I’m hoping to hit the ground running after my falls

To be honest, the snow wasn't a problem but, once it began to thaw, the black ice came into
play. I ended up crashing twice and both times my front wheel buckled and I fell to the ground.

As you hit the road, the first thing you do is check that nothing's badly damaged.

You can end up with a broken wrist or a fractured collarbone after innocuous falls like that so the trick is to curl up in a ball and hope for the best. Thankfully, I was fine. I've certainly had worse crashes, I didn't lose any skin and was just left with a few bumps and bruises.

As I got up after the second time I fell, I noticed a car on its roof that had clearly had even more problems on the ice. It was then I thought maybe that wasn't a day to be cycling outdoors.

Despite that, I didn't even take Christmas Day off. Admittedly, that was a fairly leisurely ride to the pub with my dad and brother!

My dad's one of these super-fit guys while my brother's really coming on as a cyclist, so I found myself struggling to keep up with them rather than the other way around.

I had a good stint at home but I'm now in Spain for the team training camp and I've been pleasantly surprised with how everything is going. Basically, a three-hour training ride gives you plenty of time for lots of chat and I'm feeling good about the upcoming season.

The plan is for me to leave the camp about four days early to head to Beijing for my first
World Cup track race of 2011. I'll be competing in the omnium there and also at the World Cup event in Manchester.

The pressure's on in Team GB for me to prove I'm good enough to make it on to the team for the World Track Cycling Championships in Holland in March. It's quite a hectic schedule as I'll be going straight from there on to the road. Just six days after Holland, I'm aiming to race in the Tour of Flanders.

The speedy switch from track to road is basically a trial run to get me ready for London 2012 — in fact, everything I do right now is with the Olympics in mind. In London, I'm planning to do things in reverse — I'll do the road race followed by a switch to the track for the omnium.

As for which one I've got the best chance in at the Olympics, I really don't know. But I feel good in the omnium and the courses for both the World Road Race Championships in Copenhagen in September and next year's Olympic road race are flat and they should suit me.

At my new team, I'm classed as the No1 sprinter and with that comes pressure to get results. First off, I need to get more strength and power for the sprints to the line but also to have the aggression to fight other riders in the home straight.

On top of that, I need to learn to be savvier in the sprints. The change of team and the pressure of being their sprinter should do just that.

To find out more about Lizzie Armitstead, visit
www.mtc-uk.com