I've finally got a bit of time to write a few things down about the past 7 weeks. It's been a pretty hectic time and I haven't had a lot of opportunity to fully reflect on what I've achieved, what I've learnt and how I want to move forward but hopefully this blog will be a good way to start.
So I will try not to go into to loads of detail as 7 weeks is a pretty long time to sum up completely. But basically it all started on the 13th of April with one of the biggest junior bike races in the world, Junior Paris-Roubaix. The atmosphere surrounding that race and the spectators on the road were something that I have never experienced before, you always hear about how passionate people are for cycling in that part of the world but to see the number of people there on every sector of cobbles was something else and a real privilege to be a part of. The race itself was massively frustrating for me, with a crash on the first sector and wrecked wheel a few sectors later spelled the end of any actual race for me. I think I spent about 40km on my own and rode 4 or 5 sectors completely alone, I was pretty gutted about all that really, it wasn't the way I imagined the race going although races rarely go how you imagine them to. I had to fully prepare myself for not being aloud to finish the race on the velodrome as I figured I would be so far outside the time cut, but I was able to finish what I started and that was something really special and a memory that will last forever I think. The main thing I remember about the race is probably the feeling of absolute exhaustion when I got to the velodrome and the feeling of pride to wear my national jersey and finish in such an iconic venue within cycling.
From Roubaix we headed back to our home from home, Newport. From there it was a tough week of training on the track building towards our ultimate goal as a programme this year, the European track championships. It was tough getting back to track training after such a brutal race but ultimately it kept us grounded and focussed on what we want to achieve this year.
I then had a few days at home before flying to Croatia for the second Nations cup of the season the Tour of Istria. It was a really stunning race in a lovely part of the world. This race brought a bit more success for the team, we were far more competitive in the bunch sprints and on some of the tougher days as well. However the dangers of cycling are never far away and on the last day my good friend and team mate Gabz took a pretty heavy tumble and was taken to hospital, unable to finish the race. We were all pretty concerned at the finish but happily he was fine and came away with some pretty heavy cuts and bruises as well as a few stitches!
After Croatia it was straight to the Isle of Man and my first national series win of the season! A day in the break away on Saturday and the stage win saw me take the yellow jersey and a fairly healthy advantage going into the last day. On that last day the HARIBO-Beacon boys Tom and James rode amazingly and helped me throughout the whole stage. We managed to keep hold of the jersey and I came away with the overall win, the green points jersey and we won the team prize. So that was a pretty special weekend with the lads and a great effort by the whole team. A massive thanks has to go out to our supporting staff, Mark, Carol and Tony as well as to all the sponsors as it wouldn't have been possible without them.
From there it was to the Czech Republic for the third and final nations cup that we would compete in this year, the Course de la Paix. This again was an exciting experience in a country that I had previously never been to. We had the yellow jersey for a few days due to Matt doing a brilliant ride in the TT to take the race lead, and although we couldn't keep it until the finish just having it for a few days in such a big race was something special. For me personally the legs were not great and that has somewhat soured my own view on the race, but that's just life.
Overall the past 7 weeks have been exciting, stressful and eye opening. I've enjoyed the racing, the time abroad and experiencing life on the road, although my exams may have suffered because of that but that's a story for another day. I hope this has given some insight into how it's been for me recently. For now the focus is fully on the Junior Europeans and hopefully being selected for that. I'd like to finish by mentioning my good friend Levi Moody who is recovering after a recent health scare, I miss having him with me at races and hope to see him soon, he's a top lad and I wish him the best.
Joe
From Roubaix we headed back to our home from home, Newport. From there it was a tough week of training on the track building towards our ultimate goal as a programme this year, the European track championships. It was tough getting back to track training after such a brutal race but ultimately it kept us grounded and focussed on what we want to achieve this year.
I then had a few days at home before flying to Croatia for the second Nations cup of the season the Tour of Istria. It was a really stunning race in a lovely part of the world. This race brought a bit more success for the team, we were far more competitive in the bunch sprints and on some of the tougher days as well. However the dangers of cycling are never far away and on the last day my good friend and team mate Gabz took a pretty heavy tumble and was taken to hospital, unable to finish the race. We were all pretty concerned at the finish but happily he was fine and came away with some pretty heavy cuts and bruises as well as a few stitches!
After Croatia it was straight to the Isle of Man and my first national series win of the season! A day in the break away on Saturday and the stage win saw me take the yellow jersey and a fairly healthy advantage going into the last day. On that last day the HARIBO-Beacon boys Tom and James rode amazingly and helped me throughout the whole stage. We managed to keep hold of the jersey and I came away with the overall win, the green points jersey and we won the team prize. So that was a pretty special weekend with the lads and a great effort by the whole team. A massive thanks has to go out to our supporting staff, Mark, Carol and Tony as well as to all the sponsors as it wouldn't have been possible without them.
From there it was to the Czech Republic for the third and final nations cup that we would compete in this year, the Course de la Paix. This again was an exciting experience in a country that I had previously never been to. We had the yellow jersey for a few days due to Matt doing a brilliant ride in the TT to take the race lead, and although we couldn't keep it until the finish just having it for a few days in such a big race was something special. For me personally the legs were not great and that has somewhat soured my own view on the race, but that's just life.
Overall the past 7 weeks have been exciting, stressful and eye opening. I've enjoyed the racing, the time abroad and experiencing life on the road, although my exams may have suffered because of that but that's a story for another day. I hope this has given some insight into how it's been for me recently. For now the focus is fully on the Junior Europeans and hopefully being selected for that. I'd like to finish by mentioning my good friend Levi Moody who is recovering after a recent health scare, I miss having him with me at races and hope to see him soon, he's a top lad and I wish him the best.
Joe
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