After a few months of training I decided to enter the British open Powerlifting Championships, which I subsequently won back in 1989. I went onto win many more competitions and break many records. These include the British and European titles including breaking all the records for the teenage and junior classes every time I competed.

My best achievement was when I won the World Championships in 1992. On that day I won the World and European title, smashed 3 World 4 European and six British records. I also picked up an award for the best lifter at the end of the competition. I have also been given an award from the sports council for my sporting achievements over the years.

Since my spinal injury it has been my dream to be able to compete at international level again I have found a sport called handcycling.

I have been able to race handbikes internationally for the past 6 years, representing Great Britain on many occasions over this time. Handcycling is the biggest disabled sport in the world covering all corners of the globe. In the UK there is a well-established organisation called United Kingdom Handcycling Association (UKHCA), this organisation is apart of British Cycling Federation, European Handcycling Circuit (EHC), and the World Handcycling Federation.

Since racing internationally, I have been the only British rider selected to represent Great Britain in the Pre-Paralympic Games, which was held in Rome in 2004. I had to compete in two road races and a time trial during my stay, and the competition was extremely hard. But with my training and experience behind me I was able to bring home a Bronze Medal for Great Britain.

I also compete in the European Handbike Circuit (EHC) every year, which consists of a series of races in the following countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Holland, Austria, and Great Britain. (Tour of Britain, London) These races are attended by the words elite handcyclists, with many of the riders and teams being of professional status. There are often 200 riders on the start line, which compete in the EHC between April and October, thus making it one of the hardest contested circuits in the world.

In Europe I am now in the top 5 after competing in the European Handcycling Circuit during the 2005/6 season. At present I am the only UK rider to place on the podium in an EHC race, when I came 2nd during the stage in the UK. On an International scale last year, my best result was in Slovakia when I competed in the European Cup, where I came 2nd in the Time Trial and 1st in the Road Race the following day. This is the first time any UK rider has ever done this. I am the only UK rider ever in the history of the sport to get a podiums on the European Circut and World Championships.

Human Powered vehicle World Championships 16-17th August 2008 Bentwaters Park Suffolk

This was the first time I had competed in this World Championships, and I did not know what to expect. The championships consisted of many different vehicle categories, most leg power and a separate category for arm power. In the arm power category there were 2 races a Time Trial lasting 1 hour, and a road race also for 1-hour duration. Bentwaters Park is a disused RAF site and a perfect setting for a World Championships. The Human Powered racers are the people you hear about setting the land speed World Recorders with the use of there legs and arms on some occasions.

This was the first time I had done a Time Trial over a set time and not a set distance. This was because the timing transponder calculated the average speed over the 1-hour, and the same for the road race. As I was on the bike ready to warm-up for the Time Trial and the weather started to change and it began to rain very heavy. All the riders sheltered under the trees, as the rain was bouncing off the road. I was soaked to the skin before I even got on the start line, I was counted down from 3, 2, 1 then off I went. The visibility was down to about 2-3 meters and parts of the course were starting to get flooded. As I went through some of the corners I felt the back end of the bike step-out and it was hard to get control on some parts of the course. When I was on my last lap the rain started to fade and a bit of sun started to show through the clouds, I pushed hard across the finish line and went straight to my car with the other riders to get out of the very wet race kit.

The road race was later on that afternoon, but the handcyclist had a chat and decided if the weather did not get better after lunch we would pack-up and go home as we were all so wet and cold. Luckily the sun came out after a few more showers and the afternoon was blue sky and hot sun so all the handcyclist decided to do the race as the course was a lot dryer and no floods. We all had a few laps warm-up and went to the start-line. The start was very fast and I made my way to the front with the other riders, some of the corners and turns were sharp but after a few laps they didn’t seem too bad. Things got a bit tactical on the last couple of laps and the pace slowed up because no one wanted to be on the front. One of the riders attacked from the front and I chased to bridge the gap. This meant I was on the front so I slowed down, as it was less than half a lap to go. I let a rider come past me to take the front, but this was a mistake as I did not realise it was just before the last corner. This last corner was sharp and there was only room for one Handbike, I tried had to sprint to the line but by the time I was through the corner there was only about 100 yards to wind up the sprint which was not enough and I could only get just pass the riders back wheel as we both crossed the finish line.

After the race I was told I had won the Time Trial, and I knew I was second in the Road Race. But there could only be one overall winner, and the officials worked out the average speed of all the Handcyclist over the two races. At the presentation ceremony I was surprised to find out that I had WON the Arm Powered race overall, so not a bad weekend after all and worth getting wet for.  

