Une nouvelle année. Un nouveau départ. En France.

A start of a new season has now began, and after having spent time on both sides of the world the last few of months I am now back in France, a month into racing.

I thought I would start with a bit of a review of last year; otherwise things will probably not follow on from my last post, which might I add was quite some time ago! I had a good year last year, albeit a bit of a rollercoaster at times. I spent the first half of the year racing mainly in the UK coupled with trips to Mallorca and Serbia for their national Tours. It was a great experience, not only from a racing perspective to race against some great names, inc the likes of Michael Rasmussen but also to experience different cultures at the same time; something which was very evident in Serbia! Different cultures: It is an incredible thing, how with each country you visit, the way of life changes, residents have different attitudes to that which you may be used to and the living standards certainly differ. I have been very fortunate to experience quite a few places in my lifetime already and has certainly helped expand my mind.

Shortly after the finish of the Tour de Serbie, I raced at the Island Games and then spent the last half of the year racing the amateur scene in France. France so far has always been good to me and it didn’t change in the last half of the season. I was able to do some good races and was very fortunate to have a chance to race with Hennebont Cyclisme for the last month of the season. Certainly, one of my proudest moments that year in France has got to be coming 3^rd in the GP de Plouay. It is a great race with an incredible atmosphere! A race I will go back to this year and hope to go 2 places better!

For this year I am racing with Sojasun Espoir ACNC, the feeder team to Saur-Sojasun. I have now been racing for just under a month and to say the climate is different to Australia couldn’t be any more of an understatement. Strangely it is quite refreshing, however I am not sure how long the novelty will last!

I have had a training camp in Biarritz since then followed by my first race, Route de l’Atlantique , a race which I managed to get 7^th in. Unfortunately since then I have been struggling with an injury with my back so have been spending a lot of time back home in between races having treatment to sort the problem. I am now seeing improvements and I am not far from returning to form.

I hope to be doing monthly updates, or at least when I have something relatively interesting to say! Until then I hope this update was informative.

A bientot!

Taking every opportunity...

I said 'stay tuned' last time and since my last post, half the season has past! Well here goes... I'll try fill to you in! I had a busy first half of the season which culminated in many highs, however, with that came some lows. What I have come to learn though is that without the lows, the high points would never seem as great! 

Since returning from the Tour of Mallorca, I spent the first half of the year living in Wales while I raced a predominantly UK based calendar. With the odd return to France to race when I had a free weekend, I had some success, winning the Thophee aven Moros in Kernevel, France in mid May! This was my first win in France and it felt great! During those first few months, I managed to also claim victories in both the Totnes Vire 2-day and also the Southern Regional Championships in the UK. 

Tour of Serbia

Following my positive start to the year I was offered a great opportunity to race the Tour of Serbia (UCI 2.2), a week long stage race. It could not have come at a better time! The race itself hosted some great names of the sport past, including the likes of Michael Rasmussen and Angelo Furlan both of the Christina Watches Onfone team, so it was a brilliant opportunity for me to pitch myself up against some great riders.

I had a great race and had pretty good form going into it after another victory in France the weekend before. The 2 mountain stages proved to be key to a good overall position. Unfortunately I had a bit of bad luck on both days, with a puncture with 6 km to go on the first and a crash on the 2nd day in the mountains while going down a very technical decent! This cost me staying with the leaders and any chances at a high overall position.

Following another 4 very taxing stages, I ended up finishing in 19th overall and 2nd in the U23 classification. During that week we covered 1127 km at an average speed of just over 41 kph and I was really starting to feel that the day after when I was travelling home! All in all it was a great race to be part of, with a real insight into the culture of Eastern European life! A big thanks to the guys at Team CMI/BST, who are a great bunch of people and I very much appreciate the opportunity!

Nationals and Island Games

Following exactly a week after the Tour of Serbia was the National Champs and then by the Island Games which was being held in the Isle of Wight. The Nationals didn't quite go to plan so I won't go there! The Island Games on the other hand was a great experience, with the cycling team as a whole claiming medals in every event - something which has never been done before by Guernsey! 

