01/07/18
Had a really bad race this weekend which started when I fell off the side of the gate when my front wheel slipped and I landed on my bar on the stomach. I also had pretty hard motos but also got beaten by people I usually beat as well. I also discovered that the spacer on my bottom bracket had broken and was on the frame not in the space between the frame and the bottom bracket where it sholud be.
I also rode really timidly all day so didn’t even make the B final which I won last weekend and it was pretty much the same riders as last weekend. I finished second in the C final after hitting the gate and almost going over the bars so it wasn’t a total loss as I didn’t go over the bars at least!
A lot of work to do before the next regional!!!
02/07/18
Had to have a rest day today as my stomach was really sore and starting to bruise. I will try and ride tomorrow again to start working on everything!
Went to the gym after work at 2am and did 50 minutes on the exercise bike. I was going to do an hour on the exercise bike but my knee and stomach were sore and there was a guy being really annoying and banging weights and grunting loads so I called it a day early.
03/07/18
Woke up at 9 and my stomach was sore and when I looked the bruising has definitely come out. Gonna give it a bit more time before I ride as I want it to heal before the weekend.
I am going to give the gym a miss tonight too and go again tomorrow night and friday night to get 3 cardio sessions in a week.
Next week I will start weight training on Tuesday and Thursday nights too to try and get back into shape quicker. I want to try and do this for the next 2 months to see how much weight I can loose by the British championships in September.
I was talking to a friend with a lot of years of experience and he was saying that I will get more out of gaining strength in the gym than learning to spin as he says that I am more of a power rider than a spinner and to not fight it so I am going to give it a go.
I am also thinking of increasing my bike gearing to 38×16 instead of going down to 36×16 as I had planned. I will change the gearing on my Yess first and then get used to the 38×16 when training and then decide nearer the race at Bristol if I change the gearing of the Curtis or stay on the 37×16 that I am on now. I had felt the last couple of times that I rode at Bristol that my gearing was feeling a bit spinny so this may be the best option.
04/07/18
Took my park bike to the track today as I had my son with me so wouldn’t be able to get any training done. When I started riding my stomach started to hurt more so I stopped.
When I got home I took a look at my stomach in the mirror and found the bruising is really black now and my belly button has disappeared due to swelling.
I have decided not to do the gym tonight and am deciding if I go to the hospital to get it checked out or not.
07/07/18
After having most of the week off I got up early and went to Gates in Bath. I took it easy as my stomach was still hurting.
08/07/18
Got up at 6am and went to Shepton Mallet Skatepark and BMX track to have a play with my son it was really fun.
09/07/18
Got up early again this morning and went to Patchway and did first straights for a few hours.I think i have finally got a quick way through the straight so pretty happy. Now need to practice as much as possible for the next 2 weeks doing full laps.
Going to skip the gym again tonight as I am getting up early again tomorrow to ride at Shepton. I am going to take my cruiser and also my park bike to start to learn to ride park as well.
10/07/18
Got to Shepton Mallet a bit late this morning as I was tying to find my G-Form knee/shin pads only to find that one of them was actually in the shelter at the skatepark! Unfortunately only one though and the other one was no-where to be found unfortunately. I also only took my street bike as my cruiser had a puncture when I picked it up to load it in the car.
Had a little play in the skatepark and decided that today wasn’t the day to learn grinds and went onto the BMX track. It was a lot of fun even though being brakeless isn’t the best on a bmx track.
I have put the street bike back in the shed and I have got my Yess cruiser out ready to put in the car to use tomorrow.
My ankle was OK today although it is a bit sore now so I will see if I ride tomorrow or take a rest day.
I was going to get a gym session in on the way home but I think that I will leave it and rest up for tomorrow.
11/07/18
Had a rest day today as I had loads to do so didn’t have time to ride.
My new GForm pads arrived today with the forward Brake system to go on the Yess and a crank bolt for my Son’s bike.
12/07/18
Went to Shepton Track again today and took the Yess for a play as the Curtis front tyre was flat when I took it out of the car. I am guessing the tube popped due to the heat in the car as I forgot to take the bike out of the car!
Had a really good session I did over 20 laps of the track and I am now manualling all of the jumps apart from the table top. I have the last straight really fast and smooth now. It even rained a bit but the track was fine so it will definitely be my winter go-to.
13/07/18
Got up early this morning after less than 5 hours sleep and my body was really aching I am not sure if this is because of lack of sleep, riding yesterday or a bit of both. I think my legs and arms are due to riding Shepton as they were aching when I finished riding.
Went to Bath track to meet up with my friend Matt. Had to swap the inner tube out on the Curtis as it was still flat from the other day. Had a chilled session as I was really tired and not riding very well so I just did first straights.
Have someone interested in buying the Yess so I need to build it up with the parts that are currently on the Dialled 24″ and also the forward brakes as I want the Shimano brakes for the 20″ dialled as I want to build it up again.
This weekend I need to get all the bikes built ready to sell and get them on the internet. I am thinking that I will get my onyx hubs built onto new 20″ rims and use them on the 20″ and have a 20″ and a cruiser only for now. I want to get used to training more on the 20″ and doing more pump track and skate parks during the week and then riding the Cruiser on proper tracks at the weekends so that I don’t get so burnt out on riding the track as I have been.
14/07/18
Went to gates and had a pretty good time. I was snapping really well but loosing out down the first straight every time. Got someone to watch and they said that I was loosing out as I stopped peddling too early compared to the faster guys. I was given the tip to do the stat hill to the first jump peddling with the brake on to find out how many peddles I can get in before the jump and then to do it flat out counting to make sure I get the peddles in correctly.
15/07/18
Had the day off but took the GT to Bristol and sold it to one of the lads there who wants to double up for the brits this year. I didn’t take my bike to make sure I had a rest day.
16/07/18
Got up at 5:30 am and went to Patchway. I did 4 pump laps where I did the peddle count down the start hill to the first jump. I was only able to get 5 peddles in before the first jump as I start with my right foot forwards and ride with my left foot forwards. This means that I get one less peddle in than everyone else.
I then did 6 full speed laps with 5 minutes rest in between laps. I then did a few more first straights before I called it a day as I was feeling sick and dizzy from the full laps.
17/07/18
Had a rest day today as my left knee was sore from yesterday’s exertion. I will get back on it tomorrow.
18/07/18
Went to Shepton for a bit but I was really tired and a bit spaced out so I stopped after loosing concentration on the berm and almost riding straight over it!! figured it was better to stay in one piece.
19/07/18
Had another rest day and slept in.
20/07/18
Had another rest day to rest up for the weekend as we have the Bristol Regional.
21/07/18
Went to Bristol and did gates ready for the regional. Couldn’t get out if the gate quickly all day or ride the first straight properly!!! Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.
22/07/18
Did OK today. Gated really well but sucked on the first straight so bad that I was going backwards. Got a 3rd, 5th and 4th to make the semi’s. Got cut up after the first jump in the semi so pumped the rest of the track as I had already made the semi. Got it wrong in the final too so ended up pumping the majority of the track but still finished 7th so not too bad 🙂
Need to sort my head out I was really spaced out all week and not really riding flat out which was weird as I like the track!!
Going to work on riding flat out this week to see if I can get better for this weekends race.
23/07/18
Had an active rest day today. In my lunch hour I took a walk and did just over my 10000 steps for the day in the hour.
Planning on doing the same tomorrow and then hitting the track after work.
Have been really busy since the last post and didn’t really ride for the rest of the month apart from 29/07/18 when I did practice for the regional in Tiverton on the 30th. I didn’t actually race on the 30th as I broke my chain tensioner during gate practice so couldn’t ride.