Winter training so far is going well. During December I have managed to get quality hours in on the bike, before flying out to Canada in January.

I flew into Calary and then travelled to Banff in the Canadian Rockies, for a couple of weeks Snowboarding .The off piste condition were great and the new powder had justed fallen.

The jumps and slide rails at the snowboard park at Lake Louise were huge, but brill. I returned from Canada injury free but jetlagged with the time difference. After having a good rest from the bike I was keen to start training again.

I am now back into full training mode with the rest of my team, doing long steady rides around the lanes of the Tough of Bowland, as well as riding off road on the mountain bikes at Riverton Pike.

Training going well so far, but I hate the long, wet winter months, and I long for the training camps away in Majorca in the warm climate of the Med. We also should be going to the Isle of Man soon for some long weekend training in the hills and met up with one of my mates Elliott Baxter, a local elite rider from Team Giant, a good friend who knows all the lanes and roads of the Isle.

I have so far raced in the local Leisure Lake Winter Series Master Category and won two of the races. Which is pleasing and is helping me to develop over the winter months.

My first major race of the season will be the Eddie Soens at Aintree Race Course, a hard and always wet and windy race. I will be pleased with a top 20 place due to the time of the season. This will be a good indicator of my progress gearing up for the National Point Series which starts in April.

Our first national race as the USAVE Team will be the 1st round of Mountain Bike National Points Series down at Plymouth, a World Cup Venue and a great course.