Majorca, Clayton and Soens

I haven’t done a blog about the last couple of weeks yet so I suppose because they have been hectic, now’s the time!

Well on the 9^th of February I travelled out to Majorca with the Irish National Junior Squad for a week long track and road camp to prepare us for the season ahead. It was a superb week, getting in some great training sessions, including a 2-3 hour road ride in the mornings and a 2-3 hour track session in the afternoons/evenings. 

Irish National Junior Squad for Majorca

The camp was a skills week as far as the track sessions went, it was great to get back on the boards and get on my new 7VRN track bike! Huge thanks to Tony Brooks for getting the bike to me! 

My track bike at the Velodrome in Palma.

Most of the week on the track we were focusing on the team pursuit and getting up to scratch with all the skills involved. By the end of the week all the guys were confident and we were doing team pursuit efforts at high speed.

With this in mind, I have many goals for this season but my main goal is to make selection for the Junior Worlds in Glasgow for the team pursuit squad. I would love to represent my country on the track and follow in the footsteps of new world scratch race champion Martyn Irvine. After spending some time in Majorca watching Martyn train and getting to ride with him one of the days, I really look up to him and would love to follow his success.

Irvine just after winning World Scratch Race Championships

I’d like to say a huge thank you to Cycling Ireland for giving me the fantastic opportunity to go to the camp in Majorca, it was a great week and its set me in good stead for the rest of the season. Also a massive thanks goes out to Brian Nugent for organising the camp for us just a week before the Senior Worlds! And also to Frank O’Leary and Martin O’Loughlin for all the help and support during the week out there.

Just a week later, it was the first race of the season for me at the Clayton Spring Classic Handicap in Clithereo (Lancashire). The day before I spent the day with my team sponsor Kevin Hodgson sorting my new Dedaccia race machine. We went out for a nice spin round Coniston Water and had a nice cuppa in the café. Kevin kept telling me to go on and leave him, but never! All for one, one for all right Kev! A huge thanks to Kev and Tracey at www.vanillabikes.com for sorting everything out for me and getting me on the road to race!

The day after, I woke up on the morning of my first race of the season. I was a bit nervous going into the race because I’d had all week off the bike suffering from a head cold, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to going.

A nice early start, up at 6 to get a shower, breakfast and head off to the race! Once at the race HQ, I built my bike up and straight away Larry Hickmot from http://www.velouk.net/ was over taking snaps of it! It’s a work of art! You can check Larry’s review of my bike here http://www.velouk.net/2013/02/25/bikep0rn-dedacciai-scuro-rs/. Once signed on and ready to rock, I headed off for a quick blast to warm myself for the start. On the start line I lined up next to all of the other juniors, as we were setting off first because the race is a handicap.

Me at the Clayton Spring Classic

Once we had started, we whizzed through the lanes of Clithereo with our 7 and a half minute lead on the Elite group.  Before we knew it we were at the first prime lap where £20 was on line to be won. With a about a Kilometre to go, Will Thomas broke away and with his team mates controlling it, he gained a big gap! A few other riders tried chasing and coming into the last corner I knew I had to go early if I was to catch Will, so I kicked with about 500 metres to go. I didn’t catch him before the line but I was only a bike length or so behind him at line.

2nd in 1st prime

Once settled into another lap, it was time for another prime lap to win some money again. During this lap Will Thomas again went on the attack but this time half way round the 4 mile long circuit. Once we received news that a group of 3 elites were on the chase and were closing down the gap, I knew that if I wanted a chance of joining a group I had be out front to avoid missing it. So I used the prime sprint to launch myself up the road after Will, sprinting but carrying on through line. 

Bridging the gap to Will Thomas

After I was about half way across the gap to Will I was joined by his team mate Andy Leigh. We then joined Will out front and started working well. I knew because there were two of them, they had to do more turns. I gave them the odd turn to make sure we stayed away.

With about 3 laps to go we were caught by the chase group containing Richard Handley of Rapha Condor, Ryan Mullen of Sigma Sport and James Gullen. 

In the break once we were caught

All 3 of us joined the group and started working well, after a long race in my legs and making the rooky mistake of not eating enough, I lost contact with the group and shortly was joined by a chase group containing two Academy riders and two Sigma riders. Once again I was dropped from this group due to attacks from the Sigma and Academy boys. Within two laps I had gone from the first group on the road to off the back of the bunch! I won’t be making the mistake of eating to less again!

