Thruxton – an end of season race

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Today I raced at Thruxton in a race they call “The end of season points chaser”!

I was really nervous after my last two outings at Thruxton which hadn’t gone to plan. In one race I had two boys with me in a break and neither would do any work which was very frustrating, and the last time there I had a rider cut across my front wheel resulting in a crash and a badly cut, zombie leg kind of injury – although I still managed to get back in to the race.

Today, however, was really awesome!!

I knew I wouldn’t be as quick as in the middle of race season because of having a cold and being stuck in to my winter training now which isn’t race focussed. However it was really nice to race one final time because I enjoy the whole wind blowing in your face bit as you attack the pack, the friendly atmosphere, and just everything about racing!

IMG_1027 (1024x683)The race went well, I got off to a great start and was soon in an established break of 6 riders. I did a fair amount of work on the front, and still had enough energy at the end to make a reasonable sprint for the line. I managed to get 2nd with a very speedy finish.

It was a nice day for what is probably my last race in the under 12 category… time to look to riding harder and faster in the under 14’s!

Scorpions Cyclocross

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Last Saturday I enjoyed taking part in a Go Ride Cylocross event at Odd Down. This was organised by Sulis Scorpions, and lots of riders turned out to take part.

I used my dads hardtail mountain bike fitted with CX tyres for the racing, and I raced up in the Under 14 age group.

The circuit was challenging, with twisty corners and lots of mud, I found myself out of my comfort zone at first, being very much a road bike girl, but my bike handling meant I was able to weave myself around the course! As the race went on I knew when to attack, when to go hard, in fact by the end I was having great fun flying through the mud, and I managed to come first in the u14’s.

It was nice to race all my friends from Scorpions and I enjoyed seeing everyone I  haven’t seen for a while – as I have been at the velodrome on many Saturdays recently.

I was happy to get the gold medal at the end.