Le petit fleur

Well I have just had my baptism of fire with my first French race being a small Interclub, local race between nearby teams in the lovely town of Camors and to say I loved it is an understatement! I've had a brilliant time over this past week getting to know the area and George and Hamish that bit more, the race today was the icing on the cake. We arrived at the start and signed on with the other 150+ competitors on a really sunny, but obviously mild, day, there was music pumping from the speakers, a big crowd and a stage lorry parked right next to the finish line with a large 'Arivee' banner above. After meeting a few of our new team-mates and our D.S. with a few photos or two we were called to the start line for a mental 13laps totalling 67 miles. The course from the Start/Finish line was thus, two sharp successive right handers followed by a long descent to the bottom of a short 5% of about 800m that led out onto exposed farmland with some proper rough stuff that lasted for about 3/4 of a mile, then fast flat section on good tarmac with two 90 degree right handers on leading to the finish avenue that stretched for about a 1km in a U-shape, so on the avenue you come down the hill and back up to the finish. This was not at the top of the hill, but it was an uphill kick meaning any sprint had to be timed perfectly.

Anyway, the race. It all kicked off straight away with a sizeable group of around 8 getting off the front in the first lap, but the bunch never let it get too far away, numerous other groups formed and rejoined the bunch  with me deciding to attack the bunch after about 4 laps, however the move didn't stick and so a lot of wasted energy. After about 7 laps it went mental and there must have been about 10 echelons on the road during the middle lap, however the bunch all came back into one. A couple of laps later I decided to have another dig, but again the move didn't pay off and soon after, the lead group were hovering only around 40 seconds from the main bunch, this was because with 3 laps to go a team from nearby Lanester decided to get all their men on the front and drill it as they had missed the break and had the men and will to try and bring it back, but on the second to last time up the hill most completely blew from their efforts, it was at this point that George and Hamish decided to go and jump across to the lead group. George did so succesfully, however Hamish didn't due to hesistation, costing him dearly. I could have jumped to, but was not willing to as that would have meant jeopardising both Hamish's and George's chances of making the lead group as well as th fact that I was not entirely confident the peloton would let three riders from the same team simply ride away to join the front group. So I stayed put near the front of the peloton meanwhile about a mile after his attack we caught Hamish. On the last lap it was a bit nervy, but George managed to make the front echelon that formed on the last climb on the last lap, eventually finishing a brilliant 5th. I however put a bit of an effort in on the latter half of climb, the last time up, but I was feeling it and had no desire to drag the rest of the field with so I let several guys come past me and dropped behind them, but at the top I looked around and saw that the 5 of us must of had well over 10 seconds on the peloton in a matter of moments and with no hesitation from any of us we all began to pull trying to catch-up to the second group, those that had been dropped by the front group the last time up the climb. However I was clearly the strongest, a few guys missed turns etc... and the goup just ahead saw we were coming and had got their act together. Regardless, I won the sprint from our group fro 17th, not too bad with a lot of positives to take.

There must have been only a minute 10secs spread between the winner the peloton arriving so it was all very close, so I know in different circumstances, I might be able to go for the win at some point. Also I was pleased with my own fitness and form though I do feel a little bit too heavy for the slight climb we had on the circuit, having said this I mashed the sprint, executing it perfectly as well as feeling strong and good on the rough stuff.

The race is comparable to Belgian races, though more civilised as befits those that have given this planet the spirit level and the discovery of oxygen, but this race was the fastest one I have yet done, an average speed of just over 29mph really does laugh in the face of the races in Britain, George, who did some Premier Calender races in 2012 said that today's race was faster than most of them. It was also good to race in front of a crowd numbering around 200-300 rather than just the organiser, his wife their adopted son David and their labrador whose blind in both eyes.

Alas I didn't win though and so came away empty-handed and was unable to give the flowers to Marie that she asked for from her 'petit fleur'. Yes that's right, my team principal's mother-in-law and my landlady nows refers to me as her little flower. Hopefully Seb don't tell all and sundry otherwise that might be my nickname throughout the rest of my time in Brittany.

