Tour ta Malta

Jo in the start gate - proper pro ramp!

Not sure where the original idea to go and do the Tour of Malta came from - but I'm going to blame Frankie White! To start with there was going to be a slightly bigger Manchester Wheelers Women's team headed out but in the end it came down to just me and Jo Street.
We decided to head out for a full week and enjoy a couple of days in Malta before the racing started, this meant setting off at the crack of dawn on the Monday after the Capenwray RR - to say we already had tired legs would be a slight understatement! Anyway we arrived to glorious sunshine and with most of the Squadra Donne team. They have all been to Malta for previous editions and so they were happy to let us tag along to go and check out one of the time trail courses. Turned out that the TT had been moved as there were roadworks but it was nice to get out for a spin and get the legs moving.
Day 2 arrived and more sunshine greeted us so we decided to head out and explore some of the island. Malta is a pretty small island and doesn't have lots and lots of roads - and quite a lot of those are somewhat low on quality. Quite a lot of those we visited were better suited to cyclocross bikes! We also visited a few places of interest the highlight being the walled medieval town of Mdina which was very pretty.
Day 3 and we tagged along with some of the other riders to check out the actual TT course and the first RR course before spending the afternoon preparing and resting ready for Stage 1.

The race technical meeting for the tour was a very good indication of how the next 4 days was going to work......it started an hour late and didn't give us a great deal of information!
But enough to get us to the start of stage 1 and the roll out from the hotel the next morning to ride to the course.

Jo rolling out at the start of Stage 1

Stage 1 was a 18.2km TT on a dual carrigaeway by-pass between 2 roundabouts.......exciting stuff! The road was on a slope and there was a headwind on the downhill leg - and a strong one at that. Not being a time-triallist I luckily didn't have things like a disc-wheel which would have been frankly terrifying! Jo was off early in the order and looked very professional  heading down the start-ramp.We had to ride 7 laps of the course which sounded easy - hmmmm.......well obviously it wasn't that easy as at the end of battling up and down it became apparent that my time was a bit shoddy! I felt like I'd been trying hard and I knew that I'd caught the 2 girls in front of me for 1 and 2 mins respectively. However what I had done was ride 8 laps of the course - what a dimwit! I've no idea where I lost count but that is exactly what I'd done and as the finish line was off the side of the course there was no way of getting my time adjusted - so Day 1 I'd already lost myself more than 5 minutes!! On the positive side I still wasn't last!

On the climb San Martine circuit

Stage 2 was a RR - on the San Martine circuit, an approx 51/2 mile circuit with a long climb, a tough headwind descent and an amazing tailwind section where you could fly along! The startline was close to the top of the long climb so the race was tough straight off the line. I managed to stay with the group right through until about a third of the way up the climb before losing a few metres and slipping out of the front group. The whole field was soon spread in small groups around the circuit with us all engaged in our small battles. I had hoped to stay with the good climbers a bit longer but it wasn't to be and by the end of the race I was around 15mins down on the winner. This was fine until it became apparent that some of the girls that had positions in the top 10 were actually an entire lap down on the winner!! It took 2 days of people complaining to get that sorted out. On the plus side we both avoided crashing unlike some of our fellow riders.

