It's been a while... Where to start? I won't pick up from where I left off immediately as I feel there may be some new readers amongst you and I'm envisaging the blog taking a slightly different format this year. While this will remain a cycling blog, I'm going to incorporate more aspects of life and how they link to performance on the bike, rather than just listing and detailing my results each month.
I suppose starting university in Cardiff has been the biggest change in my life and because of this choice, I was unable to stay on with Zappi's out in Italy for another year. This was a difficult decision, but I very much feel that having more things going on outside of cycling has helped me on and off the bike (I am missing you though, lads!!). The city buzz is addictive and only now do I feel I have a true sense of freedom, which makes it even sweeter.
While getting used to uni life, I took a good amount of time away from serious racing, but it wasn't completely sedentary - my Dad and I ran the Bath hilly half in November and I also spent some time at the Newport velodrome, which led to competing at the BUCS track championships in Manchester. Although I was very unfit, it was a new experience in which I could remind myself of my passion for pedalling. I believe the biggest positive difference since moving here has been my social life, not that I'm overly dependant on on others - I quite enjoyed 5 days in my own company on a solo mission back from Italy at the end of the season (see last blog). The difference is being able to go out and have fun (get intoxicated) and not feel guilty, being able to play gigs and bring a friend back to a room that I'm not sharing with two other cyclists.
Training has now resumed, but I'm keeping it fun with the idea that keeping the passion burning is more beneficial than getting overly obsessive about numbers and losing sight of what matters. This seems to be working and ironically, I couldn't resist trying for a power PB last week. The university club run two sessions at the outdoor track at Maindy each week which are a top end workout, but they're so much fun I often forget that. Contrary to previous years, I've managed to enjoy a couple of weekends away recently without the bike, safe in the knowledge that I can make up for the lost training time another day, which is important for me in making bike racing compatible with everyday life. However, I know that there are some things that I will never sacrifice or change about myself to become more 'normal' because cycling has become part of my identity and I'm very proud to belong to the racing community.
I'm still aiming to take my racing to new heights this year with Spirit Tifosi Racing Team. I'm very much looking forward to being a part of this set up, racing in a mix of national races in the UK as well as some UCI's abroad, which is a perfect balance for me while studying. The team ethos is based around having a laugh, which in turn eases nerves and helps the racing side of things, but of course we're still deadly serious about performing and ultimately winning races. My thanks go out to Russ, Mark and all the team sponsors for making it happen this year.
I think that's about it.
G
