below is the data from the ride.

Garmin Connect Data

Today I went out for some hilly miles with efforts, rest day Monday!

Sundays Ride

Sam

Stannington Defence

This morning I should have had a number 1 on the back of my jersey for the first time to defend my win of the Stannington RR Trophy from last year, but sadly the race had been cancelled so it wasn't to be.
It also left me with a big hole in my race programme & the best part of a month without any races to ride.

I'd hinted in my last update that my form had been hard to find & the move up to Premier Calender events was a big step up, I have taken time to refocus and adjust my training and I'm ready to go again for the 2nd half of the season.
Two weeks in Mallorca with some solid training in the mountains and the sun on my back(almost everyday) should see me in good form, I have also been using my team sponsored PowerTap for training and in some local time trials which makes my training much more accurate.

At the top of Randa

Today though I went out with fellow Colner and Olympic champ Steven Burke for a decent 4 hours round the Dales and Settle. Saturday was a tough day of efforts so it was good to have a 'catch up' this morning.
My club, Cycle Sport Pendle have been busy getting ready for the prospect of a brand new purpose built facility in Pendle, it will be called the Steven Burke Sports Hub and will be the base of cricket, football and a cycle racing track.

My next races coming up are the National Champs(U23) in Glasgow followed by a month of Premier Calender races, it'll be tough but I'll be there to learn and improve and also help my teammates.

Sam

Mallorca Sun

With the first third of the season completed now is a good time to get some sunny miles in the legs & reflect on my early season ready for the big races ahead.

Its fair to say that my form has been patchy and the early season highlight has been 7th place at the Drummond Trophy, an 80 mile 9 man break including teammate Tom Stewart and Tour of Reservoir winner Evan Oliphant(Team Raleigh).

Lincoln GP

The Premier Calendars have been a big step up for me and I had personally hoped for better rides in them but a few weeks in Mallorca should bring me good legs and get me focused for the next four Premier Calender races and the National road and track champs, so watch this space.

This weekend I will be riding the North West Regional Champs on the Fylde coast then I'll be in the hills of Mallorca.
I'll keep you posted.

Sam

Learning Curve

The weekend saw the team ride the first Premier Calender of the year. A serious learning curve for me with 130 starters and all the top UK teams but all good racing in the legs for the rest of the season.

Stage 1

Saturday morning we met the team at race HQ in Blanchland, Northumberland for the first stage of, the Tour of Reservoir. 

A later start at 11:50 meant a good warm up and a relaxed morning but that was soon turned around as the "neutralised" section was full on on both days. The first stage started with a 3 mile uphill section onto the moors, I was too far back and struggled to move up through the group. Up on the moors we hit a very strong crosswind and the group was lined out, gaps opened up and a 14 man group was away.

Sportscover were represented though, Tom Stewart had made the break after a recent string of top ten results and a win, he is on top form at the minute and definitely turned a few heads after sprinting to 4th, just missing out on a podium place decided by a photo finish.

I ended up in no mans land chasing the second group on my own for a lap when I was caught by the group behind and finished with the peloton well down on the leaders.

Stage 1 - 4th Place

Basically the same thing happened on Sunday in the neutralised section with few crashes thrown in as well, whoever made it to the front stayed there and once again a very strong crosswind section made gaps open up and a crash saw the race split for good.

Tom was once again on top form and had made the break and in the sprint came 5th securing his position as 4th overall by just 1 second, for a full time university student going up against full time pros Tom's definitely capable of winning these in the near future.

Stage 2 - 5th Place

This weekend myself and Tom are racing the Nigel Meason 2 Day near Northampton, a 3 mile time trial followed by a 63 mile road race on the Saturday and a 73 mile road race on Sunday. 

Photos courtesy of Larry Hickmott

Sam

Back In The Game

This weekend I headed up North to Strathaven in Scotland to race the Drummond Trophy. After hearing how hard it was last year I knew I`d have to have my head and legs in the zone!

After an early start driving up we got half way there and the skies opened up as expected, heavy rain and strong winds would definitely make it interesting.
Just half a lap in and the decisive move was made, on the back end of the course on a narrow back lane with a very strong cross wind, a few riders on the front put it in the gutter, lining the rest of us out, a mile later and we hit the first climb, by this point five riders had already gone away so I had to attack and close the gap. Soon enough a group of nine had established a gap and worked well together for the rest of the race, including three Node4, two Raleigh, two Sportscover.

Leading The Break ahead of Ben Greenwood

With a lap and a half to go in the same place where the break was initially made Node4 attacked once again making the rest of us suffer, unfortunately I was a few places too far back in the line and one rider let a gap open up, I closed the gap but it was just as we approached the first climb when another attack came, this time from a Raleigh rider, after just closing a gap I was on the back foot and four of us were gaped.

Myself, Ben Greenwood (Hope) and teammate Tom Stewart had to chase for a lap and a half. We worked well together and slowly closed the gap but the leaders realised we were closing in on them and distanced us again. Coming up to the sprint for 5th place it was clear Richard Hepworth (Node4) would take it as he had 2 teammates up the road and had an easy last lap, so myself and Tom came across the line in 6th and 7th.

Sprint for 5th place

Very happy with how it went, felt good to be back in a break-away once again and the first break and top ten of the year.

Next week I will be riding the two-day Premier Calender Tour of The Reservoir, a big test and hoping to go well on the hills.

Sam

Legs Are Coming Good

Another week closer to my first Premier Calender of the year and I can feel my form is just around the corner.

Last week I got caught up in a crash in the last 200 metres of an hour long Criterium in Lancaster, Salt Ayre. Just a few scrapes and a bit less skin than when I arrived but I was soon back training ready for Sundays race, The Sheffrec Spring Road Race just outside Doncaster.

The sun was out and the temperature had easily reached 18 degrees, but with the race in such a flat area, the good weather also brought gale force winds, only being 5`8 and 63kg, its safe to say the wind got the better of me and I missed the crutial splits. 

New tires and PowerTap wheels

Through the finishing straight where the wind was the strongest I was with a group of about 9 others chasing the second group on the road, we worked well chasing the group and had the gap down to about 20 seconds, more then close-able, but a few riders sat up missing turns and we remained in no mans land.

Having not had the best race I comfortable won our groups sprint at the end, 22nd for me, not great but on the plus side I think my form is around the corner.

After the race each Sportscover rider picked up their brand new CycleOps PowerTap wheels also a pair of Challenge Criterium 320 tires. Really looking forward to getting it set up and using it to progress my training.

This weekend I am racing up in Scotland with teammate Tom Stewart at the Drummond Trophy. The same weekend as the Rutland Melton Cicle Classic which attracts the big powerhouse riders, whilst all the climbers head up to the Drummond Trophy,Tom is going well after his win in Northumberland so should be interesting.

Thanks

Sam