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

Maureen Bain Win For Tom

Another great weekend for Team Sportscover, Saturdays race saw five of us head up north to Stanfordham in Northumberland for the Maureen Bain Memorial road race. A race where last year I took 6th and my teammate, Tom Stewart came 1st, although a different course to lasts years edition, the new one included the infamous Ryals climb, a serious strength sapper and also used in the Beaumont Trophy, a Premier Calender event.

                              

                                        Slightly mucky after the race, myself, James King, Tom Stewart & Ben Ives

Early on in the race a very strong break went clear of the bunch and soon gained a couple of minutes advantage, which at its best went up to five minutes! Paris-Roubaix winner and legend Magnus Backstedt and his team MG Maxifuel drove the gap down to around a minute after losing two men from the break with punctures, so with team mates James King and Ben Ives in the break myself and Tom could take it easy in the bunch. On the last lap just before the final climb to the finish Tom attacked with a few others to close the gap to the break before attacking again to eventually take the win in the sprint. Although I missed the moves I had a strong finish riding clear of my group up the climb for the last 2k on my own.

Two years in a row now! Nice one Tom.

A few words from Tom after the race courtesy of Larry Hickmott from VeloUK;

“I haven’t raced since Severn Bridge and it feels really good to get off on the right foot. The break went on the first lap and I was gutted I missed it. I know though round here it’s difficult and they are long races and you can bring back five minutes on the last lap if you need to.”

“I had two teammates in the break so that was good for us and let me keep my powder dry and wait for a counter move. My climbing has got better over the winter for sure. I felt great on the Ryals. Matt (Cronshaw), Tommy (Bustard) and me got away on the second bump of the Ryals. We got away on the first bit but opened the gap on the second bit.”

“At the end, with three of you away and you’re all on the limit working together, it is everyman for himself and there was no messing about until the end. Fair play to Tommy because he did a big pull on the front at the end there.”

“Tom led it out and was nailed and I think happy to take third. I have been in a situation like that before, not a lot, a few times and have messed them up. I don’t have a lot of experience of them but I knew I had to be on his (Cronshaws) wheel because he is a good sprinter but I knew I he’d be tired so I didn’t give up and sure enough just nicked it. Couldn’t believe it.”

"Just nicked it"

Looking ahead, Tom says first and foremost he wants to finish his degree and when that is done he says “I’ll do what I can on the bike. I have had a good winter and in this team with a lot of strong young lads, I am sure we’ll be pushing above our weight this season.

Two weeks of solid training now for myself before my next race.

Sam

`Snow` Racing This Week

After an easier week of training in anticipation of my first hilly race of the year in Cumbria, the English weather did it's usual. A day and a half of snow on Friday saw most of the weekends races cancelled.
Luckily enough during the week I`d also bought my first mountain bike!

With the racing off I arranged to meet up with my coach Mark Turner and with Cyclo-Cross expert, 'Cross Junkie' Alan Dorrington for an early Sunday morning couple of hours of fun in the snow.
Really it was my first ever off road experience so when I did fall off at least it was onto soft snow.

Not just a new mountain bike this week, I also picked up my new Sportscover team bike from team sponsors CNP in Manchester. An Avanti Corsa DR Very light and stiff, looking forward to getting it race ready for the Easter race programme.
We have a four man team at the Maureen Bain Memorial, hilly road race in Northumberland on Saturday, 120 tough kilometres. Last year my new teammate Tom Stewart took the win and I took 6th. On Sunday I ride solo in the CDNW road race at Capernwray near Lancaster hoping to improve on my 6th place in 2012.

Full race report next week, Have a nice Easter.

Sam    

Pre Season Medical

This weekend I have been away with the team again, not racing, but for a two day medical consultation by teams sponsors, The Healthcare Management Trust. The team also collected our DMT Prisma race shoes and Speedplay pedals for the race season.

We have been given support that could easily rival the top British professional teams, the team was split into two separate groups for the two day rotation. On the first day I was on a very wet and cold 70 mile ride with 3 other team-mates, Richard Meadows, James King and Jacob Scott followed by one of our shiny new Skoda team cars.

After a meal with the team at our hotel we got an early night ready for a day of tests on the Sunday.

A very healthy breakfast was again supplied by the Healthcare Management Trust and my first session was with Kevin Teasdale, who holds a sports science degree and also has a Masters in Pyhsiotherapy, where I was given a full body examination, the key things we talked about were a possible knee problem that I had in the past and he gave me some stretches I can work on at home.

Next I was to see Dr Roger Palfreeman, a well established team Doctor within the Pro peleton. We discussed any possible medical issues and how they can be improved, the main things being that I needed gel bar tape as the nerves in my hands give me a little trouble.

After Dinner I met with Dr Chris Edmundson for an Infra Red bike fit, Over the past few weeks I have grown a little and Chris discovered my saddle needed to be raised and be moved back on its rails.

During a spin on a turbo I felt much better after the adjustments. We also discussed how to fit my new Speedplay Pedals and what benefit they will have with regards to my position whilst riding as I tend to stick my right knee out a little bit. 

