Smithfield Nocturne & Team Series

Saturday Night
Smithfield Nocturne! This was amazing, i loved it. There was a great atmosphere there with loads of races going on including folding bike races, which were hilarious! The weather held out too, and so the crowds slowly grew and there were plenty of people watching our race.
The course was quite technical in places, with a couple of dodgy corners (which i wasn't very good at!) but apart from that it was pretty good and tough with the uphill drag.

I made sure i was on the front row of the start line, battling a bit in the warm up lap behind the car, but i wanted to stay out of any trouble as we headed down the straight into the first couple of corners. The pace was high and stayed high, with quite a few attacks and the group split pretty soon, and then split again after some more attacks. I don't know how i managed it, but i was in the front group of 7, and i didn't have a clue at this point when and where we lost the rest of the bunch, but i was just concentrating on staying near the front!

The pace stayed high even though we were clearly not going to be caught, and there were many more attacks, and i managed to ride straight off the front but i knew i couldnt do it alone until the end (very strong girls!) so i allowed myself to be caught. We lapped the group before the half way point and almost again before the end, so it was a real buzz. Coming into the finish, i was sat in 7th, and not wanting to come last in the group. I got past two of the girls before the line though, and was happy with the attempt at sprinting, although i know it can be A LOT better!

Smithfield was brilliant though, and after doing Stoke on Trent two days ago, i definitely want to be doing more racing like this! It was tough and really sorted everyone out, not like Sunday's race...



Sunday
After the Nocturne, we stayed to watch some of the men's race, but then had to drive the 2 hours up to Stratford Upon Avon for a Team Series in the morning, and 9.30am! We arrived at 12am, after stopping at the spar to hunt for the some breakfast, because Dad didn't tell me we weren't having any at the travelodge, & i love those breakfasts! :( Anyway, i got a bit of sleep and then we were up at 7 to drive over to the race.

FLAT. yes, the entire race was flat, very very flat and boring. 70 women started and 68 women finished in the bunch, brilliant! And it was difficult to hold position throughout, because of people moving up around the outside of the bunch so often, but i tested my legs on the first prime coming over in about 6th, but oh gosh my legs weren't feeling so great after last night!
The race went on and we had a few dodgy moments, including meeting some horses and slamming on the brakes. As you may of guessed i wasn't overly amused by this race, but i still had to finish well. Coming into the last 2km, i was sat pretty far back and made some efforts at moving up and managed to come 15th, with some very tired legs afterwards.

Horizon Fitness GP @ Tour Series!

I was pretty excited about todays race, although a little nervous too mostly because of the really good field of riders, especially with all the Horizon girls out! It was properly sunny too, definitely tanning weather :)

We started the race with 5 laps behind the motorbike, and after being told not to attack during these laps we presumed it'd be steady ish too. BUT NO, i almost died on the first 5 laps, they were the most painful of the whole race!

The circuit was interesting though, half downhill half uphill, so it turned out to be a really tough and the pace never dropped either. As the pace was pretty high there were a few little attacks ( i think ) so the bunch kept splitting occasionally, but then coming back together again and ended up closing a couple of these gaps, not the best position to be in!

Anyway with not long left to go, Hannah Barnes attacked and then after she was pulled back Dani King countered it, leaving the bunch and going for the solo win. But we didn't give up too easily, a few of us tried to bridge but it was looking impossible.

With two to go, i'd managed to slip back through the group and it wasn't looking good for the finish. I decided the best thing to do was to move right up and have a go at an attack, although it failed it got me in a good position for the finish ( me not being much of a sprinter) and i came 11th :) and hopfully won some money, because it was mega painful!

Anyway i've now finished ALL my exams now!! and i'm off to London for the Smithfield Nocturne tomorrow which should be fun :)

Junior RR National Champs

The race was up north (Capernwray) and was planned to start at 9.30am on Sunday, so ofcourse, we had to go up the day before! Though it wasn't a bad thing, Dad and I went and road the course (in the sun!) so i could see what pain was to come and to have a go at the massive hill.



We arrived in the morning to find rain, lots of clouds and a small village hall hidden down the bottom of a hill, lovely! And then after the warm up i managed to puncture my tub (for the 3rd time in 3 weeks, not impressed!) so it was back to the training wheels for this race..

Anyway the race eventually got underway and after some dodgy stops and starts in the neutralized section it stopped raining! Everything pretty much stayed together for the most part of the first lap, until we hit the hill.. This is when the split happened and i wasn't best positioned on starting the hill and had to make a major effort to get back up to where i wanted to be. This hurt, alot! By the top I was sat with about 10 or so other riders and we tried to get back the front few, but this never happened.

