After the problems at the previous National Series Race and my subsequent injuries, I was simply pleased to be able to go to Wales for the third round. Most of the aches and pains were nearly gone and Martin Salt had been kind enough to roll over Chris and my entries so with the brilliant weather forecast in mind we packed up the car and headed for my parent's house in Worcester on Thursday evening. We arrived in Margam around 1pm on friday in time to have a bite of lunch, sign on and go and look at the course.
It was slightly different from previous years, but still featured a massive amount of climbing and the kidney shaker descent at the end of every lap. In the middle were some really muddy sections in the trees where Chris and my semi-slick tyre choice was definitely put to the test, and a double stream crossing. I was really nervous of falling off and hurting myself again so decided that it was going to be better for me to run the two steep drops on this occasion (although I will definitely be working on this from now on). The rest of the descents were ok although I did not feel as confident as I have previously done. So, although feeling a bit disappointed in myself I concentrated on my fortune in being at the race at all.
Whilst riding round we bumped into Phil Buick of the Salsa Factory Racing team so after finishing we had a lovely few hours drinking tea and sitting with him and the rest of the Buick family outside their Hymer motorhome in the sunshine. We then cooked our usual stir-fry dinner and settled down in the tent for the night, drinking gallons of water since we seemed to have dehydrated ourselves sitting in the sunshine for too long!
Race day mosrning was as hectic as ever. Since Chris and I race back-to-back we have to get everything ready for both our races before I go to warm-up. Mixing enough bottles for both of us and making lunch so we both survived the afternoon as well as eating breakfast is always going to be a challenge! At around 9.15 I headed out to warm up, not on the course this time because of the massive hill and by 9.50 was in my pen waiting to be lined up. I still love the fact that all the women race together at the same time. It means we get a great comradery going and the expert field is starting to get to know each other pretty well.
I got a great start for once and think I was in the lead for about 50 metres before around four people came round and shot off. I could not quite close the gap to them, but looking back could see a good gap behind. Knowing this was going to be a long race, i concentrated on settling into a rhythm and trying not to let them get too far ahead. First lap was uneventful, although every time I looked back there was a different person behind me. As soon as we hit the main climb however I was able to pull out a good gap and found myself as usual on my own in the middle of the field. I nearly missed my bottle in the feed zone, when it came up rather faster than I was expecting - sorry Chris! But headed out on lap two feeling pretty strong and ready for anything. As I went round this time I suddenly began to see the people up ahead of me from my category in the distance. Maybe this patient racer thing was going to work after all. I was still riding the climbs in middle ring but saw that the girl ahead was labouring rather in her big gear, so decided to try granny ring and see what happened to my speed. It worked, I was suddenly gaining much faster and able to pass Jessie Roberts close to the top of the hill. Holding it together on the descent and across the fields I found myself in third place at the start-finish.
Just after the feed zone Jessie passed me back again and I decided to sit in and follow her, confident that I could pass her on the climb later. In hindsight this was a dangerous tactic since Katie Collins was closing behind, but I didn't know this at the time. About a third of the way round the final lap, Ruth Mordaunt of the Patterson Training team passed me, giving me a push. Realising I really could go much faster I jumped on her wheel passing Jessie again and followed almost all the way to the top of the hill. On the last bit of fireroad I spotting 2nd place from my race pushing her bike. Realising I could mke another place gave me a burst of energy, I passed Ruth and the other expert rider picking up Carla Haines on the way. I hit the final descent in 2nd place. Before I could question how this had happened I put the hammer down not wanting anyone to catch me back over the fields to the finish. My wrist was killing me by this point, but wow it was worth it to finish on the podium! A totally unexpected good result felt really good.
Chris was waiting at the finish with Rich, our coach Jenny's partner both ready to race later that afternoon. I advised them both to drink lots, use granny ring and pace themselves, having seen what had happened to people towards the end of the race and hurried off to get changed and returned to see the start of the men's race. Chris seemed very jolly on the start line and was mid-field after the start. He rode a very consistent race and always seemed pretty happy. As the race went on he did seem to be going pinker and pinker - it must have been nearly 30 degrees by this point. Towards the end of the race he too began to gain places, finishing 20th in the Expert men's race. I am sure Chris will be keen to give more details of his race later on.
The weekend was great, surely helped by the weather, and the event felt like a festival for bikes. Thanks to everyone who makes these trips so enjoyable! I am now finding it very difficult to get back into writing my PhD!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment