It began on Friday evening when I arrived at Dublin airport to see Martyn Irvine in the arrivals hall in his World Champs jersey being welcomed home by a crowd all keen to see the World Track Champion and his medals. I spoke to him briefly about training with him in Majorca the previous week, and congratulated him on his incredible wins. Martyn has made history being the first irish track cyclist in 117 years to win Gold...really inspiring!!
On the Saturday I attended the Junior Development Squad in Bray, Co Wicklow, which consisted of a 2.5 hour ride and a workshop with Tommy the Cycling Ireland mechanic. It was also the first opportunity to get to know the new first years on the squad.
On Sunday I rode my first race of the season at the Traders Cup in Dundalk, Co.Louth, Ireland, I won the race!!!
I was so happy crossing the line after being in an 8 man break for a lot of the race. The race was on a flat course and covered just less than 50 miles. The weather was mainly dry but very cold. It hailed for a while during the race, but this passed before the finish. The race finished in a bunch sprint from a large field (130 riders started the race).
I was riding up in the top 8 for the last 3km and squeezed through a small gap with about 300m to go and kicked for the finish. I opened up a gap of a few bike lengths from the rest of the field and held it to the line. A huge thanks to the organisers and everyone who helped with the race. Especially Karl Dolan as he fixed my bike late on Saturday night after I stripped the threads on my seat post clamp, without his help I wouldn't have made the start line.
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| Martyn Irvine at Dublin airport, new World Scratch Champion, and Silver in the Individual Pursuit |
On the Saturday I attended the Junior Development Squad in Bray, Co Wicklow, which consisted of a 2.5 hour ride and a workshop with Tommy the Cycling Ireland mechanic. It was also the first opportunity to get to know the new first years on the squad.
On Sunday I rode my first race of the season at the Traders Cup in Dundalk, Co.Louth, Ireland, I won the race!!!
I was so happy crossing the line after being in an 8 man break for a lot of the race. The race was on a flat course and covered just less than 50 miles. The weather was mainly dry but very cold. It hailed for a while during the race, but this passed before the finish. The race finished in a bunch sprint from a large field (130 riders started the race).
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| Winning the Traders Cup Dundalk 24/02/13 |
I was riding up in the top 8 for the last 3km and squeezed through a small gap with about 300m to go and kicked for the finish. I opened up a gap of a few bike lengths from the rest of the field and held it to the line. A huge thanks to the organisers and everyone who helped with the race. Especially Karl Dolan as he fixed my bike late on Saturday night after I stripped the threads on my seat post clamp, without his help I wouldn't have made the start line.
Here is the link to the article about my win, http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/junior-international-james-king-takes-traders-cup-ahead-of-comeback-man-ken-tobin/
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| Top Step on the podium |
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| Wearing the new DMT podium shoes, thanks Paligap |
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| Me with the Traders Cup Trophy |
Here is a short video of the finish.
I really enjoyed my time in Ireland, and hopefully I will be back soon. Thanks to all of the Team Sportscover sponsors for their support; Sportscover, Bioracer, CNP, Haribo, Challenge Tyres, Avanti, DMT, Oakley, Paligap, Ritchey, Kask, Cycleops, Speedplay, The Hospital Management Trust. D.M Keith SKODA
I have a lot of college work to catch up on now, back to reality after living the last two weeks like a full time bike rider.
If any individual or company is interested in sponsoring me or Team Sportscover please get in touch as all support is really appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
James
@jamesjosephking
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