This year has already been quite a year for me having made my international track debut at the Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles in February. Looking back, I have to say it was a very tough and emotional time for me, with my dad falling seriously ill before I went out to LA and then unfortunately passing away the day before I raced in the final of the three kilometres pursuit.

I was very close to my dad and I know he wanted me to go to LA and bring back "that gold" for him as he knew just how much hard work I had put in over the last 18 months, and just how much I wanted to become world champion.

Going into LA I had two main goals that my coach [Neil Smith] and I had set out for us to achieve: to win both the Kilo and 3km pursuit. I knew a few weeks before we flew to LA that I was in good shape for the 3km pursuit but really didn't know if my mind was going to perform as well as my body, with my family issues getting progressively worse every week.

However, my performance in the pursuit went according to plan and I know my coach was very happy with how I coped and performed on the day of the race. I was expecting to go quickly in qualifying but never expected to catch and pass Michael Teuber of Germany, the world record holder, as quickly as I did. I guess this was an unexpected experience for me, which I felt I dealt with very calmly and professionally, and kept pushing hard to gain a quick time to qualify for the final.

After qualifying, I did actually have a few small issues while trying to get to the 3km pursuit final, such as another nation protesting against my disability, which I felt might happen due to my very fast improvement over the winter. But once my classification as a C1 rider was confirmed by the International Cycling Union (UCI), I was able to go into the final with my head held high and focused 100 per cent on my job at hand - becoming a world champion. And in the final I did just that, catching and passing Juan Jose Mendez Fernandez of Spain (pictured below) after just six laps out of 12 to claim my first World Championship gold medal and rainbow jersey.


The second task was to win the Kilo but, unfortunately, I missed out on the sprint discipline by just 0.278sec. And while I was disappointed not to win gold, considering that my training programme going into LA was mainly pursuit-based, I was happy with a four-second personal best time and coming away with gold and silver medals from my first Track World Championships.

My dream of becoming a world champion in para-cycling started two years ago when I first started to cycle again after my near-fatal paragliding accident. Having raced in triathlons for a few years, albeit as a hobby, I knew just how fit and fast I could become on the bike – it was just a matter of time and lots of hard work. So to now be able to say that I have achieved one of my goals makes me very proud of how far I have come - in such a short space of time.

The experience of racing for Team GB in a Track World Championships was like nothing else I have ever experienced in cycling. The adrenaline buzz that you get when that gun goes on the start line... and then it's just you, the track and the clock to decide who takes the win.

Moving forward to London, I know that if I want to achieve all my goals then I have to mix up my training almost like a decathlete. I have to increase my sprint workload to help me with the Kilo race; I also need to become faster and stronger at the pursuit as this will help me with my speed for the road time-trial race. I enjoy the challenge of the different disciplines and having gained experience of two major world competitions I now know how my body copes with racing back-to-back on the track and the road. This means I can adapt my training to cope with the demands of performing in a short space of time to win those gold medals. Being a Podium-Funded athlete since winning gold in LA, I now get the chance to access the best sporting facilities for my para-cycling career – absolutely essential moving forward and certainly for the preparations for the London 2012 Paralympics.


Currently I am in an endurance phase of my training block, whereby I train heavily every week on the road and spend time in the gym doing strength work. My training is going very well after a mixture of road and time-trial sessions in Mallorca last month so, when I start back on the track next month, I am really excited to see exactly how far I have come in one year since I joined the GB Para-Cycling team in June 2011. Training in a warm-weather climate for me is essential for my preparations and health. As a spine-injured athlete, I can't naturally regulate my body temperature, which means that my body and muscles almost shut down in cold weather. This has been a major factor in my training plan with my coach, and we intend to utilise the warm-weather camps in Spain and Italy for our preparations for London.

Before London, though, I will be riding in Para-Cycling World Cup races in Italy in May and Spain in June. I then move back onto the track and time-trial phase full time for my run-up to London 2012.

Besides training, I will be promoting and talking about Pedal Power at various private functions in Cardiff. Pedal Power (pictured above) is a charity which helps to encourage people of all ages onto the bike and for which I am an official patron. Cycling is not only a healthy way to exercise but also a way of helping to build people's confidence and social skills.

I am also planning to do more motivational talks and appearances to pass on my experiences, and hopefully inspire people to greater and better things. I regularly visit various organisations and businesses to give motivational talks, and visit schools to help children see what can be achieved in life even after having a life-changing experience. I felt that after my accident  I could maybe influence other people in my spare time to overcome adversity in a similar way to myself and maybe even help others to find a passion in life so they would not give up when times got hard.

So I hope that all the people who read this blog will be able to see what is achievable when you put your mind and body into something 100 per cent. I was told a long time ago that if you want your life to change then you have to change. So don't sit back and let the world pass you by. After all, "winners never quit and quitters never win!"

Mark Colbourne is the reigning world champion in the C1 3 kilometres pursuit and a major gold-medal contender at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The 42-year-old from Wales broke his back after a serious paragliding accident in May 2009; he took up cycling as part of rehabilitation and is now regarded as one of the best cyclists in the world. Visit Colbourne's Twitter page.