Well the first month of the season has passed now and we’ve had our first two competitive meetings with mixed results. In the first meeting of the year, the one thing I was hoping to avoid was nerves but I think they got the better of a few of our riders on the night. It ended up being a disappointing result but the improvement made at Scunthorpe a few days later made up for it a bit. We put a really good performance in up there, all the riders contributed. We obviously missed Morten (Risager) a bit in that meeting but it is great that he is back fit and racing ahead of a busy month of action.

A couple of days after that meeting, four of the guys all made the trip to practice at Birmingham which shows how committed the guys are to doing well this season. Danny (King) has not been happy with his set-up all season and as I’ve got a close working relationship with him I went up with his mechanic to Birmingham and we seemed to get something going that day. I then went up to Coventry to see him and Sarj (James Sarjeant) ride and Danny is going a lot better now and got a good score on the night, so hopefully those problems are behind him now.

The one main positive I’ve taken from the first month is the improvement everyone has shown and I know I keep saying it but everyone’s attitude is excellent and it has allowed me to settle into my new role easily too. We are all learning together which actually work out really well in the long run.

I’ve enjoyed both meetings in my new role and I’m learning a lot! It was a bit of a baptism of fire having Rider Replacement in our second meeting of the season coming off the back of a home defeat as well! I’m starting to settle into a bit of a routine where I’ve got my ‘manager’s head’ on and then my ‘mechanics head’ on too which is something obviously I’ve done a lot with Danny and I feel quite confident in my knowledge of that side of things and I want to help everyone with that too. I’ve got to learn to get a balance between the two things. I’m also still learning how everyone ticks too, there are different personalities and different riders I’m getting to know but it will all come with time. Similarly to the riders learning throughout the League Cup campaign and getting themselves ready for the Premier League campaign, I’m sort of doing the same thing!

I’ve put one of my bike’s up for sale recently but I’m going to keep one just in case! In all seriousness I’m trying to concentrate on managing and running the business but I won’t rule anything out!

April is a busy month and it will be good for all the boys to get riding because it has been a slow start to the season what with Peterborough being cancelled and then us having a gap between home matches. Hopefully everyone will get settled in this month and we can get on a role of good performances and make a strong start to the Premier League campaign early on so we are not playing catch up, that would be ideal.

See you all soon,

Ritchie