ok heres a quick lowdown on the Talent team lost in Wales.. I unfortunately missed a day on Saturday with other commitments but by Jez's accounts the riders where put through there paces.
The mountain bike trails around North Wales are great fun, challenging on the climbs and as hairy as you want on the downhill. Stuff like this has what i call the "the mummy factor" if you dont pull your brakes well you cry for your momma but she aint going to come!!! I attended the camp on the sunday morning and we all set off to some fresh tracks near the hostel. After changing we where straight into an uphill section that really tested the thighs early on a sunday. It was a light drizzle but nice and fresh. Then we followed the track into single file downhill tracks that are great, slippy, fast and in places not very forgiving.. The guys had all done nearly three hours the day before but they all worked really hard. Some of the uphill stuff is lactic acid country..On one section you are going so fast you darent pull your brakes to hard and your arms are cramping from holding the bars to tight. A fine line. Alex "mountain Goat" Deakin showed what he is made of and is a superb climber and fearless on the downhill. He had everyone roaring in laughter after some excursions off the beaten track.. We all arrived back in one piece and fuelled up and drove to Wrexham bmx track. This a great small facility only room enough for two riders max and thats a squeeze but its got quite a few doubles triples and concrete berms its fast and makes you think quickly!!
Tired legs where the order of the day but we all had fun jumping as you can see by the pics. Mr Lacey was flying. Alex was crossing up, Arran was doing it smooth (go professor) I tried to bring it back to the old school and put my foot through my front wheel destroying it. First time i rode my new 20" DOH.
Thanks to the local Welsh crew for being so friendly.
A great camp was had. The point of all this is to build up the core endurance fitness,the stamina and bike handling skills and to give the riders a taste of the commitment they will need should they make it onto the Podium program. Its an ongoing thing and believe me its going to get tougher for all. Many thanks to Jez for all his effort in making another successful camp and showing us he can still bust it out with the best of them.
Roll on December and the next camp in Newport.. see you trackside Mike