HPV World Champs
...a few more shots of me at the start of the Time Trial looking wet, and thinking .....what am I doing!?

Round 7 EHC Circuit Louny Czech Republic 26th July 2008 Time Trial & Criterium

I flew out to Louny on Wednesday 23rd July from East Midlands airport. The weather was good in the UK, but was going to be very hot in the Czech Republic. The bike got to Louny in one peace (which this year was the first time!) The bike was still in bad condition so making it harder to ride, as I am still sorting out another new bike.

I had a ride around the course on Thursday with a couple of team mates, we know the course very well, but this year it had to change and be made shorter due to changes in the roads. After a good ride, I went to have asleep and look over the bike to make sure all was ok after the journey. On Friday the weather was very warm around 30 degrees, we all had another training ride and made the most of the good weather.

In the evening I got bitten by a very large mosquito and  my wrist started to swell up. On the morning of the time trial I felt a bit unwell and my hand was looking red with puss coming out of the wound. The weather was very hot reaching 33 degrees, I got the bike chipped and read to go. On the start line my heart began to beat fast a lot more then normal, on the warm-up I was sick several times and did not feel too good but decided to race. 5,4,3,2,1... I was off!  I had a good start and was into my stride. There was a head and cross wind along the course which knocked the speed down by about 3mph from the day before when I was training. My hand was irritating me and hurting a lot, on the turn around point I was starting to lose my pace, I still managed to pass 4 riders along the way though but everything was hurting and I felt very weak and sick.

I came over the line in 9th position with a time of 27:09, not the best and a few seconds off, but taking into account how I felt it was the best I could have done. After the time trial I had a small bit of food, but found it hard to eat, as I felt very ill. I went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the criterium later the same afternoon. When I woke up I did not feel well, and told my team mate I was not going to do the next race, he said give it ago and see how I felt. So I got on the bike to warm-up, I was sick again and had a very bad head. I lined up on the start grid, the gun went off and it was race on again. They attacked from the gun and I pushed hard to stay on, every time I pushed I felt sick (and was), I decided to pull up after 3 laps and went back to the hotel.

In the evening I went to bed, sick, hot and sweaty, my teammates and other riders went to the after race party. I did not have the energy to go to the party and just wanted to sleep. I have never been bitten before, and when I got home I went to the doctors, and they agreed the bit was making me feel very unwell due to a reaction. I am feeling a bit better now after some rest, and its back to training hard again.

EUROPEAN HANDCYCLING CIRCUIT ROUNDS 4 & 5 ROAD RACE MILAN ITALY 5th/8th June 2008

The long drive to Heathrow airport started smooth with no delays, I was travelling with another rider from the UK Rob Wickham. We were meeting other riders from the UK and my teammates in Milan. We were a bit nervous about the flight from London as we were travelling for the first time from the black hole called Terminal 5. But to our surprise everything at T5 was good including the nice BA staff, which helped a lot with our journey. T5 is amazing its massive! And full of really cool seating designs.

At the other end in Milan Malpensa airport all was good too, we got transported to the hotel, which had a massive golf course with lots of rich people (until the Brits arrived). The two road races were on Friday and Saturday but not until 8:30pm crap time but the roads could only be closed then, and the organisers wanted a big crowd as there always is in Italy. On the day of the first race the weather was hot and nice, at 5pm we got transported to the start to get ready to put the timing chips on the bikes and warm-up. But at about 7pm the biggest storm you have ever seen started, the rain was so heavy the road flooded very quickly. For the past few weeks the weather in Italy has been very bad and wet, so the drains could not hold much water. No one new what to do, the time was now 8pm, so I got on my bike ready to warm-up, I had had my energy drinks, gels etc and was buzzing. I moved forward along a sheltered area towards the start, but was met by another rider telling me the race was off. I was just about to say good joke, when the race organiser Vittorio confirmed the race was not going to happen tonight, due to the roads being flooded and it was very dark by now.

So it was off the bike and back to the hotel for an early night, we were all very disappointed. This was the first time since the EHC had started 10 years ago that a race had been cancelled. The following morning the weather started off damp, but soon picked up with more hot sun again so thing were looking good for race 2 in the evening. In the afternoon I was chatting to Radovan who is the president of the EHC, riders had expressed there concern about having a late start because if anything goes wrong there is no adjustment time due to being so dark in the evening. A race being cancelled is a big thing due to the loss of points for that race, and the very big expense of getting to the race anyway.

