Onwards and Upwards, with a Hint of Sadness

The last few months have been very kind to me. My problematic knee is essentially cured and I am back to race fitness, testing myself at the Hillingdon Winter series. I have managed to plan a fantastic year abroad, cycling in Spain and France before going to Loughborough University to do Aeronautical Engineering. I have also been able to order my dream bike, my website is going well, and life is heading in the right direction.

With this in mind, it came as a massive shock on Wednesday to hear that Lewis Balykyci was killed while riding near his home in Lancashire. I trained and raced with Lewis for several years during our time in the Youth and Junior categories with British Cycling. He was a great guy; always smiling and laughing, down to earth, and extremely determined. He was also the first cyclist I knew personally to be killed in a road accident- this struck a chord with me.

My training rides have been more sedate since Wednesday. A feeling of vulnerability has taken over, similar to riding without a helmet, and made me realize that regardless of my bike handling, speed, and helmet, I am frequently putting myself in unnecessarily risky situations. I almost lost myself under a bus riding home on Friday night because I had to sprint through the amber light. Why? I knew full well it wasn't a race. I think it is because many young racers (including me) don't switch out of 'race mode' when they get out with the cars on the road. They are still the 'top dog'; essentially a boy racer who believes they are in absolute control, except they are on a bike. This manifests itself among team's directeur sportifs as well, which is even more dangerous. I have been driven home from races as if I was in a race convoy. Mobile phone (race radio) in one hand, steering the car with the other hand, racing the other team's DSs, which are in fact normal road users. I am sure there are plenty of instances where cars or vans where the cause of cycling accidents, but I am also sure there are plenty of instances where cyclists have taken one too many risks (see the recent case of Carla Stewart).

On to more light hearted topics, I am making my way back into the swing of racing after my knee plica operation (start of October). I've done 3 Hillingdon Winter Series so far and placed 3rd, 2nd, and 4th, but the top step has eluded me. The most important thing for me though is that I can race with no issues and think about the important stuff! That's not quite true, I am always thinking about random crap like adding an extra wedge or moving something a few mm, but that isn't going to change any time soon.

Next season is lining up to be something pretty special. Just as Cyclefit gets a whole load of exciting new equipment (new sizecycle, new sidas footbed grinding machine), I am going to be off to Pamplona and Bilbao (14th Feb) to do some racing with a Spanish amateur team and working with biomechanic Jon Irriberri (www.custom4.us). The team has a house 30 minutes outside Bilbao, and apparently no one speaks English. I am desperately working my way through 'coffee break Spanish' podcasts as I speak absolutely no Spanish whatsoever.....

After 6 weeks of Espana, I am starting work with GPM10 (www.gpm10.com) running cycle trips in Majorca for all of April. I've never been to what is supposed to be cycling 'nirvana', so I am really looking forward to it, especially the Cyclefit camp where I can attack Jules and Phil on every single climb.

From Majorca I head to Annecy, to continue my work GPM10 and combine some racing with the local team. Any racing in Europe is better than the UK. The terrain, atmosphere, and the fact that you don't have to sprint in between oncoming cars make for an awesome experience.

I need a damn good bike for all this exciting riding, so I have chosen to go for a custom Serotta HSG. This isn't your usual spiel that comes out of sponsored riders about a Cervelo, trek, etc, as I am actually committed to buying the bike and plan on using it for many years. I have a pretty strange body shape with my short legs and long back, so I can't wait to see how the bike rides. I went for an indy paint scheme with gold panels. Everyone who has seen the design mutters 'John Player special', but I don't know who he is. I will finish it off with a SRAM force groupset and probably Mavic wheels/ Deda Components, but that is still in debate.

My website (www.kingbikefit.com) is running very nicely thanks to Jon Moss (www.appleofmyi.com). It usually clocks around 300 hits a week and I am now selling O-symetric chainrings on the site and have got a few unique products planned that are still in prototype stage.

I am all to aware that I need to start setting up some steady income streams to fund my expensive eating habits (among other things such as bikes) while at University. I am 99% sure I will take up my offer and go to Loughborough to do aeronautical engineering. The course sounds right up my street and the University is very sports orientated. It is apparently a versatile and valued degree which is important in today's job climate.

Happy Riding everyone and enjoy the warmer weather and the start of racing,

Sandy