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News: Updated:
12 / 6 / 09
Tuesday 9tyh June Hawridge
International Duathlon. 1st Place
I was so pleased that I took a late entry to this great
event. Last year it was won by a good mate of mine Dan
Corner and he'd filled me in on what a hard course it
was. It really took me back back as much of the course
took in my old training roads across the Chiltern hills.
Without sounding big headed my training has gone really
well of late and so it was a case of executing things
and getting a really hard work out out of it. The run
was a classic rural chilterns affair - You passed a farm
with barking dogs and a gaggle of squawking Geese along
silent evening lanes before running into transition on
the Village Cricket Green in Hawridge and to top it off
the entry fee included the price of fish and chips which
were delivered to the finish area for athletes to devour
as they sat around the transition and finish area.
Now that's how to do it!
Monday 1st June Hillingdon
summer Duathlon series. 1st place
Tonight probably had the best field of the series so far
with Nick Sasha setting a blistering pace on the first
run that I simply couldn't live with. I managed to reel
him in and pass him on the bike but it took longer than
it has before. his biking has certainly come on.
Then I had a bit of a dual with Roger Fowkes on the bike
before breaking clear on the final run to win
comfortably. I really enjoyed it. I'm
enjoying the bike a lot at the moment. Diadora uk have
worked hard to help me find the right shoes to fit me
perfectly and I have never felt more comfortable than in
my Yellow infinity carbons. They're so stiff and yet
still really comfortable. check out the whole
range at Diadora uk who can be found at
www.bob-rock.com
or click on the pic below.
I have to say. It's nice to be winning and I'm really
enjoying my racing at the moment but I am really missing
my wife, Leda. She's been away for ages. She rode in the
10 day Tour de l'aude in the south of france and is now
in Canada where she came 29th in the Montreal world cup
on saturday and then is now racing in the tour of Grand
Montreal. She's doing really well but boy do I miss her.
She's been a continental pro for all 6 years of our
marriage but it never gets any easier when she's away in
the season. here's a pickie of her in action:
Have a look at
www.ledacox.co.uk for more on her amazing career and
where its taken her!
May 24th Harefield Summer Duathlon
series round 1 : 1st Place and 50th career
duathlon win!
Admittedly the field was small and there wasn't any
great strength in depth but It was great to have one of
my own athletes that I coach Carl Ferri up there with me
on the run and running well. It was a lovely day: hot
and sunny and the lake, woods and Harefield itself were
just a joy to behold on a day like that. i was pleased
to se that i set the fastest time I've ever done around
the two lap bike course. I've been tweaking my position
on the bike recently and it's paying off. that's the
probelm with being a bike fitter - I never stop
tweaking! Afterwards I went for another
couple of hours on the bike with Carl and then stood 9n
teh lovely cold lake for 10 mins to cool my legs down
and aid recovery. the funny thing was i was
asked not to walk into the shallows of the lake without
a life jacket on! Health and safety eh! what is the
world coming to? I looked a right plonker standing there
with the water up to my thighs in a life jacket.
Then again - maybe the guy had heard how bad my swimming
is!? hmm...
May5th New pictures added to my
Gallery for 2009.
CLICK HERE....
May 3rd. Hillingdon May Day Duathlons.
2 / 10/ 1 miles. 1st Place.
Well, it's nice to be back winning again. I ran well
on the first run and then rode really well before
running VERY badly on the final run and nearly being
caught. It's just one of those things I think. it was my
third race in 7 days and the tiredness started to creep
in on the final run. It did feel great to be back
winning again. it's been hard having to accept being
below par this spring but the great thing for Duathletes
is that we have two seasons each year really. Come
September I have 8 weeks iof great races in the uk which
I will aim to be at my best for including the final
round of the national series in Cheshire.
