- I've proved I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to road racing, but that I am not a completely lost cause as I am learning relatively quickly.
- I've ridden my first foreign and first stage race: The Tour Ta Malta. This was a great experience as I got to meet a number of my teammates for the year and manage to nab a podium spot on one of the stages (obligatory photo of me on the podium below). I finished 2nd in the first stage time trial (along the windest road I've ever had the misfortune to encounter - I still rode a 808 on the front) some distance behind stage winner (and eventual GC winner) Mathilde Matthijsse but nearly a minute clear of 3rd place Anna Reid. Stage 2 was very hilly and although I lost time to the mountain goats like Claire Lever and GBCycles own Iona Sewell, I rode strongly for a non-climber and finished inside the top 10. This was probably my best performance in a road race all year. It all went a bit wrong on the third stage and I lost a lot of time, the final stage time trial was then cancelled due to torrential rain. I was a bit sad about this as I was confident of getting on the podium again, however it was the right decision on the part of the organisers.
- Two weekends ago was the first of the BUCS time trials, the 3-up team time trial. I was joined in the Cambridge University team by Anna Railton and Jenny Haskell. Me and Anna had been part of the winning team last year (I'd also won it the year before) and we probably had the strongest team we've ever had, however we ended up coming away with the silver medal as Birmingham University (pulled along by Ciara Horne) put in a great ride to take the win - I was a bit gutted. We perhaps could have ridden a bit better as a team but the terrible weather meant communicating well and keeping it smooth was difficult. From a personal perspective at least it showed me that I was riding very strongly (not sure my team mates appreciated that fact quite so much at times).
The BUCS 10
This was held last weekend (20th April) in Oxford on a relatively flat course (the H10/17R for the TT geeks). This was quite a big target for me this year, I'd (somewhat to my own surprise) finished 2nd in this event last year and was desperate to go one better this year. That was going to be a tough task as defending champion and multiple UCI Track World Cup medalist Ciara Horne was riding again. My preparation in the week leading up to the 10 was pretty much ideal; my numbers in training were good, I was getting plenty of sleep, eating well and my legs felt great (as evidenced by me beating my best time on our local TT course mid-week with a box section front wheel in) - everything had come together really well. My aim for the race was to try to get the absolute maximum out of myself and to try to be as close to Ciara as I could (last year I was 35 seconds down), this year I felt I could make the race a lot closer. As it turned out, it was really close, I took the win by 3secs with a time of 22:36!! I was absolutely over the moon, though my over-whelming emotion when told was one of surprise. Corrine Hall rounded out the podium with a 23:19, it was great to share the podium with such great riders who are achieving so much in British cycling at the moment, it was even better to be on the top step - cue photo:
Mine and Jenny Haskell's combined times were also good enough to give Cambridge University gold in the team competition as well - all in all a very good weekend (photo of happy Hayley with 2 gold medals below!).
Next up, this Saturday, is the BUCS 25m TT on my local course in Cambridge. Again I'll be up against Ciara Horne and Corrine Hall. Claire Galloway is also riding so it will be even more competitive, and there are a whole host of other riders who could potentially be in the mix. It's amazing how much the standard in the women's BUCS events has gone up since I first started cycling - it's great to see.
