drivetrain

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐚: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝟖𝟖𝟓 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

Nearly two months ago today, I started the Kromvojoj ultra road cycling event in the Pyrenees. In my latest Substack I share my reflections.

I realise now that I left out the bit where, despite my best efforts at heat training, I still withered and died every afternoon in the baking Spanish sun. True to my northern Irish/British roots, I did best on the afternoon when it rained and threatened to storm and blow me off the mountain 😂

Anyway, have a read and let me know what you think. If you are considering an ultra but don’t know where to start, or maybe you want to find-tune your race plan, send me DM! 😊 📧



Thanks to Tomás Montes (7,8,11) Paula Soler (10) JORDI RULLÓ (2,3,4) for the 📸

It was great to spend the weekend at the British Cycling Junior national road championships in Harrogate, 4-5 July 2026.

It’s been a while (4 years!) since I last attended in 2022. At the time I was coaching several riders in the race and also DSing with Tofauti Everyone Active (now camsmajaco )

It was impressive to see the strength, talent and professionalism of many junior riders, especially standing on the corner of the ITT course and watching some of them absolutely nail the corner on their TT rig.

Junior cycling is an interesting time. On the one hand, we want to help prepare riders for the step up. If they are second year and will be stepping into a World Tour setup for 2028, it’s important to help them gather the tools and experience to make a smooth transition.
BUT on the other hand, junior racing is the last moment when riders are still *not$ professional, and can therefore have more freedom to experiment, to test and fail, to develop the skills and to find the edges in a way that isn’t always possible once you become a paid rider with a specific job.

Now that I have seen this cohort up close and at their best (mostly), I’m excited to follow their progress! The learning curve is still steep and, while that can be hard, it can also be incredibly rewarding.

Congratulations to all the riders who turned up and gave it their best, and a special congratulations to Aalia Clay and to Mabli Phillips who won the national titles for the ITT and RR respectively ✨

Thanks to YOMP BONK CREW🔝🔛💸 for hosting and to all the officials, volunteers and parents who gave up their weekend to make the event possible.

Every year, I make a point of doing something memorable on the Summer Solstice (21 June). This year was no different. I spent the day doing what I love most: in-person talent development, supporting the British Cycling junior girls at the Ronde van Wymeswold National B Stage Race.

One of the great things about a stage race - particularly for rider development- is the opportunity to try, fail fast, learn, and then try again in quick succession, building both tactical awareness and confidence.

During the race debrief, when you ask, “What would you do differently next time?”, the chance to put that learning into practice is only a few hours away. With experiences still fresh in their minds, it’s easier for riders to apply their learning and make meaningful changes.

As ever, I was massively impressed with the riders, who were open-minded, receptive to feedback, and willing to have a go.

Thanks to Great Britain Cycling Team for having me along, to the riders for their trust and guts, to the YOMP BONK CREW🔝🔛💸 for a fantastic race, and to Coalville Wheelers Cycling Club (CWCC) for hosting.

A few weeks ago, a notification popped up in my Training Peaks coach account. It was an invitation to spend the afternoon with Training Peaks and other coaches learning and networking.

I thought, “Why not”, and RSVPed without any major expectations.

Whether or not I had expectations, I was blown away by the event and by the TP team, including:
- the friendless and approachability of the whole team
- their openness to our feedback (our wish-list for TP!)
- their clear desire for us to have the best possible experience as coaches using their product

I also got to meet some other fantastic coaches, including Doug Stewart from Elite Trail Team
(It actually turned out that he interviewed me for his PhD c. 5 years ago, but neither of us remembered until I mentioned a talk that I did at St Mary’s 😅)

I have used TrainingPeaks for more than a decade, and generally had only positive things to say. But today has just unlocked a whole new level of how I can use it to support athletes with great training and great analysis. I’m excited for the coming months and how this can translate to better athlete experience and success.

A huge thank you to the whole team! What a pleasure 🤩
See you at the conference 🙌

On Sunday, took on the 100 gravel race.

At the start of the year, we discussed the calendar and agreed that this was more of a B race. It’s a “home” race so it has some extra attraction, but not top of the priority list for a variety of reasons.
Closer to the time, we weighed up whether or not to give it more prominence. But in the end we agreed it wasn’t meant to be an A race.
In other words…… the pressure was off.

Was this the secret ingredient for one of Mérida’s best performances yet?

The night before the race, we talked about timings…Mérida was cautiously optimistic about how fast she would get to the feed zone. I was more confident… and, wow, I’m glad I was right, because she massively surpassed her own expectations! Mérida was so ahead of schedule that .beyond and I nearly missed seeing her at the feedzone!

This was a breakthrough performance for on many levels.

It felt like a culmination and a celebration of all the physical and mental effort that she has been putting in, consistently, over the last year.

It was also an extra-special race for me as coach because I got to be there to see it, to share the experience and to celebrate together at the end.

Great athletes are the ones who turn up everyday. Whether or not they have a good race is a happy byproduct of their commitment, consistency and grit.

Good coaching is celebrating that effort as much as the success.

What is the number one foundation for your success?

In coaching, we need to think about four elements in performance:

1. Psychology

2. Physiology

3. Technical skill

4. Tactics

Athletes often address some but not all of these.
Often they avoid the one that could bring the biggest return.

A good coach will help an athlete to work on all aspects of their performance, and hold them accountable for the work that makes the difference.

What do you think is the most important one for your success?

Do you want to know the secret to winning the group ride? 😝

It’s not rocket science.

It’s called FUELLING.

Too often, strong riders let themselves down and perform far below their capabilities because they don’t eat (or hydrate) enough on a ride.

Don’t let the controllables be a reason for you to not be at your best.

Plan your fuelling. Every time.

What do I recommend?

As a BARE minimum and rough rule of thumb, times 10g carbohydrates by the number of hours you are riding, and then fuel that for every hour of a ride IE
a 2 hr ride needs at least 20g per hour
a 3 hour ride needs at least 30g per hour, and so on.

These numbers are still well BELOW what you would burn through and therefore need on a training ride, but I see lots of people not even hitting this very low bar. So that’s why I set it here, and then try to encourage you to raise it 💪🏽

Want to know more? Send me a DM to find out how holistic coaching can help you perform to your best 🙌🏽