Seriously Early Season

I have returned to the Hillingdon (Imperial) Winter Series this year after a 3 year hiatus. Taking place over the grim months of December, January, and February, it makes the pros racing the Tour Down under look pretty damn lackadaisical. Bear in mind, I did miss all of last season due to a knee injury, so my enthusiasm to race is far larger than most roadies. Still not as large as Jake Martin though (www.bikejake.wordpress.com), who seems to have done every circuit race in the south from October to February and still acts like an excited school girl at the start line.

My first winter series was quite memorable for me. It was my first winter racing in the UK, and I had recently joined Twickenham CC. My two cycling 'compadres' at the time were Jamie Atkins and Ollie Newlan. Jamie was a swimmer, cyclist, and budding wordsmith who is now studying politics (or history?) at Aberdeen. Ollie was a scrum half turned cyclist, and has recently returned to cycling and will spend next season duking it out in Belgium before heading off to Uni. All of us were starting out and were receiving guidance and support from the legendary Graham Macnamee. Training consisted of a turbo session at the club on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Hillingdon all day on Saturday, and the club ride on Sunday (always finished with a Calzone at Angelo's).

Our mission for that winter series was to beat Michael Wilmot of Hillingdon Slipstreamers. He was the same age and had a formidable sprint and good endurance- a tricky combination to beat on a flat circuit. Ollie, Jamie, and I all had appalling sprints, so the only way to win was to work him over. It took us until the last few races in the series to realize this, and to have the physical strength to pull it off. At times it got quite heated, and I distinctly remember being pushed into the bushes on the final corner, but I think each of us got one victory.

In comparison, this year's series has been very civilized for me. I know Jake Martin had a little 'fisticuffs' with his former team in the sprint last week. Observations? Wouter Sybrandy is stupidly strong, and no rain so far! I have been picking up the top places, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, but am still suffering of a complete lack of sprint prowess (4 years and 10 kilos on). Strangely enough, the same guy that won the Elite series when I was riding my first youth races, is about to win the series again (Lewis Atkins- picture in blue above).

Maybe next week the other riders will let me slip away for the win?

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