Blog 6

It’s hard to know where to start with this... sorry that the updates have been a bit slow.  I have been all over the place recently with racing and travelling. We have been racing twice a week most weeks, all over Italy and even up in eastern Belgium for Liege.

               

Team Presentation

So starting off from where I left the last blog, I have had lots of racing. I have competed in 3 UCI 1.2's and 1 Italian National (U28) race. These races have been incredibly tough and a huge learning curve for me. I haven't had the best luck in these races either. I had a mechanical issue in Collechio and a crash in Liege Bastogne Liege. Most recently I've came down with a cold meaning I missed GP Venderiano and GP Libraziano. This has been a bit frustrating. However, on a positive note I was very happy to get round my first Italian national - Vincenza Bionde. The parcour for this race suited a sprinter and the race was really fast averaging 45kph for 170km! It gives me confidence for the races I have soon.

 

Dressed up for Belgium weather

Aside from the racing, I have gained a ton of new experiences along the way. It's hard for me to even remember all of them which is crazy as it’s less than a month since my last blog! My journey to Liege in the van with Flavio and Owen was certainly a trip I’ll never forget for the tremendous scenery on route. Driving past Lake Como and then through Switzerland was just awesome.

Probably the most memorable event for me would be following my crash in Liege. I was out of the race, riding by myself, in the middle of the Ardennes in the cold, rain and wind. I was following little yellow signs for the finish and questioning my sanity whilst shivering away (it was just 6 degrees and I’d left Italy at 26 degrees!). Anyway, before I could get lost, I was picked up by the guys who were collecting the signs for the race. I flagged them down, used my best French and jumped in to the van with my bike. It certainly made a very entertaining journey back to the Finish. Safe to say I soon forgot about my race with these lads. After some very exuberant driving, a few cans of Jupiter later, we arrived. It was late and I arrived in a very different manner to how I’d planned on the Start Line that morning!

Crash in Liege Bastogne Liege. Note my red Zappi leg in left ditch!!

I feel very accustomed to the Italian culture now and it's felt like I've lived out here for ages. It is very different to the UK. I appreciate each for different reasons. I feel the Italian culture suits me pretty well with everyone seeming to constantly be moving at 200kph. Also it's fair to say I enjoy Italian gelato and coffee a bit too much. The town in which we are staying seems to feel a little more alive each weekend as more and more businesses open up for the season. Only problem is Italian weather has been treating me a bit too well because I was in for a shock with how cold I felt in Belgium. It’s definitely making me soft being out here.

We have enjoyed a few chilled out evenings in Rimini which has been a laugh, be it mostly at Paul’s expense for having a few too many…. Going to each race in a different location lets you explore new areas for a brief period most weekends. We have been to lots of picturesque towns and fabulous cities such as Verona. It's been great to take in some breath-taking scenery as well. My favourite of which was still passing the Italian lakes on our way up into Switzerland on route to Liege.

Stunning Scenery

Ciao for now

Blog 5

First update from Italy! I’m very happy to now be in Italy after a long old trip across from Barcelona to Rome, then a mega drive up to Igea Marina where we are based. It was a long few days of traveling including getting lost in Barcelona IKEA with Jack and a delayed 28 hour ferry crossing. Eventually and thankfully, we reached our base on the North East coast of Italy near Rimini.

The day after we arrived in Italy, we went straight off to our first race which was Montecassiano an U28 National. I was very apprehensive ahead of this race knowing how hard Italian racing is and how big a jump junior racing was to this level. It was a rolling course especially in the second half of the race which switched to a hillier circuit. I was pretty happy with how I did lasting for 149 of 167km (only 35 finished out of 200 starters!). The racing here really is ‘full gas’!

Post-race we had a steady week getting to know the area and exploring Italian roads. Where we are based is a ghost town at the moment. It is a holiday destination and nothing is open until summer; it is quite bizarre walking around the town. Apart from this, the area is ideal for training; always starting on the flat before reaching the hills after 45mins on each ride. Also it was a great experience to visit the Pantani memorial. Surreal experience to pay respects to one of the best climbers that's ever lived! Another highlight of this week was getting to ride a strade bianche recce. It was a lot of fun pulling some shapes and sliding around on the gravel roads. It did make me pretty gutted to be missing this race as it would have been a lot of fun. 

 

Strade Bianchi recce

Strade Bianchi recce

The weekend of the Strade Bianche when the other boys were racing, I was placed in a tough section, with wheels in hand, in case of punctures. Unfortunately, most of the boys suffered punctures. All in all, I think they had a great experience in racing it. It looked as though they had been to war post-finish! After the race, I have to give a big thanks to Owen’s Aunties for inviting me out for the night for my 19^th Birthday. I had an ace evening out in Old Rimini which almost made up for the disappointment of not riding the Strade Bianche. 