Big race coming up this Sunday so hopefully I can report more good tidings then. Here's the results from the Breton website
http://www.sportbreizh.com/Resultats-Camors-_-Cordon-et-Jeannes-au-top-_-1315-21734-0-1.html

Photos of me sprinting to 17th and me with Hamish and George before the race

There, but not back again, just yet

Wow, where to begin? How about last week? Well I took that pretty easy after a solid block of training and having one of the joys of cycling, a lot of saddle sore, centred on the left groin area, meanining I couldn't really train even if I wanted to. Also I had a new headset put in to my Dogma before I came over to France, however, as I did not recieve my bike back until Saturday afternoon I missed the regular Hog Hill race. Not to matter as the next day I made up for it by winning a round of the SERRL Winter Series on Sunday morning, it was a great race in awful conditions, a race that I'm pleased to say I won, giving me 2 victories for the year so far, check out British Cycling's report here:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20130210-road-Road--Lawless-wins-SERRL-7-0

Unfortunately they got the name of the club I am riding for over here wrong, that's Union Cycliste Hennebont Lochrist by the way, but nevermind. Also on the same day there was the Perfs Pedal race where Fabio and Phil from Aprire raced, a great early season opener and here's British Cycling's media report of the race:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20130210-road-Road--Bialoblocki-wins-Perfs-Pedal-Race-0

I would have done the Perfs race, but I didn't have time as straight after the race and watching England control Ireland I headed in a rented van courtsey of my Dad over to Battersea to meet up with Nick Mills (part of the Mills clan that live not too far away over in Baud and who are key to help setting up everything over in France). We then drove down to Portsmouth where we met Hamish and George and got the ferry to Caen. The overnight sleep on the ferry left much to be desired with the four of us sleeping in the same 8ft by 8ft by 4ft room, unfortunately for Nick he then had a further 200 miles to drive to our destination and his home, Baud. There we met the rest of the Mills family, a lovely bunch, had lunch and headed out on a little loop around the area and through where the three of us should be living.

The roads are gorgeous and quiet with motorists giving cyclists plenty of time and respect with the majority giving us right of way, even when they didn't have to! Anyway following the river down towards Hennebont out of the corner of my eye I spotted a young woman waving as she entered her barn. Now I'm not want to be rude so I enthusiastically waved back, but both Hamish and George failed to spot her and so both said that it was merely an apparition, placed there by my mind. With this banter going on we approached a T-junction when from our right a big boxer and Golden Retriever approached, the latter just barked a bit, but not too aggressively, but a s soon as the Boxer saw us, he set himself and was looking fierce. Hamish attempted to scare him off by shouting and it seemed to ork as he pelted into the garden of the house on our left, however this was not to be the end of it. We ttok the left at the junction going past the front of the house and all the dog had done was run into his house's garden to build up speed to cannon at us from the side. As he went to dive at me and George to tear us apart, guess what?

A Renault Clio smashed into him at 50mph.

He ran off yelping, but I do not know what happend to him as we have been back past the house and he is not seemingly there. The sound of the dog being hit by the car though still makes me gag.

That evening after the ride we met the team principal, Sebastien, a smashing fellow who sorted us three out with some kit and I have to say it is sweet. Afterwards I was taken to my accomadation and I am now living with Sebastien's mother-in-law, Marie, a lovely woman who has bent over backwards to make me feel welcome, I can't speak highly enough of her, for as soon as I arrived she was making sour pancakes with cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn in, delicious! The house is lovely too and so is the room, I am extremely lucky where I am living about a mile or so outside Hennebont, however, neither me nor Marie speak that much of each other's first languages. Cue a lot of funny moments that really should be part of a Fawlty Towers-esque sketch on UK Gold.

Since I've been here I've tried to speak as much French as possible and really throw myself into it all for I am not one to waste such a great oppurtunity and I am in a incredibly fortunate position and I know how many other people would just love to swap places with me so I don't want to do this any disservice.

My first race will be this Sunday, one that I am really looking forward to and is an inter-club race, all the local clubs up against each other, so bragging rights are definately up for grabs. Here are a few things that are intreseting about France and Brittany in particular, I will be adding to this list throughout my time here:

• Dogs are allowed to wonder, like dogs used to back in the '50s or earlier in Britain
• Cycling is a big sport over, my little village has two finish line permanently painted and a town like Baud for example has 5 cycling clubs.
• The French don't really do milk, juice, frozen food or sliced bread, instead it is cheese, fruit, fresh food and baguettes
• There are not many fences in places, even in towns, as due to French law, one can come up to 30metres to your house and not be trespassing.

Also here are some key reptitive phrases I having been using during my time here, 'je suis anglais', 'desole', 'je ne comprend pas' and 'bonjour, ca va?'. These will see you through any situation is repeated often enough.

