Living on the Isle of Man is super nice. It has a friendly atmosphere, is very safe and arguably owns the best parkour to train on in Britain. Despite this, it definitely has its fair share of drawbacks. For this blog I figured I would share some of them as often people are interested into how I go about racing Nationally and Internationally.
For a start, I often spend a whole extra day travelling back from races. In most cases people will race in Belgium and be able to sleep in their own bed that evening, however, for me this means spending the night in a hotel and waiting for the ferry the next day. For national races this is similar, if we are unable to make the 7pm crossing from Liverpool post race we have to resort to coming back the next day or alternatively the dreaded “midnight boat” (02:00-06:15). The effect of this is that our recovery is delayed and fatigue increases in line with journey times.
Additionally the costs of trips is significantly increased. Although subsidised thankfully from the IOM Steam Packets Sports Rate System the boat journey is often the most expensive aspect to any trip. Flights are usually unviable as it would leave us stranded at airports and having issues with transporting bike bags so the ferry is often the go to option. It is thanks to sponsors like Pedal Potential that support me with these costs and make racing attainable for me!
The Manx local racing scene is good with decent numbers turning up to races and often pro turn outs from the likes of Ben Swift, Chris Lawless and Mark Christian. We typically have a 10mile Time Trial and a closed circuit road race on a fortnightly basis and a weekend road race every month or so. The flip side to this is that the events are run under an organisation that differs to British Cycling. This has never affected me, but frequently young talented Manx riders are unable to be accepted into events in the British Cycling National Series; they have not been able to accumulate enough BC points to be selected / gain their 3rd/2nd cat license.
Nearly every junior from the Isle of Man rides for the local team; this makes sense from a logistical point of view and also from a pride aspect. However, with them not competing internationally guest rides are relied on. I am grateful to teams such as Zappi Junior Race Team, Backstedt Bike Performance JRT, Tofauti Everyone Active and FH-Mas Junior Road Team that have allowed me to join their teams for certain races throughout the year. The situation is not ideal as my race calendar is unknown and I am prone to late call ups. My goals and preparation for these goals therefore need to be amendable throughout the season and I always need to have a decent level of form; perhaps preventing me from being able to peak for one specific block.
All-in-all like with everything it has its ups and downs and hope now as a reader this gave you a better insight into not just the drawbacks but also how I go about racing my bike across the continent. One thing for sure is that it definitely leant me into an aggressive racing style to make me feel as if the trip was worth while; whether this is a good or bad thing who knows!
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