Sprinting out of the bottom roundabout on Stage 3 Gozo

Stage 3 and the second RR of the tour. This time we headed over to the even smaller island of Gozo - which was a fairly epic journey. We had to leave the hotel at 6:30am on a coach with all our bikes loaded onto vans. The coaches took us all to the ferry port where we then unloaded our bikes and jumped on......we then realised that the bikes were just going to lean up against the side of the car deck - we left our bikes nervously and headed up stairs for the 20 minute sail. It was a bit choppy so I'm glad it was only 20 mins. Arriving in Gozo we then rode as a huge convoy across to the race course. This course was just 5km long with a shorter steeper climb which suited me a whole lot better. I was feeling pretty tired but I made myself do several laps to warm-up and get the legs working.
The race started and I was determined to hang in as long as possible, and stayed with the front group until the 3rd go up the climb. I quickly established a small group of us who worked together until the end of the race. The course took place on a single road so we pedalled along one side of a road then turned at a roundabout and headed for the finish line. The wind which had been with us for all the stages was once again in evidence and meant that the final straight had a tailwind.
Tailwind finish - that means that to win the sprint the best place to be is on the front as it's unlikely that people will come past you. Knowing this I made a massive effort to get to the front heading into the roundabout, sprinted out of it and then gradually wound up the pace all the way to the line, I was poised ready to engage full on sprint if anyone came along side but they didn't so I was happy to come home first in the group.
The results eventually came out for this stage and once again they were simply wrong! There was a lapped rider in the top 10, one of the girls I was riding with had been given a placing 2 in front of me and more importantly 3 minutes in front! Aaargh! Jo was even worse off - there were loads of girls placed in front of her that had finished behind and 1 who had done 2 laps less that she should have done and got the same time!
Now neither of us were expecting to be fighting for the podium but we were trying our hardest and it's really frustrating to be given the wrong result.
There was a lot of unhappy riders after the stage and a few bruised and battered after a crash. Once again there were a lot of people who carefully explained to the organisers what had happened and hoped for the results to be changed but so far they still haven't been fixed properly!
This second stage was probably my best and certainly my best placing with an official 13th but an actual 11th!

Stage 4 was the final stage and another time trial. this time only 12km and without the same amount of uphill involved. It was a really wet night and the roads were very damp - this was rather worrying as quite a lot of the roads are super smooth and shiny and slippery. We were ready to go at the allotted 7am, and then we were told 8am was the leaving time - grrrrr and extra hour in bed would have been very welcome!

Stage 4 TT - full kit!

Anyway we eventually rode out to the course very carefully with a heavy shower on the way - but the clouds rolled back and the road dried up and we were ready to go. Jo and I had decided to get the aero-bars on and I fastened on the fancy pointy helmet I'd been lent - it was time to look like a professional tester! Not sure I ride like a tester but definitely went better than I expected made my legs scream and came home with a respectable time and a 20th place finish on the stage.

So, that was the end of the racing, we were both completely spent and felt like we'd done everything we could.

FINISHED! Big smiles from Jo, Paige Milward and I at the end of the TT

The overall result show that we were 21st and 27th place on the G.C. which may or may not be approximately right....

Did I have a good time - well yes, and enjoyed the racing, the sunshine and the company of all the other riders in the womens, men's and masters races but would I go back and ride the race again???
Hmmm if they could sort out the organisation and results then yes maybe, and there are other team managers who are saying they will make sure there are timing chips next year - so I'll have to wait and see what happens with that and let you know!

Jo getting some recovery watching the Tour of Flanders!!

Season's over.....for the road at least.

Crikey where did that go?
My last post was ages ago, I kept meaning to update and then not quite getting around to it....ah well so this will be a brief highlights/lowlight whistle stop tour of the last couple of months of the season then!

On the startline at the National Crit Champs, next to Lucy Garner.

SO - here goes - erm..... right lets start with the last of the National Series racing - they were mostly crits even though it's supposed to be a road race series. I went to Sheffield - AMAZING loads of climbers and other mates around the circuit shouting and cheering. Only got lapped at 7 to go so only just got pulled out before the end of the race which was great. Then it was the Ryedale GP, another one in conjunction with the mens premier calendar so a big event, and a big course to go with it. I had a ride round the day before and boy is it hilly, proper hills with 17% gradients in a couple of places - I knew the only way was to try and not get dropped - but unfortunately that's what happened shortly followed by a mojo disappearance and a climb off - I'm not sure a week which contained the Sheffield race, and the National Crit champs and then this was exactly what I was in need of at that point in the season. So not my best performance but even Andy didn't tell me off so I must have looked really miserable!
Oh yeah, Crit Champs - in York, hard bumpy cobble section, crash in first couple of laps which I got the right side of and then they had to restart - boo! But stayed in for a while and was on the telly again and then I got dropped and almost immediately pulled out - bit of a shame but good experience.
Last National Series was Stafford - city centre crit - brilliant fun, very small field ended up in the second group on the road, didn't get lapped, and finished in 18th place - pretty happy!

