Throughout this track season there has been a new series implemented into my club calendar. I'm not sure if I have spoken about it before (mostly because I am too lazy to go back and check), but it is the John Nicholson Keirin Series, named after Blackburn Cycling Club's previous club president. He was a very successful sprint cyclist during the 60s and 70s, and holds a spot in the Sports Australia Hall of Fame. The Keirin Series ran over a number of weeks throughout the 2015/2016 track season. I managed to attend all but the first round. I also managed to win every race, however due to missing the first round, that was not enough to secure the overall lead. I came second over all. It was a fun event to turn up to, I got to support my club and race in some events that I don't normally (such as the scratch race and handicap during the support races). It was also good to go and see some of the junior riders. A number of them seem to look up to me as a role model which is very humbling and an added motivator for me to continue with my riding.
Since the Sprint Series I have had a 3 week break in which I didn't do a whole lot. Mostly enjoyed free time to the extent that I was bored out if my mind.
I've started back up at uni, around the same time I did with cycling again. So going from doing not very much to being very busy all at the same time was a little bit of a shock to the system. Although I seem to have gotten the hang of it now.
The plan for the mean time is to ride at ITS (link to last year's event) which is being held in Melbourne this year. It is an international event that will hopefully get a few names down to come and race. I am hoping to use it to get some more experience racing against some tough competition, maybe learn a few things about how people ride and look at the racing from another tactical stand point. Being able to race someone who is much faster than me will allow me to try out some new moves and focus on using different methods that I wouldn't normally use to see if it is affective against a faster opponent. Hopefully I can also pull out a PB in the flying 200. My aim this year is to hit mid 10s, so 10.5 would be fantastic. Although, the goal is more targeted at states in December when the weather is warmer.
Recently I have started with a new gym program to differently supplement my riding. There is much more of an initial focus on volume and gradually increasing the intensity and change of focus as we near the beginning of the race season to better suit where I am at in the season. We are going to be looking at more of a focus later on in the season of more Olympic style lifts, which I am quite excited for. I am keen to see how Olympic lifting can affect my power on the bike, as well as what I am capable of lifting in terms of the Snatch and Clean & Jerk.
Back to the boards.
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