On the road side, we started off very strongly thanks to gold medals in the road criterium from both Ann Bowditch and Tobyn Horton. I was doing both the road race and the time trial and after some very strong team work from Team Guernsey managed to claim silver in both, in addition to team silver in both. Also a bronze medal from Ann Bowditch and Karina Bowie from the road race and time trial respectively, topped off a very successful Games! 

Mid-Season and still focused!

It is now coming to the end of July, the season is still relatively young. I am starting to feel that I am really digging my heels, in to maintain what has begun as my most successful season to date! 

Following a week off the bike after the Island Games, I got straight back into the swing of racing over in France with a race in Mauron on the Thursday and the Grand Prix LeClerc Hennebont on the Sunday. As far as highs and lows came though, this week had certainly had both. On the Friday between the two races I had to travel to Jersey to go to the funeral of a family friend, who was an avid cycling fan. It was then that it really hit home  how valuable life is and how quickly it can be taken away. This is what made my victory the following Sunday that much more meaningful.

I now have a very busy last couple of months of racing before the end of the season and I am certainly going to be giving it everything I have!

James

Season Start

Well it has been a very long time since I last put up a blog post... this keeping up to date is seeming hard than I first thought! Since the last post though, I have been to training camp with my team in Mallorca in Feb, and then I finally started my season on the 19th March in France at the Circuit Rance Emeraude. With one of my biggest objectives of the year coming up, Cinturon Cyclista Internationale a Mallorca (6-9th April), I had a small amount of time to try and find some race form before the start of the event.

The start came around quite quickly and so far only had 2 race days in my legs coming into the first stage of Mallorca; a little less than I'd have liked. The first stage was a 7.1 km Time Trial, with 3 road stages to follow. Taking this into account I was completely shocked when by the end of the race I managed to work my way into 5th on General Classification and claimed 4th on Stage 3. I was stoked and it is a great feeling to get a result when you don't expect it!

I am now almost a month into my season, and currently moving to the UK for a couple of months for a fairly busy period of racing which includes the Tesco Rutland - Melton International CiCLE Classic this coming Sunday, followed by the start of the Premier Calendar Series and the Tour Series in May and June. These are a series of town center crits held in cities all over the UK held over 8 rounds. They are being televised on ITV4 so stay tuned and support the 'blue train'!

The National Champs followed by the Island Games will finish off a pretty hectic first half of the season at the end of June where I'll then have a period of rest. A period I am very much looking forward to!!

Stay tuned,

James

Reflection

Now that I am currently on the plane back from Australia, I took the time to reflect on the great experience I had had. It seems like only yesterday that I was flying into Perth, over the beautifully lit up city, however it has been some 5 and a half weeks… time really does fly! Much as it is now, jumping time zones here, there and everywhere on my way back home!

I came to know Perth pretty well by the time I left, however you may have expected that after having totalled 3626 km in my time there… that’s a lot of times around Guernsey… 91 in fact! It was an amazing place to train, with such variety in terrain, all in relatively close proximity. There were great rides to be had, not to mention some great cafes to chill in!! Up in the hills was fantastic with some stunning scenery not to mention some pretty tough climbs, which ranged anywhere from about a kilometer up to about 5 km. You could spend hours up there exploring different places to ride, which I certainly made the most of!

Just before I left there was actually forest fires up in the hills which claimed many homes, so it was devastating to be riding past scorched forestry. My thoughts go out to all the people affected by the many recent natural disasters which have affected places all over Australia in the recent months.

I met some great people while staying in Perth, from the family which looked after me for the month and a half (Thanks Bernard and SJ!!) to Matt and Dylan who helped me out with finding group rides to do when I first got there - all very much appreciated!

Fitness wise, I am feeling much stronger than when I first arrived, so I am hoping to capitalise on that this season once I start racing. Bring on the season.

I will now be spending a couple of days in the UK for my team; Pendragon Colnago Le Col’s launch and then a bit of time in the comfort of my own home before heading off with the team to Majorca for team camp to prepare for the season.

Check back in soon!

James

Training and life Down Under

Training commences! Sure enough once training started I barely had enough energy to stay awake during the afternoons let alone at night… so didn’t have much problem in trying to sleep from then onwards!

