Turning this year around ( finally )

So as promised I'm back , and super glad to say so is the TTE, it's pretty obvious to anyone who reads the blog I've struggled this year with not having the bike available and the effect it has had on results and my mental focus, it's hard knowing your half the rider mentally but twice the rider physically you where last year,and I struggled massively without my trusted power meter on race day .but hopefully that's all behind me and its onwards and upwards and a whole new focus and the results will show what we have worked so hard for.

So I got to try the new NoPinz super suit today, it felt on par material wise with the smart aero suit but the fit was better thanks to the silicone grippers keeping the arms and legs exactly where they started, it's a super tight fit in all the right places but still allows free movement so it was a great first ride and look forward to getting a good season out of it. This week I rocked up at the bristol South club event sporting training kit and wearing the NoPinz championship suit 

and got some funny looks when I took all the pins off my number and proceeded to slide the number into the wallet behind, a lot of confused faces and poking and prodding of the suit ensuded to see what it was all about. It was a good ride after a 20 min TT effort 20 mins before they start and still put out a good power effort for the event despite really struggling to get the power down on the 9.4 position. I was expecting a real slump after a week off,to much beer and the added 4kg I managed to put on :) .

Most have seen my monstrosity of a training bike tarring up and down the a38 looking like it was on its last legs, so it was time to pay a bit of attention to the Scott frame I had in the garage and basically raid the boxes of spares I had in the garage, I mentioned before I met Tom Blease on a ride whilst visiting home and a long chat and the obvious attention to detail made a me think he would be the perfect guy to turn a box of spares and a frame into a training bike I might actually be happy to be seen on and not have to park it around the Corner  on cafe stops out of view.

I dropped it off before I set of on my hols, a box of bits and a frame and that's it, giving Tom a free reign to do what he could with the bike. I got back to something much better than I thought and a bike that would look top notch in any club run with the newest and blingest bikes rolling around.

Can 100% recommend and just a shame he's not a bit closer to bristol but check out www.facebook.com/bleasecycletech if your anywhere near the North Devon area, the man does a mean coffee as well .

Had a nice parcel in the post when I got back from indurance, I've been very happy and lucky to get on board with them and having a chance to try the new tt specific kits that are just out to check all the main bio markers to aid tt performance, the kit is slightly more involved than the standard pico kits you can quickly do at home but still only involves a quick visit to the local nurse for a quick blood test , all the kit is supplied and I'm in next week to have the samples taken then posted off in the supplied postage kit. I think it will be really interesting to compare some of the results to the earlier test done to really get a bigger picture of how my body is adapting to the training and the changes we made from the last results as we made some big changes from the last results and the indurance products allow me to track the season and plot where my body is at different stages in the year and how changes effect my body and performance, i like to think of it as training peaks for the body and something next year I can look at and get a even bigger picture of how things have changed and anything we need to look at again to keep progressing.

So now I'm thinking is when the season starts,excuses have run out and it's time to get on it, build my strength in the position ( without changing it every 5 mins like I normally do ) , build my confidence back up ,and really start living up to the potential I know I have and others have invested their time in helping me achieve.

One of my key goals was the national 50 tt but due to Mr postman not delivering my entry and missing the Internet entry cut off date I've had to drop that one , but on the plus side it gives me a bit of time on the new bike and a extra incentive for the national 100.

I think I owe some big thanks to the people who have stuck by me and kept the faith when I doubted it myself at time , you all know who you are :) .

Finally a win !!!!

It's been a few weeks of firsts this month, first win which was desperately needed and first week off the bike mid season ( not that this year has really started mind ) ,

The first win was something that looked like it wouldn't come ,but I was feeling confident and happy it was just a case of ticking the boxes and getting the tte set up and ready to go. The bike was ready to go , we had found a strong set up and I was feeling great for the first time all year,it was time to get the racing results to match what we had worked so hard for in training.

It wasn't ment to be and a bar malfunction on the TTE ment it was back in for a replacement,this put me back on the 9.4 for the race at the end of the week, a mad rush to get it ready and try and get some club events in before the holiday. Even this didn't happen with events cancelled due to road works and another stopped due to a accident on course,I had managed to get a few race miles in and pacing and power looked to be very good even though I was in a position I really struggle to hold and get the power down in on the 9.4,but I kept telling myself I had a holiday coming up and I've decided to stop worrying about the things out of my control and focus on what I can do to improve myself and not looking at every other thing that can and seems to go wrong.

