First Podium of the Season

Following my three stages in two days at Bedford last weekend I had Tuesday and Wednesday off before entering an evening handicap at Nutfield on Thursday. Like a lot of evening handicaps I was the only female rider but I wanted to see how I would fare with the guys following my two days of hard racing with the ladies. I know half the course well but the other half was twisty and again, I was let down by my cornering. I finished a disappointing last and thought I might just as well stick with time trialling after spending £12 for the pleasure of riding round on my own for most of the race. I got a Surrey League point for finishing but it was little compensation on this occasion.

Saturday at Chertsey was a different story however. I was a little tired but I was eager to race with the women again and on a fairly straight forward and familiar circuit. The race was competitive in parts and I had to stay alert to any attacks. I had one dig off the front early on to test the water but the group came up behind me and there was little point in me hanging out in front. I rode a sensible race and kept in the front four or five riders. On the final lap, just before the hill I dug in and two of us got to the top first. After that dig we didn't look back. Four of us came out on to the finishing straight and I time trialled it to the finish line getting third place by half a bike length. Finally, from 5 races in 6 days I finally had a result and 7 BC points.

My next road race is the Women's Divisional Road Race Championships at Ellen's Green this Saturday. It will be a competitive field and a tough race if the standard I saw at Bedford is anything to go by. I have had a couple of rides around the course now so I have no excuse that I don't know what to expect. I'll be taking it fairly easy this week but keep the legs turning over.

Bedford Report

This bank holiday I took part in the second round of the Women's Team Series held in Bedfordshire over three stages, proudly racing for the Surrey League Women's Team (although the jersey was somewhat large).

Fifty plus women started the event on Sunday and I was racing with some of the best women in the UK, including pro riders and first cats as well as 2/3/4 and juniors. I knew this weekend would be a baptism of fire for me and it certainly didn't disappoint. I have never been is such a big field of riders on the road and I was the most nervous I have ever been (even more than at the start of Flanders).

Day 1

Stage 1 on Sunday morning was the Team Time Trial which was won by Belgium based Global-Swift who put 42 seconds into the next two teams - Team Luciano-Kuota and FatBirds Cycling Club who tied for second. Unfortunately, getting the first stage over and done with by late morning really didn't cure my nerves and I felt quite sick in the afternoon from all the energy gels, drinks and food I had to get down between stages. The whole experience was brand new to me and it's hard to judge how much to eat and how your body will react to fuelling and re-fuelling for two stages in one day.

After the first lap of the afternoon stage I was ready to quit. I have never experienced riding like this. Breaking into corners, riding on the wrong side of narrow country lanes. I was surprised nobody was pulled over for this or even worse, hit by a car. I know of a local race that was stopped recently for much less indiscretion. The group that did ride on the right had side of the road pulled back into the bunch when vehicles approached forcing us to brake to let them in or be forced off the road. I was dropped on the climb which went up to the finish. I managed to get back on but was dropped again after a left hand corner and the sprint out. This was poor group positioning on my part despite being told to stay in the top 20. My excuse is lack of experience and fear (and I really need to work on my cornering). However, our rider, Susannah Osborne, defeated Elite rider Helen Wyman in the sprint and Surrey League Women's Team won stage 2. That evening I was grateful we were staying in Bedford and I could just go back to the room and lie down. It was a great excuse to do nothing.

Day 2

The race moved on to Millbrook Test Track just north of Amptill (Bedfordshire) for stage 3 for an 11am start on Bank Holiday Monday. The temperatures were already in the 20's and at last there were no decisions about whether to wear arm warmers, knee warmers or take a waterproof. I rode the 3 miles by myself to the start along the lanes and felt quite optimistic as summer really did feel like it had arrived!

Millbrook test track is quite something, it's a huge, awesome area with a banked speed oval and in the short time we were there it felt like a special circuit. It was twisty and hilly measuring 9 kilometres with a 7% climb and a 14% climb (the Horseshoe). Luckily for me the 21 per cent climb was not used this year but I have to confess when I saw it in the distance on the warm up lap I thought we were going to have to race up it!

The race began quietly and we were all together as we passed under a bridge on the circuit. Our rider and Round one winner, Charlotte Blackman, attacked over the climb and for me the race split apart. I chased on the descent to catch a Welland rider just ahead of me so I at least had some company. We were later joined by a third rider and we worked well together to the finish. With 13 minute laps being knocked out by the girls, there were riders spread out over the circuit and we passed some riders who had DNF'd so it was encouraging that we were still going and going to finish. My team mate, Naomi Anderson, crashed heavily during the stage and had to abandon via A&E. She is OK now, thank goodness. Charlotte's breakaway didn't last as the rest caught up to her and it was a bunch gallop to the finish after 7 laps of the course.

