This year we are proud to announce that we are supporting three teams to go to Pila for the European youth MTB Championships.
One Team of Corran Carrick-Anderson, Elena McGorum and Callum Thornley, Emily Carrick-Anderson, Patrick Barnes, Reuben Oakley, Ben Chilton Chris Hilbert and Lotta Mansfield.
I have just got back from racing cross Duathlon at the European Championships for the GB Age Group Team in Târgu Mureş, Romania.
I went to the Alps, thanks to the support from Ride for Charlie, to get some experience racing against a European field.
I was racing in two races whilst away, in the youth category – an Italian International Series race and a Swiss Bike Cup. In between these, I had the opportunity to train with the Junior GB and Scottish Cycling teams in Pila, which was great as I got a glimpse of what it would be like to be part of the Junior Programme. Whilst I was there I was also able to practice the course for the European Youth Mountain Bike Championships which take place in August, as well as get some good training in.
In the races, I had a challenge from the start as I was always gridded at the back due to having no series points. I managed to move up quickly in the Italian race and broke away with one other boy on the first lap. We stayed together for almost 3 laps but I started struggling partially due to the heat and altitude, and dropped back. I was overtaken by one other boy on the last lap and finished in 3rd, a result I was really happy with and started my week off well.
I had a good start to the Swiss Cup, moving up from 86th to top 15 in the first part of the lap, but unfortunately crashed and seemed to lose my rhythm and energy and struggled from there on. I learnt a lot from this race especially though, and this should really help me for when I go back to Pila for the European Championships. I know to try not to give too much at the start and be unable to recover.
None of this experience would have been possible without the help from Ride For Charlie and hopefully I can learn so much from this in memory of Charlie.
Corran Carrick-Anderson
#RideForCharlie #VanDerCraig
This last CX season I have made a real step up in my racing by completing the majority of my races in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Thanks to the RideForCharlie fund, I was able to go to Belgium over the Christmas period to ride 4 races in 5 days. The races being: Zolder World Cup, Loenhout, Bredene and Diegem Superprestige.
At the end of December, we went out to race cross in Belgium for the first time to experience what true cyclocross racing is like, racing Brico cross Bredene and Superprestigie Diegem thanks to the help of the @rideforcharlie foundation.
A massive thank you to the @rideforcharlie foundation for supporting me on my trips to Belgium this year, it means so much to both me and Jenson riding in memory of an amazing friend who would have loved this weekend especially after @nick1craig won worlds!!
Our team RFC-velocita would like to thank Ride for Charlie for providing us with the opportunity to race the youth European mtb champs.
Firstly our team had a great time and we all enjoyed the racing, we arrived early to try to acclimatise to the altitude which was 1800m.We did this to try to get used to the drop in oxygen so when we raced it wouldn’t feel as severe. On the Monday we rode up to the top as a team and then did a few laps of course practise to get used to what it was like and practised the A lines a lot. We then rode back down some of the hill to our house that we were renting, then had lunch and went into Aosta in the afternoon.
On Tuesday we went up to the course again and practiced the tt course and also did some efforts on it so we knew what the course was like at race pace and how fast we could take the corners and technical sections. This prepared us well for the tt the next day. We then spent the rest of the day up there with the rest of the RFC teams and had lunch up there as well.
Wednesday was the first day of racing where there was the tt. Josie was 5th I was 66th and iwan was 117th, however there was only three seconds separating 30th and 70th and as a team we were placed 22nd out of 87. We rode up there 2 hours before our race and then did a roller warm up closer to the time to make sure we were ready because the tt was only just over two minutes. The next day of racing was the team relay and this was three laps of the course and the rider did one each, there was a crash on the start straight and we were making up places from there. Friday was a rest day so a spin down in the valley because that’s the only flat place around.
Saturday was the day of the xc race iwan, josie and I arrived at the top of the mountain 2 hours before the race to get ready. We arrived on the start line ready to race. The gun went and because of your gridding positions we were stuck in a huge bottle neck at the first technical section so for the rest of the rest we were trying to make up time. On the other hand Josie was gridded at the front and was with the front group for the first lap and then started to tire and finished 15th, an awesome ride!
We would all like to thank ride for Charlie for this opportunity it wouldn’t have been possible without you, the racing was a great experience and we hope we all rode with Charlie’s spirit.
First event was the time trial which was a fast, short course. Anna did a brilliant ride to get 6th in the U17 girls. Then was Rory and who had one small error but ended up in 51st. Jamie had another good ride coming away with 25th.
Then the next event was the team relay which was another great race. It was just one lap each of the XC course. Rory lead off first stating in the second row and came back after his leg in 4th. Then was jamie who had a great start to the lap and got into 2nd. Unfortunately he punctured but still managed to come in 5th. Lastly was Anna who was against a lot of boys in the last leg. She managed to come in, in 8th place.
Lastly was the xc race. Jamie was starting 4th row in the U17 boys and Rory was in the 8th row out of over 20 rows. Jamie had an awesome start and came back after one lap in the top ten. Rory had got caught in all the carnage in the first lap but still came in after one lap in the top 30. Unfortunately Jamie got a punture near the end of the race and finished 63rd. Rory had some mechanical troubles too. With a chain off the chain gard from a crash and a snapped mech near the start of the last lap. He finished in 109th.
Anna had an Amazing ride. She had a front row grid and came in after one lap in the top 5. She had burp in her tyre during the race but still managed to get 10th.
What an amazing time we had out there in Italy. We can’t thank you enough for that. Not our greatest results for some but we still rode in the Charlie spirit and gave it our all.
Recently Rideforcharlie supported 3 teams of young cyclists, helping them to compete in European Youth MTB Championships In Pila, Italy. Well done to all of them riding for Charlie.
The European Youth MTB Championships 2018 was a fantastic opportunity to race in a field of International racers and to compete as a team for Ride For Charlie. As first year Youths, our main goals were to gain experience, improve as riders and, most importantly, enjoy the week of racing. Having never previously raced abroad, the event really helped take our racing up a level. In some of the races, we were on the start line with up to 190 other riders, a big jump up from the 40 or so at British level.
The course was amazing, like nothing we had ever raced in the UK. Not only were the hard climbs and technical descents great fun to ride, they also really pushed our abilities as riders. To make the racing even tougher, we had to cope with the altitude alongside some pretty high temperatures, something that we don’t experience regularly at home.
The event was a great opportunity to meet new people, ride with our friends and get out on our bikes, something that we all love doing. We enjoyed every minute of the trip and, even though we finished exhausted, we knew that we had given it our all, with Charlie in our minds and smiles on our faces.
