Iona at Peterborough Crit

Iona at Peterborough Crit

Saturday 9 November 2013

Iona and Brit head South......

1st November and Brit and I headed down south again for a weekend of Crit racing and a Hill Climb!  Saturday it was off to Hillingdon cycle circuit.  Steph, Sandra and Brit for various reason's were not racing!  Sandra's conspiracy to not put her bike in car and see how long it would take for me to notice this!  The main reason tho was to become clear later that afternoon!
Reason 1!

Reason 2!
Reason 3!

Reason 4!

Reason 5!


Reason 6!

Reason 7!
Reason 8!
And finally Reason 9!
3pm and it was race time.  I was the only one racing today, while the others were team back up crew on the start line.  Brit very helpfully giving instructions as to how the race should be rode, yet not being on her bike herself!  Anyway long story short, managed to thin group out a little, but it came down to a small group sprint into the headwind, which luckily I managed to win!

Early on in race and Steph is in charge of photography!

Bunch all still together.
Race over it was time to get back home for spaghetti bolonase!  But before we could get much further, Sandra had gone back to car to find her car window had been smashed in!  'Your bag's gone!' she tells me!  I walked around the car, first thought she's winding us up!  But then second thought, No, not even Sandra would take a joke that far certainly not about her own car!  And yep got to other side of car and glass smashed in!

Right so bag gone, nothing to do about it, it s gone deal with it!  Coat gone, s##t, no car key's no way home!  Brit and I were stranded in the deepest darkest south!  Now I know why they didn't race!  On the bright side at least they left me my trainers!  Police came, everything reported and we finally set off back to Sandra's the window zip tied up with a plastic sheet!


Temporary measures!

Brit after a tiring day of spectating at the Hillingdon Crit!
All that was left after my bag got stolen!

 Next day hill climb day!  Nicola, Sandra, Brit and myself were all riding it.
This was to be the shortest hill climb ever, 1min climb in Sudbury, Sandra's local hill climb!
Around 50 riders started with 5 women riding!  We all had to beat Sandra's record of 1min.00.6!  Brit telling us she DOESN'T ride hill climbs!  That didn't matter Baby Tate was always going to win in this sort of event, no matter how much she say's she's not a hill climber! An all out sprint for a minute, how hard could it be!?
There was a strong head wind blowing down the hill, not ideal at all!


Brit

Iona

Hill climbed we headed back to HQ for coffee and cake (the main reason for riding!?)  Then results out and as we thought, Baby Tate wins, by a mile and places 20th over all out everyone including the men, well done Brit!  Time 1min.00.7!  Sandra's record still stands then!
Nicola finishes in 3rd in around 1min.07sec, with Sandra in 4th in 1min.10sec.  Me a long way back in hill climb terms in 1.17 apparently!  Although i reckon it was more like 1.15, but either way still a terrible time!  Sprinters hill!


Hill climb podium, Brit 1st, Nicola 3rd!
Back to Sandra's where a man in a white van was waiting for £140 for our replacement car key so that Brit and I could make it home that day!  Jude was also patiently waiting for Mother's return!

Jude guards Brit's bag!

A good weekends racing despite everything being stolen, and back down next weekend for round 2 of some more winter Crit's!

Iona