The last few weeks have been pretty eventful with eight races in 13 days, a few trips on the ferry to and from Europe, a glamping expedition and a heart stopping moment when my car broke down on a Belgian motorway. Luckily I’ve emerged on the other side relatively unscathed but glad of my rest day today.
The racing started off in Herentals at the post tour crit and after returning to the UK for the weekend it was followed in quick succession by the Essex Giro which would turn out to be the last round of the Women’s National Series after the recent cancellation of Warwick Town Centre Crits in September. The Essex Giro is one of only two stage races in the UK for ladies and it was held at Redbridge Cycle Centre (locally known as Hog Hill) and in Saffron Walden on day two and at the start of the day I was lying in second place on the series standings.
The giro began with a four mile time trial, three anti-clockwise laps of the circuit which included the ‘Hoggenberg’. I was off at number 43 and not particularly glad of the late start time as the rain was absolutely trashing it down and I had a long wait trying to keep warm and out of the wet. Word from the girls who had already completed the circuit was to watch out for the first downhill corner as it was particularly dicey but other than that the water was draining off the course well. Time trialling is something that I used to do on a regular basis as a triathlete but I really felt my lack of practice at this event at the Tour de Feminin in the Czech Republic. It is definitely an area I can improve upon. Because of this I had put a lot of thought into the TT and had worked on my strategy. When the results eventually came in for a split second I was really happy that had posted the second fastest time in 9:22 especially as I had beaten some girls who are time trial experts. However, this was short lived as I realised that Kara Chesworth, who was leading the National Series, had come in first. I needed to beat her convincingly at this race to be in with a shot of winning the series.
Stage two was a 40 minute plus five laps circuit race run the opposite way round to usual. My suspicions that this would be a harder route were quickly realised as the steeper uphill was rapidly followed by short descent and then a couple of uphill switchbacks. I’d planned to make the ride as fast as possible and attack up the hill, especially for the hill primes to gain the bonus seconds that were on offer. Although the circuit did seem more challenging run in this direction and riders were often dropped on the hill, the sharp descent down the hoggenberg and the right turn into a headwind meant that girls were quickly able to catch back on as the riders in front ran into a brick wall of wind. There was a moment when I thought myself, Alli Holland and Anna Fischer (Max Gear) had made a break but we weren’t allowed to hold the gap for long.
And so it was the bunch remained largely together as we came in for the final time across the line. Positioning round the switchbacks was key and as we approached it for the last time I realised I just wasn’t in the right place. Looking around I knew I needed to at least beat Kara and with some excitement on the run in to the finish line as Alli ground her pedal and narrowly avoided causing an accident I came in 13th place with Emma Grant (Rapha Condor) taking the win. I knew I had beaten Kara as she wasn’t in my sight as we crossed the line but it was only after I had completed a cool down lap that I heard she had punctured with three laps to go and come in two minutes down on the bunch. This would mean that Emma would take the leaders jersey, with 30 bonus seconds up for grabs for the winner, but should leave me in second place. Puncturing in a race is never good especially so close to the end and in a race that would be so crucial for the final series standings. However, the Commissaire decided to award Kara the same time as the bunch as the puncture had been within the last five laps and because she had been the overall race leader. So at the end of day one, I was lying in third place behind Kara and Emma.
An early start Sunday morning saw us congregating in a high school car park ready for the final stage of the giro in Saffron Walden. The course was 60 miles long held over five laps of a largely rolling circuit with one short climb to the finish. The race was a very tactical one for most of the riders with girls keen to protect or extend their GC position and teams working to ensure this was possible which made riding as an individual more difficult. The Rapha Condor and Max Gear teams in particular were not going to let anyone get away who was a threat to the GC although I was able to pick up some bonus seconds on the hill primes. Unfortunately I felt the tactics made the racing quite negative which is something I hadn’t experienced for a while after racing abroad recently.
Talking within the bunch on the last lap Maryka Senema (Kingston Wheelers) offered to lead me out on the final time up the climb which was a really kind offer from the fellow London rider. As we approached the turn into the hill I was firmly stuck on her wheel, although I knew that Anna Fischer who was lying in fourth place and Kara wouldn’t be far behind. Anna has a fantastic short sprint so I knew I couldn’t leave it too late and I planned to go from nearer the bottom of the climb. Unfortunately, I went just a bit too early and wasn’t able to sustain the speed, especially following the hard weekend of racing and fast crit race I had done in Belgium just a couple of days before and I was mad with myself as I watched Kara sprint past me. Anna took the win and the overall win for the giro but with Kara in second place she had gained more valuable series points than me for the weekend. Well done to Anna for a successful weekend of riding.
And so, after a great series of racing around the country where I’ve taken in the sights of Scotland, Lancashire, Essex, Blackpool and Hillingdon and some great competition I took second place in the 2010 women’s national series with an exciting solo win at the series race in Capernwray. Thank you so much to Prologue Bikes, Giant and PowerBar who all helped make my participation in the series possible and well done to Kara for her overall win.
No comments:
Post a Comment