It was a determined race by everyone on a tough course and a fantastic example of how good the standard is in women's road racing. I felt really privileged to ride in that event and although I didn't set the world on fire I'm proud of my first experience of that level of racing. I didn't DNF and I didn't come in last. I'm more motivated than ever to train harder and iron out all the flaws in my race technique that are holding me back right now.

Thanks to my team mates who I only met on the day. They were a pleasure to ride with and always encouraging. Thanks to Chris for driving me up to Bedford and for being our team manager, mechanic, Soigneur, etc for the weekend. Thanks to Adam for riding up from Epsom to see the stage on Monday, his race tips, arriving on time, and shouting me up the climbs.

2 Days of Bedford

This coming Sunday and Monday sees me take part in the only women's stage race in the country. I will be making my debut for the Surrey League Women's team in the Women's Team Race Series (Round 2). The Women's Team Race Series is unique in that, as the name suggests, it is for teams of riders with no individual riders and features the only women's team time trial.

I will be competing against elite, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th cat riders and one of the big names to mention are Swift Global team who have Helen Wyman as team leader. Charlotte Blackman (Surrey League) who has organised this year's Surrey League team won the first Women's Team Series event at Nottingham a couple of weeks ago. She attacked what was left of the main field with three kilometres to win the race on her own. Really impressive riding and so in my debut race I am also supporting the current series leader. No pressure then!

Women's Series Road Race Round 1 Report

Day 1 starts in the morning with the 9.7 km team time trial. In the afternoon we have an 80km road race which includes a hill competition and sprint competition. Sounds just like the Pro Tour so far. If I survive day one then day two (stage 3) is an 85 kilometre circuit race around Millbrook vehicle testing track and that is the major stage. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive. This will be the toughest and most high profile event I have ever done and as it gets nearer it's difficult to focus on much else. But at the same time I am really looking forward to it. It will be the most amazing experience and I will learn a lot and have to be prepared to work harder than I ever have before. I'm really looking forward to racing as part of a team and racing as part of an all women's team for the Surrey League is even better.

Since Flanders I raced at MOD Chertsey in the women's 3rd and 4th category race. The race was pretty comfortable and I came 6th, so bagged my first British Cycling points of the season.

I did a 25km time trial on Sunday around what I would describe as my 'home' course and did a course PB. Two minutes off my 25 PB but still quicker than at the same time last year by about 3 minutes, so not a bad ride for the first 25 of the season. Obviously it would have been nice to amaze myself and pull out a PB but I didn't do too badly. It was just great to ride at 7.30 in the morning in a short sleeve jersey and shorts. I'd forgotten what that feels like. It was also great because I was wearing my new design team jersey which I have to say looks really professional.

The Women's Team Series begins a busy month of racing for me which includes the Women's Divisional Road Race Champs at Ellen's Green in Sussex, another Chertsey race, a couple of TTs and maybe even a Crystal Palace Summer Series race. Maybe summer will finally arrive too...

Well and Truely Flandered!

After not much sleep on Friday night it was still dark when I went down for breakfast at 6.30 on Saturday morning. I'd woken up every hour remembering Jimmy Casper crashing on the cobbles last year in the Gent-Wevelgem after a film I saw that day at the Flanders Museum. I'd been fairly OK up to then nerve wise.

There had been rain over night but it wasn't raining when we arrived at the Market Square in Brugge to get our numbers checked for the start. With various delays our 7.00am start became more like an 8.00am departure. I had one of the worst attacks of nerves I've ever had standing in the cold at the start and noticing that there were hardly any women at all doing the full distance event. Perhaps they knew something I didn't! Between the start line in Brugge and the finish line in Meerbeke lay 259 kilometres of some of the toughest roads of northern Belgium. In addition to this, we were required to negotiate seventeen of the regions toughest climbs, the hellingen that make the Tour of Flanders so special.

Trisportnews.com set off as a group and to be honest nothing much seemed to happen in the first 50km to the feed stop apart from a few showers and a touch of wheels that didn't seem to cause any harm. And I lost my check card while getting some food out my pocket which my team mate, Adam, somehow managed to miraculously retrieve from goodness knows how far back down the road. Nobody thought I would ever see it again, or Adam for that matter.

