Reasons to be cheerful!
Howdy folks! My last post was a bit miserable wasn't it? OK maybe not totally but since then I've actually had quite a good time. While there are, always, things for me to work on, there are equally plenty of things to be cheerful about.
My last race in the UK, and only one until August, was the brilliant CDNW ladies race at Pimbo near Liverpool. This course is great for a broad range of riders as it's not technical and while there's a small drag to the start/finish it's essentially flat and fast. This suits me down to the ground, while I don't mind a technically challenging course as I know I can handle my bike quite well, I'm no climber so a fast course was a welcome change.
Frustrated with previous efforts I went into this race with a brand new mindset. Mostly down to a pep talk from the great Heather Bamforth, I decided to leave my lack of confidence on the boat and began this journey with a much brighter outlook. It certainly paid off. Confident me made sure she started at the front of the startline along side some ladies who's wheels I'd be hoping to eye up throughout the race. From the off the usual ladies set the pace, with a preem (or prime, essentially an intermediate sprint for prizes) every 5th lap (of 20 total) - keeping the pace easy to scope out, quick every first, quick every fourth and steady between.
Not only was I finding it more than comfortable in the bunch, confident me found herself experimenting. Let's face it, the races I'm doing in the UK have pretty large fields and often feature national level riders, they aren't going to allow me to achieve many British Cycling points, so let's just sack it off altogether. I don't want to "play it safe"...I really don't want to sit in for over an hour watching the same wheel over and over again.... I want to race. Luckily, as my timetrials have been paying off and my steady power is pretty good right now, I was able to move up many times without needing to follow anyone - the first time I tried this I took myself by surprise "I'm on the front!"....holy crap!
While the vortex of the race took its turn and I was once again moving up, throughout the 40 mile race I decided to play.. I'm never going to get away on a course like this but damnit I might as well try. Between myself and a few other brilliant women, we attempted more than just a few attacks between the preem laps. I felt AMAZING. By the end I had made the decision to attempt to go on the penultimate corner. This worked for all of about 5 seconds, I looked behind as I started to watch my numbers rise to almost 400 watts on the power metre, I'd got a couple of metres, I looked again, there's one of the sprinters on my back, again and we're joined by a stringing peloton we turn the final corner, I push and push and then boom - I watch the sprint flow past me as my legs continue a momentum which couldn't quite carry up to a sprint. Ouch.
"Don't give up" - I spot a couple of the others just pushing to the line, I put my head down and chew my stem. As Sarah and Dan from prowomenscycling.com once said, it was a big old "stompetystompetystomp" until I saw my wheel inch ahead of the one alongside me. Throwing my bike to the line I felt exhilarated. My first proper race, not only sticking with the bunch but playing the game and holding my own. I was later thanked for the lead out - while it wasn't really my aim, I'm pretty chuffed...in a perfect world that's my ideal job. My final efforts paid off as it also got me down to 19th place, my first UK top 20 of the year. Smiles all round and a huge hug to Mrs Bamforth who'd given me the nudge I needed to sort my head out.
It's surprising how much of road racing is, in fact, all in the head. Timetrialling is a very black and
white sport - you go as fast as you can and hope for the best. Road racing, while you obviously need to be fit and able to recover from big efforts over and over again, is very much about confidence. It's almost like a game of poker. You could be the best in the world at riding a bike, but if you crack under the pressure you might as well go home. So what's my ethos now? I'm no longer scared of the bunch (OK maybe the sprinters), I know I'm to pull my socks up and I know I've the endurance to get me through those efforts.
My next two UK RR's are both short circuits again, perfect for me. This time I'm going to still attempt to put in some attacks, but this time I'll approach them a little more intelligently. No more gung-ho, this time I'll do what I can to beat the sprinters and if I can't...well, I won't be trying to lead them out unless they're wearing the same jersey as me!
What a huge step. After a year and a half of being confused as to why my abilities weren't showing on the road despite all the hard work, it's finally starting to click. I'm learning and I'm really, genuinely loving it.
