Plymouth NPS

My latest race was the final National Mountain Bike round at the weekend which was being held way down south in Plymouth. It would usually be a long drive but luckily enough this time we had sorted it so that I was able to fly down which was rather good news. So we flew down early on Friday morning and arrived there about mid day so that we could do a couple of laps of the course, the course was new with lots of natural sections and quite hilly. Then on Saturday morning I got up early as the fellow people I was staying with were racing early in the morning and I travelled with them to the course and chilled out for a couple of hours watching them race before I got ready for my race. My race was 4 laps round the course which was now rather technical as it had rained and people had been round before my race so had turned slippy. Any way we lined up ready to race and waited for them to blow the whistle. Then off we went and I started quite hard and got to the front to avoid any trouble in the first section of single-track and after the first lap I found myself with a nice lead so from there on in I went at my own pace and built up a good lead and finished the race in first. It was an extra good weekend as I had won the race and the overall series winning four out of the four rounds so a very nice way to end my season.

It has been a very good year for me and I have learnt a lot, now it’s time chill out and have some time off before dabbling in some cross towards the end of the year. I would like to give a huge thank you to everyone that has helped me out and supported me this year especially my Family, Coach Phil Dixon, Friends, Boardman Bikes, Mount Zoom Products, Braveheart cycling fund, Bank of Scotland Local Heroes, Squirt Lube and everybody that has cheered me on and given me support throughout the year.
Cheers
Grant

Youth Commonwealth Games

Well my latest trip away racing was to Isle Of Man for the Youth Commonwealth games with team Scotland. It was the first time I have been to an international games event which so I was looking forward to it, that fact it was a games meant there was a big team of 50 different athletes going from Scotland and competing in 7 different sports. The cycling team consisted of Me, Stu, Taylor and Jack and we would be competing in three different events, a time-trial, Road race and a criterium. So the trip started when we left from Scotland in nice new kit on Tuesday 6^th in two coaches heading for Heysham where we were getting the boat. We arrived there in plenty of time and boarded the boat for a four hour journey to Isle of Man on a windy day which meant it was really rough! We eventually arrived though in time to get some munch and get into our accommodation which was a rather nice hotel. We then had a couple of days to have a look at the different courses before the cycling competitions started on Friday night. Firstly on the Thursday we had the Opening Ceremony of the games which consisted of all the nations going through a ceremony in the main stadium then sitting down to listen to some speeches followed by a dance show from Isle of man dance clubs which was something new and that I really enjoyed! J Then the next day competition started and the first event was a 7km time-trial along the promenade in the main town of Douglas on the island; it was a flat course with one hair pin in it and rather windy. I set out relatively hard but kept a bit back for the head wind on the way back and then just got stuck in, ended up crossing the line and went into third but dropped back and finished in 11^th place in a time of 9.51. 

The next day was the Road Race which was on a 7.5km loop that we did 13 times, it was a flattish loop but very windy and the start finish was the grandstand for the famous TT on the island. So we got there about mid day to start early in the afternoon had a bit of a spin and I was ready to go. We lined up in nations order and then we started. There was a lot of attacking first lap by different nations and a couple of crashes on the wet road but I stayed towards the front to avoid any trouble. Then after about a lap and a half a couple of the favourites attacked and I could see that it was a strong move so I got across to it and found myself in a 4 man break. We worked together and caught a boy that was up the road to create a group of 5 and it was a strong group so I was happy. The group consisted of me, Wales, England, South Africa and Australia and we did a couple of laps hard to get a gap from the bunch with two more Australians riding across to us to make a group 7 then one of them was dropped which took us down to 6 in the break. Then we worked together until the final couple of laps were we had a lead of 4min over the bunch and we started to attack each other but nobody got away and I thought about trying to go as I knew I would struggle to contest a sprint but we had been away all race and my legs were suffering. So as we came down to the final straight it was a big headwind and we s-bended all over the road and finally began to sprint with about 200 metres to go where I tried to sprint but was nowhere near as strong at sprinting as the people I was up against and finished in 6^th place. Although the people to beat me were two Australians that are current World Champions at team pursuit and points on the track and the Welsh and English men are European champions at team pursuit so I was up against it to do well in a sprint. Then the final day of competition started and it was the Criterium in the centre of Douglas. This race was going to be hard as it was an 800metre course, very windy and wet, and some mats covering tram lines to cross. We had a big warm up as we knew it would be flat out from the start as it was a shortish course so we had to be ready to race. As we lined up and they blew the whistle it was flat out and I was on the limit first couple of laps till I got going and put myself in the front group that formed of about 7, there was a fair bit of carnage in the early laps on the corners with plenty of people sliding out. Then as we got settled there was an Australian about 10 seconds up the our group which had me, another two Australians, Englishman, Welshman, South African, Canadian and a boy from isle of man. So our group was 8 and we ended up lapping everybody else so we were the only ones in the race. It was quite a tactical race as the Australians put someone up the road all they had to do was cover the counter moves which they did well and coming into the final few laps the Aussie was still up the road and our group was still 8 people. So on last lap I moved up and put myself towards the front coming out the last bend and sprinted flat out and finished the race in 5^th place which I was pleased with as it was such a crazy race. So that was the racing done and I could then chill out a bit and we went to watch some of the other competitions such as the boxing which was good to cheer on Scotland! Then the next day we had a cultural day and went for a ride in a steam train and a castle which was a good day and got a chance to find out how the other sports got on and we did well winning a lot of medals so was good trip for team Scotland. Then we finished off with the closing ceremony which was a good laugh and finally our journey home the next day which wasn’t as bad as the journey to Isle of Man. So all in all it was a great experience and a good trip and would like to thank all the people that made it happen and Mark MacKay and Graeme Herd for looking after us cyclists and to the rest of team Scotland for looking after everyone and the support. Thanks! J

