New frame ordered – Guess what it is

Well…
I’d seen them racing
Well…

I’d seen them racing at Hillingdon earlier this year, looking spick and span in matching team kit etc. So, I contacted them to ask whether there would be a new rider intake for 2013 in October, and on provision of my 2012 season’s racing results, I was invited to Newport Velodrome to undergo a selection process.

The invitees were watched on the track, mainly on technical ability, but also on stamina and speed, before an interview. They’d asked us to bring another copy of our Cycling ‘CV’s,’ so I made a real effort to make mine look nice, with photos, a personal statement outlining my goals and why I thought I’d suit the Vo2 development team. Nattily, I’d thought to print out two copies and put them in plastic folders, and gave one each to the two interviewers. If that didn’t get me in I don’t know what would. (!)

Later that week, I got the fantastic news that I’d been accepted, and would be riding with the team in 2013.

We had a road session down in Kent, where I was surprisingly strong, especially when we were asked to test ourselves on a hill. We had one more session in Newport, just to build up technical skills like riding shoulder to shoulder and in very tight formation, before breaking up again for the holidays.

We’ve got a few more sessions scheduled, including one more at the track, before the Team Launch at the Vo2 Sportive, which looks like its going to be a fantastic event, again in Kent.

We have little seminars after the road sessions, and in that first one, we talked about how to train effectively, how to taper for a big event, and goal setting. The team’s main race is the Junior Tour of Wales (JToW), in which they take a selection of u18’s over to the four day stage race and look after them as a pro team would. Massages, team bus, feed stops and kit preparation are all de rigeur.

That has become a real goal for me, although I’m going to have to put a lot of work in, building on all the miles I have put in since my season started on October 1st.

The team roles are assigned leading up to races, but it seems like for the first part at least, mine will be to ‘screw up’ the first part of the races, to set up the more experienced u23’s. Presumably, after I have screwed up enough races, I will have a chance to have a go myself, with other people screwing them up for me.

I don’t want a news story to be made about it just yet, but I’d gladly to a little series of Blog Posts throughout the year just to talk about what training I’m doing and how races go.

**Excited**