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National Youth Circuit Championships

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On Sunday 10th June it was the Youth National Championships, held at Hog Hill circuit, in Redbridge. As the name indicates, there was a hill, and every lap of the course we would go up it, for a total of 1.5 hours, around 30 ascents of the climb, which peaked at 20% in places. It would thin the starting pack of over 120 riders out for sure.

Due to Laura racing earlier in the day, I was there about 6 hours before my race was going to start, which gave me plenty of time, so I inspected the course, especially the climb, as there was no opportunity to do a recon before the race. After that all that I was able to do was stand around, chat with friends and watch the racing, whilst hiding from short rain downfalls.

The volume of riders made the eventual sign on a lengthy process, and it being close to race time it was essential to be near the front of the queue. Once changed and with numbers pinned, there was time for a decent warm up, a chat with my coach, and then it was time to go racing.

The gridding system was annoying, with a lottery style draw, with my number being drawn out right at the back, making life hard from the start, but nevertheless I got going, and moved up on the climb, as even on the first lap riders fell away.

As the race wore on, the front pack narrowed down, and whilst it wasn’t like a steady family ride on holiday, it wasn’t unmanageable. The length of the race killed off riders, and with the warm temperatures it was essential to stay hydrated.

Towards the end only the strongest riders were left, and there can’t have been more than 40 of us, a massive decrease from the 120 starters. The race was crash free until this point, so people just couldn’t handle the speed.

In the final laps I lost concentration a bit, and ended up near the back of the pack, not the place to be going into the latter phases of the race. There was a small break up the road, which were being wound in by the minute.

The final lap came, which surprised me a bit as I didn’t think we had been racing for that long, and in the run up to the final climb i knew where I wanted to be, on the outside, as the inside was even steeper, and would just sap speed like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately the was a crash on the side of the climb i chose, and ended up going into the back of it, losing all speed, having to slam the brakes on, but still going into it. It meant having to get out of the carnage, and then try and get going, eventually coming across the line in 37th. Not a bad result, but it could have been improved so much without a crash and through having more confidence.

A good day out nonetheless, and it was pleasing to see that my endurance was there, even if the confidence wasn’t totally there. I knew I stood in good state for the rest of the season, and for the following year as a Junior with the long stage races.

Icebreaker 1 track meet

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On Sunday I traveled to Newport to ride in the first of the Icebreaker series at the Velodrome.

At the start I was feeling quite nervous, I think from the fact that I hadn’t ridden an Icebreaker before, even though I knew that it would be a bit like a track league or Youth Omnium.

Laura had already raced before my event got underway and she had done well, so that made me feel better, and once I was on the bike and warming up I started to feel more at ease and ready for the racing.

First up was the scratch race. I was a strong field of 24 riders it was fast, but I settled into it and was riding well and starting to feel comfortable. Unfortunately half way through the race another rider came down on me hitting in to my bars and front wheel, almost causing a crash. I managed to keep the bike upright and keep going, but my confidence and composure had taken a bit of a knock which effected the rest of my race. By the end of the Scratch I was too far back, as I had expected it to go off earlier, so I finished just outside of the top 12. This was disappointing, but my main issue was getting my focus back for the next event.

Next up was the Points race and I knew what I needed to do to get to the final, as after missing out on the scratch final, I didn’t want to miss out again. I let the first sprint go, the idea being that the riders who scored in the first sprint would be the strong sprint riders, and then as it was only a heat they wouldn’t go for others. I then tried to put myself near the front and ride an attacking race, trying to get in the breaks to get some points. After missing out on the next two sprints in terms of points – being 6th and 5th in the sprints respectively, I tried to position myself well for the final sprint, in order to place as highly as possibly. I ended up 5th on the line, which unfortunately wasn’t quite enough to get to the final, a shame as I gave it my all, but made a few tactical mistakes that didn’t help me.

