Sorry It's been a while. I've needed a bit of space at the moment and it's been a very busy time, but I've been training hard, had a great winter and well into my racing season now :)
I was racing the first round of the Scottish Women's Road Race series on Saturday. Up north on the beautiful Aberdeenshire roads. It was a stage race so this meant for us a short 3 mile TT prologue in the morning followed by a 40 mile road race. A late starter for the TT meant that I had a relatively relaxed morning getting organised ... but the nerves were still high. Butterflies entered my stomach as soon as I woke up and the realization it was race day hit me, along with the adrenaline shot of excitement. I couldn't wait to get out there.
A big breakfast at the hotel and we rushed off to find the race HQ early so we could get a recce round the course in the car prior to the start. I was so glad to get a preview as the course was very winding with a few sharp corners and rough surfaces, it's always best to know what you're up against. I soon set off for a warm up, rolling down the hill towards the start of the TT. Something I noticed at this point: it was absolutely freezing! This resulted in me shivering like a leaf. On a descent it is impossible, no matter how much pedaling you do, hit by that freezing cold wind, nothing can warm you up. The thought of racing up the hill for the TT in 20 minutes was the only thing that kept me going through it. It was bitter sweet relief.
I rode up to the start line. "Number 16" the time keeper called. That was me. It was time to start the effort. 30 seconds and 3 deep breaths later I began my TT. I started in the little ring deciding spinning fast would be the best way to get my legs to build into the pace and get over the first steep hill. So far so good. It then flattened out for about half a mile before dropping down with a view of the looming steep final climb ahead. I pushed hard out of the saddle to begin the climb and soon saw a red flag waving about on the corner. I pushed deeper still, hopefully thinking that was the finish point. Having already recced the course though I quickly remembered the finish line was up in the tree line - and I actually still had another 800 meters to go. My breathing was all over the place by this time but I knew I had to use as much power as possible to drag my tiring body up that final slope. Gritting my teeth I eventually crossed the line and immediately stopped at the side of the road, unable to go any further. It took several minutes to finally get on top of my breathing again before spinning back down the hill to get food and get warm. The result came in and I was pleased to come in 10th considering hilly TT's have never been my forte.
I wolfed down some more food and relaxed before our afternoon stage. Delighted it decided to rain between both races and cleared up just in time for the start of our road race. We rolled out from the HQ, it was a very friendly relaxed start, with everyone chatting away which made the whole atmosphere more comfortable and gave me more confidence to push through and get into a decent position. As soon as the neutralized section was over and the flag was down the attacks began and didn't stop until the moment we crossed the finish line for the last time. We did 4 laps of a very undulating circuit, to which the finishing climb was very steep but flattened out over the top, making for a fast and unpredictable finish. There were lots of attacks throughout the race and each lap the whole race broke up on that steep climb. However, no one was committed to keeping the pace up and it all kept coming back together. On the final lap, it split up again on that climb, 3 of the strongest girls in the bunch got away and blew up the entire race. My mind was buzzing. They had a gap on us all but I was just behind on my own. I knew that if i worked really really hard I could bridge that gap myself. It was 3 against 1. But I made it. As soon as I got across though it seemed that they didn't want to keep it going and once again the race came back together . It was disappointing for me, as I had made such a deep effort and I knew if we had stayed away it would have got me a great result. Nonetheless, I was over the moon, because I had proved to myself I was strong enough to be up with the best in Scotland and it made me quietly confident in my form and I knew I potentially had the legs to come away with a good result no matter who was all there for the finish. The attacks stopped coming around 5 miles from the finish and the pace of the bunch really slowed as everyone saved themselves for the final climb. Some of the riders who weren't climbing as strongly began to move round pushing me further back down the bunch. I knew I needed to move up but the finish was fast approaching. I began to panic a little. I should never be this far back near a finish line especially on a climb. It was too late. The girls towards the front attacked at the foot of the climb and the race blew up once more. The extra effort to dodge the riders who couldn't quite follow the explosion of attacks meant I started my sprint already around 50 to 100 meters behind the leaders. But I quickly gained ground. However it wasn't enough for a podium. I crossed the line a few places behind in 6th. Although that is still a solid result, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. But I guess that's just my nature. I've never actually been satisfied with a result. I always want to do better. But especially in this race as I really could have placed higher if I hadn't messed up the finish. I was kicking myself, and undoubtedly will be for a long time. But that's racing. You live and learn. 10th place in the TT and 6th in the RR meant I finished the 1st round of the women's series in 8th place.
I really loved racing on Saturday and i'm already looking forward to the next one. But for now my focus turns to the Scottish 10 TT champs on Sunday. My first official TT since September so I know it is going to come as a shock and my expectations of a big result are low. But you never know, stranger things have happened.
Thank you for reading, I hope it has provided 5 minutes of entertainment :)
P.S. Huge huge shout out to all my sponsors who continue to make this journey happen, Springfield Properties, Central Investment, Wired Orthodontics, the fantastic Ally Main at Main Motors and all the Moray Wheelers who have never stopped believing in me and give me so much support. Also to my wonderful Mum and Auntie Anne for all their help and keeping my head on through some rough patches. And as always Sheila Scott for her endless efforts to try and make this dream a reality, she's the one that's making the wheels go round X