Before then however I have my two biggest goals of the
year, Powerman Geel in Belgium and Powerman Austria in
August. Here begins the 3 month build up to them. It's a
nice time now though as I get to do some other races
such as a few road races, some TT's and also the chance
to do some more running races. There's still some du's
in there as well. At least two a month. ROLL ON SUMMER!!
April 29th Hullavington
Airfield Duathlon 5 / 20/ 2.5 k wiltshire.
2nd
On a beautiful sunny evening which, for me seemed to
hail the start of summer I went head to head with Lee
Rankin who had beaten me to the win at the Marlow du
earlier this year. Knowing that my form is now getting
better all the time I decided to try to do to him what
he had done to me at Marlow and put him under pressure
on the first run. It was really windy on the airfield
and we started down wind so I went hard and three of us
got a quick gap. As we turned back into the wind I tried
three hard bursts to try to drop Lee and each time he
clawed his way back on and although he was breathing
hard (we both were) after the third time he cleverly
sensed it was his turn and he attacked. having made
three attempts I then had no answer and that was the
race won there. Once on the bike I went hard to close
him down for a lap but was very nearly sick and so had
to then go into survival mode. Lee was flying anyway and
the best man won in the end, no doubt.
April 25th Oostende Duathlon, Belgian
Series. 5k/ 20k/2.5k. 12th
My second weekend in a row in Belgium and Holland I
am out here to do the oostende Du and also to catch Leda
in a few races that she is riding with the Great Britain
cycling team. Today was a typical day in our lives: up,
feed face with fruit and fibre, drive like a maniac from
gent to oostende leaving leda to be picked up by team gb.
realise I am going to be late and drive faster, arrive
with 20 mins to go not having pre entered, enter, rack
and warm up all in the same movement and arrive on the
line with some of the worlds best duathletes.
Start run along seafront, realise that the wind along
the seafront is so strong that I have to treat the run
as a bike race and form an echelon in the wind, start
the bike and start working my way through to 9th. After
the bike, get beaten by 3 guys in the sprint at the end
of the run, jump in car drive like mad again over the
border to holland to see Leda in the Omloop Van Borsele.
Ride around the race course and realise that the wind is
a lot stronger than I had actually realised, have a
glimpsing conversation with Leda after she finished
19th, leave her to drive to our friends, The
Gillis's in Lemebeke where I am currently writing this
while sipping red wine (recovery properties). It's
a hectic way to spend the weekend but I love it.
Tomorrow - a long run in the woods in the am and then
drive to watch Leda race in Roeslare whist riding around
the course, late ferry home to england, crash out,
sleep.
April 19th : Powerman Holland (european
champs) 21st, Pro Race. 15k/60k/7.5k
I decided to run cionservatively on the first run
considering how badly I've been going of late but
actually felt better and managed to finish quicker than
last year some how. At least I didn't twiost my ankle
this year! I had a pretty smooth race. that was until I
reached a milestone in my Duathlon career: my first
crash in 6 years of duathlon! Well, it wasn't so much a
crash as a sliding wipe out as I came into
transition landing with the bike on top of me and a
pedal in my face! What a plonker. I was soon up though
and made up a couple of places on the final run.
April: The rough Patch comes to an
end.......... the start to this season has been
particularly bad for me. now that legal proceedings are
out of the way I can explain why:
Results wise It's been the worst start to the season
for years with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 8th, DNF and DNS set of
results that tell their own story!! Thankfully things
look set to improve now.
What has happened is that in January my wife, Leda
who is a pro cyclist was suddenly suspended from racing
by the French Cycling Federation (she races for a
French team) who told her that she had a dangerous heart
complaint and that she could die at any moment. The
first month was spent going mad trying to see how we
could prolong her life, the second was spent seeing
various doctors and it was during this time that every
single expert cleared Leda as having nothing wrong with
her heart and then the last month has been spent
fighting the French Federation to overturn their ban on
Leda as she had obviously been misdiagnosed. At the end
of last week it took us to start a legal case against
them for them to admit there was nothing wrong with
her and sign her licence saying that she can now
continue with her career. During this time she missed
many of the monuments of the cycling calendar including
the Tour of Flanders two weeks ago.
