Ponderings from the Velodrome

by | Sep 24, 2012

Newport Velodrome – ©Dave Gratton AKA SunflowerDave (on Flickr)

For someone who always has a lot to say for himself, thinking what to write about is more difficult than I thought! I should hasten to add, that’s not because I can’t think of anything, it’s because I’ve got so many ideas running around in my head it’s so difficult to chose.

So my decision has been made for me because for the first time in weeks I have an hour or so to spare to put pen to paper (yes, I am actually writing this on paper) as I’m sitting in the stands watching my daughter Ffion take part in a Welsh Cycling youth track session. So the subject: the importance of good cycling facilities, specifically Newport Velodrome.

The difference this sporting facility has made to Wales is difficult to quantify, but if you look at the numbers of riders both before and after this facility was built who are at or on their way to the top of the cycling tree, it’s obvious that its impact has been massive! The same can be said of Manchester Velodrome and I am sure it will be the case with the Olympic Velodrome; we should also consider Herne Hill and the riders that have benefitted from that facility. What it shows it that good facilities really do make a difference to the progression of riders coming through the ranks, whatever their cycling discipline. Of course we also need champions to inspire youngsters into the sport, but we’ve got such a conveyor belt going at the moment there is no worry about these facilities being under used.

So what memories have I taken from Newport Velodrome over the last 8 or 9 years that I’ve been making the 30-minute drive from Abergavenny to get here?

Well I might as well start with my number one memory and also because “why shouldn’t women’s cycling be given priority over men’s for a change?” If I can find the photo to accompany this when I next go hunting in the attic I’ll post it at a later date, as even now I find it quite hard to believe. Picture this: a women’s keirin with six riders on the start line. In amongst the six, the current senior World Champion wearing her stripes Clara Sanchez. Also on the start line I think it was Sandie Clair. Next up to them, a few star struck young girls from the UK including two from Wales, my 13-year-old daughter Becky and Katie Curtis. I can’t recall another current senior world champion ever racing in Newport, so that line-up is implanted very firmly in my head. By the way, it was France first and second with Becky coming in third to the disbelief of the French coach, especially when finding out Becky’s age.

As for other memories of female competition in Newport, between 2006 and 2007 the Youth and Junior Track National Championships had such strong fields the racing really was fantastic to watch. Seeing Becky, Lizzie Armistead, Joanna Rowsell, Jess Varnish, Laura Trott, Dani King…(I could go on) racing against each other with Hugh Porter getting very excited on the microphone really was brilliant. Looking back now I honestly think you could see then who was going to make it to the top and they weren’t all winners. The look of determination in a rider’s eyes is something I believe is what sets them apart and that is something you can spot at a young age. If someone happens to win a Youth National Championship on the way to the top that’s nice, but ultimately you need to look at the bigger picture and remember it’s not a sprint, it takes a lot of time and effort to win at elite level. And that’s what people will remember; senior champions not 11-year-old ‘superstars’!

On that last point, some really bad memories for me have been watching young girls of Under 12 and Under 14 level attempting to break a National Record as if it was the be all and end all. They have been all kitted out with the best equipment money can buy and their parents have been shouting so loudly at them as if they were doing it themselves, but why? Many of those I have watched are either no longer riding or just riding now and again. And why provide the best equipment at such a young age? Good equipment yes, but keep the very best as a reward and as an incentive when they are racing at international level. I really would like to see some sort of equipment specification cap on all youth riders to make it more of a level playing field and to give them something to aim for.

While I’m in the process of airing my concerns, the other thing that really worries me is that young riders seem to be specialising on one cycling discipline at ever-younger ages and training to the detriment of their education. Youth sport should not be like that. If I could single out one young rider who has got the balance right and sets an example for other to follow it is Elinor Barker and look where she is now! Elinor has given most forms of cycling a go, but over the time I’ve known her and the family her education has come first. She’s obviously had coaching, but it has been Elinor’s drive and determination to succeed that has won her the Junior World Time Trial and of course her supportive parents (I believe there could be another reason and the same applies to Becky as well; both Graham, Elinor’s dad and myself are ardent Newcastle United followers and maybe it’s because the girls have never seen us celebrate the winning of a trophy that they are doing their bit to cheer us up!).

On the male side of things, at the same time as that outstanding crop of girls I mentioned the boys’ fields were also amazingly strong and they provided fantastic racing to watch. Jason Kenny, Peter Kennaugh, Alex Dowsett, Luke Rowe, Adam Blythe, Andy Fenn…(once again, I could go on) are just a few of the names that cycling fans would recognise from the Olympics and pro-peloton this last year. Despite many outstanding races and individual performances the one that stands out still after these years is Andy Fenn’s Youth 500 metre time trial. Here was someone mixing it up with the best youth riders this country had to offer in all the circuit races around the country and he was winning the endurance and pursuit events on the track. In the 500 metre time trail he was up against all the best youth sprinters in the country including current BC Academy sprint member Peter Mitchell. I can still picture him going around the track now. I seem to recall I was sitting in the stands next to Iain Dyer, National Sprint Coach and Trevor King, father of Dani and a few others and the first thing that came to my mind was that here was the person to follow in Jason Kenny’s footsteps. Well I was wrong on that front, but I really think he has the potential to be the next big road sprinter from GB. I am not saying that Andy will be another ‘Cav’, because I am not sure there’ll be another in my lifetime, but I am sure that he’ll be winning many races and stages over the next few years. Another rider I’ve watched in Newport in a similar mold to Andy is Sam Harrison, although he’s got a few years to catch up yet.

As recent as last winter I was sitting in the stands of Newport Velodrome watching the annual ‘Winter Track League’, which mixes all abilities up into different races, both male and female. In Wales we are very lucky indeed to not only have Elinor Barker coming up into the senior ranks, but we also have Amy Roberts. To see both Elinor and Amy mixing it up with the men in the ‘A’ league really is a great sight and I am really excited about the prospect of those two girls representing Wales and GB around the world over the next few years. The girls often found themselves riding in amongst elite men, well not just elite, but professional riders. Last year watching Luke Rowe, Magnus Backstedt, Jonny Bellis and many more on a Tuesday night with the rain hammering down on the velodrome roof, whilst sipping a cup of tea, is fascinating, enjoyable and a relaxing time in amongst my hectic lifestyle.

I have never been in Newport Velodrome with a full stand of spectators, but with the success of this last season and the accessibility of cycling stars to the general public I think I might get to see that over the next couple of years. What Newport needs is the right event to fill the stands, something that has got my mind running wildfire again! Now, if that event gives equal precedence to the women riders or better still star billing, wouldn’t that be amazing?

…Next time, whenever that will be, I’ll probably write about organising my first ever hill-climb and also about the importance and thrills of cyclocross.

Thanks for reading.

David James

Twitter: @Dai_Cwmheulog
 
 
 
 

Lancashire Hills with Lucy Martin

by | Aug 29, 2012

Lucy Martin Reaching Summit of Shayley Brow Training for 2012 Lotto-Decca Tour – © Paul Francis Cooper

 

On the first Sunday of the London Olympic Games, years of anticipation, hope and preparation came to fruition for Lucy Martin. As a member of Great Britain’s Women’s Olympic Road Race team, with Emma Pooley and Nicole Cooke, she gave her all on a treacherous, rain soaked, Box Hill Circuit, delivering a well orchestrated plan to help the team’s fourth member, Lizzie Armitstead, to take silver on the Mall and Great Britain’s first medal of the Games.

