2nd Half of the Season

It’s funny how things can change in a few weeks.

Last time I updated you on what was going on, things were going really well, great performances at the World Cup and the C1 event, and world leading times in both.

2 weeks after the C1 event in Manchester, I was pinning a number on my back again, this time swapping my GB skinsuit for that of my own team Para-T, it was time for the National Championships.

First up was the 1km Time Trial, my event and as such I had the honor of pulling on the rainbow bands as current World Champion. Having done a few kilo’s this year I was looking forward to the race and keen to try some things I’d been working on in training to build from my previous performances. However, after 250m that plan went out of the window. As it was nationals they run the 1km TT as a head to head, with your opponent starting on the opposite side of the track, sadly for me my fellow competitor wasn’t as fast as the athletes I usually race on the world stage, and to my surprise as I came into the home straight to complete my 1st lap, there was my opponent, my closing speed was probably over 20km/h different and I made an big evasive maneuver to overtake him into turn 1. This compromised my race, as this is the one place you want to be smooth, fast and nailed to the black line, as it set’s you up for the remainder of the race, and is also where you hit peak speed. In the end I settled into a good rhythm and powered on to the finish, in a time of 1:05.185. With the multiple classifications at nationals, my time after factoring was good enough for Silver behind Kadeena Cox. 

In the evening I was back on track in the flying 200m time trial, an event that we don’t get to race often, but a good one to see how much top end speed you have. This for me was one of the best rides I’ve done in quite some time, as I did a big PB of 10.485 seconds. This was good enough to take the Gold medal in the event, but also take the World Record in the event too, considering the phase of training I was in, this was very satisfying.

With a successful nationals behind me, I was looking forward to the final run in to the World Championships, and it was clear I was in a better place than I’d been for many years, and excited with the prospect of what I could do once tapered and racing for the Stripes.

With 4 weeks to go, everything changed. In a freak occurrence, a mistake, a misinterpretation and extremely bad luck, somehow, I managed to find myself in the direct firing line of the sprint Tandem Pairing of Matt Rotherham and Neil Fachie, who were at full speed finishing their effort on track, they hit me and my coach at 66km/h.

Miraculously, we all escaped in relatively one piece.  My coach was worse off, breaking his scapula and dislocating his elbow. I ended up taking most of the impact in my left lower back and kidney area.

The next 4 weeks I was having daily physio, working through goals that would get me to the start line in Apeldoorn for the Worlds.

Week 1’s goal was to get back on the bike, and able to do some efforts seated. Week 2 was to get back on track and get to appoint that I could get out of the saddle and put some power down. Week 3 progress the out of saddle accelerations until I was able to do a standing start. Week 4 was to bring it all together and go through all the phases I needed to be able to race (Start, Acceleration, Top Speed).

By the time Worlds came around I actually felt ready to race, physically everything was working without pain, and I thought it would be possible to pull something out of the bag, as even though I’d miss a few crucial phases of training everything seemed to be going pretty well.

However, the morning of travel to Apeldoorn, fate would decide I needed something else to deal with, and I had that familiar feeling of a scratchiness in my throat. 9 times out of 10 means I’m coming down with a cold, sure enough, even after topping up on my essential vitamins and taking Zinc lozenges to keep the cold at bay and reduce the symptoms I sat on the start line full of illness.

Competition day was a disorganised affair, especially for a World Championships. The start gate causing the majority of the technical delays, by the time I was due to race I think we were 2 hours behind schedule.

Finally though it was time to see what I had, and the time to beat was Jozef Metelka’s 1:06.477. I got out of the start gate cleanly, and up to speed and into a rhythm quickly, by the end of the first lap I was feeling pretty strong, but as the race continued I started to fatigue really quickly, at this point I was just trying to use my experience over the years to get to the line as smoothly and speedily as possible, the last thing you need is to panic as from experience it tends to slow you even quicker.

I crossed the line in 1.05.422, enough to take the rainbow bands, but I felt exhausted although in a weird way I didn’t feel like I got everything out in the race. I put that down to the cold and not being able to breathe and go as hard as is physically possible.

