As the title suggests, this will be my last post, but only on this format as later on today I will be releasing a whole different platform for the public to view my various adventures and races; one that is a lot more interactive, greater in scope and more professional too. This post will be a summary of my last few races in Brittany, my time there and what my immediate future holds for me, so sit back and enjoy the credits.
My last couple of races were just as hard as all the other ones throughout the year and even though I got o.k. results, 18th in one, 22nd in the very last one, I knew I was capable of so much more, particularly the second, but I just didn't have the verve with me. Alas I left Brittany with high spirits and a new, determined outlook on what I need to achieve to get where I want to be and how; knowledge is power, but it's what you do with it that counts the most and I plan to do a lot with the massive experience my time in France has been.
I would like to thank everyone from the John Ibbotson Fund for the support, for without their funding and connections I would have never been given this opportunity. Secondly I would like to thank my landlady Marie who was an absolute legend and I can honestly say I can't wait to live with again next year. Thirdly my girlfriend and my family for their amazing love and backing. Fourthly Aprire Bicycles for the wicked machine and fifthly Seb and my team U.C.L.H. for making me feel so welcome and helping fully embrace the lifestyle and what it means to be professional. Finally the Mills Family, the biggest bunch of heroes and heroines that anyone could wish to meet who all do as much as they can for all of us English boys out there, unbelievable.
Here is a series of figures that will better explain how my season went, the numbers include the amount that also qualifies for the above category, so, for example, 5 top 10s and 7 top 15s, the latter also is inclusive of the 5 top 10s achieved:
63 races started and I failed to finish 14 with 1 being cancelled during the race due to bad weather.
2 wins and 5 podiums in Britain before I came out.
1 top 5 in France.
7 top 10s in France
13 top 15s in France
20 top 20s in France
27 top 30s in France
So, out of half the races I started, with 55 being raced in France, I will be in first 30 riders half the time and nearly half the time 'get a placing' i.e. in the top 20 so it shows that I am pretty consistent, especially given the range of types of courses we race in France and that I am not that far off from being extremely competitive at the business end of the race. Hopefully next year I will not have the bad luck and injury problems that I have had this year, it can only get better, especially now that I will be professional for the first time this winter and will have a proper professional structure.
For this Winter and next year I will be sponsored by a number of different companies, chief amongst which will be Elite Cycling and Paul Mill who runs the company, I can't wait to be trained by such a renowned coaching set-up and I am really looking forward to seeing what I can really achieve now with them.
I will also continue to receive the backing of Aprire Bicycles, with me riding their new Vincenza, Strada Hand-Built Wheels and their newly released wheels, Maxifuel will be providing me with the nutritional support I need, Salice will be protecting my eyes and C Originals will be protecting my head.
Finally the John Ibbotson Fund will stop running after next year and so I will be one of the last riders on this fantastic project sadly, but I will endeavour to make sure the Fund goes out on a high and I continue to be a great ambassador for the cause and CRY. Thanks to all of them for continuing to support me next year.
I will be joining up with the same team as I rode for this year, U.C.L.H., at least for the first part of the season as if my Spring campaign goes according to plan then hopefully I will be on a bigger and better team come July, but we will see.
Thanks to everyone for reading, the kind words and general morale-boosting, it means an awful lot and I can't wait to shoe everyone that it was not wasted. Check-out my new blog/website here at http://joshlawless1990.wix.com/joshlawlesscycling where all my new stuff will be on. I will be leaving this up for a week now then taking this blog down.
Keep riding!