But by the second feed stop I was thoroughly soaked through and cold and it was this that killed off my chances of finishing. Even when it wasn't raining the surface water just kicked up from the back wheels. My head ached from the spray, my fingers were painful with cold and my feet were soaked through. Our group had split by now and I was with Chris and Steve as we crossed the border into Wallonia and hit the first climb, the Kluisberg, at 99km from the start. We actually cheered when we saw the sign for the climb. Flanders had really begun. 1250m of asphalt with an average gradient of 5.3% and a maximum gradient of 13%. A pussy cat. This is the first time it's been climbed from this side. It's usually much later in the race too. It's longer up this side and a much more even gradient. At the top of climb which wasn't difficult at all there was yet another feed stop.

This is where Chris and I lost Steve as he ploughed on and I stopped to wring the water out my gloves in Kluisbergen. At this point we were in a shop doorway shaking with the cold. It was scary to see Chris so cold and not being able to text Steve because his fingers didn't work. We decided to take a detour to find a cafe which had some bikes outside (people had already given up, a lot of them locals) to get some hot coffee and warm up a little. After the third checkpoint we came to climb 5, the cobbled Oude Kwaremont and this is where I gave up.

This stretch of cobbles seemed to go on forever at 2200m and an average gradient of 4%. My head felt like it was going to separate from my spinal cord. There were quite a few people lining the route but even this and the caricatures of the local favourites at the side of the road didn't make me want to carry on. The weather had broken my spirit and I hated the cobbles and just wanted to be out of it. It's not my ideal way to pack; no team car by the side of the road just a 60km ride back to Ninove for the car without a map. Another downpour, a stop for a puncture and some cyclo cross over a road that was being dug up added to our enjoyment on this last stretch. My cleat also got so full of mud that I couldn't clip in for the last 30km. We got back to the car at about 5.30 and went to the finish village to wait for our guys to come in. It was a long wait, with the final two rolling in when it was almost dark.

So after a couple of days of feeling disappointed, mixed with relief that it's all over after a long time in the pipeline it's a bit crap to be the only one who didn't finish. I sort of always thought I would. The funny thing is that the distance was never a problem. I did 200km in the end and I wasn't that tired. I wasn't prepared for the rain and the cold and had been lulled into a false sense of security after seeing Chris complete the event last year in the 20 degree sunshine. And the cobbles were just something else. I hated them and I think they hated me.

The worst part is that I will have to go back next year to put it to bed. But that's a long way off. I now have my racing season to concentrate on, which kicked off at Chertsey yesterday with a respectable 6th place in the women's race and 4 BC points. Next I have a 25 mile time trial at the end of the month and a full race programme for May, including a two day stage race in the Women's National Team Series for Surrey League and the Women's South East Regional Road Race Champs.

If it's Saturday it must be De Ronde.

So here I am. Project Flanders seemed such a long way off at the end of last year, just like the finish in Ninove. Most of the team leaves today for Belgium with a few others joining us tomorrow. We're all doing the full 260km.

But the big day is on Saturday and I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. There is always that extra ride that you could have squeezed in but it's too late now and I'm on an easy training week. My training bike has been stripped down and rebuilt and acquired somewhat larger gearing ratio. Lets just say if I need the bottom gear I'm in a lot of trouble and it's probably already too late. The weather forecast is not that great for Saturday so we'll see what happens on the day. It's a long time to be out there if it rains not to mention the state the cobbles will be in. I'm stupidly excited about the event and that has been mixed with a few restless nights wondering what the hell I've let myself in for. I can't remember who said it but it seems appropriate for this occasion "You don't need good luck in this race, you just don't need any bad luck".

I'm looking forward to standing on a berg on Sunday with a Juliper and watching how quickly the Pro's fly across the cobbles knowing it's all over. Knowing if I made it or not. The event is going to be a real line in the sand for me and I'm looking forward to concentrating on racing again. My race schedule is planned for April and May and I received great news last night that I'm racing for the Surrey League Women's Team in May at a two day stage race. This is a great opportunity for me to get loads of experience and work for a women's only team. I really have something to aim for when I get back.

But my final thought as I leave for Belgium is this 'nothing can ever, ever prepare you for the cobbles'.

Snow and Falling Trees

Last Easter I was in Belgium standing on a Berg watching the pro's race across the cobbles in the sunshine. It was 22 degrees on that Sunday. This Easter my race was cancelled due to ice on the course at Dunsfold Park. I guess you know your race is going to get cancelled when the Boeing 747 in the middle of the course almost disappears because of the snow shower that's falling.

