New website is up and running now - mb181.com

This past wk has been a little strange in the way that on the bike i've been fine and getting some good work done but with things like the gym i've still been suffering with a knee and elbow problem. As long as it's not effecting me on the bike i'm happy so right now it's all good.

I had a good wkend in Manchester with Kate, things are starting to get real now, she's starting to bring more and more gear up as it's her last day at work today!! She'll move in for real whilst i'm out in SA so hopefully the house aint pink by the time i'm back!!!

I'm really looking forward to getting out to SA now, we leave on wednesday night so we'll be there by thursday morning. Be nice to just relax for a few days in Durban before getting to Pietermaritzburg. The beach in Durban's pretty cool so hopefully the weather's good too.

Don't forget to check out my twitter........bloomy181

Oh, and my site should be active at some point tonight (just waiting for ma61.co.uk to get off the XBOX!!) so mb181.com will start going straight to that as of then!!!!

Marcus

I flew back form Norway on the Sunday morning and arrived back home in Bristol by about 2pm. Felt wierd to be home from a race when it was still going on but it was nice to get home.

Saturday's racing went ok other than the result (out in qrtr). I felt pretty recovered from the friday racing so that was a plus point for me. I had a tough moto which i'm kinda used to now but i was actually riding well although i was pretty lucky in the 2nd moto as i gotta bad gate and got squeezed out down the first straight only to swoop into 3rd in turn 1 whilst 3 others all crashed out, i'm due a bit of luck so i'll take it :)

Since getting back i've just chilled out and made sure i'm fully recovered before getting back into it. I've been out for sprints this morning which were real good and i'm off for a track session in a bit down at Burnham.

The website shouldn't be too far away now as all i'm waiting for is some pics to complete the gallery section. I'll keep ya posted

I've also joined onto Twitter recently, shant be updating all the time but you can follow me: bloomy181

Marcus

Woke up this morning feeling a lot better than I thought I was going to so that was a good start. Went out for a couple of rides in the morning to wake the old the legs up and went into practice in the afternoon feeling fine.

Moto’s went well, had the holeshot in 1st one but had a crap line into turn 1 so got passed down the pro sets to go into 2nd the I shanked the 3rd straight and got passed again so had to settle for a 3rd. 2nd moto I got out well again and took a 2nd. 3rd one I got squeezed out of the gate as I went a tad late and had to settle for a 5th I think.

I got 2nd in my quarter after getting out pretty well. I started to get squeezed into turn 1 so was happy to slot into 5th with a real good line and exit speed I was gaining on the guys in front only for Hamon to mess up the pro section and get in another riders way which opened the door for me to go into 3rd (we all need a bit of luck no and again). I swooped in the last turn go into 1st and was a photo finish on the line.

In the semi I got out real well but by the 1st turn it was all super tight and ended up white lining it and coming together with riders which meant I had no speed for the 1st pro jump, I boosted it anyway, why I don’t know as I’m pretty sure I came down with snow on my head I went that high!!!! Anyway, by then everyone had gone so that was that for the day. Overall I’m happy with how I rode, especially after not having such a good practice yesterday.

Off to bed now to rest up before we do it all again, we’re not on until the afternoon again so I’ll update around the same time tomorrow.

Marcus

Had a long day today. I left Kate's 7am to go to Heathrow to get the flight to Norway. You never really no what the traffics gonna be like so i left in plenty of time as the flight wasn't until 12noon. Ended up getting to the Airport around 9.30am after parking the car up and getting to the Terminal.
Has some time to kill once i got checked in so just walked around the shops checking out the watches then headed into Starbucks for a sweet White Choc Mocha......that's the boy right there!!!

I landed just before 3pm then hopped in a taxi and headed straight to the hotel. I've landed on my feet witht the hotel as it's literally 50m's from the 1st straight and i can see the last straight stand from my bedroom.....can't get any better than that!!!

Practice was at 6.30pm so just checked out the track until then. It looked a good layout and the design's pretty cool.
Practice went ok i guess, i'm still struggling with a couple of little niggles that i picked up before the national at Manchester last wk and have been bothering me all week and i think travelling all day showed but tomorrow's another day and we're not on until 2.30pm our time so i've got all morning to freshen up.

Marcus

I raced at Manchester last wknd for Rounds 7&8 of the National Series. The track rode really well all wknd even though the wind on Sunday was probably the worst i've ridden in there before.

I felt good going into racing on Saturday but we had slight delay on the first moto with Kelv having the wrong plate on. Events unfolded to the point that he staged a one man protest in the middle of the track (was pretty funny!) as he was told he couldn't race that 1st moto. I understand where he was coming from but the problem was that other people had the same issue(Amelia in the race before ours!!) and weren't allowed to race so to allow him to ride would've created a divide between Elites and everyone else. There was a problem with the lights which did allow him enough time to change the plate before the race BUT he was told before anyone realised there was a problem with the lights thats he couldn't race that moto. Again, i can see where he was coming from but in my eyes went about it all in totally the wrong way and i did speak to him about it during it all and after it all calmed down.

