I am pleased to announce that I will be racing for the Bristol Cycling Development Squad Academy in 2016.
I’m looking forward to getting my kit sorted and to racing as a first year under 14 on both road and track. It will be good to have team mates at races, especially at the Nationals and at the Youth Omnium series events.
I will remain a 2nd claim member of my home club, Velo Club Walcot, and I will still be enjoying Club rides with them at the weekends.
Exciting 🙂
I was really nervous the first time I took part in the mini-league racing at Newport Velodrome – in fact I still get quite nervous when i go!
I had done well in the Youth Omnium track racing before but for this I had to start being more tactical.
With my road racing, although I was very young in the year group, I was still one of the strongest under 12 riders meaning I used my speed more than I used tactics – I guess I was tacticaly naive. So it took weeks of learning what was good and what wasn’t, very much a case of trial and error.
My results have improved as I have learnt more and more, often coming in the top 3 boys and girls when I get it right.
Im finding that I’m better at the longer races like the points race and scratch race because of all the Club rides I do which have given me good endurance.
After the season of criterium racing it was nice to get back to Newport velodrome. I had started riding track before way back last winter, but I needed to re-learn track again and try overcome my fears.
Whereas mt brother Morgan was able to get straight into the top group (A group) when we first went there I worked my way into the middle of the three groups, group B. I was really happy there and was warmly welcomed.
After the 2015 road season I returned to the B group and thanks to excellent couching from Stephen and Bryan, and all the support from family (especially dad and mum) I was moved up to the top group with one of my friends. This was really daunting for me, everyone, even my friend, seemed so much stronger than me.
Soon I found that loads of my club cluster and race buddys were in the top group, and I found that I could easily talk to them. In fact after a while I felt comforatble in the group and I still am.
I found it physically challenging as well as mentally, I would just about hold on in the warm up but I would struggle to do activitys such as the train or taking laps because the others were older and stronger and would be able to go quicker. I kept going and trying to stay positive and now i can turn up and do all the things-like train and taking laps- still with effort but I don’t feel so exhausted after each task.
This Saturday (10th October) I raced at Odd Down in the Sulis Scorpions Club Championships. It was a morning that consisted of a time trail (TT), a mass start and a handicap race.
By age group I should have raced in the under 12 category, but I raced up in to the under 14’s.
First off was a 3 lap time trail. The first lap I sprinted the start as normal then went at quite a pace till I finished lap one. Lap two I spent getting into a rhythm slightly slower than lap one so I could give it every thing for the final lap. Then when it got to the final lap I carried on the rhythm till the first (top) hairpin. I attacked out the hairpin with a high speed down the straight. This went on till the bottom hairpin, after the hairpin I slowed down ever so slightly so I could sprint up the hill. True to my plan I sprinted up the hill and into the finishing straight finishing with a time of 8 minutes and 1 second, placing me first under 14 girl!
The next race was a mass start. I was racing up an age group in the under 14s so I knew it would be harder. I managed to quickly clip in and sprint off. When the pack caught up we assembled a line and took it in turns. That’s when my throat blocked up!! Coughing and trying to carrie on as normal I clung on to the pack. I finished first girl and 3rd or 4th overall.
My final race was a handicap race. Using our time trial results we were lined up in slowest to quickest for a 4 short lap race. After a lap I was on the back of the quicker ones which I managed to keep up till the very end. Once more I got first girl.
Overall I came first girl and enjoyed my morning very much! It was nice to see all my friends even though it was absolutely freezing!!
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!
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!
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.
With the road season coming to an end, and having had a holiday, we headed to Exeter to race.
It was funny not having raced for a few weeks, and I had been a bit under the weather the day before, so only decided to give it a go at earlier that day.
The field wasn’t that big, and not much female competition, so I warmed up and then took a look around the circuit. It had a couple of hills (not my favourite), but they weren’t too bad and I was happy with it.
Unfortunately I found myself behind some younger riders on the start line, and when the race got underway I had to chase hard to catch the 3 or 4 boys that had attacked from the start. Once I caught them I was able to sit in happily, but I started to feel a bit poorly again, so in to the second half of the race I decided to ease off and take the win for the under 12 girl category and not worry about the boys – I’m sure a couple of them were glad to see me back off.
So I rode the final 4 laps on my own, never in danger of being caught, but a bit disappointed to have felt poorly and had to drop out of the group I was with, even though I took the win for the girls.
Next up will be training and the velodrome on Saturday.