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Another cold day greeted the boys at Preston for racing but this didnt stop them riding fantastic. Alex was looking good all day and came away with a fantastic 2nd place only being pipped by the current British Champion. Ryan had a full gate of riders to contend with and what a day it was for him as he didnt put a foot wrong all day and came away with the win. With only a few rounds left in the series it looks like they will both get a good trophy at the end of it and it will be well deserved because they have raced in some bad conditions

After another winter that has put a stop to any bike action now the snow has gone its time to get in some training. Ryan and Alex have now started to attend regular coaching sessions down at Preston that are focussed on getting ready for the start of the national series in April. Saturday coaching focussing on basic bike skills are working well and on Sundays the sessions turn to skills sessions which both boys really enjoy. Intensive coaching starts soon which will get them in top shape for the start of the season and the Preston Academy is due to start aswell so its going to be full on in the next few weeks

After a rest of around 4 weeks Alex came back with a brilliant result in Preson`s Winter Series. Following abit of work on his gate technique Alex put all that into practice in his racing by finishing in 2nd place in all the motos. Going into the final he was in gate 3 and as the gate dropped it was all to play for and going round the 1st berm Alex tucked in behind the leader ready to attack down the second straight. The second straight proved crucial as a slipped pedal by Alex allowed the leader to pull a couple of bike lengths away and that proved to be the gap at the end of the race but what a great days racing by Alex

It was a sunny Sunday at Preston for round 2 of their Winter Series and Ryan was put in with the 9, 10 & 11 age group. With 2 motos to qualify for the final it was going to be a tough day. Ryan managed to win all his qualifying races to give him 1st pick in the final where he choose gate 2. With a quality field lining up in the final including national riders from all the age groups it was important he got a good gate. When the gate dropped he was level with Jacob at the 10 mtr line, going over the step up towards the double Ryan got a better run and went into the 1st berm in front. Going into the second berm Ryan had opened a 2 bike lead. Ryan rode the 3rd straight perfect hitting every jump perfectly and had a lead of 5 bike lead by the final berm which he took had a quick look round to cruise over the line for fantastic win.

This week is the start of a busy programme of training. After being forced into limited coaching sessions and gates due to the bad weather this week starts with coaching before Preston`s gate practice session then Sunday is Intensive Coaching with Dylan Clayton and on Wednesday its the start of Preston`s indoor gate sessions.

The training programme will now carry on right up to the start of the season in April.

After all the snow lately causing cancellation of numerous events Wednesday 30th December 2010 was the first time back on the bike for Ryan and Alex for over 2 weeks. Manchester was the venue for the first outing and it was a good session. Even though the track was abit soft on top it was in good condition considering the weather we have had. They both took the opportunity to practice their pumping on the last straight and it took them both a few tries to get it properly dialled in. With a few tweaks being made to both bikes to try and improve the handling they both started to get back into the groove after about an hour. Before the session was finished Ryan and Alex where both determined to jump the step up out of the second berm and first to clear it was Ryan and after a few goes at manualling it Alex finally did it aswell and came back with a smile on his face. Thankfully they are back on there bikes now and they are really happy to be seeing their BMX friends again.

Following the enforced break last week due to the snow it was back to the winter training today. Ryan was at early morning coaching focusing on his gates which are looking really good at the moment and then went through to the gate practice session where he focussed on the third and fourth straights. Once he had enjoyed himself on the track he took himself off onto the football pitch at the side of the track and had a footy game with his mates.

Alex didn`t manage to get up for coaching this morning but turned up later to do some training on his own. He did 30 minutes of gates and then spent an hour sessioning the track. He was looking really sharp today and really putting some good sessions in down at the track lately. When he had finished on the track he went over to join Ryan and have a gane of football with the rest of the kids.

Sunday was the third winter coaching session and Alex had to miss it with a bug. Ryan attended the session but halfway through he began to get an headache. He lasted about 30 mins and then had to sit the rest of the session out. Ryan and Alex will take it easy for the rest of the week now and hopefully they will shake off the bug and get ready for the Preston Pirates winter series this Sunday.

It was a mixed session today because Alex has picked up a bug and was unable to go to coaching and gates due to a bad headache. Ryan did both and looked really good on the coaching session where we worked on riding close and cornering. Ryan found out his BMX hero Maris Stromberg had bust his wrist in the ABA Grands in America today and couldn`t believe it so that put abit of a dark cloud on his day. Its an early night tonight ready for coaching again tomorrow and hopefully Alex will be better and can do the session.

Ryan and Alex both went to gate practice at Preston today and with a nice relaxed atmosphere around it was a good session. Alex was concentrating on the last straight, doing different combinations. First he tried  jump, manual then jump, second attempt it was manual, jump, manual and to finish of he went jump, jump, manual. Ryan enjoyed jumping the volcano and whipping it in mid air which really impressed some of the younger riders and he showed great bike handling skills. Its now down to the serious stuff and coaching tommorrow with Dylan Clayton.