World XCO Mountain Bike Championships

Hi all,
My most recent race was the World Championships and it was being held in Champery, Switzerland. After competing in the Val Di sole world cup the previous week we had travelled straight to Switzerland and we arrived there 10 days before my competitions. We were staying in a nice hotel a couple of miles from the course and in the middle of the Alps so the views were something else. Once we got there we had a couple of easy days before some 3-4 hour rides and plenty of laps of the course. The course was very good, I knew it before I arrived as I had raced a world cup on it last year and it was very similar, lots of roots quite hilly and for my race it was muddy. I had two races for worlds, the team relay was first on the Wednesday then on the Thursday it was my junior men's race. The team relay was something I hadn’t done before but it consisted of a 4 person team and each person did a lap of the course. Our team consisted of me, Kenta Gee, Tracy Moseley and Liam Killeen. We arrived at the course plenty of time before and got set up; our lead out man was Kenta, with me taking the second leg followed by Tracy then Liam finishing it off. It was exciting getting ready to race and once I finished my warm up I headed over to the start where Kenta tagged me and off I went it was one lap as hard as I could. I managed to reel in people and ended up having a race with two other juniors for my lap and came through in 7th and sent Tracy on her way. It was a very hard race effort but I was pleased with how I went and we ended up finishing in 9th which was great. 

I then headed back to the hotel to get some food and a good night’s sleep before the next day which was my race. My race was in the afternoon so we arrived at the team arena in plenty of time which meant I could sort out bottles and complete my warm up. I headed over to the pens 15minutes before my race start and chilled out waiting to be called to the line. The gridding was based on world rankings and my current world ranking was 9th and with 8 people on a row I would be the first man on the second row. As I headed to the start line I decided in the middle in between the two favourites for the race was my best place to start. My race was 4 laps of the course plus a start loop and the field was just over 100 people.

They counted down through the minutes then with 15 seconds to go I was ready, The start was crazy with people trying to fit through gaps that didn’t exist and taking some crazy lines but I stayed towards the front and out of trouble. The race began to split up the main climb and as we entered the first decent I was third wheel which was perfect. Then as I headed down the decent I came round a corner to find the two boys that were ahead laid on the ground tangled in each other so a quick bunny hop over his bike and I was in the lead! This meant I had a good view of the decent and I was able to build up some time and when I finished the start loop I found myself with a 20second lead, ya beauty! I then wasn’t sure what to do because I knew it was a long race and we were only on lap one so didn’t want to get carried away but at the same time didn’t want to hang about. I eventually got reeled in by the French national champ about half way through the lap and I followed him for the rest of the lap but I couldn’t hold his wheel as he attacked up the main climb. Then at the end of the lap I got caught by another French cyclist and a Costa Rican which was better as I could follow their wheels and I managed to get in a rhythm through all the roots and mud. We stayed together for the rest of that lap but by the end the French boy had punctured and the cost Rican drifted about 15 seconds ahead with the French leader now about 50 seconds up. I kept up my own pace then for half a lap then got joined by a Swiss cyclist and a New Zealand to form a group of three. I was able to settle into this and going into the last lap we were catching the Costa Rican cyclist. As we climbed the final hill The New Zealand boy attacked and I tried to follow which dropped the other Swiss boy and put me in 4th but I couldn’t hold the New Zealand’s wheel and he rode across to the Costa Rican who was still just 10seconds ahead but they began to race for silver and bronze and I dangled further back. I tried to make up time on the final decent so I couple be in with a chance of a medal but I wasn’t able to bring them back but I was still very pleased as I crossed the line to take 4th place at the World Championships. 

Link to report with results and photos, http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci-mountain-bike-world-championships-cm-2/junior-men-cross-country/results
I have a couple more races left this season with the Youth commonwealth games coming up this week followed by the final national round.

Thanks for reading, Grant

Val Di Sole World Cup

Since my last report I have had the final world cup round which was being held in Val Di Sole, Italy. I travelled to the race on Wednesday and since my race was on Sunday morning which was a change from usual I had a couple of days on my hands before the race. I spent these days doing a couple of laps of the course so I knew it well and some steady rides on the hilly roads. The course was really hilly and rather technical. It was also covered in a lot of dust which was something I wasn’t quite use to riding in as it made it very slippy and was a bit of a challenge. As I lined up on the start line early on Sunday morning I was front row and looking forward to the race. It started very fast and there was a lot of jostling of position through the start loop but I held a top 3 position for the start loop then when we got on course I broke away into the lead group of 4 of us. The pace was flat out first lap and I lost contact with the front group towards the end of the lap and stayed in 4th for a couple of laps about 20sconds off second place. I then got caught by a Spanish cyclist and I was able to use his wheel and we stayed about 30seconds behind the podium. As we approached the finish he was stronger than me and I couldn’t hold on to him on the final climb and he opened up a 10second lead which put me into 5th which is where I finally finished. It was a hard race on a hard course but I pleased with my result. Next up is the Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland.

Thanks for reading,

Grant