Back to the racing and we only had 2 racks again so was straight to the main. LP was in 3 with me in 4. I got a good pop and started to close him down. I thought i'd done enough just going into turn 1 but obviously not as he appeared from nowhere on the inside and took the lead. I felt close to him on the 2nd turn but after that he pulled a bit out of the turn and i was just a bit to far off him to make anything stick in the last turn. Overall i was pretty happy to take the 2nd behind him and make it a UPB top 2.

Sunday's moto's went fine. Again, straight to a main with LP in gate 1, KB 2, Cal 3 and me 4. I had a real good pop and strated to move across towards the inside. LP got out ok too i think as he started to move out and Kelv got caught in the middle of both of us. By the first jump i had a wheel or so but we were all super tight and came together on the take off of the next jump with LP and KB coming off worse. I unclipped and got caught from behind which ripped the buckle on my shoes to bit's but luckily got straight back in and just made sure i got into turn 1 first. I was confident that if i could do that then i'd win as i felt my track speed was good all wknd. I took the win ahead of Kyle and DW.

All in all a good wknd on a good track. Another well run national for the yr. Roll on Gosport in August......can't wait to ride 8!!!!!! straights!!!

I'm off to Norway tomorrow for the Euro Champs so i'll try an update whilst i'm there.

Marcus

I raced Burnham regional last wkend because i needed to keep in some sort of race mode with the worlds just around the corner. My old man even came to watch but on the pretense that i rode hard on every lap and pedalled to the line....burnham's no joke with 20mins between laps on a hot day i can tell you but still felt good after and was nice to put another race into the bank.

This past wkend i had Curtis, Tom Palmer, Stacky and Amelia up to stay for a couple of days or so. We headed to Manchester track on friday afternoon for a bit of practice before the national this wkend. Friday evening was FIFA10 time on the xbox and i don't mean to brag but with scores of 10-2 and 9-1 being knocked out i had the young un's covered.
Saturday morning we headed to a play track in Wilmslow, one of Clark & Kents creations and stayed there for a couple of hours. It's only 2 straights but it's done as a loop so you can just go round and round. It was pretty fun just to ride with no worries and just have a laugh with friends.
In the afternoon we went on down to Crewe for a couple of hrs. The track was riding real fast and smooth and we even managed to get some gates done as the guys from the club set it up just for us so we were happy about that.

Kate was staying in Birmingham on the Saturday night so i headed down there after Crewe. We stayed in the Regency Hyatt for the night and her parents took us out for a celebration dinner and cocktails (only had 1 or 2 though)

This wkend is Manchester National and then i'll be straight into the Euro Race in Norway next wkend. I'm really looking forward to this next couple of wks because as good as training is, you can't beat racing!!

Marcus

Things have been moving on with the website thanks to Matt Allen over at MA61.co.uk. We've come up with a design and just sorting out the little bits and pieces before it goes live.
With the help of Charlie Phillips (cp signs) I've come up with a logo that'll sit on the site and I've shown it to some riders at Bristol and burnham already and the response was pretty good. 

Trainings be good since the wkend and I'm gonna be racing the regional at burnham this Sunday before heading back up to Manchester on Monday for the first time in what seems like months! 
I'm looking forward to getting back up there and starting to get stuff sorted ready for when Kate moves up in July.

Marcus    

This past wkend i was at rounds 5&6 of the National Series over in Braintree. It was the first time i've been there and was well impressed with the whole set up. The track looked good at first sight and rode even better, it's not often i go to new tracks and like them straight away but this one was really good to both race on and mess around on.

I did a bit of practice on the friday evening which went well. I could've spent hrs trying lines on the 3rd straight but had to control myself as last time i sessioned a straight like that at a race, it was the Brits at Peterborough 2yrs ago and i was spent by the time racing came round.

They'd done away with the bloc racing idea (for now) so it was back to the norm for our group. It actually worked quite well and the running of the event itself seemed pretty seemless.

There was only 11 riders in elite so that meant no semi's which in terms of workload sounded fine to me :)
Saturday's main was a good one for me. I wheelied out of the gate and was held out by Kelv down the 1st straight. He left a gap on the inside of turn 1 and i just went for it, luckily it paid off and i went on to win.
Sunday i felt pretty fresh atfer racing the previous day so was looking forward to another few laps. I won the main from start to finish, i had a solid lap with no mistakes....which makes a change from recent races!!

I want to say thanks to everyone who showed support over the wkend with regards to recent going's on with BC. It's much appreciated. I will say though, as much as people like to slag off BC, at the end of the day when you take away any emotions and look at things logically, i had targets which i didn't reach and if it was any other business i'd be in the same position as i am now. Yes, i'm annoyed and yes i'm upset but thats life and i'm lucky that they've left the door open if things change in the future so that's what i have to concentrate on from here on in.

Matthew Allen is in the process of sorting me out a website. MB181.com will be live soon hopefully but in the mean time that address will direct you straight to this blog. So instead of the normal blog address, you can just use MB181.com

I'll keep you posted on things in a couple of days

Marcus

Mark over at Evolimages has sent through some cool pics from last months SX race in Copenhagen. I think pretty soon we'll be getting together for a proper shoot which'll be real good! Check out the pics....

There's a few things to update on since my last post.

First off, i'm now officially engaged to Kate!! No immediate plans to set any dates but super happy to say the least!! She had no idea i'd had the ring she wanted since January so was pretty surprised went that bad boy came out last monday!!

