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 6th 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 11th 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 6th 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 5th 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
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