Sports Centre member Adam Copeland tells us about his time at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships 2016.
"I am a cyclist in Cambridge and ride for Cambridge Cycling Club. I am passionate about cycling and am always looking for ways to push the boundaries and improve in the sport.
I am also a solicitor at Tees Law (specialising in clinical negligence) and am married with two teenage children – so I have a busy schedule. I have found that being active in a sport really helps deal with the stresses of daily life, gives me another focus and keeps me going. Before joining the University Sports Centre, I had done some groundwork in strength and conditioning training. My form on squats, power cleans, deadlifts etc. was reasonably good and I wanted to keep up with that. This kind of foundation is beneficial to any athlete.
After researching a range of sports facilities in Cambridge, I settled on the University Sports Centre. It’s a beautifully designed building and the facilities are state of the art. There’s a broad range of equipment including a running track within the gym, squat racks and watt bikes. When I joined, Matt Matcham, one of the Fitness Instructors and a qualified Strength and Conditioning Coach, showed me around the gym and had a look at my squat technique and a few other lifts. We discussed my aims, which were to improve and support my cycling through strength and conditioning.
Matt wrote me a training program and I went straight into it. He went through the program with me to check that everything was technically ok and periodically carried out testing. I was surprised because I had not expected such a high level of expert support and encouragement. As a result, I found that I was really enjoying the training. Over time, I was lifting heavier weights and I felt fitter and faster on my bike.
In June 2016, I entered the Tour of Cambridgeshire. This was a closed road race, near Peterborough, and had the added excitement of being a qualifying race for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in Perth, Australia. The top riders in the qualifying round would be offered a place in the amateur World Championships in their age group. My race in the Tour of Cambridgeshire went really well and I finished near the front of my group. As a result, I had qualified for a place in the amateur World Championships! Initially, I was delighted to have been offered a place but was ambivalent about actually going.
Matt was incredibly positive about it – saying I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to represent GB and ride in a world championship race! Before I had formally enrolled, he had produced a training calendar that took me right up to the flight to Perth. I then made up my mind to go and never looked back. It was going to be an incredibly challenging 9 weeks but it made sense and I committed to the training plan. The training paid off as 2 weeks before setting off I did a PR back squat of 130kg. When I arrived in Perth, I had a week to get over the jet lag and the stresses of travelling and get a few training rides in.
When it was time to put on the GB kit and ride up to the start line, I felt ready to race. The quality of the riders was strong, with Olympians and national champions among the bunch. I felt good after the first circuit and managed to get into the breakaway group. It was an extremely hilly course with fast descents including speeds of over 50mph; and, in the last 20 miles, the intensity ramped up and I dropped off the group. I placed 77th out of 175 riders – not the World Champion, but not last!
After the race, I had about a week to chill out and enjoy Western Australia. I enjoyed riding along the coast and went back into the hills along the Mundaring Weir road to Kalamunda, where the race had ended. As I descended the road that had been the climb to the hill top finish, I could see the cityscape of Perth through the forest trees in the distance and as I turned into the hairpin bends, I felt a great sense of contentment. It had been an amazing experience.
I am of course extremely grateful to the University of Cambridge Sports Centre, and Matt Matcham in particular for their support. Not only did I have some first rate structured physical training but I was also conscious of a great deal of psychological support and encouragement, which made all the difference to my actually getting to Perth and competing in this great event."