Stafford GP

Stafford GP

So next the final round of the CDNW Womens League - I was sitting in 3rd place overall after the first 4 rounds and hoping to hang onto it at least. But, having gotten myself a bit wound up and feeling anything but relaxed for the entire duration of the race I just didn't have the speed left in the legs at the end to go with the last move of the day and didn't do very well in the sprint and was disappointed in myself really. Also meant that I lost a place in the league and ended up 4th overall.
I know, I know that's still pretty good, and if I'd known that at the start of the season I'd have been ecstatic but in the event I was not best pleased with myself.

The next event was the Manchester Wheelers Lads and Lasses 2-up TT - now being a bit foolish when this was suggested by Si Bridge I'd immediately said sounds brilliant can I have the same Si Bridge as my partner, knowing how Andy feels about TT-ing and also that he hadn't been riding his bike. As the date drew closer, I was regretting this, Si is a complete TT-ing wad, well actually general cycling wad, and the reality was beginning to bite that trying to even sit on his wheel was going to be somewhat difficult! So the evening dawned rainy but thankfully it held off for the actual race and we set off. The startline banter went something along the lines of "Just shout if you want me to slow down, and the same if you want me to speed up.....I'll start easy" Right oh I said. A few hundred metres into the easy start Si shouted OK? Shall I go faster?, Yes I shouted back and faster we went.
At the end of lap 1 we were a little bit inconvenienced by an Audi TT and Range Rover making random manoeuvres but soon got back up to speed. I was feeling pretty good here, well tucked in and not struggling too much so after the next half lap I yelled that he could go a bit quicker if he wanted and we did. Then came the final mile and my turn to make the pace, somewhat harder, but I dug deep and we sprinted for the finish. No idea of times but feeling like I'd tried hard - at this point Si complained that he couldn't believe I'd asked him to go faster and that his heart rate was already at about 180bpm at that point - ooops! Anyway as it turned out we lost by a single second to another team.
But such a great event, everyone loved it and it's set to become a annual fixture.

Following the success of hiding behind Si, he suggested, as had Andy that I make the leap from the 4th/Womens race at Tameside to the 2/3/4 race - longer and faster. Hmmm, well might as well give it a go and Si was prepared to act as my guardian angel it seemed so I lined up with the big boys! The race started fast and I struggled to stay in contact and got dropped after a couple of laps, so I just sat up and waited to be lapped and then the real fight began....latching onto the Bridge's wheel I did my utmost to stay in the bunch, moving up whenever I got the chance and getting towed back on a couple of times coming out of the hairpin. I managed to stay on for about 10 laps before losing contact again, then getting back on again and then getting dropped at around 5 laps to go.
But the best thing was that I loved it! It was such fun, everyone was riding really well and I felt safe and like I could move around the bunch OK.
Andy was watching and he and Si were exceptionally complimentary about my efforts!
Week 2 and the race set off a bit more slowly, and do you know what I was right in there, sneaking forward at every chance and staying out of trouble and away from the back at the hairpin to aid the exit.  Si said he was looking for me to make sure I wasn't getting dropped and the next thing he knew I was in front of him and looking in control - "My work is done!" he said before getting on the front of the group, upping the pace and resulting in my getting dropped! Anyway so I stayed in for 16 laps of the 35 lap race which was nothing short of a miracle as far as I'm concerned - then got back in for another 10 then it was the last couple of laps and the pace went sky-rocketing and getting back on was never going to happen so I rolled around and came home 19th - well chuffed with that.


