The British Continental is a blog and results service that brings the quiet news of the National Series, National B races and others to a wider audience. They, alongside Monument HQ, strive to elevate the British Cycling scene to the heights it experienced back in the late naughties and early teens of this century. They do a fantastic job bringing the content to various news channels, including podcasts, blogs, journal entries from riders, and so much more.
In 2021 I was grateful to have had the experience of writing a series of journal entries for The British Continental. Learning from the brilliant Denny Gray to improve my writing styles and techniques which I hope I am now utilising in my own format on this website.
Tom Portsmouth Journals: Q&A
“What kept me going back? I enjoyed the culture in Belgium. I felt my personality just click with their way of things. The riders made me feel super welcome; many of those I met in the early days are still my best mates out there. I was able to compete with the best Belgians, on roads that suited me and my racing style to the ground. I also really enjoyed the experience of the trip over to the continent and the time spent with my family before a race. It all made me want to keep going back weekend after weekend.”
The British Continental Journal #1: Brexit
“Brexit is a right pain in the backside, an immense source of stress for all riders who had hoped to race and train in Europe this year. Rewind 12 months and as Britons with the same rights as European Union citizens, we had no problems at all relocating to Belgium for the racing season. We could stay as long as we needed just with the passport we had in hand. Yet now, we need vast reams of documentation to show we are eligible to stay in the country longer than the permissible 90 days. Visa this, Residence Permit that. As amateur elite cyclists, who aren’t yet being paid but are full-time cyclists, and with the majority of us without a job or a university placement.”
The British Continental Journal #2: Weight and Watts
“You will always surprise someone, occasionally yourself. Others may see your results as exceeding what they expected you to achieve because they had already labelled you as a rider who was ‘a bit too big’ to be able to be successful. I’ve often had people come up to me after a race I’ve done rather well in, and be like ‘I didn’t expect that from you, well done’, or ‘wow you can climb well, I wasn’t expecting that’. They all have the same preconceived ideas of what a cyclist should look like. So when they see someone who doesn’t fit their ‘ideal cyclist’ image they pre-judge what sort of performance they expect from that rider. It is a good feeling when you surpass their expectations because inside you are thinking, ‘well, I knew I was going to do that today, it was just a matter of piecing it all together’.”
