#junior cycling

[brainonwheels-blog]

Carrera Junior del II GP Colmenar del Arroyo. Prueba perteneciente a la Challenge FMC organizada por la Federación Madrileña de ciclismo.

#ChallengeFMC2017

[bristolcountycyclist]

[vcuk-phmas-junior-dev-team]

Spokes Cycles Kingdom Junior Classic

Long drag up the M6 for us all Saturday and a spin out round the course with the team of Ralf Hodgson, Rob Scott and Owen Line, then back to the accommodation to rest up with a tough day of racing ahead.  

Race day dawned, sunny and clear which all of us were pleased to see.

Arrived at HQ with plenty of time to spare, sign on, numbers on, chat with the boss and onto the rollers to get warmed up then ready for the off.

We rolled out onto the circuit and it was only about 3 kms before a break of 6 had a very good looking gap, with team mate Ralf in the process of bridging and soon after I was up there with him.

The 8 of us worked well and got a gap of around 40 seconds until the marshals sent us the wrong way, we didn’t lose all of our advantage but at least half of it gone, with all of us panicking and going full gas the gap grew and grew and grew. Around 20kms later had the pleasant surprise of Ralf telling me that Rob had managed to bridge the 1:40 gap by himself!

As the gap had grown we had the pleasure of being joined by a very happy looking team Boss, as 3 of our 4 riders now nearly 2 minutes up the road.

Break still working well but had been reduced down to 7 riders at this point due to the high pace that was being set to try and hold of a pursuing bunch.

The next bit of news we received from the moto coms was a bit of a shock as our gap had been cut down to 40 seconds with group of 25 coming across quickly and the bunch following not far behind. After another few kms and coming round to the final time up the climb on the full circuit I had a quick look behind and thought that is not 40 seconds, soon enough the group was on us and soon after the bunch was also.

Last time up the climb I felt something was wrong with my rear wheel, it wasn’t flat but stopped at the top of the climb to diagnose the problem, my quick release skewer had been knocked by another rider and my wheel was falling out. After sorting it out and with a swift push from Alex and wise words of don’t panic will be back in soon.

On my return to the bunch after a fast 3 km chase I notice that Ralf and Rob are nowhere to be seen, upon my next look up the road I saw a group of 3 or so with a gap of around 20/30 seconds, still coming past the bunch on my way back up to the front I decided to join them.  Bridging to the group about 2 kms later, now  in another break with my 2 team mates and Nathan Draper.  After looking up the road whilst working in the break, seeing Alex Braybrooke with 20 second gap on the 4 of us and the bunch hot on our tail.

After a couple of kms and Alex not getting any closer and the bunch still very close, deciding  to go on the attack and try and bridge across to Alex, after a hard chase of a few kms making it to the lone leader, we work well and keep going at a strong pace with a moto com telling us the good news that our 20 second gap had grown to 58 seconds, this was due to both Alex’s and my team mates blocking the bunch and slowing it right down. Thanks team.

With around 20 kms to go the moto coms are telling me and Alex that there is one rider on his way across to us with the bunch coming back to us slowly.

15kms to go: the chaser which turned out to be Reece Wood has caught me and Alex, as we rapidly approach the last climb the news was starting to get worse from the coms as we learn that a group of 4 riders is at 30 seconds.

10kms to go: the three of us are working well and holding the chase group which had been whittled down to 3 at 30 seconds.

After getting over the top of the final climb which was a lot harder in the race than on the ride the previous day (thanks to the boss for the recce) we descend down off the climb and start heading into the town. The drive from my other companions has started to ease, after realising and being told by the comms that the group of 3 is coming across and has got the gap down to 20 seconds, so saying to the others “3rd is better than 6th lets go come on!!!”

2 kms to go and starting to think that they are going to catch us , we could see them on the long flat road towards the finish, the next sign we see and to my shock was 500 metres to go with me on the front and thinking great got to lead this out.

As we come round the last corner with about 400 metres to go we can see the finish line and realising that we are going to stay away, I keep the pace at a reasonable tempo and keeping my head on a pivot seeing the line getting closer and closer, with around 200metres to go I see Reece start to get out of the saddle to start his sprint so the sprint is opened up and Reece gets round me for the win.  So close.  

Great teammates Ralf and Rob coming in 15th and 16th and Owen coming in 42nd

Massive thanks to Neil and Alex for making the whole weekend work really well.

