Huesden & Puivelde, Sint Niklaas

The glamping trip to Belgium continued with a few more races and a bit more success with cooking in the trekkershut. It’s amazing what you can conjure up with a mussel pot, a sharp knife, wooden spoon and a Tupperware container once you work out how to use the hob. Of course we didn’t wait for over an hour for a pot of water to boil for pasta as we had it on the lowest setting rather than the highest – that would be stupid!

After my efforts to come in 8th place in Erondgem, I could feel a bit of pain lurking about behind my left knee as I climbed into bed that night. I took a couple of ibuprofen and crossed my fingers it would be ok by 5pm the next day when our next race was scheduled, 18 laps and 96km round Heusden. Being in Belgium just to race, it was the last thing I wanted not to be able to and I was annoyed to feel it still niggling the next day albeit only slightly. I decided to get on the bike and onto the start line though as it was hardly noticeable most of the time and this was also despite the best efforts of the weather- atrocious, and the music played on loudspeaker at the start of the race – worse. I had thought Alli’s ipod selection was bad but being met with two different murderous versions of a well loved Beatles song back to back was enough to put anyone off racing.

Once the race started it went by in a bit of a blur as my knee was hurting every time I put a big effort in. Whereas the previous day I’d been up at the front attacking, I was struggling nearer the back of the peleton. The feeling was awful. I foolishly tried a couple of times to go with an attack but my leg just wasn’t working. I changed tact and instead worked at the front for Alli to try and help her establish a break but even that was difficult and I began to drift further and further back. After about five laps I began to think that I really shouldn’t be racing, a thought that had been at the back of my mind all day but that I was trying really hard to ignore. Having never once given up on a race I just couldn’t get my head around being the one to bail out. I spent the next four laps having an argument with myself about whether or not I should stop racing. I was in Belgium to race so I should race but there was also the bigger picture to think about and the impending Tour de l’Ardeche which would be my biggest race so far. Eventually the sensible version of me won and as the bunch approached the car park I slowed down to a stop. I was absolutely gutted. Although I knew I’d made the right decision and I didn’t want to sacrifice the stage races towards the end of the season I was cold, wet and thoroughly miserable. I hid in the car for a couple of laps and finally dragged myself out to support Alli and Amy who were still battling round in the rain. If I wasn’t going to race, at least I could try and be there for them as they went round and round and round and when they both finished safely in the bunch their big smiles told a different story to my glumness.

I was advised not to race the next day by almost everyone I spoke to and even I thought another 96km was probably going to be a bad idea so I took some more ibuprofen and kept my leg up as much as possible. However, my knee had other ideas and bizarrely the next day it felt absolutely fine. I couldn’t believe it when I woke up and it didn’t hurt, it was like a whole different leg. I gingerly walked about on it, waiting for it to twinge but the pain I’d had the day before just wasn’t there.

Looking about as we lined up for the start line in Puivelde, Sint Niklaas it was largely the same girls who had raced the day before. Not wanting to risk getting seriously injured I made a pact with myself that I was going to sit in for the first half of the race and not do anything more than I had to so I could test the waters. This was really hard to do, plus I was amazed how easy it was to sit in and do as little as possible! A few breaks went away, some for longer than others and the cobbled section seemed to play a bit of havoc within the bunch as some riders decided to free wheel over them. Not how I’d chose to ride them and an unpopular tactic when I was caught behind. I was hankering for the race to get to the halfway point so I could try and attack when a significant break was caught by the bunch. I then spent the rest of the race attacking and working with Alli, trying to get one of us away in a break. We both had periods of success with one of us being in most of the moves but the Australian Institute of Sport, who had the most tactical team, were brilliant at controlling the race to ensure it was brought down to a sprint finish. Alli, Amy and I all finished about halfway down the bunch and I was ecstatic that my knee had held out for the duration of the race. Even better, Alli picked up a 10 euro sprint prime – coffee money for our rest day :o)

Erondegem, Belgium

After a couple of days rest it was back off to Belgium for a full on few days of back to back racing. This time with Alli Holland (Max Gear) and Amy Bradley (An Australian rider we had met in the Czech Republic) in tow. All of us and bikes squeezed remarkably easily into Alli’s Fiat Doblo, a car clearly made for cyclists and ably assisted on our journey by Alli’s eclectic mix of tunes on her iPod. Whoever thought that Roger Whittacker with a special guest appearance by Des O’Connor, Vanilla Ice and some sea shanties would turn out to be good road trip music?

