Well it’s been several months now since my last literary venture into the world of cycle racing. So before I get into the nitty gritty of my plans and ambitions for this year, there is abit of housekeeping to be done. 2012 seems to have nearly matched last season for drama already, I seem to have experienced more highs and lows in just a few short days than even George Michael. First came the excellent news from the Dave Rayner Fund that they would once again be helping me this year financially. This kind of Funding is a great relief to me and around 15-20 other promising riders nationally, helping to Pay for accommodation and food whilst I live abroad. The work that the fund does in order to raise such huge amounts of Money, all with the aim of helping young riders turn professional outside the rigours of British cycling cannot be underestimated. I even played a small part in fund raising myself by helping in the auction of a couple of signed Jerseys at the annual Dave Rayner Dinner. So there we go, the euphoric high in knowing that I had the funds to go abroad.
The 6th January 2012 was a memorable day for me for a couple of very different reasons. Firstly it was my final day of paid, full-time employment down at the Job centre. My colleagues were as always very generous and wished me the best for the remainder of the year. In many ways I will miss the occasional moment of office banter but I will be glad to see the back of bureaucracy and the daily grind of hearing my alarm clock go off at an ungodly hour. So as I began to fit the pieces of the puzzle together and build my life as a full time athlete I received frankly the worst news I’d had in a long time. I got home the very day I’d finished work to find my trusty steed of a bike had been stolen as I slept. I had never had anything stolen before, certainly nothing so close to my heart. My favourite bike, My specialized sl had been stolen along with a couple of sets of racing wheels and a nice pair of Oakley Sunglasses. For a short while I reminisced about all the times I had relied on that bike to get me home on a long training ride, The way the bike had been like a brother to me as I spent most of my racing life on that frame and spent hundreds of man hours lovingly cleaning it and many more hours riding it from the dales of Yorkshire to the rolling roads of Northern France and right through to the Bergs of Belgium. But no doubt the bike is now being flogged off the back of a rag and bone wagon by a Junkie for a fraction of its value. I will continue to peruse ebay every few nights in the vain hope that I will be re-united with my favourite bike.
I’m a philosophical man though, the glass for me is half full. With one hand my training bike has been taken, and fortunately with the other hand I built a splendid race bike just 2 weeks prior to the Burglary. The new machine is lighter, faster (or so I’m told, although I’m yet to reap the benefits) and…white. I have been forced to take the new bike out onto Yorkshires dirty lanes, clocking up miles, constantly tinkering with the position of everything like Jerpeto to Pinocchio in the hope that this bike will feel like my old trust worthy steed. So when will the pedals be turned in anger you ask? The cycling season is rapidly approaching. I Hope to be able to announce my team here within a couple of weeks once pen has been put to paper (or at least email sent to manager). My aim is to be in Belgium by the start of March with renewed ambitions, a better build up and no doubt many anecdotes of my attempt at international relations!
I wish you all a happy new year and every prosperity.
