All riders have their own personal reasons for having a coach. Some to go faster, some to win more races, some aspire to go pro. Coaching can also be purely about personal health, fitness and well-being. Here are a couple of reviews from my current coached riders.
Joscelin Lowden
Joscelin approached me about coaching in early 2017. As a newbie to the sport, she quickly sky-rocketed to achievements at National level and was selected for Team Storey riding in the Tour of Yorkshire. This season she raced with Drops Le Col and in October 2021 she smashed the Women's Hour Record. Now Joss hits the big time turning Pro with Uno-X women's team for the 2022-23 season. Sadly this means the end of our coaching relationship but Joss really is the ultimate evidence that, together with some pure grit, my coaching works!
"Sean is not an ordinary coach. He goes so much further beyond setting out a training program and checking up on me. Sean's lifetime of training, racing and working with pro's means that he has so much knowledge and real life experience to impart. Instead of just chucking a plan at me, he sets out the building blocks and why we are doing it like that. We have a lot of back and forth and he is really engaged with how I am feeling and how each session, ride or race has gone.
In summer and autumn 2017 I had podium finishes in national road races as well as winning the National hill climb. Sean's plan had me fit for the summer of road races and TT's and then to keep me strong up until the end of the autumn for the hill climbs meant really careful planning so as not to get burned out. The hill climb training is really hard but Sean's support and motivation made it a whole lot easier to digest. |
After my accident at the Tour of Yorkshire in May 2018, I had some major operations to get through, Sean was incredibly supportive and patient, always offering good advice, reminding me to stay positive and proving that a coach role goes way beyond just the bike. His time and effort put into his riders is incredibly high and it's clear how much he cares about the success of those he coaches. I doubt there are many coaches out there that put in as much time and passion into the success of their riders as Sean does. I consider myself very lucky! "
Jo CrADDOCK
Jo's partner approached me about coaching her for a huge challenge - to ride and complete L'Etape du Tour. This is a big challenge for most, more so as Jo was at the time recovering from cancer treatment. Jo shows that you don't have to be a professional cyclist, or want to be a professional cyclist, to benefit hugely from coaching. She shows that with a bit of grit, determination and the right support you can succeed in achieving great things in spite of what life may throw at you.
"I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly and sincerely say: Thank you for taking me on, for giving me a chance despite the enormity of the challenge, and for seeing me through this.
I hated your "how's the weight?" texts, but loved it when I could eventually reply with a good number. Thank you for pushing me to go on when I didn't think I could. Thanks for training me to be strong enough to do this. Sean, thanks doesn't cover it. Jo" |