Jody's World Championship update
On his return from the para-cycling world championships in Bordeaux, Jody called in to show us his latest medals. The gold looks rather good on the green jersey! We took the opportunity to have a chat with him about his training and some other stuff.
We were keen to know if he'd modified the spec on his bikes at all to help achieve his impressive results, but both the team issue bike for racing (Trek 5.5 Madone) and his 'Tredz issue' bike for winter training (Giant SCR 1.0) are identical to the one you or I would buy. No excuse for anyone there then...
He did reveal that he's been using a special prototype prosthesis, which will be developed into an aerodynamic artificial lower leg for his cycling. It clips straight into the pedal to ensure a good solid grip.
As Jody followers will know, he got into cycling after a very successful swimming career (three Olympic gold medals) when one of the coaches at the Newport Velodrome suggested he'd make a good cyclist. That was 2 1/2 years and several gold medals ago. He's now part of the 'Olympic Podium Programme' for world class athletes taking part in world class events.
Jody trains two or three times a week at Newport, in between he does gym sessions and also a road training programme. Every day, results and timings are exchanged electronically with his coach who can then tweak the programme accordingly.
When asked who he gets his inspiration from, Jody said that he was very focused in setting his own goals (as can be expected from a world-class athlete). However, being in the company of world-famous cyclists like Darren Kenny and Rik Waddon is a great inspiration.
About Bordeaux: the track design was quite unusual with very steep banking and a hard wooden surface which made it very fast. The weather on the day of the road race extremely hot which might be 'very good for grapes', but less so for cycling. Enough said.
Next up are the Welsh Nationals this week and the BC National Track Championships early October, where Jody not only takes part in every cycling category, he's also competing in one of the able-bodied series 'just to see what'll happen'.
Posted by Caroline