The rest of the season had highlights of improving my Club 10 time again by a handful of seconds - happy with that. Getting registered for the Track League for some velodrome racing fun over the winter....more on that in the next post. Coming second at the TLI National Road Race (not actually a highlight in reality coz I should probably have done better).
And finally actually winning a race - not just a category, but first over the line - very pleased with that, last race of the season and back at Marsh Tracks in Rhyl where it all started this year.

Still improving...

There has been a break from the national Series races the last couple of week, but the next round of the CDNW Women's road race league approached fast.

Pimbo startline - boiling!

This was the 4th round and was taking place back at Pimbo - the same course as the first round back in March. I found the first round intimidating and was nervous about it and was pleased to stay in the bunch and not get dropped. Now 4 months later I was confident that I wasn't going to get dropped as I knew the other riders well and felt happy that I could stay with them. So the next task was to see just how far up the field I could get. The course doesn't really lend itself to a successful breakaway so I was fairly confident that there would be a bunch sprint finish. I know that I can finish pretty quickly if I get myself in the right position and haven't worn myself out earlier in the race, so I was trying to ride intelligently throughout the race to save myself enough energy.
The race was animated mostly by the Maxgear girls who had decided that they were going to send a rider off the front in rotation - which theoretically would work well to tire people out, but the peleton was happy to reel them back in steadily each time. The other reason was so that they could win the prime points - which Jo Blakeley duly did. But most of us also knew that one of the team Lauryn is a very good sprinter so it would likely that they were looking for her to take the sprint. This information meant that I also knew that the wheel to follow if possible was that of the Maxgear train.
The day was roasting and we were racing from 12noon - phew! Even i took 2 bottles with me and threw one off my bike to Andy in the final few laps. The laps steadily ticked down and although feeling pretty hot, I was also feeling fairly in control of myself - I done a couple of the chasing down turns and was finding moving around the group pretty reasonable.
The last prime came at 5 laps to go and I was aware that this would be a danger point for  a group getting away so I made sure I moved close to the front and in the event the push from the prime was relatively easy to cover as lots of the other girls had the same thoughts.
As the last lap came around I was determined to get myself to the right place. The pace went up and I kept moving forward. Heading round the bottom end of the course the Maxgear girls formed up a line and I managed to muscle my way onto tail only to lose it a little further on with other riders riding in less than the straightest of lines I opted for some self preservation. We turned the final bend in to the finishing straight - it's long and gently uphill. I was still near the front of the group and so I was in a great position when Gina Riley went long, 4 of us kicked and locked onto her wheel. The line was approaching and I waited and waited. Lauryn went and I stayed tucked in right until the last moment before fully putting through some power. I shot past the other riders and crossed the line alongside Lauryn but in second place. I was pretty happy with that, although as Andy's (not very high quality) film shows I was moving quicker than anyone else over the line, so maybe if I'd gone a bit sooner.......... ah well - if I'd been offered a 2nd place finish in one of these races at the start of the season I'd have taken that quite happily.

Since that race I've had a couple of outings to Tameside and Litherland and done OK. Managed to rack up some more points and even managed to win the race within the race at Litherland - although there were only 2 of us in it so it doesn't really count!
Last weekend was the first event of the Manchester Wheelers 130th Birthday celebrations with a day of racing at Tameside which for some reason I ended up being the principal organiser - all went well thanks to loads of help from lots of other people and the amazing sunshine!
Happy to get that out of the way this week has been a time-trialling week, with the Club 10 on monday night (I was 10 secs down on my PB, but that's OK) and then last night was the Club Hill Climb on the Cat and Fiddle. The ride starts on the Macclesfield side and finishes at the top - obviously! Last year it was bonkers as there was a huge storm that kicked off when we were all riding. The descent was terrifying.
Last night was the opposite end of the spectrum - amazing sunshine and hardly a breath of wind. My time last year was 30:24 so I was hoping to go under the half hour this year. I warmed up on a turbo before heading to the start. It was a very social evening, so plenty of banter before the off. Under instruction from Andy I didn't go mad to start the climb, steady pace but trying hard. Last year I got caught by the first bend (about 1 mile in) so I was happy at that point that I still seemed to clear. Soon after that I could see someone ahead of me who I reeled in and overtook before the half way mark - a good confidence boost. There were people handing out bottles in the layby at the half way point and cheering everyone on and then there is a little bit of downhill - click up into the big ring and pick up some speed!

