Update on Races

So an update on races is now well over due.

Elveden series 1 9th March
So after the Crest the next race was an E12 at a new Venue, Elveden Estate, bit of a mission but the course is closed roads and a decent track. Weather depending. It was shit. Rain and snow fell the week before leading up to this race so was very damp and soggy.

The Estate has a lot of farm vehicle that drive around and use the road that we are using to race on. So you can imagine the grit, mud, sand, silt and other mank minerals all over the road.

The race was alright, a break got away and I couldn't get warm enough to get across to the break and yet again my positioning skills were at fault. I will learn one day. I came 9th which gave me 7 points and being a National B race they went to the team standings too.

At the start before the mess began. nice clean kit :D, wont last, rain fell throughout the race. In the final sprint for the remaining places I think 6th and so on, I cramped in both calf muscles which was horrific and managed to carry on but unable to hold off three coming round me after leading out and got 9th. pleased with result as it was an E12 race.

The mess after the race. Freezing, and very dirty. I was 'snot-rocketing' pebbles out my schnoz and digging sand out me wotsits for days afterwards.

The Jock Wadley Memorial Race 10th March.
Now this was my first taster at Elite racing, and shit the bed it hurt. I was quite sore from the race the day before but still decided to go because I made the reserves list. Big Teams were here,  IG Sigma, Team Rayliegh, Twenty3C and Rapha-Condor Sharp and a handful of ex Pro's.

Getting the go ahead to race ten minutes before was hardly the best prep but I got ready and left. Snowing, Raining and very windy, this was not going to be pretty. 75 Miles of hell.

Well they smashed it for the first 35 miles and averaged about 26mph, I was buggered, I hung on as long as I could but the prevailing weather conditions didn't help at all, my right leg was slightly strained after the cramp from the race the day before so I retired after 35miles.

My legs literally got ripped off and I was then beaten with them. A day of full rest was needed after this. Thank F***

Training
The next race is the Ipswich Scramble. I want to win this as this is where I was born and would mean a lot to me to win. I had planned my training schedule to get a decent 14 day block in, including taper phases so that I was at my strongest for this race.

The race HQ and race course was only a few miles from where my gran lives so I stayed at hers so I didn't have to get up at Stupid o'clock to travel to the race. The day before We drove up, mum, dad, and dog and we went out to recce the route, I like to know as much as I can about the course.

I have trained up here in Suffolk a few times now and i'm quite familiar with some of the roads but not all of them. Well it didn't matter anyway because it Snowed, And Snowed, And Snowed, and F****** Snowed all after noon and night which ended up in the race being cancelled! Quality :/.

So now the two week block turns into four, so Ill be super fit for the next race which was going to be on the 6th April. I had booked a weekend away with the good lady for a rest and recovery. Unfortunately she came down with a bug which eventually turned into flu so that put an end to those plans. Instead I raced at Hogg Hill on Good Friday E12, and did pretty well. Got into the break and then in the sprint I came around and 'through' riders and lunged for the line and got second place. Happy Days! Position was not the best at the start of the sprint 6th wheel back, may have won if it was better, who knows, all I know is I got a shite load of points, bit of wonger and quality workout.
Dan, Me and Josh at the beginning.

Final Group including the young star Tao and Simon Alexander and a couple of Corley chaps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vOz6EvqnIg

Sprint Final, Background noise comes from the usual support, mum and sister screaming away.

The Inspiration and Motivation

I think its fair to say that the recent bashing the rest of the world got from us GBR's at the Olympics this year has got a fair amount to do with my sudden change and full whole hearted effort into becoming and professional cyclist, however there is a lot more than just a few blinging medals that have spurred me on.

Its quite difficult to start because there are few moments, parts and people in my life that all have a very important part to my motivation.

School
The backing I got from the school I used to work at when I handed in my resignation stating that I wished to become a professional cyclists was outstanding!!
I was only at the school for a very short while but the bond that I had created with the teachers and students was unreal. I was only there for around six months and not actually realising the impact I had made on the school was to such a great effect. I have made many friends whilst working there, some I shall never forget. My last day there I found ridiculously and pretty much embarrassingly emotional. It was truly overwhelming the support those guys gave me. I left with lots on sentimental gifts, t-shirts, helmets, lube :P, cards and also a whole topic book signed by pretty much the entire school wishing me luck on success and journey into becoming a professional. A DVD was also made and it still fills me with emotion to this day if I watch it.