I've mentioned before about things happening with BC. Well, to simplify it, i've been released from the programme but the doors open if results improve in the future. I'm not overly happy about it to put it bluntly but i guess thats life and there's nowt i can do to change things other than go out and get the results i need. Time will tell....

I went across to Valkenswaard this past wkend to race the euro rd. Lets just say that i didn't ride the best and the results showed that. I went out there thinkng that all the crap thats gone on for the last few wks would help me but it just all blew up in my face. Spent the wkend feeling worn out from it all. After speaking to Kate, LP and Shinny, I realised i wasn't in the best frame of mind to actually race at all. I was gutted saturday night and on sunday's journey home.
I've had time to think things through since being home and have put things into perspective so i'm looking forward to my next big races which'll include Braintree National this wkend, Manchester National, Norway Euro Champs and finally the Worlds in SA.
I've managed to get in with the ZellTours party for the Worlds so that should be pretty fun.

Under the main picture at the top of the blog should be a link to my YouTube page. I've put up a video i put together, isn't anything fancy and it's my first try at doing it so i hope it's ok? Let me no what you think......

I've had some new gear sent through from FOX this wk. They've sent down some new gear bags and some training T's (as i can wear my own gear from now on!). The bags are real sweet and i'm pretty sure i could sleep in one of them, it's that big!!!!

That about does it for now and i'll try and get back on it with more regular updates from now on

Marcus

The past few days have been spent training back in Bristol. It's been real nice to be back home again as i've not been back for a long ish period of time for what feels like ages. Sods law though as my mum and dad have been away on there jollies for the wk and only get back tomorrow!!!

I've done a couple of sessions at Burnham this wk and it's been super strange riding in the evenings again (although i have done the odd session at Preston recently). They've just got a ProGate timing system for the gate, which i think'll be a really good training tool for the riders, that way at least they can monitor their progress throughout the season.

I'm heading back to Manchester on sunday to spend the wk up there training untill Kate comes up next wkend. Then it's off to Holland for the Euro rd that following wkend. I think this wk i'm gonna hit up Preston on Tuesday as sometimes it's good to do sessions away from the norm and just have a bit of fun.

Thats it for now, remember to register as a follower if you check my blog regulary!!

Marcus

These are some photo's that i've either been sent or that i've seen online from the race at Copenhagen last wkend. Check out the sites where the photo's came from for more cool pics!!

I've left it a while to update after the race last weekend in Copenhagen as it was a big race for me personally in regards to targets from BritishCycling. I didn't reach the target so it's meant that there's been some things going on behind closed which i won't/can't go into right now.

I actually felt that i raced well throughout the moto's and even in the quarter final that i went out in, i left a gap big enough for Jiminez to sneak into and that was that. Things could've been different but i guess thats racing.
On a positive note though, big congrats to LP who ended with a 2nd. He fully deserved to be on the podium and i was as happy as anyone for him!!

Since the race i've been going through alot of things in my head and been trying to stay positive about everything, i've actually had some really good sessions since so hopefully thats a sign of things to come.

I raced Rounds 3&4 of the UK National Series in Derby on the wkend. After all the timing issues at the Cheddar Rd's it was gonna be interesting as to how this would all turn out. I think it worked well in terms of the timings, the bad thing is that nobody stayed to watch. It's a catch 22, we want to showcase the top riders but we need to find a way to do it whilst everybody is actually gonna stay and see it!! I've always said that until it's run at a couple of races with the correct timings we won't no weather it'll work or not (on this showing, it'll need looking at). Did hear a whisper from a source that the officials are gonna sack it off though. Maybe they need to ask the riders (and i mean ALL the riders) how they feel about it and any other ideas that someone may have?? You never no, we might just come up with something.....

Back to the race, Saturday was good for me and the UPB team with a 2nd and LP in 3rd. Sunday, LP crashed in practice and shot off to hospital to get his shoulder x-ray'd so didn't race. JB won (again!), kelv 2nd and a 3rd for me. JB showed everyone why physically he's one of the best riders around right now (even if he doesn't get it out all the time!) and proved to the people who questioned what he was doing at cheddar that he hasn't lost it. Trust me, after seeing him in training over the past few wk's, he hasn't lost nowt, he's faster than ever....period.

I'm in the process of organising my trip to Valkenswaard for the Euro Rd in a couple of wk's or so. Hotel's sorted thanks to Jan Schippers, now just need to arrange the travel times. I'm doing this race without BC which'll be super strange as i've not done a International race without there support for around 4yrs now and seeing as the team will be there also will just add to the weirdness i think. I'm looking foward to it though as Kate's gonna be coming across there with me and Pete Phillips is going with our UPB team truck so it'll be like home from home.

Think that covers everything at the moment. Also, if you check my blog regulary it'll be cool for me if you could registar as a follower, i'd really appreciate it if you could do this as it'll give me an idea as to how many people actually want to no what's going on with me.....Thanks!

Marcus

Been back at the hotel the hotel for the last 2 hrs or so with feet up after having to do 2 runs AGAIN in TimeTrial's, that's the last 4 SX races!!!!
I over shot the first jump by loads in run 1 and lost speed, the rest of the lap wasn't too bad but after that mistake it was an uphill struggle to go through on that one.

