2014 - New Team, same motivation, different preparation.

Well October/September was a stressful few months. I've learnt a lot; the harshest lesson of all being "we'll be in touch" really means "lol, we're far too important to get back to you". Luckily however I'm finally all sorted for 2014 (as you can probably tell by the re-design of the blog). This Monday (4/11/13) I went up to Southport to see Jon Taylor of Bike and Body in the morning, my coach and masseur from 2013 who I'll be working with again in 2014, to discuss a rough calender for next season and also finalise my winter training plan. Following that I went to speak to Milan Sihelsky, who has helped me out immensely with wheels among many other things this season, and Dave Williams, head of Kuota UK and DHW agencies. I'm very excited to say be a part of Kuota-Spinergy-GSG in 2014 and am really positive about next season. I've raced a lot against a number of their riders this season, none more so that Mike Rawson who has given myself (and everyone else) a good kicking at almost every race I've done with him. He's been a huge help in putting me in touch with Dave and sorting me out with a place on the team, he's a proper mate and the type who does something for nothing.

Rawdog and myself full on gurning in the sprint at Brenig. Beautiful.

In my head I felt I had a pretty good winter last year, looking back however I've realised there were a number of mistakes I made, not through choice but simply inexperience. I definitely didn't alter my training enough as the season approached, I trained hard but just not in the right way. In 2014 however I'm confident with Jon's help and having learnt from my mistakes I'll be in the best possible shape come February/March. I'm looking forward to racing on Tuesday nights at the velodrome after winning enough races on Friday nights to be moved up to the Premier Division and will be with the likes of the GB academy lads which should hopefully help massively. The prospect of working with a power meter is also a little daunting, all this talk of watts bores me somewhat being a bit of a traditionalist but it's certainly the tool to use to really analyse how training is going. A sexy new Italian team bike will balance things out! I'm also looking at adding a much more structured weights program to the second half of winter and also going out motor-pacing after the new year to up my speed. I'm also planning on getting in a pre-season camp again abroad but haven't decided where or when yet. For the next few months however its just a case of getting the miles in when I can before and after work with the mates and building a good base.

Kuota-Spinergy-GSG Team Van

As one of my big heroes of the modern era (Taylor Phinney) told me "Put in a big Winter and make sure you're in the best possible shape for next season". The opportunity I have is certainly not one I'll be taking for granted; my parents have always let me pursue my dreams and my bosses at work have always been very understanding of my awkwardness (slipping into lycra in the office, stretching in front of confused looking customers and sticking my feet up on the desk ect) but it's time to up my game and step everything up a notch. That means evaluating what I do off the bike too, my stretching and core has improved, as has my diet thanks to a very knowledgeable friend of mine; Fred Hoek, at Norfresh over in Holland.

I've realised I never did take the time to publicly thank Nicolas Bertrand (Biketreks team manager) and Simon Deeley (DS), so I'll do it now, thank you. Nic gave me a spot on the team when I really didn't think I deserved it and Simon gave me the confidence to truly believe that I did. Si also taught me a lot off the bike; how a bar should be run, why airports are such a mind-numbingly painful experience, why you shouldn't share a room with himself and Chris Sherriffs, why I shouldn't be allowed to share a room with anyone. I've a great year in 2013 but can't wait for 2014 at Kuota racing for Dave and with Mike and the rest of the team. I'm in particular super excited to be going to the Tour ta' Malta and also heading back over to Belgium again for a month towards the end of the season.

Thanks as ever for reading and sticking with me, I ended up waffling a bit more than intended as per,
TB

Kuota Base - Southport

Nic Bertrand

Si Deeley

I just like this photo of Merckx via Belgian Boys Club

Belgium - Cobbles, Crashes and Kermesses.

Well this year definitely didn't end as intended. I caught the ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge on August 5th, just one day after picking up enough points for my 1st cat licence. I wanted to get it before going to Belgium just in-case I wrote my bike off or injured myself. As it turns out it was a damn good job I went to the Clieves Hill RR as 11th reserve and by sheer luck managed to get a ride and a handful of points. Good job I took out heath insurance too, bad job I didn't insure the bike, verdomme!!

