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| Warming Up - photo Ed Rollason |
The first race was at Rhyl's Marsh Tracks circuit and it was FREEZING, quite literally, there were snowflakes blowing around in the air - brrrrrr. This was the first outing for the full Biketreks Women's Development Squad and it was great to see everyone and get on our bikes. There were 3 other women entered, so it was decided to run the women's race at the same time as the 4th Cat Men's race, with a minute or so headstart for us ladies.
All went well, and I managed to stay in with the blokes for quite a decent portion of the race, and my garmin gadget reckoned I managed a top speed of nearly 29mph, which on a completely flat circuit with corners, wasn't too bad.
The women's race was spread out around the course by the end of the race with our Lizzie almost hanging with the bunch the whole way round - strong girl! And getting a brilliant 2nd place. Heather was next in 3rd then me with 4th, Nicky with 6th and Nic battling round for 8th in her very first ever race. More pics on Ed's facebook page here
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| In with the bunch |
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| Ooo look at our lovely Torq bottles! |
The following weekend saw the start of the CDNW Women's Road Race League - Heather's brainchild and something she's been working really hard to get off the ground. It couldn't have been a better start - not only was the sun shining but there was an amazing 37 ladies riding - lots of whom had never ridden a bike race before. Heather was understandably a little emotional and proud to see so many women taking part. The race was held in Pimbo, on a small industrial estate. The lap was a touch over 2 miles and the traffic is one way, so the perfect setting for a race, and especially a first race. We still had full commissaire car and motorbike escort - brilliant fun. A good race which saw a frankly amazing/bonkers solo attack from Jo Blakeley she went off the front and stayed out there for 8 laps, I think, of the 15 lap race before eventually being swallowed back up by the peleton. I was happy to stay with the bunch for the whole race, and even have a little sprint at one of the intermediates. A few errors of positioning and choosing the wrong wheel on the last lap left me a bit short for the finishing sprint so it was an 18th place finish - not too bad, but think I can manage a better result at some point in the season. The rest of the girls put in good efforts with Nicky 13th, Heather 14th and Lizzie 20th. Another first for Nic, a road race, only her second race ever and another finish.
Super cheesy picture from the Liverpool Echo just about sums the day up!
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| Frankie, me and Heather on the start line! |
The season was on a roll, so it was back to Rhyl on Saturday for the second of the Race to the Spring Series - hmmmm well after the freezing edition, we were hoping for something a little warmer. It was a bit warmer, you could tell that by the fact that the stuff falling out of the sky was most definitely liquid! A wet and chilly race. Now, I'm not about to pretend that I'm some super tough belgian classics rider, but I think that the many years of being out on the hill in all weathers looking after not just myself but groups of people whilst trying to teach them useful stuff , might have given me a strange resilience to what can only be described as a "ming-fest"!!
Yes, it was unpleasant, yes I was cold at the end, but in a slightly sick and twisted way it was still quite fun! Bad weather doesn't seem to knock the fight out of me, so fight I did! Once again we rode with the blokes, but I stayed in for much longer, and when I got back in a few laps later I stayed with until the pace went up at the end of the race.
I was pretty happy to come away with 2nd place and 8 points, which means I already have the same number of points that I gained in the whole of last season. Looking forward to the next lot of races next weekend - the final one at Rhyl and then the second CDNW - more open roads and lots of women riding - can't wait!