Run 2 was good other than i've still not launched the triple into turn 1 yet, i've never been in a situation where i'm going into racing not having nailed everything on a track before, but we've got a some practice again in the morning before we start so plenty of time. It's not even that big a jump, it's one of those that you'll always feel that your never going fast enough. I lined up in practice before TT's this morning ready to do it only to get a puncture going to the hill and by the time i sorted that, they had shut the hill for the end of practice.....bad times!! I keep over shooting the first jump so i don't feel i'm set all that good for it, but after watching some riders do it today you can see you don't have to have had a perfect run into it in order to do it. The majority of people who were behind me time wise in run 2jumped it, so i no that my track speed in good enough.

LP had a decent TT and ended up 13th in run1 so was back at the hotel chilling out when i was having to go again.......must be an age thing!!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's racing and just wanna get on with it now.

The pic above is from Jerry over at BMXMANIA.COM

Marcus

I arrived in Copenhagen yesterday afternoon along with the rest of Team GB. The airports only 10mins or so away from the hotel so the journey there was short and sweet. We checked in, unpacked, built the bikes and rode straight down to the track, which is about 5-10mins ride away.

The track looked really good. Last yr it looked ok too but this yr they've soiled tacked it all and it's super hard with no soft spots. They've moved the starthill back 10m's or so to make room for a couple of rollers between the 1st 2 jumps. First time it's been tried so time will tell if it's a good idea.

We've just got back from practice and the track rode really well. The wind was a strong head wind down the 1st straight so the triple into turn 1 can wait until tomorrow's session. The 3rd straight, even with the wind was really good and the 2nd straight was sooo fast with a tail wind the jumps could've easily been 10ft longer.

I felt real good on the track and my gates seemed good so i'm happy with how it went. I'm looking forward to practice in the morning and then TT's later on in the day.

Check back for TT update tomorrow

Marcus

I'm sitting at the gate waiting for the flight home back to Bristol. I crashed this morning and grazed my arm aswell as my ass! So sitting down isn't the easiest thing to do right now so a 2hr flight is just what I need! :)

This weeks gone well in terms of getting out of it what I needed to. It took a day or so to get over the race at cheddar last wkend but once it was out of the system physically it was all good. We all got some good track time in which was nice and I did some times on the starthill, as did last October before the SX race in Frejus and my times were pretty much the same so was happy with that. To match those times so early in the season was a bonus.
The weather had been really good all week until today when we had a bit of rain, it was properly hot when we did some sprints the other day. I've never sprinted on a hill that steep before, it must've taken 150m just to stop at the end of an effort!!!!

Just had last boarding call so update again in a couple of days

Marcus

These pics are from a photoshoot i did along with the GB Team for promo gear for sponsors. Photo's are by BC photgrapher Luke Webber, pretty handy with a camera that boy!!

I've just arrived in Aigle, Switzerland, for a training camp at the UCI centre ahead of the next SuperCross round in Copenhagen, Denmark next wkend.

The National at Cheddar was looong. The event looked super good and there were 585 riders or so in attendance across all ages so racing was pretty tough in most classes.

I got to the track saturday around 11.30am but wasn't due to start racing until around 6.30pm with practice for 45mins at 5.30pm. The other racing should have kicked off at 12noon but for whatever reason it didn't get going until well over an hour after that!!! Which meant that at the first race of the season we're already running late and that time had to be made up somewhere to make sure we were able to get all the elite racing done before it got dark.

It turned out that they cut practice down to 20mins for our group yet there were still 30-40min breaks happening between rd's throughout the day?!?! To me this seemed strange.
We all knew that it was gonna be tight to get all the racing done but because of over runs earlier in the day and starting late we had to run moto's every 10mins or so. Not the best situation but it had to be done. At the start of the first set of moto's it was decided (not by the riders) that we'd only run the 3 moto's that night, then the semi's and mains in the morning (i heard 8am!!!)
Then, it was decided to run the semi as there was enough light left....which was right. Then after the semi's were done it was decided that there wasn't enough light to run the finals.........although at this point all the riders (bar one or 2) were up on the hill willing to run the mains, but we weren't allowed.
Although i appreciate what the ref's were saying about risk, my belief is that you've got riders who are old enough to make decisions for themselves and were happy to ride, so if anything did happen then the buck would stop with us (the riders). BUT the ref was happy to let the PayBack final run (after all the discussions we all could've just raced!) because they're slower than the Elites and thus less risk but in my mind it's all relative to speed & control etc so there wouldn't have been a difference. The crowd didn't seem overly happy about the decision either.....cue the chorus of boo's.

At the end of the fiasco all the riders were down at the finish line to sort out how it'd run in the morning, it was decided (by the riders with officials present) that we'd run the saturday's finals as the first finals on the sunday. To which all the riders left the track knowing that was the case.
Then, on the sunday after the semi's where we'd start to warm up ready for the previous days final it was said that we'd run after the B-finals as the 1st A final.....again a change on what was decided the night before. To me the point wasn't that we'd run later it was the point that ALL the riders went away thinking one thing and then for some reason it gets changed again. If they wanted us to run after the B finals then it should've been said the night before...not 10mins before we thought we were up!!