This was my 16th World Title in Para-Cycling and my 11th straight 1km Time Trial victory and considering the run in I’d had to the championships you would think I would have been over the moon. However, I was disappointed in my performance, I didn’t feel it reflected my true form, and it was only 15th fastest kilo I’d ever done, it was weird to feel so negative on the podium. On reflection I’m still disappointed, but importantly I didn’t lose, and I have many things I can learn from in the run up to this competition.

After the kilo I wasn’t due to race until day 4, this time I’d be lining up with Jon Allan Butterworth and Louis Rolfe again to defend our World Title in the mixed team sprint. With a few days recovery I hoped that my cold symptoms would have subsided, but this was a stubborn cold, and I felt pretty similar on the start line compared to the kilo. Thankfully all the technical issues had been ironed out by day 4 and the competition was running much smoother.

There were a number of teams who’d raised their game and will certainly be contenders in Tokyo, but it was our main rivals over the past few years, China, that had posted the time to challenge in qualifying. Our opening ride together went well, taking the top spot by just 2/10ths of a second. Things were all to play for in the final.

In the final the Chinese team bought in fresh legs as they replaced their man1 rider for another even faster rider, we kept our line up the same. This tactical move paid off, as the Chinese flew around the track, taking 4/10ths off their morning ride and to edge GBR into the silver medal by 0.245. As disappointed as we were to only manage Silver, it was the fastest time we’ve ridden all season, and we improved from heat to final, we were just beaten by the better team on the day, their time would have been good enough to win every World Championships and Paralympics before us, we are the only team to have ridden faster.

So that was my season done and dusted, a proper mixed bag. Some great rides early on in the season at the World Cup and C1 events, and a WR at the National championships. Then having to fight injury and illness just to make it to the start line, but I’ve come away with a World title and I have plenty of experiences to learn from as I get ready for the 2019/2020 season which starts in November.

This summer is all about getting all the background work done ahead of next season and most importantly enjoy riding my bike. To that extent I’ll be hitting the trails on my MTB to keep everything fresh, and taking on a 3 day coast to coast ride in July, which is going to be a pretty epic challenge considering I think 3hours is the longest I’ve ridden on my MTB, but it should be good fun!, My coach and I also have plenty of ideas to keep me busy and motivated during this period,, and although it feels like I have loads of time to be ready for next year there before I know it we’ll be on the final run in to Tokyo, so need to make sure every pedal rev on the bike counts.

Catch you all in the summer as I update you on how it’s all going.

