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!

Stripey jumpers and more

Right at the start of this racing season I made a little list for myself of the things that I'd like to achieve - I confessed to one of those after getting a top 10 at the Great Budworth race last month, now I'm going to confess to a couple more......

Last weekend was the TLI National Crit Championships at Marsh Tracks in Rhyl. I raced there right at the start of the season, so I knew what the circuit was going to be like and having done a couple of the TLI series out at Lower Withington I felt like I had a reasonable handle on the TLI set-up. This meant that I was feeling reasonably relaxed about the race, I knew there would be a bunch to ride with and it probably wouldn't end up split up all ver the circuit like the Palatine race. Having seen a start list I also knew that there were only 3 women entered into the race - which was both good and bad! Good because it meant less competition and bad for the same reason! Heather entered and said she was coming along to help me out - which she promptly did early in the race by sitting on the front of the bunch and setting a good tempo for a couple of laps and letting me sit in behind and shelter from some considerable wind. Shortly after this a small group nipped off into a breakaway and I didn't react quick enough. I did try and bridge across but I think I'm learning quickly that I struggle to have enough power for long enough to get across. I'm fine if I go straight away, or I get a tow at least part of the way but not when I've left it a few seconds too long. So, I was not best pleased with myself and stranded myself in no-mans land for a while until I got swallowed back up by the pack. I then knew what I had to do, stay off the front for as much time as possible and keep a close eye on the other woman in the bunch. Vicky Thomas who may a few years older than me, but has been racing for an awful lot longer and has her ex-pro husband for getting all the top tips! (Phil Thomas - who incidentally won the previous category race)
Andy was along to support and I could see he was getting slightly agitated and concerned that I was doing too much/not keeping tabs on Vicky. This was demonstrated by a pointing at his eyes signal as I went through the start/finish line. Little did he know that I was actually feeling good, and in control of the situation - I knew that Vicky was sat behind me and following me around, but I was making sure that I was tucked in behind whoever was in front and I was finding the pace pretty easy. The lap board came out - 5 to go. Right I said to myself - "come on Taylor" this is yours for the taking! My major concern was that that I was going to get stranded on the front of the bunch too early. The last lap came around and I was still second wheel - then a tall chap in Graham Weigh kit came past onto the front with Vicky latched onto his wheel - I could hardly believe my luck - this meant she was going to lead me out for the sprint. I jumped straight onto her wheel and as we accelerated through the final corner into the finish straight and the headwind I had to make myself stay tucked in. Don't go yet, don't go yet I said and then I could see I only had a 150m left and I pulled out, channelling my inner Cavendish, I out down as much power as I could muster - came along side, seemed to hover a second and then shot past and over the finish line to win the sprint from the group and in the process the National Champs jersey!!
Andy, Fred and Heather were jumping up and down and cheering - thanks for the support!
So, yes in my secret list of ambitions for the season, this was up there and as it turned out was totally achievable - tick number 2 for the season!

Not just a jersey - a medal too!

Andy was too excited at the finish to take any pictures of me actually winning - so just a jersey shot I'm afraid!

Monday saw me pinning a number on again but this time for a Club 10 time trial. Now, I have an uneasy relationship with time trials so far - I find that my mind starts to wander whilst I'm riding and that means that I don't perhaps concentrate as much as I need to on making the pedals go round faster. I've only done 10 milers - I can't even imagine how bad I'd be on a 25 or 50. But anyway what I realise is that if I can get better at doing a concentrated effort for a time trial it can only help me to get better at racing - see above for not being any good at bridging across to a breakaway!

So I have started the time trial season with a positive attitude and the will to get a faster time than last year. I think I'm fitter and stronger but maybe I'm just better at sitting behind people and getting them to do all the work? Time trials are as they say the "Race of Truth" and the truth hurts! Last week was my first outing and the conditions were less than perfect. The thunderstorm that had affected central Manchester missed the Cheshire plain and the sun was shining out at Chelford unfortunately it was both chilly and windy. The standard headwind breeze was more a damn sight stiffer than usual. Ah well good to get a rubbish time in at the start of the year and having ridden the extra long way out I was treating it as a training ride. I set off and settled into the ride and by the time I got back to the finish I'd only been overtaken by 1 person - which I thought was pretty good going. My time was 1 second slower than last years best (which was 28:04)- can't complain about that. So this week I rode out the direct route, the wind was the standard head-breeze and the temperature was much higher. I signed on behind a chap on a fixed gear steel frame, wearing what appeared to be Ron Hills - now surely I thought to myself I stood a chance of actually catching someone?! I tried really hard to concentrate and I managed to catch the chap just after the turn for home. Right I said to myself, this is it, keep pushing don't relax now you've caught him. So I pushed on and had perfect luck on Chelford roundabout, clicked up a gear and really went for it on the last stretch. I felt like I'd gone quicker but it's so hard to know. I don't have a computer on my bike at the moment so I literally hadn't the faintest idea, I had to wait for the official timekeeper. Eventually they turned up and I went to look at the timesheet - 28:56??? Is that an 8 I asked? Oh no, sorry we nearly gave you a 20:56 - it's a 6! 