 

In so doing, she became the second cycling Olympian from her hometown of Widnes, Cheshire, since John Geddes secured bronze on the Melbourne track as part of a GB team pursuit team, which included Mike Gambrill, Don Burgess and nineteen-year old Tom Simpson in the 1956 Olympics.

 

Representing her country in the home Olympics marks the highest point so far in Martin’s cycling career, which started when she was fifteen years old, her potential spotted by British Cycling’s talent identification team on a visit to her secondary school. Although she had competed as a club swimmer and school runner, she had never before been involved in cycling, and, doubting that she could meet British Cycling requirements, almost missed the vital assessment session because of a timetable clash with another subject.

 

Recruited into the junior talent development team, she joined the Olympic Development Programme after winning the National Junior Road Race Championship in 2008.

 

Now an established professional women’s road racer based in Girona, Spain, with what she describes as the dream-like experience of taking part in the home Olympics behind her, she is very aware that the time is right to focus on new athletic and career targets.

Image © Paul Francis Cooper

 

I joined her on Lancashire’s lanes whilst she was out on a training ride in preparation for last weekend’s Belgian three-day stage race, the Lotto-Decca Tour. And she told me. “My three-weeks in the Olympic village were amazing – I had to pinch myself as I rubbed shoulders with the world’s greatest, like Usain Bolt. The crowds and excitement of the road race, and Lizzie winning the medal will stay with me forever. But coming home to my family in Widnes has been a really welcome chance to calm down and plan for the future.”

 

The third stage of the Lotto-Decca Tour involves two ascents of the Kapelmur Cobble, infamous as a regular feature in the Tour of Flanders. And Lucy’s training session took in an impressively fast ascent of Billinge’s Shayley Brow, which, with its 14% maximum gradient, is also a regular lung-tester for St Helens pro-rider Jonny McEvoy (Endura Racing) and Liverpool’s Mark McNally (An Post Sean-Kelly), regular winter training partners of Lucy when the three friends are home from racing and training abroad.

 

And her work on Shayley Brow went to good use in the tough final stage of the Lotto-Decca on Monday. Chasing an early break, she pulled hard at the front of the bunch for much of the stage, providing strong support for her team’s sprinter, Holland’s Kirsten Wild, who narrowly missed a podium placing with a bravely contested, but frustrating, fourth general classification position.

 

In career terms, Lucy’s next major target is to negotiate a new professional contract, having learned recently that her current team, AA Drinks-Leontein.nl, (which also includes  Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Pooley and GB National Road Race winner, Sharon Laws on its team-list) will lose its sponsor at the end of the season.

 

Eyeing a number of options for 2013, she is hoping for greater interest in women’s cycling and the personal opportunity to switch from her current, mainly support, position to a team role in which she will be able to chase her own podium places more regularly.

 

 

 

A Conversation With Alex Dowsett

by | Aug 26, 2011

 

Alex winning Nocturne - Image ©Copyright Tom Simpson Photography

 

Alex - ©Copyright Kramon

A Conversation with
Alex Dowsett

by Anna Magrath
Alex Dowsett chats to me about cycling, living with haemophilia, Team Sky… and the significance of martial arts bears in modern cinema.
Alex is one of British Cycling’s rising stars, and this year the Essex rider joined the ranks of Team Sky. Alex, who has spent his career perfecting his time trialling technique, has had a lot of success against the clock. Alex joined the Trek-Livestrong Development Team after spending three years with the British Cycling Olympic Academy. He spent a lot of time in Quaratta, Italy with British Cycling before he was snapped up by Trek-Livestrong in 2010, a team owned by Lance Armstrong. Under Director Sportif Axel Merckx Alex flourished. In 2011 Alex came back to the British Cycling fold by signing to Team Sky where he’s had an excellent start to his season.
Alex suffers from haemophilia and he’s the only rider in the Pro Tour peloton with the condition. I caught up with him to talk about his career and how his condition has impacted on his life.

How has your first season with Team Sky gone?
This years been pretty good so far, I mean I sort of set out with the aim not to disgrace myself in my first year in the pro ranks, so I’m pretty sure I’ve not done that. I got my first podium in the prologue of the Electro Tour [Ster ZLM Toer] a few weeks ago… and I finished sixth overall and I’ve just finished 5th overall in the Tour of Denmark [Post Danmark Rundt], 3rd in the Time Trial on Stage 5 which I am really, really pleased with. It’s just nice to prove to myself that I can be competitive at this level. So it’s still onwards and upwards. Unfortunately I’ve had a little bit of an ankle injury just the last couple if weeks so I had to take some time off but it’s all been fixed and I’m back on the bike and trying to crawl back to where I was before.

What was the ankle injury?
It’s basically a form of arthritis, I haven’t got a lot of cartilage in there which the doctors have fixed with cortisone injections along with a lubricant which they injected straight into the joint and that seems to have fixed it. The doctors are pretty confident that it shouldn’t give me any hassle. They say there’s research into other sports that are weight bearing and there are footballers in far worse condition than I am in, playing football is pretty hazardous for the joints.

Is it something they’ll have to keep an eye on?
Yeah I might have to have this injection they say maybe at worst every six months but I might never have to have it again. So it’s just a case of if it comes on again I know something can be done to ease it, so it’s not bad at all to be honest.

So will that injury be impacted upon by your haemophilia or is unrelated?
The haemophilia certainly wouldn’t have helped it, I’m not sure whether it’s directly related or not, it’s difficult to know to be honest. It might stem from me playing basketball a lot when I was at school, that could have aggravated it. It could be a culmination of a number of things, haemophilia included most likely, so it’s not something we see as being massively important, it’s just a case of managing it and dealing with it as best we can.

Alex and Team Sky - Images ©Copyright Chris Maher

Alex Tour of Utah, Stage 4 Crit - Image Copyright Brian Hodes @ VeloImages.com

So have you enjoyed your time off the bike or were you itching to get back out there?
Yeah it was good, well it was frustrating for a while, it was a bit of a worry. I only really had one day were I was pretty down about it all, I went out that night and lost all my worries though. I didn’t drink because I live in the middle of nowhere so it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare when I want to go out and have a drink. I had a nice time though and met a really nice girl that I’m still talking to so it’s all good in that respect, I was stone cold sober! It couldn’t have gone better really and I felt great in the morning not having a hangover.

What’s your next focus then?
Well for the next few races, with all this time off, I’ll be largely playing the domestique team roll, doing what I can for whoever’s really on form and going for it. I’ll be doing things like getting bottles, lead outs and just generally looking after the boys.

Who’s on the next team selection with you?
Errr… [Chuckles] I haven’t the foggiest, I mean I probably should know, it’s all on the website, we get the race brief through a couple of days before we travel. We do so many races with so many people it all just rolls on to the next one, there’s a large number of us. Usually directors ring around everyone a few days before a tour or race to see how everyone’s feeling and how the training’s going and how well they’ll be performing. It also depends on whether the race is going to suit you more than others.

So how are you settling in to Team Sky?
Oh it’s been brilliant, they really do look after their athletes, the support you get when things are up and when you’re down is equal which is something that you may not get with other teams. It’s easy to neglect the riders that have had problems during a season but that certainly isn’t the case here, they all really get looked after. It’s brilliant that all the riders are really prepared to help each other out too. There’s no competitiveness within the team. It’s a fantastic environment to be in.

