Essex Giro 2 Day- part of the National Women’s road race series

Unfortunately, my lead up to this race wasn’t what it normally was leading up to a major event, as the crash the week before meant I had over a week off the bike. Anyway, I went into the weekend with a positive attitude, excited for a tough weekend of racing with my teammates! J

The first stage was a 2 lap TT of the Redbridge circuit, which I found particularly difficult to pace myself as I had to go up the major hill 2 times. I started off well, but in hindsight I went too fast in the flatter sections. This meant that I had little energy left to go up the hill and so I lost a lot of time there. Not a good result in the TT, but I put it behind me and looked forward to the next stage as it would suit me better.

By the second stage, the sun was out and it was extremely hot!! I therefore had to ensure that I kept on drinking water constantly to make sure I didn’t get dehydrated before the race had even started! The race was really tough because of the hot conditions, but it was going well for me, sitting in the middle of the bunch, until I had some mechanical problems with my bike; my chain jammed solid so I couldn’t pedal! This happened twice and both times I had to quickly sort out the problem and chase on. I was successful chasing on, but the next lap there was a sudden increase of pace up the hill, which I was unable to keep up with because I’d used too much energy chasing back on and hadn’t fully recovered. I also made the mistake of being on a wheel of a rider who was dropping off and I didn’t have the energy to get around her. I then rode round the rest of the race at a steady pace, catching up with other people who had dropped off and then dropping them myself. Exhausted after the race and rather annoyed that mechanical issues hindered me.

The third stage was a 75 mile road race with a 7 mile neutralised section before that! So a very long race, the longest I’ve ever done by quite a distance and it was made even harder as it was a rather hilly course as well! The weather was completely contrasting to the day before, horribly rainy and it had caused flooding across the whole road at some sections. The race was fast from the start, and for the first lap of 4, I maintained a very good position within the bunch, always in the top 10, so having quite an active start of the race. For the next laps, I settled within the middle to front of the group, constantly finding that each hill and the race distance was really getting to my legs. The main group was certainly being whittled down, so with 1 lap to go there were just over 30 of us left. On the hill up to the finish line with 1 lap to go, my legs were sooo tired so I dropped off the main group. However, on the flat section after the hill, I put a lot of effort in and I managed to chase back onto the group; I then stayed comfortably in the group for the rest of the lap. In the sprint up the hill at the end, I had nothing left so I finished last in the main group, 32^nd. However I am really pleased to have lasted 75 miles in the main group on a tough circuit in horrible conditions! 

Oakley Village Women’s Team Series Race

Today’s race was another round in the Women’s Team Series and it was a 51 mile race on a flat course which I knew would suit me very well. I made the mistake of having my tyres pumped to 120psi which certainly made it more difficult going round the bends once it started pouring down with rain.  The race started off very well for me, I found the race pace very comfortable and I spent most of the time in the top 15 in the main group. The weather conditions however completely disrupted the race, the torrential rain made riding in the group very sketchy and gave the 2 riders off the front even more chance to stay away. I still maintained my good positioning within the group but unfortunately my race ended abruptly when I fell heavily off my bike. As there was lots of running water on the circuit, I couldn’t see  quite a big pothole and therefore went straight into it at about 27mph! Because I hit the pothole with such force my hands went straight off my bars as they were wet and slippery. I was therefore thrown headfirst over my bike and onto the road, landing rather heavily, and then sliding because it was so wet. Thankfully though no broken bones, but the usual road rash, bad cuts and bruises. The 70 or so riders behind me in the group somehow managed to avoid me, so my crash could have been a lot worse. This was the end of my race as my bike had quite a lot of damage and I hit my knee very nastily so it had swollen up and was very bruised with a nasty cut which needed attention. Overall, it was not the best turn out for me today, and very disappointed. However, well done to the Bike Pure girls for a team win!! J

Just before the rain!

Win at Hillingdon Women’s Race 25^th June

There was a decent turnout of 8 women for today’s race which overall was a well paced race with a number of attacks making it a quite interesting. I went on 2 attacks with Annabel, though neither of these stuck. Towards the end of the race, I rested within the group in order to get myself ready for the sprint finish. Jasmijn attacked up the hill on the last lap, with Annabel and me joining her. Annabel overtook Jasmijn, giving me a lead out on the final bend and I sprinted to win. Very happy to take the win with a strong sprint, and Annabel taking second J