Columnist: Jack Sheppard
By TMX Archives on 17th Dec 14
TMX columnist Jack Sheppard spills the beans on whats been going on during the last month.
This time I am writing this sat in an airport in Spain waiting for my flight back to the UK.
The past month has been very quiet compared to the rest of the season as far as events go, as the last event I rode was actually the other side of the world in New Zealand.
Although the events have slowed down it doesn't mean everything slows down, in fact it actually means the winter training kicks on the training on the bike, in the gym and on push bikes goes in to overdrive, as the winter is where you can make the difference as you have time to train between events.
I have now been out in Spain for just over two-weeks practicing and training, and although the weather has been better than the UK, they have still had their share of rain. It has been pretty wet at times but luckily this doesn't affect trials, so we carry on all the same.
It is always great out here to get out with the Spanish riders and see how they are doing I,t as they must be doing something right to have the top five in the world at the moment.
The last week I have been out with some good riders practicing. Fellow JItsie rider Franzi Kadlec was also down in Spain and we had a good couple of days riding up at Jordi Pascuets place near Andorra. I also managed to get out with Jeroni Fajardo who was training for the indoor season. He was pretty impressive and it was great to watch, learn and train along side him.
Another rider and good friend I have been out with is Jorge Casales who is very good to ride with as we both up our levels and push each other along.
Before I went to Spain I managed to get some time up north too as many of you know the area I live doesn't really lend itself to great trials training terrain. I went riding with Dec Bullock and Jack Price who both are putting some time this winter which is great to see. But someone I was really impressed to see ride was Jack Carthy. Jack was doing some unbelievable stuff on a push bike.
Going out to ride bike trials really did show me how low my level is on one, but I really enjoyed it and did learn a lot, but not enough to be getting anywhere near him!
I am heading home now to spend some time with my family and friends before getting back out here at the start of January.
That's it for now, so just remember... Feet-up people!
