I finished my last blog at the Hugh Dornan National B at Garelochhead, near Glasgow – a grippy race for my first National B. The following week I was ill and stopped training to try and recover to race at the weekend for the Knights Composites Round 5 in Penrith – the most local round in the series to me and a course which looked to suit my ability. Unfortunately I wasn’t back to full fitness in time  and decided not to race and allow myself time to recover aiming for round 6 – the National Circuit Champs and my local TT, the Alnwick 13 mile TT, a course which was similar in many ways to the Circuit Champs course and fitted nicely to give me an idea of my form ahead of the Circuit Champs. After a few days rest I began training again and my power crept back up to where it was prior to illness.

I went on to take the overall win at the Alnwick TT by 18 seconds, the result I was after as it was also my 17th birthday that day. I felt that the result gave me a confidence boost for the Circuit Champs as I knew I could push much harder over the distance.

The Circuit Champs was the first event I chose to race as part of my ongoing campaign for the Chris Boardman Trophy, it was on the V415 course near Filey, North Yorkshire. The course consisted of three main straights with a definitive drag halfway round the circuit, having done a quick recce beforehand I knew what the course demanded.

I was pleased to hear that I was the fastest Junior on the day by a 1:37 margin, which leads me in fine stead for the Boardman trophy. Having read some of the names on the trophy I was amazed at the pedigree of the riders on it and gives me some hope for what the future may hold; Alex Dowsett, Ryan Mullen, Ian Stannard to name a few.

My next race was the regional 25 mile champs, I wanted to go well as I’ve never had any results in a regional championships – meaning I couldn’t join clubmates at the end of season district prize presentation. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on my side and I punctured around seven miles in.

Since then I have had four weeks of no racing and focusing on training whilst revising for my end of year mock exams. As I write this I have just returned from Mallorca on a family holiday, I took my bike to keep me occupied and enjoyed a few training rides around the north-west side of Mallorca.

Events in the pipeline are mainly road races, I enjoy road racing and intend to race more next year in the Junior National Road series as well as National B events. I’m racing the Lothian Flyer 3/4 this weekend, where I’m hoping to gain enough points to get my second cat licence. Followed by my club event on the M18 course the weekend after, another local course which I’ve already raced this season to gain a win in the 2-up.

Other events of relevance include the National TTT champs which are also being held local to me this year, and I’m pleased to be racing with two team mates who are pretty handy at time trialling too.

Before signing out I’d like to thank the CTT for the continued support. Hopefully more to come, I’ll give another update before the National 10, thanks for reading.