Dad Chris is one of the top cyclists in West Yorkshire. He has consistently won key races during his career and is well-known in the local area.

Now Paul is following suit – his dad acting as mentor and coach and having guided his son to numerous titles in the past six years.

Paul says his dad is his role model and now hopes to fulfil his ultimate dream of making it into the Olympic team for London 2012.

"My cycling role model is probably my dad having seen him win a lot of races over the years," said Paul.

"My dad did well at a young age and won a prestigious junior championship at the age of 16.

"I want to take part at London 2012 but I know it will be tough to just do that.

"Most of my mates who take part in cyclo-cross want to be in London in 2012 so even in West Yorkshire, the competition is high."

Cycling is a sport which attracted much media coverage during the Olympics in Beijing when the Great Britain team won a record eight gold medals, along with four silver and two bronze.

Paul is delighted at how cycling has evolved over the past few months.
"I just hope it keeps growing," said 16-year-old.

"It is mainly down to the Olympics which has brought worldwide publicity to the sport.

"People who wouldn't normally watch the sport saw it and became interested in it as the GB team got better and better.

"It's good and it's a good sign because people are inspired by what they see at the Olympics."

Paul's next aim is the National Championships which are in Bradford in January and he is aiming to win it.

He has worked hard for the event having still got the memory of last year's disappointment hanging over him.

"The season has just started for me but my concentration is on the National Championships in January which are held in Bradford," he said.

"I'm aiming to win this event this year.

"It's a good competition and last year I finished fourth but I've moved up a year group and I know all my opponents and I'm ready to win.

"I've done lot of work for this as last year I was suffering from a cold and sore throat and did remarkably well to finish fourth."

Lloyds TSB have funded Keighley-born Paul through their Local Heroes Programme along with a large number of young athletes all over the country. Paul is grateful for the support Lloyds TSB have given him.

"They've been good to me with the amount of money they have invested in me as it has enhanced my experience," he said.

"They have paid for accommodation for me when I have had to stay overnight in some places for races along with paying bike parts which can cost a lot of money depending on what sort of part it is.

"When they have paid for accommodation they have been for big races such as national series in Ipswich, Wales and Devon."

Paul was ranked third overall in the most recent cyclo-cross season.
However, despite his enthusiasm for cycling Paul is making sure he has something to fall back onto after finishing the professional career in cycling he plans to have.

"I want to be a professional cyclist but I need something to fall back onto if I don't make it or for when I retire from being professional," he said.

"In the last few weeks I have started a joinery and carpentry course at Park Lane College in Keighley.

"Both these areas are good to have the qualifications in because people can potentially make a lot of money because there are not many about.

"You can also choose your own hours and choose the jobs you want to do if you work for yourself. I need to have a back-up plan and joinery and carpentry is it."

Training is a key aspect of nearly every sport and cycling is no different as Paul trains nearly every day of the week to achieve his dreams.

"It's a tough schedule," said Paul.

"I train every other day and it is a mixture of being easy and hard depending on what we are doing.

"We do not always go on the bikes, quite a lot of the time we do some running which builds up fitness levels.

"Usually every training session is two hours long at some good facilities which are either the Marley Sports Centre in Keighley or Odsal Stadium where the Bradford Bulls play.

"There is a cycling track behind Odsal which we use and it is quite good.

"If we don't use Odsal we just use normal roads which can be good fun.

"There is always someone to train with because cycling is a popular sport in Keighley."

Cycling is a fast evolving sport with new people getting involved all the time – the GB cycling team is currently backed by significant Lottery funding.

And Paul urges anybody thinking of starting to just do it.
"Get involved!" he added.

"If you start cycling you will enjoy it and if you start doing well in races you will enjoy it even further."