Toby Blackman
"I was always able to push myself to train hard as a rower, but moving into my second season on the bike, I was aware of two things:  Firstly that I had only really stuck my toe in the waters of road racing, and secondly that I needed a plan.

Richard has coached me since November 2007. I had followed his performances over the last two seasons; he'd written his own recommendation. We rode a couple of laps of Richmond Park together to discuss my aspirations, how much time I could commit to training and what would be my focus for the season ahead.  My answers went something like this: I wanted to be the best that I could be on a bike, I didn't have any expectations for success, that I was used to regular training (and enjoyed it), and that I wanted to ride some early season Time Trials before competing in the season-long series at Crystal Palace.

Richard tailored my programme to my fitness and my lifestyle in a way that felt genuinely personalised.  A mixture of road riding and turbo training was scheduled, together with all-important recovery rides, in such a way that I am getting progressively stronger on the bike and losing weight without suffering from fatigue or, touch wood, injury.

Richard has proved to be a real source of positivity and support whether things are going well or badly. He’s a very communicative coach and encourages feedback on the training. 

I feel very motivated, due in no small part to Richard’s coaching and I'm looking forward to my next review and planning for the next few months."

Jenny Lloyd-Jones
"I first took up cycling a couple of years ago. My training involved commuting to work on my bike and some club rides at the weekend . Not bad, but it wasn't very structured, I just rode lots. I already did structured training for running, so thought there must exist the equivalent for cycling. Triathlon magazines constantly referred to power training & heart rate zones, which didn't mean much to me at all, but sounded like the kind of thing I needed to be doing.

Richard made everything really simple for me to understand, both in terms of what I was trying to achieve with the sessions & the structure of the sessions themselves.  I actually understood what to do with a turbo trainer for the first time (I had bought one, but it had remained unused for 6 months!) & how to complement outdoors training with turbo sessions.  Using the turbo was also helpful with trying to juggle training with childcare. 

Richard also demystified time trialling. Planning time trial events into a training & racing schedule was really valuable.  There are different types of time trial (hilly, flat, short and long distance, team) all of which enable you to learn how to push yourself & Richard taught me techniques that enabled me to maximise and sustain my speed....highly valuable.  This practice was fundamental to my winning the World Long Distance Duathlon Championships, where the bike section was a 76km hilly & technical course. 

I have been able to enjoy cycle racing of all types (road, circuit, time trialling), in addition to duathlons, as a result of being more powerful & having more stamina from a more focused training programme.  Makes the racing season a lot more fun!"