Something about that body language says "TRYING"!

Around this point I was overtaken by one of the clubs mountain goats, although I stayed in sight of him for quite a while. The last point of note was the cafe where cake was waiting and Andy was cheering - and then just the final drag to the summit. I tried to keep my cadence up and the speed somewhere reasonable, passed another rider in the last stretch and crossed the line. Looking down at the garmin I knew I'd gone under the 30 - very happy! My official time turned out to be 26:36 - I couldn't believe it nearly 4 minutes off my time. I call that an improvement!

This weekend it's time to get thoroughly beaten at the National Criterium/Circuit Race Champs in York. Wish me luck!

National Series Racing

Flipping heck I was supposed to write about all this in more than one blog and some time ago - but anyway here we go.......

So last time I wrote I was about to get stuck into the next of the Women's National Road Race Series with the 2-day Surf and Turf race.
The weather forecast wasn't particularly helpful for the Saturday in Blackpool (Surf!) - but thankfully it was wrong and it was dry, vaguely sunny and only a bit windier than you might expect from being by the seaside. Stage 1 was the worlds shortest time trial - 1 lap of the cycle circuit - the entire field of 60 riders was only split by 15 seconds and I was at 6 seconds down and in 34th place - as I had hoped difficult to lose a lot of time!
Stage 2 was the crit race around the very same 1km circuit that we'd done the time trial on - and to be honest I was a little bit concerned about there being so many riders of the circuit. It's not super wide and the 2 corners are reasonably tight. My fears were not entirely unfounded as the race saw 3 crashes, one very early on where 2 girls from the same team took each other out (they jumped up quick and carried on), in the last 10 laps which involved 2 or 3 people who didn't get up quite so quickly but were ale to finish and then the last one was the lone leader at the time who overcooked into the final bend on what I think might have been the last lap - oops! Anyway, I was worried I wouldn't be able to hang on in there with the sort of riders that are at the national series races, but despite a couple of yo-yo's off the back I managed to grit my teeth and come home with the peleton and a 36th place.
Day 2 (Turf) was a road race on the Nateby/Piling circuit that I raced on earlier in the year as part of the CDNW Women's League - but this time we would be riding an extra lap of the course to give a 53m race. Once again I was aiming at managing to stay with the front group and not get tailed off and with some big efforts and determination by the time we were heading to the finishing straight for the last time I was well ensconced in the group. The sprint finish was inevitable and the group accelerated towards the line......I decided I was going to give it everything I had left and just kept increasing my speed. As the line drew closer I gave myself a bit of a talking too and held my nerve, getting faster and faster. I could see lots of people going backwards and the line was approaching fast, I knew I was nowhere near the front, but also I was nowhere near the back either - as I crossed the line I could see I was definitely in the front half of the group and right in the midst of the sprint. I do not envy the judges trying to sort that lot out! But I ended up 22nd in the road race - pretty happy with that and overall 27th on the GC. Quite a substantial improvement on the last National Series Race up in Perth. I felt as thought I'd accomplished my mission to make sure that I stayed in the race and didn't get tailed off. Next mission is to be a bit more part of the race, get myself closer to the front and not be afraid that the rest of the field is so much better than me.

