“SMASHING A BRITISH RECORD WAS A WEIRDLY PEACEFUL EXPERIENCE!”
Fred Meredith, 17, from Welshpool shattered the junior Hour Record, with a distance of 49.184km
“THE BULK OF THE BUILD-UP WAS AT HOME, ON ZWIFT, GETTING THE SESSIONS IN LATE IN THE EVENING AFTER SCHOOL”
“I wanted to have a shot at
the Junior British title for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a standing start after watching Dan Bigham do the senior version late last year. I also saw Aston Freeth (previous junior hour record holder) do it and I thought it would give me some good motivation through the winter.”
“Training involved a lot of time on
the turbo just getting the kilometres in – especially in the TT position. I’d say the turbo work was a key part of my success as the constant force on the pedals on a stationary bike is very similar to track cycling. Then, as the event got nearer, it was more high-end and overpowered efforts.”
“The bulk of the build-up was off
the track. I live in mid Wales and there are no local velodromes. So it was at home, on Zwift, getting the sessions in late in the evening after school. Winter was particularly hard to motivate myself to go out in the wet and cold, so I ended up just doing it indoors.”
“Having a coach [former pro Liam
Holohan] really helped hone my training. I joined his race team, which is packed with experience, and the move proved to be a massive benefit – as it showed on record day.”
“I rode the Argon 18 Electron Pro
frameset (Derbados special edition) with FFWD discs, a Wattshop Pentaxia base bar and Anemoi extensions. The bike was kindly loaned to me by Dan Bigham, which took a lot of stress off me as I knew all the kit was top level!”
“On the day I had a puncture in the
third lap, had a sketchy stop and got the disc changed then went again. Second time around it all went to plan. There was a lot of pressure but, as soon as I was away, it was just me and the bike – it was weirdly peaceful.”
“Getting the record of 49.184km
confirmed was such a relief. I knew I had it in me, but it was just down to keeping my cool. As soon as I knew it was over, I was quite overwhelmed. Next up for me is my last road season as a Junior and I’m keen to make it a good one!” Thanks to Holohan Coaching