Like I said I have tried kept the blog up to date… sort of! So here is a quick recap on things since being here! I am currently midway through my 4th week of training and having a few easy days before I ramp the miles back up again before I leave. I have to admit it has been the best 3 weeks training of my life! Great roads, a lot of varied terrain, lots of wind, lots of sun and a stunning crystal clear blue ocean to look at, not to mention golden beaches!

During my first week here I went on a lot of group rides, to start learning my way around Perth, so that I didn’t get lost in the outback when on my own with a load of Kangaroos and Koalas! The group rides varied a lot; ranging from riding around the lake in Perth city (to put it in perspective the lake is 1.5 times the size of Guernsey - it’s a 60 km loop!), along the sea front and up into the Perth Hills, which laid home to a huge amount of climbs which potentially could go on for 100‘s of kms. I certainly would not run out of places to ride!!

One thing which differs between Australia and home is the time we have to train over here. I aim to be out training by 5.30-6 in the morning on long rides as it gets too hot during the middle of the day with temperatures sky rocketing. We have just had a tropical cyclone through Perth so the weather kind of spiked… humidity was up to 85% and temperatures one day when training in the hills was up to 47 degrees Celsius! Now I know what it is like to ACTUALLY be stuck in an oven!

With training so early, generally I will have finished riding by lunch time which then gives me the rest of the day to chill out, go to the beach, sit in cafes… and write blogs!! This blog has been sitting on my computer screen for about 5 days already… procrastination is the thief of time!

Australia Day - 26th January - First Race

I had my first race of the season on the 26th Jan; it was the Australia Day Crit in Central Perth. It had a great atmosphere with lots of people watching as it was in the heart of Perth and people were already there to celebrate their national holiday. The course was a hotdog which basically means it was straight with 2 U-turns - not my favourite I have to admit! I had a pretty decent race mind for the first of the season placing 7th after having chased the break with one other guy for almost the entire race. It felt great to put a race number on again!

I have a week and a half left in Perth now before I start my long journey home and I am certainly planning on making the most of it! A lot of the Aussie based European Pros are back from the Tour Down Under now and are spending a couple of weeks at home training before setting out for the season in Europe which will be a great opportunity to put in some miles with them! The rest of the time I shall be making the most of the sun I have here and try to find a place where I can hold a Joey! Apparently I am developing a bit of an Aussie twang too…

Ciao

James

Going to the opposite side of the world and battling jetlag!

‘What is the best way to combat jetlag?’ I thought to myself, at 1 am in the morning. Hence the reason why I am writing this blog now at 1.23 am!

I have started my New Year pretty exotically, having travelled through 3 different continents and countries in the past 2 days; the UK, China, and finally to Australia! It is a pretty long way to go to just train however due to their opposite summer down under; it made the perfect ground for a very heavy month and a half block of training in preparation for my 2011 season! Something which  am very much looking forward to!

It is day 1 here in Perth, in fact actually day 2 but still feels like day one! Confusing I know! I had slept for 14 hours the previous night which I think was a lot down to the fact my body clock hadn’t adjusted yet - and still hasn’t adjusted! Anyhow, in what was left of the day after having woken up at 2.30 pm still looking for breakfast; I went to Yoga. I was fortunate to find somewhere so close to where I am staying to do it as it is great. It helps with my core strength which is vital for a cyclist and it is an awesome way to totally relax. I must thank both Ann Bowditch and Caroline Wick ham (who runs Yoga sessions in Guernsey) for getting me into it. Now the day is finished - seemed like the shortest day in history!

I have to the end of the weekend to sort out this jetlag and then the long and hard hours in the saddle, start on Monday. Either way though I think that by the time that starts I will be too tired to stay awake anyway!

Thanks for reading my blog, I will try to keep it as up-to-date as possible!

James McLaughlin

A New Year... A New Start

First post... what to say... As the title suggests... a new year brings around a new start and a whole world of new and exciting opportunities.

2010 has been a great year for me. I have had a pretty strong cycling season picking up my first Elite category win in the UK in May and a few more high placings while racing in France throughout the summer. My highlight of the year has got to be the Commonwealth Games in Delhi - as much as there was criticism about the Games leading up to the event, I thought upon arriving that they were fairly unfounded, with it being one of the best experiences of my life thus far.

2011 is going to be a pretty full on year... I'm looking forward to it!

Happy New Year!!