The last few months tends to be the outdoor track season in Europe to coincide with summer. As summer is drawing to a close i thought it would be best to do a little summary of how things have gone.
First up was a trip to Australia in May for some indoor races. This trip was going to be a tight schedule, after arriving on the 21st we had racing planed for the 23rd in Melbourne then another flight to Adelaide for another four days of comps then straight back to Manchester. However the volume of racing and different competition to what we are used to in Europe would hopefully make the trip worth while.
The first ride in Melbourne went quite well after qualifying first it was good to know I had some good form after the long flight.
Things started to go wrong by the semi finals. After a bit of contact with another rider I fell off my onto my left side. Falling left opposed to right on a velodrome is never a very good idea as you have much further to fall due to the angle of the bankings. During the crash i took a bit of a knock to the head. After being quite confused after the crash it became clear I was concuss. After getting the all clear for anything serious from the hospital it was time for a few days rest. I was still hopeful we could salvage the last few days racing in Adelaide.
After a few more days of not really thinking straight and headaches it was time to get a check up from a sports doctor in Adelaide. After failing the concussion test i deemed not fit to race. I was advised to have more rest. Overall i was quite disappointed it was a long way for what was in the end little gain.
After a few more weeks of recovery it was time to go back out and race again. This time it was the Dublin GP. This was a good race to start back with as the competition was not as fierce as it normally is. Still i was really happy to come away with a first in the Kierin and a second in the Sprint. It was a nice confidence boost before moving on to the harder competitions.
The next competition on the schedule was the Derby Revolution. However due to the importance of this race for the endurance squad it quickly became known as the Derby Olympics. This was the first time this season that i was going to be able to do a Kilo in competition. The field on this occasion was quite heavily stacked with World Champion Francois Pervis in attendance. I’m happy to say that i won in a time of 1.01.1 just one tenth of a second off my P.B. I was really happy to take the win and also see i had some good form. With the British Champs a month or so away I was feeling good about trying to retain my British Title. In addition to the Kilo i also won second in the Sprint.
For the last race of the season it was off to Dudenhoffen in Germany. I was happy to be returning here, i won the sprint last year so i was feeling good about my chances. The first sprint session on the Friday was a bit of a wash out but after a four hour delay the weather improved we finally got on with racing. After qualifying fourth it wasn't really the best start but i did well to improve on my qualifying and win for a second year in a row. I was very pleased with this result of all the competitions over the winter this one had some very high quality riders competing. To top off the win in the sprint i also picked up a second in the Kierin. So it was great to win the sprint for a second year in a row but also improve on my result in the Kierin last year.
Next up is the British Championship where i will have quite the task defending four titles. However with the results we have had during the outdoor season i think i should be in a good place to defend the titles.