Cadence National Series, and other races

Seems like ages since I last wrote a post on here, loads has happened in this time, as the racing has well and truly got underway. The results have also started to come in and I have finally got my 2nd Cat licence!

Salt Ayre

The team have been racing at Salt Ayre regularly and we have been able to put all of the work we have done on the training camps into practice. In the first round at Salt Ayre, we had a rider in every break and I got in the break that stuck, which then went on to lap the field. 8 riders went up the road including myself, Simon Wilson, Matt Cronshaw, Jack Pullar. It then split into a group of 4 which I was a part of, and went into the last lap clear. I was thinking how on earth am I going to beat 3 elite riders?! I had conserved my energy and let them attack each other for the last 60 minutes. We came round the final corner and the sprint kicked off & I started at the back of the 4 man group and soon went past 2 riders. I was coming up the inside of Cronshaw and gave it everything with it ending in a photo finish. The win went to Cronshaw (see picture below).

Photo Finish with Matt Cronshaw at Salt Ayre

Junior National Series (March 2012)
Last Sunday, I competed in the first round of the National Series. This was the biggest race of the season to date and it was very important for the team to make our mark on the Junior racing scene. We rolled into Aberganevy at around 9:00 am and were greeted by Gary Sadler (Team Manager) who gave us our new Carrera Helmets and Sunglasses. Thanks to Ken Jones for sourcing them for us, they look the business!
I was very nervous going into the race, as I wasn't sure what to expect; I went in open minded and knew I had to ride up near the front. The race was 70 miles long around a rolling circuit with a hard climb up to the finish. We were to have a man in everything that went up the road, Tom Armstrong got into the first break and stayed out there all day! The laps were ticking down and it was soon down to 3 laps left (30miles) & then the attacks started. I knew I had to get in one of them to then get across to the break which was looking likely to stay away. With 2 laps to go most of the ODP riders had left the bunch and were up in the break. I managed to bridge across with Chris Lawless and we quickly got up to the break. There were a few solo attacks on the last lap which saw the 3 riders stay away on their own to the finish. The break was tired and wasn't going to chase them down. I was feeling really good and knew I just had to wait until the final climb as the 3 riders weren't coming back. The sprint kicked off about 200m from the top/finish and quickly saw the break in pieces I finished 5th which I was really pleased with!!! It was a great day, all round, weather was good, new kit, and a great team performance. Hopefully I can carry my form into future National Series races, the next being the Tour Of The Mendips.



Me crossing the line 5th At the First Round of the National Series



New Carrera Razor helmet, how I put my name on it below...

This weekend we received our team kit from Bioracer, it looks amazing! Thanks to Ken Jones from Onimpex-Bioracer for designing and sourcing the kit. I spent most of yesterday afternoon putting my name in shorts and jerseys. I got creative when putting my name on my new Carrera Razor helmet. How I did it... Printed my name out, cut around it and stuck it onto double sided sticky tape. Then stuck it to the helmet and put 3-4 coats of clear nail varnish over the top to waterproof it. I think it worked quite well, what do you think?




 

Ken Jones with the new kit

The teams next big race is the Gorey 3 day in Ireland. For some of the team it is our/their first stage race, I will keep you posted with how we get on via twitter (@jamesjosephking) and my next blog. Also thanks to everyone who has supported the Mountivation Academy to date, especially Gary Sadler (Team Manager) who has worked non-stop getting everything sorted ahead of Gorey.

Thanks for reading

James

First Road Race Of 2012- Clayton Velo Spring Classic

Hello

Its been a few weeks since I last posted on my blog and a lot has happened during this time. I have been on another Mountivation Boot Camp, raced every Tuesday at the track league, and raced my first Road Race of the year.

Today (Sunday 26th Feb) I competed in the Clayton Velo Spring classic along with my Mountivation team mates. This was our debut outing as a team and we all had a great ride working well together. Matt Flynn and Tom Armstrong got in an early 3 man break and stayed out there for 6 laps!!! This was great to have Mountivation and Bioracer colours out in the front of the race for so long. After 6 laps they got reeled in, and shortly after the Elites caught our Junior group. The race picked up even more speed! A few more attacks went up the road but all came back fairly quickly. With 4 laps to go I was expecting something to go and and a break of 15 riders got a small advantage I knew I had to get across to this and when Dean Downing (of Rapha Condor Sharp) attacked to bridge across (with 3 to go) I jumped onto his wheel. This was exciting for me as I was racing with a rider I look up to and watch on the T.V! We were going full gas to catch the break and another Rapha and Herbalife rider jumped across to us. We got close to catching but never quite made it then with two laps to go Gary (Mountivation Team Manager) shouted that I was first Junior, it gave me a boost and I started to work even harder to stay away. The other riders had team mates in the break and knew it was too late to bridge across the gap. Dean said to me "Don't panic we'll make sure we get you across the line as 1st Junior", so we pressed on and I felt more relaxed and started to work even harder. We opened up a gap on the peloton and never looked back to the finish. Great result for me in my first road race of 2012 finishing as 1st Junior!