The last few days we have just come off a tough block of training. We have had 2 big days out in the mountains. It was great for me being new to the area; exploring the new roads and scenery was ace. It was particularly cool, winding our way up to San Marino. Mind you it was hard to take much in, digging deep up that climb! I am pretty happy with the way my legs are coming along during this block. I am really looking forward to getting stuck into my next Italian race soon. 

Ciao!

Blog 4

I am writing this as I come to the end of my time in Spain for pre-season training. I've got a few races under my belt now ; some Spanish regionals and some Nationals. This has just wetted my appetite to go and get stick in to a packed Calendar of Italian National and UCI races.

In an early Break at Don Benito

Picking up from where I left the last blog, the team has since competed in Don Benito. This was a Spanish National Race that was over a flat course with one kick half way around the course. My job for the day was to try to get in the early moves and to help our team sprinter, Scott Auld. We did well in the race with Ben Hardy getting the Green Jersey and Scott sprinting to a great 9th place. All in all, a very successful trip! It was also great to race as a proper unit, riding as a team, all working together. We have since competed in another two Spanish regionals.

These races are quite deceptive as they seem easy on the face of it only being 70 odd km. However, they are 'full on' and highly competitive. We've managed to organise well as a team, especially in the most recent race to really thin the field out and dominate, which is good for morale. I feel like these races will have got my legs going, ahead of giving them the first major punishment in Montecassiano our first Italian national on the 19th March.

Currently, we have come off a pretty intensive block of training so we have all felt pretty knackered but hopefully these hard days will stand me in good stead ahead of the start of the Italian season.

We have been very lucky with the weather compared to the first block I spent here in Spain. The temperature has been consistently 24+ degrees this last week. This has made the long days all the more enjoyable topping up the suntan. My legs are definitely starting to feel the benefit of the big workload with 5200km of riding under my belt so far in 2017. 

Anyway, enough of the 'on the bike' stuff. As seriously as we train, we always have time for a laugh and a bit of down time. In the last month we've had a few days enjoying taking in the picturesque surroundings of old Altea becoming regular tourists for the day. We've also had a few evenings in Benidorm.  I don't think they need much more explanation...... We have also enjoyed a nice chilled day at the beach which was nice to take in the sunshine. All in all, it's been a very good month and I feel in good stead ahead of the packed Calendar that is about to meet me on the horizon.

Ciao!

2017 - Blog 3 (VIP guests!)

I had a good week back in Wales catching up with my family but also cracking on with some solid rides on home turf. It was actually a strange feeling getting back to Calpe; it almost felt like home after spending most of 2017 there! I was greeted by Owen as I stepped off the plane in Alicante. We then headed off to our house together. It was a mint day and no need for the multiple layers that Id been wearing in South Wales.

The Zappi house was still fairly sparse as lots of the lads were coming and going over a 2 week period at the start of February. This meant that when we arrived, there were just 4 Zappi riders and 2 guests in the house. It was real 'chilled out' week, which was nice.

This great old Spanish guy on an electric bike was with us for 10 minutes

Last weekend, I had my first race of 2017. It was a 70km regional race and the first tester of the legs this year. We woke up at the crack of dawn on race day to ride the 47km to the race, hit a pre-race expresso, then cracked on with the race. After the race, we had a fair bit more riding and efforts to do; it was a big old day (195km) !

Anyway, back to the race. The pace was pretty fast but nothing too crazy. It certainly opened up the lungs and that's for sure. The best moment of the race for me came when at a steady point in the race, I looked across to my left and did a double take - it was Johnny Brownlee! He then looked across at me and asked "are all bike races this sketchy?" After answering this and having a quick chat, I caught up with him and brother Alastair post race. They were really 'down to earth' and it was great talking to them. I found it very inspiring as I have quite a link with triathlon as my dad was a top level triathlete. Back to the race, another highlight was the finishing loop. It was the same as that used in the Tour of Valencia the previous week when Tony Martin took the win. It was a 5 minute climb followed by a descent to the finish. I managed to finish in the front split in 26th place. I was fairly content with this to start off the season.

Great to meet Johnny and Alastair Brownlee

This week started steadily but the latter half has been pretty hard with a few big days and lots of efforts. I'm writing this with very heavy legs. Tomorrow we have our next Spanish regional race in Benidorm so I'll be back with an update soon.

Ciao

2017 - Blog 2

Pretty quickly after finishing off my first blog out in Calpe with Zappis Racing Team, we got into our first training block. We did a 700km week with various styles; mainly base work. It was a bit of an eye opener and very different to the style of training that I am accustomed to. The lifestyle is also pretty full on with little chance to take a breather. As well as the cycling we also experienced lots of other things e.g. straight after a 6 hour ride we went to Calpe to get thrown in the deep end with a conversational Spanish lesson. This was interesting to say the least. The room looked like a scene from an episode of Benidorm! Other experiences include the foods I've tried and I'll be honest some I never want to eat again.

