A New year has started and I am really excited to see what 2024 brings. Since my last blog training has been going well although the stormy UK weather has meant I’ve not ridden outside quite as often as I’d have liked to as no-one wants to battle against dangerous 60-70mph winds!
I have my new bike all built up and I’d just like to thank Laka for their amazing customer service, I was gutted when I noticed that my Cervelo S5 had cracked in a training ride slip. Over Christmas however and with some emails pinging back and forth, Laka agreed to a custom build on a Specialized S-works Tarmac SL8 built up with Ultegra Di2. It’s an unbelievable bike and I’m very keen to get racing on it soon. Thanks to Laka for agreeing to my custom build, Sigma Sports for saving me the last 56cm frame they had in stock, Lordgun for finding me the Roval cockpit from Italy (Laka for also covering the import charges to get them in the country!) and Activ Cycles over in Folkestone for building up the bike for me. I’ve had a little ride but hoping for the weather to improve so that I can give her a spin! Thanks also to Name Decals who we got the custom name decals from they look great on the bike.
Today I went to my mum’s work Temple Ewell Church of England Primary School to give an assembly to the whole school. I’d made a PowerPoint and it was interesting looking back through old photographs going back to starting racing when I was 7, thinking about all the people who helped me along the way and looking at the ups and downs of my journey so far. Mum had asked me to go in because in their PSHE ‘Jigsaw‘ lessons they have been looking at achieving your dreams and goals and whilst I am not a world tour pro yet they hoped that seeing my journey from starting racing at 7 through to racing for TAAP Kalas now would inspire the children at Temple Ewell to believe in themselves and strive to achieve their dreams. It was great to meet the children and staff there and tell them a little about me.
My first race of the season is coming up in February it’s the Portsdown Classic so looking to do well in that and hoping the weather is not too “Perfs” like! Then hopefully as a treat from the UK weather (bearing in mind when we went to Mallorca last year it snowed!) a few of us TAAP Kalas guys are off to Calpe for a training camp in March where we’re also doing a race out there too so plenty for you to check back in on in the next couple of months.
Thanks for reading and thanks to Ryan at TAAP Kalas racing, Henry my coach, Laka for getting me back ready to race, Tony Henderson for being a great sports masseur, Kalas for supplying the team with kit this year (Can’t wait to see it!), Ekoi for supplying the team with helmets and glasses this year.
TAAP Kalas is definitely an exciting team to be part of this year. Keep checking back for updates through the year!
Lance Childs 