Anyway, results wise, i got a 2nd behind LP when we eventually ran the saturday main and an 8th in the sunday main. I was running in 2nd until the last turn when Kelvin came up and passed me, i knew he was there, i just didn't no which line he'd choose. I edged my bets and went kinda middle but obviously there was enough room for him to come through, we touched in the turn but it was a good move so i can't be too annoyed.

TIBBOH, mine and LP's new title sponsor launched last wk and seemed to go done well at the national. There were a couple of dongle's handed out as prizes with a yr's free internet access provided.....can't beat that surely?!?!? Roll on the Pro Race at the Brits this yr, TIBBOH are gonna be looking to do a whole lot more at that race and the Brits itself so keep an eye out for info soon. There's more stuff to come from them this year and maybe even companies they've got ties with (there's some good un's in there!!)

Check back in a couple of days for a training camp update!!

Marcus

So, only one day to go until the National Series kicks off down in Cheddar. The track rode pretty well last night and I'm headind back down in a bit to try some new bike parts out before the race.

Since the last update I've just been training and really trying to work on some stuff that needed sorting, we'll see if it works soon enough no doubt. I've been up to Preston a couple of times recently for a change of scenary, the whole atmosphere when there's gates on is really good and the people who are involved up there are real sound and always make you feel welcome. Plus there's some super fast kids up there too so I'm looking forward to seeing how they go this wkend.

Something else of note, TIBBOH launched yesterday so it won't be long until everybody see's the benefits of using them. Check the link on the right to see what's up or google TIBBOH and see the press releases from yesterdays forums and newspaper!!

Crewe regional race was pretty fun on Sunday. There were 18 riders in the payback class which was more than most nationals I did last year. The track rode well all day and the weather was spot on also. Was nice to be able to race in shorts with no need for leg warmers.
I didn't get to race LP until the final so one lap no crap to take the win, I was winning until I messed up on the 3rd straight and lost enough speed for him to slip up the inside of the last turn to win. Overall I was happy with how I rode all day so can't complain. After the race we, along with the Manaton's went for some good old English pub grub. A good end to a good day.

Yesterday I had a BC filming and photo day along with the rest of the GB Team. I thought it was for all the new coaching docs but was pretty happy when they said it was for sponsor promo stuff....happy days!
We rode from 9.30 till 1pm then headed to the velodrome for a photoshoot, there was some pretty serious faces being pulled I can tell ya! Hopefully within the next 2wks or so I should have some pics to post up on here from the day, the track ones look pretty slick!!

Since Madrid i've just been trying to get back into the swing of things again.

I didn't race the Euro Rd in France on the wkend as I headed home for a wedding, was a really good day and there were all sorts of shapes being thrown on the dancefloor, not by me but some random older people......classic.

Anyway, trainings been getting better. My back's finally stopped hurting all the time and the ear's almost there too. I'm just trying to work as hard as i can right now to take me up until Copenhagen and then we'll see what happens. There's couple of races i'm doing before then, 1 of which is this Sunday at Crewe for a regional and the other is the 1st 2 National Rd's at Cheddar.

I've attached a Pic of the new UltimateProBMX truck for you to check out....this things gonna be hooked right up inside!!!

The quality of the pics aint the best but the gear looks pretty fresh up close. Check out the new sponsor stickers for 'tibboh'. There an internet company who provide safe filtered internet access for all ages. There's a link on the right hand side of the blog so check them out!!!

Madrid didn't go well for me. We practiced on the Friday evening and that actually went better than i was expecting. My back was stiff at the start but the more i rode the more is losened off, it pretty much stayed painfull throughout the wkend but i was knocking back ibruprofen for fun to make sure it was gonna be ok come racing. Also, during the practice before we started racing, the gate decided to fail and send myself and 6 others sprawling. Just what i needed, a slammed ankle and wrist.

The least said about TT's the better. I think i missed the majority of landings and hit most of the soft patches, all in all.......bad times! ended up 17th after run 2, so 49th overall....that wasn't in the plan.
There's nothing like a tough moto for the first race of the season either, Strombergs, Robinson, Quyleron, Andre, Dodet, Bisseling, Myself and Godet's brother. Was a bit of mixed bag really, crashes, slide outs and me not racing that well meant i was having an early bath by the time the 1/4's came around.
LP on the other hand was flying all day. He looked real impressive in his motos only to tag the gate a little in his 1/4 which sat him in 3rd only to be knocked in the 2nd turn and crash. He was definatly on for the main in my view.

Seeing as though i've ridden the track, i might aswell give my thoughts on this new 'box' jump thing and the rest of the track. The concept of the box jump is good, BUT, the box was so tall, you couldn't maintain any speed whatsoever. It just felt clumsy.
I said as soon as i saw it that it needed to be 2-3ft lower and after riding it i'd stand by that. By making it lower, it'll still give the crowd something new, but from a racing point of view it'll keep the speed going, not to mention taking away some pretty nasty crashes.
Compared to other SX track's over the last couple of years, i thought the rest of the track was fairly tame. The first jump was tiny compared to the likes of Chula Vista and the 3rd straight was pumpable. I would've thought something similar to Frejus 3rd straight could've worked there.