The bullying tactics of the FFC have taken a toll on
both of us. The scary thought is that another rider who
perhaps wasn't so wise to the way things are may well
have quit and begun living of beta blockers at they told
Leda to (we've subsequently found that this could easily
have killed her.)
30th March: Hillingdon spring duathlon.
2nd.
I'm starting to sound like a grumpy git and would once
have been happy with a 2nd place but alas no more!
I haven't been able to do this early season Hillingdon
circuit race for a few years now and so was looking
forward to it. I had a good first run coming in in
1st place and then lost one place on the bike where my
poor bike form of late continued. Hillingdon regular
Roger Fowkes caught me and then as we got caught in the
ground we were lapping I managed to partly loose him and
partly just drop back. My lack of drive in the
race and general weakness on the bike at the mo is
annoying but I put it down to stress I suppose.
I've had a lot on my plate recently and haven't
exactly been sleeping well but hey ho! At least I'm well
and out there enjoying it I suppose. I was pleased to
learn on my return that my Avia team mate Dave
Mitchinson had come 3rd in the first round of the ITU
Duathlon world cup in Thailand. Go Dave!
next weekend is the Nationals at Emberton park.
Time to rub the bike form Genie lamp and see if I can
rustle something up. I'm off at 7:45 am.
ahem... excuse me but....
AAAAAAAAARHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
26th March: Marlow
Duathlon : 3rd.
The wheels are turning (slowly) as I start to find my
racing legs! I came to the Marlow Duathlon with the dual
intention of getting back to winning ways and beating my
times from when I won the event in 2007. Well,
even below par I went faster but I was beaten by
Lee Rankin and Andrew Mercer fair and squarely. I
have to say I felt solid throughout but as I have been a
lot recently I was seemingly stuck in third gear.
Lee was awesome. He was really flying and looking in
good form and he took to race lead from the off.
The run and bike sections were picturesque and
challenging as always and the varied terrain on the run
is something I always like. It was nice to see an old
team mate of mine, Fiona Ford winning the womens race
to. The weather turned out perfect again and
it made my training ride afterwards all the better as I
retraced old ground where I used to train when I was
younger up and over Stokenchurch. If you've
never ridden the Chilternc limbs of Stokenchurch,
Bledlow Ridge, Monks and Kopp then you should. I
discovered them all in my late teens when I first rode
the 'tour of the Chilterns' classic road race and boy
are they hard. They're hard in a 'lets build a
road that goes straight over this hill' kind of way as
opposed to the far more sensible continental style of
zig zagging roads up hills. Either way - by the evening
it's safe to say I was pooped!
As for this weekend it's along ride Saturday as part of
my Powerman prep followed by a crazy short sprint
Duathlon at Hillingdon and some more bike miles
afterwards on Sunday. Good luck if you're out and about!
Enjoy!
9th March: Clumber Park
National Duathlon series round 1: 8th Place
In the week since my 1485 win I came down with a
cold. I had gone out and done a hard bike session
straight after the race on Sunday and who knows - maybe
I pushed it to hard? Anyway, by Friday i thought I was
better and so decided to get up at 4am on Saturday and
drive the 3 hrs up to Clumber park in nottinghamshire
and see how I went in the Clumber park Duathlon. I
was 2nd last year having been leading until late on in
the final run and so this year I decided that anything
less than first was a failure. I ran sluggishly
having done nothing all week with the cold, Biked
solidly but slowly with only the 4th fastest bike split
and then ran just as poorly on the final run so as you
can probably tell I was not happy with it but
still.....