This weekend was cycling all the way supporting my team mate, Adam, in the Surrey League Easter 3 day and racing in the women's support race at Dunsfold Park on Sunday. Sunday's race for me had an added incentive as I have signed up to join the Surrey League women's team to race the Women's National Team Series. At the moment the women's team is oversubscribed which is a real positive step for women's racing in the South East. I wasn't that sure how I would go as my legs haven't felt good all week after my soaking on the Hastings ride and they only really came good yesterday. But it would have been nice to find out.

So I didn't really rack up the miles this weekend as on Saturday I did a few laps of the Milland Hill circuit to save my legs for Sunday's race that never happened. The weather played havoc with the Easter 3 day. The third cat's raced on Saturday morning on the Milland Hill circuit in strong, gusty winds and snow showers but in the afternoon the 1/2/3 race was cut short when a tree fell on the course. On Sunday the 3rds race was cancelled along with my race and the 4th cat men's race due to ice on the course. Yesterday morning's 3rd cat race went ahead in the freezing cold on the Lingfield circuit but the afternoon stage for the 1/2/3s was cancelled due to various problems, including the weather. But despite the weather and the disruption Adam finished in the top 10 on GC and gained his 2nd cat licence. So a big well done cause he really deserved it, and I still owe him a beer!

This Sunday I have the Sussex CA (2up TTT) in which I'm partnering my favourite wind break, Dave P. It's a hilly course and having driven it a couple of years ago I vowed never to ride it! And in less than two weeks I have Flanders. I think I said I would never do that either. Typical female.

Battle Commando

Tell me why two people using a page ripped out of an atlas and no particular idea of a route set out to Hastings at 7.30 am on a wet Sunday in March! To watch the 2008 Hastings Half Marathon of course - which we missed - but what else? Because neither of us would admit that we no longer fancied it -maybe? And because we were only going one way - yes and we needed to get another 100 kms in for De Ronde - definitely. Neil was already wet when he arrived at my house from 5 miles away but that didn't seem to put us off and it probably should have done. We knew we would have warm, dry clothes waiting for us in the car at Hastings. Obviously the marketing on Gortex really does work. We set off at about 7.45 in the end and arrived in the middle of Hastings at about 11.45.

We were supposed to be in Hastings for about 11.30, an hour into the Half Marathon. It was a war of attrition and appropriate that we were heading for Battle. By Ashdown Forest I knew we'd made a mistake but I didn't like to say anything that would make Neil feel like I was losing it. The forest was eerily quiet (and wet). Every time the map came out it disintegrated more and more and became papier mache. Almost time to start getting the toys out the pram at the point where our excursion down a road on the map turned out to be a bridlepath with more potholes than my Easton EA90-SLXs would like to mention and Neil saying something about it being good Flanders training as he rode away. The toys coming out is not an unheard of occurrence, just one of the things about me my team mates know and love. At this point we were outside Uckfield and decided to get on the A22 to get back on track, ending up on the Maresfield 25 TT course. Another scene of pain. We were outside Uckfield for a very long time because we kept seeing signs that said it was 5 miles away and we never seemed to get any closer.

I was't aware that Battle and Back has the reputation as a hardcore ride. There were lumpy bits followed by downhill bits, then by more lumpy bits and a couple of nasty bits. The colder I got the slower I got too. The uphills were never quite long enough to get warm and the downhills made you even colder. Arriving in Hastings we were starving, soaking wet and freezing cold and there were no signs of anybody or anything to do with the Half Marathon. "You'll pick the signs up from outside Hastings" they said, "it's so well signposted to the parking" they said. "We are on the second car park with the grass on it!" 45 minutes later we found the car with all our warm clothes in it after stopping to ask directions several times and phoning for directions even more times. We were even more starving, soaking wet and freezing cold by now, I'd started to vibrate from the cold. We stopped at a junction to ask for final directions. There were three alternatives from that junction, straight on at sea level, turn around and go back at sea level, the sea itself or climb Hastings' equivalent of the Mur de Huy. When Neil came back with the directions I knew from the look on his face that the car park was up the bloody climb. I don't know why he should find this amusing.

Lots of things went through my head on that ride. I didn't take enough food, I didn't drink enough en route, I didn't wear enough clothes to keep my core warm and I wouldn't do Flanders if it was this wet on 5th April. I can't say it was an enjoyable ride yesterday but we just had to get there I guess. There was no bail out.

Ham, egg, chips and beer helped in Battle on the way home. But the final insult had to be having to get changed in the back of the car in the centre of Battle and losing my pants somewhere. While the guys were showing me their finishers medals (and impressive times they got too) I was looking for a hairbrush and underwear in the back of a damp car. Is it only the Italians who make cycling look glamorous!