Crit Racing 1 - The Milk Race & Peebles Tweedlove Crit

Last weekend I headed south to race in the reincarnation of the Milk Race, which was being run as a crit in Nottingham town centre. I was feeling pretty good about my form, having won the Ingliston Crit on the tuesday and come 3rd behind a very strong Natalie Milne and Katie Archibald on the Saturday. However this race was going to be at the next level with Olympic Champion Dani King racing as well as Olympian Lucy Martin and a number of other pro women from the Wiggle Honda and Boels Doleman squads.

Dani King,  Lucy Martin.. and me! Bit surreal..

We drove to Doncaster the night before, and it felt like a very long drive, not getting to the hotel till 8pm so I was very glad the race wasn't till 2:15 on the Sunday. We headed into Nottingham town centre hoping we would find somewhere to park the car, after a bit of driving in circles we eventually did. We had plenty of time so headed to the event village to have a look, my first thought was wow this is going to be a spectacle! There was so many people there, probably helped by the beautiful sunny weather and I couldn't wait to get racing in front of those crowds!

So after dealing with the strange sticky numbers that were just falling off and having a ceremonial sign on I warmed up and headed out for a few laps of the course. Even just going round in practice there was loads of people clapping and cheering, it was great! My luck was in as they stopped us for the start just as I was coming round to the start/finish line so I was right on the front row which was going to be important as there was almost 50 women entered and the tight technical course meant the race would probably split up quickly.

The pace was fast from the off and I found myself near the front at the slight rise before the start/finish straight which was probably going to force any splits in the bunch so I went to the front to push on a bit and catch out any people who had had bad starts. This meant I was on the front going over the finish line on the first lap and got my name announced! The crowds were insane, just so many people, but you kind of forgot about it because the course demanded so much attention. I kept up near the front of the bunch and was 3rd wheel going into the first sprint lap, I was in a good place but when Hannah Barnes decided to go for it.. wow no one was following that, the gap she got from one acceleration was insane! After that it was full on for a few laps as breaks tried to go, I found myself just not having the kick to get on the tails of people attacking and trying to work with people in the bunch to pull them back but there was so many teams it was hard to know who was going to help chase and who was going to just sit on the front and slow the bunch down. Eventually, about 30 minutes into the 50 minutes, Dani King was away on her own and there was a group of about 17 behind which I was in. At this point I started to loose my concentration, I was still feeling good but just kept slipping back in the bunch. It was really hot but I was struggling to find a good place to take a drink because it was just corner after corner after corner..

Eventually we hit 5 laps to go, I was glad I'm not gonna lie! I forced myself to concentrate and move up, I managed to get into 2nd wheel with 3 laps to go and was on the front with 2 laps to go before trying to get back into the line as Emma Trott upped the pace a bit. I was about 4th going into the last lap but just couldn't hold it going up the rise on the final lap as people attacked either side of me and I was just pushed wide going into the last corner and almost went into the barriers, I pushed as hard as I could going up to the finish line and finished in 11th, just behind Lucy Martin. I was pretty happy to be up in that select group but annoyed I'd messed up the finish, but it was much improved from other crits of that level I've done.

So after the mega drive home I was straight into another crit on Tuesday evening in Peebles, this was part of the tweedlove festival and because there was a family ride before the womens race there was again big crowds out to watch. After finishing 4th in this race last year and being extremely gutted watching the podium take place I was determined to do better this year. There was a small field, to say the least, with only 9 I think. The race was only 30 minutes and I decided to just put the pressure on from the start up the short but steep hill on the course and pushing on over the top of it into the finish straight for the first few laps meant Maddy Robinson and I established a bit of a lead but with Flora not far behind we had to work to open up the gap, which we did well. About 15 minutes in I squeezed it on again and got away on my own, from there on it was just about keeping the pressure on and once my sister finally started giving me time checks (she thought I was saying "climb" instead of "time"..) I knew I was away. I got into the last 3 laps with a good lead but kept pushing just because I was so worried about falling or puncturing or something! Finally I got my moment to put my arms in the air for the first time this year.. Its a good feeling!