2018/19 Season Kicks Off

The 2018-19 season started a few weeks back at the UCI London World Cup, a bit of a historic event within ParaCycling as it was the first ParaCycling competition integrated into an able-bodied World Cup, and hopefully the start of further events being integrated in the future.
First up was the team sprint qualifying, riding in the World Champion stripes alongside Louis Rolfe and Jon Allan Butterworth. Team USA had set the bench mark time, as we took to the track Louis got
us under way in front of the partisan crowd, Jon took us up to top speed on his lap, and then I finished the race off to cross the line in the fastest time of 49.925, just fractions of a second outside our gold medal ride from the world championships in March, and the perfect way to start our 2018-
19 season.
After a few hours break I was back on the bike, and in the start gate, racing the 1km Time Trial. The last time I’d raced the 1km TT in London was back in 2012, when I famously rode all of 10m and was denied a restart. Hopefully it would go better this time.
In a head to head heat with fellow GB athlete Jaco van Gass, I got a really clean start from the back straight and was quickly up to speed. As the laps ticked by, everything I’d been doing in training was kicking in, and I felt pretty strong, I crossed the line and looked up at the scoreboard to see my time, it looked like a 1:04 something, but the clock didn’t’ stop. It would take another 20minutes until the results were official, and I could finally celebrate, and the medal presentation could take place. Officially the time was 1:04.654, one of the best times I’ve ridden at sea level, and as a first kilo of the year, a great place to build from. Joining me on the podium were Christopher Murphy (USA) and Jon Gildea (GBR).
A quick drug test and back to the hotel for some food before it was back the velodrome for the final, the atmosphere was electric with approximately 4000 people in the stands, and with us riding for GB, 99.9% of the support was for us which was pretty special to experience that kind of support
again. We managed to beat Team USA in the final, although not quite as quick as the morning, we certainly had a lot to be happy about.
I hope that the powers that be enjoyed the ParaCycling events as much as the riders competing did, and this integration becomes a regular event.
Christmas is always a funny time for athletes, especially track cyclists, as it always falls slap bang in the middle of when you want to get some hard work done, but every year I manage to balance family life, and training as best as possible, and I believe I got some good work done during the
festivities this year and also managed not to over indulge too much.
This would be important as the next race on the calendar was the Manchester International ParaCycling, and this was during the 2nd weekend of January.
For this event I was going to be training straight through, unlike the World Cup where I’d rested and tapered specifically for. Having had some big sessions in the week prior to the competition it was going to be interesting to see how this affected my race and form.
Before the ride even started I had issues! I managed to snap my cleat on my cycling leg in the warmup. A quick panic remembering where I’d put my spare leg, and a quick change and I was all set. Thankfully I broke it with about 10mins spare.
In the start gate I had a proper brain fart and messed the countdown ahead of my start! Who would have thought counting down from 5 was so hard! By the time the gun went I was in completely the wrong phase of my start, and I felt like I was stationary for the longest time (it was only 0.44seconds,
but compared to 0.15 or so of a normal start it felt like ages!), before all of a sudden I was off. After which normality kicked in and I got on with the job of riding the Kilo! I felt pretty good through the ride, but as the last laps were kicking in I could feel the previous days efforts in my legs. I crossed the line in 1:04.614.
Surprisingly a little quicker than the London World Cup, and in less than favourable conditions, so really happy with the way things are going at the moment. I took the win ahead of Alfonso Cabello (ESP) and Jon Gildea (GBR).
The final day of competition and it was an early start for the Team Sprint. With Louis Rolfe out of the competition through illness we had a late addition to the team Matthew Robertson. Qualifying went surprisingly well, with Matthew setting a big PB on his opening lap and handing over to myself and Jon Allan Butterworth to finish off. We qualified in a very respectable time of 50.512, only fractions of a second outside of our time from the London World Cup. We were going to be up against the GB
B team as they had narrowly edged out the World bronze medallists Spain to qualify 2nd.
After the ride my coach realised that I’d been under geared, a silly error that rarely happens, but one of those little things I over looked by not checking my bike prior to racing like I do at every other
competition.
In the final, with the right gear on, Matty got us up to speed with another PB for his opening lap, I was quickly onto Jon and feeling really good behind him before making a run at him in the final
corner and into the final lap. The larger gear helped as I reached the final turn and acorss the finish line. WOW 49.844, we’d taken a big chunk of our qualifying time to take the win from the GB B team.
All in all it’s been a fantastic start to the 2018-19 season, and I’m looking forward to the national championships here in Manchester in 2 weeks time, before completing the run in to the World Champs in Apeldoorn March 14th -17th.

Here we go!

Here we go!

4 years have flown by, and here were go with the opening ceremony of the Rio Paralympics.
The last few weeks as a team we’ve had an amazing preparation camp in Newport Wales. Where the staff at the Celtic Manor and the Wales National Velodrome looked after our needs to allow us to have the most relaxed holding camp I think I’ve been part of in the 6 Paralympics I’ve attended.
Other than one or two equipment hiccups, which always seem to happen in the run up to the Paralympics, everything has gone really well, myself and the rest of the team appear to be flying on the track, with everyone seemingly setting best times in the run up to Rio, I think it’s the strongest I’ve ever seen a cycling team I’ve been part of, and certainly reminds me of the buildup we had ahead of Beijing, where we went on to win 17 gold and 3 silver medals.

