Hello! Lets get the introduction out the way, I’m Mark McNally.   I like to ride pretty much anything with two wheels, but the proper technical term for what I am is a ‘road and Track endurance cyclist’.  At least that 's what my coach tells me.

I’ve been in this game since the tender age of 11 and now I’m the grand old age of 17. It's been six years now but it seems like only yesterday I was watching Jason Queally in the 2000 sydney Olympics winning the Kilometre time trial  -  and thinking I could do that! My dad got me my first race bike and it all took off from there.

After a few year of just doing youth criterium (short fast races on small tight courses) I was introduced to the track  until at 13,  I was taken under the wing of the British Cycling Talent Team.    My fondest memories are of the next three years during which time I won the Under 14, Under 16 National Series and became the Under 16 National Circuit Race Champion.

In 2005 I was selected for the first time to represent GB at the European Youth Olympic Festival.   Everything was going to plan.   I did a decent TT finishing,  a creditable 21st, but in the criterium I crashed once in qualifying and and then twice more in the final -  not good!    But once again I finished a very creditable 21st.   The Road Race went a little bit better and I stayed upright and finished 11th.

Jan 2008
It's been a mixed first three months of the academy, before Christmas it was going well, I was 'living the dream' as I like to put it! Got into a nice routine six o'clock starts, early morning track sessions, BEAUTIFUL British weather ....what more could you ask for. LOL!

I settled quite nicely into life in Manchester, first few days where a bit sketchy with a few dogy meals (I was surviving mostly on Sports Beans LOL!!! ;P) when we were still learning the ropes but now I'm a cullinary genius! Well, I can do a mean Spag Bol at least!

Most days consist of double track session doing team pursuit drills which I quite enjoy to be honest, nothing like drilling yourself for like 4 km LOL!
Then I spent new Year and Christmas at home with all my friends and family, but it went pretty much down hill from then, after two days back in Manchester I got a sinus infection, so I'm lacking in fitness and health at the moment, however I'm on the mend and looking forward to a weeks training camp in Italy this weekend! So basically I've spent most of my 2008 so far watching DVD's in bed with a blocked nose! But I'm lookin forward to the road racing season out in Italy .....can't wait to get a bit of bike racing done!

Take care and I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year
Cheers
Mark

Final Year Update

Life on the academy is going well, I'm settling in (surviving!) as a full time bike rider quite well, and the sports beans are coming in very handy during the track sessions! The workload from before I started the academy has pretty much doubled -that's everyday 9 to 5 hence the rather short update!
I've just about finished the first month and half and have only got two and a half weeks left till we go home for the Christmas break. Looking forward to some mince pies and seeing the family!!
Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

Cheers
Mark

Aug-October Roundup

Sorry I havent been in touch for a while it's been a few good months for me, I've had a top 5 in the Keizer der Juniores which is a UCI ranked Jr2.1 which is the highest ranking a junior race can be given (apart from the world champs!), then a few days after that I was told I got a place on the Great Britain U23 Academy which in the eyes of most other cycling nations the best U23 National programme there is! So, from November the 4th I've become a full time bike rider living in Manchester livin' the dream!
In March we'll be moving out to Italy where we'll be base in Tuscany racing and Training!

Keizer der Juniores was one of the best races I've had all season, even though I had a top 5 once again I was given the role of domestique! On the first day it was a gruelling 100km stage with two large loops with 12km of cobbles stones in total, then 5 loops of a smaller circuit. Over the cobblestones the first time a break with about 8 lads got away with two of my team mates in (Andy Fenn & Pete Kennaugh), then after the cobblestones the road dragged up a bit so I thought I'd have a go at getting across to the move so I put my foot down and next thing I knew I was away with a Norwegian, a Dane and a couple of Belgies! Took us till the next time over the cobbles to bridge to the gap but once we got there the whole group got working and we established a lead of about a minute, but with a lap to go we were close to getting caught so with a little bit of hard work we managed to keep a half decent gap. In the last 5km we decide to lead Pete out for the finish but because we had to drive the break to keep the bunch at bay from further out than we would have liked we couldn't set Pete up with a perfect lead out but it was enough to get him second.
The next day brought a 7Km TT through the flat back lanes of Koksjeda (one of the only sea side towns in Belgium!!) I did a decent ride finishing 14th and moving up into 5th, but the ride of the day was Pete finishing second and taking the overall lead in the race.

The afternoon brough the 3rd and final stage which was a rather hilly race for belgium, it was a 11km circuit which we did 11 times, it had two short sharp climbs and on of those climbs was the largest sand dune in the whole of Europe!!! So like we did in Axel for Adam Team GB had to commit to controlling the race. So we had a gruelling one hundred and odd km of racing to wint he bike race. Our coach Darren gave us the race brief of,  'I don't care if all of you blow a gasket in tthe last Km as long as we win the bike race', which to be honest was what happened to most of the lads! Early on there was only Luke & myself doing much work then coming into the final five laps we got organised and the Great Britain train was steaming along nicely neutralising pretty much everything that moved. Then coming into the last two laps their was a split in the bunch and we were at the front but because Pete had the Jersey on the shoulders we didnt have to drive the split so no one commited and the bunch reformed, but as this happend a Belgian rider who was in the top ten who's number we didnt get sneaked away. This was bad new we were just riding tempo thinking he was nowhere on GC till the Norwegian who was in the break on the first day came up next to me and said 'why you are not driving de rider he is in de top ten!' So all of us were on our last legs and we had 11km to bring a 40 second gap back, one by one we lost a rider first Luke popped, then a few km later Adam Blythe popped then Rhys Lloyd dropped back. Which left me and Andy Fenn with pete in our wheels to bring the one man who could win our bike race back, luckily there was another British team in the race and their rider Erik Rowsell was lying in second so when they saw we were having a hard time they lent us a hand and put a few good turns in (thanks for that lads!'  We brought the solo rider back just before the foot of the last time up the dune, so Andy sat up and that left just me and Pete on the front. I drove as hard as I could up the climb and then kept it going down the decent and then that brought us into tha last km, pete asked me for a leadout but I was spent, I'd done the best part of 120 km on the front today so I was feelin a bit worse for wear lol! Pete looked after himself in the final km and took 6th in th sprint which was enough to give him the win and more importantly I hung onto the coat tails of the bunch and kept hold of my 5th place. After the finish Pete told me one of the foreign lads had come up to him in the race and asked him 'I do not understand how do they drive so hard for so long?' Pete just laughed. For me thats a great compliment from a competitor, it topped off and other great victory for the GB team.

13th July 2007. Good news... I'm a European Champion!!!

We won the Junior Men's Team Pursuit Championship on Wednesday at The European Track Championships in Cottbus, Germany. The team was Adam Blythe, Pete Kennaugh (World Scratch Race Champion), Luke Rowe and yours truly. We qualified fastest by three seconds and then met the French team in the final and beat them by 3 seconds again in the final. I'm riding the Scratch Race tomorrow, then the Madison with Luke Rowe on Sunday then it's off to Bulgaria for the Road Race Championships next week. If I have anymore success I'll keep you updated throughout the rest of the week.

Full reports on the BC website.
Image courtesy of British Cycling