The next
day I went out for a long ride with Leda and Darren
Treadaway and we headed over to the Chiltern Hills for
some hard miles. It proceeded to plie down with rain and
we got drenched and VERY cold and so now I'm suffereing
with an even worse cold! boo hooooo. Anyway- there were
some good pics from saturday's race which are here and I
should say a massive well done to Matt Moorhouse who won
and Lee Piercy who was absolutely flying. well
done guys - i could only look on in discomfort. Great
racing. I must now go and attend the cheese factory in
my head.
1st March: 1485 Duathlon,
Market Bosworth : 1st Place
1st
Duathlon and 1st win of the year!
Yesterday's 5/21/5k race up in Leicestershire was great.
The course was great and the weather was perfect. I've
never raced there before and one of my aims this year is
to do as many du's that I haven't done before as
possible. I had some fast company on the first run
which traced it's way around the picturesque lake
(above) and things were a bit too close for comfort
after what I felt was a disappointing 5k from me so I
got out my can opening and set about opening a can of
woop-ass on the bike section. I enjoyed the course and
went on to win and beat Maltese national champion Dermot
Galea's course record. The 1485 tri
club put on a great event in the sun and showed that
sometimes simple events are actually the best.
Next stop Clumber Park and my aim is to get revenge for
missing out on the win having been leading until the
last kilometer on the final run. We'll see. It's
early season yet and form is.....unpredictable.....
could be awesome....could be awful.....
22nd Feb: North Road Hardriders
TT.
I like to use the North Road hardriders TT as an early
season marker to he how my bike form is. The conditions
this Sunday were perfect. Nice and mild and everything
was in place for what I had hoped would be a top 10 ride
but an off day coupled with one of the strongest
hardriders entries I have ever seen mean I finished down
in 19th which I have to say was disappointing. Still, I
can take consolation from the fact that I was the first
multi-sporter but even still I never actually felt on
top of things in the event. It was won by an old mate of
mine, Simon Gaywood who races for the Corley Cycles
team. i had the pleasure of riding alongside Simon in a
composite English team in the Tour de la Manche in the
2002 season at the end of my road racing days and he's a
top bloke so I was pleased to see him win. I'm entered
for the 1485 Duathlon up at Market Bosworth this Sunday
so that's the start of my Duathlon season. Not sure how
it will go. It's always a bit of a guessing game untill
a few races down the line. Here
we go - another year of crazy early starts, pain, sweat,
victories, defeats, fun and memories. Bring it on!
17th Feb: Clocking up the miles
in the Black Mounatains in Wales.
Leda and I are staying in a hotel in an old mining town
called Blackwood about 20 mins drive from Newport. It's
gorgeous and the training is ideal if a little bit too
steep in places. It's great for running but I am on my
TT bike and so I've been climbing crazy steep hills on
my TT bike which should be good practice for the North
Road hardriders TT this coming Sunday!
On the way down here we stopped and stayed a night in
Birdlip in the Cotswolds. It was a hotel that Leda had
booked on the spur of the moment without really having a
clue where it was but as soon as she said 'Birdlip' I
knew EXACTLY where it was! The climb up into Birdlip has
been etched on my mind (and lungs) ever since I rode the
120 mile Tour of the Cotswolds road race as a 19 year
old. The climb is about 2 k long and is viciously steep.
To make things worse it came 5 miles into the 120 mile
race. Needless to say the first 5 over the top were the
first 5 across the line 115 miles later. It was nice to
re-acquaint myself with an old foe and to it on my TT
bike too! Here's a tip. If you're planning to ride it -
Don't.
9th Feb: 220
Triathlon Awards 2009: Thanks again to all those
of you that voted for me. On the day I came 3rd behind
David Vaughan and the current world champion, Paul Amey.
It was great to catch up with loads of buddies from the
world of tri and du and I was lucky enough to be sat
between the future of women's tri and the current Queen
of women's Tri with 13 year old multiple national
champion Sky Draper to my left and Ironman world
champion Chrissy Wellington to my right so I was in good
company!
