New Term Starts!

You will have noticed I have been quiet for a few weeks. Well I decided to take a month off, not totally away from the bike, but away from the stress and rigours of racing. As much as a rest for the brain as the body. For some time now I have promised myself a break as there doesn't seem to be an 'off season' anymore. The endless round of Spring Series, Southerns, Summer Nationals and before you know it Winter Enduros provide little break throughout the year.

So what have I been doing? Well I've still been out on the bike, trying to beat the weather and put in some extra miles. One of the problems with constantly racing is that it can be hard to put in a good training base with the aim of actually improving your fitness.

This year my focus will shift slightly, away from the Olympic short course XC races, to the Marathon endurance format of racing. Hence the need to put in some miles!

Having said that my first race of the new 2014 season is the first round of the Southern XC at Wasing near Reading. It'll be a training race, i.e. I haven't tapered, but it'll be a great chance to hone the technical skills after a winter of tempo training rides on the road. It always takes a few races to get back into the swing of things, so some of the other riders might have an edge but unusually for a Southern XC the weather looks positively spring like!

The new bike has had a few set backs so I am still on the same bike as last year. I have upgraded the fork to a Rock Shox SID Brain. Hopefully the 15mm bolt thru front axel will improve front end accuracy. Other than that the bike is as it was last year with just a fresh new Rotor bottom bracket.