It all started last Tuesday 25th May with a trip to capital for Tour series number one in Canary Wharf.

A flat square circuit about 1.4kms with two long straights and two dead turn and a funnel shape finish... A few attacks off the front but with the speed over 30mph to stay there you have to be an engine so a bunch sprint was the order of the day. I finished mid field happy that I wasn’t dropped! I had my loyal fan base in Nick and Karen Sayer to shout abuse at me which made me push on!

The next day a very very easy ride with my team mate Chris Opie and Nick Sayer where we stopped for coffee in Stamford, calm before the storm!!!

Thursday 27th, a massive road trip with my team mate Chris and Michelle, spent the morning drinking coffee, lil 45min spin on the bike and packing 3 bikes 10 wheels, two sets of rollers, food bottles and of course kit!!! Surprising what you can get in a 407 estate car.

So a 3 hour drive up the A1 to Durham for maybe the hardest crit race I have ever done! Tour Series number 2 in the historic city of Durham with a 1.2km circuit 400 metre hill all cobbled, a cobbled descent would make for a mental race.... I was licking my lips for a good one!

Race started like a normal crit... FAST with narrow roads, everybody wanted to be at the front, but the tour series crits are 5 laps plus 1hour not 1hour plus 5 laps like all other crits in the UK, its so tv can get used to the angles for shots etc and to give riders a feel for the circuit. But with the speed high and pushing and shoving the inevitable crash happened, half the bunch including me had to take a lap out.... got in again and pssssttttt a flat so around to the pits another lap out...all this in 7laps - got the front and then my team mate Yanto decided he would lie down in front of me at bottom of the climb! So chase, get in but at back few laps of swinging but found myself in 3rd group on road hard race finished 16th, should have been better but bad luck.

After this we drove to Carlisle for the Dumfries National Crit on the Friday and the Premier calendar RR on Sunday. Yes we were staying in England and racing in Scotland but when Dumfries gets the 2nd biggest dog show in the UK there are very few rooms available; most teams stayed in same hotel so everybody had the extra 30 miles to drive as well.

Friday was a write off, packed after 20mins was in front group but not feeling it so when its like that and with so much racing its better to stop, I don’t like it but its best sometimes.

Saturday 29th a lie in!!!

Sunday 30th Dumfries GP 100miles, in every move but the main one...... puncture 4 miles to go, got back within 1mile, 5th in the 40up bunch kick for 12th so I was 17th happyish - wanted top 5 but ho hum.

Monday 31st nowt, nothing, sod all apart from sleep and wash kit - was a long drive from Dumfries to Eye.

Tuesday 1st Tour series number 3 Portsmouth. Normal routine wake up, coffee, 1hour on bike and legs felt good... wash bike, eat, pack car call Michelle to say I’m off and a 130mile trip to Portsmouth pulled out the drive and it started raining... great got to the A1 and no cd's.....

The Portsmouth tour series only really 1 corner to brake for but greasy surface made for exciting racing!!! 90psi was the order of the day for tyres and none of my team fell in corners, again a few attacks a puncture lap out moved up for the sprint we had 2nd 6th 12th and 2nd team on the night plus 2nd overall....get in

Drove to my team manager’s house in Exeter after race with heavy sand filled eyes from the shite on the roads not good...

Wednesday ride with my team mate Richard who is an Exeter lad so kept stopping every 5 mins for him to talk to Exeter fm, Heart fm, BBC radio Devon, Exeter Echo paper but I was glad of the stops!

Thursday 3rd Exeter Tour series 4  - the Team’s round as the riders are from Devon and Somerset with myself and Chris from Cornwall, Yanto from Devon, Rich from Exeter. Plus my Mum and sister came to watch, Michelle caught the train down, a few hundred guys from Cornwall complete with flags, and with the press we had done in the day for the tour series programme and various tv men - the pressure was on, not to mention we are 2nd overall ahead of 4 pro teams......

Fast, fast and f"$k"£g fast is how I describe it..... got in a move with Dean Windsor from Rapha, we were riding 40mph for 2 laps.... took 10 laps to recover, 20th in bunch kick, 7th team on night was disappointing but that’s racing.

As we were a local team, we had to meet mayors and organisers after so didn’t get away till 10pm home at 1:40 in the am....

So ten days 1,322miles on the car, 3 punctures, worried about the blood in my caffeine stream! But I love it, hopefully get on a selective circuit where I can smash em....well my next diary will be shorter and I shall see you all at Peterborough.

Thanks, Steve Lampier - pendragon-le col-colnago