You were with another great cycling team (Trek-Livestrong) before making the move to Team Sky, so what made you want to move?
I think ultimately I’ve been supported right from the start by the GB squad and British Cycling, from a very early age. Sky is a fantastic team that’s really moving forwards and pushing the boundaries. So the option I guess at the time was Team Radio Shack or Sky. The problem with the Radio Shack offer was that it was only definitely for 1 year, whereas Sky were offering a definite 2 years. Also Dave Brailsford [Team GB and Team Sky Performance Director] phoned me himself to talk about going moving there, but from Radio Shack it was my agent who phoned me to tell me about the contract offer on the table. I mean if the top guy can take the time out and ring me himself it says something about the team and the sort of respect they have for all the individual riders. There were a whole load of factors that contributed to the decision. The Olympics were part of it as well, that’s a big target for me, being part of the collaboration between Team Sky and the GB Team is massive, it means my race programme is completely tailored around being as perfectly prepared as I can be for the Olympics.

Alex riding Ster ZLM Toer - ©Copyright Kevin Kempf

So are you still aiming for the Time Trial in the Olympics?
The way it works is if I ride the time trial I also have to ride the road race, so I think with me being a young rider, whilst I’ll aim for it I think a medal might be out of reach… well in the time trial I’m more likely to be an outside chance of getting a medal. So I’m turning a lot of my focus on being a team player in the road race for Cav [Mark Cavendish], and then it would be a case of making sure he does as well as possible, and then I’ll turn my focus to the Time Trial.

You must be feeling pretty good with your results lately (injury aside), I mean your performance at the Smithfield Nocturne in London and your result in the Commonwealth Games show you’ve got a lot of strength?
Yeah and I think it’s something I can develop as well, I mean come Rio [2016 Olympic Games] I hope to be a gold medal contender. When you’ve got the likes of Tony Martin and Cancellara [Fabian Cancellara] I’m just not at that level yet. I think there’s an age and strength issue. David Millar is a prime example of that: in the Commonwealth Games I showed I have the potential, I was only 3 seconds behind him and then the headwind just completely pulled me apart. It’s just pure strength which comes from the experience these guys have of riding loads of grand tours.

So is the grand tour circuit one of your main goals and aims at the moment? Sky are reasonably new to it, as you are, but the performance they’ve put in has been amazing?
Yeah, well before the Tour, I err… Well there was a possibility of doing the Vuelta [Vuelta a Espana]. Now that I’ve had this injury and that Brad [Bradley Wiggins] said he was gonna hit the Vuelta hard it was no longer an option. My first grand tour may well be the Giro [Giro d’Italia] next year. I did the under-23 Tour de l’Avenir last year which is the under-23 Tour de France basically.

Chris Froome & Alex Dowsett - ©Copyright Kramon

Alex Dowsett - Tour of Utah

Do you think the pressure of the Olympics being so close to the Tour de France next year will mean Team Sky have to rethink who will ride the tour to give Team GB a chance?
Yeah I mean it won’t effect me at all because I don’t think I’ll be a contender. I guess with the likes of Geraint [Thomas] and Brad there’s a few issues there and also there’s a lot of guys in a situation like Edvald Boasson Hagen, I mean what’s he gonna do? We just don’t know to be honest, I think I’ll leave it in the team managements hands, I certainly wouldn’t want to have to make those decisions.

What do you feel is your proudest moment to date, not necessarily the biggest accolade?
I won the under-23 European Championships last year, but eight weeks earlier I was on the floor with a broken shoulder blade and the doctors told me I’d be lucky to get on my bike let alone train for it. I was back on my bike faster than a shoulder blade break, I was on the turbo within a week and back on the road in ten days, and these were the haemophilia doctors saying this, I mean usually a break for me would be two to four weeks just in hospital.

So you’re one of these people who gets a kick out of proving someone wrong?
Yeah, there’s nothing like proving someone wrong to add a little bit of incentive. I have a fair bit of grit. I’m not stupid about it, all within reason. One of the doctors at this hospital (I think she usually works with children), she treated me like a child the whole time, that was the incentive there and then I guess.

As someone with haemophilia did you find as a child that you were discouraged from taking part in sports because of the dangers?
Yeah definitely. Certain sports, particularly contact sports are a big no-go which is understandable, I think it’s something I’m trying to change and encourage as well. I mean it applies to kids in general, there’s so many mainstream sports whereby people judge if you’re not good at them you’re never going to be a sportsman or athlete. My dad was a racing driver so as a kid I did a lot of go-karting, and then swimming, followed by sailing and I moved on to cycling. But I did the sports that you wouldn’t usually stumble across, you just have to have to opportunity to try it out, kids need to be shown and given taster session to get them outdoors. I mean for all I know I might be living next door to a potential Michael Schumacher, but without that chance a child may not have that interest ignited. Obviously that’s just an example, there are plenty of other sports out there that don’t cost a fortune to try out or get involved with.

So you’re really trying to raise the awareness of sport across the board?
Yeah, certainly in the haemophilia community. It’s easy for parents to be scared, they find out about their child having the condition and it’s a deep shock to them. They then just want to wrap the child up in cotton wool, but the fitter you are as a youngster the less problems you’ll have. It’s a bit of a double edged sword. All parents are protective of their children and don’t want to see them get hurt, but a child can gain their independence, strength and confidence through sport, which can help them later in life.

Alex Tour Of Utah, Stage3, 2010 - Image ©Copyright Michael Crook Photography

Were your parents very supportive towards you taking part in sport or was it something they worried about?
Yes they were very supportive, I wouldn’t be were I am at all if it wasn’t for them. When the doctors said that swimming was a great way of keeping my haemophilia at bay, Mum had me swimming five different swimming lessons in five different towns six times a week, she was finding as many swimming lessons as possible. Dad would take me go-karting every Sunday morning, he got me a small dinghy for sailing. They were really supportive for sports that I showed any kind of interest in.

Do they still get nervous when your out on your bike?
Oh yeah, yeah, [chuckles] if I’ve been out for longer than I said I would be my Mum will give me a ring. It wasn’t a problem when I was living in America, she didn’t know where I was, now I’m back in England it’s “Where are you? Are you at home yet?”, “No mum I’m at a cafe”, “Well make sure you give me a ring when you get home… Don’t forget!”, “Yes Mum”.
Though if I forget to take my medication Mum will be on my case. It rarely happens, but I know the day I slip up will be the day that Mum and Dad will be on to me. It’s good, I’m very lucky to have the parents that I have.

How do you go about giving children with haemophilia advice and encouragement to take up sport especially, with the understandable worries parents have? You do think parents should allow kids more freedom?
Yes, I’ve worked with the UK Haemophilia Society now for some time, but now I’m starting to work quite closely with the World Federation of Haemophilia. I’ve done a few interviews for them and basically I’m just trying to share my story and experiences with others. Actually I’ve had a guy on Facebook contact me from the Ukraine recently whose son has been diagnosed and he found an interview and article and sent copies of it to me. It was in Russian which was pretty surreal. He said (and I’ve had a few emails like this and it’s really cool) that my story has helped them. I know how traumatic it was for my parents when they found out, I was 18 months old, it was pretty grim for them. The doctor at the time painted the worst picture possible. If they’d known then what they know now and what sort of life I could have and achieve, then life would have been a lot easier and a lot less stressful for them.
It also impacts on siblings, I have a little sister and there were some rough times, they’d worry that my little sister Lois would get left out, but I’ve got fantastic parents and Lois is a bit of a hard nut herself. We’re all fine, all reasonably normal [laughs].

Alex at Revolution 30 - Image ©Copyright Hope Tranter

What’s your favourite discipline and do you prefer road or track?
Time trial, definitely!… and I have to say road is my preference.

Will you be doing any of the Revolutions at Manchester Velodrome this season?
Yeah, I’ll be doing as many as I can, I’m sure there’ll be one or two that clash with Sky training camps but I’ll be there. I do enjoy them.