We asked for the race to be put forward by 1-hour minimum in case there were any more problems, but the police refused this request by the organisers. At 5pm the heavens opened again, exactly like the previous day. But there were 3 and half hours until the race start, so it was not as bad we thought. We were ready to race again and still waiting at the hotel for the transport to the start. One of the phones was ringing, it was one of the committee members, and he told us the race was not going to happen again due to the floods. We could not believe what was going on, but just then the transport arrived, I asked the drivers if the race was back on he looked blank at me (he only spoke Italian). He phoned Vittorio and passed the phone to my mate, he said they would make a decision in 20 minutes so we sat a waited. The phone went again, he said please give me another 10 minutes, the rain had stopped now so we thought there would be no problem now. Rob began to take his bike to bits ready to pack it for the trip home. We had been waiting nearly 2 hours just sitting looking out of the window. The phone went again, the race was off for good this time, we could not believe that 2 races had been cancelled, this will go down in the history books we were invited down to the race start for the after race food anyway and chat with the other riders about what had happened again. We asked our driver to take us round the course, as we had not even seen it yet. I can see why the race was off, even in the dry that course was very dangerous, it had a few 90 degree turns and a section where the road went down to the width of a car. This would mean the lead group would have to go through in single file, I can guarantee this would not have happened there would have been a massive crash wet or dry.

European Handcycling Circuit Round 3 Schenkon Switzerland 21 Km Time Trial
24th May 2008

I travelled to Switzerland from Manchester airport on the Friday, this time there was no problems with bike at the airport. Transport at the other end from the airport to the hotel was smooth, and the weather was looking good for the weekend. The time trial did not start until late afternoon, so there was a lot of sitting around looking at the bike and waiting. After a spot of lunch I took a steady ride to the start area with Rob a rider from the UK. The weather started to look a bit dull and just when we arrived at the start it began to spit with rain so we go off the bikes and placed them under cover. We were told to have our bikes inspected at the start, which was normal, but we were not told that the bike inspection was 10 minutes up the road where we had passed on the way to the start. So we had to get back on the bikes, now in the heavy rain to the bike inspection it was more than a few minutes ride as we were unsure where it was.

After having the bike inspection we made our way back to the start, by this time it had stopped raining and was now hot and sunny again. Rob was off 30 minutes before me so after a warm-up he went to the start line and I continued my warm-up with a couple of my Handbike CR Team mates until it was time for me.

I was setting of at 17:55, with 2 of my Teammates in front of me giving me a good target to chase down along the course. The time trial course went around a large lake back through the town, then to the finish where we had started. The clock counted down and I was off, I built up my speed and cadence until my heart rate was in the 170bpm zone. The course was flat most the way with a couple small clime and some sharp turns. There was a strong head wind in parts, which made things go a bit slower ( even down hill). I managed to catch my teammates who set off before me and several other riders who set off over many minutes before I did.
I lost a bit of time in one part of the course because I did not see the sharp left turn and went straight on just missing someone standing in front of me. I put the brakes on hard and the bike skidded along the road sideways towards him ( good job he jumped out of the way). The rest of the race went without incident which makes a change this season, when I came over the finish line I looked at the clock and it showed 34:42 which was a good time. This put me 6th over all in the C division. The C division for the past few years was split into C1 and C2, this was because the C2 riders kneeled on the bike giving them a clear advantage with speed and power. The C1 riders, which was me have there legs stretched out in front of them (which you have seen in pictures before). But due to the UCI wanting to make fewer divisions it was decided this year it would be one big C Division. Soon we hope everyone will be in the long seat position with there legs out in front so making it fair for everyone as we will all be riding in the same position.

If it was still the old C 1 and C 2, I would have been on the podium again in 3rd place, but I was only about 5 seconds of the podium even though its now one C Division so not too bad I guess.

Karl Raise Czech National Circuit Road Race 3rd May 2008

I travelled to Louny in the Czech Republic two days before to race to ride around the course again, this was a race I had done with my Czech Team Handbike cr many times over the years. The weather was not bad warm with a couple of thunderstorms along the way (Just like being home again). I started to unpack my Handbike ready for a bit of training and found my left rear wheel was very loose. I had a closer look and found that the boss that sits inside the frame was damaged very badly. This means the wheel just wobbles a lot, and could come off.

