Gareth & the 4 man team from High Wycombe cycling club are now in their final preparation for the Tour of Wales cycle race or Ras de Cymru as it’s also known.

With that in mind Gareth is now on a strict diet to rip down to his racing weight. He is now on week 2 of the diet & has so far lost 7lbs or 3kg! All this in 7 days.

Keep checking in to see how the preparation is going & also to follow his blogs during race week.  

James & Gareth Attack in a build up race at Goodwood!

 Friday 18th June

Today I had an NLP session (neuro-linguistic programming) with Craig Thompson to help me get in the right head space for the race. What a fantastic session! We worked on removing any negative issues & doubts I have. So far I feel much more positive. I would highly recommend this to anyone with a big goal ahead of them. Bring on June 30th!

 Sunday 27th June.

For those that are interested apart from my daily updates during the Ras, results

can be found on www.cadencecycleracing.co.uk. Now off for a final light training ride before England V Germany!

Wednesday 30th June.  Stage 1 – Prologue

There was a slight course change which played into the Team’s hand nicely.  Team Leader, Clive Nicholls, found himself in Yellow after the first stage.  So the Team is happy, and it’s a job well done.

Thursday 1st July.  Stage 2 – Hilly Road Race

Due to mechanical problems, Gareth Batson lost quite a bit of time on this stage.  The rest of the boys finished in the bunch, narrowly avoiding a big crash.  Clive just losing the jersey by 13 seconds to the stage winner.  Will keep you posted.

Friday 2nd July.  Stage 3 – Team Time Trial

Although this was the focus for the Team, Gareth started with a very tight chest and, unfortunately, was dropped on the first big climb.  But overall, the Team went on post a good time with the only three remaining members.

                                   Stage 4 – Hilly Road Race

Sadly, Gareth has abandoned the race at the top of the first major climb with respiratory problems.  Clive, James and Tom went on to complete a very tough stage.  Well done Team!

Stage 5 : Road Race

This was probably the toughest stage of the race. 2 climbs both of 3km plus. Tom attacked hard on the first climb and forced a break but unfortunately the leader of the race was too strong & beat Tom over both climbs. Tom ended up finishing in the front group with Clive in a bigger group a few minutes back. James found this stage very tough & ended up losing 20 plus minutes finishing in the final group on the road with anyone behind being disqualified for falling below the time cut-off.

Stage 6: Flat Road race with mountain top finish.

This race has really taken it’s toll with only 83 out of the original 102 riders starting!

The bunch stayed together for the first 10 miles then both Tom & Clive attacked with Tom yet again forcing a break, this was however dragged back by the start of the climb which was very windy & wet. The yellow jersey wearer Mike Smith of Team Corley cemented his lead with a very convincing final stage win with Tom finishing first of the Wycombe team. Clive & James finished together a little way down.

The final General Classification placings for the team are : Tom Crouch 28th @8mins 19 sec down

                                                                                                       Clive Nicholls 46th @ 16mins 11 secs

                                                                                                      James Norris 73rd @ 38mins 9 secs

                                                                                                    Gareth Batson DNF.

All of the team would very much like to thank Scott ( team manager) for his superb support during the race. Also Gordon & Margaret Wright (High Wycombe CC club president & secretary respectively) for coming down for the whole race & also giving much needed support.

Gareth’s final comment:

Although I’m very disappointed to have had to pull out with my breathing issues (yet to be diagnosed) it was a great experience. I really must give my congratulations to Tom, Clive & James for completing a very hard stage race! As  individuals & as a team we will now be looking for our next racing challenges….watch this space!

Gareth

What is holding you back?

Is there something in your way preventing you from reaching your goals?

Is your fitness improving or is it caught in a merciless cycle?

A consultation with CynerGy Personal Trainers will help you identify the areas where you are falling short.  We can tailor a fitness programme around your available hours to streamline your route to those
goals.

Here, CynerGy’s Gareth Batson is racing to success in a recent Team Trial Cycle race, one of his key goals for 2010.

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Gareth Batson of CynerGy PT was one of about 300 riders selected to ride with the new Sky Pro Cycling Team around London City central on 4 January 2010!  He was thrilled to be able to participate on such a momentous occasion.  Over 2,000 people applied to take part in the event. 

Gareth had an absolutely amazing time…even though it was a bitterly cold morning.  He said at one point, of he and his cycling partner James Norris, that their hands were so cold that they burned, but it was all worth it as they were able to chat with their cycling heroes, as well as get autographs and have photos taken with them. 

After the event, Gareth said a new favourite of his to watch this year is Austrailian Simon Gerrans, a climber as well as an all-rounder.  He is such a friendly guy, and only too happy to have his photo taken with Sky fans.  Michael Barry, an all-rounder and domestique, was yet another rider that Gareth found to be very approachable. The whole Sky Team was present; however, they could not possibly meet them all. 

It was a great start to what will hopefully prove to be a very successful year for both the Sky Team as well as for Gareth & James’ racing season ahead 

Gareth posing with Sky Team member Simon Gerrans

 

Sky Team Members Juan Antonio Flecha, Thomas Lofkvist, and Michael Barry before the ride.