Sunday 20 November 2011
A brief story of my cycling so far.........
Hello I'm Hamish Graham I'm 19 and I am from the North of England, sandwiched between the Yorkshire dales and the industrial North West. This blog is all about my cycling life, how I started, the people I meet through the sport, where I'm racing and where I'm training.
I began cycling thanks to my mum and dad, firstly starting in a child seat on the back, followed by a tandem, then to a trailer bike and finally on to my own solo bike. From been a sprog until i was 16 it was a case of going on family bike rides and doing a few sportives, my first big ride alone was when i was 15, completing the hilly 100 miles pendle pedal. Other long distance cycle rides ive done before i came into racing are the wicklow 200 where i met sean Kelly a hero of the sport, etape du dales, e2e and c2c with my dad, i didnt complete the whole of e2e but i rode 80% of every days ride.
As far as racing goes I didn't start racing until march 2009, my first proper race was a cycling development North West event in cockermouth, lake district. I had no idea about race tactics, pace or anything i lasted about 10 miles with the bunch but managed to finish the cold wet 55 miles race, obviously been the north it was wet!!!, but this didn't put me off and i entered more races, getting better everytime. Then i jumped in at the deep end, i went to do a 6 day Junior stage race in Ireland, county Mayo, hard man country!! this was my 5th race and boy did i know about it, 80 mile stages over hard climbs, bad weather and rough roads, but i loved it!!. So to the end of my 1st year racing my last race was my best, I pulled off the win in a bunch sprint and won £60, I'd hit the big time!!!
2010- I came into the year confident and up for racing well, my first race was a criterium in mallorca where got 5th, back in the uk my 2nd race was the same course as my 1st win and i missed doing the double by a tyre width!! So a very good start but it didn't continue i was there and there about's but not close enough. I returned to Ireland for the junior stage race in county mayo but sadly the week before a virus got me and the days leading up to the race i was coughing up green stuff !!! not good. The still completed the race but with a higher level of competition than the year before it was just too hard to feature. However not all was lost thanks to 6 days of long racing miles my 1st race back home was a winner!!
The year it got really tough!!!!!
I decided i was going to go and live and race in Belgium, and i'm so glad i did. Me and mum packed the car up and set of to belgium, to be exact Oudenaarde, oost Flanders. With no where to live and no team to ride for i turned up blind hoping for a b&b and to ride for my club. But thing turned out very different, I found a family to live with and a team to ride for within hours of been there "thats belgium i guess", i got riding for Asfra Racing team (flanders fiets) After a week my mum left and i was there alone ready to try my best and progress. The racing in belgium is tough to say the least and it took me a while to even finish a race, but thats nothing to be ashamed of with the calibre of riders who turn up for the amateur kermess races. After six weeks in belgium i moved house to live with 3 lads from the same team and a girl from a pro dutch team. It was great to live with them, all of who knew more than i did and all gave me advise and guided me in the right direction. I stayed in begium from the beginning of may to the end of September. I personally see my journey home quite comical and a good story to tell. " My friend drove me to the docks in zebrugge i had a bike, 2 big hold alls and a rucksack. Getting on this ferry was going to be tough not to mention the fact it was 35 degrees c and I was lugging at least 70kg's of bags about and a bike. There's a picture somewhere!!
And that's a short description of my cycling life so far!! Hope it's been an interesting one.
I began cycling thanks to my mum and dad, firstly starting in a child seat on the back, followed by a tandem, then to a trailer bike and finally on to my own solo bike. From been a sprog until i was 16 it was a case of going on family bike rides and doing a few sportives, my first big ride alone was when i was 15, completing the hilly 100 miles pendle pedal. Other long distance cycle rides ive done before i came into racing are the wicklow 200 where i met sean Kelly a hero of the sport, etape du dales, e2e and c2c with my dad, i didnt complete the whole of e2e but i rode 80% of every days ride.
As far as racing goes I didn't start racing until march 2009, my first proper race was a cycling development North West event in cockermouth, lake district. I had no idea about race tactics, pace or anything i lasted about 10 miles with the bunch but managed to finish the cold wet 55 miles race, obviously been the north it was wet!!!, but this didn't put me off and i entered more races, getting better everytime. Then i jumped in at the deep end, i went to do a 6 day Junior stage race in Ireland, county Mayo, hard man country!! this was my 5th race and boy did i know about it, 80 mile stages over hard climbs, bad weather and rough roads, but i loved it!!. So to the end of my 1st year racing my last race was my best, I pulled off the win in a bunch sprint and won £60, I'd hit the big time!!!
2010- I came into the year confident and up for racing well, my first race was a criterium in mallorca where got 5th, back in the uk my 2nd race was the same course as my 1st win and i missed doing the double by a tyre width!! So a very good start but it didn't continue i was there and there about's but not close enough. I returned to Ireland for the junior stage race in county mayo but sadly the week before a virus got me and the days leading up to the race i was coughing up green stuff !!! not good. The still completed the race but with a higher level of competition than the year before it was just too hard to feature. However not all was lost thanks to 6 days of long racing miles my 1st race back home was a winner!!
The year it got really tough!!!!!
I decided i was going to go and live and race in Belgium, and i'm so glad i did. Me and mum packed the car up and set of to belgium, to be exact Oudenaarde, oost Flanders. With no where to live and no team to ride for i turned up blind hoping for a b&b and to ride for my club. But thing turned out very different, I found a family to live with and a team to ride for within hours of been there "thats belgium i guess", i got riding for Asfra Racing team (flanders fiets) After a week my mum left and i was there alone ready to try my best and progress. The racing in belgium is tough to say the least and it took me a while to even finish a race, but thats nothing to be ashamed of with the calibre of riders who turn up for the amateur kermess races. After six weeks in belgium i moved house to live with 3 lads from the same team and a girl from a pro dutch team. It was great to live with them, all of who knew more than i did and all gave me advise and guided me in the right direction. I stayed in begium from the beginning of may to the end of September. I personally see my journey home quite comical and a good story to tell. " My friend drove me to the docks in zebrugge i had a bike, 2 big hold alls and a rucksack. Getting on this ferry was going to be tough not to mention the fact it was 35 degrees c and I was lugging at least 70kg's of bags about and a bike. There's a picture somewhere!!
And that's a short description of my cycling life so far!! Hope it's been an interesting one.
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