That was it I thought my race over before it starts, Chris who was racing with me from the UK and made the bike tried his best to fix the problem, but it was impossible to do. I woke up the morning of the race, and after a long chat with Chris decided to give it ago as I had nothing to lose. We both took a steady ride to the start which was 30 minutes away, but my left rear wheel hit a pt hole and caused the drafting bar some how to flip up onto the wheels and cause them to lock and skid along the road to a stop. I shouted Chris to stop but he did not hear me, luckily there was a man walking along the lane and with my few words of Czech I got the man to knock the drafting bar down to release the wheels. Chris had waited for me further up the road (as he realised he was talking to himself), but due to this we had to ride very fast to the start because of the time we had lost. We had to ride that fast that our heart rate hit 180 bpm, not the best steady warm-up we had planned!

We made it to the start with seconds to go, I was sitting on the start with my heart racing. The gun went and I made my way to the front to give myself more room to move. There are only two places to attack and make a brake both on hills, the first close to the start and the second right at the end. One of the riders John Vink made a brake on the first hill, no one followed so I pulled out from the pack and chased after John. Because I had made a move everyone followed me, I closed the gap on the decent doing over 36 mph. John Vink dropped to the back of the group and I stayed on the front riding at over 30 mph, I moved across several times and shouted at one of my team to come through and do some work, but no one did. Just before we turned off the main roads John Vink came to the front and nodded at me to sit behind him. This was a tactical move because when the group entered the narrow lanes it would be one of the last overtaking places on the course. We made the sharp right hand turn into the lanes, I was in second place a good position. But to my surprise two of my team mates cut in on the inside across the grass verge hitting my front wheel at speed I had to take evasive action to avoid a very big crash, this resulted in me crashing in the ditch on the left ending my race just 3 Km from the finish and finishing of my rear axle for good.

Padova Road Race 27th April 2008 (26 miles) 

The trip to Venice airport was trouble free and the weather was looking good for the weekend. The course was very fast and flat (apart from a couple of small climbs). It was a very early start on the Sunday morning I had to be up by 5am ready to be collected at 6am by the race transport, due to the race starting at 8:30am.
The weather was great, which makes a pleasant change this year, at the start I got myself ready and on the bike to start my warm-up. This was going okay until along the start came a dance troop, marching band and a lot of people. No one said there was going to be a parade at the start, I wish they had told me as I was stuck behind it for 15 minutes trying to warm-up. I eventually made my way to the start and was put on the front row for a change, but I was on the very far right tight against the sponsor’s boards. When the gun went I shot right across the road towards the middle to give me a clear space, and at this point lead the race out from the start.

The pace was fast from the start and at first no one wanted to take over at the front to help, until the first climb the a group of riders attacked hard and started to split the group of 100 riders. I was in the attack and broke away with the lead group by this time doing 30mph (which is fast using just your arms). The course took the riders though many nice villages and small towns, but I did not have time to look at anything apart from the bike wheels in front of me. There were many little attacks along the way, and one rider even got away on his own. No one made a move to chase him I guess because he broke to soon with half the distance to go, and the group pulled him back after a short time. On the next attack I went to change gear and all I got was noise and no gear change, my gears were jumping every were. I had to slow down to sort the problem out which meant I dropped off the group and they gained about 500 meters on me by the time I had it sorted. I had to work very hard to make the distance and my heart rate was at 180 bpm, which was 96% of my maximum heart rate. At on point I thought I was never going to catch them, but I did after about 12 minutes.

I recovered at the back of the group and missed a few turns on the front to rest, but another attack came so I did not have long to recover. On the last 2.5 Km of the course I was taken by surprise by large cobbles (no one had told me about these), I hit them at just under 30mph and my chain decided to jump off which lost me a few seconds. The cobbles took a lot of energy out of my arms, and I thought my bike was going to fall to bits. The riders attacked just before the end of the cobbles and I looked up to see the finish in sight. There was a mad sprint to the finish line with the very large crowd shouting and cheering loud. I crossed the line in 5th place with a time of 1 hour 7 minutes (everyone had the same times). This was a new PB as my best time over 26 miles before was 1 hour 12 minutes, so I took 5 minutes off this time. That’s the fastest time a UK rider has done over 26 miles, so not bad for a weekends work.

European Handcycling Circuit Round 1 Rosenau France 22/03/2008

The journey to Heathrow airport went smoothly with no traffic problems. To my surprise checking in was smooth and fast, its not to much of a surprise to have problems with the handbike so I always give myself lots of extra time on the day.