A lot of your team have come through the British Cycling Academy as you did, what do you feel are the main benefits you’ve had from the process?
They taught us to look after ourselves and behave like pro riders before we reached that level. I noticed when I went to Livestrong I could actually drop my levels of discipline, whereas a lot of the Livestrong riders that had just come in from junior squads, or just racing in other teams, they had to suddenly raise their game, whereas I could relax a little bit. They covered things like self discipline to organisation, food and obviously training. The academy really teaches you to look after yourself and to be disciplined as well. It also give you a lot of independence with the living arrangements. It’s pretty hard as well, we’d have days in the winter which were grim and you had to survive on just under sixty quid a week. That was just for food basically, but when you’re doing 25 hours a week training you tend to eat quite a bit. You’d have days where you wake up pretty early, ride into the velodrome any weather, have a two hour Italian lesson, then lunch which you had to make yourself and bring in, then a three hour track session, then dinner that you’d had to make yourself and bring with you, then your track league… And then you’d ride home at 11 o’clock at night. To go to bed and get up the next day and do it all over again.
On one occasion, in fact one of my first track sessions, my phone battery had run flat over night. I’d been making a number of calls in the evening and forgotten to charge the phone and I used it as my alarm clock each morning. I ended up missing the first track session. I rang up Rod Ellingworth and said, “Sorry about that, I’ll make it in for the second session though,” and he said, “No, you’ll come into the velodrome now!” and when I got there I had three cars to clean lined up in the car park. I went out and bought myself an alarm clock that night. I wasn’t going to have that happen again! At age 18 it was an eye opener for me, I soon learned. The average kid is starting their first job or heading to university or college and able to mess around a bit or have an off day, so it was a bit of a shock to the system. Our accommodation was in Fallowfield, Manchester which is student central and the flats were above a Wetherspoon’s, next to a nightclub and opposite another nightclub, temptation everywhere. That sorted out who were the ones that were going to make it, though some of the guys that went out did make it through. It was just knowing your limits and getting the balance, there was a time and a place for it.

Alex winning at Smithfield Nocturne 2011 - Image ©Copyright Phil Jones

Talking of going out, do you get much time for a social life? And if and when you do does it revolve around a cycling set?
Erm… The academy was pretty grim at times but it was what you needed to do. Training in Italy was good but it was tough, eight guys who all thought they were gods gift to cycling living under one roof, there were some fireworks but for the most part we all got on. We were stuck in a small town, nobody spoke English. We ate, slept and trained together, that was pretty tough, no escape from each other. Then I went to Livestrong and suddenly I was in America! Living in the States was great because everything they say about the English accent and the girls is absolutely true [laughs]. I also found I was racing better when I was happier. Now I’m back in England I’ve got a good group of mates that live around me, I don’t go nuts, a lot of my nights out are for dinner or down the pub, a cafe or trips to the cinema. I go to the cinema a lot because I’ve got a good friend who’s a bit of a film buff. It got to the point that the only film we hadn’t seen from the current listings was Kung-Fu Panda. He was still up for it but I said, “Nah, this is starting to reach new levels of sadness, we’re gonna have to do something different tonight! No films about martial art bears!”
I take it fairly steady in the season because I know that’s what I need to do. I’m reasonably disciplined about it, the team helps you as much as they can, but at the end of the day it’s up to you. You have a nutritionist that comes round and tells you you can afford to lose one or two kilos to burn off your fat levels but ultimately it’s down to you to make the effort, they can only do so much. The same applies to training and getting yourself ready for races. All the facilities are there, it’s up to you how much you make the most of the opportunity, they can’t make you get out on your bike and put the extra hours in. If you don’t perform you don’t get into races, you don’t get your contract renewed and then you’ll never win! You’ve got everything laid out for you, you just have to grab hold of it and make the most of it.

If you sustain an injury how do they control your medication during a race, are they able to treat your condition on the spot?
Well the beauty of racing with the team now is that there’s always a team doctor at the races, he’s aware of my condition and holds my medication, and when I come down he’s there to scrape me up off the floor, he makes sure I’m alright. It’s all handled really professionally, and the team have really taken it upon themselves to learn everything they can about my condition because it’s pretty unusual and I think I’m the only one in the pro peloton with it. The medication has to be taken every other day but when I fall or get an injury I take more. The medication gets me up to about sixty percent of the levels of a normal person, which is enough to keep any problems like a minor injury caused by crashing at bay. Then if I do find myself on the floor I just take extra. My drugs aren’t controlled substances, it’s not the same as say someone in the pro peloton with asthma, they would have to fill out forms to allow them to use their inhaler. If you’re going to require a drug that can be abused and used as a performance enhancer then you have to fill in a form. A lot of the asthmatic medication would make you test positive. If you have to take a drug that will cause you to test positive then the doctors will give you a form that’s called a therapeutic use exemption form, which they hand in with a sample that says,“This guy’s on this drug, but it’s fine because he’s got asthma.”

Where’s your favourite training ride and what are your favourite stop-off treats?
Oh… A massive cake! I guess I like it a little bit too much. A pre-breakfast ride: I get up, have coffee and then ride on empty for about and hour and luckily about an hour away from me is pretty much the best cafe in Essex so that’s where I spend a lot of my time. It’s called The Blue Egg, the cakes are excellent. I usually have the date and oat slice because I kind of convince myself that it sounds healthy, it’s probably got a lot of butter and sugar in it but they don’t tell you about that, so what you don’t know doesn’t hurt you I guess.

What advice would you give to kids interested in getting involved in cycling?
Get out and try all forms of racing and see which discipline suits you. I think kids should try lots of different sports too, I mean when I first started cycling I was swimming as well and I think it really helped me on the bike. I mean Time Trials were my thing, it was all I did until I was a junior. I first tried the track at about 15, I then started doing it with the junior GB squad at 17.

Alex at the National Road Championships 2011 - ©Copyright Ian Robinson

Click here for Alex’s Facebook Page.

Click here to view Alex’s Twitter feed.

Click here for more about Alex & Team Sky.

Click here to be taken to British Cycling.

For more information about the World Federation of Haemophilia.

To be taken to the UK Haemophilia Society website.

 

Alex’s Palmares:

2011
British National Time Trial Champion
5th Overall Tour of Denmark
3rd in Stage 5 (Time Trial)
3rd Overall – Prologue – Ster Zlm Toer (and best young rider prize)
1st Smithfield Nocturne

2010
1st European Time Trial Championships U23
1st Stage 5 Cascade Cycling Classic (USA)
Tour of Utah
2nd Prologue
2nd Stage 2
Tour de l’Avenir
2nd in Prologue
2nd Commonwealth Games Time Trial
1st Chrono des Nations U23

2009
1st Richmond Grand Prix
1st British Time Trial Championships U23
7th World Time Trial Championships U23
11th European Time Trial Championships U23

2008
3rd Abergavenny International Criterium (UCI 1.2)
4th British U23 Road Race Championships
3rd British Senior 10 mile Time Trial Championships
1st Team Time Trial Tour d’Alsace (UCI 2.2)
1st British Time Trial Championships U23

2007
1st Perfs Pedal Road Race
1st Overall British Premier Calendar U23 Champion
1st Rudy Project Time Trial Series
3rd British Senior 10 mile Time Trial Championships
4th British Senior 25 mile Time Trial Championships

2006
1st British Junior Road Race Championships
1st British Junior 10 mile Time Trial Championships
1st British Junior 25 mile Time Trial Championships
1st Tour of Switzerland 7.7km Time Trial
1st European Junior Team Pursuit Championships

 

My thanks to Alex and all the photographers.

