What's the plan, Stan?
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I've been pondering over what to write about lately - a holiday and two fairly severe bouts of sickness have meant my base mileage this winter has been somewhat "gappy" - albeit the miles I've done have been good quality, so I'm not feeling too down about it. I'm still waiting on my hand built wheels for my MTB so that project is on hold, and I've a couple of more politically orientated posts to draft out but I'm saving them for a rainy day. Anyway, let's get on with it...
When September comes around nowadays, I always feel excited - mainly because I'm going to have a little break, some lie-ins, some evenings to myself and most importantly, some free weekends. Every single year now I think the same.. "ah great, winter will be a good rest" - and every single year, by Christmas, I'm kicking myself thinking "holy crap this is busier than summer". It's right, too. Despite the lesser intensity of training, the hours and the miles are long...very long, notoriously work always seems to be a little busier, too. Amongst all of that there's the squeezing in of team events, launches, social activities and somehow despite me thinking winter is the time to save money - it's actually the time to be buying next years kit, wheels, upgrades...the list goes on. All in all, while riding my bike in winter is wholly relaxing and enjoyable, life around it spirals about in a flurry of panic.
Despite all that, I love it. I could do with getting rid of this cold, after being off for another two weeks! No panic though, we're still well prepared and way ahead of where we were last year. On that note, I've recently been starting to think about my goals for next season and considering where I might be best applying my skillset.
Some race schedules are slowly trickling out online which has given me a good opportunity to look at where an what I need to be doing throughout the season. Goal wise, I know I want to continue to focus on my continuing growth in timetrialling. Meaning I will be targeting the CTT National 10, 25 and possibly Circuit Champs, on top of this I will be attempting to (nay, I shall not rest until I do) qualify for the British Cycling National TT Champs. Then of course there are the local TT's which I love, for some healthier qualification times I think I will be travelling to a couple of the fast courses in the North of England too....FINALLY I've been told that the UK's first qualifier TT for the UCI world amateur TT champs is being held in Cambridge - why not eh!?
Of course I won't be solely focusing on the TTs! I'm planning on targeting a more structured approach to road racing this year including the races that will be run in place of the league formally known as CDNW (the races will now be run by clubs which is great!) - these are all North West and as I've mentioned time and time again, really great experience for folks like me. On top of that there will be some similar races run in Yorkshire which I will attend, alongside our Yorkshire based team...which brings me nicely on to the fact that there is talk of a couple of 2/3/4 cat friendly stage races on the cards throughout the year which I will of course be looking at. Not least apparently there may be a North West Regional Champs to look forward to!
After reviewing my performances last year I think it's safe to say that my rides are generally better in road races and stage races. I entered last year thinking I liked crits...it turns out I'm pretty horrendous at them and feel much more comfortable in a road setting. I think this is down to the varying pace of the race and knowing that the terrain is so much more changeable. It's a beautiful platform to me, as it is so much more unpredictable. Off the back of this I will be trying to improve my skills on the hills as this is something I need to work on to improve my racing ability. Stage races, like road races, I enjoy because of the sheer amount of variables - I seem to improve with time throughout them and I like knowing that there is always a TT to use to try and beef up my GC.
So while I'm targeting these things I'm also targeting positioning. After winning some time trials this year I'd like that trend to continue, but to me the podiums will be all the more sweet on the road. In the development races I will be targeting at least top ten for all
. I'm hoping to do a couple of team series again and for those my target is only really to finish as well as possible. For the TT's, realistically I'd like to get upper half rather than lower half on the national champs, but for the British Cycling champs obviously that isn't likely to be the case.
So there's a brief overview of next years targets, obviously I'll bring my calendar out as soon as I've figured it out and made sure I'm on the same page as the team & management. I think, like last year, it's once going to be another year of learning and improving. Building on strength and also refining my weight as I go. My main aim is to remain realistic, but this time also approach the season with more confidence. I know I can podium, I know I can work well with my team mates, I know I can ride a 24 minute 10... I know this year is going to be awesome.
It's a simple, do-able plan. I started this blog with one thing in mind, and that focus hasn't changed....I'm always riding with winning in mind.
I've been pondering over what to write about lately - a holiday and two fairly severe bouts of sickness have meant my base mileage this winter has been somewhat "gappy" - albeit the miles I've done have been good quality, so I'm not feeling too down about it. I'm still waiting on my hand built wheels for my MTB so that project is on hold, and I've a couple of more politically orientated posts to draft out but I'm saving them for a rainy day. Anyway, let's get on with it...
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| (C) Bed.3 Day photographer! HILLS! GGURNNN. |
Despite all that, I love it. I could do with getting rid of this cold, after being off for another two weeks! No panic though, we're still well prepared and way ahead of where we were last year. On that note, I've recently been starting to think about my goals for next season and considering where I might be best applying my skillset.
Some race schedules are slowly trickling out online which has given me a good opportunity to look at where an what I need to be doing throughout the season. Goal wise, I know I want to continue to focus on my continuing growth in timetrialling. Meaning I will be targeting the CTT National 10, 25 and possibly Circuit Champs, on top of this I will be attempting to (nay, I shall not rest until I do) qualify for the British Cycling National TT Champs. Then of course there are the local TT's which I love, for some healthier qualification times I think I will be travelling to a couple of the fast courses in the North of England too....FINALLY I've been told that the UK's first qualifier TT for the UCI world amateur TT champs is being held in Cambridge - why not eh!?
Of course I won't be solely focusing on the TTs! I'm planning on targeting a more structured approach to road racing this year including the races that will be run in place of the league formally known as CDNW (the races will now be run by clubs which is great!) - these are all North West and as I've mentioned time and time again, really great experience for folks like me. On top of that there will be some similar races run in Yorkshire which I will attend, alongside our Yorkshire based team...which brings me nicely on to the fact that there is talk of a couple of 2/3/4 cat friendly stage races on the cards throughout the year which I will of course be looking at. Not least apparently there may be a North West Regional Champs to look forward to!After reviewing my performances last year I think it's safe to say that my rides are generally better in road races and stage races. I entered last year thinking I liked crits...it turns out I'm pretty horrendous at them and feel much more comfortable in a road setting. I think this is down to the varying pace of the race and knowing that the terrain is so much more changeable. It's a beautiful platform to me, as it is so much more unpredictable. Off the back of this I will be trying to improve my skills on the hills as this is something I need to work on to improve my racing ability. Stage races, like road races, I enjoy because of the sheer amount of variables - I seem to improve with time throughout them and I like knowing that there is always a TT to use to try and beef up my GC.
So while I'm targeting these things I'm also targeting positioning. After winning some time trials this year I'd like that trend to continue, but to me the podiums will be all the more sweet on the road. In the development races I will be targeting at least top ten for all
. I'm hoping to do a couple of team series again and for those my target is only really to finish as well as possible. For the TT's, realistically I'd like to get upper half rather than lower half on the national champs, but for the British Cycling champs obviously that isn't likely to be the case.
So there's a brief overview of next years targets, obviously I'll bring my calendar out as soon as I've figured it out and made sure I'm on the same page as the team & management. I think, like last year, it's once going to be another year of learning and improving. Building on strength and also refining my weight as I go. My main aim is to remain realistic, but this time also approach the season with more confidence. I know I can podium, I know I can work well with my team mates, I know I can ride a 24 minute 10... I know this year is going to be awesome.
It's a simple, do-able plan. I started this blog with one thing in mind, and that focus hasn't changed....I'm always riding with winning in mind.
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