Mattie Dodd journal #10: the season starts here

Second-year under-23 Mattie Dodd is continuing with us as a journal contributor in 2024. Once again riding for the UCI Continental Tirol-KTM development team, he is supported by the Rayner Foundation. In his first post comes on the even of his 2024 season debut at the Umag Trophy in Croatia, following an intense winter training period in Cyprus and Mallorca.

Tomorrow, when I take to the start line, it will have been 137 days since I last pinned a number on. Well, I say pinned a number on, I’d be disregarding a certain kit manufacturer’s main selling point if I failed to mention I actually slid said number into a neatly hidden pocket on the back of my time trial suit. Anyway, minor details regarding the affixing of numerical identification out the way, tomorrow I’ll be starting my 2024 season at the Umag Trophy (UCI 1.2) down here in Croatia.

The initial period of feeling awful on a bike after a break was made better by the superb riding on offer on the island

It’s been a really good winter period from my point of view. I started by heading off to Cyprus with three others immediately after the end of my off-season. The initial period of feeling awful on a bike after a break made better by the superb riding on offer on the island. Without trying to sound like I’ve been paid by the Cypriot tourist board, I genuinely think it’s a hidden mecca as far as training camps are concerned. With the long flight over there being the only real downside, I thought it rivalled the likes of Calpe and Mallorca in most other areas.

The weather is quite a bit warmer and more reliable than those typical training destinations late in the year, there’s an enormous number of good quality roads to ride on, and they’re often a lot less busy than elsewhere in Europe. There’s hardly a metre of flat in the south of the island, with some beautiful scenery to boot, and it’s the first place I’ve been that has the unique capability of being able to travel from the sea to 2,000 metres in a single ride.

The main advantage of Cyprus in particular though is that it doesn’t form part of the Schengen area, meaning we could spend time in the country without having it contribute to our “90 days”

The main advantage of Cyprus in particular though, and the reason we went, is that it doesn’t form part of the Schengen area, meaning we could spend time in the country without having it contribute to our “90 days”. It’s also got a weirdly British feel to it, as a result of the two massive military bases on the island and a large expat community. It does feel a little odd to see a supermarket on a Mediterranean island, over 3,000 kilometres from home, stocking Bisto and Marmite.

It was then back to London for the absolute mayhem that is an extended family Christmas. It was nice to be home for a bit and back on the roads I know so well. Though, no sooner was I home and the leftover beef (not turkey – an overrated Christmas tradition by all accounts) finished off, and I was off again. This time I was swapping a house full of slightly tipsy relatives for a house full of caffeinated bike riders. The team rented a house in Mallorca for two months before Christmas, and again after, until mid-February, that we could come and go from.

It was great to back with the team and riding on an island that often seems like it revolves around the two Cs – cycling and clubbing. As anyone who’s visited will be able to relate, the roads are immaculate, the cars are a world a part in terms of the amount of respect they give, and the views spectacular. Other than the odd day of slightly unpredictable weather to remind me of home, it was a brilliant place to spend three weeks as racing came over the horizon.

I’ve been chomping at the bit to get going for a while, and the last few weeks have been a bit of a similar feeling to a toddler before Christmas

I spent the last month before coming here in the UK, during the final build up the start of my race season. I’ve been chomping at the bit to get going for a while, and the last few weeks have been a bit of a similar feeling to a toddler before Christmas. I’ve really enjoyed this first winter of being able to train without having to balance riding with school – it’s allowed me to do a properly controlled “build” for the first time as opposed to fitting in hours where I can. That said, as bike riders, we train to race, so I’m super excited to be back racing now. The pre-race routines that haven’t been used over winter now all flooding back – the white rice and eggs for breakfast, Germanic rap music being played on the camper (it’s as bad as you’d think), pinning the numbers on a certain way, among other rituals that become second nature again over the course of the year.

After Umag, I’ve then got a week gap before my next race, my first stage race of the year – the Istrian Spring Trophy. There’s a range of courses in there, so I’m excited to see what I can do over a variety of terrain. It’s then a quick hop over the border into Slovenia for another three one-day UCI races, before a final stop-off in Upper Austria for the first round of their Radliga. After that, it’s back home after a month on the road with the season well underway.