The final event of the meet was the Elimination, and this is usually a race I enjoy, but I got it badly wrong, finding myself last out of the pen and on to the boards, and so at the back at the start of the race. I had to sprint to catch on and I managed to do enough to survive the first elimination, but feeling tired my observation wasn’t good enough, and whilst I thought that I was safe I wasn’t, with another rider sprinting over the top. As a result I came out very early, and was extremely disappointed in myself. I should have made a bigger effort early on to get to the front end of the race, and then I would have been in for much longer – but it had been a big learning experience and that is as important as anything at this stage.

By the end of the racing I was feeling tired both physically and mentally, I was disappointed at how the day had gone in terms of results, but was also aware that it gave me some important lessons and how to deal with problems whilst on the track.

I am now looking forward to my next Icebreaker, when I will have the chance to put the lessons that I learnt today into practice and that should improve the results and give me a more positive outcome.

Big thanks to my coach, Peter Georgi of Epic Coaching, for his support on the day, especially given I was feeling a bit out of sorts.

First Circuit Race of 2016 – Sulis Scorpions round 1

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A first circuit race for 2016, and my first riding for the BCDS Academy.

The days riding started with an early breakfast, and then a steady ride into Bath to the race circuit at Odd Down.

I arrived with plenty of time to spare so it was good to see lots of familiar faces and say hello to friends.

Sign on was very busy so it’s lucky I got there early as it gave me plenty of time to get ready to race. However there were a few delays, so by the time we got on to the circuit to start the race I was a bit cold.

morgan sat inAt the start of the race I got away well, and embedded myself in the front. At the end of the first lap another rider made an attack, and I decided to bridge across to it, as I knew he was a strong rider, and that the break could last. Another rider joined us but then subsequently sat up, and we were back in the pack, frustrating as I believe that if we worked together we could have stayed away.
Our attack had thinned out the lead bunch to about 11 riders though, so I just sat in conserving energy and observing moves, allowing me to be aware if the pace was going to pick up or lower.
This worked well, and at the start of the sprint lap I decided (as no BC points were on offer for it) not to properly go for it and conserve as much as possible. I still made sure I was near the front end though, so if it split I wasn’t caught out in the pack. Looking back on it I think I could have attacked after the sprint and potentially split it up further.

For the latter half of the race I stayed in the wheels, sheltering from the wind and observing what was happening, but trying to stay near the riders who I thought would be up there in the finish.

morgan crosses the lineWith two laps to go I started to position myself, moving through the pack and on to a wheel near the front, but not too far forward so that I would have to take the sprint lead out duty. In the final lap  I was able to hold the wheel, but didn’t have much room to move, so into the final corner I was about 8th-10th. I was able to get a good kick and sling shot out of the corner, and opened my sprint, quickly catching and overtaking riders ahead of me. I moved through and just missed out on 3rd place by a couple of wheel lengths.
I was happy with the result, especially with my sprint that I was able to finish the race off with.

All that was left was a gentle ride home for a good feed 🙂

BCDS SQT and New Kit

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morgan-sqtA very early morning today, up at 5 and off to the Velodrome for an SQT session with BCDS.

It was good to meet up with Dan and the other riders, and get in some good track time.

During the track session we did a warm up with ‘taking lap efforts’, Russian steps, a points race exercise, and finally an elimination practice and race.

Following on from the track session we had some time with WattBikes, before getting together to pick up some new kit and talk about the year to come.

A good day, if a long one, and after a nice roast chicken dinner I am looking forward to bed

2016 Season – BCDS Academy

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I am going to be racing as part of the Bristol Cycling Development Squad Academy in the 2016 season.

I attended a track SQT session with Dan, the BCDS coach, and was pleased to have made the squad. This will mean team mates at the races next year, both local crits, National series and the Youth Omniums. My friend and fellow Epic coached rider Charlie is already a BCDS rider, so it’ll be great to ride with him.

I’ll still be a member of Velo Club Walcot, my home club, and look forward to the Hill climb and club rides in 2016.