On the attack in Peebles

Podium in Peebles

Think I need a bit more practice with the arms in the air thing..

Thanks to my sister for the photos at Peebles, theres loads more really good ones of the mens and womens race, as well as from other races on her flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96537773@N07/

 Full Results from the Milk Race are here: http://www.velouk.net/2013/05/27/result-brief-photos-milk-race-crits/

Thanks very much to the organisers of both races and all the spectators for coming to support them. Also a quick apology to my Geography teacher Mr Pyper, if the time spent travelling to and from the races had been spent studying instead I probably would have done much better in my exam on Thursday..

Next up I've got the Junior Boys Scottish Champs tomorrow, which I got a wee mention in the preview of which you can read here: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/scotland/article/20130531-scottish-cycling-news-Scottish-Junior-Road-Race-Championships-Preview-0
Then I'm off to Redditch on Tuesday to do the next round of the Johnson Health Tech GP Series and then to London on Saturday to do the London Nocturne and the next round of the British Series at Hillingdon on Sunday. Will try and do some short updates while I'm on the road!

Scottish Road Race Champs

Last weekend I headed north to the small town of Alford for the Scottish Road Race Champs. The race was going to be demanding to say the least. I'd seen a preview of the course which included an ascent of the famous climb "The Suie" - You can read about it on Owen Philipson's Blog here: http://www.owenphilipson.com/blog/2010/05/14/scottish-climbs-the-suie-aberdeenshire/

So after reading that I think it was safe to say I was a little nervous about the race. Hills aren't usually my strongest point so I was just hoping to make it to the bottom of the climb with the main bunch. The climb came in the last 12km of the 87km race which was already on fairly rolling roads to that point.

I had planned to pre ride a bit of the course the day before but I missed the dry part of the day and, call me soft, but the torrential rain didn't seem too clever to go out in, so a pre race ride on the rollers to get the travel out my legs sufficed. I did however have a drive round the course, including the hill, which just seemed to rise up like a wall, yup it was gonna live up to expectations for sure!

So finally race day was here and it was really warm! Unusual for the north of Scotland but not unwelcome at all. I got a good warm up done on the rollers before assembling with all the other women behind the pipe band and Youth D racers on the circuit in the Grampian Transport Museum. What followed was a rather entertaining ride around the circuit as we all followed the pipe band round at walking pace trying not to fall off our bikes! I think it added to the event however and I think it was good for all the youngsters to see what they should be aspiring to in a few years time.

After that we headed out onto the road for a short neutralised section before we were racing. We had one long circuit before we were onto the shorter circuit with the climb on it. The racing on the big circuit was on the whole a bit uneventful, there were some slopes on the far side which the Breast Cancer Care team tried to get away on, pinging one rider after another away off the front, but nothing was sticking. After that it was mainly rolling and downhill for quite a while and the bunch just rolled along, slowly. Infact so slowly that the men, who had started half an hour behind us, caught us up and we had to stop to let them past. After that we had a bit of a climb before we hit the road leading up to the Suie, up here Jen Taylor attacked and the bunch was strung out with riders trying to pull her back, I was really struggling at this point. I had been feeling so nervous and sick before the race I don't think I had eaten enough, and it was telling on my legs, but I took a gel and that got me home. There was nearly a group of 6 of us got away up one of the hills on the road up to the Suie but it didn't stick and again the bunch just rolled along. I think everyone just knew how hard the last hill was going to be so wanted to save something effectively.

The bunch rolling along.

The Suie in the car on the Saturday, this photo
doesn't really show how steep it was!

