Wednesday 18^th June- Eelmore men’s race

In order to get some practice in for fast crit-style racing, I decided it would be a good idea to do the men’s race at Eelmore. It was a fast, tough race from the off, with an average of 27mph for the hour long race. I was very pleased to stay in the main bunch for the whole race. I kept myself well positioned in the bunch which certainly helped reduce the elastic effect from coming out of the 2 tight corners. This circuit is really good for practice at attacking out of the corners and therefore it has been a very good training race for me. As a bonus, I was second of the ladies with Lucy Chittenden winning and only Lucy and I finishing in the bunch with the men.

Surf n’ Turf 2 Day National Women’s Roads Series Race

The level and quality of riders entered for this round of the National Women’s Road Series, far exceeds any other race I’ve entered;  there were 2 Olympic Champions (Laura Trott and Dani King) and 1 Paralympic Champion (Sarah Storey) as well as other members of the GB Team Pursuit Team, Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker!!! As expected, this made the racing faster  and tougher and was a really great experience.

I really enjoyed the crit race, it was certainly fast from the go, but I felt comfortable riding in the main group. I even followed one of Katie Archibald’s attacks, maybe not the best idea as it took a few laps back inside the main group for me to recover from that effort. I was unfortunately rather unlucky in this race as I got stuck right behind a crash towards the end of the race. I had to break suddenly to a complete stop, immediately  behind it. I was therefore one of the last riders to get around the crash and begin chasing back to the main bunch. The bunch seemed soooo far ahead but I put in a really big effort and somehow managed to catch up the bunch after 2 laps of chasing. I was one of few who actually managed this, so I was very pleased with that. It took me a while to recover from this effort and there weren’t many laps to the end now; so I wasn’t in the best position (literally within the bunch and physically) to be as competitive as I would have liked in the final sprint. I managed a decent 26^th in the end which I’m very pleased about, because I was glad that I even made it back into the main group!

The road race the following day started off very fast from the go and there were lots of bends, twists and turns, so it didn’t help that I wasn’t in the best positon within the group. Due to being really tired after yesterday’s race, I unfortunately eventually dropped off and found myself with a group of 4 riders. We rode well together for the majority of the race but soon there were only 3 of us. After I recovered I did a lot of work on the front and found myself picking up the pace. I knew that Laura (in our group) was a couple of seconds ahead of me in the GC so I realised that it would be a good tactical move to drop Laura at some point so that I could move up a place in the GC. So with 6 miles to go I attacked just as Laura was finishing her turn up the drag hill. Laura dropped off our group so now there were only 2 of us. I then managed to win the sprint against the other woman at the end, so I came 1^st out of our group. It was definitely a tough and long race and so I was relieved when it was over! A really great weekend though racing against lots of top riders!

Wednesday 11^th June- Women’s race at Hillingdon

There was a better turnout than the last Wednesday night’s at Hillingdon, 9 women. Before the race, Annabel Fisher and I had a chat about trying to get away together on a break 30 minutes into the race. Until the point that we had planned the move, the race was steady, riding at a constant pace with no attacks. We attacked and stayed away for about a lap but the group behind us worked well to bring us back. I then rested in the middle of the group, recovering from the effort and to prepare for another  attack. Annabel attacked with 5 laps to go but unfortunately a rider got in the way so I couldn’t go with her without risking bringing the whole group with me. I therefore stayed in the middle of the group, conserving my energy, letting the others try to bring Annabel back. With 2.5 laps to go I realized that the gap was now bridgeable so I decided to attack in the trickier s-bend section of the circuit where I was very confident that I could break away quickly from the group. I managed to bridge the gap quickly. Great, with 2 laps to go Annabel and I were off the front. We worked well together and I just managed to outsprint Annabel at the end. Really pleased to get the win today. 

London Nocturne – Elite Women’s Criterium

Today we travelled to the centre of London for a fun action packed evening of racing at the Smithfield Markets. There were all sorts of races before my race, the Elite Women’s Criterium, such as a Penny Farthing race, “Boris bikes” races, folding bike races, track bike race, retro bike race etc. Lots of people had come out to watch and so the atmosphere was amazing. The course was rather bumpy and had lots of tight corners. Unfortunately, I was a few lines back at the start line and this really didn’t help as the race was so fast from the off! The whole time everyone was riding in single file as it was so fast, which made it hard to move up and so eventually the elastic band effect caused me to drop off the main group. Also, recently I have had a problem with my left knee and so kicking out of each corner was made painful and so I couldn’t put down as much power as I would have liked. I joined another group, just resting in the middle for a few laps in order to recover from the chaotic and tiring start. Eventually I recovered and moved up to the front of this group. In the end I managed to finish 3^rd in this group. Overall I’m really pleased I raced in this event, as it was such a great atmosphere. It was a tough race, but great experience!

Hillingdon Grand Prix (part of the National Women’s Road Series)

I was really looking forward to this race as I knew I was on good form and I’ve ridden the Hillingdon circuit so often that I know it suits me. The race was 47 laps; however the race was shortened slightly as one rider crashed midway in the race, after colliding with someone crossing the circuit. She was taken off in an ambulance and the race restarted shortly afterwards. Throughout the whole race I felt strong and comfortable riding consistently in at least the top third of the group. I went with a few attacks off the front, but I was mainly conserving my energy for the sprint at the end. I managed to get into a good position for the sprint and I came 8^th (2^nd junior). I’m really pleased with the result as it was a very good race for me and I managed to finish that off with the strong sprint at the end. 

 Hillingdon Wednesday Night Women’s race

For a change, there was a very small field of 5 women for today’s race, and as 3 of them rode for Bonito Squadra Corse, it made the race very different to usual. Throughout the race there were several attacks made by 2 of the Bonito Squadra Corse riders. I also made a couple of attacks, but neither of these stuck. One of the Bonito Squadra Corse riders managed to get away and stay away; their team worked well together tactically and had made me do a long turn on the front before one of them attacked, followed by another which was the one that stuck! It was impossible to work together as a group to catch the leading rider as her teammates kept on getting in the way and obviously wouldn’t do any work to help us catch her teammate. So this was very frustrating, however I’m pleased as I had a very strong sprint at the end which I won to come 2^nd overall. It was a very good training race, and hopefully setting me up nicely for the National Women’s RR on Sunday.

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 :)