Hello,
Welcome to my all new blog.
Over the next 12 months I will do my best to give you all an inside view of what it is like to prepare for a Commonwealth Games, as well as be a professional athlete in the sport of cycling.
Firstly, my name is James McCallum and I have been racing bikes for the last 20 years or so. My love for my sport has been very rewarding and it has taken me to every corner of the globe. It’s not every day that you get a chance to transform a childhood hobby and dream into a reality, so I consider myself very very privileged. I am who I am thanks to my sport.
The 2006 Games in Melbourne saw me come home with a bronze medal in the 20km scratch race, just behind the now world famous Mark Cavendish. So dreams of a home medal in a once in a lifetime home Games for a Glasgow boy is a huge motivation. Commonwealth Games glory proved to be the big catalyst that my sporting career needed. Since then I have racked up over 20 Scottish championships and three British championships.
The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will be my fourth participation at Commonwealth level and could quite possibly be the point at which I step away from the world of professional sport and into the big bad world. Having said that, I couldn’t think of a better setting to what has been a career of mixed fortunes, broken bones and years of constantly punishing myself.
At the moment I’m tapping away on my keyboard mid-flight on my way to a competition in Belgium. The last eight months have been super busy with over 70 days of racing all over Europe and Asia, geared towards getting in the best shape possible and fulfilling the qualifying standards to get to the Games.
This weekend sees me crossing swords once again with Mr Cavendish. It will be a great indicator of just how far I have come in the last few years. Fingers crossed we are in the ball park.
Lastly but most importantly a huge thank you to NVT for their fantastic support and continued investment in my sporting future.
Thanks for reading.
James McCallum
Rapha Condor JLT UCI Professional Cycling Team
NVT is proud to support James as a member of the NVT sponsored athlete programme. You can follow James on twitter @jimmy_mach10