Then we hit the climb, pretty much immediately Jen Taylor and Julie Erskine rode off into the distance, seriously impressive riding from those two, I really wish I could climb like that! I tried to hold onto the wheels in front but was really really struggling, about half way up I was in 10th position, with everyone fairly spaced out, but going backwards. Luckily though Fiona Duncan came up beside me and offered a few words of encouragement, she paced me up the last bit of the climb, we managed to limit our losses and had the group of 6 in front of us insight. We pushed on down the descent and worked really well on the next part to make it up to the group in front. We were now competing for the final spot on the podium but my legs were seriously feeling it by now. Up the finishing straight and Eileen Roe went on the left hand side and I knew the sprint was about to start but it was just like screaming pain in my legs so I only managed 5th in our group and 7th overall. But wow was I happy with that. To finish that demanding a race in that company was really incredible, all the women in that group of 8 were super strong, no one could just hide away and get a free ride to the finish, you had to be strong to get there. So yeah it felt a bit like finishing a stage of the tour de france with the favourites. Buzzing, as Gavin would say.


Finishing in 7th meant I took the Junior Womens Title, and it was really nice to get presented with a jersey and medal with the other winners and receive a prize, because I feel sometimes people forget that junior women are having to compete with elite women from the moment they move out of youth categories and rarely is a junior prize awarded, so I would really like to thank the organiser for leading the way in that respect and putting on a great race. Also big congrats to Jen Taylor for taking the win in what I hear was a very close sprint with Julie Erskine. Thanks very much to Fiona Duncan for getting me up the last bit of the climb and working hard to get back on the group in front.

Medal Winners, me on the left with the jersey for Junior Womens Champion

Thanks for reading, next up I've got about 3 weeks of solid crit racing, which should be fun! Going to be racing some big names so will hopefully get my name up on the results sheet alongside theirs.

Cheshire Classic

Bit late with this post but just a wee update on how I got on at the 2nd round of the British Series, the Cheshire Classic, which took place last weekend. I travelled south with my mum and team mate Claire on Saturday and had a quick preride of the course, which included a hill named 'The Cliff' as you can imagine, it was pretty steep. It felt okay in practise but I knew after a few times up it, it was going to start to sting a bit.

So onto race day and we arrived at the HQ in plenty of time to get warmed up and ready for the start at 10. With a big field of 71 riders I knew I wanted to be at the front for the neutralised section, which was about 4km long before we hit the course for 10 laps of the 7.7km course. I was right on the lead car as it pulled away, which was perfect because it meant I didn't have to worry about holding my position or moving up or anything. Soon the lead car pulled away and we were off, I got in the wheels and just tried to move up into the top 10 for the hill every lap, which seemed to work because I would slide back a bit but only found myself at the back of the bunch once. I had one scary moment when there was a crash just in front of me going up the hill but I managed to get round it an chase back on.

After much pain every time up the hill it was finally the last lap, the finish was half way up the hill so there was technically still a bit to go but for some reason I just totally lost my racing mentality, I think I had been so focused on sticking in the bunch to the finish that I just forgot what to do at the finish of the race, so ended up way too far back to be competitive at all and came in 26th. I think I just need more experience of the finish of races in bunches but I'm sure it'll come with practise.

Congrats to Karla Boddy on a great win! There is a good wee video of the race on the website at http://www.cheshireclassic.co.uk

Thanks for reading, got a few quiet weekends before the Scottish Road Race Champs up in Aberdeen in 2 weeks time

Omloop Van Borsele - Holland

Last weekend I travelled to Holland for my first international Junior Womens stage race. The race was 3 stages over 3 days, a 13.2 km time trial and 2 72 km road stages. Because it was such a big race all the riders had to enter in teams, unfortunately I didn't have a team to enter with so we wrote to the organiser and he wrote to some dutch teams to ask if they would let me ride with them. Luckily some came back saying they would and I chose to ride with the RWC Ahoy team from Rotterdam.

So me and my mum set off on Thursday to get the ferry from Hull, this bit all went smoothly, the issues started when we got off the ferry in Belgium to get lost almost immediately. The Belgian road signs made things more difficult than they should've been but after a few detours and a tour of a town we didn't need to do we final made it into Holland. The drive seemed much easier after this and we made it to the place we were staying. Just as we were arriving a team car with RWC Ahoy written on it pulled up and I got my first chance to meet the girls I would be riding with for the weekend. They all seemed very nice and invited me to stay in their room with them. This was quite an experience, 6 of us in quite a small room with bunk beds, safe to say there wasn't much floor space.