With the recent crappy weather we have had, whilst out training and suffering from seriously numb extremities and really tired legs I remember the smiles, warm hugs and laughter from my last day and it fills me with a warm feeling and gets me through to low times.

Name and Shame.
Obviously my Mum and Dad are very proud of what I have achieved so far, they have to be, I am an offspring of there's after all.
When I told them I am going to become a professional cyclists they could see the passion and commitment in my eyes that I wanted this to happen. There was no argument about it. Which I funny because in our family we argue about pretty much everything. This was very re-assuring as I felt they had the same passion for wanting me to become professional.

My Current employer at Fungi Fitness, Chris is also a key figure in my inspiration. He took me on  as a work experience student when I was 14, nearly 10 years ago. I trained at the gym ever since to help me with my ice and inline hockey which I was playing at the time. He helped me with my training which I am very grateful for. Probably my first role model I looked upon. I have great respect for the man. The following years passed and just as I was about to start university he gave me a job at the gym which was fantastic. Earning whilst I studied, trained hard and succeeded in my sporting endevours. There was a great group of us down there and still is, We did events such as the Tough Guy which was a brutal race and I actually ended up doing alright in it. I never looked at running and strong point.
After this he got me to enter a few triathlons with his son Matt who is a couple of years younger and at this present moment in time training at Loughborough uni with the GB elite Tri squad. (his commitment to triathlon was ever so slightly stronger than mine :/). So for the next couple of years whilst studying I trained for triathlons. This was where I found my strength in cycling.

I wont bore you with triathlon stories, because somewhere out there is always another triathlete that has a better one. But I was always told I should take my cycling into the unknown and start racing. Bike racing. No swimming. and definitely none of that running bollocks.

The Famous Names
There are of course the famous name in sport that I look upon as role models. There are loads so just going to reel off the household name now;

Wiggo- of course, fellow mod and the best rider cycling has had in a long while,
Cavendish- like Wiggo great british rider and known for his open mindedness and freedom of speech.
Alex Dowsett- not many will know him but he used to ride for the club I am at now and is a top guy.
That's enough of that back to me.

I want to be able to create a life for myself and girlfriend Paula. It is hard for us at the moment with me living in Essex and herself in Suffolk. Before I started my journey into becoming a pro we saw each other every weekend and it was great. Now the journey has begun we are not able to see each other as often as we both would like, its difficult, really difficult. I am racing pretty much every weekend which means seeing her now is a heck of a lot shorter. Paula owns a horse too which also takes a great deal of effort to look after too. She is fully supportive of what I am doing and only wishes me to become professional even quicker so that we can buy a home and create a family. We both know that this will take time and we also know that we are perfectly right for each other. We miss each other dearly when we are apart and I change this pain into energy whilst I train and compete to succeed into becoming the professional I aspire to be.

First Proper Road Race, THE CREST

Right then after the success of all races previously my club sorted me out with some more kit which is a huge help as I train full time and one pair of team shorts can only last so long before honking.

So new shorts, jerseys, tights and skin suit am I all sorted out in full Glendene Regalia! whoop!
A feeling of acceptance and assurance from the team is exactly what I needed, and in return I was going to explore new boundaries and limits in this race to say thanks.

Training
So my training leading up to this race was consistent as always even with the shite weather we have been having. Doing speed work in 30mph headwinds was not exactly easy but it did mean my strength was forever increasing. Adding the resistance training I had prescribed my self since October my legs in February became increasing ripped and a lot larger, thus leading to hypertrophy which was the desired effect however knowing that would effect my frontal surface area I eased off the headwind 'eff my self up' efforts that I begun to call them and decided to mount to turbo to get my legs spinning fast and powerful with a gentle breeze coming through the veranda.

The Crest!
Cold start to the day, no change there for this year. so the choice of clothing was always going to be tricky. I was willing to work hard so staying warm was never going to be a problem, keeping cool would be. Changing my mind at the last moment worked out to be a great move.

Rolling out thru the neutralised zone was a new experience, as you read that will be the first of many new experiences in this race :/

Fat blokes on expensive carbon bikes pushing there way to the front and the race hasn't even started yet. One guy particularly in mind (wont name and shame the team to save embarrassment) over took me crossing the white line of death and hit every single cat eye for about mile after on carbon wheels, sounded horrific that poor bike. think it was a drug dealers bike (trek) so didn't care too much but eased up because I didn't want to be any where near him if came off because it would be a complete catastrophe!

