Ah, A Race in the Sun

My friend Sophie (on the right) came 3rd






I think I'm on a roll now - I did a race last Thursday after work, and then another one yesterday, two days later - the women's South East road racing championships.

I hadn't been sure as to whether or not to do this one, so hadn't entered in advance. When the day came I realised there was no reason for me not to do it. Being a relatively local race at Ellens Green, near Horsham, I wouldn't have any difficulties getting there - especially as it was starting at 1.30pm. As this is just a south east and central race then it wouldn't be a massive intimidating field, given that a number of hard core girl racers wouldn't make the trip down if they were ineligible for the championships. The Kingston Phoenix girls that I know and get on with, were organising the race, and I wanted to support their event. And on top of that, it was a beautiful day with lots of warm sunshine. Really no excuse for me to duck out of this one.

Of all the regional championships taking place around the UK this weekend, the South East is the only region to stage a women's
championship. So it was a case of use or lose it.

I rolled into the HQ at the same time as many others who arrived by car. My friend Sophie, who races for Rapha Condor arrived at the same time too. She'd ridden from Islington to Waterloo, caught a train to Slinfold, and cycled the last bit to Ellens Green. I had ridden from Crystal Palace to East Croydon, caught the train to Horsham and cycled the last bit to Ellens Green. Great minds think alike ! It was good to see most of the who's who of SE cycling at the race - some of whom I'd not seen all year, others, like Lisa from TriSport News, who I'd seen just two days before at Brooklands.

The race got underway in the Saturday afternoon sunshine. The pace was lively from the off. As usual, I made the mistake of starting at the back of the pack. Although I was able to keep up with the peloton, which was doing around 24mph, I felt very uncomfortable in the group. Being at the back, and on a circuit that I didn't know made me feel nervous as I didn't know what was coming next. The road twisted and turned, and on some sections there were pot-holes, gravel sections and dead animals to dodge - and coming cars. As people attacked on the hill, I was the last to react, and was caught up behind weaker climbers, but couldn't get past them safely. And on top of all of that, my my road cleats were worn and was worried about my feet slipping out of the pedal.

By the end of the first six-mile lap, I felt so stressed out that I was ready to dnf. I slowed right down and let the peloton go. At that point Jake, from Kingston Phoenix slowed up as well. She was feeling dizzy and needed to recuperate. Great I had an excuse to ride at an easier pace ! We then worked together and caught up with Jen, her club-mate. It turned out we were all abit rusty on the old road racing, and had been a little anxious about the race.




So we managed to keep each other company, working together along the course. We were even slowing down to wait for each other at the top of the climbs ! There was almost a club run feel to it ! With all the time that we were losing on the main group, we'd thought we'd be pulled out on the 6th and penultimate, or at least be lapped by the leaders.

However, on the 5th lap we actually picked up speed and began racing. We managed to catch Lisa (TriSport News) who had been dropped by the main group. According to the marshalls our little gruppetto must have been riding at the same speed as the peloton, as the time gap between us and them remained constant. We therefore didn't get lapped, so ended up doing the 7 laps - much to the chagrin of the Phoenix girls, who were really feeling the effects.

We did a very quick final lap - about 24mph, and I even managed a sprint for the line. But just when I thought I'd win the group sprint my foot fell out of it's cleat, and while struggling to get my foot back in the pedal Jake shot past me. Well, being married to one of the fastest sprinters in the region comes in handy I suppose !

The main race was won by Jo from VC Meudon. My friend Sophie came 3rd. She wasn't too pleased to have been passed by a girl who'd done no work at all on the front. Sophie had made a number of attacks, but nobody would go with her, so she was just reeled back in by the peloton. She feels women's racing in England is always negative. That's why she races in Belgium and Italy, where everyone likes to attack all the time. That's why no one wanted to work with Sophie when she attacked, knowing
she's got all that international experience !

I was pleased with my race, even if I hadn't raced it seriously. It's what I needed though. Something to do tranquilly and to just ease myself back into the swing of things and build up my confidence.
The great thing about turning up at these events is that you end up hooking up with others and making arrangements to train/race again together. Myself and the Kingston Phoenix girls have arranged to do the Surrey League handicap at Kitsmead Lane on Thursday. Also Charlotte from London Dynamo has invited me to train with their group at Richmond Park, so as I get used to the bunch riding at speed thing.

I need the practice : next women's event is the Brentwood Town Centre crit next Sunday. It'll be fast and furious, and no one will be doing any favours there !

Happy Heart, Weary Bones

Saturday continued

I had survived the first berg - it didn't seem so bad. Would I be able to do the remaining 16 ? A group of French cyclists passed by.
"Attention tu as trois mille metres de pavé." A 3km long berg ?? How would I cope with that ? In fact it wasn't a berg. It was just a flat cobbled section known as Kerkgate. I almost wished it had been berg. It wouldn't have been anywhere as long. Also as all my bones were jolted along and every bit of loose flesh wobbled at speed, I realised that going uphill was easier on the body than riding along a flat or even downhill section. It was alot less jarring.
On the flat I'd been able to hold my own in the group. However, as soon as I hit the cobbled sections I was suddenly going backwards. My pace slowed as I rode gingerly along the bumpy road, in a hope that there would be less impact on my body. Of course because I was tense my limbs felt the shock that bit more, as I was unable to loosen my grip on the handlebars. Everyone around me seem to fly over the cobbles. Even some riders, who were on nothing more than shopping bikes just glided past me over the cobbles ! I really couldn't get the hang of it.

