Well, great few weeks for me!

On the outset things didn’t look too great. As a 1st Cat roadie and someone who aspires to do well in future Elite UK road races, the total lack of any British Cycling E/1/2 events around August time means things get very frustrating. After being injured at the back end of 2015 and not beginning by training in earnest until January, I was never going to be flying in March, so had to be patient until later in the year.

Unfortunately the whole e/1/2 season seem to have shifter to February-July, which seems crazy! Anyway…… I have been getting myself into Time Trialling as a means of using the good form that I have. Oh and using the mega Shark TT bike and Pro-Lit TT wheels. A couple of weekends ago I had an Open 10 event only 6miles from my house on a good course that attracted some top testers. My TT skills have been steadily improving and I gave the event full beans – I was delighted with a top5 overall but more importantly a time of 19:48. A sub20 min 10TT- chuffed with that, and something many serious testers are proud of.

The Shark and Pro Lite TT rig

Back to the road again and to the TLI National championships. TLI is an alternate organisation to British Cycling that organise races based on age categories. I have never raced a TLI event before, but I was impressed with the quality of the event, organisation and crucially the post race cake offerings!

I knew the event was a key one for the team and it is an opportunity to call yourself a British Champion and win a stripey jersey. We as a team have a good history on the TLI events so I had a little bit of pressure to keep up the performances.

The race was based around the village of Audlem and the course was rolling, no real climbs and a fast overall course so it shouldn’t suit me on paper, but with the wind and 75mile distance I knew it would be a grinding down affair. My fitness and strength at the end would come into play. Basically my sprint/kick is not great BUT I can do it over and over and over……I also seem to tire a lot less at the end of races and can do my peak 1min power again after 3 hours.

Early doors in my race (Senior under30) I had missed the key break as I simply was too gassed to go with the move. Not to worry I just went to the back of the bunch and sat in the wheels. The riders I had identified as my key rivals were all still there so I wasn’t overly concerned. At about half distance the break had over 1m20s advantage and some riders on the front of the bunch began to work well to peg the breakaway’s advantage. I refused to work though, to the annoyance of some and sat in the wheels.

Hanging about in the bunch

I could see the front of the bunch begin to miss turns and the impetus went out of the chase on the 3rd of 5 15mile laps. At this point I attacked and dragged a group of 8 or so clear, leaving my main rivals and the guys who had been working still in the bunch – right job1 done!

I knew then I had to commit and start riding. Many of our 8man group were missing turns and not working at all, but I couldn’t worry about them and along with 3 other riders we pulled the group along and caught the break within half a lap! Job 2 done!

I caught my breath a bit when we had caught the break. I knew before the event I had to go to the line solo as I wasn’t going to in the race in a bunch or even small group. The now merged lead group was around 15 strong. Like I say my peak 1min isn’t great but I can do it over and over…….and this is what I did. With 1.5 laps to go I launched a flurry of digs and EVENTUALLY got clear. 1/3rd of a lap later I was joined by another strong rider from the Isle Of Man and we worked well together over the final 15mile lap.

We were both going really hard to hold off the chase group and our gap grew and grew….Fortunately coming to the line and I had enough to get the WIN! Weyyyyyyy I won a bike race, and was a ‘British Champ’ Job 3 done….

Gotta love a striped jersey

Well thats basically that for me for 2016 road racing. A great way to end the season. I still have some more TTs remaining to keep me focussed on something…..oh and Hill Climbs, but we will see about those closer the time, as I have been hard at it since January and the body AND head is becoming weary.

It has been a little while since I have had a good road race that I was looking forward to and felt I could get my teeth into. Lazony was a National B race over 75 miles and with a strong field. A nice rolling course with some draggy bits and some stinging ramps 🙂

Me and Lee Baldwin were there for Champion System VCUK and we also had Adam Hartley from the VCUK PH Mas team, so we certainly had a decent presence and were able to get a man in pretty much every serious move up the road. Early doors I attacked a fair bit and I thought I was away a couple of times, only to be brought back by a strong chase and ultimately, I missed the break of the day.

Ed Roberts (eventual winner) chipped off up the road and I was boxed in on the wrong side of the road at the time….. fortunately I saw a little Fluro man (Lee) scurrying up the road with another rider., so at least we were represented in the move.