26:56??? Oh my goodness!! I practically bounced back across the carpark to tell Andy my time. I couldn't believe it 1minute and 8 seconds quicker and well below my target time. So yes, here is confession 3, I'd wanted to go below 27:30 at the start of the season - looks like I might have to up (or should that be down) that target. 

This is a little bit of footage from week 1 - why does it always feel like you are trying really hard and your legs are spinning and yet this makes it look like I'm out on a sunday club run?!

More random excitement followed the next day but I'll get around to that tomorrow or something!

All Change.

As predicted after my wonder week, the following week proved to be quite hard work and also gave me chance to learn some more about me and bike racing.
The first challenge of the week was being in chrge of getting Manchester Wheelers organised to come along to the Tameside Circuit and help out for a evening's racing, somthing we need to do 3 or 4 times over the 20 week season. After the success of the road race out at Great Budworth I was worried that people might think they had done their bit, but how wrong I was people voulnteered and turned up in droves! I like to think it was because I'd promised to bake muffins, but I think they would have come anyway. On the plus side the commisaires were very happy to have muffins delivered, I'm hoping that'll stand me in good stead for future races!
I'd brought my bike along and thought I could ride the late race (4th + Women) if there were enough people helping out - and there were. It was also a sunny evening and so it seemed like everyone in the Manchester area had the same idea, a field of 50 - terrifying! I personlly think the circuit is a bit narrow to have 50 4th cat (for that read inexperienced) riders, but I'd paid my money and got myself warmed up so I took to the start line. I decided the best tactic is to be near the front and duly spent the first 4 or 5 laps right near the font of the bunch, thus avoiding the wobbling etc behind. I then found myself on the inside heading into the hairpin- no problem it's plenty wide enough for 2 or even 3 riders to go round together. But not according to some of the other riders who started shouting at me for going up the inside, I'm not sure whether they thought I was going to drift out and cause a crash, but anyway, I ended up a bit further back and then the trouble started. After a couple of minor excursions onto the grass and some close shaves with a few other riders I made a decision....... I was going to climb off. I could have dropped out of the bunch and ridden round on my own or even joined up with some of the other little groups, but I suddenly realised that I didn't need to do that. I wasn't stopping because I couldn't keep up, I was stopping because I just didn't want too. I didn't want to get knocked off and I didn't want to get involved in having to elbow my way around the circuit. A strange feeling and the first time that I have ever not finished a race.

The next day I headed over the Litherland, and was relieved to find the field was much smaller than the previous evening. Looking back I think I may have been suffering a little bit of fatigue from the week before and I was frustrated to find that I was struggling to have much oomph in the legs. The positive side to it was that despite not feeling at my best I still stayed in the bunch and managed to scrape into the top 10 with an 8th place.

The next event was to be something rather odd - a women's only crit race at the Palatine circuit in Blackpool - a place I hadn't visited before and was quite looking forward too. The good news was that it was really going to be run as it's own race, the bad news we had superstar double Olympic and World Champion Laura Trott riding - why?? I have absolutely no idea, I can only assume it was as some kind of favour to the race organisers as it was never going to be an actual race for her. She rode the mens 3/4 race before and then took to the start line. After about 2 laps of the 1and a bit kilometre circuit she attacked off the front and proceeded over the course of the next 10 laps or so to lap the enitre field - no great surprise and I am happy to say that as she came past me I did manage to hitch a ride for a lap or two. I was disappointed with my performance but I still just didn't seem to have any zip, I know I should have been with the group of 4 that constituted the peleton having ridden with all the girls before, but it just wasn't happening.

Time for a little break perhaps? Well, no not really as the following day Andy and I headed out for a big hilly ride with Heather, Fred and Rob. A birthday treat for Andy!!! I was feeling slow and steady and point blank refused to go uphill at any great speed - I'd decided I was just out for a ride and wasn't thinking about it being "training". A really good day, and good cafe stop at Flash too - it's seems like forever since I went on a cafe ride!

The whole of the week had left me feeling a bit concerned that I'd lost some fitness, or power or something. Andy did his best to reassure and so I headed along to my second TLI race with a bit or trepidation. Not only was I feeling low in confidence but I'd also been moved up to the higher race category after having done well in the first round. And then we were also informed that it would be 6 laps of the course instead of the previous 5!!
Ah well I thought, what's the worst that can happen? I get dropped by the group I'm in,I can go back to the group I was with last time. Luckily my fears were unfounded and I found myself comfortable in the group, doing a reasonable job with positioning. Doing my turn on the front when we were reeling back in 2 riders who chipped off the front and generally not feeling like too much of a fraud. The young lad who'd been ungraded with me, went off on a solo attack on the last lap and about half way round I thought I'd see if I could get across to him..........I couldn't! But I was pleased that I managed to jump back into the main group and still have something left to put in a reasonable sprint. It think I came over the line 11th, no idea where that put me in my category, but I was pretty happy with my performance anyway and restored some confidence in the legs. Andy took some bits of film - this one is from bell lap - well tucked in and out of trouble...

The other big news from this week is that the Biketreks Women's Squad has been disbanded, so I'll be riding back in my Manchester Wheelers club colours for the remainder of the season - which means that I'll match  my bike but not the pair of swanky Oakleys I managed to win - oh well doesn't do to look too coordinated!