Video of Team Pursuit Gold

Here’s a link to coverage of the Team Pursuit gold medal ride which included Sarah and Jo from Horizon Fitness.

Team pursuit gold at Manchester World Cup

It’s the morning after the night before and reflecting back on how I was feeling yesterday morning as opposed to how I feel today is quite surreal. Going into the World Cup I was riding with two legends of the event, Horizon Fitness team mate Joanna Rowsell and a rider I know well from racing together on the road and track, Wendy Houvenaghel. I wanted to make sure I lived up to their previous experiences in the event and could put the short time we’d spent training together into a solid team performance.

As with other events on the track in the GB team, the squad of women vying for places in the team pursuit is a large and very strong squad with a lot of depth, as our team mates riding in 100% ME demonstrated yesterday. Like the men’s team pursuit squad have done, our women’s team have been training in every combination possible over the past four months and there has never been very long to get comfortable or familiar with one person’s wheel, we have to ride all wheels and be flexible in any line up.

Big Miles for Sarah in Mallorca

t’s been a fairly even balance so far in 2011 and after two weeks on the track doing some big gear speed sessions with the team pursuit group it was time to head out to Mallorca and the mountains I love so much for the second 2 weeks of January!

With the para-cycling squad having four days left when I arrived in Mallorca in mid January, I managed to get some time in with the men’s tandems before they went home. It was great fun as their average speed rarely dropped below 35kph on the rolling terrain and after 90 minutes with them I then headed into the mountains by myself and got some good work done on the climbs. After two days of 5 hours on the road bike the team pursuit girls arrived for the final 11 days of the trip.

Sarah Storey checks in

With so much snow on the ground, the challenge of winter training has been exactly that, a challenge! Life at the top of our hill has been slippery and icy for a few weeks now and we have only managed a mere two road rides in the past three weeks. With the team pursuit work on the track to concentrate on though, there has been plenty to consider during the long hours on the turbo.

Earlier in the year, we’d all had similar amounts of the white stuff and with three different weeks leaving us confined to being at home, both Barney and I had clocked up some hours on the turbo, with my longest ride in one go being a three hour turbo session. As the roads have stayed quite slippery recently, and we didn’t fancy having to contend with the mad people in vehicles, we have been reacquainting ourselves with the turbo.

Winter Training Begins Here

The sunny shores of the Carribean seem like they are a world away now we are back into the routine of a typical British autumn! High winds, squally rain showers and dark cloudy days are contrasted with the quite a few beautifully clear, bright and very chilly days that show our rolling countryside in all its colourful glory.

Barney and I are lucky to live on the top of a hill where the views can be breath-taking and for every day the weather is truly miserable there is also a day where the view is quite stunning. When the wind is whipping through the valley between us and the Pennines, or when the sky is so clear you can see Kinder Scout [the highest point of the Pennines that we can see] as if it’s being filmed in High Definition.

Relaxing end to the season

There’s nothing like being in the thick of competition or a big training cycle which you know will be leading into the next competition season. As an athlete who will clock her 20th year as an athlete next year, I love being in the thick of battle but having said that, after a long year of racing it’s always great to kick back, relax and celebrate your birthday on a paradise island!

Sarah and Barney on Holiday

With the 2010 season closed to me, it was time to jet off to the Caribbean and soak up some sunshine on the beautiful island of Grenada. In fact that is where I still am, having celebrated my birthday yesterday!

Incredible India – by Sarah Storey

Arriving in Delhi was very exciting, not least because on approach to landing, the view from the plane window through the heat haze showed a sprawling city with many impressive looking buildings but although I tried to crane my neck I couldn’t see any of the much talked about venues or our accommodation at the Commonwealth Village.

Sarah Storey Commonwealth Games Photo by Julian Finney

Having never visited India before I was curious to sit by the bus window and watch the sights of another huge city pass me by as we were whisked through the streets to the Athlete’s Village. The drill of any Games is very much the same and the journey from the airport is always a quiet one as each person in the team takes in the sights of the city.

Sarah Storey Interview – Part 2

The final part of the fantastic interview with Sarah Storey has been published on Podium Cafe.  Very well written and a great read.

Interview Part 2 - with Sarah Storey

Sarah Storey Interview Part 1

Sarah Storey has been interviewed by Podium Cafe.  Published in 2 parts, its a fantastic read and gives another great idea of what make Sarah a great Champion.

Sarah Storey interview Part 1

 

Sarah Interview on Channel 4

Sarah Storey, one of the team winning trio in the National Team Pursuit Champs this weekend, has been interviewed ahead of her trip to India as part of the England team for the Commonwealth Games.

Channel 4 Interview

Great interview from a great rider.