Basically we stayed as a group for the next 4 and a half laps, gaining a few that had dropped off the front few but nothing much happened. I just focused on saving as much energy as possible, but that hill did hurt rather alot! Eventually we made it to the last time up the hill (finish at the top), & with 4 other juniors in the group and the 2nd and 3rd places still up for grabs i had to get on with it! The pace kept picking up and i just dug in and came round quite a few people in the last 100m or so to get 3rd Junior and 11th overall. And i'm not quite sure where all the energy came from but it helped!

I was dead happy with this result and didn't really expect it, so a pretty good weekend!

National 25 & a very eventful RR !

Saturday, National 25 TT, 2nd Junior Girl

Probably the hottest day of year.. again, and my start time was 12.24pm, so the hottest time of the day aswell and i was even in my new long sleeved skin suit. I was pretty sure i was going to absolutely boil by the time i even reached the start line!

The warm up had gone pretty well, so i was feeling good and positive for the entire 25 miles ahead of me. The course looked okay too, big long roads and not half as much traffic as the national 10. However, the first 5 miles was a killer, and i'm not even sure why. I passed the girl infront of me after about 3 miles or so, and then was passed by Barnes at around 10 or so miles, pretty gutted at that point, but i had to keep going. And so much for a tailwind, i don't think we had one at all and it wasn't as flat as it seemed in the car.. ahhhh i didn't really enjoy it to be honest! I did the best that i could though, and didn't have much more to give at the end, so i couldn't have asked for much more today. Hopefully i'll have a better 25 later in the season :)

Sunday, Team Series RR, Melbourne

So today the weather wasn't looking too good! Major thunderstorms last night which ended up keeping me awake for ages and then torrential rain on the way to the race. But luckily it'd dried up by the time we got there, (only an hour away for a change!) and i was looking forward to the hilly course (sort of) and hoping my legs were feeling better than yesterday. And the race was already looking interesting with a crash in the car park!

Anyway the race got underway after being briefed about how dangerous the course was looking today due to rain, soooo much gravel and rubbish on the roads! I loved the course, good hills and a proper scary descent, which everyone panicked about on the first lap and we all had some dodgy breaking going on, but no crashes so all good. But I think the bunch split pretty quickly, cutting down to about 30 riders, then about 20 after the next lap. Then i punctured! However it was over the finish line, so it was sorted pretty quickly and i was towed back onto the front bunch after some major downhill efforts, but i was back.

There was a few small attacks going on, but not much, just efforts over the tops of the hills which was pretty painful but we remained as a group. Then my chain got jammed between my frame and inner chainring, so i got off and was saved by the service car, that being the Rapha team. They got me going and i was towed back on, but had to do most of the effort back myself because of all the cars! but i got back.. again and just chilled at the back for a bit. Anyway, it really wasn't my day and the same thing happened again, so the Rapha guys sorted it again and for the 3rd time towed me back. But this time it took some major effort getting back on because the bunch was moving a lot faster, but i got it back and had to chill and recover for a bit before the hills kicked in again! So i was pretty tired by this point and a little pissed off too.

The last lap was tough, the finish was up a hill then up a 1km drag to the line. My legs didn't have much left, but the Rapha guys were proper shouting at me and i had a sudden rush of energy/determination. After getting up the hill last i passed about 5 people before the line to finish 15th, and i had to be happy with that.

To be honest the whole race was a bit of a blur with everything going on, but i didn't want to lose contact with the front group and made sure of that. It's weird how i did really enjoy it, but did really wanted it to be over with as soon as possible!

Anyway i've got exams for the rest of the week before national champs at the weekend, so i better get back to some revision really... :(

Barton marina triathlon qualifier for irc's (:

Got to Barton marina today and the sun was out WOOHOO :D Entered the water at 9.00 (750m swim) don't know why but i was sick at the start line :S however felt better after being sick (sorry for the detail). Had a good swim and good transition to bike. Got out of transition and this man held me up because he couldn't get his shoes on, wasn't happy! Bike felt OK, had a better bike this week than last week, not so much headwind. Back into transition, got trainers on pretty quick into a 5k run, by this time it was quite muggy and found the run harder this week. Overall was happy with how the race went and qualified for the inter regional championships in Bryn Bach (south wales) in September :)). I'm now looking forward to the Liverpool tri at the end of June. See you then ((:

Matt Fostun "Lincoln is flat, the divs will be well flat", How wrong is it possible to be?

East Mids Divs

Well from the title you can clearly see that I was in for a shock. Expecting it to be flat, I was really looking forward to it. But driving round the course with Mick before, what a mistake we had made! It was probably one of the hardest courses I've ridden on.


I got a bit carried away at the start because I felt quite good, so on the first lap we were going down this hill and I thought "I can go down hill faster than this", so went steaming off the front and round a nice tight corner, then as I headed up the hill, was joined by Dave Clark (who went on to win it, with a massive lead over everyone else, *coughmotorinhisbikecough*). I then sat in for most of the race, due to it being real hard and on every downhill was spinning out, but quite shocked myself with my climbing, managing to roll off the front with Clarkie a few times up the finishing climb, where you needed you ice axe to get up, it was pretty steep!