Those three weeks living in Nokere, Oost Vlaanderen were however probably the best two weeks of my life, the third week being a little less fun and a lot more FIFA. I can't thank Chris Sherriffs enough for helping out with all the stuff most normal 19 year olds would be able to figure out on their own; accommodation, food, travel, making your bed, the local lingo, ect. I stayed just outside of Kruishoutem in what appeared to be a converted barn, it was an absolute pad. The owner, Stephan, lives downstairs with his family and runs a shop from the front. I was fortunate to be staying with a top bunch of lads, non more so than Chris Wilkinson, forever texting birds back home and tightening his saddle clamp (Oh my days Salop the Chips! and the Chicks!!). I wasn't 100% sure what to expect living in Belgium, I had a rough idea and was spot on in some aspect but couldn't be further from reality in others. The racing was, as expected, f*cking hard. That said no number quantifies how much better everything is about the racing over there than back here in the UK. The race circuits are fantastic; cobbles, pavements, farm roads, dirt roads, main roads, housing estates. The roads are always closed and the marshals appear (on the surface at least) to really enjoy what they do. The finishing straights and bars are always rammed with local supporters. The style is so aggressive and because many of the top teams drill it as a unit when they haven't got a guy in the break moves establish themselves and then get caught throughout the three hours of racing. But this means getting in a break isn't as impossible as I expected. Here in the UK in the National B and A races I've done this season a break generally goes fairly early and everyone seems to accept that that's 'the move' and the only way to get in it if you've missed it is to bridge. I may be wrong but abroad I felt you could gamble because nine times out of ten a move will be dragged back and you can follow the wheels and get in the next one. And all this for just 5 Euros!! I was able to win a bit of prize money too with a few respectable results in WBV races and a 7th in a WAOD race after nearly being killed about 15 times in the sprint after being away all race. The prospect of returning to racing in the uk never failed to sedate my 24/7 state of pure happiness.

Not longer after feeling in the best physical and mental state I've ever been in was I treated to a very real sedation; a painkiller, to be honest I wish they'de given me a dose of MTFU too. All you need to know was that there was a big fat crosswind, a narrow road and a lot of ambitious U23's all going flat out. I ended up on the deck, along with a lot of other riders, wish a nasty gash in my elbow and a bike a long way away from where I lay in the fetal position, that too also had a nasty gash in the top tube. Two extremely nice strangers; Lars and Jolien, took me to the local hospital where the doc put a handful of stitches in my elbow, a very nervous newbie put plasters anywhere and everywhere and a stunning female nurse took more x-rays than necessary. The only reasonable explanation is that she fancied me, I was wearing one of those dress things and had forgotten to tie the back together after-all. Sadly because I was enjoying living in Nokere so much, despite missing my family and friends a lot more than I let on, I moved my ferry back an extra week (huge thanks to my bosses for letting me do this and my grandad for giving me some money to help with living costs) for the extortionate price of £57 only to 'get down' the next day and I wasn't prepared to pay again to move it back. Without a bike to ride I had a faily lazy last week, we shopped at Colruyt which was a terrible experience, I went to the flanders museum with Sherriffs which was ace and later acquired (ahem) a cobblestone under the cover of night while on operation borrow a few potatoes. 

The absence of race bike, elbow and hip which are still giving me a little grief six weeks on and lack of racing in the North West upon my return did at least mean the prospect of returning to road racing in the UK would be put on hold until 2014. The next proper racing I'll be doing is on the track over the winter to prepare for the 2014 road season which I'm extremely excited and motivated for. I have no doubts I'll be returning to Belgium for at least a month next season. I've been invited to ride the Johnny Helms Memorial Grand Prix des Gentlemen 2-up TT, run by Warrington RC (my first club) as a pace rider for Jocky Johnstone. I was honoured when Trevor Horton (legend) rang and invited me, and am really looking forward to it (tomorrow afternoon). I intended to write a little bit about my off-season and plans for next season in this post but got carried away typing about the land of frites and mayo so I'll do another blog shortly. As ever thanks for reading, I've put a selection of my favourite photos from the trip below, cheers Sherriffs, Wilko, Rob, Sam, Luke, Patten and Stephan for everything,

Tomas jongen Braceshmurdle.

typical training ride; sun, quiet roads, monster cows

frites and mayo with Salop.

the kitchen, rarely this tidy

eating/relaxing area although plaing fifa/worms/gta was anything but relaxing

Nunny to Bunny. Simple as.

Oudenaarde

Tomekke (for Ste)

Wilko taking a photo of himself winning at worms. 

Chute le velo

Gavere Kermesse

Kruishoutem U23 Kermesse

Rumbeke Kermesse

Kruishoutem U23 Kermesse

Back in the groove

Sad to say it's been a while since I did a blog on my personal page, safe to say they're just as hard to start as ever. Anyone who knows me (apologies if you do) knows I love a good ramble and a rant, once I get going you'll have trouble stopping me, it's the getting going that's hard work.

It's been a fairly trying first half of the year to say the least, as things currently stand however, things are going well. I'm happy, but then again, I'm very rarely unhappy. Beryl, Carol, Enid, Dorithy, Joe, Bill, Frank, Len, Brian and all the other old people who I chat to every day when they come into work to buy their morning paper all say the same; they don't need to ask how I am. If the answer is anything but cracking, fantastic, very well or super, they know something is seriously wrong.

Danum Trophy

My racing is going well, I know my form is coming good and I'm very happy with everything at Biketreks. I'll be doing a race report on the team website next week so keep a look out - http://biketreksracing.com/. My friends are all back from uni after exams which is great because as much as I love cycling, sometimes it can all get a bit much and you need a bit of down time with your best mates, wearing their mums cooking aprons... parading round the kitchen with a big pizza and a can of coke. My sister's back from uni (FOREVER!) tomorrow which I'm super happy about, she absolutely smashed her exams and ended up with a first in BioChem, she'll be the first (lol, first) to admit she's not naturally super intelligent like some, instead she spends hours on end studying like a trooper, working damn hard for what she wants. Some days I'd complain about a morning on the bike... she'd be not even halfway through a 13 hour day in the library.