Once we'd unpacked a bit and had lunch we headed down to the time trial course for a ride round it. It was pan flat, with a good tail wind section but then, obviously, a hard head wind section and some good corners. I was happy with how my bike felt and settled nicely into my tt bars. We rode back to the place we were staying and changed before getting in the van and heading to the start of the TT. I pretty much went straight to warm up because I only had half an hour till my start time. I headed to the start and soon I was at the top of the start ramp ready to go. I had the count down in dutch (vaguely understood) and I was off and immediately being battered by the cross winds, I tried to get the bike into as big a gear I could manage and just hold it. Soon I made the turn into the tail wind section and a quick glance at my garmin showed I was going at nearly 50 km/h, at the top of my junior gears, and I could see the team car behind the girl in front. I found a nice rhythm and held it down the turn before I was into the head wind and just trying to keep a high enough gear turning over. My legs were seriously hurting by now but I could still see the girl in front so I kept pushing. I didn't quite manage to catch her but I finished in a time of 21.02.22, which was 2.24.16 down on the winner who was Nicky Zijlaard, whose team I was on! Nicky was over the moon with her win and it gave me a purpose on the team, I had to help keep the red jersey.

So onto the first road stage and after a mental ride out to the start behind the team car I was feeling a bit nervous. We lined up half an hour before the start but were still nearly at the back of the 92 girls in the race. I then got very confused as a commissar started telling us all to move back and everyone started turning their bikes around, I thought we were starting in the other direction or something but it turned out everyone was checking their gears. So after that and signing on I made it to the start line, quite near the back. I knew I would have to move up on the first bit of wide road before we turned onto the super narrow ones where the crashes would happen. Eventually we were off and almost immediately there was a crash to my left, I just managed to avoid it but had to come almost to a stop and sprint to get going again. This happened a few more times and sometimes I would just have to slam on my brakes for no reason and then go again. It was mental, but eventually it settled down a bit and I tried to move up, the issue was the bunch was covering the width of the road. I decided I had to do something so went up the bit of rough track just off the road, I got a few funny looks but it worked. I just kept trying to move up but always seemed to be nowhere near the front. It was really hard to be near the front and on the right side of the bunch in the cross winds, I often found myself struggling for shelter just getting battered, but we had 3 laps of the same course so I learnt where the wind was coming from in each bit of road and tried to move so i wouldn't be in it but it was really difficult! Coming into the final 2km stretch on the last lap I was way too far back and almost got dropped as the whole bunch strung out but luckily they eased up a bit and I got back on and finished somewhere towards the back of the bunch. Nicky still had the leaders jersey though so we were happy with that.

Think this gives some idea of the size of the bunch

The next day and the last stage, I was determined to do everything better today. So that started with getting to the start earlier, which I did meaning I was on the 2nd row. Going into the first tight corner I was in the top 10 and although I slipped back a bit on the big 40km loop we were doing as we came into the last 3 finishing loops I moved up and helped Nicky chase down some attacks. We were soon on the last lap and the girl who was in 2nd overall, only 14 seconds behind Nicky, had attacked. I did my best to try and pull her back but my legs were just giving in by that point. Luckily Nicky is an insanely strong rider and even though no one wanted to help her she managed to keep the gap down and take the overall win by 1 second. She was overjoyed by this, as was I and the rest of the team. It was a great feeling to know I'd contributed a bit and the whole team had our photos taken with Nicky in her red jersey and it was great!

4th in line with Eline from my team at the front

I ended up in 47th place overall but it didn't really matter, I'd learnt a lot and had a really good time with all the girls on the team. Really wish I could go back every weekend!

The team at the end of the last stage

 On Tuesday I was straight back into the racing at the first ERC Ingliston crit, a 3rd place was all I could manage with my tired legs but I hope they have recovered by Sunday when I've got the next round of the British Series down in Cheshire.

Some more photos from the weekend..

Thanks for reading and thanks to the RWC Ahoy team for looking after me all weekend!

