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   This weekend's race was a bit of a mess although looking back it probably wasn't as bad as it could have been. Race day began with waking up at 7:00 in the Penrith Travel Lodge to a sore throat which wasn't brilliantly motivating.    The course at Whinlatter could only be described as an epic. Structured from the start of hellishly steep climbs which twisted up the hillside for around 170 vertical metres which were followed by a sketchy but fast descent back to the finish, I knew this would be tough.    The race began at 11:30 giving the sun enough time to really crank up the temperature. A fast start from my fellow junior riders meant that the sharp end of the field split quickly. I decided to hold back after summiting the first lap's climb as I wasn't sure my current form (thinking about my throat) would allow me to continue at such a blistering pace for 6 laps. The next 4 laps were paced but still fast with myself focusing on catching the next rider. Ultima

   Today's race went relatively well considering that a couple of days ago I had said I didn't feel like racing due to a bit of a bug. The first lap was a bit manic as the start line was saturated with fast Elite and Junior racers hidden in a sea of slower enthusiast riders. It didn't take long to separate out however and soon I was chasing the lead group. Unfortunately I dropped a chain about halfway round and this left me to catch up to a small bunch of Juniors. Going into Lap 2 I had caught up and even managed to put some time back in, I now had to bridge back to the next rider. By Lap 3 I had caught him, although the pace now fell as the hills turned to steep slogs in the rain, this didn't stop us from pushing on. Going into Lap 4 and after a bit of running I had created a small gap to the next rider. This left me to just hold this gap to the finish line. Photo courtesy of Ffyona Booker

   Today's race went smoothly. I felt the course suited my Stumpjumper 29er better than the previous two cyclocross races I had taken part in this winter. It was mainly comprised of an undulating gradient with some tight woodland sections and some nice flowing descents.    After the track had taken a battering from the earlier races it was clear that running would play a crucial role today so I used this to my advantage. I tried to hold back the first lap and then slowly applied the pressure to create a consistent pace. This worked and soon I was racing to catch the Senior riders who set off a minute earlier than the Juniors.    I finished first Junior and fifth overall. I plan to continue this as a trend towards the first National Series race at Sherwood in late March.     Thanks to all Organisers and Volunteers at NDCXL for creating a great race.  

   The final day at the camp was special as friendships had been made and soon we would have to disperse back into our own lives and get into the Christmas spirit again. The morning was another fresh 05:45 rise in preparation for the second and final circuit session of the camp. We had a short amount of time to collect our belongings from around our hotel rooms which gave me just enough time to make a coffee in the polystyrene cup I had commandeered from the campus dining room the afternoon before.    The circuit session was easier than last time. For a start it only lasted for about 30 minutes and in my opinion it was comprised of far easier exercises however it did produce similar numbers to those I recorded earlier in the weekend. After getting changed out of our sweaty clothes it was time for breakfast, our penultimate visit to the dining room. Here Group 2 took the table on the stage of the hall. We all talked about what we were doing in the lead up to 2015 and many exchanged

   Day 3 of the camp greeted us with a lie in, well 06:45 was better than 05:45! Breakfast at the Premier Inn was brilliant with many cyclists mixing with the tennis folk, eating lots and generally having a pleasant morning. We left the hotel at 07:15 and after a quick tour of the campus whilst dropping people off at their 'classroom' locations, arrived at the netball centre, the base of Group 2. This morning was a bit slower with various activities used to wake us all up and prepare us for some more hard thinking.    The topic up for discussion was emotional intelligence and therefore the well known model of Professor Steve Peters' 'Chimp Paradox'. After watching a short clip of a coach handling a team discussion pretty badly we discussed how we could control our minds and help our athletes when faced with hardship be that during a sporting event or in our own personal lives.    Lunch soon crept upon us and even though we were not hungry after breakfast it was im

   Our first morning at the camp was an interesting one. The group leaders knocked on our bedroom doors at 05:45, so as you can imagine by 6:15 the hotel foyer was full of sleepy teenagers, hanging in a zombie like trance as we awaited the bus to take us to the tennis centre.    As we entered the courts it was clear the next hour would be a tough one. Athletes, Coaches and Officials lined the walls of the huge room with the odd group leader setting up their stations for the circuit session. After a short but critical warm up of jogging around the hall we were pulled into the nearest station and therefore a new group of people, they would be our comrades for the duration of the workout. The next 45 minutes past in a blur of Jump-squats, Burpees and Russian twists to name a few. The session must have been stressful as I recorded a maximum heart rate of 184bpm and an average of 150bpm. As a result there were many achy glutes and sore abs that day.    Back to the classroom sessions and