Until next time stay safe ladies and gents

Deadline day and failing to live up to expectations

Firstly I forgot to mention in my last post that after Sunday's race I had a meal with my Dad, Sister and Grandparents (Dad's parents) to sort of see me off before I go to France. It was a lovely meal in a local Greek restuarant and a great way to say goodbye, well, to my grandparents at least. This has set the tone as now that I found that I am finally going on Sunday 10th I will be doing the rounds throughout the week and bidding farewell to my rather large family. The dog is counting down the days on his little calendar as he can't wait to have my bed all to himself as well as everyone else because no longer can I be the annoying Son who has to cut-down people's opinions nor the obnoxious Great-grandosn who constantly raids the fridge everytime who comes around, nor the obtuse Grandson who does not answer questions that he feels are stupid and pointless. Oh how they will miss me.

Training has been incredily tough this week for a couple of reasons, firstly because this is the last week of my block before I relax fo a week to prepare myself for France and seocndly beacuse I've got some quite bad saddle sore, don't worry the disaster area has been cordoned off!!! To finish the block off with a flurry and did the 4th round of the Winter Series at Hog Hill, but the 3rd race due to bad weather cancelling the second round. Anyway there were a lot more people who had turned up to this race, numbering about 20 which is a fantastic turnout, again there were not too many team-mates only two sets of two, so everyone had to keep a watchful eye on each other. The wind was incredibly strong on Saturday with it being a block headwind up and over the climb, usually the decisive factor in the race, whoever attacked and went here would have to go incredibly deep and at the right moment to get away. So after 23mins or so that I was I did, I hit the hill perfectly and raced away gaining 10seconds pretty quickly and by the end of the lap, up the hill again I had stretched out my lead to 20seconds. At this point the better guys in the bunch started to get their act together, the bunch really stretched out with lots of little gaps appering when up the third time up the hill I was joined at the top by the eventual who had managed to gap the peloton on the climb and bridge across to me. We were really motoring at this point with the gap extending back out to 20 seconds by the time we reached the top of the hill on the next lap again. However, again the bunch got their act together and chased us really hard, again with them all strung out and little gaps appering. I saw a small group clip off the front the bunch, only a little bit, on the climb beneath so I sat up as I was really suffering at this point and I thought either we were properly caught or some of these guys would be able to help me and the eventual winner stay away. That wasn't to be as the eventual winner attacked again at the top and the bunch seemed quite content on having swallowed just me. At this point Richard da Silva attacked over the top of everyone and I tried to bridge across the 10 second gap to the leader, he couldn't and at this point the bunch got their act together and began chasing the first two down, after a lap and a half we eventually caught Richard and was holding the leader at just 10 seconds in front. However after a couple of laps his lead all of sudden start to extend by 10 seconds a lap as the power really dropped in the bunch. He eventually soloed to a great win having done what I did to everyone last week. The race was still on though with lots of attacks coming and going, but none sticking. At this point I was really paying for the efforts earlier in the race as well as launching some attacks later still so I sat in for the last 7 laps trying to conserve as much as possible. Unfortunately on the last lap the third wheel let the wheel go to the two in front, these two got a little gap a sowed up second and third between, what a stupid mistake. That meant with podium places now out of the window, I couldn't really be bothered to plan to launch my sprint at the right time so off I went right at the foot the hill. I eventually was overtaken by several people and I got ninth overall. This was failing to live up to expectations, especially after last week's win.

By the way the story I just told will be some what in conflict with the media report on British Cycling on this race, so if you just switch for the Palmer bloke they mention as having done the attacks I did with me, then you will the truth. For some reason they confused me with him on these attacks and believe me I did and suffered for them.

Here's the link to photos of my win at Hog Hill the previous week, very muddy and I'm on the later pages http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubbishjumper/sets/72157632621976280/

On Sunday I then met up with Nick Wilkinson, William Pratt and Harry Evans from Aprire Bicycles to top off the block and weekend with a flurry of pain, however it was not quite as good as we planned. Inevitabely on any sort of team rides there will be mechanicals, unfortunately it was me and Harry, fortunately we had been doing a really good ride for quite a while beforehand and inbetween the problems, neither issues were that bad either so all good.

