Sponsored Rider, Will Houghton: 2015 Season So far

My first aim at the start of this season was to maintain my 2^nd category British Cycling license , effectively your racing standard, Secondly get used to the standard of Elite and 1^st category races and also improve my 10 mile time trial personal best (currently 20:51). In regard to those aims I have had a successful season as I have retained my 2^nd category license and have achieved three top tens in Elite and 1^st category races.

The races with E/1/2 are a higher standard of racing with Elite and 1^st category riders participating. Basically it has all the fast guys riding! The 2/3 races are only for 2^nd and 3^rd category racers. This usually means they are not as far or as fast as the E/1/2 races.

Here are my best results so far this season;



Imperial Winter Series E/1/2 – 10^th

 

 

^{A very wet first race around Hillingdon Cycle Circuit.}

Condor Cycles London 3-Day Stage Race 2/3/4 – 20^th

 

 









Luckily avoiding a crash in on the first stage of this tough 3 day stage race. The first stage took place around the Olympic Park.

Corley Cycles- Drops RT 3 Day Stage Race E/1/2- 49^th
 

Cornering in sync – a hard three day (four stage) race with unfortunate timed punctures. This is a race I will target for next year.

 

Spirit Bikes Presents Battle of the Bowl – E/1/2 – 9^th

 

A good result for me, however to reach 1^st category next year I`m going to need more top ten places in these races.

Milton Keynes City Centre Crit 2/3 – 9^th

 

 

I felt good during this race and attacked twice, gaining (as you can see above) a gap between me and the bunch. However I got brought back twice, I sprinted to 9^th place at the end though.

British Cycling National Time Trial Championships – Under 23 – 40^th

This was my first National Championships as an under-23. As I am 20 I have two more years in this category, giving me time to improve my standard in the country. It was a great experience with full closed roads and with me starting between two Team Wiggins riders, it was a nervous experience,  both incidently had Team Sky Jaguars following them! I finished 40^th beating a number of 1^st category riders. My target within the next two years is to place within the top twenty. The standard was incredibly high with riders expecting to be in the Olympics next year competing.

Oakley Village Road Races – 2/3- 5^th
 

I finished 5^th in this 50 mile road race, collecting the prize money above for 5^th place from the race organiser. To achieve 1^st category next year I need to be consistently getting top 5 in 2/3 category road races.

BC West Thames Crit Race – E/1/2 – 7^th

This was a great race for me. I managed to get myself into a 9 man breakaway, around a 1 mile circuit, which lapped the main bunch ,after an hour.  I came 7^th which is a pleasing result in a E/1/2 race. More of these results are needed are next year!

For the rest of this season I am going to focus on 2/3 races and 10 mile time trials. My target for next year is a 1^st British Cycling License. This is a tall order as few riders are this standard and requires a whole season of consistent results.

Thanks for reading,