I'm still getting over the wkend at the minute, travel and riding whilst ill certainly takes it out of you. The good news was that it wasn't an ear infection, the bad news is that it was a perferated ear drum.....nice. Still only about 50% hearing in my left ear as of now.

I've got some pics of my new race bike and a new Fox helmet that i'm gonna throw up on another post later

Marcus

I'm out in Madrid for the 1st stop on the SuperCross calander. Preperations have been pretty crap leading into the race.
I caught a cold off Shanaze on the way back from the US which restricted what i could in terms of training, then on our last track session before we came out here i crashed pretty badly over the bars at Plattfields and took the whole impact on my back and ended up having xrays and was in A&E for 2hrs!! Add to the that an ear infection which i got on the flight over here too.......Perfect!
But.....it is what it is and i can't change any of it. All i can do is do the best i can with whatever i've got in the tank.

We went to check out the track earlier today, the arena is super impressive. Really tight and could imagine the atmosphere come race day is gonna be pretty special. Can't wait to hear my new choice of TimeTrial song being smashed out over the speakers!! Jay-Z - On To The Next One.....OR.....Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing. Gonna have to decide tomorrow but both are gonna be huge!!!

The track looks TIGHT!! They've done well to even squeeze a track on the floor plan available but it seems to work well in there. The track builders have come up with a new jump for the event, it's basically a launch up onto a table kinda thing then a drop off to a landing, the initial jump onto the top of the box is around 20ft long but 7ft high. It's definatly gonna be interesting to see how it rides. We'll see tomorrow as thats when practice kicks off, 4.30pm over here, then TT's and racing on Saturday afternoon/evening. It's gonna be nuts!!!

Check back tomorrow for an update on practice

Marcus

Been home a few days from the US. I managed to get us upgraded again to World Traveller Plus which gives you so much more leg room and also wider seats so there was loads of room to spread out.

I shot straight back to bristol when i landed as i figured i could catch up with the family whilst getting over the jet lag. I slipped back into timezones pretty well but i think i caught the tail end of Shanaze's cold that she had out in the US.

Training's been light since i got back but i've got a couple of good sessions i'm looking forward to before i fly out to Madrid for the SX on wednesday. I picked up my new white Crupi frame on thursday so i'll be building that up before i fly. Marcus

So, yesterday's trip to Starbucks with LP turned into a mini shopping trip for the both of us. LP hit up Raulph for some dollar and i ended up getting an Invicta Watch and grabbing a polo shirt from Macy's.....$200 down but still had a smile on the face.

In the evening i went go-karting with myself, LP, JB, Martijn and Massa. As per the norm, LP came out on top with Massa pretty close behind. My kart must've had something wrong with it....thats all i'm saying.

Today we all kinda slept in a bit, seeing as it was our day off. We got up around 10.30-11am then headed in to denny's, which is in the car park of the hotel. After that we headed across to the Mall for a walk around, this time Shanaze came with us.......dam she can spend money that girl!!! Anyway, ended up buying another polo and a shirt and also a pair of the cutest little Vans for my niece, Ella. She's gonna look sooo mint in them!!!!

We've got a track session tomorrow morning, hopefully the wind doesn't pick up and stays pretty calm, as it has all day today.

Marcus

The race in Phoenix wasn't the best for me personally. I knew i was gonna be a bit off the pace as it hadn't been a priority in my training but it was an eye opener to see how far off i was, not so much physically but mentally.
Being in a race for the first time in a while took its toll, although i'm glad that i've had a good winter behind closed doors. I came away from the wkend with alot to think about but this wk in Chula Vista at the OTC has been really good.

I've managed to get alot of track time in throughout the wk and have been trying some new stuff out, which so far has worked well. We've been getting up super early though to get on the track as from 11am it gets real windy until 3-4pm ish, so 7am starts have been pretty much the norm. It's been kinda rewarding getting the training done before mid morning.
There's been a few people here to ride with also, Americans, Dutch and Japanese so it's been good getting on the SX hill with 7 other guys. You've gotta be on point the whole time or your just gonna get shut off.

We popped across to the local Mall yesterday for a Starbucks after training, was a welcome addition to the day....so much so we're heading across there again in about 30mins or so. We've got a day off tomorrow so i think we're just gonna chillout in the morning then head across to the Mall in the afternoon, i've got my eye on a couple of watches that you can't get in the UK......gotta love watches!!

The flight over to the US was pretty slick. I managed to get us all upgraded to World Traveller Plus, which was a right treat. Loads of leg room and wider seats too......good times!!!! Watched a couple films on the way over, Couples Retreat which was pretty funny and easy to watch. The 2nd was 'he's just not that into you' again funny in places but wouldn't watch it again.

We arrived into LA around 3pm then caught the bus to the car hire place. we left there around 5pm, we knew we were in for a drive but we didn't realise it was gonna be that much of a burner. We ended up getting to the hotel in Phoenix at 1am.......8hrs.....not the best!

We headed to the track after getting some breakfast yesterday morning. It looks real fast but fairly straight forward. After seeing this and comparing it to the grands, i've come to the conclusion that alot of people would be suprised how mellow the jumps seem to be. Certainly not like euro tracks. That's not really a bad thing as althougth the jumps aren't that deep, they're shaped properly and let you really charge at them.