Once the bike hit smooth tarmac I heaved a sigh of relief. Even the 15% climb up the Wolvenberg seemed a much more appealing proposition - simply because it was on a smooth surface ! There then followed a couple of other short and unchallenging bergs, before we reached the first feed station - at Oudenaarde.

I was impressed by the whole organisation and the methodic way in which everything was done. There were 4 channels, each with their own queue. One person to stamp the control card, one person handing exactly 4 biscuits and some malt loaf, one person handing out half a banana, then a bottle of energy and someone else to say have a nice ride ! It was like being on a conveyor belt. At least this made a change to the usual bun fight you get at feed stations.

Once out of the feed station we then left in large groups to hit the road. On the busy roads we had to ride in pairs along the cycle path, though thankfully the police had sectioned off part of a lane of the main road in order to give us more cycling space.
The pace by now had slowed a little as people wanted to save themselves for the various bergs to come. I was glad of this, as I was beginning to get nervous about the next significant difficulty of the day, the Paterberg. My aim was to ride up as many of the bergs as possible - including the real 20% stinkers. Paterberg would certainly be one of them. I could see the Paterberg from a some distance away - actually it wasn't so much the road, as the snake of riders meandering their way up above me !

Very soon I was on this berg, and I saw straight away why it had an infamous reputation. Two riders had fallen down half way up the hill at the steepest 21% section. Unfortunately for them they were right in the middle of the road and were blocking everyone's way. So not only did they suffer the embarrassment of falling down, but also the wrath of other riders who had to struggle their way around them and put themselves at risk of falling over in the narrow carriageway. I got round them by the way I knew best - shouting "get out of the way"!! Fortunately they scrambled out of my way, and I just managed to crawl my way up. It wasn't pretty but the fact that I'd made it up gave me a confidence boost for the future challenges.

Berg after berg followed. A couple of them such as Leberg and Berendries were just on tarmac. But their gradients more than made up for the lack of cobbles.
Half way through I became fed up of being thrown around, notably on the 2,000m section known as Haaghoek, which even had the cheek to jolt me on the downhill !
I was worried that I might have given myself a head injury - a bit like what you'd get after headbanging all night.
Feeling a little weary, I stopped for a breather after this one. There was certainly no shame in doing so. In fact that was definitely the order of the day. Cyclists would attack the bergs at speed, and then at the top would stop and rest or wait for friends. Sometimes there were so many riders at the top of the bergs that it became difficult for anyone to continue riding straight through without having to negotiate the crowd. This was definitely a social ride for many !

When we reached Geraadsbergen we had to ride up a steep hill through the town, before arriving at the place where Him Indoors and I had arrived yesterday. This time the street was packed with spectators willing us on - and this was before even reaching the Muur !
Once out of the town we arrived at the start of this renowned climb, only to come to a grinding halt. There were too many people on the narrow stretch of road, and it was impossible to ride up the berg due to the sheer volume of "traffic".
By coincidence I bumped into a friend of mine from TriSportNews, who was spectating, so I stopped for a chat for a few minutes. By the time we'd finished talking the road had emptied, and this gave me a chance to make a dash for it up the hill before the next throng of cyclists arrived. I had a free run, so managed to ride up the Muur completely unimpeded. It was great. The crowds gave me a special cheer, especially being one of the few women riding the event. I felt really uplifted and gave it my all. I needed to, just so that my front wheel wouldn't lift up on the 20% section ! Surprisingly I felt quite strong even though I'd already ridden 115 km.

Hoorah - I had conquered all the bergs without having to get off and walk ! All that was left was the short Bosberg, and then a quick spin back to the PTI.
And quick it definitely was. The run in was great - I grabbed a wheel and just held onto it all the way back - speeding along at more than 40kph. We arrived back at Ninove alot sooner than I'd expected. The final strait up to the finish gantry was far from a competitive affair. There was none of this machismo to win the bunch sprint to the finish line. No one could be bothered. There was just a cheer from the group that we had made it round. This was definitely not a competitive event.
And with that in mind, I can't say how long it did take me to do the 140km - and even if I knew it would be academic as we were held up a number of times - whether at the feed stations, at busy junctions, to allow a train or boat to pass, or just due to sheer numbers.

Back at the PTI I met up with some fellow cyclists from London Phoenix Cycling club, and had a few beers while swapping tales of our cycling adventures. Him Indoors later joined us and then we returned to Aalst for a celebratory dinner. My bones were weary, but I was happy !

http://www.rvv.be/2007/eng/deronde/index.html

http://www.trisportnews.com/

http://www.londonphoenix.co.uk/