Click to read Sam’s interview with Alex

©Copyright 2011 Anna Magrath @ Cycling Shorts. Please do not reproduce any content without permission from myself or the photographers.

My Sister Sofi

by | Aug 8, 2011

Sofi & Nancy

 

My Sister Sofi

by Nancy Arreola

Sofi and her papa Rolando in Apeldoorn for the World Championships

Sofi Arreola is a young successful rider from Mexico (she also happens to be my sister) and she’s aiming for a place to ride for her country at the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Sofi has won 6 gold medals in the Jr. PanAm champs, 4th place in the Junior Worlds in Moscow 2009 and she’s finished within the top 10 in almost every Track World Cup she’s competed in. She was invited to the World Cycling Center in  Switzerland for the 2009-2010 track season and that changed her life. Her results as a Jr. were really good but it wasn’t until she met her new coach Andy Sparks that she started to look at cycling in a different way.

Not everything has been easy for her, she’s had to fight for everything… including her own life. Sofi was a premature baby and she almost didn’t survive. The doctors told dad that he should be prepared for the worst because it was very possible that she wouldn’t survive the night, but she fought and she won that battle. She was getting 15% less oxygen than other babies for one and a half months and she was so tiny.

We had to take lots of care with her because she was always getting sick (I have to admit… I was SUPER jealous because she was getting all the attention from my parents). She used to be allergic to everything so she had to go to the hospital once a month to get 30 injections in her tiny little arms. I could see in her face she was in so much pain but she never cried or complained about it; 3 years old and she was so tough! She wasn’t 100% healthy but my little sister was never weak. She has been giving me life lessons since the minute she was born.

Sofi & Nancy

Life goes on…

Our younger sister Chely and I are really hyper so my parents introduced us to sports at a very young age. Chely is 2 years younger than Sofia but she was just as big as her and beating her in every sport they tried! I bet she can’t say that anymore though… haha!

When I started cycling both my sisters were doing speed skating and they were really having fun with the sport but after one year they took part in a local bike race and they instantly fell in love with cycling, just as I did.

Sofi did the State Championships two weeks after that but she didn’t qualify for the Nationals so she made it her personal goal to win it the following year, she worked harder than anyone else, never missed a single practice and she was really serious about eating well and taking her recovery to a whole new level. It was impressive to see a 13 year old girl behave like that.

Sofi at Apeldoorn - Image ©Copyright Anton Vos

The next year she won everything in the State Championships and got 2 silver medals in the Nationals, since then she’s won almost every competition she’s entered in Mexico. The first time my sister ever rode on the track she won the Scratch Race in the elite category when she was only 14 beating Nancy Contreras (former 500m World Champ) and yeees… she beat me as well but let’s forget about that part!

Sofi & Rolando (Papa) in Puerto Rico

Arreola Family LtoR: Rolando (Dad), Sofi, Chely, Nancy (Mum) and Nancy

She’s had many good results in her short career but also had her ups and downs. In her first Jr. World Champs she crashed in her opening event and was forced to use a wheelchair because she couldn’t walk, but even that didn’t stop her from doing the road race and TT.

She also crashed in the Central American Games last year in Puerto Rico. She was knocked out but the first thing Sofi said when she gained consciousness was “where’s my bike?!” she finished the race concussed and went straight to the hospital not knowing where she was. All her efforts that day gained her a bronze medal for Mexico, a bronze with a good taste of gold.

I’ve seen her do an Omnium going from the ambulance to the track and then back to the ambulance again because she was really sick and even then winning 4 out of 6 events (it was an important race because it would decide who was going to the track world cups to represent Mexico). The Olympic dream has been in her head since she was a little kid and it’s that determination and desire that leads her to keep fighting.

Even with those chaotic races she’s had good results on her way to London, she finished 2nd in the elite PanAms [Pan-American’s] last year and 4th in the Scratch Race at Manchester’s World Cup, putting her in 2nd place in the world rankings but eventually she finished 4th at the end of the track season.

Of course Sofi and I have the support of our whole family. My dad Rolando goes to almost every World Cup with her and when we’re in Mexico he follows us both to every single ride providing all the support while training; my mum Nancy is the one who makes sure that Sofi has everything she needs. Mum calls the FMC [Federación Mexicana de Ciclismo] almost every day, books her tickets to World Cups and she also makes sure that she has all the right equipment to train and race. Chely and myself are her biggest supporters!

Sofi with her coach Andy Sparks

But I think the main thing that has made the biggest impact on her career is training with Andy Sparks, she was training with him when she was in Switzerland and now she’s followed him to Mallorca where they are now both based.

Andy is an amazing coach and they get along really well. She has a lot of respect for him and follows everything he says 100%. Since she’s been training with him we’ve seen her gain more confidence in her skills and has a better attitude while racing. Andy gives her the right motivation and the perfect training to be at her best in every competition.

Sofi knows that nothing is impossible if you work hard for it and you give your best at all times. The fact that she gets to train with Sarah Hammer is also a major boost for her, Sarah is her role model and inspires Sofi to become better every day. Sarah and Andy have been an amazing support for her when she’s away from home, even when she’s missing family, home and friends she’s surrounded by great people in an amazing environment and we know she’s happy even though we all miss her.

She had a complicated season last year but has pulled herself together and focused on doing things right and hopefully she’ll qualify for the London Olympics and achieve a good result. She’s taking it a step at a time, the next track season will be crucial for Sofi, as it will be for many other riders across the world, in order to qualify for London she needs to get good results in the 4 World Cups and the World Championships in Australia. It’s going to be a fun season; I am excited to see how it goes!

Sofi & Nancy - Sisterly rivalry while training - Mexico - March 2011

Thank you very much for reading and I’ll be giving you more updates about the World Cups and who has a chance of getting to ride in London 2012 via my articles here at Cycling Shorts!

Nancy.


 
 
 
 
 
 

Interview With Jamie Staff MBE

by | Jun 20, 2011

Jamie Staff – Image ©Copyright Way Ahead Photography

Thursday 09:10 California Time
A few weeks ago I hooked up for a chat with British Track and BMX cycling star Jamie Staff to find out how the World and Olympic champion is settling in to his new life and routine over in the States as USA’s Director of Sprint, and to discuss his other projects and thoughts on his old team back in the UK. It’s 9am California time and Jamie’s just finished clearing away breakfast. He settles himself down for what ends up being a rather long chat.

So tell me about your new role as Director of Sprint.
We [the family] moved over here last year, as you say. My title is Director of Sprint, which basically means I’m the coach for the sprint team but I also have creative control. I have a lot of control over how I go ahead with the programme. I’ve got a few things that I’m trying to do. When I stepped into this role over here there was basically nothing in place: no sprint programme, structure or anything. There had been in the past but they just pulled the plug on it after the Beijing Olympics.

What was the reason for that?

They just didn’t really have the right coach. They’d had a long line of coaches that I don’t think were suited to what the programme needs. I know some of the coaches that had worked with the US before, and it is a somewhat daunting task. It’s a lot to do, but I’ve come in with a lot of energy and know-how and already seen improvements in the short time I’ve been in. The mens team sprint, they’ve set a new US record twice now, and they did set a new Pan-American best time, but that got beaten in the finals in Columbia, but y’know it’s baby steps. For me it’s just about riders’ improvement, as long as we keep riders improving we’ll get where we need to be, we’re not looking at beating world records by any means at the moment. From day one I stated, “look don’t expect any major results [short-term].” Even if we get to London basically it will be an achievement, even if we get on the plane we definitely won’t be competitive in terms of shooting for medals, there’s just no way.

