- Tim Torrie
A difficult mid-season
I have been absent from this for a long time. following the first few races of the season I began to struggle with my health and racing and on top of the mounting school work I received a heavy blow in the shape of very, very mediocre performances that reflected a mere shadow of my former condition.
I never expected undertaking A-levels to be quite as challenging, nor, did I expect that I would take them quite as seriously as I did. Hopefully the results on 16th of August reflect that. Following the completion of my exams, throughout which I was kept sane by the midweek racing at TLI's North Wealde series, I finally felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.
As the reasons for my drop in performance early in the year were not clear and chronic fatigue was queried, I, along with my coach decided that a slow return and build up back into a proper training load would be a less risky option. So here I am at the end of that long build finally feeling like a racing cyclist again.
The main national races throughout July were the Elite circuit series, these being a focus for the team. They are fast from start to finish and comprise an elimination from the back due to the short and technical nature of the courses. Though I did not perform to the level required, I knew it would always be difficult coming back into such a specific type of racing without any specific training. I ensured that I had every opportunity to do my best fighting for the front on the first few laps on every race. Sadly that was all my fitness would facilitate and I blew 10-20 minutes into each race. A hard schooling in a new discipline!
Stockton Grand prix was however a different story. Unfortunately the race was shortened due to a horrific crash involving multiple fractures and over 30 riders. Yet for the reduced course I was present at the front of the bunch, biding my time and waiting to make a move; sadly I never got the opportunity. A puncture removed me from the race and I had initially thought that was it, but I fought back to car 3 or 4 : virtually on the back of the bunch to only make a horrendous error in going to the left of the Madison Genesis team car( custom in the U.K. is to pass the convoy on the right, reverse to Europe) the Madison car also moved left and I was very lucky to escape with minor scrapes and a hell of a shock! I felt the incident summed up the season up tp now pretty well for me.
nevertheless with two big races remaining I am continuing to work hard and fighting to see if I can create something special in the final part of the year. After all anything can happen in a bike race.