We will win together this year.

Max.

Photos with thanks to Andy Whitehouse, British Cycling Photographers.

[vcuk-phmas-junior-dev-team]

Cadence Junior National Road Race

This race would be my first junior national and my longest race distance I have done since moving up from a youth. The team, Ralf, Max, Owen and myself traveled down to the race HQ on Saturday with Neil and Alex to have a course recce and to get our legs ready for the day ahead.

We knew the weather wasn’t going to be kind to us from weather reports that we had seen and much to our expectation as we looked out of the hotel window the rain was bouncing onto the ground. After a fantastic breakfast cooked by Alex with everything you need for a bike race we gathered all our kit and drove off to the race HQ for 9 o’clock leaving us plenty of time before the start of the race. We all set off at 10 and had around 3 miles neutralised riding behind the lead car where everyone was fighting for position for when the flag dropped. As the race got underway the pace was at a very moderate tempo. I would even compare some parts of the first 15 miles like a youth race, however the bunch started to pick up the pace as attacks started coming every 5 or so minutes but never seemed to stick. I tried an attack on the hill but it only stuck for around half a mile as the bunch wasn’t going to let a group go up the road that early.

Around the 30 mile mark the peleton was grouped together again and unfortunately the rider in front of me, Pete Kibble from Velocity Globalbike, hit a deep pothole covered with water and went over his handlebars. I had nowhere to go but into him and came down with him. Fortunately I wasn’t hurt and quickly jumped back on my bike and started chasing the group down again. I got back onto the group after the tumble and I made my way back to the front of the group. Around 5 minutes after this I put in an attack into the strong headwind section of the course and pulled out a gap of around 15 seconds. There were two riders up the road. One rider nearly a minute off the bunch and Robert Hogg from Corley Cycles RT around 20 seconds away. I bridged across to Robert Hogg and we started working together to catch the lone leader up the road. We were off the front of the bunch for around 2 laps of the 9 mile circuit before we caught the leader. We then carried on working together for another lap with the Catford cc/Banks rider who had been away for much of the race.

We worked together for the rest of the race until about half a lap to go Joe Holt of county cycles RT, Ethan Hayter of VCL and Joe fry of RST bridged the gap to us and caught us. We all worked together until the bottom of the climb and with some hesitation and looking around Ethan Hayter took his chance and accelerated away from us at the bottom of the hill. It all split up from there going up the hill and I managed to hold onto 5th place to the top. We ended up having a 2:20 minute gap on the main bunch. A big thankyou to Neil our team manager who organises all of the transport and accommodation as well as giving us this amazing support throughout the races and to Alex, our mechanic/co manager who gives up his spare time to come and help and guide the team to success.

Rob.

Photo credit to British Cycling Photographers.

[vcuk-phmas-junior-dev-team]

Saighton 2/3/4 Road Race

My 3rd road race of the season kicked off today at Saighton, and the weather was much better than the previous two races…

The course is a relatively flat course with a couple of rises around the course and a kick up to the finish, the race was 8 laps of a 7 mile course, 56 mile total.

The race kicked off and there were attacks coming from everywhere, the first couple of laps were very fast and there were breaks continuously being chased down, myself and Owen Line (one of my team mates) were trying to conserve energy, unfortunately we were both unlucky not to get in to the break, which contained 4 riders and 2 VCUK senior riders. Owen and I were sure that the break would get chased down so we sat in for a while and monitored proceedings.

As the race progressed, there was a mixture of chasing and attacking from various riders, with 3 laps to go I tested the field and put in a dig up towards the finish but was quickly closed down by the bunch.

Later on in the race with just over 1 lap to go, a split was occurring at the front of the bunch. This is when I made my move…I attacked off the front and soon I quickly realised that a break of 4 other riders were bridging across to me. I sat up and waited for the other riders as it was a big ask to bridge the gap to the front group alone.

We came around to the finish line and the bell rang for the last lap. At this point I wasn’t sure whether we would stay away or even bridge across as some other riders were not contributing to the work. We carried on riding and I was putting in some big turns to help stay away, when we were joined by two other riders, one of which was my team mate Owen. This helped us a lot as with only half a lap left we were only 15 seconds behind the front group. As there was not many people contributing to the chase I decided to make an attack to bridge the gap alone… I was followed by another rider and the gap was closed quickly, but we were joined by the rest of the riders shortly after.

