Banbury Star Road Race (part of the Women’s team series)

I can easily say that this course was rather enjoyable until….the hill Then it’s a completely different story! The pace within the bunch was fast from the go, but a pace that I was comfortable riding at. I stayed within the top third of the bunch and ensured I was in the top 5 going into a sharp corner at the bottom of the hill. All too soon we arrived at the start of the hill which was definitely going to be a defining section of the race. The hill was long and steep - could be considered an understatement! I was able to ride within the main bunch for the first half of the hill but then my legs completely died and I crawled up the rest of the hill, unfortunately losing sight of the main group. I recovered relatively quickly after the hill and I managed to catch a group of about 15 with two of my teammates, Sophie and Frankie. The race was 3 laps of the circuit and so we still had to go up the hill another 2 times! Considering that I had struggled sooo much the first time when it would be considered I was relatively “fresh”- the next 2 times were a nightmare for me. Anyhow, I ploughed through it and finished 3^rd within our group at the sprint at the end. I’m not going to deny that I was extremely glad when the race was over- it completely shattered me!

Thanks Huw for the photo :)