I then started to suffer with the heat and climbs and had to sit in, trying to save as much as possible, missing out on the last two chase moves. I attempted to go across to the second chase group and made good head way, until I hit the head wind and full on found reverse! So then sat in and saved everything for the last time up the climb and the finish. I rolled nicely on the wheels and was second wheel as we hit the steep part of the climb with 500m to go, so put in a massive attack and gassed it up, pulling my mate, Tom Lowe, away, he came round me at the top, I was really suffering and didn't think I was going to be able to come round him. Until I heard him give out a squeak as he started to park up! So jumped him and finished 17th and first junior (even though I think there was only one other). Fairly happy with that considering the course, heat and the massive spinning out. Cannot wait for next years now!

Thursday Mallory 27th May

Well, my legs felt pretty rubbish to say the least! There were less of the local elites and 1st in the race, due to the Tour Series being on. Which made it a pretty open race and therefore FAST! I did a few attacks early on, but all they did was waste some effort and almost send me out the back! So I sat in for pretty much the rest of the race, knowing that I didn't have the legs to attack, and just saved everything for the sprint. A break of 5 got up the road, but it never really looked liked it was staying away, due to the wind and how early it went. So sat in, rolled threw a few times to help bring it back, got in little chase group with James Cambridge, which was far too hard! Matt was looking pretty strong and with 5 to go jumped across to the break! What a beast! And then got straight to smashing it on the front! Giving me even more of an excuse to sit in, muhahaha. But the break split and Matt came back with 2 to go. There was only 3 left up the road now, with about 10 secs, I was positioning myself now for the sprint and with half a lap to go, Matt saw that I was 4th wheel, so he got on the front and drove it, trying to catch the rest of the break. As we hit the hill I just gave it everything and caught everyone in the break, winning the bunch sprint and finishing 2nd :D Only about a bike length of the winner! So really happy with that ride. Nice £20 in the bank as well.

Not much racing for June, due to my A-levels, So may not be posting for a while, because of revision. Speaking of which, I best get down to some more!

Scotland!

Straight after my Maths and Physics exams (so awful!) on Thursday me and mum had to trek all the way up to Dumfries, Scotland for a weekend of racing. My first race was on the Friday night, a town centre crit in Dumfries, and the circuit was dead good, pretty short but had a good uphill drag of cobbles through the finish area!

I knew it was going to be a fast race, with it being only 30mins and 2 laps so i was well warmed up and did a few laps round the circuit before lining up for the start. But OH WAIT, they suddenly decided they'd gear check all the juniors and whilst this happened move the rest of the bunch to the start line, so we'd end up at the back. It was already past start time and then they gridded us aswell, taking about another 10minutes and we were all pretty fed up!

Anyway, the race got underway and i got a good start and just rolled around the top 5 or so for the first 10laps. There were quite a few attacks in this time because just as soon as the pace dropped another went, but they were all shortlived and just kept the pace high. After 10 mins the first prime came & i rolled over in 6th or so, and then attacked on the following lap. I kicked just after the finish line going up the cobbles and just kept the pace on as much as i could not looking back. However the next time i looked back, no one was there, at all! I was pretty confused because i didn't expect to be able to get away from that group especially with the pace of the first few laps. I managed to stay away through the second prime and up until 4 laps to go, where there was an attack from the group and they got me back. I ended up in 7th in the end, but it's my best result yet in the National series, so i was happy with it :) and i got some funny scottish money for it too!

My next race wasn't until Sunday morning, so on Saturday i went out and rode the course, which wasn't exactly flat! and got back just before rained.. ALOT. I then spent the rest of the day revising, definitely not fun and then the highlight of my day was probably watching BGT.. hm OH I NEED TO GET OUT MORE.

Sunday morning = sun and no more rain, perfect! Today we were starting the race at the same place as the Premier Calender, so it was pretty busy! Loads of photographers and random people with camera's filming us on our rollers, crazy. Anyway, apparently our race had been lengthened my 10miles, which at the time i wasn't too bothered about..

The first lap was club run pace, with a few attacks but nothing major. Then coming through the roundabout onto the second lap a car pulled straight out in front of the bunch, just as an attack was getting underway. This resulted in the bunch splitting, we tried to chase it back, but it was just before the long drag that i happened. In the end there was a bunch of 5 of us, working through and off, which was a little unfair down the hills with me and Hannah Walker on junior gears having to make a major effort to come through! But this was honestly the toughest race i have ever ever done, i have never felt so much pain! Plently of hills, and a constant headwind on the 18 mile circuit.

Coming into the finish though, i actually managed a half decent sprint for a change, Hannah just getting me on the line, but we were both pretty determined to leave the scottish women behind due to the lack of work being done in the last few miles!
...I was now about dead and ready for ALOT of food, but no more sugar.. i'd been surviving on jelly babies and SIS for the last 2.5 hours, ew.