City of Perth GP

This weekend was the first round of the British Womens Road Race Series which took place up in Perthshire, so not too far to travel which was nice!
Accomodation and meals for the race were provided at Strathallan School so I headed up there on Friday night. Dinner was served in the large dinning hall and I made sure to eat at much as I could because I knew I had a hard day of racing ahead of me on Saturday. The tour consisted of 3 stages over 2 days. First off on Saturday morning there was a road stage, relatively short at 10 laps of a 6.6km circuit. Then on Saturday evening there was a very short TT around the grounds of the school. The final stage was a crit in the centre of Perth on the Sunday morning.

I had been up to the road race course a few times before the race so knew what to expect, there was a climb, which was steep in parts and then it flattened out a bit before climbing a bit more and then heading downwards on a long, straight descent. I was worried about the hill, before the race I was just hoping to stick in for 5 laps at the most.

We all lined up and there was a short neutralised section before we were set off racing on the descent, I tried to move up but was having a bit of an issue changing gear because my hands were so cold I actually couldn't push the lever properly! I eventually got it to work and managed to move up before the first accent of the hill, I managed to hold my position quite well and as we came over the top I was thinking "1 down 9 to go." and straight away I was focussing on moving up the bunch again on the descent. It was the easiest place to move up so I decided to make a bit more of an effort there rather than the flat bit before the hill which was very open with strong cross winds at points which was making it difficult. I made it up the hill the next few laps but soon the attacks started to come, I managed alright just keeping to my favourite line on the left and climbing as fast as I could which kept me up there. At one point I hit a bit of a bad spot and found myself right at the back of the bunch at the top of the climb, luckily I had started at the front or I would have been out the back. It was quite difficult to make sure I was getting enough water into me as well as trying to go as fast as I could down the descent on my junior gears and move up the bunch, but soon enough we were on the last lap. I was expecting it all to kick off on the last lap up the hill and just be flat out to the finish but in the end 2 girls from the Breast Cancer Care Team attacked and were let away and the bunch didn't respond too much up the hill so I managed to hang in. The finish was down at the bottom of the descent so it was a very, very nervous, fast and scary run down the hill. We hit the flat at about 750m to the line and I couldn't see a way round the wall of riders in front of me, I was worried about being boxed in and knew I had to commit to one side of the bunch and try and find a way out. I went left and managed to get into a gap and then a big space opened up on my left and Hannah Barnes, who was in front of me, went for the sprint through it. I tried to follow her but unfortunately didn't quite have the legs so got on some other wheels and finished 6th in the sprint, so 8th overall as the 2 girls out front had stayed away with Anne Ewing taking the win. I was really happy with this as it was my highest finish in a British Series race ever, but it was straight back to the room for a quick shower and as much recovery as possible before my time trial came round.

The TT course was really narrow, tight and technical and should have suited me perfectly but I didn't get myself round it enough times beforehand and could have gone round the corners faster. The start was straight up into a short but steep hill and I felt I could have got a bit more out there as well so all in all wasn't 100% happy with my ride, but I definitely need to practise my time trials anyway. I was quite worried about seeing the results because I thought I'd lost a lot of time but in the end it wasn't too bad, I was equal 16th on the stage which dropped me to 13th on the general classification.

Going into the crit I was hoping to maybe get into the top 10 but wasn't really sure how it would go. It turned out to be a horrible day, there was actually snow before the start and sleet/ rain throughout the race. It was very cold and this made the already technical course even harder. There were manhole covers and white lines all over the place which were just treacherous if hit. I was again having issues with my gears because my hands were so cold but this time they didn't warm up for the whole race. The total length was 50 minutes plus 5 laps and I can honestly say it was one of the hardest crit I think I've ever done. I literally couldn't relax for a second because I had to think so hard about every corner, about actually being able to change gear and break and get the right line and get on the wheels coming out the corner. It was really mentally tiring as well as being physically really hard and fast too. I kept up the front as much as possible, my legs weren't feeling great and I seemed to forget how to go round corners for the first half of the race but that improved and I was in a good position for the last few laps. I managed to move up a few places coming round the last few corners and couldn't quite come past the girl in front of me going up the finishing straight but finished in 6th place. I was really, really happy with that, again a best at a British Series. But I wasn't sure what it had done to the GC because I had no idea how many people were in the front group or anything. It turns out the race had split up quite a bit and due to this and some crashes (I hope everyone involved in crashes over the weekend is alright) I had moved into the top 10 on GC and actually finished 7th. Super happy with this result and hope I can maintain this kind of level of racing throughout the season!