So are you looking further ahead to 2016 in Rio as a realistic goal?

Yeah, that’s my target, and even then I don’t know if we’ll be in gold medal position. I mean you’ve got the likes of Team GB, France and Germany which have had great programmes for many years. So I’m quietly confident in my abilities but at the end of the day it’s down to the riders, you can only guide them and give them so much, the rest is up to them.

Does the track team in the US have a different attitude to the British team?

Jamie Staff with USA cyclist Dean Tracy – Image ©Copyright Brian Hodes @ VeloImages

Erm… It has been in the past but I’m trying to change it [he chuckles at this]. The US mentality was just about trying to beat the other best American, it was about being the best in the country.  It was very short-sighted, so I’ve really worked hard with that in saying, “that’s not good enough and that’s not gonna work with me and if that’s your attitude…”

Americans are very good at setting goals in sport, for example in athletics they compete at the top of the world rankings, is it an ethic that’s just not been built into the track sprint team?

I think it’s just because it all boils down to the support they’ve had in the past. If you’ve had a poorly run programme, with a coach that doesn’t really truly believe in his athletes then you’re going to get a very moderate outcome. So I’ve come in, and I’d say I’m multidimensional in my coaching philosophy: it’s not just what you get the riders to do on a daily basis, it’s instilling many other things in them, trying to change their philosophy, goals and beliefs. Basically it’s getting them to believe in themselves and believe that they can be the best in the world, and just raising the bar. That’s what I’ve worked hard at, and I’ve already seen the results from that, so, it’s been very rewarding from my point of view so far. We’ve definitely got a long way to go, but I’d definitely say we’re ahead of where I thought we would be after this short period of time.

You’ve been in America now for nearly a year, and coaching is very different from getting out on the track yourself. Did you find it difficult settling in to a different lifestyle and routine?

Oh yes, for sure. I mean I’ve lived here on and off for ten years with BMX, my wife is from the US, my kids were born here too, and we were living here for a couple of years before we came back to the UK. So I mean in terms of just everyday life…  and I know the riders well, I know the track well, I used to train here, I know a lot of the management around the track, so it wasn’t like a foreign country where you don’t know anyone or don’t speak the language. So from that point of view it was very easy.

Coaching is very different to being an athlete, and not every great athlete would make a great coach. I was very fortunate to be part of the British Coaching Programme. I did their education programme, and I even worked writing some of the literature that they produce for their coaches, so I had quite a bit of involvement. I did work with the British BMX team for a little bit as a coach on a part time basis, but that’s basically how I ended up in the job. I never really thought I’d be a teacher or a coach, or anything like that, it didn’t really appeal to me, but as I started doing it I found it very rewarding and enjoyable.

Did you start the coaching training long before you finished your career on the track?

Yeah, I was doing some BMX coaching in 2006. I helped the BMX programme – it was sort of leaderless and didn’t really have a director in the UK – so I kind of stepped into that role, as well as doing my track training I was coaching the BMX guys. So yeah, I have had some coaching experience, and again just working closely with the Coach Education Programme in the UK, which is a world class programme, I think just gave me some of the fundamental principles. I’ve been very fortunate really. I kind of knew my career was coming to an end, so you do start trying to educate yourself or try and gain experience in other areas and I think that’s how I fell in love with coaching.

When you had your back injury had you already decided you wanted to move on, or was it a case of “Oh no, not another injury, I don’t want to deal with this”?

Most of the injuries I’ve had have been short-term, mainly impact injuries, and it’s simply diagnosed and you just get over it relatively quickly. Back injuries are probably one of the last ones an athlete wants to hear or talk about, I mean I’ve had back problems before but it’s been a simple physio visit and a couple of weeks later you’re back to being one hundred percent. But this one was… well, the physios were quite confident I could get over it, I had some scans and tests, but all these things start piecing together over time and being back in the UK was just a lot of pressure on the family. With the wife being from over here amongst other things, we found that hard. And then age obviously comes into it, you know you’ve got to be realistic about your ability especially as I was heading towards London 2012, so there were quite a few different aspects that came together to make that decision. And I think – as I tell my riders – you’ve got to want it more than anything else in this world, you’ve got to be so hungry for that goal otherwise you’re wasting your time.

So you feel the hunger was waning?

Yes, yes for sure, I’ve always been that sort of person. Once I’ve achieved my goal I’ve always found it hard to maintain that drive and hunger.

And was that the same with BMX?

Yes the same thing really, I’d done everything I could. I wasn’t always the best, I was far from it some years and so, I think that was why I was inspired every year to try to be a better BMXer.

Jamie Staff 1996 BMX World Championships Brighton – Image ©Copyright Neill Phillips @ EpicDream Productions Ltd.

Why did you choose Track over say, Downhill MTB? Having so much explosive power and such a strong upper body?

[He chuckles] In BMX obviously you would probably be closer tied to MTB [Mountain Bike], like you said, or Four-Cross [also known as Mountain Cross] or something. But one of my goals was Olympic medals so I looked for the disciplines that were within that range and practised one of them.

It was just by chance really, in the late 90’s we [some of the BMXer’s] went up to Manchester to do some physiological testing on the watt bikes, I did the test and put out more power than any of their track guys. So they asked the question, “hey do you wanna do track?” and I was like, “well is there any money in it?” and they said, “no,” and I was like, “well, then no I don’t, I’ve had years of travelling around the world, this is great!” And I think if they’d spent a little bit more time explaining about the Olympics and what my potential actually was, then maybe I would have pursued it at an earlier stage. There are actually a lot of similarities, a lot of the behind the scenes work you do is very similar. Yes the bike looks completely different but the gym work is basically exactly the same. It’s all the same basic work, so the only thing I had to do was get used to riding a track bike, which after riding a BMX bike was very easy.

You have to contain your movements a lot more though, you can’t throw yourself around as much?

Yeah right, that takes some learning. But yeah, in BMX I was always the first to the first turn, and I wasn’t always the smoothest jumper or the fastest through the rhythm section, but it was my horsepower that kind of won me the races. And that’s why I think track appealed: no obstacles, just start, finish. Go, get there as quick as you can!

Do you still get out on your BMX since the back injury?

Er… Not really, but my back is fine now, it only really hurts when I put it under extreme stress. So squatting over two times your body weight, and doing repetitive circuits on the track, is when it would hurt. I mean right now I don’t feel that problem at all, and my back feels fine. I actually feel great. You know, as an athlete you’re pounding your body every single day in training and your body’s under constant stress, and so therefore you’re quite sore and irritated all the time. And it’s quite pleasing actually that, now I’ve retired, my body feels a hundred times better than it did when I was training.

So are you still continuing with some sort of training regime?

I don’t do too much to be honest, I’m a little bit burn-out on riding a bike, I’m trying to find something else to do. I played some racket sports when I was in my early teens and when I was a youngster, with my dad, so I’m maybe looking at doing something down those lines, something different. I mean I live at the velodrome twelve hours a day, I need to try to get away from that and do something different. I need to find something that will drive me to remain fit and healthy, I don’t want to get on that slippery slope. Just for the stresses of work, as you can imagine now, it is hard, that’s one of the things I’ve learned.

As an athlete I was always looking at family members or friends and saying, “why don’t you just work out? Why don’t you train?” And now, having no physical goals like that I find it so hard to get motivated. I always struggled to comprehend, why don’t people just stay fit? You know, why don’t you go and do something? When you have goals and targets it’s dead easy, but when you don’t it’s so hard. And at the end of a long working day, whatever your job, it’s the last thing you want to do. I’ve been out running a few times but that just bloody hurts so much, I try to find something positive in it, but I need to find something that’s enjoyable and just suits my personality.