Unfortunately the house I usually stay in was full for this week so we opted to stay in Oudenaarde closer to most of the races being run that week and our luxury accommodation – a trekkers cabin by a lake in a campsite. If you’ve never seen one they’re basically an oversized shed with bunk beds and if you’re lucky (which we were) a fridge and hob. Apparently, so I’ve been told, this is glamping?! Although it didn’t feel so glam on the first night when I had to steal a roll of toilet paper from a restaurant as the campsite didn’t even provide that!

Our first race was in Erondegem and a round of a Flanders Cup series of racing (If my translations skills are to be believed). It was being held over 107km with 4 laps of 15km and 5 laps of 9km and as I stood on the start line I was really excited. I love racing in Belgium and couldn’t wait to get going. The circuit certainly wasn’t hilly but it was more than rolling and I really liked the first set of laps which took in some twisting, technical farm lanes and an industrial estate. From the outset there were repeated attacks and I got involved up at the front of the race keen to get away in a break. Within a couple of laps two girls managed to get a sizeable gap and soon disappeared from view with their team mates helping to control the pace. This didn’t deter the rest of the riders and it continued to be a fast race with girls trying to get away, myself included. Although I was in the bunch it felt like I was having a good race and thought surely soon another attack would have to stick, that is until for the first time ever in a race I punctured! I’m pretty lucky to have escaped it this long but as my bike clattered across a huge hole in the ground I knew I would end up with a flat and I just prayed it would hold out as I went round the tight right hand bend straight afterwards. Holes in the road seem to be par for the course in Belgium and a race doesn’t seem complete without those and piles of gravel littering the roads (although I did see a lady scraping a dead hedgehog off a course with her shoe once, so perhaps not all hazards are acceptable). Riding shoulder to shoulder in the bunch it’s often impossible to miss going into holes and this unfortunately was one such occasion. I was gutted but also quite excited to then get a new wheel from the yellow Mavic service vehicle. They don’t usually turn up! It was then a case of getting in as close as I possibly could behind the car to chase back on to the bunch, a gap that was larger than I would have liked as it seemed to take a while to get the new wheel on. In a strange way I actually quite enjoyed motor pacing along the roads like this. I didn’t dare look at my speedo as there was no way I was taking my eyes off the car in front but it felt pretty nippy.

As we came into the farm lanes and upon the Commisaire’s car I was left to fend for myself to catch up the bunch and eventually met them as we took a new road on the first of the shorter loops and I found myself face to face with an unexpected cobbled climb. In truth, the shorter loops didn’t feel any shorter especially with the addition of the climb which zapped the energy from your legs despite being less than 100m in length. As we continued on the race all I could think was that I had caught the bunch up so what was stopping me doing the same but off the front? Why not gain the time at the head of the race rather than at the tail end? With two laps to go I put some power down up the hill near the finish to test out the water and continued through till we had crossed the start/finish line, looking back a number of times I was largely left dangling by myself and it didn’t seem like anyone was going to chase too much. Annoyed that I hadn’t made that a committed attack I decided to go for it again further into the loop where there was more chance of me hiding round friendly bends and corners. I quickly made up a decent gap and as time went on I began to extend it. I don’t like looking over my shoulder as I would rather just keep my head down regardless as I don’t want to feel like the attack is unachievable but it’s difficult to avoid. I saw one other girl attempt to bridge over to me unsuccessfully and then the bunch disappeared from view. I knew I must have made up some time when a service motorbike came from the bunch to follow me, although I had no idea how far in front the leading girls where.

So a 20km time trial panned out in front of me and I was dreading the bunch finding me before the finish. There were quite a few people out to watch and as I crossed the finish line a spectator asked to take my photo and told me I had come in third. I couldn’t quite believe it but unfortunately the tale doesn’t end quite as happily as I quickly learnt that while I was out the back having my puncture five other girls had gone off the front and made up a winning break of seven meaning my solo effort only actually secured me 8th place. The peril of having no team, team mates or race radio to tell you such things and my own fault really for presuming that the race had continued without incident while I’d not been a part of it. Certainly a lesson to take forward for next time but I’m still really glad I attacked and made it stick on my own especially as I made up a minute and a half on the bunch in the last 20km. The winner was Grace Verbeke (Lotto Ladies Team)who also won the Ladies Tour of Flanders earlier this year and is leading the series overall.

Some pictures here

http://www.cyclingnews.nu/Wielertrofee%202010/Erondegem06-08-2010.htm#16de

and here

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=17408

And results here

http://www.cyclingnews.nu/uitslagen/2010/Erondegem06-08-2010.pdf

The Essex Giro and 2nd Overall in the National Series

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.