Me in the 4 man chasing break with Dean Downing!



About to cross the line, hard race! 1st Junior


This was the first race we have raced as a team. We have practised race scenarios on the boot camps and now was time to put it into practise. Great team effort by Matt, Tom, Josh, James, Jack, and I. And a huge thanks to Gary, Phil, Henry, Amanda, and all of our parents for supporting us!

Last weekend was the second Mountivation Boot Camp held at Arnside. The full team was here including Josh Knights from the Isle of Man and newly recruited team member James Knox. We did loads; riding, cooking, race analysis, Spanish, mock interviews, bike mechanic workshops, turbo sessions, and team bonding. It was pretty cool riding with a UK pro team's team car with us on day 2, thanks Peter Kay! We have gelled really well now as we have all got to know each other, and all the work from the boot camp has paid off in the first race. Thanks to everyone there that supported us, it was a really great weekend.




Turbo Session



Dinner Time

 All team members have been riding the track over the winter and Matt, Jack, and James have been getting some top results on Fridays securing many wins. Tom and I have been racing the Tuesday night league where we have also been getting some good results. I have had some more success on the track getting a few more wins and being promoted to the top group on a Tuesday. Unfortunately I took a tumble on the track last week but was fine and continued on for the rest of the night. To date my best result in the top group on a Tuesday is 3rd in the 10 mile scratch two weeks ago. Hopefully in the few weeks left at the track league I can grab some more good results. Tom has been riding strong in group 1 getting some good results, and can ride an awesome Devil!



New Mountivation Team Wheels

 Thanks again to all of the sponsors, Mountivation, Onix bikes, Bioracer, CNP, Purple Harry, Schwalbe. The Onix Black RH Pro bikes are due in within the next 2 weeks, can't wait to ride fantastic piece of kit! The Bioracer team issue kit is due in the next fortnight also, I have seen the design at the boot camp and it looks amazing! I'm looking forward to using/testing these fantastic products over the course of the season.

Also follow me on twitter, https://twitter.com/#!/JamesJosephKing , @JamesJosephKing .
Thanks for reading, next post will be after the Eddie Soens next Saturday, hopefully we can have another good performance, good luck team Mountivation!

James

Mountivation Junior Cyclist James King's Blog

Hello,

I'm James King, 17 years old from Richmond. I attend QE Sixth Form College in Darlington studying Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, and Biology. I started cycling 2 years ago after being a county cross country runner. Last year (2011) was my first racing season, which was very exciting! I went from strength to strength throughout the season growing in ability and confidence. I have represented the North East at the Inter Regional Track and Road Championships which were both great experiences. The highlight of the season was the All Ireland National Championships in Roscommon, where I finished 2nd in the National Road Race and 5th in the National Criterium. I really enjoyed my first racing season and my results at the Nationals topped off a successful first year. I'm looking forward to the 2012 season with the Mountivation Junior Development Academy!

I have raced on the track at the MRTL over the winter and on my first Friday night I won all 5 races. Following more wins on the track I have been promoted to the MRTL Tuesday night track league, which I will start on Tuesday 31/01/2012.

I was invited to join the Mountivation Junior Development Academy towards the end of 2011, which is a huge opportunity and I am really looking forward to the 2012 race season. I have been on several training camps/sessions with the team and have just got back off one today, which involved lots of race preparation! Last week was the first over night camp in Arnside where we were on the bikes twice a day (ride/turbo) doing various scenarios, on the first turbo session I managed to crash on the turbo! My bike flew out of the turbo doing an effort which was a bit scary but quite funny to look back on! We also learnt some Spanish, learnt to cook, as well as a bike maintenance workshop. The weekend was a real sufferfest, but really enjoyable thanks to everyone who was there to support us, Phil Leigh, Gary Sadler, Julian Rudd, Ken Jones, Henry Iddon, Mike Jackson. Henry Iddon our team photographer took some great pictures of the Mountivation boot camp and put together a short video which shows exactly what the camp was about, take a look below.

http://vimeo.com/35578949

I am really looking forward to racing with my new team mates Jack Sadler, Matt Flynn, Tom Armstrong, Josh Knights, and James Knox, and really appreciate the support from Dr Phil Leigh (Team Director), and Gary Sadler (Team Manager & Coach)

Check out Jack and Matt's blogs. http://jacksadlersblog.blogspot.com/ , http://matt-flynn-cyclist.blogspot.com/

I am also very excited to be riding an Onix bike this season, all the testing and effort that has gone into the bikes to make them perfect is unbelievable (and they look amazing too!), can't wait to ride my new bike-(http://onixbikesonline.com/). Bioracer are providing us with kit, the design and quality couldn't be any better, fantastic stuff, thanks Ken Jones- (http://www.onimpex.co.uk/). Mountivation are the main sponsor (http://www.mountivation.com/) They have also recently sponsored the CiCLE classic which is the only UCI event in Britain. I will be able to tell you about further sponsors in the near future.
Being part of the Mountivation Junior Development Academy will provide an ideal opportunity for me to develop as a rider and contribute to what will be a winning team in 2012!

Thanks for reading,

James