April and what is to come

   

     Not much racing has been going on in the past few weeks unfortunately but there are some exciting times ahead for both myself and Giant Halifax as we move forward in to May with some locally big races, before a block of National series racing in June and then some international racing in the months after also.

    

     Since my last blog, I have only done one race: the FTR Miltag Spring Classic. It was only a local, Regional A 2/3/4 on some rolling roads around Wakefield but was a very hard one and a good tester of the legs also just a week after my illness at the Tour of the Mendips. Me and Jenson were representing Giant Halifax with quite a few other local juniors racing also so the field was of a pretty high quality making for some tough racing. I attacked a lot on the technical section of the course and managed to get away on numerous occasions but unfortunately couldn’t make it stick so was reeled back in every time. Going in to the last lap I thought I’d try my hand in the bunch sprint but just didn’t have the legs there on that day with all the attacking taking that top speed out of me. I still really enjoyed the race which was a very hard effort and I was glad that I was able to attack and felt good in the legs, giving me a bit of confidence back after not such a good result in the racing the week before. Luckily the weathers been great this month so after this race it has been a great period to get some miles in.

Great scenery round Burnsall on a 4 hour hack

Recovery ride in the sun

   

    The next races coming up are the Isle of Man Junior Tour over May bank holiday weekend, as part of the Junior National Series. The tour is over 3 days with a very short prologue on the Friday evening and then 2 flat stages to follow on the Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, neither of the road stages this year are remotely hilly as in previous years but I’m sure the racing will still be hard and of a high quality. A couple weeks after that is another local race at the Ilkley 2-day stage race consisting of a short prologue, 2 hilly stages and a team time trial. Our Giant Halifax team for that race is me, Josh and Max with Jenson representing Yorkshire juniors. Come June there is a big block of national series racing over 3 weekends with the Spokes 2-day stage race, Monmouthshire GP and the Junior Rutland Cicle classic all in very close proximity. However, the racing I’m looking forward most to comes after this when the team first is travelling to Belgium once again to take part in the Menen Kemmel Menen UCI 1.1 single day race before we head off to Austria for what will be my first UCI 2.1 race at the end of July. Some very exciting times ahead which I am most certainly looking forward to!

   

     A big thanks once again to my coaches at Trainsharp who are providing me with such fantastic coaching that I’m finding really enjoyable and beneficial as I move through the season. Also thank you to everyone at Giant Halifax and its sponsors, as well as pedal potential for all your continued support!