The threesome must have put in a tremendous shift in to hold off what became a fairly well organised chased by the bunch. Myself and Adam did our best to cover any attacks to get across to the escapees as well as disrupt the chasing pack. Despite only looking about 10y/o and being far too young to remember Brtiney and Justin, Adam put in a great ride and was a real asset to Lee up the road.

With the final few miles remaining it became clear that Lee’s break would survive and Adam ripped himself clear of the bunch on one of the climb out the back of the circuit. Despite his best efforts he was caught just yards from the line by the front of the bunch.

The finish really suited me, a fairly long uphill drag and I managed to put in a strong performance for 9th overall on the day. It was ultimately frustrating as I felt I had the legs to have been in the break on the day, but a top10 at National B level is never anything to be too demoralised about.

Lee ultimately dipped out in the break but still claimed a great 3rd place. Good day all round for the team…..Shark Composites, Pro Lite Wheels, Champion System Clothing and Limar Helmets….

A final word to up and coming Ed Roberst (Team Elite) who put in a storming ride to win. Its no surprise to me, he only lives about 5miles away from me and is frequently giving us North Walians a hiding in the local crit series, I expect a few more people to take notice of him now!

Till the next one.

A

Capernwray is a course that I love (very hilly) and I have won there twice in my short cycling career. Once in a Cat3/4 race and once in a Cat 2/3/4. One day I want to get the set and win an E/1/2 race around there but I know this is likely to be much tougher than the first 2 victories!

Love the Capernwray course but race didn't go my way and legs weren't there today. Always the next race to make amends. #sharkcomposites #vcuk #champsys

A photo posted by Alex Jones (@alexejones22) on Apr 3, 2016 at 11:52am PDT

I had a chance to do this last week, however with the likes of Ian Bibby and James Gullen racing my goal was to race positively, aggressively and nail a top10. My team mates Lee Baldwin and Jonathan Fowles were also there and with all 3 of us at home when the road turns up, we were confident of a strong showing.

We all did our jobs really well and raced very aggressively and at one point Lee and I were away in a group of around 7 which contained all of the main hitters. I thought this was job done and we were away but in a frustrating race were people wouldn’t commit to moves, we were brought back.

Despite our best efforts it wasn’t to be on that day, I missed the ultimate break that got across to 2 early leaders and that was that. A late effort up the finishing climb saw me and Lee clip away from the remainders of the bunch and come home 15th and 16th but this was not what we wanted.

It was a tough race with fewer than half of the 70 starters finishing the race and with some very good riders finishing behind me its important not to beat myself up too much, trust the legs and move onto the next one. A little frustratingly however for a 64kg climber, the next few races all seem to be crits so it looks like a stem chewing few weeks 🙂

A.J

After a injury over the winter period and getting stuck into my training a good 2 months late, I was a little apprehensive heading into the opening races of the season, very much unsure of how I would perform.

The first few are usually a shock to the system. You have guys who have become winter world champions and come out in March flying, also others who are race fit already having bashed winter crit series or races abroad. My aim is to be consistent across this season in the prestigious National B races, so I need to keep an eye on the big picture but it can be difficult.

The first race for me was the Angela Davies Memorial in the motherland that is Wales. Although still inside Wales, being down in Aberyswyth meant it was fair from local, with a 2.5hr drive first thing in the morning.

The race was bitterly cold, hilly and windy, a good all round test. This is a race that I should revel in as it featured a good hard climb on each of the 3 laps and then a long climb on the finishing circuit.

Its fair to say the field was very strong, myself and my teammate Lee Baldwin thought the climb would see a decisive break form, however the break of the day formed virtually instantly and caught us both by surprise! The main hitters of the race were in that and it wasn’t coming back. I was feeling the pace early doors, I simply don’t have the leg speed early doors being 2 months behind most people in my training. I do however have a lot of strength and base fitness, so as the race wore on and other fatigued I didn’t! The rest of the peloton stayed together despite Lee either trying to get away numerous times or trying to get a chase formed.

Coming into the base of the climb on the finishing circuit, myself, Lee and the Team Elite boys hit it pretty hard and ripped a few groups away. The groups joined together on a 12 man run into the finish but unfortunately Lee and I couldn’t quite get up into the top positions in the group and came home 11th and 12th. Still a good way to kick the season off and some good training in the legs.

The next event for me was the Holme Valley Wheelers 2day.