Start line

I only had 2 weeks to contemplate this resolution as the Curlew Cup was the next event in the series. A big road race up in Northumberland. The race was being run in conjunction with the Beaumont Trophy  which is one of the Premier Calendar events (mens big races), so the whole event was BIG! Really well organised with an incredible number of motorbikes from the police and the National Escort Group out on the course looking after us. The course was "rolling" and very, very windy, each lap was 13.6 miles long and the speed went from 12mph into the strong headwind to 40mph down the tailwind descent - phew!

This being one of the bigger races on the calendar for the women there was a really strong field and once again I was nervous that I just wouldn't be fast enough either on the uphill or the downhill! It was not an easy day out on the bike, there were definitely a couple of moments where I wasn't sure I was going to hang on, slipping a few metres off the bunch on one of the ascents the only thing that made me dig that bit deeper was knowing that Phil Leigh was in the neutral service car behind me and wanting to make sure I was doing the Manchester Wheelers jersey proud for him, being an ex-president, one of Andy's race mates from years ago and the person who sorts out the kit for the club too - it would have been a bit embarrassing to give up without a fight. The race was 4 laps long and had an intermediate sprint each lap - I so nearly got caught out by the first one as the pace rocketed and then the course goes up a short sharp hill. The next 2 laps I tried to make sure I was closer to the front to make it easier to stay in the wheels and it worked. The last lap came around and I was praying that the speed wouldn't be stupidly high up the climbs, a small breakaway had managed to get clear on the last lap and there was riders from all the big teams so there wasn't much chasing going on, so speed was reasonable and I knew I was going to make it to the end without getting dropped. My next thought was how brave could I be on the descent, could I weave my way through the group a bit and try and stay with the acceleration into the finish?
I moved forward a bit and held my nerve to the finish, accelerating as hard as I could through the gaps that started to open up. I came over the line in around 18th place in the peleton, which gave me a finish position of 23rd - nice! What would have been even nicer would have been 3 places further forward and I'd have made it into the prize money too! Note to self - get forward sooner - make life easier for myself!

Feeling frustration.

The effect of riding in huge events like the Milk Race and the Tour Series is that you always want to be doing stuff like that, and also want to be good enough to be a real part of them. In the last couple of weeks I've had a few races that have left me feeling a bit disgruntled with myself.
Let's start 2 days after the Milk Race, back at Lower Withington for the last of the TLI series - and it was grim! Damp, cold and unplesant. The field was so small that we all got set off in one group, but almost certainly because of conditions it all stayed together for the whole race. I skulked around mostly at the back of the group feeling vunerable to the chance of getting knocked off by someone else, there were a few near misses over the race but luckily we all made it home safely - and with the 1st woman prize money in my pocket.

Sarah and Jo at Curborough

Next up was a trip to the Curborough Sprint Circuit near Lichfield - and a great team of 4 Wheelers ladies - woo hoo! None of us had ever been there before, but we were pleased to find an interesting circuit which was mostly nice and wide and with a good surface. The 3 women's race had around 15 riders with quite a spread of speeds. The team plan was to get one of us in any front group that managed to get away, and happily I managed to be in it. There were a couple of strong 1st cat riders who were continually attacking a driving the pace up, but I tried to do a good job of being close enough to the front of the group of 7 to make sure I stayed with them, chasing a few of the attacks down in the process. On the whole I was riding a good race, spending very little time on the front, at around 2 laps to go  I was on the front for around quarter of a lap, which wasn't a bad thing except when I dropped off the front I ended up near the back, I knew I needed to get back up to the front ready for the finishing sprint, which was uphill and with a tailwind. I tried to sneak up, but some of the other girls were doing the same thing and I wasn't strong/brave enough to do it on the sharpest bend heading into the drag to the finish. I didn't allow myself to pushed back any further and went as hard as I could to the line taking back a lot of distance in the closing metres but it was only good enough for 6th (well 5th if you believe the official results) - and when really I should be happy to I was downright annoyed with myself. I was stronger than some of the others and I was definitely faster at sprinting but I messed up my chances by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not going hard enough a little bit earlier to move up the group. If I'd been offered this result 3 or 4 months ago I'd have been really happy and I should try and look at the positive aspects of the race - but it left me feeling a bit fed up to be honest!
Bah!

