Just got some more pictures back from the World Champs in June, here is a shot from the Sunday Elite race where Javier Gomez was well on his way to winning his first World Championship.

Was awesome being this close to the Elite guys and the speed they wen't past on the bike was amazing.

He's looking pretty relaxed though!

Mike

Article

Recent article in local paper

http://www.deesidepiper.co.uk/sport/Michael-crowned-junior-champion.4304606.jp

Mike

Sun, Stirling and Goodbyes

Hey guys,

Only 6 days left in Aberdeen, a lot of organising yet to do, sports kit needing washed, bikes needing packed (but we'll leave that all to the last minute) and in general goodbyes to be said as I won't return for at least another 9 months...

Am I sad to be leaving? I think it's always sad when someone leaves home for the first time but just as I am a bit sad and my family are too we are all just as excited about what the next year holds for me. Vancouver is an amazing city full of people to meet and places to go, skiing just up the road, a new campus to explore, new streets to wander and new training paths to forge.

Spent three days this week in Stirling with Blair, had a good ride with the local guys on Tuesday however as the Tour is on all the purist cyclists out there are in their element so the boys managed to drop me on the 5 mile leg back into town. I held on in a sense, was only about 90 seconds behind by the time the sprint was over and was blasting down the road at 28mph on the tri bars pretending to be Lance :-)
Wednesday had a nice interval running set in the evening + watching Alpe-d'Huez being scaled by the now Champ of the TDF Carlos Sastre (good on him), that said the run set knackered my legs but I am glad the shins held up and will be running on them tonight!

Friday after returning to Aberdeen I went out for a ride with my old friend Mike McLaren (a future GB rowing star), last time I saw him in January he was 6ft. 4......when I saw him on his bike yesterday he towered over me even more at 6ft. 8!! Built for rowing I say so watch that spot......all considered he needs to work on his cycling!! I went on out for another loop after I had dropped him home so racked up a nice 55km in the sun.

Today the sun was blaring so took advantage by getting in a fast 50km (31 km/h avg speed) followed by a steady 20km home to make it 70 for the day before sitting down to watch Cadel die in the TT and Carlos + Andy do the job for CSC. Now it's time for me to get off my ass, put on my Asics and get out for another set...

until next week

Mike

Newcastle

Hey,

Back in Aberdeen for one day only. Arrived home from Newcastle late last night to find the taxi queue at the train station backed up out the door...after spending 5 hours in a carriage with two hen parties and a stag night this was not what I wanted. Temper flairing I strapped on my bike shoes, donned my Aero helmet and started off down the road (Speedo suitcase on my back) for the 13mile journey home. After 40minutes and 15 car horn toots later (followed by jeers - mostly rude and mostly concerning the Aero helmet) I arrived home.

Newcastle was a last minute trip to get a few days in with my new team (www.total-racing-int.com) before flying out to Vancouver in 12 days. I arrived Friday night and was whisked off to my team manager (Phil Gray)'s house for some pasta and a general chat. He's an awesome guy and we managed to talk over the next few years no problem at all and afterwards I felt much more comfortable about my future.

Saturday was a BEAST. My first use of a computrainer ... there's a silver man on the computer screen who does the same course your riding but at a constant wattage (200 in my case) so he will get away from you if you go below this. Now I was under strict instructions to ignore the silver man and concentrate on my pedal efficiency.
-At this point all those who know me well or have trained with me in the past will know what I did...
... I chased the hell out of the Silver Man!
Ended up beating him by a mile and did my 24.10 miles in 59minutes 15seconds. I followed up the bike with a 10km tempo run including 4km at race pace.

The afternoon consisted of time in the endless pool filming for the team and then a steady swim session at a local tri club later on. Got to use my brand new Kiwami Amphibian 008 (which came highly recommended from Mark Yoeman), easily the fastest tri suit I've ever worn and in a league with the Fastskins and Diana swim race suits out there ... it was just more comfortable. It's currently off at the printers getting logo'd up before I head off to Canada.

A good weekend though and now am heading back to the homeland of Stirling for a final few days of adjustments and training before I make the move.

No one ever said training was easy!

Mike

The Windy City

No not Chicago...but Aberdeen =-/

Wind was howling today on my Tuesday ride, a steady 42 miler. Kept it easy for the first 30 - no faster than 17mph, just trying to get any of the tirdness out of my legs from the race on Saturday.
Then I got to Torphins (12 miles from home).
At some point on any ride the terrible head wind is going to become an awesome tail wind, today this point was as I turned left in Torphins for the final slog home, a slightly downhill 12 mile road taking me basically back to my front door. With the wind howling through my Carbon wheels I sped home in a little over 25 minutes (take your car out and try and do it faster!). The 201 Stagecoach bus didn't know what to do! 30mph was too slow to stay behind the whole way home but too fast to overtake, eventually I lost him when an old couple needed a lift into town...not after wondering what that whirring white and blue blob was that just sped past them!

Good ride though and was teamed up with a steady 7km run through my village this afternoon. Starting to really enjoy the bike/run days, swimming is still an important part of my training but I'm glad I'm beginning to appreciate the time spent in the saddle and on the running paths.

Also a mention must go out to my new team Total Racing International. I have steadily built up connections with this team over the last few months and now I am a fully fledged team member. This is an exciting team to be involved with, they are all very enthusiastic and very much race minded. I look forward to working with them from Vancouver next season. (see www.total-racing-int.com for details and team shop)

Keep reading,
keep training,

Mike

The First

Hey guys,

Thought I'd take the first step towards moving away to Vancouver by setting up my blog. As most of you know in three weeks I'll be packing up all my kit here in Aberdeen and making the jump 7000km across the pond to Vancouver, BC. This will be my first venture into the wild as a teenager you could say, having spent the last 19 years at home under the close watch of my family and coaches I will have to fend for myself in the jungle that is the UBC Vancouver Campus. So far no nerves or second thoughts, only excitement looking forward to the next year being able to focus on my training 100% (and studies) and really give Triathlon a go for next year.

Recently I have been travelling quite a bit. Spent two weeks at the end of June/beginning of July down in Stirling with my coach, Blair Cartmell, taking part in National squad training. This was in part to set me up technically for next year and also to give me a training boost after having eased off for the World Championships earlier last month. Everything seemed to pay off this weekend thankfully where I managed to pick up my first National title since 2006. In my first Non-Drafting Olympic distance triathlon I took the Scottish Junior title and fininshed top ten just infront of my new Team Manager-Phil Gray from Total Racing Int!

Must mention however the swim leg of the race, there were not hundreds but thousands of jelly fish in the sea and after my near panic attack during the sea session at the National camp I was not looking forward to racing with my jelly friends again. Luckily they were not all of the stinging variety and I only picked up a few stings on the face (5 years back 6 people had to be taken to hospital :-/ ) that said pulling through the water and feeling like your in a ball pit of jelly fish is massively un-nerving and am just glad so many of us managed to complete the freezing 1500m with the added hurdle of jelly fish attacks. (I'm sure I saw one with teeth)

On that note I am currently on a day off enjoying the sun up in Aberdeen. Open water swimming session tonight at Bert's Loch will flex the muscles a bit before heading back into training tomorrow, lets hope the sun stays out


As a Mr Mark Yoeman would call me; the man from Atlantis
Cheers for reading,

Mike