After arriving at Basel airport, I had a quick look over the Handbike to see if there was any visible damage all looked in shape. When I arrived at the hotel I unpacked the Handbike, I had to sort out the gears, as the cable seemed to be stretched and tighten a few bits on the bike. I wanted to have an early night but due to sorting all the little bike bits I got to sleep after midnight.
In the morning I went down for breakfast and the weather was not looking too good as it was very cold and a high risk of snow, which would be the first time ever doing this race. Down at the start time was going fast and it started to get even colder, when the course was open I started my warm-up with one of the Polish riders as there was only a couple of my Handbike CR team mates at the race. I think this was due to the weather being so cold as the team had been training in Spain over the winter.

When I was doing my warm-up the brake failed on me, I went to the pit area as fast as I could and tried to fix the problem, which was a challenge, as I did not know what the problem was. After a few adjustments I went back to the course and as it was getting late was directed to my grid position on the second row. As I pulled up to my position I applied the brake and there was nothing there again. Now I had a big problem I was at the front of the grid with around 160 riders behind me. I kept pulling the brake but nothing happened, I had to think if to risk doing the race using the second brake which was attached to my seat but to use it I would have to take my left hand off and steer / change gear with one hand. The riders were ordered to the start line a few meters in front for the off, I decided to put my hand up and let all the riders come around me, and when it was clear I moved over to the grass off the course.

It would be impossible to ride the French course with no brake I could keep my hand on and use due to the very fast speeds and very sharp corners and turns. When the race started and all the riders had set-off I turned the bike around and went up the course to get to the pit area so I would not set the timing chip off on the bike and record a start resulting in a Did Not Finish (DNF). This is the first time since starting the sport I did not start a race, I was very disappointed and upset I really wanted to race as I have worked very hard over winter and I am now a race down with no points.

STAFFORD HALF MARATHON ROAD RACE 16/03/08

The build up to the first race of the season was not the best I have had before. I managed to get two chest infections within a space of a month. This put my training back a couple of weeks, which was an important time due to the build up of the race program.
I had been training on the course a number of times as part of my program, but I was not aware that the last part of the course had been changed until the day before. I was asked to try out this new section by the race organisers to see if a Handbike could make the very tight left turn down a steep ramp and the a very tight right turn which joins the river bank ( If you missed the right turn at the bottom you would end up in the river). I gave this section of the course the all clear, but there was no room for mistakes and you had to slow down a lot.

On the morning of the race my stomach was not too good as I was still on a course of antibiotics for the second chest infection. I got the bike ready and got on the bike to start my warm-up, which was needed as it, was bitter cold and strong wind with gusts of 27mph. The warm-up bit not go to plan as I was sick on the bike and could not stop coughing my guts-up. I sat on the start line with 5 minutes to the start chatting with the other riders. The countdown started, and of we all went, the first lap around the town centre is always a steady one due to lots of very tight turns. Its really so the crowd can see all the riders before it really picks up the pace, we cross the start/finish line again and the speed picks up as we make our way out of the town.
I lead the riders out (same every year as know one wants to take the front) I increase the pace instantly and can feel the other riders breathing down my neck. We get to the first of the hills, which is along climb; I put the power down and work as hard as I can because this part of the race decides the winner. As I go over the top I managed to drop the other riders and made a gap of over 20 yards. I picked up the speed and the gap got bigger until the other riders were not insight anymore. Now it was just me and the two lead rides (Shaun and Dave from Mammoth lifestyle) on road bikes making sure the way was clear and hazard free.

The wind was very strong in parts, with lots of cross winds making it hard to stay in a hard gear and maintain the pace. Towards the end of the race along the riverbank I had a slight problem, a big fat dog was blocking the entire path and would not move. This caused my to slow down a lot as the only place for me to move was left taking me in the river! Shaun managed to move the dog (with force) as the owner decided not to help in anyway. I was on the final section taking me back into the town centre, I took the final left hand bend to the finish line lucked up and in front of me was a wall of people. A lot of shouting went on as I approached the finish line, but I still had to slow down to prevent any accidents. This has not happened before, and due to my speed over the course I don’t think they were ready for me at the finish this year. As you may guess I came first with a time of 46:12 about 4 minutes ahead of the next rider.

News Flash - 30/11/2007

Hi Everyone,

I've just got home from an awards evening at the Britania Stadium in Stoke on Trent. It was sponsored by Alton Towers and Signal 1 Radio and some other company. I had been nominated for an award for outstanding sporting Achievement for 2007!!

As you will see from the attached photo I WON THE AWARD!! For my amazing year on the bike and coming 3rd in the WHF World Championships, being the only UK handcyclist ever to do this. 

The photo with the young lad is Richard Fleeshman, He was in Coronation Street and now has an Album Released now and a single in the top of the charts. 
Thank you for your support again with my racing, and this award is for everyone who has helped me.

Regards
Ian