You’ve recently become a football or should I say “soccer” coach for your twins’ under six team?

Yeah, I got thrown into that role, but it’s quite fun, I enjoy it, it’s just a local soccer tournament.

Are your twins getting into cycling?

Yeah, my son rode before he was three, my daughter could ride when she was three and a half to four, they’ve both got bikes they’re out all the time. We live in a little cul-de-sac so that’s great for bike riding, they love it.

Would you encourage them to follow a career in cycling?

It’s a tricky one. I mean, I think BMX is a fantastic sport for young kids, it teaches them many skills which they can then take away and apply to other cycling disciplines. It allows you to get into cycling at an early age, as opposed to say mountain biking or road and track, so I wouldn’t stop them from doing it, but I’m really kind of un-forceful. I mean right now my kids are doing soccer but before that my daughter was doing ballet and my son was doing tae-kwon-do, I kind of want them to experience many things, and they need to be the one that figures out what they want to do.

You feel sports is vital for kids development?

Absolutely, I mean I was a shy kid, terribly shy, and through cycling I explored the world and I think I matured as a person, it gave me so many valuable lessons. I think you could do that through any sport, it boosts your confidence tremendously. You’ve got the obvious physical benefits, but it’s the mental ones as well. I’m so lucky I was able to go down that route, and I won’t push but I will definitely express to my children that it’s a great avenue to take. But it’s up to them, I’ll just try to be as supportive as I can, just like my parents were. They were never pushy.

Were your parents into cycling?

No not at all, no one in my family is really sporty at all, the family played squash, badminton and things like that, but no one was at any significant level. It was just something I fell in love with. That is the key thing, trying to find something that you love, and you would do anything to be able to do it. When you have that kind of passion for something that is when you have the potential to be very successful.

I know you had plans a while back to start up a youth academy, is that still something you want to do?

Jamie coaching Holly Swarbrick at Newport Velodrome, Wales – Image ©Copyright Guy Swarbrick

Yes, in the UK. That was the hardest thing for me I think, just walking away from a lot of stuff in the UK. I don’t want to walk away from anything, I’m still trying to put it together.  The Cyclo Park [being built in Kent] is a great facility and I’m trying hard to stay involved with that. Literally as we speak I’m putting together just a little bit more detail [in to my academy plans]. Hopefully it will be aimed a bit more at the elite level, y’know with nutrition, psychological, physiological input into riders and helping them with their careers and career planning, season planning and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah I’m still currently working with Kent County Council on that. I’m looking for sponsors right now, I’ve obviously got some good relations in the industry which I’ll be targeting and then there’s some chances of other major sponsors.

The aim is to try to relieve some of the financial responsibility from the actual athletes, because I know how poor cyclists are. I mean it’s very different over here, you can charge an absolute arm and a leg for coaching, but in the UK it’s very, very different, I mean people don’t want to part with ten pounds. If the academy is a success I would love to roll them out all over the UK or maybe even worldwide! You need to grab peoples attention while the sport is on a high to keep the momentum going.

Considering cycling as a sport doesn’t get much national TV and media coverage, certainly compared to the rest of Europe, how come we have such a hotbed of talent and how are kids coming to the sport? Obviously in recent years the profile has risen, but even before that it was always there just under the radar?

I think British Cycling is doing a brilliant job, especially in recruiting cyclists, whether it’s for leisure or sport. I mean BMX is definitely nowhere near where it was in the 80’s and I don’t know if it ever will be. The participation in cycling as a sport has gone through the roof, so I think British Cycling is doing a good job. I hope it’s not fickle. I think we have to be realistic about London’s results, I think Team GB will be successful in certain terms, but I doubt they’ll replicate what they did in Beijing. That’s just sport and that’s life, that’s the cycle of the athletes. We went through a glory period, and it is gonna be hard for them. You can’t replicate that year after year, it ebbs and flows.

I guess that’s even more the case when everyone discovers your secret formula to success?

Exactly, and I hope that those companies that have come into the sport as sponsors remain for the long term loyal to the sport, and I hope they’re not just in for the short term ride. Cycling has many great elements to it and I think the UK is a fantastic country and is embracing that, with building cycle paths and the general infrastructure, they are making improvements. It’s far better than it is over here in the States. I mean yes we have the great weather over here, but they don’t have the cycling infrastructure at all.

So is it city or rural areas that have the better facilities?

In the city you don’t get anything cycle-related, I mean there’s the odd bike path here and there that follow the contours of the rivers from the overflow of rainfall down from the mountains. The US is far behind the UK in terms of that. In the UK the government’s backing a lot of the programmes whereas over here the government’s not interested so it’s all down to the local cities, councils and private investors to try and get stuff going. You’d be amazed at the lack of input over here from the government, in terms of cycling and funding. USA Cycling is, well it’s good that they are self sufficient and they’ve got a business model that works but they don’t get a penny from the government, not a single one, so all their money comes from private investors and just the everyday business through membership. So that’s how they generate their revenue.

So I guess that’s why Road Cycling is the poster sport for cycling in the USA because it can bring in major sponsors and TV coverage?

Exactly, yes, USA Cycling is definitely not in the position that British Cycling is, but then again that’s all down to the National Lottery, if you pull that funding away then, well it would be interesting to see what happens.

Team GB Sprint to Gold in the Beijing Olympics – Image ©Copyright Chas Pope

There’s quite a Jamie Staff shaped hole in the British Sprint team for first man at the moment, and as you know, Liam Phillips the BMX rider is trying out on the track for 8 months. And in that time he’s got to try and get near 17.3 seconds in order to match where the French are with Gregory Bauge. Do you think that is a lot to ask of him?

It is, but I’ve known Liam since he was a little kid, I think he’s got potential, I don’t think they need to put all their eggs in one basket, being purely Liam. I mean Jason Kenny could do it, but he doesn’t like being man one, he likes to be in man two position, and he’s the best man two they have, and Chris is the best man three they’ve got, and yeah obviously they’re trying to fill my shoes. But it is an extremely tall ask of Liam, and I think they’ve got their work cut out for sure. I mean they asked me to come back and I laughed, I was like “yeah right!” I mean I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t replicate what I did in Beijing. But I think Liam has a shot, but at the same time I think they need to chase other avenues with Ross Edgar and push Ross as much as possible. My choice would be (and obviously I’m not there on a daily basis but I know the riders potential): Jason Kenny, then Ross Edgar then Chris Hoy, that would be my call. I mean going into Beijing, Ross was a little bit slower than Jason at man two but it wasn’t much, and even if we had had Ross in the team on paper we would have won, so I know it’s tricky and certain riders want certain positions.

Jason’s gained a lot of power from training for man one, will that have effected him in any way adversely in other areas? 

No, I don’t think so, you just have to look at Gregory Bauge, he’s man one and he’s three times World Sprint Champion but he’s not great at the Keirin. So if I had to call it I think Jason will probably end up man one in terms of the team sprint.

But I think Jason definitely has a chance of taking the sprint position in the GB Team, I think Chris will keep the Keirin role, and as I said I think the team sprint will either be Jason, Ross and Chris or, if Liam can come in, then it would be Liam, Jason and Chris. Liam has definitely got a lot to do. I mean at Liam’s age when I was BMXing, I was in my prime, in my mid twenties, and I only got good at the end because of the help from BC, and it wasn’t that I was peaking at thirty-five, it was that I applied everything that they were throwing at me, and that was learnt, and by pushing myself. So you know Liam does have the potential to do that, he’s coming on well physically, he’s really gained a lot of strength over that past couple of years.