Race starts and off we go
5 or six guys go flying up the road straight away, Dan Young chases and so do I, two strong guys from Glendene in the break cant be a bad thing.

I get across to the front two and so does one other guy and we are off, Dan doesn't make it across chases but fails. A lap and half we have 2 minutes on the peloton great im doing alright here.

4 laps in lets have a gel, bollocks wrong place to have one! and I end up getting dropped, second experience to learn from. Ride for a whole lap on my own and three guys come across to me and I wanted to get back to the leaders.
Organising this lot was going to be a bloody hard task, half fit old boys that didn't want to do anymore work. FML.

Lap later two guys come across and pull us along the useless bugger an' all. so taking turns, rolling thru and on at the front we make ground quickly and start closing time on the front three. I need more food bar a gel I choose to have, see off the gel and start with the bar. Telling the stronger blokes i'm feeding they allow me to miss a turn but the useless buggers don't come thru so small gap opens, mouth half full with bar in hand I try to sprint to bridge the gap but I'm all over the place and cant get a decent mouthful of air because its full of food. The other guys do fuck all. Dropped again. doubleFML. the two guys that left us eventually get up to the front and over take to get 1st and 2nd. Sods law.


I pull us along and catch with a guy from Essex Roads that was in the original break and he catches on to us on the last 5km, No one wants to work and we cant even see the finish and the peloton start to close in.

The finish is quality, I love a up hill sprint and the Crest provides a cracking finish. nice and lumpy with about a 120m straight uphill, I pull us thru and kick and win the bunch sprint.

6th Place, ill take that.
video of the finish

Photo of Harry Paine who raced at cyclopark that day, Dan Snow and Myself

NEXT INSTALLMENT
A sentimental blog about my inspiration and motivation into becoming a professional.

First Blog, the start of my racing career.

About time I started this blog been saying I would for the last three months so here goes.

If your looking for a professional yet laid back or opinionated  approach into my journey into becoming a professional cyclist then should make entertaining reading.

Admitting that I used to be a triathlete around cyclists is always going to be a slightly sore subject, after all there is a small stigma about it, However I do owe it to my employer who is a World Ironman competitor and my first Tri coach for telling me to stop pissing about and start putting in the effort because they can see I have what it takes to do well.

Studying Sports Science and PE at uni has helped me devise my year training program which started mid way thru October, Some say slightly early but I know what I had to achieve and how long the time frame I had to achieve those goals meant I had to start a wee bit early. Basically getting rid of the broad shoulders and shapely back which swimming had given me and leaning right out to becoming a skinny weedy ectomorph, with exceptionally well defined legs.

So ill make the first the first 3 months short. Starting from Oct 28th 2012. First race day. Two races in one day with a 30min gap in between. Both wins, oooosh. cracking start.

November  cat three with 10 points train, train, train, train. According to my Garmin November and Dec I tallied up nearly 1300 miles. :O.

January, cat three race=win, 20 point. race=win 30 points. race=win er....'no sir apparently a guy got away so your second'.
'you what? I sat on the front and pulled the whole race along because no one wanted to put any fecking effort and you tell me someone got away, bollocks'. I worked it out he fell off the back and cheated, bastard.

So February last race as a cat 3 all I need is to place to move up. Cue Mannakee 'you gotta win this one Lloyd to secure you place in the Crest RR in March'.

So plan was to take it easy, tempo at the front drop all the choppers and triathletes (sorry) then last 4 laps fly off and arrive in style on me todd, Cancellara style. No.

Puncture with on the last lap before count down. Bollocks. (6 laps to go) make it all the way round, just with some scary moments. peloton just ahead of me at the pits with 3-4 secs up. Change wheel with the help of the misses who turns out to be a mechanic in disguise. She sees I got a front puncture and stands there ready with wheel ready, I undo the skewer she removes and puts in the front wheel, the right way round too lever to the left I wind It up and she pushes me off. it took me around 15 seconds. and I didn't take a lap out so I started to chase, challenge accepted.

I lost about a kilometre in total and took me  almost three laps to get back on, rolled for about 30 seconds and made my way to the front and put the hammer down much to all the disappointment of the other riders because immediately it was strung out and I was pulling of the front with a lap and half remaining.

Finishing sprint required and slight effort to get away from the remaining strong ones that hung on for dear life :P and there it is... arms open to grab my CAT2.....finally.

Stay tuned for the crest RR and my other recent race and training progress