Jamie Staff Eager to Race Again

 

Interview by British Cycling's Larry Hickmott

 

>> Back to the 2005 UCI World Track Championship Home Page

 

 

A rider we haven't see a lot of since the Athens Olympics is Jamie Staff but here he is in LA and in storming form. After the birthday celebrations at dinner last night and before the BBC requested his presence, I sat down with Jamie in the hotel restaurant to talk about how life has been for the father to be. One of the things Jamie has had to fight in the last year or so has been the mental fatigue of being away from home and beautiful wife. So the most pressing question when I sat him down was -- how is the form, mentally and physically Jamie?

Jamie replied "the mental is awesome. I have had a really good break and cleared my head. I didn't think about riding the bike or racing for quite a while and it wasn't until I came here (LA) and watched the World Cup that it inspired me to get back on the bike again. After I started training and things took off really well, I was soon enjoying it. There were aspects of the preparation I still struggled with mentally like the gym so I stopped doing that two months ago and instead of doing the stuff in the gym, I transferred it over to the bike. I was like doing a lot of up hill stuff on my road and BMX bikes and also started going to the local BMX track. I remembered when I first came over from BMX I felt when I stopped doing BMX, I lost some things on the track. Like in standing starts, in the second quarter, I used to have really good pickup and I kind of lost that when I stopped doing BMX. So I have started doing a lot more training on the BMX bike prior to this race."

"So in general my head is good, I'm excited and eager to race again and its full steam ahead".

Good news indeed for a rider who has won two world titles in two years (Team Sprint 2002 and Keirin 2004) and everyone who loves watching this guy race. Asked if he had been on the verge of giving up after the disappointments in Athens, he says "I had considered it, yeah. I didn't though make any hasty decisions because I knew myself that I have been going to quit racing for the last twelve years so I knew I needed space and time and Shane was awesome in giving me that. I think he knew I would come back."

Having come so close to giving up, why come back I asked? "I just love racing" was the simple answer. "Obviously I was devastated after the Olympics and so I went on vacation with my wife and had a really good time after having been apart for almost a year. So that was great spending time with her, and I came back here and was doing other things. I was helping a friend in his workshop and making things and having fun. I made my wife a vanity thing for home and I think its good and healthy to take a break. A lot of people in professional jobs can't always walk away and come back when they feel like it but as an athlete you have that option sometimes."

Luckily, British Cycling backed me and allowed me that space and time. Now I am really excited about the future".

Asked did he manage to keep fit during his break, he says with a wry smile "No, I slumped pretty bad!" "I didn't put any weight on so it was pretty good at first. I was coming home and getting a six pack of beer out and watching TV and living the dream. I lost nearly a stone but that was mainly muscle. I was in the gym a little bit and on the treadmill and trying to do different things to try and keep my general fitness. That included sweating at work a little bit but fitness wise I did slump. I went out riding with a friend of mine on a mountain bike and he's a complete novice and he was keeping up with me easy! I remember one hill which I went up there or four times and I was out of breath and I thought this is ridiculous. So that kind of helped me get back on the bike again. I missed that ability to just go out and ride really hard. It was frustrating going out and not being able to race up a hill you know you can. I felt like a normal person and I don't like it!"

When Jamie came back into training in the new year, he knew mentally it was going to be tough. "I didn't have a clock on the track and it was only occasionally towards the end I said to Roger Young who was working with me, can you time this and that and I knew my times were slow and I was unfit, but I also knew I would bounce back. I always have from injury or whatever. You never lose it really --- it would take a long time to lose it. We didn't panic and plotted the progress for the two months I had. There were good weeks and bad weeks. Some days I would come here and I was useless and even after a warm up I was struggling . I'd go home disheartened, shrug it off, have a couple of days off and start again. I didn't let it get to me. It was a challenge and I like challenges."

Talking about how he managed to do this away from the GB setup in Manchester, he says, "all my BMX life I did things independently, did my own training, and I knew I could train over here. If it hadn't of been for the track, it would have been different and I would have struggled and the training would have had to have been completely different. So having this track in LA was ideal. It wasn't too far from home taking about an hour and a half to get here which meant there was three hours of travel and three hours on the track which made it a long day."

"I have everything I need close at hand. Good gyms, the road riding down San Diego is really good and there are a lot of guys I can go out for a group ride with and having done it in BMX, I knew how to train myself. I didn't need anyone to push me as I can do that myself. The support is there as well. If I need to talk to someone, they were there for me and I know doctors here that can help me out."



Above: Jamie practices his starting technique yesterday.

One of the interesting things is that Jamie has been brought into man one position so I asked how he felt riding in that. "My starts have really come on well after I bought a weights vest because Chris and Craig used one and that brought them good results. So I went out and bought one and even though I have only used it four or five times, I found that really helpful. And as I said earlier, I had got the GT BMX bike out and went down to the local track with some friends and was actually beating some of them some days. Dale Holmes and Kelvin Batey the other English kid, -- I was flying. There is even a real possibility I might do some BMX races this year because now the track is a winter sport, it allows me to do some BMX in the summer."

"Talking about the break, he says he could have fought through the fatigue he felt but I don't think I would be where I am right now. Sometimes the hill is too steep and you have to stop and come back to it at a different time and I have."

Talking more about riding off at Man 1 and the times he has been doing, he says "I'm shocked actually. The first time they got the clock on me I was like, oh god, are you sure. The last time I had done a timed lap was with Roger on spoked wheels and it was 18.8. To come out and do anything sub 18 is pretty good and I was doing around 17.7 which was awesome. I had done repetitive efforts after that and they were all in that ball park (within a tenth) so that was really encouraging and I feel on the night I can step up on the night and produce something even better as competition always seems to get something more out of me. So its quite exciting and I'm anxious to get on the track and come out and lead the team. It also shows my training had been working which is good."

