It’s fair to say that the 2021 season for me was not a conventional one but certainly one that I’ll never forget.
After the disappointment of the Tour of Wales and some health struggles after having the COVID vaccine which affected my fitness, I decided to have some time off the bike as to not cause any lasting damage to my body.
After some time resting (going slightly insane about not riding the bike) I wanted to get back to doing track training as I missed out on this for the last 2 winters thanks to the pandemic. Going back to Herne Hill Velodrome and seeing all the coaches at VCL that I’ve missed for the last 2 years was like coming back home and getting back on the track was a great feeling. A big thank you to all the coaches at HHV and VCL.
After getting back on a track bike at Herne Hill, I wanted to see if I could race on the boards at Lee Valley at Full gas Track League. A week before the first track league, my Dad and I went to Lee Valley for a 2 hour drop in session just to get comfortable on the velodrome again. Doing different drills thought up between the two of us to see how I handled being on the track.
The first couple of track leagues followed. This is where my lack of track time started to show as I was against top riders that had been riding track throughout the year and this amplified my lack of tactical sharpness on the Velodrome but I came away with some good results across the 3 weeks of track leagues I have done so far.
After seeing that I needed 1 point to keep my Category 2 licence in the UK due to the fact I was in Spain for the majority of the racing season, I entered the first Full Gas Winter Series which was the 30th of October (yesterday as I’m writing this) a 50 minute crit around Lee Valley road circuit. My legs felt very strong in the race and showed myself that I do have a good base to build on over the winter. I came away with a 2nd place, 1st junior and 9 points which was more than enough to keep my Cat 2 licence.
Next Saturday on the 6th of November I will be going back to Spain for a month to do some hard training on both the road and the Velodrome and possibly 1 or 2 track races but we will wait and see. Keep an eye out for an announcement from me in the next few weeks… Muchas gracias para CC Cartagena y mi entrenador Cesar Neira! And thank you to Pedal Potential for their support for the whole 2021 season.
Thanks very much for reading
Lance
Lance Childs 