The next event was the Holme Valley Wheelers Stage Race -opened up to make a women's race too I'd been looking forward to it with a bit of trepidation! I'd been to check the course out with Heather and Fred a few weeks ago so I knew what to expect - HILLY!
The race started with a 10m TT - great you might think, been doing alright in the TT's, hopefully I should be able to turn in a respectable time. Oh dear - how wrong could I be! The course was fairly rolling so times weren't expected to be stunning, and I was just on my standard bike unlike some people who had the full TT set up. I set off, didn't feel like I was flying. Could hear some rattling from the back end of my bike - but ignored it, I'd worry about it if my wheel fell off! To cut a long and tortuous story short, I felt like a bag of spanners and rode only marginally better than one. I was overtaken by 3 people and had the dubious pleasure of being the lantern rouge, propping up the General Classification. Not the start I'd been hoping for, god only knows how I rode it so slowly, but 6 minutes down on the winning time is frankly appaling!
Frustration - oh yes I was a grumpy Taylor after that!
Photo here from Ed Rollason: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ed_rollason/8993460125/in/set-72157634021582590

But, it was time to pick my bottom lip up and refocus for the road race in the afternoon. 30 miles (3 laps) which sounds fine, until you look at the course - hills, hills and more hills - although the upside being some great downhill too! Aim for the day- do not get dropped! Mission all going according to plan, staying in the front half of the field for the first lap until the long drag round the bottom of the circuit, I could feel the peleton starting to thin around me and I just kept moving forward, going round people and making sure I wasn't going to drift off the back unintentionally. All good. Lap 2 bit less successful, again I moved around people, a group of 5-6 riders got distanced and then a little bit further on, nearing the top of the drag and just before the turn into the finish road (also uphill) I found myself gapped - but with 3 other riders. We didn't panic and blow up, but once we'd turned back onto the downhill we chased, and chased, I put in some big turns keeping the pace really high on the downhill sections and we managed to get back to the front group - phew. Unfortunately after the really fast descent the pace eased a bit and the other riders that had been distanced also managed to get back onto the group which left a front group of around 18 to head towards the finish.  Again the long drag whittled it down but I wasn't for letting go at that point and pushed hard to stay on the back of the group. I kept on all the way to the finishing straight, the group was strung out at this point and I had a couple of girls come past - no problem I thought I'll sit in until right near the finish - which is exactly what I did  and managed to slingshot myself past about 4 riders in the last 50m.
I came over the line in 12th and the last of the group to get the same time at the finish pretty happy with that. Of course, even though there were some big time gaps through the field it wasn't going to be enough to move me massively up the rankings but I did jump from 37th to 20th on the overall.
A day of very contrasting halves and one which left me feeling again a bit frustrated by my poor performance in the morning, I think I may need to do some work on this time-trialling stuff.
Next weekend is the next round of the National Series with the Surf and Turf 2 day - 1km prologue, 45minute circuit race on the saturday and 53m road race on the sunday - luckily the TT section is so short I can't possibly lose much time!

The whirlwind continues

Not sure about people that actually read this blog, but I'm in a bit of a whirl trying to keep up with where I'm going  and what I'm supposed to be doing - although I guess on the whole pedal faster/harder is the general idea!

Signing on like a proper Pro!

Since the trip to Stoke, and the Club 10 PB, it should have been time for a little bit of an ease off - but no I was signed up to take part in The Milk Race - a race that's been resurrected after a 20 year absence albeit not in quite the same format. The original Milk Race is now the Tour of Britain, this event was a day of city centre racing in Nottingham. But do you know what it was BRILLIANT!
The prize money for the mens and women's races was set to the same level and it brought out an amazing field - all the domestic men's pro teams turned up - along with a load of smaller team riders. The women's race had some of the biggest stars with Dani King (olympic champ), and a couple of her Wiggle Honda teammates.