With only 2 mile left I positioned myself on second wheel and prepared myself for the finish… The final sprint started with about 500m from the finish up the drag and in the end I managed to get 3rd place overall and first junior. I was happy with this result, especially considering my 5th place yesterday at the Circuit of Ingleborough 27mile time trial!

Thank you to all of the VCUK riders for their support during the race. Also, I would like to thank all of my sponsors for their continued support, particularly Wayne Greenhalgh from VCUK who acted as a great mentor throughout today’s race.

Adam.

[vcuk-phmas-junior-dev-team]

Nothing in life is FREE! Blog by Adam Hartley

I’d like to open my blogging account with a bit of a discussion about my cycling team (VCUK PH-MAS) and its sponsors.

The sponsors of our team:

VeloClub UK: Our head line sponsor which helps cyclists and triathletes develop to reach their potential.

PH plasterers: A family established company with over 38 year’s experience in plastering

MAS design: Architectural Design Company working on a range of projects covering residential, commercial, educational and community buildings both locally and nationally.

Love beets: Supplies beet root juice which helps to naturally boost stamina and endurance.

VeloChampion: VELOCHAMPION is an exciting online cycle accessories business based in the North-West of England and supplies equipment for the team.

Buy a bike: Supplies team issue bikes and wheels

Champion system: Champion System, a worldwide leader in custom technical apparel, was founded in 2005 and has quickly earned the reputation as a company offering the finest quality handmade garments for a wide range of sports and activities.

Lake shoes: supplies professional cycling shoes

Limar helmets: provides a professional bicycle helmet

Kenda tyres: provides the team with quality clincher bicycle tyres

  How does this help me?

All of the team’s sponsors and personal sponsors help me develop as a cyclist massively as it helps with trips abroad, nutrition and many more different aspects. The best part about being part of this structure is that you are able to bond well with all the teams which helps you develop as a rider on and off the bike.

What is expected in return?

In return the riders are expected to present themselves well at races and on training camps to enable the team to get a good reputation. Also, it is compulsory for all riders in the team to wear all of the team kit and be good role models to others which will help us to represent the sponsors in a positive manor.

Social media expectations

Also Social media plays a big part as all riders are supposed to use networking sites such as twitter and Facebook to promote all of the sponsors and the team. The behaviour carried out on these sites need to be conducted well as it will influence what other people think of you. Furthermore, if you use social media regularly then the sponsors will get more popular which could help the team further in the future. 

[vcuk-phmas-junior-dev-team]

Good training weekend for a few of the riders!

[vcuk-phmas-junior-dev-team]

VCUK Racing Teams Launch | VCUK Ph-MAS Junior National Team

This Saturday was an exciting day for the team, as the four racing teams of the 2015 VCUK development program came together for the official team launch.

The day was a fantastic chance for the teams - youth, junior, womens and seniors - to meet each other, along with some of the sponsors who are supporting the riders. A great opportunity for the younger riders to see the opportunities available to them as part of the development system.

Three tiers of the development program sat together - youth, junior and senior.

The presentations were kicked off with a speech from each of the team managers:

VCUK Ph-MAS junior national team/ Ph-MAS VCUK women's team manager Neil Hendry in the limelight.

Each team was then presented on stage and then put on the spot with some questions, asked by the man behind the whole program, Wayne Greenhalgh. The youth team was first up, followed by our junior team, the women and finally the senior/triathlon teams.

Each team was then asked back onto stage for some photos...

Meet the 2015 VCUK Ph-MAS Junior National Team, left to right: Ralf Hodgson, Adam Hartley, Rob Scott, Ryan Ashcroft, Owen Line and Max Spedding.

The day was rounded off with a member from each team helping to cut a cake made specially for the day:

A brilliant day and all the riders left feeling inspired and excited to start the race season in their new VCUK colours. We'd like to say a big thank you, from all of the riders, to the every sponsor who has come forward to support the team for 2015:

PH Plasterers Ltd, MAS Design Consultants Ltd, Champion System, BaseBikes.cc, Velochampion.co.uk, Club Roost, Club Energy, Ilkley Cycles, MIXD Web Design, PND Site Services Ltd, Leafield Garage, RN Wooler & Co, Bingley Physiotherapy Practice, Milner Richards Building Contractors Ltd, Love Beets, Go Coco, Cutting House and Yoursportsfuel.com.

Photos with thanks to Martin Holden Photography.