Personally I’m really pleased with how my riding is going, and eager to take to the start line and do the ride that’s in my legs.
By all accounts the velodrome is now sold out, and I’m looking forward to how the atmosphere compares to the patriotic crowd we had in London 4 years ago. I sense it’s going to be different, but especially after watching the Olympic coverage, and hearing some of the football like chanting that was happening in the swimming pool I think it has the potential to be equally as awe inspiring.

For these games I’ve had custom artwork commissioned for my carbon cycling leg, and once again the guys at Image Design Custom have gone above and beyond my expectations and produced an eye catching sentimental design. Hopefully the treasure map on the leg leads to the gold I’ve been seeking for the last 4 years.

If you want to tune in to watch my racing here’s where you can do so.

Schedule

C4-5 1km Time Trial   – Friday 9th September 2016 16:30 BRT/ 20:30 BST

Mixed Team Sprint     – Sunday 11th September 2016 Heats 10:54 BRT/ 14:54 BST
Final 13:01 BRT/ 17:01 BST

You can watch on Channel 4 and all their live feeds online and on the red button or you can follow the official live feeds from the IPC online with http://www.dailymotion.com/paralympics

Thank you to everyone who has been a continued part in my sporting career to date, friends, family, sponsors, coaches and support staff who’ve made it possible for me to take to the start line for my 6th Paralympic Games. Hopefully I can make this one memorable for the riding and not the swearing.

See you on the other side
Jody

Official Selection

Last week was selection week, and the first wave of selections for the Cycling team to race in Rio were announced. I’m pleased to confirm that I’ll be going to my 6th Paralympic Games in Rio this September. The selection was announced at the Channel 4 studios, where myself and the rest of the team were introduced 1 by 1 by Chef de Mission Penny Briscoe. Then it was onto interviews with the press, TV and magazines, of all the 6 games I’ve been named on I can safely say that this announcement was the most high profile, and I think that’s partly due to the success of the London games, but also profile increase of the British Cycling team in recent games and years.

In Rio I will be competing in the 1km TT on September 9th and the mixed Team Sprint on September 11th.

Rio Selection
Jody at the team announcement. Photo Credit PA

Going to Rio as World Champion in those 2 events gives me great confidence, however there’s always something special about the Paralympics that forces everyone to raise their game, and after my London experiences I know to expect the unexpected, as anything can happen!

So thats it, I have 80 days of training until I’m sat on the start line for the Kilo. I was worried the other day thinking it’s coming around quick, but seeing the training that still needs to be done, there’s a lot of work still to do, and plenty of sessions to improve in and make sure everything comes together on the day.

As a bit of a preview to the games, and to get to know me a little better, and mainly because a lot of people who follow me pretty much know me for my swearing outburst in London, so I’m going to be doing a Facebook Live AMA (ask me anything) on my Facebook Page, which I’m also going to tie in on Reddit and hopefully answer any questions you might have about training, prosthetic legs, cycling, even that day in London or anything thing else you can think of.

So feel free to join in and check it out at Wednesday 22nd June at 7pm GMT.

Look forward to your questions, and I’ll catch you soon.

 

Jody

 

 

Manchester ParaCycling International – 2015

Friday was the first time that I’d been on track at the same time as my 2 team mates from the team sprint, which you might find hard to believe considering I’m riding for the GB cycling team, who are famed for their attention to detail, but there was a reason. Our new man 1 for the Team Sprint (Kadeena Cox) had only been cycling for 8 weeks, and just 2 weeks ago she was in Doha running for the GB Athletics team at the World Championships where she won Gold in the 100m sprint and broke the WR in the process. Kadeena has proved to be a rapid learner, quickly mastering how to transfer her power to the bike and setting the world alight on the boards.

 

Preparations were less than perfect, but after 2 quick practice starts in the warm up we were ready to go!

 

We were in heat 5 and Kadeena got out the start gate cleanly and got us quickly up to speed as she finished her lap, then it was over to Jon Allan Butterworth to build on the start speed and accelerate us up to top speed throughout the 2nd lap, before clearing the way for me to bring the team home.  As I crossed the line we’d set the fastest time of 50.451, a time that would of qualified 2nd at this year’s world championships, a massive improvement on our 5th place we achieved at that competition.