Could sleep to good last night so thats why i'm updating at 7.15am my time!! Adjusted to the time zone pretty well but just couldn't settle properly last night. I've managed to sort out Skype on my phone for the first time, phoned me dad on the house phone yesterday for like 12mins and it cost 24p. And spoke to Kate for 20mins for 26p I think..........buzzin! Gone are the days for £200 phone bills for when I'm away :)

We practice at 5.30pm this evening so looking forward to that. Myself and LP have all the new FOX gear so should be pretty fresh come practice time.

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Both last wk and this wk have been pretty straight forward really, I'm adapting more and more to the new training phase everyday so I'm happy with that.
Had a hard track session yesterday so pretty much just chilled in the afternoon, I did pop in to starbucks in the Trafford Centre for a mocha which went down a treat!! I met up with LP as his mum had brought up my spare frame which has been sprayed a silvery grey kinda colour. In the process today to build that up as then I can ride it before I go to Phoenix next Wednesday. Looking forward to getting out there, not really thought too much about the race itself though but will be nice to get a race in before the world cup series starts later next mth.

Updates should be pretty regular when I'm in the US so check back every couple of days or so

Marcus

To finish off from the 'come done with me' theme, G put together the best scoring dish for the 2wks we were there, Mexican prawn borritos. As much as I'd have loved getting him to hook me up with a starbucks, I scored him an 8.5, in hindsight I should've gone higher as it was better than LP's dish, but, when LP and Luke cast there scores, G was already 1pt in front so didn't make a difference if i'd scored higher.

We flew back to Liverpool on Friday evening then headed for the cars at the velodrome. I shot straight home to unpack then headed down to Bristol for a couple of days as I'd missed my dads bday whilst in france so thought I'd better pop home to see the family.

Since being back in Manchester, trainings been going pretty well. The track at plattfields is in decent shape so it's riding well at the minute. Team GB are racing there this wkend for a local regional event so that'll be good fun. Early season race legs don't come easy at 29 I can tell you!!!

Marcus

To follow on from the last update. Luke decided to do a chicken dish but he came down with the same bug that i had so couldn't cook that evening. Myself, LP and Coach G clubbed to together and knocked up a mean chicken and pasta dish.....pretty sure it would've tasted differently had Luke cooked it!!

Last night was my turn to take on the kitchen. My dish of choice was Chorizo with onions, peppers, chopped toms, chick peas, haricot and kidney beans with rice. Scored 24.75 out of 30 so not enough to claim top spot but at least i'm not buying the starbucks!! Luke only scored me 7.5 but i'm putting his lack of judgement down to the fact he's been ill and his tastebuds aren't quite right!!!

On tuesday we went for our last session at Montelimar of this trip, was a real relaxed session in the way that there wasn't really a structure. So after working on some faster stuff on various straights, G thought it'd be good to play a game of P.I.G on the last straight. Trying to think of different lines was hard at first but after 1-2 runs you kinda start seeing silly stuff and just hope the others can't/won't do it. Turned out LP was the dark horse as he took the win with Myself in 2nd and Luke 3rd. 1st game of PIG i've lost..........gutted!

Yesterday was our last Gym session of the trip and then we did sprints. Super windy conditions, massive downhill slope = Fun times and crazy legs.
We were due to go to Pierrlatte for a session this morning but the wind was nuts, something like 50-60mph!!! So instead we found a relatively sheltered road and just did sprints instead.

We're leaving tomorrow morning so we're all kinda just slowing packing all our gear and getting ready for G's mexican feast tonight!! Good times!!

Marcus

Went to the French Training Centre again today, the track was in good condition considering the weather yesterday wasn't the best. We had a real good session there with a mix of some gates and some track work. Never though, has my bike been any dirtier than after that session, to make matters worse the pressure washer at our local supermarket was broken.

We had a light session planned at a local track in the afternoon so had to go there with filthy bikes and kit because we had no time to get fresh gear from the HQ!! Turned up looking like a bunch of mud wrestlers but the track was pretty fun and we just kinda messed around trying some stuff for an hr or so.

Got back to the house and whilst we cleaned our bikes, LP cooked up a storm in the kitchen for his 2nd dish of the 'Come Dine With Me' BC champs. The Dish....Prawn Tagliatelle. Without a doubt best meal this week and he scored 25.75 out of 30. Up tomorrow night is Luke, and as of 10pm tonight he still has no clue what he's cooking....doesn't look good!! But on a lighter note, i've already gave him my starbucks order.

Toadys pics are from Pascal from Montelimar from a session we did last wk.

Marcus

Not much gone on since the last post but i've finally shrugged off the sickness bug so i'm looking forward to having a real good 2nd week over here in France.

We went to Montelimar yesterday for a session, the track held up pretty good to the previous days rain and rode ok.
We've got a day off today, so just gonna hanging around the HQ, watching TV (in french though!!) going online and if the Rugby's on later then we'll be watching that. We managed to watch most of the England v Wales game yesterday so that worked out well.

