Saddled with fear . . . and excitement
As a night owl I’m desperate to get an early start on my big-name rivals in Hong Kong as I chase track glory against the best in the world
W IHEN was about nine years old I stayed up later than my mum for the first time. I can’t remember whether she wanted an early night or if she simply gave up trying to get me and my brother to go to bed, but either way we ended up watching television past the watershed and I witnessed my first TV sex scene.
I can’t remember what I saw exactly, but I do remember being as shocked as I would be today if there was hard-core pornography on the mini television they’ve started putting on buses. I was terrified, yet at the same time unbelievably curious. This internal conflict caused a bizarre knot in my stomach.
I’ve got that same knot in my stomach when I think about the upcoming UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Hong Kong; I’m completely terrified but madly keen to see what happens.
I write this with three weeks left until racing begins, within touching distance of my taper. I’ve only got a precious week and a bit to believe I’ll find improvements but what feels like an eternity in which to make mistakes. An unfair imbalance if you ask me.
The events I’m targeting are the omnium on the Friday and the individual pursuit on the Saturday.
The running order means I won’t be going into the pursuit fresh but that’s life. It also means I can’t ride the madison (not that selection would have necessarily befallen me) which is on the same day as the pursuit.
Last week, I raced in the finale of the Six Day Cycling series and finished second overall on the night, which came with a substantial prize pot.
I wasn’t over the moon with how I’d ridden that night but I’ve used the money to upgrade my flight to Hong Kong. Maybe a good sleep on the plane will stop me from making similar tactical errors at the worlds; a long shot but I’m looking forward to the luxury nonetheless.
The upgrade should help me avoid arriving exhausted into the plus-sevenhour time difference between us and Hong Kong. Jetlag is on my (long) list of things to be terrified about.
Also on there is having Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You come race day.
You’ve probably heard the common rhyming adage “west is best, east is . . . not best” in relation to global travel and jetlag. Like anything that rhymes (rain before seven, dry before eleven/ red sky at night, shepherd’s delight / always put your besties before someone with testes) it’s completely factual and something you can live your life by. I love going west.
It’s the equivalent of staying up late and sleeping late and, as you now know, I’ve been trying to do that since my age was a single figure. But east is for the early birds. East is for the person that tucks up in bed with a good book at 8pm then gets up early the next morning shouting “carpe diem” and waking the rest of us up as well.
Of course, along with night owl still stuck in my head and early bird there is the third, well-documented category of constantly exhausted goose. They don’t cope well with either direction.
To prepare for my temporary existence as an early bird I’ve bought a sunshine alarm clock to lull me from my slumber earlier than usual
For half an hour before the alarm goes, my fancy alarm/lamp starts to gradually increase its brightness until I’m basking in (fake) daylight like a newborn baby. If that baby was born in a terraced house in south Manchester with a very bright lamp in the room. I highly recommend it.
In fact talking about my fancy alarm/lamp has really calmed me down, I can barely feel that knot in my stomach any more. And if I reflect on other areas of my preparation I can say I’ve given myself as best a chance as I know how to turn up to these world champs on form. I’ve been writing my own training plan since the Olympics and had a lot of fun with the freedom, but next month will be the climax (and ultimate test) of the experiment.
I persuaded my coach, Paul Manning (multiple Olympic medal winner as both a rider and a coach) that I needed the chance to make some of my own mistakes. Let’s just hope I don’t make all those mistakes at the biggest race of the year. JOE Fraser demonstrated the new depth of talent in the sport in Great Britain by taking his first senior all-around title at the British Championships last night.
The first-year senior from the City of Birmingham club finished ahead of more established names to take the title at a sold out Echo Arena in Liverpool.
Fraser finished with a total of 82.100 points in a tight conclusion in which Maidstone’s James Hall and Birmingham’s Dom Cunningham could not be separated.
Both were awarded silver medals with an overall points haul of 80.800 points.
Frank Baines took gold in the floor event with a total of 14.250 to repeat his defeat of Southport and Scotland teammate Daniel Purvis, who was fifth with 12.750.
But there was disappointment for Baines in the allaround competition after he suffered a fall in the parallel bars and suffered an arm injury. He battled on gamely but was clearly in some pain in his final event, the high bar, and suffered an early fall.
The top Scot in the all-around event was City of Glasgow’s David Weir, who was 14th with 73.100.
In the women’s all-around, Ellie Downie (Notts) won her first senior title with 55.350 and joint silver medallists were Alice Kinsella (Park Wrekin) and Maisie Methuen (Phoenix), who both reached 53.300.
Scottish champion Shannon Archer was 13th
I’m terrified of having Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You stuck in my head when it comes to the big race day