This was a big 2016 target for me, however the decision to move the event to March meant I was thinking that this is probably too early for me to challenge, but I still went there hopeful for a top10 overall. However with another top quality field with a number of well represented teams and full time pros meant this would be tough.

The event had a 10m very lumpy TT to kick things off followed by a 52mile RR on the first day and a 62mile RR on the final day.

A pretty hectic winter which involved going back to basics post injury as well as a house move meant I had barely had a chance to touch my new Shark TT bike and I certainly under-estimated the commitment needed to get out a good TT time. I thought I’d be ok, few steady rides on the TT mid week prior would be enough….. it wasn’t! I learnt a lesson the hard way…… 34th place in the TT and almost 2 minutes away from a top10! Wow bit of a shock. More work needed on the TT bike and in the position.. I was pretty gutted. My team mate Michael Ashurst put in a much better showing that the awesome Shark frames deserved with a top20 placing

That afternoons RR was largely controlled by the yellow jersey’s team (Ryan Perry)- Metaltek Kuota, and despite a lot of attacks, many from Mike, the end result was a bunch gallop. Myself and Mike finished in the bunch on the same time.

The final stage was on Sunday morning and on the same course as day1 but with 1 extra 11 mile lap. The course was best described by the northern lads and Mike as (reeeeeeaaaaal grippy) with some fast descents and a really long big ring drag up through the finish.

A break went early doors without the yellow jersey in it but a couple of his team who were sitting on and letting the Achieve lads in the break to smash themselves. Again I was feeling pretty crap early on and had no gas to go with the moves. Mike was going well though and got a gap with a few others a couple of times but ultimately came back each time. I was just sitting in the bunch trying to save what legs I had. I knew I was going to have to be canny in the early season races to get a result without the top end power initially. With the break at 1m30s on lap 4 of 6 the race leader, Ryan Perry decided to SMASH it up the big ring drag. This basically split it to bits and there were only a select group that could hang on and go with the move. Thankfully I just made it onto the back over the top along with Charlie Tanfield, Hamish Graham was possibly the most unlucky person in the race who literally just missed out on making touch with the group before another clip up on the course. My team mate Mike had also missed the move, he had just been brought back after being away when Perry decided to attack.

The group of us was around 10 strong and we caught the break very quickly to make a lead group of 15ish. I had gone so deep to make the front move but I could see so had everyone else and there were some very tired legs. The final 1.5lasp were a real grind for myself and some others. Coming into the finale for the stage Adam Kenway soloed from the group to take an impressive win and the overall from his teammate! I don’t think I touched 400W in the final big ring drag to the line but it was a testament to how tough the race was that this was good enough to give me 9th on the stage! I was pretty chuffed, to have got something out of the race after a dis-heartening day1.

The result of the tough race and the final attack meant the race behind was in bits and people lost a lot of time on the GC. Finishing in the front group resulted in me taking 11th overall on GC. Wow over the moon with that after the Time Trial, and in such a quality National field. It did leave me ruing what-ifs howver and has given me food for thought moving forward.

All I am very happy to be so close to the top10 in my first 2 races of the year at National B level, given my pre season prep and the fact I haven’t really started the top-end work in my training. All bodes well for the rest of the season.

AJ

So…… the winter months are nearly done and I have just about 1 month to go until my first race of 2016. Can not wait to get going.

My preparation as not been as I would have liked though! After I started back training post the winter break I picked a pretty bad injury down my left leg. Weeks went by and it just was not clearing, and I was told by a expert that a problem with imbalances and my hip flexors could take up to 12 months of rehab to get back to a point where I can train hard again.

Thankfully however about 2hours of work EVERY day for 2 months, on stretches and various exercises, I was able to get back into training for the 2016 season. Its been pretty tough and a big ego bashing to begin with but I am starting to get back to where I was, and I am pretty confident of being in good shape towards the end of March. A good few stem chewing races early doors should see me get up to speed pretty quickly 😉

I had extra motivation to get back riding as I really wanted to be a part of the VCUK Champion System team for this season. Partly as I loved last season, partly as we have a great bunch of guys to race with but also as we have some sick new stuff to race with this season!

The new sponsors include Shark bikes, Pro-Lite wheels and Velo Champion shoes.

I picked my bikes up a couple of weeks back and have been building them up. They just look plain fast standing still and have given me A LOT of motivation to get out the door on grim January mornings.

So next up is more turbo and training bashing before some sun in Gran Canaria with some choppers (love ya really) then the season is go!!