 

Considering it was the first ride as a team, it was an almost flawless ride, with smooth changeovers and from the out side you’d have thought we’d been practicing for weeks.

 

Over to the final, Kadeena came out of the gate all guns blazing, Jon and myself having to dig deep to keep on her wheel as she blazed ahead over half a second quicker than her previous best. Jon accelerated off her wheel, and we kept the pressure on as we raced head to head with the world silver medalists Spain. With the changes slicker than in qualifying I took over keeping the speed high all the way to the finish, crossing the line in 49.820, taking the gold medal in a time faster than the Chinese had set when they went on to win the World Championships earlier this year in Apeldoorn at the Paracycling Track World Championships.

 

It’s been a long time coming, but it was the first time we’d been on the top step of the podium in the team sprint since 2011. The team is now highly motivated to win at the World Championships next March in Italy before our ultimate goal of gold at next years Paralympics in Rio.

 

The remainder of the meet I was forced to sit out as I continue to recover from an elbow injury which has been troubling me for the last 3 months, and has prevented me from performing 100% effort, out of the saddle standing starts. My number 1 event the 1km TT relies on this type of start to get me up to top speed as quickly as possible, with my elbow almost pain free myself and coaching team decided best to not aggravate it now so that it will be fully recovered ready to return to full training in December.

 

However with this free time spent in the stands, I witnessed many of my teammates achieve PB’s as well as other world best times for the year with 12 Gold medals, 5 Silver and 7 Bronze we really cleared up. All in all, the meet was very successful for the whole GB team, as we scored many valuable qualification points in the run up to Rio. Our next major event and final qualification event for Rio is the World Track Championships in Montichiari Italy next March where I shall defend my world title in the Kilo and aim for gold at my 6th Paralympic Games.

 

 

 

 

2015 Track Nationals

2015 Nationals

Day 1
I wasn’t particularly looking forward to competing in this years National Championships, mainly due to the fact that for the last 2 and a bit months I’ve been nursing an elbow injury which has restricted my training, and essentially ruled out standing starts for me, which in turn meant I would have to scratch from the 1km TT. This was a difficult decision, but one I had to make, to make sure I have the best chance to race in the C1 event in November and the World Championships in March. I was most gutted in the fact that I wouldn’t be able to proudly show off the World Stripes I retained in Apeldoorn earlier this year.

Day 2
With standing starts eliminated I could still compete in the Flying 200, and on Day 2 I was able to have 2 cracks at this, firstly as part of the Open Sprint competition, and secondly in the the ParaCycling Flying 200.
I took to the boards for the Sprint qualifying, winding up the speed with each lap until the bell rung out and I was at top speed. I crossed the line in a time of 10.684, a new PB, National Record and World Best time in the event. Considering all the compromises due to my elbow it was satisfying to see that my training was still heading in the right direction.
I qualified in 8th place overall, and made it into the sprint races, but trying to protect my elbow, I didn’t really attack how I’d like to and so I was easily beaten in the first round and the repecharge.
In the evening session it was time to try and put together the things I’d learnt from the mornings 200 to try and go a bit quicker. So I increased the gear a little and timed my effort slightly differently and it all came together to set another new PB of 10.531 which was good enough to take the national title, which considering there were 4 other national records broken was a pretty impressive achievement.

Day 3
The final day involved the Team Sprint, riding with Jon Allan Butterworth and Louis Rolfe, although this was an able bodied competition, this was a trial run for a potential Paralympic team, and having only done one training session together was going to be a learning experience.
In the heats we rode Louis man 1, Jon man 2 and myself man 3. It all came together pretty well as we qualified in 8th place with a 51.414. This was enough to get us a second ride, so we could learn a little more and try to improve again.
In the 2nd ride we kept the order the same and Louis pulled out a better man 1 lap, as did Jon, unfortunately I missed Jon’s body cues when he was making his acceleration and I was late to accelerate myself and he gapped me on the 2nd lap. I finished strongly and we crossed the line in an even faster time than the morning with a 51.262. With more practice we can go even quicker just on technique and execution so this is important to learn, as the times we set were good enough to get us on the podium at the Worlds earlier in the year.

