The sun was shining as we set off, in the team car, up the M6 towards Northwich for the Cheshire Classic. This did not explain why sat-nav spent at least 30 minutes "acquiring satellites". With no map in the car this added a little extra anxiety to the journey!
My pre-race preparation had been less than ideal... but I'm starting to get used to working four A+E shifts back-to-back, finishing at 7pm the evening before the race, legging it home (usually avoiding a monsterous rain cloud), quickly packing my bag, cleaning my bike and hitting the road for the following day's race.
This was the second race of the season for me and my first chance to race with my new team-mates. This was Adele's first big national race (as a Junior) and Iona, having come second in the Tour ta Malta, had got the season off to a fine start.
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| Adele in her first big national women's race |
Whilst less nervous than the previous week, I was still rather apprehensive. The line-up looked even stronger than last week's, with Paralympic World Road Race
Champion and Olympic-gold-medal-holder Sarah Storey, top time-trialist Julia Shaw and several other National Champions on the start sheet. In addition to this, there was the slightly unknown quantity of the climb up Acton Bridge Hill, which the locals apparently refer to as "the cliff"...
Coaches, I thought, were supposed
to encourage but Steve's words to me in the car on the way up north
were, "It's going to be a tough, fast race!" I managed to take my mind off things by spotting lorries (our usual team-car entertainment) and was rather amused when we went past the Eddie Stobart depot on the motorway!!
About 20 miles from Northwich, the heavens opened. This was going to be a wet race!
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| Team GB Cycles lined up at the start |
The pre-race nerves soon settled as I went out for a quick warm-up spin
around the course: a five mile circuit: fast bypass, a sharp left turn
followed by a steep climb and then some winding country lanes back onto
the bypass. Ten laps in total. The climb wasn't half as bad as I'd
expected... over the last few months I've been riding with a group of
guys whose approach to training is generally to "beast-it" up every climb. Whilst
this is rather annoying at times, my climbing has certainly improved
since last season.
As expected, the pace was fast from the start and the bunch soon started to diminish in size. The biggest surprise (for me) was that the
pace increased signficantly at the top of the climb (rather than on the
fast surface of the bypass). Adele was looking good - holding her position towards the front of the bunch and riding well up the climbs. I found myself "out the back" on lap
three but soon chased back onto the bunch and did a bit of "brain
recalibration"... hang on in there girl!
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| Sarah |
Each lap the climb seemed to get harder and harder... thankfully I wasn't the only one feeling the pain! There was a mega downpour of
rain on about lap 4. Apart from a bit of moaning in the bunch, this didn't seem to bother us too much! On lap 5 (or 6) there was a crash. Unfortunately, Iona was caught behind it and unable to chase back onto the back of the bunch. Adele had also lost contact with the main bunch by this time. However, they both rode really well and finished the race.
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| Iona (left) and Adele (right) |
About halfway through the race I spotted a stripy helmet on the side of the road as we were going up Acton Bridge Hill. It was my Dad! My parents had never turned up to watch me race before... ever! Head down. Better try even harder now! By now the bunch had been whittled down to
about 30 riders (from 70 starters). The pace was still fast but I was
feeling strong. And much to my amazement I was still with them. All those winter endurance miles are finally starting to
pay off.
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| Sarah on Acton Bridge Hill |
A break got away on lap 8 and stayed away. Lap 9 and there was another injection
of pace. By the time we got to the 10th time up the climb I was plodding rather than spinning... but just one more
lap to go. I was still with the bunch :-) I stayed near the front on
the last lap, as I wanted to get a good position into the last corner
before the sprint up the hill to the finish line. As usual I managed to
mess this bit up a little, finding myself further back in the bunch than expected... and in the wrong gear! One day I'll get it right... But I passed several people on the way to the line and finished
24th overall, ahead of some very strong riders.
I was so pleased. Dad seemed surprised to see me but nothing could beat
the big fatherly hug on the finish line! Back to HQ for showers, tea,
cake and the prize-giving ceremony. An awesome race and a great day.
Well done to Sarah Storey for a brilliant performance and a
richly-deserved win. Big thanks to all the organisers for putting on a fantastic race, to Steve for driving me to the race and looking after our team so well... and to my Dad for coming out to support! I think he enjoyed it!
I've really got the racing bug now and can't wait for the next one!
Sarah
Photos courtesy of Larry Hickmott: www.velouk.net
Hopefully some news from Iona and Adele to follow...
