Woke up early today and went to Bournemouth to race their last winter series to get some practice in for the first regional next Sunday at Andover.
Racing went better than expected and I actually felt better every race instead of worse which I usually do! I was well off the pace of the National riders but I felt like I got closer every race so I can’t complain about that seeing as I have had so little bike time this year and also not been able to get to the gym either!
I only made the b final but managed to get a really good gate and led from start to finish which I am happy about.
I am still not very confident about how well I will do this season but I am in a better place than I thought that I was.
The new frame also felt really good so I am happy to stay on it until the Curtis is ready. I am also happier on it now it has the higher bars on it too as it felt way better out of the gate and on the track and I didn’t feel so over the bars.
Racing today highlighted how I need to work on my pumping again as I really struggled to carry speed around the track which I will really need to do when racing at all levels if I want to do well this year!
Another positive is that I am finally getting used to the 36×16 gearing that the Curtis is built to use so after another 5 months of racing on it I should be fine by the Worlds when I have the Curtis frame built up.
I was thinking of getting my Onyx back hub built up for the start of the season but I think that I am going to stick on the Profile elite hub for a bit longer to try and build up some more fitness and skill before I start to cheat again with the Onyx hub! I am not really worried about my results at Manchester as I have never ridden there before so I am not expecting to do very well there anyway so I think that I will wait and get the wheel built up ready to use it at the Cyclopark National in April.