Evesham Wheelers Ma Ullmer's hard work has paid off as he has just
secured a place in the Qoroz Novatec Plowman Craven under 23 racing team. He
will be joining Ben Stockdale and the rest of the team in all the
premier calenders and other major events. Unfortunately his debut race in team
colours the Blackdowns road race in Somerset didn't go too well. After 60 miles
of dreadful weather conditions he crashed and was taken to Taunton hospital
where he was patched up for the usual gravel rash and cuts and bruises. He is
now recovering at home after being told to take some time off the
bike.
From the 22 - 24th August I raced in the Tour of Dorset, it was a 3 day
event with 4 stages including a 5 mile Time Trial which finished up a massive
hill and a 80 mile road stage on day 1. A 75 mile road stage on day 2 and a 60
mile road stage on day 3. I travelled to the event with James Stout looking for
a good result.
Stage 1 we arrived at the HQ with plenty off time to spare so we decided to
drive the time trial course so that we could get to know it, we were told what
it was like and that it went up a very big hill straight after a hairpin bend.
So we were all prepared and we knew how steep the hill really was, I was set of
15th and I went reasonably well, and James was the last rider off using the time
trial bike for the first time. I came 1st 12 seconds ahead of 2nd and was 12
seconds of the course record. 
Stage 2 the afternoon stage I was in the yellow jersey so I was really looking forward to riding in it. Unfortunately every time I tried to make a move I was watched, so this meant that I couldn't go across to any breaks, I just had to chase everything down. I had a lot of help from friends James Stout, Dave Walters and Josh Yetman but a break got away and ended up taking 30 seconds so I lost my yellow jersey. But was still in the white jersey.
Stage 3 on the second day was quite a tough stage, it was 75 miles long and it went up a 2 mile climb every lap. I knew today was the big day to win back the yellow jersey, but right from the very beginning I didn't feel very good. I was really struggling and felt quite ill so I had to settle with just finishing with the bunch. Because of this I lost my white jersey and came 13th on the stage.
Stage 4 the final race on day 3 was a reasonably flat but windy course. Which finished up a very short but sharp climb. This was my last chance to try and take some time back, the race was only 60 miles so it was going to be tough. I attacked very early on and 3 other riders came with me. Two of the riders were quite high on GC so it was a good move, but the yellow jersey and red jersey put there team on the front of the bunch and just chased constantly. Unfortunately the break got brought back. It came into the sprint and there was a sharp corner right at the end, I took the corner really far down the bunch, because I wanted to keep safe for the junior tour of Wales next weekend. But once I was round the corner I put full gas on and managed to come 8th in the stage.
I finished 5th Overall and have a yellow and white jersey to keep from the weekend. It was a good weekends racing.
On the 29th - 31st August I set off to the Junior Tour of Wales. The race consisted of 5 stages over 3 days. Over the 3 days we raced over 4 mountains and raced round Bryn Bach Park. This was a huge race and was part of the junior national series. So I was racing for the West Midlands.
Stage 1 was a 4.5 mile time trial in which the last 2 kilometres finished up the back of the Tumble mountain. I didn't do anywhere near as well as I wanted to, but I still came 15th which wasn't too bad.
Stage 2 was in the afternoon and we raced 45 miles then raced up the Llangynidr mountain. The race was a reasonable pace and wasn't hard, but there was one interruption with a crash, but I wasn't involved in that. About 5 miles from the mountain a break away went away of 13 riders, none of the yellow jersey's team were in it so I thought it would get brought back before the mountain, but at the bottom they had quite a big lead. But I climbed the mountain with the main guys in the peleton and at the end there were only about 8 of us left. And I sprinted in to come 17th place and stayed in 15th overall.
Stage 3 was a circuit race round Bryn Bach Park 45 minutes plus 3 laps which was my least favourite stage, it went up a climb for about 1km every lap and it was about 2.5km per lap. The very first lap at the bottom of the corner there was a crash and I came down in it. But I got back up and got back with the main group. There were lots of attacks all race but I was just focused on staying with the main guys. I got to the finish and got the same time as the bunch and maintained my 15th place overall.
Stage 4 is usually a tough stage because it's only a couple of hours after Bryn Bach Park and its about 45 miles and finishes at the top of another 3 mile hill the Brynmawr. This stage I found quite easy. There were attacks all race and eventually a 15 man break got away which I had missed. But going up the climb the gap got smaller and smaller, and the break just finished ahead of the main group which I was in, it contained about 30 riders and just crossed the line and got the same time, and therefore kept 15th overall.
Stage 5 was the toughest of all the stages, it was 60 miles long and it went over the moors half way through the race and then it finished up the 4 mile Tumble mountain at the end. Again a break went early, but contained no real threat and when we got to the moors everyone started moving to the front and pushing the pace hard into the cross winds trying to split the race. I joined in with this as I wanted the race to split, but not many people got dropped. Then it was just a cruise into the bottom of the Tumble, I was feeling pretty comfortable and was looking forward to the Tumble to see if I could move into the top 10 overall. After about 2 miles of the climb there were about 10 riders left in the main climbing group and I was feeling quite comfortable with them. But unfortunately a little bit after that my leg went again, an injury that I had produced earlier on in the season had come back. Because of this I couldn't pedal properly and therefore just had to go at a gentle pace up the Tumble, because of that I moved all the way down to 25th overall and was very disappointed. I have decided to stop racing for the season now and give the leg a rest. The weather made the racing this weekend much tougher than the previous year, as it rained all day everyday but it was still really enjoyable and I hope to go back next year fit and perform even better.