Don't think this photo quite shows how cold and wet the crit was!

Full results for the weekends racing are here: http://www.bicycles.org.uk/copgp/results/
Congrats to Anne for a great win!

I'd like to say thanks to everyone in ERC who was out in Mallorca with me a week before the race, I think riding with you guys really made a difference and definitely helped me get the results I got so thanks for an awesome week with a great group of people!

Also to the Tri Centre who for all their help getting my new Scott Foil 15 bike with Bontrager Aura 5 wheels set up in time for the race, it felt amazing so thanks very much to the guys at the shop for sorting it out for me, really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading, next British Series is Cheshire Classic in 3 weeks time and I'm looking forward to seeing how I can get on!

Early Season Races, Exciting News and Plans for April

It's been a wee while since my last post so I thought I'd write a summary of what I've been up to. First up, my first race of the season, way back at the end of February was the ERC Season Starter races where the junior girls were racing with the youth A boys. There was a time trial and a crit race on, for one reason or another I wasn't going well and was 1st Junior girl in the TT but Rhona Callander did a time much fast than mine and shes only 15 so one to watch for the future! Luckily I still managed to beat my sister or I would have never heard the end of it, but I'm sure I won't be staying in front of her for long! In the crit race I again wasn't feeling great but I don't think that affected the result too much as it came down to a sprint and Flora flew past me in the final straight.

But first races done, if slightly disappointing, so a few days off to recover from whatever was wrong and onto the next race which was a team time trial down in the south west of Scotland. Me and Flora were riding together so we warmed up and did the race, I don't really know what else to say about a time trial! Turns out we went pretty quick because we won the womens race by 6 minutes, which was good because it meant I was over whatever I was suffering from the week before.

After a bit of illness the week after I was headed south again on Saturday morning to Lancaster for the Bradley Wiggins Foundation Series Race 1. These are a series of crits around the Salt Ayre circuit in Lancaster, sponsored by the Bradley Wiggins Foundation, so some good prize money! The race went well, feeling much better than the week before and despite trying to get into a few moves nothing stuck so it came down to a sprint. Pretty happy to get 3rd in the sprint, with Flora taking the win. Unfortunately after the race the illness I'd had the week before came back so I couldn't do the race I was planning to do the next day and had to stay off the bike till the Thursday.

When I finally got back on the bike it felt great and I was happy enough that I was recovered to head to Bradleys Wiggins round 2 on the Saturday. The race was a bit more savage this week with Katie Archibald down racing and constantly attacking, she was super strong and constantly on the front. With nothing sticking down to the last lap it looked like it was going to come down to a sprint but with half a lap to go Katie launched herself off the front, I was in the right place and managed to get onto her wheel, I dug deep to hold it and had a quick look back to see we had a gap! I sat behind Katie, hoping to come round her in the last 100 metres or so but it was not to be, as soon as I moved out the slipstream I was going nowhere and Katie managed to stay in front of me with her insane strength. So a second place, but pleased with how I was feeling.

The next day was my first road race of the season at the CDNW road race series, this is the first year CDNW has run womens races in its series and it certainly seems to have been successful with 31 women in the race. Driving the course before the I was happy to see it was pan flat, but strong winds were likely to affect the race. After rolling out from the race HQ the race was immediately into the left hand gutter with cross winds blowing. I tried to keep up the front of the bunch but didn't get involved in any of the many attacks pinging off the front in the first lap of the race. On the second lap I saw Katie get up the road and once she had a bit of a gap I tried to bridge across with 2 other riders, we made it across but unfortunately the bunch wasn't far behind us. Not much further up the road and another attack was away so I decided to follow it as well, again it was brought back and I was feeling fairly tired by this point! I decided to hide in the wheels for a bit and sat in for the next lap to recover. Coming into the last lap I was running a bit low on fuel so had to stuff some gels down me to get me round but in the end it came down to a sprint and I didn't position myself greatly which meant I got a bit caught between people and ended up having to freewheel at 150 metres to go which wasn't ideal but still managed to take 3rd, rounding out an all scottish podium with Katie winning again and Flora taking second!