Warming up on the circuit.

I entered because, well because I could and it was only £5 entry fee - I really don't mind paying that to get completely battered by much better riders! The event was amazing, blessed with incredible sunshine and hence great crowds it was even better than riding the Tour Series race.
Yes, of course I got dropped - but I hung on for a little while and myself and 4 other girls were in the second group on the course so pretty respectable I'd say. Dani King was a complete legend breaking off the front and staying away for more than half the race, she lapped my group twice - but the front bunch only caught us once in the hour long race so I think we were all pretty happy with that.
I ended up with approximately 21st place - the only disappointing part of the entire experience was the complete mess they made of the results for anyone who wasn't in the front group! They haven't sorted it out and I don't think they will now, but I know myself where I came 4th in the bunch I was with and we were behind 16 in the front group plus Dani.

The race was filmed and after a couple of false starts due to over-running tennis matches and the poor scheduling of British Eurosport it finally got broadcast on Sunday eve. WOW - what a difference to the Tour Series coverage - absolutely equal between the men's and women's races - amazing! Was pretty cool to see the Manchester Wheelers jersey razzing around on the tail end of the group at the start of the race!

On the telly racing...

A couple of years ago Andy and I popped down to Stoke on Trent to watch the Tour Series races in the city centre. We had a great day out and enjoyed watching both the men's and the women's races. Since then we've watched the coverage on ITV4 and cheered on our favourites.
This year I have had various people ask whether my team was going to be riding the series. the short answer was no, they are mostly miles away and would involve people taking time off work, travelling a long way and finding the racing really hard.

On tuesday morning I got a message from Alan Sheldon, he looks after the women's team at VC St Raphael. "How would you like to come and be a guest rider for us at Stoke Tour Series?" Wow I thought, really?? Quickly followed by, why the hell not! What an opportunity to go and experience a big event. So I said "Yes!"
Great - Alan sounded happy and said he'd try and get it all sorted with the organisers. Now came the stumbling block - the series doesn't allow guest riders - boo!
By a series of flukes and good fortune it all worked out that I got permission to ride as myself and in my Manchester Wheelers kit - winner all round!
A huge thank you to Alan for giving me the opportunity, driving me down there and looking after me.

On the start line - photo Alan Sheldon

So what was it like? How did I get on?
Hmmm, well it was an amazing experience. Lining up at the start with a big crowd of people, music a commentator/crowd pumper and a totally railed off course was amazing! My getaway from the startline was frankly appalling! One of those occasions where you completely blow getting your foot in, which under the circumstances was less than ideal. The race shot off the line at a high speed so I was in full chase mode immediately. The start finish straight is an uphill drag and then turns down a fairly steep little hill, round some good wiggles, up a little hill past the pits and then back onto the start finish straight. Within the first couple of laps I was already off the back of the bunch along with a few other girls and by half way through the race our group had swelled to around 10 riders. Some we picked up some in front and some others that came round and joined us a lap ahead. The leaders came through with one of the MuleBar girls on a race wining solo break, she was super strong and managed to take a minute out of the field and hold on for the win - well done Natalie Creswick!

We lapped riders continued along in our own race and had a mini sprint for the line at 3 laps to go when we got pulled out. I was not totally disappointed with how I rode, I know I should have stayed in for longer, and having positioned myself at the front on the start line that would have been a real possibility had I got my foot straight into the pedal! But I was never in any danger of getting left behind by my group-mates and they main thing was that I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere.
My final result was 32nd - which wasn't last (40 riders)!

Some great pics on Ed Rollason's flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/ed_rollason/sets/72157633609607946/

The TV coverage was well, minimal! The women's race got the starting few seconds and the last lap shown and a load of chat.....they are promising more race footage for the next round. If you look closely at the start you can catch a glimpse of the Manchester Wheelers kit.....
https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/cycling-tour-series

Enjoy!