Getting started and winter training
In November 2012 a group of us met at the Dolphin Hotel in St Ives . We had recognised that we just didn’t have a flow through of support for our young riders to race aged between 16-23 years .
We had no budget, no kit, and generally no idea, but we decided to try and get a team containing young talented riders so they could train and race together.
It was decided (with the parents and lads present) we would get together in Jan 2013 to start training as a group. Luke Hattersley (18), Felix Barker (18), Charlie Bratt (16), Alan Trolove (18) would be our riders to start with from a logistical and financial point of view
So early January 2013 on a cold wet Sunday morning we met up for our first training session- I quickly realised I had no chance with the pace on my winter bike and quickly retired to await their return.
The following week- I took my car and loaded it with the lad’s spare kit. The weather was poor, harsh sleety conditions. Thankfully the weather didn’t put the lads off, and I soon found out how cold it was when Felix punctured on a Fen road, open to the elements. This quickly highlighted how crucial a support car was going to be when winter training.
Over the weeks a number of guests riders came out with us – Ben and I quickly realised, we had to keep to a small group for safety reasons. Therefore,we set a bench mark that any new riders had to be able to maintain a good “A group Pace” from the club runs before they could come out and train with us. Keeping everyone together on training rides, became one of our main priorities given we were training on the road and I had overall responsibility to the lads’ welfare.
The weeks quickly passed, and the lads were doing their best to get funds together for their own club kit, entry fees, equipment and travel to races .
Racing in the spring
Races started in early March. Luke, Felix, Alan and Charlie did well in the Crest, but we all learned a lot from this race. Expectations were brought down to earth, and the lads realised it was going to be a long season which required good training and prep.
The lads selected certain races but locations and categories limited us getting in as a team. The lads were different cats, coupled with studying, travel and work commitments it wasn’t always easy to enter the same events as a team. The lads began trying different events and began concentrating on individual aims and objectives but where possible they continued to train together as often as time allowed. Which became very rare during the lads commitments to exams.
The most impressive thing I began to notice was the lad’s dedication and attitudes. This soon became apparent when Alan had a bad crash and injured both knees which would halt his racing for a couple of months. He could have easily thrown in the towel but stuck at it and came through his injury.
Luke began banging TTs and looked stronger and stronger every time I saw him race. Which culminated in his impressive National Junior 25 mile TT. He revelled in the limelight and came across really well during a BBC interview. Recently Luke managed to convince the organiser of the Friday Welwyn Track League to let him ride, despite having never raced on the track before. Being put in the ‘Senior B’ events to start with he made light work of winning 2 of the races, getting 2nd and 3rd in the ‘Senior A’ races. Luke plans on making it a regular Friday night race whilst juggling his new work commitments. Luke is also preparing and hopes to compete at the national individual pursuit championships in Manchester in August. He even managed a great win at Ixworth and I could see it lift his confidence.
Felix was knocking on the door of a road race win with a couple of 2nds. So we were really pleased when he won the New Circuit of Bedfordshire on 20th July 2013. He had been so close in many races so it was a perfect reward for all his effort.
Felix has now become a 1st Cat rider after getting 3rd Place in the Harby Road race last weekend- which is a tremendous reward for all his hard work whilst completing his A levels only a few weeks ago.
Alan is now competing is races again having got over his injury and we look forward to seeing him in Milton Keynes.
Charlie is the newest and youngest member of the team, but he is getting stronger and stronger. Although he hasn’t won any races he is learning a lot from his racing, and I have seen him do very well at the Races in Rockingham against some very strong 1st cat riders. Charlie sometimes forgets he is the youngest with bags of time on his side if he keeps up his great attitude. One to watch!
The future
Looking forward the lads have managed to enter many individual events to date and will continue to work and race hard. Felix and Alan have entered a two day race in Milton Keynes as part of a 5 man team – Captained by our Chairman Lee along with talented Kieran Brady who would be a great new addition to our team (one day!). I wish them all well and look forward to hearing of more success.
On a final note -the guys have a great attitude , they have all had to juggle training and racing with a mixture of GCSEs and A levels. In Alan’s Case a full time apprenticeship. It’s been a pleasure getting to know them all and watching them race, and I’m sure they will all keep progressing if they maintain their current attitudes and commitments.
I would also like to thank like Tom Caldwell and Lee Desborough for their help especially in the kit department!
A special mention must go to Ben Price at Kinetic Velo who has helped guide, motivate and teach race techniques to the lads. On behalf of all the lads – Thanks Ben
If anyone could help with sponsoring the lads I would been very happy to discuss.
Simon Bywater
U23 Academy “Powerful beyond Measure”