                                      

After a few blood samples had been taken, a Lung Function test and an Electro Cardiogram I met with Sports Performance Nutritionist Mayur Ranchordas where we talked about my diet and any possible way to improve it, Mayur also gave me some recipes for rice cakes and high protein smoothies.

Using Skin Fold Callipers Mayur measured each of our body compositions to decide whether or not we need to gain weight or lose body mass through muscle or fat. Just for bragging rights I`ll add that I'm the leanest on the team! We also discussed how I can eat better whilst racing and training and what CNP supplements I should be taking and when is best to take them.

  

A huge thank you to Tony Barrett for making all this possible and believing in the team. It has definitely given us an advantage for the coming season and ill look forward to making the advice and support count this year.

Sam

Here's a short but very interesting video presentation of the weekend.

Dear All

Dear all

Many of you will already know of the tragic accident today in the Severn Bridge Elite road race in Gloucestershire. Junior Heffernan, Herblife Liersure lakes racing team sadly died during the race.
Nothing about myself this week, today I will only pay tribute to a fellow cyclist just 23 years old. I did not know Junior but our thoughts are with all those that did, especially his family and all those who rode and raced with him.

Sam

The Season Begins

And so my 2013 season began last Sunday with the 47th Clayton Velo Spring Classic.

A race only 15 miles away from where I live so I know the course well, unfortunately my home advantage didn't quite pay off as I rolled in within the bunch to get 26th.

Never the less it was the first race of the year for most of the field and a regular season opener, I'm feeling confident in my form for the start of the season. 

Thanks for the pictures, by Larry Hickmott

I let my excitement get the better of me by riding a bit too near the front and when the attacks came I missed the important moves which were to never be seen again.

With a few laps to go the group I was with settled down and we waited for the sprint, I positioned myself well leading up to the last corner but lost a few places in the rush for the line, I sprinted a lot better then I thought I would so pretty happy with the way it went. 

All in all a good weekend, the weather held off and the racing was good, althuogh after the race there was a small blizzard! on the ride home.

Team Sportscover took their first win of the year, the teams newly signed junior rider James King won the Trader Cup race in Dundalk, Ireland. Here's James` Blog.

Next weekend the entire team will be out in force at the Eddie Soens Memorial race on the Saturday, I will also be riding the CDNW event at Pimbo on Sunday.

Looking forward to racing up some hills in a few weeks.
Sam

Team Sportscover Launch

Hello everyone, definitely a weekend to remember. Team Sportscover had its official team launch at the Manchester Bike & Triathlon show, just 100 yards from our base at the Midlands Hotel.

Saturday morning started off catching a lift with team mate Joe Moses, we then headed off to meet up with our team where we were told how the two day launch would pan out, but also to pick up some matching team kit courtesy of BioRacer, helmets from Kask, trainers from Adidas and finally some very white podium shoes from DMT for when we collect our winnings on stage!

We quickly got changed into our recreational team clothing and headed to the shows venue of the converted railway station, Manchester Central, where in pairs we each spent 30 minutes handing out leaflets at the CNP stand and introducing their 2013 range which we will be using for the season.

Now onto our first official team launch, we were all individually introduced on stage by our DS Mark Barry who did a couple of interviews with some of the riders, we then headed back to our hotel, a few of us went for a swim before we all met up to go for a meal at a local Italian with some of our sponsors.

On the Sunday we were up for breakfast nice and early to get ready to ride the Red Kite Events sportive, hence the numbers in the video below. A very lumpy 70 miles with just over 2000 metres of climbing, Winnats Pass being the main climb of the day was certainly a test. After the sportive we cleaned up and headed back to Manchester Central for round two, where as the day before we repeated our launch, this time we were all interviewed, and I was asked about my win from the Stannington Road Race.

                     

Thanks for reading, I have almost reached a total of 1200 views on my Blog in just over a month. Also a big thank you to our support staff in the background, also Colin Wooller for the videos and pictures, and the teams sponsors; Sportscover, Haribo, Avanti Bikes, CNP, Bio Racer, Skoda, Kask, Ritchey, CycleOps Power, DMT, Paligap and Oakley.

I'm very grateful to be part of a really impressive and professional set up.

Sam

Team Launch Preview

Tomorrow, Team Sportscover will have its official team launch at the Bike & Triathlon show in Manchester.

The team will be around to chat to the public from 12 o'clock until 3:30, when we will take centre stage for our team launch, with the same again on Sunday.

But before repeating the events of Saturday, we will be riding the attached 77 mile sportive as a team, organised by Red Kite Events.

Here's a short video made by CNP cycling on our team page. Just track riding at the minute in the video but the road season kicks off next week for myself at the Clayton Velo Spring Classic, the team will also be well represented the following weekend at the Eddie Soens Memorial race.

Looking forward to meeting some of the teams sponsors and getting to know the people behind such a great set up.

More to come in a couple of days.

Sam

As seen on TV!

Thanks to everyone who tuned into the Revolution on ITV4 the other night for my ten seconds of fame.
My bid for glory in the points race didnt quite come off but it did get some good coverage!