All in all, the nationals were pretty constructive and I came away showing good speed and also picked up a National title on the way. Now I just need my elbow to heal and get back to standing starts so I can put this speed to good use at the C1 Event in Manchester in November.

2014 ParaCycling Track Worlds, Aguascalientes, Mexico

Pre Worlds blog

With just a few days to go until the world championships in Aguascalientes, and April 2013 being my last blog entry, I thought it was about time to do a give you a bit of an update.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 2 years since the last major competition on the track. Of note the only competitions I’ve competed in have been the National Championships, and the ParaCycling Cup in Newport Wales last November. These events were an enjoyable return to racing, and I had a fair amount of success at both. Breaking the kilo WR twice (although neither has been ratified), along with winning 2 golds and 2 silvers at the Newport event. The 2nd gold coming in the scratch race, a new event in the ParaCycling programme.
Having had so few racing opportunities it’s been very hard to motivate myself and keep on top of my game, but having set myself multiple goals in training it’s kept me fresh leading into these championships. Everything in the run up to this competition seems to be going really well. I’ve had multiple PB’s in training, and my confidence to perform at this meet is sky high, I just can’t wait to take the start line now.

Mexico is going to be an interesting challenge, as there are one or two things here that certainly aren’t the norm.
Track temperature is the first challenge, with it being over 40 degrees C in track centre during our first training session, staying cool and most importantly hydrated is going to be most important. One positive though is that our muscles work well when they’re nice and warm.

The next thing to deal with is the altitude, with the velodrome situated at over 1800m there’s certainly less oxygen in the air. I have a feeling the pursuit and scratch races are certainly going to be hard work, as they are aerobic races. The sprint events should be easier on the breathing, although we’re all noticing that we have to breathe harder to recover after any effort. Again there are positives to this altitude, the air is thinner so it’s easier ride through, which in turn means we go faster, which is always a positive. If the recent able bodied world cup is anything to go by it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the world record broken in every event here, it’s that fast!

Another challenge we’ve been facing as a team, is the fact we can’t eat any of the meat out here, well certainly not any of the Mexican sourced meat. There have been numerous cases of contamination with the banned substance Clenbuterol. As such we’ve been eating a lot more fish, mainly tuna. So far so good, but think it may wear thin before the end of the competition. I do know that on my return to the UK I shall be heading to the nearest steak house!

The final challenge for me is going to be my own performance. For 2014 I’ve been working specifically on the kilo event, and as such my training has been very strength and speed focussed, which is great for my favoured event and the team sprint, however as I’m the designated points scorer in the C4 class for the Rio qualification process, I’ll also be riding in the 4km Pursuit and Scratch race. Both are endurance events and certainly will be testing the small amount of endurance work I’ve done in the run up.

Today is my last training session before the competition starts on April 10th. I’m ready to go, and looking forward to blasting out of the start gate. Hopefully I’ll update you on here, as the racing gets under way. But be sure to check out the official event website (www.eventosdeportivosidea.com), and my personal twitter feed (@jodycundy) for up to date news.

 

Catch you all soon

 

Jody

Good Friday Track Meet

Good Friday was quite possibly the coldest track meet I’ve ever attended. Usually the Good Friday meet in recent years has been about dodging the rain and getting through the program, but this year it was about staying warm and dodging the snow!

Things got off to a bit of a slow start with the sprint qualifying as I did a rather pedestrian 12.265 for the 200m, good enough for just 12th, but with the top 24 going through I was safely into the sprint rounds. My time wasn’t helped by the fact I started my effort too soon, and into a block headwind, something you can’t practice day in day out on an indoor velodrome!