Impending plans for the rest of the year include a few more timetrials, recently my times have been slipping but I'm putting this down to being quite tired. Mentally speaking I'm pretty exhausted, and looking forward to a break in September. I've a few local road races to look forward to but the two circuits in August are the focus at the moment. Following this we're edging closer to the end of the season and I'm already eyeing up a mountain bike so I can continue racing over the winter.
As Gok Wan once said... "it's all about the confidence". He wasn't wrong. Thanks, as always, to Merlin Cycles for the beautiful new kit and also the wonderful Sensa which - by the way - corners like an absolute badass!
My last race in the UK, and only one until August, was the brilliant CDNW ladies race at Pimbo near Liverpool. This course is great for a broad range of riders as it's not technical and while there's a small drag to the start/finish it's essentially flat and fast. This suits me down to the ground, while I don't mind a technically challenging course as I know I can handle my bike quite well, I'm no climber so a fast course was a welcome change.
Frustrated with previous efforts I went into this race with a brand new mindset. Mostly down to a pep talk from the great Heather Bamforth, I decided to leave my lack of confidence on the boat and began this journey with a much brighter outlook. It certainly paid off. Confident me made sure she started at the front of the startline along side some ladies who's wheels I'd be hoping to eye up throughout the race. From the off the usual ladies set the pace, with a preem (or prime, essentially an intermediate sprint for prizes) every 5th lap (of 20 total) - keeping the pace easy to scope out, quick every first, quick every fourth and steady between.Not only was I finding it more than comfortable in the bunch, confident me found herself experimenting. Let's face it, the races I'm doing in the UK have pretty large fields and often feature national level riders, they aren't going to allow me to achieve many British Cycling points, so let's just sack it off altogether. I don't want to "play it safe"...I really don't want to sit in for over an hour watching the same wheel over and over again.... I want to race. Luckily, as my timetrials have been paying off and my steady power is pretty good right now, I was able to move up many times without needing to follow anyone - the first time I tried this I took myself by surprise "I'm on the front!"....holy crap!
While the vortex of the race took its turn and I was once again moving up, throughout the 40 mile race I decided to play.. I'm never going to get away on a course like this but damnit I might as well try. Between myself and a few other brilliant women, we attempted more than just a few attacks between the preem laps. I felt AMAZING. By the end I had made the decision to attempt to go on the penultimate corner. This worked for all of about 5 seconds, I looked behind as I started to watch my numbers rise to almost 400 watts on the power metre, I'd got a couple of metres, I looked again, there's one of the sprinters on my back, again and we're joined by a stringing peloton we turn the final corner, I push and push and then boom - I watch the sprint flow past me as my legs continue a momentum which couldn't quite carry up to a sprint. Ouch.
It's surprising how much of road racing is, in fact, all in the head. Timetrialling is a very black and
white sport - you go as fast as you can and hope for the best. Road racing, while you obviously need to be fit and able to recover from big efforts over and over again, is very much about confidence. It's almost like a game of poker. You could be the best in the world at riding a bike, but if you crack under the pressure you might as well go home. So what's my ethos now? I'm no longer scared of the bunch (OK maybe the sprinters), I know I'm to pull my socks up and I know I've the endurance to get me through those efforts.
My next two UK RR's are both short circuits again, perfect for me. This time I'm going to still attempt to put in some attacks, but this time I'll approach them a little more intelligently. No more gung-ho, this time I'll do what I can to beat the sprinters and if I can't...well, I won't be trying to lead them out unless they're wearing the same jersey as me!
What a huge step. After a year and a half of being confused as to why my abilities weren't showing on the road despite all the hard work, it's finally starting to click. I'm learning and I'm really, genuinely loving it.
Impending plans for the rest of the year include a few more timetrials, recently my times have been slipping but I'm putting this down to being quite tired. Mentally speaking I'm pretty exhausted, and looking forward to a break in September. I've a few local road races to look forward to but the two circuits in August are the focus at the moment. Following this we're edging closer to the end of the season and I'm already eyeing up a mountain bike so I can continue racing over the winter.
As Gok Wan once said... "it's all about the confidence". He wasn't wrong. Thanks, as always, to Merlin Cycles for the beautiful new kit and also the wonderful Sensa which - by the way - corners like an absolute badass!
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