There are no ‘what ifs’ from Timmis, he accepts the mistakes he made but it’s hard not to think that with the kind of management that’s available nowadays he could have gone so much further.Peugeot team was a French professional cycling team that promoted and rode Peugeot racing bikes. “I’m 60 kilograms right now, the lightest I’ve been since I was a junior – the bike and Zwift provide me a wonderful outlet.” “I get up early and get on the Turbo for an hour it’s great for my state of mind. “I love cycling in Mallorca and the Alps but Zwift is great too, a Godsend, it means you can ride every day whatever the weather. “My wife asks me if I’d like to race but like I said, I have no desire to compete. “I ride the bike most days now and push myself but have no desire to race I’m still in good shape, I rode l’Etape du Tour and finished 140 th out of 11,000. “Yes, I made a little comeback when I turned 40 years-age and made top 10 in the National Criterium Championships and a few other decent results but that was it. “So now I bike fit from the house – not right now, obviously with the Covid-19 situation – and I do coaching, it’s good to be helping people.”Īdrian Timmis loves the Turbo, and Zwift, but nothing beats climbing on quiet roads in the Balearics. “And at least 75% of people have one in their pocket these says. “When folks had to go on the ‘net through the computer at work or get their laptop out and log-in with a password, that was one thing but with a smartphone you just tap a few buttons and you’re able to purchase what you will, 24 hours each day, seven days each week – you don’t even need your wallet. “Folks ask me if it was the internet made me close the shop, I say ‘no’ – it was smartphones. “The shop was good too but it became hard to compete with the big ‘net outfits. “The fact that I was doing effective work spread by word of mouth and it was a good business for a few years. “I had a bike shop until about three years ago I was always someone who was fussy about their position on the bike and before all the current positional gadgetry came in to use I helped riders sort their positions out. “After I quit I drifted in and out of jobs I think many professional riders suffer from similar uncertainties when they stop – you should definitely have a plan for what you’re going to do after you stop.”Īdrian Timmis climbing in his beloved Mallorca. “But I’d been racing for 20 years even though I was only in my early 30’s and had enough. “Yes, I’d been training in Mallorca, I love it there I must have been 20 times over the years but I just couldn’t find motivation to race, when I look back I was suffering from mental health issues. “I went down to Rochester with Johnny Clay and I won it, solo with Chris second, I’d come down from 64 kilos to 61 and felt great – I’m sure the diet change made the difference.” “I was training with Chris Walker ( big sprinting prolific winner of criteriums and road races in the UK, ed.) and we were riding city centre TV criteriums and he said to me ‘ you’re going so well you can win one of these crits.’ “I’d lost weight but hadn’t changed anything else in my diet and was doing the same training. “I cut out all wheat, substituting rice and potatoes and within two to three weeks I was flying. “I’d read somewhere about wheat intolerance and I thought ‘ I’m going to change my diet !’ I didn’t do any tests or anything, just something I thought I would try. “It was a nice little team with Dave Cook and Johnny Clay. “That was probably one of my best seasons and I was actually working part-time, three days each week. “Mountain bike races were different back then, they were longer and would now fall into the ‘Endurance’ category.Īdrian Timmis shows the effects of a hard National Mountainbike Championships. “Again, I mixed my racing up and had some decent road results as well as finishing second overall in the National Mountain Bike Series. “Yes, I mixed my racing up, road and MTB, I rode the Milk Race in a composite time but unfortunately crashed and broke my collarbone.” “That performance gave me a new lease of life.”Ī contract with British Eagle for 1991 though? “I used to train with David Baker the MTB rider, I enjoyed it and he suggested I try a race so I went with him down to a race in Wales, it was part of the National MTB Series and I finished second to Tim Gould. “The Swinnerton family who own the bike shop in Stone-on-Trent helped me with a bike and clothing but I didn’t have a title sponsor. “No, my head was down, I had no motivation and I missed the first pro race of the year.
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