Sis

I've been very fortunate in the past few weeks and months to meet some very funny, informative and fantastically beautiful people. One works in a bike shop in Chester, another has bossed about the best riders on the UK scene, and another lives just down the road. These are just a few among many others. I've learnt this year that if you stand still for just a second, you're not necessarily moving backwards, but everyone is soaring forward around you. Quickly before I forget, shout out to Mike Cuming who recently won overall in the Tour of Korea, officially the most humble guy I've ever met, always talkative and hella strong too. Also if you haven't heard of 'The Sound You Need' then check them out on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/thesoundyouneed1?feature=watch cant stop listening to them at the moment!

I'm so grateful to have met so many new and positive people this year. Friends, family, happy faces, hysterical laughter, burning lungs, pulsating hearts, screaming legs, going the park with the lads and scoring a screamer. These are the things that make life worth living. This isn't a dress rehearsal for after you die, you're nobodies cheerleader, you're your own dream-maker. 

Tom

Lets go racing

Hey all, been a few weeks since I've whacked out a blog so thought I'd put another together, hope you enjoy.

Been quite busy by my own standards since new year. Caught a plane out to Alicante, Spain on Jan 5th for a week with some of the team and a few other cyclists. Much to Simon Deeley's delight it turned out after a whole journey with me he also had to room with me for the week, but we also had Chris Sherriffs for company who I'd never spoke to before but turns out to be a top guy and a bloody handy bike rider, particularly on the downhills, oh and he's a world class farter. It turned out to be a fantastic week (as expected!), we were staying at Cycling Holidays Spain - CHS run by a guy called Nozad who's from Landan, hands down soundest guy I've ever met and cooks up some damn good grub. All in all was quality weeks training, got in 31 hours and a hella load of climbing. Met the likes of Mr Cavendish, Sylvain Chavanel and crossed paths with just about every Pro-Tour team in the peleton. However my personal highlight of the week was meeting all round tough man and general nice guy Johnny Hoogerland (infamous for being shoved into a barbed wire fence during the Tour and getting back on his bike to finish). I also made the mistake of going out one day in a some white jersey that I picked up last season, biggest mistake of my life, crucified all day and week and to this day, should have listened to Dunlop and Chris. Cheers again to Biketreks for the bikebox, will hopefully get out there again early next season.

Training with some of the lads from back home

Me and my best friend Johnny Hoogerland.

Top of Val d'Ebo

Since then I've been doing a lot of training on me billy todd, just getting the miles in. Most Wednesdays I manage to get out with one of my best mates Steve Fidler who's riding for Dave Hinde Racing in 2013 - check them out. Definitely wouldn't have survived winder without my Gore Xenon 2.0 winter jacket, best bit of kit I've ever owned. Some days it'd be -4c descending the Cat and Fiddle in just a gore base layer and the jacket and I'd be boiling, cheers again to Dunlop for recommending and Keith at Biketreks for sorting us out. The team have also signed both Michael Ashurst and Jacob Tipper at the start of the season, two quality riders who pack some serious power and will without doubt rack up a handful of wins each this year.

At the end of January I attended the M&DTTA dinner which is always enjoyable. Time trials are whereI started racing just a few years back, TTers are generally a nice bunch and although TT's are becoming less popular with young riders I still love them. It's the purest form of racing there is, no excuses, you get what you deserved. I got my hand on a few bits of silverware and hope get a few TT wins under the belt this season.

M&DTTA trophies

Since then I've been to a few bootcamps with the team accompanied by our media man and tip top photographer Ed Rollason. We had one day up in Lancaster and another where it was a day at Pimbo doing race drills; getting bottles from the team cars (which will be provided by Bowker BMW this season and look sensational), practising wheel changes and also lead-out trains. We've had a couple of track sessions and I've been back racing at the track. Coaching with Jon Taylor from Bike and Body has been going fantastic and I can honestly say I wouldn't be in anywhere near as good shape at the start of this season if it wasn't for him. Team Kit is set to be arriving over the next fortnight, bikes helmets and shoes off Specialized, carbon wheels off Remerx and tyres off Continental. I'm super excited to get the season under way and I'm certainly set to get a kicking early on in the likes of Clayton Velo Classic, Eddie Soens and then a few CDNW races. Hopefully they should put me in good stead for my main targets for the season which are Regional A races where I can pick up the majority of the points I need to obtain my 1st Cat race licence.

Bootcamp #2 turbo session - Ed Rollason Photography

Team Kit for 2013. Very Tasty

So yeah hope you've enjoyed reading about what I've been up to recently, sorry if it's a little long, the next one will be shorter I promise. Looks like winter is finally behind us, lets go racing, cheers
Tom
- Biketreks Racing Academy