27th Jan: Announcement:
Cycling Shoe Sponsor: Diadora UK
This season, Bob Rock ltd in Battersea who are the
sole importers of Diadora cycling wear to the UK are
supplying me with some world class and might I say
rather sexy footware. I will be racing in the
Speedracer Carbon R (see below...)which although
not a tri specific shoe is remarkably quick to get into
and is super stiff and light. Much more importantly
though they look COOL. see
www.diadoracycling.co.uk for the full range.
I don't want to get them dirty though......
20th January:
Many Thanks to any of you who voted for me in
the category as 'Best Duathlete' in the recent 220
Magazine awards. I've been told by the magazine
that I'm in the top three and am therefore going to the
awards at Sandown park as part of the TCR show there in
2 weeks.
www.tcrshow.com for more info.
Whilst at the show I'll also be promoting my run
sponsor Avia on their stand so feel free to some over
and chat (so long as you bring good esspresso....!)
I'm also down to do the 10k on Sunday morning. I'm not
expecting anything special. It's more an early training
session. I'm coming with my Avia team mate Dave
Mitchinson. He will win. No pressure Dave...
11th January: loads
of new PHOTOS added from previous years.....
click on
gallery above or click here...
9th January:
Take Aim! I've decided my main goals for
2009. They are:
To aim for top 10 place in: Powermans: Holland
(Euro Championships), Luxembourg, Belgium (Geel)
and Austria. Then top 10 overall in world rankings.
and : Podium in British national Duathlon Champs.
There are a few smaller goals and I could tell you
but then I'd have to kill you!
It looks liek it will all be kicking off properly at the
Clumber Park Duathlon again having done a few smaller
dus in the build up. This year I will be aiming to win
rather than losing the race in the last kilometre as I
did last year!
6th January: I'm
delighted to say that Body Limit Gym in St Albans
have agreed to support me again in 2009 with
free membership. Abs and Danny at Body limit run a gym
that is well equipped enough to cater for the truely
hardcore gym user right through to the complete
beginner. Their advice, facilities and above all price
can't be beaten in St Albans. Thanks
guys. Coming to the gym knocks heaps off my
ego every time I come in as I am officially the puniest
guy there by a long way!
www.bodylimitgym.co.uk
2nd January 2009: Happy New
Year! Here's hoping all your sporting and personal
dreams come true in 2009!
15th December:
I've been shortlisted as a finalist in the 220 Triathlon
awards as 'Duathlete of the year' but of course, I won't
win it unless people vote for me so in a shameless
effort of self promotion - vote for me! The category is
about 5th into 20 categories but it doesn't take long.
Thanks for your support, jez
(just click on the link below to begin voting)
http://www.originpublishing.co.uk/questions.asp
29th November: I'm working
on a UK Duathlon Forum to bring together the Uk Duathlon
community. No wet suits or goggles allowed! Check
it it's fledgling roots here...www.britishduathlon.com
26th November: My New and
up to date Sponsors page! I'm so blessed to be involved
with such a great bunch of companies who support me.
Click on the 'Sponsors' tab above to read all about them
and how I use them to further my cause and theirs. ok...
I'll save you the hassle....Just
click here....
20th November: In 2009 my feet
will be graced by AVIA running shoes.
AVIA are in the middle of a massive
revival in the UK having been one of the foremost
running shoe companies in multisport history. In 2009 I
will be mostly wearing the AVIA Bolt racing flat, The
AVIA Trail and the AVIA Avi-trainer. Here they are:
Nice......
7th November: New sponsors and
shiney new kit to come.... oooooooooooooh.......