Even better though for the big man is that there's a new Staff on the way. Talking about impending fatherhood, he says "I know its going to change my life drastically so I'm getting in all the sleep in I can here! I'm really excited about it as I have wanted to be a father for a long time and my career has been in the way I guess for a while. Now the Olympics are out of the way, I have a few years to establish a family and get things organised. It has motivated me and I have said to myself I really want to see my child watch me race at the next Olympics -- that would be fantastic. Obviously riding Beijing comes down to my physical ability letting me and providing I can stay fresh and focused, and my body is willing to keep pace, I'll be there in Beijing with wife and child."

"My wife has unfortunately struggled a little bit through the pregnancy which most women do, the sickness and headaches, and then she went and broke her foot on top of that but other than that, she's fine. The foot is blessing as its made her rest so she's good. She's into the fifth month and the belly is getting bigger. Its pretty exciting and we have a second ultra sound in a couple of weeks.

Unlike anyone else in the GB team, Jamie living in the states has been able to use the LA track for his training. "I have trained here for the last couple of months" he told me "and for the most part its similar. It does throw you out of the turn pretty good but you have long straights and the finish line is a long way down so the Sprint and Keirin will be interesting. Where you choose to make your move from, I am still playing that by ear really. I definitely feel I have an advantage being on home turf and I have some family coming to see it which is good. I also have a few BMXer's coming out to watch which will be pretty cool. They're excited about too as they haven't seen it yet.

And was Jamie still up for the Keirin I asked? "I won the World championships last year and I really wanted to put more focus on the match sprint because I haven't won that yet" he says. "I wanted to focus on that although there has been a limited amount of training that I can do. My fitness is pretty good and I have good speed so hopefully I can withstand the racing over the four days, We have the Team Sprint on the first day which is fine with me as that's not going to take too much out of me doing two first laps. Then we have the Kierin the next day. I'll be fresh for that and hopefully I can be fresh for the Sprint as well. If I am, I'll be all for it and hoping I can get a medal. I think I have one or two medals at World Cup level and hopefully I can step it up a bit this year in the match sprint."

Talking about the work he has done to get to where he is, Jamie explained "I have been doing a lot of start work and long distance work behind the motorbike, kind of keirin work I call it. I have also been doing some sprints on my BMX bike and that's pretty high rpm. I'm quietly confident but we'll see."

As for the future, he says, I'm going to make the most of my racing before the baby is due and then after that I think it will be hectic for a month a two when I'll have to put cycling on the back burner a bit. Next year I'd like to do quite a bit. We have the Commonwealth Games and I'm excited about Melbourne and looking forward to that. I love Australia and look forward to racing there. I just love the big events."
Speaking of the Commonwealths, I said to him that Ryan Bayley was quoted in the press that the Brits were mainly good against the watch and not against the man. Jamie however doesn't agree saying "bring it on, I'll be head butting my way to the finish line. It may have been like that in the past but we have some youngsters who like to race and I am all about one on one action. Head banging, elbows, I love it. As far I am concerned, its not rough enough out there. Its all good fun though".

So there you have it. The double world track champion and a world BMX champion as well, is going to carry on to Beijing all being well. "That's where I have my sights right now" he says. "I'll be 35 but I think I can do it. I've been racing for 26 years which is quite a while and ideally, I would love to do both BMX and Track."

Asked if he missed being involved in the team at Manchester, Jamie replied "it was good being around Chris, Craig, Jason and Ross and sure, I miss that, but my wife is the most important thing and keeps me happy. I have proved that I don't have to be with them to train".



The boys are back together and discuss their last effort on the track ...

Jamie then went on to add that just because he's riding in Man 1 that no-one should write off Craig Maclean who he says just needs a break like he's had. Jamie said Craig was a huge talent and the 'team' was getting better and better. "I still think we are four man team man team sprint and now any one of us can step up and do any position. Even Jason has showed he can do fabulous starts nowadays so we have a lot of depth."

Jamie though is a BMX'er through and through and its in BMX that he sees his future. "My goal is I definitely want to be part of the BMX in some form. Ideally I would like to come in as a rider with Dale (Holmes) and we're both very interested in carrying on racing and helping to bring up the young kids. I see my role as coming in as a rider and then transferring to a coaching position. Hopefully, now BMX is an Olympic sport, we can start stepping it up a bit. BMX in England has always been a social thing and the racing has come second and they need to get refocused and get more serious about it. You can make a good career out of cycling and the kids need to realise that. I will admit a lot of BMXer's in England are flat lazy and can't be bothered to train hard. They don't know what it takes. Hopefully me and Dale can motivate some kids out there and get them up to scratch. As a nation in BMX, we are way behind. We have Shanese luckily and I think she will go on and be phenomenal in Beijing. Maybe even the track too."

All in all, I left the table after talking to Jamie much happier knowing that our sprint team is not about to break up. All of them have the talent to go all the way to Beijing at which time, hopefully, the younger riders coming through will be ready to take over. In the meantime, it will certainly be great to see Jamie and the team taking on the World. Who knows, tonight, these three riders who are all hungry for more success may yet again step up on to the top step of the podium. It would certainly be an awesome way for Jamie and the boys to come back after what happened in Athens. Sure, mistakes were made and lessons learnt but the GB Team Sprint has been right up there for a long time and long may they reign! Good luck Jamie and all the best to his wife and child to be.



Jamie plays up to the camera seeing me taking pictures.