We're going back to the French Training Centre tomorrow, so i'll update after that

Marcus

I've still been struggling with this dam sickness bug since Tuesday. I thought on Wednesday i'd gotten over it but it's still seeming to be there, which a real annoying as, although i can train, it's taking longer to recover between sessions. Not what you need when your on a training camp.

We were due to ride Montelimar today but the first straight was pretty much covered with water after our first bit of real bad weather, so we kinda changed our training slightly but all worked out in the end.

We hit up the French Taining Centre yesterday for a couple of hrs or so. Was one of the most challenging tracks we've been to for a long time. Some of it doesn't really cross over to racing all that much but for bike skill, it's pretty good. The added benefit of them having a pro gate there was a big plus as the others we've been on this week have been super super quick.
Alot of the french guys and girls were there and they all had the track dialled pretty well but we didn't take long to step up to the plate. All in all it was a real fun session and we've been invited back next week by Fabrice (FFC National Coach) to ride there again which should be good.
Myself, LP and Luke have got some lines we wanna try out so we're looking forward to getting back there.

We've been to a local gym in Montelimar a couple of times and they are so different to ones in the UK it's untrue. They've got so much equipment in there you can hardly breathe but i must say that the owner (who we met last yr) is a real nice guy and would do anything to accomadate us.

We've been having our own little 'Come Dine With Me' thing going on this week which has seen some impressive dishes being pulled out of nowhere!!! Shanaze is 1st with 33pts, I'm 2nd with 32, LP's 3rd with 31.175 and Luke's 4th with 30pts. With only Coach G to go in wk one's challange, it'll be interesting what he pulls out the bag to beat Shin!!!! The loser arcoss the two wk total's is set to buy a round of Starbucks for everyone else...........Mine's a Grande White Choc Mocha!!!!

Marcus

Arrived in the South of France on Sunday evening, flight went fairly quick and the drive to our HQ wasn't so bad.

We hit up Montelimar on monday morning and although it's not been changed at all it still rode fast. But, they had changed the gate system, and i'm pretty sure i've not ever been on a faster one. I'm sure the beep came on before the voice cadence had finished on a few gates!!!

Yesterday we went across to Pernes le Fontaines, again, not been changed but still rode well. In the afternoon i came down with a sickness bug so was laid up all night last night and todays training has been minimal.

Not much else to say right now but we go to the French Training track tomorrow so we're all looking forward to that.

Marcus

So, the weather's gradually got better over the last couple of wks, so i've managed to get a bit of track time in. The track in Manchester is in pretty good nick considering it's had 8inches or so of snow over a 3wk period.

I've had a birthday since the last update.........29yrs old!!!! Scary where the time goes ay!!! Kate came up to Manchester and took me out for dinner to a place called Strada in Wilmslow, the food was crazyly good. All 3 courses were spot on.

I've hit up Yo! Sushi a couple of times within the last wk or so, it's soooo easy to spend money in that place but sometimes it's just gotta be done!!! Monday's are gonna become the traditional Yo!Sushi night for myself and Liam Phillips (unless we're away obviously)

I'm off to France on Sunday for a training camp with the GB team, as we have for the last 2yrs or so. Gonna get to ride Montelimar, Pernes Le Fontaines and also PierreLatte and possibly the track at the French Training Centre. Really looking forward to getting over there and getting on some real good tracks and getting on with trying to get fast.

Look out for a new sponsor also for this coming year, I've signed with a company called 'TIBBOH International Ltd' - more to come from that in the coming wks

Pic today is from Corinne Walder - she takes some seriously photo's!!!

Marcus

The weather's still pretty bad up in Manchester right now, tracks around here still aren't in any fit state to ride so it's just sprints and Leeds Skatepark for bike time at the minute.
Training's going well though considering, also, the little niggles i've had for a while have seemed to chilled out a bit.
Should be going to France in early Febuary so looking forward to getting some much needed track time in, it'll be with the rest of the GB team i think so that'll always be a funny trip.
I did a couple of diary reports from Chula & Frejus SX races for the lastest issue of FastLane BMX magazine, i've not actually seen them yet but hopefully they did the job.

Todays pic is from a friend in France. Pascal runs the track down in Montelimar and is always super keen for us to get back down there and has always got his camera in hand!!

I had a pretty good christmas back home with my family, i got to see my little neice for the first time in a month so that was proper good fun.

Myself and Kate spent the New Year in Manchester with some friends from Bristol. We headed into the Trafford Centre on new yrs day only to get there 1hr before the dam shops opened.....great timing ay!!! We looked around the shops once they finally opened for a while then play 10pin bowling. As expected, Kate got white washed by everyone....including a 3yr old girl and a 6yr old boy(sorry kidder) I won't say who one but i finished on 185 so i'll leave it at that :)

Training wise, it's been pretty strange at the minute. The weather is proper cold and snowing alot of the time so riding ant tracks is pretty much out of the question....last rode a track almost 3wks ago!!
We've managed to find somewhere that we can do sprints regardless of weather so it's not all bad and my gym work is moving along nicely. We hit up The Works skatepark in Leeds yesterday for a couple of hrs, it was nice to been on the bike but not doing sprints. Think the last time i rode a skatepark was like 10yrs or so ago but it was good fun.

Pic is another from Miss Phillips (cheers chaz!)

Marcus