Thursday 14 June 2012

Season Update


Hi everyone,

Since my last blog, my racing has been a bit up and down.

After my good form in early April, where I finished in the winning break in the Tour Doonhame and came 11th overall, it’s been a difficult couple of months.

I had a chest infection in April, followed by my annual May allergies so I have struggled to gain the results I was hoping for in the big races during this time. It was quite frustrating as this was the main part of the British season when many of the top races are on.

This had a major effect on my performance at races I wanted to do really well in like Tour of the Reservoir, Lincoln GP and the Scottish Champs. Whenever I went on the attack or made a big effort it took me too long to recover and I would either get dropped or miss the key moves, therefore I had to ride accordingly, do my best and get on with it.

I have recently undergone tests and help from the Scottish Sports Institute which should help me get through my bad patches in the long run.

Lincoln GP where I finished 30th 

On the Michaelgate cobbled climb


Tour Series

Over the last 5 weeks my team and I have been competing in the Halfords Tour Series. Its TV coverage is brilliant for the team’s sponsors. While it is not a target for me, it is great speed training if you can hang on and it’s good for the close bar to bar racing skills!

I was involved in some crashes in the first two races, but I feel I improved and got faster in my more recent ones as I was able to keep up with main group to the end.

Considering we aren’t experienced Crit riders at that level and many of the team work full time as well, the team have done well and we all learned a lot from the series.

An early round of the Tour Series Crits - with a few wounds!
June and Onwards

I am starting to feel much better now that June has arrived. I recently won the Anderside Classic which was a good boost for my morale and shows my strength and fitness are going in the right direction.

Anderside Classic break ( Pic by granitecityrt)

The finish on Eaglesham Moor (Pic by granitecityrt)

I am looking forward to the end of June, as I am gearing up for last few important races of the British season, which includes the British Championships. Last year, I kept in contention for the U23 title until the 100mile mark of the 120 where my legs blew, but this year I am a lot stronger for it.

A week after that I will be racing the Beaumont GP and then the new Premier Stockton GP on July 8th. As that marks the end of the British season, I will be heading over to compete in the Basque Country for the rest of the road season.

I was there for a couple of weeks last summer and I enjoyed the tough hilly racing in the Elite and U23 races. My best result last year was 10th in an Elite race. I am staying for longer this time and I am confident I can beat that. Teams like Caja Rural and feeder teams to Team Euskaltel race in them as well, so I am looking forward to competing against them again. Hopefully the weather there will be more Spain-like for this year!  

Thanks for reading
Robbie

Good Report on Anderside Classic here: http://www.vcastar.co.uk/?page_id=241