2012 a recap

Not sure how anybody else found 2012 but I thought it flew by at an alarming rate. from a cycling point of view it was an interesting year with a few new things ticked off. A trip to Belgium with friend and riding partner Alan aka crossjunkie so us bunked down at the Chainstay in Oudenaarde a real cyclists house, with guys n girls from across the globe living there as they competed in Belgium. With some of the classic cobbles riden we savoured the great coffee with the egg knog shot and lived briefly the life of a bikie. Another first for me was stepping up and riding the crits at Preston arena, Matt my son loves riding there on a Thursday night, nearly as much as he likes the pancake and mess about with his club mates! so after much should I shouldn't am I good enough procrastination I signed up paid my £10 and had a go. fast & furious and I was out the back after a couple of laps, however i loved it, really loved it, blasting round corners sprinting across the start line really fired me up. I wasnt last which helped and it really improved my fitness levels - so if you are thinking should I, am I good enough etc stop thinking and have a go - some good 4th & ladies only races this year so no excuses. An 8th place at Palatine in a 4ths only race only fired my enthusiasm more - this year I aim to do all the 4th cats and see if I can secure a 3rd cat licience (watch this space) Another highlite for me was seeing Sam who I help coach start to make inroads into the under 23 race scene and bag a great win after 80 miles, the great news was him securing a place on the Sportscover development team for 2013. If all goes well Sam's progression will continue and we shall see him in a pro team before too long. Again I organised the CSP cross race at the new venue of Waddow Hall, we even had a ladies only race too - see earlier posts. Great venue, great help from all the club made this a fantastic day. I have booked the venue for this year and Alan & I have more ideas to improve the course and make this one of the best in the NW!! We also ran some ladies only training which not only was great fun but showed that ladies want to ride their bikes, race and have fun - more to come this year So 2013 what will that bring? Hit the North will be the first race of the year for me, great race, well organised, well attended and fantastic fun. Possibly the Spring Classic road race. March I will be at BC taking my level 2 coaching award which will be interesting,lets see where that leads? Then I aim to do some crits and try some road races possibly see if I can get my Cat 3 liceince