Give us Five: Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing)

Winner of a round in the Halfords Tour Series and second on a stage of the Tour of Britain, Ian ‘superman’ Wilkinson’ of Endura Racing tells us about his winter riding

VeloUK: Have you started your winter training and if so, how long did you spend off the bike post season and how many hours a week would you spend now training?
Ian Wilkinson: On the 1st November I started proper training again after a good month not having to ride.

VeloUK: What is a typical weekday ride for you (how long and what intensity) and what sort of rides do you do on a weekend (how long and what intensity)?
Ian Wilkinson: 3.5hrs ish as hard or easy as I want. Usually easy! Weekends are best spent with the Mrs (Jayne) as from Jan to the end of Sept I am always racing or riding weekends as a priority so it’s important to spend time with the family in winter.

So close but so far… Ian Wilkinson comes the closest a British based rider has to a stage win in the Tour of Britain

VeloUK: Do you ride Xmas day or New Years day?
Ian Wilkinson: For sure it is the best day to ride on the road, so quiet. Hey its just another day! One of the best rides of last year was me, Rob Partridge, Paul Oldham, big John and Hamish doing Buckden on New Years day at 9am!.

VeloUK: Do you intend to go to a training camp abroad and if so, what would be a typical training camp there in terms of the time spent training and the type of training rides they would be?
Ian Wilkinson: I usually try to get away if its grotty for a week at the end of December. Last year with Mossy (James Moss) and Dave Collins was mint before Xmas. Then in January, we usually have a team camp.

VeloUK: Finally, what will be your first races for 2012?
Ian Wilkinson: Tour of the Med, Haut Var and some other chippers like that…

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