Race day was here, a very up and down course not far from home which was ideal as I still hadn't packed and had to leave very early in the morning. I had to change the cranks to my set up last min which would come back and bite me in the race.

I set off for my warm up probably feeling the most relaxed I have all year, I had nothing to lose I was riding a different set up, no power meter again and we had really hit the training hard before the break so I was riding tired but none of that mattered really, I knew what I had to do and I just wanted to get out there and do it, the usual doubts and beating myself was gone it was just me and the legs doing what we had trained to do and the other bits didn't really matter.

I set out strong and was soon into my stride, a small hold up into the first drag was a minor glitch but the chain shipping off coming over the top of the drag had the potential to be a big time looser,I think the crankset swap without adjusting the front mech forced the chain into a to tight a angle but that was my fault and lucky it didn't tangle so I managed to roll off and reach down and flick it back on ring and get going again again.normally this would of been a big mental beating for me and potentially a roll to the side of the road turning a minor problem into a major incident in my mind.

The outward leg was fast with a strong tailwind which I paced well which is another area Matt has really got me working hard at,I had made good time but saved myself for the hard return leg.

The return was going great, I had worked hard and only had 2 miles to go and with a slight down hill coming up I really wanted to hit the drag before hard and really get the speed up,the chain was back to haunt me and I stupidly went up the cassette to much thinking I still had a few gears before I would risk  the chain angle getting to tight, but the fact I was really forcing the pedals and the cadence was up deemed to be to much and it came flying off again,this time it tangled and I had to think quick, the downhill was fast approaching, did I risk trying to get it back on whilst moving and have the possibility of hitting the bottom of the hill and then having to stop at the bottom of the hill with a climb up the other side.a quick skid in the road and a dive off was the best action in my head and proved to be right as it was pretty tangled, a quick bit flapping about and I was back on and rolling down the hill, the was no way I was changing gear again so it was a case of getting the speed up and just grinding out the drags into the headwind.

I crossed the line in two minds, happy I had set out what I wanted to do and paced the race well and the other half of me frustrated as it was again a race with its problems but hey ho I was holiday in the morning. I got back to the hq wondering how I had done, expecting the worse but honestly it didn't matter as I had done all I could so I was proud of my effort. The times started rolling in as I hung around looking for cake, I knew what time I had done and as the other times trickled in I was surprised I seemed to of pulled of a better ride than I thought,all results came in and I had somehow managed a win,it was a huge relieve and a feeling I hadn't felt for a while,it was nice to get back on track and finally have something to show for all the effort I've put in and the support I've been given.

I'm hugely greatfull for. All the support I get and the desperation to pay that back with results is massively important to me and as much as sponsors have put no pressure on me for results as they know as well as I do they will come when we are all set up properly, but there  is nothing better than being able to go back and say you have got a result.

It's been a busy month with some really cool new stuff so il bang another blog in later in the week,I got a new indurance TT specific kit in the post , it will be really interesting to see how the results compare to the early season tests with the bonus of the kit looking at all the bio markers that really matter for a tt racer.

I also got the NoPinz new super suit which is a great upgrade from the standard suit and really put it up there and past suits with much heavier price tags.

After a winter on a bike that was pretty much falling apart I decided to bling up the summer bike with everything in the spares box so it was off to Tom Blease at Blease Cycle-tech in Devon a small business but after meeting Tom on a ride on a trip home on a ride with sponsor rich from Jersey pocket and seeing the attention to detail he had put into his own training bike I knew it was the place to get the bike looking awesome so I dropped off a frame and a box of bits and what came out was pretty special and its a dream to ride.

So the holidays all done I've put on 4 kg and it's time to really get back into the training and get everything ready for the up coming national 50 that seems to be creeping up fast , which means il be spending a load of time training on the TTE when it's back trying to catch up on missed time on it early season , I've sort of gone the route of saying lets write off the start of the year racing wise but we have bagged the training that was needed and will help us be strong when everything else catches up.