Back in about 1992, during the long hot summer holidays, a friend and I used to spend all day just riding around on our mountain bikes, razzing down the footpaths, just generally enjoying ourselves.
One day we popped into town, stopped at the newsagents and I discovered MBUK. Upon reading said bible, in the race listings section there was an event just down the road from us. So, I entered, got my arse kicked, but got filthy and loved it.
I was bitten by the world of mountain biking.
I then enter my first race at Theford Forest, orgainised by my old MTB team Pro Circuit. Ok, I got thrashed, but made an effort to seek out the organiser once I had finished and ask him 'how do I get quicker'. He advises me to 'train' and gave me the details of a local club to me CC Brackland.
So next week I call CCB and join up. They are a roadie orientated club, but gave a good grounding in the art of road riding, criterium racing and time trails. I subsequently started to train and do a few TT's. With a bit of effort my times start to come down. I actually enjoyed road riding and begin to enter more and more TT's and criteriums, whilst still MTBing.
Within a couple of years of joining CCB I begin to get top 3 placings at both road and MTB events, but my heart is really into the road riding.
I also started track riding, and had quite good results, winning a number of youth and junior events, so began to race with Cat 2 riders when I was still a junior.
With the help of my parents, I was now racing all over the country.
During the closed season I found my favourite event, the hill climb. I remained undefeated during my racing career, and even set a course record as a junior in Suffolk.
I entered an event called 'National Youth Week', a week long event in Norwich. I won this, and got noticed by the National Junior Development squad. I was invited onto the squad and started weekly training sessions at their HQ at the Manchester Velodrome, training with the likes of Bradley Wiggins.
I was now racing every weekend and training every day Mon - Fri. I was getting the results, the wins were coming and the TT times were good. This was ok for a few years, but when I reached my late teens I decided I had had enough. The fun wasn't there anymore. With my training regime I didnt have a life.
So, I hung up my lycra, sold a lot of my bikes and had a few years off.
I now ride for pleasure, and I love it. I'll do a few RB races throughout the year I think, but I wont go back to how it was. Been there, done that.....but I dont regret it
One day we popped into town, stopped at the newsagents and I discovered MBUK. Upon reading said bible, in the race listings section there was an event just down the road from us. So, I entered, got my arse kicked, but got filthy and loved it.
I was bitten by the world of mountain biking.
I then enter my first race at Theford Forest, orgainised by my old MTB team Pro Circuit. Ok, I got thrashed, but made an effort to seek out the organiser once I had finished and ask him 'how do I get quicker'. He advises me to 'train' and gave me the details of a local club to me CC Brackland.
So next week I call CCB and join up. They are a roadie orientated club, but gave a good grounding in the art of road riding, criterium racing and time trails. I subsequently started to train and do a few TT's. With a bit of effort my times start to come down. I actually enjoyed road riding and begin to enter more and more TT's and criteriums, whilst still MTBing.
Within a couple of years of joining CCB I begin to get top 3 placings at both road and MTB events, but my heart is really into the road riding.
I also started track riding, and had quite good results, winning a number of youth and junior events, so began to race with Cat 2 riders when I was still a junior.
With the help of my parents, I was now racing all over the country.
During the closed season I found my favourite event, the hill climb. I remained undefeated during my racing career, and even set a course record as a junior in Suffolk.
I entered an event called 'National Youth Week', a week long event in Norwich. I won this, and got noticed by the National Junior Development squad. I was invited onto the squad and started weekly training sessions at their HQ at the Manchester Velodrome, training with the likes of Bradley Wiggins.
I was now racing every weekend and training every day Mon - Fri. I was getting the results, the wins were coming and the TT times were good. This was ok for a few years, but when I reached my late teens I decided I had had enough. The fun wasn't there anymore. With my training regime I didnt have a life.
So, I hung up my lycra, sold a lot of my bikes and had a few years off.
I now ride for pleasure, and I love it. I'll do a few RB races throughout the year I think, but I wont go back to how it was. Been there, done that.....but I dont regret it