Time I think to rest up and try and cram in as much French as possible and I know I'm moving to France, but I couldn't help be pretend to be Italian yesterday afternoon during the rugby. What a win and a wicked weekend of rugby in general, lovely performance from England too. The Premeir League is providing plenty of goals each week, the Champions League is returning soon and this year's cycling has started off with an absolute bang with yesterday's Tour of Qatar's first stage providing plenty of excitement from the off.

I am going to be racing both on Saturday and Sunday before I go so hopefully I can finish my time in Britian adding to my tally as well as trying to be top of the National Rankings before I leave, I'm fourth at the moment!!! Anyway this week off gives me time to recover from the saddle sore.

I hope you're all well and training is preceding along at a rate of knots, probably post again when I'm in France so on that note https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g

First win and second second

Well I managed to get my first win of the season on Saturday at Hog Hill aka Der Hoggenberg in the second race of the ELV Winter Series (lasty week's was cancelled due to the weather) which is good, just got to win another 4 races to match my tally from last season, but I was pleased as it was a similar field as a fortnight ago, minus Rhys Howell, the previous winner and the race worked out perfectly for me. Fortunately before our race (e/1/2) the 3/4 race was on, with a great tunrout of around 40, however as the course had grit on it to prevent ice forming, many individuals got punctures, but with so many riders it cleared the course of the grit for my race, limiting the amount of punctures my field got to just a handful. So thank you 3/4s, thank you for your sacrifice.

Anyway it was quite a small field of only 12 of us, but what was quite interesting was that there were only 2 riders who were team-mates in the bunch, neither that quality, with all the other competitors belonging to different teams. This made for relatively exciting racing as no one could really rely on any one else. My legs were feeling ok, but nowhere near 100% due to me using these races as training and training very hard up to them anyway so I was wary about using up too much energy. However after about half an hour a couple of attacks were launched by various people and for a lap from the bottom of the hill round to the bottom again it was a bit of a free-for-all and everyone was on the rivet with lots of little gaps forming. One of my best attributes is being able to attack over the top of such efforts (this particular effort lasted approximately 3mins) which is exactly what I did up the climb and all of I sudden, once over the top and coming back down the hill I had opened a big gap of 10 seconds. I increased it to 20 seconds quite quickly however I then got a puncture. You are allowed laps out up until the last 5 laps of a circit race, fortunately my puncture was before the last 5 laps. So once changed I set off again 20 seconds in front of the bunch, they began chasing me a bit more, some attacked to bridge up to me, but to no avail so I managed to hold on for the win, soloing for 30mins by myself, overall it was just over an hour of racing, roughly 45mins+5laps worth. Unfortunately I can not put any link on here to the race as the results are still not up yet, but I will do as soon as I can.

Then on Sunday I raced in the next round of the SERRL Winter Series, even though it was a lovely day, the wind was definately up, however it was really strong West-East and the way the circuit is laid out meant that it would be tough to split the bunch as there would be no cross-wind. It was a disappointing turn-out considering how sunny and warm it was compared to what it has been, there were only seven of us. However this race was going to be harder than the day before as even though there were less people, the race was longer at an hour+5laps, about 1hr 25mins worth of racing, but more importantly, 3 people were from London Phoenix and two were from Redhill CC, with only one from East Grinstead CC. So, as the best cyclist there with no team-mates while these two teams did, they constantly tried to work me over. It came down to a sprint finish and with the tail-wind blowing us the slight uphill drag to the finish I thought I could launch my sprint a bit earlier. This was a bad idea as my legs after yesterday's efforts, let alone from training, could not hold the top-end power for long enough and I was pipped by about two-thirds of a bike length by Ryan Visser from Redhill into second. It was great, hard race really putting pressure on me and my tactical abilites so was fantastic training and not too bad a result considering where I'm at. What also probably help Ryan win was the fact that I was on shallow rims, great for the race's windy conditions, however not in a bunch sprint with a strong tailwind and I reckon if I had of had my deep sections for the sprint, even with me launching it a bit too early I reckon I would have won. All this shows though is the slight differences that varying equipment on the bike brings and I'm not just racing to win this time of year, more importantly I'm racing to train.

Here's the link to the race report http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20130127-road-Road--Visser-and-Hammond-celebrate-wins-in-SERRL-0

Anyway I hope you are all well and I can't wait to see and hear about all thr cracking results people will be grabbing, especially as you won't have beaten me in the process!

