Sponsorship deal. (Kind of)

Since the last post I have attended the first and second Academy sessions of the new season. Exciting stuff I know :)

Since summer last year myself and Dad were researching into new gear, in particular a new race bike. We discovered Cielo Rosso a very locally based bike company owned and designed by the one and only Neil Watts.
Neil's name is one that is well renowned at Colchester Rovers CC as he has supplied many with race bikes built and sized to their likes.
Basically, we fired a few emails back and forth and established that Neil has a direct link with a frame manufacturer in Asia who lacquer and paint the frames with the Cielo Rosso branding and send them over to Neil, who then builds them up with whatever components you require. Simple.

With the S Works Venge as a favourite I asked if the manufacture of this frame was possible as Cielo Rosso had never produced such a frame. It was discovered that it was very possible and work began.

I'm very pleased to say that the finished product is a beauty. Have ridden it all season with no problems! Pictured is me and a Belgian wheel hugger at the Nottingham ETU race.

I was in need of a new trisuit that complied with the various ITU rules for the Nottingham ETU race so I suggested that the Cielo Rosso brand logo be printed alongside my name and country code to reach a wider audience.

Here is the finished suit

country sundays

Liverpool No Go

Met gwen! The upside to a disappointing weekend...

The Liverpool BTF junior champs was called off due to shocking weather conditions from an apparent hurricane which originated in America!

I was really gutted that the race was cancelled as I was looking forward to racing and trying to prove myself against the best of UK Juniors!

Above is myself within the athletes lounge with world no.1 Gwen Jorgenson :)

I'M BACK

Right, so after about two years of non existent posting I figured that summer is coming and what better time to start up the ol' blog again 😅

Okay so, a lot has happened since my last post. Most importantly that I am now competing as a Junior athlete in the British Super series and hope to race in the junior World Cup races over the following years!

With my training on course thought the winter I felt confident that I would have a solid start to the season this year but sadly a stupid accident that was pretty much my fault caused a broken elbow in January and training kind of stopped for a couple of weeks.

Nevertheless, I got back to almost full fitness and was due to race at the National Duathlon Champs in Corby but last minute notices of ITU regulations meant that my wheels were not allowed to be ridden in the race and with little time to borrow I decided to miss this one!

Next was the 'call up' back to Hetton Lyons Country Park- the venue of my first IRC Nationals event when I was 14!

I say 'the call up' because the race was a qualifier for the European Youth Relays somewhere in Russia!?

Obviously I was excited to race but a shocking swim getting well and truly battered resulted in a pretty terrible race!

Following this was the National Aquathlon Champs in Hyde park only last week and the first time racing with the 'big boys' of the Junior category!

Nerves and excitement levels were running high but poor nutrition leading up to the race resulted in another terrible swim and a run which I almost blacked out in:/ 

So I had a lot of work to do to build my confidence and energy levels back up for my most recent race (Blenheim Triathlon).

Blenheim has always been an enjoyable race for me but the hills are often what makes or breaks you. Racing with the elite seniors was awe inspiring as i was used to seeing them on TV so racing alongside was amazing.

The swim start was much cleaner than the previous two races and I emerged around mid pack.

Running into transition with this many guys was pretty hectic but I got in and out onto the bike well. The pace was relentless despite the hills but I managed to hold into the bike group and got onto the run feeling fresh whilst leaving my bike group behind and also catching some from the group ahead!

Final position was 24th which I am pretty pleased with against all of the older junior guys but as always there are areas of improvement!

My next race isn't for a few months so I will be posting pictures from races and filling you in on the training until then!

Ellz

Here's a few pics from Hyde park :)

Virgin Active London Triathlon 2012

Excited

As Saturday 22nd approached the excitement of my first London Triathlon was building.

My expectations were high and upon arriving these were quickly met as I noticed the enormity of the venue. 

Getting mistaken for Bieber was pretty embarrassing but seeing David Hasselhoff was a highlight!

Now, for the race!

Gathering round for the race briefing with my other HPU Team mates you could feel the excitement and anticipation.

We jumped into the reasonably cold dock and tried to warm ourselves up.

Having an average swim gave me the enthusiasm to really ''go for it'' on the bike and run, catching several competitors, finishing in a respectable 10th place.

Season over..

Well, that's it for the 2012 season, no more races. I've learnt a lot as my first year in the Youth age-group, and treated everything as a learning curve.

Thanks a lot to the HPU and all of my coaches. Treated this season as a 'learning' year.

Next season I hope to improve on my performances in the British Super Series and therefore gain a higher ranking.

Over and out..

Ells.

Blenheim Tri

Unlucky?

After falling ill at the National Aquathlon Championships in Tamworth and finishing short of mid-way, I tried to 'rest & recuperate' for the next race that would be held at Dorney Lake, Eton in a weeks time.

With days off school and not much training I decided to give Eton a miss. Which was a shame as I had been anticipating this event ever since i had entered. However, from what I had heard, the HPU Team raced pretty well. (Well Done Guys).

Back on track?

Blenheim Swim Exit.

Blenheim Swim Start.

Illness over and back on track. With "the big one" (Blenheim Triathlon) soon approaching I felt that I should start to get in some training.




Not a bad swim followed on the day to get onto the bike just missing a chase pack. Sadly I could not catch them so for one of the laps I was alone and the second with one guy who didnt really want to pull his weight. I soon left him on the run after a T2 that was 3 seconds faster than the Brownlee brothers (my claim to fame). On the single lap run course I managed to catch 4 of my competitors to finish 33rd.

New season, new tactics.

This new season brings a higher standard of racing and new tactics needed to be able to race my very best.


The first race- The National Duathlon Champs (Loughborough)- is ideally suited to me as unlike others, the two runs don't phase me. However the cycle is completely different to the standard non-drafting grass racing in previous years of competing.


This year like at the IRC's in all of the races I have entered, drafting on the cycle is "legal". So I've had to adjust to riding in a group (or trying) to get a good overall position.


The duathlon started off well. The venue (picture attached)was an old air-field which had a smooth race track perfect for cycling around it... I came into T1 in a good position and managed to stay with a small pack on the bike for 3 of the 4 laps. Then on the final lap, they all "went for it" and I couldn't quite hold onto them, but after T2 I managed to claw back 2 of them finishing in a respectable 27th position.


During the easter holidays I'm jet-setting off to (hopefully) sunny Mallorca for a 5 day training camp with the Eastern Region Academy. I'll be sure to take some photos and blog my progress for when I get back.


E.Bennett