And after all that racing I've gained a fair few ranking points and am currently sitting at the top of the 2nd category womens rankings! I'm headed to Mallorca for a week on Saturday which means I'll miss some races and probably slip down but its a nice place to be at the moment, and to make it better my sister is leading the Youth A girls rankings too!

So, the exciting news, well I've managed to get myself a ride for a dutch team at the 3 day Junior stage race at the Omloop Van Borsele in Holland in April. Needless to say I am very excited! I know it will be a BIG learning experience but I can't wait to go. The team I'm riding for is RWC Ahoy and I really hope I can be a useful part of the team. The website for the race is here, have a wee look if you want to find out more! http://wielercomite-sheerenhoek.nl/junior-dames.html

Also coming up in April I've got the 2 day womens tour of Perth at the start, its the first round of the British Womens Series, so it'll be a good indication of form. The course for the road race will make it fairly hard but I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and seeing how I can get on.

Again thanks for reading, I'll be back with an update soon! Sorry for the lack of pictures (blame the parents!)

Scottish Cyclocross Champs

I had my first big race of the year last weekend in the Scottish Cyclocross Champs at Strathclyde Country Park. These were originally scheduled for December last year but got cancelled due to icy conditions. The weather on the rescheduled date wasn't much better, the sleet and freezing conditions made me seriously consider my decision to do the race. But eventually I manned up and got out the car to go and sign on.

Think its fair to say I wasn't exactly looking
forward to the race with a forecast like this

After doing a quick practice lap I concluded this was going to be a very hard race, there was a horrible fire road section followed by mud which was near impossible to ride through and a muddy, technical bit. I wasn't feeling great about it but I would just have to ride it as well as I could, so I got on my turbo to warm up.

I finished my warm up and congratulated my sister on winning the under 16 girls race before getting a quick update on the course conditions and best lines to take from her and heading down to the start. Waiting at the start line was absolutely freezing, even with all my layers on and a short delay in the start time meant I had to wait even longer. Eventually we got lined up, the women were racing with the junior boys so luckily it wasn't too big a field. We got the count down and we were off.

Mud was the order of the day

Everyone went shooting off down the road and then slowed and went all over the place as they hit the first mud section, I was well positioned as 4th woman but was having slight issues with changing my gears because my hands were so cold. Through the section with the chicanes and I was right up on 3rd placed Maddy Robinson's wheel, but at the same time watching Eileen Roe and Genevieve Whitson disappear off to claim 1st and 2nd placed women. I managed to stick with Maddy for most of the race, I would usually loose her through the muddy technical section and up the fire road climb, at the top of which I was seeing stars and feeling extremely sick every lap. But I would make it back up to her on the flat muddy sections. I had a chance to attack early on as she crashed on the technical section but being the terrible cyclocross racer that I am I got all excited and promptly crashed as well, actually leaving me further behind than I had been before. I pushed as hard as I could but unfortunately it wasn't to be and I finished in 4th place. Major congrats to Maddy for a top race!

Maddy pushing me all the way!

However because I'm still a junior I didn't go away empty handed and I actually won the Junior Women's Championship, I think it might actually be the first time theres been one in cross racing, but I was really pleased with how I did considering I don't usually race cross. And after how cold, muddy and horrible that experience was I think I'll be sticking to the velodrome from now on!

Thanks very much to EKRC for putting on the race and everyone that helped out. I've got a few crit races coming up at the end of February and start of March and my first road race on the 17th of March at the new CDNW series. I'm interested to see how my form is after doing so much training over the winter so hopefully I'll get some good results!

Thanks for reading!