Learning from my mistake in qualifying I used my opponents as a windbreak down the back straight and then tried to come round in the final bend and along the home straight. Unfortunately for me I was racing Lewis Olivia, and just as at nationals in October, he just had too much speed for me as I sat on his hip unable to make it past. Into the repecharge I went, however not before racing in the Rudd Handicap Race, a 500m sprint race. I was starting the furthest back from the 10m line in my heat, chasing the other 6 – 7 riders who were lined up in front of me at various markers depending on their ability and previous handicap race results. By the back straight I’d picked off a number of riders and was scything through the field, but as the finish line approached and the handicap unwound, I just finished outside the top 2 cut.

Back to the sprint repecharge, this time it was a 4up race, 2 Italians and former Para-T teammate Jon-Allan Butterworth. Using my windbreak technique, I sat on the Italians wheel before kicking for home. This time I had enough speed and came past on the finishing straight to take my first win this year, and book a place into the quarter finals.

In the quarter finals I was up against double World Champion Robert Forstemann from Germany, and Tom Baker. Knowing the calibre of Forstemann, I knew it was going to be a tough task to make it any further in the competition, and with a mistake in positioning down the back straight, any chance I had was gone. In the 5th-12th place final there was a lot of switching as everyone battled for position, in the end I finished 4th, which equated to 9th overall. Not a bad day at the office considering the strength of the field.

On to the Keirin, where I started hard and got onto the wheel to led out the race as the Derny Pacer bike came past. With the bike peeling off with 1 lap to go, it was going to be tough to take the win from the front due to the strong wind down the back straight. I tried not to panic as a few riders came over the top of me and quickly jumped into their slip stream to wind up my sprint, timing it perfectly in the home straight to take the win, and a place into the final.

The final was a major squeeze on the start line, with 10riders shoulder to shoulder! The first corner was carnage as we all aimed for the back of the Derny.  Unfortunately I wasn’t as ruthless as I should be and settled into the back of the line-up, so as the sprint started, I found myself in the wrong position with a lot of work just to make it near the front of the race. By the time I was on the home straight, there was just too much distance to make up to the calibre of sprinters in front of me. However I kept pushing to the line to pick up a 6th place.

Thankfully Herne Hill stayed dry for the duration, although I hope it’s the last meet I have to warm up on the rollers in a big football managers jacket and woolly hat! Finally, a big thanks to the organisers and I look forward to racing again next year.

Jody

Full Results can be found on VeloUk

Jody to ride at Revolution Round 4

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The battle for the Revolution Series Elite Championship is poised to go down to the wire in Glasgow on Saturday 2nd February with Jody making yet another appearance.

The culmination of the Elite Championship will see a nail biting finish as the top three team fight for the overall title. Leaders Rapha Condor JLT will be weakened by the loss of Ed Clancy, who is called away for final preparations for the World Track Championships. This will give second place, Rudy Project RT, hope to snatch victory with Christian Grasmann and Nico Hesslich looking to continue the consistent form of the German outfit.

You can catch up with all the results from previous rounds on the Elite Championship page or read the full Round 4 preview.

Standard tickets are sold out for Revolution Series Round 4 but Track Centre Lounge and VIP tickets are still available – buy Track Centre Lounge tickets here.

Watch Revolution Series Round 4 highlights on Thursday 7th February at 8pm on ITV4 and catch up in ITV Player here.

Jody ends 2012 season in style at Revolution Round 1

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In his last racing appearance of the year and his first in an elite endurance competition, Jody faced the likes of Olympians Steve Burke, Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant at the first Round of the Revolution Series 2012/2013.

And Jody was certainly up for the challenge as he got the loudest cheers of the night from the crowd and started his agenda by taking second place behind Ed Clancy in the first event of the night, the Flying Lap, in a time of 13.908. Having put in a stunning performance, Jody held his own in the remaining events, but admitted afterwards:

“I haven’t done too much training since the Games and I’m certainly not in the shape I should be in, so I’m quite pleased with my second place in the flying lap. I really enjoyed mixing it up with the endurance guys and racing in front of such a fantastic crowd always feels special.” He added “I might be putting a little bit more time into bunch racing and see how much I can improve.”

Don’t forget you can catch up with the Revolution series on ITV Player.

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