I can take a positive from the race though, after not touching the bike all week and not having great legs on the start line, I was going pretty well!

Today (2^nd March) I rode my second race of the season, the Eddie Soens Memorial Handicap Race. As I was side-lined with a cold this time last year, I didn’t get the chance to ride so I was really happy to ride it this year! My Dad, Gary, won this event in 1982 and held the fastest last lap for over 17 years. I don’t think 31 years ago when he won,  he thought he would have a son who’d be riding it 31 years later !!

Anyway after having a week’s training in my legs and learning from my mistakes from last weekend, I felt a lot better and was up for a great race. I set off in the second group with all the other juniors and 3^rd cats as it was another handicap and the Elites had to catch us. About 5 or 6 laps in we were joined by the Elites, and straight away a group of about 50 riders was joined by another 60-70 riders. It was now a huge bunch and we were cruising after the 4^th cat riders who were still out front. I was positioning myself well at the front of the race in the first 20 riders constantly. I was feeling comfortable and preparing myself for the big action to kick in. A couple of laps later we caught the 4^th cats and mayhem struck, it was carnage weaving through all the 4^th cat riders to get back into place at the front of the race. Once there, I looked around and the field had split a little. The group had now been cut down to about 40 riders, however, this didn’t last long and we were soon all back together.

I was now still feeling comfortable and preparing myself for the carnage at the end for the bunch sprint. However, A few laps later, disaster struck. Coming down the back straight, the bunch was pretty packed together and there were riders whizzing down the outside trying to move up. A rider quickly cut across to try and get in that line of riders going down the outside and in doing so, cut Ed Laverick of Rapha Condor up. I was right on Ed’s wheel sat about 19^th back in the bunch. I hit Ed and went straight over him. Before I knew it I had 20 plus riders all piled on top of me.

The carnage after the crash. I'm underneath the pile on the left hand side.

Another shot of the carnage, whilst I'm still lying under bikes and bodies.

I just had to lie there and wait for the carnage of bikes and people to get off me. Once they were all up, I sat up and saw bottles, garmins, glasses and bits of carbon surrounding me. I looked across at my bike and it was smashed to pieces! My front tub had come off my wheel, both my brake levers we bent in, my back wheel was buckled and my frame had snapped. I picked myself up and grabbed my bike and walked over to the finish line with it on my shoulder.

My frame after today's crash.

.As soon as I walked over to my sponsor, Kevin was there and straight on his phone sorting out a new bike for me!!! What a top guy, I am so happy to be supported by Kev and Tracey at www.vanillabikes.com, and I am sorry for causing you more hassle haha!

It was another bad day on the bike for me but in 2012 I managed not to crash all season so I hope that’s my only crash of the year out the way haha! I would like to say thank you to the organisers of the race, it was another super event and was brilliant to ride alongside World and Olympic Champions. The race was won by and very on form Ed Clancy of Rapha Condor, who’d just returned from Minsk from the World Track Championships.

At the moment I am studying at a Level 3 IT Course at Furness College in Barrow in Furness 3 days a week and working for Luscombe Plant Hire on Thursday and Friday afternoons. I’d like to say thank you to Simon and Bev and Luscombe plant hire for giving me the job to earn some money. I know it might not sound fun but cleaning, driving and greasing diggers is actually quite fun! I have learnt lots while working there and there are some great guys working there who I am really getting on well with!

I am currently sat writing my blog, licking my wounds from today’s crash. Tomorrow morning I will be heading out for a steady ride on the winter bike to loosen up the big bad swelling on my thigh. And then it’s back to it, training and working during the week before heading out to Ireland to stop with my good mate Paddy Fitzsimons, to ride two races over there. I will be riding the New Bridge Grand Prix and the Ras Naomh Finian. I will be looking to get my first win of the season.

Last but not least, a huge thank you to my Dad, step mum Amanda and my Mum for all their help and support over the years and for getting me to where I am. Not just with my cycling! Without them nothing I do would be possible and I will do everything I can to make them proud this season and into the future.

Thank you for reading my blog, I hope it’s been relatively interesting as I am a bit down from today’s race at the Soens but hey, theres always another race!

Thanks again,

Jack