Also Aprire Bicycles team is looking really strong this year with Mike Barnes another great addition to the side and soon the new bikes will be coming in with the new colours as well as all the new kit, probably the most exciting thing about being a cyclist is buying and racing in brand new kit. It really is an amazing feeling, speaking of which I have just christened my new assos gloves courtsey of Verity and my new Oakleys courtsey of myself, with both races over the weekend and both were absolutely perfect for me and my needs, winning first time wearing some new gear does not tend to associate bad tidings with these objects.

Swansea Trotters

As a former member of the Swansea University Athletics and Cross Country Club as well as Swansea University Triathlon Club I automatically became a member of the Swansea Trotters, an alumni club set-up for the former members of the mentioned clubs by my good friend Steve Jones. This post is just a big thank you and congratulations to Steve for all his work and effort into creating such a great organisation on all our behalves, he has put in a lot of time and energy into establishing the Trotters as a permanent fixture and it is fantastic to see how much it has taken off.

Unfortunately I have not been able to go to some the events Steve has organised for the Trotters in conjunction with the current members of the Swansea University Athletics and Cross Country Club, but I have seen and heard first-hand how well they have gone, something that gives credit to all of Steve's efforts.

He has now helped to create a 5km run along the beautiful Swansea beachfront and here's the link to this great event, it's a good one to do if you're looking for a fast 5km time as it is completely flat.

http://swanseatrotters.com/360-marina-5k-register/

Hopefully at the end of the year, once I return from France, I might be able to do some more Trotters events in the Autumn, but until then thanks Steve, keep up the great work and I wish the Trotters every success throughout the coming year.

The beginnings of all things are small

That is what Cicero said and what smaller way to kick-off my season at Hog Hill and Cyclopark in their respective winter serieses. I will first begin with Hog Hill my first race of the season and a place where I usually go pretty well. It was cold on Saturday as all of you are aware, but this did not deter from 20 people turning up for the E/1/2 race in the afternoon. Not that many, but enough to not simply make the race processional, except if you are Rhys Howells who stormed away from the field on the first lap, who I nearly got across to, but the Wales training camp definately made sure that I was not in any physical form to be at 90% for more than 45secs, so he soloed to a great win. I however was constatnly attacking throughout the race and as one of the better guys there, no one was willing to let me get away or have a free ride. In the end I grabbed third place, second in the bunch sprint which I was fairly chuffed with considering how hard the last week of training has been and how much work I did during the race. I could of and should of got second, but I launced my sprint from a bit too far back and didn't quite have enough to sneak in for second, but nevermind. The whole point of this race is to get used to racing my bike again before heading out to Brittany, because how you handle your bike during a race, espcially on a closed circuit, is very different to how you handle it during training. So plenty to take away from the race.

Today, I was racing in the SERRL Winter Series at Cyclopark, unfortunately there were only 11 of us in the E/1/2 race although there was a great turn-out for the 3/4 race with what looked about the 30+ mark. Anyway, it was the same conditions as yesterday and with so few riding and with 3 of the rivals being from the same team, Dulwich Paragon, I thought what the hell and do what I do best, which is attack. So after about a 2 laps I started my series of attacks, really trying to spilt the group in the crosswind. This worked really well and on my fourth attack I got away with another rider where we gradually began to pull away from the chasers. However after a couple of laps what remained of the bunch caught us, about 4 riders, but everyone was suffering and right on the rivet so I again went on the attack opening up a large gap pretty quickly, fortunately with the next strongest rider there right on my wheel, Andy Betts of Felt Colbornes, a really good older rider. We quickly began to pull away from the pursuers ecking out a gap of around 20seconds, this held steady, for about half an hour (me and Andy got away after 25mins) and by the time we both finished we probably took nearly a mintue out on the three behinds. Anyway, me and Andy worked well, with two laps to go he launched a series of attacks which I held on to, but unfortunately I did not have the legs for the sprint, probably due to the huge amount of training I have done recently resulting in me getting second. Nevermind, I'm pretty pleased with how I rode, using the elements and my strengths to my advantage and it's not a bad way to begin my season with a third and second. The one thing that I was disappointed on was my lack of physical form on the bike today at Cyclopark, my body was just all over the place and was not pedalling or sitting unaware near as comfortably as a) the day before and b) how I really should be.

I'm doing all the final preparations over the next week for France, so it's a really exciting time for me at the moment and it's not a bad way to start my season with these couple of performances. It really shows where I am at in all sorts of ways, just can't wait to start racing on the Continent.