Do you keep in touch with a lot of the guys back home?

Yes, periodically, I mean it’s a small world cycling, even though you might not speak to someone in a year, when you do see them it feels like three weeks. I’m a family friend of Liam’s. And the likes of Chris and Jason, I’ll drop them an email every now and then. And every month I’m on the road and during the world cup season, we catch up. I miss them all tremendously, I really miss the UK, and being part of the team, but life goes on. But I couldn’t be happier in my new role and doing what I do, I’m very fortunate to be doing what I really enjoy.

What are the home comforts that you miss from the UK?

Believe it or not, I miss the rolling green fields of Kent, and obviously when we lived in Manchester the surrounding areas there were also very similar. In Southern California you don’t have the ability to escape, I mean anywhere in the UK you can hop on a train or in a car and within an hour you’re in the middle of nowhere. Whereas here, I could go to the middle of nowhere and it would be a dry desert. You do feel kind of trapped by that sometimes, you can’t always take that big deep breath of fresh country air.

Jamie leads out the Mens Team Sprint – L to R Ross Edgar, Jason Kenny & Jamie Staff – Image ©Copyright Andy Carnall

Have you visited the London velodrome yet?

Yeah I went there when it was halfway completed, they were just getting the roof ready to go up, there wasn’t a track or anything in there. I’ve seen the pictures and the video and it does look fantastic. When I come over for the world cup in February we’ll do some touristy stuff with the team, get that out the way, and check everything out. I know the US team was asking if the track would be opened up before for training but I’m pretty sure it won’t be. I’m pretty sure Team GB will keep it to themselves, and only open it up when they have to for the World Cup. So apart from that I think it will be closed doors until after the Olympics.

What are your thoughts on the new rules set out by the Olympic committee on the number of entrants per event?

You can understand it from one point of view, but then I think they often forget why people do it. I have this issue on a daily basis now. When I go to a World Cup I’m only able to take three guys and two girls and I’ve probably got ten guys and four girls. Now for those other riders if they don’t see any chance to compete then they’re going to lose motivation, lose drive and probably end up quitting. You want to have the top echelon of riders at the competition, which I understand, but at the same time you can’t take away the dreams of other people, they need to have the chance to prove themselves. I mean you look at Team GB: they probably have four or five decent sprinters, but only one’s going to the Olympics, and so that fourth or fifth quickest rider right now is probably looking at his age, looking at his options and thinking, “well screw it, I don’t think I’ve got a realistic chance of going, why am I doing this?” On the day of the race ultimately it does all come down to who’s in the best place mentally and physically. Even the very best have bad days on the track.

The same applies to the huge amount of pursuit talent, I just don’t think it’s going in the right direction, I think as a competition the one in Beijing worked fine, it had two athletes in most events which was great and I don’t see anything wrong with that. So what if GB has the best two or three riders, why should they have to pay for that? So I mean I can understand it from one point of view, but I think in the interest and the long term of the sport it’s not doing it any good.

Do you still have your first Raleigh Mag Burner?

[Chuckles] No, I wish I did! I actually question what my parents did with everything, because I don’t have an ounce of stuff. I think my parents just gave everything away, sold it or whatever, just to pay for the other races, so it would just discretely disappear. I mean I have nothing, I have some things in the US from when I used to race for Haro, I have some GB tops and stuff.

So do you have a collection of bikes nowadays?

Nooo, you’d be amazed, if you look around the house you wouldn’t know I was a bike racer. In my office I’ve got a couple of jerseys up on the wall and a few pictures from the Olympics, but that’s it. In the garage I’ve got a mountain bike, one BMX and one road bike. I’m not fanatical like some, I mean I know this one kid, he said he’d got like thirty bikes and I said, “you’re kidding me?!” It’s unbelievable, and we don’t have the room basically and I don’t think my wife would appreciate having twenty bikes in the garage. I think she’s had enough, she’s got her bike, I’ve got mine. I’ve got one for if I want to go off on the road, I’ve got something for playing with the kids on the BMX. At the end of the day if I wanted something I could always get it because I know plenty of people in the industry but I’m not that fussed.

For now British Cycling are staying at Manchester Velodrome do you think the pressure will build for them to relocate to London and the new facilities?

Jamie Staff competing in The Revolution Series at Manchester – Image ©Copyright Guy Swarbrick

No, Manchester has too much of an interest in British Cycling and the upheaval of all the staff would be too much. I’m sure there will be divisions of it potentially that will move down there, maybe one element of it, you know like education or Go Ride. They may extend down there, and obviously there’s such a catchment area, it would be silly not to do something with it. So I’m sure it will be a fantastic velodrome that’ll be extremely busy but the nuts and bolts of British Cycling will definitely stay in Manchester in my opinion.

What advice would you give to young riders that want to get their talent noticed?

To get their talent noticed it’s basically going to be racing. I think it’s far harder these days. When I was a kid, because the sport was in it’s infancy, everyone was at the same level. Now for a junior or young kid coming into the sport where even the young kids are extremely talented, it’s got to be very off-putting and nerve racking and they basically just see it’s near enough impossible for them to get better within that sport. So I think you’ve just got to focus on yourself and make sure that you improve, and over time you can do it. It doesn’t take long for a young kid to get into BMX – you’re still talking a number of years, maybe three or four years before they’re really good – but in the scheme of things that’s not very long at all. So just don’t be put off by the talent above, don’t let that deter you.

So it’s very important they join a club?

Yeah yeah, definitely, they shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions. Sometimes cyclists seem very closed with information, but I think once you start talking to parents or club officials or whoever, they’ll open up and tell you quite a bit. So just talk, ask questions and people will be forthcoming with information and help guide you. And then obviously in today’s modern world with the media it makes that so much easier.

Do you think you’ll come back to the UK at any point and do some coaching?

Hopefully yeah, I mean, like I said, my plan with the academy in the UK is that I come there every three months and do a two or three day seminar, that’s the goal. The premise of the academy is to basically educate people on their upcoming quarter, so we’ll break a season down into four parts. So prior to that next part I will come and educate you on the things that you need to be thinking of and the processes you need to go through.

So for instance: you’ve just finished your race season and now you’ve got to deal with some time off, so I’ll tackle that. A lot of people don’t take any time off and it’s all about having other interests and hobbies so you don’t get burnt out, because I think many kids are just too intense for too long, you’ve got to have balance in your life. So I’ll just deal with different issues at different parts of the year. I’ll also cover bike skills and winter riding, and I want to get some

Jamie Staff – Image ©Copyright John @ Cycling Focus

companies involved with parts, equipment and bikes, and help educate people on clothing, tyre choice and even get some pro riders to help inspire them.

I feel there is such a lack of information out there, it’s just ridiculous. I’m just trying to open up the knowledge that I received from British Cycling and obviously what I’ve learnt myself. I want to open it more to the general public, and get some of that information out there because I do feel it is somewhat closed off. I mean there are no real secrets but you would think there was. It’s just careful planning and hard work basically, that’s what it comes down to, there’s no magic helmet you’re just gonna put on, no magic shoes, it’s just bloody hard work at the end of the day, and I think people need to hear that.

To find more out about Jamie click here to go to his website.

To find out more about the USA Cycling Team click here.

Jamie’s major career results include:

My thanks to Jamie and all the photographers.

©Copyright 2011 Anna Magrath @ Cycling Shorts. Please do not reproduce any content without permission from myself or the photographers.

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