Unfortunately, the weather deteriorated so we were forced off the bike to do other alternative exercise to keep us going. It wasn't so bad but dragged after a week. Madness when you go to sunnier climes and the area gets their worst weather in over 4 decades! Also, during this week I picked up a sickness bug and couldn't eat which wasn't ideal. Looking back, the timing was a blessing in disguise as I didn't miss much bike work.

The next week we had another block starting with intensity and then transferring to endurance. My body was feeling 'beat up' and I took the best part of the week to get my legs back into the swing of things. On the flip side, the weather had vastly improved and we had some awesome rides towards the tail end of the week. We ventured deep into the mountains. We were still encountering snow and debris left by the previous weeks crazy weather. It was cool to take in the roads used by The 2016 Vuelta including the Port de tudons. After these good few days of exploring the mountains, we had a couple of easy days. It was nice to refresh the body before the most epic ride of them all......

We all knew it was going to be a big day but this was something else! A 7 hour 30 minutes, 240km epic. Firstly firing along the coast on the bumper of Zappi's Passatt. Then trekking into the hills to make our way back around the mountains in a vaguely homeward direction. We took in various landscapes - big towns like Benidorm (what a place....), then through wasteland as we headed towards the mountains. To be honest, at this stage I was more preoccupied looking at the wheel in front of me or the car bumper than the scenery. As we climbed, the roads became more and more interesting with great descents as our rewards after each climb. These roads could be compared to scalextrics for cyclists. As we crested what we thought to be the last mountain at over 1000 metres above sea level, our spirits were high. We knew it was 30 km of downhill towards home. As we were half way down the descent, the road disappeared in front of our eyes. We had no option but to turn around and climb another 5km to head the LONG way home! What a day...

This ride concludes my first month with Zappi's. There have been a lot of new experiences that will definitely stick with me. As I write this it's around 5am in Alicante airport fuelled by 'de-caff' coffee waiting for my flight home. Looking forward to getting back to see my family and friends - however the weather doesn't look too inviting compared to current weather reports from the boys in Calpe.

Ciao!

2017 - Part 1

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who helped me during 2016 to get me to where I am now. Thank you to Welsh Cycling, Sport Wales Gym, Wiltshire Sport, Velocity Globalbike, Hotset UK and of course, family and friends.

The trip to Spain for Zappi Race Team's pre season training started bright and early for me, leaving Wales and crossing the Severn bridge well before sun-rise. It was a pretty long drive down to Portsmouth to meet up with the team and saying goodbye to my parents before getting on the 24 hour ferry crossing to Bilbao. This long boat journey was a good chance to catch up with the lads. 

Once we got close to the Spanish coast after a surprisingly good sleep we went out onto the boat deck and were greeted by wall to wall blue sky. It was nice to finally see land but it also soon dawned on me that I really was embarking on the next step of my cycling career. It's an exciting prospect but also a long way off and a few thousand hours of training and racing between me now and becoming a Pro. 

Once we got off the ferry we set about the long drive across Spain quickly leaving the greenery of the Basque Country for the barren bare landscape of mid Spain before finally arriving in Calpe, 6+ hours later in the night. The next morning after waking up, we were greeted by fantastic views from our house. This was all well and good but we soon discovered there was a price to pay for the views; a 3km climb with a 25% driveway to top it off at the end!

The first day was a chance for me to set up my mint new ride for the year, the Colnago concept. After getting this sorted we set off on our first ride; 3 hours of exploring the local roads. This area has great roads such as the Col de Rates which we have ridden most days. It is also great to see so many Pro riders along the way on these rides. We've seen the likes of BMC, CCC and Quickstep daily.  

The first few days were pretty chilled just riding the 2 long days of travelling out of the legs. It was also a good opportunity to get used to the area and get used to the unique Zappi lifestyle/regime. Now we are all settled in, we are going to start on our first block of real training. 

Keep you updated

Ciao

Team Launch

Last weekend I went down to Oxford for the launch of Zappi 2017 Race Team. It was a good opportunity to meet up with my new team mates and to chat with supporters of the team. The day began with some medical testing to ensure that we are all fit and well ahead of the coming race season. We then went to the team gathering where all of Flavio's teams were introduced- junior men's, women's and our U23 team.

It was also great to check out our new Colnago Concept team bikes, with some great personalised touches. They look fantastic and I cannot wait to wack a leg over it in January. I have to give a huge thanks to Windwave who have enabled us to acquire these Italian stallions along with Aero helmets and glasses from BBB.

During the day we found out more information about the year ahead including our race calendar. We start the year training in Calpe, southern Spain from January till March. Then we go across to Italy. The race schedule looks amazing with a possible 60 races including 20+ UCI races. We will be racing all over Europe. I am looking forward to experiencing different styles of racing.

Another big thanks has to go out to the team supporters and most importantly Flavio Zappi who has been super busy putting together such a great programme for us lads. Really excited about the upcoming year now; cant wait to jet off to Calpe!

Forza 2017!