Saturday 1^st March- San Fairy Ann CC Spring Crit 1

Today I had my first women’s only race of the year and also the first time racing at the Cyclopark circuit in Kent. There was quite a strong line-up of 30 women entered for this race so I was feeling a mix of emotions on the car journey there, excited and slightly nervous as well! There was no need for me to be nervous though as when the race started I felt the pace was comfortable for me and I had no problems at any point in the race. As I expected, a number of the stronger riders attacked up the hill but they were all pulled back into the group. Towards the end of the race things were getting a bit confusing as we were riding at the same time as the 4^th cat race and they had split into 3 groups. With one particular group travelling round the circuit at the same speed as us, so a lot of overtaking and being overtaken! On the last lap some of us at the front of the group mutually decided to slow down the pace a bit so that the 4^th cat group got out of the way so we could have a proper sprint the next lap. But then one woman attacked off the front of the group, lots of the other women in the group shouted for her to slow down as we were supposed to be distancing ourselves from the men. We were all unaware though that she was actually a lapped rider, so we sprinted off oblivious to this to catch her. We were unsuccessful in our pursuit though as she was towed round the lap by the men’s group. I finished 5th/30 in a chaotic bunch sprint finish. Overall, I'd say that my performance in this race was quite encouraging for the main races later in the year. Next weekend lets hope that the finish isn't as confusing and so the pace on the last few laps is higher which would suit me better in the lead up to the sprint.