Getting ready for next year

In this blog I plan to capture my thoughts, the ups and downs, the bumps and the triumphs in racing.

For 2008 I intend to compete in bicycle road racing; in particular Criterium racing. I'll be starting as a lowly Cat 4, so I need to pick up points to get into the high, more competitive categories. I plan take part in the Castle Combe series and the Hillingdon races.

My target for 2008 is to get myself up to Cat 2 - but given that I'll be starting at the bottom (Cat 4), and that I am pretty rusty, I'm looking forward to the journey.

I decided to do a few events this year to judge my form and formulate my ambitions. It has gone pretty well. After discovering my race bike's frame was broken the afternoon before the Woodcote Sportive event, and the past-midnight conversion of my commute bike into something resembling a race bike, I reached my goal of setting the fastest time for the event.

After that I had a good, if crazy race at Castle Combe - but I must admit to being a bit intimidated by the finishing sprint. It was a crazy rush with the E/1/2/3/4 categories all together - I must admit that I was intimidated and I bottled out. Lesson learnt. I've done it before, just need to get used to the idea again.

My second circuit racing outing was a disaster. Raced at Hillingdon and was running very well until our break somehow got mixed up in the E/1/2 race and in the confusion I thought I was disqualified. By the time I'd worked out what was going on, the bunch had passed and it was hopeless. Another lesson learnt but also a missed opportunity. But that was the point of racing at the tail end of this year, so mission accomplished.

So preparing for next year - tomorrow I'll be heading off to Cyclefit in Covent Garden for a professional fit session. Once this is done I can get on with ordering the bits for building my race bike.

For the winter, I've decided to take part in running cross country racing. I did a 5km race last week that I won at a good pace (a personal best for the distance) - which has given me a boost. The only problem is that I ran myself very hard and didn't take care of myself afterward, so now I have a nasty cold. Another lesson learnt!

Bye for now, I'll need to work out how to make this site look like I want it to!

Yours in speed!

D