Back out training on the roads over the week with two 3rd places at Track League on Tuesday night. Feeling better as each day comes, great preperation for the road season which is just two weeks away, my first race of 2013 will be the Clayton Velo Spring Classic, placed 21st last year so hoping for an improvement on that.

In case you didnt catch the Revolution, click here for the ITVplayer catch up, skip to 22 minutes in for the coverage of my race.

Next weekend, on the 16th & 17th, Team Sportscover will be having our official team launch at the Manchester Bike and Triathlon Show. On the sunday we will all be riding the Events 75 mile Sportive. Look out next week for some pictures.

Sam

In at the deep end!

What a weekend! Friday morning I receive a call from my Team manager with a last minute call up to ride the final round of the Revolution series on Saturday night at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome in Glasgow!
With not much time to even think about it I went for an easy 2 hours spin on Friday then it was kit ready and on the road by noon to meet my team in Glasgow by 4.30pm the next day. 

My track legs have been coming on quite well in recent weeks, Manchesters Premier division league is quite  fierce but this was different, I would be riding against National and World Champions, GB academy riders and of course my fellow Colner, Olympic Gold medalist Steven Burke. 

My team mate Ollie Wood  hit the deck in the 2^nd race of the night, walking wounded and out of the action, but we did do a decent 1K Madison Time Trial together finishing 8^th quickest, not bad since I was about 14 the last time I did a hand sling, staying upright was my priority.

Next up was the points race, although no points were scored on my part, with about 4 laps to go the bunch swung up the banking behind me, leaving me in no man’s land I went for it, with 3 laps to go and the 5 points up for grabs on the final lap, I got caught on the final bend, officially placed 8^th would have been 4^th if I'd have hung on for those 5 points, let’s hope I make the TV. (Thursday ITV4 at 8pm)

Now my personal favourite; the elimination race although better known as the Devil. Another crash ruined my chances, I was just above the pile up when another ride took me up the track, I sat up thinking the race would be neutralised , but it wasn't and my decision cost me! Lesson learnt for next time.

Last race of the night and by far the hardest. It started of pretty tame but gaps soon opened up and a group of 6 broke clear, I was on the wrong side of the split, I did a big turn on the front to close most of the gap down knowing a certain Mr Clancy was on my wheel, I finished my turn for him to engage after burners and close down to the leaders, but that wasn’t enough and Burkie came through to take the win from Andy Tennant, I rolled in for 14^th.

Click here for the race report and results.

A great night in front of my first ever sell-out 4,000 strong crowd, definitely hungry for more! Thank you to my team and the opportunity of a ride, quite a long day but well worth it, finally got to bed at 2:30am!

The highlights will be on ITV4 at 8pm on Thursday 7th February. Repeated 11.50am Thursday 8th February and available for 30-day catch-up in ITV Player.

More photos and video interviews coming soon.

Thanks for reading
Sam

Back on the road.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my very first ever blog, 300 + page views so far from America, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Singapore and Bulgaria! I'll do my very best to keep you informed and entertained as often as possible, so please share this with everyone you know and help get the ball rolling.

Had a great week with the blog launch and a photo shoot with my new wheel sponsor, very professional, more news later! Not such a great week for training, I managed to get out on the road twice this week, but with the snow and ice now gone I’ll be out every day now instead of turbo sessions in the cellar, not the nicest location.

Here I am near Gisburn on today’s ride, sun, rain, wind and hailstones like golf balls! but at least I'm out again. Late night last night at the BBM cycling/Sportscover club dinner meant I missed my group ride. It was nice to meet some of the team’s sponsors and take home some goodies from C.N.P so thank you to everyone for a great night.

Despite the snow I had a good week’s indoor training with just myself for company including gym work Tuesday morning and a hard Tuesday night at the track league, didn’t quite have the legs but I'll change that for next week. Should have some company tomorrow with a hard ride lined up in the Dales with Hamish Graham.

Finally some great news for cycling in Pendle, £30,000 awarded to the 'Steven Burke sports hub' take a look at the CSP website for the story.

That’s it, back soon

Sam B.

Here we go!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. I hope you find it interesting and keep coming back.

Last season I made the transition from junior racing to under 23, at national B Level against some of the best professional riders in the country, Although quite a big step up from the junior ranks I was very pleased with how my season went, a dozen top ten results, lots of breaks, and my first win after 80 tough hilly miles away with Tom Stewart from RST Trigon.

Now onto 2013, I have joined a new team committed to developing junior and U23 riders like myself. SportsCover, has been on the rise for a few years now and I am very grateful to be a part of such a great set up with brilliant support from Mark Barry and Ashley Brown. We will be sponsored by CNP Cycling, Kask helmets, KTM Bikes, Haribo, Skoda, Oakley, Schwalbe, Bio Racer.

Ten days in Murcia Spain before Christmas was great for some warm sunny miles but a week off with a cold in the new year was not a good start! Just 5 weeks until the start of the season i`m back in full flow, getting good quality training in, helped by my coach Mark Turner and racing each Tuesday at Manchester Velodrome in the Premier Division track league for the top end speed.

With the roads a bit white at the minute its looking like ill be on the turbo and in the gym for a few days.


Until next time, Sam