Wales training camp

Unlike some of my more illustrious contemporaries and competitors I'm as hard as nails, therefore, rather than being a sissy like the bunch of pansises at Team Sky, Lotto-Belisol and many others I decided that I needed to go on a training camp in the Brecon Beacons instead, using my friend's family home as a base, situated just outside of Bridgend. My mate by the way is called Graham Howell who is a decent cyclist who hopes to have a similarly succesful year in 2013 to the one I've just had in 2012. So on Saturday night I boarded the train to my destination, unfortunately this was quite late in the evening and I did not actual jump into bed till about 1am. After such a long day and late night me and Graham had a bit of lie-in and went out for an easy cycle on the Sunday all round the lanes of South Wales, quite a knobbly route with some decent climbs on, probably did a few equivalent to Toys Hill, no mountains unfortunately, covering 72miles in about 4 and half hours.

On the Monday me and Graham went on an epic ride through the Breacon Beacons including the Bwlch and Rhigos mountains, as well as the mini-Bwlch and Banwen/Glyn-neath clmbs that are pretty major in and of themselves. We then descended into Swansea, not before stopping for Graham to repair a puncture that he got from unfortunately keeping right behind my wheel as I was drafting a Ford KA that decided not to point out a massive pothole in the middle of the road. I was pretty lucky not to puncture myself and we were both fortunate that something much worse didn't occur. Once we reached Swansea we headed round to Verdi's where we met up with Graham's dad Tony, after refuelling on milkshake, coffee and cake we headed straight back home. To be honest my body was half-guiding me back to any one of the places I occupied during my time in Swansea, I didn't really till I cycled through it, how much I missed the place and wished in many ways that I was still there at university.

Tuesday was a really tough and intense ride, where me and Graham rode 3 laps of the Betty Pharoah course with an aim to average the whole ride at 20mph, we managed riding 105km at 20.5mph. The circuit is a cracking fast course going through some lovely lanes and up some pretty short sharp climbs. What was mpst pleasing is how fast we averaged considering that included the warm-up. Suitably knackered after some pretty tough riding we did what we had done and continued to do over my time in Wales, sit and eat, watching rubbish on T.V.

Graham was feeling very much worse for wear and decided to seat my session out where I went for an easy 2 and half hour spin meeting up with Tony and Graham for a coffee in Porthcawl, a town that I had never before been to and it was or seemed at least, to be, a lot more pleasent that has been made out to me to be. This was on the Wednesday.

Finally on Thursday I did a series of intense circuits on a series of road that run outside the Llandow circuit, where crits are held reguarly throughout the year. Again Graham was feeling like a man that had been trampled by a herd of ramapaging buffalo so instead he decided to wait for me and Tony at Forza Bike shop as I did the efforts and Tony escorted me. After the efforts we dropped into Forza, a lovely bike shop that sells some proper top notch gear, where you can grab a free and proper Italian espresso. I declined, but I got chatting to a man called Dave who had cycled for a number of years in Brittany when he was younger, telling me about all of his experiences and offering me plenty of advice. After that we headed to the beach cafe at Llanwit Major, not before Graham fell off his bike for no apparent reason. Thanks to some more coffee and in Graham's case a massive lump of pie we headed home, where Graham absolutely smashed it dropping his dad within a few miles... what a lovely son.

Clearly me and Graham had the gods on our side as it was unseasonable warm all week and every time we cycled it didn't rain, or on us in any case, really, a massive blessing. It was a fantastic week's worth of cycling, where I probably clocked around 570km over the past couple of days, I can not thank Shirley (Graham's mum), Tony and Steph (Graham's sister) enough for their outstanding hospitality and generosity over the past few days, definately need to write a review of my time at theirs on TripAdvisor. I should also prehaps thank Graham for doing this all with me and helping get some cracking training in, by extension I should probably thank his girlfriend Rae for letting Graham off the leash and allowing him to come out and play.

I am going to wrap things up now by saying that tomorrow and Sunday our my first races of the season, hopefully there ain't too much ice and snow around for these, a bit different to the guys racing Down Under, but there you go. Hairs on the chest and all that... Anyway I wish everyone else the best of luck with their seasons and happy racing.

Also, before I go, my girlfriend, Verity Ockenden, has decided to start her own blog about her many culinary ventures whilst she is out in Italy, not a bad idea to share her experiences of such an amazing place by describing and showing their many impressive dishes. Here's the link to the blog
http://lavitaockenden.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=2
Enjoy!!!