I'm pleased to
announce that Fisher Outdoor Lesiure will be supplying
me with some funky new gear in 2009. Fisher, who
import Look, MET and Sram to name just a few of their
top brand are based just around the corner from me in St
Albans and I'm really looking forward to benefiting from
the quality of their latest products including wheels,
helmets and glasses. Check out all the goodies
which they not only import but also sell through their
website at
www.fisheroutdoor.co.uk
11th October: Well. Carsington may
well have been the end of my 2008 season! Since then
I've developed a cold and here we are 6 days later and
my head has become a green cheese factory. Not nice! So
I wont be racing tomorrow at the Fast and the Furious
Duathlon in Kent. Instead I've been invited by my
sponsors Bike and Run london to go to the bike show at
Earls Court in London to check out the Bianchi's that
they are displaying there.
Meanwhile yesterday to pass the time I started adding
more pictures to my gallery section. Click gallery above
to see more...
5th October: Carsington Duathlon-
2nd. In honest truth I was well and truely
beaten by a good mate, Joel Jameson of TFN race team who
beat me by nearly 3 minutes overall. It was a
horrible day in Derbyshire with hammering rain and
blustery winds. As always the weather felt different up
on Middleton Top and the decents were lethal. Anyone who
knows the Carsington/Ashbourne course which is probabaly
now the most famous course in British Duathlon will know
that the descents are pretty rough and the surface is
bad. To make it wose this time they were wet and the
worst of them was like a mine field littered with
conkers! It was
great to have one one my best buddies, Mike Jubb pushing
me on on the first run. we came into T1 together and it
was great to be running with him as well as to see him
back in the Duathlon fold after quite a few injuries and
a season build around Ironman. Despite the weather
and Joel wopping me I really enjoyed the race. It's one
of those races thateveryone would love to win. If you
look back at the names that have won on that course over
the years then you would see why. Even the late great
Vansteelant is on there. As for Joel- He beat me
to into 2nd place at my first event of the year and now
again at the end so it somehow seems fitting but even
still, in an entirely sporting manner-"next year you're
meat Jameson. You're going down!".
28th September: My third win in one
week! Today I won the Stanford Hall Duathlon near
Loughborough by leading from start to finish. The
form seems to be coming on nicely. It made me look look
back and see how many duathlon wins I have now and I was
staggered to see that it's 47! The question is, can I
make 50 with the 4 races I have left this year:
Carsington, Fast and the Furious, Friston Forest and
Sandy Balls. It's a big ask but it'll be fun trying!
25th September: Another win! my
second of the week! I won the Silverstone Duathlon on
the Porche test track on wednesday night after a 2 mile
10 mile 2 mile battle with some strong runner bikers. I
was pleased because I have really improved my final leg
this year. All those sessions of running hard off the
bike are starting to pay off! Report coming...
22nd September: A Win! Nice to
be back in the habit yesterday when I won the Maidstone
Duathlon in Kent for the third year running.
Click here to read more.....
16th September: London Duathlon
(Elite race) : Absolute failure. I ran like a muppet
and pulled out on the first run. No good. Just one of
those days. In reality it was probably a bit early after
coming back from my cold to be running so fast. Don't
click here and don't read anything......
15th September: 2 Updates in one
with a round up of all my summer racing and then a sneak
look at my new kit which might just arrive in time for
the end of the 08 season!
Click Here........
31st August 2008: Well! That's quite
some gap since my last installment! Since then I've had
another website which didn't quite work out and I've had
a lot of racing, training and ups and downs.
Click here to read my update.
25th June: Check out my new bike from
Bike and Run (www.bikeandrun.com)
Ouch! She's nice isn't she. Unraced as yet but soon to
be broken in. It's an Orbea (how could you tell!?)
Orca and it's so much lighter and stiffer than any TT
bike I've ridden before. Nice eh?
5th June: Recovering from the Benny
Vansteelant memorial World Duathlon Cup Race in Belgium.
I was 20th in the pro race.
Click here for my report on it and some terrible
pics!....
26th May: Building towards the Duathlon
World cup in Belgium next weekend......
25th May: Welcome to new site!
Those of you who saw the old one will appreciate just
how much better this looks! Anyway- It's taken me all
afternoon to get this far so I'll start adding more as
the week goes by...... (bet you can't wait!)
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