Kelly Cycle Coaching spoke with  Bryce Morey this week, just after he was named as U17 B grade champion for the 2010 Junior Road Series.  Here is what he had to say about various things relating to his school life, his cycling, and family life: 

Hi Bryce, so how long have you been racing on the road?  How old were you when you started training more seriously?
I started riding on a road bike in the middle of year 7 (2007), but had not been doing anything serious by way of training, or any real racing. From about that point, up till November-ish 2009, I had been getting progressively more and more committed with the riding that I was doing, though it was still not very serious at this time. It was not until November – December ’09 (around the start of the summer holidays) that I started to do any “proper” training. This was partly because I had just finished the Great Victorian Bike Ride (GVBR) for the third time, and had a little more fitness (I would not have said that I had any “form”) at this time, and decided that I wanted to improve on this and keep training. So on most days of the summer hols’ I would go for longer and harder rides with my elder brother. This was when I started to actually do any proper training worth my while.

What road bike and running gear are you currently riding? 
Currently I am riding a Specialized Tarmac Pro frame (a few years old (I actually don’t know how many) but unused before I first rode it) with (slightly second-hand) Shimano Ultegra (6600) components.

Do you own a BMX or mountain bike too or just your roadie?
I do own a mountain bike as well as a road bike, though it is not often used. It would be preferable to ride the mountain bike to school (8km’s ish) instead of taking the bus, but I am yet to come to an agreement with my parents about this.

What school do you attend?  And what Year are you completing?  
I currently attend Kingswood College in Box Hill (technically its Box Hill South, I think). I am completing year 10, and am finding the work easy to handle (at the moment).

Any idea on what you might want to do after you finish school?
Nope.

What cycling club do you belong to? 
I, along with my two brothers, belong to Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club.

So, with an older and younger brother also cycling is there a bit of rivalry in the family about who is the fastest?  And we understand that dad rides a bit too.  When did you start riding faster than him? 
Certainly a few years ago, when we (my siblings and I) had only recently started to ride, there was a bit of rivalry as to who was better and so on. But as we all became older and more serious, it became fairly obvious to us all, that the eldest holds an advantage over the rest. Even though we cannot directly pitch ourselves up against each other, as this would be a bit unfair, we do sometimes (most often my younger brother) record a time for a distance at the velodrome, and try to compare it against the times of an older brother from when they were that age, and see who was/is better. My dad has been riding for quite a while, though not always in the same way (not on a road bike at first). I do believe that when I was younger (as in 10-15 years ago) he often used to go for rides (on mountain bikes) with one of his mates on many a weekend. Because of this, my siblings and I used to go on bike rides with dad on a fair number of weekends when we were younger. My elder brother got into road riding after doing the GVBR for the first time, and my brother (younger) and I followed. It was on my second GVBR, in ’08, that I actually started to ride faster than dad. Before that, especially on the GVBR ’07, he had always been dragging me along behind him. In GBVR ‘08, I was the one who had to do all the work and pull him along most of the way (that is, when he’s not been dropped).

What is your favourite road race and why?
One race that comes to mind is the weekly crits at Glenvale crescent during the summer. I enjoy these partly because they are in summer, which when I think about it at the moment, makes me really wish summer would hurry up and arrive. I also enjoy them because it is a flat circuit and is reasonably nice to ride. The corners are rather fun at speed.

What race have you done where you were the most proud of your result?  What happened in this race?
The time trial at Eildon Junior Tour was a good one for me. I had finished in 5th place overall, and had taken the points for 1st place out of the m17 “B” grade category. I was particularly happy with this result, because I had not ever before really been doing well against the other people in my age group. I think that the course suited me rather well, being practically flat, with a steady uphill for about a quarter of the course. I was hoping to do well at this TT, because for the month leading up to it, (with my focus on the States TT), I had been doing, exclusively, threshold efforts to specifically train for this discipline.

Do you like hilly races or prefer flatter terrain?
I prefer flat terrain to that with hills. It is better suited to my riding style, though maybe not to my build. I admit, I do need to work on my climbing at the moment, as it is the area were I am furthest behind most of my peers. But flat terrain is the preference.

What is your favourite place to train?
My favourite place to train is on Beach Road. Though this is not very practical for me, as I do not live particularly close to there. I am able to train there on weekends, public holidays, and school holidays. On week days after school, I have to train at either Hawthorn velodrome, or Kew/Yarra Boulevard. This is rather convenient for me, as I have to go within 1.5 metres of Hawthorn velodrome to get to the Boulevard(s).

You have just been announced as the 2010 Victorian Junior Road Aggregate U17 B Grade winner.  Congratulations.   Was this a goal of yours at the start of this season?  
Thank you. It was not one of my goals at the start of the season, as I was hoping to be put into A grade for the junior tours. I had hoped to be able to race against the guys who are in the same year as me, and see how I go against them and try to get up to their level. So it was not one of my goals initially, but once it became clear that I was to stay in “B” grade, I figured I should make the most of it and try to win anyway. I had realised that I would only get beaten in “A” grade anyway at this point, so I might as well take the opportunity given to me by the CSV handicapper, and make this a target to work towards.

What would you say are your strengths in cycling?
My main strength in cycling would be time trialling. Not only is it what I am best at, but I really enjoy doing it, even when it hurts so much. It has proved to be my greatest strength in cycling so far, as it is the event that I have done best at, placing 5th out of all JM17’s at the Eildon Junior tour. The same can’t be said for my climbing ability, however, as this most definitely needs some work.

Did you watch this years’ Tour de France?  Who is your favourite rider and why? 
I did watch this year TDF, although I did not manage to watch any stages live, which I was quite disappointed about. But thankfully I still managed to watch the morning and evening highlights on a daily basis. As for my favourite rider, I was really hoping that Andy Schleck could pull off a win this year.

Are you planning to go watch the Road World Champs in Geelong?   Do you think watching the best cyclists in the world is going to be a real buzz?
I would obviously like to go and watch the World Championships, but I don’t know if I will be able to. I would very much enjoy it. I have been to the Tour Down Under three times, and really enjoyed watching the professionals at work, and I would like to do so more often, so the world champs seem like a great opportunity to do just that.

What are your aspirations as a cyclist?  Want to race overseas one day?
I would very much like to race overseas one day as part of a team. It would be a great experience, and one thing that I would like to work towards.

So what race are you training for next? 
At this point I am not really too sure about the next big race, though I am thinking possibly about the time trial at the Nationals. Apart from just riding a road bike, I also ride for my school Human Powered Vehicle team (a recumbent trike inside a fairing/shell), and there is a 24hour race in November that features heavily on my calendar, and is a big priority.

Well, congratulations once again Bryce on being the U17B Aggregate Series winner, and thanks for the chat.