Interview with Jack Watson

Steve took an opportunity to catch up with Jack a previous club captain and a regular at our Saturday morning coaching sessions. Jack is the HPV World and National Champion in 2014. Barney our new mascot also asked Jack to take him to a few races in 2015 (Steve thinks Barney’s wants to be seen with the World Champ!!!).

What was your first bike?

That was a yellow Raleigh Dino which I got when I was 3.

How did you get into riding recumbent?

I was 5 years old when I got my first recumbent. My dad (Simon) made me a tadpole trike which I rode to school; he also made himself one so when I grew up I rode his recumbent trike.

What made you decide to race them?

In 2011 we bought a faired recumbent from Alan Goodman who is in the BHPC. We travelled down to London to buy it and we decided to race it the next day at Shrewsberry. I liked riding it and I was quicker than my dad! He let me race it and, after that we started going to different BHPC races in the UK (Jack is ranked No 1 in the country; Pete is ranked No 2 for his age category).

What do you like best about racing your recumbent?

Easily the speed, compared to all other bikes.

What 3 words best describe you?

Happy, Energetic, Quiet

Off the bike what do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy doing lots of outdoor activities such as climbing, kayaking and camping.

Who is your favourite sports personality and why?

Liam Phillips. He’s been BMX European and World Champion and has represented the UK at the Olympics twice.

What type of bike do you enjoy riding and why?

I enjoy riding and racing my BMX most because I think the races are more fun than other types of cycling. They are around 40 seconds long with 8 people per race. Each track is completely different which makes it more challenging when racing at different tracks and you only have around 1 hour to practice and perfect the fastest line around the track before each race.

What is your favourite band? Why? What is your favourite song?

Mumford & Sons because I like most of their songs, but my favourite song at the minute is The Pretender by the Foo Fighters because it is a good song to listen to while I ride!

What is your favourite TV programme?

My favourite TV series is Sherlock. I like the actors, the storylines of each episode. It is also good to try and work out what happened and who did it during the program.

If you can give a tip to budding riders what would it be?

Find a cycling discipline that you enjoy and work towards being the best you can be at it. If you enjoy doing it, then it will be more likely to be motivated to get better. Also take part in races to see how fast you need to be and what you need to do in order to beat the others next time.

What are your cycling aims and objectives for the next 12 months (2015)?

I am hoping to defend my British and World HPV Championships and I am also going to do more BMX races in order to get into the top 100 UK riders in my age category. Hopefully I can do enough to get into the “A” finals in races in 2015.

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