Olympics 2008

It is now less than five weeks to the Olympic mountain bike race and everything is on track. I have just completed a hard three-week training block and I am now on a five-day easy period before starting my final training block, then flying out to Beijing.

The training started with a few days' riding at home in Bristol and then I headed up to the cycling centre in Manchester for two days, where I picked up my Games kit and also did a simulation session riding on a treadmill with Beijing heat and humidity.

A session that I have done many times became a real test as my core temperature went through the roof. It was a real eye-opener as to how bad the conditions could be, and a motivator to make sure I concentrate on this area.

In the pursuit of heat tolerance, I then headed down to the south of Spain for 10 days. Training in 35C heat was just what I needed and the camp was a success, as, by the end, I was training hard without feeling like my head was in an oven.

I arrived home and kept training through until the National Championships. The Nationals are the biggest domestic race and the winner gets to wear the national champ's jersey at all races for the following year, so it's a big deal.

The venue was Ringwood in the New Forest so it was not going to be hilly and, with Liam Killeen riding and in good shape, it was going to be a tight race.

On the third of five laps Liam and I were locked together, both riding well, ahead of the other riders. I was trying to work out how I was going to try to get away, and then, while following Liam, I hit a small tree stump, which punctured the tyre.

The puncture sealant in the tyre sealed the hole but it was almost flat. I was able to stay in contact until the technical zone, where I changed the wheel, but when I got going again, I was 30 seconds down.

I could not close the gap; in fact, Liam opened it up to one minute at the finish, and I ended up second. It was not a great result but I was happy with the way I was able to ride at the end of a hard block, and at the end of the day there are bigger races on the horizon.