Heading to Bedford this year as the defending Champion for the past two editions of the event it was always going to be a tough ask to defend the race again but with a strong team willing to bury themselves for me for the weekend, I knew we would take the race to the rest of the peloton.

If there is one race that is on my calendar every year, it’s the Cheshire Classic, as you can always count on the fantastic Weaver Valley Cycling Club to put on a great event. In fact it was a member of the Weaver Valley Cycling Club that got me riding the track seven years ago, Paul West, and their road race was the first ever Road Race I entered outside of Para-cycling events.

So the story goes; March winds, April showers….. and with the weather this past week it has certainly made up for the unseasonably warm end to March! After an easier week following the big miles of Mallorca, this past week saw me back up to full gas and with a new introduction to training, the use of an altitude chamber courtesy of a brand new facility at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Cheshire Campus in Crewe.

Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th February saw the conclusion of the Paracycling Track Worlds and for me it was a mixture of defending my Individual Pursuit title for the 5th successive time and debuting in the Team Sprint event.

With no racing for me on the second day of competition it was time to turn myself into team cheerleader as all the other 13 riders on the team had either Individual Pursuit or Kilometre Time Trial titles to contest.

Having flown into Los Angeles five days ago, the start of competition soon came round and after 3 track sessions to warm up the legs and work out strategies for each of the races, it was time to get the show on the road on Thursday 9th February.

After a brief visit to London, the Team Pursuit girls headed to the airport to fly via Madrid to Cali, Columbia for Round 2 of this Olympic season’s World Cup Classics. Our flight had riders from France, USA and Ireland on it but the majority of the passengers were Columbian and you could have been mistaken for thinking that everyone on the plane knew each other! There was a great deal of singing going on at various times and then a huge round of applause as the pilot landed the plane on their home turf.

The National Track Championships in Manchester have just finished and I'm sure most people would agree it was a fantastic championships with some excellent racing, with some new faces coming through plus the more established riders again producing fast times.

Barney and Sarah Storey completed their 14^th and 7^th British Track Nationals respectively with more gold and more great performances after a superb week of racing in which the UK had been basking in some incredible temperatures for the start of autumn.

Just two and half weeks after returning from the World Road Championships we were back to racing again but this time on the track and contesting National titles in the biggest fields I have seen for women’s events at these Championships.

 

Watching Sarah compete in the world Championships in Denmark has been an extremely satisfying and proud occasion. It certainly brings together the teamwork we have put together over the year of racing on the road. As many of you may have seen, I have been at most of Sarah's races this year to offer my technical support and mechanical support wherever I can, so to see her standing on the podium twice with her rainbow jersey makes me very proud. I certainly can understand what nerves my parents go through watching me race, when I watch Sarah competing. I can assure you all, competing is far easier than watching your wife! My nerves are always very active at this point!

Back in 2009 in Bogogno, Italy, I won my first Road World title in the Road Time Trial and then 2 days later, after a 40km solo breakaway, came across the finish line arms aloft to win my first ever World Road Race Gold. It was an amazing feeling to do the double at the Road Worlds and not something I ever expected would go my way a second time, let alone a third!

Just over 12 hours after finishing the British Time Trial Championships I was heading out to Denmark to join up with the Paracycling team ahead of the Road World Championships which started today near the centre of this historic city.

My final preparation event for the Paracycling Road Worlds was at the British Time Trial Championships and in conditions that were more like those I had been used to in the swimming!