Isle of Man Youth Tour

The Isle of Man Youth Tour this year was from the 1st to the 3rd of May. I was lucky enough to be invited along to this event by Scottish Cycling. It was the first time that I had competed in a road race and I did not really know what to expect. Day 1 was a 1.3 km time trial on Douglas Promenade I set off well and managed to hold my place not realising it was an all out blast. I finished well down the field, only consolation was that there was just a few seconds between first and last. Day 2 was a 22mile road race consisting of 5 laps of the course with a great big hill in the middle. I tried hard to stay with the main bunch but after a few laps I was left in a bunch of 6 riders and we worked well together catching up on a few stragglers from the main bunch. We were also up to 40 mph going down the hill. I finished in a better position in this race. Day 3 was a crit race on Ramsey promenade I was looking forward to this as I had been at Ingleston recently and done a couple of the crit races there so I knew what to expect. The pace on this one was much faster than I had done before, but I tried hard to stay with the main bunch, only being dropped on the last lap and finished 30 secs down. However I was 25th in this race and this also meant that I was 25th overall in the 3 day event. It was a great experience and I'm looking forward to competing again next year when I will be a year older and stronger and much wiser.

BY ROSS GREEN May 2009